Just something I thought about while watching sg-1 on scfi recently, there never seems to be many Goa'uld, but it appears there are many more jaffa that have Goa'uld inside them then there are Goa'uld living in hosts, this seem like a discrepancy, where do all these goa'uld go when they outgrow there jaffa host?
How many Goa'uld
- Thread starter paudemge
- Start date
There are/were the core system lords, but then there were minor Goa'ulds we saw that really lacked names, they simply worked for the system lords or for themselves. There was never a number put on how many there were, but my guess is that there were hundreds if not thousands of minor goa'ulds who really didn't pose to much of a threat, the main threat was the system lords.
Jaffa! Lightbulb! Kree!
Actually my wife and I have been thinking about this sort of thing for years. (Not the light bulb.) We figure that on-screen evidence suggests there are really three Goa'uld genders/castes: females (queens), males (lords, for lack of a better word), and neuter (drones). The males and females comprise the System Lords, and the drones do a lot of the grunt work. Drones probably make up the vast majority of the Goa'uld population.
Queens have been stated to be able to spawn offspring on their own, but logically (and biologically) these would all have to be drones. You can only spawn a lord or breeding male if another lord impregnates the queen (though probably you get a lot of drones that way too). That's why Skaara was presented as Apophis' "son" and was treated as special-- breeding males are rare compared to drones. (It's a little unclear how a lord would impregnate the queen while in a host body. I'm trying to envision back-to-back sex, and failing. However, it has to be something like that.)
It doesn't seem logical that chowing down on a few dozen symbiotes would make a dent in the population, considering the numbers that seem to exist. However, it would make logical sense if the System Lords were just eating young males. Keeps the breeding population down and gets rid of the competition at the same time. They probably wouldn't bother eating drones, because they aren't part of the power structure.
It's probably possible for a drone to amass enough power and followers to become a System Lord, but because they are unable to reproduce and spawn offspring loyal to them, this is likely to be rare. They are probably considered second-class citizens (although still higher than Jaffa). They are more or less expendable, so if one matures and no host is available, they just let the symbiote die. This is probably the answer to the OP's question.
Any thoughts? This would address a lot of discrepancies seen onscreen.
Queens have been stated to be able to spawn offspring on their own, but logically (and biologically) these would all have to be drones. You can only spawn a lord or breeding male if another lord impregnates the queen (though probably you get a lot of drones that way too). That's why Skaara was presented as Apophis' "son" and was treated as special-- breeding males are rare compared to drones. (It's a little unclear how a lord would impregnate the queen while in a host body. I'm trying to envision back-to-back sex, and failing. However, it has to be something like that.)
It doesn't seem logical that chowing down on a few dozen symbiotes would make a dent in the population, considering the numbers that seem to exist. However, it would make logical sense if the System Lords were just eating young males. Keeps the breeding population down and gets rid of the competition at the same time. They probably wouldn't bother eating drones, because they aren't part of the power structure.
It's probably possible for a drone to amass enough power and followers to become a System Lord, but because they are unable to reproduce and spawn offspring loyal to them, this is likely to be rare. They are probably considered second-class citizens (although still higher than Jaffa). They are more or less expendable, so if one matures and no host is available, they just let the symbiote die. This is probably the answer to the OP's question.
Any thoughts? This would address a lot of discrepancies seen onscreen.
darkwing_duck1
Vice Admiral
You forgot about the fact that goua'uld on goua'uld breeding is forbidden. Two possessed humans breeding create a harchesis child, a human with goua'uld genes added on, presumedly posessing all their benefits without their weaknesses.
I propose that the jaffa serve as a sort of accelerated Darwinian process for Goua'uld. The incessant fighting probably means that 99.9% of the larval goua'uld never make it to 7 years (maturity). Those that do are inducted to the ranks of the Minor Lords (which include the scientists, etc) where they may strive to build a powerbase and vie for a seat as a System Lord.
Well, not a few dozen, but they probably do it on a regular basis.
The Jaffa have a fairly high death rate, I'd imagine.
Goa'uld-on-goa'uld breeding isn't forbidden-- only host-on-host breeding. Those aren't the same thing. The symbiotes themselves must reproduce in some fashion, even if the hosts aren't allowed to. Remember, Apophis was said to have "seeded" the queen -- that was why Klorel was considered to be his son.
As to how it's done: I can only imagine that the hosts would stand or lie neck-to-neck while the symbiotes went at it.
Some of the on-screen evidence is that the queens just magically spawn symbiotes without any males at all. Well, that may work after a fashion, but complex species don't operate that way. You need to be able to exchange genes from generation to generation, or you won't have a viable species in the long run.
I guess when they mature as they're a threat to established gou'ld they get killed by them.
