Stargate SG-1 (1997–2007): Season 4, Episode 9 - Scorched Earth - full transcript

On the Enkarans' new home, SG-1 discovers a giant spaceship is threatening the colonists as it terraforms the planet.

Hundreds of villages
like this one have paused...

..to celebrate the transportation
of our people to this great new land.

We are especially honoured today...

..by the presence of those responsible
for finding this planet for us...

..and saving us from certain doom.

How can we ever repay them?

By not boring them with
long speeches, Hedrazar.

I meant what I said.

- You are all heroes to my people.
- It was our pleasure.

When my grandchild arrives,...

..it will be the first Enkaran
to be born in our new homeland.



We will name the child after you, Colonel.

Eliam, it's getting cold.

It seems to be getting colder
since you last visited.

Our atmospheric- monitoring
equipment is indicating that.

We only had a short time
to assess the conditions,...

..but it appears you may be in for
a more severe winter than we predicted.

We are a hearty people. We will survive.

The naqahdah reactor
should provide enough energy...

..to heat your new city for a year.

Well, you've certainly
accomplished a lot already.

And it has only been
but one cycle of the moon.

Come back in a year and you
will find this planet transformed.

Help! Help me, please!

- What is it?
- It is Caleb. He comes from the west.



It's so big. It destroyed our whole village!
You must all flee!

What are you talking about?
Caleb, catch your breath.

- It comes this way.
- What does?

You must see it.

There.

Whoa.

What is it?

We estimate the ship to be
about two miles in diameter.

The curtain of energy it's using to sweep
the landscape stretches for over 20 miles.

It seems to be depositing
an unknown gas- like substance...

..that is spreading
like a wake behind the ship.

It extends beyond the range of the UAV,
but it appears to cover hundreds of miles.

Teal'c hasn't seen the technology before.

We're waiting for the analysis
of the atmospheric samples,...

..but you can see the damage being done.

There don't appear to be any
recognisable markings on the ship.

It would appear that
whoever's in control...

..doesn't have the intention
of attacking the Enkarans.

Why do you say that?

It just seems it would be
a more direct approach.

- What difference does it make?
- The colonel is right.

Based on the ship's speed, I estimate it'll
take 26 hours to reach Hedrazar's village.

But it'll take out the Stargate first.

- Can we evacuate the Enkarans in time?
- Teal'c's preppin"em right now.

The concern is where to send them.

Even low levels of radiation
can cause the Enkarans to go blind.

Without the density of ozone on
this particular planet, they'll all die.

The only planet with similar
conditions is their home world.

According to Enkaran verbal history,
there's no Stargate there.

The Goa'uld kidnapped
their ancestors with ships.

Even if we had transport,
the Enkarans of today...

..would have no concept
of where that planet is.

I'll put SG- 5, 6 and 9 out
looking for another suitable planet.

It's doubtful they'll find one in time, sir.

How long can we keep the Enkarans
here on Earth in the meantime?

A matter of days. Their condition would
degrade the longer they were here.

There are thousands of them outside
Hedrazar's village, spread a fair distance.

It took us two weeks to transplant them
to P5S- 381 in the first place.

The point is, General,
we could never save them all.

Hey. Whaddaya got?

The atmosphere in the wake of the ship...

..shows a high incidence
of sulphur dioxide.

- Chemical warfare?
- I don't think so, sir. Take a look at this.

Oh, yeah.

Little...fuzzy orange things.

- They're microbes, sir.
- Ah.

The alien ship is depositing them
on the planet surface.

As near as I can tell, they bond with
sulphur leeched out of the soil,...

..and when they decay
they release sulphur dioxide.

So the big, mean alien ship
is trying to stink up the planet?

It's a bit more than that.

The microbes are only deposited after
all native organisms have been destroyed.

I think they're meant to replace them.

If I'm correct, we're looking at the first
building blocks of an alien ecosystem.

It's a terraformer?

It's changing the environment to support
an entirely different kind of life.

An organic system based
on sulphur instead of carbon.

If it's allowed to continue,
the whole planet will be remade?

All I know is that the atmosphere
on the other side of that energy curtain...

..will not support life as we know it.

- What's goin' on?
- They do not wish to leave, O'Neill.

