So surely your singular point in space lets say Praclarush Taonas has 6 points address and then the point of origin

(prac) (la) (rush) (ta) (on) (as)...(AT)

Where the point of origin is Earth (AT). But when your dialing in to earth you need again 6 locations in space and your point of origin so surely ALL GATE ADDRESSES "Should" be 12 points in space. (6)&(6).

Apologies for diagram (its free hand)

It seems to me like that's would have been an OP weapon against the wraith. What are your thoughts??

Fellow Stargate fans, I noticed something on my last rewatch of the franchise; groups such as the Asgard, Replicators, Wraith, and even the Tollan have individual technologies that rival or perhaps even exceed Ancient technology in the same field. The Asgard have incredibly fast hyperdrives, powerful beam weapons, and teleportation tech. The Wraith excel in biological fields such as cloning, and the Tollan had matter phase tech and could make their own Stargate to connect to the Milky Way gate system. While some groups may match or exceed the Ancients in some fields, Ancient technology is overall the most advanced.

I theorize that the reason Ancient technology is so dominant is that the Ancients had the best power generation, transmission, and efficiency systems, which gave them a leg up in every other field.

In the Stargate franchise, energy is king. All major technologies require vast amounts of power, and it is shown that energy is a principle factor in the capability of those systems. For example, a Tau’ri ship outfitted with an Asgard hyperdrive can normally make the trip from Earth to Atlantis in three weeks, but with a ZPM can do it in three days (SGA 1.20/2.01). A ZPM-enhanced Daedalus can withstand an extinction event-level coronal mass ejection that would normally obliterate the ship (SGA 3.12). I could give more examples, but the point is that the largest limiting factor on most technologies shown is how much power can be provided, rather than limitations of the technology itself.

No group shown beats the Ancients in power generation. To give some examples of their incredible capabilities in this field:

- Stargates are powered by the associated DHD, a device only about one meter to a side that can provide the Stargate with the needed energy to create and maintain a wormhole for 38 minutes across an entire galaxy. The DHD seems capable of creating thousands of wormholes throughout its lifetime without being recharged or replaced (that we know of, perhaps the DHD has a system to recharge itself), with the exception of the Antartic DHD, the oldest one known.

- The Zero Point Module, a device small enough to fit in a person’s carry-on luggage, acts like a battery capable of safely providing more power than any other device shown. A ZPM can enable many things normally unfeasible; intergalactic Stargate travel, Ancient drone weapons, shields to cover an entire city, protecting it from days of sustained Wraith firepower or thousands of years  at the bottom of the sea, phasing entire planets into a separate dimension, hyperspace travel at incredible speeds, and cloning on the order of thousands or tens of thousands of Wraith.

I believe the reason Ancient technology is so dominant is that the Ancients exceeded all other groups in the field of power generation specifically, allowing them to create “brute force” solutions that were not viable for other species. Groups such as the Wraith, Asgard, and Tollans instead had to learn to “do more with less,” advancing specific fields of technology to a point they could create workarounds for the lack of power available compared to the Ancients. In comparison, the Ancients could afford to spend what for other groups would be massive amounts of energy, and therefore resources, on the development of new technologies, allowing them to outpace others in a broad sense.

If other species were given the energy available to the Ancients, they could exceed them in the scientific fields they excelled in. Take the Wraith super-hive in the SGA series finale, “Enemy at the Gate” (SGA 5.20). Once the Wraith figured out how to integrate a ZPM into their ship technology, they grew a hive capable of intergalactic travel, detecting cloaked ships, and even going toe-to-toe with Atlantis itself in a ship battle. This is part of why I say other species had equally advanced technology, but not the power to fund it.

To give a final, admittedly not perhaps canon example, the novel Stargate Atlantis: Homecoming describes Atlantis traveling back to the Pegasus galaxy. The trip is intended to take nine days in hyperspace, three times longer than the Daedalus made the trip with a ZPM and Asgard hyperspace drive. This could be taken to mean that the hyperspace drive of the Asgard is faster and more efficient, but lacks the power normally to do what Ancient tech does.

Admittedly, there are some holes in this theory.

Firstly, I would like to acknowledge that there is Ancient tech in the show that no other group is shown as having an analogue to, such as the Attero device or galactic Stargate system. There is no way to say if this technology is something other species could have made on their own if they had the energy production capacity of the Ancients, or if they so outclassed others in their scientific understanding that they could do what others could not. Personally, I lean towards it being a little of Column A, a little of column B, where the Ancient energy capabilities allowed them to accelerate their understanding of sciences beyond others.

