Ascension (episode)

"Ascension" is the third episode of the fifth season of Stargate SG-1.

Synopsis
After a mission to Velona, where they find a weapon capable of defeating the Goa'uld, Major Samantha Carter is followed by an ascended being named Orlin, who warns her not to use the weapon.

Plot
After Major Samantha Carter passes out while investigating a device on the planet Velona, Major General George S. Hammond gives most of the SG-1 team some time off. It is noted that the device is significantly more advanced than any other technology on this planet. Dr. Daniel Jackson, being the expert linguist, stays on the planet to help SG-16, who will be analyzing the alien device. After a short time home Carter begins to see a strange man that appears to be invisible to everyone else. She informs her superiors at Stargate Command, who then place cameras and microphones in her home. The strange man does not appear again until the cameras are removed. It turns out that the man is an ascended being who goes by the name of Orlin. He gives up ascension to be with Carter and begins to create many different things in her home.

While Orlin was ascended he helped the people of the alien planet to develop the alien device that SG-1 discovered. As it turns out, it is a powerful weapon that protected the planet from the Goa'uld and the civilization eventually attempted to use this weapon to conquer other planets. Because Orlin interfered with the lower planes of existence, the Others wiped out the alien civilization and ordered Orlin to destroy the weapon. Carter is working to create a link between a Naquadah generator and the weapon. Orlin knows what the device can do and convinces Carter to stop her research. They then attempt to stop anyone from activating the device.

Colonel Frank Simmons learns that Orlin is not a delusion brought on by Carter's stress but a human from the alien world. When the government attempts to capture Orlin, Carter is sent in to convince him to come peacefully. Orlin then leads her to a Mini Stargate that he has built in her basement. The two of them travel to the planet and Orlin sacrifices himself to stop Colonel Albert Reynolds and SG-16 from activating the weapon. The other ascended beings allow Orlin to ascend once more and destroy the weapon so that it can no longer be used.

Notable Quotes
O'Neill: How long?

Jackson: For what?

O'Neill: All of it. How long?

Jackson: Uh well. Days. Weeks. Months, maybe, of meticulous, tedious boring... you know, tediousness. (Jack and Teal'c walk away) Uh... I could just keeping working now. By lunch at least.

Carter: There's nothing wrong with me.

Fraiser: Okay. At least consider what you've been through in the last few years. You have had a Tok'ra symbiote die in your brain. Your memory has been stamped. And your entire consciousness has been transferred out of your body into a computer and then back again. And that is just for starters. Eventually it has to take its toll.

Carter: Are we done?

Fraiser: Yes. Make sure you come back if you start speaking an alien language.

Carter: I'm sure I'll have no choice.

(Discussing what the device on 636 is) Hammond: I'm sorry, but I have'nt heard anyone say exactly what the device is. Jackson: Uh, well, we're still just speculating, I mean it could be a deep space observatory for all I know. O'Neill: Or a big honkin' space gun, sir. Jackson: Most likely the Goa'uld would have taken that.

Hammond: Until Dr. Fraiser advises otherwise, I'm ordering you to take it easy.

Carter: Take it easy?

O'Neill: Yeah. You've been a little tense.

Carter: Tense? Me? I'm not tense. Am I? When did you first notice?

O'Neill: As we met.

O'Neill: Look Carter, here's the bottom line. No-one is seeing what you've seen, and until that happens we're all gonna to think you're nuts.

Carter: Hey guys. What are you doing here?

O'Neill: We brought pizza, and a movie.

Teal'c: Star Wars.

O'Neill: He's seen it... what... eight times?

Teal'c: Nine.

O'Neill: Nine times. If Teal'c likes it, its gotta be ok.

Carter: You've never seen Star Wars?

O'Neill: Ah, you know me and... "sci-fi."

(O'Neill and Teal'c have been thwarted in their plan to enjoy pizza and Star Wars with Carter)

O'Neill: So, now what?

Teal'c: I have read of a place where humans do battle in a ring of Jell-O.

''(O'Neill tosses his cellphone to Teal'c.) '' O'Neill: Call Daniel.

O'Neill: What have you guys got?

Jackson: Well, it looks like that thing on 636 is a weapon.

O'Neill: I was right?

Teal'c: It is a weapon of great power, O'Neill.

O'Neill: Big and honkin'.

Orlin: I read about how humans associate certain materials with their birth month. Yours is emerald, right?

Carter: It's huge.

Orlin: Oh. Is it? It was difficult to tell the common size from the pictures in the book.

Carter: You made it?

Orlin: You wouldn't believe the things that you can make from the common, simple items lying around your planet. Which reminds me, you're going to need a new Microwave.

Carter: You've been busy.

Orlin: I didn't think they'd let me go back to Vellona through their Stargate.

Carter: So you built one?

Orlin: Sort of. This one won't dial multiple addresses. It'll only create a wormhole once and then probably burn out.

Carter: And you ordered the materials online?

Orlin: Mostly. Sorry, but you're going to have a pretty good credit card bill this month. Oh. And you're going to need a new toaster.

Goof

 * It is commonly believed that when Orlin jumps into the Mini Stargate, he disappears in mid-air, before he reaches the actual wormhole. This is a misconception. In fact, the minigate is being viewed from behind and if you look closely, his body disappears as it goes through, even incrementally when viewed frame-by-frame.
 * Orlin gives Major Samantha Carter an emerald as her birthstone suggesting she was born in May. However, Carter was actually born in December.

Wins

 * Won Leo for "Dramatic Series: Best Lead Performance - Female" (Amanda Tapping)

Characters

 * Colonel Frank Simmons
 * Orlin

In other languages

 * French: Ascension (Ascension)
 * Italian: Ascensione (Ascension)
 * Spanish: Ascensión (Ascension)
 * Czech: Povznesení (Ascension)