A Hundred Days

Summary | Analysis | Notes | Characters | Questions | Production

After a meteor strike buries the Stargate, O'Neill finds himself stranded on a planet with no hope of rescue.

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EPISODE #317
ORIGINAL AIR DATE: 02.04.2000
SYNDICATION AIR DATE: 03.05.2001
DVD DISC: Season 3, Disc 4
STORY BY: V.C. James
TELEPLAY BY: Brad Wright
DIRECTED BY: David Warry-Smith
GUEST STARS: Michele Greene (Laira), Julie Patzwald (Naytha), Gary Jones (Harriman), Shane Meier (Garan), Teryl Rothery (Dr. Janet Fraiser), Marcel Maillard (Paynan)
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SG-1 has discovered Edora (designated P5C-768), a planet rich in naquadah, the valuable mineral on which Goa'uld technology is based. Beyond this, the planet's small population of villagers are friendly, and most are open to sharing the mineral with Earth.

Before negotiations can be concluded, though, the Edora "fire rain" commences in the atmosphere. Once per year, the planet passes through an asteroid belt, and hundreds of asteroids pass gloriously across the night sky. But every 150 years or so, as the team soon determines, the planet's orbit causes the car-sized rock fragments to enter the atmosphere and impact the surface.

The entire village is in danger as car-sized fragments begin impacting the planet, and SG-1 offers to bring the villagers to Earth until the event concludes. Two-thirds are convinced, and follow Carter, Teal'c, and Jackson through the Stargate. The other third remain behind, believing that SG-1 is trying to steal their land and destroy their way of life.

One of the villagers is a beautiful woman named Laira, and she has taken a liking to Colonel O'Neill. When her son Garan rushes off to take shelter in the caves with his girlfriend, Naytha, Laira and O'Neill go after him. Teal'c and Carter wait at the Stargate for as long as possible, but must finally leap through to escape a huge, fiery meteor that strikes right near the gate itself.

O'Neill discovers that the gate is gone, and presumes it to be destroyed. He is trapped on Edora, and is blamed by some of the villagers for the fact that two-thirds of their people can never return home.

O'Neill refuses to give up hope, and begins to dig each day, in hopes that the Stargate was buried and not destroyed. Meanwhile, Laira has begun to fall in love with him, and accepts him into her home.

On Earth, the event has caused Carter's feelings for O'Neill to begin to surface. She is dedicated to finding a way to rescue him, and assures Dr. Fraiser that her feelings for the colonel will not pose a "problem" for her.

Daniel Jackson contacts the Tollan and the Tok'ra, Earth's two allies capable of interstellar travel, and learn that the Tollan could have a ship to Edora to pick up O'Neill sometime next year. Carter's plan is more ambitious, though: after trying to send a M.A.L.P. probe back to Edora, the team concludes that the meteor strike must have caused the naquadah-rich ground around the gate to heat and liquefy, forming a barrier in front of the gate. Though a wormhole could be established (proving that the gate was not destroyed or completely buried), the probe failed to reach the other side.

Sam proposes building a particle beam generator to fire through the gate at the naquadah cover, similar to the one used against the S.G.C.'s gate iris by the Goa'uld Sokar ("Serpent's Song"). If the cover could be dissolved, then establishing another wormhole should clear out a small cavern.

Carter works for three months before successfully devising a particle beam generator, but her plan is successful. After destroying the false cover and activating the Stargate to create a cavern in the rock, another M.A.L.P. probe is sent. It materializes on the other side, but only sends a brief transmission before being destroyed. Carter concludes that the Edora Stargate has fallen horizontal, and the M.A.L.P. fell back into the event horizon after materializing.

On Edora, Jack has begun to come to terms with the fact that he will never go home again, never see his friends again, never journey through the Stargate or fight against the Goa'uld. He has come to enjoy the simple, village life – and he has fallen in love with Laira. She wishes to marry him, and her village friends agree. Laira even tells Jack that she wishes to have a child by him.

The next morning, O'Neill is content, chopping wood with a newly-made friend. Laira offers to get rid of his old S.G.C. uniform and gear, and O'Neill finally consents. He has embraced his new life, and given up his old one – though part of him will always be tied to that life, he tells Laira.

At the S.G.C., Teal'c has volunteered for the do-or-die mission to gate to Edora and attempt to tunnel to the surface. He has but a few hours of oxygen in which to work, and cannot gate back to Earth should he fail.

As Laira begins to dispose of Jack's items at the river, she hears a transmission come across his two-way radio. It is the voice of Major Carter, radioing to Teal'c before the wormhole disengages. She wrestles with weather or not to tell Jack, fearing that his rescue may be successful. But she does tell him, and he rushes with the device in hand to the Stargate's former location.

Teal'c is but a few feet below him, and the two make radio contact. O'Neill and Laira's son dig frantically, and Jack's face explodes with cathartic joy when he sees the face of his friend.

With Stargate access to Edora restored, Jack is rescued and a naquadah-mining treaty may be established. Carter, moved with emotion, turns away as Jack says goodbye to Laira, promising to return soon.

