"We're always sticking our collective noses where they don't belong. It's what we do."
— Brig. Gen. Jack O'Neill
Daniel is stranded on the planet Tegalus after the team's arrival triggers a civil unrest, paving the way for the religious zealot Soren to pull off a coup against the government of the Rand Protectorate, one of the planet's major powers. As he recovers from injuries sustained during the revolt, Daniel forms a close bond with a woman named Leda and conspires with her husband, the military leader Jared Kane, to overthrow Soren and take back control of the stargate.
"Icon" provides examples of the following tropes:
- A.K.A.-47: The weapons that Rand and Soren's soldiers use look exactly like the Russian AK-47 and Mosin-Nagant.
- The Coup: Soren's forces take advantage of the unrest that follows SG-1's arrival on the planet to seize control from the Rand government.
- Determinator: O'Neill lampshades Daniel's knack for getting out of seemingly impossible situations through sheer willpower.Soren: You cannot truly believe that your friend is still alive.O'Neill: Oh, he's a resourceful fella.
- Don't Create a Martyr: Daniel warns Kane that he may have just created a martyr when he kills Soren at the end of the episode.
- Elaborate Underground Base: The Rand military's command bunker.
- First Contact: The team's arrival is this from the perspective of the Tegalans, and it's one of the series' more disastrous examples.
- Florence Nightingale Effect: Kane's wife Leda spends several weeks tending to Daniel as he recovers from his injuries and eventually winds up falling for him, though nothing actually happens between them.
- The Fundamentalist: Soren is a religious extremist who gains a cult following after the team's arrival on Tegalus seems to validate his beliefs and who forces his remaining detractors to convert or die after overthrowing the government.
- Hollywood Healing: Averted; Daniel is quite severely injured after a bomb goes off inches from his position during the rebels' initial attack, and he has to spend a considerable amount of time recuperating before he's strong enough to fight.
- Human Aliens: Lampshaded when Kane expresses his surprise that the first aliens to contact his world are humans.
- In Medias Res: The episode opens with Daniel regaining consciousness in Leda's safe house and from there jumps back and forth between the "present" time and the weeks following from SG-1's initial arrival on the planet to show How We Got Here.
- It's All My Fault: Daniel spends a good portion of the episode blaming himself — and by extension, the rest of the team — for the political fallout that results from their arrival on the planet. Kane eventually absolves him, however, pointing out that SG-1 was merely the catalyst for the tension that has been escalating for some time to finally snap.
- Kick the Dog: Soren shoots his advisor in cold blood for suggesting they surrender at the end of the episode.
- La Résistance: Daniel and Kane lead a small group of Rand loyalists to overthrow Soren and take back the command bunker, with some help from the SGC.
- Love Triangle: Between Leda, Kane and Daniel; Leda openly admits that her marriage to Kane has grown strained due to his long absences and commitment to the military, and she develops feelings for Daniel after spending several weeks in isolation with him following the initial assault, something that Kane is able to recognize straight away upon his return. For his part, it's not made entirely clear whether Daniel harbors any romantic feelings for Leda, though he obviously comes to care for her.
- Never Say Goodbye: Daniel attempts to say his goodbyes to Leda before he and Kane leave to take back the stargate, but she cuts him off before he can finish.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: The team's very public arrival on Tegalus ratchets up the hostility between the superpowers of Rand and Caledonia, who have been locked in a cold war for some time, and paves the way for Soren to rise to power and implement a police state in Rand.
- Only a Flesh Wound: Kane gets shot in the leg during the initial assault and manages to keep walking on it with some help from Daniel.
- The Power of Trust: Leda tries to persuade her husband to help Daniel take back the stargate, prompting Kane to jealously demand if she loves Daniel. Leda responds that she trusts him, which is apparently enough to convince Kane to go along with his plan.
- Public Secret Message: Daniel manages to make contact with the SGC but is aware that Soren could be monitoring the communication and so drops random Goa'uld words into a seemingly innocuous message, knowing that Teal'c will be able to translate them and realize he wants to coordinate a pincer attack to take down Soren.O'Neill: You coming home or what?Daniel: Trying to. Soon as I find my kaltesh.O'Neill: What?Daniel: Uh... Looks a lot like my ring kol nok. Yeah, I lent it to the, uh, for grel'ka kree nor day.O'Neill: (to Teal'c and Carter) He's changed.Carter: Sir, he's speaking Goa'uld.Teal'c: Ring kol nok means strategy. Kaltesh speaks of a well-known Jaffa battle tactic, a flanking attack from two sides.O'Neill: Yes, Daniel. I remember exactly where I put it. Any other... thoughts?Daniel: No. Just that I hope someone's been feeding my lorsak while I've been away.
- Putting on the Reich: Soren and his followers all wear armbands that resemble those worn by the SS. Interestingly, the uniforms of the Rand loyalists also bear a striking similarity to the Nazi attire, despite their sympathetic portrayal.
- Shout-Out: Several scenes are reminiscent of works set in occupied France with Daniel playing the role of the shot down airman hiding out with the resistance. Especially with Daniel wearing a WW2 aviator style flight jacket.
- Space Cold War: The Tegalan superpowers of Rand and Caledonia have apparently been locked in a state of cold war for several years, with each possessing the firepower to totally annihilate the other. Carter notes that this sounds "depressingly familiar".
