Why can't O'Neill detect Goa'ulds?

[Asthma Phantom]

I watched Sg1 episode Abyss recently, and it got me thinking.

O'Neill was implanted with a Tok'Ra symbiote in order to save his life. He was a host from the end of Frozen, all through the episode Nightwalkers and to the beginning of Abyss. That's more time than Sam was a host and more than enough time for naquadah to permanently enter his bloodstream. So why can't Jack detect other Goa'uld or operate Goa'uld technology?

Is there an in-universe explanation, or did the writers simply forget about it?

[NecronLord]

Has there been an occasion when either might have been required since Abyss? I don't recall any goa'uld, jaffa, or Reetou sneaking past him since then.

[Asthma Phantom]

Well there was the Ashrak situation in Allegiance, but then again, no one else of all the Tok'Ra felt him either. I can't remember any other occasion right now...

Nevertheless, I find it hard to believe it we just haven't seen it because he was not in the right situation.

[Crazedwraith]

How about a simple big old mental block? The whole Kanan thing was pretty traumatic for him, he may not want to use any abilities he picked up from it.

[Brother-Captain Gaius]

They quietly shuffled all the naquadah/blood/Jolinar stuff well under the rug by the later seasons, so there's that too.

[Batman]

Is that something that ALWAYS happens when you've been a host? Offhand, I don't seem to recall ANYBODY but Sam being able to do this (as I'm working from memory here, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong). It might just be something that does or does not happen depending on conditions Valen alone knows.

[Brother-Captain Gaius]

Cassie did it. It's because of the naquadah in the blood.

[Batman]

Thank you. That still leaves the question wether or not it is something that INEVITABLY happens or simply something that CAN happen, or maybe is LIKELY to happen, what with O'Neill never exhibiting that ability.

[Singular Intellect]

O'Neill is male; the other two examples are not.

That's the first major difference I noticed.

[erik_t]

It also happened to some ex-host on some planet found in an early season (this was, as I recall, the first example of a non-host operating hand devices etc).

I can't think of a single ex-host who can't operate the tech aside from O'Neill, frankly.

[Alyeska]

Carter absorbed Jolinar and that was stated as her means to detect Goa'uld. Jack has had two seperate Goa'uld, both left his body. No absorption, no detection.

[avatarxprime]

O'Neill is male; the other two examples are not.

That's the first major difference I noticed.

Also, neither Cassie nor Carter have the ATA gene. I have no idea why that would matter considering Jack can be taken as a host, but it's another difference.

[Themightytom]

Who says he can't? RDA seems to play O'Neill as a cagey clever man hiding behind a facade of stupidity. His flip responses and casual demeanor is at odds with the "tactical" knowledge that is frequently referred to; onscreen we never really SEE much of this, it is simply implied most of the time to be there. If O'Neill generally knows more about whats going on than he lets on, he could very well ahve that ability and choose not to disclose it if there is an alternative.

[Alyeska]

Daniel: This question was for a Celestial Body.
Jack: Right
Daniel: You wrote down Uma Thurmon.

[Themightytom]

Daniel: This question was for a Celestial Body.
Jack: Right
Daniel: You wrote down Uma Thurmon.

Jim Carey: "Objection!"
Judge "Why?"
Jim Carey "Because it is devastating to my case!"

Bt as true evidence I submit the exchange in "The shroud" where Daniel and Jack had seemingly light hearted exchange about the issue of trust which demosntrated the subtelty I attribute to O'Neill. Additionally in the episode where Teal'c is stuck in VR defending a VR SGC, Carter won't let Jck go in to help because the machine would absorb his tactical knowledge.
It already HAD Ta'c Who had been first prime of Apophis for HOW long? O'neill must be pretty darn good to trump that.

[Alyeska]

And in the case of Uma Thurmon, Jack is actually an ameture astronomer and does have a fair degree of knowledge in that area. He managed to surprise both Daniel and Carter in the past over this. I am guessing that Uma Thurmon was entirely a joke on his part.

[Themightytom]

And in the case of Uma Thurmon, Jack is actually an ameture astronomer and does have a fair degree of knowledge in that area. He managed to surprise both Daniel and Carter in the past over this. I am guessing that Uma Thurmon was entirely a joke on his part.

