Canon vs. Fanon, part 8: Daniel, Pacifism, and Weapons Skills
Welcome to the next edition of Canon vs. Fanon! And hello to all the new people of my f-list. :) Drop a comment, say hi, and join the discussion! Differing opinions are welcomed, too.
As I've mentioned in many of these posts, most fanon affectations are only minor irritations for me, particularly those that can be reasonably extrapolated from canon and are simply a case of fanon getting a bit carried away (or a lot). This section of Canon vs. Fanon, however, addresses a common fanon trope that's almost as annoying to me as regular doses of " Dannyboy." You have been warned. :)
One of the reasons I love Daniel is because of the complexities and contradictions in his character. So when authors toss that complexity away to try and retrofit his personality to suit their idealized version of Daniel, I tend to stop reading and find something else. Unfortunately, these two bits of fanon sneak into way too many stories, so it's time to get a good look at canon and make a determination:
Is Daniel Jackson a pacifist?
And even if he might have the will, does he have the skill?
Recap: Canon is defined as anything we see onscreen during Stargate: The Movie or episodes of the show; show supersedes the movie when there's a contradiction. (The Stargate is housed in Cheyenne Mountain under NORAD, not in a missile silo in Creek Mountain). Fanon is defined as widely-accepted concepts that often appear in fanfic, but do have any actual basis in canon.
Let's begin with the first fanon assertion: Daniel is a pacifist.
For the purpose of this discussion, I probably need only examine a single episode of the first season to make my point, but I'll go with the broader perspective and offer examples from several episodes and seasons, including the movie. I think there's some interesting discussion and perspective in some of Daniel's choices in the last two seasons (up to The Quest, part 1), but the pacifism thing is mostly confined to the Daniel of the earlier seasons; I've never seen any author suggest that post-ascended Daniel is a pacifist. So while I'd very much enjoy analyzing the sheer pragmatism of Daniel's actions in Prototype and whatever the S10 opener is called (just goes to show how little impression it made on me…), I don't think it fits the topic under discussion. If you disagree, comment and let me know!
Disclaimer: this is not an attempt in any way to condone, or commend, or condemn pacifism and its moral worth. It is simply an analysis of the actions of Dr. Daniel Jackson onscreen, and how those canonical actions contradict the assertion that Daniel is a pacifist. Please do not let this become a discussion of world events and politics. Let's leave it wholly in the world of Stargate, okay?
"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."
First of all, let's actually define the noun "pacifism." Here are some definitions, lifted from various on-line dictionaries, including Merriam-Webster, Oxford, and others:
- the doctrine that all violence is unjustifiable
- the belief that disputes should be settled by peaceful means and that war and violence are unjustifiable
- the belief that war is wrong, and therefore that to fight in a war is wrong
- the view that war is morally unacceptable and never justified
- opposition to war or violence of any kind
- the belief that violence, war, and the taking of lives are unacceptable ways of resolving disputes
- opposition to war or violence as a means of settling disputes; specifically : refusal to bear arms on moral or religious grounds
Daniel prefers peace to war; he advocates finding peaceful solutions whenever possible; he actively campaigns for trying the friendly approach when meeting new people and cultures. But he does not refuse to take up arms; on the contrary, he came into the world of Stargate with at least small-arms skills, and he's only improved over the years. He will shoot and kill, when necessary, and he is not convinced that war on the Goa'uld is morally unacceptable.
Pacifism is not defined as a strong dislike towards the necessity (or inevitability) of killing; pacifism is the refusal to take up arms and use violence as a solution under any circumstances whatsoever. Therefore, Daniel Jackson is not a pacifist, and never has been.
Let's back up that statement with canonical proof, shall we? I'm going to go back and cover further events in order, but let's start with the ultimate pacifists of the Stargate universe: the Nox.
When the Nox first meet SG-1, they're in the middle of a failed ambush against Apophis and several Jaffa. Daniel, Jack, and Sam are all dead, as is Shak'l; Teal'c is seconds away from execution. The Nox whisk Teal'c out of harm's way, retrieve the dead bodies, and bring everyone back to life.
I'm going to skip over the charm of the scenes when Daniel et al first wake up and they first try to communicate with their saviors, even though I adore Lya and am quite fond of the others, even Anateus. Instead, I want to focus on the stark differences between Daniel's attitude in this episode and the attitudes of the Nox.
Daniel is the one who not only proposes, but insists on setting up the ambush against Apophis. The ambush's intention is to kill the Jaffa and tranq Apophis in the confusion, bringing him back to Earth for questioning.
