“No wonder these guys are always cranky.”
- Release Date: 14th August 1998
- Season 2
- Episode 8
- Director: William Gereghty
- Writers: Katharyn Powers
SGC receives an incoming wormhole , but the code is for SG-1, who are still on the base. They comment that they gave one to Bra’tac, which just seems odd – surely they would just create one for him so they knew it was him, would be pretty awful if they didn’t remember giving Bra’tac an SG-1 code. It would also be a big issue if SG-1 was compromised and their code locked out. It’s not even an important issue, so it’s just a strange thing. That said, it’s always lovely to see Bra’tac.
Bra’tac confirms to SGC that Apophis is still alive, although massively set back due to the loss of his two ships. Hammond is confused, but Daniel mentions that they could have escaped via the Stargate like he did (they could have had one on each ship. He also brings news that Tealc’s son, Rya’c, has been captured. Hammond approves the mission, saying to bring Rya’c and Drey’auc (Teal’c’s wife) back to Earth so they can’t be used against Teal’c again.
They reach the house of Drey’auc, which is very fancy (we last saw her living in a refugee camp) and they’re greeted by her and Fro’tak, one of Teal’c’s friends. He initially thanks him for looking after his wife, before feeling extremely betrayed when it’s revealed that Fro’tak and Drey’auc are now married – as they believe Teal’c abandoned his family (even though he’s trying to win them their freedom).
The rescue attempt on Rya’c goes poorly. SG-1 get to him really easily but Rya’c refuses to come and alerts the guards. They believe that he has been brainwashed and need a new plan. That’s when Apophis and Rya’c on a Jaffa orb TV, Apophis is trying to rally his people by forgiving the son of a traitor. Rya’c gives details of his mother wrong, which Teal’c thinks is Rya’c breaking his brainwashing and giving him a code to rescue them in the morning.
During the night, Drey’auc speaks to Teal’c and reveals she only married to give their son a better life, she still loves Teal’c. They kiss and Fro’tak sees them, who immediately sets out for the palace. A suspicious Jack sees him leaving and follows. Fro’tak goes to the palace and says he can lead Apophis to the traitor. Jack shoots the guard and gives Fro’tak a chance, but when he calls out for the guards, Jack kills and vaporises him.
Jack uses Jaffa armour to escape and gets back to the others, letting them know. They can’t dwell on it for too long as they need to rescue Rya’c. They get to him and save him immensely easily – which makes Jack extremely suspicious. These suspicions get even larger when the stargate is barely guarded. They get back and Rya’c passes a simple medical exam, but Drey’auc notes that he lost his two front teeth in a sparring match with Bra’tac – but they’re intact here.
After sedating Rya’c, removing his false teeth and analysing them, it turns out they combined an extremely powerful bioweapon that would wipe out all life on Earth within a week – just some immensely powerful weapon that is never mentioned again. With the threat removed, it’s now a matter of deprogramming Rya’c, with shock therapy mentioned. Teal’c suggests one shot with a Zat gun.
Shock therapy is awful enough, but it’s at least carefully controlled. Shooting him with a gun designed to cause extreme pain just seems insane, and gives this episode a dreadful ending. Of course, with this being a TV show, it works instantly and Teal’c family go to the Land of Light.
