“Threshold” ( 5 x 02 )

Okay. So the last episode, there were Replicators and Apophis, both/all of which are now dead, but we’ve still got one casualty of the battle: our lovely friend Teal’c. Who thinks he’s still Apophis’ First Prime.

I hope this episode helps him out a little!

“You got his body back. Getting his mind back may not be as easy.”

This is what Jacob Carter (yay!) said at the end of “Enemies”. Let’s see how right he was.

Jack enters the room Teal’c is sitting in and they greet each other amicably, but there’s something about the way Teal’c replies that just seems so… fake. Also the lighting is kind of tell-tale that all is not well. I think he’s deceiving him again, which makes me sad, because they’re supposed to be bros.

DAMN YOU, APOPHIS.

Doctor MacKenzie (the resident shrink) is convinced, but when they approach Bra’tac…

(Hi Bra’tac! Hi!!! Hi! Hi! I really missed you last season! I hope you’re here more this time! I hope you can help Teal’c!)

…the truth comes out. How does Bra’tac know it’s all a ruse? Duh, because he’s Bra’tac.

Teal’c tries to make a run for it, but to no avail. Bra’tac zats him and

WHOA WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!

….Ahem. Removes Junior from his little resting place in Teal’c’s abdomen. (Okay, ew.)

Oh god, Bra’tac, what in the world are you thinking.

At the Hangout, Bra’tac explains what in the world he’s thinking. He plans to put Teal’c through the Rite of Mal’Sharran… Pretty much, by depriving him of his symbiote, he’ll be brought to the threshold of death and it is said his life will flash before his eyes, and then he’ll remember the life as he’s supposed to remember it. Unfortunately, the twice he’s seen this Rite performed, neither Jaffa lived.

Okay, PAUSE.

As much as I love Bra’tac and trust him and know he’s doing what’s best for Teal’c because he would never do otherwise, those aren’t really good odds. But since it seems they’ve no other option, I guess we’ll just wait and see.

In the infirmary, Teal’c has been strapped down and… well, our lovely doctor isn’t too happy about having to wait around a dying patient and do nothing. There’s a lovely moment when Bra’tac places a hand on her shoulder and convinces her that this is the best, but you know it’s killing her.

Think about it: This is the woman who would save anyone. Heck, she tried to save Apophis’ life once, and then even Cronus when he had been attacked by Nirrti. And Teal’c? A friend? Someone whom she has saved multiple times? Man.

Bra’tac speaks briefly with Teal’c (or, more like, takes Teal’c’s insults in stride) and even O’Neill tries out one more time, but Teal’c’s not budging. He really is immovable… just not in a good way this time.

Oh, Teal’c. How can your best characteristics also be your worst?

Bra’tac tells him of the time when he had been Apophis’ First Prime, and Teal’c his apprentice…

…and we go back into a memory…

The scene is of Bra’tac as Apophis’ First Prime (GO AWAY JERKFACE) and he introduces Teal’c to him for the first time, for he wishes Teal’c to one day be his successor. Teal’c tells him who his father was – the First Prime of Cronus – and even goes so far as to defend his father’s honor to Apophis. However, Jerkface Apophis doesn’t dig that, so he raises the ribbon device to Teal’c’s forehead and…

…We’re back in the infirmary, and Teal’c passes out. Bra’tac explains that it was a conjured memory Teal’c just experienced. He also says this:

“Pain is what we seek. Teal’c’s path was laid down with suffering. It is the path he must take to return to us.”

With that, he encourages them to speak to Teal’c, though he may be unconscious, in an attempt to help him remember other events in his life. For now, though, he must leave.

Carter accompanies Bra’tac to the VIP room (I hope it’s bra’tac enough for him) and expresses her concern for Teal’c. And then we get horrible news from Bra’tac.

This will probably be his last symbiote, and it will mature in about two years.
What?! No!!

But he’s got a good point: “Life for the sake of life is nothing.”

Aww, Bra’tac! Why do you make me so sad yet so happy?

Once more in the infirmary, O’Neill speaks to Teal’c first. (What a friend.) Daniel pulls up a chair. As Jack questions his friend, we’re taken back to another memory…

…And we’re on the Goa’uld mothership again. Shortly after the last memory, he’s speaking to his friend Va’lar, and expresses his distress over Apophis punishing him merely for sticking up for his father.

“What god would punish a son for loving his father?”

Va’lar reprimands Teal’c for this question, and gives him this piece of advice: “Today you served Apophis well in battle. Serve him well again tomorrow and you may live to see another day.”…

This memory really tells a lot about warrior Jaffa and their relationship to the Goa’uld. You either fight and subjugate yourself, or you die. There is no other option.

…And the infirmary again!

Daniel and Jack argue over what he had said (“Velour? The fabric?”) but Teal’c finally speaks up and says that Va’lar had been his friend. He finally realizes that he’s strapped down, and claims that the Rite has succeeded, and the same old “oh I’m better now!”… But when they ask him what happened to Va’lar, he says that he “failed his god”.

Nope, not Teal’c.

(Chuck Testa. Kidding.)

But I love what O’Neill says in reply.

“His god? You mean that scum-sucking, overdressed, boom box-voice, snake in the head? Latest on our long list of dead bad guys?”

You forgot “jerkface”, O’Neill.

…And another memory is conjured…

Bra’tac is training with Teal’c in the snow (I should mention here that we have full view of Teal’c’s very nice upper body) and when Teal’c starts to get a little bit cocky, Bra’tac more or less calls him out on it… and kicks his butt straight into the snow.

“Who can stop me? Apophis? So you believe our lord Apophis is all seeing? All-powerful?”

