Tau'ri organizations in Stargate
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- This article lists Tau'ri (humans from Earth) organizations in the television series Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis.
Contents |
[edit] The Trust
| Universe | Stargate |
|---|---|
| Type | Interplanetary terrorist group (first Earth/American-nationalist, then Goa'uld) |
| Founded | Before Season 8 |
| Location | Outer space |
| Key people | Robert Kinsey Ba'al |
| Purpose | Procurement of alien technology and intelligence gathering |
| Technologies | Goa'uld technology |
| Affiliations | NID (former) The Committee |
The Trust is a shady interplanetary terrorist group composed of rogue ex-NID operatives and the international business and political cabal which funds them. It has a long and complicated history intrinsically linked to the Stargate. When the SGC was first put into operation, General Hammond recalls "a philosophical skirmish about its mandate. Some people wanted to make sure that any and all discoveries were brought back regardless of considerations like inter-planetary diplomacy." [1] These "people" were overruled by the President, but did not go away; instead, they threw their influence into the NID and continued to pursue their agenda illegally. Eventually, it was discovered that these NID members were reporting to a group called "the Committee," a cabal of international businessmen who knew of the gate's existence and were using it to acquire alien technology for commercial purposes.
After NID reformation efforts were instigated by NID agents such as Malcolm Barrett, the Committee was exposed and incarcerated. As a result, its offworld cells reorganized and became more radical in their methods and objectives, coming into direct conflict with the SGC and the U.S. Air Force several times instead of operating behind the scenes as they had until this point. Eventually however, some of these agents were infiltrated or captured by Goa'uld and taken over. They returned to Earth and apparently compromised the remainder of the Trust's organization, providing an immediate power base for the Goa'uld. In "Full Alert" they manage to put a Goa'uld symbiote into former Vice President Robert Kinsey. They tried to put Earth in a nuclear war after compromising Russian General Kiselev three years with another symbiote so the Goa'uld can come in and claim the Ancient outpost in Antarctica. However, politics were able to stop the war and the Trust agents on the Al'kesh were destroyed by Prometheus. When Ba'al fled from the victorious Jaffa Rebellion, he came to Earth and apparently took over The Trust's international network. The Trust does not appear again until season nine, in "Ex Deus Machina".
The Trust appears again in the Stargate Atlantis season two episode "Critical Mass" when they use an operative to plant an explosive device in the City of Atlantis. General Landry and Agent Barrett work together in an attempt to stop the Trust from executing their plan and destroying the city. However, they lose contact with the city, mid-investigation.
This shows that the Trust has an amazing amount of power on Earth and that no organization is safe from them. They were able to learn of Atlantis, turn Colonel Steven Caldwell into a Goa'uld host and even use memory tampering technology on Agent Barret of the NID. They also have methods of intercepting and decipering secure Air Force communications. It was hoped that the capture of Ba'al would have allowed the NID to finally destroy the Trust but still it remains a powerful force on Earth.
Ironically, the fall of the System Lords may mean that the Trust is the most powerful Goa'uld organization in the galaxy. Since Ba'al's arrival on Earth, however, it has not meant any significant change in the identity of the most important Goa'uld in the galaxy.
[edit] Key Episodes
- "Smoke & Mirrors" - The leaders of the rogue NID (the Committee) are exposed, forcing the majority of the rogues to go even deeper underground.
- "Inauguration" - Vice President Kinsey is shown to still have strong ties to the rogue ex-NID agents. Richard Woolsey acquires incriminating evidence on Kinsey from General Hammond.
- "Lost City" - Kinsey shows his true colors when he tries to force Dr. Elizabeth Weir to remove SG-1 immediately. Later he threatens President Henry Hayes after being told to "shut the hell up".
- "Covenant" - The name "the Trust" comes up for the first time as they bring down a man, Alec Colson, who tried to expose the Stargate program.
- "Endgame" - The Trust, operating from Osiris's ship, steals the stargate and uses it to launch an all out attack on the Goa'uld using symbiote poison, without regard to the Jaffa or Tok'ra lives. They are stopped by SG-1 but flee into hyperspace before being apprehended.
- "Full Alert" - The Trust returns to Earth and makes contact with former Vice President Kinsey. The Trust wants him to hook them up with Russian General Kiselyov. They have Kinsey contact with the SGC to claim that everything he did was for the best interest of the United States. The Trust's deal is a ruse to implant Kinsey with a Goa'uld symbiote. Kiselyov is already a Goa'uld, as are most of the members of the Trust.
