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"The Powers That Be" is the fifth episode of the ninth season of Stargate SG-1.
Synopsis[]
P8X-412, a planet formerly belonging to Qetesh (the Goa'uld who once possessed Vala Mal Doran) has been visited by a Prior. SG-1 visits this planet to convince the simple folk not to worship the Ori.
Plot[]
Because nothing but time will dissolve the link between them, Dr. Daniel Jackson and Vala Mal Doran are forced to remain together at Stargate Command. But when Vala learns that P8X-412 is one of 43 planets already visited by a Prior of the Ori, she persuades Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell to help the villagers of that primitive world resist this new danger.
Mitchell, Daniel and Teal'c accompany Vala to the planet, where they discover the real reason for Vala's special interest: The villagers there worship her as the Goa'uld Qetesh. Vala was once host to the real Qetesh, and after she was freed of the symbiote, she discovered that the people of this isolated planet hadn't heard that their god was dead. She continued posing as Qetesh, and the villagers showered her with the few riches they had. Now she's back to collect her loot. She also thinks she can simply order the villagers to reject the Prior.
Daniel and the rest of the team doubt her assumption. The Prior's powers are very real: on his previous visit, he apparently healed a villager, Vachna, of a terrible illness. This has caused a rift between the villagers, with Vachna praising the Ori and the village leader, Azdak, remaining faithful to "Qetesh." Vala won't be able to compete with the Prior in a god-versus-god showdown; the villagers will inevitably lose faith in her and submit to the Ori. Daniel finally persuades Vala that their only hope is to tell the truth. If her people come to see Vala as a false god, maybe they'll be suspicious of the Ori, too.
Unfortunately, the revelation of Vala's true identity doesn't go over so well. The outraged villagers, led by Azdak, toss her in prison and put her on trial for her life (Vala actually implemented the trial system when she ruled on the planet, and she called it a 'Mal Doran'). As Daniel argues that Vala deserves mercy, the Prior of the Ori returns. He debates with Daniel, and it's obvious that some of the villagers are buying his claims, whilst few others believe Daniel's explanation that the 'power' of the Ori arises from understanding and technology, not magic.
When Vachna falls ill again, however, Vala heals him using a Goa'uld healing device. This demonstration forces many villagers, including Vachna, to question the validity of the Prior's claims... until more people collapse with the illness. A plague ensues, and Daniel postulates that it could have been the Ori that dealt the plague to the Ancients that led to their extinction. This leaves Vala little hope of being able to cure it with one hand-device, and indeed, the disease spreads too fast for her to keep up. A medical team is sent from the SGC, led by Dr. Carolyn Lam, and but their efforts fail. Worse, those Vala heals fall sick again afterwards. Soon, even Mitchell succumbs.
The Ori, it seems, want to teach a mortal lesson to SG-1 and the people of P8X-412. Mitchell falls ill beyond anyone's aid, and Azdak dies. Vala sheds a secret tear for him.
Ultimately, when the Prior returns, the townsfolk pledge their allegiance to the Ori, and the Prior cures the whole village of the plague. Azdak even comes back to life, and Mitchell is saved. Vala had finally had enough of him and tried to gun him down, the bullets froze in mid-air before they reached his body. The Prior leaves, only telling SG-1 to tell others what they had seen that day.
References[]
Ancients; Ancient contagion; Antarctica; Ascension; Aspirin; Ayiana; Ba'al; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Cimarron Hills; FN P90 Personal Defense Weapon; Colonel Garrett; Goa'uld; Goa'uld healing device; Hazmat suit; Jaffa High Council; Jello; Kim Lam; Mal Doran; Naquadah; Ori; Origin; P8X-412; People of P8X-412; Prior; Prior staff; PRIOR2 virus; Qetesh; Tok'ra
Notable Quotes[]
Vala: What makes you think they're going to tell you the truth? You're supposed to be my faithful servant.
