Threshold

Plot
Col. O'Neill and General Hammond visit Teal'c in his cell and he assures them that his allegiance lies with the Tau'ri. After being released, Bra'tac visits, who quickly realizes Teal'c’s duplicity. Teal'c tries to escape but is stunned with a zat by Bra'tac, who also removes Teal’c’s symbiote.

During a meeting, Bra'tac describes his reasoning behind his brazen action. He explains that, though Teal'c is slowly dying, this process, the "rite of M'al Sharran", will eventually help Teal’c to uncover the truth about Apophis and his quest for Jaffa freedom. In the meantime, Teal’c is restrained in the infirmary and visited by his friends, yet he still believes in Apophis. Teal'c remembers his first encounter with Apophis after a successful battle. However, the meeting turned sour when Teal’c was punished by the Goa'uld for defending his father and thus speaking against Apophis. No one can bear to see Teal’c in such agony and zealously protest to Bra’tac to replace the symbiote, especially Dr. Fraiser. Unwaveringly, the old man fervently believes that Teal’c will survive the rite and leaves. He converses with Major Carter about the fact that his end may be near too as his symbiote is nearing maturity.

In the infirmary, Daniel and O'Neill talk to Teal'c who suddenly utters “Va'lar.” Teal’c has a vision about a past conversation with his friend, Va’lar, regarding his mistreatment at the hands of Apophis. Teal'c awakens and again tries to convince his friends that he is “cured.” Changing the subject, they inquire about Va'lar. Teal'c becomes angry and calls for Bra'tac. He slips into another vision about previous private training with Bra'tac when, despite being younger, he was quickly defeated by his mentor. During this time, Bra'tac taught him that belief in Apophis will not aid him in battle, only his own senses.

Teal'c again talks with Daniel about Va’lar when another vision hits, flashing a past conversation with his wife about Bra'tac's teachings. She can offer no advice when he asks, only saying “you are the servant of two masters.” In the infirmary, Carter comes to talk with Teal'c who asks her to help him escape. Teal'c then remembers a time when he fought against Ra. During one battle, Va'lar returned defeated and pleading for Teal'c's help. When Teal'c informed Apophis about this, the Goa'uld demanded that Teal'c execute Va'lar. Teal’c hesitantly returned to the planet to carry out Apophis’ will, but spared his friend’s life, telling him to hide in a nearby village, much to Va'lar's surprise. Teal'c slyly took the symbiote of a fallen Jaffa and presented it to Apophis, who believed it to be Va'lar's. At this point, Teal'c realized that Apophis was by no means omniscient.

Hammond later tells O'Neill what will happen if Teal'c cannot recover from the ordeal, just in time for Teal'c to have a vision. In this apparition, he tells Drey'auc about how he burned down the very village to which he sent Va'lar, thus killing him. However, Drey'auc convinced him that he was only following orders. In the next revelation, Teal'c remembers visiting Bra'tac after becoming First Prime of Apophis. Strangely, Bra'tac was not happy and they talked about the fact that the Goa'uld are not gods. He also told Teal’c how he could still save lives in Apophis’ service. At last, he has a vision of showing Bra'tac the imprisoned SG-1 on Chulak (from the episode “Children of the Gods”).

In the infirmary, Teal'c suddenly starts to die and Bra'tac screams at Teal’c to choose his path. Dr. Fraiser starts to reanimate Teal'c who, in the meantime, sees several memories of helping SG-1. He snaps awake, finally realizing that Apophis is a false god, much to the joy of his friends. He is untied and allowed to rejoin SG-1. He thanks his friends and Bra'tac for guiding him through the whole experience.