The Quest (Stargate SG-1)
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| “The Quest” | |
|---|---|
| Stargate SG-1 episode | |
 |
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| Episode no. | Season 10 Episode 10 and 11 |
| Guest stars | 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 Matthew Walker as Merlin |
| Written by | Joseph Mallozzi & Paul Mullie |
| Directed by | Andy Mikita |
| Production no. | 1010 and 1011 |
| Original airdate | September 22, 2006 (Part 1) January 9, 2007 (Part 2) |
| Episode chronology | |
| ← Previous | Next → |
| "Company of Thieves" | "Line in the Sand" |
| Episode chronology | |
"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
The dragon attacks by breathing fire but Adria extends her personal shield to protect the team. SG-1 attempts to engage the dragon, but their firearms have no effect. The dragon swings its tail and knocks open an opening in the wall, through which the team escapes. Thinking they are momentarily safe, Mitchell soon sees a fireball expanding into the tunnel, and commands the team to run. They are able to find a way outside, but the dragon bursts out of the top of the mountain in pursuit.
Mitchell decides that since the prior attempt to fire on the dragon failed, that perhaps a different method of attack would be more successful. He reasons that "bullets don't bounce off Holograms" and decides to use C4, believing the dragon to be solid matter. They take cover in the treeline while preparing the attack, but Daniel states that they have to defeat the Dragon as it is the final task, and that speaking the Dragon's true name will destroy it. Vala suggests it might be Darrell the Dragon, while Teal'c suggests Puff. Ba'al had previously stated that he knew the name of the guardian, but admits that this was a lie. Mitchell, having prepared the C4 plans to run into the clearing and lure the dragon to the ground, giving him the opportunity to use the C4 against the dragon's vulnerable underbelly. He prepares to run into the clearing, but is restrained by Teal'c, who silently convinces Mitchell that he should be the one to act as the bait. The plan is initially a success; the Dragon lands and Teal'c throws the C4 into the dragon's mouth. Carter hits the detonator and a faint light is seen in and around the dragon's mouth but to the dismay of the team the dragon is unaffected, and proceeds to chase Teal'c.
As Teal'c begins to run back, Daniel reasons that the guardian referenced in the scroll is not the dragon, but the individual who created the dragon: Morgan Le Fay. Vala runs out, with Daniel in pursuit, telling her to wait. Vala stops in front of the dragon and says "Morgan Le Fay" but the Dragon remains. In desperation, she questioningly states "Darrell?" which predictably has no effect. Daniel catches up and quickly says "Ganos Lal" (the Ancient name of Morgan Le Fay) and the Dragon disappears.
The group return to the mountain and surround the Sangraal. Daniel reaches for it, and they are transported to another chamber. However, they discover that Adria was not transported with them. Daniel and Carter assume it was a fail safe to stop the wrong people coming, to which Mitchell complains that Ba'al remains with them. Upon inspection of the cave they find a frozen body with an inscription: "Here lies Myrrdin, archmage of the round". Daniel announces that the tests weren't designed to protect the Sangraal, they was designed to protect Merlin, who is in a stasis pod similar to the device in which O'Neill was frozen in Antarctica. Morgan would have had to destroy the Sangraal that Merlin had created, or risk the wrath of the Ancients, so she did, but preserved Merlin in the hope that he would be able to reconstruct it. Vala looking around the cave a bit more, comments to the team about a fixture on the wall, Daniel quickly tells Vala to watch out as the Repository of the Ancients tries to grab Vala, she successfully evades.
Merlin is released from stasis, and mistakes the party for some of the Knights of the Round Table. Ba'al begins to complain and Merlin literally silences him with a wave of his hand. Daniel explains that they are not the Knights and also the current situation with them and the Ori. Vala and Daniel remain with Merlin while the rest scout the area. They discover that they have changed locales and now find themselves in a desert environment not the verdant environment they were in prior. Teal'c remains outside while the others head back in to tell Vala and Daniel the news.
Back in the village, Adria is angry that SG-1 has evaded her, and that they may be en route to finding the Sangraal. The Prior tells her that when SG-1 beamed away, the gate opened for a split second. Adria orders the firing of the town, and attempts to discover where SG-1 has gone by examining the DHD.
Merlin agrees to help build a new Sangraal but asks one thing in return: that they follow him and whatever happens they must allow it to happen. Merlin stares into the Repository of the Ancients, which causes a 3 dimensional hologram to appear. Within the virtual space, Merlin begins to assemble the Sangraal. The team watching Merlin observes a strange shift, and Teal'c advises that the team should come outside. Mitchell with Ba'al and Carter arrive outside and discover that they are now on a Snow Planet. Carter reasons that to keep one step ahead of any pursuer, Morgan has programmed the gate to dial out every few hours and move the team from planet to planet on a network outside the standard gate network. Carter and Ba'al are told to work on the device so that they can figure a way to dial out from the gate.
Hours later, Merlin is weakening with stress of building the device, and insists he rests. Daniel tells him to take all the time he needs, but reminds him at what is at stake. Merlin muses to himself that he is too old and that there is not enough time. He says "Good luck, Dr. Jackson." to Daniel and faces the Repository of the Ancients once more. A blinding white light comes from the device, and Merlin is thrown back to the ground dead.
