- "I believe it to be the answer for the liberation of all Jaffa from the Goa'uld and the reliance on symbiotes."
- ―Teal'c
Tretonin is a substance that provides the perfect health of a Goa'uld symbiote in the form of a drug. Using a Goa'uld Queen, the Pangarans used her prim'ta to make symbiotes that they could use to make a chemical capable of giving near perfect health. However, the drug suppresses the natural human immune system, and requires daily injections. Worse, the Queen that was being used was Egeria, Queen Mother of the Tok'ra, who was sabotaging her prim'ta to make the Pangarans stop experimenting on her. After she was able to acquire a host, Egeria gave the Pangarans the key to restoring their natural immune systems, and died. (SG1: "Cure")
Though horrified that their Queen had been used in such a manner, the Tok'ra were nevertheless intrigued by the Pangarans use of Symbiotes to make a drug capable of perfect health. When Teal'c and Bra'tac were forced to share Junior between each other after the Ambush of Kresh'ta, Jacob Carter brought a refined version of Tretonin to Stargate Command, using it to save Teal'c and Bra'tac, as Junior was overtaxed and died soon after. Teal'c was at first somewhat unsure of its benefits, feeling as though he had become significantly weaker without the symbiote to support his healing, but soon realized that it was the Jaffa's only hope for freedom from the System Lords, accepting that a true Jaffa's strength came from himself rather than the symbiote or the tretonin. Later, SG-1 gave the Hak'tyl Tretonin so that they would no longer be forced to make raids for symbiotes. (SG1: "The Changeling", "Birthright", "Sacrifices")
It is indicated later by Major Samantha Carter, that due to the fact that Tretonin replaced the Jaffa's need for a symbiote, Teal'c and Bra'tac's symbiote pouches had begun to close up. Whether this is the case with all Jaffa remains to be seen.