Seven years of life-threatening missions. Seven years of Earth-shattering action. Seven years of captivating aliens. Seven years of astounding special effects. And seven years of unmissable drama.

But as "Stargate SG-1" enters its eight season, there will be changes ahead. But the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Speaking recently to Sci-Fi Wire, show executive producer Robert C. Cooper said that there will be changes ahead, and a feeling of finality to some of the plotlines which the show will be following, and has been following for seven years.

"To a certain extent, I hope that fans will feel that at the end of this season that a lot the threads and storylines that they want to see resolved will be resolved," Cooper told the site during an interview on the shows set in Vancouver.

Many of the characters and aliens, which were introduced in previous seasons, will return, and in many cases, they will finish their run on the series. The Replicators, an alien race which is chewing away at the home galaxy of the Asguard, will return, and will become an enemy located within the same galaxy as Earth.

"They become a force in our galaxy, and then ultimately get into a big war with the Goa'uld," Cooper said. "We kind of get caught in between the two and have to decide who we want to side with and help."

Other plots which will be dealt with in the eighth season of the show include Daniel Jacksons (Michael Shanks) ascendance. At the end of the show's fifth season, Jackson ascended into a higher plane of existence, and continued through the sixth season as a recurring character until he rejoined the series as a regular in Season 7.

Daniel is in a personal battle with himself, and this season will see him find some closure to that battle. The season will raise some issues of his relationship with Oma, the alien being who helped Shankscharacter ascend, as well as the responsibility Jackson bears for not being able to complete the process of eliminating Anubis, explained Cooper.

As for Anubis (David Palffy), who was killed in the seventh season finale "Lost City," Cooper teased that there are also some issues about the Goauld to be resolved. Baal (Cliff Simon), another Goa'uld System Lord who has been a recurring character, also will return.

Earths flag-team also will deal a little more with the Jaffa Rebellion against the Goauld, after the Tauri-Tokra-Jaffa alliance fell apart last season. Jolene Blalock of "Star Trek: Enterprise" will also return to reprise the role of Ishta, a Jaffa Rebel introduced last season.

But the big question on everyones lips is whether or not Season 8 is going to be the last season? Well, not even Cooper has the answer.

"We also are not going to completely end the show," he said. "We never wanted to end the show. Our intention was to leave it open so that 'SG-1' was still out there on adventures and also leave the door open for features or TV movies or direct-to-video movies or whatever, that sort of thing, so that the franchise will continue."

"Stargate SG-1" returns with a two-hour season premiere "New Order" July 9 at 9 p.m.

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