How Stargate's Ancients and Ascension Came To Be (Dial the Gate)

STARGATE's mythology runs deep with the Ancients, the age-old race that created the Stargate network before ascending to a higher plane of existence. The Ancients are the brainchild of writer and executive producer Robert C. Cooper.
Here Rob talks with "Dial the Gate" host David Read about the origins of the Ancients and the alliance of four great races in the Milky Way Galaxy, the idea of ascension to a higher plane, religion and spirituality in the Stargate universe, and how the Ancients evolved over the course of Stargate SG-1's 10-year run. He also talks about creating the Ori, an equally power group of evil ascended beings who have a shared history with the Ancients. Their story was introduced in Season 9 of SG-1, and concluded in the DVD movie STARGATE: THE ARK OF TRUTH -- which Cooper wrote and directed.
This clip is from our full-length, 2-hour conversation with Robert C. Cooper. Watch the full interview on "Dial the Gate": • 012: Robert C. Cooper,...
RELATED ►
★ www.gateworld.net/wiki/Ancients
★ www.gateworld.net/wiki/Ori
★ www.gateworld.net/wiki/Ascension
★ www.DialTheGate.com/
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[@GateWorldDotNet]

THANKS FOR WATCHING! If you want to hear more from Robert C. Cooper on the evolution of Stargate's mythology behind the scenes, be sure to watch the full interview in the link above. Meanwhile fellow Stargate executive producer Joseph Mallozzi talks about the writers' plans to reveal the Stargate to the general public in the third SG-1 movie, STARGATE: REVOLUTION: kzbin.info/www/bejne/f2Stm2uHj8ydb7s

[@voradora]

mgm has sat on this property for 10 years, while fully aware of its huge fanbase. (origins doesn't count). they need to start it up or sell it off.

[@offwhitemke]

I agree. I expect Netflix and Apple would be open to working out something. Maybe even a series exclusively on KZbin Premium before it goes to Hulu a few years later. In the short term I'd appreciate a mini series, perhaps covering parts of what has gone on with the SGC in these 10 years to bring us up to speed before launching a new series.

[@sigma80]

Update: Amazon bought the property. Sadly what they did to the LOTR's prequel series, and everyone else thrashing old movie ideas and ruining them (Basically) I am not encouraged it will turn out well. It looks like Brad Wright is frozen out, with his series idea he had not being talked about much by him, and left out and he has said so.

[@will2003michael2003]

Great video, just reminded me of how impactful the series Stargate was conceptually for me as a religious person. Being able to picture things like time dilation, Energy-based beings, Ascension, quasidualism, beings from our perspective getting stuck with an event horizon. So much more. I was definitely interested to see where destiny was going to go with it search for the origins of The bang. Great interview.

[@WilleneMBlack]

Thank u for all that u r doing to keep ur involved.

[@Beyondthe5thPanel]

As a Reformed Baptist, I very much appreciate how careful he was in how he answered the question of religion, not being Anti-God, but anti-religion in the manner that many religious heretics go out and do some vile things.

[@christinacody5845]

They really begged the question wrt Jesus/Yahweh when they brought the Ori into play. That arc bothered me for how close they tied that line without addressing it directly.

[@offwhitemke]

I enjoyed that one bit in the show when Vala got pregnant and someone asked if this had ever happened before and someone said Star Wars. That was perfect. Carter was like, "Seriously!?"

[@Beyondthe5thPanel]

Brennan Stehling like we know, we ALL know 😅

[@the11382]

TBH, the more I look at it, the more I'm convinced that pretty much everyone is a heretic. I have yet to see the a "pure" christian, but yet a lot of Christians act like they are the pure ones and that the other is somehow unforgivable. Jesus forgave the blasphemer, why not the heretic?

[@marcus8710]

The "heretic" is a person in power who abuses and twists others' spirits. Of course they label other innocents.

[@offwhitemke]

With all of these interviews and interest in Stargate I hope it results in a new series which picks up in the same universe after all this time. I think many people have run low on fresh content to watch on the streaming service and would welcome new Stargate episodes. The 3 shows did such a great job with world building with great characters. I am very much ready for more. If this show is set the same number of years after all this time it would be great to see the progress the Jaffa nation has made and perhaps see it come a force for good in the galaxy. And there have to be many more advanced species which could be discovered. And I'd like to see progress toward even building human-made gates and ring systems and seeding even more planets and adding them to the gate system. The Asgard computer and its archives had to help a lot in all this time. I think also instead of just an Alpha Site the SGC could also seed a gate network which is outside the primary gate network much like Ba'al tried to do. Being able to establish settlements where scientific progress could be made, perhaps with help from some of the advanced species would be very interesting to watch. Having this private gate network could even allow for setting up ship building facilities to create a fleet of Earth vessels. Using all this knowledge to return to the Atlantis galaxy to also set up an alternate gate network and seed planets there to protect the humans from the wraith would make for a good series as well. Maybe there are more Asgard to discover in that galaxy.

