SG-1 Android Duplicates
Summary
On their mission to Altair (P3X-989), SG-1 was rendered unconscious by the sole survivor of the planet, an android named Harlan. Harlan made android duplicates of each member of the team and these androids had to adjust to a new life away from the SGC. Because their memories, feelings, and thought processes were duplicates of the original team's, however, these androids could not stop themselves from going out on missions just like they were still part of SG-1. The androids were created in the episode, 1.19 "Tin Man", and met their tragic, yet heroic, ends in the episode, 4.21 "Double Jeopardy".
Character Biographies
Android Jack O'Neill
"Somebody stole my life," was the reaction that Jack O'Neill had when he realized that he was the android duplicate of Col. Jack O'Neill, commanding officer of SG-1. He was angry at Harlan for making him and knew that he was doomed to stay on Altair in the underground facility where he was created because leaving the facility meant his team's death through loss of power.
It took a while for him to adjust to the idea that he could compute mathematical equations faster and jump down over twenty feet without any physical harm. He helped Harlan maintain the facility, knowing to do otherwise would have meant that his team would die, and that was not an option because he still felt reponsible for his team's safety.
When the androids realized what they were after returning to the SGC, Android Jack asked that General Hammond not send any more teams to check on their welfare. He felt that the risks were too great that another team would meet the same fate. Once they returned to Altair, the androids found out the truth: they were duplicates of the real SG-1, not "better" replacements. The androids stayed behind on Altair and Android Jack promised his organic original that he'd bury the stargate on Altair to prevent Harlan from creating further duplicates. They didn't bury the stargate, however, and it seems that Android Jack inherited the irreverence for orders that Col. Jack O'Neill often displayed.
The android team didn't take long to grow bored of the maintenance, and Android Carter created a portable power supply which gave the androids liberty to leave the facility for 48 hours. From that point on, they organized themselves into a duplicate SG-1 and started to go on missions, but limited themselves to being out to 24 hours. After they were past due, Harlan contacted the SGC to see if the original SG-1 could help find and return the androids.
The androids, except for Android Jack, were captured on the planet Juna (P3X-729). This planet had originally been under Heru'ur's rule, but SG-1 told the people of Juna that Heru'ur would not return (he was killed in the episode, 4.13 "Serpent's Venom") and that they would be safe if they buried their stargate. Unfortunately, Cronus decided to take Heru'ur's domain via spaceship and the people of Juna were forced into recognizing him as their new god.
Android Jack set about gathering information on how to help his teammates escape. He was befriended by one of the Juna warriors, Darien, after Darien witnessed Cronus' reaction to the fact that the androids were machines and not human when Darien was forced to kill Android Daniel as a sign of his loyalty. Darien felt that if Cronus were a real god, nothing would surprise him because he would know all.
General Hammond gave his permission for SG-1 to go to Juna to help. Daniel was on another mission, so it was only the three remaining members who went, instructing Harlan to remain behind at the SGC for his safety. The two Jacks did not get along in the least. They fought because the Android Jack had an attitude about being "faster, stronger, better" and Jack didn't like the idea that the android existed at all. They put these differences aside, however, in devising a plan to work with the Android Carter and Android Teal'c in overpowering Cronus.
Android Jack volunteered to be taken to the throne room as a captured prisoner being led by Darien. Once they were in the room, they started their attack to gain access to the ring transporter to get into Cronus' ship. Android Jack took several staff blasts and fell in the battle. His power ran out, however, before he could be repaired. His final words were to Jack, "Are we still so far from real to you?" to which Jack answered, "No. I guess not." Android Jack powered down after he concluded, "Then I believe we are done."
Android Daniel Jackson
Android Daniel inherited the fascination for new things and enthusiasm for knowledge from his original. He was overwhelmed with the idea of living thousands of years and seemed to take to the idea readily. He felt that he was indeed "better" than his organic self. Of all the androids, Android Daniel seemed to deviate from the original's personality the most, since he was very self-absorbed and did not seem at all concerned that he could no longer search for Sha're, since he didn't even mention it upon realizing what he was.
