What a mess!
This temple was destroyed long ago.
Let's get a move on before we meet somebody who remembers why.
No signs of human life.
This could be some forbidden zone.
Wait. I hear something.
Sounds like dogs.
No! Help!
Help me!
Go on! Get out of here!
You OK?
O... K?
Yes, I am. Thanks be to you.
But forgive me. I am Abu of the Shavadai.
Shavadai?
The people of the steppe.
Uh... Hello. I'm Daniel Jackson. This is...
- Jack. - Jack.
You are not from the people of the river.
Uh... no.
We're travellers from very far away.
The Sea of Ogada?
Sure.
Never have we met anyone from that far away.
You will be doubly welcome in my father's camp.
This is Teal'c. And this is Dr Carter.
- The dogs are gone. - For now.
This is a woman?
Oh, yeah.
Do I have something growing out of my nose?
He looks really upset. It must be some sort of cultural thing.
No! I cannot look at you!
OK, now I'm hurt.
Abu!
You must take her. Take her and go!
Go!
Raga. Raga. These people, they are from the Sea of Ogada.
- One is a woman?! - Yes.
- Colonel, I think they're Mongols. - Is this good news?
Daniel, find out what I did wrong so I can fix it.
No. No. Let them go.
He's right. We'll just take her with us and go.
My son.
When you did not return, I feared you were dead.
I would be in a dog's stomach now... but for these.
Is this any way to greet a stranger?
That one is a woman.
Observant bunch.
Father, they come from the Sea of Ogada. They do not know our ways.
Law is law.
- What manner of weapon is that? - It's a firearm.
It shoots like your bow shoots an arrow.
She speaks!
- She dies. Son! - No! She saved my life!
If a woman saved a life,
hers cannot be taken.
Now, you are my guests.
If you will travel this country, you must learn our ways.
I'm thinking we should just go back while we're ahead.
If we learn their customs, we'll be OK.
It's an incredible opportunity to study an ancient culture up close.
They return! They found Abu!
This is unbelievable.
The Mongols in Persian China adapted to the local customs.
But one tribe - the Chagatai - kept the traditional life of the steppe nomad.
Maybe these Shavadai are their descendants.
This camp could literally belong to Genghis Khan.
It's a living exhibit of a way of life that's been extinct for 900 years.
Please sit.
Now you may talk.
Good, cos I still don't understand what happened out there.
Among our people, it is death for a woman to show her face in public.
- Or to wear the clothes of a man. - The old laws weigh heavily.
It is well you saved Abu from the dogs. It gave me a way to prevent your death.
Uh... Thank you for that.
Soon, the old laws and the old ways will no longer serve us.
Trade will one day replace war. This is the future.
We have the strongest, fastest horses and camels,
- the finest wool... - And medicines.
Drugs of unheard-of power.
Oh, we've got some pretty swell drugs of our own.
Colonel, many breakthroughs in medicine come out of the mountains and jungles.
We should really see what he's got.
I will show you. Follow me.
I'm afraid you cannot go until you are properly attired.
- Properly attired? - You should probably do what they want.
Anthropologists do it all the time - dress and live as the people they're studying.
- I'm not an anthropologist. - You are today.
I used the medicine on this wound from a fire arrow in a recent skirmish.
The shoulder was badly burned.
From the moment I began treatment, there was no pain.
- An anaesthetic we haven't seen before. - We should take some back and test it.
Daniel, find me an anthropologist who dresses like this
and I will eat this headdress.
You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.
Guess the kid doesn't get out much.
I will not wear this thing over my face. I don't care how much embroidery is on it.
And this... dress, or whatever it's called... I can't move, I can't walk.
I don't know.
It... It kinda works for me.
It's... It's you. It's...
- It's you. - Definitely you.
The good news is, you were right.
One of Abu's plants seems to work as an anaesthetic.
We're taking some home to be analysed.
All things considered, Samantha,
if we have to come back here, it might be better if we brought an all-male team.
No offence.
In view of the fact that you all get to go to this party
while I stay in this yurt that smells of rancid yak-butter,
none taken.
I'll just get a good night's sleep and hope for better luck next time.
See you. Good night.
- Are you gonna be all right? - Still doubting me?
I haven't been afraid of the dark since I was two.
You look great.
Doctor, we're about ready to go!
Doctor, we're about ready to...
You better kill me now because I am gonna talk.
- Here. You may drink and eat. - What the hell do you think you're doing?
There is something I want, more than life itself.
Until yesterday, I thought it was impossible.
And then I saw you, dressed like that,
and I knew your beauty would buy it for me.
- What do you mean, "buy"? - I will trade you.
- You... you can't do that. - I can.
I'm a human being, not property.
Where we are going, the men are not as tolerant as my father.
Be warned.
- Any signs? - No. No one's seen her since last night.
Find Teal'c. I want everybody ready to move out in 15 minutes.