Shocked at what has just happened, Daniel wonders about Merlin's final words, but realizes that Merlin must have uploaded his knowledge into the Repository of the Ancients. Although previous encounters with the device have proved fatal, and required intervention by the Asgard to save O'Neill's life, Daniel faces the Repository of the Ancients which downloads Merlin's knowledge into Daniel. Vala contacts Mitchell and tells him to come back quickly, he tells the others to remain outside working. Mitchell upon returning seeing Daniel holding his head in his hands and says that he will continue to build the device. Vala begins to worry about Daniel's safety, and challenges Mitchell to tell Daniel not to continue. Mitchell reminds her about the time she flew into the Supergate and tells her that "Now you know the hard part about being part of this team is not risking your own life, it's watching your friends take chances with theirs'. Congratulations. Now you really are one of us.".
Mitchell remains inside, while outside a Carter and Ba'al are disagreeing about how to use the DHD to leave the planet. Carter reasons that since they can't find a dialing program in the DHD, that it must be stored in the obelisk that is next to the gate. Ba'al dismisses the idea as ridiculous because Carter is both a human and, worse still, a woman. Carter replies with a punch, knocking Ba'al to the ground, and advises him that if he refuses to help, then he's no longer worth keeping around. His life now in the balance, Ba'al becomes cooperative.
Daniel, moving at a much greater speed that Merlin was able to, completes the first stage of the Sangraal device in the holographic space, which then beams into existence on the pedestal below the hologram. He staggers from the repository weakened and states he must rest. Vala asks if Daniel would like anything, Daniel replies "water" but as Vala reaches for it, the bottle flies across the room to Daniel's hand. Daniel observes that although O'Neill was able to use the regenerative powers of the Ancients, Daniel has become telekinetic. He returns to the repository and continues with the Sangraal. Another shift occurs and Merlin's body vanishes. The team outside confirms that they are now on a jungle planet, pleasing Ba'al who did not enjoy working in the cold.
Adria is not far behind. She is able to deduce the gate address from the DHD after some study, and travels from the desert planet to the snow planet. Her guards also find Merlin's body, and Adria begins work on deciphering the next address, stating that each time it is taking her a shorter period to find the address. Daniel completes stage 2 of the Sangraal and again steps away from the repository exhausted. Mitchell asks how many more stages are to go. Daniel replies as if he is Merlin, stating that Mitchell really is similar to Percival. Mitchell and Vala now realize that the Ancient knowledge is overwhelming Daniel.
Carter struggling with the piece she believes is a way to active the gate and leave the planet, reluctantly asks Ba'al for help with it. Ba'al with a smiling look asks why he should help her, Teal'c reminds him of his current situation and he agrees. They are able to disable the safeguard preventing them from dialing out, but before they can act, an incoming wormhole registers. Carter informs Mitchell, he and Vala head outside, Daniel continues to rest. Adria's guards come through the gate and the team open fire. Mitchell and Vala arrive for support and Ba'al is shot and presumed dead.
Adria arrives in the cave, finding the incomplete Sangraal and proclaiming her victory to Daniel. Daniel uses his new powers to create a lightning storm, as Oma Desala did on Kheb which kills the Ori guards. The team turns to see Daniel flung from the mouth of the cave, with Adria standing triumphantly above. Carter dials out and the team are ready to leave, but Adria uses her power to fire a stream of energy at the team. Daniel uses his powers and creates a force field to protect his friends who head to the gate. Carter tells Daniel to follow her, "We aren't leaving without you!!" to which he replies "I'll be right behind you!". Mitchell walks through, and Adria overwhelms Daniel, who collapses.
Back at Stargate Command, Vala is looking for a way to go back and rescue Daniel, but the team is unable to determine the address from which they dialed in. Vala, frustrated, comments that Adria didn't have any trouble. An Ori ship flies through hyperspace, Daniel sits on the floor of a dark room. Adria enters, and he claims that whatever he had is gone, but Adria doesn't believe him. She advises Daniel to rest, because there is much to be done.
[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 look who's the optimist." - Ba'al: - "Merlin's little trick with my vocal cords expired the same moment he did."
Teal'c: - "Yet another reason to mourn his passing." - Mitchell: - "You don't get fancy mind powers unless there has been major redecorating going on inside your skull!"
- Ba'al: - "Looks like Merlin's drawbridge no longer goes all the way across the moat, if you catch my meaning."
[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 either episode, but he does appear in the Stargate Atlantis episode "The Return", which was aired simultaneously with 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 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.
- The people "frozen" in the time dilation field maze are actors standing still - their arms are shaking.
- Ba'al does not speak in the signature flanged-bass Goa'uld voice at any time during either episode.
- The 'dragon' that appears at the end of Part 1 does not look like the traditional European version, which most of the present storyline is based upon. It in fact more closely resembles a Wyvern, which has a pair of wings in place of front legs, as opposed to a European dragon.
- Part 2 of the episode had its world premiere on Sky One in the United Kingdom on January 9, 2007, 3 months before its airing in the United States on the Sci Fi Channel in April.
- When he awakens, Merlin believes that Carter is Guinevere, Mitchell is Percival, Jackson is Galahad, and Ba'al is Mordred. After gaining Merlin's memories, Daniel confirms that Mitchell looks like Percival.
- While discussing Daniel's time as an Ascended Being, Merlin says that Oma Desala focused more on the individual.
- Merlin says that when the Ori started out, they had the best of intentions, getting a surprised look from Daniel.
- For some reason, when Adria activates the Stargate on the snow-covered planet, the spinning sound effect usually used for the Earth Stargate is heard. This is likely an error, as the DHD does not cause the Stargate to spin; however, the SGC's dialing computer does.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Official Stargate SG-1 site. MGM. Visited June 8, 2006. Most of site requires Flash.
