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The Quest, part 1
Original Airdate: September 22, 2006
Reviewed by cmdr_forst

Summary | Review | Screen Caps | Cast | Guest Cast | Creative Staff

Summary

Daniel sits in his office, poring over papers looking for the location of Merlin's weapon. Mitchell and Teal'c drop by to see if Daniel wants to join them (the intrepid scientist does not). After Teal'c asks how the search is going, Daniel launches into a lengthy explanation of his work thus far. He has discovered a tetrahedron connecting various planets. But of course, he has no idea what it means. It sure looks pretty.

Suddenly, Vala wakes up and jumps out of bed. She rushes into Daniel's office, exclaiming that she's come up with the answer. The pyramid is a representation of the three planets in one shape. Three into one. Three gate addresses into one. The planet they're looking for will be found at a location that combines all three gate addresses. It came to her in a dream. Carter joins Daniel and Vala, cautioning them that there could be countless combinations of the addresses that match planets in their database. Or, as a quick search shows, there could be only one.

SG-1, now with Vala as an official member, head to the planet and ask around for the sangraal. The locals know what it is but are surprised that in the past week two groups of "adventures" have come looking for it. Ba'al and a merry gang of Jaffa showed up three days before SG-1 arrived. Ba'al has a three-day head start. The locals send SG-1 to read a parchment that will help prepare them for the quest, but not after warning them that it will be dangerous and all that good stuff.

They meet Osric, who seems to be in charge of the local library. He brings them a parchment written by Morgan La Fey. As it turns out, legend has it that the sangraal is protected by a dragon. Carter doubts it is a real dragon but nobody doubts the fact that the sangraal is heavily guarded. Unfortunately, the parchment isn't all that helpful. Thankfully, there is a map. But due to the fact that Ba'al tried to steal the map, SG-1 isn't allowed to see it. Vala wants to steal it, of course.

The team heads to a bar to collect their thoughts. They're interrupted by a commotion outside. Soldiers of the Ori have shown up, claiming the planet as part of the Ori's crusade. The soldiers collect the contents of the library for a mass burning. A Pryor does his spiel and offers fulfillment through Origin as SG-1 looks on, clad in heavy cloaks.

Daniel theorizes that the reason the Ori showed up is to destroy the sangraal, the only thing that can destroy them. Osric offers to lead the team to Merlin's treasure. And then some Ori soldiers bust in, looking for Osric. After a quick firefight, the team ducks out a secret doorway, with Osric in tow. He leads them to a clearing where a group of people stand stuck in a "time distortion field," according to Carter. Time within the field is very, very, very slow and the folks stuck in the field are moving very, very, very slowly.

Mitchell suggests going around. But the field extends in every direction. But Carter may have found another way in. The field turns out to be a maze with a pathway of real time cut through. Carter leads the way, carefully. At least, until her scanning device cuts out, leaving everyone stranded in the middle of the field. Vala suggests retracing their steps. That won't work. Teal'c believes that Morgan La Fey would have left some way through.

Vala theorizes that the answer might be deceptively simple. So Carter picks up a rock and tosses it forward. The rock hangs in midair, frozen in time. Using the same method, the group makes it through. But they have to pick up the pace if they want to catch up to Ba'al. Osric and Daniel get into an argument about the Ori, gods, the supernatural and the truth. Their talk is interrupted by someone mumbling in the distance. It's Ba'al!

Before Ba'al can warn them off, the group becomes trapped inside an energy field with Ba'al. He's been there three days and is quite hungry. Using food as bait, they learn that Ba'al had only two of the three addresses and thus it took him some time to check each planet. Eventually, he sent his ships to find the sangraal where it was supposed to be, but they couldn't find it. So he went himself. And once he became trapped, his Jaffa went off in search of a way to free him.

Now caught up on the story of Ba'al, the team sets to work trying to free themselves. Daniel surmises that the empty chest used to draw them into the trap could be the answer. If they each put something in the chest, an act of charity, they may be able to reverse the trap and free themselves. After "convincing" Ba'al to contribute a knife, the trap is lifted.

Mitchell threatens Ba'al, but he insists he has the name of the sangraal's protector, which might be a password and thus he has to tag along. Sadly, Mitchell agrees, so Ba'al joins the gang as they traipse through the woods. Osric says that the sangraal is hidden in a cave below a mountain. They find the cave entrance and Mitchell turns his weapon on Osric. He had earlier paraphrased a quote from the book of Origin. And the ring Osric donated to escape the trap had Ori designs on it.

