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128-412: " Air " is the three-part opening episode of the military science fiction television series Stargate Universe . The first two parts aired on Syfy in the United States on October 2, 2009, while the third part aired on October 9. In Canada, SPACE aired the first two in tandem with Syfy. Sky1 broadcast the first two parts on October 6, and the third on October 13, whilst Sci Fi Australia aired

256-578: A Strategic Defense Initiative in which satellites would be set up to shoot at nuclear missiles. The two authors were Larry Niven , the author of the Ringworld series, and Jerry Pournelle . Along with like-minded colleagues, they formed a committee to lobby the United States on space issues and influence Reagan's space policies. Pournelle advocated a "robust, technocratic military state". In addition to Pournelle's science fiction writing, he wrote

384-418: A normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the premiere has received a "generally favorable" score of 61, based on 9 reviews. In all three cases the film ranks lowest in the series. Joseph Dilworth Jr. of Pop Culture Zoo praised the premiere of Stargate Universe , stating that it "feels less like a weekly TV series and much more like the beginning of a twenty part long form story," and

512-457: A "more disciplined and more realistic notion of the kind of armies which might fight interplanetary and interstellar wars, and the kinds of weapons they might use". In many stories, the usage or advancement of a specific technology plays a role in advancing the plot, such as deploying a new weapon or spaceship. Some works draw heavy parallels to human history and how a scientific breakthrough or new military doctrine can significantly change how war

640-556: A "paper for the Air Force on stability's role in national security". President Reagan read the space advice that Niven, Pournelle, and their colleagues prepared, which influenced Reagan's 1983 Strategic Defense Initiative . "Niven and Pournelle saw an opportunity to shape the great void in their political image, and Reagan viewed space as yet another tool to defend America against the communist superpower...". Science fiction authors such as Arthur C. Clarke and Isaac Asimov criticized

768-539: A Dramatic Series", and James Bamford for "Best Stunt Coordination in a Dramatic Series." Mark Savela and the special effects team won the Leo Award for "Best Visual Effects in a Dramatic Series" for their work in the episodes. In July 2010, the visual effects team were nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Visual Effects , along with " Space " for the upcoming 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards . Military science fiction A detailed description of

896-549: A Dream fame made a "pivotal" guest appearance as Senator Alan Armstrong, father of series regular, Chloe Armstrong (Elyse Levesque). Another guest star is Ona Grauer , previously known for playing the Ancient Ayiana in Stargate SG-1 's " Frozen " and Stargate Atlantis 's " Rising ". "Air" was directed by Andy Mikita . When filming the first three episodes, Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper decided to hire

1024-531: A balance in the interaction between the explorers from Earth and advanced races (of which there were only few in the story) so that alliances could be developed where the advanced races do not give Earth all their technology and knowledge. Stargate SG-1 emphasized its present-day-Earth story frame by frequently referencing popular culture , like The X-Files and Buffy the Vampire Slayer had done before. According to one critic in 1997, Stargate SG-1

1152-609: A captain, and are armed with semi-automatic rifles . Eventually, as science fiction became an established and separate genre, military science fiction established itself as a subgenre. One such work is H. Beam Piper 's Uller Uprising (1952) (based on the events of the Sepoy Mutiny ). Robert A. Heinlein's Starship Troopers (1959) is another work of military science fiction, along with Gordon Dickson 's Dorsai (1960), and these are thought to be mostly responsible for popularizing this subgenre's popularity among young readers of

1280-460: A desert planet" in "Air (Part 3)". The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette summarized their review by saying that, "[g]iven time, Stargate Universe may become worth watching if it develops its characters and continues to mine its premise for stories." David Hinckley, a reviewer from The New York Daily News gave the episodes four-out-of-five stars, saying that "Eli's not the only one playing a high-stakes game here." Among reviewers who were negative towards

1408-480: A form of faster-than-light travel in order to facilitate the enormous scale of interstellar war . The long spans of time (e.g., decades or centuries) required for human soldiers to travel interstellar distances, even at relativistic speeds, and the consequences for the characters, is a dilemma examined by authors such as Joe Haldeman and Alastair Reynolds . Other writers such as Larry Niven have created plausible interplanetary conflict based on human colonization of

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1536-588: A fundamental difference in plot structure and set design from other series. There is a disjunction between politics on Earth and the realities of fighting an interstellar war. The Stargate also helps to speed up the exposition of the setting. The race of the Ancients is first mentioned in the Stargate SG-1 season 2 episode " The Fifth Race " as the original builders of the Stargate network and members of

1664-527: A future mercenary tank regiment . Drake's series which "helped initiate a fashion for sf about mercenaries", including The Warrior's Apprentice (1986) by Lois McMaster Bujold . A twist was introduced in Harry Turtledove 's Worldwar series depicting an alternate history in which WWII is disrupted by extraterrestrials invading Earth in 1942, forcing humans to stop fighting each other and unite against this common enemy. Turtledove depicts

1792-453: A galactic empire is sometimes a "core world," such as a planet relatively near a galaxy's centrally-located supermassive black hole, which has advanced considerably in science and technology compared to current human civilization. Characterizations of these empires can vary wildly from malevolent forces that attack sympathetic victims, to apathetic or amoral bureaucracies, to more reasonable entities focused on social progress. A writer may posit

1920-459: A genetic standpoint and an evolutionary standpoint, they have shown the most proclivity in utilizing Ancient technology when they encounter it. For the first six seasons of Stargate SG-1 , the ascended Ancients maintain a strict rule of noninterference in mortal affairs of the material galaxy, and the interactions between humans of Earth and the Ancients are restricted to the outcast Ancient characters Oma Desala and Orlin . The Ancients' ascension

2048-481: A groundbreaking discovery they made pertaining to the origins of the universe. The Destiny itself was intended to follow a pre-programmed course to explore these galaxies, but was left uncrewed and lost at the time of the Ancients' ascension . The series starts when a team of soldiers and scientists from Earth step through the Stargate to find the Destiny and are unable to return to Earth. The show focuses mostly on

