Replicator (Stargate)
|
|
The Replicators are a fictional mechanical race on the television series Stargate SG-1.
Background and History
SGReplicator.jpg
The Replicators are a race created by a gynoid named Reese. Reese had the body of a young woman, but the mind of a spoiled child; hers is the only known account of the following events. She created the first Replicator as a toy (which was under her control), but this alarmed the denizens of her world, who claimed she was "built wrong". Out of fear of being destroyed, she instructed her toys on self-replication, and self-preservation of herself and themselves. This was a mistake, however, as the Replicators escaped her control and began to destroy her world. Reese escaped this catastrophe by going to 'sleep'.
The vast majority of the Replicators themselves are composed of modular blocks which are created using nanotechnology and have very high intercommunicativity. They are very versatile and can self-assemble to become many forms, the most common being the small spider variation illustrated here; much larger forms have been observed, including whole spacecraft of a scale comparable to Goa'uld Hatak. These block-based Replicators exhibit the ability to learn extremely rapidly from the technologies they encounter, particularly those used in attempts to contain them, although it is not clear if they are sentient. (In contrast, the human-form Replicators are sentient; see below.) Replicators can form raw materials into new blocks, although the quality of the replicated blocks is based in part on what raw materials are available. They are generally driven to assimilate new technology, often passing up technology familiar to them or less advanced than theirs in order to acquire more advanced technology.
Much later, after they had spread amongst the stars and had become a menace to the galaxy, Reese was recovered by the SGC. She was retrieved from the now-depopulated world in the Stargate SG-1 episode "Menace". After a near-repeat of what happened to her planet at the SGC, she was killed. Her body ultimately yielded the key to capturing the Replicators, as one key command first installed by Reese was still present in all replicators that followed: "Come Forth". This was used by the Asgard to trap the Replicators in a time dilation field where time would flow 104 times slower than outside the bubble. They ultimately escaped this and a new, sentient human form of Replicators using nanotechnology instead of 'blocks' to compose themselves were discovered. They advanced to this form after they discovered Reese's body and realized what they thought was their true purpose, universal domination.
The initial flaw with Reese, her lack of humanity, was corrected in only one of the self-aware Replicators, "Fifth." His humanity, however, was seen as a flaw by the others (named First, Second, etc.), and the humanity was removed from the following versions. His humanity is what was betrayed by SG-1 to trap the Replicators on the planet with the time dilation device. However, Fifth's humanity is also what makes him much more dangerous than any other Replicator in existence -- as he points out to (then) Maj. Carter in the season 8 opening episode, while the other self-aware Replicators were consumed with self-replication, they had no real concept of cruelty or torture because of their lack of humanity, something he knows all too well. It also seems that the inhuman self-aware Replicators were destroyed in the conflicts in the season 8 opener, leaving Fifth in control of all Replicators -- a disturbing prospect.
By the start of the eighth season the Replicators had surpassed the Asgard and Goa'uld in both military technology as well as scientific Intelligence.
Up to the eighth season, there was no truly effective way to handle Replicators en masse; while projectile weapons are effective to a degree against small numbers, they can easily overwhelm whole Asgard ships. However, the Asgard commander Thor managed to "commandeer" Col. O'Neill while he still possessed the knowledge of the Ancients in his mind and linked him to his ship, the Daniel Jackson. By doing this, O'Neill was capable of designing an effective anti-Replicator weapon which works by permanently rendering a Replicator block/nanite caught in its fire incapable of communicating with other blocks, resulting in the Replicator literally "falling to pieces". Thor then was able to adapt the weapon to be used as an Asgard ship's armament, capable of destroying Replicators for miles from the blast site.
Fifth, still infatuated with Carter, creates a Replicator clone of her to be his mate. Unfortunately, she finds him just as repulsive as the original did, albeit for different reasons. This doppelgänger (Nicknamed "RepliCarter" by fans) goes on to trick the real Carter into sharing the design of the anti-Replicator weapon with her, and learns how to defeat it. She destroys Fifth, then escapes through the Stargate. In very short order, all Replicators were immune to the Ancient disruptor, once again rendering them a significant threat to the galaxy.
During season 8, the Replicators launched a full-scale attack on the Goa'uld system lords. Unable to contest the vastly superior numbers and technology of the Replicators, Goa'uld system assets were rapidly eliminated and assimilated by Replicator forces.
