"I'm in a bad mood today."
— Lt. Col. Cameron Mitchell
Teal'c is kidnapped by one of Ba'al's clones after several members of the Jaffa High Council begin to act strangely, undergoing dramatic changes of opinion overnight. Meanwhile, Mitchell visits with Major Bryce Ferguson, an old friend of his who's about to die of aneurysm caused by a piece of shrapnel embedded in his brain.
"Stronghold" provides examples of the following tropes:
- Badass in Distress: Teal'c is captured by Ba'al.
- Believing Their Own Lies: Ba'al lampshades the tendency of the other Goa'uld to do this, while defying it himself.Ba'al: Come now, Teal'c. We're smart enough to know we're not actually gods. Well... some of us are, anyways. There are always those who'll begin to believe their own propaganda. I suppose all you need is enough people to worship you, and then what's the difference? You're pretty much a god by definition, are you not?
- Big Damn Heroes: The rest of SG-1 plus what appears to be every other available team mounting a rescue operation to get Teal'c back.
- Blatant Lies: It's revealed that Mitchell's official cover story about his crash is that he went down during a test flight, something that Ferguson wastes no time calling him out on.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: All the members of the Jaffa High Council that Ba'al manages to get to.
- Continuity Nod:
- Ferguson tells Mitchell that he knows he really went down in a dogfight over Antarctica.
- Bra'tac and Daniel discuss the fact that Teal'c has been brainwashed before, which they hope will give him some resistance against Ba'al.
- Ferguson asks Mitchell what really happened to the building that disappeared in Seattle, and the deadly new influenza strain that first appeared in Colorado Springs.
- When Mitchell asks Carter if he's doing the right thing by telling Ferguson the truth, she reminds him that she told her dad and Pete.
- Mitchell uses the Galaran memory device to allow Ferguson to view his memories of the last year.
- Conveniently Timed Attack from Behind: Lampshaded as Mitchell is being held at staff-point by two Jaffa.Mitchell: Took you guys long enough.(The Jaffa look at each other in confusion)Mitchell: Not you guys.(Carter and Daniel appear out of nowhere to take out the Jaffa from behind)
- Distracted from Death: Mitchell spends most of the episode keeping Ferguson company, only for him to die after Mitchell is called away on the rescue mission.
- Enemy Mine: Ba'al tried to invoke this with Teal'c, claiming that the Jaffa need him in order to resist the Ori. Unfortunately, his methods of brainwashing the Jaffa in order to rule the council by proxy don't do much to win Teal'c over.
- A Father to His Men: Landry sums it up in one quote:Landry: Teal'c is family. I don't like people screwing with my family.
- Faux Affably Evil: Ba'al acts polite and reasonable towards Teal'c, but makes it clear that he won't hesitate to kill him if needs be.
- Friendship Moment: Teal'c thanks Mitchell for his efforts on the rescue mission at the end of the episode, and offers his condolences for Mitchell's loss.
- Good Cop/Bad Cop: Daniel and Bra'tac fill the roles respectively while questioning several Jaffa as to Teal'c's disappearance.
- Hot-Blooded: Gets deconstructed a bit with Mitchell, as it's implied that whatever caused Ferguson's accident happened due to a hotheaded mistake on his part.
- If You're So Evil, Eat This Kitten!: Ba'al suspects that Teal'c is faking having succumbed to the brainwashing and orders him to kill Bra'tac to prove his loyalty. Fortunately, Teal'c is able to stall for time until Mitchell arrives on the scene.
- Living Lie Detector: Bra'tac once again displays his uncanny ability to tell whether someone is lying simply by looking into their eyes.
- No Longer with Us: This exchange during Mitchell's last visit with Ferguson before he leaves to rescue Teal'c:Ferguson: I might not be here when you get back, though.Mitchell: Don't you quit on me.Ferguson: No, I just meant that I'm checking out... (off Mitchell's look) ...of the hospital.
- Noodle Incident: It's never revealed exactly what Mitchell did to cause Ferguson's injury, only hinted at in vague terms. Also this exchange, when Mitchell leaves Ferguson with the memory device:Mitchell: Hey. When you get to the part with the flight attendants...Ferguson: Yeah?Mitchell: Skip over that. That's private.Ferguson: I promise nothing.
- Percussive Maintenance: The doctor suggests this in jest to Mitchell when the coffee machine malfunctions. However, after performing the below Percussive Therapy , Mitchell tells her she was wrong, though he meant it as a way to feel better at that point.
- Percussive Therapy: Mitchell punches out the display window of the hospital coffee machine after the doctor tells him that nothing can be done for Ferguson.
- Survivor Guilt: Ferguson accuses Mitchell of having this due to the fact that Ferguson probably would have been selected over him for the F-302 program if not for his injury. Mitchell doesn't deny it.Ferguson: You probably feel guilty as hell that you're doing what you're doing while I'm waiting to die. Read the flier, man; it's called survivor's guilt.
- Villain Has a Point: While he's trying to covertly take over the Free Jaffa government, Ba'al isn't entirely wrong when he points out the failings of said government. The Jaffa have thousands of years of experience in warfare and ''none' in self-governance (which, as Teal's correctly counter-argues, is because of Goa'uld enslavement). Their struggle to make it work and overcome old grudges and rivalries is what produced politicians like Gerak and the current Jaffa Government simply isn't unified or experienced enough to combat the Ori when they inevitably begin their invasion in full.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Ba'al, according to himself; he claims he's only subverting the Jaffa government in order to protect the galaxy against the Ori.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: It's never made entirely clear what becomes of Kal'el and the other Jaffa affected by Ba'al's brainwashing.