- Teal'c says you don't wanna go.
- If we go with you to Earth...

..and you cannot find another world on
which we could live, we will die there.

- Give us a chance.
- Is there time to take every Enkaran?

No.

- We cannot leave our people behind.
- Look, I understand how you feel...

Generations ago our ancestors were
kidnapped from their home world...

..and taken away in giant ships.

Since then we have all prayed
for a place that we could call home.

- Thanks to you, we have found it.
- We must stay here and fight for it.

- With what?
- Have you not weapons to aid us?

We're gonna try to communicate
with whoever's on that ship first.

- Clearly they intend to destroy us.
- We don't know anything for sure.

I know that if the Enkaran people are to
die, then we shall all die here, together.

Transmitter's operational.
Let's hope we get a bite.

Think a well- placed stinger
would do some damage?

We have no way of knowing
what the ship's made of, sir.

- Or if it possesses shield technology.
- Ah, just fantasising.

Any intelligence capable of engineering
that thing has to be capable of reason.

The question is, will they listen?

No, the real question is
will they have ears?

Somebody heard something.

It appears to be a storage
facility of some kind.

I'm going to assume
we're on board that ship.

It's strange. The aliens
went to so much trouble...

..to change the atmosphere of the planet,
yet the air in here is perfectly breathable.

They were expecting us.

- Carter?
- Sir?

Should we really be opening
drawers and things?

What did I just say?

Sorry.

Looks like some kind of tissue sample.

- Of what?
- I'm not sure.

Ship's terraforming the planet, right?

What if these are the life forms
it's creating the environment for?

- Recreating an entire civilisation.
- Millions of samples...

So...every one of
these things is...a what?

- Plant, animal, insect...
- Alien?

- Who knows?
- It's still just a guess.

A good one.

I am Lotan.

You need not fear me.

Yeah. Listen,
what's goin' on around here?

I have been assembled in order
to facilitate communication...

..between this "ship",
as you call it, and yourselves.

Assembled?

I am a biomechanical representation
of the beings now occupying this planet.

When they were encountered,
several Enkarans were scanned.

A randomised but similar
appearance was selected.

Wait a second. That was yesterday.

The ship analysed a new life form
and created a replicant in one day?

Yes.

Fascinating design.

I suppose that explains
why you look like an Enkaran.

Sort of.

- You are not.
- No, we're from a planet called Earth.

Major Samantha Carter. Daniel Jackson.
This is Jack O'Neill and this is Teal'c.

Actually, we're friends of the people
your ship seems bent on wiping out.

Yes, that is unfortunate.

I was created to deliver
a message to them.

However, by the time I was completed,

the Enkarans seemed
to have disappeared.

Yeah, see, that's called "running away".

What one does
to avoid being slaughtered.

There are still quite a few
Enkarans living on the planet.

Since you are friends of the Enkarans,
would you deliver the message to them?

That would depend.

When the transformation
process was begun,...

..there were no
sentient life forms present.

- Yeah, well, there are now.
- Yes.

Unfortunately, once the process
has begun, it must be completed.

Someone went to the trouble of making
you, just to say "Tough luck, get out"?

We wish no harm
to come to the Enkarans.

However, examination of
their physiology has determined...

..that they cannot exist
in the transformed environment.

So stop transforming.

- If I can just try and get the point across...
- I know what the point is. He's a PR guy.

I think we should be talking to your boss.

Assumption of hierarchal
command structure.

Interesting.

Follow me.

The ship is fully automated.

The beings that built it
are called the Gad- Meer.

Not exactly ET.

They placed all of their knowledge
within the ship's memory.

Science, mathematics,
medicine, art, philosophy...

Ten thousand years of civilisation.

This is their legacy.

They were a very advanced race
compared to the Enkarans.

However, they were also...peaceful,...

..and fell victim
to a superior military power.

So they built this ship in the hopes
that their world would be born again,...

..far from the reach of their enemies.

This is, uh, this is fascinating.
I'd love a chance to study some of that.

I can provide you with translations.

Your language is simple by comparison.

Excuse me.

About why we're here?

The ship has only enough raw material
to transform one planet.

Now the transformation has been
started, it must be finished here,...

