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A solid story, I think. I ended up watching this one first, then going back to rewatch and comment, so there’s no real coherency of order in what I’ve written. Lots I didn’t like. Lots I did. So: Dominion.
May I say how much I hate that the memory machine has cropped up for the third time in two seasons? I was disturbed enough when it was first introduced, and incredulous that the SGC ended up not only taking it home, but evidently cooking up a mobile version that Mitchell had no qualms about leaving unguarded in a hospital room with low security. But to see it being used here for exactly the kind of abuse that disturbed me – deliberately manipulating a person’s memories, even with that person’s approval – was frankly awful. Changing a person’s past in this manner essentially changes the person that they are today. It’s immoral and unethical and the kind of scary technology that the Daniel I thought I knew would never, ever condone bringing to Earth, much less advocating its use on someone who is supposed to be a friend and teammate. It takes a lot for me to look past that and try to judge the story without that hanging over things.
Vala cheating so obviously? I expected so much better of her. At the very least, I wouldn’t expect her to be cheating in a way that she’d get caught. It doesn’t suit her background at all. Should I chalk this up to the memory machine damaging some circuits along the way? (I’ll try, I really will, to avoid snarking about this all episode…)
Why hasn't the SGC re-blocked the Supergate? Adria seems to imply that they're still sending more ships; at the very least, she had to get back to the Milky Way somehow. On the bright side, Adria finally dumped the stupid, stupid neck collar.
Loved how many regulars appeared in this episode! Reynolds, even in Vala’s fake memories, was fantastic. The Tok’ra still exist, and still wear those awful beige uniforms, even though they’ve gotten better pants! Barrett! Shout-out to tretonin! Gratuitous Daniel-whumping! :)
Can I just say that I’m kind of charmed that Vala insisted that the fake memories include her rudely interrupting Daniel in a briefing?
So who are we supposed to believe, Adria or Ba’al? Adria claims the Ori are still there. Ba’al asserts they aren’t. The word of both is highly suspect. I am desperately hoping that Ba’al was the one who was telling the truth, because otherwise? It means that the SGC spent over a season chasing after a will-o’-the-wisp of insanity for absolutely nothing. But honestly, given TPTB’s penchant for destroying any and all victories with subsequent failures, I’m not counting on it. It comes down to the upcoming movie, doesn’t it? Is it going to be Adria-the-Ascended in our galaxy vs Earth, or Adria-and-the-Ori (sounds like a garage band, doesn’t it?) in a galaxy-spanning adventure of breathtaking CGI and lots and lots of things going boom, with ships in use instead of that round thing in the basement that so happens to be included in the name of the show? I’ve been avoiding spoilers for the movie – all I know is its name – but really, past experiences tell me that the writers would prefer the latter option if possible. So they’ve essentially negated the efforts of the past two seasons and brought us back to square one.
That was downright creepy, the way they framed the Sam-as-backup on Ba’al’s ship to be exactly like the scene in The Serpent’s Lair, way back in the S2 opener. I was tempted to go back and compare to see if the two Jaffa running round the bend of the corridor were newly filmed, or actually the same two guys that Daniel took out back then. And I was actually a little worried about Sam there for a moment; how far was that similarity going to go?
What will it take to get the writers to remember the ORIGINAL WORMHOLE EFFECT? I loved that one. The SGA one is so boring and prosaic in comparison.
“Someone going to fill her in?”
“Absolutely. …Just not us.” Okay, highly amusing that even Landry is apprehensive about facing Vala’s wrath..
“So – no IOA? No Reynolds’ men?” I really liked that the deaths she thought she’d caused were one of the first things on her list.
I don’t understand the utter fannish glee so many people have with Ba’al – I chalk it up to the same bewildering love for Maybourne – but the guy is actually intelligent, isn’t he? He took off Adria’s necklace, something we've all been complaining about SG-1's failure to do when they had the chance. And wow! He acted like a Goa’uld for the first time since S8. Now that makes this ep a winner, even if it’s for that reason alone. Phlanged voice! Menace! OTT posturing! Happy sigh. :) And we dumped the stupid six-pack of Ba’als, thank goodness. I had quite a visceral pleasure in seeing them all dead, to be honest.