I really think he was messing with Sam but there's no smoking gun.

[Revy]

It also happened to some ex-host on some planet found in an early season (this was, as I recall, the first example of a non-host operating hand devices etc).

Yeah, Kendra I think it was. She had a Goa'uld inside her but tricked it into going through Thor's Hammer, which removed it from her. After that she was able to use Goa'uld tech such as the healing device. And then of course there's Vala ...

As for Jack, well he doesn't exactly like the stuff does he? He hates the Goa'uld, and I can't imagine him lining up to use their wargear. Even Sam rarely ever uses it. The hand device isn't worth bothering about when you can just put a bullet in someone, and the healing device was best left to either Sam or a Tok'ra that knows what the heck they are doing. As far as sensing Goa'uld, well that was one of those things that got dropped along with three Zat shots disintegrating things, wasn't it?

[NecronLord]

The hand device isn't worth bothering about when you can just put a bullet in someone,

Given that it has a bullet proof shield, I think it's very useful. A far more likely reason she doesn't use the thing is because she doesn't want the negative press of going around wearing one of the goa'uld's symbols of office.

[Revy]

Given that it has a bullet proof shield, I think it's very useful.

Well if you're going to go down that road why not ask why the SGC or Atlantis never bothered using Kull Warrior armour? Bullet proof, energy weapon proof, bomb proof, with built in energy guns and an air filter/breather.

Good guys are rarely if ever allowed something that makes them nigh-invulnerable because it's a tension killer. That's why Jacob removed his set when sneaking around Anubis' base, why Vala only wore it when she was playing the role of semi-villain (she took out the entire Prometheus crew single handed, she *knew* how effective that suit was, yet never once asked if she could wear one when going on a mission - I would have) and why Daniel only got to use it for one short scene, and never again.

It's also why the lantean personal shield always runs out of batteries at the end of the episode. You can't have invulnerable/bullet proof good guys running around.

[NecronLord]

Well if you're going to go down that road why not ask why the SGC or Atlantis never bothered using Kull Warrior armour? Bullet proof, energy weapon proof, bomb proof, with built in energy guns and an air filter/breather.

Explained in episode one of its appearance: it kills the wearer. Kull are specifically designed to withstand it. Human hosts are not. They're not sure if Selmak would manage even an hour or so using the armour. And he took it off as soon as possible, despite the problem that it would make him instantly identifiable.

(she took out the entire Prometheus crew single handed, she *knew* how effective that suit was, yet never once asked if she could wear one when going on a mission - I would have) and why Daniel only got to use it for one short scene, and never again.

Daniel couldn't even use it properly, it requires naquadah in the blood to run. He just dressed up in it.

It's also why the lantean personal shield always runs out of batteries at the end of the episode. You can't have invulnerable/bullet proof good guys running around.

It's worth noting that that the original was found in a lab. It may not be a developed or safe technology.

Almost all of these things are one-offs they've not got multiple examples of, except the hand device. The same question could be applied to the Arsegard power armour - like the other suit of Kull warrior gear they had, presumably it's being analysed somewhere. And the hand device is of very limited use to the SGC, and would cause SG1 to get shot at by people who think they're goa'ulds.

[Revy]

Explained in episode one of its appearance: it kills the wearer.

I recall no such thing whatsoever. Evidence please.

Kull are specifically designed to withstand it.

Evidence. Kull are stated as being engineered for strength and physical prowess at the expense of longevity. At no point was it stated that they were engineered specifically to withstand wearing *body armour*.

Human hosts are not.

Evidence, again. Vala wore one quite comfortably as she took out the entire crew of the Prometheus, and never complained once that it was killing her.

They're not sure if Selmak would manage even an hour or so using the armour.

Umm ... wrong. They were worried that using the armour to walk through a forcefield as a Kull did would cause him physical harm, not that simply wearing the armour would kill him.

"How will we get through the gate?"
"I will walk through it."
"What?"
"I'll wear the armour of Anubis' assassin. With it he was able to walk through the shield trap."
"At what physical cost? We have no way of knowing."

^A vague version of the dialogue from that episode taken from my memory. It's not exact, but that's the gist of it. And I should point out that Selmac walked through the shield iris on that gate with little visible discomfort, and wasn't complaining about it later. Regardless, none of that is relevant to simply *WEARING* the armour itself, and I cannot recall it EVER being said that wearing Kull armour is harmful to humans.

