SG-1 is conducting overtures and studies with a peaceful planet whose children are highly intelligent. Legacy was written by Heather E. Ash this episode first debuted on 22 July, 1999.

Teal’c (Christopher Judge) is paired with a young boy, Tomin (Lachlan Murdoch) to teach the society about the Goa’uld, while young Merrin (Britt Irvin) returns to Stargate Command with a naquadah generator. There she interacts with Carter (Amanda Tapping), Fraiser (Teryl Rothery) and O’Neill (Richard Dean Anderson). She’s incredibly smart, but only for specific things.

But they all realize that Merrin, and the rest of the children aren’t all the seem, and when the team discovers what happens to the children at a certain age, it’s a custom of society, the team is horrified.

The children are injected with nanites at a young age, allowing them to process and store masses of knowledge. And then the nanites are removed to share the information with society, leaving the children barely more than living husks. They are left untaught, though they are cared for, and their knowledge is shared with all.

Carter and O’Neill attempt to show Merrin how to loosen up and be a child, while also discovering the shortcomings of her learning and what it means for the society. O’Neill makes the argument that Merrin should not be allowed to return if they are going to harvest her nanites and leave her in the same condition Tomin is put in.

Is there a sense to it? Yes. Is it humane? No.

Daniel and the rest begin to realize its not all black and white, and that’s what makes it a strong episode, because it asks a lot of questions, and makes you think. It’s a solid episode, and the child actors turn in good performances.

Good story, good episode, and great character beats (there’s a nice mention of Cassandra), especially when O’Neill takes Merrin off base. And maybe, that could lead to a hopeful ending?

The visual effects for this episode are a little iffy though.

Point of View gives us more of the Stargate multiverse when versions of Carter and Kawalsky (Jay Acovone) travel through the quanutm mirror and end up in our reality, in Area 51. They have bad news. The Goa’uld have just overrun Earth.

The episode features a teleplay by showrunners Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner from a story they developed with Robert C. Cooper and Tor Alexander Valenza. It was first broadcast on 30 July, 1999.

There’s some nods to the O’Neill/Carter shippers in this episode, as this version of Carter has a relationship with O’Neill – they were married in fact.

Hammond (Don S. Davis) advises SG-1 that Carter and Kawalsky are allowed to stay. Unfortunately it may not be that easy. The longer Carter and Kawalsky stay in this reality, a paradoxical temporal effect is causing an entropic cascade failure that will eventually cause the deaths of both Carters.

Daniel, O’Neill and Teal’c venture into one of the alternate realities and have to face some familar enemies in a drastic situation – Apophis (Peter Williams) has overrun the SGC and is torturing Hammond – there plan is to help this reality contact the Asgard, which would put a stop to the Goa’uld invasion, and allow Kawalsky and Carter to return to their own reality.

A well-done alternate reality story. Stargate is really good at playing with the usual science fiction tropes and making them really enjoyable.