- "Ex Deus Machina" - Ba'al, who is hiding on Earth, has taken control of the Trust.
- "Uninvited" - A Trust agent was caught spying on Mitchell and General Landry, and inadvertently brought an alien parasite to Earth using a Sodan cloaking device.
- "Memento Mori" - The Trust captures Vala in an effort to retrieve memories that can lead to infinite treasure.
[edit] NID
| Universe | Stargate |
|---|---|
| Type | Intelligence agency |
| Founded | |
| Location | Washington, D.C. Area 51 |
| Key people | Colonel Harry Maybourne (rogue) Colonel Frank Simmons (rogue) Malcolm Barrett (official) |
| Purpose | Provide vital civilian oversight of top secret military operations (official) Procure alien technology and intelligence (rogue) |
| Technologies | SGC technology |
| Affiliations | SGC (official) The Committee, The Trust (rogue) |
The NID (National Intelligence Department according to the Stargate SG-1 Roleplaying Game,[2] but the producers stated that the initialism stands for nothing in particular[3]) is a shadowy intelligence agency that is recurring throughout the run of Stargate SG-1, and also appeared in the Stargate Atlantis episodes "Critical Mass", "Miller's Crossing" and "Outcast". It is an independent government agency similar to the DIA, CIA or NSA, but with questionable accountability and more comparable to Star Trek's Section 31. The NID seems to be based in an office complex in or near Washington, D.C., though some NID members in fact hold military rank and work in the Pentagon. Officially, their mandate is to provide vital civilian oversight of top secret military operations.
[edit] Background
Within the show, the NID is represented by two groups:
The Official NID was an official and responsible operation that seeks to investigate and exploit technology brought back through the Stargate by the SGC while, at the same time, observing the members of the United States military to ensure that their actions are the 'correct' ones. The official agency has a number of Men in Black-style agents, like Agent Malcolm Barrett, who hold the rank of Federal Agents, and bureaucrats like Richard Woolsey. There are also an unknown number of Military personnel who apparently report to the NID chain of command and that of the military in an odd manner, such as Colonels Simmons and Maybourne (who ironically while both publicly working for the official NID, worked for the rogue NID).
The Rogue NID was a set of well resourced rogue cells that use unscrupulous methods to procure alien technology, develop weapons, and gather intelligence. Despite its illegality, and the efforts of the legitimate branches of the NID to hunt down and destroy the cancerous organization, the rogue cells make extensive use of NID operatives and resources. Initially they operated using the second stargate unearthed in the episode "Solitudes". Later they were based either 'off world' or in disused warehouses throughout the Earth.
[edit] History
Throughout the series the work of the rogue group has been associated with Colonel Harry Maybourne. The rogue elements justify their unscrupulous methods claiming that, like the SGC, they are just trying to defend Earth from the Goa'uld. They criticise the SGC saying that their modus operandi of diplomatic contact and negotiation is too slow. However, it seems that far from patriotism, the rogue NID were linked to various individuals and corporations who wished to exploit alien technology for financial gain. These corporations and individual businessmen are the rogue NID's leading shadow group, "The Committee", which eventually evolved into The Trust when the SGC managed to arrest and imprison the majority of its upper echelon.
In the episode "Touchstone", General Hammond comments: "Back when the SG program began there was a philosophical skirmish about its mandate. Some people wanted to make sure that any and all discoveries were brought back regardless of considerations like inter-planetary diplomacy." Hammond also comments that he thought that there was a politician or politicians pulling strings behind the scenes, this was later revealed to be Senator Robert Kinsey. Another prominent member of the group was Colonel Frank Simmons, played by John de Lancie.
Currently, the NID has become a more legitimate organization which works for the security of the Stargate program and to aid the SGC on operations on Earth such as interrogation of prisoners. Recently, their main goal seems to be neutralizing the threat posed by the Trust. It also appears that a degree of the United States involvement with the IOA has come from the NID and NID personnel. Richard Woolsey, a former (or current?) NID agent has become the US representative to the IOA.
