“Thor’s Hammer” ( 1 x 09 )

Well, let’s see. We’ve got “Thor” as half the title. I’m thinking the mythological guy… or perhaps the comic books guy. (They’re both pretty cool guys.) And we’ve got “Hammer”. Maybe the team discovers some kind of uber-cool, uber-powerful weapon? I guess I’ll find out!

We start off… hey, we’re on base, and not some random planet! Okay, that works. Cool beans. Switchin’ it up a little bit. Jackson’s telling the group (we’re at the conference table again, AKA “the Hangout” as I’ll now be calling it) about this new theory he has concerning the Stargate. He thinks that the Goa’uld did not create the Stargates, since they’re mean and nasty and cruel… and, um, it doesn’t fit with their culture. He thinks an even more superior race did.

He even has an idea of who they are!

And we’re at… Norse mythology. Bingo! Thor!

O’Neill translates for the General and basically says what Jackson didn’t: That since there might be “good gods” out there who are just as powerful as the Goa’uld, maybe they should call ‘em up. Or something like that.

Teal’c pipes up (no, he doesn’t pipe up, he announces in his deep, manly, masculine voice of infinite wisdom) that he knows of the hammer symbol. It’s connected to a world called “Cimmeria” and… he knows the Stargate combo to go there.

ROAD TRIP! Right?

Ooor maybe not. All Jaffa were taught this so they could make sure no Goa’uld ever goes there. Even they don’t speak of it.

Freeeeakyyyy!

So with that, Hammond sends a sort of “information tablet” with them and they go through the ‘Gate.

All the Cimmerians freak out a little when they see four people slide out through the Stargate, but then they start… laughing. Hysterically. Well, that’s different. Usually SG-1 is greeted with a mixture of awe, fear, and wonder. Now they’re getting laughed at. Teal’c expression is priceless in reaction.

The people start chanting for “Thor” and a blue light seems to scan each of them before stopping on Teal’c. It stops over the place where his symbiote is and causes him some sort of enormous pain.

And then he’s gone!! And so is Jack!

Noes! Not Teal’c! Something tells me he’s going to be in loads of trouble for being a Jaffa and coming to this place. I hope he’s okay. He’s too epic to die so early in the series.

More Cimmerians come, including a woman named Gairwyn, who seems to be a leader of sorts. It’s interesting, considering most of the other worlds they’ve been to have seemed largely patriarchal. They report to her that both O’Neill and Teal’c are missing. It turns out that they were thought to be “etins”, or Goa’uld. Gairwyn marvels that these too are humans, and explains that Thor brought them to this world to keep them safe. She leads them to a woman named Kendra, who might be able to help them find O’Neill and Teal’c.

They appear in darkness, maybe a cave, and they’re all right. The Goa’uld Teal’c plays host to is in great pain, but will survive. I like how Jack referred to it as “Junior”. Always the jokester…

They are approached by Thor, and Jack tries to reason with him. Thor, however, doesn’t seem to be into negotiations and informs them that they are both sentenced to death. Maybe, though, this isn’t really Thor. It’s a sort of hologram messenger.

Teal’c  tells Jack to go on without him, since he won’t be able to get out alive anyways (so noble!), but of course O’Neill refuses to leave his comrade.

Gairwyn takes Carter and Jackson to Kendra, who seems to be a healer of sorts. It turns out that she used to be host to a Goa’uld symbiont, but Thor was able to remove it from her with no harm done.

It was because Jack jumped into the beam with Teal’c that they’re imprisoned together, but he regrets nothing. They wander through the caves and find skeletons, which were probably killed and then eaten by some rabid animal. We get a peek of something in the water..! Flukeman!? No. No, I kid. No X-Files.

Kendra tells them about the Labyrinth where Teal’c and O’Neill are, and about how the symbiont was removed. She balks at the suggestion that Teal’c, a Jaffa, is truly their loyal friend (doubter!) but she’s reluctant to help for him. She disbelieves that he can change, but a force she calls the Valkyrie tell her Carter and Jackson are telling the truth and she should help them.

Teal’c and O’Neill are still wandering the caves. Their weapons won’t work, either. The really freakin’ ugly thing comes out of the water.

(No, it’s not the Flukeman. Besides, last I checked, Mulder and Scully weren’t here. But I’m sure Mulder would love to know about the Stargate… if he doesn’t already!)

