9.14 “Stronghold”
Summary
Members of the Jaffa High Council are showing unusual behavior and an old enemy, thought dead, is revealed to be behind it. Meanwhile, one of Mitchell’s old friends is about to die after having saved Mitchell’s life and wishes to know about the top-secret work that Mitchell is doing in order to make his death easier to face.
Details
It was thought that Ba’al was dead (most likely after the events of 9.07 “Ex Deus Machina”), but he is secretly subverting the members of the Jaffa High Council through a program of torture and brainwashing. An elderly member of the Jaffa High Council, Maz’rai, a strong proponent of democracy, uncharacteristically betrays Bra’tac by voting against Bra’tac’s cause. Once Maz’rai realizes that he has been brainwashed, he tries to undo it through the Rite of M’al Sharran which results in his own death.
Gerak is gone, some believing him to be a martyr, after sacrificing himself to save many lives as he stood in defiance of the Ori who killed him. Some believe he had ascended and doubt Bra’tac’s words as he was the only witness to Gerak’s death. (His story arc ended in 9.10-9.11 “The Fourth Horseman”.) Yat’yir, Gerak’s lieutenant, is now pushing his own agenda, leaning toward support of the Ori.
And now, after the brainwashing is revealed, Teal’c has gone missing. Daniel and Carter investigate.
Meanwhile, an old “top gun” pilot friend of Mitchell’s, Maj. Bryce Ferguson, is dying from a wound he suffered four years ago in North Korea saving Mitchell’s life. Knowing that he is about to die, he asks Mitchell to breach his security clearances and tell him about his top-secret work, feeling that knowing about it will make his death easier to face. Mitchell’s cover story about his injuries from the Antarctic battle were that he went down in a test flight, but Ferguson doesn’t buy it. His investigations have led him to the conclusion that Mitchell was flying a human-built alien-hybrid fighter against an alien armada in Antarctica. Ferguson doesn’t buy the story about the bomb that went off in an office building in Seattle (“Ex Deus Machina”), nor the one about the influenza outbreak that swept the globe (“The Fourth Horseman”).
Carter and Mitchell discuss the possibility of disclosure. She tells him about her father and Pete Shanahan. Mitchell tells Ferguson about the Stargate Program, feeling that it would have been Ferguson who would have made it to the F-302 Program and not him if Ferguson had not taken the shrapnel that will eventually kill him (inoperable brain aneurism). Afterwards, Mitchell joins his team to search for Teal’c.
Locations: Dakara, Ba’al’s mothership, Colorado Springs VA Hospital, U’kin’s homeworld
Characters
Guest/mentioned characters include: Maj. Bryce Ferguson, Maz’rai, Ba’al, Bra’tac, Kal’el (Ka’lel), Til’vak, U’kin, Yat’yir, Dr. Kelly
Production Credits
Written by Alan McCullough
Directed by Peter DeLuise
Before cameras 8/5 – 8/15
Note that all spoilers are subject to change before the finished episode is produced.