Tomin of Ver Isca

Summary

Tomin was a devout Ori worshipper from the village of Ver Isca in the Ori's home galaxy. He found Vala Mal Doran on the ring platform after she was transported accidentally from the Milky Way Galaxy. After Vala discovered she was mysteriously pregnant, she married Tomin and claimed that the baby was his. Tomin joined the Ori warriors who trained for the invasion of the Milky Way, but once he saw the truth about the Ori, he helped SG-1 to end the war. Tomin returned home to his people so that they could build a new life without the Ori, but Vala chose to stay with SG-1. They parted friends.

Character Biography

Tomin Meets Vala

When Tomin was but a child, he suffered an accident which left him lame and infertile. Because of this infirmity, he was very much a loner, basically unaccepted by the people of his village. One day, he discovered Vala Mal Doran on the ring platform near his village. He claimed that she was a gift of the gods, having fallen from the sky. Some of the villagers might have believed him for a little while, but Vala soon realized that they most likely suspected that she had done something wrong in another village and fled. (9.19 "Crusade Part 1")

Even with all of this shunning, Tomin took great care of Vala, bringing meals to her in bed until she found her strength. She was most likely affected by the great distance which separated her and Daniel Jackson, the residual of having been physiologically linked by Kor Mak bracelets (9.01 "Avalon Part 1", 9.04 "The Ties That Bind", 9.06 "Beachhead"). Eventually, Vala began to attempt to fit into the village, befriending the local harlot, Denya. (9.19 "Crusade Part 1")

One day, Tomin returned home completely cured of his limp. A Prior of the Ori had done this so that he could serve in the army being assembled to lead the crusade in the Milky Way Galaxy. Tomin was so excited about becoming a warrior, feeling that this was something all believers are called to do on behalf of their gods. Vala was heartbroken because she felt that he'd change from being the kind and caring man that he was. He knew that becoming a warrior would change him and he welcomed it. (9.19 "Crusade Part 1")

Denya reported her conversations with Vala to her boss, Seevis, who was also the village's administrator. Vala had asked Denya if she had ever heard if the Ori had given someone a child without sexual intercourse. Seevis grew suspicious of Vala and had her chained to the village's altar in order for her to confess her heresy or name other heretics. Vala said nothing, but her longing looks at Tomin indicated that she wished for him to free her. Tomin simply walked away, leaving her there for three days and nights without food or water. (9.19 "Crusade Part 1")

Tomin finally couldn't take it anymore. He released Vala from the chains and took her home. (9.19 "Crusade Part 1")

Soon thereafter, Seevis and Denya revealed to Vala that they were part of the anti-Ori movement much like Harrid, Sallis, and Fannis had been in Ver Ager. Seevis shared his plans to destroy the warships being built near their village. He said that as soon as the Priors activated the warships, they would explode, taking all of the believers with them. Vala was horrified, for she knew that Tomin would be onboard one of those ships. But at the same time, Vala wanted the ships to be destroyed so that they wouldn't invade her home galaxy. (9.19 "Crusade Part 1")

The village's Prior paid a visit to Tomin one day while Tomin thought that Vala was out at the market. But, the Prior knew that she was eavesdropping on their conversation. The Prior told Tomin that he was not able to father children and Tomin was devastated. He thought that Vala had betrayed him, but the Prior told him that the child was the will of the Ori. Vala had had a vision while she was chained to the altar and it appeared that she remembered being visited by the Ori themselves while she was convalescing in Tomin's bed, but she didn't say anything about it to anyone. Somehow, the Ori were the ones who had impregnated her. Tomin withdrew from Vala for a time after he learned that he wasn't the baby's father, even though they still shared the same bed. (9.19 "Crusade Part 1")

When Tomin was preparing to go to the warship activation ceremony, Vala asked that he stay home with her because she had a bad feeling. Tomin went to the ceremony because he had been waiting his whole life to walk the Path as he was doing as a warrior. Somehow, Seevis's plans to destroy the warships was thwarted and the warships were successfully activated. The Prior, however, tested Tomin's devotion by having him track down Seevis and Denya and kill them. He discovered Vala with them, using the Ancient communications terminal to make contact with those at the SGC. Tomin fired his staff weapon and destroyed the device, severing the link that Vala had established with Daniel. Tomin immediately killed Seevis and Denya and then pointed his weapon at Vala. Thinking quickly, Vala pursuaded him that she was forced to use the device and that she was not in league with the heretics. Tomin admitted that the Prior had not identified her as such. Vala asked that he stay with her as she bore the child because she was frightened. At that point, Vala decided that she'd go with Tomin on his warship destined for the Milky Way and Tomin knelt before her in reverence. (9.19 "Crusade Part 1")

