Originally posted by webmouse
Teal'c's statement that he would be "taken over" by his symbiote when it matured does not necessarily imply "blending." Rather his statement could just as easily mean that the symbiote would start enforcing its will upon the Jaffa to FIND A HOST RIGHT NOW! I think far too much has been read into those two words "taken over" and not enough consideration given to the overall portrayal of Goa'uld/Jaffa relations.
I think they DO mean the same thing, as (badly) explained below. Certainly one of the key things to remember is the god-like status of the Goa'uld in the eyes of their subjects, which as someone has already pointed out, would be a prime reason for not simply staying in the Jaffa - they wouldn't want any old Jaffa to think they could get away with becoming a god, just by avoiding finding a new, proper host when their larva matured. From the other side of the fence, the symbiotes would try to avoid living in the body of what they would consider an inferior being - i.e. a body slave such as a Jaffa. A bit of a come-down!
If symbiotes could blend with Jaffa, then why don't they? Wouldn't we have seen some Jaffa Goa'uld by now? Why did Amanet give up that perfectly dishy Jaffa chick and dive into Sha're? If the need for hosts is so great, then wouldn't the Goa'uld have bred some very fine Jaffa just for the purpose of serving as hosts?
Perhaps for several reasons. Mostly, because the existing Goa'uld want to control which hosts are used. They either ensure their Jaffa are killed off before maturation, which is the secondary purpose of the Jaffa (i.e. loyal troops) or find suitable hosts that they believe will be acceptable. The Jaffa can also be re-used if a new host is taken - and remember they don't actually value the hosts, only their use as the host (if you see what I mean), so they don't care about having to need/use loads more bodies than they need. As for breeding - they could, but they do it even easier - they go and steal likely candidates. I would imagine that the Jaffa effectively can be any body physically capable of holding the larva. When it comes to full-blown host, the symbiote will want something worth living in - they want to "drive" round in a Porsche, not a Trabant, which for a larva is immaterial. The mental attitudes of a Jaffa are also effectively unsuitable for full host-status, and perhaps would actually lead to a weakening of the Goa'uld theocracy?? Would they want a series of hosts that knew they had been risen from the ranks, so to speak?
Consider how Sho'nac was suffering as Tanith matured and no host was available. True that Tanith was conspiring to become part of the Tok'ra, but had the Tok'ra refused Sho'nac's offer what was the other option? I suspect Tanith would have leapt into the first available human host rather than die with Sho'nac.
Again, think of the context. The symbiote had learned about the Tok'ra and was looking for a way to undermine them. Doing it from within Shanauc was not as useful as from within Hebron (or equivalent). I think Tanith could quite easily have simply taken over Shaunac, but would it have been effective for the Goa'uld as a race - no. But, I think that this episode does seem to offer conflicting statements about Jaffa/symbiote interaction on maturation to those in "1969"
It is also unclear about how long a symbiote can live outside its Jaffa pouch or a human host. Presumably, once back in water symbiotes can swim around happily for quite some time.
Good point! I wonder if they have genetically out-bred themselves by the symbiotic process? They perhaps started as basically reptiles, but learned they could control a host if they blended, and obtain their nutritional requirements from the host in such a condition. Perhaps, after many generations, they have lost the ability to survive as an adult Goa'uld without the host?
It is also fuzzy about the immune system thing -- Jaffa die fairly quickly once the symbiote is removed, but several Goa'uld have been yanked by the Tok'ra at no harm to the host (Ska'ra seems to be fine).
This to me seems fairly clear - Jaffa die, full hosts survive. It could be a function of the larva to need the immune system weakened, since it is still young, even though it can provide a new one. The adult simply over-rides the system with its own healing powers. The biggest question, and effectively the point of this thread, comes at the point of maturation - does it kill the host (I beleive this is implied in "Crossroads") or allow the symbiote to mature (as I think is implied in "1969"). [This could just be an oversight of the writers!!
] I think my current understanding has been modified overnight by thinking about "Crossroads" - I think a re-viewing is urgently needed
