Can't the Jaffa use the sarcophagus to restore their immune systems?

[Technobuilder]

Rewatching SG1's Hathor tonight, I was wondering why the Jaffa never just used the sarcophagus to restore their immune systems?

They'd be human again and subject to illness and aging, but they'd also be free of Goa'uld dependence?

Is Tretonin the better option?

And while we're on the subject... Where is the SGC getting the goa'uld symbiotes to make the stuff if Egeria is dead? The Unas homeworld?

 

[BlobVanDam]

Re: Can't the Jaffa use the sarcophagus to restore their immune system

I'm not sure if it's fully explained to what degree a sarcophagus can repair damage. After all, it doesn't seem to repair the dependence that a full-blown goa'uld has on it's symbiote. I guess that since the symbiote gives the Jaffa a stronger immune system than normal, the sarcophagus doesn't see an issue to fix. Although if the symbiote were removed first, then maybe it would work. Regardless, they seem to be pretty quick to destroy any sarcophagus they come across in the series to make sure that options like this aren't possible. I'm sure at least one sarcophagus must have survived the Jaffa rebellion though, so it's not hard to imagine that they could set up a one-stop Jaffa cure center :P

As for the Tretonin, I know that the Tok'ra said they were going to try and synthesize it. I assume this was the case, although I can't recall if it was confirmed after that point. With how many people were being converted over to Tretonin, and the fact that it was originally being manufactured with a Goa'uld queen, I can't imagine that even the Unas homeworld would be able to pratically meet the required numbers. I always just took the whole Tretonin issue as "don't ask, and we don't tell".

 

[Technobuilder]

Re: Can't the Jaffa use the sarcophagus to restore their immune system

See, I wouldn't of even thought of it but in Hathor, Jack gets his immune system removed and a larval pouch implanted.

Then by episodes end, BOOM... Sarcophagus Deus Ex Machina!

 

[BlobVanDam]

Re: Can't the Jaffa use the sarcophagus to restore their immune system

Ah yes, I had forgotten about that one. Then again, I'm sure we'd all like to forget about that one

They like to continually use the sarcophagus as a one-size-fits-all cure for everything, including death itself. It's no wonder they kept them so rare, and never let them survive past the end of the episode.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Re: Can't the Jaffa use the sarcophagus to restore their immune system

Let's just decanonize "Hathor" and call it a day.

 

[The Wormhole]

Re: Can't the Jaffa use the sarcophagus to restore their immune system

One possible explanation is that since O'Neill was transformed into a Jaffa, the sarcophagus returned him to the way he was, Meanwhile the Jaffa themselves are born as Jaffa, and therefore there is nothing for the sarcophagus to heal.

Or we could just forget Hathor. I like that idea.

 

[bullethead]

Re: Can't the Jaffa use the sarcophagus to restore their immune system

I think the Jaffa can't get their immune system restored because they're born like that, so the sarcophagus doesn't perceive it as damage.

 

[SG-17]

Re: Can't the Jaffa use the sarcophagus to restore their immune system

One possible explanation is that since O'Neill was transformed into a Jaffa, the sarcophagus returned him to the way he was, Meanwhile the Jaffa themselves are born as Jaffa, and therefore there is nothing for the sarcophagus to heal.

Or we could just forget Hathor. I like that idea.

Indeed. As well Jack did not receive a symbiote.

 

[Technobuilder]

Re: Can't the Jaffa use the sarcophagus to restore their immune system

His immune system was already compromised, regardless of taking a symbiote.

 

[cylkoth]

Re: Can't the Jaffa use the sarcophagus to restore their immune system

I think the Jaffa can't get their immune system restored because they're born like that, so the sarcophagus doesn't perceive it as damage.

Urrrr...In season 1, Teal'c returned to Chulak to prevent R'yac from receiving a larvae, which would have made him Jaffa. While the first Jaffa were genetically engineered to be walking incubators, you can survive without one unless you're implanted. Just realized something...It seems not all 'Jaffa' on Chulak carried the snakes, but are still considered Jaffa? Sha'nak didn't possess a symbiote and was never considered a Jaffa (was she considered human?) but the Jolene Blalock troupe from the later seasons had them and were referred to as Jaffa.
Are you considered human before implantation, and become Jaffa when you get a junior, or are there genetic differences between the humans of Jaffa worlds and regular humans that make you part of that subspecies/offshoot?

 

[Skywalker]

Re: Can't the Jaffa use the sarcophagus to restore their immune system

Jaffa are born with the larval pouch. They're humanoid, but after all the genetic engineering done on them by the Goa'uld, they're a separate species.