The Nox revive SG-1 and Shak'l, but they take away their weapons. Violence of any kind will not be permitted. "Your weapons are gone." (The Nox miss Shak'l's concealed dagger, though, as well as a single tranquilizer dart that Jack somehow manages to retrieve .)
Jack and Daniel try to explain why they ambushed Apophis; as Lya points out, from the POV of the Nox, it was SG-1 who initiated hostilities. We get some highly entertaining babbling, as the best both of them can do is say that Apophis is "…bad." But the Nox will only state that they will take SG-1 to "their doorway," aka the Stargate, so that the nasty violent young people will go away and "take your ways with you."
SG-1 tries to explain that they don't want to leave, because the Nox now need protection from Apophis. Anateus turns down Daniel's attempts at diplomacy, informs them that no other Nox wants to talk to them, and walks away.
(Much as I love the Nox, they really do have the same degree of smug superiority that the Tollan do. They're just advanced enough that they can get away with it.)
Lya shows them their "brother" - Shak'l. The Nox are pleased to hear that Shak'l's symbiote will heal him, even though SG-1 tries to explain the danger Shak'l poses to them. Anateus states flatly, "There will be no more death." As far as the Nox are concerned, violence is not permitted under any circumstances at all.
"How do you defend yourselves?"
"We don't."
When SG-1 withdraws to quietly discuss the problem of Shak'l, Daniel says, "And we can't kill him either." The others look at him incredulously, and he hastily adds, "I wasn't considering it, I was just stating a fact." That is Daniel, of course. Not being a pacifist does not automatically make a person bloodthirsty and ruthless.
Again, as Jack and Sam and Daniel fashion a bow and arrow, Daniel is unsure that weapons will help any longer: "You guys just don't want to give up, do you?" "That's what happens when you spend half your life in Special Forces." However, while it's not Daniel's idea, he continues to smooth out the arrow and doesn't seem to disagree. This is unlike the Nox, who refuse violence even as self-defense.
Consider the exchange between Jack and Nefreyu, after Nefreyu has brightly suggested that Jack's bow and arrow would be better suited for knocking fruit off high branches:
"Why do you want to fight them?"
"I don't want to."
"Then don't."
"It's not that simple. Look, I believe in peace, just like you, I do."
"Then why do you fight?"
"Because our enemy gives us no option. Sometimes turning the other cheek just doesn't work."
Nefreyu's proposal: "I'll learn to understand them better."
A fenri shows up and interrupts the discussion, as Jack tries to shoot at it to protect Nefreyu. Anateus materializes and demands that Jack not "teach Nefreyu your ways." During the ensuing argument, when Jack explains he was trying to defend Nefreyu from the attacking fenri, Jack says, "I was trying to protect the boy."
Anateus counters, "Protect his body while poisoning his mind?" Again, as far as the Nox concerned, even violence in defense of someone helpless is not to be sanctioned.
SG-1 discuss the various things they've discovered, including the Nox's advanced ages and the fact that the power of invisibility lies within the Nox and not the fenri. Anataeus appears and tells them they "cannot be trusted with your enemy." Even when Daniel proposes that the Nox permit them to simply take Shak'l into protective custody, in order to protect the Nox from being discovered by Apophis, Anateus will only agree to this if Shak'l himself approves. So it's clear that it's not only death or lesser violence that the Nox will not tolerate, but also any kind of coercion.
After Shak'l's escape and report to Apophis, Apophis deliberately kills Nefreyu in order to prompt the Nox into undergoing the "Ritual of Life" and losing their protective invisibility. The team begs the Nox to give them their weapons, so they can protect them when they are vulnerable.
Anateus replies flatly, "There will be no killing."
Jack stalks away, ignoring Daniel's plea of, "Jack!" Daniel turns back to the Nox and makes a last appeal: "Please, we're just trying to help." Here is the perfect contrast: the Nox unwilling to use force to defend themselves, while Daniel begs for permission to do just that.
"Goodbye, Daniel."
Daniel, with no choice, leaves - and discovers that Jack only intended to set up a defense perimeter from a location where he hopes the Nox won't interfere.
We do see that it's not that the Nox are deliberately obtuse about danger. Lya suggests that they take Nefreyu "to the others," where they would presumably be strength in numbers - or she might have meant within the floating city. In any case, Anateus points out that "it would take too long," and they have to perform the ritual immediately.
The team sets up an ambush to protect the Nox; Sam is covered with leaves, and Teal'c holds a length of log and hides behind a tree, as does Daniel (without the log). Jack has his arrow with the single dart the Nox failed to confiscate.
