Episode:Emancipation

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"Emancipation"
An episode from Stargate SG-1
Emancipation (episode).jpg
Captain Carter is threatened by Turghan, chieftain of the Thoughai.
Episode Nb Season 1
Episode 04
Produced by Ron French
Original air date (1997-08-08)  USA: August 8, 1997
(1998-04-22)  UK: April 22, 1998
Length 42'24"
Guest starring
Episode chronology
Précédent "The Enemy Within" "The Broca Divide" Suivant
Episode title card
An alien civilization is forced to reconsider their views on women when Carter rebels against their social customs.
"Emancipation" is the 4th episode of Stargate SG-1 Season 1.

Summary[edit | edit source]

Story development[edit | edit source]

Planets: P3X-595 • Simarka
Races: People of the desert • People of the river • Shavadai • Toughai
Locations: Sea of Ogada • Simarka's ruined temple
Miscellaneous: Anesthetic • Genghis Khan • Shavadai anesthetic

Story[edit | edit source]

Teaser[edit | edit source]

  • SG-1 arrive on a new planet, finding what seems to be an ancient ruined temple. Colonel O'Neill orders SG-1 to move on for "safety".
  • Later, in a meadow, O'Neill uses binoculars to check the surroundings, with no evidence of life around. Suddenly, Captain Carter hears some barkings. Then a young boy appears at the top a hill, running, and chased by four dogs.
  • When the boy is caught and bitten by the dogs, O'Neill uses his handgun to scare them away. Then O'Neill tries to communicate with the boy who definitely speaks a fluent English. He introduces himself, Abu from the Shavadai, is happy to see that SG-1 are from the Sea of Ogada (as O'Neill let him believe), but takes fright when he sees Carter coming back to the group; "She's a woman".
  • At the top of the hill, three men on horses arrive. While Daniel Jackson notices that they have Mongol type, Abu urges SG-1 to leave with Carter. Yet it is too late as the men threaten SG-1 with swords, bows and arrows when they see "the woman".

Act 1[edit | edit source]

  • O'Neill fires in the air with his sidearm, scaring the three men. At the top of the hill, a more aged man riding a horse joins the group. This man is Abu's father, fearing that his son was dead since he wasn't back. Abu explain SG1's rescue against the dogs. The man asks about the way to welcome strangers. One of them points out Carter, she is a "woman". Abu tell that they're coming from the Sea of Ogada so they cannot know the customs. The leader asks about the weapons they carry. Carter answers that that's firearms shooting bullets like their bow shoot arrows. The leader is upset as she dared speaking and demands her death. Abu begs his father as the woman saved her life. The leader cancels the order as according to him, "if a woman saves a man's life, hers cannot be taken". The team is now guest of Moughal but the latter says that if they want to cross their territories, they must learn their customs. Carter is reluctant, yet Daniel Jackson says that it is a unique opportunity to learn about a 900 hundred years old culture.
  • In the Shavadai village, everybody is busy when the small group arrives here. Someone warns the other that they are back with Abu. Abu's mother gets out of a tent, covers her face, and runs to her son to hug him. She takes Carter with her. SG-1 enter inside a tent. Daniel states that only the Chagatai kept their nomad life 900 years ago. According to him the Shavadai may be their descendants.
  • Moughal enters the tent and reassures Carter by saying that she can speak, because according to the customs of his people, any woman who shows her face in public or wears men's clothes is punished by death. Her action towards Abu gave him a pretext so that they wouldn't kill her. According to him, the old customs will pass, wars will give way to the trade of animals, fabrics, and even medicine. Carter, seeing O'Neill's skepticism, points out that many Earth medicines are plant-based. Abu offers to follow them, but Moughal prevents Carter from following her teammates until she puts on more "appropriate" attire. According to Daniel Jackson, anthropologists live and dress according to the customs of the people they live with. Carter protests, claiming she is not one, but O'Neill teases her by saying that today, she is.
  • While Carter is taken by Moughal's wife to put on a new outfit, O'Neill, Jackson, and Teal'c accompany Abu, who shows them the effects of a pain-relieving ointment on a villager who was injured by a flaming arrow: the pain disappeared upon application. They return to Moughal's tent to find Carter in a local dress with a veil. Carter is visibly exasperated and uncomfortable in this outfit. Abu is mesmerized by the sight of Carter while the teammates awkwardly try to reassure her. Teal'c and Jackson leave the tent for an evening with the men of the tribe. O'Neill leaves after making sure everything is fine with Carter.
  • Later that night, while the Shavadai are rejoicing by drumming and eating, Carter tries to sleep, but someone places a dagger under her throat. As she tries to retrieve her weapon, she is restrained, gagged, and then kidnapped.

