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SG-1 must find a renegade Goa'uld who has been hiding on Earth for thousands of years.
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Jacob Carter, Sam's father and Earth's liaison to the Tok'ra (the Goa'uld resistance movement with which Earth is now allied), arrives at the S.G.C. with some troubling news. The Tok'ra have come to believe that the evil Goa'uld Seth is on Earth. In fact, they think he's been hiding on Earth since the Stargate was buried in Egypt thousands of years ago.
Jacob is, in fact, doubtful that Seth can be located amongst Earth's 6 billion inhabitants.But Daniel and Teal'c point out that as a Goa'uld, Seth will never lose his thirst for power, and to be worshipped as a god. Jackson does some research, and manages to track the Cult of Seth throughout history in its various forms.
A search of the ATF classified network turns up a sure lead: a cult of 50 followers underthe control of Seth Fargough is currently under surveillance north of Seattle. Reportsindicate that Seth has killed some followers in front of others, and that he can make hisown eyes glow.
Sam learns that Selmak, her father's Tok'ra symbiote, requested this assignment because Jacob has an unresolved issue with his son, Mark. The two have been estranged for years, and Mark did not even come to see Jacob on his death bed ("The Tok'ra, Part 1"). But Jacob is a proud and stubborn man, and refuses to go and see his son.
Jacob and SG-1 fly to Washington to attempt to infiltrate the heavily armed and guarded compound and capture or eliminate Seth. They meet Jason Levinson, a father whose son is inside the compound for nine months as a follower of Seth, and James Hamner, in charge of the ATF team that is watching the compound. Hamner tells SG-1 to leave, but a call from the president forces him to turn control of the operation over to Colonel O'Neill.
The team locates an entrance to underground tunnels leading into the compound, but mustprotect themselves before going in. Seth maintains absolute control over his followers withnish'ta, a biological compound used by the Goa'uld. The organism makes the victim's mind extremely "pliable," according to Jacob, though once a subject has been freed from its control with an electrical shock they cannot be reinfected.
O'Neill, Carter, and Jackson prepare to go in, and place small electrical devices in theirears. If infected, Teal'c and Jacob (who monitor from outside the compound, since Seth would be able to sense their Goa'uld symbiotes) can throw a switch and zap the team with asmall jolt of electricity.
The team goes in, and is immediately apprehended by Seth. His followers bring them beforehim -- and he is quite obviously the Goa'uld they are looking for. Not knowing who they are,Seth hits them with the nish'ta. They are under his control.
Soon after, though, Carter is brought to sit at Seth's feet -- and the Goa'uld senses thatshe was once blended with a symbiote (the Tok'ra Jolinar ["In the Line of Duty"]). Still under Seth's control, Sam tells him that the Tok'ra sent them to find him.
Teal'c listens in, and activates the devices. SG-1 is shocked out of Seth's control, butpretend to still be followers. He knows they are lying, and condemns them all to death.
A follower leads them away, but they break free and shoot him with a zat gun. The electrical blast shakes the young man free of the nish'ta control. He is Tom Levinson, the son of the man outside. Tom leads the team to Seth's weapons locker, where they arm themselves with more zat guns.
The team walks through the compound, zatting followers free from Seth's nish'ta-inducedcontrol. Carter and Tom start evacuating them through the underground tunnels, while Jackand Daniel go after Seth.
They find him, but are struck down by his Goa'uld hand device. Seth places a Goa'uld bomb on the ground next to them, and flees to the tunnels -- disguised in the same white robe worn by the followers. He hopes to escape unnoticed.
Jacob and Teal'c enter the tunnels from the other side, as Hamner and his men assist the fleeing followers. Armed with his own hand device, Jacob searchs the hooded figures for Seth. Meanwhile, Jack and Daniel regain consciousness and escape the explosion.
Jacob and SG-1 collapse in on Seth, who continues to try and elude them in the crowdedtunnel. But Jacob finds him and confronts him. Recognizing him as a Tok'ra, Seth blasts Jacob with his hand device. He will recover from the injuries, but Jacob gives his handdevice to Sam.
With the ability to use Goa'uld technology but not to control it very well, Samantha headstoward Seth. She shoots him with the device, knocking him to the ground. Seth turns toshoot her, but another shot from Carter's hand blasts the Goa'uld into the hard ground,killing him.
A few days later, Sam and Jacob walk to the front door of a suburban home in San Diego. The aging father walks to the door and, uncomfortably, knocks. His son answers, and is unsure of how to react. But Jacob embraces him, and he and Sam are invited inside.
