Sangraal (Stargate)
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The Sangraal, also known as the Holy Grail or the Blood Stone, is a fictional weapon designed by the Ancient Merlin to kill ascended beings in the science fiction television series Stargate SG-1.
According to Daniel Jackson, the notion that the Grail was a cup or chalice was a late addition to the myth, a myth that according to some chroniclers originally described the Holy Grail as a stone that fell from the heavens.[1]
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[edit] Function
Exactly how it works is unknown, but the Asgard have surmised its functions. According to Kvasir, it is an energy transfer device, similar to a Zero Point Module, except that the energy is channeled not from sub-space into ordinary space-time, but rather into the dimension occupied by Ascended beings. The energy is some sort of interference; the effect has been described as "two standing waves cancelling each other out".
The Holy Grail is presumed to be deceptively small in appearance due to the fact that it, in all likelihood, transcends ordinary space and time, just as Ascended beings do. [1] For a time, SG-1 believed that the weapon consisted of a single red stone, about the size of a tennis ball. However, it was later revealed that the weapon consists of several devices working together, with the red stone as the "key to make it work". [2]
[edit] Plot
Merlin (also known as Moros by the Ancients) originally designed the weapon to combat the Ori, as he recognized them as the threat they could one day become. He chose to become human again on Earth, while still retaining most of the knowledge and powers he had gained through his ascension. However, the Ancients did not support his research to design weapons that could eventually be used against them, and sent the ascended Ancient Morgan le Fay to watch him. [3] Eventually, Merlin constructed a dimension shifting device known as Arthur's Mantle to conceal his work from them.[4] In this device he hid the address of a planet where he worked on the weapon, Camelot.[1]
According to legends known to the people of Camelot (also known to the SGC as PX1-767,[5]) King Arthur and his knights left on a quest to locate the Sangraal. They were said to have journeyed to three distant lands: Castiana, Sahal, and Vagonbrei. Vagonbrei's gate address was soon after discovered by Daniel Jackson [5], and with help from the ascended Morgan le Fay, the addresses for the other two planets were discovered in Atlantis' database.[3] The SGC subsequently searched all three planets but came up empty.
Several weeks later it was discovered that the three planets form an equilateral triangle and, along with Camelot, the four planets form a perfect tetrahedron. With information provided to Vala Mal Doran by Adria via a dream it was discovered that the address of the planet on which the Sangraal was located was composed of the symbols from each of the three worlds. After the addresses from the Ancient list of gate addresses acquired after Jack O'Neill's experience with the Ancient Repository of Knowledge were cross-referenced with the addresses of Castiana, Sahal and Vagonbrei, a single gate address was discovered.
The planet in question was undetectable from space, protecting it from the Ori and making it only accessible by Stargate. Also, the powers of an Orici are negated to some extent. Upon exploring the planet, SG-1 discovered a series of Ancient trials and riddles protecting the weapon, apparently set up by Morgan le Fay. Currently, SG-1 is desperately searching for the weapon, their only hope against the Ori. However, the Orici was searching for it as well, trying to destroy it before it can be used against her masters. She masks herself by appearing to SG-1 as a member of the village, however in the final trials they enter a cave which blocks her powers.
Eventually, it was discovered that while Merlin completed the device, it was destroyed by his old rival, Morgan le Fay. However, she feared the potential threat the Ori could one day pose. Instead of killing Merlin, she captured him and placed him in stasis so that he could one day construct the weapon. When he was revived a thousand years later by SG-1, he began work on the device, although he realised he would not live long enough to complete it. Instead, he reconfigured a Repository of Knowledge to download the information necessary for constructing the Sangraal into Daniel Jackson's mind. Still, Jackson also failed to complete the device in time, and was captured by Adria before his work was done.[2]
Whilst being held prisoner by Adria, Daniel was able to fool her into thinking that she had converted him to Origin. She made him a Prior and allowed him to continue his construction of the device, intending to use it against the Ancients. Daniel, however, used Merlin's knowledge to thwart her efforts and eventually revealed that his capture had been Merlin's plan all along. Now that Daniel had been allowed to complete the device he, along with SG-1, commandeered an Ori ship and sent it through the Supergate back to the Ori home galaxy with the device set on a timer, to activate once it reached the other side. It is not clear whether the device functioned correctly and destroyed the Ori, as six more ships arrived in the Milky Way galaxy shortly afterwards although Daniel surmised that the destruction of the Ori themselves would not stop their followers. [6]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c "Camelot". Stargate SG-1.
- ^ a b "The Quest". Stargate SG-1.
- ^ a b "The Pegasus Project". Stargate SG-1.
- ^ "Arthur's Mantle". Stargate SG-1.
- ^ a b "Morpheus". Stargate SG-1.
- ^ "The Shroud". Stargate SG-1.
[edit] External Links
- "Sangraal" at GateWorld Omnipedia.
- "Sangraal" at StargateWiki.