The attack begins. Teal'c takes down one Jaffa; Sam temporarily downs a second; and Teal'c tosses the staff weapon to Daniel. Please consider: at this point, Daniel is holding the most deadly weapon. I can easily postulate that Teal'c chose to give it to Daniel, because he would be least effective at hand-to-hand fighting; but the fact remains that Daniel took that staff weapon and proceeded to use it without hesitation. Sam is thrown off by the Jaffa she is fighting, and Daniel takes aim and kills him. (And I love the expression on his face during that scene!)
Confrontation with Apophis and Jack:
"Fool! I will kill you!"
"What, again?"
Jack aims. And fires. And Apophis disappears. Presumably, the Jaffa that Daniel killed does as well; the Nox must have not finished their ritual in time to prevent the killing shot, but they most likely bring him back to life afterwards.
"No! They'll be back! They won't spare you!"
No answer. The Nox will not condone violence and force, even for their own survival.
So SG-1 returns to where the Gate should be, and meet Anateus and Nefreyu. They learn that Apophis has already been "sent through the Doorway," as have SG-1's weapons, where they presumably splatted against the iris. When Anateus tells them that the Nox will bury the Gate, Jack warns them that the Goa'uld will return in ships.
"You fear for us."
"Yes."
"Why?"
Teal'c answers, "It is our way that the strong defend the weak." Jack adds, "We're afraid for you."
Only then does Anateus show them the Nox's floating city, and with it, the understanding that the Nox have nothing to worry about.
"Maybe one day you will learn that your way is not the only way."
"Why didn't they tell us about this before?"
"I think in their own way they did."
"…The very young do not always do as they are are told."
So there we have it. Daniel meets the ultimate pacifists, but fails to meet their standards, because Daniel isn't a pacifist.
We will meet the Nox again, of course, and discover that Lya definitely has a soft spot for our Daniel (the woman has good taste). But Daniel's continual efforts to seek a peaceful solution doesn't change the fact that he will, in fact, use violence when necessary… and will not collapse in moral crisis when doing so.
Let's look at a few more examples of Daniel's willingness to kill, or to bear arms, including some incidents when the choice was not based on the urgency of mortal peril:
Stargate the Movie. Daniel fires the staff weapon (and misses) in an attempt to kill Ra; he kills one of Ra's guards with a pistol, and Sha'uri's killer with a staff weapon; and, together with Jack, rings the nuclear bomb onto Ra's ship, killing both Ra and the children servants who were on board the ship at the time.
COTG. While it is not explicit, it it certainly implicit that Daniel is the one who organized Skaara and the boys into a militia to guard the Stargate on a round-the-clock basis. ("Thirty-six hours a day." Hee!)
Bloodlines. In one of the most powerful character moments for Daniel of the season, Daniel takes Sam's automatic weapon (M-5?) and deliberately shatters the holding tank for the infant symbiotes, thereby killing all of them. Aside from a sidelong glance at a shocked Sam, he does not seem particularly troubled by his actions; in fact, only minutes later, he is calmly discussing the symbiote they have in the thermos, wondering if it needs to be fed.
Within the Serpent's Grasp/Serpent's Lair. Daniel is absolutely frantic to stop the attack on Earth before it's too late. He has no problem shooting and killing numerous Jaffa during the events on the mothership; just before they're captured, when Jack is ready to detonate the C4, Daniel interrupts him for what Jack thinks is an argument, but is actually Daniel's desire to plant a final charge where it might do the most good. And, of course, "I'll stay and watch your back." 'Nuff said there.
Need. I'm citing this one to be fair, not because it fits the pattern; if anything, this offers proof that Daniel does not look at weapons as the first resort. Because when Daniel went into that ecstasy of violence and threw Janet across the room, and pummeled his guard into unconsciousness, and bolted into that storeroom, and fought Jack, and then pointed that gun at his best friend - well, I always interpreted that scene to mean it was the horrified realization of what he almost did that finally snapped Daniel out of it. I hope I've made it clear that I'm not objecting to Daniel's status as the peacemaker and peace advocate; I'm protesting the false label of pacifist.
Serpent's Song. If I had to pick a single episode from the early seasons to define Daniel, it would be a toss-up between Torment of Tantalus and this one. We witness the incredible moral courage of a man willing to ignore the face of his most hated enemy to give last rites to the host; but this is also the same man who taunted Apophis about the baby he delivered on Abydos and said, with quiet but utter conviction, "If you don't tell me where she is, I'll kill you right here."