Daniel couldn't even use it properly,

Based on what? He was in a rush to meet those aliens, so he threw on the bigger pieces of armour and went out to confront them. They shot him and he was protected fine by it. What evidence is there that he couldn't *use* it properly? All I can recall is that he was in a hurry and so only wore some of the armour.

it requires naquadah in the blood to run.

Evidence.

He just dressed up in it.

... that's all you *need* to do to use armour. You put it on, it protects you. As it was, he wasn't even wearing all of the armour, just the big parts of it, and it *still* rendered him impervious to those aliens energy gun.

It's worth noting that that the original was found in a lab. It may not be a developed or safe technology.

Even though another one turned up later, being used by Lucius the invincible super hero?

Almost all of these things are one-offs

The Goa'uld shields appeared numerous times. Kull warrior armour likewise, and was even key in one episode to explain how Vala took over the Prometheus, Daniel survived being shot, and Jacob was able to walk through a shielded Stargate. Also, as I said, the lanetan personal shield appeared twice. So, one-offs? Not so much.

The same question could be applied to the Arsegard power armour - like the other suit of Kull warrior gear they had, presumably it's being analysed somewhere.

Translation - they dump them in area 51 and forget all about them. Also, Asgard armour is not bulletproof, and even it's built in shield was overwhelmed by gunfire. By comparison Kull armour is vastly more durable.

And the hand device is of very limited use to the SGC, and would cause SG1 to get shot at by people who think they're goa'ulds.

Against the Wraith? Or the soldiers of the Ori?

[NecronLord]

I'm not replying to all that. I'll summarise.

1. I must admit, some of of 'it kills you' comes from the (supposedly, but not really, canon) RPG, but nonetheless, they are worried, as you say, about the physical cost to Jacob Carter of using it to protect himself from a force field. In the show, we nonetheless see both Carter and Vala take it off as soon as possible (though both keep one wrist gun) in the former's case, when he's still in danger of being tortured to death and revived a thousand times by the most evil goa'uld ever if caught, and when it would be an effective disguise. He seems pretty damn eager to get that stuff off him. EVEN WHEN THAT MEANS HE IS MUCH MORE LIKELY TO BE TORTURED IN WAYS THAT MAKE THE WORST OF THE CHINESE SECRET POLICE LOOK LIKE A MILD SPANKING, HE STILL TAKES IT OFF. You don't think he thinks it's dangerous?
   
   As for Vala, well, frankly, she's a foolish risk taker. Her way of getting into the SGC was to slap on something that'd kill her if tampered with and bind her to Daniel Jackson. She obviously doesn't think much of her own safety now, does she? AND EVEN SHE REMOVES IT IMMEDIATELY.
2. "... that's all you *need* to do to use armour."
   Bollocks. It has an unknown number of active energy dispersal systems. Its bodysuit is "something like kevlar", and it protects against staff blasts, which have been seen to blast straight through and out of the other side of human bodies - clearly some kind of energy shield in action there. It protects against momentum somehow (C4 explosions), and provides an ability to pass through force-shields. These functions are more than simpe armour, and obviously must draw considerable energy from somewhere.
3. Against the wraith and Ori? Those would be the same Wraith Carter got into physical combat with, what, once? Never? I honestly don't remember. Those Ori Cater spent her time fighting by going around to places previously dominated by the goa'uld trying to disprove Prior claims? I can see how that would end right now: SG1, excecuted by the Sodan in season 9. Parading around unknown planets wearing one of the Goa'uld's chief badges of office... is not the way to make friends of people that hate the goa'uld.
4. By one-offs, I mean things they've not got multiple examples of. Not things that rarely exist. They have, what, at most five kull warrior suits, and more likely one (given that I doubt no other government in the IoA snagged one in the antarctica negotiations, they're probably all over the globe). They have two asgard suits, two people on the planet able to use hand devices, and two ancient shields. The only one they could really afford to use regularly is the hand device, and see above...
5. And you know that Lucian Rapist's shield didn't also come from an ancient lab? The only thing we actually do know, is that Lantean soldiers didn't use them frequently, at least, not on the rare occasion we see them in The Return. Similarly, the Asurans haven't bothered with them.