Teal'c wanted to stop Rya'c from receiving a symbiote because once it's implanted, a Jaffa is stuck with it for life (or they were at that time, anyway). He didn't want Rya'c to become a slave to a Goa'uld symbiote like he was.

 

[ReadyAndWilling]

Re: Can't the Jaffa use the sarcophagus to restore their immune system

didn't they mention how the sarcoph causes damage if used on a regular basis? i remember an early episode where daniel became 'addicted'. maybe the SGC didnt want a repeat

 

[SG-17]

Re: Can't the Jaffa use the sarcophagus to restore their immune system

His immune system was already compromised, regardless of taking a symbiote.

It was stated (either in the episode or during an interview) that if he would have had a symbiote the sarcophagus wouldn't have been able to heal him.

 

[David cgc]

Re: Can't the Jaffa use the sarcophagus to restore their immune system

Teal'c wanted to stop Rya'c from receiving a symbiote because once it's implanted, a Jaffa is stuck with it for life (or they were at that time, anyway). He didn't want Rya'c to become a slave to a Goa'uld symbiote like he was.

I'm pretty sure that was a failure of the Jaffa educational system, since Rya'c started getting sick almost immediately. Teal'c was mistaken when he assumed that if a Jaffa never received a symbiote, they'd never have the need for it.

It seems not all 'Jaffa' on Chulak carried the snakes, but are still considered Jaffa? Sha'nak didn't possess a symbiote and was never considered a Jaffa (was she considered human?)

Shau'nac had a symbiote. That was the whole point of the episode, she'd thought she'd convinced little larval Tanith to turn against the Goa'uld, but he was playing her, and the Tok'ra had to steal a new symbiote for her once Tanith finally left.

His immune system was already compromised, regardless of taking a symbiote.

It was stated (either in the episode or during an interview) that if he would have had a symbiote the sarcophagus wouldn't have been able to heal him.

I remember that, too.

 

[cylkoth]

Re: Can't the Jaffa use the sarcophagus to restore their immune system

It seems not all 'Jaffa' on Chulak carried the snakes, but are still considered Jaffa? Sha'nak didn't possess a symbiote and was never considered a Jaffa (was she considered human?)

Shau'nac had a symbiote. That was the whole point of the episode, she'd thought she'd convinced little larval Tanith to turn against the Goa'uld, but he was playing her, and the Tok'ra had to steal a new symbiote for her once Tanith finally left.

Whoops..I meant Teal'c's wife...Drey'auc, and not Shau'nac who carried Tanith. I don't recall it ever being mentioned that she carried a symbiont and while reading the thread wondered about the status of unjoined Jaffa.

In S1's Bloodlines, the ep to which I was remembering, I thought a priest used a Gouald device on Rya'c in the same as one Hathor used on O'Neill to create the 'X' shaped opening/pouch. So tying this back into the OP's comments, they have immune systems that work until you're implanted. So why wouldn't a sarcophagus heal the damage caused by a symbiote? Unless the operating system is programmed not to consider the damage caused by the snake a problem to be cured is the most likely explanation.

 

[AJ86]

Re: Can't the Jaffa use the sarcophagus to restore their immune system

What damage?

 

[David cgc]

Re: Can't the Jaffa use the sarcophagus to restore their immune system

Shau'nac had a symbiote. That was the whole point of the episode, she'd thought she'd convinced little larval Tanith to turn against the Goa'uld, but he was playing her, and the Tok'ra had to steal a new symbiote for her once Tanith finally left.

Whoops..I meant Teal'c's wife...Drey'auc, and not Shau'nac who carried Tanith. I don't recall it ever being mentioned that she carried a symbiont and while reading the thread wondered about the status of unjoined Jaffa.

Nope, she had one, too. That's how she died. Her goa'uld matured, and she refused to get a new one.

 

[cylkoth]

Re: Can't the Jaffa use the sarcophagus to restore their immune system

What damage?

The damage caused when a Gouald larvae is removed from the host...

 

[AJ86]

Re: Can't the Jaffa use the sarcophagus to restore their immune system

What damage?

The damage caused when a Gouald larvae is removed from the host...

I don't think that causes any damage, it's the ensuing disease that does, as the Jaffa's immune system is essentially being removed. You could sure those diseases in a sarcophagus I suppose, but it wouldn't solve the problem.

 

[RoJoHen]

Re: Can't the Jaffa use the sarcophagus to restore their immune system

I'd say that removal of the immune system qualifies as damage.