Tok'ra
The Tok'ra are a resistance group that features in Stargate SG-1.
Contents |
History
The Tok'ra were a resistance movement consisting of Goa'uld symbiotes who opposed their peoples enslavement of the galaxy. Around 2000 years ago, the Goa'uld Queen Egeria would break with her kind as she opposed to her peoples practice of taking the Human Tau'ri as hosts and taking them as slaves through the Stargate. Ra would learn of her rebellion and travel to Earth where he found her and it was said that he killed her but not before she spawned a resistance movement against the Goa'uld that were named the Tok'ra. (Episode: Crossroads) Some Tok'ra historians speculated that perhaps Ra had not killed Egeria but they had never found proof of her survival. (Episode: Cure) Mankind would recall her existence in mythology where she became the Roman goddess of fountains who was the adviser to the legendary ruler Numo Pontillius. As a result, the majority of the Tok'ra had left the Goa'uld gene pool over two thousand years ago. (Episode: Crossroads)
First contact between the Tok'ra and Earth came when one of their number named Jolinar of Malkshur was targeted by an Ashrak. The chase led to the symbiote taking refuge in a village on a primitive world that became targeted by the Goa'uld. By luck, Stargate Command had dispatched SG-1 to the planet who evacuated the villagers to Earth and during this time Captain Samantha Carter found the host of Jolinar though was unaware he had a symbiote within him. She attempted to save the badly wounded villager and the Tok'ra Jolinar entered into Captain Carter and journeyed to Earth. Jolinar would go to Earth where she attempted to escape the planet through the Stargate but was apprehended by the SGC who were unaware that they had also incidentally saved the Ashrak assassin that continued his mission to eliminate the Tok'ra. Ultimately, Jolinar was fatally wounded and sacrificed her life to save Captain Carter who retained elements of the Tok'ra's genetic memory. (Episode: In the Line of Duty)
At some point, the Tok'ra had completed the development of a new biological weapon in the form of a poison that killed symbiotes. They intended to deploy this weapon but discovered that the System Lords had called a summit to discuss recent events. It was intended to deploy the poison at the meeting in order to eliminate the ranking Goa'uld. Whilst a mission was launched with SG-1 support, the Tok'ra base was discovered by Zipacna who was secretly serving Anubis. This saw an orbital assault made on the planet in order to corner the Tok'ra and Jaffa being deployed to eliminate them in the tunnels. (Episode: Summit)
General Hammond received a report from Tok'ra intelligence but it lacked any information on the location of Jonas Quinn or Anubis's ship. (Episode: Homecoming)
After the capture of a supersoldier, Jacob Carter arrived at the SGC where he helped in the interrogation of the engineered warrior. Through a memory recall device, they managed to get the Kull soldier to remember the stars above his homeworld. This led to a holographic image to be projected that allowed them to determine his planet of origin. They managed to determine the Kull warrior homeworld to be a seemingly unoccupied planet called Tartarus located on the edge of Goa'uld space. (Episode: Evolution) On the planet Pangaria, it was discovered that their Queen Egeria was still alive and held in captivity by the native Human population to use her offspring as a source of Tretonin. It became a priority for the Tok'ra in restoring her health as she proved to be the only thing possible to maintain their kind who had suffered many losses recently. (Episode: Cure)
Overview
Physiologically, the Tok'ra shared the namely characteristics of the Goa'uld namely that they were both parasitic and passed their knowledge through genetic memory. (Episode: Crossroads) In effect, following blending the Tok'ra were effectively two different souls within one body with the symbiote and host sharing one form. (Episode: The Tok'ra, Part 2)
Such was the hatred of the Goa'uld that the Tok'ra had no sympathy over the exploitation of symbiotes as they believed that the Goa'uld had done far worse acts to mankind for centuries. (Episode: Cure) There were no Jaffa within the ranks of the Tok'ra. (Episode: Crossroads)
Tok'ra never had the military resources of the Goa'uld and instead had to resort to disguise and subterfuge to achieve their goals. Their bases were designed to be well hidden but were not designed to repel large enemy forces. Normally, they would seek to escape but if their bases were compromised then they would fight to the last man and even sacrifice themselves to defeat their foe. (Episode: Summit) Without a Queen, the Tok'ra were limited to their original number that Egeria had spawned and unable to increase their ranks. This was partly because very few Goa'uld would join the ranks of the Tok'ra with none having done so for centuries. As such, they became partly a dying people as their diminishing number of symbiotes were also equally unable to find new hosts or died or fell in battle. (Episode: Crossroads)
When slain, a common burial ritual conducted by their people was placing the bodies of the dead on a pyre raised to the level of a Stargate. During this moment, the Tok'ra spoke words of the recently deceased whereupon the Stargate was activated whereby the unstable vortex destroyed the bodies to prevent their capture or revival by the Goa'uld. (Episode: Allegiance)
Among the greatest rituals practiced by their culture was the Extraction Ceremonies that were grand events that saw the removal of the symbiote of a Goa'uld System Lord. During such events, the captured Goa'uld was placed in stasis whilst the leaders of the Tok'ra spoke in their own language the list of crimes of the accused with this lasting up to three hours. Upon completion, the Goa'uld was released from stasis and allowed their final words before being placed in the symbiote extractor. The extraction saw the symbiote removed from the host body and placed within a cylinder that the Tok'ra leader holds in their hand and shatters on the ground where the creature writhes as well as dies without a host body before the audience. As a result of the extraction, the host body survived and freed from the control of the symbiote allowing them to return to their lives. (Movie: Continuum)
Technology
They had access to star mapping technology that allowed them to determine a planet through a simple look at the stars above it. (Episode: Evolution)
Tok'ra also had access to holographic projectors that generated three dimensional images. (Episode: Evolution)
In terms of weaponry, they had managed to create biological weaponry in the form of Symbiote Poison that was able to kill Goa'uld and Tok'ra symbiotes. This was capable of being dispersing this in the air where it killed mature symbiotes and young ones that resided within Jaffa which eliminated the host as well. Death was considered preferably over their secrets being discovered. (Episode: Summit)
Members
- Egeria : Goa'uld Queen who 2,000 years ago split with her kind over their practice of using Humans and slaves with her spawning children that became the Tok'ra before Ra seemingly killed her. (Episode: Crossroads) In reality, she was imprisoned on the planet Pangaria. (Episode: Cure)
- Selmak : believed to be the best educated of the Tok'ra with a good sense of humor who was formerly bonded to Sarouche who later took Jacob Carter as her host. (Episode: The Tok'ra, Part 2)
Appearances
- Stargate SG-1: "Evolution"
External Links
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