The Mystery That Is Teal'c . . .

by Adi

Many Stargate writers complain that Teal'c is hard to write, that they just can't find his voice. Part of the problem, I think, is that no one really knows too much about him. Though as I found out while writing this essay, we know more about him than we do about Sam. I hope this will help some of you to write Teal'c as more than wallpaper... and others to simply appreciate what a wonderful character he has the potential to be.

This started out as the first part of a three part essay of why Sam and Teal'c belong together. An essay that might still be written if I can ever get past Sam... she's hard!

Anyway, thank you Denise, so very much. I may have done the hard part, but she did everything else.

To understand The Mystery That Is Teal'c we must look back to his past. As a young child Teal'c was forced to accept that either his father was a coward or that the man he believed to be a God was fallible and wrong. It shows his devotion to his father or else a strong will, that he chose to believe that his god was not always right. This might have been helped by the fact that this god banished him and his mother from the planet. He also made a vow that he would one day become as powerful an adversary to Chronos (the aforementioned god) as he could and did so by becoming First Prime (or right hand man) to Apophis - Chronos' mortal enemy (Fair Game).

He was chosen to become Apophis' First Prime by Apophis' previous First Prime, Bratak, who chose Teal'c because he saw in him doubt. Doubt that Apophis was a true god, and that he, like Chronos, was fallible. Bratak taught Teal'c to make hard decisions, like whether to allow the deaths of hundreds or thousands (Threshold). All these gave Teal'c the courage to go against Apophis and help Colonel O'Neill free the slaves and captives he most likely helped capture (Children of the Gods), and leave his son and wife behind.

This courage also served him well when, as a result of his betrayal, Teal'c was forced to leave his home and start a new life on a completely alien planet whose customs bore little to no resemblance to the ones he had grown up with. This courage and his hidden adaptability also allowed him to accept his demotion, from being First Prime (the highest position a Jaffa can achieve), to taking orders from a man half his age, who himself took orders from a man only a little older, who himself took orders from another man, who took orders from another man . . . and so on and so on (Enemy Within).

Most do not see his adaptability firstly because after many years he still seems stiff and formal and does not seem to completely understand Earth ways. However this may be because he simply does not wish to adapt that much, he wishes to retain his individuality. He was, at one time, a man of great power, he achieved that power by himself, and so he must have been doing something right.

Teal'c had a wife, knowing what we do about his culture it was more than likely an arranged marriage. She did, however, care for him (Threshold) and he for her (Bloodlines). Either that or he's an extremely possessive man prone to jealousy. When SG1 returned to Chulak (Bloodlines) Bratak was concerned that Teal'c would seek to hurt his wife's new husband.

Another indication of Teal'c's relationship with his wife Drey'ac is the fact that he didn't challenge her marriage to Frotak. Whether this was so his son would not live in squalor or that he allowed Drey'ac to make up her own mind about the subject is a toss up. Either could work.

Even if Teal'c's relationship with his wife is somewhat open to interpretation, there is no question that Teal'c loves his son. Twice he has risked capture and returned to Chulak to save his son. He gave Ry'ac his larva which, as far as he knew, meant certain death.

Teal'c is a man of strong emotions however his cool fa?ade and stoic appearance may fool some into thinking that there is nothing there, until the dam breaks and the full force of his emotion is shown (Crossroads), hinting, if not hitting one over the head with a brick, at a very passionate man.

Let's hope that Season 7 will shed some more light on The Mystery That Is Teal'c.