Template:SG1-9 "The Powers That Be" is the fifth episode of the ninth season of Stargate SG-1.
Plot
Because nothing but time will dissolve the link between them, Daniel and Vala 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 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. 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
Ancient contagion; Ascension; Ba'al; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Goa'uld healing device; Mal Doran; Origin; Ori plague; P8X-412; People of P8X-412; Qetesh
Notes
- This is the 179th episode of Stargate SG-1, surpassing the Star Trek: The Next Generation 178 episode run, the longest running Star Trek series.
- Apparently, Vala 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 Qetesh, an ancient Chaldean and later Ancient Egyptian sex goddess.
- In this episode, we find out that General Landry is in fact Dr. Lam's father, which has been hinted at since the beginning of season nine.
- Greg Anderson (Prior) was previously in "Avalon (Part 2)" and "Origin" as the Administrator.
- This is the second episode in which someone dies in Dr. Lam's care and returns to life again.
- The virus released by the Prior is similar to the one Ayiana had when she defrosted in "Frozen". Daniel 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 Bertolt Brecht's play The Caucasian Chalk Circle.
- Amanda Tapping does not appear in this episode.
- At the end of the previous episode, Teal'c leaves the SGC 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 Mitchell responds that he likes it. This is probably a reference to Farscape, and Crichton's plans.
External links
- Official Stargate SG-1 site. MGM. Visited June 8, 2006. Most of site requires Flash.
- Screenplay (PDF). Distributed by MGM. Prepared by Line 21 Media Services Ltd (2005-07-28). Retrieved on October 29, 2006.
- Summary from GateWorld. Visited May 13, 2005.
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This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at The Powers That Be (Stargate SG-1). The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with SGCommand, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License. |