Jackson: Then I'll also explain that we're not as faithful as you would like to believe and if necessary I'll also tell them we're plotting to kill you.
Vala: I have heard better plans!
Mitchell: I kind of like it.
Mitchell: You stealing this planet's most valued treasure is the least of our concerns right now.
Vala: I like your attitude. I was thinking of cutting you boys in at ten percent and now I'm thinking twenty.
Mitchell: We do not want to get into a God-off. Especially since we know you're not even close.
Vala: Forget what I said about the twenty percent.
Vala: So what's the plan? You gonna blow up this door, lay down suppression fire, so we can rush out through the hidden escape passage. (to Daniel) It's in the room I told you had no other exit.
Vala: Thank you! I apologize for ever doubting your masterful skills at negotiation.
Jackson: He's doing the best he can.
Vala: That's what terrifies me.
Lam: How are you feeling?
Mitchell: Tingly ... How 'bout we pretend I didn't say that.
Notes[]
Plantilla:Source images
- This is the 179th episode of Stargate SG-1, surpassing the Star Trek: The Next Generation's 178 episode run, the longest running Star Trek series.
- Apparently, Vala Mal Doran was in fact telling the truth that she was host to a Goa'uld ("Prometheus Unbound" and the previous episode). She was host to Qetesh, who is fittingly based on Plantilla:WPS, an ancient Chaldean and later Ancient Egyptian sex goddess.
- In this episode, we find out that Major General Henry Landry is in fact Dr. Carolyn Lam's father, which has been hinted at since the beginning of season nine.
- This is the second episode in which someone dies in Lam's care and returns to life again.
- The virus released by the Prior is similar to the Ancient contagion Ayiana had when she was defrosted in "Frozen". Dr. Daniel Jackson believes that the Ori may have released the plague that wiped out the Ancients.
- As confirmed on the DVD commentary for this episode, all the alien characters in this story are named after characters in Plantilla:WPS's play Plantilla:WPS.
- At the end of the previous episode, Teal'c leaves Stargate Command for Dakara. However, he appears in this episode without any explanation for his return.
- At one point Vala exclaims that she has "heard better plans!", to which Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell responds that he likes it. This is probably a reference to Farscape, and John Crichton's plans.
- Writer Martin Gero wrote this episode before Executive Producer Robert C. Cooper began writing "Origin." So after Cooper finished writing "Origin," he rewrote part of the script because no one on the writing staff (including Robert Cooper, himself) had a clear idea what Origin and the Ori doctrine would be. So Gero wrote the script very vague, and the court sequence and how it would take off after was part of a major rewrite (by Cooper, after Gero moved on to Stargate: Atlantis full-time).
- The opening scene, where Vala and Mitchell are in the cafeteria, was originally suppose to involve Daniel and Vala in Daniel's Lab, with the same information revealed in both versions of the opening scene. However, the day the scene was supposed to be shot, Michael Shanks shaved his beard, without letting anyone know, so the opening scene was changed. The opening scene was shot during production of "Beachhead" using the 2nd unit crew.
- Amanda Tapping (Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter) does not appear in this episode. Along with "Prometheus Unbound" and "The Ties That Bind", this is one of only three episodes of the series in which Sam is neither seen nor mentioned. The other ones are "Avalon, Part 2" and "Origin"
- Dr. Lam refers to the events of "Frozen".
In other languages[]
- French: Prosélytisme (Proselytizing)
- Italian: La Minaccia degli Ori (The Ori Threat)
- Spanish: Los que Detentan el Poder (The Ones Who Have the Power)
- Czech: Sláva bohům na výsostech (Celebrating the Gods Absolutely)
- German (DVD/TV): Höhere Mächte (Higher Powers) / Machtspiele (Power Games)
External links[]
- Plantilla:SciFi
- Plantilla:MGMsite
- Plantilla:GateWorld
- Plantilla:Solutionswiki
publicado también bajo la Licencia Creative Commons CC-BY-SA.