10 Stargate SG-1 Fates Worse Than Death
5. 50 Years Aboard The Odyssey
After ten years and hundreds of adventures, it was finally time to call it a day for the television adventures of SG-1. Rather than go out with some sort of huge bang (that would be saved for the follow up movies), the writers decided to take it in a much more low-key and distressing direction.
Seeing the oncoming end of their race due to genetic degradation, The Asgard plan to destroy their home planet along with the entire race, and entrust their sum knowledge and technology to the humans. Newly upgraded, the Earth starship Odyssey is assaulted by three Ori motherships, who can track the energy signature of the Asgard tech now onboard. With a blast hurtling towards the ship, the only way to avoid certain doom is to enact a time dilation field, giving Colonel Carter time to find a solution.
Time, it would seem, is something SG-1 would have in abundance, as the solution takes a full 50 years to uncover. Through a montage we see the team grow old as they react differently to their impromptu imprisonment and, whilst things do start of cordially, as the years tick along the psychological strain and emotion turmoil is undeniable. Isolation, alongside the very visible and encroaching Ori laser beam, for such a long time is enough to break even the strongest of us, and there must have been a few days where that shining laser looked more saviour than threat.