Act 2[edit | edit source]

  • The next day, Daniel Jackson calls out to Captain Carter from outside her tent but gets no response. He enters and discovers that she is gone.
  • A little further away, Carter, who is tied up, is ungagged by... Abu, who allows her to drink. Abu explains that Carter will be used as a trade for something he values more than anything. Carter protests against this human trafficking, but Abu says he has the right and warns her that where they are going, the men are much less tolerant than Moughal, and she will have to learn to keep quiet.
  • In the Shavadai village, Jackson confirms to Colonel Jack O'Neill that no one has seen Carter since the previous day. O'Neill asks Jackson to alert Teal'c to organize a search and resue, but Jackson tries to reason with O'Neill. Teal'c and Moughal enter. Teal'c tells O'Neill that he found hoof prints near the woods, easy to spot because one of the horses, Abu's, has a split hoof. Moughal tries to avoid the obvious in front of O'Neill but eventually says that Carter, being a foreigner, is very valuable as for trade among the steppe peoples. Moughal wants to accompany the team in search of Carter and his son, feeling that Abu has betrayed him as much as them.
  • Abu and Carter approach a village much less colorful than the Shavadai's. The men have a more warrior-like and threatening attitude. The women, all veiled as well, have much duller clothes than the Shavadai women.
  • Turghan, the village chief, comes out of his tent, a dagger visible at his belt. He draws his weapon against Abu, but the latter says he wishes to trade. In Turghan's tent, he dons his chief's attire, showing the fear Abu has of him. Proving his desire to please Turghan, he reveals Carter, who begins to protest about her abduction. When asked where she is from, Abu says she comes from the Ocean of Ogada. Turghan threatens Carter as she continues to protest. Abu removes her headscarf and orders her to turn so Turghan can admire her. When she refuses, Turghan leaps up, grabs a dagger, and places it under Carter's throat. Carter turns slowly as Turghan describes her beauty. Turghan accepts the trade.

Act 3[edit | edit source]

