Editing Prometheus (Stargate) (section)

===Destruction===

In writing the [[Stargate SG-1 (season 9)|ninth season]] of ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'', executive producer [[Robert C. Cooper]] made the decision that the ''Prometheus'' would be destroyed. This was in response to the ''Prometheus'' set at the time also being used as the Earth ship ''[[Daedalus (Stargate)|Daedalus]]'' in spinoff series ''[[Stargate Atlantis]]''.<ref name="illustrated season 9">{{Cite interview |last=C. Cooper |first=Robert |interviewer=Sharon Gosling |title=Stargate SG-1: The Illustrated Companion Season 9 |publisher=Titan Books |date=2006 |page=78 |quote=Cooper reveals that actually, the idea for 'Ethon' (the name of the mythological eagle that gnawed at the liver of the Titan Prometheus) primarily arose out of a difficult practical problem on set rather than a desire to revisit Tegalus itself. "That one came from a set," Cooper continues. "We had one set that was swinging between the Prometheus and the Daedalus (on Stargate: Atlantis), and every time we went back a forth between them we would have to change them over. Of course, the Daedalus was a really cool looking ship, and we were looking at the Prometheus going, 'Stargate SG-1's ship is not as cool as Stargate: Atlantis' ship - that's not fair!". |isbn=1845763106 |section=Ethon}}</ref> Whilst based around the same set, the two ship interiors had a number of differences, such as the main window, a number of the consoles and other fixtures on the bridge, which had to be changed over depending on which ship was being used in the scene.<ref name="sga s2 comp 1">{{Cite book |last1=Bodnarus |first1=Peter |title=Stargate Atlantis: The Official Companion: Season 2 |last2=Gosling |first2=Sharon |date=2006 |publisher=Titan |isbn=1845761634 |location=London |pages=134–136 |chapter=Illustration}}</ref><ref name="ethon commentary">{{Cite AV media |title="[[Ethon (Stargate SG-1)|Ethon]]" |date=5 February 2007 |last=Kindler |first=Damian |type=[[audio commentary|DVD commentary]] |language=en |publisher=[[MGM Home Entertainment]] |author-link=Damian Kindler |series=''[[Stargate SG-1]]'' |quote=Barclay: "Was there a reason the Prometheus had to blow up?" Kindler: "There actually was a practical reason for it. We've designed a new class of ship called the Daedalus, and it doesn't look anything like the Prometheus. So in order to basically have two ships, the Daedalus which is in Atlantis, that series, and then we built one this season called the Odyssey. So they're the same class ship, you can have the same interior, use the same exterior. So if you don't need to have another ship, so lets blow it up in a blaze of glory and then just basically use one ship set that we can shoot in and we can call it the Odyssey and the Daedalus. |last2=Hope |first2=Barclay |author-link2=Barclay Hope}}</ref> To save production the time and money of flipping the set, Cooper decided that destroying the ''Prometheus'' would instead allow ''Stargate SG-1'' to introduce its own ''Daedalus''-class ship - the ''[[List of Earth starships in Stargate#Odyssey|Odyssey]]''.<ref name="illustrated season 9" /><ref name="ethon commentary" />

