Trivial questions about Stargate

[F. King Daniel]

Some trivial questions about Stargate that I've wondered about for years but have never been answered. I was hoping you guys could help:

What would happen if you walked around the back of an open stargate and stepped through that way?

I know stargates are one-way, but what if you stepped into the event horizon of an incoming wormhole anyway? Would you die? Pop right out again? Pass through the puddle and nothing happens?

What if you stepped though a gate that was doing that "all gates open at once" thing?

How the hell did they dial the gate back to Earth and power it at the end of the original Stargate movie, when DHD's weren't "invented" until the series (and the Abydos one wasn't found until "Children of the Gods")?

In Stargate: Continuum, Ba'al has a chat with all his underling system lords, a last look at all those that SG-1 slayed in the regular timeline. But who's the silent guy at the end of the line? Is it meant to be Ra?

Is the "Children of the Gods" re-release worth it?

Thanks.

 

[The Wormhole]

Some trivial questions about Stargate that I've wondered about for years but have never been answered. I was hoping you guys could help:

What would happen if you walked around the back of an open stargate and stepped through that way?

I know stargates are one-way, but what if you stepped into the event horizon of an incoming wormhole anyway? Would you die? Pop right out again? Pass through the puddle and nothing happens?

Good questions which I have often wondered myself. Sadly, neither the show nor any behind the scenes sources that I know of have ever addressed this issue.

What if you stepped though a gate that was doing that "all gates open at once" thing?

I would guess based on the evidence we saw when the anit-Replicator beam was sent through that you would be cloned and every planet in the galaxy with a Stargate now has a clone of you on it.

How the hell did they dial the gate back to Earth and power it at the end of the original Stargate movie, when DHD's weren't "invented" until the series (and the Abydos one wasn't found until "Children of the Gods")?

Actually, Children of the Gods retconned the DHD and implied that it was there in the movie. Carter's reaction to it was simply because this was her first time seeing a DHD, since it was her first time off-world.

But you're right, the absense of any kind of dialling device in the original movie is a very glaring plot hole.

In Stargate: Continuum, Ba'al has a chat with all his underling system lords, a last look at all those that SG-1 slayed in the regular timeline. But who's the silent guy at the end of the line? Is it meant to be Ra?

Ra is among the System Lords assembled to meet with Ba'al in Continuum. I don't know if he's the one you're describing, but he is there.

Is the "Children of the Gods" re-release worth it?

Not really. Oh it's good fun if you've seen Children of the Gods hundreds of times and you're itching for a different take, but it's not particularly good. A lot gets needlessly cut like O'Neill and Hammond's banter about retiring, writing books and shooting anyone who read said books. Carter's feminism is cut very sloppily, eg they remove her imfamous "my reproductive organs are on the inside" line but keep O'Neill's response to it ("this has nothing to do with you being a woman").

If you want to see Goa'uld cargo ships two years before they were introduced on the show, then this will do, but otherwise I wouldn't suggest it.

 

[David cgc]

The special edition of CotG is available from Netflix, if you have an account. It's worth watching, but not buying at full price, so definitely give it a rent if you're curious.

I just like how the music isn't so choppy anymore.

 

[JarodRussell]

Actually, Children of the Gods retconned the DHD and implied that it was there in the movie. Carter's reaction to it was simply because this was her first time seeing a DHD, since it was her first time off-world.

But you're right, the absense of any kind of dialling device in the original movie is a very glaring plot hole.

Not really.

I always thought they rotated the wheel manually to dial back. Which is exactly what they do in the episode where they travel back in time to 1969.

 

[crouteru]

Is the "Children of the Gods" re-release worth it?

I think it's quite good. It's a much tighter version of the story, and the minor improvements like updated special effects and Teal'c's redubbed lines are definately worthwhile. The only questionable decision was to remove Kowolski getting possessed with a Goa'uld, putting this version of the film at odds with the next episode of season 1.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Thanks, everyone. It's kinda weird that none of my silly gate questions were answered during the show, they would have been an easy fit for the scenes where Sam's having to explain everything to Jack early on ("So...where does the worm come in?", "It's a metaphor, sir")

I guess there's a slim chance these questions will be answered in season two of SGU. I won't hold my breath, though .

