Teal'c
| Name: | Teal'c | |
| Occupation: | warrior, member of SG-1 | |
| Title/Rank: | First Prime of Apophis (pre-series-pilot)
Shol'va (traitor) Member of SG-1 (all seasons) Member of the Jaffa High Council (season 9) | |
| Location: | Earth, resides at the SGC | |
| Status: | Active | |
| Relationships: | Drey'auc (wife, separated, deceased in season 3)
Shan'auc (season 4) Krista James (season 8) Ishta (seasons 8-10) R'yac (son, married to Ka'ryn in season 7) Bra'tac (mentor, father figure) | |
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Background
Teal'c was born in slavery to the Goa'uld Cronos. Teal'c's father Ro'nac served as First Prime to Cronos and was brutally killed for failing to win an unwinnable battle (Fair Game 3.03, Crossroads 4.04, Threshold 5.02). Teal'c's mother, rather than accept outcast status as a widow, fled with a young Teal'c to Chulak, ruled by Apophis, and pledged their service there. Teal'c was mentored by Bra'tak, First Prime to Apophis, and succeeded him in the position as Bra'tac's prodigy. Teal'c was also trained, illicitly, to think critically of the Goa'uld he served. (Threshold, 5.02) Surprisingly, he concluded early in his service as First Prime that their self-proclaimed God status was false and dishonorable. Despite lack of faith in his God, Teal'c continued to serve with the possible motivations of exacting revenge on Cronos for his father's death, protecting the enslaved Jaffa from unreasonable orders via subtle manipulation of Apophis, to gain favor and prestige for his new wife and young child, and for lack of any other choice.
Teal'c has been seen bearing the mark of Apophis on his forehead, both in black and in the gold of the First Prime, but never Cronos' glyph. Since Teal'c's son R'yac is seen tattooed as early as eight years old, we may conclude that Teal'c was quite young when he and his mother emigrated to Chulak; this indicates that Teal'c served Apophis as a warrior and First Prime for nearly eighty years before meeting the members of SG-1. When he does meet them, a combination of technology and gall on the part of O'Neill convinces Teal'c that Earth may be the answer to the problem of the Goa'uld deception. The salvation, to Teal'c, appears worth the risk of his wife and child's welfare, the Jaffa he cuts down in the moment and afterwards, and the loss of home and culture.
Hair
While few other jaffa seem to shave their heads, this may be a custom of First Primes, and for Teal'c it seemed to be a cultural and possibly religious custom he would not give up for seven years. Changes to Teal'c's customary use of kohl and skin paint, as well as some creative facial hair were seen in intervening years, which was interpreted as a growing willingness to explore the origins of Jaffa custom and tradition.
Speech
Teal'c frequently uses the word indeed, to the extent that it has become a catchphrase.[1]
The Jaffa
Although it reveals a remarkable lack of diversity of skills, the Jaffa are a warrior/priest caste with the women and children playing a role that resembles a middle class. Season 3 suggests an outcast caste, who may do the jobs of untouchables or lower class slaves. While sedition seems to be universally present, particularly in those with the closest connections to the Goa'uld, the majority of Jaffa believe absolutely in their respective Gods. Early interaction between the Jaffa culture as a whole and Teal'c was frought with tension as a result.
The tradition of the Jaffa is to serve until death if they are warriors, carry and bear symbiotes to maturity regardless, and to create more Jaffa. Because the Goa'uld System Lords were constantly battling each other, Jaffa in service to the losing side were prepared either to die or be absorbed into the ranks of the victorious Goa'uld. Their status as pawns under the Goa'uld greatly influence their interaction with allies as a free people.
A primary difficulty in attaining freedome for the Jaffa, even as the Goa'uld themselves fall, is the Jaffa dependence on symbiotes as proxy immune systems. The moral dilemma of incubating their enemies' young leads Drey'auc to ultimately refuse to be implanted when the maturation of her symbiote requires her to find another (Redemption, part 1 6.01), later, Ishta's people solve the problem with an ethically sticky solution involving harvesting live symbiotes from fallen enemy Jaffa (Birthright 7.10). The SGC offer a medical solution in the form of the drug tretonin, first discovered on Pangar (Cure 6.10), but the first Jaffa trials show a risk of rejection in a small subset of the population (a risk that is downplayed.)
After the fall of the Goa'uld, the Free Jaffa who had organized and mobilized in only small numbers up until that point, opted in self-governance to form a larger High Council with representatives from diverse worlds. Their status as a single race who had served enemies in large bloody battles for centuries made the transition difficult, and while the Jaffa were willing to accept diverse male and female delegates, their relationships to their allies do not fare as well (Allegiance, 6.09, Death Knell 7.16)
Teal'c as commander, teammate, husband, father and statesman
The Pilot episodes, as well as alternative universes seen throughout the run of the show (Children of the Gods 1.01, There But For The Grace Of God 1.19, Continuum (movie)) Teal'c is in supreme command of his ranks when he leads. It is decidedly curious that he is so willing to serve under O'Neill in a four man team, although he is certainly aware that the trust implicit in allowing him to serve is extraordinary.
As a teammate, Teal'c follows O'Neill's orders (and, to a limit, the SGC's orders as well), serves with a woman with complete respect (though by most accounts Jaffa women are trained but never used as warriors in service) and also finds a way to serve with Daniel Jackson, whom he wronged while in service to Apophis and again in season 3 (Children of the Gods 1.01, Forever in a Day 3.10).
Teal'c's wife, Drey'auc, seems less inclined to think well of her husband's choices. Teal'c's turning against Apophis left Drey'auc an outcast on Chulak (unlike Teal'c's mother, who chose exile.) To protect their son R'yac, Drey'auc remarried and bargained fiercely to earn R'yan's primta (symbiote, which grants health and Jaffa's long life.) While Drey'auc ultimately accepts exile in the Land of Light and later among the free Jaffa, her death (Redemption part 1 6.01) leaves R'yac in the care of Bra'tac since Teal'c remains on Earth with limited freedoms (Redepmtion part 2, 6.02.)
As the Goa'uld fall and the Free Jaffa grow in rank and number, they begin to hold councils where Teal'c plays a dramatic part as valued figurehead (The Warrior 5.18, Changeling 6.19, Stronghold 9.14) Later, though, as politics outweigh survival as the primary motivation, his allegiance to Earth distances him from the Jaffa in general, and he finds himself outmaneuvered in statesmanship. His readiness to give it up suggests that he may not find power and leadership to be particularly rewarding; a revelation that could explain his preference of serving under Jack O'Neill in general, and leaving politics to serve under Cameron Mitchell on SG-1 again.
Fan response
Teal'c in Fan Fiction
The distinct tendency in Stargate fanfiction as a whole is to allow Teal'c to become wallpaper much the way the series did sometimes. Those who do write Teal'c seem to find him easier to write in a general audience story, largely echewing slash or ship despite the character canonically having more romantic relationships than most of the other main characters. Notably, in later seasons he is slashed with Cameron Mitchell, and shipped with Samantha Carter, although the latter often is associated with Jack/Daniel slash stories as the main pairing.
There has been some tension around the way Teal'c gets ignored in fan fiction, particularly because of the implications for race issues. There have been a couple of Teal'c-focused communities and ficathons set up to try and counteract this.
Teal'c-centric LJ Communities
The Teal'c Ficathon Community (this ficathon ran in 2006 and a second time in 2009)
References
- ↑ A YouTube video of all the occurrences of the word's appearance can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtPgr94VYA4
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