Ancient (Stargate)
Encyclopedia : A : AN : ANC : Ancient (Stargate)
The Ancients, also known as the Alterans, are a race in the fictional Stargate universe. They are the most advanced race known to have existed, having evolved millions of years prior to the present day and reaching their level of technology long before human life evolved on Earth.
History
The Ancients and the Ori
Millions of years ago, in the Stargate universe, the Alterans were a race along the evolutionary path to ascension and a split occurred that divided them into two camps: those who would later be given the name Ancients and the Ori. The Ori believed that their power should be worshipped, and they became increasingly dogmatic and filled with religious self-righteousness, believing they had a right to control all lesser races. The Alterans, on the other hand, (in Orlin's words) "believed" in science; they also had a strong belief in free will and believed it was ethically wrong to affect the free will of lesser races, much less force them to worship them. Eventually, (after the Ori tried to wipe them out) some Alterans left the Ori Galaxy and arrived in the Milky Way Galaxy.Milky Way Galaxy (First time)
After the Alterans fled from the Ori, they settled in their new home, the Milky Way galaxy. It was here in the Milky Way that they found Earth ('Terra' in their language) and settled. For millions of years it was one of their most important worlds, perhaps even the capital of their empire. The reason for earth's significance is thus far unknown. While in the Milky Way, the Alterans suffered from a plague, possibly of Ori origin, that wiped out most life in the galaxy. They then took their capital city, Atlantis, and used its Stardrive to fly to the Pegasus galaxy. Some speculate that they were fleeing from the plague. Some fans have further theorized that at least one Alteran, Ayiana, may have been left behind to activate the device at Dakara (also known as the Dakara Superweapon) to restart all life in the Milky Way. While this process would have first meant the destruction of existing life, in an effort to destroy the plague, it may have been seen as a necessary evil.Pegasus Galaxy
Eventually, there came a time when the Alterans began to research "ascension" to a higher plane of existence, to escape a mysterious plague that was infiltrating their population. Around this time one of the Ancients' cities, Atlantis, left Earth and went to the Pegasus Galaxy, where it settled on an ocean planet with little land. At least one other sister city has been discovered on another planet in the Pegasus galaxy.The Alterans seeded humans and Stargates across Pegasus and eventually encountered a leech-like organism, called the Iratus bug, with immense healing and immunological capabilities. Somehow this organism absorbed genetic information from the Alterans and rapidly bootstrapped its evolution into sentience as the vampire-like Wraith. The Alterans sent a delegation protected by their most powerful warships. But the Wraith were so numerous, the delegation was destroyed. The Alterans and Wraith went to war, and although Wraith technology was inferior to that of the Ancients, they overwhelmed the Alterans with sheer numbers. After a long siege, the Alterans of Atlantis returned to Earth via the Stargate and submerged Atlantis under the ocean where it would await the return of the Alterans (or their descendants, humans) for some 10,000 years.. In an effort to prevent the Wraith from following the Alterans to Earth, and launching an attack from numerous points of origin, its address was locked out from all other DHDs in the Pegasus galaxy.
Return to Earth and the Milky Way
Following the war with the Wraith, the Ancients returned to Earth via the Stargate. Many Ancients continued to use the Stargate network, and formed an alliance of four great races, alongside the Asgard, who were becoming advanced around that time (as stated in the episode Revelations), the Nox, whose origins are unknown, and the Furlings, about whom almost nothing is known.Many Ancients stayed on earth and interbred with humans, passing on the Ancient Technology Activation gene (ATA gene). The Ancients on Earth influenced the myths of Greece with the legend of Atlantis. The also laid the foundation for the Latin language. Many Roman myths were also influenced by the Ancients, such as the myth that the "Ancient ones ascended to the Heavens". Janus, the time-machine builder from the season one episode of Atlantis "Before I Sleep", may be the origin of the Roman myth of Janus, the god of doorways, beginnings, and endings. Judging by the typical nature of the Ancients, if he is in fact the origin of the myth, it is purely unintentional. In the season two episode The Fifth Race, Daniel Jackson, with the help of Jack O'Neill, translates the alien writing to include the text "We are the Ancients". He then theorizes that they might be the "Teachers of Roads". According to mythology, the Romans were the first real road builders; they learnt how to build roads from gods known as The Ancient Ones. The Arthurian Legends were also shown to be influenced by the Ancients, in particular the Ancient Myrddin/Merlin, who was revealed in the season nine episode Avalon to have ascended after returning from Atlantis, but to have de-ascended himself in order to create an Anti-Ori weapon. Merlin became known as King Arthur's wizard in mythology, and the Anti-Ori weapon became known as the Holy Grail.
At some point after the Ancients returned to Earth, some or all of them ascended.
Recent Ancient History
During season six of Stargate SG-1 an Alteran woman, Ayiana, was found frozen in Antarctica near the location of the Antarctica stargate. She revived herself when thawed, but she was still infected with the plague and died very shortly thereafter after ridding the majority of SG-1 of the plague. There is, as of yet, no official explanation as to why she was left behind when the others left for the Pegasus galaxy. Some fans, however, have speculated that she may have been left behind to use the device at Dakara to wipe out the plague and restart life in the Milky Way. While inside the chamber she would have been immune to the effects of the device. She may have been caught in an avalanche on her way back to outpost. In the episode Rising Ayiana seems to stay behind to guard the outpost.Physiology
Pre-Ascension
The Ancients were humanoid, and the humans that evolved in a galaxy far from the Milky Way are the first evolution of humanity (it is implied that we evolved as such due to the actions of the Ancients, since two species progressing along identical evolutionary paths is extremely improbable). The Ancients also possessed the Ancient Technology Activation gene.Towards the end of their evolutionary development, but before they ascended, the Ancients developed advanced abilities, such as telekenesis, extraordinary sensory abilities, and the ability to heal others.
