Stargate SG-1, Season 7, Episode 10

"Birthright"

images used above are courtesy of Gateworld and MGM

Overall Rating:  Fair

Commentary by:

Peter F. Woeste — Director
Jim Menard — Director of Photography
Mark Davidson — Set Decorator
Robert Davidson — Set Decorator

The commentary is very informative and interesting.  Lots of behind the scene information.  The commentary stays on point with what is on screen.

Review:  

Off world, meeting up with a Jaffa who wants to be a Free Jaffa, SG-1 is attacked by a group of Jaffa who are apparently good with being enslaved by the Goa’ulds.  Suddenly, the attacking Jaffa are wiped out by a flurry of staff blasts.  Expecting to see Free Jaffa, SG-1 instead sees a group of women Jaffa.  They are the ones who defeated the attackers, and call themselves Hak’tyl.  One of the Hak’tyl goes to a fallen Jaffa and removes his symbiote.  Well, yuck.  SG-1’s reputation precedes them, and the Hak’tyl invite the group to their outpost on another world.  Once there, SG-1 meets Ishta, the Hak’tyls leader, and gets the full story.

The Goa’uld Moloc decreed 30 years ago that all female Jaffa under his control be killed at birth.  Moloc believes only male Jaffa are effective fighters and worthy of being allowed to live.  Teal'c is unfamiliar with any Goa'uld that allows female Jaffa as part of their fighting force, but other Goa'ulds don't kill off their female Jaffa solely because they are female.  Some of Moloc's female Jaffa are kept alive as breeders, and a few more as priestesses whose job is to kill newborn female Jaffa born under his rule.  Ishta is one of the priestesses.  She and other priestesses rescue the female newborns when they can, and raise them at their outpost.  The Hak’tyl also form hunting parties to take down male Jaffa and procure their symbiotes, because once a Jaffa reaches puberty they must be implanted with a symbiote or else die (”Bloodlines”).  Teal’c disapproves of killing Jaffa, at least before offering them a chance to be free.  SG-1 tells the Hak’tyl about the tretonin option (”The Changeling”).

The Hak’tyl must decide to use tretonin, or lose Teal’c, and possibly by extension the rest of SG-1 and SGC, as allies.  Being Jaffa, the Hak’tyls are suspicious of living life without a symbiote.

The acting is okay.  Neither bad, nor great.  Jolene Blalock is Ishta, Christine Adams is Mala, and Kathleen Duborg is Neith.

Failures:

This episode is written by Christopher Judge, who usually adds interesting details about Jaffa society in his writings.  Not this time.  This is Stargate SG-1 does an Amazon woman warrior mythos story, with no new information about Jaffa society in the mix.  Nothing new about Amazon woman warrior mythos, either.  I rated this episode Fair, but it’s a very weak Fair.

Female Jaffa aren’t allowed to fight?  Pretty obvious after 6 seasons of Stargate SG-1, when there was nary a female Jaffa warrior in sight during battles.  Female Jaffa can fight, and fight well?  This is not surprising.

Not long after the episode begins, Moloc’s femicide of Jaffa born under his rule becomes a very minor plot device.  More of the story’s time is spent on Teal’c’s disapproval of the Hak’tyls killing male Jaffa willy-nilly, and the Hak’tyls reluctance to switch to tretonin.  When using something as horrible as femicide in a story, then give the topic the time and respect it deserves.  There were other options for initiating the story.