Avalon, Part 1

"Avalon, Part 1" is the first episode of the ninth season of Stargate SG-1.

Synopsis
Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell, a veteran F-302 fighter-interceptor pilot who participated in the Battle of Antarctica, has been given command of SG-1. His plan is to reunite the old team. However, Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter works in Area 51, Teal'c is now working full-time for the Free Jaffa Nation on Dakara, and Dr. Daniel Jackson is going to Atlantis. However, a visit from Vala Mal Doran changes everything.

Plot
Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell is at Stargate Command staring at the Stargate for the first time. He piloted one of the F-302 fighter-interceptor's in the defense of Earth against the attack fleet of Anubis in the Battle of Antarctica. After his heroic efforts and recovery from injury, Major General Jack O'Neill offered him any job he liked, and he wished to join SG-1. However, when he arrives at the base, he finds that SG-1 has been disbanded, a new general is in control, and he is set to pick and lead the new team which leaves Mitchell stunned and greatly dismayed.

The new general and commander of Stargate Command is Major General Henry Landry who is a friend of both Lt. General George S. Hammond and O'Neill. Under his order, Mitchell begins the selection process for new members of SG-1 but can't stomach any of the terrible candidates. As such, Mitchell who wanted to work with the best is determined to get SG-1 back together.

Teal'c is off world on the planet Dakara, which has been established as the capital of the newly founded Free Jaffa Nation, the aftermath of the fall of the Goa'uld. Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter has been moved to Area 51, where she is aiding the research. Jack O'Neill has been promoted out of the SGC (hence the new general), and Dr. Daniel Jackson is set to take a ride on board the Daedalus, the newest Earth intergalactic battlecruiser, to Atlantis, the now-found City of the Ancients.

An unscheduled offworld activation admits to the SGC Vala Mal Doran who claims to have something they want. They let her in and she immediately seeks out her "friend" Daniel to pester. She has a tablet written in Ancient that leads to a trove of Ancient treasures hidden somewhere on Earth, and she needs Daniel to translate it. However, as soon as they are close together, she throws a pair of cuffs onto both his and her wrists. These are Kor mak bracelets (Teal'c explains, on his return), which link the two of them together such that they cannot be greatly separated without feeling pain and eventually death. Vala had known it would affect Daniel Jackson, but not that it would affect her, too. She promises she will take them off after they find the treasure and she gets her fair share. Mitchell suggests that the fastest way to solve the problem is to put together a team to find the treasure, and invites Teal'c to join them since the Jaffa High Council is in recess.

Since Jackson can't be separated from Vala for the time being, he has to miss his trip on the Daedalus to Atlantis, meaning that he won't make his much-desired trip there. Meanwhile however, he translates the tablet and who wrote it: an Ancient fleeing Atlantis after the war with the Wraith, named Myrddin, who Jackson says is Merlin, the wizard associated with King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. After further research, Jackson concludes that the treasure is located beneath Glastonbury Tor in England. Mitchell wants to have Carter join the expedition as well, but she's busy at Area 51. However, if they do find something, she'll want to see it.

Arriving at the place on the Prometheus, they use Transportation rings to get inside a hidden cavern where a hologram of Merlin tells them that only the worthy, those with "a wealth of knowledge and truth of spirit," will gain access to the treasures of the Ancients. There is a Sword In The Stone, but Mitchell is unable to remove it. They decide to explore further; Daniel and Vala take a right passageway, and Mitchell and Teal'c take a left.

Both parties find rooms which light up upon entry. In both rooms, the parties encounter puzzles, and the doors lock shut automatically.

Just when they think it can't get any worse, the ceiling begins to lower to crush them, and they must solve the puzzles in time before they are crushed to death. TO BE CONTINUED...

Notable Quotes
Landry: (flipping through papers in his hand) Your service record's impeccable, Mitchell. What's wrong with ya?

Mitchell: Sir?

Landry: Nobody's perfect. Everyone has some sort of character flaw. What's yours?

Mitchell: Sometimes, I can be impatient…sir.

