The Torment of Tantalus (110)

[Dimes]

This was a very interesting episode!
Love that they used the Stargate during WW2

[Darian]

I love this episode due to it shaping the rest of the series by introducing the great alliance of 4 (Ancients,Asgard,Nox,Furlings) and it makes the show more interesting in my opinion

[Major_Clanger]

Daniel drives me so mad in this ep - i want to get my slapping hand onto him

[garhkal]

What made you so mad?

[Major_Clanger]

because he puts the team in danger by not following orders to get out. Bottom line: he's a part of a military unit with a boss. Orders aren't there to be discussed, they are there to be followed. Sensible, clever people (like Daniel) should know when to do what they are told.

[SF_and_Coffee]

In my opinion, Daniel is at this point still new enough to being a civilian contractor to the military that he's not entirely up to speed with instinctively thinking in terms of orders and obedience. Remember that he comes from an academic background and that he is known for bucking even academic authority -- he did, after all, bring what was regarded as a "crackpot" theory to the table clear back in the original film when Catherine Langford called on him to help them solve the mystery of the Stargate's function. At this point in the series, the writers were still painting him as something of the odd man out, the one person in the program with a decidedly non-militaristic background and approach to things. While his behavior in this episode does indeed imperil his teammates, I firmly believe it is there precisely as reinforcement of Daniel's "otherness" from the rest of SG-1 (remember, even Teal'c is a military man) despite his being an integral part of the team.

But what do I know? I'm a writer, so I think like one.

[Vagabond Serpent]

That was probably the first episode of the StarGate I watched two times in a row to hunt down the every little detail. What I wonder now, with 17 seasons and 3 movies down, is whether we ever learn which of writings was made in the Nox and which in the Furling languages? I can easily make out Asgard and Ancient

[fems]

That was probably the first episode of the StarGate I watched two times in a row to hunt down the every little detail. What I wonder now, with 17 seasons and 3 movies down, is whether we ever learn which of writings was made in the Nox and which in the Furling languages? I can easily make out Asgard and Ancient

In Paradise Lost there were supposedly Furling ruins, so you could check those against the samples from this episode.

[Vagabond Serpent]

You know, I just did I needed a minute or two after I posted to recall that there were some Furling texts somewhere later... And as usual, I thought them to be vice versa

[garhkal]

In Paradise Lost there were supposedly Furling ruins, so you could check those against the samples from this episode.

Most of the furling text iirc i saw was on the entrance device.

[Vagabond Serpent]

Yeah, and it's the curly one, I'd think that was the Nox text as they're so close to nature

[GusF]

Like "Thor's Hammer", this is a very important episode in the development of the series' mythology as it establishes the the existence of the Alliance of the Four Races, who were identified as the Asgard, the Nox, the Furlings and the Ancients in Season Two's "The Fifth Race", and the "meaning of life" stuff. As the first episode to visit a planet not listed on the Abydos cartouche, it's also significant as providing definitive proof that the Goa'uld did not create the Stargate network, something which was first theorised in the previous episode.

It also delves into the history of the Stargate programme before Daniel was able to turn the Gate on in the film, which was only hinted at in the film itself, with the revelation that the US government not only conducted experiments on the Stargate in 1945 but were able to turn it on and send Ernest Littlefield through. Ernest therefore holds a special place in Stargate history as the first person to travel through the Earth Stargate since the rebellion against Ra in 3000 B.C. Both versions of Ernest are well characterised with the 1945 version (played by future Atlantis stalwart Paul McGillian) possessing an insatiable curiosity about the Gate and the universe which, as Catherine says, is very reminiscent of Daniel's personality. On the other hand, the 1997 version (played by the late Keene Curtis) regrets that his obsession with the Stargate prevented he and Catherine from growing old together as they should have done, having realising that what he had was more value than what he was searching for.

Catherine (who seems to have lost her Swedish accent since the movie!) is another great character who should have been featured more often on the series. Elizabeth Hoffman's performance is wonderful as you can really sense her mixed emotions upon learning that Ernest was alive and well after thinking that he was dead for half a century. She is at first greatly upset by the thought that Ernest seemingly chose his work over her and didn't even discuss the risk involved and, though she eventually forgives him, clearly blames him for denying her the life that she could have had. Great stuff.

Along with "There But for the Grace of God", this is one of my two favourite Season One episodes.

[Trig]

I still want to know why this was overlooked as a planet to visit once we had the Promethius....
Perhaps just a case of we'd been given the knowledge that would of been gained from other sources at that point.

[GusF]

I still want to know why this was overlooked as a planet to visit once we had the Promethius....
Perhaps just a case of we'd been given the knowledge that would of been gained from other sources at that point.

Well, the castle was seemingly destroyed during the storm so the "meaning of life" stuff device was probably an unsalvageable wreck at the bottom of the ocean.

[Trig]

IIRC it was just the room where the gate was, still worth a trip out there just to see what else was about surely?