I confess to being a tad confused about exactly who was implanted in Adria. I assumed, when Ba’al first phlanged at Adria, that he was going to leave his host and transfer to her. But then he brought a symbiote into the room – not the one in him – for implantation. So I thought, okay, he’s not as clever as I thought he’d be; he’s going to implant a lesser Goa’uld that will submit to him. But when we meet up with Adria again, it is Ba’al in her. So – which one? I cannot believe that the “original” Ba’al would allow himself to sit in a symbiote tank and let his clones run around. He certainly seems to have made sure that he eliminated the rest of the six-pack. So who went into Adria, who captured Adria, and who really cares, since all of them are finally dead by the end of the episode?
Whee! Merlin’s parting gift to the Odyssey still works!
Whew! Daniel using a staff weapon is… heh. :) Can’t remember him doing that, actually, since way back in S1 in The Nox.
Ba’al went through the mouth? Didn’t want to scar her pretty little neck? It’s nothing to worry about, with her penchant for neck collars. Have to say, though, that I’ve never been much impressed with the actress who plays Adria, but she really sold me on Ba’al-in-Adria. Even her head gestures were Ba'al-like. Very nicely done.
“What do we do now?”
“Kill them both.” Teal’c was so right. (And so Teal’c, hee!) This was a perfect example of the characters acting stupid for the sake of the plot – after all, if Ba’al/Adria dies before she can ascend, we can’t have a movie, can we? Argh.
Daniel saying, “I’m sure they’ll make an exception in this case” was downright wrong. Creepily, horribly wrong. Daniel has such a visceral revulsion for what the Goa’uld do that even under such circumstances, I can’t envision him advocating it.
Sam is “not that kind of doctor,” just like Daniel, so it was odd to see her working with the Tok’ra. OTOH, Sam and the Tok’ra have always had that connection, and she’s often down medical stuff with Janet (Little Doc!) and others in the past. On the third hand, this seemed to be Tau’ri level technology, not Tok’ra, which is kinda disappointing. They did well in S3 with Skaara; if they’ve refined it so much in seven years, why aren’t they better at it now?
Euthenasia as recommended by the Tok’ra. Ewwww. OTOH, how fascinating that they left the decision up to Vala. As next of kin?
Adria is so much prettier with her hair down.
As I said earlier, I do get a sort of guilty pleasure out of Daniel-whumping. Seriously, though, I was really surprised that Adria wasn’t a lot more vindictive. The last time she saw Daniel, he’d utterly betrayed her – and, if Ba’al was telling the truth, killed the Ori. Throwing him into the corridor, and flooding the air he's breathing with toxic coolants, seems hardly as vicious as I would expect.
Did anyone notice that Teal’c’s protective goggles were infinitely cooler than Mitchell’s? :)
They didn’t even bother giving us Adria-the-glowy-tentacles; instead, we watched them wave a light on Vala's face. Saving the budget again, I see, and it truly pulled me right out of the story with its obviousness.
This episode was very Vala-centric, and in a good way. We get a glimpse of the Vala-that-was at the beginning; her jolt and pain at the percieved betrayal; her ability to escape the SGC (“they thought a locked door could hold me”); the humor of the video message to herself; the discussions with Mitchell and Daniel about how she’s dealing with a mission to take down and/or kill the Orici; the struggle to cope with watching Adria, with the mix of dislike/unease/unwilling compassion that she has for the girl, getting un-Goa’ulded. When I compare what we learned of Vala in this episode with the travesty of last week’s Family Ties, I find it even more frustrating that we wasted an entire episode, so close to the end of the series, on Daddy Mal Doran.
One ep left to go… ::sniffs:: And I’ve been warned about that one. We’ll see.
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What I hated about the memory machine, though? Was that I had pretty much figured they'd done something to Vala to slip her past Adria -- but I'd figured they'd hypnotized her, and would just snap her memory back with a trigger word. Wouldn't that have been a whole hell of a lot easier? (The Bridge boys get SO into their tech the plots just fall over from the weight, I swear.)
Can I just say that I’m kind of charmed that Vala insisted that the fake memories include her rudely interrupting Daniel in a briefing?
