“I’ve just never blown up a star before.”
- Release Date: 14th February 2001
- Season 4
- Episode 22
- Director: David Warry-Smith
- Writers: Joseph Mallozzi & Paul Mullie
Following on from the capture of Cronos’ Ha’tak mothership in the previous episode, we start in the Tok’ra base with the Gou’ald Tanith reporting the incoming ship, only to be told that everyone else was expecting it. SG-1 head down to the planet – Earth is letting the Tok’ra use the ship to relocate on a planet that the Gou’ald don’t know about, making their base very secure, and moving the stargate will provide it with a new address that won’t be on any Gou’ald database.
Because Jack and the Tok’ra love boasting, they have a meeting where Tanith is involved. He questions why the plan was kept from him and Jacob/Selmak inform him that they’ve been aware that he was a spy and have been feeding him false information the whole time. They throw him into a cell where Teal’c delightful tells him how much he’s helped Earth and the Tok’ra. Tanith tries to goad Teal’c into killing him, but Teal’c resists – they plan on removing him from his host. After Teal’c leaves, Tanith fakes killing his host and then escapes. All that when they could have just Zatted him and removed him from the host before he knew anything.
On the ship, Jack and Jacob argue – he warns Jack that Earth doesn’t know what they’re doing and should hand the ship over to the Tok’ra, while Jack wants to stay to keep an eye on Earth’s investment. They find out Tanith has escaped and Jack and Teal’c search for him with no luck, despite Teal’c overdetermination. They also discover that Tanith has warned Apophis, who is on his way. Jacob and Sam inform Jack that they won’t be using the ship to evacuate any more, instead they’ll be going through the Stargate. They have a new plan: blowing up Apophis’ fleet.
In order to do that, they want to blow up the star the planet is orbiting. Sam explains that disrupting the mass in the sun will make it go supernova, and they can achieve that by taking the Stargate from the planet, dialling the planet they encountered with a black hole (which is sort of still there due to time dilation) and throwing it into the sun to destabilise it. It needs to be done at the right time so that Apophis won’t realise anything until it is too late.
Teal’c and Daniel talk about revenge. While Teal’c is glad about destroying the fleet, he wishes he could kill Tanith himself. Daniel says he’s thought about it, but he would pick a more rational option if it were available. Sam and Jacob set up the Stargate, dial the black hole and send it away – all without a hitch. But when they’re about to activate the hyperdrive, a Gou’ald Alkesh bomber attacks them, knocking out many systems before they can land a hit on it.
While Jacob and Sam start fixing the ship, Jack and Teal’c head out in a death glider before it can attack again. As they’re about to blow it up, its engine starts off and it flies away. Jack and Jacob agree to let it go, but Teal’c refuses, and they end up chasing the ship as it’s likely going to pick up Tanith. Teal’c can’t let that happen. As they reach the planet, Teal’c manages to shoot down the ship, but crashes the glider. They try to head back to the rings and hope that Jacob can pick them up.
Jacob has to hide the ship behind the sun as Apophis’ fleet has arrived early. They’ll need to time things perfectly to pick them up without giving Apophis too much warning. While they’re discussing this, Jack and Teal’c get ambushed and Teal’c is shot in the back, with Tanith taking Teal’c to Apophis’ ship while Jack manages to escape. Jacob manages to figure out the plan – send out Death Gliders as bait for Apophis, swoop in to pick up Jack and Teal’c and head off quickly – only to find out that it’s just Jack and that Teal’c is probably dead, but they have no time to figure anything out as they need to leave immediately. They go to hyperspeed straight away. The ride seems very wonky, and they’re thrown out of hyperspace again with not much control.
Carter wants to find a way to go back for Teal’c, but it’s too late. To make matters worse, Jacob checks the ship’s sensors. They’ve travelled four million light years and seem to be in a different galaxy – the shockwave must have overcharged their engines. It would take 125 years to return home. If that isn’t bad enough, another ship shows up – Apophis.
The episode ends there. Personally, it’s a good kind of cliffhanger – the bulk of Apophis’ fleet is destroyed and the plot of the episode are done, but it sets up a new challenge for the start of the next season.
