As promised, here is my breakdown of key timeline/background points from SGU. I've tried to restrict this to information that may prove directly useful to planning for Atlantis Rising, especially in terms of developments in the situation with the Lucian Alliance, as well as discoveries regarding Ancient technology and its history that may come into play in Atlantis. Instead of going episode by episode, I'm presenting this in timeline format to give a better idea of exactly what happened when. My personal commentary is highlighted in purple.
And away we go!
Millions of years ago
Stargate seeder ships, and later the Destiny, are built by the Ancients and launched from Earth.
"Air" (1.01): Rush states that Destiny was launched "hundreds of thousands of years ago," but this was later clarified by producers as being in error.
"Darkness" (1.04): Destiny pre-dates the introduction of ATA gene dependent technology, meaning that it must have been built prior to the Atlantis-class city-ships.
Notes: Given the similarities in more flowing, organic design styles between Destiny and other very old (in some cases, known Ori-era) pieces of Ancient technology, like the communication stones and communication device, the repository of knowledge and the Ark of Truth, it is possible that the seeder ships and Destiny were constructed shortly after the Ancients first arrived in the Milky Way. Note that in the Atlantis pilot episode "Rising," Daniel Jackson states that the Ancients left Earth with Atlantis somewhere between five and ten million years ago, so Destiny's launch had to have been much earlier than that.
Date unknown - at least two years prior to "Air"
A single nine chevron gate address is found in the Ancient database on Atlantis, with apparently no further information on it.
"Air" (1.01): One of the orientation videos that Eli watches states that the address was found in the Ancient database. Later, Rush further clarifies that it was discovered in Atlantis and it was the only nine chevron address found, and confirms Eli's question that there were "no other instructions" included.
Notes: No date is given for the discovery of the nine chevron address, but it may be safe to assume that it happened shortly before Rush was approached to join the Stargate Program. Potentially, it could be anywhere from one to six months, but I'd err on the shorter side, maybe a month or two for the number crunchers already read into the project to realize that they need additional outside help.
About two years prior to "Air"
Daniel Jackson approaches Nicholas Rush to offer him a position with the Stargate Program, on a new project to unlock the ninth chevron. Around the same time or shortly thereafter, Earth gets information from a source within the Lucian Alliance about a naquadria-rich planet that meets the requirements for the ninth chevron project.
"Air" (1.01): One of the orientation videos that Eli watches states that the Icarus planet was discovered two years earlier.
"Human" (1.14): Rush's memories of his first meetings with Daniel Jackson reveals the Icarus planet's connection to the Lucian Alliance; Jackson also mentions a mining outpost run by a small "something" (Rush cuts him off before he can complete the statement). Rush later states that he'd been working on the ninth chevron problem for two and a half years while his wife was off dying, only for Eli to come along and solve the problem at the last minute
Notes:
1. If "Air" takes place around March 2009 (within days to weeks after the end of SGA's "Enemy at the Gate," around February 2009), then this may have occurred around the time of SGA's "Reunion" (ep. 4.03), which we have set around March 2007. However, that's assuming that it's exactly two years. At various points in "Human" it's stated that the ninth chevron project was operating for anywhere from two years to two and a half years prior to the beginning of SGU. If we go with the longer end of the scale and assume it's been about two and a half years, that puts us sometime around September 2006. This is about halfway into the second half of Atlantis Season Three, so Elizabeth Weir would still have been in command of Atlantis at the time the nine chevron address was discovered and the beginnings of the Icarus Project. It's possible that the Asuran Replicator database, which was probably modeled on the Atlantis database, also contained the address and thus Oberoth and the Replicators would have been aware of it. Whether or not the Asurans might have had any additional information about the significance of the nine chevron address, or whether they were able to extract any information from Weir's mind about Earth's knowledge of the nine chevron address and of the Icarus Project, is unknown and debatable.
2. It's possible that the Lucian Alliance might have been initially interested in the planet and its supply of naquadria for use in weapons, before they learned of the nine chevron address. On the other hand... (see below)
Date unknown - possibly a year or so prior to "Air"
Colonel David Telford is working undercover to infiltrate the Lucian Alliance. Eight months into his assignment, a planet that Earth has a large team working on is attacked; thirty-seven people are killed. It is later discovered that Telford knew about the attack and decided to do nothing, in order to protect his cover. Stargate Command sweeps the matter under the rug. At some point, Telford is brainwashed by the Lucian Alliance to become a double agent.
"Subversion" (1.18)
Notes: Obviously, Telford is the one who told the Lucian Alliance about Icarus Base and Earth's ninth chevron project. But there are indications that the LA knew about Destiny (or at least the nine chevron address) well before this point. In "Aftermath" (2.02), Ginn tells Wray about why the Lucian Alliance wanted Destiny:
Telford probably gave the LA a great deal of other information as well. Like information on Atlantis and its defenses, which no doubt were used to plan the LA's coming attack on Earth. What attack, you ask? Keep reading.
