Stargate SG-1: Hathor

[Ghilz]

Yay, one of my requests.

Hathor was really the worst of the show's recurring villains. To the point where she plays second fiddle to her own second in command in the episode where she re-appears.

This isn't the worst episode (Not while Emmancipation still exists), but it's pretty bad.

[Yukaphile]

Really tempted to request some new Stargate episodes. I really worry about Chuck once he's for-realsies DONE with Trek. Or will he keep repackaging it into newer and newer formats?

[FaxModem1]

@FaxModem1 I'm sorry, friend. I understand how deeply uncomfortable that would be. Then again, would it even work on gay people? I mean, Hathor doesn't try on Carter presumably because she's straight, and it would fail.

Well, this was set during the era of DADT, so any gay male active service members at the SGC would be accidentally outed due to not falling under Hathor's sway if that applies. Now I'm picturing General Hammond sweeping the whole thing under the rug because he doesn't want to file a few dishonorable discharges for people being immune to the Hathor brainwashing breath juice.

EDIT: Though, this can make the case for having female and gay male teams a thing in the Stargate universe, in case they have to deal with such brainwashing drugs in the future. Young Justice did this once in season 2 with having Impulse/Bart Allen, on the all female team to take down Queen Bee, since they would not be affected by her mind control on those who attracted to the female sex.

[FaxModem1]

Definitely not a fan of this episode. As a gay man, who has served in the USAF, I can just imagine the trauma I'd have gone through if I was stationed at the SGC and Hathor wanted me to 'love' her. Best not to think about.

Regarding the hybrids of Goa'uld, we at least get a somewhat decent storyline about that. They're essentially the SG1 equivalent of demigods, because they're humans with Goa'uld genetic memory, and are banned by the Goa'uld due to an innocent child having thousands of years of murder, rape, and other atrocities in their brain as well as all the technical knowledge they contain. As Daniel Jackson's vision showed, such knowledge would serve as such a huge temptation, even if coming from a good place, would lead to becoming a warlord, using their superscience to rule those under them. And the Goa'uld hate the idea of competition.

This is why the only one we see in the show is given to a Buddhist style monastery, becoming their style of monk, wherein he learns the ways of Ascension, learning the necessary steps of spiritual enlightenment to temper that knowledge and awareness so as to avoid becoming a raging trauma victim who eventually becomes ruler/destroyer of the galaxy.

What I always thought was funny about the Harsesis child is that he was set up to be this galaxy changing threat due to all of that advanced Goa'uld knowledge in his brain... and yet when you think about it, a few seasons later when Earth has Asgard and Ancient tech coming out of our ears, he becomes laughably irrelevant due to just how comparatively primitive Goa'uld tech is.

I would very much liked him to have come back for an episode only for us to show no interest in him whatsoever and then watch as he goes off and joins the Lucian Alliance or something.

I think that while that would point out the way Stargate's rather silly nerfing of previous threats by Earth's advancements, Shifu was too much of a nice guy to join the galactic mafia. I'd much rather have seen him eating pancakes with Daniel Jackson in the diner in season 8, showing that he's part of Oma DeSala's camp of 'Ascended beings who give a shit' over those that don't.

[Linkara]

Yeah, when I first watched through SG1 I was shocked that they ended up following up on Hathor and for a season finale to boot. With how bad it was I fully expected them to MAYBE mention her getting killed by Apophis or something in passing later to make sure there aren't any loose ends. The good news is that it DID make the reveal when it happened in that finale a genuine surprise.

[Ghilz]

Yeah, when I first watched through SG1 I was shocked that they ended up following up on Hathor and for a season finale to boot. With how bad it was I fully expected them to MAYBE mention her getting killed by Apophis or something in passing later to make sure there aren't any loose ends. The good news is that it DID make the reveal when it happened in that finale a genuine surprise.

To be fair, I do like the season finale (I requested both episodes so Chuck should cover them sometime soonish), even if the first act is a clip show, there's cool stuff like the Tokra, the SG teams organizing a rescue of SG-1, especially SG-3 which gets a bit of time to shine. Hammond, Bra'tac and Teal'c organizing a rescue. Hammond's first trip off world.

But I keep having to remind myself that Hathor is in that two parter? Like she leaves so little impact. She literally just gets shoved down a hole to die, and her second in command is the villain for the rest of the episode.

Incidently that two parter will also reveal Hathor can cloak, then later the show will make a big case about how only Nirrti's got that tech. One could handwave is since Hathor basically mindcontrolled all her minions, so she could've stolen it off Nirrti, but you'd think Nirrti would've noticed.

[bluebydefault]

I totally forgot about what happens to poor Daniel in this episode. I seriously just remember how weird it was that Hathor escaped the way she did. I haven't revisited season one of Stargate like I do the other seasons so I bet I forgot a lot of stuff they tried out but then discarded. Also this shows how much Daniel's character changed. He was still the most open minded but I can't remember a later seasons Daniel that would let a suspected Gouald out of hand restraints like that. He also got more snarky and my head cannon is that its a result of being around O'neill. I do like later seasons Daniel more than first few seasons Daniel.

I think one thing that bugs me about the whole "only can brainwash the other gender trope" is that there is usually always the sexual aspect of it. I can't think, off the top of my head, anytime this storyline has been done were they made it strictly a scientific psychical reason why one can be brainwashed over the other. Like I have a pill that can make men but not women do what I want because of blah blah blah physical difference. But once you add the seduction in there it raises a lot of questions. Most research show people are actually on a spectrum when it comes to sexuality. I mean like none of those female soldiers were gay or bi? I mean mathmaticaly of all the women working on the base that's not possible. Mathematically of the men working there there would be gay men. Adding a sexual assault in there is also just... ugh. Now that I think about it there are a lot of shows that down play sexual assault towards men and usually don't bring it up again after they went there.

[Yukaphile]

It was the late nineties. They were never going to show women falling for Hathor. That stuff only existed in porn at the time. Or "artsy" media. Nothing "mainstream."

[Aotrs Commander]

Didn't like this episode much even when I first saw it. I particularly winced at the seduction scene (though I think I missed the rape implications). Season 1 SG-1, between Carter's first line, this and *shudder* emancipation had so pretty low points on this sort of thing.

Still, at least you can consider they got the worst of it, the last splattery-poo of 90's-style gender influence, squeezed out in the first season, and then there wasn't any episodes that were nearly as bad (that I recall) right up until that one with Ori where the Prometheus got blown up (Ethon, season 9, apparently, on checking), which so painfully telegraphed what was going to happen and I found barely watchable myself.

[Goliath100]

A redhead that takes control of men by their increasing hormones by a pink gas, in 1997. In other words: Hathor is ripping-off Poison Ivy from Batman & Robin.