Even funnier? She disses Daniel in the meeting for rambling, then rambles even worse herself!
I'm one of those who thinks Ba'al is smokin' hot, though, as well as smart, so I was a little sad to see all the dead Ba'als. Couldn't I keep just one? All tied up, of course. ;-)
Waiting for the Tok'ra, supersurgicalassistant!Sam, the flashlight of ascension: bah, bah, bah. I'll just go back and rewatch Teal'c's muscles as he pries open the door...
The usual amount of plot holes (how did they know which planet to plant Vala on to catch Adria?) and idiot plotting, but lots of favorite faces and a good ramp up of the arc heading into the movie. After Unending, I really don't mind this ep too much at all. ;-)
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Oh, yeah, be practical. ;p Seriously, though, I think we could fairly argue that Adria might have been able to detect hypnosis. The way I understand it, the real memories didn't even exist when Vala met Adria. I still say the machine is an appalling abuse of power, but it really did seem to fit the bill. That's because they wrote the story so the bill would fit, so to speak. Silly Bridge boys, as you say, with their squeeing over tech and things that go boom!
She disses Daniel in the meeting for rambling, then rambles even worse herself!
Yeah, noticed that. :) Whoever designed the memories definitely did a good job of it, I'll give them that.
the flashlight of ascension
Bwah! Oh, that's perfect, and exactly what they did to save the special effects budget! And Teal'c is always, always awesome. Why the writers haven't caught on by now and given him lines is utterly beyond me.
Idiot plots, and their holes, are sadly par for the course these days. This was a nice actiony ep, I guess, and what a Vala backstory should be. And hoo boy am I wincing in anticpating for Unending!
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But I did not one but two rants after Unending, and I'll link you next weekend.
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CJ doesn't like having too much dialogue? He's entitled, I suppose. But as you say, Teal'c is amazing at giving whole speeches without saing a word, and we don't get too much of that, either. More Teal'c! That's what we need. :)
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More Teal'c would always be a good thing. *sigh*
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More Teal'c! It is our rallying battle cry. :)
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See, that's one of the worst weaknesses of this use of the memory device to my mind. In the first show with it, Mitchell gets memories of the murder- from the mind of the real killer. Fair enough.
But how does one fabricate completely false memories? They never explain that. Personally, I think what it means is they had to act out the whole thing, and just suppress Vala's memories that it was all a plot. (Okay, I think they specifically contradict that in the episode, but.. it just makes way more sense to me.) And I firmly believe that Reynolds took a rather mean-spirited satisfaction in playing his part. One he's not entirely proud of- but he's never really forgiven Vala for taking out his team not just once, but twice on Prometheus.
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Oh, I don't know. They can modify pre-existing memories, maybe - for example, I'm sure Vala has interrupted Daniel in briefings many times before. I would imagine it takes a real expert to do the job properly. Maybe they hired a Galoran for the actual memory work?
I firmly believe that Reynolds took a rather mean-spirited satisfaction in playing his part. One he's not entirely proud of- but he's never really forgiven Vala for taking out his team not just once, but twice on Prometheus.
Ooh, lovely point! And why should he forgive her? It's not as if she apologized to anyone. :p
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Yes on Vala cheating so obviously being very, very wrong.
Can they reblock the Supergate? They had a hard time the first time - and wouldn't have succeeded (I think) if they hadn't had a Wraith ship to blow up in the process. But that's a good question.
Barrett! I was so excited to see him! And general yay on them bringing so many things together. I knew Vala's story was fake before we found out for sure - but I really wasn't expecting her to believe it was the truth - that said, yes on her interactions with Daniel in the fake memories.
See, this Ori ambiguity - are they alive or are they dead - is exactly the kind of ambiguity I wanted The Shroud to leave us with (was Daniel a Prior in mind or not?) But, yes, my gut instinct is going for Ba'al
I'm glad someone else saw that parallel to "The Serpent's Lair" - definitely creepy. I wonder how on purpose it was.