O’Neill passes what he heard off as “nothing”, which of course ISN’T TRUE since we all know that thing is there.

Back with Kendra, we find out that she was, indeed, the queen host for the Goa’uld. Also, we know now that something of her survived even while she was parasite’d. Kendra was able to manipulate her inner symbiont and trick her into leaving to this one place where no Goa’uld could survive. In brighter spirits now, they leave for the Labyrinth.

A large, very ugly, brownish creature approaches them and introduces itself as Unas, “the first one”. The first Jaffa, perhaps. It orders Teal’c to kill O’Neill, and when he refuses, smacks him across the room. Jack then opens fire (holy cow, his gun works just at this opportune time! It’s like he waved a magic wand and shouted, “Deux ex machina!”) on Unas, and… he’s dead. But his eyes glow then? Maybe it’s a Goa’uld! Or a Jaffa, like I thought!

I have a feeling this was a test, perhaps for Teal’c. Maybe there will be more tests? Thor himself seems pretty involved on this world, so maybe he’s pulling a few strings and seeing just how loyal Teal’c really is to the SG-1 team – and thus, how far he has strayed from his upbringing.

It’s revealed in the next scene that Unas was, indeed, believed to be the first Jaffa host. Aaaand it might have regenerative powers. O’Neill’s getting a little nervous now, because Teal’c’s not even able to convince himself that Unas is dead.

Jackson and Kendra talk, and he’s hoping that since Thor could save her, he could maybe save Sha’re. Carter accuses Jackson of being biased towards Kendra because he believes she can help find Sha’re in some way. Nonetheless, they head off again towards the Labyrinth. Kendra at last leads them to the entrance, and they go in.

Back in the cave, we see that Unas is… not dead. Aww man. Unas makes himself known again, and O’Neill fires on him… again. And Unas is not dead. Again. I’m seeing a cycle here, and it’s not pretty.

Teal’c is trapped in some kind of force field, and O’Neill jumps in to save him. He’s okay, but that growling’s back. Oooh boy.

Unas asks O’Neill why he stays with Teal’c, and similarly asks Teal’c why he is allied with a human. A battle between Jaffa and big, ugly Jaffa ensues as Teal’c fights with only his spear, which can no longer send sparks. Teal’c sees the Kobayashi Maru of the situation and shoves himself in with Unas into the red forcefield that had nearly killed him. However, O’Neill managed to pull Teal’c out before he was seriously injured. (Such a good friend!)

Carter, Jackson, and Kendra come in (“You guys couldn’t have been here five minutes earlier?!”) and she at last believes that Teal’c is turned away from the Goa’uld. However, one barrier remains:

He still can’t get out.

Jackson tries firing Teal’c’s weapon into the forcefield, and it fizzles out.

It works! Teal’c gets through! Happy ending!

But it’s still rather bittersweet. In order to get Teal’c out, they had to destroy the one thing that would’ve been able to save Sha’re and Skaara – that forcefield. However, it was worth it, for being able to leave with their whole team. That really shows the integrity of this group and how close they are already. “No man left behind” – even if he’s not truly a “man” in the way that we know.

They head home, altogether now, and it’s another happy ending.

Final thoughts… Just as the last episode (“Cold Lazarus”) was good for establishing O’Neill’s character, this was good for the character of the team. It solidified the crew’s faith in Teal’c, and the fact that he was willing to sacrifice himself in order to defeat Unas and thus save O’Neill really does showcase his loyalty. Similarly, O’Neill always had Teal’c’s back and would jump in to save him numerous times. I guess we all need somebody to lean on.

PREDICTION FOR NEXT EPISODE, “The Torment of Tantalus”:

The crew reflects on their last mission and looks forward to this one.

O’Neill: Wow, that last mission what pretty crazy, huh?

Teal’c: I would tend to agree. It was quite the ordeal.

O’Neill: Hey, where were you guys the whole time?

Jackson: Looking for you two!

O’Neill: Yeah, you only came in AFTER we defeated Mister Ugly.

Teal’c: I believe he was Una—

O’Neill: Teal’c, I just saved your and Junior’s life. Don’t correct me.

Carter: Well, it was probably good that you went there with him.

Jackson: Unless Teal’c is trollin’ us…

Teal’c: What is ‘trolling’?