The Quest, Part 1

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

Synopsis
SG-1 travels to the planet where they believe the Sangraal is at to defeat the Ori. However, as soon as they arrive, Adria is hot on their trail, by posing as one of the villagers to take the Sangraal away, but before they can get it, the have to pass a series of challenges, and they find Ba'al on the way.

Previously on Stargate SG-1
Vala Mal Doran gives birth to the Orici Adria who matures in a matter of days and becomes the leader of the Ori army in the Milky Way galaxy. Ba'al steals the list of Stargate addresses from Stargate Command in his search for the Sangraal. SG-1's hunt for the Sangraal leads to Atlantis where Dr. Daniel Jackson and Vala encounter the ascended Morgan Le Fay who gives them the gate addresses of Castiana and Sahal.

Plot
The Quest for the Holy Grail continues, as SG-1 hunts for the mythical "Sangraal" -- believed to actually be an Ancient device invented by Merlin, which can kill the ascended Ori. The Ori have launched a bloody crusade to convert our galaxy to forcible worship, and SG-1 hopes that if their "gods" are destroyed the followers will cease their campaign.

Late at night, both Dr. Daniel Jackson and Vala Mal Doran stumble on the key to finding the world the Sangraal is hidden on: the gate addresses of the three planets King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table visited combine into a fourth address. Jackson discovered this by noticing how the planets were related to each other in space; Vala suddenly got the idea in a dream.

The team visits a medieval-style village near that world's Stargate, where they meet Osric, a frail old librarian who keeps watch over the entire village's material related to the Sangraal. But they aren't the only ones looking for it: Ba'al is also searching for the device, having passed through three days before.

Osric warns them that many have come to him looking for the Sangraal, and have never returned from their quest. The way is perilous (the woods in which it is said to be located was cursed by Morgan Le Fay), and the legendary prize is guarded by a great dragon. Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter doubts that it's an actual dragon, believing it to be some form of advanced security system. Furthermore, an ancient scroll known as the Parchment of Virtues advises that seekers of the Sangraal must possess five virtues: prudence, charity, kindness, wisdom, and faith.

The team finally has a solid lead on where the Merlin's anti-Ori weapon is, but Osric refuses to show them the map that Morgan left behind, as the last group of travelers -- Ba'al and his minions -- tried to steal it. At that moment Ori soldiers storm the city and declare the planet under Ori rule. With the help of a local Barkeep, the team manages to escape the Ori troops, and convince Osric to lead them to the Sangraal.

While moving closer to the forest, the team is surprised to find dozens of people frozen in time. Carter explains that the people are trapped in a time dilation field and a small corridor of real time leads further into the bubble. Using a special meter and by throwing rocks, the team manages to successfully navigate the maze. As they continue forward, they are greeted with a surprising sight: Ba'al, abandoned by his Jaffa and looking very put-out. The team confronts Ba'al, but fall into a trap. Ba'al reveals that he was lured here by a chest lying on the ground and was trapped for three days inside a powerful shield, and now the team is trapped inside as well. Daniel then realizes that they must follow the five virtues literally. The team used prudence to navigate the time dilation maze, so the obvious answer is to use charity to escape. Each person places an item of value inside the chest and the shield deactivates. The team is about to kill Ba'al, but he informs them that he knows the dragon's true name, which may be an important password or access code, convincing the team to bring him along.

However, as they continue on their journey, Daniel suddenly confronts Osric. After observing him for some time, Daniel suspects Osric to be a spy for the Ori. Osric smiles and reveals himself to be Adria in disguise. She tells the team that all of the events leading up until now were orchestrated by her to make the team lead her straight to the Sangraal, including Vala's dream at the beginning of the episode. She then forces Daniel to help her find the weapon or she will kill the rest of SG-1. Daniel reluctantly agrees. They then enter a cave and find a small boy trapped in a cage. The team uses the virtue of kindness to open the cage, and a secret passage is revealed. They then use the virtue of wisdom to solve a series of riddles as the cave begins to collapse. Finally, the team arrives at a huge wall of fire, and are seemingly stumped on how to continue.

Daniel, however, is convinced that he knows the way through. He uses the final virtue, faith, and walks through the wall of the flames. The flames disappear to reveal the Sangraal. Adria orders Daniel to take it and give it to her, but Daniel realizes that while inside the cavern, Adria cannot use her Ori abilities. He challenges her to take the Sangraal herself, but she refuses. He then attempts to pick it up himself, but it is just a hologram. Suddenly, the door behind the team closes shut and a massive dragon appears, breathing fire and poised to attack the team.

Notable Quotes
Mitchell: Hey Jackson, what are you doing?

Jackson: Oh, just trying to figure out the location of Merlin's weapon so we can find it in time to defeat the Ori, hopefully save our galaxy. You?

Mitchell: We're going for Szechuan. Wanna come?

Barmaid: Are you certain I cannot tempt you with a final meal?

Mitchell: What is it with this town and a no-can-do attitude? Every time we turn around someone's trying to write us off or scare us away.

Barmaid: I apologize. I should have said, "A final meal before you set off on your journey."

Mitchell: Well, that's better.

Barmaid: Although it need be said that in the many thousands of years that adventurers have been seeking the Sangraal, not one has succeeded.

Mitchell: You should come with us.

Barmaid: My place is here. I'll be fine. (Mitchell hesitates.) I'll blame everything on you.

Mitchell: Good plan.

Osrick: This is it! The cave entrance. The Sangraal is located within.

Mitchell: It's too bad you won't be coming with us.

Ba'al: I thought I made it clear: you need me.

Mitchell: I wasn't talking to you.

Ba'al: Oh. Well, ah, allow me to get out of your line of fire.

Ba'al: He's tiny. Have him squeeze through the bars.

Teal'c: Assist us or I will squeeze you through these bars.

Adria: Taking your life would be a waste of my time.

Ba'al: Which I suppose would be put to better use complaining.

Carter: Why don't the two of you just get a room?!

Goofs

 * When SG-1 walks into the time maze you can see, right before Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter stops the group, a man slowly swinging back and forth between a woman and a tree.
 * Despite being written in the Ancient language, both the writing on the Parchment of Virtues and the riddles in the cave are no more than English phrases written in the Ancient script.

Race

 * Dragon

Planet

 * Osric's planet

In other languages

 * French: La Quête du Graal (1ère partie) (The Quest for the Graal (part 1))
 * Italian: La Ricerca (Parte 1) (The Quest (part 1))
 * Spanish: La Búsqueda (Parte 1) (The Quest (part 1))
 * Czech: Výprava (část 1.) (The Quest (part 1))
 * German: Die Suche, Teil 1 (The Search, Part 1)