Well, let me talk to Moughal. This could be another misunderstanding.
- Cultural differences. - The hell with culture.
A member of my team is neutralised. That's a hostile act.
How is it that you always come up with the worst-case scenario?
I practise.
I found fresh hoof prints leading out of the camp.
- That's great. - The horse should be identifiable.
- One of the hooves was splayed. - The horse belongs to my son.
- He is also missing. - OK, Dad. What's goin' on here?
- I am as ignorant as you. - I don't think so.
He took Captain Carter. I want to know why.
Among the Shavadai, women are valued highly for trade.
Foreign women most of all.
- Can you help me track 'em? - Now that I know what to look for, yes.
If Abu gives her up peacefully, no one will get hurt.
Right?
We'll do our best.
I will give you horses, and guide you myself.
My son has betrayed me as well as you.
Turghan may wish to bid me welcome. I have come to trade.
Then come, Shavadai.
See the son of my enemy.
How he pales in my presence.
You risk your head coming here.
For what? You think this interests me?
Yes.
I don't belong to this man. I was abducted against my will.
- Where is she from? - The Sea of Ogada.
My friends will come after me.
They have powerful weapons and won't hesitate...
Silence!
Or I will have you beaten.
You may do whatever you wish with her... when she is yours.
Then I would see her.
- Turn around. - No.
Slowly.
Her skin is very fair.
Look at me!
Her eyes...
are the colour of blue river stones.
Sit.
Are you satisfied?
Name your price.
Why do you hesitate?
So name it. Gold? Horses? Weapons?
I have the finest metal craftsmen in the mountains.
- No. - What, then?
Nya.
You would trade a woman for another woman?
Nya is not just another woman.
No. She is my daughter.
She will marry a chieftain. The desert warlord Chimakka.
- Father, please... - It is done!
- Chimakka will come on the next moon. - That's three days.
How can you do that to your own daughter?
Your beauty will not soften my anger much longer.
The offer for the woman is 300 weights of gold.
Take it or die. Either way, the woman is mine.
Done.
Here...
a woman does not speak unless she is spoken to.
- They stopped here. - To rest the horses. And so must we.
For two marks.
If we do not find them, I will pay whatever you ask for the loss of Carter.
We can't do that. We don't "own" our women.
- Truly? - Yes.
And we heard stories about Shavadai women,
that once they were free, some even fought with their husbands in battles.
Mongol women might have been the legendary Amazons.
We do not speak of it.
The laws for women were made to protect and hide them
from the demons who brought us to this place.
Demons?
It is only in legend, and a long time ago, in the dawn of our time.
If the demons are gone, why have not the laws been changed?
Some say they will return.
I think it is an excuse for men to have their way.
Among the Shavadai, even the lowliest man is chief among his women.
Is that why you only have one wife?
To... set a kind of example?
My people see it as a weakness.
Because you love her?
- My father will kill you. - Come away with me. Tonight.
You know I cannot. Now go, before they find you here.
I have listened to the wind.
You will come.
I will wait for you by the Tem tree.
Now you are Toughai, a woman of the forest.
What can you do? Can you cook?
Spin? Weave? Make dyes?
I'm a lousy cook, and I couldn't spin, weave or dye if my life depended on it.
You made yourself a bad deal.
Where you come from, you must have done something.
In my world, I am a warrior and a scholar. I do the work of men.
A warrior?
Let me tell you what I do.
I raid and burn the tents of my enemies.
I slaughter the men and trade the women and children.
For this, I am feared.
And because of that fear,
I have the allegiance of 22 tribes.
But you have to sell your daughter off to make it 23?
How would you like to be hung upside down
with dust-filled rags stuffed in your mouth and nostrils?
A slow death... from suffocation.
I'm sorry. I'm sure you know what's best for her.
The spirits have brought you here to teach you how to be a woman.
- You belong to Turghan! - Get your hands off me! Let me go!
What kind of woman are you?
Do you respect nothing? Care for no one but yourself?
These were responsible for you. Now, because of you, they will be punished.
No!
It was my fault. If you need to beat a woman to feel like a man, try me.
I value spirit in my horses, not my women.
You belong to me. You will learn your place and be obedient,
or you will suffer far worse than a beating.
I heard what you did for my mother.
- I am grateful. - That's OK.
We are all afraid.
If you do not obey, my father will kill you.
I know.
My father is a good man.
He never mistreats a woman unless she has done something wrong.
There is no excuse to beat a woman, ever.
He is a powerful warlord.
Our women and our children are always protected, always have food.
How can you defend him? He's packing you off to marry a total stranger!
I have no choice. I'm not free to choose.
And you never will be until one of you says no.
I want to say it. Will you help me?
The tracks lead directly there.
- Who owns the place? - An enemy.
A man who Kills for pleasure.
- This is very bad. - Then we'll go in and get her out tonight.
If we attack, there will be war.
