The Jaffa Rebellion, known as the Great Uprising, was an power struggle of the Jaffa against the Goa'uld, that was forged by the efforts of Teal'c, Bra'tac and Ishta.
History[]
Early rebellions[]
Several Jaffa rebellions have been made before the larger Jaffa Rebellion, although none of these were truly successful. The Sodan being the most notable example. The Sodan were a group of elite Jaffa warriors who rose up against their Goa'uld master, Ishkur, after realizing he wasn't a god at all, but a being of flesh and blood.
The Battle of Tazek'sur was another instance of Jaffa uprising against the Goa'uld. The rebellion was a failed one and many Jaffa died, including Gerak's father. The result of this battle may have been a loss for the Jaffa who incited it but it had another outcome as it helped to spread doubt among other Jaffa, including Gerak, to whether the Goa'uld were really gods. (SG1: "Babylon", "The Fourth Horseman, Part 2")
In 1997, Apophis' First Prime, Teal'c of Chulak, having finally realized that his Master was not a God eventually changed sides, defecting to the Tau'ri, having long since harbored a strong belief that they were the best hope of defeating the Goa'uld and freeing the Jaffa themselves from slavery. Despite being regarded as a possible security risk, Teal'c ultimately proved that he'd had a true change of heart by stopping a Goa'uld that had taken control of Major Charles Kawalsky. After that, Teal'c became a member of Stargate Command and was also permanently assigned to the SGC's flagship team, SG-1. (SG1: "Children of the Gods")
Beginnings (2002-2003)[]
The teachings of Bra'tac and a handful of respected Jaffa leaders led to the growing belief among the Jaffa that the Goa'uld are false gods, and they slowly gave birth to the Jaffa Rebellion.
When Hathor kidnapped the rest of SG-1, Teal'c actively recruited Jaffa to aid him in rescuing his friends. While not many stayed, a few did and aided Teal'c, Bra'tac and General George S. Hammond in rescuing SG-1 and killing Hathor, marking the beginning of the rebellion. (SG1: "Into the Fire")
The Rebel army, consisting of Jaffa from many different System Lords, had grown to sizable numbers under the leadership of K'tano. However, when his deception and true identity as the Goa'uld Imhotep were exposed, the Rebel base on Cal Mah was destroyed and the Rebel army scattered to other planets to rebuild their strength. Many Rebel Jaffa refugees, under the leadership of Bra'tac and Rak'nor, fled to the Alpha Site, where they asked their Tau'ri allies for sanctuary. Despite resentment and conflict with the refugee Tok'ra, the Tau'ri, Jaffa and the Tok'ra formed a delicate and uneasy alliance against the System Lords. (SG1: "The Warrior", "Allegiance")
The Rebel movement suffered heavy losses when a meeting of Rebel Jaffa leaders was ambushed and over one hundred warriors were killed and their symbiotes removed. Only Teal'c and Bra'tac survived the Ambush of Kresh'ta, by sharing a single symbiote until help could arrive. Both their lives were saved by using Tretonin in place of their symbiotes, and the drug came to be seen as a promise of freedom from enslavement for all Jaffa. (SG1: "The Changeling")
As the movement continued to grow, Jaffa were actively enlisted from the armies of the System Lords, and the phrase "Shel kek nem ron," or "I die free," became the password to identify a compatriot. When Bra'tac and Rya'c traveled to Erebus to recruit warriors to their cause, they became prisoners when the planet was reclaimed by Ba'al, however they participated in the liberation of the death camp of Erebus, and the freed Jaffa anxiously joined the Rebel movement. (SG1: "Orpheus")
Fighting within (2004)[]
Despite their growing numbers, centuries of animosity were not easily overcome. A series of negotiations among Rebel Jaffa leaders on P3C-249 saw the renewal of old rivalries and in-fighting. The female warriors of the Hak'tyl who joined the Rebels, clashed with the Rebel strategy of recruiting as many Jaffa into a Fifth Column as possible in order to unilaterally destroy all the System Lords at once. Nevertheless, the Rebel army continued to grow, as did the number of Rebel Jaffa operating secretly within the ranks of the System Lords. (SG1: "Avenger 2.0", "Birthright", "Sacrifices")
The fragile alliance between the Rebel Jaffa and the Tok'ra refugees crumbled when the Alpha Site was attacked by Anubis' warriors and each blamed the other for the breach of security. M'zel, a leader among the Rebel Jaffa, chose to end the alliance and to establish independent Rebel bases. Despite their decision to withdraw, the Rebel Jaffa maintained contact with Earth, largely through Bra'tac, who remained a staunch ally. Bra'tac and Teal'c cooperated with the Hak'tyl and with the Rebel Jaffa operating as a Fifth Column to eliminate the Goa'uld Moloc and to rally his Jaffa to their cause. Moloc was later killed on the new Haktyl homeworld by missiles launched through the Stargate by Stargate Command and guided via laser designator by a Jaffa named Aron. (SG1: "Sacrifices")
Despite their alliance with Earth, the Rebel Jaffa movement faced bitter losses when members of The Trust used the symbiote poison to secretly launch a full-scale chemical attack against the Goa'uld without any regard for the lives of millions of Jaffa, whom they considered to be acceptable losses. A meeting of Rebel Jaffa leaders on P4S-161 was targeted, instantly killing every Jaffa present, and when at least three more Goa'uld worlds were attacked, millions of Jaffa were killed, including M'zel. (SG1: "Endgame")
Birth of the Free Jaffa Nation (2005)[]
The remaining Rebel forces united and orchestrated a carefully timed simultaneous attack against the System Lords, however their attack came as the Goa'uld were being overrun by the Replicators who had invaded the galaxy. Many Jaffa believed that the unstoppable enemy was a plague, an evil punishment brought upon all for daring to stray in their beliefs and betray their gods, and the ranks of the Jaffa rebellion began re-pledging their loyalty to the Goa'uld.
