Category: Stargate

Vala’s rescuer reveals himself as a Prior of the Ori, and uses alabaster rings to bring her and Daniel to Celestis, a city in the sky. There Daniel has time to study the Book of Origin and attempt to convine the Prior that they’re explorers and not really in the market for a new belief system. The Prior appears to be more interested in the idea that there are more unbelievers where they came from. Daniel manages to arrange an audience with the Doci, the enahnced human who ranks above the Priors. There he realizes that like the Anicents, the Ori have ascended to a higher level of existance. Unlike the Ancients, they want to guide other races there. Rather forcefully, if necessary. The Ancients had apparently hidden the existence of life in our galaxy from the Ori. But thanks to Daniel and Vala’s visit, the veil has been lifted. And the Ori are determined that all will be rescued from evil and led to enlightenment – or destroyed, lest they corrupt others.

At Stargate Command, General Landry interrupts Mitchell’s vigil over Daniel and Vala to ask him to investigate a report from an Earth anthropologist of an unknown missionary appearing through the Stargate on another planet. Mitchell and Landry discuss their concerns that in the power vacuum left behind by the Goa’uld, unscrupulous individuals might try to take advantage of the situation. Similar concerns motivate Landry to invite Gerak to a conference on Earth. Teal’c agrees to relay the invitation and shares his misgivings about Gerak. The Jaffa asceneded to leadership of his troops after an ally of Bra’tac and Teal’c, who shared their vision of a democratic Jaffa nation, mysteriously disappeared. There is no evidence linking Gerak to the disappearance . . . but Teal’c can not help but wonder.

Mitchell assumes his best down-home manner and introduces himself to the missionary – another Prior. When he mentions Earth, the Prior responds with Daniel’s name, prompting Mitchell to bring the Prior back to SGC at the same time that Landry’s meeting with Gerak is going not altogether smoothly. The Jaffa requests the opportunity to meet and possibly challege this would-be prophet, as they are understandably leery of anyone claiming godhood.

Daniel and Vala are returned to their village, presumably to lead the Ori to other nonbelievers. Reluctant to do so, they must nonetheless try to find another Ancient communication device in order to warn Earth. They resolve to set off alone, but Fannis insits on helping them, despite the risks. They are able to make contact with Stargate Command, but only briefly – then the Prior and the townspeople arrive to recapture them. This time both Harrid and Sallis are sentenced to perish in the flames – and unless Mitchell and Teal’c can find a way to disrupt the connection, Daniel and Vala will share their fate.

written by Robert C. Cooper
directed by Brad Turner
music by Joel Goldsmith

Guest Cast: Claudia Black (Vala), Richard Dean Anderson (Maj. Gen. Jack O’Neill), Bill Dow (Dr. Lee), Lexa Doig (Dr. Lam), Louis Gossett, Jr. (Gerak); Gardiner Milla (Yat’yir), Mark Houghton (Prior Or Ori), Julian Sands (Doci), Larry Cedar (Prior #2), Paul Moniz De Sa (Fannis), Greg Anderson (Administrator), Gary Jones (Sgt. Walter Harriman), Stephen Park (Harrid), April Amber Telek (Sallis), Penelope Corrin (Dr. Lindsay)

Notes: This episode is considered the third part of a three-part episode, along with Avalon Parts 1 and 2.

LogBook entry by Dave Thomer

Daniel sees Vala off from Stargate Command, relieved to be rid of a perpetual distraction. When he collapses soon after, Dr. Lam theorizes that he and Vala are still linked. With Dr. Lee unable to find a way to dissolve the bond, Daniel and Mitchell turn to Arlos Kadavam, the scientist from whom Vala originally stole the bracelets. He theorizes that a massive energy surge might have caused the link to persist even without the bracelets – such as that caused by the Ancient communications device. But he will only help break the link if Vala returns another item he stole – his mother’s necklace.

