The Stargate SG-1 Episode With 1 of the Darkest Endings in Sci-Fi

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As a huge fan of the original movie, I was thrilled when the story continued with Stargate SG-1. The show centers around the main team – SG-1, led by the fantastic Richard Dean Anderson as Colonel Jack O’Neill. Basically, they’re the folks who go through the Stargate to explore new planets, looking for friends and cool tech that can help us fight the really nasty Goa’uld aliens. It’s not all action though; the show deals with serious stuff like war and loss, but it always manages to balance that with a lot of humor and, thankfully, our heroes usually come out on top.

In the fourth season episode “The Other Side,” SG-1 meets a potential ally willing to share advanced technology. While O’Neill was eager to make a deal, Daniel worried about the ethics of intervening in a war they didn’t understand. His concerns proved valid when they discovered the Eurondans were essentially a hostile, oppressive regime, prompting O’Neill to disable their defenses and leave them vulnerable to their enemies.

The Stargate Program Was Created to Procure Advanced Technology to Help Fight the Goa’uld

The story follows Dr. Daniel Jackson and Col. Jack O’Neill’s journey to the planet Abydos, where they find a civilization resembling ancient Egypt, ruled by a powerful enemy named Ra. Ra, a goa’uld, threatened both Abydos and Earth. To save the people of Abydos, O’Neill and his team destroyed Ra’s spaceship with a nuclear missile. Dr. Jackson chose to remain on Abydos with Sha’re, and they sealed the stargate after O’Neill and the rest of the Air Force team returned home.

The series Stargate SG-1 begins with a two-part episode, “The Children of the Gods,” where alien parasites called goa’uld arrive on Earth, kidnap a woman, and kill the soldiers guarding the Stargate. Investigating the goa’uld’s arrival, the team discovers a network of thousands of these gates and countless parasitic aliens. The Air Force then establishes the Stargate Program with the goals of finding allies and obtaining technology to help fight the goa’uld.

Throughout the series, Colonel O’Neill and his team meet several highly advanced civilizations, including the Nox and the Tollan. Both groups understood the risks of providing powerful technology to less developed worlds and refused to share it with Earth. The Tollan, however, became allies, offering assistance with humanitarian efforts like search and rescue operations and safely removing Goa’uld parasites from their hosts.

During the second season, the team gains two new allies. The Asgard offer protection to Earth and include them in an existing treaty with the Goa’uld, though they don’t provide weapons. The Tok’ra are like the Goa’uld, but they form a willing partnership with their human hosts, creating a truly symbiotic relationship. In the show’s early seasons, most of Earth’s advanced technology actually came from stolen Goa’uld weapons.

Stargate SG-1’s ‘The Other Side’ Saw the First People Willing to Share Their Technology with Earth

During the fourth season, the Stargate Command receives a distress call from the planet Euronda. They discover the Eurondans are fighting a long and desperate war. Their underground city is protected by a shield that requires deuterium, a component of heavy water, to function. The planet’s surface is toxic, and the Eurondans have been battling for decades. Their enemies have poisoned their supply of heavy water, threatening to disable the shield, cause them to lose the war, and kill the thousands of people in suspended animation.

During a visit to Euronda, SG-1 encounters remarkably advanced technology. They discover the Eurondan leader is injured after being hit by falling debris, but he quickly recovers thanks to an injection of beta-cantin. The Eurondans also possess remotely controlled ships operated through a direct neural link. O’Neill and…

Teal’c try out the interface to take out an unmanned enemy drone.

Alar and his people will trade advanced medical and weapon technology with Earth if Earth provides them with a certain amount of heavy water, which they need to help them win their current war. While Colonel O’Neill is keen to make the trade, Daniel Jackson suggests instead that they revive the people in suspended animation and find the Eurondans a new planet to live on. However, Alar is determined to stay on his home world, Euronda. Ultimately, O’Neill dispatches Major Carter and Daniel Jackson back to Earth to collect the initial shipment of heavy water.

