9.05 "The Powers That Be" Episode Guide

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Précis

Vala returns to a planet where she was once worshipped as a god, only to face some unexpected trials when Daniel convinces her to tell the impoverished people the truth about being a host freed from her Goa'uld symbiote. Condemned to death for her pains, Vala has to help SG-1 battle both the Priors of the Ori and a destructive plague.

Guide | Transcript

SciFi.com Official Summary

The official summary is not yet available as this episode has yet to air in the United States.

Episode Spoilers

The following is a collection of spoilers gathered from various sources. Keep in mind that these interpretations are subject to change.

Note: Latest updates are in color.

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 Ori. 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 Ori 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 Ori'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 Ori. 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?

Atlantis writer/producer Martin Gero took some time out from working on that show to pen the SG-1 episode The Powers That Be. "The Priors have been reported on several planets throughout the galaxy, one of which Vala is quite familiar with," explains Gero. "She convinces SG-1 to go to the planet and make contact with the locals in order to see what the Priors have been up to and if they've been trying to convert them. It turns out that these people still believe that Vala is a false god, a Goa'uld, and she's thinking she can clean out her palace so to speak and run for the hills before the Priors show up.

"Daniel convinces her to come forward and reveal herself as a false god in the hope that by educating these people about false gods they will come to doubt the Priors' worth. Long story short, they imprison her, the Priors arrive, and a story that starts off kind of light and funny takes a more serious turn when the Priors, in a show of power, unleash a plague upon the planet. Vala does all she can to heal the inhabitants using a Goa'uld hand device but it's not enough.

If you're a Vala fan and a Claudia Black fan obviously watch all six episodes that she's in this season, but this one is possibly her most powerful performance."

— TV Zone Special #64

Guest characters: Vala, Azdak, Vachna, Prior, Gerak.

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--DeeKayP 19:43, 23 Jun 2005 (PDT)

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