So begins a sequence of escalating deals. To get the necklace, Vala must return a power coil. To get the power coil, she must return a cargo vessel. To get the cargo vessel might be a bit trickier, as it’s in the hands of the Lucian Alliance, a group of smugglers attempting to make themselves a force to be reckoned with in the post-Goa’uld galaxy. Since Daniel and Vala ruined one deal with them, they’re not very likely to cooperate. In fact, they very much want Vala dead. And Gen. Landry is not inclined to provoke any kind of confrontation.

That is, until Vala sabotages a meeting with the Senate Appropriations Committee chairman that already wasn’t going well. With the Goa’uld and the Replicators no longer a threat, with the need to construct more ships like the Daedalus, and with the international community placing its full emphasis and backing on the civilian-led multinational Atlantis project, Stargate Command faces serious budget cuts and a curtailment of its exploration efforts. Frustrated by Vala’s impolitic comments, Landry permits Mitchell, Daniel, and a visiting Teal’c to try and steal the cargo ship right out from under the Alliance by offering them what they want – Daniel and Vala. It’s a plan just crazy enough to work – but will it get them the information they need?

written by Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie
directed by Will Waring
music by Joel Goldsmith

Guest Cast: Claudia Black (Vala), Bill Dow (Dr. Lee), Lexa Doig (Dr. Lam), Gary Jones (Sgt. Walter Harriman), Wallace Shawn (Arlos), Malcolm Scott (Caius), Michael P. Northey (Inago), Geoff Redknap (Jup), Eileen Peddy (Maj. Gibson), Bruce Gray (Sen. Fisher), Morris Chapdelaine (Tenat), Darren Moore (Vosh)

Notes: The prior deal with the Lucian Alliance referred to in this episode is Vala’s attempt to steal the Prometheus in season 8’s Prometheus Unbound.

LogBook entry by Dave Thomer

Dozens of Priors have made contact with worlds across the galaxy, spreading the word of Origin. Vala urges Mitchell to take some kind of stand against the Ori, and has a particular planet in mind – a world where, she claims, the natives trust her. That gets Mitchell’s attention, and he gets Gen. Landry’s approval to bring Vala, Teal’c and Daniel with him to the planet. Once there, Vala impersonates Quetesh, the Goa’uld she once hosted. After the Tok’ra removed Quetesh from her, Vala used this planet as a base – it was sufficiently out of the way that it did not know Quetesh had been defeated, and continued to worship her as a god.

Vala’s real motive in returning to this world was to pick up some treasure she had been hoarding. But the others will not let her continue to dupe the natives – especially with the Ori already making inroads through displays of power and healing. Daniel convinces Vala to admit the truth, hoping that it will encourage skepticism. Instead, the betrayed natives sentence Vala to death. Mitchell is able to convince them to hold a maldoran instead – a judicial proceeding instituted by Vala herself. As Daniel mounts his defense and urges the natives to reject the Ori, a Prior enters the chamber. Daniel recognizes him as the town leader who oversaw Harrid and Sallis’s execution, now elevated by the Ori.

At Stargate Command, Landry and Lam have a tense exchange over lunch; Lam’s relationship with Landry, her father, has been strained for some time. She gets a distraction from her family problems when Mitchell reports that the natives have started to fall ill. Vala attempts to treat them with a Goa’uld healing device, but the villagers are falling faster than she can heal them. Lam brings a medical team to the planet, but is unable to find any way to stop the disease. Daniel and Teal’c note that it is similar to the plague that once afflicted the Ancients, and which the Stargate program encountered in Antarctica a few years ago. That knowledge, however, doesn’t stop villagers from dying, or Mitchell from becoming infected. Daniel and Vala use words and weapons to try and overcome the Prior, but it soon becomes clear that only a mass conversion will stem the tide of death.

written by Martin Gero
directed by Will Waring
music by Joel Goldsmith

Guest Cast: Claudia Black (Vala), Lexa Doig (Dr. Lam), Gary Jones (Sgt. Walter Harriman), Cam Chai (Azdak), Greg Anderson (Prior), Pablo Coffey (Vachna), Nicola Correia Damude (Play Vala), Matt Johnson (Play Warrior), Chad Hershler (Villager Aide), Michael Coleman (Med Tech)

Notes: The plague that afflicted the Ancients was discovered in season 6’s Frozen.

