After retrieving Daniel and discovering where the attackers came from, the team travel to a new world where they encounter a race of beings posing as Gods, called the Goa'uld and find an unlikely ally named Teal'c (portrayed by Christopher Judge).

Jonathan Glassner and Brad Wright developed the series to follow on from the events of 1994 film by Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich, incorporating a number of elements such as settings and characters.

Airman Carol Weterings (Rachel Hayward), the only member of the group to raise concerns, notices the room shaking and investigates the Stargate, which suddenly activates.

Teal'c (Christopher Judge) presents her to their leader (the Goa'uld Apophis) to examine, before ordering his men to open fire, killing the other airmen.

A quick reaction force led by Major General George Hammond (Don S. Davis) arrives to witness the Jaffa leaving with Weterings through the Stargate.

Jack O'Neill (Richard Dean Anderson) is brought to Cheyenne Mountain where he is questioned along with his former teammates Charles Kawalsky (Jay Acovone) and Louis Ferretti (Brent Stait) about his first mission through the Stargate to Abydos.

With O'Neill unwilling to give any more information than what was already on their mission reports, Hammond believes the only response is to send a nuclear bomb through the Stargate to Abydos, to eliminate the threat.

After returning to Earth, and learning that the Stargate can go to other worlds, nine teams are put together, including SG-1, led by O'Neill with Carter his second-in-command and Jackson, who is determined to find Sha're, accompanying him.

After learning MGM were looking to develop a show based upon the 1994 film, Stargate, Jonathan Glassner and Brad Wright - who worked on science fiction series The Outer Limits together - both individually perused the project.

Keen to avoid comparisons to Star Trek, Stargate was set in the present day, not the future, with the teams going through the gate being outgunned and outmatched by the other races they encounter.

[5][6] Continuing the feature film's use of Ancient Egyptian deities, Apep, the serpent "Lord of Chaos" was imagined as the pilot's antagonist before settling on his alternative name of Apophis.

The early draft had Apep cradling the Goa'uld symbiote from a fallen soldier, whilst his world of Chulak was conceived as being covered in snow.

The Stargate Facility on Earth also had some differences, with Glassner and Wright imagining giant concrete doors shutting in front of the gate to stop unwanted visitors.

Towards the pilot's climax, a Goa'uld symbiote attaches itself to a member of SG2, Corporal Warren, making its way back to Earth before being discovered and destroyed by O'Neill.

Davis, having served in the United States Army during the Vietnam War criticized Azzopardi's "limited imagination", and as the show progressed successfully encouraged Wright and Glassner to write his character to be a more well-rounded, better representation of a military general.

[26] The North Shore Mountains in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada served as backdrop for the alien world of Chulak, with production taking place at Mid-Valley Viewpoint.

[16][10] Offscreen, over the course of filming the pilot, Amanda Tapping, Michael Shanks, and Christopher Judge, who had all relocated to Vancouver for the show, were all staying in the same hotel and would spend the vast majority of their time together after work.

The model was created from Styrofoam and shot using a motion control rig by John Gajdecki's visual effects team, mostly out his own studio in Toronto.

Wright convinced MGM that as part of the new version, they should cut David Arnold's film score and instead restore Joel Goldsmith's music, around 40 minutes of which had never properly been used or even heard.

[39][29] On March 26, 2018, Dragon's Domain Records released Stargate SG-1: Children of the Gods - The Final Cut - Original Soundtrack by Joel Goldsmith.

[46] "Children of the Gods" was first shown in its entirety on Showtime on July 27, 1997, and was followed by a 20-minute featurette called "The Stargate Saga", which contained interviews, behind the scenes footage and previews of the upcoming season.

[28][39] Repairing the damaged footage, as well as no longer being restricted by having to present the show in 4:3 aspect ratio with the option of 16:9, as the 1997 cut had been, opened the project up to takes that Wright felt were in some cases better aesthetically and in the actors performances.

[59] A beat to explain how Apophis left Stargate Command on Earth, a question which Wright had frequently been asked was added in, along with additional exposition and character moments.

Michael Shanks, Amanda Tapping and Peter Williams were among the cast members who were asked to provide automated dialogue replacement, whilst Christopher Judge re-recorded all of his dialog.

Starburst praised the episode, writing "this is smart, witty and spectacular Sci-Fi, in which the cast find their feet instantly, and the FX crew create some stunning visuals".

Huddleston praised Wright and Glassner for remaining faithful to the original feature film, highlighting the action and special effects, although did call out the fact that Ra's people (the Goa'uld) could now speak English as being "A little harder to swallow".

Discussing the cast, the reviewer commented that Richard Dean Anderson "doesn't waste time trying to do an imitation of Russell", whilst calling Michael Shank's portrayal of Dr. Daniel Jackson "fairly good take on Spader's original characterization".

[63] Brian Gray for UGO Networks called "Children of the Gods" "a pilot that is worthy of theatrical release, with as much action and bravado as any feature.

[65] Criticism of the full-frontal nudity was echoed by other outlets, with Scott Pierce for Deseret News asserting "it's the sort of scene we've seen in countless sci-fi shows before - and having the actress disrobe is nothing but pure exploitation.

Heaton believed the pilot had been strengthened through many of the changes, including using Goldsmith's score and updates to some of the CGI, although was singled out the new Abydos Pyramid shots as looking "too much like a video game".