Break out of the frame | Updated April 12, 2006 | Get the frame back

Universe

Physical makeup | History | Politics | Timeline

General info

According to the universal language created by the four members of the ancient alliance, there are 146 atomic elements. (Torment of Tantalus)

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Galaxies

Milky Way | Pegasus | Othala | Ori

Milky Way

Pegasus

Othala

Ori

The Ancients come from a  fourth,  unnamed  galaxy. It's currently still home to the Ori, a branch of Alterans that split off from the Ancients when the Ancients left that galaxy. (Avalon part 2)

The Ancient home galaxy appears to be populated by humans, all of them subject to the Ori. (Avalon part 2)

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Minerals

Naquadah | Naquadria | Trinium

Naquadah

An element not naturally occurring in our solar system (Failsafe), but common enough elsewhere to form the basis of a great deal of Goa'uld technology, and eventually part of the biological Goa'uld makeup (The First Ones).

It has a decay rate (half-life) of 150 years (used for dating) (A Hundred Days).

It was the element the Ancients used to make the stargates out of.

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Naquadria:

Mineral substance with highly unstable radioactive properties, with the potential for great bursts of energy. (Meridian)

Even a tiny amount of the mineral emits an energy pulse greater than anything else, including weapons-grade naquadah. (Meridian)

Its instability increases exponentially as more energy is extracted from it. (Redemption, part 1)

This could be the missing link to discovering how to create and maintain a hyperspace window, or to generate the sorts of shields used by Goa'uld motherships. Discovered by the Kelownans. (Meridian)

Doesn't occur naturally -- it was created in the lab thousands of years ago by Thanos, on what is now the planet of Langara. (Fallout)

It's formed by bombarding naquadah with certain sub-atomic particles that act as a catalyst, which causes the naquadah to change into naquadria. During the transformation process, the naquadah that doesn't become naquadria is converted into lighter elements. (Fallout)

Has a decay rate (half life) of at least 10,000 years, possibly 13,000. (Fallout)

(In talking about the naquadria deposit that was formed 3,000 years ago, Sam said that if it had been left alone for another 10,000 years, it would have decayed back into naquadah -- but the Kelownans mined it all instead. It's not clear if she means 10,000 years from its creation, or from its discovery by the Kelownans.) (Fallout)

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Trinium

Brittle in its raw state, it can be refined into a material 100 times lighter and stronger than steel. (Spirits)

The SGC used trinium to reinforce the titanium iris over its stargate after the original iris was sucked into a black hole. (A Matter of Time)

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Ancient alliance:

Ages ago, built up over several millennia, there was an alliance of four races: the Asgard, the Ancients, the Furlings, and the Nox. (The Fifth Race)

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" Heliopolis"

The name given by Ernest Littlefield to a castle/fortress on a world whose stargate address wasn't listed on the Abydos cartouche (and was therefore unknown to the Goa'uld). (Torment of Tantalus)

Ernest theorized that it was a meeting place for four ancient races to share knowledge or discuss relations, like a " United Nations of the stars" . (Torment of Tantalus)

He came to that conclusion after studying a particular room in the castle, which had panels of writing in four distinctly different alphabets (one clearly Asgard, although he didn't know that), and a central energy column that when activated produced a holographic, floating 3D display of known elements (146 in this " table" -- compared with 111 for 1997 Earth, and 90 for 1945 Earth). (Torment of Tantalus)

The  display functioned as a basic, cross-species basis for communication (hydrogen always consists of one proton and one electron). (Torment of Tantalus)

That holographic display was just the first page in the " book" -- a tool to allow anyone to " read" what else was being said: a collaboration of the knowledge of all four races, and possibly the key to everything's existence. (Torment of Tantalus)

Given what else is known about the earlier stages of the civilized galaxy(ies), the other races were likely the Nox, the Furlings, and the Ancients. (Torment of Tantalus)

The column in the middle of the room appears to have been designed/engineered by the same race that built the stargates and DHDs -- the Ancients. (Torment of Tantalus)

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Stargate system and worlds:

The Ancients created the stargate system.

Many stargated worlds were terraformed (wow, wrong word, but that's what Teal'c used) by the Goa'uld centuries ago -- thus all the forests and such. (First Commandment)

There are likely at least 2,000 " civilized" planets -- or at least, there are 2,000 planets where Aris Boch's word is good, according to him. (Deadman Switch)

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Aschen Confederation

The Aschen created the Aschen Confederation in their own corner of the galaxy, claiming that all their member worlds are equals.