2176-495: A higher plane of existence with an increased power and capacity for learning. While they are no longer physically present in the universe, their highly advanced technology—including the Stargate—remains behind, all of which has shown to be almost entirely resilient to the decay of time, and has also proven to be the most advanced technology anyone has ever encountered. With humans from Earth as their closest descendants both from

2304-408: A humanoid's neck and wrap around the spinal column. The Goa'uld parasite (generally referred to as a "symbiote") then takes control of its host's body and mind, while providing longevity and perfect health. The Goa'uld are branded as evil by their pretending to be gods and forcing people to submit to their quasi-religious pronouncements. The most powerful Goa'uld in the galaxy are collectively known as

2432-458: A law enforcement setting. Some examples include Richard Morgan 's Takashi Kovacs book such as Altered Carbon (2002) and Elizabeth Bear 's Jenny Casey books, such as Hammered (2004). Precursors for military science fiction can be found in "future war" stories dating back at least to George Chesney 's story " The Battle of Dorking " (1871). Written just after the Prussian victory in

2560-530: A military science fiction story can speculate about war in the future, in space, or involving space travel, or the effects of such a war on humans; at the other, a story with a fictional military plot may have relatively superficial science fictional elements. The term "military space opera" may occasionally denote this latter style, as used for example by critic Sylvia Kelso when describing Lois McMaster Bujold 's Vorkosigan Saga . Examples that feature aspects of both military science fiction and space opera include

2688-601: A movie script based on the fictional television series " Wormhole X-Treme! ", a parody of Stargate SG-1 set in the Stargate SG-1 universe. The Furlings were depicted as Ewok -like, or koala-like creatures that are destroyed by the Goa'uld soon after making contact with SG-1. The Goa ' uld are the primary adversaries in Stargate SG-1 from seasons 1 to 8. Stargate SG-1 creators Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner established in SG-1 ' s 1997 pilot episode " Children of

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2816-458: A new direction. Like the first two series in the franchise, Stargate Universe takes place during the present time, not in the distant future. Unlike SG-1 and Atlantis , no single dominant villain race is featured. The show is set on the Ancient ship Destiny , which is established as a part of an Ancient experiment to seed the universe with Stargates millions of years ago and investigate

2944-474: A priest he knew on Earth. Meanwhile, the cloud moves up to him and condenses into water, waking him. Realizing what he's found, Scott shovels as much of the lime as possible into his bag and makes his way to the Gate. Greer, having set out to look for him, finds him along the way and helps carry the lime. Wallace sticks his arm into the wormhole to delay the countdown. The team returns with the lime successfully, which

3072-567: A replacement drug called Tretonin. Ordinary Jaffa bear a black tattoo symbol of their Goa'uld master's insignia on their foreheads, and the highest-ranking Jaffa in the service of a Goa'uld is known as the First Prime , who has the symbol branded in gold. SG-1 encounters three notable Jaffa factions: the all-female Hak'tyl ("liberation") led by Ishta in season 7's " Birthright ", the Ancient -worshipping Sodan in season 9's " Babylon ", and

3200-465: A space colony requiring defense against attack out on the frontier. Gene Roddenberry described Star Trek: The Original Series as a Space Western (or more poetically, as " Wagon Train to the stars"). The TV series Firefly and its cinematic follow-up Serenity literalized the Western aspects of the space Western subgenre as popularized by Star Trek : it features frontier towns, horses, and

3328-452: A subject were collected and marketed as such. The series of anthologies with the group title There Will be War edited by Pournelle and John F. Carr (nine volumes from 1983 through 1990) helped keep the category active, and encouraged new writers to add to it. David Drake wrote stories about future mercenaries, including the Hammer's Slammers series (1979), which follows the career of

3456-518: A very confused pop-cultural salad, randomly tossed together out of the vegetable bins of sci-fi, American military triumphalism, and a lot of Orientalizing Egyptomania. Yet the film was a lasting hit". Ultimately, he concludes that Stargate "serves as a neo-mythology able to re-enchant the world, to present an attractive anti-authoritarian option for identity formation and yet functionally equivalent to religion (according to traditional modern definitions) in its creationist tenet". Angela Ndalianis examines

3584-461: A visual style evocative of classic John Ford Westerns. Worlds that have been terraformed may be depicted as presenting similar challenges as that of a frontier settlement in a classic Western. Six-shooters and horses may be replaced by ray guns and rockets. A "thematic subdivision" of MSF are works where "ex-military protagonists [are] drawing on their battle experience for tough and violent operations in (more or less) civilian life", typically in

3712-411: Is also described as a cross between Star Trek: Voyager , Battlestar Galactica and Firefly , though the series seems to be a spiritual successor to Battlestar . Dilworth also praised the cast, stating it as "one of the finest ensemble casts I've seen in a long time." Curt Wagner of Chicago Now rated the episode 4 stars out of four, stating that it shares the optimism of Star Trek: Voyager , and

3840-421: Is encouraged by O'Neill to repair the ship; in spite of his protests that their expedition is not cut out for it, O'Neill insists that no one really is ready for their kind of work. In his search for the lime, Scott discovers a strange, swirling cloud of dust that absorbs moisture. He follows it until he collapses in front of a lake bed. He has a brief hallucination where he engages in a spiritual conversation with

3968-503: Is fairly static, and weapons that would be familiar to present-day soldiers are used, but other aspects of society have changed. Technology may not be emphasized in such stories as much as other aspects of the characters' military lives, cultures, or societies. For example, women may be accepted as equal partners for combat roles, or preferred over men. When the "extravagan[t]" depictions of war in space operas faded along with pulp fiction more generally, military science fiction developed with

Air (Stargate Universe) - Misplaced Pages Continue

4096-427: Is fought, the outcome of a battle, and the fortunes of the combatants. Many works explore how human progress, discovery, and suffering affect military doctrine or battle, and how the protagonists and antagonists reflect on and adapt to such changes. Many authors have either used a galaxy-spanning fictional empire as a background for the story, or have explored the growth and/or decline of such an empire. The capital of

4224-411: Is grittier, darker and psychologically deeper than previous versions. But so far, it's also a lot less fun." While negative towards the show, she called Robert Carlyle an "excellent" actor. The Hollywood Reporter noted a lack of "intelligent" and "surprising stories" and was overall negative towards Stargate Universe , and even more so on the previous Stargate franchise releases. In January 2010,

