Within the Serpent's Grasp

"Within the Serpent's Grasp" (Part 2 of 3) is the Season 1 finale episode of the science fiction television series Stargate SG-1.

Plot

Senator Kinsey has shut down the Stargate program. Hammond went to him twice and the second time he was thrown out of Kinsey's office. He then went to the Secretary of Defense, the Joint Chiefs, even the President himself; but it would be political suicide for any of them to override the Senate committee. Knowing that the slaughter that took place in "There But For the Grace of God" could happen in this reality, Daniel convinces his team members to violate orders. They then arm, activate the Stargate and travel to the home of the Destroyers.

They find themselves in a large room and at first don't know on which planet they are. Exploring the room, they however find an until now unknown type of Goa'uld small hand weapon named Zat, which they take with them. Suddenly there is a strong movement and all the members of the team (except Teal'c) are thrown back. Hidden doors open and SG-1 hide as Jaffa march in. They bow before the Stargate as a large ball rises into the center of it. The Jaffa leave. Teal'c explains the ball is A Goa'uld long-range communication device. They soon discover they have gated not to a planet but to a Goa'uld mothership which was in orbit of a planet (thus making a dialing possible). It launched into hyperspace towards Earth after their arrival, cutting off escape. On Earth, Ferretti is ordered to bring them back, officially for court-martial, but because the ship jumped into hyperspace they also can't go through the gate.

SG-1 hide in the Death Glider bays and realise they are on an attack ship headed to Earth. They also notice that Jaffa are heading to a gathering. Sneaking back into the cargo room, they watch a large meeting in which they overhear Apophis unveil his son, Klorel (Skaara), the leader of this ship until Apophis rejoins them. O'Neill orders Carter and Daniel to plant C-4 all over the ship while he and Teal'c grab Klorel, in the hope that Skaara can fight the Goa'uld within him.

They capture Klorel but Skaara is able to assert control only briefly after one painful shot from a Zat gun (two shots kill). He says sorry to O'Neill since he feels responsible for Klorel's doings but then the Goa'uld takes back control. When guards enter they surrender rather than kill Klorel, who then brings the two into the cargo room and contacts his father. Apophis is pleased, and orders Teal'c's and O'Neill's immediate execution. When asked if there are other humans aboard, Klorel makes a typical Goa'uld mistake of overconfidence, declaring "I assure you, father. There could be no more."

Skaara seemingly exerts some influence, as Klorel disobeys his father's orders and delays their execution, bringing them to the Pel'tak (bridge) to witness the destruction of Earth. Carter sets a timer on the bombs, and she and Daniel try to free their friends. They successfully take out the guards but then Klorel grabs Daniel, knocks the gun out of his hands, and uses a hand device on him, intending to kill Daniel. When Klorel doesn't stop, O'Neill is forced to kill Klorel/Skaara.

Looking through the window, they see Earth while the Death Gliders prepare for launch.

Production notes

This episode contains the only scene produced especially for Showtime, not shown on the syndicated versions. When seeing a floating metal ball, Teal'c explains "It is a Goa'uld long-range visual communication device, somewhat like your television, only much further advanced."
In the Showtime version, O'Neill says "Think it gets Showtime?"
In the other versions, O'Neill says "Mmm... Goa'uld TV."
Since Richard Dean Anderson is a fan of The Simpsons, the latter is one of many such in-jokes.

Cairn Deep Space Radar, which detects the Goa'uld ships passing Saturn, appears to be a fictional part of the Deep Space Network. The Hubble Space Telescope and NASA, who get a closer look, are of course real.

Series continuity

This episode marks the last appearance of Louis Ferretti, who first appeared in the feature film, though he is mentioned later in Shades of Grey.

Teal'c introduces Zat'nik'tels and how they operate. Previously, the only Goa'uld hand-held weapons known to the viewer (and the Tau'ri) were the much longer staff weapons.

External links

"Official Stargate SG-1 site". MGM. Retrieved 2006-06-08. Most of site requires Flash.
"Screenplay" (PDF). Distributed by MGM. Prepared by Casablanca Continuity. Retrieved 2006-10-28. Also see Google's cache.
"Summary". SciFi. Retrieved 2006-06-05.