Tomin Joins the Ori Crusade in the Milky Way

While the warships were in hyperspace on their way to Chulak, Vala gave birth to her daughter and named her Adria. Tomin was by her side throughout the process and looked upon Adria before Vala. The Prior announced that Adria was the Orici, the one from whom all will learn. He also announced that it was the child's destiny to lead the Ori crusade in the Milky Way. Tomin immediately bowed before his new leader. (10.01 "Flesh and Blood Part 3")

Vala felt dejected after her daughter was taken away from her so abruptly. Tomin talked with the Prior and he agreed to let Vala see her. The child, however, had grown into a little girl of about four years of age. Initially shocked by Adria's growth spurt, Vala pulled herself together and cheerfully talked with her daughter. Adria recognized that Vala was not a believer, but gently asserted that she'd show her the Path. The young child healed Vala of the pain of childbirth and Vala was amazed. Tomin, all the while, was on his knees with his head bowed. (10.01 "Flesh and Blood Part 3")

It was very clear that Tomin was a devout follower of the Ori who had sworn his life to the Orici, but he still desired to have Vala by his side. Not long after Vala had visited her daughter, now about seven years old, Daniel arrived in her private quarters after ringing over from the doomed Korolev during the initial battle. Vala told Daniel about Adria and how she had been a way for the Ori to "sneak one of their own over the border". The two decided to capture Adria while the Ori soldiers were distracted with the ground invasion of Chulak. Tomin had been called to duty, but was on his way back to see Vala when he saw her and Daniel conspiring in the corridor. His first reaction appeared to be that of betrayal, but he didn't show himself to them. Instead, he waited until Daniel was in position outside Adria's chambers and captured him there. (10.01 "Flesh and Blood Part 3")

Tomin brought Daniel to Adria while Vala was visiting her, hoping to distract her so that she and Daniel could disable her. Tomin told Adria that both Daniel and Vala were conspiring against her, and Adria said that she knew. She then ordered Tomin to kill Daniel with his staff weapon. Just as he fired, Vala stepped in front of Daniel and shoved him out of the way, taking the staff blast for him. Both Adria and Tomin were horrified that Vala was wounded. Tomin dropped his staff weapon and knelt beside Vala while Adria began healing her. While both of them were distracted, Daniel used the stunning weapon which was mounted on the back of his wrist as part of the Ori warrior's armor Vala had gotten for him. (10.01 "Flesh and Blood Part 3")

The last time Vala saw Tomin, he was lying on the floor next to Adria unconscious. Daniel and Vala were beamed out of the room by Col. Emerson of the Odyssey. (10.01 "Flesh and Blood Part 3")

Adria grew into an extraordinarly powerful woman. She led her soldiers to great victories for the Ori. She'd travel on different warships and lead each of them as she saw fit. When the Free Jaffa used the deadly weapon on Dakara to kill all the people on a planet where Adria was visiting, Vala thought that Tomin was among those who died. Adria had survived the deadly wave and captured Vala and Daniel after their team boarded the thought-to-be-empty warship. She told Vala that Tomin would be glad to see her, and Vala appeared to be relieved that he was still alive. It was her desire to save him as much as it was his to save her. (10.07 "Counterstrike")

Tomin and Vala Reunite

Tomin and Vala reunited once again on the planet P9C-882. SG-1 had gone to the planet to set up Merlin's interdimensional device, Arthur's Mantle, so that they could phase the entire village into an alternate dimension to fool the Prior into thinking that the village had been abandoned. The Prior asked that the villagers build one of the altars like the one in which Vala had been burned alive in Ver Ager (9.02 "Avalon Part 2"). The villagers asked that SG-1 help them because they did not wish to submit to the Ori and once again serve false gods. The technology failed and the village was exposed upon the Prior's return after three days. Tomin was the commander of the footsoldiers who ringed to the planet from the warship that was in orbit. His men gathered Vala and the villagers who had opposed them with force (SG-1 brought P-90s, but they ran out of bullets during the firefight), and he ordered that Vala be taken to the warship. Before she was taken away, he made her stand and watch as his men followed his order to kill all of captured villagers. (10.12 "Line in the Sand")

Tomin believed that the village would then be willing to follow Origin because those who had opposed them had been eliminated. He returned to the warship to teach Vala about Origin in order to convert her. He told Vala that the Orici had a standing order that Vala be captured and instructed in Origin, and he was appointed her mentor as punishment for being deceived by her. Vala refused to wear the dress with the Ori symbol on it and argued with Tomin about the crusade's approach to the slaughtering of innocent people. She challenged him to remember the names and faces of all of those whom he had killed, but Tomin stood by his belief that he was doing the will of his gods. Vala told him that she had read The Book of Origin and nowhere in it did it say that those who don't believe should be massacred. Tomin struck Vala across the face for her saying that the Ori are not gods, and left the room in anger. (10.12 "Line in the Sand")