As for "Children of the Gods" 2.0, I'll keep an eye on eBay rather than paying full-price.

Thanks again.

 

[broberfett]

There's no more beaver shot. No other animals are hurt either.

 

[The Wormhole]

Actually, Children of the Gods retconned the DHD and implied that it was there in the movie. Carter's reaction to it was simply because this was her first time seeing a DHD, since it was her first time off-world.

But you're right, the absense of any kind of dialling device in the original movie is a very glaring plot hole.

Not really.

I always thought they rotated the wheel manually to dial back. Which is exactly what they do in the episode where they travel back in time to 1969.

Pretend it's 1994 and you've just seen the movie in theatres. There's no SG-1 TV series, no 1969 episode, just this one movie. Not addressing how the gate was activated at the end is a very glaring plot hole.

And besides, even when SG-1 showed the gang manually dialling the gate, an additional power source was needed. In The Torment of Tantalus, it was from a bolt of lightning after they rigged up a lightning rod. In Prisoners it was that funky seaweed. In 1969 they wired up all those jeeps to the gate. In Nemesis they said the gate still had enough power to dial once after removing it from the SGC. In Bad Guys they use a Naquadah bomb. If they did manually dial in the movie, what was their power source?

 

[Brikar99]

What if you stepped though a gate that was doing that "all gates open at once" thing?

I would guess based on the evidence we saw when the anit-Replicator beam was sent through that you would be cloned and every planet in the galaxy with a Stargate now has a clone of you on it.

We've seen evidence that the Stargate system seems intelligent enough to distinguish things like when a living being is in transit and whatnot, and can hold their patterns in stasis for a short time. I feel like the system would be smart enough to just spit you out at the closest destination.

 

[DonIago]

Actually, Children of the Gods retconned the DHD and implied that it was there in the movie. Carter's reaction to it was simply because this was her first time seeing a DHD, since it was her first time off-world.

But you're right, the absense of any kind of dialling device in the original movie is a very glaring plot hole.

Not really.

I always thought they rotated the wheel manually to dial back. Which is exactly what they do in the episode where they travel back in time to 1969.

Pretend it's 1994 and you've just seen the movie in theatres. There's no SG-1 TV series, no 1969 episode, just this one movie. Not addressing how the gate was activated at the end is a very glaring plot hole.

And besides, even when SG-1 showed the gang manually dialling the gate, an additional power source was needed. In The Torment of Tantalus, it was from a bolt of lightning after they rigged up a lightning rod. In Prisoners it was that funky seaweed. In 1969 they wired up all those jeeps to the gate. In Nemesis they said the gate still had enough power to dial once after removing it from the SGC. In Bad Guys they use a Naquadah bomb. If they did manually dial in the movie, what was their power source?

Didn't they also establish in a different episode that the Stargate can retain enough power to make at least one connection even without a power source?

In any event, with regards to the movie I always assumed they dialed home manually. The power source is a mystery, but being as this comes up at the very end of the film I'm not sure "glaring plot hole" would be the appropriate phrase.

 

[Silvercrest]

Some trivial questions about Stargate that I've wondered about for years but have never been answered. I was hoping you guys could help:

What would happen if you walked around the back of an open stargate and stepped through that way?

I know stargates are one-way, but what if you stepped into the event horizon of an incoming wormhole anyway? Would you die? Pop right out again? Pass through the puddle and nothing happens?

What if you stepped though a gate that was doing that "all gates open at once" thing?

Last year, a few of us had a discussion about gate theory. I wound up posting a document that was intended to address things like that. I wrote it for a role-playing game, after reviewing seasons 1-8 and a bunch of supplementary materials. I did my best to put together a decent Stargate theory of operation and reconcile some of the contradictions on the show.