[@-Adria]

We need a redone version of this, for the new fans such as myself. Been reading into the guidebooks and what they say about Ascension, it only brings more questions

[@GateWorldDotNet]

Good idea! I'll put it on the video To Do list.

[@-Adria]

@@GateWorldDotNet Thanks! Would also love if someone could ask if Ascension is beyond or above the stargate universe or Multiverse, since it seems the show is trying to say that it’s beyond these things and confirmation would be nice 😅

[@grigorione7824]

Life is : Perpetual metamorphic chaotic perfection , a biological imploding explosion of pressure and resistance. Love is : Symbiotic Altruism.

[@RogersRamblings]

"Appearing god like..." ST: TNG explored this subject in "TNG: Who watches the Watchers" S3EP4. As has been said, any technology far in advance of an observer can appear to be magic. One example is bringing a person from (say) the time of the rebellion in the American colonies to the present day, walking into a room and switching on an electric light.

[@matthewdavies2057]

What other races ascended before the Alterans? Is it crowded up there? Are there races far advanced above the Alterans? Will they speak to us mortals?

[@farscape1714]

Thats what I want to know too. Always thought a group got there first and were the boss and were way more powerful that if the Ori weapon was used in our galaxy they would of been fine and protected the ancients.

[@matthewdavies2057]

@@farscape1714 if they were worth protecting.

[@CrustyCowboy]

Thanks for the video. I couldn't watch it all because it sounded like he was rambling

[@specialnewb9821]

I don't agree with him philosophically but I do appreciate how it was handled in the show.

[@antiker5875]

The live in ancient Egypt was about ascension. Though it perfectly fits.

[@brianwhiting3280]

Did Robert not remember the Asgard were also faking being Gods? He seemed to really have trouble talking about that without being like the Goauld.

[@offwhitemke]

Thor was a little different. They wielded great power but were not the same as the gods the others tried to portray. It was also the single example where the advanced species was not exploiting humans.

[@brianwhiting3280]

@@offwhitemke yes, they were different, but they were still imitating Gods. Jack even told them that to them. And the reason they met them was Daniel pointed out there were Gods that didn't enslave humans. And an argument could be made that Loki was exploiting humans.

[@Croftice1]

@@brianwhiting3280 The situation is quite similar to Marvel. They don't really fake (or impersonate) any gods, they basically ARE believed to be gods. The mythologies about these gods are built around them. For example in the original movie (1996), Ra (the alien) descended from his ship and found that one boy, who didn't run away "when the night became day". Possessed him and because of his (Ra's) original technological knowledge, made himself god for the people. He taught them, how to build, how to speak, read words and whatnot, he built their whole culture (he said that in the movie). He didn't play another god Ra, that existed before him, no, he was the god Ra. But he also was an alien possessing a young boy, a parasite (in the show changed into a snake like creature). They were "false gods" in the meaning, that they had such power (technology based), that most people didn't understand and believed to be magic. That's what made them "false" gods, not impersonating something that people believed in before. Same with Thor (actually both, the Stargate one and the Marvel one), they are aliens, but when they visited Earth in the past, they inspired people to create legends about them. So they became gods. They weren't really impersonating anything existing before them, they made the foundation for those mythologies themselves. The Asgard in Stargate weren't really playing gods, they just didn't reveal their true selves to the people they protected. Thor was willing to do so, if the time was right and the people made the technological progress. Well those people weren't ready, it took the SG-1 for Thor to show himself. It's not like the Asgard were evil like the Goa'uld, or the Ori.

[@brianwhiting3280]

@@Croftice1 gods most certainly can be good or evil, but I think it was more power corrupting that made the goauld so bad. I never thought about if they had gods before and took their roles or if they created the religion about themselves. The salish did take the previous roles I thought so I guess it was also supposed to have happened with the others.

[@lukaskob-themightyblueape8633]

Gate the Dial

[@lawrence253]

In the season 1 episode Thor's Hammer it is implied the asgard created the stargate.

[@the11382]

No, the Daniel just picked the most advanced race. He did not know.

[@arrendaled]

Omg! More preaching!. I walked away from a lot of action shows in the last two years because of their moralistic spewing. I just want to watch a show that entertains me, and SG did.

[@npinjest7779]

Ascension is quite a trope, whether it's in classic sci-fi or movies and TV, so I always assumed the idea's been borrowed from somewhere, e.g. for me the immediate association was to Banks' Culture novels, but it could've been Arthur C. Clark, or CS Lewis, or Pullman, or Zelazny... not to mention Star Wars or Space Odyssey,. I always wished SG-1 would go meta on ascension, drop a mention the idea is not new on Earth...

[@a.dudleybuchanan8632]

Who are in before the ancients?

