What Stargate Universe Season 3 Could Have Been Like

Both "Stargate SG-1" and "Stargate Atlantis" — television shows that continue the premise of Roland Emmerich's "Stargate" — are beloved entries within the franchise." While "Stargate SG-1" was conceived as a direct sequel to Emmerich's 1994 sci-fi adventure film, "Stargate Atlantis" served as a spin-off to a particular "SG-1" season finale in which the central crew discovers a lost civilization. There is a lot to love about both entries: the Stargate crew in both shows primarily explore alien planets and often get into conflicts with extraterrestrial races, and these adventures perfectly balance high-stakes thrills with emotional heft. Although some themes in these shows come close to complexity, the emphasis has always been on optimistic reliability, and how the characters feel larger-than-life despite being heroes in a futuristic setting.

Enter "Stargate Universe," a franchise entry meant to sport a completely different tonal identity than its predecessors. Franchise producers Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper wanted "Stargate Universe" to be more gritty and mature as opposed to the lighthearted approach that "SG-1" and "Atlantis" took, and initial hype surrounding the series was positive. This fresh addition ran for 2 seasons from 2009 to 2011 and was not picked up for a third season by the Syfy channel, despite the fact that the season 2 finale ends on a cliffhanger of sorts. But there's no reason to fret: a non-canon "Stargate Universe" comic series written by Mark L. Haynes and J.C. Vaughn picks up right after the events of season 2, and some anthologies within this series are still ongoing! These comics situate crewmember Eli Wallace (played by David Blue in the show) as the one responsible for making sure that everyone aboard the spacecraft "Destiny" is safe, while fresh threats emerge in this nail-biting race against time.

That said, these comics are not official, meaning that we will never really know how a potential season 3 of "Stargate Universe" would have resolved that bleak cliffhanger. However, we can make an educated guess to envision what could have been.

Spoilers for "Stargate Universe" to follow.

Let's quickly establish the intriguing premise of the show before dissecting the cliffhanger. Dr. Nicholas Rush (Robert Carlyle) is leading a research initiative that might eventually allow space crews to travel remote distances across the galaxy via the Stargate portal, provided they're able to decipher a dial branded with alien script. A group of experts with a knack for puzzle-solving band together to solve the dial mystery, but things are not peachy from the get-go. A planet's power core explodes, forcing surviving crew members to free through a makeshift wormhole, which lands them on a derelict spacecraft left behind by an alien race known as the Ancients. This ship, dubbed "Destiny," seems almost preternaturally sentient, defying expectations by charting its own courses and fueling itself by feeding on energy from neighboring stars. As anticipated, all hell breaks loose, and things keep getting worse.

Season 2 saw the crew, who are usually at each others' throats, finally coming to a begrudging compromise once Rush is able to take control of the ship and align everyone's goals for the time being. This marked a tonal turning point, with the series' trademark bleakness and melodrama taking a turn for the better, as these complex characters were finally willing to work as a united front. In the season 2 finale, the crew learns about the origins of the universe and how the ship is connected to the conception of life itself but is continuously attacked by automated drone weapons wherever they go. To curb this issue, Eli proposes a void jump that would take three years to complete, with no stops in between. Every crew member enters stasis except him, as Eli is left with a faulty pod inside a ship that is running on low-power mode. Can Eli make it, or will he have to sacrifice himself to ensure that the crew makes it out? We never get to know.

What we do know is that series writer and executive producer Joseph Mallozzi revealed six possible scenarios that could have played out in season 3, had the show not been abruptly canceled in 2011. Although these ideas are fairly rudimentary, they all hinge on hope.

On his blog, Mallozzi wrote at length about the different directions the season 2 finale took before finalizing the version of events we know, with Rush initially intended to be the one awake on the ship and being psychologically impacted by the experience. However, this was changed, as the implications of a happily solitary, self-sufficient person like Rush being negatively impacted by extended isolation were not nearly as compelling as that of someone who actively craved a sense of community. Thus Eli came to bear the weight of this sacrifice, and Mallozzi proposed six scenarios that could resolve the tension evoked by the season 2 finale:

#1. POD-FIXING AND STASIS

The most straightforward solution to the issue is that Eli succeeds in fixing his faulty pod and goes into stasis, but this event occurs after a time jump of several years. Mallozzi talks about the rest of the crew waking up "three to one thousand years later," which could have completely recontextualized the temporal framework of the series.

#2. POWER-REROUTING AND ISOLATION

Alternatively, Eli could have taken advantage of the ship's unique structure by rerouting the craft's power to a lone shuttle, which could have helped him stay awake for three years. While this is a very challenging survival situation akin to the one in "The Martian," it would have made for an interesting opener for the next season.

#3. ELI'S CONSCIOUSNESS LIVES ON

The ship has a powerful mega-computer, through which Eli could stay alive by uploading his consciousness. This route would undoubtedly have been controversial, as it completely changes how the character is perceived, but raises pertinent questions about existence and mankind's persistence.

#4 & #5. OUTSIDE RESCUE OPERATION

What's a better deus-ex-machina than an intervention from Earth, who could send a rescue team via the Stargate? With the ship being off-radar for years, the good folks on Earth would probably have helped solve the crisis, with experts like Samantha Carter or Rodney McKay taking the initiative. Conversely, an alien race could stumble upon the slumbering ship and either a) take over the craft and threaten to eliminate the crew, or b) offer help with power recharging, allowing Eli to enter stasis without worrying about himself or the crew.

Apart from these Eli-focused routes, Mallozzi also talked about some twists that could have been cool, such as the Novans — human descendants who are duplicates of the crew sent back in time — coming to the ship's rescue. "They save us but their motives turn out to be less than honorable, as it turns out, they have designs on Destiny," Mallozzi writes, while stating that this scenario was one of his personal favorites. Although these ideas are just dreams now, it is fun to speculate about a future that was not allowed to bloom and is forever frozen in stasis.