Enigma (116)

[ZOMG!b_cs]

I totally like Narim and think that he is sweet. I love the kiss and think that relationship and the fact that it can't work is the most redeeming part of this epi. Just me, though.

Narim wasn't that bad, I suppose. Overall I get the impression the writers didn't know what to do with a female character like Sam in those early years. They tried to tie her to different relationships that didn't really pan out.

[RononXSpecialist]

Aha good ep. I love episodes with the Tollon in them, I totally wish i could walk threw walls lol. That would come in handy..
To bad the Tollon are right we are a primitive society and untill we can come together as a planet we'll never be on their level of technology.

[Cello]

And here we are talking about something much more important then going to the moon. To protect the earth and humanity I´d say that a lot is forgivable and justifiable .

This is one of my few beef´s with SG-1, they tend to let emotions and "doing the right thing" get in the way of fulfilling their primary mission which is to protect earth.

Even if we could ignore the moral considerations, there are two problems with the forcible approach you recommend.

First, how can you be sure the Tollan team couldn't eventually tell their home planet about their treatment at our hands? Remember the communicator Omoc used to signal the Nox? Imagine him alerting the Tollan home planet instead. Now imagine the people there, who are far more technologically advanced than we are, becoming seriously annoyed with us Earthlings. I sure wouldn't want to answer for the consequences.

Second, how would you wrest the secrets away from the Tollans? The team that was rescued may have no more knowledge of physics than Daniel Jackson would. After all, Dr. Jackson is an archeologist, not a physicist. Could he tell the natives on Abydos how to build the nuke that killed Ra? I doubt it. Similarly, a random group of Tollans is unlikely to have any experts in their technology.

For these two reasons, especially the first, what the SG-1 team actually did was probably the wisest thing. It was the morally right thing to do as well, and I am satisfied.

[Cello]

i liked this eppy but i didn;t like the Tollans "leader". i thought that he was stuck up and rude. but all in all i thought it was a good eppy.

Heh, Omoc was so hostile at first, I thought the Tollans might have been working for the Goa'uld.

[Cello]

But upon reflection, it occurred to me that though the Tollan may have been more technologically advanced than us, there may have also been consequences to this. Their emotional capacity seemed different to ours.

I have an idea why the Tollans seem so stunted emotionally: their whole race went through extreme trauma when they lost their world. As Omoc said, their neighboring planet blew itself up, no doubt raining lethal fragments on the Tollans. One asteroid was enough to kill off all the dinosaurs here on Earth; imagine the cataclysm that a million fragments could wreak.

Namir was astonished at seeing a bird, saying that his world (the new Tollan planet) did not have them. Looking back, I think he meant to say that birds, flowers, and many other beautiful things once existed on his former world but are gone forever. I can't imagine the profound sense of loss that he and all the other Tollans must feel. The trauma their whole race went through might explain why most of them seem so cold.

This is my guess from what I have seen of Season One. I'm experiencing all the episodes for the very first time, so I could easily be wrong.

It's been an excellent series so far!

[Pic]

I have an idea why the Tollans seem so stunted emotionally: their whole race went through extreme trauma when they lost their world. As Omoc said, their neighboring planet blew itself up, no doubt raining lethal fragments on the Tollans. One asteroid was enough to kill off all the dinosaurs here on Earth; imagine the cataclysm that a million fragments could wreak.

Namir was astonished at seeing a bird, saying that his world (the new Tollan planet) did not have them. Looking back, I think he meant to say that birds, flowers, and many other beautiful things once existed on his former world but are gone forever. I can't imagine the profound sense of loss that he and all the other Tollans must feel. The trauma their whole race went through might explain why most of them seem so cold.

This is my guess from what I have seen of Season One. I'm experiencing all the episodes for the very first time, so I could easily be wrong.

It's been an excellent series so far!

I'm glad you're enjoying SG1 - it is an excellent series.

I hadn't thought of the trauma leading to their lack of warmth, that's an interesting opinion. I had always considered them arrogant with a side-dish of a superiority complex. I can imagine that such a large scale loss would harden a people.

P.S. I still think Omac is an ass.

[Cello]

I'm glad you're enjoying SG1 - it is an excellent series.

Thanks, it's looking good so far. I'm watching one episode a day on the Space Channel (the Canadian equivalent of the Sci Fi channel). Maybe that's going a bit too fast, because I'm hit with another episode before I've fully absorbed the previous one. I feel as if I've been drinking too much!