It isn't canon by any means, and you may disagree with some of my conclusions. (And being written for an RPG, it talks about some things that may seem pointless to you.) But it directly answers your first two questions and speculates on the third. Take a look.

The whole thread is full of discussion about Stargate theory, but the document is posted in four installments, beginning on page 2. http://www.trekbbs.com/showthread.php?t=109118

How the hell did they dial the gate back to Earth and power it at the end of the original Stargate movie, when DHD's weren't "invented" until the series (and the Abydos one wasn't found until "Children of the Gods")?

In Stargate: Continuum, Ba'al has a chat with all his underling system lords, a last look at all those that SG-1 slayed in the regular timeline. But who's the silent guy at the end of the line? Is it meant to be Ra?

Is the "Children of the Gods" re-release worth it?

Re. the DHD: They really screwed up on that one as far as I'm concerned.

Re. Ra: Yes, the young silent guy (who I think is one of the last to leave) is supposed to be Ra.

Re: COTG: It's okay, but I'd really only recommend it if you want a family-friendly version to show someone. Like others have said, it fixes some things and screws up others.

 

[JarodRussell]

Not really.

I always thought they rotated the wheel manually to dial back. Which is exactly what they do in the episode where they travel back in time to 1969.

Pretend it's 1994 and you've just seen the movie in theatres. There's no SG-1 TV series, no 1969 episode, just this one movie. Not addressing how the gate was activated at the end is a very glaring plot hole.

And besides, even when SG-1 showed the gang manually dialling the gate, an additional power source was needed. In The Torment of Tantalus, it was from a bolt of lightning after they rigged up a lightning rod. In Prisoners it was that funky seaweed. In 1969 they wired up all those jeeps to the gate. In Nemesis they said the gate still had enough power to dial once after removing it from the SGC. In Bad Guys they use a Naquadah bomb. If they did manually dial in the movie, what was their power source?

I said "I always thought" which goes back to 1994.

 

[The Wormhole]

Didn't they also establish in a different episode that the Stargate can retain enough power to make at least one connection even without a power source?

They mention in Nemesis that the SGC gate has enough power to dial once after being removed from the SGC, which I mentioned in my post.

 

[DonIago]

Well, I think you've just answered the question about the power source then...no reason the Abydonian stargate may not have retained a charge.

Alternatively, lots of Abydonians in hamster wheels.

 

[TiberiusMaximus]

^We don't see the power source for a lot of the gates on other worlds. Obviously they have one though. So the Abydos gate probably had one too.

 

[JarodRussell]

And in the movie, it was never stated if the Stargate even needed any external power source.

 

[David cgc]

Well, not explicitly, but there were those big, orange clamps that looked like high-power electrical equipment. And there might've been something in one of the computer screens.

 

[Sephiroth]

I know stargates are one-way, but what if you stepped into the event horizon of an incoming wormhole anyway? Would you die? Pop right out again? Pass through the puddle and nothing happens?

This was answered in "A Hundred Days" when they sent a M.A.L.P. through a gate laying on it's back, it went through, got affected by gravity, then fell back and all signal was lost, indicating destruction.

Is the "Children of the Gods" re-release worth it?

Thanks.

Purchase? no Netflix? yes

 

[DonIago]

I still think it's crazy that they took out the Kowalsky bit towards the end of the pilot, completely breaking its connection to the following episode...which then makes no sense in any case.

I'm more sanguine about the other changes, especially given the directions the show ultimately went in.

 

[F. King Daniel]

I know stargates are one-way, but what if you stepped into the event horizon of an incoming wormhole anyway? Would you die? Pop right out again? Pass through the puddle and nothing happens?

This was answered in "A Hundred Days" when they sent a M.A.L.P. through a gate laying on it's back, it went through, got affected by gravity, then fell back and all signal was lost, indicating destruction.

I'd forgotten about that, thanks.

You'd think if instant death was the result they'd have some sort of warning on it, or make the back side of the gate look noticably different to the front. IIRC the only difference is the lack of hieroglyphs.

I guess the Ancients never had to deal with lawsuits from furious families of idiots who stepped through the wrong side.