“I Die Free!” The Free Jaffa Watch List
August 30, 2024 •
What Teal'c and Bra'tac started as a ragtag resistance grew to a mighty nation. Here is a guide to the trials and tribulations of the Jaffa people!
If you just want the episode list without any pesky plot details to spoil you, click here!
The story of Stargate SG-1 was, in the end, about much more than just Earth’s struggle to find its place in the galaxy. As SG-1 began to explore new worlds they learned that the Jaffa soldiers who fight for the Goa’uld are not all true believers. The Jaffa are slaves, made dependent on the Goa’uld from the day they are born. And many of them secretly yearned for freedom!
No one on the show exemplified this struggle more than Teal’c — former First Prime of Apophis, now turned shol’vah (“traitor”) to fight for the liberation of his people. The show’s first season introduced us to Bra’tac, Teal’c’s Jaffa master who taught him everything he knows. Together they sought to liberate all Jaffa everywhere, as their brothers and sisters, quietly forming a fourth column within the ranks of the Jaffa armies and dreaming one day of a new nation for all free Jaffa.
This is one of the show’s biggest ongoing storylines, so it’s no surprise that our rewatch list has a whopping 20 episodes! Just follow this list to relive all the important moments and breakthroughs in the Jaffa’s righteous struggle. (If you want to expand this a bit to cover Teal’c’s story, be sure to add Season One’s “Bloodlines” and Season Two’s “Family” before picking up with the episodes below.)
Ready to fight for freedom? “Shal’kek nem’ron!” Here’s the complete watch list from Stargate SG-1:
INTO THE FIRE
With his teammates missing in action Teal’c leaves Earth for home, where he gives an impassioned speech to try and convince his fellow Jaffa to join the struggle against the Goa’uld … even if it means they too will be ostracized.
THE SERPENT’S VENOM
Teal’c’s efforts to connect Jaffa who might be friendly to the resistance get him captured by the enemy, who tortures him to try and break his will for propaganda purposes.
THRESHOLD
Brainwashed by Apophis, Teal’c undergoes the Rite of M’al Sharran — forcing him to relive his true path as a young soldier who came to see the Goa’uld for what they really are.
THE WARRIOR
Bra’tac and Teal’c are encouraged to find a true resistance building among the Jaffa, under the leadership of Kytano — whose methods make SG-1 suspicious of the man’s tactics and his true motives.
ALLEGIANCE
After their base is compromised the Tok’ra take refuge at Earth’s Alpha Site, where tensions run high with the rebel Jaffa who are also living there — particularly after an invisible assassin starts picking them off one by one.
THE CHANGELING
Teal’c cannot tell which of his lives is real and which is a dream, as he moves between his days at Stargate Command and a reality where he is a firefighter and an otherwise ordinary man.
BIRTHRIGHT
When SG-1 discovers a secret colony of female Jaffa, the Hak’tyl, who are fighting against the tyranny of the Goa’uld Moloc, Teal’c determines to unite the tribe with the larger resistance movement.
DEATH KNELL
After a Kull warrior attacks the Alpha Site, new tensions arise between Stargate Command and the Jaffa resistance — who Earth suspects might have leaked the address to the secret base.
SACRIFICES
On the eve of Rya’c’s wedding the alliance with the Hak’tyl is strained, as Ishta demands that Moloc be taken out once and for all.
ENDGAME
While Teal’c and M’Zel investigate a series of widespread Jaffa deaths, the rest of SG-1 discover that a group of rogue operatives on Earth are using symbiote poison to indiscriminately attack Goa’uld-occupied worlds.
RECKONING, PART 1
The Jaffa resistance movement finally comes into its own, as Teal’c and Bra’tac lead them in taking up arms against their oppressors — while at the same time the System Lords are crushed by the invading Replicators.
RECKONING, PART 2
Having taken control of the holy planet of Dakara, the free Jaffa must defend their ancient homeland from the Goa’uld and the Replicators … while Sam and Jacob look for a way to activate the powerful weapon hidden inside the mountain.
THREADS
The free Jaffa celebrate their liberation from the Goa’uld, marking the vital role of Teal’c and Bra’tac … unaware that Anubis is plotting to retake Dakara and wipe them out.
ORIGIN
Gerak, an influential leader from the newly formed Free Jaffa Nation, makes his first visit to Earth. But the tenuous alliance faces a new challenge from the arrival of Ori missionaries from another galaxy.
EX DEUS MACHINA
Gerak sends soldiers in secret to Earth to capture a suspected Goa’uld, further straining the fragile alliance between the Free Jaffa and the Tau’ri.
THE FOURTH HORSEMAN, PART 1
As the Ori Priors preach the message of Origin and threaten to force planets to bow to their new gods, Gerak makes the shocking decision to join them — throwing into chaos the Jaffa’s movement for freedom from false gods.
THE FOURTH HORSEMAN, PART 2
The Jaffa High Council is stunned to hear Gerak’s pleas for them to join in worshipping the Ori, as Teal’c searches for a way to get through to him — and Earth is afflicted by a plague from the Priors.
STRONGHOLD
The Jaffa leadership weighs whether to appoint a leader or embrace broad democracy, unaware that a former Goa’uld System Lord is using brainwashing technology to pull the strings behind the scenes.
COUNTERSTRIKE
The Ori invasion fleet arrives in force, turning to Dakara to destroy the one weapon capable of stopping their crusade.
TALION
After a terrorist attack decimates an important Jaffa summit, Teal’c goes on a personal quest for revenge — as Stargate Command is forced to welcome a Jaffa leader named Arkad, who they suspect might be plotting Earth’s destruction in secret.
If you make use of this guide in your viewing, let us know! We’d love to hear how you are watching (or rewatching) Stargate according to individual story arcs.
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