Birthright (Stargate SG-1)

The team learns from the group's leader, Ishta (Jolene Blalock), that since the Goa'uld system lord Moloc declared that all newborn female Jaffa in his domain be sacrificed, the Hak'tyl have been secretly saving as many as they can.

This is the third of four episodes of Stargate SG-1 written by Christopher Judge and incorporates elements of the Amazons from Greek mythology, as well as looking at sexism and femicide within the fictional Jaffa and Goa'uld races.

Ishta, Mala and Neith (Kathleen Duborg), all of whom served Moloc, tell Major Samantha Carter (Amanda Tapping) that they have been secretly saving newborn female Jaffa, smuggling them back to Hak'tyl.

The Hak'tyl volunteers are greeted by General George Hammond (Don S. Davis) at Stargate Command, and soon Dr. Janet Fraiser (Teryl Rothery) begins trialing the drug.

Years previously Christopher Judge, who also plays the character of Teal'c, had been encouraged by creator of the series Brad Wright to write for the show.

It stands to reason he would want a little feminine company every once in a while", jesting that "the only way his character could form some sort of romantic entanglement on the show was to write it himself".

[4][11] After finishing work on "Birthright", Judge had plotted out a three-part arc involving Ishta and Teal'c, although hadn't yet pitched it to Cooper.

[3] Other members of the Hak'tyl include Christine Adams as Mala, Kathleen Duborg as Neith, Kirsten Zien as Nesa and Simone Bailly in the part of Ka'lel.

Greenburg asked Smook to appear as she had equestrian experience, as production required a number of actors who could comfortably ride horses.

[16] Robert C. Cooper wanted a relatively long and "convincing fight sequence" to feature in the episode, encouraging Woeste to try and push the boundaries on what the series could achieve.

Production accidentally forgot to construct the studio tent on a wooden platform, meaning that people entering and exiting didn't entirely match in the finished episode.

[16] A wooden fishing raft was constructed and moored on the lake to further the idea that the Hak-tyl were a self-sufficient people, however could not be used during filming as the proper health and safety had not been put in place.

[31] Jan Vincent-Rudzki for TV Zone negatively received the episode, describing it as "lots of posturing, pouting, fighting and taking illogical points of view, with a few I am a warrior thrown in" commenting that it "fails to be at all interesting".

Vincent-Rudzki was mostly critical of Jolene Blalock, describing her as "a lady who cannot be said to have a particularly large build, and in trying to be a stern monotone Jaffa women, she manages to seem more like a Vulcan" as well as criticising a lack of "power" from the character.

Houston observed that whilst Judge was clearly inexperienced as a writer, he showed a strong audience understanding by having Jack and Daniel recognise and joke about the Amazons scenario right away.

Cherry wrote "while this could have easily descended into sexist humour, it is saved by the taught and emotional scripting", praising writer Christopher Judge for giving his character of Teal'c a major role, without it feeling like an "ego job".

[35] Den of Geek's Juliette Harrisson gave a mixed response to the episode, believing it was "clearly motivated partly by giving him an opportunity for a love story with a gorgeous co-star", criticising the use of the Amazonian mythology as being the "hokiest of concepts".

[36] Analysing for PopMatters, Marco Lanzagorta considered SG-1 convincing the Hak'tyl to give up their dependence on the Goa'uld, and instead rely on a drug developed on Earth as an example of "intergalactic imperialism" "to impose contemporary U.S. ideologies on other cultures".

"[38] Syfy Wire writer Lisa Granshaw called the episode "a bit cliche", however the author included Ishta in a list of characters they would most like to be explored in a spin-off series.

[41] A deleted scene was posted on the Sci-Fi Channel's website after the episode aired, where Sam comforts Janet following the loss of Mala.