| Synopsis | Review | Quotes |
First Aired On: August 13, 1999
Written By: Carl Binder
Directed By: Peter DeLuise
Guest Stars: David McNally (Simon), Alan C. Peterson (Canon), Laura Mennell (Mary), John R. Taylor (Elder), Richard Morwich (Unas). Christopher Judge played the voice of Unas.
Synopsis: Episode starts with SG-1 stepping through the Stargate onto a very green, tree-covered world. Gee, what a shocker. =) The UAV apparently spotted a village 11 klicks (kilometers) away. Teal'c finds a trail, and off they go to find the village. While they're still at a distance, they see a church, indicating that the civilization is probably Christian. There's a discussion here where they wonder if a Goa'uld could possibly be posing as God, but Teal'c dismisses that theory based on his experience that no Goa'uld could possess the necessary compassion. Anyway, off they go to the Medieval European-style village, where they do not receive a warm welcome. All the villagers away off in fear of them. As a matter of fact, the only person who does not run away is a young woman...who is lying chained to a pole in the center of the village. Ouch.
So SG-1 helps free the woman. While they're at it, a man who looks strangely like Hanno in "Cor-Ai" but is actually named Simon approaches them, holding out a cross. He pleads with them to leave the woman, thinking that they're demons come to take her away. SG-1 assures him they're not demons and tells him they should examine Mary (the woman's name) because she looks like she's sick. They take her inside Simon's home and O'Neill declares that she's merely suffering from chicken pox. She should recover in a few days.
However, while they're helping Mary, a town crier (don't blink or you'll miss a Peter DeLuise cameo <g>) announces that "the demon comes." O'Neill and Teal'c watch in amazement as an Unas strolls through the village, saying he'll be back at daybreak to take the "sacrifices." After the Unas has left, Daniel says that they were wrong to think the local Goa'uld was posing as God...he's actually posing as the Devil. One thing leads to another and they come to the conclusion that the Goa'uld plaguing the planet is none other than our dear old friend, Sokar. O'Neill decides to tell Simon this, there's a cute scene where Daniel keeps countering everything O'Neill's trying to tell Simon, but in the end they agree that the Unas is not a demon. They tell Simon that, if he'll let them, they can remove the Unas' presence on the planet, thus freeing them from having to turn over human hosts to Sokar on a regular basis.
Simon's just about to accept SG-1's help when someone else shows up in the village, a priest-like elder named Canon. When Canon sees SG-1, he immediately blames Simon for allowing demons to enter his home. Seems like only those with "dark hearts" come through the "circle of darkness," a.k.a. the Stargate. Canon walks up to Teal'c and points to his tattoo as proof of their evilness. He decides that SG-1 will become the next sacrifices to the demon and touches a Goa'uld-ish ring on his finger. The sky darkens and a bolt of lighting lands right in front of SG-1, who are hit by a wave of energy that emerges from it. They fall to the ground, unconscious.
O'Neill, Carter, and Daniel wake up inside a cell and find that not only have their weapons been confiscated, but Teal'c is missing. Simon comes to talk to them and apologize, and as they're talking the Canon also arrives, leading a beat-up Teal'c in chains. He announces that he's going to "test" Teal'c to see if he's evil, and ties him up to a post. Canon grabs a burning brand to places it to Teal'c's tattoo...anyone else getting a tad squeamish here? Daniel explains that in the Dark Ages people believed that witches or other evil beings had a special spot on their body that wasn't sensitive to pain. When Teal'c doesn't even flinch under the brand, the Canon says that his hunch was correct--Teal'c is possessed by a demon. Uh-oh, on to the next test.
Canon and the villagers drag SG-1 with them for the next one. They're going to attach a huge stone to Teal'c and toss him into the water. If he floats, he's guilty of witchcraft, if he sinks he's innocent. SG-1 tries to stop it, but all they accomplish is having one of the villagers hit Jack on the head with a staff. The Canon pushes Teal'c into the water, and not surprisingly, he sinks. SG-1 can only watch on, appalled, as their friend has been drowned before their eyes.
We cut back to the prison where SG-1 is still locked up. The Canon arrives and tells them that their friend's soul was clean (since he sank) and that they're free to go. His only restriction is that they keep the handcuffs on and leave the village the next morning. SG-1 asks him why he holds everyone under his thumb like he does and conclude that he's only in it for the power he maintains over the people. Canon, of course, denies this, saying he's doing it to help his people. Simon comes and frees them from the prison after Canon's left. They look sadly at Teal'c, who is being prepared by village women for burial. Simon tells them that he has to perform a trepanning ritual (involving a crude spike being drilled into a person's forehead) on Mary to free her from the demons that made her sick earlier. If he doesn't succeed, Canon will turn her over as one of the people to be "sacrificed" to the demon. Daniel goes off to stop them before she dies, and soon O'Neill and Carter follow.
Daniel stops Simon from drilling the hole into Mary's skull and assures them that SG-1 will take them back through the Stargate where there are no demons. However, this relief that Mary won't have to be sacrificed to the demons is interrupted as women begin to scream out in the courtyard. SG-1 rushes out there to see what's happening, and are greeted by none other than Teal'c, very much alive and well. Unfortunately, Canon notices that Teal'c has "resurrected," and condemns him, the rest of SG-1, and Mary to being the sacrifice to the demons. They tie up SG-1 and Mary in the square to await their fate.
