Company of Thieves

"Company of Thieves" is the ninth episode of the tenth season of Stargate SG-1.

Synopsis
A routine journey to follow up on possible intel turns into a disaster when the Odyssey and its crew along with Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter are captured by Anateo of the rogue group, the Lucian Alliance. As the SGC race to find the missing Odyssey and save its crew before it's too late, one member of the Odyssey will find themselves paying the ultimate price.

Previously on Stargate SG-1
Dr. Daniel Jackson uses the Reol chemical to go undercover and infiltrate the System Lords. Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell later poses as a bounty hunter and fouls Tenat and Jup. Netan, the leader of the Lucian Alliance, believes Earth to be insignificant.

Plot
There are political machinations at work in the upper echelons of the Lucian Alliance, and Netan, their leader, fears that one of his "Seconds" may be planning to overthrow him. His decision to commit ships to the battle against the Ori invasion proved to be disastrous. Furthermore, the Alliance is losing much territory as the Ori sweep across the galaxy.

Netan sends a man, Anateo, on a dangerous assignment to capture the Earth ship Odyssey, hoping that he will either die in the attempt or be disgraced. Instead, the menacing and ambitious Anateo succeeds in taking the ship—with Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter on board. He threatens the life of Odyssey commander Colonel Paul Emerson, whom he eventually kills, to force Carter to follow his instructions. Anateo believes that his victory will enable him to overthrow Netan, who he believes has failed the Alliance.

The capture of the ship is a great victory, but Anateo wants more: he uses it as bait to try and capture SG-1. He is partially successful, capturing Dr. Daniel Jackson and Vala Mal Doran.

Later, Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell reports back to Major General Henry Landry. Clearly the Lucian Alliance is behind this, prompting Mitchell to hatch a plan to get his team back: he will go undercover as one of Netan's own seconds, and infiltrate the Lucian Alliance.

Mitchell visits Netan under the guise of Kefflin, one of Netan's close friends who runs a Kassa operation on the outskirts of the galaxy. Kefflin is known to be reclusive, and few of the other Alliance leaders knows what he looks like. When he is beaten and brought before Netan, he pricks him with the Reol chemical (the same one Daniel used to impersonate Yu's personal servant in Season Five's "Summit") to convince him that Mitchell is Kefflin, a dear friend. The plan works.

Mitchell covertly transmits their conversations to Teal'c, who listens from a cloaked Tel'tak nearby. But when Teal'c is captured and brutally interrogated by Netan's men, Mitchell must think quickly. He convinces Netan that he's the man who can get answers from Teal'c.

Meanwhile, on the Odyssey, Anateo forces Carter to bring the ship's systems back online, which she begins to do, stalling as long as she can while trying to secretly free the rest of the crew. She manages to cause a momentary brownout, which also unlocks a hatch in the cargo bay where the crew is being held. Daniel and Vala escape and begin taking back the ship. When Anateo discovers what Carter has done, he threatens to shoot her, but Vala manages to beam him into space at the last minute. The crew retakes the ship without any further apparent issues and set to work on fixing the ship, focusing mostly on the hyperdrive.

Word finally reaches Netan that the Odyssey has been found. The bearer of the news is Tenat, the Lucian Alliance trader that SG-1 double-crossed ("The Ties That Bind"). He recognizes Mitchell but keeps silent, believing that whatever Mitchell is planning will be highly profitable, and demands a cut. Netan orders his and Tenat's Ha'tak ships to rendezvous with the Odyssey so that they can claim it and deal with Anateo's betrayal.

