Summary
We open in the Odyssey's galley. Daniel Jackson
is face down in his, um, whatever he's eating. Vala and
Mitchell wake him because they're certain he won't want
to miss "the landing." Daniel rushes off to
the bridge just in time to witness the first glimpse
of Atlantis.
Yes, folks, it's crossover time. Weir radios a welcome.
The team takes a moment to admire the city, then it's
off to save the galaxy. The Milky Way galaxy, at any
rate.
SG-1, including Vala, meet with Dr. Weir, Dr. McKay
and Lt. Col. Sheppard. The topic is the Ori supergate
in the Milky Way Galaxy. Intelligence suggests that the
Ori are preparing to send more ships through as reinforcements.
McKay suggests dialing the supergate, but that's been
tried and failed. Since the supergate is designed to
be dialed from another galaxy, SG-1 has been assigned
the task of dialing from the Pegasus Galaxy. The idea
is to move a regular stargate near a black hole, dial
a regular stargate near the supergate, and then use an
explosion to get the wormhole to jump from the regular
gate to the supergate. The black hole would then keep
the Ori gate dialed indefinitely. McKay's help will be
needed in making the calculations, much to Carter's chagrin.
Sheppard let's Mitchell in on his little secret for
dealing with McKay. He tosses Mitchell a lemon with which
to threaten McKay, who is deathly allergic to citrus.
While Mitchell, Carter and McKay are off to play with
black holes, Daniel and Vala are tasked with searching
Atlantis for some reference to the planets where Merlin's
anti-ascended being weapon is supposed to be hidden.
Dr. Weir has already searched the city's database for
words with similar pronunciations, but has come up empty.
Dr. Weir takes them to a holographic database interface.
The system was designed to teach small children the Lantean
systems, so it can be a bit patronizing. Daniel and Vala
activate the system and a hologram of a woman appears.
Vala starts to ask their question directly,
but Daniel cuts her off.
The Odyssey reaches the black hole and releases a stargate
that has been fitted with maneuvering thrusters.
Daniel asks the interface for a list of Lantean cities
in the Milky Way and the order in which they were founded.
Vala hounds him to simply ask about the planets they're
seeking directly. Daniel doesn't think there's any chance
that they'll be there but relents. He asks for the names
of two planets known in the dialect of Old English as
Castiana and Sahal. Much to his surprise, the interface
gives him an answer: Taoth Vaclarush and Valos Cor. Not
only that, but she give the locations and gate addresses
for both worlds.
The stargate finally reaches the correct position and
establishes a wormhole to the stargate that Teal'c has
placed near the Ori supergate. Due to time dilation from
the black hole, communications between the two sides
of the wormhole are delayed and distorted, but Mitchell
manages to make contact with Teal'c. The first warhead
is beamed near the stargate and detonates but does not
cause the wormhole to jump to the supergate.
Vala is ready to celebrate, but Daniel is not. He thinks
something else is going on. After all, there was no correlation
between the Old English names and the Ancient names for
the two planets, and how could the database possibly
translate a language that was spoken 8,000 years after Atlantis
was abandoned? Daniel asks the interface to display,
one at a time, a visual record of all the Lantean citizens
that fled to
Earth.
Carter has made new calculations for the strength of
the next warhead. McKay thinks she'll destroy the stargate,
and that what they're trying to do is impossible. Mitchell
says that McKay has a reputation for pulling off the
impossible when threatened with impending death. Yes,
McKay admits, but he's not facing impending death. Mitchell
pulls out the lemon and waves it in McKay's face. McKay
agrees to try to come up with something.
Daniel and Vala watch as hologram after hologram flash
by until they come across one they recognize. The interface
tells them that the man they're seeing is Moros, the
last High Counselor of Atlantis. We know him as Merlin.
Vala thinks that Daniel suspects that Merlin came back
to Atlantis and hid the names in the database for others
to someday find. Wrong. The interface, without being
asked, tells them that the first human to set foot on
Atlantis after the evacuation was Dr. Weir. Daniel notes
that the interface was very specific in saying "the
first
human." He asks about ascended beings,
and the interface doesn't answer. Daniel suggests that
the interface
isn't an interface at all, but an ascended Ancient. At
this point the interface/Ancient looks directly at Daniel
and tells him he has what he was looking for and suggests
that he act on it. The being then disappears.
McKay has a possible solution to their problem. They
don't need a bigger detonation, but a prolonged one.
The cumulative effect on the matter stream is what they're
looking for, so they need to use two bombs detonated
one a few seconds after the other. The problem is that
they only have four bombs left, which gives them only
two shots. Also, if the first attempt doesn't work, it
could destabilize the stargate's thrusters and push it
closer to the black hole. Col. Emerson isn't keen on
bringing the Odyssey any closer to the black
hole, but Carter thinks it's worth the risk.
Atlantis' long-range sensors detect a Wraith ship heading
for the Odyssey's position, possibly having detected
the nuclear explosion. The black hole prevents communication
to the Odyssey from Atlantis, and is likely impacting
the Odyssey's sensors, too. Dr. Weir dials Stargate
Command to have them relay a
message
through
Teal'c. That will take some time, as Teal'c isn't currently
in direct communications range with SGC.
