Redial the Gate: meta on Secrets
I finally got to write the second half of my Sha're meta for redial_the_gate! Last year I did Shau'ri in the movie; now, I did Sha're on the show. How I wish we'd gotten more of her! I'm grateful to writers like 6beforelunch and rydra_wong and others, who write the Sha're that I love so beautifully.
There's some interesting discussion up at the comm, but I've been trying to make sense of Amaunet and Sha're on Abydos. Maybe my flist can help. :)
The reactions of Kasuf and Shar'e to the inital confrontation with Daniel confuse me. Here's what happened:
Sha're appears on Abydos, pregnant. She must have arrived by ship, since the Gate was buried. She tells Kasuf that she has "returned to him," with the suggestion that Kasuf assumes that she is pregnant with Daniel's child. She remains there for "more than a season," with Amaunet completely dormant.
The SGC sends the MALP through to Abydos on the same day that Daniel instructed the Abydons to uncover the Gate. They see Kasuf in the pyramid and go through to speak to him.
Daniel begs forgiveness for coming without Sha're.
"I have returned without your daughter."
"So it is."
"I fear that my search will continue for many seasons."
Kasuf looks at him a bit oddly, but tells him and Teal'c to follow him.
They walk to Nagada and enter a tent where a calm, placid Sha're is working with something. Sha're sees them and stands, looking shocked.
Confrontation: Kasuf tries to defend Sha're. She moves around him and appeals, "Husband."
"I am Shar'e's husband. Who are you?"
Back and forth, as Kasuf puts his arm protectively around Sha're, and Daniel finally says, "Sha're has been taken by a Goa'uld. A demon now lives within her. One of great power and evil."
Kasuf is shocked and turns to Sha're, who admits, "He speaks the truth, Father."
"But you said you returned to me."
"And I have."
Daniel bursts out, "Stop it!" Again, more back and forth, as Sha're confesses that Amaunet has gone dormant to prevent a miscarriage, and that Apophis is the father; he and Amaunet have allowed Sha're to get pregnant so that Apophis can take the child as a host. Daniel is speechless and leaves the tent.
Teal'c converses further with Sha're, and discovers that she has memories of her time with Apophis - memories that rightfully belong to Amaunet: "These are the memories of the Goa'uld that now sleeps within you."
Okay, now. Let's try to make sense of this.
Kasuf thinks that Daniel sent his wife home to Abydos. Why doesn't he question Daniel's words in the pyramid, then? Part of me imagines Kasuf that Daniel sent his wife home as an afterthought, as he was too busy doing whatever planetary heroes do. Did he think Daniel simply forgot? It makes no sense.
Apophis has to have brought Sha're to Abydos by ship. Who unburied the Stargate, and when? If it was a covert operation - Kasuf thought Sha're was herself, so she couldn't possibly have showed up in Nagada wearing the robes that Amaunet was sporting at the end of the episode - Apophis couldn't possibly have ordered the Stargate unburied. If Apophis had been a known presence on Abydos, Kasuf wouldn't have been surprised by Sha're's revelation. But if that's the case, why did Apophis try to pick up Amaunet by Stargate instead of via ship? Because he'd lost his over Earth? Why did he come specifically then, when Sha're specifically says that "the child comes early"?
Here's my biggest question: did Sha're lie to Kasuf, or did she herself believe that she was carrying Daniel's child?
Sha're goes from quiet calm to horror and shame too abruptly. She doesn't react like someone whose guilty secret has been discovered; she reacts like someone who is discovering a guilty secret for the first time. If she'd known the truth all along - that she was pregnant by Apophis, and that Daniel was going to show up - why wasn't she nervous and alarmed when Kasuf when off to the pyramid? She seems just as shocked as Kasuf and Daniel and Teal'c, in that first confrontation. Did Amaunet somehow plant the idea in Sha're's head that she had "returned" to Abydos in peace, so that Sha're would not try to contact the Tau'ri or warn her father? Sha're knows that Apophis wants the child as a host but not the harcesis part. Is this because Amaunet has concealed it from her?
(As I mentioned by the Redial recap, I don't buy the theory that I've often seen, that Amaunet was taking her first host and is subservient to Apophis. Amaunet is listed as one of the top seven in Egyptian mythology - the Ogdoad. She had to be a willing, active participant in this plan, or why should she go along with it?)
If Sha're lied to Kasuf, I don't think the instinct would have been to comfort and protect her as much as anger at betrayal. But a duped Sha're makes sense in terms of her distress, her tears, her initial confusion.
But is this even possible? Do we ever see any other incident in which a symbiote hides information from its host? We know that a host can hide information from its symbiote; Kendra did it to trick her Goa'uld into going to Cimmeria, and we see Sha're do it twice - in Secrets and in FIAD. Could Amaunet lock away information from Sha're, and only the shock of seeing Daniel allowed her to break through the block in her memories and recognize the truth?