4352-437: Is much bigger than that of the whole Pegasus Galaxy. This can only be achieved either through the Stargate or by getting more advanced Hyper drive technology, both of which are present in the city of Atlantis. Stargate Universe was conceived as "a completely separate, third entity" in the live-action Stargate franchise. Although it was firmly entrenched in pre-established Stargate mythology, Stargate Universe diverged in

4480-489: Is not necessarily set in outer space or on multiple worlds, as in space opera and the space Western . Both military science fiction and the space Western may consider an interstellar war and oppression by a galactic empire as the story's backdrop. They may focus on a lone gunslinger , soldier, or veteran in a futuristic space frontier setting . Western elements and conventions in military science fiction may be explicit, such as cowboys in outer space, or more subtle, as in

4608-561: Is science fiction which is written about a military situation with a fundamental understanding of how military lifestyles and characters differ from civilian lifestyles and characters. It is science fiction which attempts to realistically portray the military within a science-fiction context. It is not 'bug shoots'. It is about human beings, and members of other species, caught up in warfare and carnage. It isn't an excuse for simplistic solutions to problems. In 1980 and 1981, two science fiction authors inspired President Ronald Reagan 's vision for

4736-503: Is used to repair the CO 2 scrubbers. In the end, a recovering Scott tells Chloe that his parents and the priest died when he was young, and that the best way to deal with the grief is to keep moving forward. As everyone starts to breathe easier, a ship detaches itself from the Destiny . "Air" first surfaced in December 2008 as a working title for the opening episode of Universe , where it

4864-646: The Battlestar Galactica franchise and Robert A. Heinlein 's 1959 novel Starship Troopers . A key distinction of military science fiction from space opera is that space operas focus more on adventurous stories and melodrama, while military science fiction focuses more on warfare and technical aspects. The principal characters in a space opera are also not military personnel, but civilians or paramilitary . Stories in both subgenres often concern an interstellar war in which humans fight themselves and/or nonhuman entities. Military science fiction, however,

4992-455: The Ancients , an advanced race of humans from another galaxy who lived on Earth until approximately 10,000 years ago. A Stargate is a device that allows practical, rapid travel between two distant locations. The first Stargate appears in the 1994 film Stargate , and subsequently Stargate SG-1 and its spin-offs. In these productions, the Stargate functions as a plot generator , allowing

5120-554: The Franco-Prussian War , it describes an invasion of Britain by a German-speaking country in which the Royal Navy is destroyed by a futuristic wonder-weapon ("fatal engines"). Other works of military science fiction followed, including H.G. Wells 's " The Land Ironclads ". It described tank-like "land ironclads ," 80-to-100-foot-long (24 to 30 m) armoured fighting vehicles that carry riflemen, engineers, and

5248-463: The Hammond which is crewed by Colonel Samantha Carter ( Amanda Tapping ) and a squadron of F-302s led by Colonel Telford battle the enemy. Rush, desperate to see his project succeed, enlists Wallace's aid in figuring out what went wrong. Wallace suggests that the final symbol of the address is wrong, and that they should use the symbol for Earth. Rush aborts the dialing sequence to Earth, arguing that

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5376-605: The Jaffa to serve as soldiers and as incubators for their young via an abdominal pouch. The story of the Jaffa is primarily told through the main character Teal'c . The Jaffa's look in the series was copied from the Egyptian look of Ra from the film. The Jaffa rely on the symbiotes for their immune system or will die a slow and painful death that can only be avoided by either acquiring a new symbiote or by lifelong regular injections of

5504-497: The Ori galaxy, where human worship enhances the power of the Ori. Scholars have remarked on the multiple borrowings of real-world mythology to provide Stargate settings. Mariella Scerri and David Zammit note numerous such uses in Stargate. Frederic Krueger analyses the use of Ancient Egyptian mythology , and concludes: "From a critical standpoint, Stargate gives the initial impression of

5632-645: The Ori -worshipping Illac Renin (meaning "Kingdom of the Path") in season 10's " Talion ". The planet Dakara , a holy ground for the Goa'uld and Jaffa alike, is the turning point in the Goa'uld–Jaffa power struggle in season 8's " Reckoning "/" Threads ": It is where the Ancients first landed in the Milky Way Galaxy after fleeing the Alteran Galaxy and later built a powerful device, capable of destroying existing life or creating it where there

5760-619: The Stargate film. The Stargate device sets apart SG-1 from other science fiction shows by allowing modern-day people to travel to other planets in an instant, although scholar Dave Hipple argued that SG-1 "also deploys [science fiction] stereotypes both to acknowledge forebears and to position itself as a deserving heir". With the help of the central Stargate device, the premise of Stargate SG-1 combines ancient cultures, present-day political and social concerns, aliens and advanced technologies. Near-instantaneous interplanetary travel allows

5888-714: The Stargate universe are populated by humans, there was once an Alliance of four great races. In season 2's " The Fifth Race ", the Asgard tell Jack O'Neill that this strategic alliance had consisted of the Ancients , the Asgard, the Furlings, and the Nox, and that the humans from Earth had taken the first steps towards becoming "the Fifth Race". (This comes full circle in the Stargate SG-1 finale " Unending ", when Thor declares

6016-426: The Stargate . Species established early on in the franchise recur throughout, with one adversary often dominating a particular story arc, which can continue across several seasons. In addition to a diversity of alien life , the Stargate universe includes an abundance of humans who, prior to the events depicted in the various Stargate fictional vehicles, have been scattered across the cosmos by advanced aliens. Some of

6144-699: The System Lords . The fictional backstory is established over the course of the series. In season 4's " The First Ones ", it is stated that the Goa'uld evolved on the planet P3X-888, where there are still populations of primitive Goa'uld. Their original hosts were the Unas (meaning "First Ones"), a race of large and primitive humanoids also native to the planet and whom SG-1 had first encountered in season 1's " Thor's Hammer ". The Goa'uld then found and ruled over Earth for thousands of years, masquerading as gods from ancient mythologies and transplanting humans throughout

