the FIAD theory that's not quite right

[smg01]

Okay, so there’s this SG-1 Rewatch community redial_the_gate. Up this week is Forever in a Day. In the course of the discussion, I brought up that I had been working on a more radical interpretation of the “events” of the episode. Unfortunately that interpretation didn’t really stand up to much scrutiny even from me. I posted the nut shell version while mentioning my disappointment that it couldn’t really be the case. This led sg_fignewton to ask how I’d had it worked out. And because I was really, really proud of my theory--until it all came crashing down around me--I’ve decided to do separate post about it.

So here’s where I was going. The accepted wisdom is that the entire episode takes place within a fraction of time and is a vision/mind-to-mind communication between Daniel and Sha’re. But then I thought, what if it’s not? What post-Sha’re/Amaunet death in the episode is not a what-if in Daniel’s mind, but actually happened? The operating theory is that Sha’re sent a message to Daniel through the hand device as Amaunet used it, and then Daniel’s subconscious processed the information over the days and weeks that followed.

We first see Daniel awaken in the infirmary. The team fills him in on what happened. They break the news that Sha’re is dead. They take him to see her body. He returns to the infirmary to rest and recover. He sleeps. And as he sleeps, he dreams of waking up to find Sha’re by his side. It’s a happy ending after all! But Sha’re tells him that it’s the boy he needs to be thinking about. Daniel wakes up for real. He confused. It all seemed so real. Sha’re was speaking to him. Everything was good. I submit that this was the first instance of Sha’re’s words to Daniel through the hand device emerging/speaking to him in his dreams.

Daniel resigns. He packs up. Jack, Sam, and other personnel see him to his apartment. He begins to settle into his new routine. He sleeps. And in his sleep he sees Amaunet using the ribbon device. And then Sha’re is in bed next to him. Again she speaks to him. She tells him to forgive Teal’c. She comforts him. And again he wakes up in an empty bed.

Time passes. Sha’re’s body is returned to the Abydonian earth. Daniel eats. He sleeps. Occasionally he dreams. And once he dreams about the memories of the funeral. And now a strange thing happens. It’s not only Sha’re speaking to him. Now his subconscious has enlisted Kasuf as well. He awakens again. Now he’s starting to think there’s more going on. He talks to Sam he starts trying to work out what might be happening. He offers token forgiveness to Teal’c.

Daniel continues to get through each day. He eats. He goes to bathroom. He sleeps. He dreams. This time he dreams of coming home to Jack and Kasuf in his apartment. Again the Kasuf of Daniel’s subconscious nags at him, telling him to listen to Sha’re, find the boy, and stay with SG-1. Again he wakes up. He realizes that there’s more yet to do. More yet to figure out.

Teal’c is the one person with information the pesky word Harsesis that keeps plaguing his thoughts. It’s a turning point for Daniel in figuring out what Sha’re was trying to tell him. And it’s a turning point with Teal’c. Daniel begins to soften, to take to heart Sha’re’s instruction to forgive him. He realizes that if he’s going to take the final step of piecing together what Sha’re wants, he will need to rejoin SG-1.

Daniel returns to the team. But he’s not really part of the team yet. He’s still working through his grief, still focused on finding what it is Sha’re wants him to know. And now we’re in real time. The newly recreated SG-1 goes on it’s first mission. But Daniel has a different mission. He needs to return to the scene of the tragedy. Before he can heal, he needs to confront the event. It’s best done by returning to the spot where it all happened. There he can work it out. There he can relive it one last time. There, he can finally hear, absorb, and understand what Sha’re was trying to tell him. He can see the spot. The burn marks on the ground. And he can remember.

Sadly, it’s in the previous paragraph where my theoretical Moment of Triumph crumbles into Undignified Death. For it’s clearly not weeks later with Daniel reliving the moment, and the rest of the team figuring out where he went and catching up with him. For Sha’re’s body is there. And that would seem to indicate that the episode ends having never physically left the location where it started.

...Unless... only Daniel sees the body, and the others only see Daniel.

But probably not.

So, there’s the theory that I was so pleased with. I’m still kind of pleased with it. I just can’t in good conscience push it as likely. Feel free to point and mock. I can accept it with good grace (mostly). Of course if you want to tell me You’re so right! OMG!, I’ll accept that with good grace too. Mostly.

Imagine what I can do with a theory that I fully believe in.

Comments

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

You could always do it as an AU.