I liked Ba'al in this episode - and I usually don't. (I did develop an....not affection, appreciation? for Maybourne) but Ba'al was actually creepy and Goa'uld-like and TOOK OFF THE NECKLACE (I've been yelling at them to do that for a lot of episodes now). And, yes, I so understand your excitement at seeing the Ba'als dead. We couldn't decide if Adria really knew what the Goa'uld were or not.
I'm guessing the Ba'al they shot was the clone and the real Ba'al was in Adria - though, would it matter? Whoever gets to be inside Adria is going to be super-powerful compared to the others, Ba'al wouldn't let anyone but himself be that symbiote. Maybe he tricked the other clone into thinking it was a clone in the tank? How subservient are the clones to the real one? Can I just not carE?
I squealed at Daniel with the staff weapon :) And YES on Teal'c's "kill them both" - really, that's what he would say and it makes sense. I also don't think they expected her to Ascend - especially since so often we hear that the Ori don't Ascend their followers.
Does Daniel's revulsion for Adria win over his revulsion for the Goa'uld though? He's very shades of grey in a lot of ways, but sometimes he's very black and white and I could see Daniel writing off Adria as...not being a person? not having rights? something...and then being okay with doing that to her. Daniel's personal hatred (look at Apophis and Anubis) can and does run very deep.
Sam has not been that kind of doctor every time she is suddenly a medical/biology expert. But if I go off on the show's science, I'll never stop. Maybe she was curious?
But, yes, good episode. And I did really like Vala in it - we saw so much of her, and a lot of that hidden depth.
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I don't see why not. Yes, it would take a lot of fussing around, but it's because they've done it once that they ought to find it easier to do the second time. The Wraith explosion, IIRC, merely took the place of what should have been a warhead exploding in the right spot. And now that they've got the ZPM to get there faster, it shouldn't have been that hard to make arrangements to work it out again. Leaving the back door open is never a good idea.
Of course, Adria might have been lying about building more ships, just as she (probably) lied about the Ori being gone... I see what you mean about ambiguity being a good thing, but really, don't you want what Daniel suffered to have accomplished something?
I'm guessing the Ba'al they shot was the clone and the real Ba'al was in Adria
You would think so, wouldn't you? Except that would mean that the real Ba'al was actually willing to allow himself to be put in a symbiote tank. And that's beyond belief. I mean, really, if he knows himself ;) he would know his clone couldn't be trusted... Then again,
Can I just not care?
...Or that. :)
I could see Daniel writing off Adria as...not being a person? not having rights?
Now, see, I can't. I think Daniel looks at Adria and sees, despite everything she's done, Shifu. And Reese. And even Cassie and Ry'ac, children manipulated by the Goa'uld to be instruments of destruction. The former two are better parallels, of course, and maybe if Adria had been given an Oma to "help her forget," she could've been saved, too.
And when it comes right down to it, I don't think Daniel's dislike for the Ori will ever, ever supersede his absolute hatred for the Goa'uld.
Sam has not been that kind of doctor every time she is suddenly a medical/biology expert
Heh, yes. True enough. But she seemed to there more as an observer than anything else.
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I had the impression that it was a mixture of pure luck and a Wraith ship in the right place at the right time that did it - but you could easily be right too. And you ARE right that leaving the back door open is DUMB DUMB DUMB
I personally believe the Ori are wiped out (though, what was the range on Merlin's weapon? Could it go off once and destroy all Ori in the Ori galaxy but not reach other galaxies?) but I also believe they are still building more ships and that risk is still very real.
I would believe Ba'al would have limited the clones somehow - he'd have to, right? Maybe we haven't seen the real Ba'al ever since season 8? But still, I don't know who was in Adria - I just can't believe any Goa'uld being willing to let another Goa'uld have a host with that much power.
I waver on the Adria thing - I could believe he thought that at first (on level with Shifu or Reese, etc) but after he's really interacted with her and such, I'm less sure. Daniel in hate mode is a very scary, vicious thing. I'm not sure if Daniel sees Adria that way or not, but I'd be very willing to be convinced he does. And, well, putting a Tok'ra in Adria would get them the info they desperate need AND it would mean they don't have to kill Adria, and possibly could mean eventual convincing her to change her ways - maybe that's how Daniel saw it?
I'm not sure about Daniel on Ori vs. Goa'uld - both are very personal to him in different ways, both attack sort of fundamental beliefs he holds, etc.
