Shouldn't gate symbols be unique everywhere? Each of the gate symbols represents a constellation that can only be seen from Earth, but these same symbols appear on gates throughout the universe. Since a constellation will only look like that particular shape if you are on Earth, or at least on a relatively straight line between Earth and that constellation, then these become meaningless shapes at every other gate location. I realize that this would make getting home rather difficult since the address would be different from every location, and so perhaps the gate builders did it for simplicity, but then wouldn't they have picked constellations as seen from one of their own worlds rather than those seen in Earth's sky? Has this been discussed?
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this has been discussed at length, heatedly at times. my personal theory and some agree with me, is that the symbols are not based on the constelations as seen from earth. they are based on some Ancient system that we have no understanding of. the reason the constelations look like the symbols is because ancient man saw them on the gate first and then drew them with the stars. if you think about it it makes sense. ancient man would have seen the gate as something holy and of the gods since only the gods used it so they worshipped it and since stars and the sky in general have often played big part in religions it makes sense that they would connect the gate with the sky.Originally posted by daveyboy
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"Shouldn't gate symbols be unique everywhere?"
I agree. And here's another twist: Each planet has its own unique symbol, the always necessary 7th symbol to mark the destination. Without each of those symbols on each gate, how does one travel anywhere?
I'm not trying to ruin the fun or be nitpicky, it's just a question that occurred to me.
Storm
(aka Kjev1)Comment
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The unique symbol is the point of origin. It marks where you started and is essentially the 'finished' button. Moreover, Daniel's use of Apophis' Gate in The Serpent's Lair and the fact that the Antarctic Gate's symbol is different to that of the Giza Gate implies that you just have to hit the PoO for the Gate, rather than the planet.Originally posted by StormBehold the majesty that is...GERALD!
- Read The Prophet's fan fiction at The Lost Vegas Public Library.Comment
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No, the 7th symbol is the origination, which is why it only has to be on the gate for the planet it is on. The first six symbols combine to form a point in space, the destination (six points required to define a point in 3 dimensional space). That is why whenever they dial out from the Earth gate, the symbol representing Earth is always the last.Originally posted by StormComment
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OK, I know there're a couple of threads going on about gate-related stuff, but I wanted to start this one to put my entire theory about the gate in it (Well, it's nearly all canon, so mostly it's an explaination
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SPOILERS Season 7 up to Lost City, and some Atlantis.
So, let's start with Stargate basics. To turn on the gate seven symbols must be entered: 6 co-ordinates and a point of origin. The 6 co-ordinates give three lines, which intersect to give the point of destination, so the wormhole goes from PoO to PoD.
The Stargate has 39 symbols on it. 38 of these are the same on every gate, and the 39th is the PoO, unique on some or most gates (I'll get to that later). What has to be remembered about the Stargates is they are clearly designed to be mix and match. Any gate can go on any planet with any DHD.
So we come to the first bump. Using the DHD. Now, the DHD features 38 symbols in 2 rows and a big red button (BRB). The most logical thing would be that the 38 symbols are the 38 standard symbols, and you would enter your 6 symbols to dial, then hit the BRB.
Unfortunately, the majority of times they seem to dial 7 symbols, followed by the BRB. That would mean they press the PoO symbol on the DHD, which would mean that each DHD is missing one symbol, which means you can't dial any address featuring that symbol. That doesn't make much sense. It would also make the DHDs very unmixable. [Sorry, couldn't come up with a better term]
There have been times when the logical 6 glyph dialing has taken place, but also there have been 4 glyph, 8 glyph and even 9 glyph dialings. In addition, with the 7 glyph dialing it's not normally a PoO symbol pressed 7th, it's normally one of the standard 38, which makes even less sense.
So, in this instince, we'll have to accept that the logical solution is correct, 6 glyphs followed by the BRB, despite the common 7 glyph dialing.
Now, on to some explaining. Why are the 38 glyphs the same on every Stargate? Well, thanks to SPG_1983 (God, I hope I god the number right!), the following theory does make sense: The symbols were simply made up by the Ancients (They could be some sort of old script in their culture, which could be where their sounds came from). Ancient man knew about the Stargate, and mapped them out in the sky, which isn't as difficult as you'd think. The stars would have changed over the millions of years since the Stargates were built, but not over the last 10,000 years by much.
