DIVIDE AND CONQUER

04.05 Episode 71 (#6703)
Airdate: July 28, 2000

SG-1 and SG-14 are on Vorash preparing to sign a treaty of alliance between Earth and the Tok'ra, when Major Graham, of SG-14, suddenly begins firing a weapon uncontrollably before taking his own life. Anise determines that Graham was a zatarc, a victim of a new kind of Goa'uld mind control technology. Zatarcs are programmed as suicide assassins, and their programming is covered by false memories. Only new and unproven Tok'ra technology is able to detect zatarc programming, of which even the victim is unaware, and Anise brings the device to Earth to test members of the SGC.

Anise begins her testing procedure, and Lt. Astor, another member of SG-14, is also identified as a zatarc. However, an attempt to reverse her programming causes her to lose control and take her own life. More troubling still, the device determines that both O'Neill and Carter may also be victims. With the signing of the treaty imminent, O'Neill and Carter are faced with the choice of indefinite sedation and confinement as possible security threats, or submitting to the same risky deprogramming technique that led to Astor's death. O'Neill agrees to the experimental procedure.

As O'Neill prepares for the dangerous deprogramming, Carter realizes the flaw in the zatarc technology. The device can misread emotions, interpreting omissions as lies, and giving a false reading. O'Neill and Carter are retested, admitting feelings they had previously concealed, and they are cleared as zatarcs. It is not until the real zatarc attempts to assassinate the Earth and Tok'ra leaders that his identity is discovered. It was Martouf who was the unknowing victim of zatarc programming, and who dies as he attempts to carry out his suicide mission.

Written by: Tor Alexander Valenza
Directed by: Martin Wood

Guest Starring: Vanessa Angel as Anise/Freya, JR Bourne as Martouf/Lantash, Kirsten Robek as Lieutenant Astor, Andrew Jackson as Supreme High Councilor Per'sus, Teryl Rothery as Dr. Fraiser, Phillip Mitchell as Major Graham, Bill Nikolai as Technician, Roger Allford as The President

Reference: Anise, Lieutenant Astor, Freya, Major Graham, Hand Weapon, Horus Guard, Lantash, Lo'machen, Martouf, Memory Recall Device, PX9-757, Per'sus, Tok'ra, Tok'ra Tunnels, Vern, Vorash, Major Wood, Zatarc, Zatarc Detector, Zat'nik'tel

DESTINATIONS & INHABITANTS

NOTES OF INTEREST

• Supreme High Councilor Per'sus, of the Tok'ra, came to Earth to sign an official treaty with the President that outlines a new alliance in the fight against the Goa'uld.
• A zatarc is a victim of Goa'uld mind-control technology. A mission is programmed into the victim's subconscious and covered with a false memory. The programming requires only moments of access, and the victim is unaware of the programming. When triggered by a visual or auditory signal, the programming takes over, ending in suicide. It is a fairly recent technology, with three incidents in the last two months involving Tok'ra.
• Zatarc programming can only be detected with a Tok'ra technology which uses a modified Tok'ra memory recall device and is similar to a lie detector. It reads the subconscious and compares it to the conscious memory. Originally created to verify information retrieved from the torture of captured Goa'uld, the zatarc detector is an unproven technology, and can misread omissions as false memories. An experimental and unproven procedure using the same device can counteract the zatarc programming by damaging the portion of the brain affected by the zatarc technology.
• During a joint mission involving SG-14 and SG-15 to the Lasarians on P6Y-325, the SG teams were attacked by Jaffa and six team members were killed. SG-14 included Major Graham, Captain Blasdale, Lieutenant Astor, and Sergeant Louis. During the attack, Major Graham and Lieutenant Astor were programmed as zatarcs.
• The planet on which Apophis's new ship was being built during the Upgrades mission is identified as PX9-757.
• O'Neill makes a reference to having previously "done the drugged-out-strapped-to-the-bed thing."

MEMORABLE REMARKS

• Do we, or do we not, have a Xanax detector? [O'Neill]
• I think these are the Jack O'Neill moments I would probably miss the most. [Daniel]
• I didn't leave, because I'd have rather died myself than lose Carter... Because I care about her... a lot more than I'm supposed to. [O'Neill]

FOR THE RECORD

• D'oh: 1
• Injuries:
  • O'Neill and Carter: suspected of being zatarcs