Tomin asked the Prior (the same Prior from Ver Ager who, when he was the village's administrator, had ordered Vala's sacrifice) to permit him to return to the planet so that he could continue with their transition into Ori followers, but the Prior said that the people on the planet were without salvation and should be destroyed. In the process of explaining his position, the Prior twisted a story from The Book of Origin that Tomin had read to Vala that very morning. The Prior used the story to support the destruction of the unbelievers, but Tomin said that the passage taught that the Ori were forgiving and welcomed back those who had strayed, as well as rewarded those who had helped them to find the Path once again. The two men got into a heated argument about the interpretation of the passage, but the Prior had made up his mind and there was nothing Tomin could say that would change it. (10.12 "Line in the Sand")

Realizing that the Prior was about to destroy the village from orbit, Tomin once again went to the Prior to ask that he not kill the people whom he believed had capitulated. Tomin's argument was quite passionate, for Vala had planted the seeds of doubt in his heart that they were truly following the will of the Ori as what was put forth in The Book of Origin. Tomin's desperate argument included, "No. I have not begun to question the will of the Ori, but I have begun to question the interpretation of their words. No matter what you say, I will not believe the Book of Origin asks us to massacre innocent people! And I will not stand by while the Holy Doctrine of Good Will and Faith that I have sworn to uphold is twisted into a hammer and used to beat people down!" The Prior's reaction was to fire the warship's weapon on the planet. (10.12 "Line in the Sand")

Tomin immediately went back to Vala and set her free. He told her that he'd probably be killed for his betrayal, but decided not to escape with her to the site of the destruction on the planet. He kissed her goodbye, told her that he still loved her, and watched as she disappeared in the ring transporter's beam. Vala had told Tomin earlier that she had fallen in love with him when they were together in Ver Isca, had wanted to try to save him, but knew that she couldn't. The only thing she could do for him was to tell him the truth of what the Ori were and how they were using people and throwing them away, explaining to him that everything he had been taught to believe was a lie. (10.12 "Line in the Sand")

Tomin Becomes Leader of His People

Even though Tomin spared Vala's life and directly challenged the Prior, he was permitted to remain Commander in the Ori army. One day, his warship was led to the planet Dakara, where his wife and her teammates were digging for an Ancient artifact known as the Ark of Truth. Tomin and his soldiers surrounded the team in the ruins of the city and promised that they would not be harmed if they surrendered peacefully. Daniel had been frantically trying to get the artifact that he had found open, but he couldn't get the seal to break. At that point, Vala suggested that they get the Ori soldiers to open it for them. They were under the impression that their artifact was the Ark of Truth and that it would expose the Ori soldiers to the truth that the Ori are not gods. (Stargate: The Ark of Truth)

The Administrator-turned-Prior then showed up. The team tricked him into ordering his men to open the artifact, but the soldiers' method was to blow it open with their staff weapons. Daniel was concerned that it was destroyed with such treatment because he thought it was a sophisticated piece of Ancient technology. To his and the team's surprise and dismay, the artifact that they had found was merely a chest for old parchments, which crumbled in Tomin's hands. (Stargate: The Ark of Truth)

The Prior then ordered Tomin to kill SG-1, but he refused because he had given his word that they would not be harmed once they peacefully surrendered. The Prior grew angry and grabbed Tomin's staff weapon, intending to fire it himself. As the Prior and Tomin were distracted with their brief struggle over the staff weapon, Mitchell managed to get a staff weapon from a nearby soldier and fire it at the Prior. The Prior was hit squarely in the chest and immediately died. Tomin and the rest of his soldiers were shocked, since the Priors appeared to be protected by the power of the Ori. Carter showed him that they had turned an Anti-Prior Device on and that was the reason why the Prior had no powers to kill them. (Stargate: The Ark of Truth)

Tomin and his men surrendered. Tomin was interrogated by IOA representative James Marrick who clearly despised him because he had ordered the death of thousands of innocent people as Commander. Tomin was treated as a guest instead of as a prisoner by General Landry and his staff, much to Marrick's disgust. (Stargate: The Ark of Truth)

