Is morally acceptable to kill an infant Goa'uld?

[angela21]

In the season one SG1 episode Bloodlines Daniel and Sam come across an unguarded container filled with larval Goa'uld, they take one and as they are about to leave, Daniel considers killing the rest, Sam says if he did he would be no better then they are and they should just leave. Then Daniel turns around and shoots the container, killing all the Goa'uld.

The Goa'uld would have one day gone on to possess a host but in their larval stage they are helpless and technically have done nothing wrong.

Was he right to kill them?

[Pharaoh Atem]

yes. the Goa'uld process genetic memory and will always be evil and try to regain their strangle hold on the galaxy.

[Sealurk]

Yes. These weren't natural predators, or potential Tok'ra, these were homicidal tyrants in the making, virtually guaranteed given their genetic memory. Maybe they are to be pitied for that, but not spared.

Each would have been implanted into a Jaffa who would have gone on to kill in their 'god's name, spreading terror and death (killing the larval Goa'uld probably delays the arrival of a new 'batch' of Jaffa, maybe even stopping them from becoming full Jaffa at all).

Assuming they survive to maturity in their Jaffa, they would then be implanted into some random and unwilling host, and they would wreak havoc on the galaxy (directly or indirectly) and start the cycle over again.

[LiliJ]

Yes. These weren't natural predators, or potential Tok'ra, these were homicidal tyrants in the making, virtually guaranteed given their genetic memory. Maybe they are to be pitied for that, but not spared.

At this stage I think they were. Yes, they have genetic memories, but what are memories to an infant? They still have to be taught and become characters. True, it is very unlikely that any would become anything other than what their predecessors are, but by killing them Daniel was robbing them of that chance.

Visualise them as babies, newborns, adorable and helpless. Would you kill them now?

[Jeffala]

Sam was wrong. An infant (or undeveloped) Goa'uld might not be able to permanently overtake a human, but it can control them for short periods of times, as seen in "The Enemy Within".

[Replicator Todd]

I dont' think so, no. How else did the Tok'ra come into existence, they are the same species as the Goa'uld. That proves the Goa'uld CAN change their ways IMO.

[Kidwizz]

I dont' think so, no. How else did the Tok'ra come into existence, they are the same species as the Goa'uld. That proves the Goa'uld CAN change their ways IMO.

Didn't the original Tok'ra queen give birth to all Tok'ra? So therefore ONE female Goa'uld changed her mind. The actual larva that get implanted inside the Jaffa are males(or not queens, not sure on the gender structure) carry the genetic memories that the queen wants to give them. The Tok'ra would NEVER trust a Tok'ra who was once a Goa'uld. That is why they have to be careful that if any is killed they cant just recruit more

Also, Take Tanneth, they thought that he was good, but turned out to be just a plan old evil Goa'uld.

[gotthammer]

I'd say Daniel was right in killing the larval goa'uld. I agree w/ the reason/s given above pertaining to genetic memory. At the very least, if those larvae ever grew to maturity and got implanted, they'll be predisposed to do harm to others.
Of course, the idea of 'redeeming' them may seem nice, but did that ever work out at all?

Hmm...I'm also wondering: would those larval goa'uld make for good eating?

[Kidwizz]

Hmm...I'm also wondering: would those larval goa'uld make for good eating?

Well. Chaka seemed to enjoy them... Not so much with the System Lords in Summit.

[maylet]

Yes, Daniel was right with what he did

[spinny magee]

Only seen that ep once can't remember, oh well so what if he killed a snake or two

[SeaBee]

The Goa'uld are a parasitic lifeform which infests other races. Humans destroy parasites all the time. Better to kill them before they infest, rather than wait until they are in a host, when killing them usually involves the death of the host/Jaffa.

[angela21]

I agree that with their genetic memories the Goa'uld larvae would most likely go on to do evil however, as well as the Tok'ra wasn't there another Goa'uld that wasn't related to the Tok'ra who had a change of heart? Can't remember her name or what the ep was but it was on Jonas's planet, she had been sent there by Baal to work undercover, something to do with naquadria, but ended up sacrificing herself to save Jonas and Sam. So there is the potential for them to overcome their genetic memories and become something more.

Also, if they were human babies who were born with evil genetic memories, I think Daniel would be the first one to try to help them.

I think that losing Sha're played a big part in Daniel's decision to kill them but I wonder if he ever regretted it?

[Skydiver]

Baby goa'uld are sentient beings.

and they haven't done anything yet other than be born. How could daniel know, for 100%, that these goa'uld were going to take hosts? Yes, their biology dictates that, yet we've also learned that a Jaffa's life depends on having a goa'uld to crawl into its pouch...so he, theoretically, doomed a bunch of Jaffa, possibly children, to a lingering and painful death.

All on the presumption of 'they're goa'uld, they must be evil because their parents must have been, so i need to kill them. (daniel didn't know the parentage of these goa'uld, how could he condemn them on their genetic memory if he doesn't know what that was?)

It's not so easy as to say 'they're goa'uld, they must die'. they hadn't done anything to deserve dying yet.

[Mongoletsi]

Skydiver, ma'am.... we've been repeatedly told that the Goa'uld are "pure evil", and it's evidenced that even immature larval goa'uld are certainly malevolent.

Kill or be killed innit.