|
|
SG-1 must escape a hellish prison moon, and one of their worst enemies.
This episode is part two of two, following "Jolinar's Memories"
|
|
Resurrected by Sokar and imprisoned on the hellish moon of Ne'tu, Apophis has retaken his name and sees SG-1's presence as the perfect opportunity to move against Sokar and escape. Using the Goa'uld memory device given to Sam by Martouf, as well as a halucinogenic drug called the "Blood of Sokar," Apophis tries to trick Carter, O'Neill, Martouf, and Jackson into revealing the secrets of Earth and the Tok'ra.
From Carter, Apophis tries to learn SG-1's remote iris code to get past the barrier guarding Earth's Stargate. From O'Neill, he tries to learn how SG-1 contacted the Asgard; from Martouf, the location of the Tok'ra resistence; and from Jackson, the planet to which Amonet sent Apophis's Harcesis son. With this information, he hopes to bargain with Sokar and get close to him, in order to kill him and take over all that he has.
Meanwhile, Teal'c has escaped Sokar's death gliders by executing a hyperlaunch, and has journeyed to the Tok'ra homeworld of Vorash.
In response to the situation, the Tok'ra High Council sends Aldwin back to Ne'tu with Teal'c, to carry out a plan to which they see no alternative. They are to launch a weapon into the molten core of Ne'tu as soon as Sokar's ship moves to orbit the moon and regain control of the prisoners. The device will cause the moon to explode, taking Sokar's mothership with it.
Teal'c agrees, tenuously, to the plan -- until he receives a last minute transmission from the group on the surface. Apophis has left the moon for the mothership and has been granted an audience with Sokar. O'Neill, Carter, Jackson, Martouf, and Jacob escape their cell and move to the transport rings as the Tok'ra device plunges into the moon's core. Teal'c wrestles control of the cargo ship from Aldwin, and skillfully moves it into position to intercept the transport rings' matter stream.
On board Sokar's mothership, Apophis's plans go awry. He reports the location of the Tok'ra as the planet Entak, as told to him by Martouf. But Sokar has recently conquered that planet, and knows there are no Tok'ra there. Martouf had seen through Apophis's deception and lied to him. Apophis pleads to serve Sokar by being made warden of Ne'tu -- so that Sokar will move close to him to brand Apophis with his seal, allowing Apophis to strike him dead with a hidden blade. Sokar does not fall for this, but Apophis overpowers his guards and escapes.
As SG-1 escapes the blast, Ne'tu explodes, taking Sokar's vessel with it. Before the explosion, however, the ring transport activates and sends Apophis to the surface of Delmak, Sokar's homeworld. Sokar is dead, and his powerful army appears to be at Apophis's disposal.
|
ANALYSIS
Apophis chose to move against Bynarr because he saw SG-1's arrival as his means of escape: by learning the secrets of Earth and the Tok'ra, he hoped to bargain with Sokar, or get close enough to Sokar to kill him.
All four people who were forced to drink the "Blood of Sokar" stood firm against Apophis's deception. Carter refused to give up the iris code for Earth's Stargate. O'Neill refused to discuss the location of the Asgard. Daniel did not give up the last known location of Apophis's child. And Martouf, though it seemed for a time that he had sacrificed the Tok'ra resistence for Jolinar, did not give up their true location. Though Apophis had complete power over their situation, he could finally not get anything that he wanted from the opportunity.
But how did Apophis know all this about O'Neill, Carter, Martouf, and Jackson? If he had heard about Amonet's death on Abydos, it would be easy for him to come to the conclusion that Daniel may know where she sent Apophis's son. And he may have determined that Martouf and Jolinar were lovers when he first tortured Martouf (before Carter was brought in before him). But Apophis also knew about the Asgard-mediated treaty between Earth and the System Lords ("Fair Game"); he knew about O'Neill having the knowledge of the ancients downloaded into his mind, and then traveling through the Stargate to the Asgard homeworld ("The Fifth Race"); and he knew that Carter was once host to Jolinar, and that she retains some of Jolinar's memories ("In the Line of Duty").
Though it is reasonable to assume that the blood of Sokar made them give up this information to Apophis (and we just weren't shown it), Apophis's curious knowledge of these events may indicate that he has a spy amongst the S.G.C.
Though Sha're charged Daniel with the vital task of finding the son of Apophis and Amonet ("Forever In a Day") -- the Harcesis -- we only now know that Daniel knew the planet to which Amonet sent the boy. Because the Harcesis is so important (he contains the knowledge of the Goa'uld, or at least of the Goa'uld who fathered him), that planet should have been SG-1's very next stop. Instead, they went to Vyus ("Past and Present"). It makes more sense to believe that Daniel does not know where Amonet sent the boy, and was pretending to because he knew it was Apophis trying to get the information.
