Threshold (502)

[GateWorld]

DISCUSS ... THRESHOLD EPISODE NUMBER - 502 His mind altered by Apophis, Teal'c must undergo a ritual that takes him to the edge of death itself, in order for him to rediscover who he is. Visit the Episode Guide >>

[Jeff O'Connor]

I thought this was a beautifully well-done episode, IMO. I'm glad there was a whole entire episode dedicated to Teal'c after the events of the Season 4 Finale/Season 5 Premiere... and it was done very well too.

[omnian]

Yay! A Teal'c episode! Don't get many of these, nor any as superbly well done. I consider this to be the end of a 3-part thing because...well, it should really.

Interesting to see Teal'c's past too.

[Madeleine]

Yes, Teal'c didn't completely make sense until this ep. His defection in CotG seemed far too sudden, especially when we later discovered how old Teal'c was and how long he had been in Apophis' service.

This was a much needed and much appreciated filling in of some of the blanks in Teal'c's past.

Thinking about Changeling, and how in *that* near-death experience Teal'c doesn't *literally* see scenes from his life flashing before his eyes, it makes me wonder... Maybe something in Teal'c's subconscious *wanted* to break free of the brainwashing, and that is why those particular moments in his life were revisited.

As I write it it seems so completely obvious, perhaps it's what everyone else thought all along and I've only just woken up!

(Note - if anyone wants to post pictures in this thread, there are some nice images of Teal'c in the snow. I'm just sayin'.)

[Anubis]

The acting in this was great, and we got a decent dose of Bra'tac

[bcmilco]

Originally Posted by Madeleine_W

Yes, Teal'c didn't completely make sense until this ep. His defection in CotG seemed far too sudden, especially when we later discovered how old Teal'c was and how long he had been in Apophis' service.

Thank you! I thought I was the only one who felt that way!

Like I said on the CotG thread if they had include that scene between Bra'tac and Teal'c where they are looking through the bars his sudden switch would have made more sense to me, but they didn't and so we have little understanding of his character untill Threshold comes along.

Poor Teal'c always gets the short end of the stick

[KorbenDirewolf]

Yep.. Children of the Gods makes it seem like Teal'c switched sides after seeing a digital watch. Although, he had been to Earth and seen at least the gateroom so I guess he did have a general idea what Earth's technology level was.

Nice to see it "fixed"..

[Selmak]

ahhh... the canadian fog

[Selmak]

Bra'tac... teaching Teal'c a thing or two.

[SeaBee]

This ep shows how sometimes you can be wrong. When it started I thought, "Oh no, not another clip show!", and was all ready to stop paying attention when I realised it was good. Must have been pretty cold, out in that snow with no shirt on!

[Baal_Lord]

This episode really showed what brainwashig does to a person, bra'tac did the right thing to remove hsi symbiote. THis episode wasx also hard for Teal'c, rememberign the terrible things and hte good things he did when he was younger

[Cactus]

The Cactus Looks Back: Threshold

I very much enjoyed this episode. The shooting, writing, and acting were all superb. I especially loved the flashbacks. The "snowy hilltop" scenes felt similar to the opening of Gladiator. At first viewing, I might have considered it my new favourite episode-- though in the time since, it has faded slightly from such high standing.

It provokes some quandaries in the Teal'c chronology, however, in my opinion.

In The Light (4.18), we discover that Teal'c is nearly 102. When I heard this, my jaw hit the floor. I continue to see no reason to have made this distinction. According to the Gateworld synopsis, the episode was penned by James Phillips-- I am not familiar with him, nor am I aware of any other episodes he's written. But the decision to reveal Teal'c's age was surely collaborative. If the creative staff had wanted to reveal his age, why didn't they do it sooner? Doing it at this point-- and having it be such a high number-- only makes it more difficult to relate to Teal'c, in my mind. I'd always thought of him as being, say, forty to seventy; more of a peer to O'neill. Now he's Stargate's Spock, and we can't know what to expect from him maturity-wise without knowing a lot more about the culture of Chu'lak/the Jaffa.