6272-653: The asteroid belt and outer planets by means of technologies utilizing the laws of physics as currently understood. Several subsets of military science fiction share characteristics of the space opera subgenre, concentrating on large-scale space battles with futuristic weapons in an interstellar war . Many stories can be considered to be in one or both the military science fiction and space opera subgenres, such as The Sten Chronicles by Allan Cole and Chris Bunch , Ender's Game series by Orson Scott Card , Honorverse by David Weber , Deathstalker by Simon R. Green , and Armor by John Steakley. At one extreme,

6400-523: The 18-49 demographic. Part 3 gathered 2.4 million viewers, a small increase from the season premiere. In both cases, the ratings were higher than Fox's Dollhouse , which aired on the same time slot. Plus the 7 DVR, the second part reached a household rating of 2.1, totalling 2.99 million viewers, including 1.7 million Adults 18-49 and 1.85 million Adults 25–54. This makes "Air" the most viewed Stargate episode since March 2005. After its premiere in Canada ,

6528-462: The Ancient mythos further. A benevolent race that, according to the mythology of Stargate , gave rise to Norse mythology on Earth and inspired accounts of the Roswell Greys . The Asgard can no longer reproduce and therefore perpetuate themselves by transferring their minds into new cloned bodies. Extremely advanced technologically, the threat of their intervention protects many planets in

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6656-499: The Director of Photography from The Shield . The shooting for the episode started on February 18, 2009. The show is filmed on stages 2, 4 ( Destiny set) and 5 (Icarus Base set) at The Bridge Studios Previous franchise series Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis were filmed on stage 5 and 6. "Air (Part 3)" was filmed in and around Alamogordo, New Mexico from late April through early May 2009. A couple of scenes were deleted from

6784-666: The Earth expedition arrives. The existence of the Wraith is restricted to waking en masse every few centuries to replenish their health by galaxy-wide abductions of humans called "cullings", but the arrival of the Atlantis Expedition in the Pegasus Galaxy in the pilot episode " Rising " leads to the Wraith waking prematurely from their hibernation. To sate their hunger, the Wraith try to get to Earth whose population

6912-426: The Goa'uld had transplanted maintain much of their original Earth culture, and Stargate SG-1 does not equate civilization with technology like many other sci-fi shows do. Newly encountered races or visited planets are integrated into the mythology, although plotlines of individual episodes are often new, self-standing and accessible for new audiences, giving a compelling internal coherence. The writers had to strike

7040-442: The Goa'uld transplanted humans from Earth to other planets for slave labor. Many of these populations were abandoned, often when deposits of the fictional precious mineral naquadah were exhausted, and subsequently developed their own unique societies. Some of these extraterrestrial human civilizations are shown to have become much more technologically advanced than those on Earth, the in-show rationale being that they never suffered

7168-480: The Goa'uld, including a floating city. As they have the ability to render themselves and other objects invisible and intangible, as well as the ability to resurrect the dead, they never need to fight. The Nox also appear in " Enigma " and " Pretense ". However, Stargate SG-1 revealed virtually nothing about the Furlings, beside making them the story backdrop of an abandoned site in season 6's " Paradise Lost ". Furling skeletons were originally planned to be featured in

7296-635: The Gods " that the film's unnamed alien race and the Goa'uld are the same. As such, the look of the series' Goa'uld, including the early archvillain Apophis , was based on Ra in the feature film. The Goa'uld are introduced as the first and most prominent alien race in the Milky Way, and are also one of the few nonhumanoid species to appear in the early seasons of the series. They are a parasitic species that resemble finned snakes, which can burrow themselves into

7424-455: The Gods ", which takes place a year after the film, Stargate Command is established in response to an attack by the Goa'uld Apophis , and given the mandate to explore other worlds and obtain technologies that can be used to defend Earth. They encounter other races, such as the Asgard , who masquerade as Norse gods . Stargate SG-1 further extended the backstory of Earth humans by introducing

7552-475: The Icarus program, which is attempting to dial a nine-chevron address with the Stargate . Wallace's solution is the key to controlling the power levels for the Gate. He is taken aboard the Hammond , an Earth Daedalus -class starship, to be taken to the planet where Icarus is set up. During the journey, he meets Chloe Armstrong ( Elyse Levesque ), daughter of Senator Alan Armstrong ( Christopher McDonald ). At

7680-458: The Milky Way, including Earth, from Goa'uld attack. They also provide much assistance to Earth in the way of technology, equipment, and expertise. Their main adversary in Stargate SG-1 are the mechanical Replicators , against which they enlist the aid of SG-1 on several occasions. The entire Asgard civilization chooses to self-destruct in " Unending ", due to the degenerative effects of repeated cloning. A small rogue colony of Asgard, known as

7808-480: The Ori do not interfere directly in the mortal plane. Instead, they use humans called Priors , which they artificially evolve so that they are one step from Ascension, giving the Priors godlike powers. Because the Ori have worshipers across the entire home galaxy of the Ancients, and use their knowledge to spread, they are nearly unstoppable. For example: Ori warships, built using conventional means while operated through

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7936-585: The Pegasus Galaxy. The story arc of Stargate Atlantis begins in the season 6 finale of Stargate SG-1 , " Full Circle ", where Daniel Jackson first mentions the Lost City of the Ancients. The search for the Lost City continues through SG-1 ' season 7 with the aim to find powerful weapons, and ends with an Ancient outpost found in Antarctica in the season 7 finale " Lost City ". In SG-1 ' s season 8 premiere " New Order ", Daniel Jackson discovers

8064-645: The Pegasus galaxy, but rarely interbred with them. As explained in season 1's " The Defiant One ", the Wraith drove the Ancients from their holdings until only Atlantis was left, defended by its powerful shield and a network of armed satellites. The Atlantis Expedition learn during their arrival in Atlantis in "Rising" that the Ancients submerged the city in Lantea's ocean to evade detection by the Wraith and returned via stargate to Earth, where survivor recollections formed