The System Lords do consider the Tok'ra resistence to be a great threat. The information Apophis tried to get from Martouf was important enough to the System Lords that he may have bargained his way out of imprisonment by Sokar if he had known the actual location of the Tok'ra.
Sokar's decision to resurrect the deceased Apophis using a Goa'uld sarcophagus has backfired in the worst way: Apophis has helped to bring about the death of Sokar, and the turning over of his entire army to Apophis's control. Though Sokar has always appeared to be intelligent and in control, refusing even to fall for Apophis's ploy to assassinate him, he was finally detroyed by his own poor decision. He would rather see his enemies suffer than see them dead, and this has become his undoing.
|
CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT
 Apophis - Resurrected by Sokar, Apophis is alive again and has escaped the prison moon of Ne'tu. After a failed attempt to kill Sokar, Apophis escaped Sokar's mothership to the planet Delmak before the ship exploded. He appears to now have all of Sokar's great resources at his disposal.Apophis has also learned of the nonaggression treaty between the Goa'uld System Lord and Earth, as mediated by the Asgard ("Fair Game"), the death of his bride Amonet at the hands of Teal'c ("Forever In a Day") and the fact that his son, a Harcesis, is at large ("Forever In a Day").
 Samantha Carter - Carter's mother died in a car accident. Because her father, Jacob, was late and did not pick her mother up, Sam's mother took a cab and ended up in an accident. This is perhaps the event that drove her brother away from Jacob ("Seth"), since Carter states that he blamed their father for their mother's death.
When forced to reflect on her past, when her mother died, Sam stated that if her father had not come to apologize to her that day, she would have gone on hating the military and never joined the Stargate program. He, therefore, would have never met the Tok'ra and would have died of cancer ("The Tok'ra, Part 2"). This is a revelation of one small event that could have made her life unfold totally differently, as she saw in the life of the alternate Samantha ("Point of View").
 Martouf - Martouf's great love for Jolinar is obvious. Nevertheless, under drug-induced hypnosis by Apophis, Martouf kept his head and lied about the location of the Tok'ra resistance base. He has proved, at least, to be strong-willed. He also accepted his inevitable death as a result of the Tok'ra high council's plan to destroy Ne'tu. It seems that the Tok'ra follow the decisions of the high council almost without question.
 Sokar - Though wise in avoiding Apophis's blade, Sokar is apparently dead. He was killed when the Tok'ra exploded the moon of Ne'tu, taking out his ship in orbit.
 Aldwin - The Tok'ra Aldwin is fiercely loyal to the Tok'ra, putting the interests of the high council over all others. He was unwilling to even attempt a rescue of SG-1 and two of his own people, because of the chance that it would prevent him from fulfilling his mission. Aldwin finally chose to sacrifice the five of them in order to make sure Ne'tu was destroyed.
|
NOTES
The Tok'ra resistence is currently located on the planet Vorash.
Apophis (appearing to Daniel as Colonel O'Neill) states that a Harcesis carries the knowledge of the Goa'uld who fathered him. This differs from Teal'c's account, when he said that a Harcesis contains the genetic memory of the entire Goa'uld race ("Forever In a Day").
When intercepting the matter stream from a ring transport, a ship must come to a complete stop. Otherwise, part of the matter stream may be missed, killing some or all of those en route.
|
UNANSWERED QUESTIONS
If Apophis (the Goa'uld parasite) was dead when his body was handed over to Sokar ("Serpent's Song"), how was he resurrected? Is the Goa'uld sarcophagus capable of resurrecting a dead Goa'uld as well as its human host? How long must the Goa'uld be dead before he cannot be brought back to life?
How did Apophis end up as Na'onak on Ne'tu? Did Sokar or Bynarr know who Na'onak really was? Did Apophis kill the real Na'onak and take his place?
Does Daniel know where Apophis's son was sent? If so, why hasn't SG-1 gone there?
Is Sokar really dead? Could he have escaped the blast by some means other than the transport rings (such as an escape pod, or an on board Stargate)?
Will the destruction of Ne'tu have adverse effects on Delmak's climate, or tides, or gravity?
What will happen to Apophis, now on the planet Delmak? Will Sokar's forces follow him, though he was one of Sokar's greatest enemies?
|
|
VOTE!
How would you rate SG-1's "The Devil You Know?"
Your Vote: |
|
SCORE:
9.55
Outstanding
|
|
PROMOTIONAL PHOTOS:
|
SCREEN CAPTURES:
|
All images are the property of MGM Television Entertainment and/or Universal TV Network
|
|
|
| Own this season on DVD and support GateWorld! |
|
