"Maternal Instinct" ( 3 x 20 )

OH MY GOD YOU GUYS

BRA’TAC IS ON THE TITLE SCREEN

MUST WATCH RIGHT NOW BEFORE I EXPLODE FROM EXCITEMENT

We’re at the SGC base this lovely day, and the day gets even more lovely when when should show up but… BRA’TAC!! (Hi Bra’tac! Hi! Haven’t seen you in a while! How are you? Oh, not so well? Well, um, I’ll let you get back to your awesomeness. Nice chatting!!)

But he’s got an injured Jaffa hanging off of him!

Oh god I hate where this is going.

Teal’c rushes down to the infirmary to find out what’s going on. Bra’tac breaks the bad news:

Apophis has launched an attack on Chulak.

At the Hangout (which is about 300% more awesome now that Bra’tac is in it, too), SG-1 learns what has transpired and O’Neill echoes my own sentiments:

“Someone’s got to teach that guy how to die.”

Bra’tac explains that there’s literally nothing left to do. The fight is over. He and Teal’c head back down to the infirmary to check on Moac, the Jaffa he had brought in, and there’s nothing more they were able to do for him. He passes away, having fought honourably, and his body will be burned as such honour dictates.

He and Teal’c speculate on Apophis’ massacre on Chulak (god I HATE that guy! What is his freakin’ problem!) and why he had actually gone down to the planet instead of simply attacking from space. And then we figure it out:

He wants his kid.

They discuss this with Jackson, who agrees it must have been the harsesis Apophis was after. Why he’s so preoccupied with this child, aside from the fact that he wants it to be his next host, is still lost on me. When Jackson mentions that the child is said to be on a place called Kheb, Bra’tac immediately recognizes it from an old Jaffa legend that that is where Jaffa go to pass on. On the other hand, though, it was forbidden to speak of because the Goa’uld fear it.

Hm… smart place to send a child on the top of the System Lord hit list.

And it gets better. Bra’tac might know where it is. Why? Because he’s Bra’tac, and he’s super-smart and super-awesome like that.  And indeed, they find the planet, and SG-2 will go with SG-1. But Jackson knows what he’s saying:

“Let’s just hope we’re first.”

They go to the planet, and it’s really quite pretty; mountains and forests and all that. Bra’tac and Teal’c happen upon tracks, and it seems they’re not first. Just by looking at the tracks, the two determine what happened, who was traveling, how they were moving, and that’s why I love these guys! They’re so awesome! They look at some footprints and know just what happened!

Further into the forest, they find several charred bodies of Jaffa guards, and the body of a priestess. Bra’tac goes from warrior to detective as he figures out that she’d been carrying the child, and she’d been shot as she was fleeing.

And then we find it. Kheb.

It’s a sort of monastery, very Buddhist-looking, maybe Taoist. Jackson, O’Neill, and Bra’tac enter into a peaceful, dim-lit room that makes me want to drink tea and eat kung pao chicken. There, they meet a monk, who speaks in rather stereotypical cryptic language (all right, Hollywood, you got your in).

Jackson seats himself across from the monk, and as they speak, he realizes this may have been some kind of basis for Zen Buddhism. O’Neill actually slips up and says, “Great, I’ll call the Dalai Lama when we get home,” since the Dalai Lama is attributed to Tibetan Buddhism, not Zen. (I got you there, Jacky boy.)

Outside the monastery, Teal’c sees something flash through the water, and expresses to Carter that he has a bad feeling about this place. Well, let’s just hope this isn’t “Thor’s Hammer” all over again.

Back in the temple, Bra’tac realizes that he cannot move on to Oma Desala, the apparent deity of this monastery, while he still carries a symbiote. He also recognizes that, this said, it must not yet be his time to leave this world. He goes to Teal’c and says this:

“We still have false gods to slay.”

BRA’TAC. YOU ARE SO BADASS. THAT IS WHY I LOVE YOU. <3

Meanwhile, Jackson talks to the monk and discerns that they are, in fact, speaking of Mother Nature – Oma Desala. What I’m wondering is if she’s just a concept, or an actual individual. (You never know with this show.) There’s something strange in how the monk asks Jackson if he’s sure the boy – the harsesis – will be safest with him. Just what is he getting at?

They sit with a candle between them, and the monk makes it flicker to life with his mind. He’s presumably trying to get Jackson to gain this understanding of trust and belief… But it’s so cryptic! This guy is making me as frustrated as O’Neill.

I DON’T UNDERSTAND.

Jack goes in to check in on Daniel, and the archaeologist demonstrates his newfound ability to light a candle with his… mind. Jackson’s almost alarmingly convinced of his newfound ability, but it just doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t fit what the monk’s been saying. There must be something more.