O’Neill was thrilled by the possibility of a new ally who genuinely wanted to help Earth and its people. He was eager to avoid jeopardizing this valuable partnership by asking too many questions. He preferred not to delve into the details of their conflicts, content to simply benefit from their assistance.

SG-1’s Dr. Daniel Jackson Had Ethical Questions About Their New Allies

O’Neill was happy to team up with the Eurondans, but Daniel worried about the ethics of getting involved in a war they didn’t understand. Daniel attempted to learn more about the conflict’s background, but O’Neill stopped him. Back on Earth, Daniel voiced his concerns to General Hammond, reminding him that Hammond himself had previously stated they lacked the resources to fully support such an endeavor.

General Hammond clarified to Daniel that his reluctance to send aid to their ally’s war meant limiting military equipment and personnel. Daniel countered that there was also a moral concern, explaining his discomfort with Hammond and O’Neill’s quickness to help Euronda. He questioned if simply providing resources like water would resolve the ethical problems. Daniel emphasized that before intervening in the war, they needed to understand the conflict and the reasons behind it, and couldn’t overlook the moral implications of offering support.

Daniel respects and believes in Hammond and O’Neill, but he feels responsible for challenging them and ensuring they act ethically. Although O’Neill is a good person with strong morals, he’s primarily focused on completing the mission as a soldier. Daniel, being a civilian anthropologist, offers a different perspective. He’s able to understand and connect with other cultures, which allows him to consider all aspects of a situation before forming an opinion.

While Daniel and Carter are off-world, the Eurondan base comes under attack. O’Neill and Teal’c assist by remotely piloting fighters and destroying enemy bombers. O’Neill is disturbed to discover these were piloted ships, a contrast to the unmanned drones they previously destroyed. Upon Daniel and Carter’s return, O’Neill allows Daniel a brief moment to speak before cutting him off. He then sends them back to Earth to gather more supplies—heavy water and food—for the Eurondans. As they prepare to leave, Alar implies that Teal’c shouldn’t accompany them, stating he’s different from the rest of them.

The Eurondans Reveal Themselves to Be Akin to Nazis

Following Alar’s comment about Teal’c being unusual, O’Neill decides to stay and investigate. He believes Alar’s problem isn’t with Teal’c being a Jaffa warrior, but with his race. O’Neill apologizes to Daniel and encourages him to ask Alar’s people many questions. While Daniel talks with Alar’s second-in-command, Farrell, he asks about who the Eurondans are fighting. Farrell refers to them only as “breeders,” explaining that they reproduce without considering genetic lineage.

Looking at the people in stasis, I noticed something strange – they were all fair-skinned. Meanwhile, Carter was checking out their power source and figured out there were pipes running up to the surface, which led her to believe the Eurondans had poisoned the planet. It’s crazy, but it seems like they attacked us not to start a war, but to stop us from releasing the poison ourselves! So, O’Neill and Teal’c, well, they jumped back into the remote control system to ‘lend a hand,’ as usual.

Instead of focusing on the enemy planes, they attacked the Eurondans and surprisingly helped the bombers reach their target, causing massive damage. Daniel and Carter subdued Alar and Farrell when they tried to intervene. O’Neill intentionally crashed his ship onto the facility, disabling its protective shield. They returned to Earth without achieving their mission. Anticipating Alar’s attempt to escape through the gate, O’Neill ordered Hammond to close it. Alar collided with the closing iris and died, effectively shutting down the gate.

When O’Neill discovered who they really were, he didn’t simply cut off contact. He actively worked against them, weakening their defenses and helping their rivals. He then abandoned the Eurondans, leaving them vulnerable to attack. His cold expression as he ordered the iris to close – a decision that resulted in Alar’s death – clearly showed how determined he was to see them destroyed.

Having participated in the horrors inflicted by the Nazis, O’Neill experienced a dramatic shift in his behavior, moving from deliberately ignoring what was happening to actively causing harm. He realized he’d compromised his own moral compass and felt compelled to make amends, ultimately driving the plot forward.

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2025-12-07 04:41