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THE CURSE

The Curse

04.13 Episode 79 (#6719)
Airdate: September 22, 2000

Daniel returns to his alma mater when he learns of the death of his former archaeology professor in a mysterious lab explosion. There he is reunited with his former colleagues, Sarah Gardner, with whom he once shared a relationship, and Steven Rayner, who resents his return. The professor had been studying a collection of Egyptian artifacts, but the circumstances of his death are suspicious. The explosion may not have been an accident, and rumors of an ancient curse begin to spread.

Daniel and Sarah begin an investigation, despite Steven's resistance. The artifacts had included two identical jars, and Daniel discovers that one of them contains the dead symbiote of Isis. Designed as a stasis chamber, the jar had kept the Goa'uld alive until the seal had recently been broken. However, the second jar containing Osiris is missing, and the Goa'uld is unaccounted for. When two more deaths occur on campus and another artifact turns up missing, suspicion begins to point toward Steven, who has boarded a flight for Cairo.

Daniel, Carter, and Dr. Fraiser follow Steven to Egypt, to the temple where the artifacts were found. Hoping to claim the discovery in the temple, Steven had arrived before them. However, they find him badly injured, and they learn the true fate of the missing Goa'uld. Osiris had indeed survived, and it was Sarah Gardner whom he had taken as a host. He appears at the temple, demanding obedience, and the location of the stargate, but when his demands go unanswered, he vows vengeance before uncovering a buried ship and escaping from Earth.

Written by: Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie
Directed by: Andy Mikita

Guest Starring: Anna-Louise Plowman as Sarah Gardner/Osiris, Ben Bass as Dr. Steven Rayner, Teryl Rothery as Dr. Fraiser, David Abbott as Dr. David Jordan, Lorena Gale as Curator, Dan Shea as Sergeant Siler

Reference: Curse of Osiris, Egypt, Sarah Gardner, Isis, Daniel Jackson, David Jordan, Osiris, Steven Rayner, Sergeant Siler, Silver Creek, Stasis, Tranquilizer

DESTINATIONS & INHABITANTS

Destinations & Inhabitants

Egypt

Destinations & Inhabitants

Osiris

NOTES OF INTEREST

  • Dr. David Jordan had been Daniel's archaeology professor. Daniel, Steven and Sarah had been his assistants and associates. Sarah had had a relationship with Daniel before he disappeared from the academic world five years ago with the mission to Abydos.
  • The artifacts had been discovered by the Stewart Expedition in a temple near Cairo in 1931. Every member of the expedition died within a year, attributed to the "Curse of Osiris." The ship carrying the artifacts sank off the coast of New Jersey six months later. The wreck was recovered a few months ago and the artifacts are currently on loan from the Egyptian government to the museum in Chicago.
  • The artifacts included two canopic jars made of ceramic with a technologically advanced inner chamber holding a liquid with sedative properties, and using a tiny naquadah power source emitting a low-level electrical charge to maintain temperature and to keep a symbiote alive in stasis indefinitely as long as the seal is unbroken.
  • The artifact inscriptions included "Woe to all who disturb this, my final resting place." The gold amulet represented Osiris carrying a crook and flail, scepters of kingship, and an ankh, symbol of immortality. It was carbon dated at 10,000 years old. The Isis jar (item #14B) had been damaged, the seal was broken, and the symbiote inside dead. The Osiris jar was supposedly destroyed in the lab explosion. The inscription in Goa'uld symbols on the Isis jar read "Hakorr kra terak shree" meaning "Banished to oblivion."
  • Isis was the Egyptian mother-goddess and consort of Osiris. Osiris was supposedly the first pharoah of Egypt. According to legend, he was placed in a magic box and dumped in the Nile by his brother Seth.
  • O'Neill went fishing at his cabin in northern Minnesota. Carter is restoring an Indian motorcycle. Teal'c is developing a taste for tabloid journalism (but not for fishing).

MEMORABLE REMARKS

  • The loons! Don't forget the loons! [O'Neill]
  • We'll be unavailable, inaccessible... [O'Neill]
    Incommunicado... [Hammond]
    Minnesota, Sir. [O'Neill]
    I stand corrected. [Hammond]
  • We have caught nothing. We are fishing. [Teal'c]

FOR THE RECORD

  • Injuries:
    • Carter and Fraiser: knocked out by blow from ribbon device
    • Daniel: injured by Goa'uld ribbon device
  • Popular Culture References:
    • Green Lantern
      • Character names: Dr. Jordan, Sarah Gardner, Steven Rayner, Stewart Expedition