The Stargate universe has a number of obvious horrors. It starts by revealing that the Egyptian gods were alien parasites that take over your body. They may extend its lifespan dramatically and take it to new worlds, but it is still a variation of “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.” But there are other horror stories lurking in the background…

All Nanites Turn into Terminators Eventually

There are two different versions of the Borg/Berserkers following the exact same line of development in the Stargate universe. The Replicators start out as replicating robots and eventually evolve into a human-like form. Fortunately, these were destroyed on the planet on which they arose and not able to spread.

In “Stargate: Atlantis”, we learn that the Ancients tried to create their own version of nanites. These were intended to be bioweapons. They turned into the Asurans. They hated the Ancients, the Ancients tried to wipe them out when their weapons didn’t want to be weapons, and now they didn’t like humans very much. When the Asurans finally went to war against the vampire aliens (the Wraith), they had a simple solution – kill the food source to kill the predators. Unfortunately, that’s people. They just started nuking planets to fulfill their objective. After all, they didn’t care about protecting the humans. But it makes them far more effective than the Terminators of the Terminator Universe.

Ironically, they even became a form of the Borg. The nanites were used to heal the severely damaged body of Doctor Elizabeth Weir. When she went to the Asuran homeworld on a mission, she was captured. Her people thought she was killed. In a way, they were right. The leader of the Asurans had the nanites replicate and take over her body. She was now one of them. She joined a small rebellion and tried to help the Ascend, but that was a nightmare in its own right. These murderous AIs are trying to become like their creators and ascend, but they nearly go crazy in the process. Speaking of which …

 

They Should Be Crazy by Now

I once read where the SG-1 team had their memories wiped, transferred, download and otherwise altered more than 50 times between them. This doesn’t take “transfer my consciousness via alien artifacts to another body as a communication device” that were a regular plot device in “Stargate: Universe”.

It was made clear that the Goa’uld sarcopoghus alters your personality over time. One would think that dying repeatedly before being regenerated would have serious effects on one’s personality, too, but that is glossed over. But you’d think that having your personality overlaid to make a good worker or swapped to other bodies would have a major effect, starting with counseling. Speaking of counseling, this group certainly needed a psychologist to keep up. Who was brain-wiped, uploaded, revived or possessed by an alien this week? They needed more than a physical exam to clear them for return to active duty. Really, they need teams of psychologists to keep them sane or studying people who can go through all that and not be debilitated by PTSD.

 

Almost Everyone Is Enslaved by the Goa’uld

The ten year run of the original Stargate show began with interstellar travel through the Stargate and ended with interstellar wars with multiple factions of aliens. More importantly, they added time travel and travel to alternate realities to the roster. I’ve written elsewhere about why traveling to alternate timelines is bad no matter how it goes. And Stargate gives us a new reason to fear it.

In season 3 episode 6 of “Stargate”, we learn from an alternate reality Dr. Carter that our main timeline is one of the only ones NOT over-run by the Goa’uld. Thus you run the risk of aliens or other threats coming from other dimensions to ruin yours, while the odds are low that anywhere else you could go (assuming you could travel that way) could help you.

*****

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