Lmao must be awkward to be like a grunt at stargate command and have to be like, "yeah hi, I got the shit beat out of me by Dr. Jackson while he was going through sarcophagus withdrawals"
I'm going to say upfront that I don't really love this episode. But it's lore-important, revealing up the adverse affects of using the sarcophagus.
It's inevitable that in sci-fi shows, particularly long running ones such as Stargate, that the level of advanced technology obtained in-universe becomes a problem for the writing staff. You have to keep your characters in reasonable jeopardy, but you have to play within the established world where there seem to be easy solutions to all their problems. To avoid this, it will often be a case of one step forward two steps back - a new ally will be killed off, a new technology will be taken or our heoroes will be forced to leave it behind, it's all standard tv stuff.
In this case it's the sarcophagus, established in the film as literally able to resurrect the dead, and therefore obtaining one would be a huge win for the SGC, and a big priority. They dealt with this in Hathor by shooting the thing up, but it was inevitable that they'd come across another so there has to be some other reason they can't use it, otherwise anytime someone with in mortal peril the audience would ask 'why don't they use a sarcophagus?'.
The Solution? Sarcophagus use = drugs. Oh, and it makes you evil.
Written by Robert C Cooper (with Damian Kindler as co-story credit, his first of the series) and directed by David Warry-Smith.
SG-1 watch a naquadah delivery ceremony, and we get a stock shot of a pyramid and mine that will be reused many times over the seasons.
They follow a hooded figure into the forest to the edge of a cliff, where Jack articulates that she’s going to jump, but does nothing.
Daniel’s the only one who takes action to stop this suicide attempt, but in doing so gets them all captured.
The would-be jumper is Princess Shyla, her father is Pyrus the God Slayer, who overthrew the Goa'uld and took his place but still forces the populace to mine the naquadah and send through the Stargate.
Sam reveals she can now sense the presence of a Goa'uld, also a vital lore moment.
Daniel apologises for their predicament, and while I get that Daniel needs to rein in the impulsiveness, the insinuation that he should totally have let someone leap to their death is a bit weird.
The Goa'uld who once ruled the planet is never named, and we never see this symbol again as far as I know. There are carvings on the wall behind the sarcophagus, but I don't know enough about the art style or god form to make a refined guess what culture they were aiming at.
"You know, I've seen an awful lot of union violations around here, I should probably speak to your supervisor." Heh, I love it when Jack gets sassy with the Jaffa. This Jaffa however gets sassy back, sarcastically asking about Jack's leg in response to an earlier quip that he couldn't kneel because of his ACL (an inside reference to RDA's knee problems).
SG1 attempt to escape, but Daniel gets smooshed by falling rocks (like father like son). However, since Sam specifically says that he's alive, this doesn't go on the Daniel Death Tally, but he does get treated in the sarcophagus for the third time.
Shyla showing Daniel the trees as a marvel only to realise that he has seen them on other worlds is a nice in-joke that they have and will shoot in this Vancouver forest many, many times.
Shyla also tells Daniel that he's her destiny, and that she was going to jump off the cliff because she feared her promised lover from beyond the sun would never arrive, and lo and behold, he saves her life. Daniel is appropriately disturbed, and under ordinary circumstances this would probably be the point he'd go "sorry, I'm married," but he's in a bit of a precarious position, knowing that Shyla essentially holds the lives of Jack, Sam, and Teal'c in her hand, and puncturing her delusions would end very badly for all of them.
So off Daniel tots to explain the situation, and they're understandably less than pleased he can't spring them yet.
"Surprisingly difficult to kill you, isn't it?" Oh Jack, you don't know the half of it.
I actually don't mind this gown - it's the headpiece that ruins the look. I get what they were going for with the asymmetry but it's still ugly.
Pyrus reveals he's over 700 years old thanks to the sarcophagus, which explains why he's such a jerk. Daniel hasn't yet honed his diplomacy skills, and his lack of tact makes things worse, giving Shyla even more power over the the situation as the intermediary between him and Pyrus. She kisses Daniel and when he pulls away, manipulates him into going back into the sarcophagus.
