The Curse

US Airdate : 22 September 2000

UK Airdate : 6 December 2000

Summary

Daniel learns of the Death of his old mentor Doctor Jordan, while Jack and Teal'c go fishing he travels to the funeral.

There he is re-united with his old colleagues, Steven and Sarah.

The mysterious circumstances of Doctor Jordan's death are linked to a collection of artefacts including the Iris and Osiris Jars and a Gold amulet, which has gone missing

Sam, Janet and Daniel travel to Cairo to solve the last piece of the puzzle.

Notes

The first time this episode was shown in the UK it aired before The Serpent's Venom

Synopsis by Pepper

The camera glides over a table covered with ancient artefacts. A hand reaches out and gently picks up a statue. The elderly gentleman looks at it, and makes a note in his notebook.

A younger man with dark hair and eyes enters the room. Doctor Jordan is pleased that they can do a resonance scan on the Osiris Jar, but Steven isn't so pleased. All the artefacts have to be returned to the Egyptian government in two weeks. Doctor Jordan reminds him that they might never have known what was inside the Jar and isn't pleased by Steven's joke about breaking the seal and taking a look. As Doctor Jordan leaves to do the scan, Steven picks up a gold amulet and gazes at it unhappily.

Jack is reading a tabloid magazine (claiming it's Teal'c's magazine) while waiting for General Hammond to start the briefing. He's a little surprised when Daniel grabs the paper out of his hands.

The front cover shows a picture of Doctor Jordan and tells of his death

Daniel approaches Doctor Jordan's coffin slowly. He can hear Steven talking of his admiration for the Professor, but notices that Steven's voice changes slightly when he spots Daniel. Steven grabs the opportunity to make a few pointed comments that Daniel understands are aimed at him.

Once Steven has finished and the mourners have dispersed, Daniel goes to stand by the casket, lost in thought.

"The prodigal son returns!" Steven's not very friendly voice interrupts his reverie.

Daniel turns, as does an attractive blonde woman. She's pleased to see him, obviously Steven isn't. She hugs him and they turn to walk along, talking as they go and followed by Steven.

Daniel asks about the accident, saying that he read that Doctor Jordan's death was supposedly caused by the curse of Osiris. Steven explains about there being a slow gas leak in the lab. Something must have caused a spark and Doctor Jordan died instantly.

Sarah reassures Daniel that they would have called him, but didn't know where to find him, then asks where he's been. She's looked for signs of him, papers... projects, but nothing. Daniel returns vague answers then Steven steps in with some sarcastic comments about Daniel and his theories. Finally he stalks off and leaves Daniel and Sarah alone.

Sarah tries to explain Steven's attitude, he was always jealous of Daniel and how much Doctor Jordan thought of him - even after Daniel was considered to be an outcast by the archaeological community. She also admits that she thought Daniel stayed away because of her. They could have ended it better.

Daniel reassures her. And finally gives her a tiny hint. "Maybe. The truth is, I got caught up in something... incredible."

She looks at him with interest. "You found something, didn't you? Something that supports your theory? Tell me." He refuses to look her in the eye. "Come on," she insists.

"I can't."

"Daniel!"

"Okay, let's just say... that what the world knows about Ancient Egypt just barely touches the surface. The truth is more incredible than any of us ever imagined."

"Now, that's the Daniel I remember," she says, happily. "Come on, I want to show you something."

Back at the SGC, the remaining members of SG-1 are pleased, and surprised, to find out that they're getting some leave as General Hammond thinks they're overdue for it.

Jack agrees, but points out, "The leaving part has been a little problem."

"Oh, I think you'll make it to the front door before we realise we can't do without you," Hammond jokes. "Dismissed."

Jack turns to Sam and invites her to come along on his fishing trip. Surprisingly, she refuses, and makes her escape. Teal'c isn't as fortunate.

Sarah takes Daniel back to her office. He gazes admiringly at all the Egyptian artefacts laid out before him. She explains that they're all being returned to the Egyptian Government, so they're trying to study them before they get sent back. As she talks, she flips open a box, and only to find that the gold amulet which was supposed to be inside, has disappeared.

Walking down a corridor in the SGC with General Hammond and Teal'c, heading straight for the elevators, Jack is making his position clear. "It's gonna be me, Teal'c, and the great outdoors. That means no cell phones, no fax machines, not another living soul for miles. We'll be unavailable, inaccessible."

"Incommunicado," the General responds.

"Minnesota, sir."

"I stand corrected."

