One Small Scene: “You are wrong O’Neil!”

During the first season of Stargate SG-1, the defector turned freedom fighter Teal’c faces the medieval-style court of the Cor-Ai.

“Hano’s father died by my hand. No one else’s. I am responsible. What I did while serving Apophis I will not hide from.”

“Even if the punishment is death?"

“Then that is what I deserve.”

“Teal’c you sound like you wanna die.”

“Colonel O’Neill, have you ever faced the crying eyes of a child, whose father you have just murdered?”

“Not exactly.”

Wilfully imprisoning himself, he eventually argues heatedly and snaps at O’Neil, his commanding officer about it being just to be judged for his crimes. Cor-Ai was a Season 1 story interested in testing the chain of command to explore feelings of warrior’s honour verses the soldier, guilt, accountability and law.

“Teal’c. There are a lot of things we do that we wish we can change, and we sure as hell can’t forget. But the whole concept of chain of command undermines the idea of free will. So as soldiers, we have to do some pretty awful stuff. But we’re following orders like we were trained to. It doesn’t make it easier, it certainly doesn’t make it right! But it does put some of the responsibility on the guy giving those orders.”

“Then you are saying Apophis is responsible for Hanno’s father’s death?”

“Yes!”

“You are wrong O’Neill!”

While it will come to light why Teal’c committed the crime of killing an elder while invading a feudal and helpless civilisation freshly dominated by the Goa’uld, his motive -that as a warrior-slave he would face death to disobey and had realised the civilisation relied in their speed to retreat to hidden tunnels and the elder would hamper them- is not yet revealed. As a Gulf War veteran and used to hidden operations, O’Neill bluntly cares more for their own duty, Earth and the USA’s governance, and is solely determined to free his friend and ally. Teal’c’s altruistic utilitarian motive is not yet revealed, but he is adamant and willing to reflect upon his crime as symbolic of all his past crimes. Cost and self-sacrifice are critical to Teal’c’s arcs seeking freedom, while he maintains a quiet and patient demeanour which rarely breaks. It is a rare moment to break this calm, while at the same time choosing to willingly surrender and submit to the judgement of those hostile to himself.

“While in the service of Apophis I did many things! For these deeds my victims deserve retribution!”

“Can we focus on this one case only for now please?!”

“This case represents the many!”

“Well it shouldn’t!

Both warrior and slave, the Jaffa, foot soldiers and common enemy of the series represent the martial dominance of the Goa’uld, and as the foremost warrior of its empire’s most formidable tyrant at this point, Teal’c inevitably, and not for the first time faces that galaxy-wide distain.

“When I look into Hano’s eyes, I see the horror on the faces of many others as their loved ones prepare for Goa’uld absorption. Worse yet is the face of the victims whom I selected as they realised they are about to take their final human breath! Hano’s father is not the first nor the last of those whose lives I have taken, and I have done far worse O’Neill!”

Battle, brainwashing and adventure never brings such heated dialogue between both characters throughout the series. Christopher Judge was Teal’c to me, and the role he performed for so many years was centred upon warrior honour and stoicism. It’s interesting and fitting that in recent years he has become very popular as Kratos in the more recent God of War games.

“I cannot give all of their loved ones retribution, but I can at least give it to this one! I am sorry O’Neill! I will not run.”

“Well I’m sorry Teal’c, but that’s unacceptable. I’m gonna do what I have to do to keep you alive whether you like it or not.”

It’s a testament to the malleability of Judge’s acting, that this ‘out of character’ hostility bubbling over the surface purely derives from Teal’c, in another character it would hardly be notable at all

There is an effective argument here because in an almost unique case, Teal’c actively agues abrasively in as argumentative a manner as O’Neill normally will. Both characters are motivated to act clearly in the active interest of good over evil, and the leader of the team is a maverick. Teal’c is a stoic, subdued, a little humourless and the ‘straight man’ comedically in the earlier SG-1 seasons. Yet the keystone of Teal’c character is his defection for decadence. He is the “Sho’va”; “the Traitor”. Essentially the Spartacus of the Jaffa. And while at this point of time Teal’c is far from the rebel leader he would grow to be, that fire is present in the days where he may have doubted that the enemies he used to worship could be eradicated, or that the atrocities he committed could be forgiven.

In ‘Cor-Ai’ the tension comes from the moral compass of this show being applied by the arrested character upon himself. And importantly, it is not pragmatism or moral relativism which saves Teal’c. He was willing to shout back at his commander about his convictions, accept execution despite his martial prowess, and then when the same culture is oppressed by the new First Prime, Teal’c washes away his shame and atones by risking his life unarmoured to protect the innocent.

Both Teal’c’s body and his pride break in this episode, and it is intriguing to see a scene which explores his shame and an argument about the nature of oppression, combat, militarism and justice. Through humility and acceptance, Teal’c does not shirk his responsibility and shows he is a morally righteous rebel against tyranny, and despite his past firmly fits as an explorer and no longer a conqueror.

Reference:

Stargate: SG-1. Cor-Ai, Season 1 Episode 15. Director: Mario Azzopardi, Writer: Tom J. Astle. 1998.