[Revy]

1. I must admit, some of of 'it kills you' comes from the (supposedly, but not really, canon) RPG, but nonetheless, they are worried, as you say, about the physical cost to Jacob Carter of using it to protect himself from a force field. In the show, we nonetheless see both Carter and Vala take it off as soon as possible (though both keep one wrist gun) in the former's case, when he's still in danger of being tortured to death and revived a thousand times by the most evil goa'uld ever if caught, and when it would be an effective disguise. He seems pretty damn eager to get that stuff off him. EVEN WHEN THAT MEANS HE IS MUCH MORE LIKELY TO BE TORTURED IN WAYS THAT MAKE THE WORST OF THE CHINESE SECRET POLICE LOOK LIKE A MILD SPANKING, HE STILL TAKES IT OFF. You don't think he thinks it's dangerous?

I have three words to say to that; Speculation, Speculation, Speculation. You have a lot of 'X does this therefor it must be because of Y' and NO direct quotes or actual evidence that I asked for. Repeatedly. Yes, you may very well be correct ... and the Roswell incident may have really been an alien crash landing. That's why people ask for evidence. When people don't *have* evidence to back up their belief, they try to get around the issue by making supossitions and speculations.

If someone said cell phones cause cancer and kill you if you use them, I'd ask them to prove that. If someone says that Kull warrior armour kills you if you wear it, I'd ask them to prove it. In neither case would I care much for speculation.

AND EVEN SHE REMOVES IT IMMEDIATELY.

Which proves not one jot that she did so because the armour is fatal to humans. Asking me to believe that she took the armour off because it was killing her (as opposed to it being uncomfortable and the actress needing to show herself off and actually act, difficult to do in full obscuring body armour) is like asking me to believe that a person who rarely uses a cell phone does so because it kills them slowly as they use it. If the person *said* so, then I'd believe it, but if he didn't then why the hell would I believe such a thing just because someone *else* who is just randomly watching that person says so?

I wouldn't. I want evidence that Kull armour kills people just by wearing it, not idle speculation based on behaviour that has no dialogue or visible evidence to back it up. A human die from wearing kull armour too long? That'd prove it great. Someone say they're not going to wear it because it'll kill them if they do? That'd be great too. None of that? ....

[*]"... that's all you *need* to do to use armour."
Bollocks. It has an unknown number of active energy dispersal systems. Its bodysuit is "something like kevlar", and it protects against staff blasts, which have been seen to blast straight through and out of the other side of human bodies - clearly some kind of energy shield in action there. It protects against momentum somehow (C4 explosions), and provides an ability to pass through force-shields. These functions are more than simpe armour, and obviously must draw considerable energy from somewhere.

And yet Daniel, who has never had a symbiote and has no knowledge of the workings of the armour, is able to, whilst in a hurry, chuck the armour on and get it to protect him flawlessly. And you ... what? Want me to believe based on your say so, that operating Kull armour requires some special knowledge or energy source we've never seen or head about?

Lets use Occams Razor then;

Theory 1 (yours): Kull armour cannot be used effectively by simply wearing it. It involves complex technology that requires actions other than simply putting it on in order to get it to function. We do not know what these actions are, or if any special skills are required to properly operate it.

Theory 2 (mine): Kull armour can be worn by any humanoid. It is self contained technology that works all the time (as conventional body armour does) and requires a person to merely wear it for it to provide protection.

Theory 2 *clearly* has less unknown factors - you wear it, it works, that's it. Your theory postulates that you cannot just wear it, it's too complex, and that something else (something unknown as you fail to state what exactly) is required before it will be able to stop bullets and energy blasts. That idea includes unknown elements that we cannot find out. My theory doesn't, and fits with what we see on screen. Go ahead and carry on believing your theory, but I'll stick with the simpler explanation that doesn't contradict what I've actually seen on screen.

[*]Against the wraith and Ori? Those would be the same Wraith Carter got into physical combat with, what, once? Never? I honestly don't remember.

