Alternate Timelines
Summary
Stargate SG-1 has presented two major timeline theories over the run of the show: (1) alternate realities, and (2) alternate timelines. Alternate Realities are presented when various versions of SG-1 live in parallel universes, some almost identical; others, so extremely different so as to be unrecognizable. Alternate Timelines are presented when it appears that the timeline in which "our" SG-1 is modified by a time traveling event.
This article presents Alternate Timelines in which SG-1's timeline appears to be changed due to one or more time traveling events.
2.21 "1969"
We are given the perspective of SG-1 as they are flung into the past when the wormhole is bent by a solar flare. When they go through the wormhole from the SGC, they emerge momentarily existing in two times, and then the wormhole disengages and the embarkation room reverts to a missile silo. A missile's rockets are about to be test fired, but Teal'c disables the rocket's electrical systems with a blast from a zat gun.
The team is confined and their belongings are confiscated. They are interrogated, assumed to be Soviet spies.
One man, however, finds a note given to Carter by General Hammond before they leave. He opens it to find that it is in his own handwriting and is addressed to him personally. "Help them." Lt. Hammond is amazed, but is finally convinced that SG-1 are actually from the future and that he had written the note to himself so that they could get back home. How did George Hammond know to write the note?
While Jack and Teal'c investigate the date and times written on the note, theorizing that they must be solar flare events, Carter and Daniel disguise themselves and visit Catherine Langford. She welcomes them into her home, thinking that Daniel is the son of one of her father's contemporaries, and tells them where the stargate is located. Daniel had revealed earlier that it was soon afterwards that Catherine revitalized the stargate research. Was her interest sparked by their visit or was she always intending to obtain funding to restart the research?
SG-1 finds the stargate and dials it close to the time of the second solar flare listed on the note. They are under fire by security personnel, but manage to enter the wormhole which flings them into the future (the sun flares are on the opposite side of the sun to the one which sent them into the past). When they exit the wormhole, they are in the SGC, but too far into the future. They are met by an elderly Cassandra Fraiser, who uses advanced technology to engage the wormhole and send them back to their time. Cassandra said that Carter told her that they would be flung into the future and would need help getting back, so Cassandra knew where and when she had to meet them. How?
Since we followed SG-1 through this one scenerio, the timeline issues can become rather confusing. If we were to adhere to the multiple reality theory brought forth in the episode, 1.20 "There But For The Grace Of God", then we can easily explain that there are various versions of SG-1 out there who never made it back to their time from either the past or the future. We could also assume that there are various versions in which Hammond met the SG-1 team and didn't help them because he didn't know that he should. Also, there are versions in which Cassandra didn't meet them in the future and Catherine didn't reopen the stargate research. The possibilities become nearly uncalculable.
It all turned out right for SG-1 at the end of the episode, leaving the viewers with the same people they had started out with at the beginning of the episode, but it brings forth many questions which leave interpretation up to the viewer. If the timeline is one single stream, then somehow, SG-1 altered it so that the conditions were just right for their return. But, that always brings up the question, "What about the first time?" Some theorists have put forth the idea that, yes, there is only one timeline, but sometimes it splits off and then reconverges. In this case, then, the timeline splits off between SG-1's impacts, the three points in time of their journey, only to reconverge once they return to the point that they started. This only works if one believes that the future has already occurred.
4.16 "2010" and 5.10 "2001"
In the future, in the year 2010, Samantha Carter is the wife of Ambassador Joe Faxon and they are attempting to conceive a child, but have failed. Carter has barely aged, thanks to the medical technology of the advanced race, the Aschen, with whom Earth has joined into a conferation. The Aschen helped Earth defeat the Goa'uld and wipe out disease. The stargate is public knowledge and people travel freely to other worlds within the confederation, including Teal'c's homeworld of Chulak. SG-1 is recognized for their contributions in establishing the alliance, but Jack O'Neill refuses to take part in the celebrations because he was the lone voice of dissension concerning the trustworthiness of the Aschen.
Soon, Carter and Dr. Janet Fraiser (who is still alive in this version of the future because the events of the episode, 7.18 "Heroes Part 2", did not happen since the Aschen wiped out the Goa'uld) determine the reasons for Carter's inability to conceive. She is infertile, a condition hidden from her by her Aschen physician. Suspicions arise and soon they discover that the Aschen's medicines have rendered an over 90% drop in the world's birthrate and Earth's population will be wiped out within the next hundred or so years. The Aschen conquer the worlds of their "confederation" by patiently waiting for the population to die to free up the resources, mainly the land, for their own version of galactic domination.
Daniel, Janet, Teal'c, and Carter decide that they need to do something about this situation, feeling somewhat responsible for it. They devise a plan, based on their experience with time travel and a sun flare's influence of a wormhole (from 2.21 "1969"). The plan is to send a note back in time to before they meet the Aschen (in the year 2001) and prevent the SGC from ever making contact with them. After Carter visits Jack at his cabin, Jack decides to get involved with the plan.