..or the entire Gad- Meer civilisation
will be lost for ever.

The Enkarans must leave or they will die.

- Now, see, right there we got a problem.
- The Enkarans cannot leave.

Their lives depend on the very rare
conditions that are unique to this planet.

That is unfortunate.

That's it?

Please explain the situation
to the Enkarans.

But...

They're back.

Well? Did you speak with the aliens?

In a way.

It did not go well.

No. It didn't.

The tests on the alien microbes show that
they are also vulnerable to UV radiation.

That's probably why
they chose this planet.

- The dense ozone layer.
- Among other things, I'm sure.

The same conditions that make
P5S- 381 ideal for the Enkarans...

..make it ideal for the transformation.

Can this information be used
to stop the alien ship?

I'm not sure how, sir.

That's assuming we have
a right to stop them at all.

- Excuse me?
- Not to be insensitive to the Enkarans,...

..but we'd be interfering with
the rebirth of an entire civilisation.

If you believe Lotan, an incredibly
advanced, civilised and peaceful one.

- So the best society wins here?
- No, I wasn't saying that.

We're talkin' about freeze- dried aliens
whose civilisation was lost long ago.

- The Enkarans are there now.
- I don't want anything to happen to them.

Could this robot be convinced
to delay the transformation...

..long enough for us
to relocate the Enkarans?

- Robot's a robot, sir.
- He's basically just a messenger, sir.

But he was created in the image of the
Enkarans so that they could relate to him.

- Now, that could work to our advantage.
- How?

Well, it might make him
more sympathetic to their plight.

It's a robot.

He is an incredibly
advanced alien creation.

We shouldn't just assume that
he's incapable of reason or feelings.

Well, he didn't seem
very concerned with helping.

If he's capable of learning, we might
get him outside his programming.

What if he isn't and we can't?

What do you propose, Colonel?

I say we throw everything
we've got at that ship.

I'm sorry. I can't authorise
a military strike in this situation, Colonel.

Look, General, I apologise if this seems
to have taken on a personal edge for me.

But we spent months
getting to know these people.

They trusted us, and we screwed up.

I understand your feeling.
We've all invested a lot in this operation.

No one wants to see it
end up badly for the Enkarans.

But you're not gonna give me
any effective weapons or personnel.

Find another way out of this.

Dismissed.

The alien ship draws closer.

Hedrazar, you can still save
the people of your village.

Our resolve has not changed. We will
not abandon the rest of our people.

Did General Hammond
not authorise troops and weapons?

No, he didn't.

You brought us here. We trusted you
when you told us it was safe.

- I know.
- You gave us technology to build cities,...

..to provide heat.
Have you not any way to stop the ship?

- How much naqahdah is in that reactor?
- Sir?

- What are you doing?
- Thinking. Don't worry about it too much.

Of a way to blow up the ship? I'm not
sure that's what Hammond had in mind.

They're gonna stand there and die.

It's a no- win situation. We're not gonna sit
around and watch them get slaughtered.

- You'd blow up that ship?
- Give me another choice.

- Well, I don't have one at the moment...
- Apparently time is a factor here.

How do you make a naqahdah bomb?

Well, sir, the reactor was designed
to prevent exactly that kind...

Carter.

Theoretically,
if I created a feedback loop,...

..the energy would build up
instead of being released.

It would be a big explosion, sir.

Big enough?

I think so.

Carter...I'm making a choice
to help these people.

But if you don't make that bomb,
I'm out of options.

I know.

So I have to order you to do it.

Yes, sir.

- How controlled is this gonna be?
- The blast will be aimed upward.

This ridge should protect the village,
but this is as close as I would put it.

I've modified this remote
to start the feedback loop.

About a minute after you press
the button, the reactor should blow.

- Ship's ETA?
- About five- zero minutes, sir.

But we should detonate
before it's overhead.

There's no telling what
that energy beam will do to the reactor.

- OK.
- There's one more thing, sir.

Once you detonate the reactor,
there's no turning back.

The overload can't be stopped.

All right.

Daniel Jackson?

- You do not plan on staying?
- No, actually.

I'm gonna go try to talk to Lotan.

If you warn Lotan of our plan,
it will prove ineffectual.