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Maybe. Don't they need the Ori to zap the ships into working, or something? Or could the Priors do that on their own? I only watched Crusade once.
The Ba'al clone tangle seems impossible to unravel. Then again, someone unraveled Moebius for me pretty recently, so I suppose anything is possible. :)
Daniel in hate mode is a very scary, vicious thing.
Yes, it is. And I don't think Daniel has ever, ever lost that hate mode for all things Goa'uld - including, on some level, the Tok'ra, but that's my own personal canon peeking out there. :) As for desperation warping Daniel's values... Well. It never used to, did it? Sigh. :(
I'm not sure about Daniel on Ori vs. Goa'uld - both are very personal to him in different ways, both attack sort of fundamental beliefs he holds, etc.
I think the Goa'uld are something that Daniel takes personally, whereas the Ori are something for which Daniel takes responsibility (whether he should or not isn't the point). And despite the way he was nearly burned alive, I still think the Goa'uld have attacked Daniel more deeply than the Ori ever could.
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The Ba'al clone thing is less breaking of reality than Moebius, and more just...ridiculous.
See, Daniel has always seemed more accepting of the Tok'ra than either Jack or Teal'c, to me.
It's true, Daniel used to hold onto his values more strongly and steadfastly but...it's been 10 years and look at all that has happened to him and those he cared about in those 10 years. That's going to change a person. (plus, was it you who commented that with ascension and downloaded personalities and ribbon devices and whatever else messing with his head, how much of Daniel is left in his own skull?)
He's definitely hardened over the years.
The Goa'uld attacked Daniel through Sha're - the one person, since his parent's died, I believe, who he fully gave himself over to. So that was personal. But the Ori are personal in some ways - partly for the responsibility thing, partly for the making him a Prior thing, partly for his time among the Ascended, etc. It's a different type of personal, but I can see it - also, just his fundamental belief, as Random said, of giving people choice.
(actually, I can mostly say "word" to what Random said)
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It was indeed the Priors that started the ships. If the Ori endow the Priors with powers instead of just use them as chanels for the Ori power then theoretically new ships could be built and started up with the Ori gone.
See, Daniel has always seemed more accepting of the Tok'ra than either Jack or Teal'c, to me.
Daniel may have aceppted the Tok'ra more than the others at first as a hope for Sha're and Skaara. I believe as he spent more time with Jacob-Selmak then he probably began to see that the Tok'ra were turely simbiotic, at least in theory, that he began to appreciate them foe them selves.
I think the fight against both the Goa'uld and Ori are very personal to Daniel. I think Daniel feels responsible for them both. It was he who opened the Gate in the first place and allowed everything that happened. Then he alerted the Ori to the Milky Way. I don't think he could say which was more his responsibility.
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So, basically, the Ori war has been reduced from visual bad guys representing faceless bad guys to just visual bad guys acting on their own... Not sure that's such an improvement, on the "lower" plane of things.
I don't think he could say which was more his responsibility.
I'm not suggesting it's a matter of responsibility; I'm suggesting that it's a matter of gut feelings, and that Daniel has an instinctive, deeply ingrained hatred for the Goa'uld that the Ori will never match.
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My explanation got too long, so I posted it here instead. :)
plus, was it you who commented that with ascension and downloaded personalities and ribbon devices and whatever else messing with his head, how much of Daniel is left in his own skull?
Yes, it was. And that saddens me, because I adore Daniel above all else in SG-1 (just in case you hadn't figured that out yet, heh), and I'm truly distressed at how he's changed. It's realistic, mind you. I just don't like it.
actually, I can mostly say "word" to what Random said
Yes, that happens quite often! :)
Ori and Goa'uld and more
As to Daniel's attitude to Adria--it's always been that she's a creature of the Ori. He never saw a little girl, he saw someone he should have shot when he had the chance (I think he was pretty serious about that). He's responsible for letting the Ori into this galaxy and a lot of people are dying because of Adria's convert or get toasted approach.