The truth is though, earlier in Season One only Sam Carter kept me coming back.... she is so appealing. But the last few episodes have been strong -- I'm up to "There but for the Grace of God" now -- and I think I'm hooked!

I hadn't thought of the trauma leading to their lack of warmth, that's an interesting opinion. I had always considered them arrogant with a side-dish of a superiority complex. I can imagine that such a large scale loss would harden a people.

Especially if a lot of them died during the tragedy.

P.S. I still think Omac is an ass.

So do I! I still can't understand why he wasn't grateful for the rescue.

[Butlersgate]

i love that tobin bell was in this episode they should of brought him back

[The Stig]

i find the tolan a tad snobish. An episode i completely forgot about but looking back it was a great change to find a civilisation more advanced than us (not counting nox as they don't do anything)

[Zwegan]

I just started watching the series on DVD, and the thing that jumped out at me in this episode was the continuity problem.

At the end the Nox come through the gate to rescue the Tollen (prolly spelling both wrong) and then they go through the gate back to the Nox homeworld...

But wouldn't the gate have to have been dialed from Earth for them to return?

I thought it was a 1-way thing.

[MistressBratak]

This episode showed me why my evil (hormonal) alter-ego could never work at the SGC. As soon as the mighty leader of the Tollan said his first ungrateful, condescending word, I would have said, "Oh, looks like we've got a Lieutenant Dan Syndrome on our hands." (I had a destiny! I was supposed to die with my men!)

Then I would have had someone dial the gate to wherever we got those folks from, (if possible), escorted Mr. High and Mighty to the Gateroom in a custom-made, body-size sling.
Then I would have had Teal'c pick him up and swing him in the air, 'round and 'round,
(let's pause and imagine that for a moment, complete with sound effects: whoosh! Whoosh! Whoo-whoo-whoo-WHOOSH!)
and sling his pompous precious self right through that gate.
What? It's not my fault I'm too primitive to understand that that's not the proper way to use the gate?
Then I would have turned to everyone else and said,
"Look, I know we are primitive and inferior. We could try to detain you here, but you will obviously find a way out. At the same time, we don't want you hangin' around turning up your precious little noses at our pitiful primitive secrets either. So how about you cut to the chase, and get the heck off our planet. And do it quickly.
"What? Don't look at us. We don't know squat! We're primitive. Sorry. Can't help you."

[Tawny]

I just started watching the series on DVD, and the thing that jumped out at me in this episode was the continuity problem.

At the end the Nox come through the gate to rescue the Tollen (prolly spelling both wrong) and then they go through the gate back to the Nox homeworld...

But wouldn't the gate have to have been dialed from Earth for them to return?

I thought it was a 1-way thing.

Aye, wormhole travel is one way. It's been a while since I watched this episode, so here goes:
If the wormhole doesn't disengage after they step through, probably a mistake with the continuity.
If it does disengage, but doesnt appear to be dialled, its because they have that wierd arm movement that opens the gate without dialling.

[eaglevision]

I just started watching the series on DVD, and the thing that jumped out at me in this episode was the continuity problem.

At the end the Nox come through the gate to rescue the Tollen (prolly spelling both wrong) and then they go through the gate back to the Nox homeworld...

But wouldn't the gate have to have been dialed from Earth for them to return?

I thought it was a 1-way thing.

The gate shut down after Lya step through. After that:

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y83...nsx/enigma.gif

[lordofseas]

I just started watching the series on DVD, and the thing that jumped out at me in this episode was the continuity problem.

At the end the Nox come through the gate to rescue the Tollen (prolly spelling both wrong) and then they go through the gate back to the Nox homeworld...

But wouldn't the gate have to have been dialed from Earth for them to return?

I thought it was a 1-way thing.

What the previous poster stated above. When you watch more of the series, you learn that it is possible to do what Lya did. The Nox are indeed technologically advanced.

[jsonitsac]

I thought this was an ok episode and we got to dip a toe into Mayborne's psyche. I didn't find the Tollan all that sympathetic, but I could understand how they felt about the issue.

One thing that bugged me (and this is probably because I've taken graduate level classes in the history of science and technology) was Daniel's comment about the Dark Ages. I realize it's a cliche to say "if it weren't for the Dark Ages..." but the fact is that statement is patently false. First, technology doesn't really have a linear progression (in fact many scholars who study this hate the concept of "progress"). Also, it's very Western European centric, Daniel forgets about the various glories of the Islamic and Asian civilizations during the "Dark Ages." Again, this totally comes from my educational experience and I realize that many people who haven't really studied these things in-depth probably wouldn't nit-pick like that.