Stargate SG-1--"Prophecy"

“Prophecy” is the ultimate tease for those anxious to see Jonas depart. It doubly qualifies for those in that crowd with a sadistic streak. Poor Jonas gets put through the ringer here and nearly bites the dust. To add insult to injury, it appears he nearly kills his friends on the SG-1 team by accident on two different occasions. I have already made a Parker Lewis Can’t Win joke, have I not? Oh, well. How about Hard Luck Jonas being the Harry Kim of Stargate SG-1?

The SG-1 team visit’s a backwater mining planet that was once under the control of Ba’al, but is now being overseen by an underling named Mot. Mot, who is apparently grown weary of being asked if he produces apple sauce, has been hoarding naquadah taken from the planet in anticipation of a bid to overthrow Ba’al. Ba’al is currently reeling from an onslaught by Yu, so the time is right for mot to make his move. The people believe in an ancient prophecy about saviors arriving to free them. They believe the SG-1 team is the fulfillment of the prophecy. The SG-1 team, in return, thinks mot is weak enough to be taken in an ambush.

However, Jonas begins seeing visions of the future and falls ill afterwards. He is diagnosed with a brain tumor that is suspected to be the result of Nirrti’s genetic tampering. Jonas does not entirely understand how the visions work, so when he believes sam is going to be severely injured on an off world mission, she stays behin only to suffer her injury at Sgc instead. Just for good measure, a red herring is thrown in wherein Jonas attempt tp warn of an ambush looks like it will cause the ambush instead. Man, that guy has a heck of a time winning friends and influencing people.

Jonas falls deathly ill with the tumor, so it has to be removed. I almost believed the powers that be were going to pass Frasier off as a brain surgeon, but they wisely brought in another character. Jonas does appear to recover from surgery way too quickly, however. Even Thor lapsed into a three month coma when a malignant object was removed from his brain. Again, those of you expecting him to join the choir invisible get cheated.

Two of Jonas’ prophecies turn out to be incorrect. One, he foresees mot’s Jaffa invading Sgc and destroying it, which mot does intend to do in order to curry favor with Anubis after killing Ba’al. But that does not occur. Neither does the ambush that will supposedly kill Jack and Teal’c. Jonas’ foreknowledge leads Hammond to radio the SG teams, but unbeknownst to him, he is alerting the Jaffa to their location. Apparently, the alarm that sounds gives the SG teams enough warning to head off the ambush. Sam tries to explain through quantum physics how predicting the future is impossible. I take her at her word.

One point that does bug me is mot’s death. A local village woman who daughter was murdered by mot last year helps the SG teams escape from his prison. When they are on their way to the stargate, she doubles back, steals a gun they have left behind, and kills mot in revenge. Would there not be some consequences for the SG teams leaving a weapon behind that is eventually used in a murder by a civilian, or am I just being naïve? Circumstances may be more mitigating than I allow. It is still a nagging question for me.

I have picked on Jonas quite badly in these reviews because I know the future. (Ironic, no?) Corin Nemec is leaving so Michael shanks can return. Bringing the band back together was virtually always in the cards, so Jonas was never going to completely fit in. Nevertheless, it is difficult to watch him struggle so hard, to the point of risking death, in order to prove his value to the SG-1 team. Even I am perturbed at what jerks just about everyone other than Sam, who has a soft spot for him, have been towards him. Really, he should be thrilled to split when the time comes.

Rating: *** (out of 5)