Also, Shifu and Reese were innocents--neither had intention of doing bad (Shifu because he'd been taught, Reese because she didn't know any better and was only reacting). Adria's killing people with calous intent (and let's not forget the book burning and destruction of culture). But Daniel's concern seems to have alway been on Vala--that she's the one caught in the fallout because a bad end is coming for Adria.
There are also a lot of things Daniel will do to keep folks from dying--and if they can swing that deal wihtout more bloodshed, seems to me that's something he'd be on board for.
But when you get down to it, while Daniel will thrown up arguments about moral issues, he's also let folks go ahead and do stupid things he knows are wrong (Euronda, he was willing to shut up and leave when Jack ended that argument by telling him to. With the Unas war brewing, he was still telling Jack this was wrong, but he was going out with everyone. Even with the Gadamer, Daniel just went off to do what he had to do--he didn't tell Jack not to build a bomb.)
Bottom line for Daniel, I think, is that he very much believes in choice--that folks should make an informed choice, but if they're still going ahead, well, so be it (to a point--Daniel, does have a place where he runs out of patience). But I think if it's Vala's choice to change her memories, he'll be there for her.
And both the Ori and the Goa'uld are about taking away personal choice. The Goa'uld on a personal level with taking a host; the Ori on a larger level, by enforcing Origin or die. This means that the most basic battle to be fought is one of allowing the freedom of choice--the right of a planet's occupants to convert to Origin to save themsleves, or a friend to take risks to fight them.
And how could he possiblly deny Vala any kind of chance at getting to Adria? I think he'd support Vala in cutting off her arm, or sticking her head into god knows what kind of machine, if it gives her even a hope that she might get her daughter back in some form. (Adria, in a sense, is Vala's Sha're--the one taken from her and used.)
You get a lot of this subtext in Daniel's actions. In the Shroud, Daniel's the one who asks Vala about Adria--he knows where Vala's focus is, and he's worried about it. In Dominion this is even more pronouced in how Daniel is keeping a very close tab on Vala about the whole thing--he knows what's at stake for Vala in this one. I love that he's also not willing to take her answer that it's no big deal, that she's come to terms with this (yeah, right). So head into a memeory mixer--hell, Daniel would have done the same if it meant a chance to get Sha're back.
I'm not sure which way I go on the Ori gone, not gone. What's more interesting is now that she's ascended, will the Others do something finally? Is she playing on their field now? Or can Adria play 'Oma' and ascend her priors, so that we're headed for a glowy battle? Will it take her some time to get used to being an ascended being? Lots of questions raised, and Dominion definately has a setup feel to it just because so much is left open.
My bet for Ba'al is we only saw more clones. I think Ba'al's been sitting back, sending out the clones. I think even the Goa'uld in Adria was a clone--one Ba'al could pull the plug on so he'd have a hold on her. (Ever notice how fond Gao'ulds get of their host forms--Yu had his for centuries, far too long, actually. My bet is that changing hosts is traumatic for the Goa'uld--like getting a tight new pair of shoes that aren't broken in.)
But...really...favorite line: "We won't hurt you....much."
Re: Ori and Goa'uld and more
The differences multiplied rapidly, of course. Shifu remained an infant, and relatively innocent, until Amaunet/Sha're sent him to Kheb, where Oma helped him to "forget." Adria was kick-started into childhood and then adulthood, and was indoctrinated not by an Ancient, but the Ori and their Priors. So Adria has certainly passed out of the Daniel-perception of relatively innocent pawn to Khalek-level threat. I'm not disputing that in the slightest.
He never saw a little girl, he saw someone he should have shot when he had the chance (I think he was pretty serious about that).
Yeah. With regret, and pain that Vala had to see it, but he would do it. I agree with that. I still think, though, that Daniel wouldn't advocate taking anyone, even his very worst enemy, as a host. Not even Kinsey, who did suffer that fate. :) I think this is just a case of my personal canon - that Daniel's inherent revulsion for the Goa'uld is so visceral and intense that he could never, under any circumstances, condone a creature's infestation.
You like Vala, and I don't. So you'll read Daniel's actions as affected by concern for Vala, and I... won't. :)
can Adria play 'Oma' and ascend her priors, so that we're headed for a glowy battle?
