Goa'uld - heirarchy of the system lords

[Drew. M]

I was just wondering why some are system Lords and some arent. Is it just a case of whoes the most powerful? Do all the other ones say so, coz they can chuck the others out as well. And do they control a certain area or 'system' as the name suggests, which they fight over. But then why is everyone always attacking earth? or are we in no mans land or summat?

Does anyone have a heirarchy of system lords with the names of other gods that work with other gods. Like Osiris and Anubis in 'Summit'. If you get my meaning I hope...:alienooh:

 

[PTeppic]

The Goa'uld as a species are heirarchical feudal system.

Everything is run by a small handful of the most powerful "System Lords", who dominate different regions of space. They are constantly fighting or allying with each other, and as such taking over new areas, or perhaps giving away less useful ones. In addition, they gather supporting Goa'uld form the lower ranks, who in turn may control their own small areas of space. Since their society is so militant we've already seen there are high casualty rates and therefore should usually have loads of room for "promotion"... Any Goa'uld who is viscious, scheming and ambitious should have good chances given a few hundred years.

 

[Giorgio]

I wonder how many System Lords there have already been ...

SPOILERS !!!


In the episode Last Stand, Osiris says that there is only one System Lord who is System Lord for 1000 years - Yu.
Anubis apparently was a System Lord until they banned him.
We also had Cronus and Nurrti. Cronus died and Nurrti dissappeared.
Did other Goa'uld take their place ?
And apparently there can be many System Lords, because the seven in Last Stand let Osiris become a System Lord in the name of Anubis.

 

[PTeppic]

From "Seth", I think it was implied there were no more than a dozen "System Lords"... the other Goa'uld merely have sub-domains below them, and they pay homage to one (or more?) of their 'superiors'.

How about: Hathor, Heru-ur, Seth and Apophis as others?

Odd about Osiris' comments, since Seth, Hathor and Apophis have clearly been very powerful for a LONG time...

 

[Giorgio]

Originally posted by PTeppic
How about: Hathor, Heru-ur, Seth and Apophis as others?

Odd about Osiris' comments, since Seth, Hathor and Apophis have clearly been very powerful for a LONG time...

They are normal Goa'uld, not System Lords ...


BTW : Aren't Bastet, Morrigan, Kali, ... System Ladies ?

 

[PTeppic]

Originally posted by Giorgio
They are normal Goa'uld, not System Lords ...

I rather thought that as per the hologram thing that Jacob/Selmak brought to the SGC in "Seth", they were System Lords.

Quote (just checked with DVD):
Daniel: "It's like a family tree of the ancient Egyptian gods"
Jacob: "Actually of the Goa'uld System Lords"
Daniel: "Ra, Apophis, Hathor, Heru-ur"
Teal'c: "The symbol of Setesh is oscillating"
etc.

I'd go one step further and say that MOST of the Goa'uld we've seen are System Lords, OR, if not, have appeared explicitly in the presence of the System Lord they do serve: Bynarr in "Devil You Know", Terok in "Serpents Venom", "Khonsu" in "The Other Guys", Ja'din in "Double Jeopardy", Tanith (everytime the sneak appears ).

So the other System Lords would include Cronus, Sokar, Osiris (who may have been an SL before being imprisoned anyway), Anubis etc.

The one I'm most uncertain about is Nirrti, who always seems to be described as a Goa'uld outsider, because she doesn't share her secrets. Which must have made her an odd choice to be at the original "Fair Game" treaty anyway - unless she forced the issue from her side...

 

[jwells]

Zipacna?

This is an interesting topic! I was just wondering, is Zipacna a regular Goa'uld?

In "Pretense", he is an underling of Apophis.

In "Summit" and "Last Stand", he is an underling of Anubis.

The difference between System Lords and other Goa'uld is shown plainly in "Last Stand" when the System Lords feast on several symbiotes. So you could say that the System Lords see regular Goa'uld as lower life forms. Does this then mean that they see Zipacna as a lower life form? Would they snack on HIS symbiote?

 

[PTeppic]

They probably would if he upset them.

They seem to use underling Goa'uld as they see fit: slaves, servants, perhaps possessions even, to do with as they see fit. But, they seem to allow them slightly more priviledges in speech, opportunities etc. than normal slaves.

It's a VERY complex issue: compare and contrast most of the viewed behaviour of System Lords to their Jaffa, their First Primes, and their lotaur (sp.). They seem to get almost personal with the latter two, yet will happily launch squadrons of the former into unwinnable battles, poison them ("Revelations"), send them against known defences ("Thors Hammer") etc.

 

[Highlander II]

And now this goes further, as we've seen Ba'al and a couple others.

I would also assume that Isis was a system lord, as she was mate / close / something to Osiris until she died.