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jadelotusflower · 5 months ago

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Stargate rewatch: 2x06 - Thor's Chariot

It's the Cimmerian follow up episode! I really like this one.

Well, well, well, if it isn't the consequences of SG-1's actions. They destroyed Thor's Hammer, and the Goa'uld have now invaded and conquered Cimmeria. It's unclear exactly how the Goa'uld knew Cimmeria was unprotected when in the earlier episode Teal'c said all Jaffa knew the symbols as a planet they should not go to, but I suppose a Goa'uld like Heru-ur might decide to send scouts to all the previously forbidden worlds, especially if he’s power playing with Apophis.

Of course, this does seem to contradict the later reveal of the Asgard-Goa'uld Protected Planets treaty, but perhaps Cimmeria wasn't actually part of the treaty but Thor's pet project he was keeping safe through use of the Hammer.

Daniel not wearing his glasses again for no discernible reason. Well, he’s wearing them on his head, successfully functioning neither as a vision aid nor a headband.

Sans glasses, he recognises Gairwyn on the MALP footage; it's like they're an affectation at this stage. There will come a point where he does start wearing them all the time and I'll have to watch out for when that is - I wonder if a note came down about it, like when the Airforce told them Amanda Tapping's hair was getting too long.

Teal’c: The destruction of the hammer device to save my life may have caused this. If so, I am responsible. Jack: General, I gave the order. Daniel: And I fired the staff at the machine. Sam: And I…was there. Hee!

Written by Kathryn Powers, who also penned the previous episode Thor’s Hammer. Directed by William Gereghty.

Gairwyn returns, and we learn that the dead body she was cradling in the cold open was her husband, who was also absent from the previous episode having “gone a-viking”. What I do appreciate about this episode pair is that you’d probably expect a tv show tackling a Norse-inspired culture to default to male characters, but instead our access characters were both women.

Kendra is unfortunately not in this episode, her character having been killed offscreen which is a real shame. Gairwyn does mention that Kendra is buried with her family, implying that SG-1’s visit and confronting the hammer again helped her heal so she stopped isolating herself from the community. And then died :(

The timeline is a bit thin though - Gairwyn says Kendra’s the one who told her to fly the Sagan box through the gate so SG-1 would come and help, but she’s already been buried with her family? I suppose it’s plausible that it took some time for Gairwyn and her family to plan and carry out an assault on the gate.

Sam engages in some light graverobbing and we learn she can use Goa’uld technology thanks to Jolinar. But since we can’t have Sam using the healing device every time someone gets a scratch, controlling the tech is difficult for her.

The remaining Cimmerians are understandably not happy with SG-1 for leaving them vulnerable to attack, which you know what, fair. Half of them are dead!

Olaf, not a talking snowman but seemingly the leader of the remaining group, calls SG-1 “the dogs of Midgard” which would be a great name for a heavy metal band.

Daniel takes his glasses off for his closeup for emphasis, suggesting Thor hasn’t abandoned Cimmeria, but is simply far away.

Gairwyn takes Sam and Daniel to the Hall of Thor’s might, while Olaf takes Teal’c and Jack on patrol.

Exposition time! We get out introduction to Heru-ur, son of Ra and Hathor and powerful system lord. We get the first return of the Horus helmet since the film, worn both by Heru-ur and his Jaffa. Underneath the helmet is Douglas A Arthurs, and I am a little more lenient about the casting of white guys in the roles of current Goa'uld that could have credibly changed hosts at any time, although still not great obviously. On the other hand, casting all your villains as actors of colour isn't great either and while you can certainly say that the casting would be so much more inclusive if the show was made today, so much about the show would be different if made today I'm not sure it's worthwhile to unravel that thread.

We can assume that Heru-ur has taken Ra's place as a rival to Apophis, likely absorbing much of Ra's former territories and jostling with Apophis for the rest, hence Cimmeria as his new ship building world.

“Our god is Thor, he taught us to stand as equals.” The difference between a Goa’uld and an Asgard, although a lie is a lie, and a false god is a false god, as will be explored in much a later episode.

"What did he teach you about pain?" Generally I find Heru-ur a lower tier adversary, but this is a good villain line.

Teal’c shoots a pistol! But clearly finds it wanting, as he goes straight back to his staff weapon.

“Things will not calm down, Daniel Jackson, they will in fact calm up.” Iconic Teal’c line. I like to think that by this point Teal’c is familiar enough with Earth parlance that this is deliberate on his part.

Jack: “he means things will escalate of course.”

Daniels glasses are once again atop his head. There's low light in this cave Daniel, how can you possibly see?