The Unas arrives the next morning on schedule and drags the five prisoners away, back to the Stargate to become hosts for Sokar's Goa'uld larvae. On the way, however, they walk along the top of a hill. Jack apparently feels like rolling down a hill, so all five of them simultaneously leap over the edge, breaking free of the Unas' grasp. They race along the bottom of the hill, away from the Unas.
Back in the village, Simon is still blindly following everything the Canon says, believing that whatever he decides must be right. However, upon running into the Canon in the square, the Canon tells him that he's been questioning his decisions a lot lately. If that doesn't change, Canon won't be able to protect Simon the next time the choosing for the sacrifice comes around. YES! FINALLY! Simon gets upset at Canon's blatant abuse of his position and runs off to help Mary and SG-1.
Meanwhile, SG-1 and Mary are running away from the Unas. He catches up to them and stops them by stepping on their chain. He plans to "deal with them," except at that moment Simon shows up with Teal'c's staff weapon. O'Neill orders him to shoot the Unas and he does, three times, but that still doesn't stop it. Simon runs away, Unas follows him, Mary grabs the discarded staff weapon, and Teal'c frees them by blasting the chain that Unas had stuck into a tree. O'Neill orders Carter and Daniel to head back to the Stargate with Mary; he and Teal'c are going to try to stop the Unas from killing Simon.
Unas has cornered Simon against a rock. Canon shows up, and the Unas approaches to destroy both of them. Simon stands up to him; the Unas knocks him to the ground, and we cut to O'Neill and Teal'c racing through the woods toward them. When they arrive, the Unas is lying motionless on the ground, and the Canon is hunched over an inert Simon. Teal'c checks out the Unas and reports that he's dead; his wounds must have been too severe. Canon says that the Unas collapsed after knocking Simon out the way.
Anyway, O'Neill and Teal'c take Simon and the Canon back to the Stargate where the others are waiting. Carter starts dialing Earth, but suddenly stops. She tells O'Neill that Unas' Goa'uld left him and went into Canon--she can feel it. (Why, pray tell, could Teal'c not feel it, then?) Anyway, Canon's eyes light up and O'Neill shoots him before he can attack any of them. Simon kneels over him and reads the Prayer for Suffering Souls. The demon is dead, and SG-1 returns to Earth.
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Related Episodes: We last saw an Unas in "Thor's Hammer," and we learned they worked for Sokar during "Serpent's Song." We learned that oxygen is a larval Goa'uld's natural environment in "Bane." Kel-no-reem was first introduced during "Holiday."
Daniel Jackson's History/Linguistic/Mythology Lesson:
Sam Carter's Physics Lesson:
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Quotes:
O'Neill: "Ah! Trees, trees...and more trees. What a wonderfully green universe we life in, eh?"Carter: "Looks like a church."
O'Neill: "And that would mean...?"
Teal'c: "That it is most likely Christians reside here, O'Neill."
O'Neill: "Thank you, Teal'c."
Carter: "Well, this is the first sign of Christianity we've encountered, Sir, in hundreds of missions."
Daniel: "Which means they had to have been taken from somewhere in medieval Europe through the Antarctic gate."
Teal'c: "By which Goa'uld?
Daniel: "That's a good question. Most Goa'uld that we've encountered that've enslaved ancient populations have taken on the roles of those culture's deities. Ra, Apophis, Hathor from the Egyptian pantheon...."
O'Neill: "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, we got it."
Daniel: "Well, if these people were already Christians when they were taken from Earth, it suggests that this Goa'uld is playing...."
O'Neill: "God? As in God God? It's a bit of a stretch, don't you think?"
Teal'c: "I know of no Goa'uld capable of showing the necessary compassion or benevolence that I have read of in your Bible."
O'Neill: "Do you read the Bible, Teal'c?"
Teal'c: "It is a significant part of your Western culture. Have you not read the Bible, O'Neill?"
O'Neill: "Oh, yeah. Yeah. Not all of it. Actually, I'm listening to it on tape. Don't tell me how it ends."Daniel: "Hello. We're not going to hurt you." The woman slams the door at him and he mutters, "We're peaceful travelers."
O'Neill: "They're not buying it, Danny."O'Neill: "You'll be fine in a couple of days."
Simon: "That will not be soon enough. The time of sacrifice is at hand. The Elders will have to perform the trepanning ritual tonight to cleanse her."
Daniel: "Oh, geez."
O'Neill: "What?"
Daniel: "It was a procedure often done in the Middle Ages. They...well, they'd drill a hole in the person's head. By drilling a hole the evil spirits are released, thus saving the person from eternal damnation."
O'Neill: "Thus...saving the person?"
Daniel: "Well, they didn't call them the Dark Ages because it was dark."O'Neill: "Damn. Unas?!"
Teal'c: "You are correct, O'Neill. The first host of the Goa'uld."