Android Daniel still had a need to share new experiences, however, so he was very eager to help Harlan maintain the facility. He was aware that his existence depended upon the power source housed in the underground facility. Harlan gave the androids knowledge of the facility's layout and operation, so Android Daniel was very technically oriented. He took a leadership position with the Android Carter when they were sent to manually relieve pressure on a cooling vent because the mechanism had rusted shut.
Android Daniel must have matured some as he lived in the facility, because when they were captured on Juna, he spoke as the team leader in Android Jack's absense. He also spoke as the team leader in their prison cell when he emphasized to Android Carter that they could not give their identities away. When the three were brought before Cronus, Cronus chose to have Android Daniel executed by one of the Juna warriors, Darien, as a demonstration of the warriors' loyalty because Darien was their leader. Cronus had his Jaffa place the attending Juna warriors under the threat of death if Darien did not comply. Android Jack was disguised as a warrior and Android Daniel recognized him. In one of the most emotional exchanges between these two characters ever witnessed in the four years that they had been together, Android Daniel silently told Android Jack not to attempt to rescue him because it would have meant the death of the warriors and possibly the rest of the android team. Although Android Daniel was self-absorbed to begin with, he finally developed what his original had had all along—courage. He gave a smile of forgiveness and understanding to Darien when Darien powered up the staff weapon and closed his eyes in submission as Darien took aim and fired.
Android Daniel's death revealed that the captured team were machines. Cronus' reaction upon seeing this was what shook Darien into the realization that these Goa'uld were not gods because Cronus was surprised. From this realization, Darien was able to lead his people to freedom from Cronus with the help of Jack, Carter, and Teal'c, along with their android duplicates.
Android Samantha Carter
Android Carter felt that she should be permitted to continue performing her duties as Capt. Samantha Carter of SG-1 after she realized that she was an android. At that point, she was not aware that she was a duplicate and not a replacement of the original organic Samantha Carter.
She seemed to be surpised and thrilled that she was able to compute mathematical equations quickly and accurately. After realizing she was a copy and met her organic original, she expressed extreme enthusiasm for the scientific implications of her existence.
Since Android Carter was the only female android, Harlan took a special interest in her. She was offended that she was singled out as a woman, something which the original Samantha Carter had to struggle with during her Air Force career. Android Jack had to take a commander's tone with her to prevent her from postering (something she did on their very first meeting in the episode, 1.01-1.02 "Children of the Gods").
Android Carter seemed to emphasize her science over her Air Force career as a member of the duplicate SG-1. She designed a portable power source for each android so that they could leave the underground facility for up to 48 hours. Once they knew they had this additional liberty, the duplicate SG-1 decided to go on missions just like their originals. They would always return after being away 24 hours, though, because of their power limitations. When they were overdue to return from their mission to the planet Juna, Harlan knew that they were in trouble.
Upon their capture, it was the Android Daniel who spoke as the team leader in Android Jack's absense. It might have been because of this that Cronus selected Android Daniel as the one to be executed first. Android Carter could not bear to look upon Android Daniel's death, something she knew he had just resigned himself to because the androids were able to communicate with each other through internal devices they held in their chests. These communication devices might have also been of Android Carter's design, although it was never stated.
After Android Daniel was executed, Cronus had one of his Goa'uld scientists, Ja'din, determine the androids' operation. Ja'din held Android Carter and Android Teal'c within small confinement areas encompassed by a shield. After Android Teal'c was removed from confinement in order to have an audience with Cronus and as Ja'din studied the decapitated remains of Android Daniel, Android Carter attempted to feed false information to her and tricked her into activating the self-destruct on the power supply to prevent tampering. The resulting explosion killed Ja'din and set Android Carter free.