Landry: Well, all pilots have type-A personalities. I'm talking about your kryptonite.

(Mitchell is silent)

Landry: Don't worry ... I'll figure it out.

Landry: You know, the thing that's hardest to get used to around here is how good everybody is at their job. The fact is, I like yelling at people! Never get the damn chance.

Mitchell: I'll try not to lower the average, Sir.

Landry: Oh, a self-deprecating sense of humor. You think it'll make people like you, despite your outward perfection?

Landry: Well, that's Jack for you. You know, I looked for the key for that desk for a week, before I finally got him to admit—he never had one! The man never opened a drawer the whole time he was here!

(After talking separately to Jackson, Teal'c, and Carter and being turned down to rejoin SG1 by all three)

Mitchell: Well Walter, it doesn't look like we're getting the band back together.

(Landry and O'Neill are drinking beers and playing chess)

Landry: A general is only as good as the people he commands.

O'Neill: Who said that?

Landry: I just did. (long pause as Landry moves a rook so O'Neill is in check) I mean, Douglas MacArthur may have said something similar.

O'Neill: Didn't he also say, "there's no substitute for winning"? ''(as O'Neill moves a bishop so Landry is in check-mate) '' Landry: Actually, it was "in war, there is no substitute for victory." (Landry knocks over his own king, conceding defeat)

Mitchell: (talking to Jackson) Look the tablet is written in Ancient code, right? I know it's not the lost city of Atlantis we're looking for here, but whatever it is could be worth finding ... or you're just gonna have to marry that chick.

Vala: Yeah! Let's make babies!

Mitchell: (still trying to get SG1 back together) That was fantastic! You talk to Carter yet?

Jackson: Uh, yeah. She can't make it.

Mitchell: What!? This is huge. We could be on the brink of another major discovery of Ancient technology.

Jackson: I'm sure she'll be interested in whatever we find.

Vala: Hrm. Hey, try playing hard to get.

Mitchell: Yeah, look who's talking.

(Upon entering the Prometheus's 'Auxiliary Control Room 2')

Vala: Ahh, now this brings back memories.

Jackson: How's that?

Vala: Isn't this where I beat you up?

Jackson: No.

Vala: No, I'm pretty sure that right there is where I crushed your--

Mitchell: Alright, excuse me kids. (Pushing between the two of them)

(Vala and Jackson exploring the right passageway in the Ancient cavern within Glastonbury Tor in England)

Vala: You should give me a weapon.

Jackson: No.

Vala: There could be an icky creature down here left to protect the treasure.

Jackson: For hundreds of years?

Vala: Some sort of stasis or hibernation. What if it senses our presence and awakens hungry for human flesh?

Jackson: That doesn't sound quite like the Ancients' style.

Vala: Still...

Jackson: I'm sure if there is a monster down here it's going to be much more scared of you than you are of it. Especially once it gets to know you.

Goofs

 * When Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell is hit over Antarctica, his co-pilot says that they have lost left thrusters and that the display inside the cockpit shows the rear left section in red, however the hit and the subsequent smoke trail come from the right thruster.
 * Both Major General Henry Landry and CMSgt. Walter Harriman make the mistake of referring to the events of "Lost City, Part 2" as being "two years ago" when in reality only a year had passed.
 * During the Battle of Antarctica Mitchell calls out "Fox Two! Fox Two!" after firing two missiles. The call refers to heat seeking missiles like the . The F-302 fighter-interceptors are equipped with AIM 120A air-to-air missile. The proper call for those active radar guided missiles is "Fox Three".

Characters

 * Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell
 * Major General Henry Landry
 * Lt. Kevin Marks
 * Dr. Lindsay (anthropologist)

In other languages

 * French: Le Trésor d’Avalon (1ère partie) (The Treasure of Avalon (part 1))
 * Italian: Una Nuova Avventura (A New Adventure)
 * Spanish: Avalon (parte 1) (Avalon (part 1))
 * Czech: Avalon (část 1.) (Avalon (part 1))