The Quest (Stargate SG-1)
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| Stargate SG-1 episode | |
|---|---|
| “The Quest” | |
 |
|
| Episode no. | Season 10 Episode 10 and 11 |
| Guest star(s) | Cliff Simon as Ba'al Morena Baccarin as Adria Rod Loomis as Osric Beverley Breuer as Barkeep Stephen Holmes as Villager Doug Abrahams as Prior Steve Archer as Ori Commander Kenton Reid as Ori Soldier Quinn Lord as Child |
| Writer(s) | Joseph Mallozzi & Paul Mullie |
| Director | Andy Mikita |
| Production no. | 1010 and 1011 |
| Original airdate | September 22, 2006 (Part 1) January 3, 2007 (Part 2) |
| Episode chronology | |
| ← Previous | Next → |
| "Company of Thieves" | "Line In The Sand" |
"The Quest" (Parts 1 and 2) are episodes from Season 10 of the science fiction television series Stargate SG-1.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
[edit] Part 1
The quest for the Holy Grail continues, as SG-1 hunts for the mythical "Sangraal"[1] -- believed to actually be an Ancient device invented by Merlin, which can kill the ascended Ori[2]. 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. Jackson and Vala stumble on the key to finding the world the Sangraal is hidden on: the gate addresses of the three planets Arthur and his knights 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 all the 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. Daniel Jackson doubts that it's an actual dragon, believing it to be some form of advanced security system. Furthermore, an ancient scroll 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 travellers -- 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 bartender, 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 leave Ba'al behind, 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.
[edit] Part 2
Part 2 has not yet aired.
Confronted by a Repository of the Ancients, Daniel chooses to download the knowledge contained in the Repository into his mind.
[edit] Quotes
- Adria: - "We thwarted all efforts against us. Crippled your fleet. Met with little if any resistance on the worlds that we redeemed. Opposition to the Ori is clearly hopeless, but you continue to struggle against the inevitable."
Jackson: - "Yeah, well, what can I tell you. We're optimists.
Adria: - "Your only hope lies with Merlin's weapon. Once I take that away from you, your defeat will be complete."
Vala: - Ha ha. Now looks who's the optimist.
[edit] Trivia
- The first passage of the text (in larger writing) on the left side of the Ancient scroll is repeated on the right, but with more text. The paper is titled "parchment of virtues", and the first (and third) passages read, "the true man will look for prudence wisdom kindness charity and faith be the truest of hearts and ye shall find the answer." The second passage is cut off, but the visible portions read, "though i wal hrough the valley of death ... ehe no evil". The last passage reads "hail mary full of grace the lord is with I just ahve bigger bullet launcher than you dig it." The "a" and "h" in "have" are transposed, probably by accident, given the similar appearance of the characters. The first written puzzle can also be clearly seen transcribed on the wall, exactly as Jackson reads it aloud.
- General Landry does not appear in this episode.
- It is possible that Ba'al's unwilling donation to the treasure chest puzzle was the same dagger that he used when torturing then-Colonel Jack O'Neill in the episode Abyss. He refers to the weapon as having "great sentimental value."
- As Mitchell notes, Adria's eyes are no longer a fiery red-orange color. She flashes them red-orange for a moment, indicating that she has changed her own eye color.
- The part in which Osric says, "Just ask the Cobbler's wife," concerning the maze which SG-1 must navigate through, refers loosely to the Cobbler's wife in the fairy tale "The Three Heads in the Well".
- Ba'al does not speak in the signature flanged-bass Goa'uld voice at any time in Part 1.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Official Stargate SG-1 site. MGM. Visited June 8, 2006. Most of site requires Flash.