Jack continues talking as he and Teal'c enter the elevator. "If there's an emergency back at the base, you better plan ahead and tell me now. If Thor needs me, he's gonna have to beam me up! If the Tok'Ra... forget it!" his voice is cut off as the doors close.

Daniel follows the Curator around the storage room, listening as she explains about the disorganised room. Finally she asks, "What am I looking for?"

"An artefact that went missing from the Steward Expedition," Daniel explains.

"The Isis Jar."

"Uh... no, actually. I'm... uh... referring to a... a... a gold amulet with a little ebony... uh..." Daniel checks the list he's carrying. "Uh, it's listed as item 14C."

"That was sent up to Dr. Jordan along with the rest of the artefacts," the short woman replies calmly.

"You sure?" Daniel is surprised.

"I sent it myself. I can show you the paperwork."

Daniel refuses and asks about the artefact she mentioned instead.

"I'll show you. The damn crate was mislabelled when it came in. I only found it a couple days ago." As she speaks, she reaches up to a high shelf, but can't quite grab the Jar. Daniel fetches it down for her, and stares at the Goa'uld symbols on the front.

Jack casts his line into the water, while Teal'c watches blankly. He does not understand. "There appear to be no fish here, O'Neill."

"Teal'c, it's not about the actual fish themselves. The fish are not important in this context, it's about fishing! The act of fishing," Jack explains happily.

"I see," says Teal'c even more blankly.

The silence is interrupted by a phone ringing. Jack looks around. The penny drops.

"You didn't!"

"By request of General Hammond..."

Jack answers the phone looking at Teal'c in an annoyed way. "Go away. What?!" His tone becomes sarcastic. "Yes, Daniel, he's right here. Please hold."

Teal'c takes the phone. "DanielJackson, we have caught nothing. We are fishing," he explains.

"Right. Um," Daniel decides that it isn't worth pursuing. "Listen, I need a little help with a translation. I've got a line here that reads 'Haco thra terak shree'."

Teal'c swats a mosquito and looks at his hand as he answers. "Banished to oblivion." Hoping that he can be saved, Teal'c adds, "If you require assistance, I would be more than happy to return to the SGC."

Daniel, not hearing Teal'c's cry for help, replies, "No. Thanks. I think I can take it from here."

Teal'c lowers his voice slightly, "Are you certain?"

"Gimme that," Jack interrupts, grabbing the phone. "Goodbye, Daniel!" Daniel's protest is cut off as Jack hangs up and takes out the battery. He slings the battery over his shoulder and hands the phone back to Teal'c.

The Jaffa uses it to swat another bug then looks at the phone unhappily.

Daniel, having returned to the base, explains about the Isis Jar, which he's brought back with him, and the myth of Osiris and Isis. "The Goa'uld symbols indicate that Isis and Osiris suffered some sort of punishment, or... banishment."

Finally, General Hammond orders that the contents be examined.

"Er, now I'd be careful if I were you," Daniel warns her. "For all we know, it could be some sort of Goa'uld booby-trap left behind by Osiris as revenge. Also, it's... it's cursed, so..."

Sam picks up the Jar very carefully. "Thanks for the warning," she says and leaves.

"General, there's something else. The inventory of the steward expedition lists... two jars." He's going to go back to Chicago to try to find the second.

"Hello? Hello?" Daniel calls out. The storage room is dark, the lights off. Puzzled, he tries the light. It doesn't work. He searches for, and finds, a torch. He heads further into the storage room, and is surprised to run into Steven, who claims to be looking for the breaker box.

Daniel explains that he wanted to ask the Curator about some missing items, but Steven says that nothing was missing. Daniel describes the Osiris Jar but Steven states that it was destroyed in the lab explosion.

"Okay, well, what about this gold amulet?"

Steven is furious. "Daniel, if you're looking to get back together with Sarah, that's your business, I really couldn't care less, but I do have a problem with you coming here and involving yourself in my work!"

"Don't you mean Doctor Jordan's work?"

"No, my work!" Steven insists. "Sarah and I were Doctor Jordan's assistants. You haven't been involved since you walked out on him!"

"I didn't walk out on him. I was trying to protect him," Daniel protests.

"You mean you distanced yourself to spare him the embarrassment of being associated with you. Daniel, you really should not have come back!"

Daniel finds the breaker box and turns on the lights. "Look, I don't want to get into this with you right now, but you need my help."

Steven's sceptical to say the least. "Why? Do you think there might aliens involved?"

With the power back on, the elevator resumes its downward path and the door opens to reveal the Curator. She's dead.