Apophis didn't believe him. Some people might agree with Apophis; I don't. I think that if Sam hadn't interrupted right then, Daniel would have done something seriously drastic… and gotten into a lot of trouble, so maybe it's just as well.
Show and Tell. When Jack is shot by a Reetou in the infirmary, Daniel scoops up his fallen weapon - despite the presence of other soldiers in the room - and kills the last Reetou left on the base before it can attack anyone else.
Deadman's Switch. After Jack shoot Boch with the zat, it's Daniel who thinks to take Boch's weapon back with them to the ship.
Window of Opportunity. "What kind of archeologist carries a weapon?"
"Uh, I do!"
"…Bad example."
Absolute Power. Included for the sake of completion. As discussed some time back, Absolute Power can't really be used as an accurate source of canon. While it's a glimpse of Dark Daniel, it's a glimpse of Dark Daniel According to Shifu, which is not necessarily the way Daniel would truly turn dark. So while that Daniel was responsible for Teal'c's death - not to mention the little minor detail of wiping an entire city off the planet - it doesn't really lend anything to the discussion here.
Proving Ground. Daniel doesn't seem to have any problems with training recruits, including that fun little bit of grandstanding when he "shoots" all four of them at once.
ETA: Thanks, redbyrd_sgfic, for pointing out that I'd left out Beast of Burden. I actually had it written up already, but it was accidently removed from the final post. Much obliged! :)
Beast of Burden. This is one of the most fascinating S5 episodes. It hits all the right spots, with teamy goodness and moral ambiguity and continuity and characterization. Most importantly, it's probably the point at which Jack and Daniel's respect for one another reached its most adult, mutual level. Each one expected the other to smoothly fit the role that was needed, and they understood each other's POVs, until we finally get to that aching exchange:
Jack: "I don't think we're gonna talk our way out of this one."
Daniel: "Well, for once I'm not asking you to."
They break free, witness Chaka kill Burok… and Daniel hands Chaka the zat. In essence, he is giving his blessing to Chaka's revolution, asking only that he try to avoid lethal force if possible. But he is approving the use of force in order to free the other Unas from slavery… and that is not the act of a pacifist.
Summit/Last Stand. Daniel was ready to assassinate an entire group of System Lords. Can I just say that again? Assassinate. Now, I would personally agree with a lot of people who suggest that Daniel had lost a large part of himself by that point, which only continues throughout the rest of the season and climaxes with Reece in Menace and "I'm ready to go with you" in Meridian; but the point is that Daniel was ready and willing to assassinate people, including the hosts.
Conclusion: Daniel has never been a pacifist. Encouraging peace and diplomatic options is not the same as pacifism. Authors will please note the difference.
So, Daniel-as-pacifist is pretty much debunked. How about the other fanon trope that often goes hand-in-hand with that?
Daniel, in the early seasons, is incapable of handling a weapon competently.
Dr. Daniel Jackson is a civilian. In some ways, that defines him, and it's one of his greatest advantages. He can argue, he can circumvent the rules,and he's not tied down to the necessity of obeying a superior officer, because he doesn't have one. There's an inherent charm in the way we see, sometimes, some of the smaller differences that emphasize Daniel's non-military status.
In the first two seasons, of course, we have long-haired Daniel, which will always be my first love. :) He often slouches in comparison to Jack's ramrod straight posture; this is most obvious in The Fifth Race, right before Jack goes through the Stargate to get his brain vacuumed by the Asgard. In the closing scene of Bloodlines, Sam and Jack stand, framed at the Stargate, saluting Bra'tac to show their respect; Daniel, on the other hand, waves. Then there's the humor of Daniel, after nearly two years, still finding it easier to respond to Jack's hand signals in Show and Tell by pantomiming with his fingers and mouthing, "There are people in there!" Poor Jack gives up, mouths, "I know!" back, and counts down to three on his fingers in a decidedly un-military fashion. My favorite little subtlety, though, is in Season Four's Chain Reaction, when General Bauer first appears. Everyone is standing at parade attention, looking straight ahead with their hands at their sides; Teal'c has his hands behind in his back, in his usual respectful pose; and Daniel? Well, when he finally finishes straightening his cuffs, he slouches in place with his hands stuck into his pockets.
Being a civilian, though, does not mean that he doesn't know how to handle a pistol or other weapons; it only means that he's starting out with the handicap of lesser training. Even at the very beginning, though, there are clear signs that Daniel is comfortable with handling a weapon.
[One could easily suggest that Daniel learned to handle small arms on digs; he might have needed to shoot snakes, for example, when he was in the Yucatan (Brief Candle), or frighten off poachers or artifact thieves. But the point of this discussion isn't how or why Daniel learned to handle weaponry; the point is to show that he does know how.]