LogBook entry by Dave Thomer

The Ori send a Prior to a world inhabited by free Jaffa. When the Jaffa refuse to accept the way of Origin, the Prior erects a force field around himself and the Stargate. A minor Goa’uld named Nerus makes contact with Stargate Command. His observational satellites over the Jaffa world are but one of his technological innovations, and he offers his assistance against the Ori. He provides intelligence that indicates the field is expanding and that somehow, the Ori are keeping the Stargate open indefinitely. Vala warns Gen. Landry not to trust any Goa’uld. But when the Jaffa high council does not respond to his messages, Landry feels Earth must do something to stop the Ori incursion. He sends Mitchell, Jackson and Teal’c to rendezvous with the Prometheus and then make contact with the Ori. Mitchell has orders to use any means necessary to stop the Ori, which includes using the Mark IX, a naquaddah-enhanced nuclear device capable of destroying a Stargate. Landry requests, and is granted, Carter’s assistance on the mission. Vala reluctantly joins as well because although the effects of the Goa’uld bracelets are weakening, she and Daniel still suffer ill effects when separated.

Mitchell delivers the ultimatum to the Prior. While the team is on the planet, Gerak arrives with a fleet of Jaffa ships to bombard the forcefield. Col. Pendergast aboard the Prometheus gets Gerak to stop in order to beam the team back aboard, but Gerak is upset at losing the element of surprise and at the humans’ seeming inactivity. Shortly thereafter, the Mark IX detonates. But the Stargate is not destroyed, and the force field expands more rapidly. Gerak resumes his bombardment and demands that the Prometheus join the assault. Mitchell authorizes the ship to do so, until Carter realizes that the force field is drawing upon the energy involved to fuel its expansion. Furthermore, the planet itself is collapsing. Carter theorizes that the Ori are using a black hole in their galaxy to power the wormhole, and are now forming one in the Milky Way to add power on both ends. Nerus has lured them into providing the Ori the power necessary to establish their beachhead. And now, unless the team can stop them, they will build a giant gate in space, capable of transporting a full-scale invasion fleet from their galaxy to ours.

written by Brad Wright
directed by Brad Turner
music by Joel Goldsmith

Guest Cast: Claudia Black (Vala), Barclay Hope (Col. Pendergast), Gary Jones (Sgt. Walter Harriman), Maury Chaykin (Nerus), Louis Gossett, Jr. (Gerak)

Notes: Nerus claims to have assisted Ba’al, the Jaffa, and the SGC defeat the Replicators in season 8’s Reckoning.

LogBook entry by Dave Thomer

A Jaffa is killed in a hit and run car accident in Virginia. Teal’c identifies the warrior’s tattoo as from a group of Jaffa loyal to Gerak, and returns to Dakara with Mitchell to investigate. Gerak is warning the council against developing close ties with the Tok’ra when Teal’c enters the chamber, pleading with his fellow Jaffa to build their new nation on a foundation of trust and cooperation. Mitchell tries to echo the point, but Teal’c interrupts; the council is not considered a place for outsiders. After the meeting, Gerak denies any knowledge of the dead Jaffa, but neither Teal’c nor Mitchell believe him. Another member of the council, Ka’lel, provides the important clue – Gerak has sent men to Earth in order to capture Ba’al. By doing so, he would sway even more Jaffa to his side.