It's unclear how much Shyla's mind has been altered by the sarcophagus - she hasn't used it to extend her life, and it's clear she's aware of its addictive properties, but is her amorality a consequence of sarcophagus use or is she just a rotten person who would get someone hooked on drugs so they'll be romantically pliable? We never actually see her use it, just encourage others to, and that she was intending to commit suicide does indicate an altered or depressed mental state which could be interpreted either way (either she don't use it regularly and therefore doesn't get the constant euphoria from it, or she does use it and was in that moment feeling withdrawal symptoms that sent her to the cliff rather than back to get another hit).
Days later, Daniel is high on sarc and hair gel, completely oblivious to his friend's distress and proselytizing the benefits, including that he no longer needs his glasses. Given he has a very loose relationship with wearing them anyway, you can see how the others are not impressed.
"No you look, Jack. I have got everything under control, okay? God, you never show me any respect. Your way didn't work. Now I'm handling it." An interesting question is how exactly it affects Daniel - stripping away his inhibitions and sense of morality as his only focus becomes another go in the sarc and the euphoria it brings, and yet there's the sense that there are some real, buried emotions bubbling to the surface. On some level, Daniel does believe that Jack doesn't respect him and resents his brute force approach, but while usually this might only frustrate him, under the influence of the sarc it's focused and weaponised.
Sam's memories of Jolinar indicate the Tok'ra don't use the sarcophagus because it takes ones "Kalesh" i.e. soul, likely derived from the Ancient Egyptian concept of "Ka" being a vital essence or life force.
"The man who would be king." Jack the Sean Connery fan checks out.
Keeping Sam in frame to give Daniel the side-eye as he kisses Shyla goodbye was a great directorial choice.
"We had a nice time sir. Carter picked up some naquadah, Teal'c made some new friends, as always. Daniel got engaged." I generally find the "girl on every planet" fixation by fandom to be off putting, but this is a nice Jack line in context.
Speaking of, Sam is the one that finally points out Daniel already has a wife, and as a fan of Sha're and the Daniel/Sha're relationship this is a hard episode. On the one hand it's clear that it isn't so much Shyla that Daniel can't get out of his head but the sarcophagus, on the other hand the dismissive way he speaks of Sha're is terrible, and so contrary to Daniel's character. At this stage of the show he has two consuming passions: the pursuit of knowledge and finding Sha're, that they both would be wholly replaced with his need for the sarcophagus shows just how much his mind has been altered.
"And even if I find Sha're one day, what are the chances she's ever going to be the same again?" However, like his blowing up at Jack, there's probably a kernel of truth here - deep down in a place Daniel doesn't want to admit or address, he does fear that Sha're is irrevocably lost to him, and that he can never go back to that happy life he had with her. Shanks's delievery of this line is nuanced as well, where he has to force himself to say Sha're's name and it almost seems in that infinitesimal moment he might snap out of it.
But he doesn't, and accuses Sam of never knowing what love is, to which she responds that the Daniel she knows would never say such a thing. I think she's right, and in this case rather than revealing an uninhibited, genuine thought Daniel is instead using a false but targeted cruelty because he can't let himself listen to her reason.
I always find drug rage/withdrawal scenes difficult to watch.
But Jack talks him down, and there is a nice comforting hug. Jack also crucially backs up the recovered Daniel's suggestion that they return to Shyla's planet to try and free the people there from slavery (and get Earth access to the naqudah mine). It's a nice moment when he tells Hammond he wants Daniel back on the team.
Shyla destroys the sarcophagus pretty readily, which indicates to me she can't have been too much in its thrall. Although perhaps it affects people differently, and some are more susceptible to its negative energy than others, because Daniel went off the deep end very quickly from very short term use while Shyla - though manipulative - doesn't show the same heightened behaviour. Although perhaps her negative traits of cunning have been amplified, while Daniel's personality already leans towards the manic. Or, the sarcophagus affects Daniel more because it was used to literally raise him from the dead the first time, and to heal mortal injuries the next two times, and so he got mega doses of the tech, hooking him onto it more effectively.
Shyla does at least show some remorse over what she did, and hopefully goes on to abdicate her throne and allow the people her father subjugated to form a fairer governing system.
I think we can assume the SGC does get access to the naquadah and maintains diplomatic relations with the planet. So...happy ending I guess?