There have been several characters who had Goa'uld symbiotes, and we know as well that symbiotes can enter and leave voluntarily, or be removed by the Tok'ra/Asgard/Thors Hammer. In either case, anyone that can use Goa'uld tech could use the ribbon device to shield themselves from Wraith stunners. Even if they don't have many of those devices or voluntirs to get implanted and removed so they can use them, I'd still expect anyone that could to use the shield tech against enemy gunfire from Wraith/Ori. Actually, I wouldn't, I'd expect them to use Kull armour, but whatever.

Those Ori Cater spent her time fighting by going around to places previously dominated by the goa'uld trying to disprove Prior claims? I can see how that would end right now: SG1, excecuted by the Sodan in season 9. Parading around unknown planets wearing one of the Goa'uld's chief badges of office... is not the way to make friends of people that hate the goa'uld.

Oh please. They've been fighting the soldiers of the Ori for what? A year? And you're honestly telling me that it wouldn't have been of benefit for Carter to stand before them, impervious to their energy weapons thanks to the ribbon device shield, and shoot back with impunity? Priors waltzed around impervious to SGC and Jaffa gunfire, so what's wrong with Carter waltzing around impervious to Ori soldier weapons fire? And Vala used a hand device to aid people that hated her already, but they were willing to put aside their hate so she could help them with former tools that were used to enslave them.

If the world in question has people on it that hate the Goa'uld and they happen to be *watching* Carter (or Jack?) fighting Ori soldiers using Goa'uld tech, are they really going to rush up to her and beat her over the head whilst she's helping them defeat a new enslaving threat?

[*]By one-offs, I mean things they've not got multiple examples of. Not things that rarely exist. They have, what, at most five kull warrior suits, and more likely one

... right. So those vast armies of Kull warriors that either got defeated using the kull disrupters, or simply sat down and scratched their collective heads after Anubis got canned, what happened to their armour? Vanished into thin air? If the SGC didn't swipe some suits from dead or standing-around-doing-squat Kulls, then they are morons. Someone had to clean up all those dead Kull warriors anyway (and there were thousands of the buggers at least). At the very least the new Jaffa nation would have a fair number of them, but we never see them using them against the invading Ori. And even if earth only had a few, one would be enough to kit Ronin out in it and have him go on a Wraith killing spree (I doubt he'd object)

(given that I doubt no other government in the IoA snagged one in the antarctica negotiations, they're probably all over the globe).

This doesn't make any sense. So ... you don't think the IoA snagged any of the armour, yet despite that you think it ended up all over the globe? How does that work?

They have two asgard suits, two people on the planet able to use hand devices, and two ancient shields. The only one they could really afford to use regularly is the hand device, and see above...

Well the Asgard suits are crap compared to either Kull armour or shields, and the ancient shields are both devoid of power - crap batteries. The hand devices are hardly a problem if they use them against the Wraith in the Pegasus galaxy - how many people there even know what a Goa'uld is?

[*]And you know that Lucian Rapist's shield didn't also come from an ancient lab? The only thing we actually do know, is that Lantean soldiers didn't use them frequently, at least, not on the rare occasion we see them in The Return. Similarly, the Asurans haven't bothered with them.[/list]

That wasn't my issue - I was simply saying that the lantean personal shield is not some one-off gadget seen in one episode to solve a particular problem, and then forgotten about and never seen again. It's not a Trek device in other words.

My main issue is that there are hundreds if not thousands of Kull warrior suits kicking around, since the Kull all got wiped out. Their armour, seen to stand up to everything short of a nuke, would have allowed the SGC to wipe the floor with the Wraith and give the Ori soldiers a good kicking, but it's never seen again. And I can find no evidence against using it. The fact is that it would kill all tension if the characters were suddenly invulnerable to the bad guys, and it's difficult to act when your stuffed in a suit of full body armour and your face is completely obscured. Hell, Hugo Weaving had to take over acting V just because the actor who was originally cast couldn't stand acting whilst wearing a mask all the time.

It's not reasonable to expect your cast to act all the time in that armour, nor is it reasonable to write storylines with them sportin invincible armour on. So they brushed it under the rug, and rightly so, but an explanation of some kind would have been nice. Maybe if they had *said*, just some one small line, that wearing Kull armour is fatal or dangerous to humans, fair enough. Maybe if they said it runs on special batteries and only Anubis knew how to recharge them, fair enough. But we never get an explanation, so we're left with a plot hole.