Once we get into later seasons, Daniel's proficiency with weapons is unquestioned; after all, he's been at it for a while at that point. Certainly, once we reach the season opener of S5, no one even seems to blink at his handling of a P-90 and seamless participation in the shoot, retreat, reload loop that gets SG-1 back to Jacob in time to escape the crashing mothership. But even a quick analysis of several earlier season episodes shows that while Daniel's skills and qualifications might not have been on the same level as trained Air Force officers, he didn't seem to have any trouble using the weapons he did have.
Stargate the Movie. Daniel seems to have been sent through the Stargate unarmed (other than his Fifth Avenue bars, of course). When they return from Nagada and discover Ra's ship on top of the pyramid, Brown hands Daniel a pistol; and when Brown is killed and Kalwasky knocked out, Jack hustles Daniel over to the Stargate and orders him to "stay right here and shoot anything that comes down that ramp… Just cover me." The rings activate; Daniel aims the pistol; and three of Ra's soldiers appear. Daniel's hand is shaking, but he doesn't surrender until Jack says, very quietly, "Put it down, Jackson."
The first time we see Daniel actually using a weapon is during the formal execution scene, when he has been ordered by Ra to kill Jack and the others. He aims the staff weapon, primes it - and turns and fires at Ra.
And misses.
Surely that's proof that Daniel handles weapons poorly? You might think so; except that a day later, when he, Shau'ri, and Jack are fighting in the temple in their effort to get to the Stargate and the nuclear bomb, we see Daniel using a pistol without hesitation, and using it well, when he kills one of Ra's soldiers (they weren't "Jaffa" yet, back then). Later, when Sha'uri tries to use her own pistol and gets killed, it's Daniel who aims a staff weapon and smoothly takes out the one that killed her.
I would suggest that movie canon gives us a Daniel who has handled small arms before. He clearly has no trouble using a pistol, even one-handed. (Sha'uri, a true amateur, tries to aim with both hands, and fails.) He misses the first time he tries to use a staff weapon, but has no trouble aiming on a second occasion. That shows that it was inexperience with the staff weapon, not inexperience with weaponry in general, that caused him to miss.
The Nox. Daniel hasn't had much experience with the staff weapon at that point, although he might have gotten some practice back on Abydos, with some of the weapons left behind by Ra's soldiers. Yet he has no trouble aiming precisely and killing a Jaffa only a staff weapon's length away from Sam.
Seth. When the brainwashed Jack and Daniel are directed to several unassembled weapons by Seth, Daniel gets right to work and clearly knows what he's doing.
Forever in a Day. Daniel, running across a field, sees Ammonet emerge from a tent. A Jaffa appears beside her. Without hesitation, Daniel fires his pistol multiple times and kills a Jaffa that is standing a few feet away from his wife. His confidence in his weapons skills must have been extremely high for him to risk Sha're's life in the case of even a near miss.
Conclusion: While Daniel is certainly not as expert as Sam or Jack in handling weapons in the early seasons, he is confident with small arms and is not incompetent in the field.
My personal fanon opinion? There's incident after incident in canon where Daniel ignores the military POV and seeks a diplomatic, peaceful solution to a conflict. No one is trying to suggest otherwise. It's an essential part of his nature, and one of the best foils on the show - Daniel's desire to find that "other way" and the contrasts and collisions with the increasingly military emphasis of the SGC. On the other hand, peace advocacy is not the same as pacifism. Stories that highlight Daniel reluctantly shooting some misguided native and then spiraling into a kind of mental breakdown over having taken an innocent life - usually because Jack's life, or Sam's or Teal'c's, was at stake, not because he was killing out of capriciousness - make me cringe. It's lazy writing, because it looks only at the surface and stops there, without understanding the complexities of Daniel's personality. And it's so out-of-character that I feel like I'm reading about some other person who just happens to share the same name as the guy on SG-1.
Equally irritating are fanfics that emphasize Daniel's ineptitude. Daniel may not have gone through the same intense weapons training as the others, and his non-military way of thinking is always entertaining, but he has never been helpless with a weapon, even at the very beginning. Might this attempt to belittle his skills be part of the efforts of many authors to make him more child-like? Whether or not that's the motivation, stories about how much he hates guns, or how he can never figure out how to load his pistol, do not reflect canon at all; it's merely fanon run rampant, and very, very annoying.
"Anyway, I'm sorry, but that just happens to be how I feel about it. What do you think?"
