Avalon (Stargate SG-1)

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"Avalon"
Stargate SG-1 episodes
Episode nos.Season 9
Episodes 1 & 2
Directed byAndy Mikita
Written byRobert C. Cooper
Production code901 & 902
Original air dates
  • July 15, 2005 (2005-07-15)
  • July 22, 2005 (2005-07-22)
Guest appearances
Episode chronology
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"
Origin
"
Stargate SG-1 (season 9)
List of episodes

"Avalon" (Parts 1 and 2) are the

television series Stargate SG-1
. They marked the beginning of a "new" Stargate SG-1 that continued after the ending of the previous season. Despite seeing the departure of
Dr. Carolyn Lam. They also bring in Claudia Black's character Vala Mal Doran
as a recurring character, later to become a regular in Season 10, and introduce entire new storylines including further information about the Ancients, their links to Arthurian legends, and their origins.

Plot overview

Part 1

Lieutenant

Hank Landry, a friend of both George Hammond
and O'Neill. Mitchell begins the selection process for new members of SG-1, but is dissatisfied with the candidates.

Daedalus to Atlantis
.

An unscheduled off-world activation admits

Merlin. After further research, Daniel concludes that the treasure is located beneath Glastonbury Tor in England
.

Arriving there on the Prometheus, they transport into a hidden cavern where a

hologram
of Merlin tells them that only the true will gain access to the treasures of the Ancients. There is a sword in a stone, but Mitchell is unable to remove it. They continue to explore further; Daniel and Vala take a right passageway, and Mitchell and Teal'c take a left. Both parties find rooms which light up upon entry. In both rooms the doors lock shut automatically, and the parties encounter puzzles. Just when they think it can't get any worse, the ceiling begins lowering to crush them, and to escape they must solve the puzzles quickly or be crushed.

Part 2

Trapped along with

General Landry
to let him test the machine.

Within seconds, he and Vala – whose lives are still bound to one another by the Jaffa bracelets – drop to the ground, unconscious. Already developing a keen sense of how things work at the SGC, Mitchell deduces that this is a bad sign and puts the two under medical supervision. Similarly worried, Teal'c skips a critical meeting of the new Jaffa High Council to stay by his friend Daniel's side.

Meanwhile, Daniel and Vala find themselves inhabiting the bodies of two married villagers on a distant planet. Being married to Vala – in even the remotest possible sense – gives Daniel the creeps, and he learns that the villagers are devout worshippers of all-powerful and unforgiving beings called the Ori. What's worse, the two people whose bodies Daniel and Vala are inhabiting are suspected of heresy against these mysterious gods.

Before long, Vala ends up chained to a sacrificial altar, about to be burned to death by the village's Administrator and his fanatical followers. Restrained by the vehement villagers, there's nothing Daniel can do but watch in horror as the flames are lit. Back on Earth, Mitchell and the others are watching, too, while Vala slips toward death. As Daniel holds Vala's charred body, a man in robes holding an ornate staff approaches the altar. The staff begins to glow, and Daniel watches in amazement as he brings Vala back to life. Daniel thanks him, but he responds, "Thank the Ori". He then tells them to follow him out of the square, and they follow.

Production

"Avalon (Part 2)" is the first episode of the series to prominently feature only two members of the original cast:

Hank Landry, respectively. With "Avalon (Part 2)", Christopher Judge (Teal'c
) passed Amanda Tapping in the number of episode appearances and is the cast member with the most appearances on Stargate SG-1. Tapping would later pass Judge in number of overall appearances when she joined the cast of Stargate Atlantis.

"Avalon" marked the first Stargate SG-1 episode where SCI FI Channel chose to cut the opening sequences to 10-seconds for the original broadcast, rather than the usual 60-seconds (this was paralleled to Stargate Atlantis). The sequence only displayed the "Stargate SG-1" logo and a "Created by" credit, main cast credits were displayed during the teaser. Fans had been very negative about this move.[2] On Sky One in both Ireland and the United Kingdom however, the short opening sequence was only used for Part 1 but not Part 2, where a full length title sequence was restored, incorporating new cast credits. The full length title sequence was also used again when "Avalon" aired in US Syndication.

Touchstone
".

Reception

Stephen Graves said in a TV Zone review that Mitchell's introduction in this two-part episode was entertaining enough to distract what was deemed "a little too reminiscent of the production team's own efforts to turn around the season eight finale". It perceived the renewed encounter between former Farscape cast members Ben Browder and Claudia Black to be "oddly ... underplayed", but generally embraces Black's "sparky, sarky characterization of Vala" during Amanda Tapping's absence. The review notes the strong similarities of the last ten minutes of "Avalon" (Part 1) to Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, and the set of the beginning of Part 2 as a "god-awful Merrie Olde England pastiche straight out of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Plotting and technobabble were mentioned as other detrimental facets of Part 2.[3]

References

  1. SCI FI Wire. April 28, 2006. Archived from the original
    on December 31, 2006. Retrieved 2007-07-19.
  2. ^ "SCI FI to reinstate full-length openings". gateworld.net. September 1, 2005. Archived from the original on April 27, 2012. Retrieved 2007-07-20.
  3. ^ Graves, Stephen (December 2005). "Reviews - TV Zone's reviews of the first part of the season". TV Zone (Special #67): 20–21.

External links

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