System 13

I finally got around to watching another episode of Stargate SG-1. It was the episode titled Thor’s Hammer. The episode I’d watched before this one was Fire and Water – an episode that is actually 3 ahead of Thor’s Hammer. I’m not quite sure how I managed that. Oh well.

Oh, and before I go any further… there will be spoilers in this post! So if you’ve not seen this episode and don’t want any of it ruined, turn back now (or browse more of my blog, whatever works for you). If, however, you’ve seen it (or don’t care if it’s spoiled)…

I enjoyed Thor’s Hammer quite a bit, but it there were a few things that were rough on me, mostly because I have a keen personal interest in Viking history. So, every little thing that was ‘off’ kind of jumped out at me. Some of the clothing was a bit odd for Vikings, particularly Kindra’s. I wasn’t able to find a decent picture of her at Stargate Caps, but I recall her sleeves being a rather odd pattern for Vikings. I think it was a stretched out fleur de lis, but I could be wrong. At any rate, it just didn’t really fit the Viking look very well.

One thing I was impressed with though, was that they got the Viking helms right, mostly! I honestly expected to see a horned helm somewhere during the episode, or perhaps one of the winged ones. The only helm that I saw during the episode was the one worn by the ‘answering machine’ Thor, inside the labyrinth where O’Neill and Teal’c are transported.

While it seemed a bit big for the chap wearing it, the overall shape of it was pretty darn close. Here’s a good website detailing various Viking helms, if you’re interested in comparing Thor’s helm to the real helms that have been found.
I feel inclined to nitpick a little more about the languages in Stargate. This is all I’ll say this time around: why is it that these Vikings understand ‘okay’, but instead of saying hi or hello, they say ‘hail!’? Oh well.

I was a bit surprised to find that James Earl Jones played the voice of this ugly chap. Apparently he’s one of the Unas, the first race that the Go’uld enslaved. The labyrinth that him, O’Neill and Teal’c are in is sealed off with this Hammer of Thor doorway thingamajig. Basically, whenever a Go’uld tries to go through it, the doorway zaps it. (And, incidentally, that’s part of the problem during the episode: Teal’c can’t leave the labyrinth because he’s got one of those irksome worms in his gut.) Anyway, that’s basically why this ugly guy is hanging out down in the labyrinth. He’s got a Go’uld in him and leaving would kill the Go’uld, and thus kill him. So, he just hang out down in this labyrinth and eats whoever comes through.

I found James Earl Jones’ voice a bit odd for the character, because Jones actually has a very pleasant voice. It worked for Darth Vader with the added stuff (hisses, breathing, etc.), but they didn’t really do much to his voice for the Unas. It was just his smooth-as-butter voice, coming from this rough-and-ready-to-kill character. I didn’t find it to be a very good fit, but I found it cool anyway, that Stargate had such a high profile actor taking part at such an early stage of its production.

One last bit before I wrap this post up: Sam is still getting on my nerves quite a bit. I’ve spoken to my buddy Josh about this, and he warned me before I started watching Season 1 that Carter could be a bit annoying in the beginning. Man, was he right. It just seems like she goes out of her way to be difficult, always going against what everyone else in the group feels they should do. She’s not as bad as she was when I first started watching Stargate, but I still frequently wish that she’d leap through one of the gates and never come back.