In Threshold, Bra'tac's age is revealed as 137. He also expects to die when his symbiote matures, in two years. (Quick note: I've only just started watching season six for the first time. No spoilers, please!) This would put him at approximately 140, and from his conversation with Carter, we gather that most Jaffa would be rejected if they attempted to take on a new larval Goa'uld at this age. So, there it is: if it was not spelled out in earlier episodes, we can now be fairly certain that the average natural Jaffa life expectancy is nearly double that of humans. This is where Teal'c's age starts to make a little sense. With 35-40 years left to live, his natural life would end at about the same time as the rest of the team's. Teal'c won't be appearing in Stargate: The Next Generation one-hundred years in the future. ;P

But here's my problem with the whole thing: In a flashback, Drey'auc announces that she's pregnant. We can only assume with Rya'c. How old is Rya'c? In Bloodlines (1.11), Rya'c is about to be implanted with his first larval symbiote. I don't own the episode, but I'd guess he's no younger than eight, no older than twelve. The people of Chu'lak are transplanted humans, correct? So Jaffa of Chu'lak age as humans would, prior to implantation.

So, you're telling me that Teal'c was aged 85-90 when he became First Prime to Apophis? Not knowing very much about Jaffa culture, I admit that it's possible. But Christopher Judge was playing Teal'c in the flashbacks between twenty and thirty in terms of maturity, I thought-- thirty-five at most. So, 40-70 as a Jaffa assuming that implantation halves mental development, along with aging. And that can't be, can it? Either way, it's ludicrous to think that Teal'c was running around like this until the age of 85-90; and then, within 10-15 years, he became the reserved, wise, and battle-hardened Teal'c that we all know. If Rules of Engagement (3.09) was any indication, the Goa'uld start Jaffa young-- as in, age-twenty young. (And I don't believe we assume that implantation slows maturation into adult form, do we?) I can believe that Teal'c was a foot soldier for 60+ years. It doesn't seem possible, but it's plausible. But were that the case, there's no way that his character would have been as youthful as he appeared in Threshold.

[Madeleine]

You're right. My way of getting around that particular obstacle is to say that some of what Teal'c remembered was a bit distorted. Or else to say that Jaffa pregnancies can take, um, several years (I wonder if the symbiote would keep the heartburn in check?). Neither of those thoughts solve the problem completely.

[Lord Zedd]

great episode where we learn about Teal'c and his past and how he became the first prime of Apophis and we get to see dreyoc again his wife

[Ananias]

This episode would make the basis for a great book. More or less half of what we know about Teal'c is from this episode alone. I'd love to see a book that brought all the threads together and told the story of Teal'c beginning with the death of his father and ending with the line "...but you are the first who I have believed could actually do it!"

[TonyB1972]

I didn't start watching SG-1 till around season 6, but I caught it everytime it was on, on different channels and quickly saw about all of them. I have bought seasons 1-6 now, and am on season 5. I wanted to watch them all in order since I have seen them all jumbled up.


I thought it was kinda confussing that the guy Teal'c let go, and later burned up in a village was supposed to be killed for retreating while fighting RA's forces. I imagine another goa'uld could of took over for RA and stayed behind the scenes, but it makes you think RA was still around. I thought this seemed very odd. Who knows, maybe Ra is still out there lurking around?


Anyone else notice this or have any ideas on it?

[Metarock Sam]

I love this episode It is one one of the best s5 eps. Not to mention a good teal'c story with big dose of Bratac. Also it got to show some of thingsTeal'c had to do in the service of Apophis to gain his respect.
10/10

[Beatrice Otter]

Originally Posted by Cactus

The Cactus Looks Back: Threshold

I very much enjoyed this episode. The shooting, writing, and acting were all superb. I especially loved the flashbacks. The "snowy hilltop" scenes felt similar to the opening of Gladiator. At first viewing, I might have considered it my new favourite episode-- though in the time since, it has faded slightly from such high standing.

It provokes some quandaries in the Teal'c chronology, however, in my opinion.

In The Light (4.18), we discover that Teal'c is nearly 102. When I heard this, my jaw hit the floor. I continue to see no reason to have made this distinction. According to the Gateworld synopsis, the episode was penned by James Phillips-- I am not familiar with him, nor am I aware of any other episodes he's written. But the decision to reveal Teal'c's age was surely collaborative. If the creative staff had wanted to reveal his age, why didn't they do it sooner? Doing it at this point-- and having it be such a high number-- only makes it more difficult to relate to Teal'c, in my mind. I'd always thought of him as being, say, forty to seventy; more of a peer to O'neill. Now he's Stargate's Spock, and we can't know what to expect from him maturity-wise without knowing a lot more about the culture of Chu'lak/the Jaffa.