Daniel, meanwhile, has discovered a connection between the Jaffa, a missing executive from defense contractor Farrow-Marshall, and the Goa’uld-infiltrated Trust. He meets with the executive’s wife, who tells him that her husband had started displaying strange behavior before he disappeared, and a private investigator she hired to follow him dropped the case after only a few days. Gerak’s troops break into Farrow-Marshall and get into a firefight. Soon after, Ba’al contacts Stargate Command with an offer: if Earth will allow him to live out his life in peace, he will obey Earth laws. But if the SGC or the Jaffa come after him, he will detonate a naquadah bomb hidden somewhere in the United States.

On Dakara, Gerak continues the hunt for Ba’al by torturing the missing executive, who is in fact now a Goa’uld host. Carter, Teal’c and Daniel officially agree to rejoin Mitchell on the SG-1 team, and then immediately split up. Carter and Daniel coordinate with NID Agent Barrett to try and track down Ba’al in order to kill him with the symbiote poison. Teal’c and Mitchell board the Prometheus to search for Gerak’s command ship. They find it, but are unable to convince the Jaffa in command to allow Earth to handle the matter itself. Ba’al, assuming the role of corporate executive, holds a news conference announcing a new acquisition, hoping that the publicity will make it difficult for SGC to simply have him disappear. SGC launches an attack anyway, which fails. So Ba’al tells them they will have to pay the price, and begins the countdown to detonate the bomb.

written by Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie
directed by Martin Wood
music by Joel Goldsmith

Guest Cast: Louis Gossett, Jr. (Gerak), Gary Jones (Sgt. Walter Harriman), Cliff Simon (Ba’al), Sonya Salmoaa (Charlotte), Peter Flemming (Agent Barrett), David MacInnis (Agent Cortez), Kendall Cross (Julia Donovan), Barclay Hope (Col. Pendergast), Chilton Crane (Sharon), Gardiner Millar (Yat’yir), Diego Klattenhoff (Team Leader), Simone Bailly (Ka’lel), Martin Chritopher (Lt. Marks), Kevin Blatch (Tobias), Adrian Hein (Runner), Ken Dresen (Alex Jameson)

Notes: The Goa’uld infiltrated the Trust in season 8’s Full Alert. The N.I.D. developed cloning technology for Goa’uld in season 7’s Resurrection. SGC received the symbiote poison, developed by the Tok’ra, in season 5’s Summit.

LogBook entry by Dave Thomer

When Tok’ra intelligence detects a developing black hole, Sam fears that the Ori might be trying to build another supergate. She takes SG-5 to P3X-584 investigate, but quickly dials back to SGC – the team was sent to a completely different planet. Her investigation reveals that the gate at their destination has been altered to require an access code – travelers who fail to provide the code are shunted to another destination. They are able to crack the code, and SG-1 accompanies SG-5 to 584. Once there, they find rings that transport Mitchell, Daniel and Teal’c into an underground genetics lab, where it looks like a Goa’uld may have been trying to develop an advanced host. Daniel discovers notes written in Ancient, while Mitchell revives a man kept in a stasis chamber.

A medical team brings the revived man, Khalek, to SGC, where he claims to have been an involuntary test subject for some sort of experiment. Daniel translates enough of the notes in the lab to know better. Khalek is a genetically altered clone based partially on Anubis’s pre-ascension DNA. He has superhuman abilities, with a level of brain activity far beyond human norms. He has Anubis’s inherited genetic memory, ensuring that he will seek to conquer as his ancestors did. And he’s growing stronger – soon, perhaps, strong enough to reach ascended status on his own. Daniel argues that Earth can not afford to allow another Anubis to come into being – Khalek must at the very least be returned to stasis. And perhaps, Daniel says, SGC should strongly consider killing him outright.

