Martice
Summary
Sovereign Martice was the man destined to rule over Ardena, but his body died while in cryosleep and his consciousness was downloaded into Daniel Jackson, in the episode, 7.06 "Lifeboat".
Character Biography
Martice was one of the ruling class, the “Sovereigns” on the planet Talthus. He, like the other Sovereigns, all “won” places on the ships evacuating some of the populace, though many other civilians did not receive slots from the planet-wide lottery. Martice later explained it was his destiny to rule over Ardena.
En route to the new homeworld, Ardena, the Stromos crashed on P2A-347. Some of the chambers were damaged beyond repair, and the power was failing for several others. Pharrin, desperate to save these last survivors of Talthus, attacked SG-1 when they came to investigate the crash. Though the sleepers' bodies died, Pharrin was able to salvage the consciousness of each of these individuals and download them into the mind of Daniel Jackson before hiding. One of those souls in Daniel’s mind was the Sovereign Martice.
Each personality cohabiting Daniel Jackson’s mind emerged separately. Martice emerged at some point during Daniel’s medical testing. Either he or one of the other personalities was so violent that they placed him in restraints. Martice was used to his orders and even selfish whims being followed without question by staff that was always on-hand, and was very angry when Dr. Fraiser and the SGC did not accord him the exalted status he was used to on Talthus as Sovereign. Janet’s response was to insist he calm down or he would be restrained further.
He was also very suspicious of these strangers who kept him restrained and locked in a room. They knew nothing of Ardena or of who he was. They had subjected him to numerous medical tests until he refused to undergo no more. He tested their reactions when he told them his people would be worried about him, adding as an afterthought that he was concerned for them of course. He haughtily accused Dr. Fraiser of keeping all of the passengers of the Stromos prisoner. One time when he took control of Daniel’s body, he was able to hear the last part of her conversation with the previous personality, the young boy, Keenin. He interrogated her as to why she was involving the boy and was irate at the liberties she seemed to be taking in touching the Sovereign’s adopted body (Janet had been physically comforting Keenin when the boy was controlling Daniel’s form).
One aspect of this situation seemed to please Martice after he got over the shock. Daniel Jackson’s body was younger and stronger than his own. He found the form pleasing and began to grow used to it, even if he was concerned how his people would recognize him in this new body when they needed to look to him during their time of crisis. Martice was particularly sensitive to the headaches that were a side-effect of all the personalities in one mind. Janet’s palliative medications were not helping. He was overwhelmed by the other voices within his head until eventually he would lose control of Daniel’s body.
Martice must have been able to overhear at least part of the conversation between Pharrin and Tryan. Pharrin explained that the SGC would restore power to the Stromos so that everyone could revive safely and transport them through the Stargate to a new homeworld, perhaps even Ardena, but in return Daniel Jackson needed to be restored to his former state and the souls within him would have to be extracted...possibly lost forever. Martice resisted this self-sacrificing idea. He wrestled control of Daniel’s body and demanded Pharrin rescind the agreement.
Pharrin at first accepted his Sovereign’s orders to not allow the surrender of his new body. Smug in the security he was finally with someone who knew his status, Pharrin repeated the order. However, he was countered by Colonel O’Neill. Suddenly panicked, Martice demanded he be saved above all others, not worrying about the rest of the thousand souls he was sworn to rule. Tryan and/or other personalities argued the body of Daniel Jackson was not theirs, and Pharrin actually accosted him physically with apologies, explaining that the survival of the people came first, above any single life, even that of a Sovereign. With that, Martice lost and/or relinquished control of Daniel’s body to Pharrin’s son Keenin.
Daniel Jackson was returned to the Stromos and Martice and the other souls were extracted from Daniel’s mind. As far as Dr. Fraiser could determine, Martice and the others were successfully incorporated into Pharrin’s mind, where it was hoped the other survivors would be able to assist them once they were awakened from the cryogenic sleep.
Episodes
Related Characters
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Actor
- Martice in Daniel Jackson's body: Michael Shanks
--Aurora Novarum Nov 2005 (PDT)