The Tomb

"The Tomb" is the eighth episode of the fifth season of Stargate SG-1.

Synopsis
After a team from the Russian Stargate program disappear while on P2X-338, SG-1 and another Russian team are sent to retrieve them. In their search, they find a mysterious tomb which houses a deadly enemy that killed the first Russian team members one by one and now the enemy in question is after both the second Russian team and SG-1 and it's willing to do anything to get freedom, maybe even kill.

Plot
SG-1 reluctantly join a Russian team (headed by Colonel Alexi Zukhov) in a daring mission to uncover the fate of a lost Russian team and a powerful Goa'uld device, the Eye of Tiamat. After entering the tomb, SG-1 and the Russians split up to search.

SG-1 discovers the remains of a previous Russian team member that has apparently been gnawed upon, and the Russians find an ancient Goa'uld Sarcophagus. Colonel Jack O'Neill orders Zukhov to hold his ground, but Zukhov moves to investigate the Sarcophagus. In so doing, he sets off a trap that shuts the door to the temple, and Lt. Marchenko is crushed by the door trying to keep it open.

Trapped inside, the teams force open the Sarcophagus and find a skeleton inside with similar gnawing marks. With a little research of the carvings in the room, Dr. Daniel Jackson determines Marduk was trapped inside the sarcophagus with another creature by his priests. The teams split up into pairs to find this creature, while Daniel stays behind to study the room. After a short amount of time in the search, Major Samantha Carter and Lt. Tolinev are attacked, and Tolinev is bitten, apparently poisoned. Whatever the creature is, it killed the Russians and, worst of all, Sam senses a Goa'uld symbiote inside it. When Sam and Teal'c encounter the creature later, it drops dead from wounds from its previous encounter with Sam, and Teal'c concludes that the symbiote is no longer present in the creature (by cutting open the creature's neck). Teal'c and Sam inform the rest of the team that there is a Goa'uld in their midst.

O'Neill and Zukhov are stuck in a standoff, each suspecting each other of being hosts, and refusing to lower their weapons. The real Goa'uld (in Major Sergei Vallarin) confronts them and attacks Jack with an earlier retrieved Kara kesh. It demands the Eye of Tiamat, an allegedly powerful piece of Goa'uld technology of unknown function. Zukhov found it earlier with the journal, and pretends to give it to the Goa'uld. Instead, he arms a grenade and tosses it to him. The Goa'uld realizes too late and the explosion buries the host, Zukhov and the Eye. Jack manages to avoid the cave-in and escape unharmed.

Meanwhile, Daniel studies the writings on the walls of the tomb to realize that there is a ring transporter in the temple, and Teal'c locates a secret panel that exposes Goa'uld control crystals, which would allow SG-1 to activate the ring transporter.

As they get ready to leave, Marduk shows up to threaten his revenge with Jack telling the Goa'uld that they always say that.

As the ring transporter dematerializes the four members of SG-1 and Tolinev, Major Carter activates a ten second timer on a large quantity of C-4, killing the host Goa'uld and collapsing the already very unstable tomb. If the Goa'uld survived the initial explosion, he would probably soon suffocate under the tons of stone and dust that would subsequently bury him.

Back on Earth, in the SGC briefing room, the surviving Russian backs up O'Neill's account to her superior, but at the debriefing Colonel Chekov suspects that the SGC is hiding something, and they are clearly disappointed at the failure to recover the Eye of Tiamat. Jack tells the Russian not to expect another joint mission, since their priority should have been the rescue part of the rescue mission, not the Eye of Tiamat part.

Notable Quotes
O'Neill: How hard could it be?

Jackson: It's a dead language. I doubt anyone's even stood here for three thousands years.

Carter: I wouldn't be too sure about that.

O'Neill: Whatcha got there?

Carter: Empty pack of cigarettes. In Russian.

Jackson: If they went through the Gate before everyone at the Russian base was killed they could still be out there.

Carter: It's doubtful they would have survived this long. The planet's surface temperature averages 135 degrees fahrenheit in the shade.

O'Neill: Shade? I don't remember shade.

O'Neill: General, you know I'm a big fan of the Russians, and international relations are a bit of a hobby of mine, however I do believe that SG-1 should handle this one. Alone.

Hammond: The decision's been made, Colonel. They're on their way.

Jackson: If these men disappeared ten months ago, how could one of the bodies decompose that fast?

Carter: It didn't decompose. This skeleton's covered in tiny teeth marks.

O'Neill: Something ate this guy?

Carter: Stripped the flesh right from his bones.

Marchenko: Боже мой. (Oh my God.)

Jackson: You can say that again.

Jackson: Shouldn't we open this first, make sure no one's home? Carter: Whatever killed the Russian soldier killed the Goa'uld as well. O'Neill: How'd it get in there? Carter: I don't know. Jackson: Better question is, where is it now?

Carter: Are you saying he was eaten alive?

Jackson: The sarcophagus would have done it's best to continually keep him alive, so it probably would have taken a while.

Tolinev: Боже мой. (Oh my God.)

O'Neill: Okay. That is officially the worst way to go.

Carter: Sir, we've got a problem.

O'Neill: We've got a lot of problems, Carter. Can you be more specific?

O'Neill: This was supposed to be a rescue mission.

Teal'c: It would appear there is no one left to rescue.

Jackson: I wouldn't say that.

Vallarin: Wait here.

Jackson: Yes, you go down a dark hallway alone and I'll wait here in a dark room alone.

Goofs

 * Lt. Tolinev's surname is in the incorrect masculine form. As a woman, it should be Tolineva. This error was corrected in the Russian, Spanish and German dubs of the episode. Actually, she is referred to as Tolineva by both SGC and the Russian teams in the original version as well. However, the 'va' at the end of her name is being eaten up by the actors sometimes.

Character

 * Colonel Chekov

In other languages

 * French: La Tombe (The Tomb)
 * Italian: La Tomba (The Tomb)
 * Spanish: La Tumba (The Tomb)
 * Czech: V hrobce (In the Tomb)
 * German: Das Tempelgrab (The Tomb)