All nine chevrons lit up!

[wilhelmganon]

In the screenshots of the Stargate orbiting (what I would assume to be) a Wraith planet, ALL nine chevrons are engaged. Wowzers!

Could the function of the ninth chevron be revealed? Is it necessary to admit certain objects/masses? The only possible exception to this was the "needle" ship that Teal'c and Hammond used in "Into The Fire."

Any thoughts?

[Anubis]

Interesting to see all nine chevrons engaged to make the wormhole, but I'm not sure what it could possibly be used for. It may be the address to the Wraith homeworld, or it may just be a standard address

[David]

I was discussing this with Darren last night. He thinks it's a production goof. Personally, I suspect the ninth chevron dials an outer-space Stargate- an Ancient feature to prevent someone from waltzing to a gate in space, and quickly combusting.

[wilhelmganon]

Good theory, although I doubt the function of the ninth chevron is solely for a "unique" address.

What throws me off is this, and kinda brings up another question/point: seven chevrons are clearly required to open a wormhole within one's galaxy of origin, and the eighth chevron is, essentially, an "area code" modifier to reach other galaxies. If the ninth chevron has a special purpose, but one wishes to travel within one's home galaxy, is the activiation of the eighth chevron still necessary, or is there a protocol to engage the ninth without activating the previous?

[David]

Yes, I was wondering that myself. And even if that's the case, clearly then if nine chevrons can be dialed, then eight- to get back home- can be as well. All they need to do is jump aboard the puddle jumper, zip through an outer-space stargate, and get home!

But something tells me they're not going to do that.

[wilhelmganon]

If the ninth chevron, is indeed, a protocol designed to prevent "planetbound" travelers from accidentally ending up in space (or another environment without atmosphere), how would the Ancients account for other races moving the gates back and forth from a planet into space (and vice versa)?

The only way that would work, I suppose, is for the gate to still possess a typical, seven-symbol gate address, but dialing that address would result in a failure should the gate be in space; at that time, the ninth chevron "safety override" would have to be implemented to force the wormhole open.

However, we've witnessed two [possible] contradictions to this theory - a wormhole was successfully established to a gate totally submerged in water (Watergate), and a wormhole was established to a gate spiralling into a black hole (Matter of Time, Exodus). However, it's been stated that the water creatures may have been smart enough to keep away from the gate when it's in use, and the gate from Exodus still may have been surrounded by atmosphere.

[David]

Good thoughts. Do keep in mind, though, that these Stargates are far newer than the ones in our home galaxy. Perhaps they don't rely on spacial coordinates to get a lock.

[wilhelmganon]

I would like to think that the Ancients would maintain continuity within their own Stargate network, else how could the "older" and "newer" Stargates successfully interact? This is a good point you've brought up, though, considering the fact that the Atlantis gate does not possess the same glyphs as the gates in the Milky Way.

I think that the function of the glyphs is independent from whatever's drawn on them, and that all Stargates (and travel via hyperspace/wormholes) rely on spacial coordinate triangulation. They would have to, else one wouldn't be able to travel back and forth between networks.

Besides, we've seen one example of the "old" gates being used outside of the Milky Way - the Asgard planet Othala, in the Ida galaxy, clearly possessed a Version 1.0 gate.

[Anubis]

Certainly some good points between the two of you. It may be a goof just to stir up some discussion or it may actually be genuine. It seems very interesting

[David]

This is true, though the Asgard may have nabbed a few of them after the Ancients took off.

Who knows how we get in touch with Atlantis? Perhaps the Ancients left a forwarding address with the correct way to interpret the new technology.

[David]

Certainly some good points between the two of you. It may be a goof just to stir up some discussion or it may actually be genuine. It seems very interesting

Lol, feel free to jump in, My Lord.

[Anubis]

Bring me the Ancient technology!


We may get in touch after O'Neill gets unfrozen and reveals one last thing or the Asgard find this info on their computers!

[David]

Well something's gotta happen, otherwise there wouldn't be a huge stir at the Antarctic outpost. Though, I suppose after they discover it the folks at SGC will be hopping all over it.

[Anubis]

Hehe. I agree. I'm sure after SG-1 leave hundreds of SGC personell will be drooling to get their hands on the outpost. Perhaps they find a installed projection in the chair or something or a data feed? Who knows!

[David]

Well one thing's for sure, either they find an alternate power cell or the one they grabbed from Praclarush still has energy.