Upon reaching the Odyssey and learning of Anateo's demise, Netan demands that the Tau'ri ship, still without hyperdrive power, to surrender. Daniel takes command of the Odyssey to try to buy time for Carter and Vala to repair the hyperdrive so they can escape. Netan storms on to the bridge of Tenat's ship, accusing Tenat of hiding the truth of Mitchell's identity from him. To prove his loyalty to Netan, Tenat fires on the other Ha'tak, believing Mitchell (as Kefflin) to be in command in Netan's absence. He is shocked when Netan appears on the viewscreen, demanding to know why Tenat attacked him. In fact, it was Mitchell, who had previously jabbed Tenat with the same Reol chemical, that was posing as Netan on Tenat's ship.

On the Odyssey, Vala desperately jams a control crystal into the hyperdrive engine system against Carter's better judgment. However, it is a lucky move as the system immediately begins to power up. Netan's ship starts battling Tenat's ship as Teal'c contacts the Odyssey for beam out. Major Kevin Marks beams Teal'c and Mitchell to the Odyssey and it jumps to hyperspace as Netan destroys Tenat's ship, killing him. As the Odyssey makes its way home, SG-1 reflects upon the fact that in addition to the Ori, Earth is now officially at war with the Lucian Alliance.

Notable Quotes
Mitchell: Yep. She's a real beauty.

Vala: Stabilizers are a bit wonky, I'm afraid. Makes for a bumpy ride. But it's all perfectly safe.

Mitchell: Really?

Vala: Not exactly.

Jackson: We gave you as much raw naquadah as you needed and all you came up with was this piece of junk?

Vala: People's lives are at stake, Daniel. Do you honestly think that I cheaped out on the ship and pocketed the difference? (an alarm goes off.)

Mitchell: What's that?

Vala: Life support seems to be failing. (to Teal'c.) Can you take over? (She changes crystals and the alarm stops.)

Mitchell: Great, you fixed that. How about fixing the stabilizers?

Vala: I didn't fix it. I just disabled that annoying alarm.

Vala: I couldn't be sure, so I just beamed out the only other life-sign in the room instead.

Jackson: Okay, where is he?

(Vala looks toward viewport, where Anateo is floating outside the ship)

Jackson: Well, Sam did say it was risky.

Vala: Hmm, when she's right, she's right.

Jackson: Uh, you should probably prepare to return fire.

Marks: For the record, I'm always prepared. I just have to press this button here.

(Marks points at a big red button on his console.)

Jackson: Right… I just — I thought that's what you're supposed to say, so…

Marks: I know.

(Vala picks up crystal)

Carter: It's the wrong one, you can't just jam it in!

(Vala jams in crystal, hyperdrive comes on line)

Carter: How did you do that?

Vala: Honestly, I don't know. That almost never normally works.

Tenat: Damn you, Cam Mitchell!

Goofs

 * Gunshots are heard when Anateo is beamed into space by Vala Mal Doran. Sound does not travel through space and the sound should not have been able to penetrate the ship. It should be noted that instead of gunshots, the sounds may actually be the bullets hitting the ship as the sounds are quite muffled and a similar sound is made when Anateo hits the ship.
 * Anateo was stationary when he was beamed out and there was nothing that would have caused him to drift forwards as in space motion is relative so he should have been stationary.
 * According to the laws of physics when Anateo fired his gun when hes outside he should of been sent flying backwards. According to the law for every action there is an equal yet opposite reaction and without the force of gravity holding him down the force from the gun firing the bullets forwards should have resulted in Anateo being forced back by an equal amount of force.
 * When the Odyssey drops out of hyperspace in the beginning of the episode, it appears as though it's a recycled clip of the Daedalus from Stargate: Atlantis, as the window itself is green, where usually the hyperspace window is more of a purple shade in SG-1.

Deaths

 * Colonel Paul Emerson
 * Tenat

In other languages

 * French: Aux Mains des Rebelles (In the Hands of the Rebels)
 * Italian: La Compagnia dei Ladri (The Company of Thieves)
 * Spanish: En Compañía de Ladrones (In Company of Thieves)
 * Czech: Spolek zlodějů (The Guild of Thieves)
 * German: Die Kriegserklärung (The Declaration of War)