09-18: Arthur's Mantle

[Colonel Carter]

EPISODE NUMBER - 918
ORIGINAL U.S. AIR DATE - 02.24.06
SYNDICATION AIR DATE - 04.30.07
WRITTEN BY - Alan McCullough
DIRECTED BY - Peter DeLuise
GUEST STARRING - Jarvis George (Volnek), Doug Wert (Major Hadden), Bill Dow (Dr. Lee), Gary Jones (Chief Harriman), Eric Breker (Reynolds), Tony Todd (Lord Haikon), Darren Giblin (Conway), Andrew McNee (Technician), Morris Chapdelaine (Prior)

Mitchell and Carter are shifted to another dimension, making them invisible to everyone at the S.G.C. Meanwhile, Teal'c and SG-9 discover that the Sodan have been brutally attacked.

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I liked this episode, although the ending seemed a little too abrupt. I loved Cam and Sam shoving each other. I laughed out loud on that.

Okay, I want to see this weapon.

[John Hayward]

I agree, the weapon sounds very interesting. As does the possibility that this Merlin fellow did more than just make this one weapon against the wishes of the Others. If this guy was in the habit of breaking the Others' rules, he could be a big help to SG-1, even if he's not around anymore.

The shoving was funny, but Dr. Lee was quite possibly the funniest (and most inept) I've ever seen him. Miniaturization!? That was the funniest part of this episode, for me.

[Anissa T]

I like it when they do partially funny episodes. They turn out so good.

I'm wondering though. I thought when they take human form after being ascended, they loose their memories. So, how could Merlin work on a weapon against the Ori if he couldn't remember them?

That aside, I can't wait until they find it.

[Colonel Carter]

I wish I had been standing with Landry and Daniel when the scientists suggested miniaturization. I'd have rolled my eyes, shaken my head, muttered something unintelligable about incompetence and walked out of the room.

I thought Teal'c's reaction when he saw Cameron was funny. It's like - man, nothing can surprise the man.

I too wondered about Merlin keeping his memories. But to me that makes more sense than Orlin losing all his. I didn't think Orlin losing his memory made sense.

Perhaps Merlin was more powerful and therefore capable of retaining memories. After all, he is considered the most powerful wizard in legend.

[Anissa T]

Oh, despite them not being together as a team, I did like the little interaction each of them had. It wasn't over the top or over acted either.

I too especially liked Teal'C reaction (or lack there of).

[John Hayward]

Hmmm...

Okay, Merlin wasn't ascended when he first came through the gate from Atlantis to Earth 10,000 years ago. If he was, he wouldn't have still been hanging around this plane of existence getting all besieged upon by the Wraith. Earlier this season, Daniel theorized that maybe Merlin never did ascend, but was very close to it, and was trying to help some of the early humans along the path. However, if that was the case then he would have no need to hide from the Others, because they wouldn't bother getting involved with any of his non-anscended affairs. So, the fact that Merlin was hiding this weapon leads me to believe that he was ascended.

Ascended beings can exist in this universe without "descending." Oma, Orlin, Shifu, Daniel, Skaara and the other Abydonians, and Chaya/Athar were all still ascended even though they were able to look human and interact with normal people.

I think, based on what we know so far, that either (1) Merlin was ascended when he built the weapon, and that's why he had to hide it from the Others- because they would punish him for interfering, or (2) Merlin was not ascended, but hid the weapon anyway because he thought the Others might do some interfering of their own if they knew there was a weapon that could hurt them.

[Anissa T]

I'd go with that last theory. Because clearly the Ori can interact with both ascended and non ascended people.

I'm still not clear about something. Did the Ori develop after everyone ascended and them become evil? or did they become evil and then ascend? I'm a little confused about that.

I think knowing that would probably also help clarify whether or not Merlin was already ascended when he began work on his weapon. However, I'm guessing for the shows sake, it probably really doesn't matter.

Just curious!

[Colonel Carter]

I don't think you have to be "good" to ascend because Anubis was evil but managed to ascend. I think the Ancients have rules against evil being ascending, but if Oma could help Anubis to ascend, it means an evil being does have the capability.

[Livia Sabina]

I think people are supposed to get to a state where they can Ascend without help, if they are meant to Ascend, they'll be able to do it themselves.