What an intriguing concept! Although I'd suggest that while the Others might choose to say that since Adria ascended by herself, they won't do anything about it, they might interfere with her helping others to ascend, as they did with Oma and Anubis.
Ba'al and his clones make my hair hurt. I'm just glad that even if the original is still hanging around, at least we're done with the six-pack. That storyline was wincingly bad.
But...really...favorite line: "We won't hurt you....much."
Heh, yes! Shades of Bad Guys, there. Although I don't think he knew Vala was about to shoot when he said it.
Re: Ori and Goa'uld and more
Interesting isn't it that more bad guys dilutes the original, and isn't more bad, but is actually less.
Re: Ori and Goa'uld and more
I agree completely. I don't think Daniel believes Vala doesn't see her child when she looks at Adria. I think Daniel would do a lot of things to spare his friends and teammates the pain that has happened in his life. While Adria is Vala's child and Sha're was his wife, I don't think that really is much difference in the ampount of pain over the loved one being used in such away and then killed.
But...really...favorite line: "We won't hurt you....much."
I kept waiting for the "I hope" to be added on to echo what Vala first said to Daniel in Prometheus Unbound.
Re: Ori and Goa'uld and more
Oh, definitely. I tend to shy away from any hint of relationship between Daniel and Vala, though - even friendship! - because I'm so wary of the Daniel/Vala pairing. So I miss nuances like this.
On the other hand: I don't think that really is much difference in the amount of pain over the loved one being used in such away and then killed.
I don't think I agree with this as a parallel at all. Vala never chose to conceive Adria. She is a "loved one" only in that Vala was forced to carry her, against her will, for nine months. That simply cannot compare with Sha're - not because it's wife vs. daughter, but because it's a desired relationship vs. a forced one.
Re: Ori and Goa'uld and more
It was also estabished in Crusade that part of Vala hoped that Adria would die because of her starvation when she was chained in the center of town. Cam points out, "What is surprising is that part of you was hoping it didn't" (meaning the baby didn't die.)
Vala nods and her eyes sort of go soft and teary, "It's hard to explain." It is clear that Vala has mixed feelings. Part of her didn't want the kid, part of her did, and most of her was scared that the Priors would burn her again.=)
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It was. I've watched that scene often enough to know. When those guys came around the corner, I went, "What the...?" Reusing my favorite scene Bridge? Tsk tsk.
I'm with
I don't think they can reblock the Supergate. Wouldn't they need to time a few explosions and get a Wraith ship to blow up in just the same spot to create the wormhole (BTW, not that you don't care, but why didn't they just use this wormhole to get back from Pegasus?)
You are "warned" about "Unending"?! BOO! HISS! Bah humbug on spoilers. I have my opinion on the episode...and I'm not sure if I will share it or not beforehand under a cut(I'm going to be post surgical finale day so likely not up to joining in squee or rant afterwards).
However, I will share with you some sage advice once given by a certain archeologist.
"Don't say ka until you've tried it."
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A lot of people seem to agree with Random here. :) I still say that Shifu, at least, started out with equal amounts of evilness, although the power seems to have been infused later on, by Oma. In either case, that wasn't the real point, as Adria is certainly All Bad Stuff now. I went into it with a leetle more detail over here.
I know Pegasus Project got kinda confusing after a while, but as I understand it, they need a black hole in another galaxy and an explosion at the right time. Their first two attempts to time the explosion failed; when they abandoned their third and final attempt to blow up the Wraith ship instead, the timing of the ship's explosion was just right, and the Gates connected. So theoretically, shouldn't they be able to use the data from that final success to replicate it?
why didn't they just use this wormhole to get back from Pegasus?
Oooh, good question! Um... Maybe they did? We don't see them flying back home, do we?
You are "warned" about "Unending"?! BOO! HISS! Bah humbug on spoilers.
No, no, no spoilers! Don't worry. :) The warnings have mostly been, "Based on your reviews and meta about the characters, I strongly suspect that you're really, really, really going to be unhappy with Unending. Brace yourself for the worse and maybe you'll be be pleasantly surprised."
"Don't say ka until you've tried it."
Hee! You tell 'em, Daniel! And yes, you're right. I'll certainly give it a try.
And eep! Much luck on the surgery.