Season 9 brought new enemies and allies into the fray as the Ori Crusade threatened to lay waste to the entire galaxy.
As Stargate pushed through its long run, life lessons poked through the gunfire in almost every episode. So here are a few of the more memorable ones, lessons that everyone should take to heart.
Count on your friends, don't count them out.
Countless times throughout the series, Colonel O'Neill and members of his team were trapped, captured, injured, or put into impossible situations. Yet these are the times when they people around those in danger seemed to shine. We see Dr. Janet Fraiser traveling offworld into a deadly firefight to save the life of a wounded soldier. Major Carter refuses to give up on Colonel O'Neill in countless situations, and he refuses to leave her side even at the risk of his own life. When O'Neill is captured by Ba'al, he even refuses Daniel's offer of ascension because he knows SG-1 will come for him.
On the other side, when SG-1 is missing after O'Neill takes command of the SGC, he refuses to give up hope on them. And when things look darkest, the rest of his men, led by Colonel Reynolds, remind him that they still believe in him and are ready to follow his command; they all refuse to give up hope on SG-1.
Never give up hope.
Even when things look darkest, there is always hope. Time and time again we watch SG-1 lead the forces of Earth and sometimes even allies from other worlds into situations where all hope seems lost. And yet, even in the face of the darkest hour, hope is the strongest weapon the SG teams have. As long as they believe, the battle's never truly lost.
There's more to this world than meets the eye.
Ascended beings, lying people with glowing eyes, Roswell grays masquerading as humans, and corrupt governments with a lot to hide - SG-1 encounters it all. In the same way, we need to remember that there's always something more. Whether you believe in God or not, there's more out there than we can explain and see on first glance. Don't just accept what you see as the truth. Dig a little more; investigate what's out there. Find the deeper meanings and truths.
Doing what's right isn't the same as doing what you're told.
Morality can't be ordered and sometimes what's right isn't what needs to be done. A good example of this is in the Stargate episode “Thor's Chariot.” The team goes back to the planet Cimmeria to help defend it against an attack they inadvertently caused, despite the fact that it's not their world. On multiple other occasions, SG-1 goes out of their way to do the right thing and occasionally defies direct orders to do so.
Rules and orders are made to be bent, but never broken.
Despite the fact that SG-1 occasionally defies orders, there are almost always consequences for doing so. For the most part, the teams at Stargate Command follow orders and rules in everything they do. But on multiple occasions, they find creative ways to get around the rules or apply them in new ways in order to do what's right or to do what is needed to defend Earth and its allies. It's not a good idea to openly break rules, but bending them to do the right thing isn't always a bad idea.
Don't fear the unknown.
Every time the teams step through the "gate, there"s really no telling what awaits them on the other side. Yet they face the unknown without fear. There's a great lesson there. The unknown isn't to be feared, but to be embraced as an adventure. We need to let loose our fear and move into the unknown with courage and an attitude of adventure.
Every skill is important, no matter the situation.
Daniel Jackson is an archeologist and linguist. Jack O'Neill is a Special Forces soldier. Sam Carter is a physicist. Teal'c is a Jaffa warrior. Jonas Quinn is a nuclear scientist.
And yet, without any one of these people, SG-1 would never have made it very far. How many times did Jackson talk SG-1 out of disaster, or Carter repair a device to save their lives? Teal'c uses his Jaffa skills to keep the team alive and O'Neill adds the military experience to every fight. Even Jonas uses his incredible memory and ability to notice the simple things to solve mysteries that might otherwise go unsolved.
Never underestimate anyone's skill set, especially your own. Even if you're not quite made for a given situation, you'll be surprised to find our just how helpful your skill set can be.
The simple answer is never the entire answer.
No one ever seems to give the entire truth. More often than not, in fact, the whole truth is far from the answer you're given. As a rule of thumb from the SG team's experience: If the answer seems too simple, you don't have the answer you need.
Don't be afraid to try and dig a little deeper to get the whole truth. And more importantly, never assume you know it all.
Politics really does suck everywhere you go.
This is possibly one of the funniest lines in all of SG-1, and Colonel Mitchell hit it right on the head. Between the battles with Robert Kinsey and the Jaffa leadership duels, SG-1 had enough experience with politics to make this statement in all truth.
In our world, as well, we can see that politics make most people cringe. Don't hold too tight to politics in any way; it really does suck.
At the end of the universe lies the gateway to adventure.
The tagline for SG-1 is very true. We might not have stargates in our world, but the potential in this world and in the galaxy beyond is unlimited. Never be afraid to dare to dream and never give up on your dreams. A great adventure might be just over the next hill or around the next bend. And in today's society with the world of space becoming closer and closer to home, the adventures of the future might just be at the end of the universe.
