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"Unending" is the twentieth episode of season ten of the science fiction television series Stargate SG-1, as well as the series finale. Two Stargate films are in production, one of which will conclude the Stargate SG-1 Ori story-line, while the second will conclude the Ba'al storyline. The episode attracted approximately 2.2 million viewers on its American broadcast, a ratings success for the Sci Fi Channel.

Synopsis

SG-1 and General Landry are travelling on the USS Odyssey to the Asgard home world, Orilla. The Asgard contact the Odyssey and Thor beams aboard. Supreme Commander Thor reveals that after millennia of genetic manipulation, the Asgard's latest cloning sequence has resulted in all living Asgard being infected with a degenerative and fatal disease. He reveals the Asgard are very close to extinction and Thor proceeds to explain to SG-1 that all the Asgard knowledge will be uploaded into the Odyssey. The Asgard then destroy their own world and themselves along with it, leaving all the Asgard knowledge, technology and history on board the Odyssey. However, the Odyssey is soon attacked by Ori warships, which, due to a coupling of Asgard power core and ZPM technology, are able to track the Odyssey through subspace. After a few skirmishes, the Odyssey loses its shields. As the Ori fire a final blow upon the Odyssey, Col. Carter activates a localized time dilation field that causes time within the ship to be speeded up greatly, while time outside the ship proceeds almost imperceptibly slowly, giving them time to figure a way out of their troubles. However, after years of effort, Carter realizes that her plan of taking the ship out of phase to avoid the Ori weapon will not work. SG-1 is trapped and it looks like they are in for the long haul.

Plot

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The Asgard contact Stargate Command to tell them to rendezvous at the Asgard homeworld, because they have news of great importance to share. During the boring journey, Vala arranges a surprise birthday party for Daniel, to which he responds with annoyance—since it is not his birthday (and she is only trying to alleviate her own boredom).

SG-1 and General Landry travel on the Odyssey to the Asgard home world of Orilla. They are greeted by Thor, who announces that Earth will be given a complete Asgard database and central computer, as well as several extremely advanced upgrades, including weapons and shields. Thor explains that the Asgard's final attempt to fix their inherent gene degradation was a failure, and as a result the entire Asgard race has contracted a terminal illness. The damage from years of such experiments is so severe that they are unable to ascend. However, rather than allowing themselves to slowly die out and have their technology plundered, the Asgard people have decided to give their most sophisticated technology and their entire knowledge base to the Tau'ri, whom Thor finally calls the "fifth race", before committing an act of mass suicide.

As the final installations are completed, three Ori motherships exit hyperspace and attack the Odyssey. The Asgard beam off the ship, and the Odyssey flees. One Ori ship follows, the others turning on the Asgard. However, the Asgard destroy their own planet, wiping themselves out. With the Odyssey's shields damaged and the hyperdrive temporarily unusable because of the planet's destruction, General Landry orders that they come about and use the new, untested weapons. This succeeds in penetrating the shields of the Ori mothership and destroying it.

After entering hyperspace, Colonel Carter discovers some strange readings from the new hyperdrive system, and suggests that they stop using it. Immediately after exiting hyperspace, two more Ori battlecruisers emerge. After quickly re-entering hyperspace, Carter realizes that the Ori battlecruisers are tracking the energy signature of the Asgard-modified propulsion system. With no alternative, General Landry orders them to head for the nearest planet with an active Stargate and off-load the Odyssey's crew.

SG-1 and General Landry remain on board as Carter tries to disconnect the hyperdrive from the Asgard computer core, which she hoped would prevent the Ori from tracking the ship. The process is time-consuming, and the Ori ships quickly catch up to resume the attack. The Odyssey takes several beam shots to the shields causing increasing reflexive damage, and General Landry orders that Odyssey's fire be concentrated on only one target. The Asgard energy weapons penetrate the Ori mothership's shields, inflicting serious damage. The Odyssey's shields fail as a final beam is sent out by the remaining Ori ship. However, before the beam makes contact, Carter activates a time dilation field around the ship—one of the new features of the Asgard technology.

Within the time dilation field, time passes in such a way that years may go by while fractions of a second pass by outside the field. Safe for the time being, Carter is able to work on several theories to allow the team to leave the Odyssey before the beam hits, or to jump the ship out of phase before the beam makes contact. However, all of her simulations produce the same result: the destruction of the ship, the death of all on board, and the loss of all of the Asgard's knowledge. Stuck until they are able to figure out a new solution, SG-1 prepares for a long wait. With a ZPM and the Asgard power core to power the time dilation field and the new Asgard technology synthesizing food, supplies and oxygen, they are able to live on the ship indefinitely.