Daniel and Jack write notes to send back. The note is a warning not to go to the Aschen homeworld (P4C-970) under any circumstances. In their plan, they would forcibly take control of the stargate and establish a wormhole at the same time a solar flare occurs, predicted by the advanced computer system of the Aschen to which Carter has access through her work. First Teal'c and his Jaffa friend fall, then Jack, then Daniel. The automatic laser defense system surrounding the stargate kills each one with brutal precision. Finally, Carter leaves her husband's side, grabs the blood-stained note from Jack's hand, and throws it through the wormhole just as she dies.
In the year 2001 (5.10 "2001"), SG-1's IDC is transmitted through an incoming wormhole, but all of SG-1 are present. They open the iris anyway, and out comes the note. General Hammond immediately has the planet's designation locked out of the dialing program. SG-1 meets the Aschen on the Volian homeworld and based on the fact that the Aschen do not have a DHD, the SGC knows that the Aschen can only dial to planets close to their own because they cannot compensate for stellar drift (1.02 "Children Of The Gods Part 2"). With that information in mind and the desire to determine the Aschen homeworld's identity (because the Aschen refused to divulge it), the SGC discovers that P4C-970 is one of four likely planets. Even though their suspicions are valid, the President of the United States told them to stop their investigation so that diplomatic relations could be established with this very advanced race. Daniel and Teal'c, however, do their own investigation and uncover the identity of the Aschen and their goal to wipe out the population of any planet in their confederation. Earth is spared from the Aschen.
Similar to the time travel scenerio of "1969", these two episodes have a future version of SG-1 changing their past in order to change the future. But, is that what really happened to the SG-1 of the year 2010? In the multiple realities theory, they still exist, with Joe mourning the loss of his wife and the world doomed. The timeline we follow with SG-1 from "2001", however, is the one altered by the receipt of the note and the preventing of the formation of the alliance with the Aschen. In the single timeline theory, there are branches which happen between the receipt of the note in 2001 and the sending of the note in 2010. The two futures, however, are so remarkably different, it is hard to predict that the timeline will ever reconverge.
8.19 "Moebius Part 1" and 8.20 "Moebius Part 2"
At the start of the episode, 8.19 "Moebius Part 1", Catherine Langford has died and Daniel inherits her collection. He finds reference to a Zero Point Module (ZPM) in a book which describes the worship rituals of the ancient Egyptians in 3000 B.C. Knowing that Ra was still on Earth in 3000 B.C., the team uses an Ancient time machine (discovered in the episode, 8.13 "It's Good To Be King") to go back in time 5000 years to retrieve the ZPM, hoping to power up Earth's defenses in the Antarctic as well as establish a stable wormhole to the Pegasus Galaxy where the Atlantis Expedition Team is stranded. Their time machine is discovered after they find the ZPM, so they decide to place the ZPM in a First Dynasty Tomb, which Daniel knew had been uncovered a month before their trip back in time, along with a video explaining that they might have messed up the timeline. They placed the ZPM into the tomb so their future selves will discover it and never decide to go back in time to retrieve it. They recorded the video so that whoever discovered it might know what the timeline was supposed to be and learn how to operate the stargate.
We then return to present day to see that the future has indeed been altered. The stargate was taken by Ra in his spaceship rather than being buried by the Egyptians in a rebellion and, therefore, there is no Stargate Program. Other than that, the same people exist, but they live very different lives because the stargate never influenced them. Daniel is still a Ph.D. who was shunned from the archeological community because of his theories concerning the pyramids, and has become a teacher of English as a second language. Carter is still a Ph.D. in astrophysics, but she never joined the Air Force, but instead she reviews other people's papers for scientific accuracy in the Department of Aerospace Research. Jack O'Neill is a retired Air Force colonel, who has no ambition other than running a touring/fishing boat. Teal'c is assumed to be living on Chulak as the Goa'uld System Lord Apophis' First Prime.
Brig. Gen. George Hammond sends Air Force personnel, lead by Maj. Paul Davis (sporting a mustache) and Maj. Samuels, to retrieve Daniel, Carter, and Jack. Daniel and Carter respond, but Jack refuses. Hammond shows the tape to them and immediately they go to work in carrying out the mission to fix the timeline. They meet with an alternate version of Dr. Rodney McKay who leads the investigation of the time machine left in Egypt from 5000 years ago. Daniel translates a tablet found by Dr. Langford in 1934 (rather than 1928) at the same site where the stargate had been before the timeline had been altered. This tablet, it appears, was chiseled by the time traveling Daniel Jackson, who told them where they would find the second stargate in Antarctica. Using seismic readings as a guide, Carter and Daniel help the Air Force uncover the stargate, thus establishing a Stargate Program. General Hammond, however, makes it clear that Daniel and Carter will not be part of the Program.