Point of Origin is different to the Point of Origin symbol! The Point of Origin is wherever the Stargate is, it changes if you move the gate. The PoO symbol stays the same, it just represents wherever the Stargate is at that time.
Uh oh... I'm starting to blank... I had some other stuff I wanted to say! Ah, I remember!
Point of Origin symbols unique? Maybe not so... So far we've seen only 4 unique PoOs: The A symbol, the one in Solitudes, the Abydos symbol, and the one in The Gamekeeper. However, due to production constraints, they can't make a unique PoO symbol for every gate and have, in fact, shown the A symbol on several gates... an explaination follows.
Go back to the mixability [Sorry, someone give me a better term!] of the Stargate network. We've already established that any Gate can be used on any planet, and DHDs are all the same, and thus easy to produce. Having each gate have a different 39th symbol would make them harder to produce en mass.
So what if the A symbol is a standard PoO? You'd still be able to tell, since it wouldn't be on the DHD (We've already discussed that). It would make gates easier to interchange. And Atlantis (Both the show and team's patch) use the A symbol still... The other symbols could be designed for special gates, for example the Solitudes symbol was for Earth's original gate, which had an Ancient outpost. The Taonas gate could also have had a special symbol. The Abydos gate could have been taken by Ra from the same planet he found the Lost City tablet...
Hmmm... I think that's all, for now.
What I would like is some logical, thought-out responses, maybe try and pick some holes in it.
What I don't want is someone to come along and say "Well, I say an episode last night where they dialed 7 symbols, so you're wrong" because I've already explained that, DON'T DO THAT! (I have to drill it in, but someone will say it inevitably...)
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wow that is awesome, the most concise, clear and easy to understand summary of the whole issue (thanks for the nod by the way) another word instead of mixability: interchangability. Kudos to you!
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You're WRONG, Snake Boy, completely and utterly WRONG!
I just had to say that.
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Unfortunately, I don't think TPTB thought it out as thoroughly as you. Nice work...How could they leave me out?Comment
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Considering how long it would take to populate the entire galaxy with gates I would assume that they would fix or upgrade gate features over that period of time, upgrade hardware components, etc. The different PoOs may be a way to tell what "version" of the Stargate was being used without having to open it up...
That might also be another way of explaining the inconsistency with the number of points dialed (6 or 7).Comment
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Actually, I'm just gonna agree with whatever Snake Boy said. It sounded really logical right up until the bit with the math in. I can't process nunbers, my head was built for words. Plus, I recall being more or less in agreement with him about this on a similar thread on the old board.
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You've really thought about that a lot haven't you?
I do agree with you that it would of been easier to have the >o symbol as the PoO symbol of every DHD would be simpler then the DHD's could be moved around wherever they want.
The only problem with that is that in the episodes when SG-1 go to another planet they always press a different symbol for the PoO like in Shades of Grey it is Triangulum and in Within the Serpents Grasp(I think) they use serpens caput which are both normal symbols which are on every gate.....
I might not be making much sense cause i'm tired and i'm starting to confuse myself so I think it'll be best if I stop
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Yeah, I know they do that, I think I pointed that out up there, but since we've already agreed that only 6 symbol dialling makes sense, then that doesn't really matterOriginally posted by Sam_o_NeillYou've really thought about that a lot haven't you?
I do agree with you that it would of been easier to have the >o symbol as the PoO symbol of every DHD would be simpler then the DHD's could be moved around wherever they want.
The only problem with that is that in the episodes when SG-1 go to another planet they always press a different symbol for the PoO like in Shades of Grey it is Triangulum and in Within the Serpents Grasp(I think) they use serpens caput which are both normal symbols which are on every gate.....
I might not be making much sense cause i'm tired and i'm starting to confuse myself so I think it'll be best if I stop
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It's been a really long time since I've seen CotG, but in CotG didn't O'neill, or someone else draw the >o POO in the sand and Teal'c recognised they were from earth. How would that be possible if the symbol is on multiple gates?
Also, If I recall properly, in earlier seasons doesn't daniel usually look at the DHD to determine the POO before dialing. Why would he need to determine the POO if it's the big red button?
I say it's 7 symbol dialing and the big red button is like the send button on a cellphone.
It's possible one or more of the symbols on the gate are just extra symbols which are never used in gate addresses but have some other purpose. The DHD's are like universal TV remote's which are missing some of the buttons your original remote had
My non-stargate related site: The Rabbit ArchiveComment
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