Demanding to see Jack O'Neil, who is apparently now a General, Jackson sees Catherine Langford and demands an explination. Langford insists she does not know Jackson, instead demanding to know how he obtained SG-1's equipment. Jackson insists he is a member of SG-1 and reminds Langford it was he who deciphered the Stargate's system. Langford claims that Jackson turned down her offer of translating the Stargate's heiroglyphs and remains distrustful of the Egyptologist, but when Jackson metions Ernest (The Torment of Tantalus), her attention is gathered.

Langford tells General O'Neil (a scar now above his left eye) that Jackson "knows things". Jackson tries to explain his version of Earth, going as far as to mention the death of Charlie O'Neil, but all General O'Neil is interested in is what Jackson knows about the Goa'uld. Jackson reveals the six destination symbols to Chu'lak, which the group apparently do not know. If SGC has not travelled to Chu'lak, Jackson concludes, then Teal'c most likely still serves Apophis.
Carter, with shoulder-length hair and in civillian clothing, reports the Goa'uld have destroyed Washington and Philadelphia; Earth is under invasion from the Goa'uld, who are destroying everything and everyone in their path.

Jackson and Langford both examine the alien artefacts Daniel retrieved from P3R-233 as the Stargate is activated; General O'Neil is sending a nuclear bomb to Chu'lak. Carter protests, saying Project Genesis—evacuating world leaders, scientists, and other important people to a safe planet through the Stargate—should have priority. Jackson agrees, warning the Jaffa are a slave race and that there are innocent people on Chu'lak, but O'Neil is insistent.

Jackson suspects he is on a twisted version of Earth, and Carter mentions the theory of different dimentions with different realities. The alien mirror Daniel touched while on P3R-233 possibly transported him to an alternate dimension; Jackson is on Earth, but an Earth which has a different history to what Jackson remembers. When Jackson searches records for his parallel self, he learns he is missing in Cairo, Egypt, which has been sacked by the Goa'uld.

Air Force One, carrying the President for evacuation through the Stargate, is shot down by a Pyramid Ship which soon lands over SGC with plans to invade Earth's stronghold. Chu'lak has opened Earth's Stargate, and though the Iris is closed SGC cannot dial alternate co-ordinates until the wormhole closes in around 30 minutes. They will have to wait until the Stargate closes and hope the seventh symbol is locked in before the Goa'uld dial Earth.

Langford and Carter ask Jackson about a message they received from the vicinity of P3R-233 three months earlier. Jackson identifies the language as Ancient Egyptian, which he learned while on Abydos, and translates the message which says "Beware the Destroyes! They come from…" followed by beats which form the Stargate address of the Goa'uld stronghold. Using the videotape Jackson made of P3R-233, the three are able to deduce the exact symbols. At that point Earth's Stargate closes, but the Goa'uld beat SGC at dialling-in co-ordinates.

Intrigued by Jackson's video of P3R-233, Carter reconises Teal'c as the Jaffa leading the invasion of SGC. Jackson explains that, in his reality, Teal'c was Apophis's First Prime but defected to SGC in the hope of saving his race from the Goa'uld. Since SGC has not travelled to Chu'lak, Teal'c would still hold this position and therefore would be trusted with a mission as important as invading Earth's stronghold.

When General O'Neil learns the location of the Goa'uld base, he and Carter debate whether sending a nuclear bomb there or attempting dialling-in the Beta Site, the planet where Earth's refugees are being sent. Jackson suggests dialling-in P3R-233 so that he can alert Earth in his reality, but the suggestion is debatable since it means sacrificing this reality. In any event, SGC will be unable to activate the Stargate for another 22 minutes.

Jackson suggests attempting to talk to Teal'c and convincing him to betray Apophis. General O'Neil says that because of the nuclear weapon sent to Chu'lak there may be nothing left for Teal'c to turn traitor for, but Jackson says maybe the First Prime will allow them to help the Teal'c in Daniel's reality. In either event, negotiating with Teal'c is a suicide mission but will buy time for SGC to dial co-ordinates into the Stargate. General O'Neil volunteers for the job, taking Jackson's tape as evidence and pausing for a farewell kiss with Carter. "I take it they're not engaged in your reality?" Langford asks a stunned Jackson.

The self-destruct countdown for SGC is initiated, which will destroy SGC two minutes after the last window of oppertunity to open Earth's Stargate. Colonel Hammund takes a platoon to defend the command room at all costs and Carter reconfigures the computer to speed up the time needed to activate the Stargate. General O'Neil approaches Teal'c and shows him Jackson's video.
"What strange manner of trickery is this?" the First Prime demands. O'Neil then recites Jackson's story; in an alternate reality Teal'c betrays Apophis for the future of his wife, son and people. Teal'c explains that the nuclear weapon SGC sent to Chu'lak killed all life on the planet; his family and people are now dead because of the humans, and Teal'c personally executes General O'Neil.

Jackson thanks Langford for the oppertunity to warn Earth in his reality, and Langford calls it repayment for re-uniting Ernest with her in Jackson's reality. Once the Stargate closes Langford begins dials-in P3R-233. Colonel Hammund, Carter and Langford are killed as the Goa'uld enter the control room, and as Jackson dives through the Stargate Teal'c fires his staff and grazes Jackson's arm. The SGC self-destruct countdown finishes and the entire base and everyone in it are destroyed.

Jackson reaches P3R-233 and the alien mirror, which when he touches transports him back to his own reality where the more familiar versions of O'Neil, Carter and Teal'c are looking for him. They find him near the mirror and see to his wounds, and Carter notices the Stargate co-ordinates of the Goa'uld stronghold, which Jackson brought with him. "They're coming!" Daniel warns.

This episode is obviously the work of careful thinking. I can remember when the Marvel comic book series, The X-Men, and its seemingly countless spin-offs, created an alternate reality where the world as we know it is turned completely upside down. Again, that series was well-conceived but was not very popular with the readers of the series, possibly due to some of the less-than-average sub-plots which appeared. But in There but for the Grace of God, the objectives of the people in the alternate reality is an excellent example of a good story.

In the alternate universe which Daniel Jackson is pulled into, Earth is being invaded by the Goa'uld and is standing little chance of winning. Indeed, at the end of the episode, the alternate SGC is destroyed. And it is also interesting to see some aspects of various characters, such as an engagement between Captain Carter and Colonel O'Neil, which many viewers may want but would never become on-going.

The refreshing approach to each of the characters in There but for the Grace of God is added to a good storyline, where Daniel Jackson tries to save his own reality, leaving the alternate world to sacrifice all hope. And even though we knew that it was an alternate Earth, we still couldn't stand to see it sacrificed to the Goa'uld!!

The main outcomes of this episode is locating the co-ordinates of the Goa'uld's home planet, and showing that Earth is no match for a full-on Goa'uld invasion. These facts will become extremely important during the three-episode saga, consisting of Politics, Within the Serpent's Grasp and the Season Two episode The Serpent's Lair.

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