Hammond watches as Sam takes an MRI scan of the slightly damaged Isis Jar. Both of them are extremely surprised to see a Goa'uld symbiote contained within the Jar.

"You have any pictures of the Osiris Jar?" Daniel asks Sarah. "The one that was destroyed in the explosion?" He takes the photos she hands him, but can't make out the inscription.

"We weren't able to identify the symbols, but Doctor Jordan copied them in his note book. Those markings are unlike anything we've ever seen before. They're not Egyptian," Sarah comments as she shows the notebook to Daniel.

He looks at the Goa'uld writing. "No, they're not Egyptian."

"So, what are they?" she asks.

"What are they?" Daniel echoes quietly.

"You know!" Sarah realises suddenly, then, in a demanding voice, "How?"

He refuses to answer, but asks about any tests Doctor Jordan ran. Sarah gives it up, for now, and turns to the computer to pull up any results.

Janet has her hands inside the isolation unit containing the Isis Jar. Sam is standing by her, with a couple of armed guards nearby. Carefully, she opens the Jar and pulls out the dead symbiote. Everyone relaxes slightly.

Taking a scalpel, she cuts it open. "Do we know how long it's been inside the jar?"

"According to Daniel, several thousand years," Sam replies, watching with disgust written all over her face.

"Well, it's perfectly preserved. It could have died yesterday."

Back at the Museum, Sarah discovers that all of Dr. Jordan's files are gone... including the backups. She manages to retrieve one e-mail. It's from the technician who did the carbon testing on the gold amulet. Which is over 10,000 years old.

Sarah is excited for Daniel - this proves that he was right. But Daniel insists that she can't tell anyone. Her excitement dies when she realises that someone else know all along about the amulet. Steven received a copy of the e-mail too.

At the SGC, Sam and Janet have come to some conclusions about the Jar. It wasn't just a ceramic storage jar; it was a tiny stasis chamber designed to keep the symbiote alive but in a sedated state. The Goa'uld died when the seal on the Jar was broken. Hammond realises the implications.

"Then, if what you're saying is true, and the second jar survived the trip unscathed... "

"Yes, sir. There could be a Goa'uld out there."

Alone in the storage room, Daniel runs the scanner over various artefacts checking for any signs of Naquadah. He stops when he realises that Sarah is approaching. She has bad news. Steven Rayner has disappeared.

Daniel has worse news. The technician who did the carbon dating was murdered. And he suspects Steven.

"Daniel, I know Steven," Sarah protests. "He may be capable of a lot of things, but he's no murderer."

"Well, you might not know him as well as you think you do... at least... not any more."

"What's that supposed to mean?" she demands. "Oh. Let me guess... you can't explain, right?"

"Sarah..."

Furiously she interrupts him. "Well, what do you expect, Daniel? You show up after five years, but you can't say where you've been! You've got this mysterious ability to be able to read this ancient language nobody's ever seen before, but you can't explain how! Then, when we finally find the evidence to vindicate you to the entire archaeological community, you want to cover it up! What is going on?" She pauses, then adds coaxingly, "This is me, Daniel."

"I know." He looks at her helplessly.

"Then, why can't you trust me? What have you been doing for the past five years?"

"I want to tell you, Sarah, believe me, I do," he tells her sincerely. "I wish you could see some of the things I've seen... But the world is not ready to know... not yet."

"I'm not asking you to tell the world," she points out. "I'm asking you to tell me. This is my life's work, too, Daniel. So... you're working for the government. What? Daniel!"

"I'm sorry." He heads towards the door, then stops and looks at her.

"You're just going to disappear again, aren't you?" she asks.

"Yes."

The tone in her voice turns bitter. "I think Steven was right. You never should have come back."

Daniel returns to the base to find that Hammond has put the base on full alert in case Steven tries to get to the Stargate and that Janet has made up some sedative darts using the liquid from the Isis Jar.

"Do we really want this thing alive?" Sam protests.

"Well, even though it's been in stasis for that last several thousand years, it could still be a valuable source of information," Daniel points out to her.

Hammond intervenes. "I want you to hold that option in reserve. Your first priority is to stop the Goa'uld with minimum risk to yourselves."

The phone rings. Steven Rayner is on his way back to Egypt.

Inside the stone temple, Steven is looking around curiously. His torch settles on the large mural of Isis and Osiris that adorns the end wall. Cautiously, he approaches. Gazing at the altar in front of him, he pulls the amulet from his bag, unwraps it and reaches out to slot it into place. It fits.

The top of the altar slides up, revealing a hidden chamber. He steps back in shock, then forward again to grasp at the prize he's found. In total wonder, he picks up the Ribbon Device, then starts to slide his hand into it.

