The Nox

Plot: SG-1 travel to a planet in search of a flying animal with the ability to turn invisible. There, they run in to Apophis and three Jaffa, who are on the same mission. A confrontation with Apophis ends badly, with Jack, Daniel and Sam taking fatal hits from a staff blaster. Fortunately, a primitive, yet powerful, people, The Nox, rescue and heal them. SG-1 must do all they can to protect The Nox, even if they seem oblivious to the danger they are in.


The Nox are quite interesting, and are a good example of how SG-1 should never take appearances for granted. They appear simple, even primitive, but they have a great wisdom, power and knowledge underneath that. Their great floating city remains hidden from view of visitors and who knows what amazing things might be found there.

It will later be revealed that the Nox are one of the four great races. We first learned of the alliance between those four races in The Torment of Tantalus.

The Nox do feature again through SG-1 and this is a great example of Stargate's ability to lay foundations that can be built upon at a later point. Time and again, we see races, characters and other trends subtly introduced with scope to build plot on at a later date. Building a universe in this way must be fun to write. It's certainly fun to watch.

There was something a bit odd with the DVD during this episode. It seemed like they forgot to include the audio of Apophis' speech, so he was never heard during the episode, even though his lips were moving. Apohphis, as a God, likely had his speech enhanced during post-production and it's possible that the audio never made it to the DVD. If this happened to anyone else, or if anyone knows whether it happens in the TV showings then please feel free to comment.

At the start of the episode, we had our first example of Government agencies breathing down the SG-C's neck in order to get results. This is to become a running theme through the series. Some times it's interesting, other times it can be tedious and frustrating. It's one of those things where I can understand why the writers did it, it just never quite worked for me.

Finally, it was great to see Armin Shimmerman guest starring as Anteaus of the Nox. He was always a bright spot when watching DS-9. Sadly, this is the only episode that he appears in.

7 out of 10