[NecronLord]

I have three words to say to that; Speculation, Speculation, Speculation. You have a lot of 'X does this therefor it must be because of Y' and NO direct quotes or actual evidence that I asked for. Repeatedly. Yes, you may very well be correct ... and the Roswell incident may have really been an alien crash landing. That's why people ask for evidence. When people don't *have* evidence to back up their belief, they try to get around the issue by making supossitions and speculations.

Remind me again, then, what your evidence for the belief that the SGC has sufficient Kull suits to be using them in routine deployments is.
Remind me again, then, what your evidence for the belief that persons not in the set 'Symbiote Hosts' can wear the armour for any length of time.
Remind me again, then, what your evidence for the belief that it is not dangerous to its wearer, despite both Selmak and Vala acting very much as if it is, and such being stated on screen.

Which proves not one jot that she did so because the armour is fatal to humans. Asking me to believe that she took the armour off because it was killing her (as opposed to it being uncomfortable and the actress needing to show herself off and actually act, difficult to do in full obscuring body armour)

Are you going to stop relying on out-of-universe stuff for your reasoning any time soon?

At least the RPG's "Unfortunately, due to the immense strain placed upon the wearer - including drawing upon the naquadah present in the wearer's bloodstream - this armour is useless to any but Anubis' super-soldiers [...] The battle suit's functions are entirely powered by hte naquadah in the user's blood, and therefore useless to any but those who carry a Goa'uld (or Tok'ra) symbiote. Further the armour places intense strain on its user as it draws on this source of energy. Though the super soldiers are engineered to endure this drain, others using the armour must make a Fortitude save at the beginning of their initiative count each round the armour is in use, or suffer 1d4 damage, applied directly to the user's wound points. [...] Once the user is rendered unconcious, the battle suit shuts down and the drain ceases immediately, stabilising the user's wound points at 0." isn't 'then there would be no drama' faffing about.

Now this is from a source that was cancelled, but at least claimed to be canonical... but it is, in my estimation, one up on your to your listing completley out of universe reasons - well, no fucking shit. The jaffa are terrible shots because otherwise the team would get killed far too often. The SGC never aquires a sarcophagus because it would totally fuck over the idea of death as a threat... etc.

In talking about how fast a ship can go, is your answer 'as fast as plot requires?'

And yet Daniel, who has never had a symbiote and has no knowledge of the workings of the armour, is able to, whilst in a hurry, chuck the armour on and get it to protect him flawlessly.

Flawlessly? He took one shot from an unknown weapon that might just be a stunner for all we know on one of the more solid bits. This is in no way the same thing as a kull warrior walking through forcefields and slaughtering entire armies.

Theory 1 (yours): Kull armour cannot be used effectively by simply wearing it. It involves complex technology that requires actions other than simply putting it on in order to get it to function. We do not know what these actions are, or if any special skills are required to properly operate it.

Mischaracterisation. It has functions that require a powered, active system. That doesn't mean it requires special controls. My point is that it takes an unknown physical toll on the user, and is quickly shed, as if dangerous, by all users. Jackson (in reaction to it, and a healing device) wonders why Vala can use goa'uld technology, suggesting strongly that it is naquadah-blood powered, like other examples of goa'uld personal protection devices.

There have been several characters who had Goa'uld symbiotes, and we know as well that symbiotes can enter and leave voluntarily, or be removed by the Tok'ra/Asgard/Thors Hammer

Have you seen Continuum or Exodus? The Tok'ra extraction process is exceedingly painful to the symbiote. Thor's hammer -kills- the poor snake, and I doubt Hermiod's process is particularly safe for them either.

Jolinar said leaving a Host without killing them was difficult - so I'm not thinking that is too likely, either. And recruiting a Tok'ra willing to risk their host just so they can be used as a naqaudah-delivery method to fight some aliens they've never met and don't care about would be... difficult.

In either case, anyone that can use Goa'uld tech could use the ribbon device to shield themselves from Wraith stunners. Even if they don't have many of those devices or voluntirs to get implanted and removed so they can use them, I'd still expect anyone that could to use the shield tech against enemy gunfire from Wraith/Ori. Actually, I wouldn't, I'd expect them to use Kull armour, but whatever.