O'Neill: "No, no, no, no, no. We killed him, he's dead."
Teal'c: "We only killed one Unas."
O'Neill: "I thought there only was one! Unas, uno, one?"
Teal'c: "They are, in fact, a species."O'Neill: "Simon."
Simon: "Canon will return from his hermitage soon."
O'Neill: "The creature that just sauntered through your village is called an Unas."
Simon: "No, the time of sacrifice has been declared. I fear it will be...."
O'Neill: "Simon! Listen to me! Look, we've run into this kind of thing before. Now, it's not a demon. It's...demonesque, I'll grant you, but it's just a big, ugly creature."
Daniel: "Who is inhabited by a Goa'uld who gives it great strength, intelligence and the ability to regenerate."
O'Neill: "Yes. It's a very smart, resilient creature."
Daniel: "In the service of Sokar who, for all intensive purposes, is Satan to these people."
O'Neill, getting ticked at Daniel's clarifications: "But it's not a demon."
Daniel: "No, it's not a demon."
Teal'c: "My friends speak the truth, Simon. This demon is nothing more than a parasite that inhabits another creature. Your fear is its greatest power over you."
Simon: "You do not fear it?"
Teal'c: "We do not."
Simon: "You say you have killed an...Unas...once before?"
Teal'c: "Indeed."
Simon: "Then perhaps God has sent you. Perhaps you are the answer to our prayers. All my life I have asked God to deliver us from this evil."
O'Neill: "So what'd the lizard say? That he'd be back at sunrise?"
Teal'c: "Are you contemplating attack, O'Neill?"
O'Neill: "A couple of shots with a staff, we own him."
Carter: "We hope. Took Thor's Hammer to kill the last one."
O'Neill: "Alright, a whole bunch of shots with a staff. Daniel, how long have these people been living like this?"
Daniel: "Well, I can't be sure without proper...."
O'Neill: "A thousand years?"
Daniel: "At least."
O'Neill: "Yeah, that's long enough. These people are being terrorized. We have the power to stop it."
Teal'c: "Sokar will seek revenge."
O'Neill: "Alright, so we have them bury the gate after we're gone!"
Daniel: "They could come in ships."
O'Neill: "Ships?"
Carter: "I can't be sure, but the coordinates of this planet are years away from any known Goa'uld home world, even with their fastest ships."
O'Neill: "Simon? Do you want us to do this?"
Simon: "Are we not in God's hands?"Canon: "If they came through the circle of darkness, then their souls are unclean."
Teal'c: "It appears that they do not desire our assistance, O'Neill."
O'Neill: "Yeah, fine, whatever. Have a nice day."Carter: "Sir, I've been disarmed."
O'Neill: "Yeah, I picked up on that too. Teal'c's gone."
Daniel: "Did we just get struck by a big bolt of...lightning?"
Carter: "That's what it looked like. Felt more like a zat blast to me. He touched his ring just before the lightning started."
O'Neill: "Carter, if I ever get the urge to help anybody again, feel free to give me a swift kick."Canon: "Your friend's soul was clean. If you wish he will be given a Christian burial."
O'Neill: "What?!"
Canon: "You are free to go. I insist only that you remain in chains until your return to the circle of darkness to whatever dark place you reside...and that you never return."
O'Neill: "Because you know if I did return, I'd break your damn neck."Daniel, wanting to save Mary from the trepanning ritual: "Jack..."
O'Neill: "Nope."
Daniel: "We can't condemn a young girl just because one man has made a pact with the devil. Teal'c will have died for nothing if nothing good comes from this. Okay, I'll tell you what. You guys start back without me. I'm just going to go see if I can stop these people from drilling a hold in the head of a young girl."Daniel: "Teal'c! You're...alive."
Teal'c: "It is so."
O'Neill: "WAY TO GO, JUNIOR!!!"
Teal'c: "My symbiote has sustained me."
Carter: "Oxygen in the water! It's the larval Goa'uld's natural environment. It must've filtered the oxygen and fed it into Teal'c. You were out for a long time, Teal'c. We thought we'd lost you."
Teal'c: "When I realized they planned to emerge me, I put myself into a deep state of Kel-no-reem."
O'Neill, about the crowd's amazement at seeing Teal'c alive: "You'd think these guys never saw a guy rise from the dead."O'Neill: "Major, next time Daniel gets the urge to help someone, shoot him."
Simon: "I am sorry, Mary."
O'Neill: "Don't apologize to her, help her."
Simon: "The Canon has spoken."
O'Neill: "What are you, the village idiot?"
Daniel: "The demon will turn her into a host, do you know what that means?" Simon shakes his head. "Of course you don't know what that means."
Simon: "I can hear no more of this."O'Neill, to the Unas as it arrives: "Mornin'."
O'Neill: "So...how long you gonna keep this up? The demon bit? Don't get me wrong, it looks like a great gig. You've got the padre in your back pocket, the hours are good, probably get all the chicks."
O'Neill: "Hey, Unas, what does Sokar have on you that makes you so dang cranky?"
Unas: "Your God has abandoned you."
Simon: "My God is with me always."
Deadman Switch Rules of Engagement
