“And you. . are Lord Mot – here to punish us for our insolence, etc., yada, et al”
- Release Date: 19th February 2003
- Season 6
- Episode 21
- Director: Will Waring
- Writers: Joseph Mallozzi & Paul Mullie
SG-1 are having lunch with some humans in a tent, some people that have to mine naquadah for Lord Mot, on behalf of Ba’al. From how the elder, Ellori, is speaking, they really don’t consider the Gou’ald to be gods, but still fear them. Jonas is feeling unwell then has a vision of Charzen, the advisor, chastising Ellori for planning to defy mot. Everyone asks Jonas if he’s ok and he says he’s just hot so they continue. Ellori mentions a prophecy about strangers coming through the Stargate to free them, but gets told off by the avidor just as Jonas had seen. Jonas is concerned about what just happened, but he ends up collapsing.
We cut to the infirmary and Jonas is awake. They don’t know what happened (he blames the food) but there’s strange activity in his brain, so Dr Fraiser wants to keep an eye on him. In a briefing, Carter explains that Tok’ra intelligence says Ba’al has definitely abandoned the planet, so Mot must be doing it without his knowledge. Jack says that while these people haven’t directly asked for help, they clearly don’t think the Gou’ald are gods. Jonas gets another vision of Carter asking him to get some lunch, but in the briefing room, she says they have twelve days before Mot returns.
Jonas is in his office when Carter asks him to get lunch just as she did in his vision – and he tells her about it. She says it must be deja vu, but Jonas knows that this is something different. He said it happened on the planet – he saw something, then it happened. Frasier visits Hammond, telling him that Jonas is not suffering from naquadria poisoning (like his fellow scientists on his homeworld), however there is a small tumour in his brain that could be causing this. He is to be removed from active duty.
SG-1 inform Jonas, who isn’t happy, and they all doubt his ability to see the future, as it goes against the laws of physics. But then so do many other things they’ve seen, including the Stargate itself, so it’s annoying to see them so dismissive. He gets a bit woozy and says that a Tok’ra called Sina is coming. There’s an offworld wormhole activation and Hammond introduces Sina of the Tok’ra to SG-1. Ba’al has suffered defeat at the hands of Yu (who is still trundling along despite being the only system lord opposing Anubis) and it might be time for Mot to move against Ba’al, which would be bad for the people they want to save.
Carter visits Jonas in his lab, asking how Jonas knew about Sina and he explains he saw a vision. He points out that they’ve encountered other superpowers, such as the ones Nirrti caused. He says he was in the gene splicer for an hour. It’s a bit odd as all this was undone at the end of that episode. He’s visited by Fraiser – the tumour, while not cancer, has grown by 50% and wants to surgically remove it. Jonas doesn’t want to, as his visions may be important. Hammond gives him 24 hours to see if he can hone his powers into something useful.
In the infirmary, Fraiser asks Jonas why he wants to do it. He says it would be a valuable power, but she sees what’s going on and suggests he’s valuable enough to them all already. He has another vision, seeing Fraiser trying to resuscitate Carter. He rushes to the gateroom and holds up the mission. Jonas says that her injury looks like a staff energy wound, but can’t be sure of when it would happen. As there’s no confirmation that anyone else was hurt, Jack suggests Carter stays behind until they figure things out. She is not happy about it and that they shouldn’t second guess their choices.
On the planet, they encounter no resistance and Jack gets confirmation from Ellori that they do want help. Back at SGC, Jonas is walking down a corridor when he sees Siler being escorted by a medic due to an injured hand – they were doing work on the gate generator and a power spike caused something to blow. Carter has been badly hurt, and needs to be revived – just like how Jonas saw in his vision.
When she wakes up, Jonas apologises to Sam – his actions meant she got injured due to not being on the mission. It happened exactly how he saw it. They talk about if the future is fixed – if you could observe all atoms and their movements you could predict the future, but quantum mechanics says that observing particles can change them, so all you can do is predict – so perhaps Jonas is seeing possible futures.
On the planet, Jack, Teal’c and SG-15 are planning how to ambush Mot when Chazen comes up to them telling them that he’s sorted out their transgressions – Lord Mot is here now, with gliders and a scout ship. Chazen uses a Jaffa stun grenade to knock everyone out. They find themselves captured by Mot. Jack tries to bluff by saying they’ve informed Ba’al, but he knows they wouldn’t jeopardise the people on the planet. He wants the Iris code, but wants to punish the villagers first.
Jonas has a seizure and is rushed to the infirmary. As Fraiser tells him they need to operate, he has a vision – the Iris is opened for SG-15 and Jaffa pour through instead, they bring a bomb through and manage to detonate it. Jonas asks for Hammond and tells him about what he saw. Due to how trying to change things last time, Jonas, Hammond and Carter ponder if they should contact the people on the planet. Jonas wants to try and force a vision, but he urgently needs surgery.
A woman approaches Jack’s Jaffa guards and brings them a drink, knocking them out. She has SG-15’s GDO and helps them escape. They intend to save her father (the elder) but need reinforcements, so head to the gate. Meanwhile, Jonas is meditating and gets a vision of SG-1 being ambushed at the gate and Teal’c getting killed, but passes out. He manages to get enough strength to tell Carter that their team is heading for an ambush, before being taken for surgery.
Hammond radios SG-1 and sends them a message over the radio, but it’s Chazen that hears it. He tells the guards to check on the prisoners. When gets confirmation, he sounds the alarm. The squads reach the gate, but get attacked by the Jaffa, although it seems to be slightly earlier. Mot visits Chazen and demons to know what is going on, not pleased that Chazen has ruined the ambush that he has planned. He attacks Chazen but gets shot and killed by the elder’s daughter. In the infirmary, the doctors manage to get to the tumour and remove it.
Back in the command room, there’s an incoming wormhole and SG-15’s Iris code. Hammond lets them in, but there are a ton of guards in the gate room. Jack and a few soldiers arrive, asking for some reinforcements, while also being confused by the amount of security in the room. Hammond gives him permission to take more, and it seems like the crisis has been averted.
SG-1 visit Jonas in the infirmary. He’ll make a full recovery but won’t have any more visions. Jack has a laugh with him and, after Jack leaves, Jonas asks Carter if he’s ok – and she says he was going to warm up to him eventually. Jonas ponders the oddness of telling the future: they managed to avoid the vision they saw, but ended up fulfilling a thousand year old prophecy in the process.
This episode is quite inconsistent, with different kinds of visions and a very vague sense of how they work – the last one being a vision of events on another planet was a bit odd. Jonas has also already earned his place and the whole “I’m not worthy enough” thing is a bit tired at this point.
