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GERAK

Gerak

Gerak, a Jaffa warrior, bore the gold tattoo of the First Prime of Montu, a minor Goa'uld who had served Ra then later fell in with Ba'al when Ra was killed. A cold and ruthless adversary, Gerak had once killed Karrok of the High Plains, the former First Prime of Horus whom he considered a fool for having lost one of the greatest battles in history. After the fall of the Goa'uld at Dakara, Hubrok, a Jaffa who had led Ba'al's armada and had become an ally of Bra'tac, mysteriously disappeared, probably at the hands of Gerak, although no evidence was ever uncovered. Following Hubrok's disappearance, Gerak emerged as the spokesperson for the more traditional ways of the Jaffa High Council, which he could control. Through a series of slow and deliberate manipulations, the Council played squarely into Gerak's hands, making him one of the most powerful leaders among the Jaffa, and nearly four months later, Gerak stood poised to claim the leadership of the new Jaffa Nation.

Despite the objections of leaders such as Bra'tac, Teal'c, and Rak'nor, Gerak's proposed system of government based on military assets found favor among many Jaffa. By a slim majority, the motion was resolved, making Gerak, as the head of the most powerful military faction, the leader of the Jaffa High Council and the Jaffa Nation, and Landry requested a meeting with him in an attempt to lay the groundwork for a treaty between Earth and the Jaffa Nation. Gerak arrived at the SGC, but he viewed the Tauri with suspicion and was more interested in preserving his own power base. The first of the Priors had arrived in the galaxy, and Gerak insisted upon meeting the Prior to challenge him about false gods and the path to enlightenment. At Kallana, he defied both the Prior and the SGC, and as an Ori force field threatened to envelop the planet, Gerak led three ha'tak vessels in firing upon the expanding field, demanding that the Prometheus join him or be considered an enemy, then retreating when his actions caused the collapse of the planet.

Gerak remained distrustful of both the Tauri and the Tok'ra, and as he grew stronger, fewer Jaffa risked defying him for fear of retribution. Gerak needed a big moral victory to reap the huge political gain that would guarantee him the support of the remaining undecided Jaffa. Ba'al had been hiding out on Earth, and Gerak secretly sent a contingent of warriors to Earth to search for him. By capturing and torturing Alex Jameson, the Chief Financial Officer of Farrow-Marshall who had been taken as a Goa'uld host during the infiltration of the Trust, he learned Ba'al's whereabouts on Earth. Under the command of Yat'Yir, Gerak's mothership, hidden on the far side of the moon, acted as a base of operations from which to launch attacks on Farrow-Marshall headquarters and the secret compound where Ba'al and Charlotte Mayfield were hiding. His capture and execution of Ba'al's clone won him the hearts of the High Council and assured him undisputed influence over the new government.

When a Prior of the Ori visited Dakara, Gerak's feelings toward the Ori shifted. He became convinced that the Ori represented the true gods the Jaffa had sought for generations. Believing that they offered knowledge and salvation, he declared that only by worshipping them could the Jaffa find peace and enlightenment. His arguments swayed many, especially older members of the Council who sought a quick path to ascension, and he proposed to the High Council that Origin be adopted by all Jaffa as law. He vowed to spread the word of the Ori, convinced that faith would come in time, but when the Prior ordered him to use bloodshed and sacrifice at Chulak to destroy the unbelievers led by Teal'c and Bra'tac, he was forced to choose between his new gods and his own people. In a confrontation at Chulak, Gerak prepared to destroy the forces of Teal'c and Bra'tac, but instead he hesitated, insisting that innocent blood need not be spilled. Angered, the Prior demonstrated the power of the Ori as Gerak's consciousness was delivered to the City of the Gods at Celestis while his physical form remained on Dakara. There Gerak was brought before the Doci and the Flames of Enlightenment, and he was transformed into a Prior.

As a Prior, Gerak acquired the special abilities granted by the Ori, and he used these powers as proof of the divine right of the Ori. Once again he returned to Chulak to face the resistance led by Bra'tac and Teal'c, and on Chulak he and Tea'c met at the site of the Battle of Tazek'Sur. In a quiet moment alone, Teal'c reminded Gerak that he had begun to doubt the Goa'uld long before the Jaffa rebellion had taken shape, and that it was at Tazek'Sur that Gerak's father had given his life for the cause of freedom. His father's death at the hands of the Goa'uld had led Gerak to question what god was so deserving of his worship, and as Teal'c questioned the divine benevolence of the Ori, Gerak's faith began to waver. Unwilling to spill more Jaffa blood in battle, Gerak instead accompanied Teal'c to the SGC, where the Prior plague had claimed dozens of victims before spreading across the planet. Realizing that what he was about to do would mean his death, Gerak defiantly planted his staff and proclaimed, "I will die free!" As the glow from his staff penetrated the facility, Gerak burst into flames and vanished, probably due to a physiological failsafe the Ori had put in place when they had made him a Prior. Gerak's actions cured the plague within the SGC, and the medical team was later able to isolate an antibody and manufacture a vaccine.

Portrayed by: Louis Gossett Jr.

Cross Reference: Ba'al, Bra'tac, Chulak, Dakara, Doci, Farrow-Marshall, Flames of Enlightenment, Jaffa, Jaffa High Council, Jaffa Nation, Alex Jameson, Kallana, Charlotte Mayfield, Prior, Prior Plague, Battle of Tazek'Sur, Yat'Yir

Episode Reference: Origin, Beachhead, Ex Deus Machina, The Fourth Horseman