During their initial months on board, Vala repeatedly tries to seduce Daniel, while he continues to repel her advances. Finally, after three months, Daniel angrily confronts Vala for what he believes to be her insincerity, teasing, and mocking of him. He says they could never have a serious romantic relationship, that he couldn't even imagine them having one, and did not believe she ever thought of them seriously having a relationship. Vala is greatly upset by his words, making him realize that she really does care for him and was sincere. They share a passionate embrace. The next scene sees a somewhat disheveled Vala leaving Daniel's cabin as Mitchell jogs past, seemingly nonplussed at the sight.

Vala volunteers to help Sam, hypothesizing that they could reverse time in the field up to the point they left the Asgard home world, and then disable the hyperdrive—but Sam rules this out as impossible.

Years pass, as each member of the team attempts to deal with their isolation. General Landry develops a gardening hobby; Carter learns how to play the cello; Daniel continues to work on translating information in the database; Teal'c trains; and Daniel and Vala develop their relationship. Mitchell spends much time jogging through the ship, growing more frustrated and angry as the years pass. Scenes show him wrecking his cabin, and sitting in a 302, contemplating escape (followed by quick death). He and Teal'c train together. Amanda Tapping has said that she envisioned Teal'c and Sam forming a romantic relationship, and she and Chris Judge subtly played their scenes that way. In another scene, Daniel holds a crying Vala. In the DVD episode commentary, the writer of the episode said that he envisioned that scene to be their reaction to Vala having gotten pregnant and losing the baby. After many years, General Landry succumbs to old age and dies. Teal'c changes very little, except for a small gray streak in his hair.

After fifty years, with everybody besides Teal'c aging greatly, Sam finally figures out how to reverse time within a localized field. By reversing time back to slightly before the point of dilation, they can stop the program being activated and use a new program Sam has written onto a crystal to quickly disconnect the Asgard computer core from the hyperdrive in seconds. Unfortunately, in a last, cruel irony, the ship's power supplies no longer have enough energy to complete the plan, due to the constant drain of maintaining the time dilation field over decades.

However, Mitchell directs Sam's attention to the Ori energy beam; he theorizes that by deactivating the dilation field and allowing the beam to hit, they can channel the beam's power to the core. The dilation field would reverse, and they would go back in time; everything would be undone. However, there are two problems. First, the ship will be destroyed by the blast, and if the time reversal does not activate quickly enough, the destruction will not be reversed. Second, the reversal of the time field will mean the loss of any memories of what happened over the past fifty years. One person will have to remain behind, protected within a separate field, staying aged so as to retain the memories necessary to perform the rescue. Teal'c, who as a Jaffa has a much longer lifespan than the other members of the team, volunteers. As the group prepares their plan, Vala and Daniel exchange a last embrace, assuring each other of their love. When everything is in place, they deactivate the time dilation field.

As the ship explodes around Teal'c, time begins to slow, stop and finally reverse. The ship re-forms, the beam withdraws, and time is re-set. Teal'c prevents Colonel Carter from activating the time dilation field and gives her the control crystal that disconnects the Asgard computer core from the hyperdrive. They leave before they are destroyed, saving themselves and the Asgard's legacy.

Back at the SGC, Teal'c refuses to reveal any of the events on the ship to the others, much to Vala's disappointment. However, Daniel jokes that Teal'c revealed to him several bits of good advice that Daniel read in the Asgard database in the alternate timeline (they're really just common aphorisms). SG-1 contemplates these words of wisdom—among them "good things come to those who wait"—as they prepare for another mission. As the episode—and the series—comes to a close, the team says "indeed" all at once, General Landry wishes the team God-speed, and SG-1 steps through the gate on their next mission.

Production

• In the making-of feature on the DVD, the director reveals that they originally intended for the crew to be stuck on the ship for far less than fifty years. He first saw the actors in their oldest makeup literally as they walked onto the set to film their scenes. The director was unhappy that the makeup made them look too old, "like prunes", but at this point it was too late to redo the makeup. It was decided to just change the script to increase the number of years they were on the ship.

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Reception

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Notes

This article contains a list of miscellaneous information. Please relocate any relevant information into other sections or articles. (January 2008)

• When Thor beams aboard the Odyssey, Vala asks Daniel how they can distinguish him from the other Asgard. Daniel replies: "It's the voice". Thor is voiced by Michael Shanks, who also plays Daniel Jackson in the series.
• During a montage sequence the song Have You Ever Seen the Rain? by Creedence Clearwater Revival is heard

References

1. "STARGATE SG-1'S SERIES FINALE TRIUMPHS". The Futon Critic.

External links

• Gateworld
• After Season 10's Finale

• Misplaced Pages articles with plot summary needing attention from January 2008
• Articles with trivia sections from January 2008
• Stargate SG-1 episodes
• Television series finales