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"Lifeboat" is the sixth episode of the seventh season of Stargate SG-1.

Synopsis[]

While examining a crashed alien ship called the Stromos, Dr. Daniel Jackson is struck by a power surge. After returning to Stargate Command, it is discovered that several consciousnesses from the people who were trapped in stasis pods on the ship are now in Jackson's head.

Plot[]

Stromos

The Stromos on P2A-347.

While exploring P2A-347, SG-1 encounters a crashed alien space ship containing a plethora of Stasis pods. The team separates to cover more territory and see how many aliens are contained in the pods. Soon after Jack O'Neill finds a pod that has failed, SG-1 is attacked by an energy wave. Teal'c soon recovers to find Colonel Jack O'Neill and Major Samantha Carter unconscious and suspects that they are not alone on the ship. He finds Jackson awake but terrified, and seemingly unaware of who Teal'c is. Another SG team brings all four back to Stargate Command.

Rescue of the Talthuns

Colonel Jack O'Neill is about to be hit with a stun weapon.

SG-1 is examined by Dr. Janet Fraiser who finds that O'Neill and Carter just suffered minor neural shock but Jackson had become host to many different minds of the alien ship's crew. Jackson's own mind is in a coma like state, but the alien minds are all tangled up together, struggling to control the body. They emerge one at a time and are interviewed. Fraiser learns from crewman Tryan that the ship named the Stromos is one of the three ships built by Talthuns as a last hope to preserve their civilization, which was facing the destruction of a dark star. The ship was headed to Ardena but malfunctioned and crashed on P2A-347. During the conversation many other people emerge including Martice the Sovereign and a young boy named Keenin, the son of one of the crew.

Pharrin

Pharrin battles with the other personalities in his head.

Major General George S. Hammond then dispatches the rest of SG-1 back to the planet to investigate the alien ship and find a way to cure Jackson. They discover that the minds of the passengers are being saved in the ship's computer. The ship's power source is failing and there is not enough energy to restore the minds in the computer to the bodies held in cryogenic freeze. They also find that one of the crew, Pharrin (Keenin's father) is awake and he was the one that downloaded the other minds into Jackson's body. The crewman also carries many minds within himself. When a pod would fail he would download the person's mind into his own. Once the pods failed and the bodies died, there was nowhere for the minds to go and they would be completely lost as the computer failed. Since the crewman was becoming delirious from too many minds inhabiting his body, he wanted to save more of the crew by putting them into Jackson and the rest of SG1. However, Teal'c recovered from his stun weapon much sooner that Pharrin expected, so he was only able to use Jackson as a vessel.

Pharrin begs Teal'c and Carter to each host some of his people. Since they are the last survivors of their planet, he believes every one is precious. They refuse, but Carter explains about the Stargate. She says she can provide their ship with a new energy source, enough to revive all the remaining survivors into their own bodies and power a stasis chamber for Pharrin. Then Stargate Command can relocate them to a new planet, perhaps even Ardena. Their only condition is that all the alien minds be removed from Jackson and placed into Pharrin. Hopefully his people will eventually find a way to recover them, but meantime their civilization will be saved.

Carter brings Pharrin to Stargate Command to prove that the Stargate works. He is able to talk to Tyron and his son, who both agree to the sacrifice to save their people. The boy is just happy he will be with his father again (as both their minds will be in the same body). However the sovereign, Martice, gains control of Jackson's body and orders Pharrin not to go through with the plan. He wants to keep Jackson's body for himself, and he doesn't care if all his people die. Pharrin kneels, bound by his oath of loyalty. Suddenly an exasperated O'Neill rushes in from the observation room and pulls Pharrin to his feet. He tells him his sovereign is dead. He has to save his people now. A shaken Pharrin agrees.

Lifeboat 1

The minds in Dr. Daniel Jackson are removed.

SG-1 provides a Naquadah generator to repower the Stromos. With his help SG-1 is able to remove the other minds from Jackson and transfer them into Pharrin, although Frasier can't tell if all of the minds successfully transferred or not. (Because Jackson had kept his own consciousness in a coma, he had never become entangled with the others, making the separation possible.) After the transfer, the remaining passengers of the ship are awakened and the situation is explained to them. Jackson, too, awakens, fine except for a residual headache. Pharrin remains asleep in stasis as his people prepare for relocation.