About six months prior to "Air"
The Icarus base is completed and opened
"Air" (1.01): Young states they've been there for six months.
"Subversion" (1.18): A photo shows several Icarus personnel celebrating Christmas on the base; this would've been December 2008, which falls right in the six-month period leading up to February/March 2009.
January or February 2009
SGA's "Enemy at the Gate"
Date unknown, but probably shortly before "Air"
Telford is assigned to Icarus Base. His job will be to lead the first team that will go through the gate onto Destiny.
Late February or March 2009: SGU's "Air"
Mallozzi's blog, April 29, 2009
Ruffles writes: “1. How much time has passed since Enemy at the Gate? [...]â€
Answers: 1. Well, it aired January 9th, so almost three months. Oh, if you’re wondering about in relation to SGU – maybe days. And if you’re wondering in relation to the Atlantis movie – maybe a week. [...]
Notes: Basically, it looks like the original plan was supposed to be EatG, followed a few days later by "Air" (and "Darkness" and "Light," which pick right up from "Air"), with the "Stargate: Extinction" movie perhaps taking place either during or immediately following "Air"/"Darkness"/"Light." With the SGA crossover episode in SGU S2, that timeline has been changed; "Air" probably still picks up days after EatG, but "Extinction" will likely take after the crossover episode, "Seizure."
Date unknown, perhaps soon after "Air"
The Lucian Alliance finds a new Icarus-type planet and begins working on reaching Destiny.
"Subversion" (1.18): According to Olan, they've been close to making a connection with Destiny for "months."
Within the first couple of months that the crew is on Destiny, the IOA makes two attempts to try to gain control of command.
"Earth" (1.07), "Justice" (1.10)
Notes: Damn, the IOA just can't stop meddling in anything, can they?
Late September or so
Colonel Young and Lieutenant Scott aboard the Destiny discover that Telford may be a Lucian Alliance agent and Rush volunteers to assist them in smoking Telford out. Rush, still in Telford's body, is captured by Lucian Alliance agents on Earth using a cloaked Goa'uld cargo ship they snuck past Earth's sensors. Rush is taken to Icarus 2 and forced to recreate the calculations necessary to connect to Destiny, while Telford's brainwashing is broken and he warns Destiny and Earth about the Lucian Alliance's plan to raid and take over Destiny. Carter and the General Hammond lead the assault on Icarus 2, but they are unable to stop the Lucian Alliance strike team from opening the gate to Destiny and gaining a foothold. Eventually, the strike team is defeated and locked up while Earth decides what to do with them.
"Subversion" (1.18), "Incursion Parts 1 & 2" (1.19, 1.20), "Intervention" (2.01)
To be continued in Part 2...
And away we go!
Millions of years ago
Stargate seeder ships, and later the Destiny, are built by the Ancients and launched from Earth.
"Air" (1.01): Rush states that Destiny was launched "hundreds of thousands of years ago," but this was later clarified by producers as being in error.
"Darkness" (1.04): Destiny pre-dates the introduction of ATA gene dependent technology, meaning that it must have been built prior to the Atlantis-class city-ships.
Notes: Given the similarities in more flowing, organic design styles between Destiny and other very old (in some cases, known Ori-era) pieces of Ancient technology, like the communication stones and communication device, the repository of knowledge and the Ark of Truth, it is possible that the seeder ships and Destiny were constructed shortly after the Ancients first arrived in the Milky Way. Note that in the Atlantis pilot episode "Rising," Daniel Jackson states that the Ancients left Earth with Atlantis somewhere between five and ten million years ago, so Destiny's launch had to have been much earlier than that.
Date unknown - at least two years prior to "Air"
A single nine chevron gate address is found in the Ancient database on Atlantis, with apparently no further information on it.
"Air" (1.01): One of the orientation videos that Eli watches states that the address was found in the Ancient database. Later, Rush further clarifies that it was discovered in Atlantis and it was the only nine chevron address found, and confirms Eli's question that there were "no other instructions" included.
Notes: No date is given for the discovery of the nine chevron address, but it may be safe to assume that it happened shortly before Rush was approached to join the Stargate Program. Potentially, it could be anywhere from one to six months, but I'd err on the shorter side, maybe a month or two for the number crunchers already read into the project to realize that they need additional outside help.
About two years prior to "Air"
Daniel Jackson approaches Nicholas Rush to offer him a position with the Stargate Program, on a new project to unlock the ninth chevron. Around the same time or shortly thereafter, Earth gets information from a source within the Lucian Alliance about a naquadria-rich planet that meets the requirements for the ninth chevron project.
"Air" (1.01): One of the orientation videos that Eli watches states that the Icarus planet was discovered two years earlier.
