Lost City, Part 2

"Lost City, Part 2" is the twenty-second episode of the season seven of Stargate SG-1.

Synopsis
With the full force of Anubis' fleet en route to Earth, SG-1 undertakes one final effort to find the Lost City before time runs out. As the Ancient knowledge continues to overwhelm O'Neill's mind, a clue to its whereabouts finally emerges, leading the team to a distant planet across the galaxy. Earth meanwhile attempts to fend off an invasion with the fate of the planet and mankind hanging in the balance.

Previously on Stargate SG-1
Anubis has advanced in his conquest to defeat the other System Lords throughout the Galaxy, and it is only a matter of time before he sets his attention to Earth. In an effort to defeat him, SG-1 have been in search of a "Lost City", an Ancient city that could posses technology capable of defeating Anubis once and for all. The team finds a clue on P3X-439: an Ancient Repository of knowledge. To prevent its capture by Anubis, Colonel Jack O'Neill uses the device, which instantly downloads a database of Ancient knowledge into his brain. However, while the knowledge slowly begins overwriting his brain, Vice President Robert Kinsey has yet another plan to take control of the Stargate Program, placing Dr. Elizabeth Weir in command. Fearing that the Tau'ri now posses the knowledge of the Ancients, Anubis sends his fleet to attack Earth. Teal'c and Bra'tac decide to leave for Chulak to gather ships to aide in Earth's defense.

Plot
In Dr. Daniel Jackson's lab, Colonel Jack O'Neill sits at a desk attempting to finish his crossword puzzle. As Daniel thumbs through a book across the room, he approaches O'Neill, asking if any works look familiar to him in an attempt to gauge how far the Ancient knowledge has progressed. O'Neill appears uninterested, and replies that he is still unable speak Ancient. Daniel becomes agitated when O'Neill appears to be unwilling to help him understand what's happening to his mind and grabs the crossword from his hands in frustration. As he inspects it, Samantha Carter walks in. She begins to speak but is quickly interrupted by Daniel, who notes that for the clue "label", O'Neill has inserted the answer "Praclarush" and for the clue "sphere", he has answered "Taonas". Upon realizing this, Daniel contends that Praclarush Taonas is the name of the planet on which the Lost City is located. Carter and O'Neill appear skeptical. O'Neill then walks out of the room to the mess hall with Carter and Daniel following behind.

In the SGC Mess hall, Jackson reads through a book and discovers that "Proclarush Taonas" translates to "lost in fire". However, there is still no Gate address to Proclarush. O'Neill then provides him with a clue; he rips off Jackson's patch containing the Point of Origin symbol, which O'Neill describes as "At". Jackson begins to understand what O'Neill is trying to say and demonstrates by showing him Canis Minor; O'Neill responds with a "shh", and explains that the sound "shh" is what the symbol reminds him of.

Daniel's theory may be confirmed; they don't have to look through the list of addresses to find the planet, the names themselves serve as the addresses. Proc-la-ru-sh Tao-nas At would be the full gate address.

In the Stargate Operations room, as Daniel explains it to Dr. Elizabeth Weir, Carter searches for the planet but she encounters a problem: they already dialed the planet two years ago, but couldn't establish a lock, possibly because the planet's Stargate was buried. Jackson considers using the Prometheus, but with Anubis on his way to Earth, the ship must stay to defend the planet.

Instead, the team plans to Gate to Chulak to see if Teal'c and Bra'tac have recruited any ships yet.

Meanwhile, O'Neill is in a store room, packing various equipment including Hazmat suits and a Naquadah generator. He cannot explain why he is packing, though the rest of the team thinks that they're on the right track.

On Chulak, Teal'c and Bra'tac are in a tent calling in various Jaffa. One walks in, and introduces himself as Ronan, whose father is known to Bra'tac. He has a Tel'tak at his disposal, but warns them that no matter how brave they are, he has seen Anubis' fleet, and one Tel'tak is no match for a massive fleet. Bra'tac however, tells him that they will use the ship to find something far more powerful than whatever Anubis can throw at them. Ronan agrees and has only one condition: that he join them to find the means to defeat Anubis. Teal'c and Bra'tac accept his offer.