Tomin had useful information and unique knowledge. After Daniel and Vala told him about their use of Merlin's anti-ascended weapon on the Ori, Tomin could barely grasp that his gods were most likely dead. He learned that the team was searching for the Ark of Truth based on visions Daniel had been having. Daniel thought these visions were residual memories left by Merlin when had harbored Merlin's consciousness in order to build the anti-Ori weapon. After Daniel described his vision, Tomin immediately associated the exploding mountain portion with the story of "Ortus Mallum" from The Book of Origin. Because he was a faithful worshipper, Tomin was extremely familiar with the text. (10.11 "The Quest Part 2", 10.14 "The Shroud", Stargate: The Ark of Truth)

Tomin accompanied the team to the Ori home galaxy when they took the Odyssey through the Supergate. He introduced Daniel and Vala to Hertis, a member of the anti-Ori resistance who could shed some light on where it was believed this mountain was actually located. Hertis tested Daniel and Vala, and once satisfied with their proof of their sincerity, he gave them the location of where the mountaintop settlement that was said to be the "birthplace of evil" and told of the history of archaeological digs conducted there by both the Priors and the unbelievers. Nothing like the Ark had been found, as far as Hertis knew. (Stargate: The Ark of Truth)

Following Daniel's new visions of Merlin guiding them to the Ark, Daniel, Vala, Teal'c, and Tomin found the real Ark that had been left by the Altera millions upon millions of years ago. They took the device to the surface to study it further, but were ambushed by Ori soldiers. Teal'c was left for dead, but Tomin and the others were taken along with the Ark to the City of the Gods that was situated in the nearby plains. In separate prison cells, each of them was tortured by the Doci and Priors. The torture was done through the use of the combined mental power of the Priors through their orbed staffs. (Stargate: The Ark of Truth)

Adria, who was now ascended and had taken the Ori's place because they had truly been killed by Merlin's weapon, called for Vala to speak to her about the Ark. Right in the middle of their conversation, Adria suddenly left Vala alone in the room. The activation keys on top of the Ark temporarily turned on, and Vala was only able to see that seven symbols were glowing, but she didn't have time to memorize which ones. She quickly made it back to the dungeon and freed Tomin. Teal'c, who had been miraculously healed and made it to the City undetected, freed Daniel. The four were reunited once more and rushed to Adria's chamber to activate the Ark. (Stargate: The Ark of Truth)

Tomin and Teal'c kept watch on the door while Daniel and Vala discussed the possible activation code. While they were fusing over the Ark, the Doci arrived. Teal'c tried to use the staff weapon he brought with him from the earlier battle, but the Doci was too powerful and threw Teal'c against the wall. Tomin tried to rush the Doci, and he, too, ended up being thrown against the wall. Then, Adria appeared, and the Doci immediately knelt before her. As Adria spoke, Daniel realized that the activation code was the seven-letter Ancient word for "Origin". With body language alone, he indicated to Vala that he wanted her to distract Adria while he punched in the code. Teal'c readied his staff weapon to defend Daniel. As soon as Daniel activated the device, Adria threw him against the wall, but Teal'c took aim and fired the leg of the table so that the Ark would fall open in front of the Doci. The Doci transmitted the "truth" to the rest of the Priors in the galaxy through their psychic link through the orbed staffs. Immediately, Adria's power was greatly reduced, and the Ascended Ancient Morgan Le Fay engaged her in a struggle in the ascended planes. Tomin looked on in awe as the two powerful beings clashed as energy near the ceiling and then disappeared. As it turned out, Morgan had been the source of the visions, distractions, and help that brought Tomin and the others to this point. (Stargate: The Ark of Truth)

Tomin returned to the Milky Way where the Ark was used against the Priors to end their crusade. (Stargate: The Ark of Truth)

Tomin admitted to Vala that even though the Ori were false gods, he still gained great comfort from the words of The Book of Origin. Once again dressed as a Commander, Tomin decided to return to his people. He would be looked upon as a leader who could help them adjust to life without the Ori. Tomin felt great guilt for what he had done during the crusade and promised Vala, who had decided to stay with SG-1, that he would spend the rest of his life trying to make up for all the wrongs he had done in the name of the Ori. (Stargate: The Ark of Truth)

Episodes

Gallery

Tomin and Vala marry	Vala and Tomin share bed	Vala is saddened at Tomin's conscription
Tomin fires his staff weapon and kills Seevis and Denya	Tomin and Vala at Adria's birth	Tomin looks upon Adria
Tomin declares his love to Vala	Tomin overhears Vala and Daniel conspire	Tomin captures Daniel
Tomin as Commander	Tomin challenges the Prior about destroying the village on P9C-882	Tomin bids Vala goodbye before sending her back to P9C-882
Tomin commands his soldiers on Dakara	Tomin witnesses Adria and Morgan in their powerful struggle	Vala and Tomin part ways