In Threshold, Bra'tac's age is revealed as 137. He also expects to die when his symbiote matures, in two years. (Quick note: I've only just started watching season six for the first time. No spoilers, please!) This would put him at approximately 140, and from his conversation with Carter, we gather that most Jaffa would be rejected if they attempted to take on a new larval Goa'uld at this age. So, there it is: if it was not spelled out in earlier episodes, we can now be fairly certain that the average natural Jaffa life expectancy is nearly double that of humans. This is where Teal'c's age starts to make a little sense. With 35-40 years left to live, his natural life would end at about the same time as the rest of the team's. Teal'c won't be appearing in Stargate: The Next Generation one-hundred years in the future. ;P

But here's my problem with the whole thing: In a flashback, Drey'auc announces that she's pregnant. We can only assume with Rya'c. How old is Rya'c? In Bloodlines (1.11), Rya'c is about to be implanted with his first larval symbiote. I don't own the episode, but I'd guess he's no younger than eight, no older than twelve. The people of Chu'lak are transplanted humans, correct? So Jaffa of Chu'lak age as humans would, prior to implantation.

So, you're telling me that Teal'c was aged 85-90 when he became First Prime to Apophis? Not knowing very much about Jaffa culture, I admit that it's possible. But Christopher Judge was playing Teal'c in the flashbacks between twenty and thirty in terms of maturity, I thought-- thirty-five at most. So, 40-70 as a Jaffa assuming that implantation halves mental development, along with aging. And that can't be, can it? Either way, it's ludicrous to think that Teal'c was running around like this until the age of 85-90; and then, within 10-15 years, he became the reserved, wise, and battle-hardened Teal'c that we all know. If Rules of Engagement (3.09) was any indication, the Goa'uld start Jaffa young-- as in, age-twenty young. (And I don't believe we assume that implantation slows maturation into adult form, do we?) I can believe that Teal'c was a foot soldier for 60+ years. It doesn't seem possible, but it's plausible. But were that the case, there's no way that his character would have been as youthful as he appeared in Threshold.

Cactus, we don't know how long ago Teal'cwas first presented to Apophis. He could have only been twenty or thirty at that time. And later, I think maybe part of what you're seeing as the character "ages" rapidly is that the mental strain of dealing with Apophis close up and all his evil, and trying to work through the issues of his false godhood, really did a number on his personality. I mean, until then he was just a foot-soldier type. People don't grow, mentally, until and unless something forces them to do so. Some people never mature past a certain point, because they never find themselves in a situation where they have to. For T, that situation was being Apophis' first prime and trying to reconcile that with Bra'tac's teachings.

[Beatrice Otter]

Originally Posted by TonyB1972

I didn't start watching SG-1 till around season 6, but I caught it everytime it was on, on different channels and quickly saw about all of them. I have bought seasons 1-6 now, and am on season 5. I wanted to watch them all in order since I have seen them all jumbled up.


I thought it was kinda confussing that the guy Teal'c let go, and later burned up in a village was supposed to be killed for retreating while fighting RA's forces. I imagine another goa'uld could of took over for RA and stayed behind the scenes, but it makes you think RA was still around. I thought this seemed very odd. Who knows, maybe Ra is still out there lurking around?


Anyone else notice this or have any ideas on it?

It's a flashback, from several years in the past; the battle for which Valar was supposed to be exiled could have taken place decades ago, for all we know. Ra died only a year before the series started.

[Beatrice Otter]

Originally Posted by Jeff O'Connor

I thought this was a beautifully well-done episode, IMO. I'm glad there was a whole entire episode dedicated to Teal'c after the events of the Season 4 Finale/Season 5 Premiere... and it was done very well too.

Yeah. Stargate doesn't often do an ep that explores a character's psyche, but when they do they don't do it halfway. I wish they'd had an ep like this to deal with Daniel's descension.