Martouf leads a Tok'ra delegation with crushing news for Carter: her father Jacob/Selmak has been captured by Sokar and imprisoned on Netu, an Egyptian name for hell, on a moon of planet Delmal, where prisoners are sent to suffer eternal torture, and from where no one returns; only Jolinar has ever escaped. SG-1 mounts a rescue operation with Martouf, top-priority being any information Selmak can offer about Sokar's plan to subjugate the other system lords, an unprecedented threat for all humanoids in the galaxy. Teal'c must pilot a Goa'uld ship and keep it in orbit as landing is impossible except by small pod, but first Martouf taps into Jolinar's memory, which is partially blocked by some trauma beyond physical torture. Only when they're down and in the custody of Netu's lord Bynarr, does Sam realize he is the key, in a 'personal' way, but not voluntarily, as she had thought. Sokar learns of their presence from Bynarr and orders the team and craft destroyed, but this also means there must be a way out. Bynarr's prime, Na'onak, has, and is himself, a major surprise.

Now that Apophis has revealed himself, he promises the prisoners to overturn Sokar, which requires extracting an irresistibly valuable secret, to which end he drugs Sam with the truth serum 'blood of Sokar.' Apophis also implants a memory device in, and gives the drug to, Jack to torture him using the persona of his young son that died, and Daniel for the location of his Harsesis son. Martouf's love for Jolinar makes him betray that the Tok'ra are on planet Entac - a convincing lie, so Apophis's plan to earn Sokar's gratitude, and then kill him when rewarded with the lordship of Netu, is on a shaky basis. Teal'c must help the Tok'ra Aldwin prepare a nuclear weapon to explode the whole moon when his ship arrives as their last chance to eliminate Sokar, but he decides to rescue SG-1 instead, by flying in the path of the rings device on Sokar's ship when he arrives.