The Quest, Part 2

"The Quest, Part 2" is the eleventh episode of the tenth season of Stargate SG-1.

Synopsis
After defeating Morgan Le Fay's dragon, SG-1 are transported to several planets every few hours, where they find Merlin to create the Sangraal. However, Adria and her army are quickly gaining on them. Dr. Daniel Jackson gets his head into a Repository of knowledge to complete the weapon.

Previously on Stargate SG-1
SG-1's hunt for the Sangraal leads them to Osric's planet where they learn the Sangraal is protected by a Dragon. On the way, they encounter Ba'al and Adria. When they reach the cave, the Sangraal turns out to be a hologram and the Dragon appears.

Plot
The dragon attacks by breathing fire but Adria extends her personal shield to protect the team. SG-1 attempts to engage the dragon, but their firearms have no effect. The dragon swings its tail and knocks open an opening in the wall, through which the team escapes. Thinking they are momentarily safe, Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell soon sees a fireball expanding into the tunnel, and commands the team to run. They are able to find a way outside, but the dragon bursts out of the top of the mountain in pursuit.

Mitchell decides that since the prior attempt to fire on the dragon failed, that perhaps a different method of attack would be more successful. He reasons that "bullets don't bounce off Holograms" and decides to use C-4, believing the dragon to be solid matter. They take cover in the tree line while preparing the attack, but Dr. Daniel Jackson states that they have to defeat the Dragon as it is the final task, and that speaking the Dragon's true name will destroy it. Vala Mal Doran suggests it might be Darrell the Dragon, while Teal'c suggests Puff. Ba'al had previously stated that he knew the name of the guardian, but admits that this was a lie. Mitchell, having prepared the C-4, plans to run into the clearing and lure the dragon to the ground, giving him the opportunity to use the C-4 against the dragon's vulnerable underbelly. He prepares to run into the clearing, but is restrained by Teal'c, who silently convinces Mitchell that he should be the one to act as the bait. The plan is initially a success; the Dragon lands and Teal'c throws the C-4 into the dragon's mouth. Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter hits the detonator and a faint light is seen in and around the dragon's mouth but to the dismay of the team the dragon is unaffected, and proceeds to chase Teal'c.

As Teal'c begins to run back, Daniel reasons that the guardian referenced in the scroll is not the dragon, but the individual who created the dragon: Morgan Le Fay. Vala runs out, with Daniel in pursuit, telling her to wait. Vala stops in front of the dragon and says "Morgan Le Fay" but the Dragon remains. In desperation, she questioningly states "Darrell?" which predictably has no effect. Daniel catches up and quickly says "Ganos Lal" (the Ancient name of Morgan Le Fay) and the Dragon disappears.

The group returns to the mountain and surround the Sangraal. Daniel reaches for it, and they are transported to another chamber. However, they discover that Adria was not transported with them. Daniel and Carter assume it was a failsafe to stop the wrong people coming, to which Mitchell complains that Ba'al remains with them. Upon inspection of the cave they find a frozen body with an inscription: "Here lies Myrddin, archmage of the round". Daniel announces that the tests weren't designed to protect the Sangraal, they were designed to protect Merlin, who is in a stasis pod similar to the device in which Colonel Jack O'Neill was frozen in Antarctica. Morgan would have had to destroy the Sangraal that Merlin had created, or risk the wrath of the Others, so she did, but preserved Merlin in the hope that he would be able to reconstruct it. Vala looking around the cave a bit more, comments to the team about a fixture on the wall, Daniel quickly tells Vala to watch out as the Ancient Repository of knowledge tries to grab Vala, she successfully evades.

Merlin is released from stasis, and mistakes the party for some of the Knights of the Round Table. Ba'al begins to complain and Merlin literally silences him with a wave of his hand. Daniel explains that they are not the Knights and also the current situation with them and the Ori. Vala and Daniel remain with Merlin while the rest scout the area. They discover that they have changed locales and now find themselves in a desert environment not the verdant environment they were in prior. Teal'c remains outside while the others head back in to tell Vala and Daniel the news.