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ANALYSIS
The Tok'ra are impressed with SG-1 and the Tau'ri (Earth) for killing Hathor ("Into the Fire"). Earth seems to be proving itself to be a playerin the galaxy, and a worthy ally for the Tok'ra resistance movement. The Tok'ra have been conducting a census of the Goa'uld System Lords -- where they havepositioned themselves, what domain they rule, who serves under them, etc. Seth is apparently the only one they have lost track of. Presumably, every other Goa'uld SystemLord is being monitored in some fashion by the resistance movement. Jacob's "System Lords family tree" projection includes 13 Goa'uld, with the symbol ofRa at the top. (Hathor called him the "Supreme System Lord" in "Hathor," attesting to his dominance). Others on the pyramid display include Apophis (Ra's opposite number and mortal enemy), Hathor (his queen), and Heru'ur (his son). All of these seem to be related to Ra in some way. There are thousands of Goa'uld in the galaxy, but only dozens on the level of SystemLord (most Goa'uld apparently are in service to the more powerful among them). The S.G.C. hasonly scratched the surface of encountering (or learning of) them. The Tok'ra probably haveseveral other similar holographic pyramids in their census, perhaps divided by familialrelation. Teal'c has met descendants of Seth's Jaffa. Presumably, no Jaffa in the galaxy is currently loyal to Seth, since he has been hiding on Earth for thousands of years. Jacob was assigned to this mission by Garshaw -- the leader of the Tok'ra ("The Tok'ra, Part 1"). Selmak requested the assignment to allow Jacob an opportunity to reconcile with his estranged son. According to historical and mythological records found by Daniel, a Cult of Setesh hasexisted in one form or another since around 1,000 B.C. Seth himself was supposedly killed in ancient Egypt; but shortly thereafter, a similar god showed up in Greece: Typhon, thegod of chaos. The cult arose again the early 1700s in England, near Stonehenge. And in thelate twentieth century, Seth's cult of about 50 followers set up north of Seattle. The Web page Jackson was viewing lists Seth as an "18th century cult leader," thoughDr. Jackson misspeaks and states that he lived in the 1800s (the 19th century). The website continues: "The collective suicide of Seth cultists, circa 1722, Wiltshire,England." The ATF Cultwatch web site included the following profile of Seth:Seth Fargough
D.O.B.: 1962 (?)
Sex: M
Weight: 190
Marital Status: N/A
Crim. Record: None Nish'ta -- the Goa'uld biological compound used by Seth to control the minds of his"followers" -- is similar to the organism used by Hathor to control the minds of the men ofthe S.G.C. ("Hathor"), but stronger and more encompassing. Teal'c believes the substance is the same that Apophis used on his son Rya'c ("Family"). Carter stated that as a Goa'uld Seth would be able to sense Teal'c or Jacob'ssymbiotes once they got within 50 feet of him. How accurate was she being? This could be afairly accurate approximation, or she may have simply been illustrating her point that Sethwould be able to sense the presence of their Goa'uld. Considering this precaution, however, it seems strange that no one would consider thepossibility that Seth could sense the remnant of Jolinar in Major Carter -- who was herselfjoined with a Tok'ra Goa'uld one year ago ("In the Line ofDuty"). Carter has been able to sense the presence of Goa'uld, and other Goa'uld havebeen able to sense that Carter was once a host (such as Apophis in "Serpent's Song," and Hathor in"Into the Fire"). It was foolish for her to enter the compoundand not expect that Seth would discover the same thing. The S.G.C. may have acquired a small arsenal of Goa'uld weapons and technology fromSeth's compound, provided some or all of it survived the explosion. At the very least, theyacquired the zat guns that Jack and Daniel escaped with. Now that some 50 young men and women have been rescued from Seth's mind control, theywill no doubt present a significant security risk for the S.G.C. to deal with. These peopleknow of Seth, his powers and his technology (from zats to the hand device to transportrings), not to mention anything he might have told them about the Goa'uld or the Stargate.(Much of these memories may have been lost, however, when the nish'ta mind-control was removed.) Seth bears a striking resemblance to Daniel father, Melburn Jackson (seen in "The Gamekeeper"). In fact, they're played by the same actor:Robert Duncan.
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CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT
 Seth - Also known as Setesh, Setekh, Set, or Seti, the Goa'uld Seth impersonated the ancient Egyptian god of chaos and embodiment of hostility and evil. He attempted to overthrow the Goa'uld System Lords, and had a price on his head from both the System Lords and the Tok'ra. Seth used Earth as a hiding place, and became trapped here when the Stargate was buried in Giza, Egypt.He continued in his lust for power and worship, forming several cults throughout thecenturies -- from impersonating the god Typhon in ancient Greece, to leading a suicide cultin eighteenth century England, to leading a small group of followers north of Seattle atthe end of the twentieth century. Seth was found by SG-1 and Jacob Carter, and killed with a Goa'uld hand device by SamCarter when he tried to escape.
 Jacob Carter - Jacob has been estranged from his son, Mark, for years. Mark even refused to take Sam's calls or to visit Jacob when he was on his deathbed -- something that hurt Jacob very deeply. Jacob is a proud man -- but this unresolved situation was beginning to irritate Selmak, Jacob's Tok'ra symbiote, who forced Jacob to reconcile with his son.
 Samantha Carter - Sam has been estranged from her brother, Mark, for several years -- not because of anything she did, necessarily,but because he associates her with their father Jacob. Mark lives in San Diego and has twokids (a boy and a girl, first mentioned in "Cold Lazarus"), and is apparently now reconciled with Jacob and Sam.
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NOTES
The Tok'ra possess advanced holographic technology.
A Goa'uld can live without a sarcophagus almost indefinitely by changing hosts every400 years or so.
The Goa'uld very typically build escape tunnels under their facilities.
Nish'ta is a Goa'uld biological compound used for mind-control. Once inhaled, it is absorbed into every tissue in the victim's body, making the mind "extremely pliable." Once the effects are reversed with a strong electrical shock (strong enough to kill the organism but not the host), however, the host becomes immune to its effects.
But one must wait until the compound has permeated all body tissue before attempting to shock a victim of nish'ta. Otherwise, it is capable of "hiding out" in parts of the body and reasserting itself later.
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UNANSWERED QUESTIONS
What other cults has Seth led in the millenia since the Stargate was buried in ancient Egypt? What was he doing during the 2,000 years where he drops out of recorded history?
Did Seth simply change hosts every few centuries, or did he have a sarcophagus on Earth?
Are there any other Goa'uld still alive on Earth, marooned here when the Stargate was buried?
Will Jacob and Sam fully reconcile with Mark? How will they explain Jacob's miraculous recovery from terminal cancer?
What level of security risk do the former cult members pose? How will this be dealt with?
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