Turghan is allied with 22 clans,
and when he fights, he takes no prisoners.
- You mean they'd kill all of you? - Yes.
If you will wait until morning,
I will go and request trade.
He cannot refuse.
But what will happen to Dr Carter tonight if we wait?
Turghan will partake in his newest purchase.
Oh, there's not a chance in hell.
In our land, if a man wants a woman, she can say no.
No one refuses Turghan... and lives.
Then we go now.
Stop! Dismount!
Yes!
Go. Go, Nya, go!
I paid 300 weights of gold.
- Is that a lot? - Enough to buy ten women.
How much are you willing to spend to get her back?
We will offer 350 weights of gold.
She is difficult... but beautiful.
A rare prize.
- 400? - 400.
- I may even make her a wife. - Oh, for cryin' out loud. 500.
We'll pay you back.
Why this one?
I have others - younger, fit to bear many sons.
Enough to start your own tribe.
She is a woman of power for our people.
Not only a warrior, but a...
a shaman.
The spirits of our land tell her when to plant grain, when water will be scarce.
- Do you take me for a fool?! - He speaks truly.
In the land of Ogada, the women are as ours were, long ago.
That, and more. Carter is our chieftain.
Our people need her.
Get out. You have nothing I want.
Oh, yeah?
Done.
There's only five more rounds in that clip. Time to go.
Whoo! What a relief. I've never been so happy to see you guys.
Oh, sure you have.
Remember that time on P3X-595? You drank that stuff that made you take off...
Ahem! We won't get into that right now.
Moughal, I want to thank you for your help.
We'll leave at first light.
I don't blame you for what Abu did. I don't blame him either now.
He is suffering the madness,
as I did when I was young.
- It's what they call "love". - Ah. Got it.
Please! You must help me!
- What happened? Where's Nya? - She came to me.
Just like the wind said she would.
But before we could make our way, her father caught us.
Now, if you don't help me, she will be stoned to death!
Curse me for the madness. Better to have left her to marry Chimakka.
I would not see anything I cared for go to Chimakka.
Can I get a little clarification here?
Her own father ordered her stoned to death - is that right?
Because she broke the law of the land.
Turghan is compelled to uphold the law,
even more if it applies to his own.
He must rule by example.
We have to go back - now!
- Negative. - She can't be more than 16 or 17.
If we try and get that little girl out, we could be starting a war on this planet.
- Since when are you a politician? - Easy, Captain.
"De Oppresso Liber" - "To Free from Oppression".
- Special Forces motto. - I know what it is.
That's our world. This is theirs.
Do we have the right to interfere in their customs or reinterpret their laws?
Yes! Maybe you guys aren't getting this,
but they are about to Kill this teenage girl simply for being in love with this boy!
Please, use your weapons, and free her!
Colonel is right. It would mean war, Abu.
My son, you must choose...
between one woman... and your people.
I cannot.
Neither can I. Nya broke the law because of me. I can't leave her here to die.
But if it is one life or many...
Wait. There has to be another way.
Moughal, what about the old laws?
- Isn't there something we can... - Yes.
Yes, if we fight with law, Turghan cannot make war.
Father, please, think.
Remember. There must be a law.
There is one.
Father! Forgive me.
I forgive you.
Stone her!
Do not!
You have no say here, Shavadai.
A stoning may be challenged, by another chieftain.
- There is no such law. - There is.
In the song of Arkhan-Tyr.
The spirits will strengthen the hand of the just.
I will not fight a cripple.
You must.
You insult my honour by implying that I would engage in such a slaughter.
You will lose, and my daughter will still die.
So unless there's another chieftain who will challenge my decision...
I challenge it.
You!
You plague me.
Then fight. Here's your chance to shut me up once and for all.
I will abide by the wisdom of the spirits!
Let them decide justly.
When you're up against the wall and there's no tomorrow,
take one day at a time, and remember: The bigger they are... etc.
- You don't think I can win. - Sure I do.
I assume you've had basic hand-to-hand training?
Yeah. Level three, advanced.
You'll do fine.
Just out of curiosity, how do the spirits determine who wins?
It is a fight to the death.
Death?
Hey, no one said anything about...
knives.
- Carter, do not kill him! - I don't want to.
You have won. I am free to go with Abu.
I want to hear it from you.
She is free to go.
And the Shavadai?
By law, there can be no war between us.
And me?
And me?!
You have won.
You are also free to go.
You will not stay for the wedding?
Oh, a six-day wedding? You know, we really should get back.
It is a joyous time.
But we all wish you and Nya many years of happiness,
and many sons, too.
And daughters.
All Shavadai... be free!
It is how you will be remembered, Carter.
Will this new anaesthesia be a miracle drug on Earth?
If it is, somebody else will get the credit. We can't say where it came from.
Damn. I guess I'm gonna have to cancel that Oprah interview.
What is an "Oprah"?