Before Gen. Landry can make a decision, Richard Woolsey arrives representing the International Oversight Advisory (IOA) committee. The advanced Khalek has similarities to the Priors. Woolsey suggests that SGC study Khalek in hopes of finding a way to neutralize the Priors’ ability. If SGC is incapable of doing so, then the oversight committee will reconsider its funding. Even after Khalek nearly escapes once, Woolsey is determined to proceed. On 584, Sam discovers that Khalek will not be powerful enough to ascend without more treatments in the lab. When Khalek overhears her report, he becomes more determined than ever to escape, no matter how much of SGC stands in his way.

written by Allan McCullough
directed by Peter DeLuise
music by Joel Goldsmith

Guest Cast: Neil Jackson (Khalek), Robert Picardo (Woolsey), Gary Jones (Sgt. Walter Harriman), Lexa Doig (Dr. Lam)

Notes: Members of SG-1 refer to the Goa’uld Nirrti, whose genetic experiments in search of a better host were discovered in season 6’s Metamorphosis.

LogBook entry by Dave Thomer

The Ori continue to expand their influence in our galaxy. SG-6 returns from an undercover mission to report one world’s conversion, while on Dakara Gerak urges the Jaffa High Council to issue an edict that would force all Jaffa to follow the way of Origin. Carter and Dr. Lee believe that the data they collected on Khalek suggests a way to use ultrasonic frequencies against the Priors, but they still need to find a way to implement it. Carter makes a highly optimistic estimate of the needed time frame, possibly to try and impress Gen. Landry. They may need to bear out that optimism when members of SG-6 become afflicted with the Ori plague SG-1 encountered on another world. A quarantine team manages to isolate the main carrier before he can inadvertently infect the now-retired Gen. Hammond, but the virus still spreads across the country at a high rate of speed.

Carter and Lee are stumped until the arrival of Orlin, an Ancient with whom Carter developed a relationship years earlier. In an effort to retain his memories of ascended life as long as possible, this time Orlin has assumed the body of a young boy, making things slightly awkward. Orlin helps complete the anti-Prior device and begins to work on a cure for the virus. He also reveals the Ori’s true intentions. Ascended beings are able to draw power from the worship of the non-ascended. Origin does not lead its followers to enlightenment or ascension. It merely leads them to fuel the Ori until they meet a meaningless end to their existence.

Teal’c and Bra’tac are unwilling to allow the Jaffa to follow the Ori without a fight. They travel to Chulak in order to develop a resistance that they hope will sway the hearts of the other Jaffa, even if it does not affect the Council. A Prior orders Gerak to destroy the resistance; when Gerak hesitates, he brings Gerak’s consciousness before the Doci in an effort to make his conversion complete.

Orlin needs one more piece of data to complete his cure – a genetic sample from the Prior who created this particular strain of the virus. But they must move fast. Not only is he beginning to lose his memories, the effort to retain them is causing significant brain damage. Mitchell gets intelligence from the Sodan that the Prior they’re looking for is on their world. So Mitchell and Daniel bring a team there, but soon find themselves surrounded. It soon seems that nothing will be able to stand in the way of Origin . . .

written by Damian Kindler
directed by Andy Mikita
music by Joel Goldsmith

Guest Cast: Cameron Bright (Orlin); Don S. Davis (Gen. Hammond); Tony Amendola (Bra’tac); Gary Jones (Sgt. Walter Harriman); Bill Dow (Dr. Lee); Panou (Lt. Fisher); Ty Olsson (Col. Barnes); Julian Sands (Doci); Lexa Doig (Dr. Lam); Louis Gossett, Jr. (Gerak)

Notes: Orlin first appeared in season 5’s Ascension, played by Sean Patrick Flannery. The actor was unavailable for this episode, so the writers chose to have Orlin assume the form of a younger human. Air Force Chief of Staff General John P. Jumper was supposed to give the speech in this episode, but became unavailable for filming. Don S. Davis was brought in to reprise the character of General Hammond instead. (Gen. Jumper retired from the Air Force shortly before this episode first aired.) Mitchell first developed contacts with the Sodan in this season’s Babylon. The Ori first unleashed their plague in The Powers That Be.

LogBook entry by Dave Thomer