They might just be the oldest mystery in the Stargate universe.
The Furlings are an advanced species who long ago were members of an alliance of
four great races in the galaxy, along with the Asgard, the Nox, the Furlings, and the Ancients.
Jack O'Neill first learned the name of the Furlings all the
way back in the second season of Stargate SG-1.
"The Fifth Race" aired in January 1999, showing us the grand scale of Stargate's mythology and the
depth of its history — and also the astonishing possibilities that lie ahead for Earth.
But what about the Furlings? Over the years we would come
to learn plenty about the other three great races.
What about this other advanced, presumably powerful species that once walked our stars?
Where are they? And why, over the course of more than a decade of exploration,
did SG-1 hardly ever come across any evidence of their existence?
In this video we're running down everything
we know about the Furlings from the in-canon universe.
We'll also take a peek at some non-canonical sources, and add a dose of speculation
about why the Furlings have managed to keep a low profile for so many years.
Number 1: The Furlings Were Part of An Ancient Alliance
We first learned of their existence from the Asgard. His brain overloaded with information
from the Ancient repository of knowledge, Jack O'Neill managed to gate to a distant alien
colony in the Ida Galaxy, where the Asgard could remove the data and save his life.
Here Jack learned the names to go along with that old alliance — a "United Nations
of the stars" — first discovered on the planet nicknamed Heliopolis.
(That's in the first season episode "The Torment of Tantalus.")
We knew that four races had once gathered there, utilizing the basic elements of the periodic
table to build a universal language. We even had samples of all four of their written languages,
carved into the walls of the Heliopolis meeting hall.
Only now though, in Season 2's "The Fifth Race," did we learn the name of the Furlings.
SG-1 had already met the Nox and the Asgard, and had already speculated that one of the other races
(not the Goa'uld) had built the Stargate network.
That alliance existed many thousands of years ago (if not more),
likely before the Goa'uld came to dominate the Milky Way. We don't know what they did, but they
probably shared knowledge — perhaps even helped to cultivate the evolution of younger races.
We know that the alliance eventually dissolved. The Ancients moved on from this region of
space — a reference either to their migration to the Pegasus Galaxy millions of years ago (we
saw that in "Rising," the Atlantis pilot) ... or, maybe it's a reference to their ascension,
which wasn't millions of years ago but rather thousands of years ago.
If it was the latter, then the alliance wasn't all that long ago.
So the Furlings have only been missing for thousands of years, not millions of years.
Number 2: The Furlings Lived On At Least One Planet in the Milky Way
Although no teams from Stargate Command have ever encountered the Furlings face-to-face,
SG-1 did locate a single planet with evidence that the mysterious race once lived there.
On the planet designated P5X-777 the team found the well-preserved remains of an ancient temple.
Inside was advanced technology, still in working order. (More on that in a minute.)
In the Season 6 episode "Paradise Lost," SG-1 finds that P5X-777 is no longer inhabited.
Based on what the team found there, it's reasonable to conclude that the
Furlings were there hundreds of years ago — maybe thousands of years ago.
(Again, if it had been millions of years ago,
it's likely the stone architecture would have crumbled to dust.)
So was this once the Furlings' home world? Or perhaps only one of many colonies — just as
the Ancients and their descendants populated many different worlds throughout the Milky Way Galaxy?
What's maybe most striking here is that this is
the one and only planet where evidence of Furling civilization was ever found.
That's after a decade of two dozen S.G. teams exploring hundreds of different planets.
That sparsity seems conspicuous. It might suggest that the Furlings originated on this planet
and didn't spread out to other worlds. Or, it might imply that they weren't even
originally from this galaxy. 777 may have served as their outpost in the Milky Way.
Number 3: They Have Transportation Technology
Any species that is reckoned among the "four great races" of the galaxy is likely going to be
technologically advanced, and to a significant degree. It's not too far a stretch to suppose
that the Furlings' advancement was roughly on par with the others in the alliance. The
Furlings might be space-faring, and would have something to offer to the other member races.
On P5X-777, SG-1 discovered the one and only piece of Furling technology ever found:
a large archway, which when activated can transport people across great distances.
In this case, the arch connected to the planet's nearby moon — which was also inhabited long ago.
While it's possible that that transportation arch can go other places as well,
we do know that the technology needs a key in order to be activated.
And it is not a simple On-Off switch: the key activates a control panel,
where certain symbols need to be "dialed" in a particular order.
It also was programmed to filter out weapons made by the Goa'uld,
preventing these weapons from being brought into the colony.
Curiously, one of these keys was discovered on
Earth. It was buried in the tomb of an Egyptian pharaoh.
This historical nugget implies some sort of connection to the
Goa'uld — perhaps to Ra, the Supreme System Lord,
who ruled Earth from Egypt (where the Stargate was located) some five millennia ago.
Did Ra take the key device from a living Furling? Or did the Furlings
themselves visit Earth and leave the key there, under some unknown circumstances?