Ascension
The Ancients' ascended form of pure energy allows them to be seen and heard by ordinary humans and then disappear at will. Most, however, adhere to a sort of "Prime Directive" which forbids them from influencing the unascended.
Near the end of season five, Dr. Daniel Jackson became exposed to a lethal amount of radiation and was approached just prior to his death by an ascended Ancient named Oma Desala whom he had previously met on the planet Kheb (
). With her assistance Daniel ascended, but at the beginning of season seven, Daniel left his ascended state because he couldn't countenance the unconcerned detachment of the Ancients for current day events which they are responsible for: the semi-ascendant state of the Goa'uld Anubis and his development of Ancient-advanced technology.
Facing the threat of extinction by the Wraith in the Pegasus galaxy, a group of Ancients created a time dilation field where time flowed several hundred times faster than normal. The goal was to allow any who entered to reach an ascended state much quicker than normal. Relatively speaking, an observer inside the bubble would experience the passage of time at a normal rate, yet an external observer would see this person live an entire lifetime in a few months(250:1 according to Teyla). When the field was discovered by John Sheppard it was inhabited by the descendants of a group of humans who had entered it to follow the Ancients' path to ascension, which they achieved about six months later (several hours' time to outside observers).
Daniel Jackson and Anubis were also ascended at one point, but they were not Ancients per se; it is established that several people have learned to ascend over the years.
Philosophy
The ascended Ancients in Stargate have a strict philosophy, similar to the Prime Directive, that according to Orlin states:
Do not accelerate the natural ascension process of those beneath.
This rule is broken often however, with varied consequences. Orlin assisted the humans of Velona in defending themselves from an alien attack by giving them the knowledge to build a powerful weapon, whereas Oma Desala repeatedly assists "those beneath" in ascending, and accidentally aided the Goa'uld Anubis in ascending. The consequences of breaking this rule have been highlighted; the humans of Velona, confident in their power after defeating their invaders, began planning the conquest of others worlds.
Orlin was sentenced to remain on the world he aided, and the collective Ascended Beings completely destroyed the people of Velona before they had a chance to begin their conquests. In the case of Oma, the Ascended beings intervened by forcing Anubis to descend into a state of being partially ascended and partially corporeal. As punishment for Oma's actions in aiding others in ascension, Anubis was allowed to subjugate the galaxy using the technological advantages he had learnt due to his ascension. Chaya/Athar is yet another who was banished when she used her abilities as an ascended being to protect her planet from the Wraith.
Even before their ascension, the Ancients had strict rules on time travel, however, this rule has also been broken. Janus developed time travel technology, leading to Elizabeth Weir using it to travel back to Atlantis 10,000 years previously, and to a column containing a history of future events on the planet in the Stargate SG-1 episode It's Good to Be King.
Technology
The Ancients' technology, created prior to ascension, is perhaps the most advanced technology discovered by the SGC in the Stargate universe, with the possible exception of the Replicator's technology which is a combination of cultures (including the Ancients) and Ori technology (created with ascended knowledge by the Priors). Among their many achievements, their most notable one is the Stargate Network, but they have also developed technology as diverse as flying cities, advanced power sources, advanced healing devices and DNA Resequencers. Much of the Ancients' weapons technology was used or designed for use in the centuries-long war with the Wraith in the Pegasus Galaxy.
Much of Ancient technology requires the presence of the ATA gene in the person wishing to use it.
Language and Writing System
The Ancients' language appears to be a precursor of Latin, but it is still distinct; it has a unique writing system. Unlike the Goa'uld and Asgard writing systems, which correspond to Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs and Nordic runes respectively, the Ancient writing system has no analogues with any known Earth alphabet. Generally speaking, Ancient characters are squarish, blocky, and dominated by right angles. The Athosians, and possibly other human civilizations in the Pegasus Galaxy, say their prayers in Ancient.
In one episode Daniel Jackson is blackmailed into translating a section of Ancient text. The text shown to us on Daniel's laptop says (when translated according to the attached translation notes) "Actual words are hard to dechiper so this'll work". The writings on the stairs in the gate-room on Atlantis are rumored to be names and jokes from the cast and crew. Also a Stargate SG1 season 9 episode featuring a Ancient underground complex (belonging to Merlin) contains several Alterian(Ancient) to English translations. "Reflect" is one of which.
There are 25 distinct characters in the Ancient-English conversion (as F and U are the same backwards seven (as described by Lt.Colonel Cameron Mitchell). However as the Alterian language is the 'source' to Latin. There are possibly many more symbols yet to be translated.
The Ancient writing system has been shown to be learnable with moderate difficulty by humans (although many different dialects still exist which make reading and translation difficult if the person is not familiar with them).
Known Ancients
Ancients who have been mentioned by name (along with episode titles) include:
- Ayiana ("Frozen" (SG-1), "Rising" (Atlantis))
- Chaya/Athar ("Sanctuary" (Atlantis))
- Janus ("Before I Sleep" (Atlantis))
- Oma Desala (numerous SG-1 appearances)
- Orlin ("Ascension" (SG-1), "The Fourth Horseman" (SG-1))
- Melia ("Rising" (Atlantis), "Before I Sleep" (Atlantis))
- Myrddin/Merlin ("Avalon" (SG-1)) also known as Moros ("Before I Sleep" (Atlantis))
See also
References
- [Gateworld.net] (detalied episode summaries and transcripts)
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.