After lamenting the fact that he has to reveal himself, Osric transforms into an armor-clad Adria, who scowls at Daniel and says things will be especially bad for him. It was all a set-up, including Vala's dream. Morgan La Fey put safeguards in place that means Adria cannot access the weapon herself. Only someone "true of spirit," meaning Daniel, can do that. Adria threatens to start killing people if Daniel doesn't comply, so he agrees.

Adria is certain that, with the weapon in hand, SG-1's fight against Origin will finally be over. And considering that Adria will most likely kill them all once she has the weapon, things do look a bit dark. The group comes to a crossroad. Writing in Ancient tells them to go the way of truth, so Vala immediately assumes they should go right. But Daniel reminds her that in Ancient, the word "truth and kindness" does not mean "right," as in the opposite of right.

They hear a child crying and decide to go that way. It's probably a test. They follow the crying and find a small boy behind a heavy metal gate. Unable to lift it, Vala convinces Adria to use her powers to lift the gate. Adria wants to turn back but eventually lifts the gate. The boy smiles and disappears, and the team continues forward.

It looks like they've come to a dead end but find another riddle. Something about being bound by rings. As the mountain starts shaking, they realize the answer is a key. Daniel yells out the Ancient term for key and the rock face melts away. They rush forward. Another riddle. The answer is wind. They move forward again. Yet another riddle. Adria gets this one. The mountain stops shaking. And then they come across a wall of fire.

They can't find a way through it and they can't go back. Adria still thinks it was a trap but Daniel is convinced they made all the right choices. Ba'al wonders why Adria doesn't just snuff out the flame and she responds that her powers just don't work that way. The two argue but ultimately Adria doesn't kill him. Daniel realizes that the only choice left is to walk through the fire simply on faith. So he does and the flame disappears.

They've found the sangraal, sitting on a stone situated at the end of a long and narrow rock path, high above a dark, endless drop. Adria and Daniel walk out slowly and Adria insists that Daniel pick up the sangraal. But he won't because he's come to the conclusion that Adria doesn't have any powers aside from some defensive capabilities. Morgan La Fey has seen to that.

So, willing to take the chance that Adria does have her powers and will kill him the instant he picks up the sangraal, Daniel tries to do just that. But his hand passes through the sangraal. He may not be as "true of spirit" as Andria thought. The cave starts rumbling, dust starts falling, and everyone heads for the exit. They're trapped by a wall of rock.

And then the dragon shows up.

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Review

And thus did Stargate: SG-1's midseason finale come to pass. More importantly, after such a long time, the team finally got to go after Merlin's weapon itself, rather than searching for clues. No more reading through ancient texts and fighting holographic knights for the SG-1. It was a long time coming but it was mostly worth it. I could have done without Ba'al, who has become something of a hollow, dull character since the Gou'ald threat was ended. But at least it adds some depth to the storyline.

The twist of Osric actually being Adria was interesting (although I accidently spoiled it for myself). When Adria-as-Osric quoted from the book of Origin, I noticed the quick exchange of glances between Daniel and Mitchell (or maybe Teal'c). I would like to think that I would have realized what was going on at that point but who knows. In any case, although Adria may be a somewhat cliched character, I adore Morena Baccarin and any episode she appears in gets bumped up a few notches in my opinion.

Once the gang got to the cave, it was fairly obvious what would happen. Daniel would eventually work things out, Adria would not be able to kill everyone, and a dragon would show up. But when all that happened, it happened in a neat way, with the usual Stargate: SG-1 dialogue and humor. And there was a dragon, which is always a fun time.

This season, potentially the final season for the series, has not been as good as earlier seasons, but it was an improvement over last season. And although this midseason finale pales in comparison to other midseason finales, it was nevertheless a fun romp. It is interesting to note that, despite the stories being less entertaining, the fantastic characters have managed to keep the series more or less afloat.

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Grade: /10

Screen Caps (Click for larger image)

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Cast:

Ben Browder as Cameron Mitchell
Amanda Tapping as Samantha "Sam" Carter
Christopher Judge
as Teal'c
Claudia Black
as Vala Mal Doran
Beau Bridges
as Hank Landry
Michael Shanks as Dr. Daniel Jackson

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Guest Cast:

Morena Baccarin as Adria
Cliff Simon as Baal
Rod Loomis as Osric
Beverley Breuer
as Barkeep
Stephen Holmes
as Villager
Doug Abrams
as Prior
Steve Archer
as Ori Commander
Kenton Reid as Ori Soldier
Quinn Lord as Child

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Creative Staff:

Written by Joseph Mallozzi & Paul Mullie
Directed by Andy Mikita

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