In reality, they move in on a world, kill off much of its population with a genetically targeted disease, kill off much of the rest by means of virally induced sterility, and turn the remainder into farmers to work the planet that they've plowed over and planted. Very efficient, very creepy. (2010, 2001)

They have a stargate but no DHD and no addresses to try, so are restricted to planets within easy reach or planets they can reach by ship. (2010)

Probably caught up in their own problems now -- Jack gave them gate coordinates to the black hole after they attempted to set up one of their " treaties" with Earth. (2010)

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The Lucian Alliance

A coalition of smugglers and mercenaries who banded together to take advantage of the power vacuum left by the demise of the Goa'uld. (The Ties That Bind)

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Protected Planets Treaty

A treaty between the Asgard and the Goa'uld, which  runs to several hundred pages. (Fair Game)

Covers 27 worlds, including Earth. (New Order)

It's customary for the negotiations surrounding the treaty to take place on the planet in question (when a new planet is added, etc.). (Fair Game)

Provisions:

Treaty Law Section 326 recognizes that humans exist for the purpose of serving the Goa'uld as hosts and slaves, and requires that no human planet be allowed to advance technologically to a point where they may become a  threat to the Goa'uld. (Fair Game)

The Goa'uld get to determine what constitutes a threat. (Fair Game)

The Asgard part of the treaty:

Includes a promise to do nothing to help the people on the planets they're protecting to advance technologically, or to artificially advance them through technological means -- which includes using technology to save them from natural (or unnatural) disasters. (Red Sky)

Any breach of treaty on the Asgard's part will nullify the entire treaty, leaving all the worlds under their protection (including Earth) open to Goa'uld attack. (Red Sky)

The Goa'uld part of the treaty:

Includes a promise to never attack any world under Asgard protection, on pain of being wiped out by the Asgard. (Fair Game)

The System Lords take this threat seriously, and enforce the treaty among all Goa'uld.

Outside the System Lords's sphere of influence, the treaty has no effect on the Goa'uld.

Tanith (on Anubis's orders) set up a situation where the Tollans would bomb Earth for the Goa'uld, and was barely thwarted in this plan (by SG-1, not the System Lords). (Between Two Fires)

Some Goa'uld, probably Anubis, sent a naquadah-heavy asteroid on a collision course with Earth, knowing that it would destroy all life there in what would seem to be a natural accident, whether the Tau'ri managed to plant a nuke on it or not. (Failsafe)

Arbitration of disputes

Arbitration requires a commission of inquiry, consisting of equal numbers of Asgard and Goa'uld representatives. (Failsafe)

Also requires corroborating testimony from involved parties. If the parties aren't available (e.g., the Tollans, after their world was destroyed), the dispute remains unresolved. (Failsafe)

Earth

Earth has been included in this treaty (addendum 10815 [the mind just boggles at nearly 11,000 addendums to a full treaty...]) as of 1999.  (Fair Game)

The original inclusion was going to require the destruction of both of Earth's stargates, but after the SGC saved Cronus's life after Nirrti's attack, that clause was struck. (Fair Game)

Humans are safe from Goa'uld attack as long as they stay on Earth -- but any Tau'ri caught offworld will face dire consequences, with no repercussions from the Asgard. (Fair Game)

The Asgard, in return for Earth's inclusion in the treaty, granted the Goa'uld access to the Passage of Nilor. (Fair Game)

The treaty has very possibly been irrevocably breached as of early 2004. (New Order)

Weir told representatives of the High Council of the System Lords that the Asgard were helping Earth to implement hyperdrive technology, which is a clear breach of the treaty, and should nullify all protected status for every planet included. (New Order)

(nb: This nullification hasn't been mentioned in the show -- this is pure supposition on my part, based on the treaty requirements we've been given to date. It's possible that Earth was de facto no longer protected by the treaty once the Goa'uld began treating them as more-or-less equals, but technically, they were still on the books, and the System Lord representatives even mentioned that fact.)

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Tau'ri influence

In the first seven years that the Tau'ri have been on the scene, forming alliances with the Tok'ra and the Jaffa (and eventually a temporary three-way alliance between them all), more System Lords fell than in the 700 years previous. (Death Knell)

After Anubis's fleet was destroyed over Earth, the System Lords gave the first signs of treating Earth more or less as an equal on the galactic playing field, by coming to Earth to ask for help against Baal. (New Order)

In addition to approaching Earth, the Goa'uld went so far as to offer hyperdrive engines as their part of the deal -- a move that would put Earth on a physically more equal footing as well, in terms of having a fleet equivalent to a hatak fleet. (New Order)

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Millennia ago:

Alliance of Asgard, Ancients, Furlings, and Nox is formed/exists.

8,000 BC:

Goa'uld are on Earth, taking personae of terran gods and harvesting humans for hosts and slaves.

According to the movie and early episodes, this is when the Tau'ri threw off their oppressors, throwing the Goa'uld off the planet.

This is later utterly (and ridiculously, IMO) contradicted, with the assumption that the Goa'uld were on Earth until around the beginning of the Common Era.

(We have extensive written records for that period in the areas where the Goa'uld appear to have been concentrated, and there's no way that all those chroniclers would have missed such a massive event.)

ca. 700 BC:

Egeria is on Earth trying to stop Ra, and spawns the Tok'ra before she dies.

500-1000AD (?):

The Asgard take some Norse to Cimmeria to protect them. (Thor's Hammer)

Sokar takes Europeans to an unnamed world, posing as Satan to force them to do his bidding. (Demons)

20th century:

Rediscovery of and reactivation of the Terarn stargate.

Humans from Earth start heading out into the galaxy, disturbing the balance of power.

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