Carter, Jackson and O'Neill are ready to step through the Stargate to Chulak with O'Neill's supplies. Before they set off, Weir tells them a bad joke, though O'Neill says there is still hope for her. A while later, they meet up with Teal'c, Bra'tac and Ronan, and set off in his cargo ship. On the way to Proclarush, Carter and Jackson check up on O'Neill, who admits to feeling "fron-aches". When he hears that even at top speed, the Tel'tak will arrive in two days, O'Neill feels this is too slow, and gets up to work on making the hyperdrive faster.

Meanwhile, three of Anubis' Ha'tak vessels exit hyperspace over Earth's Moon and are slowly making their way to Earth. The ships are detected by the military. In the White House, President Henry Hayes, Vice President Robert Kinsey, Major General George S. Hammond, General Francis Maynard and General John P. Jumper, the Chief of Staff, decide on what action to take. Hammond suggests that only three ships out of dozens have arrived because they are going to goad Earth into revealing their defenses. Hammond suggests holding off the Prometheus, as this could mean that the Tau'ri have successfully bluffed about their defensive power. Hayes decides to remain at DEFCON-3, and make contact with the governments of Canada, China, France, Russia and the United Kingdom to let them know what Earth is facing ahead.

Aboard the Tel'tak, O'Neill has reconfigured the ship's Control crystals; he asks for Carter's Zat'nik'tel, and fires it at the crystals. This action causes the ship's hyperdrive to increase in speed. Carter then tells O'Neill that Hammond authorized her to command the team should O'Neill's brain be overwhelmed by the Ancient knowledge. Given the circumstances, O'Neill immediately tells her to take command and resigns from his post. Carter, having missed an opportunity in Jack's home, attempts to convey her feelings, but O'Neill cuts her short, claiming he already knows what she would say. Later, the Tel'tak arrives at their destination and drops out of hyperspace.

What they see when they arrive is not what they expect. They discover that the planet's sun has turned into a Red giant; one million years ago, the planet was probably much like Earth, but the red giant has caused the planet to be covered in molten rock and lava. They have arrived far too late. However, they notice that O'Neill packed the Hazmat suits, so subconsciously, he knew the planet was dead. Because Carter is now in charge, she orders him to scan the planet's surface to look for any sign of a man-made structure in the area. He - fairly quickly - finds a cavernous dome underground, caused by some sort of shield or force field protecting the area, though it doesn't seem to be big enough to contain a city. They decide to check out the area.

In Anubis' mothership, Anubis' First Prime, Her'ak receives communication from the advance invasion squadrons over Earth; there is no sign that they are being challenged. Anubis orders them to begin and the three Ha'taks launch an attack. Later, in the White House, Maynard informs the President that they contacted the captain of the destroyer USS Spruance, who reported that the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz had been destroyed, along with a cruiser in her battle group, before communications were lost.

Back over Proclarush, the Tel'tak positions itself over the dome. In Hazmat suits, SG-1 is ringed into the outpost. They keep in contact with Ronan and Bra'tac. Carter finds high levels of radiation, and the rings may have compromised the dome's structural integrity. They can't stay too long. The facility is dark, but O'Neill still manages to find a throne-like chair. There, he proceeds to sit down and places his hands on the armrest controls. He erects a forcefield, and takes off his Hazmat hood. Carter reads a stable and breathable atmosphere, so the team also take off their hoods. He then activates a holographic map of the Milky Way which zooms into our solar system, and Earth, as it was 30 million years ago and continental drift has since changed the shape and distribution of Earth's oceans and landmasses. They wonder why O'Neill is showing them this. His reply is "Terra Atlantus", "Terra" meaning Earth, and "Atlantus" referring to Atlantis, the name of the Lost City.

The team comes to the conclusion that the city they have been looking for the past year has been on Earth all along, and they have to travel all the way back. O'Neill, who is now only able to speak very little, tells them there is something they need. He puts his hood back on, as does the team. He activates a panel on the floor, which raises to reveal a glowing power source. Once he removes it, the structure starts to collapse. The team quickly runs to the ring platform and signal Bra'tac to ring them back aboard.