Outside the monastery, they hear Gliders overhead and they check in with SG-2 to let them know to be ready for anything. Bra’tac and Teal’c discover a Jaffa army and something tells me this isn’t a good time to be trying to attain nibbāna. O’Neill orders SG-2 to go back through the ‘Gate and get backup, because the Jaffa are pretty close.

Jackson thinks that Oma Desala is wanting him to learn these abilities so he can protect the child. Or does she? He is approached by a figure, looking rather like a woman bathed in glowing white robes, and he follows her through to another room in the monastery. (Is this Oma Desala?) She leads him to the child, the harsesis, and only here that he realizes the truth:

He hasn’t achieved anything. He doesn’t have any abilities. It was all the figure in front of him, Oma Desala, and it’s now that he realizes the boy is safe… with her. He found the boy, and now the boy is okay. He’s fulfilled his promise, but the child isn’t his to keep.

SG-1 and Bra’tac have taken up positions outside of the monastery, and remain hidden while Apophis’ army approaches. Suddenly, a storm whirls up, and one of the Jaffa shoots the monk. (What?! That was completely unnecessary! He’s harmless!) Jackson suggests that they all drop their weapons, but of course O’Neill’s not too keen on this. Daniel says to him:

“Jack, if you’re ever going to trust me on anything, now is the time.”

He tells them about Oma Desala and her powers, and slowly, everyone puts down their weapons. Just as the Jaffa fire, a light stops all the shots, and then lightning strikes the Jaffa down.

WHOA!! Oma Desala is a BEAST! She’s so bra’tac!

(Don’t worry, Bra’tac, you’re still cool.)

The spirit makes herself known, and indeed, she was the monk – simply in a different form. Jackson understands now that she must leave with the boy, and as she floats off. O’Neill orders SG-2 to drop their weapons, and Desala vanishes through the Stargate.

Final thoughts… WHO WAS SHE? Who is Oma Desala? What race is she? Is she from one of the races we don’t know about? The Ancients? The Furlings? Something entirely different? Will we get to see her again? Are there others? Augh! This episode is so frustrating because it feels like there was no real conclusion! Yes, the boy is safe. Yes, Jackson has fulfilled his promise to Sha’re.

But what’s next?!

I have a question concerning Kheb itself, too. Since Oma Desala has left with the child, will another of her kind take over? The Jaffa legends make sense (I see no reason why such a powerful entity couldn’t take one to a higher plane of existence, as it were), but since she’s not there, and she was the monk… I don’t know. I doubt we’ll come back here, but hey, who knows.

There is also one other thing… Chulak. And that Apophis JERK. Since Chulak was devastated due to Apophis going around killing everyone who wouldn’t tell him where his kid was (as if they would know? Seriously man?) and the battle is lost, what happens now? Where will Bra’tac go from here? He keeps showing up, so I’m guessing that he’ll remain relevant to the plot (thank goodness! I don’t think I could go a whole season without any Bra’tac) but what about Chulak? Exactly how extensive was the damage? Will any System Lords try to oppose Jerkpophis? (That’s his new name, by the way, because he’s such a JERK.)

It just seems so out-there. I didn’t get the impression that Apophis was so outright cruel before he died. Maybe something happened to him back on Netu. But, Jesus, he got worse. It’s kind of scary, to be honest.

Don’t let down your guard, Bra’tac. Something tells me Apophis isn’t going away.

On the character side of things, Bra’tac seems a little more spirited now than he had been at the beginning of this episode, what with his whole planet going down, having an apprentice die in front of him, Apophis coming back… It was good to see him perk up a little at the end.

Teal’c, I’m sure, was devastated as well. After all, Chulak is his homeworld. He’s been there at least once each season thus far and I doubt it’s gone forever. I still don’t think he’ll stop until Apophis is dead.  But, uh, how will the locals react to him..? That’s a question I hope is some day answered.

Jackson was once again a big part of the story, and his sort of humility at the end was quite nice, realizing that there was a power higher than himself. He chose the right thing, and I think in the end it will bring him peace.

PREDICTION/REFLECTION THINGY:

(They all return to the SGC a little happier than they left.)

O’Neill: “Well, that was cool.”

Carter: “I agree, sir. Whoever Oma Desala is, her race must be incredibly advanced.”

Teal’c: “She moved rather like a spirit through the air. It was most incredible.”

Bra’tac: “It was indeed, my friend! And it bolsters my own spirit knowing that we share a common enemy.”

Jackson: “They could be like the Tollan, and only attack when they need to.”

O’Neill: “Whoever they are, I hope they like us.”