Tollan (planet)

Tollan, designated P3X-7763 by the Tau'ri, was the homeworld of the Tollans. When their planet began to go through a great cataclysm, the Tollans abandoned the planet by ship. Omac and a team remained behind to bury the Stargate, but they began to succumb to the toxic gases released by the volcanoes. SG-1 found them like that, and took them back to Earth.

Settlement
Though it was thought that the Tollans were brought to Tollan by use of the Stargate, and indeed some believed it was by the Ancients themselves, this was not in fact the case. The truth was lost to even their own histories, and so even the Tollans themselves did not know they were originally the Mayans of Earth. They were transported to Tollan through the crystal skull network by the Furlings, as their territory on Earth was being invaded by the Goa'uld-controlled Aztecs. Settling on the planet, the Tollans soon forgot about their Furling saviours and the crystal skulls themvelves.

The planet was rich in natural resources, and so the Tollan civilization flourished at an unprecedented rate. Discovering that their new planet was very much like Earth, with large continents that were teeming with life and vast oceans of water which gave them a carefully-balanced ecosystem, the Tollans soon spread across the planet and it became their new home. On the easternmost continent they discovered the planets only known, and quite vast, desert just below the equatorial range. Despite this pleasant climate, the planet experienced the occasional bouts of earthquake activity and volcanic blasts. As the Tollans grew in their technological prowess, they learned to partially control their planets climate in order to help mitigate these problems. Whether or not this technology had any link to the Touchstone&mdash;another Furling device&mdash;is unknown.



Industrial age
It was these very technological advances, as well as overpopulation, that would eventually prove to be the downfall of the planet. Untempered by forethought or planning, they soon ate up their planets natural resources and entered into a great industrial age. Because of their technological advancements during this time, the Tollans became secure in their superiority and arrogance. By the time that they realized their mistakes it was too late to save their planet at their level of technology. Having wiped out several species of animals, as well as polluting their air to the level of toxicity, the Tollans began to work on clean energy sources. Though they managed to make some progress in this regard during their last centuries on the planet, it would have taken thousands of years to fix the damage they had brought upon themselves.

Because of this, and their growing population, the Tollans began to develop space travel, planning to one day colonize other planets to save their race. They were pleasantly surprised, however, when they discovered one such planet in their own solar system; Satira. This planet was populated by a less advanced alien society of its own, and so the Tollans offered their own technology so that they could create clean energy through energy generation and fusion. The Satirans wasted this knowledge and, instead of using it to save their planet from the same fate as Tollan, used it to wage war. The resulting destruction of Satira caused the orbital alignment of Tollan to shift, plunging it into further chaos and ruining any chances the Tollan had to save it.



This shift drastically altered the planets day and night cycle, leaving a large portion of the planet in eternal darkness, and also caused large fluctuations in the planets magnetic field. Because of these fluctuations, the tidal cycle of the oceans were altered causing heavy damage to the atmosphere itself, and earthquakes became nearly constant all over the planet. Soon, black clouds of ash and smoke filled the sky, plunging the entire planet into eternal darkness. The fallout from these clouds poisoned the water, causing it to become acidic and killing the remaining life on the planet. In order to never forget what sharing their technology could do, the Tollans named this the time of Rememberance.

Downfall
Having no way to save their planet the Tollans once more reached to the stars, sending their entire population to another planet&mdash;Tollana&mdash;which was lush with trinium and had a stable ecosystem. Several members of the population chose to stay behind on the planet in order to bury their Stargate so that no others would be trapped on the planet after they left. It was at this time that the Tau'ri visited the planet from Earth, once again uniting themselves with their brethren. As soon as SG-1 stepped through the Stargate, they noticed their surroundings and chose to leave immediately. This would have meant doom for the remaining Tollans if not for Daniel Jackson, who noticed the bodies of several Tollans on the ground.



SG-1 immediately set about scouring the local area for any more survivors, finding Omoc and Narim among others. Although many of the Tollans were unconscious, Omoc managed to grab Samantha Carter's arm, demanding that they be left on the planet and not saved as he believed that there was a starship coming to get them. Whether or not this was true is unknown, as Samantha chose to ignore the demand, taking the Tollans back to Earth so that they may live.

Having learned of these Tollan survivors, Colonel Harry Maybourne used the Beta Gate on Earth to send a group of N.I.D. agents through to Tollan straight away. Although the climate conditions were becoming increasingly worse, the N.I.D. agents managed to scout a small area around the Stargate. They were not able to salvage any kind of sizeable equipment or weaponry, but did manage to recover the body of a Tollan, as well as a number of smaller Tollan devices, which they took back to Earth. Although these devices turned out to be a phase device, inverted phase communicator, and recall device, the intense heat had fused the crystals inside them which made them unusable. The N.I.D. agents sent the devices to Area 51 to be studied regardless.

The SGC attempted to dial Tollan once more only a few days after the Tollans managed to leave with the Nox but were unable to get a lock. This was due to the fact that the Stargate had been swept away by the lava, covering it completely.

Behind the scenes
Stargate SG-1: The DVD Collection issue 9 gave an entirely different address for this planet which contains the point of origin for Abydos. This was later fixed in issue 10, however, which gave the planet another address which did not contain any point of origin chevrons. The problem with the planets Stargate address was further confused when Stargate SG-1: The Ultimate Visual Guide gave another address. As this is the most current publication, it is the address which we currently use.