Prophecy

| Analysis | Notes | Characters | Questions | Production | Review

The team finds an impoverished world enslaved by a Goa'uld underlord, but their plans to free it may be compromised when Jonas experiences unexplained visions of the future.

RATINGS SCORECARD
OUR RATING -
FAN RATING - 7.60 
NIELSEN - 1.7 
EPISODE #621
ORIGINAL AIR DATE: 03.14.2003
SYNDICATION AIR DATE: 05.10.2004
DVD DISC: Season 6, Disc 5
WRITTEN BY: Joseph Mallozzi & Paul Mullie
DIRECTED BY: William Waring
GUEST STARS: Thomas Kopache (Ellori), Victor Talmadge (Mot), Tom Scholte (Chazen), Gary Jones (Technician), Rob Lee (Major Pierce), Teryl Rothery (Dr. Janet Fraiser), Sarah Edmonson (Natania), Johannah Newmarch (Sina), Karin Konoval (Dr. Van Densen), Karen van Blankenstein (Nurse), Brendan McClarty (Sendear), Dan Shea (Sergeant Siler)
WATCH NOW:
  Amazon    iTunes
GateWorld earns a commission on purchases through affiliate links

ANALYSIS

  • According to ancient Earth mythology, there was a power struggle between Baal and Mot. Baal overthrew Mot and forced him into his service. In the generations since, Mot has been quietly building his forces to strike back and try to overthrow his master.
  • Baal has suffered a recent military defeat at the hands of Lord Yu. His recent campaign was meant to be a final, crushing blow on the only one still standing up to Anubis. Instead, he allowed Yu to escape and suffered heavy losses in the process. Anubis is said to be quite upset with Baal.
  • Yu is the only System Lord still in opposition to Anubis, with the others having capitulated to him in the past year ("Last Stand"). The two have been enemies for more than a thousand years.
  • The Goa'uld Nirrti recently had Jonas in an Ancient genetic manipulation device for over an hour ("Metamorphosis"). He suspects now that she didn't just examine him: she did something to him, as a first step in her desire to transform him into a hok'taur to be her next host.

NOTES

  • The planet ruled over by Lord Mot in this episode is designated P4S-237. Baal abandoned the world over 100 years ago, according to Tok'ra intelligence, though the people still extract small amounts of naquadah from the valuable mine there.
  • Kelmina root is a plant found on 237. It acts as a powerful and fast-acting sedative.

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

  • Jonas QuinnJonas Quinn - Jonas pushed himself nearly to the point of death in the hopes of using his new-found ability to help his team, by providing special intel. He is still looking for acceptance, looking to prove himself to the others. After his surgery, Colonel O'Neill expressed to Jonas that he is indeed now a needed part of the team – even without extraordinary abilities like precognition.

UNANSWERED QUESTIONS

  • Will Baal or any other Goa'uld come to 237? Will Mot's death even be noticed by the Goa'uld System Lords above him?
  • Will Jonas suffer any further effects of the brain tumor, the surgery, or Nirrti's genetic manipulation of him?
  • Did Nirrti do anything else to Jonas (or the other members of the team, for that matter) when she had him in the Ancient genetic manipulation device?

PRODUCTION NOTES

  • "The abilities Jonas possesses far surpass those of his fellow Kelownans as well. If we had just given him a photographic memory and left it at that, it would see like little more than a plot convenience. However, there's more to Jonas's intriguing abilities – and we'll be exploring this aspect later in Season Six." (Writer / supervising producer Joseph Mallozzi, at GateWorld Forum)
  • "In many ways, Jonas has followed in Daniel's footsteps. He does possess a number of D.J.'s strengths and yet, he is a very different person, not only in terms of personality, but also physiologically speaking (which is a story-arc we'll be pursuing in time)." (Joseph Mallozzi, in a post at SaveDanielJackson.com)
  • "I thought Mot was a terrific character. That said, he met his end in 'Prophecy' so we won't be seeing him again. But if he has enough fans sending letters of support –" (Joseph Mallozzi, in an online chat at Our Stargate)
  • "This episode turned out to be one of my biggest disappointments of the season. I thought the script was solid but the entire episode rested on the final twist, the moment in which O'Neill hears the horn and calls out to Pierce. It's meant to be the episode's big, defining moment but it's so casually underplayed that it loses any dramatic impact." (Writer/producer Joseph Mallozzi, in a post at his blog)