“Once I share those powers we could rule the galaxy. Together.”
- Release Date: 15th January 2003
- Season 6
- Episode 16
- Director: Peter DeLuise
- Writers: Jacqueline Samuda & James Tichenor
We start with Carter bumping into Jonas attempting to flirt with a nurse and then teasing him after the nurse leaves, he asks Carter if she would be receptive to being asked out. They reach the control room and there’s an incoming wormhole – it’s the Russian team and they’re requesting medics. They come through with someone from the planet (which they’re not supposed to do) and he does not look well at all.
Colonel Evanov introduces him as Alebran, and he has information about Nirrti, a mad scientist Gou’ald that SGC allowed to escape. His people are in danger and Evanov has promised that Stargate Command will help them. Dr Fraiser says she needs to take him to an isolation room. Alebran explains that Nirrti was experimenting on his people and, when he questioned her after witnessing someone die, she sent him home, only for him to find his village wiped out.
He describes a machine, which Fraiser and Carter realised must have the power to manipulate DNA directly, which is much more dangerous than anything she’s done before. Alebran says he can feel something happening to him, Fraiser wants to check for the kind of bomb that Cassandra had in her, but Alebran screams out, begging them to kill him (Jack actually prepares his gun). Water starts to come out of Alebran’s mouth, and then his entire body turns into a liquid.
Hammond wants SG-1 to prepare to head to the planet to see if they can help the remaining people. Evanov wants his team to join as well, they know the area and how to get into the fortress. Jack is initially very reluctant, but realises the tactical advantage and agrees. Hammond lets Jack know that the Russians are going to be integrated more into Stargate Command.
They reach the planet and take out the Jaffa guarding the entrance, with the Russian team staying guard outside. SG-1 head in and find some very disfigured people. Jonas says that they’re here to rescue them, but they claim that Nirrti is helping them and curing them. Jonas and Teal’c try to tell them about Alebran and their village, but Jack shuts them down to not worry the captives. They say that Nirrti is returning soon and point them to the machine which is “curing” them, which seems to be of Ancient design. Jack heads to brief Evanov, but one of the captives, Egar, says that Jack plans to kill Nirrti.
Egar and another captive, Woden, lead Joans and Teal’c to the cells where they stay, with Woden lifting the bars up telekinetically. They tell Jonas and Teal’c they can’t let them harm Nirrti before taking their weapons away and throwing them into a cell. In the lab, Carter radios Jonas for help and lets Jack know when he doesn’t respond. She readies a Zat and stuns two Jaffa that ring into the lab, but is shot by an invisible Nirrti.
Jack reaches the lab to find Nirrti holding Carter hostage, warning him that she’s been hit by a zat once. He says he needs her alive to help these people, and she claims he is helping them. A jaffa wakes up and aims his staff weapon and Jack shoots, but Woden stops the bullet with his mind. Jack realises he has no choice but to surrender.
They wake up in a cell, finding out that Jonas and Teal’c are in the one beside them. They explain that Woden is telekinetic and Egar can read minds. While these are advanced humans, they’re not stable enough for Nirrti to use as a host. Jack asks the other captives for help, but none of them say anything. Woden and Egar bring in Evanov, who is not looking too good, and throw them into a cell. They all try to convince them that Nirrti will kill them all once she is finished ,but they aren’t buying it. They ask Carter to come next, and hold Jack back when he insists on going in her place. Egar reveals that he can tell that Jack would be willing to sacrifice them all to kill Nirrti.
While Nirrti is messing with Carter’s DNA, Jack speaks to Evanov, finding out he didn’t get a message to his team. He doesn’t know how long he was in the machine, but he feels different. Carter is brought back and they ask for Jonas, who slams into Egor when the cage is opened. His plans failed, but it shows the telepathy isn’t perfect. Jack tries to reassure Carter, but she doesn’t think that she’s going to be ok.
Jonas is put in the machine, and Nirrti is very impressed by his DNA, saying that his people must have developed a lot faster than humans on Earth or anywhere else she’s seen. We cut back to the cell and discuss how they can convince Egar, as all they need to do is get him to read Nirrti’s mind. Sam tries to hide her pain, so Jack orders her to rest, but then they all have to watch Ivanov die in the same gruesome way as Alebran.
We cut to Jonas waking up in Nirrti’s bedchambers for one of the most awkward scenes I’ve seen so far in the show. Nirrti tells Jonas that he is special, and that he could actually complete the transformation, while trying to seduce him physically and it just doesn’t work. Nirrti just comes across as lonely and desperate, and not like a Gou’ald on the brink of becoming extremely powerful. Jonas makes him clear that, if she were to give him powers, he would rescue his friends and destroy her. She has him taken back to his cell and asks for Jack.
When they bring Jonas, Jack tells him that he died just like Alebran – telling Egar that Nirrti killed his brother, and he can look into his mind for proof. He also suggests looking in Nirrti’s mind. They tell him that she wouldn’t know as she’s not a god, and that the rest of them are going to die in the same way. As he gets taken to her, Jack admits that he does want to kill Nirrti – and that he would also want to do the same if he saw her mind.
As Jack stands in the machine, he asks Nirrti to let everyone go and she can have him. She reminds him that she can already experiment on him, so she wouldn’t gain anything. Jack gives Egar a look, who then reads Nirrti’s mind, and is shocked by what he sees. He tells Woden that she killed their brother and their village, and Woden kills the Jaffa and starts to strange Nirrti. Jack reminds him that they need her alive to fix everyone, but Woden’s anger is too strong and he kills her. Jack is distraught by how there’s no way to save Carter, but Egar tells him that he read the information about the machine.
We cut to them fixing Carter, and saying that they’ll all be cured. Jack says they’ll send supplies to help rebuild their village and Carter asks if she could study the machine once they’re settled. Egar reveals that they will be destroying the machine, and Jack thinks it’s a good idea. The episode ends with Wodan stepping into the machine to be cured.
This shows the consequences of Jack and Hammond letting Nirrti go when, really, they should have double crossed her. Hundreds of people are dead, including Stargate personnel, even Carter nearly died. I also don’t think that Nirrti was impressive at all in this episode, not helped by her embarrassing scene with Jonas. It just made her look very weak. You could even tell that both actors didn’t think it was working.