I won't give anything away. I just wanna
try to prevent it from being necessary.

Should you not wait for
the return of Colonel O'Neill?

He asked me to give him another choice,
so technically I'm following an order.

- Hello, Daniel Jackson.
- Hi.

Are the Enkarans
going to leave the planet?

Actually, the Enkarans
have nowhere else to go.

That is...tough luck.

While you were gone, I breathed some
of the sulphur- based environment...

..being created by the ship.

- How is it?
- Not good.

This music has not been heard
in over a thousand years.

- It's nice.
- It sounds very unpleasant to me.

Really?

- Yes. This is not how it should sound.
-

- How so?
- It seems the design of your ears,...

..my ears, is not meant for it.

Um...

To be honest with you, I'm here to see
if you'll consider alternate solutions...

..to the problem faced by the Enkarans.

I am not programmed to solve
the problem faced by the Enkarans.

Right.

Let me ask you something. What will
happen to you when this is all over?

I will be reintegrated
into the ship's systems.

You mean you'll die?

Yes, I suppose that is one interpretation.

- Do you wanna die?
- What I want is irrelevant.

Wouldn't you like to experience...

..what it's like to be an Enkaran
before you're reintegrated?

See some of the planet before
it's completely transformed, and...

- ..maybe even meet the people?
- For what purpose?

It might help you consider
alternate solutions.

I'm not programmed
for alternate solutions.

The ship will continue the process
without you, correct?

Yes. As I have said,
its function is fully automated.

Well, there. Then no harm done.
We'll just...we'll have a look around.

Sir, no disrespect intended,...

..but I have doubts as to whether
or not we're doing the right thing.

What is that, Carter? The right thing?

We brought these people here.
They depend on us.

- What else are we gonna do?
- I don't know.

- Do you wanna talk me outta this?
- Yes, sir.

- Stay in contact.
- Yes, sir.

The air is not as pure
as that created for me on the ship.

It's definitely...different.

- This is better.
- I agree.

These are trees.

Yes.

Anywhere there's oxygen
you're sure to find...trees.

They're...kind of like nature's air filters.

- Their design is most interesting.
- So is their function.

Daniel Jackson has gone
to speak with Lotan.

- Did you try to stop him?
- I do not disagree with his intentions.

You do know we're gonna
try and blow up that ship?

I am aware of that. As is Daniel Jackson.

Daniel?

- Daniel, come in.
- I read you, Jack.

Tell me, tell me you're not on that ship!

OK, I'm not on the ship.

- What are you doin', Daniel?
- I'm talking to Lotan.

- Is he gonna tell him about the bomb?
- He said he would not reveal our plan.

Sir, we only have 15 minutes.

Daniel, do you know what time it is?

I am trying to give you another choice.

What?

Hang on. We're on our way back
to the village. Over and out.

You have disobeyed your superior.

No, not...exactly.

- You are not fulfilling your function.
- That's not true.

I'm just...I'm choosing the best way
to fulfil my true function.

Hierarchal command structures don't
allow you to consider all of the options.

I see.

Let's, um...Iet's go to the village.

Daniel?

Lotan wanted to meet the Enkarans.

Ten minutes, sir.

Hello, Dr Jackson.

Hello, Eliam.

This is Lotan.

He looks Enkaran.
But I have not met him before.

Lotan is a representative
of the aliens who built the ship.

He was created in your image in order to
better communicate the danger you're in.

- Yet he does not stop it.
- No.

Lotan, this is Eliam.

This is his wife Nikka, and this
is Hedrazar, the leader of the village.

Are you able to see the lives
that will be extinguished...

..if your ship continues its current path?

Yes, Lotan is aware of that.

She is without sight.

It was happening to them on the planet
when we first met. They were dying.

This is the only planet we could find
where we knew they could survive.

- I am aware of their physiological needs.
- Yes, of course.

That one is going to give birth.

Yes. To a new Enkaran life.

There will be no Enkaran life at all
if your ship does not stop.

I think we're all aware of the situation.

Yes. You have brought me here
to elicit sympathy for these people.

Well, actually they're
your people in a way, Lotan.

You were created in their image.

I was not created to prevent
their demise, Daniel Jackson.

- But...don't you wish you could?
- The ship calls me back.