Thor’s test part 1: do you have the courage to touch the forbidden stone? (Bravery)

The return of hologram Thor, once again played by Mark Gibbons, I appreciate this continuity of this. However despite Olaf saying earlier that Thor taught them to stand as equals, Gairwyn kneels to ask for his help. But I think that makes sense, showing defiance to an oppressor is different from confronting ones benefactor seeking help. Daniel also removes his hat, which I think it a nice character touch.

Thor’s test part 2: would you risk/sacrifice your life to save your friends? (Selflessness)

Meanwhile, Jack, Teal’c and Olaf run around the forest picking off Jaffa. Whatever, the interesting story here is the puzzles. I’m not being sarcastic, I love it when they have to solve puzzles.

But Daniel: Puzzle Master is initially stumped by the riddle of the runes. Holo!Thor telling him there’s no shame in failure kickstarts his brain to realise the runes are numbers not concepts, Sam identifies the sequence as Pi, and Daniel figures out they have to represent the concept on the geometric shapes. Guess the pictographs were a red herring? Of course we never find out what the pictographs were depicting so maybe there was a clue in them Daniel didn't see.

Honestly, I think the reflection of the key light in Daniel's glasses as shown here is the reason he keeps taking them off.

For reference, other than representing Pi, according to Daniel's translation the rune sequence is Protection/Fate/Movement/Chariot, which could mean that for Thor's protection, the Cimmerians must decide their own fate, move forward/progress, and then be shown the truth i.e. his true self/technology.

I really wish Gairwyn had been included in solving the puzzle, maybe she could have been the one to realise the runes were numbers? Or at least she could have been the one who showed courage in the first test. Then they all would have played a part.

Holo!Thor disappears and we see Thor’s true (Roswell grey-esque) form, voiced by Michael Shanks, (uncredited at this point). The voice will change slightly over the years.

But I love the Thor puppet! It’s genuinely beautiful, especially the eye movement. Like the Goa'uld snake-form, the puppets are so much better than the CG versions they bring in later.

I also love that everyone pronounces Goa’uld differently. Daniel says “goold” out of disrespect, but Thor says “gow-uld” which isn’t quite correct but believable from an ancient race who has fraught dealings with them, and for whom language has changed over time - important to remember that Shanks is playing both roles and choosing the pronunciation that fits the respective character.

Thor’s ship is called the Bilskinir, Old Norse for "lightening-crack" and was a great hall where the mythological Thor lived on Asgard - the "hall of Thor's might" and his chariot/spaceship are conflated for the purposes of the show. The hall of his might was not a weapon as Daniel and Sam expected, but a test to show when the Cimmerians were ready to se Thor in his true form i.e. invite them into his hall.

“We did not anticipate outside interference” Thor reading Earth to filth with absolute politeness.

“Daniel, you look suspiciously empty handed” lol, Jack is not surprised.

Jack sarcastically asking if the real Thor was nice is funny since her will will soon become Thor's favourite human.

Having surrendered to spare the remaining Cimmerians, Daniel observes, "Before they rode into battle the Sioux used to say: This is a good day to die." Jack isn't amused, either by the sentiment or Daniel invoking some (likely) apocryphal/embellished history.

Thor shows up in his big honking spaceship and decimates the fuck out of Heru-ur's forces. With all the beaming that goes on in later seasons, it’s easy to forget how badass Thor showing up and disappearing everyone was on first viewing. "Lightning-crack" indeed.

He got there pretty toot-sweet didn't he? I guess he was in the neighborhood, since when Earth gets Asgard tech later on they don't travel nearly as fast (unless the Asgard started them out on baby's first hyperspace).

But Heru-er escapes, since they need him to get his ass kicked again in a few episodes.

Thor also braided Gairwyn's hair and gave her a new outfit, which was nice of him.

“They are a friend to all, protector of all, except the Goa’uld, with whom they are at war.” Thor stretching the truth a bit here, unless by “war” he meant “fragile terms of non-interference in one another’s territories.”

“I’m to tell you that Thor’s new Hammer will make an exception for the one called Teal’c.” I always thought this episode should have been placed later in the season, at least after Secrets, since in that episode no one raises the possibility of using the new Hammer to free Sha’re. Arguably it would be too dangerous to send a heavily pregnant woman though, but you’d think it would be discussed at least. On the other hand, maybe the new Hammer takes a while to build?

Heru-ur also plays a role in that episode, and we first meet him in this episode so it couldn't have been an order changeup, and was written this way. I just wish it had been addressed since it's only a few episodes from now.

But anyway. This was a good one! Following up on a previously visited planet, consequences of actions, puzzles, good guest star. Overall season 2 is pretty strong.

#jlf watches #stagate sg-1 #2x06 thor's chariot #stargate rewatch #stargate season 2

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