[@farscape1714]

Q

[@regalgiant1597]

Holy shit the SG space suit

[@offwhitemke]

That looks like one of the suits the Agard wore in the Atlantis galaxy.

[@universalkalle]

@@offwhitemke Those are the suits they wore on Stargate Universe.

[@damitcam]

I believe in god i just never needed proof of his existence - Daniel Jackson

[@Cyclonus84]

It makes sense that they came up with Ascension. The Asgard and The Goa'uld characters were inspired by the Gods our Ancestors worshipped. And it seems they went with Buddhism for their inspiration for The Ancients.

[@jasonworlock5113]

I have discovered the way to keep SGU while appeasing the Stargate fans that disliked SGU. SGU takes place in an Alternate Reality. First the department that General O'Neill is the Head of was known through out season 8-10 of SG1 and all of SGA was called Home World Security and then in SGU it was Home World 'Command'. Also Colonel Carter's hair is darker in her SGU appearances, I know that this is do to the actress role on Sanctuary where her character was a brunette, but it could be used to make SGU set in an Alternate Reality. As for the future Stargate series I think it should be Stargate Command and focus on all the SG teams.

[@Shattisbaddis]

The concept of God and religion was always something I questioned. Stargate definitely gives thought to how we here on earth give credence to God...do we understand what and who God is. There are so many thought provoking concepts in the TV show. SG1 show how a civilization that lack a certain level of knowledge will find God in something supreme. SGU was on a journey to search for God, the who or what is; Technology vs Religious concept. As for religion, Islam I believe bridged that gap. The Golden age is Islam was age of enlightenment, science, technology, and spirituality coming to a cross roads. Man I could write a whole discretion on Stargate through this lens. Hmmm might have a topic for my Master's

[@heritag7]

first?

[@TitoTimTravels]

I always assumed that ascension was just a handy plot device. If we found the Ancients and they were super powerful, it would be too easy to defeat the enemy of the season. If we found the Ancients and they were not that powerful, then they would be a let down. So they made them disappear. 😎

[@amandasunshine2]

So why not just have them die out? Disappear, but can also come back to give us advice BUT NOT TOO MUCH advice because vague cosmic rules *chefkiss*

[@nihilityjoey]

This comment makes no sense.

[@matta2399]

Gnosticism

[@nihilityjoey]

Nope. They stated that their tinkering with their genetics had left them incapable of haveing the biological component too ascend. That's why they ultimately decided to commit genocide. They had stagnated as a species. They couldnt go any further like the ancients and others.

[@christianheichel]

Thank god a flat earther didn't invent Stargate they would have never gone anywhere.

[@susanolson3611]

I have watched SG1 and the other SGs for years and only lately have I realized how anti God it is. Not just tv show gods but actually anti God. This guy's carefully worded statements are no surprise. Jesus is Lord

[@GateWorldDotNet]

Obviously I can't speak for Rob, but as someone who has been keenly attentive to religion in Stargate for the past 21 years (and who is a theologian by training) I don't think the show is anti-God. It's studiously opposed to religion used as a tool of oppression. When it comes to things like the supernatural, a supreme being, or especially faith, like much science fiction it is largely quiet. One line that stands out to me is in "Threshold" (5x02), when a brainwashed Teal'c asks Carter, "Do you not believe in a God?" She responds that that isn't really the point here. It's a brief and subtle exchange, but to me it suggests that (a) Sam has a personal faith of her own, and (b) there is a keen difference between believe in God and what the show was doing with the storyline of Goa'uld (and later Ori) deceit and oppression. When "The Ark of Truth" came out in 2008 I had a long conversation with Rob Cooper about this very topic. That portion of our interview was lost in a hardware accident, but I actually just recently uncovered a copy. So I hope to do a write-up for GateWorld with that material.

[@susanolson3611]

@@GateWorldDotNet I made my comment before I have had enough time to sort it out but I think it was several conversations including one with Vala and Tomin about how the Ori destroy every one who doesn't worship them. It was something in the way the argument was presented that made me think they were drawing a parallel between the Ori and Christianity because the bible says that Jesus is the only way to heaven (ascend) and what happens to those who reject Jesus' offer of salvation. And then there is the book of origin or "bible." I really appreciate your reply, it's given me a lot to think about.

[@GateWorldDotNet]

@@susanolson3611 There's definitely some room for critique there. But I encourage folks not to rush to judgment. As a person of faith I find Tomin's journey (from "Line in the Sand" to "The Ark of Truth") to be quite lovely. In the end Tomin didn't lose his faith when he realized what the Ori and the Priors were, but instead he came to reorient his faith toward what really mattered. One *could* take that as a positive argument, that faith is not bound and tied by institutions, its leaders, and their failures. So too Christianity and religious belief more broadly are not discredited by public scandals that implicate the church.