The destruction of the ship would take place in the episode "[[Ethon (Stargate SG-1)|Ethon]]", at the hands of an [[Ori (Stargate)|Ori]] [[satellite]] weapon. Cooper wanted the destruction sequence to be "[[Titanic]] in space", feeling that it was important to show ''SG-1'' and ''Prometheus'' "mess everything up" and result in a "massive, massive tragedy" occurring.<ref name="ethon kindler">{{Cite magazine |last=Kindler |first=Damian |date=December 2005 |title=Season 9: Part 2 |magazine=[[TV Zone]] |publisher=[[Visual Imagination]] |issue=Special 67 |page=15 |issn=0960-8230 |quote=As I developed the story further we actually play a bit of the Titanic with the Prometheus because it comes up against a weapon that is far more powerful than its crew realizes.}}</ref><ref name="illustrated ethon 2">{{Cite interview |last=C. Cooper |first=Robert |interviewer=Sharon Gosling |title=Stargate SG-1: The Illustrated Companion Season 9 |publisher=Titan Books |date=2006 |page=78 |quote=Since Prometheus had served the show so very well, the producers were loath to simply retire the ship without a fanfare. Writing it out instead gave the writers opportunity to do something that could really take advantage of the VFX departments talents, inspired by the death of another famous vessel. "We thought, 'We've got to have it go out in a blaze of glory,'" recalls Cooper, "and I said, "Let's do 'Titanic in space' with the Prometheus!' That's always what it was meant to be - that scene where you see Titanic go down. for once, we didn't win. We didn't go in and solve every problem, and we got burnt for it. We go in, mess everything up, and a massive, massive tragedy happens. Every once in a while you have to lose some people, and deal with that reality. |isbn=1845763106 |section=Ethon}}</ref> Playing off the imagery of the [[Sinking of the Titanic|Titanic sinking]], Cooper wanted the ''Prometheus'' being destroyed "to take a long, painful time" and encouraged visual effects supervisor Michelle Comens to make the visual effects shot as long as possible.<ref name="illustrated ethon 3">{{Cite interview |last=C. Cooper |first=Robert |interviewer=Sharon Gosling |title=Stargate SG-1: The Illustrated Companion Season 9 |publisher=Titan Books |date=2006 |page=78 |quote=Visual effects are a huge component of both Stargate SG-1 and Stargate: Atlantis, and this time, the team would have their work on screen for a protracted length of time, at the specific request of the executive producer. "The visual effects on this show always tend to be very quick. I talked to them all about this sequence when we were spotting," says Cooper, speaking of the process in which the team sits down and works out where exactly the visual effects will appear and for how long. "I said 'This is supposed to take a long, painful time. This is not one of those shots where it gets shot at and explodes. This is going to be the longest shot you've ever done, just in terms of duration. |isbn=1845763106 |section=Ethon}}</ref><ref name="illustrated ethon 4">{{Cite interview |last=C. Cooper |first=Robert |interviewer=Sharon Gosling |title=Stargate SG-1: The Illustrated Companion Season 9 |publisher=Titan Books |date=2006 |page=78 |quote=To get the tensions and tragedy of Prometheus' destruction to hit the right note, VFX supervisor Michelle Comens and her team were called upon to pull something very special out of their hats. "Our VFX team is top notch", adds Kindler, who was very pleased with the outcome of the scene. "Rob, Mihelle Comens and I had many detailed discussions about how the satellite would look, how it would fire and the damage it would inflict." "Troubling, no one felt at all guilty about destroying a ship that had been a stalwart friend to the team since season six! |isbn=1845763106 |section=Ethon}}</ref> Writers Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie had originally written scenes for the episode "[[Ripple Effect (Stargate SG-1)|Ripple Effect]]" that would foreshadow the destruction of the ship, however they were ultimately cut for time.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mallozzi |first=Joseph |date=14 June 2011 |title=Ripple Effect! The deleted scenes! |url=https://josephmallozzi.com/2011/06/14/june-14-2011-ripple-effect-the-deleted-scenes/ |website=josephmallozzi.com}}</ref><ref name="ripple effect">{{Cite magazine |last=Mallozzi |first=Joseph |date=December 2005 |title=Season 9: Part 2 |magazine=[[TV Zone]] |publisher=[[Visual Imagination]] |issue=Special 67 |page=13 |issn=0960-8230 |quote=There are so many scenes that were shot but didn't actually make it into the final cut just because of time. There's one where alternate Daniel's being interviewed by Mitchell and he takes an allergy pill. If you recall, Daniel had these terrible allergies in Seasons One and Two of SG-1 that then just kind of disappeared. Then there's a walk and talk aboard the Prometheus with Daniel and the alternate Teal'c, who remarks how weird it feels to be on the Prometheus because in his reality it was destroyed. Remember that as the season continues.}}</ref>