History Headscratchers / Stargate

I just watched that scene for the first time in years. Everyone seems to think that Daniel was written off for saying crazy things about aliens building the pyramids. However, he actually only says that the pyramids were built years before the current assumed date. An audience member asks who he thinks built them, and Daniel replies that he doesn't know. This causes everyone to get up and leave. Why the hell would that cause them to leave? Presumably, he sent word out about this seminar, "Hey guys, I have some new theories about the date of Egyptian pyramid construction. Come hear me talk about them." Again, it's very likely that he wouldn't be putting his reputation on the line if he didn't have evidence. But the audience leaves before he can present anything. He states his thesis: the pyramids were built years earlier than we assumed. An audience member asks a question: who does he (Daniel) think built them. Daniel says he doesn't know and that somehow destroys his credibility.An argument could be made that this isn't the first time he's come out with a crazy theory, and this is just the end of the line. But that was a pretty large crowd. If most people had written him off, they wouldn't be there.

** I agree here. I also recently watched the movie again for the first time in years (I got the first season of Stargate SG-1 out of the library and I wanted a refresher before getting started), and I felt the same way bout this scene. They aren't even letting a fellow academic state his case. To take a stab at a WildMassGuessing though, maybe this theory was the ElephantInTheLivingRoom that every other academic was avoiding like the plague.

*** Also, in the movie, Abydos and Earth are supposed to be in separate galaxies. That's one hell of a road trip if you've got other things to do. Maybe Ra decided to avert HonorBeforeReason and write Earth off as not worth the trouble? Even on StargateAtlantis, traveling to another galaxy by relatively conventional means doesn't become practical without the help of technology considerably more sufficiently advanced than what the Goa'uld have access to.

Yes, yes, ''{{Stargate SG-1}}'' shows a DHD on Abydos. But: one, in the movie the concept of a DHD was never even mentioned; and two, even the series didn't particularly bother to explain this, saying that they dug up the device later.

*** It's mentioned several times in ''Stargate SG-1'' that destroying a gate is very difficult, as they naturally absorb any energy directed at them. Even a single nuke might not do it. That is why they have to build those Mark IX Gatebusters, which are basically naquadah-enhanced nukes. Then you got ''Series/StargateUniverse'' gates which can be taken out by a rogue plasma bolt.

The rational offered was that Daniel needed to decipher the symbols on the destination stargate and allow the team to return home. That could have been accomplished simply by opening the stargate on a regular schedule from the Earth side. The recon team could simply return to the stargate at the conclusion of their mission, wait for it to open and return to Earth. They've already demonstrated that they could open the stargate at will.

*** It's mentioned several times in ''Stargate SG-1'' that destroying a gate is very difficult, as they naturally absorb any energy directed at them. Even a single nuke might not do it. That is why they have to build those Mark IX Gatebusters, which are basically naquadah-enhanced nukes. Then you got ''StargateUniverse'' gates which can be taken out by a rogue plasma bolt.

** And there numerous precedents of mankind [[{{Nohamotyo}} forgetting things after a few short years]], not to mention several millennia. Julia Roberts was almost Mrs. Keifer Sutherland in the early 1990's. How many people remember that fact?

* Manually. Spin the ring and lock the chevrons. A power source is a different matter, as it is clearly mentioned that the DHD contains the power source.