Samantha Carter's History
Samantha Carter is an astrophysicist, engineer, and pilot as well as a Colonel in the United States Air Force who played a key role in establishing the Stargate Program before being assigned to Stargate Command's flagship team, SG-1 where she was the second-in-command for eight years before becoming the commanding officer of SG-1 for a year. Considered Earth's leading expert on the Stargate and a host of other alien technology, her former commanding officer, Colonel Jack O'Neill once emphatically proclaimed her brain to be a national resource.
Carter is the daughter of Debra Carter and Jacob Carter, an Air Force Major General. She was born on December 29, 1968, although Orlin seemed to believe she was born in the month of May. She has a brother named Mark Carter, who is married and has two children, David and Lisa.
She was exceptionally bright and went on to get a Ph.D. in Astrophysics with extensive knowledge in quantum mechanics while attending the U.S. Air Force Academy. She worked at The Pentagon for two years, and logged over 100 hours in enemy space during the Gulf War. She was assigned to work on the Stargate Program in 1993, two years before Dr. Daniel Jackson had the opportunity, and was a prominent member of investigating the sciences behind it and developing the Earth Dialing computer. It is not known whether she was the leader or just an important member of the team that designed the dialing computer. Captain Carter believed she should have been part of the first team to go to Abydos with Colonel Jack O'Neill and Dr. Daniel Jackson. The reason why she ended up not going was due to the urgency to complete the important first mission on time.
A year after the first Abydos Mission, however, Carter, being the foremost expert on the Stargate, was able to join Colonel Jack O'Neill, as his second-in-command, when returning to Abydos to discover if the Goa'uld attackers who arrived on Earth previously were from the planet. Though she had great scientific knowledge on the Stargate, she was not prepared for her first transport and was caught off-guard when arriving on Abydos. It took her a few minutes but she recovered. However, almost immediately she started investigating the Abydos Stargate, and its Dial Home Device. After meeting the missing Dr. Daniel Jackson, Carter, along with him and O'Neill, visited the Abydos cartouche, discovering that the "Gate" could go to several hundred worlds and the reason why Earth's Stargate could not dial any planet other than Abydos. She discovered that she could easily make the dialing computer do the necessary calculations. Along with the rest of the team and Jackson, she returned to Earth after Apophis attacked the Abydos pyramid through the Gate. After retrieving the gate address of Apophis's homeworld, Chulak, from Major Louis Ferretti, she was assigned to O'Neill's SG-1 team.
After the meeting, she and the team, along with Major Charles Kawalsky's SG-2 traveled to Chulak. Upon discovering a village, Carter, along with the rest of SG-1, were thrown into a large cell with other Abydonians. The work of O'Neill was able to get the Jaffa Teal'c to join them and allowed Carter, along with the others, to escape and return to Earth, along with the Abydonians.
She remained with SG-1 after that mission and became one of Stargate Command's best officers. She's also their most brilliant scientist and expert on alien technology. She was engaged to Captain Jonas Hanson, later also of the SGC, but returned the ring when she realized he wasn't right for her as he had a very domineering side. She was right to have broken it off as he took over Avnil and started acting like a god to its people.
Carter bonded very tightly with a little girl from a planet named Hanka, Cassandra, and risked her life to provide her with some comfort when they thought Cassie was a time bomb. Cassie was eventually adopted by Dr. Janet Fraiser which allowed Sam and Janet to become really close friends over the years.
During her second year at Stargate Command, she was taken over by a Tok'ra symbiote, Jolinar of Malkshur, who sacrificed herself to save Sam from the Ashrak Edrekh, a high rank assassin sent after Jolinar. This experience left her with memories of the Tok'ra and a protein marker in her blood allowing her to use Goa'uld technology such as a Kara kesh and a healing device while also giving her the ability to sense other Goa'uld or Tok'ra.