However, as he gets up, Bra'tac is betrayed by Ronan, who stabs him in the symbiote pouch. He reveals himself to be an agent of Anubis, and calls Bra'tac the betrayer of the "one true god". As Bra'tac falls to his knees, he tells Ronan he should have stabbed him in his heart, as he no longer has a symbiote. He still has enough strength to fight back, and during the brief struggle, tells Ronan that he may be younger, but not wiser. Bra'tac manages to kill Ronan and with the last of his strength, he activates the rings, and SG-1 is transported aboard before the structure on the outpost collapses. They tend to Bra'tac and O'Neill stretches out his arms over his wound, and reveals himself to have healing powers. Bra'tac declares that once again, he is in O'Neill's debt. Teal'c then plots a course for Earth.

In the Oval Office, the President and the advisers further discuss what to do, when the power goes out. Anubis unexpectedly appears in front of them. The Secret Service team responds by firing at him, but the bullets merely pass through him, revealing that he is merely a hologram. Hayes talks to the hologram and Anubis demands Earth's surrender. Hayes attempts to bluff Anubis out of attacking by telling him that Earth will give him a good fight; he asks for Anubis' surrender instead. After the hologram leaves, more than 30 additional ships exit hyperspace over Earth. The ships don't attack Earth, but proceed to take out power grids around the World. Kinsey suggests a team go to the Alpha Site as a contingency plan, though in the end, Kinsey is the only one who goes as the rest want to stay and fight. Hammond also wishes to stay, so Hayes offers him another assignment: They decide to launch the Prometheus, and Hammond is to command it.

In hyperspace aboard the Tel'tak, O'Neill works on the ring transporter platform. Teal'c visits O'Neill and wonders if he is making some kind of weapon using the transporter. However, O'Neill doesn't answer because his speech has mostly been overwritten by the Ancient knowledge. When Teal'c is about to say something else, O'Neill stops him knowingly. Teal'c leaves him to continue working.

Kinsey is in the Embarkation room about to head through the Stargate to the Alpha Site. Weir brands him a coward, though he claims he's doing this for the survival of humanity and announces he will be done with her, should she survive. Suddenly, the power goes out, shutting down the Stargate. Weir orders the iris closed using the manual iris control over Kinsey's objections. Seconds later, an active wormhole dials in and a massive explosion rocks the Gate Room, possibly from a naquadah enhanced weapon. Colonel Stewart Pearson then receives an encoded message from SG-1 that they are not coming through the Stargate, which prompts both Weir and a very reluctant Kinsey to call the President.

On the phone, Weir suggests that the Prometheus be used to buy SG-1 time to get to Atlantis in Antarctica. However, Kinsey refuses to let this happen. After arguing, Hayes tells Kinsey to "Shut the hell up!" He then forces Kinsey to resign, stating that after he read information given to him by Richard Woolsey a few weeks ago, he has enough info to have him shot. After Kinsey leaves in disgust, Hayes allows Weir to continue and agrees with her advice.

Meanwhile, Hammond and SGC tech Norman Walter Davis Harriman both arrive aboard the bridge of the Prometheus and the crew prepares to take off.

Hammond takes his seat in the center of the Bridge while Harriman mans the controls with Colonel Kirkland sitting down in the chair beside Hammond.

As Hammond sits down, he tells everyone that they've got their orders and that they are to get this bird in the air.

Major Erin Gant then hits a few keys.

Outside, as Prometheus's engines power up, the ship prepares to exit the hangar it's stored in.

Aboard the Tel'tak, Jackson interprets O'Neill's actions. He is modifying the ring transporter's matter stream transmitter to bore a hole through the ice.

With Anubis' fleet over Earth, they decide to drop out of hyperspace dangerously close to the planet's surface. They do so, and the ship plummets toward the arctic surface, though fortunately, Teal'c manages to regain control of the ship, and he levels off over a plateau.