In an effort to win back the hearts and minds of those who wavered and to destroy the image of the Goa'uld as gods, Teal'c and Bra'tac devised a plan to capture the temple at Dakara, the most sacred site of the Jaffa so it could become the heart of a new Free Jaffa Nation. With a force consisting of five Ha'taks, eight Al'kesh and ten squadrons of Death Gliders, the Free Jaffa army, including Bra'tac, Teal'c, Tolok, and Aron, faced both the forces of Ba'al and the Replicators in a huge battle over Dakara. With the destruction of the Replicators, the Jaffa claimed victory and recaptured the sacred temple. Even better, Ba'al fled the battle when Free Jaffa led by Bra'tac boarded his ship, which completely shattered the Goa'ulds image as gods. Jaffa by the hundreds began abandoning the Goa'uld to pledge their loyalty to the Free Jaffa Nation. (SG1: "Reckoning, Part 1", "Reckoning, Part 2")
The Free Jaffa Nation victory was a turning point, and Jaffa from across the galaxy abandoned the old ways of false gods and united to face Anubis in battle. Through a ruse which divided the Rebel forces and lured them to Tartarus, Anubis was able to win back the temple on Dakara and reclaim its powerful weapon with which he intended to destroy the galaxy. However, as Anubis faced Oma Desala on another plane of existence and found himself locked in battle for all eternity, his essence vanished and his forces were easily vanquished. (SG1: "Threads")
The victory at Dakara cost many Jaffa lives, but those who survived were united as never before. The ruins at Dakara became a symbol of freedom and a newly formed Free Jaffa Nation was declared, presided over by the Jaffa High Council on which both Teal'c and Bra'tac served as interim members. The holy ground of Dakara became the new Jaffa homeworld where a great city would be erected, a haven for all those who had chosen freedom. (SG1: "Avalon, Part 1")
Aftermath[]
With Anubis gone and all of the System Lords except Ba'al dead, the Jaffa finally had their freedom. The Jaffa began governing themselves, at first through a High Council, then later democratically. The new Free Jaffa Nation had to deal with the Ori and some threats from Ba'al early in its existence. Dakara was destroyed by Adria, the Ori army leader, and the nation fractured. The Ori were ultimately defeated by the Tau'ri, and the nation seemed to recover at least somewhat, as the Free Jaffa Fleet guarded the Tok'ra homeworld during the extraction of the Ba'al clone.
With the death of Ba'al in the past at the hands of an alternate version of Colonel Cameron Mitchell and with all the Ba'al clones, the last of the System Lords was finally dead, along with the last Goa'uld Empire and the Jaffa were free at long last to live their own lives as a race finally truly liberated from the Goa'uld. (SG1: "Threads", "Stronghold", "Morpheus", "Counterstrike", "The Ark of Truth", "Continuum")
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 (SG1: "Into the Fire")
- ↑ (SG1: "Touchstone")
- ↑ (SG1: "Origin")
- ↑ (SG1: "Ex Deus Machina")
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8 (SG1: "Threads")
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 (SG1: "Sacrifices")
- ↑ (SG1: "Maternal Instinct")
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 (SG1: "The Serpent's Venom")
- ↑ (SG1: "The Changeling")
- ↑ (SG1: "Orpheus")
- ↑ (SG1: "Reckoning, Part 2")
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 (SG1: "Birthright")
- ↑ (SG1: "Allegiance")
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 (SG1: "The Warrior")
- ↑ (SG1: "Reckoning, Part 1")