This story is then continued in the episode, 8.20 "Moebius Part 2". Jack O'Neill has changed his mind and decides to get involved with the mission. He joins up again with his old service buddy, Maj. Charles Kawalsky (who is still alive in this timeline because there was no Stargate Program and he did not get killed as in the episode, 1.03 "The Enemy Within"). Jack persuades Gen. Hammond to allow Daniel and Carter to go with them on the mission to Chulak to retrieve Teal'c. They use the DHD on the time machine's dashboard and fly the craft through the stargate to Chulak. There, they are taken captive and Apophis tortures Daniel with the ribbon device, not believing that they are from the Tau'ri. Daniel stubbornly resists the torture, so Apophis implants a Goa'uld symbiote in him to obtain the necessary information and sends Daniel back to his team as a spy. Teal'c is impressed with Daniel's strength and courage and decides to see the tape on which Teal'c describes the newly-formed Jaffa Nation. Teal'c decides to help, but is forced to kill Daniel. There is a firefight and only Jack, Carter, and Teal'c remain to go to Egypt of 5000 years ago.
Upon their arrival in the year 2995 B.C., they meet the time traveling Daniel, the only survivor of the original team. Jack, Carter, and Teal'c were executed for attempting to start the uprising to bury the stargate, a plan which was doomed to failure because they lacked the necessary numbers and Ra was still on the planet. Daniel was angry at his teammates for their actions, leaving him alone to fix the problem. When the alternate Jack, Carter, and Teal'c arrive, he realizes that the future had been impacted significantly. However, he had already started planning the rebellion once again and the alternates had come before Ra had left with the stargate, so there was still a chance that they could change events to correct the timeline.
Teal'c aids Daniel in the strategy of the rebellion, while Jack and Carter work on the cloaking device on the time machine. Each is successful and Ra's forces are overtaken and the Egyptians gain control of the stargate. The rebellion was a success, but the time machine was damaged. We're left thinking that the "original" Daniel and his alternate teammates are destined to live out the rest of their lives in the past.
Next, we're back in our own time and see that SG-1 has the ZPM and the tape. Comparing their events in history to the ones cited on the tape, they decide that there is no need to go back in time to fix the timeline. Then, they all go fishing at Jack's cabin, just as they had in the final scene in the episode, 8.18 "Threads". We are led to believe that the tomb with the ZPM and tape were discovered between Daniel's return from his second ascension and the team fishing trip to Jack's cabin. This tomb had been uncovered one month prior to the start of the events of "Moebius Part 1", so the assumption is that we have backed up a few weeks before Catherine Langford dies and the time traveling mission was undertaken. The timeline has been fixed, except, now Jack's lake has fish.
The viewer is now left with the question as to whether or not the SG-1 at the end of "Moebius Part 2" is the same SG-1 which was at the beginning of "Moebius Part 1". If one adheres to the multiple realities theory, then we can say that we are merely following the reality now that has come about by having a ZPM and tape in the tomb and everything else basically is the same. The realities split at some earlier event (whether it was the fish in the lake, or the opening of the tomb, or some other event). If one adheres to the single timeline theory, then they are the same SG-1, but the timeline stayed in a loop (similar to a "Moebius strip", thus the episodes' titles) and then came out of it once it was straightened out (i.e., no need to go back in time).
Additionally, since Catherine Langford's death came after the fishing trip in the timeline which included time travel, the question remains if she dies after the fishing trip which ends "Moebius Part 2" in the timeline where no time travel was necessary.
Episodes
Related Characters
- Jack O'Neill
- Dr. Daniel Jackson
- Samantha Carter
- Teal'c
- Gen. George Hammond
- Dr. Janet Fraiser
- Apophis
- Ambassador Joe Faxon
- Maj. Charles Kawalsky
- Dr. Rodney McKay
- Maj. Samuels
Related Articles
Keywords
Other
- 1.02 "Children Of The Gods Part 2"
- 1.03 "The Enemy Within"
- 1.20 "There But For The Grace Of God"
- 7.18 "Heroes Part 2"
- 8.13 "It's Good To Be King"
- 8.18 "Threads"
Further Reading
Actors
Various Versions Of Established Characters:
- Richard Dean Anderson as Jack O'Neill
- Michael Shanks as Daniel Jackson
- Amanda Tapping as Samantha Carter
- Christopher Judge as Teal'c
- Don S. Davis as Gen. George Hammond
- Teryl Rothery as Dr. Janet Fraiser
- Peter Williams as Apophis
- Christopher Cousins as Ambassador Joe Faxon
- Jay Acovone as Maj. Charles Kawalsky
- David Hewlett as Dr. Rodney McKay
- Robert Wisden as Maj. Samuels
2.21 "1969"
8.21 "Moebius Part 1"
- Jay Williams as Ra
--DeeKayP 20:01, 4 Mar 2005 (PST)