Using the memories left by Jolinar of Malkshur, Carter led SG-1 to a planet where the Tok'ra were hiding. She'd learned earlier that her father, Jacob Carter, was dying of cancer. She offered him as a host for the dying Tok'ra Selmak as a show of good-will between the Tok'ra and the Tau'ri. She also made friends with the Tok'ra Martouf, who had been involved with Jolinar before her death, which left Sam with some complex emotions regarding Martouf.
For her efforts as both a member of SG-1 and the United States Air Force, Carter was later promoted to Major in 1999.
Once again, Jolinar's memories were needed to go rescue her father who had been captured by the Goa'uld Sokar and put on the prison moon Netu, a moon modeled after Hell. She and the team successfully escaped.
Carter, along with Teal'c, were beamed up by Colonel Jack O'Neill when Thor's ship was infested with Replicators. After they destroyed the vessel and Gated back to Earth, Carter went to Othala to help coordinate its defense against the Replicators. Carter came up with the idea of using the O'Neill to lure the Replicator ships away, and to destroy the ship in hyperspace, which also destroyed the Replicators.
Shortly afterwards, the Tok'ra Anise convinced Carter, Colonel Jack O'Neill, and Dr. Daniel Jackson to use the Atanik armband. The armbands increased their physical abilities, but also impaired their judgment. The three hijacked the Stargate, but the armbands fell off. Afterwards, it was feared that O'Neill and Carter had been made Za'tarcs, as Tok'ra mind-reading technology suggested that they were hiding something about a recent mission. It was only after they admitted that they had feelings for each other that they were absolved, but Carter was forced to kill Martouf with a Zat'nik'tel when he was revealed to be the Za'tarc.
After stealing Cronus' Ha'tak, SG-1 intended to use the vessel to evacuate the Tok'ra. Tanith, a spy serving Apophis, sent word to Apophis, who brought his fleet. Carter and Jacob Carter came up with a plan to destroy Apophis' fleet, blowing up Vorash' sun by dropping a Stargate into it after dialing a planet in orbit of a black hole. The plan worked, but the Ha'tak Jacob and SG-1 were on was sent to another Galaxy, along with Apophis' mothership. The Replicators managed to capture and infest both ships, but SG-1 caused the Ha'tak to crash into Delmak, killing the Replicators and Apophis while they returned home.
Afterwards, Carter was doing research on a weapon on Velona, where she encountered an Ascended being who unintentionally caused her to faint. After returning to Earth, Carter went on leave, but the Ascended being, named Orlin, followed her to Earth, and the two began to fall in love. However, the NID was watching Carter, and Orlin returned to Velona to destroy the Orbital weapon, which resulted in his death.
Carter was kidnapped by men hired by Adrian Conrad, who was terminally ill with a rare disease. He had her captured because he had a Goa'uld symbiote and wanted to use it as a means to cure him. He wanted Carter because of the incident with Jolinar of Malkshur, believing she had a means to kill the Goa'uld without risking the host's life, not knowing Jolinar actually gave up her life to save her three years previously. She was eventually rescued by Colonel Jack O'Neill.
When Teal'c was left trapped in the Stargate, Sam worked to save in spite of a timeline of 48 hours. She also met and developed a strong grudge against her fellow scientific rival, Dr. Rodney McKay, who started out certain that Teal'c was already dead and referred to her as a 'dumb blonde' even after he was proven wrong and Teal'c was rescued.
After Dr. Daniel Jackson's death, Colonel Jack O'Neill and Teal'c retreated into themselves, causing resentment for Carter. She was not as hostile to Jonas Quinn, though still opposed to allowing him onto SG-1. Around that time, Earth was attacked by Anubis, who attempted to cause the Stargate to overload. After Jonas gave Carter the idea to send the gate into space with the X-302 hyperspace fighter, Carter argued for Jonas to be allowed onto SG-1, and O'Neill finally agreed. During that time, Carter also developed something of a mutual respect towards McKay who the Pentagon had brought back from Russia to help with the crisis.
When Human-form Replicators emerged on Hala, Carter bonded with Fifth, who was convinced to help stop the other Replicators. Colonel Jack O'Neill, however, ordered Carter to leave Fifth behind, which Carter felt guilty over.