O'Neill proceeds to use the modified ring transporter and burns a hole through the ice. However, it will take some time and Anubis has detected the ship. He sends a wave of ships to destroy it. Bra'tac detects several Al'kesh and Death Gliders heading their way and also notices more ships coming from the opposite direction, but they aren't Goa'uld.

The other ships are revealed to be F-302 fighter-interceptors, who start attacking the Al'keshs and Death Gliders, triggering the Battle of Antarctica.

The 302s are followed by the Prometheus, from which Hammond orders the Tel'tak protected at all costs. He then radios SG-1 with Sam remarking that they've got him and that it's good to see him as well.

However, the 302s quickly expend their weaponry so Hammond orders them to divert to McMurdo Air Force Base, stating that the ship can't take them back aboard.

Fortunately, Prometheus buys enough time for SG-1 to ring below the ice. Anubis' mothership establishes a weapons lock on Prometheus and starts firing. With shields rapidly failing, Hammond sets a course and orders the Prometheus to engage Anubis' ship.

SG-1 investigates the "city", which looks similar to Taonas. They find a chamber, which O'Neill describes "dormata", Ancient for "sleep". They then hear a noise and investigate.

It's Anubis, who tells the team they have failed and that the power of the Ancients is his. However, O'Neill realizes immediately that he is only a hologram, and passes him. He finds a chair like the one on Proclarush and opens a similar panel with a burned out power source. He replaces it with the one previously found.

Just then, the rings activate, revealing two Kull warriors.

While Carter, Jackson and Teal'c hold them off, O'Neill sits in the chair. While a Kull warrior is killed, two more arrive.

The Prometheus nears Anubis' mothership, but shields are down, and the ship won't last much longer. Hammond orders a collision course, stating that if the Prometheus goes, then so does the mothership itself.

O'Neill activates the chair, where by using his mind, is able to open a hole on the ground. Hundreds, even thousands, of yellow energy projectiles erupt from the floor, wiping out the Kull warriors. They fly to the surface and destroy all the Gliders and Al'kesh in the enemy wing, ignoring Bra'tac and the Tel'tak. They continue on towards Anubis' fleet, leaving the Prometheus untouched. Hammond orders the ship to break off the attack, while the drones go through Anubis' shield with no effort whatsoever.

While watching his fleet destroyed, Anubis roars and holds his hand in front of his face, yelling "No!!" before his ship blows apart.

Down in the ice cave, Jack slumps forward in the chair, driven to exhaustion by what he's done. Sam heads over and checks his pulse, informing Teal'c and Daniel that Jack's pulse is erratic. Sam holds Jack's face in her hands and tells Jack that he should not dare to leave them as well as the fact that they've just won. She then calls Jack by his rank, Colonel in an attempt to get Jack to hang on.

On Prometheus, Hayes contacts Hammond to congratulate him and the crew for saving the planet.

In the cave, Sam in tears begs Jack not to leave them. Teal'c then grabs Jack and places him inside the statis pod. Still weak, Jack then says, "Aveo ... amacus," which Daniel translates as being Ancient for "good-bye, friends" before the pod activates, sealing Jack inside.

Carter is convinced a way to save him is here but to Daniel, it is now obvious that this base, like the outpost on the molten planet, is not the Lost City and that this area is simply an outpost of some kind.

As Teal'c wonders aloud where Atlantis really is, he, Daniel and Sam can do nothing while Sam then steps forward, placing her hand on the statis pod, overwhelmed with emotion.

It then cuts to Jack who's still frozen in the statis pod.

Notable Quotes
Jackson: "Sphere"; planet. "Label"; name.

O'Neill: Following, still, you, not!

Carter: The clue for seven down is "celestial body", and he wrote "Uma Thurman".

O'Neill: (blush) Yes.

O'Neill: At.

Carter: What?

O'Neill: At.

Jackson: This?

O'Neill: That.

Jackson: That is "At"?

O'Neill: You can stop...that.

Jackson: What if the Ancients had symbols that could be spoken aloud. Proclarush Taonas is not just the name of the planet. Its also the gate address.

Weir: Well, have you got everything you need? I think there's still a sink in the kitchen.

O'Neill: Was that a joke?

Weir: Perhaps... a bad one.