8192-484: The Stargate correspond to constellations and serve to map out coordinates for various destination planets and other locations in space. A typical Stargate measures 6.7 m (22 ft) in diameter, weighs 29,000 kg (64,000 lb), and is made of the fictional heavy mineral "naqahdah". The Stargates were created millions of years ago by an alien race known as the Ancients ; their modern history begins when Egyptologist Daniel Jackson deciphers their workings in

8320-629: The Stargate franchise, even if they are transformed to fit sci-fi parameters." Frederic Krueger notes the re-emergence of the Ancient Astronaut Discourse (AAD) in the 1990s, and points to "the continuous mutual influence between the AAD and popular culture, exemplified via the rather spectacular case of Stargate". For example, an origin theory for human populations shown to inhabit the Milky Way galaxy in Stargate SG-1 holds that

8448-537: The Strategic Defense Initiative. After the 9/11 terrorism attacks, a group of sci-fi authors called Sigma, including Pournelle and Niven, advised the "Department of Homeland Security on technological strategies for defeating terrorist threats." In 2021, Worldcrunch reported that the French military has hired fiction writers to develop futuristic warfare scenarios, including situations that

8576-541: The Vanir, still exist in the Pegasus galaxy. They were able to slow cloning's negative side effects by experimenting on humans. Stargate SG-1 takes place mostly in the Milky Way galaxy. Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner tried to stay true to the feature film, but also wanted Stargate SG-1 to be unique in its own way. Stargate SG-1 gradually evolved away from the basic premise of the film and developed its own unique mythological superstructure. Stargate SG-1 elaborated on

8704-569: The Vietnam War's influence can be seen indirectly in novels such as Joe Haldeman 's The Forever War (published in Analog over 1972–1975) and Lucius Shepard 's Life During Wartime (1987). The Vietnam War resulted in veterans with combat experience deciding to write science fiction, including Joe Haldeman and David Drake . Throughout the 1970s, works such as Haldeman's The Forever War and Drake's Hammer's Slammers helped increase

8832-468: The Wraith evolved in the Pegasus galaxy after a human population seeded by the Ancients was fed upon by an insect called the irratus bug, which has the ability to draw upon a human's life to heal itself. As they fed, the bugs incorporated human DNA into themselves, giving rise to the Wraith. The Wraith have destroyed any civilizations with the potential to threaten their dominance, and few human races in Pegasus surpass Earth in technological advancement when

8960-496: The actual outtake, the two most notable being a scene with Eli Wallace ( David Blue ) on the desert planet and a flashbacks scene featuring Chloe Armstrong and her mother. The game Wallace played when solving the puzzle was a preview shot of Stargate Worlds , a massively multiplayer online role-playing game based on the Stargate franchise . The game was referenced throughout the pilot. The announcement of Stargate Worlds marked

9088-438: The author can extrapolate what might have occurred. Traditional military values of courage under fire, sense of duty, honor, sacrifice, loyalty, and camaraderie are often emphasized. The action is typically described from the point of view of a soldier in a science fictional setting of or near battle . Typically, the technology is more advanced than that of the present and described in detail. In some stories, however, technology

9216-497: The backstory of Atlantis: The city was built by the Ancients millions of years ago, originally as a central outpost in prehistoric Antarctica, until an unexplained crisis—involving a virulent plague—forced them to relocate the city to the planet Lantea in the Pegasus Galaxy via intergalactic hyperdrive engines. The Ancients (known as "Ancestors" to the denizens of Pegasus, and "Lanteans" to the Wraith) seeded several human populations in

9344-536: The basis for the ancient Greek accounts of Lost City of Atlantis . In the Atlantis series finale " Enemy at the Gate ", Atlantis returns to Earth and lands in the Pacific Ocean near San Francisco . The producers intended the city of Atlantis to be the size of Manhattan . Many sets used for Atlantis are part of a large sound stage that was built for almost US$ 2 million. This stage is used for rooms like

9472-405: The brig, several balconies, and other interior parts of Atlantis. Green screens were used if an outdoor view was required in an episode. According to digital effects artist Bruce Woloshyn, the series' original CGI model of the city of Atlantis was over four million polygons, which was feature film in size. This allows the city model to still look good and detailed in extreme close view. Since most of

9600-504: The city is modelled rather than textured, the details appear more realistic when the virtual camera revolves around the city model. The Wraith are the main antagonists in Stargate Atlantis and the dominant species in the Pegasus Galaxy. They are biologically immortal hive-based humanoids who maintain the human worlds of the Pegasus Galaxy as livestock to feed on their "life-force". As established in season 1's " The Gift ",

9728-566: The conflict, belligerents (which may involve extraterrestrials), tactics and weapons used for it, and the role of a military service and the individual members of that military organization form the basis for a typical work of military science fiction. The stories often use features of actual past or current Earth conflicts, with countries being replaced by planets or galaxies with similar characteristics, battleships replaced by space battleships, small arms and artillery replaced by lasers, soldiers replaced by space marines, and certain events changed so

9856-471: The end of which the Destiny will continue on its journey automatically. On the desert planet, the search begins for a suitable source of lime to filter the air on Destiny . The sand itself has a small concentration of calcite , but not enough to be useful, so the team starts looking for a dry lake bed, which should have heavy deposits of lime. The group splits into two: Rush, Scott and Ronald Greer ( Jamil Walker Smith ) form one group, while Wallace leads

9984-442: The energy release from the exploding planet could follow them through the Gate, and tests the theory, which succeeds. With the planet's unstable core about to go critical and lacking any other means of escape, the remaining survivors in the base (roughly 80 people) are forced to risk heading to an unknown destination. The planet explodes shortly after everyone is evacuated, destroying the three Ha'tak vessels. The Hammond survives, but

10112-413: The episode four-and-a-half stars out of 5, saying Universe accomplishes what Stargate Atlantis was not able to, and said it was "exceptionally well made" compared to other shows. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette both praised the show, calling it "intriguing", for not abandoning its premise as Star Trek: Voyager did and criticized it by pointing out that the characters spend "far too much time wandering

10240-467: The episode, but the production of such proved to be too expensive. Jack O'Neill concludes that the Furlings must be cute and cuddly creatures, based solely on their name. In " Citizen Joe ", another character equates the Furlings to Ewoks based on their name. The length of time that the Furling nature remained a mystery in the series turned into a running gag . When Executive Producer Robert C. Cooper