"Human" (1.14): Rush's memories of his first meetings with Daniel Jackson reveals the Icarus planet's connection to the Lucian Alliance; Jackson also mentions a mining outpost run by a small "something" (Rush cuts him off before he can complete the statement). Rush later states that he'd been working on the ninth chevron problem for two and a half years while his wife was off dying, only for Eli to come along and solve the problem at the last minute
Notes:
1. If "Air" takes place around March 2009 (within days to weeks after the end of SGA's "Enemy at the Gate," around February 2009), then this may have occurred around the time of SGA's "Reunion" (ep. 4.03), which we have set around March 2007. However, that's assuming that it's exactly two years. At various points in "Human" it's stated that the ninth chevron project was operating for anywhere from two years to two and a half years prior to the beginning of SGU. If we go with the longer end of the scale and assume it's been about two and a half years, that puts us sometime around September 2006. This is about halfway into the second half of Atlantis Season Three, so Elizabeth Weir would still have been in command of Atlantis at the time the nine chevron address was discovered and the beginnings of the Icarus Project. It's possible that the Asuran Replicator database, which was probably modeled on the Atlantis database, also contained the address and thus Oberoth and the Replicators would have been aware of it. Whether or not the Asurans might have had any additional information about the significance of the nine chevron address, or whether they were able to extract any information from Weir's mind about Earth's knowledge of the nine chevron address and of the Icarus Project, is unknown and debatable.
2. It's possible that the Lucian Alliance might have been initially interested in the planet and its supply of naquadria for use in weapons, before they learned of the nine chevron address. On the other hand... (see below)
Date unknown - possibly a year or so prior to "Air"
Colonel David Telford is working undercover to infiltrate the Lucian Alliance. Eight months into his assignment, a planet that Earth has a large team working on is attacked; thirty-seven people are killed. It is later discovered that Telford knew about the attack and decided to do nothing, in order to protect his cover. Stargate Command sweeps the matter under the rug. At some point, Telford is brainwashed by the Lucian Alliance to become a double agent.
"Subversion" (1.18)
Notes: Obviously, Telford is the one who told the Lucian Alliance about Icarus Base and Earth's ninth chevron project. But there are indications that the LA knew about Destiny (or at least the nine chevron address) well before this point. In "Aftermath" (2.02), Ginn tells Wray about why the Lucian Alliance wanted Destiny:
Spoiler:
Telford probably gave the LA a great deal of other information as well. Like information on Atlantis and its defenses, which no doubt were used to plan the LA's coming attack on Earth. What attack, you ask? Keep reading.
About six months prior to "Air"
The Icarus base is completed and opened
"Air" (1.01): Young states they've been there for six months.
"Subversion" (1.18): A photo shows several Icarus personnel celebrating Christmas on the base; this would've been December 2008, which falls right in the six-month period leading up to February/March 2009.
January or February 2009
SGA's "Enemy at the Gate"
Date unknown, but probably shortly before "Air"
Telford is assigned to Icarus Base. His job will be to lead the first team that will go through the gate onto Destiny.
Late February or March 2009: SGU's "Air"
Mallozzi's blog, April 29, 2009
Ruffles writes: “1. How much time has passed since Enemy at the Gate? [...]â€
Answers: 1. Well, it aired January 9th, so almost three months. Oh, if you’re wondering about in relation to SGU – maybe days. And if you’re wondering in relation to the Atlantis movie – maybe a week. [...]
Notes: Basically, it looks like the original plan was supposed to be EatG, followed a few days later by "Air" (and "Darkness" and "Light," which pick right up from "Air"), with the "Stargate: Extinction" movie perhaps taking place either during or immediately following "Air"/"Darkness"/"Light." With the SGA crossover episode in SGU S2, that timeline has been changed; "Air" probably still picks up days after EatG, but "Extinction" will likely take after the crossover episode, "Seizure."
Date unknown, perhaps soon after "Air"
The Lucian Alliance finds a new Icarus-type planet and begins working on reaching Destiny.
"Subversion" (1.18): According to Olan, they've been close to making a connection with Destiny for "months."
Within the first couple of months that the crew is on Destiny, the IOA makes two attempts to try to gain control of command.
"Earth" (1.07), "Justice" (1.10)
Notes: Damn, the IOA just can't stop meddling in anything, can they?
Late September or so
Colonel Young and Lieutenant Scott aboard the Destiny discover that Telford may be a Lucian Alliance agent and Rush volunteers to assist them in smoking Telford out. Rush, still in Telford's body, is captured by Lucian Alliance agents on Earth using a cloaked Goa'uld cargo ship they snuck past Earth's sensors. Rush is taken to Icarus 2 and forced to recreate the calculations necessary to connect to Destiny, while Telford's brainwashing is broken and he warns Destiny and Earth about the Lucian Alliance's plan to raid and take over Destiny. Carter and the General Hammond lead the assault on Icarus 2, but they are unable to stop the Lucian Alliance strike team from opening the gate to Destiny and gaining a foothold. Eventually, the strike team is defeated and locked up while Earth decides what to do with them.
"Subversion" (1.18), "Incursion Parts 1 & 2" (1.19, 1.20), "Intervention" (2.01)
To be continued in Part 2...
I tell you Teal'c, hockey is the coolest game on Earth!
Did you not say it is played on ice, O'Neill?
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