Android Carter met Jack and Carter near a power panel and volunteered to pull out the crystals that controlled the massive doors which separated the pel'tak (bridge) from the remaining levels of the ship. She volunteered to pull these crystals out because Carter was unable to because of a force field protecting the panel. Android Carter had already been slightly damaged in the explosion of Android Daniel's power source and she quickly overloaded and drained her remaining power as she penetrated the force field to gain access to the crystals. She worked with extreme determination until she was successful with her task and then collapsed. Carter was touched by Android Carter's sacrifice, silently showing her sorrow at her duplicate's loss.
Android Teal'c
Harlan had to create two android duplicates of Teal'c. The first Android Teal'c was created when Harlan was not aware that he was a Jaffa who carried a symbiote. The duplicating machine attempted to combine the two personalities (Teal'c's and the symbiote's) into the android body. This duplicate malfunctioned and attacked Android Jack as he was doing urgent maintenance on a pressure build-up in the underground facility. Harlan disintegrated Android Teal'c with a small hand-held weapon.
It was during the creation of the second Android Teal'c that the rest of the androids discovered their nature. At the time, they had thought that they were replacements of the original SG-1 and that the organic versions of themselves had been destroyed. When they saw that there was another Android Teal'c being created, they realized that Harlan still had to have the originals in order to make a copy.
The second Android Teal'c was very much like his original: very quiet and very strong. He didn't carry a staff weapon with him on the mission to Juna, so it is possible that he was not able to find one for his use on the duplicate team's previous missions. Instead, he carried an automatic weapon which was probably easily manufactured by the androids. The duplicate SG-1 team had the memories of the originals, so they most likely had SGC-specific information available to them, including stargate addresses. Harlan also indicated that some of the synthetic Altairans left through the stargate, indicating that Harlan had access to additional stargate addresses.
However the team devised their designations, they knew that they could only go out for 24 hours, giving themselves another 24 for safe measure. After they were overdue from Juna, Harlan went to get help.
After witnessing the death of Android Daniel, Cronus ordered his Goa'uld scientist, Ja'din, to determine the operational capabilities of Android Carter and Android Teal'c. These two androids showed tremendous emotional attachment to each other, just like the originals. They protected each other by permitting Ja'din to inflict pain to prevent the other from being harmed. After Ja'din saw the emotional attachment the androids had for each other, she suggested to Cronus that he'd be better at obtaining the information from them than she. Cronus ordered that Android Teal'c be brought to him.
Cronus attempted to bargain with Android Teal'c, but all that Android Teal'c wanted was revenge for the death of this father by Cronus' hands (this was revealed in the episode, 3.03 "Fair Game", and the manner of his death was shown in the episode, 4.04 "Crossroads"). He was able to overpower a Jaffa in the room and point his staff weapon on Cronus. They battled one another, but soon Cronus had the upper hand. When Android Carter met up with SG-1, she told them that Android Teal'c was in trouble and Teal'c went to the pel'tak to aid in his rescue. Cronus was able to bring down Android Teal'c and then he went to work on Teal'c, thrusting his hand into Teal'c's symbiote pouch, just as he had with Teal'c's father. With the last power that he had, Android Teal'c was able to reach a staff weapon and fire three times into Cronus' back. His last words to Teal'c were, "For our father."
Episodes
Related Characters
- Col. Jack O'Neill
- Dr. Daniel Jackson
- Maj. Samantha Carter
- Teal'c
- Gen. George Hammond
- Cronus
- Darien
- Harlan
- Heru'ur
- Ja'din
- Sha're
Related Articles
Keywords
Other
- 1.01 "Children Of The Gods Part 1"
- 1.02 "Children Of The Gods Part 2"
- 3.03 "Fair Game"
- 4.04 "Crossroads"
- 4.13 "Serpent's Venom"
Actors
- Richard Dean Anderson as the Android Jack O'Neill
- Michael Shanks as the Android Daniel Jackson
- Amanda Tapping as the Android Samantha Carter
- Christopher Judge as the Android Teal'c
--DeeKayP 14:50, 1 Dec 2004 (PST)