Steven Rayner
Summary
Dr. Steven Rayner is a former colleague of Daniel's and was introduced in the episode, 4.14 "The Curse".
Character Biography
Dr. Steven Rayner and Dr. Sarah Gardner were colleagues of Daniel's while they all studied under one mentor, Dr. David Jordan, at the Oriental Institute in Chicago. From the beginning of their relationship, Steven was always jealous of Daniel, feeling that Daniel was Dr. Jordan's favorite.
Steven was very ambitious and had recently published a book which landed him on the best-seller list. He was going to buy himself a Porche with the profits of the book's sales. Sarah and Steven both remained with Dr. Jordan after Daniel left (Daniel said that he distanced himself from them because his theories were laughed at and dismissed in the archaeological community).
Dr. Jordan received a shipment of Egyptian artifacts which had just been recovered from a shipwreck off the Eastern Coast of the United States. He and his team were excited about the opportunity to study the artifacts and they conducted several tests on some of them to get dating information. The Egyptian government had loaned the artifacts for Dr. Jordan's team to study and they had about two more weeks before they had to return the items. Dr. Jordan stayed up late in order to study as much as he could. He took a canopic jar which was called the Osiris Jar to the lab downstairs and was killed when a gas leak caused an explosion. What had really happened was that Sarah Gardner had opened the jar, her curiousity too much to resist, and the Goa'uld symbiote took her as a host. Osiris killed Dr. Jordan to cover the event.
Steven, Sarah, and Daniel were reunited at the graveside services of Dr. Jordan. Steven was rude and hostile to Daniel, basically sending the message that Daniel was not welcomed there and that he had given up his place as Dr. Jordan's friend a long time ago. Sarah, on the other hand, was more open and friendly with Daniel and they spent the afternoon together looking over the artifacts. Little did Daniel know at the time, but Sarah was really Osiris.
Steven received information that an amulet in the collection was 10,000 years old. He suspected that the amulet was a key and he stole it from the collection. He took it to the Egyptian temple where it was discovered and was successful at placing it in the keyhole. The device unlocked a store of Goa'uld technology, including a hand device (ribbon device). Suddenly, Steven was not alone and he was attacked.
Daniel discovered the Isis Jar among the items in the collection and took it back to the SGC for examination. They found that the jar's seal had been broken, most likely in the shipwreck, and that the symbiote was dead, but perfectly preserved. It had been banished into the jar inside a sedative and the jar was rigged with an electrical charge that would keep the symbiote alive. After this discovery, Daniel suspected that Steven had been taken by Osiris and he, Carter, and Dr. Fraiser headed for Egypt to stop him.
Upon their arrival at the temple, they discovered a battered Steven lying on the floor of the temple. Dr. Fraiser said that he had internal injuries, but if they could get him to a medical facility, he would survive. Steven managed to apologize to Daniel before he lost consciousness, having just realized that Daniel's theories had been true. After a confrontation with Osiris in the temple and Osiris' subsequent escape, Daniel said that they needed to come up with a cover story to tell Steven. The details of the story they told him were not given and we have not seen or heard from Steven since this incident.
Episodes
Related Characters
- Dr. Daniel Jackson
- Maj. Samantha Carter
- Dr. Janet Fraiser
- Dr. Sarah Gardner
- Isis
- Dr. David Jordan
- Osiris
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Actor
--DeeKayP 07:49, 14 Dec 2004 (PST)