Appearances[]

Appearances for Lifeboat

Locations

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Sentient Species

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Mentioned

Notable quotes[]

Carter: These people are alive - at least they're in some form of cryogenic sleep. Any civilization without faster than light technology would have to resort to something like this in order to cross the vast distances between stars. Otherwise it would take an entire generation, or more, and given the effects of relativity...
O'Neill: We've got a shipload of frozen people.
Carter: That would be the more succinct way of putting it, sir.

Teal'c: That is not Daniel Jackson.
Hammond: But is he a Gou'ald?
Fraiser: No, sir. Although at the moment he's every bit as arrogant.
Hammond: Well then is Dr. Jackson suffering from some sort of mental illness?
Fraiser: I honestly don't know, sir. His preliminary EEG readings are like nothing I've ever seen. On one hand, there's indication of coma. But at the same time we're seeing readings like those of a dozen people all jumbled together.
Hammond: Is his condition life-threatening?
Fraiser: Couldn't even guess.
Teal'c: He is claiming to be a passenger from the crashed alien vessel we discovered on the planet.
Hammond: How is that possible?
Fraiser: I have no idea, Sir, but Teal'c is right, and I think that we're dealing with more than one passenger. By that, I mean that Daniel's behavior in the Gate room and throughout the preliminary testing was distinctly different than his current behavior. I'd say that we've witnessed two, maybe even three separate personalities.
Hammond: Could there be more?
Teal'c: We discovered several hundred passengers in cryogenic suspension. Colonel O'Neill had requested an enumeration of the cryogenic chambers. While we were separated, I lost consciousness momentarily. For what reason, I am unsure. When I returned, I found Daniel Jackson, Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter in their current states.
Fraiser: Speaking of which, Sir, I'd like to check in on the Colonel and Sam.
Hammond: Keep me apprised.
Fraiser: Yes, Sir.
Hammond: Teal'c, maybe you should head down to the infirmary yourself.
Teal'c: I intend to remain here.
Hammond: Very well.

Fraiser: How are you feeling, sir?
O'Neill: Headache. Bad.
Fraiser: I can take care of that. But first I need to know if you're feeling... yourself.
O'Neill: Well other than this nail through my head, I'm fine.

Hammond: Colonel, Major? How are you feeling?
O'Neill: Got a nail in my head, Sir.
Hammond: That sounds like our Colonel O'Neill.

O'Neill: (about Jackson) How'd he get stuck in here?
Teal'c: Daniel Jackson's preliminary electroencephalogram proved anomalous.
O'Neill: I dare you to say that again.

Carter: And we can start relocating them shortly after that.
O'Neill: Good. We'll leave that for SG-4. They love that kind of stuff.

O'Neill: How you doin'?
Jackson: Bad headache.
O'Neill: Nail in the head kind of thing?
Jackson: Yeah, something like that.

Cast[]

Main Characters

Guest Stars

Notes[]

  • According to Joseph Mallozzi, Brad Wright had the idea for this story back in Season Six but, since he had constructed the story for Jackson who had since ascended, he had to shelve it indefinitely. When Michael Shanks came back to the show the following year, however, Brad was able to dust it off and put it back in play.
  • The individual in suspended animation that Teal'c runs by after regaining consciousness is director Peter DeLuise.

Awards[]

  • Won Leo for "Dramatic Series: Best Lead Performance by a Male" (Michael Shanks)
  • Nominated Leo for "Dramatic Series: Best Supporting Performance by a Female" (Teryl Rothery)

Other languages[]

  • French: Vaisseau Fantôme (Phantom Ship)
  • Italian: La Scialuppa di Salvataggio (The Lifeboat)
  • Spanish: Bote Salvavidas (Lifeboat)
  • Czech: Záchranný člun (Lifeboat)
  • German: Das Rettungsboot (The Lifeboat)
  • Hungarian: Mentőcsónak (Lifeboat)

Links and navigation[]

Smallwikipedialogo This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Lifeboat (Stargate SG-1). The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with SGCommand, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
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