After Dr. Daniel Jackson descended and returned to SG-1, Anubis created the new Kull warriors, and Carter helped in the creation of the weapon used to neutralize them.
After Colonel Jack O'Neill had the Ancient's Repository of knowledge downloaded into his brain, he was put in a Stasis pod to preserve his life. Carter was able to convince Dr. Elizabeth Weir to allow Teal'c and herself to travel to the Othala galaxy, to seek the assistance of Thor. Carter was captured by Fifth, who tortured her and sought to convince her he loved her, but was eventually convinced to free her. She was promoted to Lt. Colonel and given command of SG-1 as O'Neill was promoted to Brigadier General and given command of Stargate Command. Shortly afterwards, Pete Shanahan proposed to Carter, and she accepted. However, she was unaware that Fifth who still unable to let go of his own feelings for her had created a Replicator duplicate of Carter.
When the Replicators, led by a Replicator duplicate of Carter, invaded the Milky Way, they wiped out most of the System Lords. Carter worked with Thor to make the Replicator disruptor viable again, but was unable to succeed. After learning of the Dakara superweapon, Carter and Jacob Carter were able to use the device to destroy every Replicator in the galaxy at once, wiping them out, which also resulted in the destruction of the Goa'uld Empire. Afterwards, Carter began to doubt her decision to marry Pete Shanahan, due in part to a conversation with her father, and when her father died, she ended the relationship for good.
Later, Carter was convinced to allow SG-1 to use the Time Jumper SG-1 found on Harold Maybourne's planet to travel back in time to take a Zero Point Module from Ra. However, Horus Guards found the Puddle Jumper they used, stranding SG-1 in the past. SG-1 attempted to form a rebellion, but Carter, Brigadier General Jack O'Neill, and Teal'c were killed, and Ra took the Stargate from Earth, changing history. However, an alternate Carter, O'Neill, and Teal'c traveled back in time, and managed to repair history with the help of the original timeline's Dr. Daniel Jackson.
With the collapse of the Goa'uld Empire, SG-1 disbanded itself. Carter transferred to Area 51 where she took command of Stargate's R & D. Carter did not join Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell's efforts to reunite the team, but came back temporary when SG-1 tried to stop an Ori Supergate from forming on Kallana.
When an Ori plague descended on Earth, Orlin descended himself to help the Tau'ri develop a cure, and Carter helped him. Their efforts eventually succeeded, but resulted in Orlin suffering brain damage and amnesia.
Carter participated in the mission to save Daniel who had been left stranded on Tegalus. Unfortunately, the mission became a battle for survival when an Ori satellite belonging to the Rand Protectorate struck the Prometheus twice, severely damaging the ship while even killing its personnel. Carter along with Captain Kevin Marks attempted to repair the ship but were unsuccessful. Carter along with Marks and two-thirds of the Prometheus crew were successfully beamed to safety seconds before the satellite launched a final attack, ultimately resulting in the Prometheus being destroyed while also killing the Prometheus's commanding officer, Colonel Lionel Pendergast.
While studying Merlin's datalog, Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell, Carter, and Dr. Daniel Jackson were shifted into an alternate dimension. Daniel read the log, and learned of the Sangraal a weapon designed to kill ascended beings. Later, Carter went out to a Supergate to dial the Alteran Home Galaxy, but was temporarily stranded when the Gate activated. She was saved when Mitchell guided the Odyssey to bring her into the F-302 fighter-interceptor bay.
When Jeannie Miller, Dr. Rodney McKay's estranged sister, submitted a mathematical proof to Professor Graeme Peel of the California Institute of Technology, she approached her with an offer to work for Stargate Command. When Jeannie refused to sign a Non-disclosure agreement, she enlisted McKay's help. She and McKay beamed her to the Daedalus to show her the importance of her proof and convince her to travel to Atlantis. They were successful and she wished the siblings luck in their experiment.
