9.05 or 9.06 “The Powers That Be”
Episode Summary
Vala returns to a planet where she was once worshipped as a god, only to face both the Priors of the Orii and a destructive plague.
Spoiler Snippets
SG-1 and Vala visit the backwater planet designated P8X-412, and meet a village leader named Azdak who is not aware that the Goa’uld System Lords have been defeated. He still believes that Vala (Claudia Black) is still a powerful god, and, once Vala reveals the truth of her history of deception and exploitation, he initiates a trial to condemn her of her crimes.
Daniel, Teal’c, and Mitchell sit with Vala in the Mal Doran, a trial in which the charges are brought before the people who hear both sides of the argument and then vote on the disposition of the accused. While Teal’c and Mitchell are present to lend their support, Daniel stands and speaks on Vala’s behalf.
Vala confessed that she was once the host to the Goa’uld Qetesh. SG-1 explains to the villagers about the parasitic nature of the Goa’uld. When Azdak begins his reading of the charges to which Vala had basically confessed, Daniel reminded him that those crimes were done by Qetesh, not Vala. Daniel said that she should only be sentenced for the crimes she committed once the Goa’uld symbiote had been removed. That was four years ago. Unfortunately, Vala still took advantage of these people after she was no longer a host. The charges against Vala are reduced to planet-wide forced labor. She deceived the people in order to gain access to their naquadah, gold, food, wine, weapons, and clothes, among other things.
The proceedings are stopped when a plague sweeps through the village and Azdak dies, only to be brought back to life by a Prior of the Orii. Other villagers are also healed by the Prior, including one named Vachna, but Vachna turns ill once more.
During the time of their stay on the planet, Daniel tries to figure out why the Orii are asking to be worshipped. The Ascended Beings that he knows don’t care and consider humans so far beneath them that they are insignificant, just like bugs are to humans. The Orii’s need to be worshipped and their do-or-die doctrine go against what he knows about Ascended Beings.
Vala and SG-1 came to the planet to warn the people of the threat the Priors pose. They know that the Priors are bad, but the people seem to accept them as good. The villagers are divided in the decision as to whether or not they will devote themselves to the Orii. Will the Priors eventually show their true nature or will millions of former Goa’uld slaves just switch their devotion from one false god to another?
Characters
Vala, Azdak, Vachna, Prior, Gerak (Louis Gossett, Jr.)
Credits
Writer: Robert C. Cooper/Martin Gero
Director: Will Waring