ANALYSIS

  • The small village of Edora are likely the only remaining descendants of a group brought to the planet by the Goa'uld thousands of years ago, according to Major Carter.
  • After waiting 24-hours after the "fire rain" and sending a M.A.L.P. back to Edora, Dr. Fraiser stands in the control room, dressed in a field uniform (unusual clothing for her to be seen in). No doubt she was anticipating a trip to the planet with SG-1, to render medical assistance to the villagers.
  • General Hammond seemed defeated rather quickly when the first M.A.L.P. did not make it back to Edora, and declared O'Neill missing-in-action. He did not stop to consider other alternatives (or ask for them) before rushing to this judgment.
  • Dr. Fraiser has learned that Carter's feeling for O'Neill may be more than professional. Carter assured her, though, that this will not pose a problem to her or to the team in the future. (There are good reasons why men and women in the armed forces are forbidden to have a romantic relationship with a fellow officer.)
  • A wormhole may still be established with a remote Stargate as long as the ring itself is not filled with matter. Buried Stargates are no longer accessible ("Children of the Gods," "The Nox"). If the event horizon is covered, as occurred in this episode, a wormhole may still be established, though the wormhole vortex will be hindered from spiraling out, and any matter coming through the gate will be prevented from reintegrating.
  • Teal'c could not return from the cavern to Earth because the wormhole established by the Stargate is one-way only, as has been established in past episodes (including "The Torment of Tantalus", "Prisoners" and others, as well as in "Stargate" the Movie).
  • How did the villagers return to Edora from Earth? Presumably, the Stargate was entirely unburied and turned upright again. Otherwise, every person coming through the gate would have to use a method such as Teal'c's to keep from falling back into the event horizon and being killed.
  • As O'Neill turns to leave, the saddened Laira places her hands to her womb. This may imply that she is sad that O'Neill will not father her child, but more likely indicates that she believes (or hopes) that she is pregnant. Other scenes imply that the two were intimate the previous night.

NOTES

  • "Tel'pac'rai" is the Jaffa term for "shooting star."
  • "Ral'tor'kee" is the Jaffa word for "good luck."

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

  • Jack O'NeillJack O'Neill - After being on Edora for more than three months, Jack resigned himself to the fact that he would never return to Earth. He became a part of the village, and likely would have married Laira and had children. Though a part of him would always miss the life he left behind, Jack had come to accept that Edora was his new home, and his life would be a simpler one. Spending three months living like this will certainly have a lasting impact on him.

    Beyond this, O'Neill fell in love again, and may have fathered a child with Laira.
  • Samantha CarterSamantha Carter - Carter's feelings for O'Neill appear to be more than friendship and respect for a commanding officer. Her dedication to rescuing him (working late on the particle beam generator for more than three months), her sense of loss at his absence, her conversation about the subject with Dr. Fraiser, and her inability to watch O'Neill say goodbye to Laira indicate that Samantha's affection for Jack may be romantic. She has assured Fraiser that this will not pose a problem in the future.

UNANSWERED QUESTIONS

  • How did Teal'c and Daniel determine the amount of time (approximately 150 years) since the last cataclysm? Did the rock strata reveal this down to the year?
  • Where were the people of Edora housed during their three month stay on Earth? Were they restricted to the base, considering the fact that they are from another planet, less advanced and have knowledge of the Stargate and the top secret S.G.C. program? Or, were they perhaps housed locally in Colorado Springs, and told to keep quiet?
  • How did SG-1 finally get home? Did they manage to locate and dig out the dial-home device? Or, did they uncover the Stargate and dial it manually, jury-rigging a new power source (such as that done in "Prisoners")?
  • Edora is rich in naquadah, and its people were presumably brought there by the Goa'uld. Do the Goa'uld still know of the planets' existence? Is Edora in danger of Goa'uld enslavement in the future?
  • What did SG-1 do during the course of these three months? Did they operate on regular missions without O'Neill, perhaps under the command of someone else? Or, with Carter presumably working day and night on the particle beam generator, was SG-1 effectively standing down for three months?
  • Is Laira pregnant with Jack's child?
  • When will Jack return to Edora? Will he start spending his leave time there?
  • Will a treaty be established with Edora, giving Earth immediate access to a wealth of naquadah?

PRODUCTION NOTES

  • Shane Meier, who portrayed Laira's son Garan, has worked with Richard Dean Anderson (O'Neill) before (as have many, many other SG-1 actors). Ironically, he played the young MacGyver in two episodes of Anderson's hit series.
  • "There was an episode in our third season in which we gave every indication that O'Neill had fathered a child. Earlier this year [Season Five], I asked Brad Wright if he'd ever consider doing a story in which O'Neill goes back to that planet and discovers he's got a child. If we did, I'd like it to be a daughter, only because he's already had a son. I'd love to see a relationship like that unfold in front of the cameras." (Actor Richard Dean Anderson, in an interview with TV Zone magazine [Special #42, July 2001])
  • "'A Hundred Days' should have been a two-parter. O'Neill wouldn't have given up as fast as he did. Not that it would have been better, I just thought there was too much story for one hour."

    "I found out at the convention that many people don't like the idea of Laira and Jack." (Executive producer Brad Wright, in an online chat at SG1 Fans)