10368-402: The episodes were nominated for a Visual Effects Society Award for "Outstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast Series", against Battlestar Galactica , V , Defying Gravity and Fringe . They were also nominated for four Leo Awards in 2010; one resulted in a win. Mike Banas was nominated for "Best Picture Editing for a Dramatic Series", James C. D. Robbins for "Best Production Design in

10496-400: The events of the film Dr. Daniel Jackson deciphers the workings of the Stargate and a team is sent through to the planet on the other side. Stargate SG-1 resumes the story of the film, but establishes that Ra was one of many parasitic Goa'uld , aliens who identify as Earth deities to various primitive human communities on planets throughout the Milky Way. In its pilot episode " Children of

10624-414: The expedition, though the others are not quick to believe him. Meanwhile, the ship, having suffered millennia of wear and tear, has a failing life support system and an inadequately sealed hull breach in one of the shuttles, which can be sealed only from inside the shuttle. Senator Armstrong learns of this and, already badly injured, sacrifices his life to seal the shuttle off and buy the team time. However,

10752-428: The fate of those in the base is a mystery to Stargate Command. The unlikely expedition team ends up on the Destiny , an Ancient starship located billions of light-years from Earth. The ship jumps to FTL shortly after the Stargate shuts down. Rush uses an Ancient communication device to contact Stargate command, taking control of Bill Lee ( Bill Dow ). When he returns, Rush claims that O'Neill put him in charge of

10880-719: The film's Egyptian hybrid mythology and mixed in other historical mythologies, coming up with a mythological superstructure that explains the existence of all of the other mythologies in the overarching Stargate narrative. The series expands upon Egyptian mythology (notably the Egyptian gods Apep /Apophis, and Anubis as Goa'uld villains ), Norse mythology (notably the god Thor as an Asgard ally ), Arthurian legend (notably Merlin as an Ancient ally ), and many other mythologies like Greek and Roman mythology . SG-1 does not introduce new alien races as often as some other science fiction television series. Most civilizations that

11008-412: The first bit of news published on the game's official website since May 26, 2009. The first two parts received a total household rating of 1.7, which represents 2.35 million viewers on Syfy , which was the best franchise's season premiere since the second season premiere of Stargate Atlantis . Among the figures, 1.32 million were viewed by adults in the 25-54 age demographic, and 1.12 million among

11136-531: The first two parts were seen by 565,000, which made it SPACE 's most viewed single episode in its run. This also made Stargate Universe the number 1 non-sports speciality program of the day. Including the ratings from two additional airings the following day also totalled the ratings up to 2.3 million, comparable to the US release. In the United Kingdom , the first part was seen by 1.165 million viewers, while

11264-429: The former Alliance of four great races . They were considered humanity's predecessors, originally establishing Earth as their homeworld after they migrated to the Milky Way and having seeded multiple galaxies to allow life to evolve on uninhabited worlds. At the time that the Stargate franchise takes place, the Ancients have long since "ascended", i.e. they shed their physical bodies and live eternally as pure energy on

11392-478: The galaxy to serve as slaves and hosts. A faction of Goa'uld symbiotes named the Tok'ra (meaning "against Ra "), whom SG-1 first encounter in season 2's " The Tok'ra " and become close allies with, formed in opposition to the Goa'uld culturally and militarily millennia ago to live in true symbiosis with their hosts, both beings sharing the body equally and benefiting from each other. The Goa'uld modified humans to create

11520-678: The gap is not too wide for the humans to bridge. For example, the invaders have more advanced tanks, but the German Wehrmacht's tank crews facing them – a major theme in the series – are more skilled and far more experienced. The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction lists three notable women authors of MSF: Lois McMaster Bujold ; Elizabeth Moon (particularly her Familias Regnant stories such as Hunting Party (1993)), and Karen Traviss . Several authors have presented stories with political messages of varying types as major or minor themes of their works. David Drake has often written of

11648-453: The gate address to the legendary city Atlantis of Greek mythology . The Atlantis Expedition has a multi-nation civilian leadership and a predominantly United States military faction providing security. Their intent is to establish diplomacy with inhabitants of the galaxy and a permanent human base in the city of Atlantis for scientific and military research and exploration. The pilot episode " Rising " of Stargate Atlantis establishes much of

11776-628: The god Ra transplanted Earth humans throughout the galaxy via the Stargate . As a result, the people of Earth rose up against him and buried their Stargate. The modern history of Earth and the Stargate begins when it is unearthed in Egypt in 1928. The device is brought to the United States in 1939 to keep it out of Nazi hands and eventually installed in a facility in Creek Mountain, Colorado ( Cheyenne Mountain in Stargate SG-1 ). In

11904-505: The grimness of Battlestar Galactica , as well as playing homage to its franchise forebears SG-1 and Atlantis , but looks and feels new. IGN reviewer Ramsey Isler gave the episode 8.8 out of 10, starting his review with "Yes, it's another Stargate show. But this might become the best of them all." Further saying the premiere had its "own unique tone." Being one of the few Stargate franchise releases that were well received by major media publishers, Mike Hale from The New York Times

12032-423: The history of Earth"; a defining feature is "its use of ancient mythology, with stories that take inspiration from multiple places around the globe". Narratives center around xeno - mythology as experienced by humans during episodic contact with alien races. Audiences across a variety of platforms - including TV series, novels, comics and movies - witness the people of Earth exploring a fictional universe using

12160-489: The horrors and futility of war. He has said, in the afterwords of several of his Hammer's Slammers books (1979 and later), that one of his reasons for writing is to educate those people who have not experienced war, but who might have to make the decision to start or endorse a war (as policymakers or as voters) about what war is really like, and what the powers and limits of the military as an instrument of policy are. David Weber has said: For me, military science fiction

12288-543: The humans from Earth the Fifth Race.) SG-1 had encountered the Nox in season 1's " The Nox ", a fairy -like people that wants nothing to do with humanity, viewing them as "young" and having "much to learn". The Nox can live to be hundreds of years old and have a great desire for wisdom and understanding. They are extreme pacifists and never employ violence for any reason, even to defend themselves. Although they outwardly seem to be primitive forest-dwellers, they possess superhuman intelligence and advanced technology beyond that of