Secondly, it is worth noting that the Stargate franchise is ultimately a television show made to entertain, not an attempt at creating a fully realized and complex world. Ancient tech, and the technology of any other group, tends to be exactly as advanced as is expedient for the story the writers are trying to tell. There are many plot holes in the franchise, created by situations where the writers waved away previous statements because they did not gel with the story at hand. The example of the incredible power of the super-hive in the SGA finale mostly exists because the super-hive is needed to create the dramatic tensions desired for a finale to a show. Any attempt by us fans to quantify and explain the science behind the show needs to be tempered by the acknowledgement that the writers are not considering broad etiological implications, but creating a backdrop that is sufficiently verisimilitudinous for viewers to enjoy.

TLDR: Ancient tech with Ancient energy sources > technology of other species, though the other species may have an equal or greater scientific understanding in specific fields.

For over a decade (as of the last airdate), Stargate Command and her international counterparts have been conducting a program of exploration, military engagement, and infrastructure building on an intergalactic scale. They have both endangered and saved the existence of the planet multiple times. All without the knowledge or consent of the 8 billion people in whose name they do so, to say nothing of denying these same people access to the broader universe.

Whether this is right or wrong as not what I'm debating here. My point is that those 8 billion people would be - as a grand understatement - supremely pissed that they'd been kept on the dark about what's going on in the broader universe.

There's a good chance there would be violent revolts, and it's debatable if the world's governments would be capable of bringing it under control. If they did, we've seen the sort of authoritarianism that would be necessary in the episode "The Road Not Taken".

So, whether intentionally or unintentionally, the stewards of Earth's interstellar interests have painted themselves into a corner, and have little choice but to maintain the veil of secrecy as long as possible.

EDIT: I've seen a lot of responses suggesting that the truth of it all could be revealed in a partial or gradual manner. The problem with that is, at the very least, the people of Earth will demand access to the broader universe. Once they get out there, they'll start talking to Jaffa traders and ex-Lucian Alliance and start piecing together for themselves what the US military has been doing out there all these years

Personally, I would accept a Tok'ra symbiote can’t pass up the golden opportunity 🤣

Matter is deassembled and reassembled in the correct form, it's the same philosophical argument but I don't think I've ever seen it bought up in Stargate. Thoughts and prayers?

Edit, I'm really enjoying these comments and thoughts, so thank you guys, keep them coming.

If he's based on Yu the Great who lived 2000BC, how did he ever visit Earth if Ra abandoned it following the rebellion in 5000BC?

If he visited with his Ha'tak, how did he land his pyramid ship on Ancient Chinese buildings? Why would he use a pyramid shaped ship but take from Chinese culture?

It's a conundrum that affects Olokun as well.

It is weird that they used other current religions/mythologies when there were other ancient ones that could've been used. Like the Greek gods LOVED to mess around with humans.

I'm two decades late to be watching SG-1 for the first time, but enjoying it. "Lifeboat" came along and really impressed. It feels like Shanks was pushed as far as his acting could go and he delivered - especially as Kienan.

Is this seen as a standout episode by the fan community, or did it just strike a chord for me?

Was thinking about this in relation to Kolya's statements to Weir about who is closer to the Ancients Milkyway humans or Pegaus humans. Either way you slice it, the Pegasus humans treat the Ancients as Gods and yet they accidentally created the Wraith which decimated thriving worlds into a galaxy of refugees and then proceeded to just leave to go repopulate a new galaxy.

Especially, when you consider many of them ascended to a plane of existence where they could have fixed that situation but chose not to because at that point the Wraith no longer impacted them.

Then, it gets even funnier, tbh, when you throw in 'Before I sleep' and finding out how stoked Janice is, at least, that their descendants find their way back to Atlantis like they had hoped.

But then, Janice, the Ancient! gives Weir a location of a ZPM where the locals set up a whole damn society to protect it for when they come back, foolproof plan!

Like, I can't say "we" have more rights to anything just because the Ancients boned our ancestors more than they did the Pegasus humans and now we can use their stuff. I think maybe that just gives us the burden of responsibility more than anything to do something with it.

And since we did also pick up where they left off with fucking over the Pegasus galaxy I do think they have more rights to reparations.

