Jolan

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Jolan of the Sodan

Summary

Jolan was a descendant of the Sodan Jaffa who found their freedom from the Goa'uld 5,000 years ago. (9.08 "Babylon")

Character Biography

Teal'c had heard that the elite Jaffa warrior group known as the Sodan were living on P9G-844. For thousands of years, the Sodan warriors had been legends among the Jaffa. Very few Jaffa of Teal'c's time had mastered the warrior art of the Sodan. After gaining their freedom from the Goa'uld, the new Free Jaffa Nation needed leadership, so SG-1 went to P9G-844 to find the Sodan and invite them to meet the Free Jaffa, but they were ambushed instead. The Sodan had the benefit of Ancient technology which gave them an advantage in the struggle — personal cloaking devices and a transporter device called the Eye of the Gods. During the ambush, Mitchell ordered the rest of his team to retreat to the Stargate while he covered their six. A lone Sodan warrior, Volnek, engaged Mitchell and both ended up injuring each other with Volnek's staff weapon. (9.08 "Babylon")

Still under heavy fire from SG-22, the Sodan gathered up Mitchell and left Volnek behind, believing him to be mortally wounded. Once the remaining members of SG-1 arrived on the scene of the attack, they found Volnek was still alive, but the staff blast had gravely damaged Volnek's symbiote. They took him back to Earth to save his life and to trade him for Mitchell in a prisoner exchange. (9.08 "Babylon")

While Dr. Lam worked on saving Volnek's life at the SGC, Mitchell was going through similar treatment by the Sodan Jaffa named Jolan. Jolan was angry at Mitchell and was ready to let him die, but the Sodan's leader, Lord Haikon, ordered him to treat Mitchell's wounds. Jolan, an accomplished apothecary, created a salve for Mitchell's staff blast wound, and nursed him with medicinal teas, which Mitchell complained strongly about concerning their taste. (9.08 "Babylon")

In the Sodan warrior tradition, it was deemed that Mitchell would fight the nearest blood relative of the victim, Volnek, in a ritual called Kel Shak Lo. This ritual required that Mitchell learn the basics of jomo se telek, the fighting methods of the Sodan. Jolan put Mitchell through the wringer, including making him run an obstacle course through the woods, where Jolan himself acted as the obstacles, throwing invisible punches while using the Sodan cloaking device. Mitchell had to finish his course before the sand ran out of bags which Jolan had hung to time him. During this training, the two men began to bond and Jolan developed a deep respect for Mitchell because of his never-say-die attitude. (9.08 "Babylon")

Jolan and Mitchell discussed the Ori and Lord Haikon's decision to follow them. All of these centuries, the Sodan worshipped the Ancients as their gods, but never once did the Ancients answer their prayers. Even so, they still sought the Path to Enlightenment taught by the Ancients who had left their writings on the planet. But, when the Prior of the Ori came to their world, their belief system was shaken to its very core, for the Ori offered the Path to Enlightenment freely and demonstrated their presence and power through the Prior. To Lord Haikon and many others, it appeared that Ori were the true gods. Jolan, however, had doubts, yet out of respect for his leader, he participated in the protrations services held by the Prior and waited for his opportunity to act. (9.08 "Babylon")

Jolan finally revealed to Mitchell that Volnek was his brother, and that he would be Mitchell's opponent in the Kel Shak Lo. Unfortunately, Kel Shak Lo was a fight to the death. Not wanting Mitchell to die at his hands, Jolan concocted a drug which would simulate Mitchell's death. The ruse worked and after seven hours of deep sleep, Mitchell made a full recovery and returned home. He had the opportunity to talk with Volnek before Volnek, too, returned to his home. (9.08 "Babylon")

Jolan and his friends kept in touch with the SGC and gave them intelligence on the activities of the Prior who had visited their world and another world which the SGC sent SG-6 to investigate. Keeping their identities hidden, SG-6 visited P2X-885 and lived among 10,000 poverty stricken peasants when the Prior visited the planet. The Prior conducted a service and touched Lt. Fisher as if giving a blessing, but actually, he made Lt. Fisher "patient zero" of the Prior Plague. Upon Lt. Fisher's return to Earth, he spread the Plague into the public and a global pandemic resulted. (9.10 "The Fourth Horseman Part 1")

Mitchell and Daniel returned to the Sodan homeworld to get a blood sample of the same Prior to help scientists develop a cure for the Plague. Upon their arrival, they were immediately put into custody. Mitchell was granted an audience with Lord Haikon. Haikon and Jolan told Mitchell that the Sodan had turned from the Ori because the Prior commanded that they wipe out a world of defenseless people who had rejected the Ori. They also visited another world which had refused to accept the Ori and found that the entire population had died of a plague. The Prior had basically asked that the Sodan become his instrument of judgment on these other worlds, and Haikon finally saw through the Ori's deception. The Sodan lived by the creed that there was no honor in killing innocent people. (9.10 "The Fourth Horseman Part 1", 9.11 "The Fourth Horseman Part 2")

The Sodan assisted Mitchell and Daniel in subduing the Prior and getting his blood. This helped the SGC develop a cure and save not only Earth, but many other worlds which had been stricken with the disease. (9.11 "The Fourth Horseman Part 2")

But, the Sodan did not live free of the Ori for long. While on a visit to a neighboring planet to gather supplies for his village, Volnek was met by a Prior who told him that the Sodan would pay for their betrayal. The Prior activated his staff and struck the ground with it, but Volnek himself didn't feel the effects until after he returned home and was there for several days. Volnek became a madman and soon thereafter, he became a dead man walking, a zombie, similar to the way the Honduran rebel Chalo had become one after his dead body was exposed to the effects of the Telchak Device. The same kind of technology was used by Anubis to give his Kull Warriors life. (9.18 "Arthur's Mantle")

Volnek went on a rampage to destroy the entire Sodan village, and he was successful at killing nearly everyone, including his own brother Jolan. The only one who survived was Haikon, who was discovered by Teal'c and SG-12 who arrived there after receiving the Sodan's distress call through the Stargate. Volnek was tracked down and destroyed with explosives so that his body could no longer be reanimated. (9.18 "Arthur's Mantle")

Because of this genocide, only a few remain who know the Sodan warrior way: Lord Haikon and Lt. Col. Cameron Mitchell, Jolan's prized student and friend.

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--DeeKayP 12:39, 11 April 2006 (PDT)

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