The Best Stargate SG-1 Episodes Ranked

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The two-part story kicked off by this first entry on our list of best Stargate SG-1 episodes was originally planned as an SG-1 movie, but when it became clear the series was going to get an 8th season, it was reworked as both a series finale for SG-1 and a lead-in for the premiere of Stargate Atlantis.

With the largest episode budget since the series premiere, “Children of the Gods,” this two-parter sees Jack O’Neill using the Repository of the Ancients’ Knowledge, seeking a way to defend Earth against the forces of Anubis. Meanwhile, General Hammond is being replaced and Vice President Robert Kinsey is eager to shut down the Stargate Program.

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Next on our list of best Stargate SG-1 episodes, this one takes place in the then-future year 2010, and in an alternate timeline where the Stargate program has been made known to the public. In this reality, Earth is now allied with the Aschen, who have provided Earth with advanced tech, and whose assistance was vital in rooting the Earth of the Goa’uld.

Samantha Carter discovers that she is unable to bear a child, and when it is revealed that she is part of a 91 percent drop in fertility on Earth, it becomes clear that the Aschen are the reason why.

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Another one of the best Stargate SG-1 episodes, this second half of a two-parter picks up after the theft of a Time Jumper by the Jaffa has resulted in a reality where the Stargate was never discovered and the Stargate Program was never created, a situation that was resolved by a video tape of the SG-1 team and the discovery of a buried Stargate in Antarctica.

The story picks up in this episode with the team sent to Chulak to retrieve Teal’c and take him with them to Egypt, where they plan to recover the Zero Point Module. Unfortunately, the team is captured, leading to Teal’c again becoming the First Prime of Apophis.

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Next on our list of best Stargate SG-1 episodes is this resolution to “The Lost City: Part 1,” which opens with Anubis’ entire fleet on its way to Earth as SG-1 makes a final push to find the Lost City of the Ancients while there is still time.

O’Neill is still processing the ancient knowledge he absorbed in the previous episode, but when he finally gets a clue about the location of the city, the team sets out to a planet on the other side of the galaxy. Back home on Earth, efforts are underway to defend Earth against the impending attack in hopes of saving humanity.

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A list of the best Stargate SG-1 episodes would not be complete without the second half of the two-parter heroes, in which a documentarian sets out to make a movie about the Stargate program. After a mission to save two SG teams who had been pinned down by Jafar ends with a body being brought back across the Stargate on a stretcher, the documentarian is blocked from filming and we are left with the real possibility that Jack was killed on the mission.

When it is revealed that it was instead Dr. Frasier, played by Teryl Rothery, who was killed, the impact on the team is still great and the moving tribute to her after her death is one of the most emotionally compelling moments in the series.

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In one of the best Stargate SG-1 episodes, O’Neill is captured by Ba’al, who wants information from Kanan, the symbiote O’Neill accepted in the previous episode to help him heal from the Ancient illness he contracted in Antarctica.

As a form of torture, Ba’al kills O’Neil and brings him back to life with a sarcophagus, repeating the process over and over in hopes of obtaining information O’Neill does not know. During the ongoing torture, the ascended Daniel Jackson appears to him, marking the return of Michael Shanks after his exit from the series, which makes this episode all the more exciting for viewers who have been hoping he would return.

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As we near the end of our list of best Stargate SG-1 episodes, we return to this second season episode that sees Ancient knowledge downloaded into Jack O’Neill’s mind for the first time, which completely overwhelms his brain and slowly makes him able to speak only in Ancient.

He also begins building a mysterious device, the purpose of which even he doesn’t know, and writes down an equation that revolutionizes the way distances between planets are calculated. Though his bizarre behavior eventually leads to a connection outside the Milky Way galaxy with the Asgard, who are able to heal him and tell him he has taken the first step toward the advancement of the human race, it also allows him to save the team stranded on a planet with a malfunctioning DHD.

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Topping our list of best Stargate SG-1 episodes is this clever and hilarious romp of an episode that features Jack and Teal’c stuck in a time loop, repeating the same day over and over while everyone else around them has no idea what is going on.

As the two realize their situation might be hopeless or at least will take several trips through the time loop to resolve, they begin enjoying the experience, doing all sorts of things they would never otherwise get to do.

The scene of the two of them hitting golf balls into the event horizon of the Stargate is one of the peak moments of the entire series and exemplifies how Stargate SG-1 balances serious, galaxy-threatening stories with lighthearted humor.