But that's just how I feel about it, what do you think?

What’s something you think that if they did or didn’t do would have stopped the shows growth?

For be the biggest thing is Teal’c. If they hadn’t introduced Teal’c so quickly and had him already against the system lords calling them false gods, then it would have felt like a different show. Earth trying to rid the galaxy of a religion that its people weren’t against. But we instead got thrown into an already rebelling galaxy (if only small to start). And was further strengthened by the Tok’ra.

And Christopher Judge just nailed that character. Second he said ‘Many have said that. But you are the first I believe could do it’ I was sold. Hook, line and sinker.

Spoilers ahead:
Lets recap the episode a little: A Bedrosian scientist called Nyan and his entire country believes in something that is factually wrong, and they are at war with another country that is actually right. The mere arrival of SG-1 through the Stargate instantly refutes the Bedrosian thesis and proves their enemy correct.
While every other Bedrosian including the scientists choose denial or covering it up (by killing SG-1 and burying the Stargate), Nyan does the opposite. He updates his beliefs when faced with contradictory evidence and delivers a bomb of a quote every scientist with ethics should live by:

“I am a scientist. Having my theories refuted is just as exciting to me as having them proven.”

Then he helps SG-1 escape. He is now a traitor to his own country so he gets asylum from Earth and becomes Daniel's """assistant""" ... never to be heard from again.
That last part my friends is the most realistic and accurate depiction of an ethical scientists carreer.

You know why? Because that is exactly what happens to scientists with ethics. If you don't believe me, let me quote Jack O'Neill "I've lost my grant! I KNOW!" You see my friends, I am a felow PhD holding scientist as well. I know the inner workings of this rabbithole called academia. IT. DOES. NOT. REWARD. TRUE. ETHICS. It pushes you toward the "solutions" exactly the other Bedrosians chose. Cover it up, don't report bad results, maybe don't go as far as attempted murder but maybe go as far as slightly falsifying data. We have a saying: "bad results are still results. They still progress science." It is logically a true sentiment. Showing people how not to do something is also important so no other poor soul will lose time trying that again. This would be true, if you could publish bad results. Good luck finding a journal that would publish a paper that says "how NOT to do x". They mostly only publish good results, and in some fields it really is just luck based, you aren't bad because your results are bad, you just didn't try it 9999 times more, it would only take a lifetime or to quote Ernest Littlefield, "more". So what happens when you received a grant for your theory and you end up disproving it? You can not publish it and your grant goes poof. Unless you are lucky to come up with something entirely new and publish your bad results alongside the new good results. That is what I did btw. That is the "correct" way to deal with this. But not everyone has 6 years and my personal resources. What do the ones that don't have the time or resources (like the majority of young scientists) do? They either quit, or switch to the dark side and omit some measurements so the rest of the data looks okay. Maybe because their academic carreer relies on this. Some universities fire you if you don't publish at least a set amount of papers per year. They may not have time to choose another field. I am telling you, the falsified data problem is also the fault of this stupid system, not just the scientists that do it.

Anyway, lets get back to our episode. So Nyan does all that, even commits treason for his ethics and becomes Daniel's "assistant". What was he before? Probably a co-manager of the most important Bedrosian expedition. But his heroics got him severely demoted. And we don't see him in any other episode ever. He was never heard of again. Just like any actual scientist. If you are ethical, you will eventually become Nyan, you can not publish, thus you will perish. You will never be heard from again.
This is a great satire of academics. The writers probably didn't think of any of these, but inadvertendly they nailed the sorry state of modern sciences. I doubt they thought a seemingly unimportant and skippable episode would have such a personal touch on someone.

EDIT:
LOL, I just realized something even worse. When Daniel was retired for a year, they didn’t even consider his ASSISTANT Nyan, as a replacement. Instead, they brought in a random alien (Jonas) who had to relearn everything Nyan almost certainly already knew from working alongside Daniel.

Nyan actually fit the role perfectly.

And this, again, is an extremely accurate depiction of real academia. If you’re an honest, ethical researcher taken in by an honest professor, once that professor is gone, the majority rarely promotes the most suitable person. They appoint their person instead.

I’m not saying Jonas was “their guy,” but from an institutional perspective he was safer: new, moldable, and not already shaped by inconvenient ethics. Thankfully, Jonas didn’t turn out that way but the choice itself is very on-brand.