UNENDING

10.20 Episode 214
Airdate: June 22, 2007

Summoned by the Asgard, the Odyssey arrives at Orilla where Thor explains that the Asgard race is dying from a rapidly progressing disease. Before they take their own lives, they have turned to their allies from Earth, the Fifth Race to whom they wish to bequeath their legacy, all their technology and their knowledge. As the Asgard install a new power core and extensive upgrades to the Odyssey, suddenly three Ori ships drop out of hyperspace and open fire. With the new Asgard energy weapons, Odyssey is able to destroy one of the Ori ships before escaping into hyperspace, but on Orilla a massive buildup of energy destroys the planet. The Asgard race is gone.

As Odyssey heads home, SG-1 makes the unsettling discovery that their new Asgard upgrades seem to allow the Ori to track them through subspace, and they face an Ori attack each time they emerge from hyperspace. Unwilling to sacrifice the Asgard legacy, Landry and SG-1 beam the crew to safety on P3X-474, then face the Ori in battle. Carter envelopes the Odyssey in a time dilation bubble, and the Ori weapon blast that would destroy the ship is frozen in time. However, despite the time they have bought for themselves, the Asgard technology provides no solution, and no simulation offers a means of escape. As decades pass, the team is trapped in time.

Fifty years have passed aboard the Odyssey, but a risky plan might allow SG-1 to undo the past. To prevent history from repeating, Teal'c volunteers to remain old, shielded within a force field, as Carter deactivates the time dilation field. The ship is struck by the Ori blast and disintegrates as the weapon's energy is channeled to activate a reverse time field. Suddenly, time works backwards to the moment of the initial battle, but this time Odyssey escapes into hyperspace. At the SGC, the team prepares to depart through the gate. Only Teal'c recalls the events of the past 50 years, yet all seem to sense that, despite the manipulation of time, life is too short.

Written by: Robert C. Cooper
Directed by: Robert C. Cooper

Guest Starring: Gary Jones as Sergeant Harriman, Martin Christopher as Major Marks, Michael Shanks as Voice of Thor

Reference: Asgard, Asgard Mothership, Asgard Stones, Asgard Transport Beam, BC-304, Samantha Carter, Clones, Crystals, Fifth Race, Force Field, Holographic Projection, Hyperspace, Daniel Jackson, Hank Landry, Vala Mal Doran, Major Marks, Cameron Mitchell, Odyssey, Ori, Ori Warship, Orilla, P3X-474, Teal'c, Thor, Time Dilation Bubble, Time Dilation Device, Time Travel, Tretonin

DESTINATIONS & INHABITANTS

NOTES OF INTEREST

• The final attempt to solve the Asgard's physiological degeneration left each of them with a rapidly progressing disease. Because they made the choice to extend their lives through science generations ago, which took any natural physiological evolution necessary for ascension out of the equation, they decided to end their lives in a sort of mass suicide before the degeneration and their suffering goes too far. They have destroyed Orilla, the last Asgard homeworld, and passed on their legacy to SG-1 to be installed in Odyssey.
• The Asgard computer core installed on Odyssey is equipped with its own power source that will not infringe on the Odyssey's ZPM power source.
• Normally a ship can't be tracked in hyperspace, however the Asgard upgrades to Odyssey give off a unique energy signature detectable from subspace which allows the Ori to track them through hyperspace.
• The crew uses the stargate on P3X-474 to gate home. SG-1 and Odyssey remain in orbit above the planet.
• Teal'c has aged 50 additional years.
• The gate address of SG-1's final destination is 9-18-27-15-21-36.

MEMORABLE REMARKS

• Out of curiosity, how can you tell the difference? [Vala]
  The voice. [Daniel - and the voice of Thor]
• I am willing to fight to the death, but we need a plan... preferably one that avoids the 'to the death' part. [Mitchell]
• Beggars can't be choosers.
  Better late than never.
  Look before you leap.
  The best things in life are free.
  Beauty is only skin deep.
  Silence is golden.
  Jack of all trades, master of none.
  Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
  Life is too short.
  Good things come to those who wait.
  Indeed.

FOR THE RECORD

• Injuries:
  • Teal'c: ages 50 years
  • Mitchell, Carter, Daniel, Vala: age 50 years, then return to the present when time is reversed
  • Landry: ages 20 years and dies, then returns to the present when time is reversed
• Popular Culture References:
  • Superman
    • See, what we need is Superman to fly around the ship really, really fast...
  • The Love Boat
    • This is not flying. This is literally standing still. This is the Love Boat, without the buffet and the band.
  • "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?" by Creedence Clearwater Revival