The Serpent's Venom

The Serpent's Venom is the fourteenth episode of the fourth season of Stargate SG-1.

Plot
Late at night, on Chulak, Teal'c meets with two Jaffa, Rak'nor and Ma'kar, to pitch his idea in the possibility of a great rebellion against the false gods, the Goa'uld. All goes well until the end of the meeting, when Rak'nor reveals that the meeting was a trap to capture the Shol'va (traitor).

Selmak/Jacob Carter is at the SGC, "on vacation", when a transmission comes through the stargate from the Tok'ra. They have intercepted a transmission (thanks to Tanith) between Heru'ur and Apophis (currently the two most powerful Goa'uld in the galaxy), who intend to meet. Though Heru'ur is ostensibly allied with the system lords against Apophis, it seems as though he is attempting to forge a deal with Apophis behind their backs. Such an alliance would prove too much for anyone in the galaxy to oppose, ultimately resulting in the complete domination of Apophis over the entire galaxy. Selmak states that their best bet would be to attempt to sabotage the meeting, causing Heru'ur and Apophis to war against each other, decimating both armies and returning the balance of power to the System Lords, which for the time being would be preferable to one, all-powerful Goa'uld.

Selmak knows that the meeting is to take place in a minefield left behind by an extinct race; a minefield which will actively seek out and destroy any use of weapons by either party. The plan is to reach the minefield before the meeting, and reprogram one of the mines to target Apophis's ship. If he thinks Heru'ur is behind the attack, Selmak believes he will retreat, then order his armies to attack Heru'ur's planet. The catch comes in the difficulty of reprogramming the mine - the mines apparently change location somewhat randomly, and the Tok'ra have been unable to translate a text which they believe is the manual for how the mines work. Fortunately, with Daniel Jackson's help, they complete their translation, and Selmak believes that, due to the way the mines operate, it should actually be possible to teleport a mine onboard their vessel, and as long as they move their ship along with the mine, it should be unable to tell the difference between deep space and the inside of their vessel.

Meanwhile, Teal'c is being heavily tortured on Chulak by Terok, a lesser Goa'uld. Both Rak'nor and Terok attempt to convince him that the Goa'uld are gods, telling him that they are only doing it for his own good. Teal'c is steadfast, however, and frustrates even Terok by his constancy.

SG-1 and Selmak arrive in the Tobin system, where the meeting is to take place. They teleport one of the mines aboard, and Selmak maneuvers the ship through the minefield, having to both avoid other mines, and keep their mine centered in the ship. At first, they can't even find an access panel on the mine, but they eventually take a chance, and an access panel opens up on the bottom. They begin attempting to reprogram, but they have a close call, and the mine almost touches the inside of their vessel. Suddenly, Apophis's mothership arrives, and they are forced to cloak. At the same time, green lights begin flashing on the control panel, which is apparently a "very bad" thing, so Colonel O'Neill is forced to take the controls so that Selmak can assist in the reprogramming. According to Jackson, the mine is due to explode in five minutes if they cannot enter a certain code.

Heru'ur and Apophis begin the meeting, and Heru'ur offers the alliance as expected. Heru'ur also offers a gift, as a token of his goodwill - to SG-1's horror, that gift is Teal'c. Apophis accepts the offer, the alliance is sealed, and Heru'ur commands Terok to send Teal'c over to Apophis. Terok goes to get Teal'c, and decides to kill him himself, knowing that Apophis can (and will) simply resurrect him with a sarcophagus. Rak'nor finally breaks down, as he cannot watch someone who has suffered so bravely be killed, and attacks Terok with his own torture device.

At the last minute, Carter realizes they are making a mathematical error in the code they are attempting, which solves their problem. They succeed in reprogramming the mine, but when the mine is teleported off the ship, it does nothing. Since they have completed their part of the mission, they decide to attempt a rescue of Teal'c by intercepting him during the ring transport between the motherships, just as he saved them from Sokar. However, they barely miss the teleportation, and since it was necessary to decloak to use the rings, they are discovered. At this moment, the Tok'ra operative aboard Apophis's ship activates the beacon which will attract the mine to Apophis's ship.

However, it was not Teal'c who was transported to Apophis's ship, but Terok, still unconscious from the use of the torture device. Apophis is convinced that Heru'ur is mocking him, and then the mine impacts Apophis's ship. Apophis uncloaks at least ten other motherships (the Goa'uld have never before managed to cloak a mothership), and makes short work of Heru'ur's mothership. However, the mines activate, and begin attacking Apophis's remaining motherships. Selmak's cargo ship's sensors pick up a death glider which apparently managed to escape Heru'ur's ship before it exploded. They assume it may be Heru'ur himself, and give chase, sending a transmission asking which god the pilot worships. The pilot responds with a Tok'ra passphrase, and Jacob Carter reveals his identity to the pilot. The pilot is Rak'nor, who has Teal'c aboard, alive, though very weak.

Though Teal'c has been rescued, the mission is a failure, because Heru'ur is dead, and Apophis is alive and will surely absorb the remnants of Heru'ur's fleet, making himself the most powerful Goa'uld in the galaxy by far.

Quotes
O'Neill: Ahh! Wait a minute. Just stop right there. If you're about to say you'll explain along the way, I'm going to lose it. I've just about had it with the way the Tok'ra do business. I want to know exactly what we're dealing with here, every mission detail you've got right now or we go no where.

Jacob Carter: I was gonna tell you, Jack.

O'Neill: Okay, nevermind.

Hammond: Sounds very risky.

O'Neill: Insane might be another word.

Jacob Carter: Obviously I'll need Dr. Jackson and there may be some complicated mathematical calculations to be done so Sam would be a big help, too. (pause - O'Neill clears his throat) Of course, Colonel O'Neill is always lots of fun to have around.

(as Carter begins to tinker with the bomb)

Jackson: No, I think that's it.

Carter: You think?

Jackson: Okay I'm- I'm sure that's it. (Carter goes to touch it) Wait wait wait wait wait wait wait! (she jumps back) No, sorry, that's it, I'm sure.