“Given enough time, evolution can do some pretty amazing things.”
- Release Date: 28th June 2002
- Season 6
- Episode 4
- Director: Martin Wood
- Writers: Robert C. Cooper
Carter is having a video call with someone stationed at a research base in Antarctica. They’re researching around the area where the second stargate was found, trying to find any trace of who was there back when it would have been active. Carter explains that the power source of the DHD they found there failed shortly after she and Jack were rescued (explaining why it wasn’t mentioned in 48 Hours) and it means the stargate was possibly one of the oldest and most used ones currently known. Two more researchers enter, announcing that they’ve found something important.
SG-1 and Dr Fraiser go to the base in Antarctica and are greeted by Michaels, the researcher Carter was talking to earlier, along with Woods and Osbourne. Jonas mentions that bad weather is due soon, and is a bit concerned with how long this will all take. They’re taken to the lab and are shown what has been found – it’s a body, completely preserved in ice. The specimen has been called Ayiana. And the ice around her seems to be several million years old – massively predating when humans were supposed to be around.
Fraiser looks at the tissue samples and is astounded, as there’s no residue on the cells. In fact, they appear to be fully intact. They decide to thaw the body and, as she thaws, she seems to be in perfect condition with no damage. Fraiser shines a light into her eye and her pupil reacts and they detect brain waves, so they crank up the heat to speed up the process. As her functions start, her heart stops, but starts again just before Fraiser can use a defibrillator – she gains consciousness.
They discuss what has just happened. It seems Ayiana’s body essentially revived itself once exposed to heat. She seems to be an alien that looks just like humans – or more that we look exactly like them. It’s a pretty remarkable discovery.
Jonas decides to try and speak to Ayiana, managing to teach her his name, with her repeating it. A bandage is removed from the wound caused by taking the tissue sample and it has already completely healed. Woods and Osbourne head off to get another sample to verify the results. When Jonas reveals that he hasn’t learnt anything from Ayiana, Teal’c wonders if she’s pretending she can’t communicate to hide what she knows – for her own protection, perhaps. Jonas takes her some food, and Michaels comments on the heat.
Carter and Fraiser discuss some tests, there is a match between the EEG results of Cassandra (when affected by a Gou’ald experiment), Jack (when he had the database of the Ancients in his head) and Ayiana. She thinks Ayiana is an advanced race of human, but as she came before us, it means we’re the second separate evolution of humans. They theorise that Ayiana is an Ancient, part of the race that created the stargates.
Jonas interrupts them as Michaels has fainted. After looking at her, it seems she’s suffering from a bacterial or viral infection, likely from Ayiana (who may be immune to whatever she is carrying,or her healing abilities are helping her cope) and that they’re likely all already exposed. Jonas talks to her again – if they can find out anything useful then perhaps they can fix it.
They’re concerned about the researchers that have gathered the sample as they’ve not returned. They mention that they may be nearly as far along as Michaels. Osbourne does return, but Woods is still missing. Jack and Teal’c head out to find him.
Jonas tells Ayiana about what is going on, then realises that she seems to understand everything he is saying, even though she can’t talk back properly. She asks about her healing ability but she seems to have no idea how it works. Jack finds Woods and they rush him back, bringing him into the lab.
Woods is not doing well. On top of the infection, he’s also frostbitten. Fraiser is about to defib when Ayiana approaches. Jonas suggests that they let her, to see what she does. She places her hand on Woods and completely heals him, but collapses as a result. When she recovers, Jonas asks if she knows what she did (she nods) and if she knows how she can do it (she shakes her head). She looks concerned when asked about doing it again, but nods in agreement about helping. She heals Michaels.
Fraiser studies what is happening, and notices that Ayiana is getting weaker each time. She’s definitely affected by the virus herself and can’t seem to cure herself. The rest of them are going to get ill, but Ayiana might die if they let her help them. Fraiser orders them all to get some rest, with the healed Woods and Osbourne keeping an eye on Ayiana while Michaels carries on with some tests to confirm that she’s immune.
Woods thanks Ayiana for saving his life, while expressing guilt that the others are ill. Ayiana touches his cheek and he falls asleep. She sneaks to the others and starts healing them. When Osbourne goes to relieve Woods, he raises the alarm. They find her unconscious and it seems she’s healed everyone except Jack, who is still burning up.
A containment team arrive and put Jack and Ayiana into quarantine chambers, taking everyone back to Stargate Command. In a briefing, Hammond says that the Tok’ra are sending someone to help but aren’t confident. Fraiser says that Ayiana has different brain chemistry so she can’t trigger the same response in herself – she doesn’t have long to live. Jonas visits her and comforts her, but she passes away.
A Tok’ra called Thoran turns up and says Jack needs more than a hand device to be healed. He needs a symbiote and, as it happens, they have one whose host was fatally wounded, and curing disease is much easier for them than physical trauma. Teal’c and Carter say that Jack would not agree with that, but Thoran assures that it will be temporary and he will leave Jack when a new host is found, or sacrifice if they can’t find a new host. On top of that, the symbiote has viral intelligence.
Carter tells a very weary Jack about this and he says over his dead body. She explains about it being temporary and the vital information and he reluctantly agrees. He gets taken through the Stargate as the episode ends.
This brings up fascinating things about the Ancients and how they were on Earth long before humans, and we start to unravel the mysteries of who they are slightly more.