12416-405: The main characters to visit alien planets without the need for spaceships or any other fictional technology. Within the Stargate fictional universe, Stargates are large metal rings with nine " chevrons " spaced equally around their circumference. Pairs of Stargates function by generating an artificial stable wormhole between them, allowing one-way travel through. The symbols on the inner ring of

12544-426: The main life support is not so easily fixed. The CO 2 scrubbers are decayed beyond repair, and within a day carbon dioxide poisoning will kill everyone. The Destiny , apparently aware of the problem, drops out of FTL and dials the Stargate to a desert planet with the necessary materials to repair the scrubbers. Four other locations are listed but locked out by the dialing computer. A 12-hour countdown begins, at

12672-410: The military become "more resourceful." The German military is also using science fiction to help its military but in its approach, they do not hire science fiction writers to develop scenarios. Instead, they "use existing science fiction" to help the army "predict the "world's next potential conflict." The UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) hired two science fiction writers to pen short stories about "what

12800-481: The military cannot directly study for "ethical reasons, such as Autonomous Lethality Weapon Systems (ALWS), or augmented humans." The French military says the authors are asked to imagine warfare situations that "destabilize us, scare us, blame, or even beat us", in order to provide the army with a "fresh set of practice scenarios". Military planners use the science fiction authors' scenarios to "prepare for previously unthought of situations", "boos[t] creativity" and help

12928-706: The most significant species or beings in Stargate SG-1 are the Goa'uld , the Asgard , and the Replicators . Stargate Atlantis , set in the Pegasus Dwarf Irregular Galaxy , introduced the Wraith and the Asurans . One of the most influential species in Stargate , the Ancients , are revealed to have moved on to a higher plane of existence. "There’s no shortage of familiar myths to be found in

13056-560: The mythology behind Stargate SG-1, noting the way it is created by "rewriting centuries-old human mythologies—Egyptian, Norse, Aztec, Greek, Arthurian, Roman—the series takes these myths and 'reboots' them as scientific fact." Norse mythology appears in the shape of the "good-guy aliens the Asgard", deriving explicitly in the fiction from Norse Asgard . In her view, the "layered mythology ... borrows shamelessly" from real-world mythologies, giving examples from several of them. The film Stargate (1994) establishes that five thousand years ago,

13184-570: The new installments was Maureen Ryan from the Chicago Tribune . The reviewer wrote that the "gloomy, underwhelming Universe seems to have ditched many of the elements that the previous "Stargate" shows had, notably camaraderie and a sense of adventure, without adding much in the way of narrative suspense or complexity." The only characters she felt were "worth following" were Eli Wallace ( David Blue ) and Nicholas Rush ( Robert Carlyle ). Vince Horiuchi from The Salt Lake Tribune started

13312-435: The other two make it through. Rush is vehemently against the idea of exploring the other addresses, believing that the ship locked them out for a reason, and several failed attempts to contact the two lost expedition members seem to support his concerns. On the ship, Chloe and Young use the communication stones to contact Earth, allowing Chloe to inform her mother of her situation and Senator Armstrong's death. Young, meanwhile,

13440-518: The popularity of the genre. Short stories also were popular, collected in books such as Combat SF , edited by Gordon R. Dickson . This anthology includes one of the first Hammer's Slammers stories, as well as one of the BOLO stories by Keith Laumer and one of the Berserker stories by Fred Saberhagen . This anthology seems to have been the first time these stories specifically dealing with war as

13568-440: The producers decided to revamp the series by more than just adding new characters, new villains and new missions. Thus they considered the beginning of Season 9 as the pilot of a new show and replaced the Goa'uld with the Ori as the main villains. The Goa'uld still appeared in the show, but on a regular basis under the command of Ba'al . A major threat in the cosmos, the Ori are Ascended beings who use their advanced knowledge of

13696-459: The remainder in a different direction. After several failed tests, those in Wallace's group give up on the search, instead intending to try out the Stargate addresses the Destiny rejected. When Wallace informs the others, Scott sends Rush and Greer back to stop them while he continues searching. They make it back in time to stop Franklin (Mark Burgess), the member carrying the dialing remote, but

13824-441: The review with "Syfy Channel -- is one of the worst displays of the genre on television," and attacked the television series, " Battlestar Galactica ". Having no interest in the previous Stargate series' including the feature film , while not overall positive to the series, he said the cast and characters were a "little more likable and interesting." Reviewer Laura Freis from Variety magazine concluded her review with "Sure, SGU

13952-432: The second most watched episode that week, while being bested by a soccer match. " SGU marries many familiar sci-fi conventions with relatable emotional stories to create a non-genre spectacular. If you root for the underdog, you'll love this completely enthralling, heartbreaking and inspiring epic. Curt Wagner of Chicago Now Reviews of the premiere were generally positive. According to Metacritic , which assigns

14080-456: The second part were seen by 1.061 million, placing Stargate Universe the first and second most viewed series the week it aired on Sky1 , and the UK's highest Stargate audience in five years. The third part was seen by 765,000 viewers, again making it the most watched programme on the multichannel TV station. The Sci Fi Channel Australia premiere of the episode attracted 149,000 viewers, becoming

14208-611: The setback of the Dark Ages . The most advanced of these humans were the Tollan , who were destroyed by the Goa'uld in Season 5 's Between Two Fires . Another example of AAD in the mythos is the creation of human populations in the Pegasus galaxy by the Ancients, few of which are technologically advanced, as the Wraith destroy any civilization that could potentially pose a threat. Audiences are also made aware of large numbers of humans in

14336-464: The ship's failing life support system, where the new crew are tasked to fix it. The episode features some of the well known characters from Stargate SG-1 , a previous series in the Stargate franchise. Parts of the third part are filmed on location in White Sands, New Mexico , which doubled as a desert planet. The first two parts received generally positive reviews, mainly commending the cast and

