Memento

"Memento" is the twentieth episode of the sixth season of Stargate SG-1.

Synopsis
The Prometheus' hyperdrive is ejected when the drive's naquadria becomes unstable. The ship then lands on a planet named Tagrea. The crew cannot contact Earth for help because the planet's Stargate is buried, and they have to find it, but the planet's military commander has other plans.

Plot
The Prometheus, in orbit above Earth, detects a Goa'uld Ha'tak vessel and prepares to attack it; however, the situation is a battle simulation drill. Colonel Jack O'Neill, who is on ship with SG-1, isn't happy about the repetitive drills and talks with Major General George S. Hammond about it. Afterward, the Prometheus starts for a shakedown cruise to P7X-009, which according to Hammond shouldn't take more than a few hours. The scene ends with the ship entering hyperspace.

During the flight, O'Neill talks with Colonel William Ronson, commander of the ship, about the constant exercises when suddenly the ship exits from hyperspace. After some investigation, the crew finds out that the reactor’s buffer overloaded because they came in contact with a gravitational wave from a star while in hyperspace. In addition, they are unable to repair the buffer. Jonas Quinn identifies (from the cartouche) the gate address of a nearby planet, P3X-744, which is only 0.38 light years away. They decide to fly there (by using the hyperspace engines for only a short jump) to find a Stargate. After the short flight they establish an orbit around the planet but the Naquadria reactor suddenly overloads, forcing the crew to jettison the reactor. It detonates in a massive explosion, discharging an electromagnetic pulse that damages the ship, even with shields. After determining the damage, they detect long-range ballistic weapon, which originated from the planet, headed their way. They conclude that the hyperspace engine explosion could have been construed as an attack against the planet. Since they have no other available options, the crew contacts the planet, pleading them to disengage the rockets. The rockets ultimately self-destruct 17,000 meters away from the ship. Afterwards, the ship is contacted and given landing coordinates on the world named Tagrea.

The Prometheus lands and SG-1 leaves the ship. Upon going outside, they are confronted by a large army and forced to disarm. They are brought into a city, where they meet Chairman Ashwan and his council. The team tells him about the Stargate but it turns out that the council believes it's a myth. After SG-1 leaves, the chairman talks with Commander Kalfas, who is skeptical of SG-1’s account of events. Back on the ship, the team looks over several historical documents, given to them by the council, but find nothing regarding the Stargate. Teal'c and Jonas then get access to the archive of the Tagreans (after inviting them to a dinner, much to Colonel Ronson's protest) but again turn up empty-handed. However, they notice a strange man (named Tarek Solamon) who has watched and followed the two. He clandestinely tells them that he can help. Meanwhile, on the ship, O'Neill and Major Samantha Carter lead Ashwan and Kalfas on a tour. During dinner, it is revealed that the recorded history of the Tagreans only goes back 300 years because there was once a "dark age" (speculated by SG-1 to be when a Goa'uld controlled the planet) that the Tagreans want to forget ever happened.

In his office, Tarek shows Jonas Quinn and Teal'c relics from ancient times and believes their creator and god to be Heru'ur. Thanks to an old document, they also find out where the Stargate may lay. Jonas and Teal'c are then taken to the Wastelands of Anhur by Tarek (although Kalfas has an argument with Ashwan about this), where they uncover the Stargate. After unearthing the device, however, they are attacked by Kalfas, who takes them prisoners. When Kalfas ignores Ashwan's orders to release them, Ashwan convinces the soldiers manning the batteries surrounding Prometheus to stand down, allowing it to launch and fly to the location where Kalfas is holding Jonas and Teal'c. Thanks to the help and courage of Ashwan, who convinces Kalfas’ soldiers to stand down, Kalfas is arrested.

SG-1 uses the Stargate to bring back equipment from Earth to repair the Prometheus. Jonas says goodbye to Tarek and SG-1 heads home.

Notable Quotes
Carter: (referring to the problem) It's like a light bulb that's burned out. You can't just fix it. O'Neill: Do we have any extra bulbs? Ronson: There's no redundancy for that particular system. O'Neill: So you're saying there's no redundancy.

Goofs

 * The Colonel rank insignia on William Ronson's uniform are affixed upside down on his shoulders.
 * At the end of the episode, when Major Samantha Carter opens the Stargate, the sound of it opening can be heard but at the top corner of the screen it can be seen that the Stargate is not active.
 * When the SG1 leaves Prometheus for the first contact with Tagreans, in the back of the stage, there are some cars from a highway.

Characters

 * William Ronson
 * Erin Gant

In other languages

 * French: En Quête du Passé (Seeking for the Past)
 * Italian: Il Ricordo (Memento)
 * Spanish: Recuerdo (Memento)
 * Czech: Svědek Minulosti (The Witness of the Past)