Weir checks in on Daniel and Vala to find Daniel shouting
for the Ancient, whom Daniel believes is Morgan le Fay,
to come back. Weir is skeptical to say the least. She
starts up the interface and the hologram returns. Weir
says the program hasn't changed. Daniel has her play
back the last sentence it said to him, and we again see
the hologram face Daniel and repeat her sentence. Weir
checks the power usage log for the room, and finds that
the only power drain is from the lights, not from any
hologram. Finally, Morgan admits who she is and apologizes
for the ruse.
Back on the Odyssey, it's time for a second
try. Carter warns Teal'c to keep his distance as there's
a chance
they may vaporize both gates. The blast goes off, but
again is not successful in making the wormhole jump,
but energy did pass between the stargate and the supergate.
McKay suggests setting both remaining warheads to maximum
yield and trying again. Emerson warns that each attempt
is pushing the stargate closer to the black hole. They'll
have to go in closer for another beaming attempt, and
sensors and communications are already being adversely
affected.
Teal'c's sensors detect an approaching Ori ship which
will arrive within minutes. That's not enough time for
another attempt. Teal'c can't simply leave, either, because
they can't risk the Ori finding the secondary stargate.
On Atlantis, Morgan refuses to give any more direct
help in finding the weapon, citing the Ancient's law
against interference. Daniel questions whether she's
helping them at all, given that Earth legends refer to
her as a rival of Merlin's. She tells them that for a
time she was a rival. When the Ancients returned to Earth,
humans were so primitive that there was no chance that
they could rebuild their society there. Some made their
way to the stargate at the south pole, some planted the
seeds of civilization around the globe, and some, including
herself and Merlin, chose to live the rest of their lives
in meditation, eventually ascending.
Thousands of years later, after realizing what a threat
the Ori could one day become, Merlin retook human form,
keeping all his knowledge and several powers. He worked
in secret on the weapon that Daniel seeks. Morgan was
sent to observe him and, if necessary stop him. During
that time, the time of Arthur and Camelot, Merlin was
the most powerful being on Earth. Daniel notes that if
she was sent to oppose Merlin, she could be misleading
them now.
Carter has Teal'c move his ship alongside the stargate
and extend his cloaking field. Hopefully, the Ori will
not be able to detect either the ship or the stargate.
In order to reduce the chance that he'll be detected,
Carter advises Teal'c to shut down all nonessential systems
and maintain radio silence. McKay goes to calibrate the
last warheads.
Morgan tells Daniel, Vala and Dr. Weir that she has
no reason to mislead them. She used the hologram program
as a way to help them find their answers and think they'd
done it on their own. Daniel says that the believes her,
and understands the risk she's taking by even showing
himself, but he wants more. He tells her that after the
Ori have taken over the galaxy, and every one of billions
of souls are praying to them, they'll come after the
ancients. Morgan tells him that if they interfere, they'll
be no better than the Ori.
Teal'c watches the Ori ship pass overhead, apparently
not detecting him. He receives a message from SG-11,
relaying the information that a Wraith ship is closing
in on the Odyssey. On the Odyssey, the warheads
are calibrated and ready to go, but being this near the
black hole is putting a strain on the sublight engines.
We then see the Wraith ship emerge from hyperspace.
On Atlantis, Morgan knows that Daniel is speaking from
the heart, something she remembers from his brief time
as an ascended being. Those memories were stripped from
Daniel before he was sent back, and Daniel figures out
that she's worried about being punished for doing the
right thing. He says there must be other Ancients that
see that now is the time to join the fight.
Teal'c relays the message about the Wraith to the Odyssey.
Nothing shows on the sensors, but they can't be trusted.
Shields are only operating at 20% due to the proximity
to the black hole. Emerson orders the ship to back away
and they come under attack by the Wraith. Carter suggests
drawing the Wraith in closer to the black hole, so that
their systems will also be affected, including their
jamming system. Then it should be possible to beam a
warhead on board and destroy the ship.
Daniel pleads with Morgan to help them, suggesting that
the others may just be waiting for someone to cross the
line instead of just toeing it. "Not enough," she replies.
Vala asks that she at least tell them which of the planets
the weapon is on. Morgan starts to reply, "the weapon
is not..." then she gets taken away by the others.
The Wraith ship follows the Odyssey in towards the black
hole. Carter advises Teal'c that what they're planning
will probably vaporize the stargates at both ends, and
he has 20 seconds to get his hyperdrive online and escape.
He powers up his systems, and the Ori ship starts heading
in his direction. The Odyssey slingshots around the black
hole, passing close to the stargate as they exit. The
Wraith ship follows, and a warhead is beamed aboard.
Just as it passes the stargate, the Wraith ship explodes.
In the Milky Way, the wormhole jumps from the stargate
to the supergate, and the unstable vortex from the supergate
hits the Ori ship, causing it to explode. When Teal'c
relays the news that they managed to destroy an Ori ship
by destroying a Wraith ship, there was much rejoicing.
Back on Atlantis, Daniel mourns Morgan's fate, and tells
Vala they learned more than the gate addresses of Castiana
and Sahal. They learned that the Ancients aren't going
to help them. They're on their own.
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