14464-688: The style of the episode. The premiere was seen by over 2.3 million Americans, and was considered a ratings success in Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom. The majority of the first part takes place in flashbacks while a team of ill-equipped soldiers and scientists arrive at the Destiny . Eli Wallace ( David Blue ) solves a mathematical equation in an online computer game, planted there by Stargate Command . For his achievement, Dr. Nicholas Rush ( Robert Carlyle ) and Lieutenant General Jack O'Neill ( Richard Dean Anderson ) recruit Wallace to

14592-401: The supernatural abilities of the Priors, are generally considered to be the most powerful vessels in the Stargate universe. The Ori might be regarded as a shadow form of the Goa'uld, with the significant difference that the Ori promise ascension to their followers but never provide it. Stargate Atlantis explores the adventures of an elite expedition from Earth, the "Atlantis Expedition", in

14720-401: The tactics and strategy of this new course of the war in detail, showing how American, British, Soviet, and German soldiers and Jewish guerrillas (some of them historical figures) deal with this extraordinary new situation, as well as providing a not unsympathetic detailed point of view of individual invader warriors. In the war situation posited by Turtledove, the invaders have superior arms, but

14848-751: The time. The Vietnam War led to the "polarization of the sf community", which can be seen in the June 1968 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction , in which one page of pro-war sf authors listed their names and on another page, anti-war sf authors put their names. The Vietnam War has been noted by the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction as having impacted anthologies such as In the Field of Fire (1987) and novels such as The Healer's War (1988) by Elizabeth Ann Scarborough and Dream Baby (1989) by Bruce McAllister . The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction states that

14976-473: The top-secret Icarus Base, the group is introduced to Colonel Everett Young ( Louis Ferreira ), Colonel David Telford ( Lou Diamond Phillips ), and First Lieutenant Matthew Scott ( Brian J. Smith ). Wallace's solution is tested but fails to establish a lock. During dinner, three Ha'tak vessels, believed to be under the control of the Lucian Alliance , attack the planet. An evacuation is begun while

15104-404: The two-parter on October 9, and the third part on October 16. "Air" was written by series creators Robert C. Cooper and Brad Wright , and was directed by Andy Mikita . In the episode a group of evacuees from Icarus Base, an offworld human outpost that fell under attack end up on the Destiny , an Ancient starship located several billion light-years from Earth . Their first problems involve

15232-539: The universe to force lesser beings to worship them. In essence, they used to be Ancients, however they split into separate groups due to different views of life. The Ori are religious while the Ancients prefer science. The Ori sway lesser-developed planets into worshipping them by promising Ascension through an invented and empty religion called "Origin". This religion states that they created humanity and as such are to be worshiped by their creations. It also promises its followers that, on death, they will Ascend. However, Origin

15360-538: The use of Fictional Intelligence ( FicInt ), which they define as "useful fictions". FicInt, a concept developed by Cole in 2015, combines "fiction writing with intelligence to imagine future scenarios in ways grounded in reality." Ancient (Stargate) The mythology of the Stargate franchise is a complex and eclectic fictional backstory, which is presented as being historical, of the Stargate premise . A "rich mythology and world-building" are used to establish "a vast cosmology and an interesting alternate take on

15488-485: The wars of tomorrow will look like." The MOD hired Peter Warren Singer and August Cole to write eight short stories about threats from "emerging technologies" including " artificial intelligence (AI), data modeling, drone swarms, quantum computing and human enhancement" in a battlefield context. The MOD hired sci-fi writers because they have a "unique ability to imagine the unimaginable." As well, both authors know about "security subjects and modern warfare." They advocate

15616-428: Was also used as a plot device for the departure of actor Michael Shanks ( Daniel Jackson ) in season 6 of Stargate SG-1 . The fictional background of the Ancients was extended with the franchise's Atlantis mythos that began in the Stargate SG-1 season 6 finale " Full Circle ", and which also served as the basis for spin-off show Stargate Atlantis . The Ori arc of Stargate SG-1 ' s seasons 9 and 10 expanded

15744-404: Was asked "Will we ever meet the Furlings?", his answer was "Who says we haven't?". The writers later went on to state that apart from showing Furling technology and legacy, no member of the Furling race has ever appeared on the show. Producer Joseph Mallozzi claimed that more about the Furlings would finally be revealed in SG-1 ' s tenth season, which turned out to be an imagined scene from

15872-538: Was designed to channel energy from the human worshipers to the Ori. As such, the Ori never help anyone else Ascend because then they would have to share the power that they sap from their worshipers. Their ultimate goal is to completely destroy the Ascended Ancients, who they know as "the Others". All of their efforts, including their technology, are for the purpose of garnering worshippers. As Ascended beings,

16000-473: Was designed to have no nationality, which might appeal to viewers all over the world. The final episodes of season 7 (2004) brought a more global approach to the scenario when the Stargate Program was revealed to over a dozen nations, which further helped the international appeal of Stargate SG-1 . SG-1 learns in season 1's " The Torment of Tantalus " that although most known habitable planets in

16128-464: Was generally positive towards the pilot episodes, saying the Stargate franchise was "catching up" with the long-running Star Trek franchise . Hale also agreed with Syfy 's promotion of it being an "edgier" Stargate . The Boston Globe reviewer Joanna Weiss also reacted positively towards the pilot episodes, saying it felt like "early Lost ", while the story arc followed the patterns of " Battlestar Galactica ". Mark Wilson from About.com gave

16256-462: Was none before, long before the galaxy was colonized by the Goa'uld or the humans. Since season 8 was intended to be the show's last, the producers had finished it with the defeat of the Goa'uld and the Replicators . However, when the Sci Fi Channel renewed the series, the producers had grown tired of writing endings. Having had good experiences with the first season of Stargate Atlantis ,

16384-655: Was suggested to be a three-parter, according to executive producer Joseph Mallozzi . With casting concerned, several of the previous SG-1 characters made an appearance for the series premiere, including Michael Shanks , who reprises his role as Doctor Daniel Jackson in a cameo , Richard Dean Anderson as General Jack O'Neill, Gary Jones as Walter Harriman , Amanda Tapping as Samantha Carter , Bill Dow as Doctor Bill Lee and Martin Christopher as Kevin Marks . Christopher McDonald of Happy Gilmore and Requiem for

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