Threads

"Threads" is the eighteenth episode of the eighth season of Stargate SG-1.

Plot
Ba'al is missing, but finally the Jaffa are free after millennia of slavery under false Gods. Teal'c and Bra'tac are knighted Bloodkin by the new Free Jaffa Nation, the highest honour that can be bestowed on a Jaffa, at the Temple of Dakara. When the Jaffa bow to them in respect, Bra'tac makes them stand, for he declares that no Jaffa shall ever bow before another person, and furthermore, never again bow before a false god.

With the Replicators destroyed and the Goa'uld defeated, Stargate Command is a little more peaceful. Somewhere out there, Anubis remains, but they can ignore that for now. However, perhaps because it's too peaceful, O'Neill refuses to accept that Daniel Jackson is dead, not wanting to be "tricked" as last time, when Daniel managed to Ascend and then come back to life much later. However, they all know that Daniel was on Replicator Carter's ship when it was destroyed, which gives him zero chance of being alive.

And as we know from the previous episode, Daniel was indeed killed. However, the visions of Oma Desala which RepliCarter forged for Daniel may not have been as empty as they seemed - for Daniel finds himself in a strange ethereal diner, a cafe, full of people, where the waitress is Oma Desala. This place seems to be some kind of strange Ascended metaphor.

Daniel seats himself and talks to Oma. She explains that she has once again given him the choice to Ascend and live, or die. If he Ascends, he must accept that he can never help his friends again (as that's against the rules). If he leaves the diner, he dies. It is a difficult choice for Daniel. He knows that last time he couldn't resist breaking the rules.

The diner is full of other Ascended Ancients, none of whom will talk to Daniel because that's beneath them. One other man, however, a large, fat man, seems to be arguing with Oma. Daniel talks to this man, who talks back, calling himself Jim. The man seems some kind of rebel who doesn't take too much notice of the pedantic rules of the others. Jim is reading a newspaper called The Ascended Times which details happenings in the mortal world. It describes that Anubis is tricking the new Free Jaffa Nation so that he can take back Dakara. If Anubis captures Dakara, the whole galaxy could be destroyed, as Anubis wishes to use the Dakara Superweapon to kill all life in the galaxy. Daniel knows that he must help his friends out before it’s too late, but can't work out how he can do it. He screams at the others, but they do not even turn.

The Free Jaffa Nation attacks a decoy of Kull Warriors and weakens its hold on Dakara. Against warnings, they do not destroy the Dakara Superweapon. Now Anubis attacks Dakara and takes it back. It is now only a small matter of time before he destroys the entire galaxy.

In the meantime, Samantha Carter is questioning her decision to marry Pete, even going so far as to visit Jack unannounced to discuss it, only to find him there with Kerry Johnson (a CIA agent heading up the investigation into Goa'uld still at large after an incident with the Trust), with whom he is in a (secret) relationship. Her father, Jacob Carter, also informs her that Selmak is dying, and that he will have to die with him, apologizing because he will miss her wedding. Until Jacob's eventual death, she speaks with him and with Jack about her happiness at the closeness she and her father have enjoyed over the past several years. During one conversation with Jacob, he tells her that he wants her to be happy, that she can still have everything she wants, and not to let rules stand in her way, inferring that she should leave Pete for Jack. Meanwhile Kerry, though she liked Jack and thought they were "good together," breaks up with him after she sensed the feelings he still had for Samantha Carter. They parted on good terms; before leaving, she advised Jack that he was making a mistake by letting Air Force regulations prevent them from being happy together, advising him to retire, and inferring that even as a civilian he could still run the SGC, as a civilian (Dr Elizabeth Weir) had been appointed to run the SGC before. After Kerry leaves, Jack visits the infirmary to comfort Sam, and soon after, Jacob dies; his last words are to Sam: "I love you." After Jacob's death, Sam ends her relationship with Pete Shanahan.

Back in the Ascended Diner, Oma explains that she has gotten in trouble before for helping people like Daniel Ascend, and she has been punished. There are deep-seated rules in the Ascended universe that not even she would dare to break. There seems to be something sinister about Oma's connection with Jim, whatever it is.

At the last moment, Daniel works it out. Anubis is half-Ascended, and it was Oma that helped him Ascend. Anubis had tricked her into thinking he was not evil, and as a punishment for breaking the rules, the others didn't totally de-Ascend Anubis, but gave him his current power, the ability to destroy the galaxy and vent his evil. And the final piece of the puzzle clicks in place - Jim is Anubis - Anubis' chosen manifested form in his half-protrusion into the Ascended realm.

Back on Earth, the gate dials, and they can't stop it. Anubis has dialed every gate in the galaxy and prepares to unleash the superweapon. O'Neill, Teal'c and Carter can do nothing but wait for their fate. O'Neill begins the SGC's autodestruct sequence. It looks like it's the end.

However, back in the Ascended realm, Daniel has persuaded Oma. She must take responsibility for the mistake she made which has caused Anubis to be able to unleash so much evil, and she will not allow him to commit this greatest evil now. She stands up to fight Anubis, and all of the other ancients turn in surprise. Anubis laughs, saying that she cannot possibly defeat him, both of them being equally matched. Oma knows this, but also knows that so long as she is fighting him then he'll have to fight back, taking him out of the cosmos and locking him into an eternal ethereal battle with her. The two of them collide and disappear in a flurry of light, locked in eternal combat. Anubis is gone from the universe forever.

Then two miracles occur. The Dakara Superweapon shuts down, and the autodestruct at the SGC freezes itself and shuts off. The Stargate's wormhole closes. It's over.

Back in the briefing room, they can't understand what's happened. Anubis just disappeared. Teal'c and Bra'tac tell Sam and Jack that the Kull Warriors the Free Jaffa Nation were fighting suddenly became confused, as if their master were no longer there to tell them what to do. Anubis' forces are destroyed, leaving the team wondering whether it was Daniel's work and thinking that he might have ascended again.

At that moment, they hear Daniel's voice coming from inside Jack's office. Jack goes to investigate and finds Daniel naked (as before). Jack hands Daniel a flag (choosing the SGC flag over the American flag) to cover himself up, and Daniel enters the briefing room, alive and himself once more.

The final scene is of Sam and Jack, fishing at Jack's cabin. She remarks on how they "should have done this years ago," while Jack replies that they shouldn't dwell on it. She remarks that there are no fish in the pond, and when Jack agrees she laughs. Daniel and Teal'c appear around the corner carrying lawn chairs and a cooler, having joined them on the trip, and the episode ends as Jack and Sam continue to cast out their fishing lines, smiling and happy.

Notable Quotes
''At Ethereal Diner ''Jackson: No Menus?

Oma: We don't need them here, just order what you like.

Jackson: Okay I'll have truth with side order of clarity, please.

Carter: This is great. I can't believe we didn't do this years ago.

O'Neill: Yes, well, let's not dwell.

Carter: There are no fish in this pond, are there?

O'Neill: Nope.

Goofs

 * Several times, both Sam and Jacob refer to Jacob's near-death in "The Tok'ra, Part 2", in SG-1's second season, as being four years ago. Either only four years have passed between the second and eighth seasons, or this is an error, and should be six years. However, it is also possible that his prognosis was that his death would not be immediate, in which case the remarks would be correct.