She was once shot by an Ori soldier while attempting to protect a village from Ori forces by taking it "out of phase" with one of Merlin's inventions. Due to the fact that they were trapped, Mitchell used his medical training to keep Carter stabilized long enough for the team to return to the SGC with Carter eventually making a full recovery.
Later, while experimenting with increasing the size of the area she could put out of phase with the same device with an active force field around her and the device, she was accidentally pulled into an Alternate reality where Ori warships were headed towards Earth and as a result, the United States was under martial law. She managed to send the entire Earth out of phase by using up to 95% of all of the USA's power. She eventually made it back to her own reality.
She was part of the team to infiltrate the Alteran Home Galaxy to find the Ark of Truth and stop the Ori threat. However she had to stop the rebirth of the Replicators.
Sometime after those events, she was promoted to full-bird Colonel and was responsible for the final stages of the completion of the Midway space station along with Dr. Bill Lee. During the course of which she joined the search for the missing Atlantis on board the Apollo. After helping to locate the city, she assisted in its landing on M35-117 before returning to Earth to brief Major General Henry Landry.
She was later sent back to Atlantis to take command of its operations after Dr. Elizabeth Weir went missing on Asuras, Weir having sacrificed herself to give John and the team time to escape. During this period, Carter accompanied Lt. Colonel John Sheppard's team when a mission resulted in them discovering Fenrir, apparently the last surviving member of the Asgard race, who had been exiled before the death of his people. Despite his grief and anger after learning about the death of his race, Fenrir provided Carter with control of his ship so that she could destroy a Wraith Hive ship before he died as a result of a Wraith suicide bomber.
When trying to evacuate a civilization from a planet prone to earthquakes, she ended up trapped in an old Genii mining station with Dr. Rodney McKay and Dr. Jennifer Keller underground. During several attempts to escape, she broke her leg, but made it out eventually and recovered. During a game of "Who would you rather...?" with Keller and McKay while trapped, she admits that she prefers Neil deGrasse Tyson over Brian Greene, George Clooney over Brad Pitt, and Stephen Colbert over Steve Carell. She also implied that she is having an affair with Major General Jack O'Neill, or that they are planning to begin their relationship after his imminent retirement.
Soon after rescuing Teyla Emmagan from the hands of Michael Kenmore, she returned to Earth for an "exhaustive review of her first year in command" and to attend the Extraction Ceremony of the last Ba'al clone with Major General Jack O'Neill and SG-1, but instead she was informed that she was being removed from command and would be replaced by Richard Woolsey.
With Major General Henry Landry opening the gate, she returned to SG-1 and she traveled to the Tok'ra homeworld for the Extraction Ceremony and met up with Major General Jack O'Neill. The ceremony went through and the final Ba'al clone was killed and Vala Mal Doran stayed behind to help Ba'al's host cope with the extraction because she knew what he was going through as a former host herself and she and the rest of the team went to lunch on O'Neill.
Carter was left temporarily in charge of Stargate Command while Major General Henry Landry headed a task force in Washington D.C.. During that time, she coordinated Earth's forces, along with Major Paul Davis of Homeworld Security, when the planet was threatened by the Wraith underling's Super-hive. After Landry returned to his command of the SGC, Carter took command of the new Daedalus-class ship, George Hammond.
Under her command, the George Hammond later transported a group of people to Icarus Base. Shortly following this event, the base came under attack and Carter led the George Hammond in a defensive against what they suspected were three Lucian Alliance Ha'taks. After the planet's core destabilized, she ordered Colonel David Telford and his F-302 fighter-interceptors to retreat and entered hyperspace. She reported the situation to Lt. General Jack O'Neill at Homeworld Command.
Later she commanded the George Hammond in a battle with the Lucian Alliance over the Icarus-like planet. When the planet was going critical due to the instability of naquadria, she ordered a fall back of all of the invasion forces. They were forced to retreat before two F-302 fighter-interceptor's could be safely dock with the Hammond and the two F-302's were destroyed along with the pilots on board who were killed in the attack.