Oma was breaking rules left right and center by helping people Ascend and, where Anubis was concerned, it came back to bite her in the butt. He would never have been able to Ascend alone.

Natural Ascension, for want of a better term, is probably something that somebody evil cannot achieve.

[John Hayward]

I agree. They say "absolute power corrupts absolutely." It seems reasonable to me that the Ori ascended but weren't so hands-off with the humans in their galaxy, and they eventually grew into the evil, power-mongering, false gods they are today.

[cb49747]

The ancients can't control who ascends. Anybody can do it, with enough thought. However I think being good helps. If anubis ascended on his own, I think the ancients would have treated him different, the problem was that he didn't he had help from Oma.

I like this episode very much, however one thing bothered me. It appeared that in this other dimension, sam and cam were not effected by solid material. IE people, coffee cups, etc. So why did they not fall through the floor?

Just food for thought.

[Colonel Carter]

I get the impression that anyone can ascend, including evil people. I doubt the Ori had good intentions when they chose to ascend.

I also get the impression that what we've heard from Oma and Anubis about how you have to be good to ascend is more a rule laid out by the Ancients. Since the Ancients are already ascended, they probably have the power to stop anyone else from ascending if they want. Therefore they've made rules not to allow anyone in our galaxy to ascend who isn't "good."

Of course I think it's rather ridiculous because what it boils down to is that nobody is wholly good. Every person who does good still does bad. The idea you must be perfect to ascend is absurd. And I don't believe the Ancients are all "good." They seem rather self-righteous if you ask me and allowing evil to happen imo is just as bad as commiting it yourself, worse in fact when you have the power to stop it.

[John Hayward]

I agree. After all, if one had to be good, it wouldn't have been possible for Anubis to ascend, with or without Oma's help. Technically, a person has to ascend on their own. Oma just helps lead them down the path, they have to walk through the door. She said something along those lines to Daniel in Meridian.

I also agree about the Ancients. They certainly are snobby. They wouldn't even look at Daniel. The only thing 'worthy' of their attention was when Oma engaged Anubis in eternal battle (at least, that's what I assumed happened). I also most definitely disagree with their whole non-involvement policy.

On the other hand, it is understandable, to an extent. For the same reason that the Tollan High Council (I think that's what the ruling body was called) wouldn't give Earth those Ion Cannons. Sometimes people have to learn things on their own. Doing it for them might mean they never learn how to do it on their own. And then, are they really better off? Would we rather reach the top of the mountain the long, hard way- with hiking and sweat, or the way the people in Sentinel did it, without even realizing where we are or how lucky we are to be there?

[Colonel Carter]

I agree. I think a society needs to be advanced mentally and emotionally enough to really be able to accept help from a more advanced people. We've seen the USA make this mistake. If I remember history right, we gave weapons to Iraq to fight Iran and then Iraq turned against us. If we really wanted to take Iran out, we should have sent in our own troops, that was a bad idea imho.

I would agree with the Tollan not giving that weapon to earth. If our entire planet was unified, only then would I see that as a possibility. We saw in a recent episode how giving powerful weapons to the people of a planet enabled them to wipe out other people on their planet.

However, I don't see this as being the same as the Ancients stopping the Ori's from sending out their prior's.

[John Hayward]

I was watching an old episode of the Fox series 24 earlier today. The main character, Jack (just like SG-1!) is a counter-terrorist agent who has taken down dirty co-workers in the past. He said something interesting that might apply here, about how one goes about becoming a "dirty cop." This is a paraphrase.

"You make one compromise. Then, it becomes easier to rationalize making more compromises. Before you know it, you're compromising and taking money and looking the other way because that's how you think things are done. You think [those guys he took down] were the bad guys? They weren't bad, they just compromised. Once."

Maybe they're afraid that ANY involvement would result in the Ancients becoming the Ori.

[Colonel Carter]

That's why they need accountability and a good justice system. And they need to keep their anonymity. The Ori made their existance known to the people, demanding worship. As long as the Ancients keep it in their laws that their aiding in the protection of their galaxy does not reveal themselves to anyone, I think it should be okay. Accountability really is key. And let the mortals in the galaxy believe in luck or whatever.