The Jaffa rebellion had the misfortune of engaging in a critical mission to eliminate the Goa'uld system lords during the Replicator invasion. Colonel Carter and Daniel Jackson were present as observers to the mission, and when the Replicators intercepted and compromised the mission's viability, Daniel Jackson had the misfortune of being abducted by Replicator Carter.
RepliCarter abducted Daniel Jackson in order to probe his mind for subconsciously-buried Ancient knowledge retained from his Ascension - specifically, she was searching for technology or weaponry that could eliminate the Replicator threat. Eventually, such a weapon was located at the temple of Dakarah, a Goa'uld historical monument located deep in Ba'al's territory.
The Replicators immediately set their huge fleet on a course to Dakarah to destroy the weapon. The Jaffa rebellion, including Teal'c, had occupied the temple in an attempt to rekindle the failing movement. Anubis, now in control of Ba'al's assets, had also routed forces from the Replicator conflict to eliminate the Jaffa rebellion.
In the meantime, Ba'al had contacted Stargate Command with disturbing information. The destructive potential of the weapon at Dakarah is not specific to the Replicator threat and could destroy all life in the galaxy. Anubis, however, would survive the weapon's activation and consequently had no reservations about employing the weapon.
Ostensibly, Anubis allowed the Jaffa rebellion to occupy Dakarah in order to eliminate the movement's primary elements upon the weapon's activation. The Replicators would also be dealt with upon the weapon's activation. In effect, Anubis would be killing two birds with one stone, allowing for the simultaneous elimination of both threats. Anubis sent Ba'al to Dakarah to capture the Ancient weapon and crush the rebellion. After arriving in Dakarah, Ba'al demanded the surrender of the Jaffa rebels. Teal'c stalled for time, allowing Lt. Col. Carter to locate the Ancient weapon. Before Ba'al could react, the Replicator fleet, largely outnumbering Ba'al's, appeared and started to destroy the fleets of both Ba'al and the Jaffa rebels.
With Ba'al forced to help get the machine working, he and Lt. Col. Carter successfully reconfigure the machine to destroy all Replicators anywhere in the galaxy by opening all the Stargates at once. Daniel Jackson buys them time by overpowering RepliCarter through the link she'd initiated and sending new instructions to the rest of the Replicators, literally freezing them for a couple of minutes. Then, RepliCarter regains control and impales Daniel Jackson with a liquid metal blade similar to Terminator 2. The weapon fires and destroys all the Replicators, including the ship Daniel Jackson is on, thus ending the war with the Asgard, Goa'uld and Humans. (Daniel Jackson ascends, escaping permanent death.) The Jaffa rebels make it onto Ba'al's ship, only to have him "beam out" before they kill him.
Technology
The Replicators are presented as being the most technologically advanced species in the Stargate universe, with the exception on the Ancients. They demonstrate the ability to not only learn to use foreign technology in a short amount of time, but also to enhance the assimilated technology; usually far beyond the understanding of its previous users.
Replicators are impervious to all known handheld energy weapons. Though kinetic energy based weapons can shatter them, the Replicators have demonstrated the ability to reassemble from the scattered blocks and continue with their objectives. However, this ability was lost as the show progressed. The Human Form Replicators furthered the Replicator invulnerability as their advanced make-up rendered them totally indestructible to bullets as well as energy based attacks.
To defend themselves at close quarters, a Replicator is capable of spraying huge amounts of what is thought to be an acidic liquid, possibly containing destructive nanites. This liquid is capable of penetrating all metals, even the nigh-on invincible armour worn by the Kull Warriors. The Human Form Replicators instead prefer to use either their massive strength, or restructure their hand into a sword with which to impale their foes.
The Replicators were able to use an Asgard trap to their advantage. When the Asgard attempted to imprison them in a time bubble, the Replicators modified the device to accelerate time progression, instead of slow it down. Using this, they would be able to produce a huge army while the rest of the universe, from their perspective, seemed to slow to a crawl. After their scheme was foiled, they were able to exploit the time dialation device again when the Asgard endeavoured to send all the Replicators into a black hole. A small group employed the device to counter the black hole's gravitational field and escape certain destruction. These feats displaying their considerable technical knowledge.
It's is speculated that the Replicator's acquired their knowledge from many other races, and by pooling it together, they were able to surpass all other living species. Their prime source of knowledge would most likely be the Asgard, who were extremely powerful in their own right.