- Why?
- I must go.

- Take me with you.
- No. Daniel, no!

- Five minutes, sir.
- Lotan took Daniel back onto the ship.

- What? Sir...
- He asked to go.

Well, what are we gonna do, sir?
The ship is almost in position.

The ship has detected an unusual device.

It appears to be capable
of emitting great amounts of energy.

Is this device intended to try and stop the
ship, as the Enkaran Eliam suggested?

Look, I don't agree
with what they're doing,...

..but I also don't wanna see you
wipe out those people.

If they will not leave,
there is no other option.

Ship is in position, sir.

If you're gonna do it,
you have to do it now.

Daniel Jackson
has made his choice, O'Neill.

Yeah.

The device has entered an active state.

Lotan, if you wanted to,
can you stop the ship?

- As I have said...
- Yes, it's not about what you want.

Please, just answer the question.
Can you stop the ship?

- It would be possible, yes.
- OK. Then think about this.

Think about the people down there and
all the life that you will be destroying.

I am programmed to serve
the life on this ship.

You say that they were an advanced
civilisation, 10, 000 years of history?

Yes.

- They had laws, justice?
- Yes.

- A respect for life?
- Yes.

Then how can their world be re- created
through an act of mass murder?

Wouldn't that be a betrayal
of everything they stood for?

You said you were made to communicate.

You're not here to serve life on this ship.

You're here to protect
the integrity of life on this ship.

There's a big difference.

Are you really fulfilling your true
function by allowing this to happen?

60 seconds to detonation.

The ship has stopped, O'Neill.

The ship has stopped.

Daniel must've gotten through to him.

Daniel, if you can hear me,
you've got 30 seconds.

Three zero. Over.

Um, about that device...

- It is still active.
- Yes. Can you do anything about that?

- Do you know how to deactivate it?
- No.

- Intriguing design.
- Uh, yeah.

- Lotan, we really don't have time for this.
- How much time do we have?

Five, four, three,...

..two, one.

- What is going on?
- The ship remains.

A powerful explosive.

We were desperate.

The conflict remains unresolved.

I must eventually resume the
transformation process on this planet,...

- ..or the Gad- Meer civilisation will be lost.
- I know.

Many millions of planets were scanned...

..to match the right conditions
for the transformation.

Only one met the specifications.

Just out of curiosity,
were any others even close?

2, 634 parameters had to be
exactly right in order for...

For the transformation process.
Yes, but what about for the Enkarans?

I do not understand.

Maybe they don't need
exactly the same environment...

..as the transformation process,
just a similar one.

You know their physiology. Do any of
the planets scanned match their needs?

Here.

This planet would be
appropriate for the Enkarans.

I regret that I did not consider
this possibility, Daniel Jackson.

Well, you would've
gotten there eventually.

This planet was rejected because three
of the parameters were not correct.

The core temperature was too warm,
the size was too large,...

..and there were intelligent
life forms already present.

Intelligent life forms?

Based on the description,
I believe they were Enkaran.

So, what shall we do now?

- What is it?
- It's OK.

Don't, uh...don't be afraid.

What's goin' on?

Lotan would like
to offer you a compromise.

The ship has expended too many
of the resources needed...

..for the transformation process
to begin again on another planet.

I require that you give up this world.

How is that a compromise?

We found the original
Enkaran home world.

- What?
- How?

It was one of several million planets
scanned by the ship before this one.

It was rejected partly because of
the presence of intelligent life forms.

- He's telling us this now?
- Well, he didn't know.

And technically he's just a day
and a half old, so give him a break.

We will gladly accept this offer
to return to the home of our ancestors.

- How do we get them there?
- Their home world has no Stargate.

Well, actually I have this friend with a big
spaceship who's willing to take them.

- Is this possible?
- Yes.

Once you are safely to your home planet,
I will be reintegrated into the ship,...

..and the ship will return
to complete the transformation.

Does that have to happen? The part
about you being reintegrated?

- What other option is there?
- But you are Enkaran.

You must stay with us.

That is not contrary to my programming.

Lotan says thank you,
he'd like that very much.

Spread the word among the villages.
We are going home!

Visiontext Subtitles: Michael Callaghan