A sound disturbs him. He turns and stares in shock.

Daniel parks his Jeep not far from Steven's. Sam runs forward and waits, her gun at the ready, as Daniel pushes the sedative dart into the rifle. Janet waits calmly. Once he's ready, the three of them move into the opening of the temple.

Their torches lighten the darkness, showing Steven lying unconscious on the floor. Sam kneels by him, touching him gently. She can't sense a Goa'uld.

Janet's concerned, Steven's badly injured. He comes around and realises that Daniel's there.

"I took the amulet," he sighs. It's over 10,000 years old. You were right all along... I'm sorry."

Daniel brushes this aside and asks the more important question. "What about the Jar?"

Steven doesn't understand.

"The Osiris Jar," Daniel reminds him. "Did you open it?"

"No."

Daniel's confused. "Why did you come here?"

"I figured out the amulet was a key... there's a hidden chamber... I wanted to make the discovery."

"Daniel, we have to get him out of here," Janet insists.

If not Steven, then who? "Steven, who did this to you?"

The three SGC members jump to their feet as the Goa'uld voice is heard behind them.

"I did!"

"Sarah?"

Her eyes glow as she looks back at them.

Daniel hastily raises the rifle at the same time as Janet and Sam aim their guns at the Goa'uld.

Quickly, Sarah raises her hand and with one blast of the Ribbon Device flings Janet and Sam against the wall. They fall to the floor, stunned.

Daniel fires but the dart doesn't reach her. Angrily, the Goa'uld approaches him. He grabs his own revolver, but she knocks it from his hand with one of her own, while the hand in the Ribbon Device grasps his throat firmly.

"You seem to know much of the Goa'uld, much more than any other human I have encountered since my awakening," she informs him. "Now, tell me. Where is the Stargate?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," he gasps.

She throws him from her in disgust. "Insolence." Turning, she takes a few steps away from him, looking around. "This temple was once filled with worshippers."

Daniel struggles up slightly, grasping his throat. "Yeah? Well, times have changed."

"So I have observed. Where is my brother, Satesh?"

"Ah, you mean Seth," he answers, still slightly breathless. "Uh, he's dead. Yeah, we killed him."

"You lie!" Sarah snaps.

"No... no. We also killed Ra, and Hathor, and er... who else? Ah, Sokar."

"Then you have done me a great favour," she gloats. "I will rule without opposition."

"No, no. You won't rule at all," Daniel tells her. "See we don't worship false gods any more."

"You have come far, it is true," the Goa'uld admits. "But you are still weak. Even now you are torn between your desire to kill me, and your concern for my host, she who freed me from my long sleep." Her voice changes, becomes more demanding. "What do you know of my Queen?"

"Er... she was trapped, like you. We have the Jar."

"Where is it?"

"I'm not gonna tell you," Daniel retorts.

Quickly, she stalks towards him. "You are mistaken!"

He grasps her wrist, but can't stop her from activating the Ribbon Device. As his face contorts with the familiar pain, his other hand drags the second dart from his pocket.

"Where is my Queen?" she demands.

His fingers manage to prise the cap off the dart.

"Tell me!" she insists.

With a quick movement he shoves the dart into her side. The Ribbon Device stops, releasing him, and he rolls to one side.

Sarah looks down at herself. "What is this? What have you done?" She yanks the dart out. "You will pay for this impudence!" Slightly unsteadily she heads for the altar and raises the Ribbon Device. The chamber opens once more, and she fills the cavity with energy. The temple shakes as a Goa'uld ship rises out of the sand behind the temple and goes to hover over the temple itself. Turning, Sarah brushes past Daniel and stands in the middle of her temple.

"Make no mistake, Osiris will return and the rivers of Earth will run red with blood!" she declares as she activates the transport rings.

Sam manages to get to her feet, scrambles forward to grab her revolver and starts firing. The bullets don't penetrate the rings and Sarah disappears.

Sam moves over to kneel by Daniel. "You all right?"

Daniel pounds his fist on the ground. "Oh, yeah," he says breathlessly. Yeah, I think I'm getting used to that thing!"

Janet recovers and moves over to Daniel. "Where's Osiris?"

"Gone."

"Steven?" Daniel gasps, pressing one hand into his eye in an attempt to ward off the pain.

"If we get him out of here right now, I think he'll make it," Janet tells him.

"I guess we'd better make up a story to tell him," is all Daniel says in reply.

For a second, the Goa'uld ship hovers over the temple, then readies itself for interstellar flight and flies away.