O'Neill: Yes, very bad. But I sense hope for you.

(Carter resumes command of SG-1 after O'Neill resigns his post as leader and they arrive of Taonas)

Carter: Sit down and take a look. (O'Neill looks at her. Carter acts brusquely.) That's an order.

(After Ronan stabs Bra'tac in the abdomen)

Bra'tac: I am betrayed.

Ronan: You are the betrayer, of your one true god, Anubis!

(A hologram of Anubis appears in the Oval Office)

Anubis: I am Anubis.

Hayes: You've got to be kidding.

Anubis: You are the leader of this world?

Hayes: Henry Hayes, President of the United States of America, one nation among many.

Anubis: No more. Bow before your god.

Hayes: I don't think so. However, I am willing to discuss your surrender.

Anubis: If you possessed weapons matching mine, you would have used them.

Hayes: Don't let the suit fool you, fella. We're gonna fight you.

Anubis: You bring destruction upon yourselves.

Hayes: Never going to happen! (the hologram disappears. Hayes tells the people in the room...) Too much?

(Weir and Kinsey are arguing over the phone with the President, who has enough of this)

Hayes: Will you shut the hell up!?

Weir: I'm sorry, sir.

Hayes: Not you, Doctor.

Kinsey: Excuse me?

Hayes: Consider your resignation accepted, Bob.

Kinsey: You can't do that!

Hayes: Oh please, I got enough on you to have you shot!

Kinsey: This is the biggest mistake you will ever make.

Hayes: But I think I'll stick with my original thought, which is shut the hell up!

Teal'c: Anubis could not have missed our arrival.

Bra'tac: You are correct. Alkesh and gliders approach. Many.

(Cut to the outside with the hovering shuttle boring through the ice with a white hot beam. In the distance a large swarm of gliders and several Alkesh bear down upon the shuttle.)

Bra'tac: They will be in firing range in thirty seconds. More ships approach from the opposite direction.

Carter: (turning to the back of the shuttle's cargo bay where O'Neill is) Sir! We are about to get our as...!

Bra'tac: They are NOT Goa'uld.

(Outside the swarm of Goa'uld ships fly in a tight formation when suddenly two missles hit one of the Alkesh blowing it from the sky. More missles hit, blowing apart gliders and Alkesh as several squadrons of F-302 fighters intercept the Goa'uld ships bringing them down all around the shuttle. Behind the fighters the massive Prometheus,its weapons blazing in all directions, slides over the shuttle shielding it from further attacks.)

Hammond: Protect that scout ship at all costs!

Her'ak: Our shields are of no use.

(Anubis is flinching in horror, reacting to the destruction of his fleet)

Anubis: "NOOOOO…!"

(Kirkland's voice describes the destruction of Anubis' fleet)

Kirkland: Thousands of bright yellow, I don't know, they're coming from the surface. I don't know what they are. They're cutting the enemy fleet to shreds! My God, it's beautiful!

Nominations

 * Nominated Gemini for "Best Visual Effects" (James Tichenor, Chris Doll, Shannon Gurney, James Halverson, Krista McLean, Craig Van Den Biggelaar, Karen Watson and Bruce Woloshyn)
 * Nominated Primetime Emmy for "Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Series" (Michelle Comens, James Tichenor, Shannon Gurney, Bruce Woloshyn, Chris Doll, James Halverson, Craig Van Den Biggelaar, Krista McLean, Patrick Kalyn)
 * Nominated VES Award for "Outstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast Series" (James Tichenor, Shannon Gurney, Craig Van Den Biggelaar and Bruce Woloshyn)

Death

 * Her'ak
 * Ronan

In other languages

 * French: La Cité Perdue (2ème partie) (The Lost City (part 2))
 * Italian: Città Perduta (Parte 2) (Lost City (part 2))
 * Spanish: La Ciudad Perdida (Parte 2) (The Lost City (part 2))
 * Czech: Ztracené město (2. část) (The Lost City (part 2))
 * German: Die Verlorene Stadt, Teil 2 (The Lost City, Part 2)
 * Hungarian: Az elveszett város (The Lost City (part 2))