  • The tent flap opens. Abu turns around and discovers a young woman, also veiled. He stands up. Carter now understands why Abu kidnapped her. Turghan agrees to pay in gold, horses, or weapons for Carter. Abu refuses and says he wants Nya, the young woman, Turghan's daughter. Turghan refuses because his daughter can only marry a clan chief, and she is promised to Chimakka, the desert warrior, in four days. Turghan offers 300 weights of gold, to be accepted or he will die knowing that Turghan will keep Carter regardless. Despite Nya's despair, Abu takes the gold and leaves in shame. Nya, in tears, is comforted by her mother while Carter is slapped by Turghan, who reminds her of the rules for women speaking in the village.
  • Teal'c, Jackson, O'Neill, and Moughal find themselves at the spot where Abu and Carter had stopped earlier. Teal'c notices that they have stopped, and Moughal suggests doing the same to rest the horses for at least two hours.
  • During the break, Moughal promises to pay Carter the price given by SG-1. Everyone is surprised, and Jackson explains to Moughal that women are free and emancipated. Jackson also recalls the history of women who fought alongside men, from which the legend of the Amazons is derived. Moughal stops Jackson and says that the ancestral laws were made to prevent spirits from taking over women, spirits that have not returned since the dawn of time. According to Moughal, these spirits could return, but these laws are a pretext to maintain a hierarchy in which a man, even the poorest among his women, is a prince. Jackson points out to Moughal that he has only one wife, which is considered a weakness. When Jackson adds that Moughal is in love with his wife, the clan chief smiles.
  • Near the village of the Toughai, Abu is lurking near the women's tent. Waiting for no one to see him, he heads there, lifts a canvas, and calls Nya with a particular whistle. Nya arrives and warns Abu that he risks being killed, but he asks her to flee that evening and join him in the forest; he will wait for her.
  • Turghan explains to Carter what she is now, a Toughai, a woman of the forest. He asks her what household tasks she can do, such as cooking, sewing, or weaving. Carter disappoints him by answering in the negative. Carter says that in her country, she is a warrior and a scholar, doing the same work as men. At these words, Turghan stands up and gives his definition of a warrior: he pillages and burns villages, massacres men, and sells women and children. Because he is feared, 22 tribes pledge allegiance to him. When Carter tells him that he will sell his daughter to have a 23rd tribe, Turghan threatens her. Carter apologizes, but Turghan tells her that he will teach her to be a "woman".
  • While Carter is cutting vegetables, she observes Nya, who is not feeling well and drops the wool while crying. The other women take her into the tent to console her. Carter takes advantage of the women's absence to hide the knife, leave the area, and take a horse to escape. As she enters the forest, a lookout sees her and whistles, stopping the horse, which throws its rider. Two of Turghan's men recapture her and bring her back to the village.
  • In Turghan's tent, he asks Carter what kind of woman she is. Accusing her of thinking only of herself, he condemns the responsible women to be whipped. As he prepares to whip one, Carter stands up and defends the woman, saying it is her fault. Turghan, who says he values horses more than women, tears off Carter's headscarf, holds her head by the hair, and forcibly kisses her, then threatens her with worse tortures than the whip if she does not submit.

Act 4[edit | edit source]

  • Carter finds herself in the women's area, dressed in much less colorful attire than the Shavadai. Nya thanks Carter for defending her mother. Despite her actions, Nya says her father is a good man, never punishing a woman without a valid reason. Carter protests against the mistreatment of women. When Carter asks her why she says nothing about being sold to another, she says she has no choice, she is not free. Carter convinces Nya to oppose the condition of women.
  • SG-1 and Moughal arrive near the village of Toughai. Moughal says the chief is a sadistic enemy, killing for pleasure. O'Neill suggests rescuing Carter that night, but Moughal says it will provoke a war with the support of the 22 tribes. Moreover, he takes no prisoners. Moughal proposes waiting until the next day to buy Carter back, but it is possible the clan chief will take advantage of his new acquisition. O'Neill and Jackson point out that in their country, a woman can say no. Seeing the threat to Carter's life, O'Neill decides to act now.
  • Carter is delighted to see her teammates approaching Turghan. To create a diversion to allow Nya to find Abu, she sets fire to one of the women's area canvases, causing panic.
  • Meanwhile, in the tent, negotiations are underway for Carter, with bids rising to 500 weights of gold, as Jackson claims she is not only a warrior and a scholar but also a shaman, capable of predicting the best time to plant for harvests, in communion with the spirits. Moughal adds that in the lands of Ogada, women lived freely like theirs before the law appeared. Despite everything, Turghan is not interested until O'Neill demonstrates his Beretta M9 and offers it to him. Turghan accepts the offer.
  • Outside, Turghan sows fear among his people by firing a shot into the air, and O'Neill urges his team to hurry before he realizes the weapon has only five bullets left. They leave as Turghan and his men show their joy and lose another bullet.
  • At night, back in conventional military attire, Carter expresses her joy and gratitude to the team. O'Neill teases her, mentioning a mishap she had on P3X-595. Carter stops O'Neill and then thanks Moughal for rescuing her and adds that she does not blame him or Abu for what he did. Moughal adds that Abu suffers from the same madness he had at his age: he is in love.
  • The next morning, at dawn, everyone is asleep except Teal'c, who is on guard duty.

Analysis[edit | edit source]

Questions[edit | edit source]

Answered questions[edit | edit source]

Non-answered questions[edit | edit source]

Character appearances

Notes[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

See also[edit | edit source]