I want this all to make sense! ...Which, come to think of it, is probably foolish. :)
There's some interesting discussion up at the comm, but I've been trying to make sense of Amaunet and Sha're on Abydos. Maybe my flist can help. :)
The reactions of Kasuf and Shar'e to the inital confrontation with Daniel confuse me. Here's what happened:
Sha're appears on Abydos, pregnant. She must have arrived by ship, since the Gate was buried. She tells Kasuf that she has "returned to him," with the suggestion that Kasuf assumes that she is pregnant with Daniel's child. She remains there for "more than a season," with Amaunet completely dormant.
The SGC sends the MALP through to Abydos on the same day that Daniel instructed the Abydons to uncover the Gate. They see Kasuf in the pyramid and go through to speak to him.
Daniel begs forgiveness for coming without Sha're.
"I have returned without your daughter."
"So it is."
"I fear that my search will continue for many seasons."
Kasuf looks at him a bit oddly, but tells him and Teal'c to follow him.
They walk to Nagada and enter a tent where a calm, placid Sha're is working with something. Sha're sees them and stands, looking shocked.
Confrontation: Kasuf tries to defend Sha're. She moves around him and appeals, "Husband."
"I am Shar'e's husband. Who are you?"
Back and forth, as Kasuf puts his arm protectively around Sha're, and Daniel finally says, "Sha're has been taken by a Goa'uld. A demon now lives within her. One of great power and evil."
Kasuf is shocked and turns to Sha're, who admits, "He speaks the truth, Father."
"But you said you returned to me."
"And I have."
Daniel bursts out, "Stop it!" Again, more back and forth, as Sha're confesses that Amaunet has gone dormant to prevent a miscarriage, and that Apophis is the father; he and Amaunet have allowed Sha're to get pregnant so that Apophis can take the child as a host. Daniel is speechless and leaves the tent.
Teal'c converses further with Sha're, and discovers that she has memories of her time with Apophis - memories that rightfully belong to Amaunet: "These are the memories of the Goa'uld that now sleeps within you."
Okay, now. Let's try to make sense of this.
Kasuf thinks that Daniel sent his wife home to Abydos. Why doesn't he question Daniel's words in the pyramid, then? Part of me imagines Kasuf that Daniel sent his wife home as an afterthought, as he was too busy doing whatever planetary heroes do. Did he think Daniel simply forgot? It makes no sense.
Apophis has to have brought Sha're to Abydos by ship. Who unburied the Stargate, and when? If it was a covert operation - Kasuf thought Sha're was herself, so she couldn't possibly have showed up in Nagada wearing the robes that Amaunet was sporting at the end of the episode - Apophis couldn't possibly have ordered the Stargate unburied. If Apophis had been a known presence on Abydos, Kasuf wouldn't have been surprised by Sha're's revelation. But if that's the case, why did Apophis try to pick up Amaunet by Stargate instead of via ship? Because he'd lost his over Earth? Why did he come specifically then, when Sha're specifically says that "the child comes early"?
Here's my biggest question: did Sha're lie to Kasuf, or did she herself believe that she was carrying Daniel's child?
Sha're goes from quiet calm to horror and shame too abruptly. She doesn't react like someone whose guilty secret has been discovered; she reacts like someone who is discovering a guilty secret for the first time. If she'd known the truth all along - that she was pregnant by Apophis, and that Daniel was going to show up - why wasn't she nervous and alarmed when Kasuf when off to the pyramid? She seems just as shocked as Kasuf and Daniel and Teal'c, in that first confrontation. Did Amaunet somehow plant the idea in Sha're's head that she had "returned" to Abydos in peace, so that Sha're would not try to contact the Tau'ri or warn her father? Sha're knows that Apophis wants the child as a host but not the harcesis part. Is this because Amaunet has concealed it from her?
(As I mentioned by the Redial recap, I don't buy the theory that I've often seen, that Amaunet was taking her first host and is subservient to Apophis. Amaunet is listed as one of the top seven in Egyptian mythology - the Ogdoad. She had to be a willing, active participant in this plan, or why should she go along with it?)
If Sha're lied to Kasuf, I don't think the instinct would have been to comfort and protect her as much as anger at betrayal. But a duped Sha're makes sense in terms of her distress, her tears, her initial confusion.
But is this even possible? Do we ever see any other incident in which a symbiote hides information from its host? We know that a host can hide information from its symbiote; Kendra did it to trick her Goa'uld into going to Cimmeria, and we see Sha're do it twice - in Secrets and in FIAD. Could Amaunet lock away information from Sha're, and only the shock of seeing Daniel allowed her to break through the block in her memories and recognize the truth?
I want this all to make sense! ...Which, come to think of it, is probably foolish. :)