[suzannemarie.livejournal.com]

Perhaps so. I seem to be locked into an AU cycle these days. :)

[aurora-novarum.livejournal.com]

Each of the "dreams" could be pursued as an AU. I think your idea is very intriguing--and it was an idea I had when I first saw the episode (quel suprise) until that very last segment.

It could work as a fic, but you'd have to sharpen the plausibility factor that the team doesn't see Sha're, just Daniel in the last moment.

[suzannemarie.livejournal.com]

Hmm. I am sufficiently intrigued to let the idea ferment in my brain for awhile to see if it turns into something, uh, fermented.

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

So fascinating!

I'm with you up to the funeral, no problem. But there's no segue from the "reality" of the funeral to the "dreaming" of Kasuf and Sha're. How do you explain that? I can buy Daniel dreaming that Kasuf and Jack show up in his apartment, because there's a scene break, but there's no break in the funeral scene at all. (Also, it HURTS TOO MUCH to think that Teal'c really wasn't welcome at Sha're's funeral.

I'm trying to work out the final sequence, when you suggest that Daniel, in reality, goes back to the planet. One of my bigger problems with that is the sprawled bodies all over the place, actually. I can't believe the SGC has a policy of letting the dead just rot in the sun, can you? But say it's all in Daniel's head as he goes towards the tent where his wife dies, and studies the spot where she died, and then remembers the last bit of the message, and then... what? What about the time restart?

I admire the theory and your determination to make it work, though. :) And I'm going to add a link to the fanworks post, because why not?

I've put too much thought into this

[suzannemarie.livejournal.com]

The funeral think still works for me. According to the transcript, the next thing that happens after the funeral sequence/Kasuf/Sha're's "hear me" is Daniel waking up. I figure the dream for a mixture of remembering actual events with the little dream extras that happen--in this case Kasuf telling him to listen to Sha're and Sha're appearing right at the end.

Unfortunately, the "return" to the planet makes it obvious that it's immediately after the battle and not weeks later. I'm not sure quite how to explain what I'd envisioned for the end with my theory. Daniel specifically returned to the planet where it had happened. And it's almost like every vision that he had was pulling him inexorably back there. There is, I believe, a therapeutic technique wherein somebody who has suffered a tragedy or trauma returns to the spot of the event. Going back to the physical location can be a healing moment where they realize that they did survive and they can turn the corner and begin to move on. That's what I was picturing Daniel doing.

I was picturing Daniel standing in that spot and in his mind remembering everything that happened, seeing and feeling everything, and our seeing it onscreen as the visual representation of his memories. Only this time, as he relives it in his mind, he can hear more clearly what Sha're was saying to him--to find the boy, to make sure that the boy is kept safe. And now, he finally and genuinely forgive Teal'c. He's not healed yet. But he is healing. Huh. Maybe I can turn this into a story.

The more I think about it, the more I think that Sha're's insistence that Daniel forgive Teal'c is problematic in the story presented on screen. I like it. I think it's moving and appropriate, and doesn't bother me per se. But I'm not sure if it quite fits.

And your post brings up a whole different unrelated issue. What does happen to the Jaffa that fall in battle in situations like this one or The Fifth Man? Does the SGC dispatch a burial detail? Do other Jaffa come to bring them home? Do they just remain where they've fallen as food for carion (how sad and lonely is that)? Hmm.

Re: I've put too much thought into this

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

Yes, the funeral ends with Sha're sucked into the landscape and Daniel awakening. So I'll buy the meld of memory and dream.

I think it would make an excellent story! You should go write it. :)

I know I'm a little biased ;) but to me, Sha're's insistence on Daniel forgiving Teal'c is one of the best aspects of the whole vision. I think it fits exactly. Sha're met Teal'c on Abydos in Secrets. She saw Teal'c ready to defend Daniel, and risk his life for both their sakes. She trusted Teal'c, despite his involvement in her tragedy, to take care of Daniel - she knows Daniel will need that, if he's going to keep going afterwards.

Re burying the dead - it's not just a question of sad and lonely. It's a question of disease and bacteria and polluting the enviornment. I should certainly hope the SGC has some kind of protocol in place for post-battle operations! (And considering the Jaffa's funeral rites, leaving their dead as carrion would be a huge affront, and not very helpful in the making allies department.)

[cesy.livejournal.com]

See, that's how I interpreted it when I first saw the ep. And I pictured the ending as a flashback to the beginning, showing us the bit that Daniel couldn't remember. So basically, I saw the bit that was real as the dream, and most of the dream bits as real.