Err... Right. The people who've been implanted on Atlantis were carter (whom I don't recall ever being on an actual mission where taking such a thing would be useful) and Colonel Caldwell, whom I don't remember ever being in a situation where requisitioning a hand device would be useful.

And, of course, there's no indication that either Carter or Caldwell are practiced in its use.

Oh please. They've been fighting the soldiers of the Ori for what? A year? And you're honestly telling me that it wouldn't have been of benefit for Carter to stand before them, impervious to their energy weapons thanks to the ribbon device shield, and shoot back with impunity? Priors waltzed around impervious to SGC and Jaffa gunfire, so what's wrong with Carter waltzing around impervious to Ori soldier weapons fire? And Vala used a hand device to aid people that hated her already, but they were willing to put aside their hate so she could help them with former tools that were used to enslave them.

And? If Vala and Carter had gone around toting ribbon devices on the Sodan's planet, they'd have been killed by the Sodan, who as we know, are jackasses to even random humans, let alone those they think are goa'uld. First impressions - particularly for an exploration team, who are not even a dedicated combat unit like SG3 - count.

... right. So those vast armies of Kull warriors that either got defeated using the kull disrupters, or simply sat down and scratched their collective heads after Anubis got canned, what happened to their armour? Vanished into thin air?

They were defeated by the jaffa nation. Not the SGC. We know that one suit ended up in Vala's possession, what happened to the others, we cannot say. It would be unsurprising if they'd been taken as trophies by the jaffa, and some brought back to Tartarus (you may remember they captured it intact) for analysis. It seems unlikely, especially given how unhelpful the jaffa nation turned out to be, that they'd just give them to the SGC.

At the very least the new Jaffa nation would have a fair number of them, but we never see them using them against the invading Ori.

Not a problem if it draws on the naquadah blood, and is dangerous.

And even if earth only had a few, one would be enough to kit Ronin out in it and have him go on a Wraith killing spree (I doubt he'd object)

First he would need to become a host. Leaving a host is difficult and dangerous for a Tok'ra. I doubt they'd really volunteer unless Ronon wished to remain blended. Which seems unlikely.

This doesn't make any sense. So ... you don't think the IoA snagged any of the armour, yet despite that you think it ended up all over the globe? How does that work?

Are you a native English speaker? If not, the way English uses what are called double negatives may be difficult. BBC on double negatives

I am saying I find it difficult to believe that the other nations would not have taken kull warrior suits if they could.

Well the Asgard suits are crap compared to either Kull armour or shields, and the ancient shields are both devoid of power - crap batteries. The hand devices are hardly a problem if they use them against the Wraith in the Pegasus galaxy - how many people there even know what a Goa'uld is?

Indeed. But how many occasions have we seen someone with the naquadah blood in Pegasus actually fighting wraith on the ground? It would have been pretty awesome to see Carter or Caldwell casually blast a few Wraith around in SGA, mind, but I can't think of any episodes where it wouldn't have been gratuitous fan-service.

My main issue is that there are hundreds if not thousands of Kull warrior suits kicking around, since the Kull all got wiped out. Their armour, seen to stand up to everything short of a nuke, would have allowed the SGC to wipe the floor with the Wraith and give the Ori soldiers a good kicking, but it's never seen again. And I can find no evidence against using it. The fact is that it would kill all tension if the characters were suddenly invulnerable to the bad guys, and it's difficult to act when your stuffed in a suit of full body armour and your face is completely obscured. Hell, Hugo Weaving had to take over acting V just because the actor who was originally cast couldn't stand acting whilst wearing a mask all the time.

It's not reasonable to expect your cast to act all the time in that armour, nor is it reasonable to write storylines with them sportin invincible armour on. So they brushed it under the rug, and rightly so, but an explanation of some kind would have been nice. Maybe if they had *said*, just some one small line, that wearing Kull armour is fatal or dangerous to humans, fair enough. Maybe if they said it runs on special batteries and only Anubis knew how to recharge them, fair enough. But we never get an explanation, so we're left with a plot hole.

Not really. It is implied that it's not safe for humans. What more do you want? Must you be hit over the head with it? 99.9% of the audience surely doesn't care enough for a line explicitly explaining why they don't use technology X in situation Y to be put in.