Number 4: Some Furlings May Have Pursued a Utopian Society
On that moon orbiting P5X-777 a particular community of people once dwelt.
They lived a simple live, evidently out of doors and with no evident technology to speak of.
They also left invitations for others to come and join them.
And it was this that brought Harry Maybourne to the moon in the episode "Paradise Lost."
This colony apparently came to an end when (as Jack hypothesizes) the Goa'uld
brought an edible plant to the moon, which drove everyone mad with paranoia.
It should be said first that the people who lived on the utopian moon may not have been Furlings
themselves. Based on the skeletal remains at least some of these colonists were humanoid.
(The Furlings may, or may not, be humanoid.)
Because the utopians apparently left instructions on how to find them, it's entirely possible that
members of many races lived there. Maybe that skeleton did not belong to a Furling at all.
Jack O'Neill also discovered evidence that the utopia was infiltrated by the Goa'uld,
who may have played a role in further advancing the downfall of this utopian society.
It seems reasonable to conclude that the Furlings originally
founded the utopian colony, even as they opened it up to many other races.
Or, they may not have lived there themselves — only gifting their technology to the natives.
The presence of Furling technology here on this planet seems to
provoke more questions than it answers.
Number 5: They're (Probably) NOT Teddy Bears
Contrary to popular belief (brought up on screen by just about everybody who hears
their name out loud), we have no reason to believe that the Furlings are actually furry.
They almost certainly do not resemble Ewoks or oversized koala bears ... though the one
time they were depicted on screen, that's exactly what they looked like.
The Furlings' appearance on Stargate SG-1's 200th episode depicts an incident that in
fact never happened. It's a story being "spun" in the conference room, as Martin
Lloyd is looking to SG-1 for some inspiration for his new Wormhole X-Treme! sci-fi movie.
In truth SG-1 never found a colony of furry Furlings.
And that planet was never attacked by Goa'uld ships or destroyed in a fiery explosion.
It was a fun nod from the writers to the show's fans,
who had been pestering The Powers That Be for eight years about the Furlings.
Not only did we finally get to "meet" the legendary race ... but,
as it turns out, they really are cute and fuzzy after all!
And then they all get blown up.
Now, a bit more speculation about the Furlings from non-canon sources.
Sources outside of Stargate's canon occasionally make reference to the Furlings.
The Stargate SG-1 Role-Playing Game was published by Alderac Entertainment in 2003.
The RPG suggests that the Furlings in fact helped to seed the Madronans, hinting that
the Touchstone weather-control device that the Madronans possess might be Furling technology.
Now the Furlings were to be more further developed in the MMO-RPG game
Stargate Worlds. That game was never completed, but some of its story details have leaked out
over the years. And GateWorld has gotten indications from Brad Wright and Robert C.
Cooper that the intention was for Stargate Worlds' story to be official canon.
o, take that as you will. The game was never finished; it was never published.
But in Stargate Worlds the Furlings are said to have created the Goa'uld (or perhaps helped in
their evolution) in the hope of creating a caretaker species for the Milky Way Galaxy.
But the Goa'uld turned on them, corrupting the Furlings and using their DNA to create
an offshoot species called the Straegis. The Straegis were to feature in the game.
It's not canon, but it's a wild and really interesting idea!
So, finally: Where are the Furlings now?
Well, there's three possibilities — and the writers of future Stargate stories
could certainly pick up on this loose thread.
One possibility is that the Furlings are extinct.
Like the Asgard, perhaps they faced some biological problem of their own making.
(For the Asgard, it was reproduction by cloning.) Or maybe it was a disaster of
a technological nature (again, like the Asgard, who were nearly wiped out by the Replicators).
If this theory is right, we haven't met any Furlings ... because there aren't any.
Second, it may be that the Furlings retreated to their own corner of the galaxy and just
have no interest in the affairs of others. This was certainly the strategy of the Nox.
Whether it is born from xenophobia or just disinterest in the younger races,
they might be out there — living out their days on a distant planet
not discovered by Earth. Maybe it's one without a Stargate.
Third and finally, when the Alliance dissolved and faded into distant history,
maybe the Furlings chose the path of the Alterans (the Ancients).
Maybe they just moved on from our region of space, settling in a new galaxy (such
as the Andromeda Galaxy, which hasn't been explored in Stargate canon yet).
As far as we know Earth has never sent a ship that way,
nor would a galaxy untouched by the Ancients have any Stargates at all.
Stargate Worlds reportedly also intended to introduce the idea that the Furlings are
extra-dimensional beings. Maybe if they left our region of space,
they also retreated from our dimension.
In any case, the legend of the Furlings lives on ...
and presents a big opening for telling new stories.
Will we have a chance to learn more about the Furlings within
the Stargate universe ... and maybe even see them one day?
Stick with GateWorld for our continuing coverage of Stargate's past, present — and its future.
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