Back in the village, Adria is angry that SG-1 has evaded her, and that they may be en route to finding the Sangraal. The Prior tells her that when SG-1 beamed away, the Stargate opened for a split second. Adria orders the burning of the town, and attempts to discover where SG-1 has gone by examining the Dial Home Device.

Merlin agrees to help build a new Sangraal, but asks one thing in return: that they follow him, and whatever happens, they must allow it to happen. Merlin stares into the Repository of the Ancients, which causes a 3 dimensional hologram to appear. Within the virtual space, Merlin begins to assemble the Sangraal. The team watching Merlin observes a strange shift, and Teal'c advises that the team should come outside. Mitchell with Ba'al and Carter arrive outside and discover that they are now on a Snow Planet. Carter reasons that to keep one step ahead of any pursuer, Morgan has programmed the gate to dial out every few hours and move the team from planet to planet on a network outside the standard gate network. Carter and Ba'al are told to work on the device so that they can figure a way to dial out from the gate.

Hours later, Merlin is weakening with the stress of building the device, and insists he rest. Daniel tells him to take all the time he needs, but reminds him of what is at stake. Merlin muses to himself that he is too old and that there is not enough time. He says "Good luck, Dr. Jackson." to Daniel and faces the Repository of the Ancients once more. A blinding white light comes from the device, and Merlin is thrown back to the ground dead. Ba'al gets his voice back and says, "Merlin's little trick with my voice cords expired when he did."" Teal'c replies that it's "yet another reason to mourn his passing.".

Shocked at what has just happened, Daniel wonders about Merlin's final words, but realizes that Merlin must have uploaded his knowledge into the Repository of the Ancients. Although O'Neil's previous encounters with the device had proved almost fatal and required intervention by the Asgard to save his life, Daniel speculates that Merlin had used the Repository to store only a limited amount of information, so as to not overwhelm the human brain. He faces the Repository of the Ancients, which downloads Merlin's knowledge into Daniel. Vala contacts Mitchell and tells him to come back quickly; he tells the others to remain outside working. Mitchell, upon returning sees Daniel lying unconscious with Vala holding him. After a while Daniel regains consciousness, holding his head in his hands. Mitchell asks if he is alright and Daniel replies as if he is Merlin, stating that Mitchell really is similar to Perceval. Mitchell and Vala realize that the Ancient knowledge is overwhelming Daniel. sees Daniel holding his head in his hands and saying that he will continue to build the device. Another shift occurs, leaving Merlin's body behind. The team outside confirms that they are now on a jungle planet, pleasing Ba'al who did not enjoy working in the cold.

Adria is not far behind. She is able to deduce the gate address from the DHD after some study, and travels from the desert planet to the snow planet. Her guards also find Merlin's body, and Adria begins work on deciphering the next address, stating that each time it is taking her a shorter period to find the address.

Daniel, moving at a much greater speed that Merlin was able to, completes the first stage of the Sangraal device in the holographic space, which then beams into existence on the pedestal below the hologram. He staggers from the repository weakened and states he must rest. Vala asks if Daniel would like anything, Daniel replies "water" but as Vala reaches for it, the bottle flies across the room to Daniel's hand. Daniel observes that although O'Neill was able to use the regenerative powers of the Ancients, Daniel has become telekinetic. He returns to the repository and continues with the Sangraal.

Carter and Ba'al are disagreeing about how to use the DHD to leave the planet. Carter reasons that, since they can't find a dialing program in the DHD, it must be stored in the obelisk that is next to the gate. Ba'al dismisses the idea as ridiculous because Carter is a human and, worse still, a woman.

Mitchell and Vala realize that the Ancient knowledge is overwhelming Daniel. Vala begins to worry about Daniel's safety, and challenges Mitchell to tell Daniel not to continue. Mitchell reminds her about the time she flew into the Supergate and tells her that, "Now you know the hard part about being part of this team is not risking your own life, it's watching your friends take chances with theirs'. Congratulations. Now you really are one of us.". Ba'al once again mentions that since Carter is a woman, she can't do much when she has trouble locating the automatic dialing device in the obelisk. Carter punches Ba'al, knocking him to the ground, and advises him that if he refuses to help, then he's no longer worth keeping around. His life now in the balance, Ba'al becomes cooperative.