 (No, Bra’tac, Apophis could never stop you! He’s an arrogant jerkface!)

He more or less questions Teal’c’s belief that Apophis is a god, saying that in battle, only wits and strength, not blind faith, will save him.

Back in the infirmary, Teal’c tries to get at Jackson this time, insisting that he’s never questioned his faith. (Uh, friend, your memories say otherwise.) And then, we get another memory…

“Do not test my temper, woman!”

…On Chulak, Teal’c is with Drey’auc. (Oh hey Drey’auc!) He’s struggling between his loyalty to Bra’tac (yay!) and his loyalty to Apophis (boo…) and whether or not to tell his (false) god of Bra’tac’s betrayal. Drey’auc insists that he must first honour Apophis, but he’s still unclear…

“Woman? Did he just call me a woman?”

We’re once more in the infirmary, and Carter joins them. They’re sure that something’s happened, but they’re still not sure quite what. O’Neill and Jackson get some shut-eye, but Carter now joins him. He once again pulls a manipulator move, but thankfully she doesn’t fall for it. (Way to go, Sam.)

…And there’s yet another memory…

On the mothership, Va’lar has returned from a battle… one which it seems had been largely unwinnable… (Hm, remind you of anything? Teal’c? Remember your dad?) … and Teal’c has been summoned with Bra’tac to Apophis. Teal’c tries to tell the resident jerkface that perhaps Va’lar had merely been employing a strategy to defeat Ra in returning with greater forces.

Unfortunately, Teal’c is still ordered to execute him. However, though he returns to the battlefield armed for execution, he ends up cutting the ropes and letting Va’lar go free, though his friend protests. Teal’c then takes the symbiote of a dying Ra warrior and returns to the ship, announcing that he has killed Va’lar… and Apophis buys it.

I think above all the memories we’ve seen so far, this one is the most defining. It is at this point that Teal’c realizes that even the “gods” can be fooled. However, more importantly, it shows that he recognizes honour and what is right or wrong in life. He had no doubt thought of his father, wrongfully executed, and did not wish the same fate for his friend.

We flash back to the infirmary, and Carter is still at his side. Hammond and O’Neill talk up in the observation, and Hammond expresses his thoughts that he, too, would rather see Teal’c pass on from this than have to live in high security the rest of his life.

And we go back one more time…

Teal’c is startled awake, and when Drey’auc asks him what is wrong, he tells her that he was ordered to burn down a village… the village he had suggested Va’lar to go to. Basically, it’s now haunting him.

A while later…

Teal’c approaches Bra’tac, and he has now been made First Prime. Bra’tac’s not happy, and I think it’s more because Teal’c has once again deemed Apophis a “god”. Teal’c doesn’t understand, and Bra’tac explains that he had seen the “spark of doubt” in Teal’c, and wishes his apprentice to do as he has done: more or less manipulate Apophis so that his rule will not be as detrimental. (Think “Cor-Ai”, when he was able to kill only one man, rather than the entire village.)

“His will can be made to bend.”

Nonetheless, he will still do things that will haunt him, but Bra’tac is convinced that Teal’c can still make a difference.

Later yet…

Teal’c converses with Bra’tac about… HEY, IT’S SG-1! Well, not yet. This looks like COTG to me. Teal’c tells his mentor that he has seen a strength and a spark of freedom in them, and…

…Back to the infirmary.

“What have I done?”

And then he flatlines.

SG-1 has gathered, and Bra’tac soon returns. He grabs Teal’c by the face, saying that now is his time. Now he must choose his path. We flashback between Teal’c’s defining moment – his final betrayal of Apophis at the palace during COTG – and the infirmary. They return his symbiote as he remembers – “I can save these people! Help me!” – and then they try the shock paddles – “Many have said that… but you are the first I believe could do it!” – and then he flashes back between many moments over the past four years…

…and he awakens. “I choose freedom.”

YAY!!! TEAL’C IS BACK ! HE’S BAAACK AND HE’S OKAAAY!!!

“Apophis is a false god. A dead false god.”

Right on, Teal’c. I knew you had it in you.

And that’s why I love him.

Final thoughts… AAAHHH

AAAHHH WHAT AN AMAZING EPISODE!

SO MUCH LOVE! Please excuse me while I just curl up into a little ball of “that was sooo BRA’TAC!!!” because it really was because we had Bra’tac and Teal’c and SG-1 and just in general really great things and we got to learn so much about Teal’c and just… squee!!

I loved, loved, loved how this episode played out. It was just really incredible… and it wasn’t all doom and gloom the whole time. Every once in a while, Jack or Daniel would throw in a little humour, but overall it was just beautiful. I loved seeing all the different parts of Teal’c’s life. He’s such a mystery but I felt like this episode really humanized him.

You see, the truth is, I’ve always felt that Teal’c has always gotten the short end of the stick when it comes to his characterization. There are times he doesn’t say more than a few lines, and frankly, I find it kind of annoying. He is such an interesting character with so much potential for backstory, not to mention the fact that the fight against the Goa’uld is a very personal battle for him. What’s more, we never really got to know why he betrayed Apophis and followed SG-1. “Threshold” really filled a lot of holes in his character and in his past, and just watching his transformation from a young apprentice to his realization of what was right – the values of honor, loyalty, and freedom – and wrong – the façade that the Goa’uld are gods.

Besides, we got to see Bra’tac in action. How cool is that? I loved that training scene in the snow. And, no, not just because Teal’c was shirtless. (But that certainly didn’t hurt.)

Just super-fantastic. Love, love, loved it!

PREDICTION/REFLECTION THINGY

(GROUP HUG TIME.)

(A group hug occurs. YAY!)