10 Massive Stargate Plot Holes
6. How Do The Tok'ra Actually Get Anything Done?
The Tok'ra were, in many ways, a very lucky find for SG-1. These were the same race as the Goa'uld, although their methods were vastly different. They were a symbiotic race, rather than a parasitic race. They only believed in melding with willing hosts and never forcing a joining, so that both could live in harmony together.
While this is an admirable way of doing business, they frankly should have died out a long time before SG-1 ever encountered them. First, there is the fact that there is a finite amount of them. Egeria was their Queen and Mother, and she had been trapped by Ra for over a thousand years, therefore was unable to create any new Tok'ra symbionts.
Next, each time one of their number dies, that would often spell doom for the symbiont. Only a willing host could be taken, particularly displayed when Jacob Carter joins with Selmak. But how many willing hosts could there be in a galaxy terrified of the Goa'uld?
Finally, they live in such secrecy that they have become a paranoid, almost xenophobic people - taking a long time to trust any outsiders. It could be argued that meeting SG-1 and particularly Jacob Carter went a way toward helping this situation, but what about the millennia or so beforehand?
While the Tok'ra were an interesting, if frustrating, set of characters sometimes - they really shouldn't have been around for long at all!