Daniel completes stage 2 of the Sangraal and again steps away from the repository exhausted. Mitchell asks how many more stages there are and Vala says that she thought the red crystal was the Sangraal. But it is actually the final stage of it, the thing that makes the whole weapon work.

Carter, struggling with the piece she believes is a way to activate the gate and leave the planet, reluctantly asks Ba'al for help with it. With a smiling look, Ba'al asks why he should help her; Teal'c reminds him of his current situation and he agrees. They are able to disable the safeguard preventing them from dialing out, but before they can act, an incoming wormhole registers. Carter informs Mitchell, and he and Vala head outside, while Daniel continues to rest. Adria's guards come through the gate and the team open fire. Mitchell and Vala arrive for support; Ba'al is shot.

Adria arrives in the cave, finding the incomplete Sangraal and proclaiming her victory to Daniel. Daniel uses his new powers to create a lightning storm, as Oma Desala did on Kheb ("Maternal Instinct"), which kills the Ori guards. The team turns to see Daniel flung from the mouth of the cave, with Adria standing triumphantly above. Carter dials out and the team are ready to leave, but Adria uses her power to fire a stream of energy at the team. Daniel uses his powers and creates a force field to protect his friends who head to the gate. Carter tells Daniel to follow her, "We aren't leaving without you!!" to which he replies "I'll be right behind you!". Mitchell walks through, and Adria overwhelms Daniel, who collapses.

Back at Stargate Command, Vala is looking for a way to go back and rescue Daniel, but the team is unable to determine the address from which they dialed in. Vala, frustrated, comments that Adria didn't have any trouble.

Aboard an Ori warship flying through hyperspace, Daniel sits on the floor of a dark room. Adria enters, and he claims that whatever he had is gone, but Adria doesn't believe him. She advises Daniel to rest, because there is much to be done.

Notable Quotes
Mitchell: (about the dragon's name) So what are we supposed to do, just start guessing?

Vala: Darryl the Dragon.

Mitchell: How 'bout Smokey?

Teal'c: Perhaps Puff.

Ba'al: Looks like Merlin's drawbridge no longer goes all the way across the moat if you catch my meaning.

Merlin: I have lived many lifetimes. First Atlantis then on Earth. Before the dawn of your civilization. The I joined the ranks of the Ascended. And finally I returned to mortal form to live out my remaining days among the noblemen of Arthur's court. Or, so I thought. And through all these eons only one thing stayed the same. There is never enough time.

Ba'al: Merlin's little trick with my vocal cords expired at the same moment he did.

Teal'c: Yet another reason to mourn his passing.

(Daniel asks Vala for water. As she reaches for it, it flies through the air to Daniel, whose hand is outstretched. He pulls it from the air.)

Daniel: Okay, that happened.

Ba'al: I know where you come from you're considered relatively intelligent, but by galactic standards that's not really saying much. wouldn't you agree?

(Carter punches him.)

Carter: You know, if you're not going to help then you're really not much use to us. And if you're not much use to us then there's really no point in keeping you alive any longer. wouldn't you agree?

Ba'al: I'd, ah, be delighted to help.

Carter: Great to hear.

Goofs

 * When Merlin's consciousness is downloaded into Dr. Daniel Jackson, his eyes are closed even though the technology works by transferring data using a visual component.
 * When Adria dials the gate from the ice planet, it sounds as if the gate is being dialed slowly as with the Earth Dialing computer.
 * The Guardian Beast, though called a "Dragon", is in fact a, as it has hind legs and wings, instead of forelegs, hind legs and wings.

Death

 * Merlin

In other languages

 * French: La Quête du Graal (2ème partie) (The Quest for the Graal (part 2))
 * Italian: La Ricerca (Parte 2) (The Quest (part 2))
 * Spanish: La Búsqueda (Parte 2) (The Quest (part 2))
 * Czech: Výprava (část 2.) (The Quest (part 2))
 * German: Die Suche, Teil 2 (The Search, Part 2)