[edit] International Oversight Advisory (IOA)
 International Oversight Advisory 国际监督咨询(Chinese) International consultatif de contrôle(French) Международный Консультативный надзора(Russian) logo |
|
| Universe | Stargate |
|---|---|
| Type | Civilian oversight committee |
| Founded | 2003 |
| Location | Variable; most frequently at Stargate Command, but founded in The Pentagon |
| Key people | Richard Woolsey (United States representative and de facto spokesman) |
| Purpose | Oversight and funding of the Atlantis expedition and the SGC (partially) |
| Powers*** | Funding Censure |
| Affiliations | Atlantis Expedition SGC United Nations Security Council |
The IOA (or International Oversight Advisory) is a civilian oversight committee that was created after the existence of the Stargate program was revealed to the other permanent members of the UN Security Council.[4] The Gate Alliance Treaty was signed by China, France, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.[5]
It is presumed to have developed from the Atlantis Committee, and is therefore in control over the Atlantis Expedition. However, the IOA has no direct authority over Stargate Command, which, as a command of the United States Air Force is under the control of the United States Department of Defense.[6]
An IOA representative was eventually assigned to the SGC in exchange for further funding.[7] The organization is, after the U.S. Senate's Appropriations Committee[8] and the NID[9] the third civilian organization involved with the Stargate Program.
Any missions involving Atlantis or Earth's battle cruisers have to be signed off by the IOA before they can go ahead, as demonstrated in The Ark of Truth in a conversation between Cameron Mitchell, General Landry and IOA member James Merek. The IOA are also in control of funding, such as when they chose to divert money from the SGC to build more battlecruisers in The Ties That Bind.
[edit] IOA Members
- Richard Woolsey - USA (played by Robert Picardo)
- Russel Chapman - UK (played by Andy Maton)
- Jean Lapierre - France (played by Mark Oliver)
- Chen Xiaoyi - China (played by Tamlyn Tomita)
- James Merek - USA (played by Currie Graham) Killed by replicator
- Col. Chekov* - Russia (played by Gary Chalk)[5]
- Coolidge - USA (played by Rob LaBelle)
- * Although not stated officially, it is assumed that Chekov was killed in the Battle of P3Y-229.
[edit] Gate Alliance Treaty
| Gate Alliance Treaty | |||
|---|---|---|---|
|
|||
| Opened for signature | probably February 2003 in The Pentagon, Arlington, Virginia, United States, Earth | ||
| Entered into force | February 2003 | ||
| Conditions for entry into force | None | ||
| Parties | United States, Canada, United Kingdom, The Netherlands, France, People's Republic of China, Russia, Jamaica, Philippines, Portugal, Croatia, Zimbabwe, and signatory members of the Antarctic Treaty. | ||
The Gate Alliance Treaty was the agreement between the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, signed in early 2003.[4] After the discovery of the Ancient Outpost in Antarctica, the signatory members of the Antarctic Treaty also had to be included because of international law. The treaty also includes Jamaica, Philippines, Portugal, Croatia and Zimbabwe. Subsequently, the included nations sent personnel to Atlantis.[10]
The treaty specified that all acquired alien technology would be shared between the member nations, in exchange for assistance in keeping the program secret. However, in the three years since, the US military has interpreted the treaty to only apply to non-military technology. Though the Chinese delegate is the only one to mention it, this is presumably a sore point with all the signatories.[6] The current arrangement is supported by the Asgard.[4]
It is implied that China may soon leave the treaty to force the SGC to be more forthcoming, though this could be a tactic similar to Russia's feigned reluctance to extend the lease on their Stargate in exchange for a Daedalus class battlecruiser.[11]
[edit] Criticism
Members of both the SGC and the Atlantis expedition have displayed a rather low opinion of the IOA. According to Dr. Elizabeth Weir, the IOA's inability to make final decisions is only a strategic maneuver to not take responsibility, therefore having a scapegoat (such as Weir herself) in case things go wrong.[12] The IOA is also criticized by SGC personnel for interfering in situations where they lack expertise.
[edit] References
- ^ According to the episode "Touchstone"
- ^ Stargate SG-1 Roleplaying Game: Core Rulebook
- ^ Audio commentary for "Wormhole X-Treme!"
- ^ a b c "Disclosure" (Stargate SG-1)
- ^ a b "The Scourge" (Stargate SG-1)
- ^ a b "New Order" (Stargate SG-1)
- ^ "The Ties That Bind" (Stargate SG-1)
- ^ "Politics" (Stargate SG-1)
- ^ "Chain Reaction" (Stargate SG-1)
- ^ "Rising" (Stargate Atlantis)
- ^ "Crusade" (Stargate SG-1)
- ^ "No Man's Land" (Stargate Atlantis)
[edit] External links
- "International Oversight Advisory" at GateWorld Omnipedia.
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