The System Lords are the collective of the most powerful Goa'uld in the galaxy. In the episode "New Order", Daniel Jackson describes them as "posturing egomaniacs driven by an insatiable lust for power, each one capable of unimaginable evil". There are around a dozen System Lords at any one time; their ranks change frequently as new ones rise and old ones fall. The System Lords control vast territories and armies; in "Fair Game," they are stated to be capable of launching an attack against Earth 100 times the strength of that sent by Apophis at the end of season 1. For thousands of years until his defeat by Jack O'Neill and Daniel Jackson, Ra held the position of Supreme System Lord.
The System Lords are not a unified body and frequently war against each other for dominance, though they will ally in the face of mutual threats. One of the main strategies of both the Tok'ra and the Asgard is to play the System Lords against one another, so that no single one of them becomes too powerful to topple. The System Lords employ elite, highly dangerous Goa'uld assassins known as Ash'raks, who have been known to use stealth devices to become invisible, and wield a device called a hara'kesh that serves as a weapon, an interrogation device, and an instrument of torture.The System Lords can also turn captured enemies into assassins called za'tarcs, using mind control to implant dormant commands hidden by false memories. Persons who are turned into za'tarcs are not aware of it until their programming activates. A System Lord's most trusted servant and confidant is called a lo'taur, a human slave who can be used as a host in an emergency. Some of these loyal humans serve willingly for the chance of one day experiencing the pleasures of being a Goa'uld host.
The first System Lord seen on Stargate SG-1 is Apophis, although the show retroactively established Ra from the Stargate film as a System Lord. In "Fair Game", the three System Lords that come to Earth are Cronus, Nirrti, and Yu. In "Summit" and "Last Stand", a meeting of the System Lords is shown, featuring Yu, Ba'al, Bastet, Kali, Olokun, Morrigan, and Svarog. In those episodes, Anubis is also accepted back into the ranks of the System Lords. The episode "New Order" introduces two new System Lords, Amaterasu and Camulus. Two unknown System Lords are shown alongside Yu in "Reckoning". Other Goa'uld mentioned to be System Lords at one point or another are Sokar, Hathor, Heru-ur, Seth, Svarog, and Ares. The most powerful Goa'uld eventually to come to power is Anubis. The half-ascended being is very powerful but eventually defeated by an ancient weapon system in Antarctica.
Currently, after the fall of the previous dynasty and the creation of a new company Goa'uld, a new series of Goa'uld have emerged keeping the same title of the former rulers.
All items (31)
