Dozens of Priors have made contact with worlds across the galaxy, spreading the word of Origin. Vala urges Mitchell to take some kind of stand against the Ori, and has a particular planet in mind – a world where, she claims, the natives trust her. That gets Mitchell’s attention, and he gets Gen. Landry’s approval to bring Vala, Teal’c and Daniel with him to the planet. Once there, Vala impersonates Quetesh, the Goa’uld she once hosted. After the Tok’ra removed Quetesh from her, Vala used this planet as a base – it was sufficiently out of the way that it did not know Quetesh had been defeated, and continued to worship her as a god.
Vala’s real motive in returning to this world was to pick up some treasure she had been hoarding. But the others will not let her continue to dupe the natives – especially with the Ori already making inroads through displays of power and healing. Daniel convinces Vala to admit the truth, hoping that it will encourage skepticism. Instead, the betrayed natives sentence Vala to death. Mitchell is able to convince them to hold a maldoran instead – a judicial proceeding instituted by Vala herself. As Daniel mounts his defense and urges the natives to reject the Ori, a Prior enters the chamber. Daniel recognizes him as the town leader who oversaw Harrid and Sallis’s execution, now elevated by the Ori.
At Stargate Command, Landry and Lam have a tense exchange over lunch; Lam’s relationship with Landry, her father, has been strained for some time. She gets a distraction from her family problems when Mitchell reports that the natives have started to fall ill. Vala attempts to treat them with a Goa’uld healing device, but the villagers are falling faster than she can heal them. Lam brings a medical team to the planet, but is unable to find any way to stop the disease. Daniel and Teal’c note that it is similar to the plague that once afflicted the Ancients, and which the Stargate program encountered in Antarctica a few years ago. That knowledge, however, doesn’t stop villagers from dying, or Mitchell from becoming infected. Daniel and Vala use words and weapons to try and overcome the Prior, but it soon becomes clear that only a mass conversion will stem the tide of death.
written by Martin Gero
directed by Will Waring
music by Joel GoldsmithGuest Cast: Claudia Black (Vala), Lexa Doig (Dr. Lam), Gary Jones (Sgt. Walter Harriman), Cam Chai (Azdak), Greg Anderson (Prior), Pablo Coffey (Vachna), Nicola Correia Damude (Play Vala), Matt Johnson (Play Warrior), Chad Hershler (Villager Aide), Michael Coleman (Med Tech)
Notes: The plague that afflicted the Ancients was discovered in season 6’s Frozen.
LogBook entry by Dave Thomer