Wow. From the very first second of the episode, we are thrown back into the action, then momentous events keep piling up until the rather dramatic finish.
The episode begins with a rather comedic fight against a dragon with a really fireproof stomach and (is there some double entendre there?) a woman's name. Then SG1 actually reach Merlin's lab, a place that is regularly Gated to various places (and not always hospitable ones).
The pace slows down as the plot line is divided into three. Carter, Teal'c and Ba'al are trying to bypass the Gate's transfer device in order to dial home before Adria catches up with them. Having Carter and Ba'al work together is very entertaining (even to Teal'c), although sometimes hazardous. Meanwhile, Daniel, Vala and Mitchell are trying to get Merlin to build a new Sangreal, and catching up on his story along the way -which is quite interesting too.
But what really makes the episode worthy of a 10 is how many things it manages to weave into a coherent whole: Daniel's whole journey to Ascension and back, Ba'al's long-time technological expertise, the Ancient device from The Torment of Tantalus (back in S1!). And, of course, the notorious Repositories. So it's Daniel's turn to pull an O'Neill and get his head stuffed full of extremely useful but also very dangerous information. While his self-sacrifice is admirable, the really meaningful stuff happens between Vala and Mitchell, who are worried sick about their friend but know better than to stop him. This is another life-changing moment for Vala, and seeing Mitchell so dead serious is rather sobering.
All three plot lines culminate in a really impressive fight scene between Adria's inherited Ori powers- and Daniel's newly-(re)acquired Ancient powers. Cool, in a scary way -besides, as Marty stated in 200, you cannot keep a too-powerful character on a show, so the episode ends on a rather ominous note. (And since we're talking about plot devices, may I mention how convenient it is that the show now can just kill Ba'al off whenever he outlives his usefulness, and still have him back by next episode?)
So for the first time in a while, I'm going to give this episode a full 10 because I was almost holding my breath during the whole 40mn of it, just for fear of missing one important moment.
The episode begins with a rather comedic fight against a dragon with a really fireproof stomach and (is there some double entendre there?) a woman's name. Then SG1 actually reach Merlin's lab, a place that is regularly Gated to various places (and not always hospitable ones).
The pace slows down as the plot line is divided into three. Carter, Teal'c and Ba'al are trying to bypass the Gate's transfer device in order to dial home before Adria catches up with them. Having Carter and Ba'al work together is very entertaining (even to Teal'c), although sometimes hazardous. Meanwhile, Daniel, Vala and Mitchell are trying to get Merlin to build a new Sangreal, and catching up on his story along the way -which is quite interesting too.
But what really makes the episode worthy of a 10 is how many things it manages to weave into a coherent whole: Daniel's whole journey to Ascension and back, Ba'al's long-time technological expertise, the Ancient device from The Torment of Tantalus (back in S1!). And, of course, the notorious Repositories. So it's Daniel's turn to pull an O'Neill and get his head stuffed full of extremely useful but also very dangerous information. While his self-sacrifice is admirable, the really meaningful stuff happens between Vala and Mitchell, who are worried sick about their friend but know better than to stop him. This is another life-changing moment for Vala, and seeing Mitchell so dead serious is rather sobering.
All three plot lines culminate in a really impressive fight scene between Adria's inherited Ori powers- and Daniel's newly-(re)acquired Ancient powers. Cool, in a scary way -besides, as Marty stated in 200, you cannot keep a too-powerful character on a show, so the episode ends on a rather ominous note. (And since we're talking about plot devices, may I mention how convenient it is that the show now can just kill Ba'al off whenever he outlives his usefulness, and still have him back by next episode?)
So for the first time in a while, I'm going to give this episode a full 10 because I was almost holding my breath during the whole 40mn of it, just for fear of missing one important moment.
