Merlin

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Merlin hologram

Earth Culture of Origin

Celtic, Druid, Welsh, Scottish, British

Alternate Names / Spellings

Myrddin ab Morfryn, Myrddyn, Merlini, Emrys, Merlin Ambrosius, Druid Thomas, Thomas of Rymour, Merlin Anglicus, Myrddin Emrys (Welsh), Myrddin Wyllt (Merlin the wild), Merlin Caledonensis (Scottish Merlin), Merlinus, Merlyn

Earth Mythological References

There are many stories in the Arthurian legend about Merlin. In some, he is the son of a devil and a nun, thus giving him magical powers, including that of seeing into the future. Other stories say that Merlin was a warrior who went insane after a battle, gained the gift of prophecy, and spent the rest of his life in the Caledonian Forest in Scotland. The most popular versions of Arthurian legend portray Merlin as an aged magician who was also the tutor of King Arthur.

Merlin is said to have helped established the Round Table, and foresaw King Arthur's reign, the quest for the Holy Grail, and the destruction of Arthur's castle, Camelot. Merlin is also credited for creating Stonehenge.

It is also said that Merlin fell in love with Nimue, the Lady of the Lake, who learns from him and then uses her magic to imprison him forever with an irreversible spell. Some versions of the legends associate Morgan le Fay as Merlin's mistress.

Stargate References

Myrddin's tablet
Myrddin's name in the Ancient database from Atlantis
Mitchell stands next to Merlin's hologram and sword in stone

Vala Mal Doran brought a stolen tablet encoded with Ancient to the SGC for Daniel Jackson to decipher. After decoding and translating the tablet, Daniel said that it spoke of a great storehouse of treasure. Vala insisted that this treasure was on Earth. The location of this treasure wasn't specified in the tablet, but the man who carved the tablet signed it — Myrddin. (9.01 "Avalon Part 1")

The Atlantis Expedition Team brought back information they obtained from the Ancient database stored in the great city-ship Atlantis in the Pegasus Galaxy. The database included a list of names of those Ancient city-dwellers who returned to Earth 10,000 years ago to escape from the Wraith, a terrible enemy who had besieged the city for several years. Amazingly, Daniel found the same name in this list of names: Myrddin, whose other popular name is Merlin of Arthurian legend. This gave Daniel a clue as to where the treasure might be located. He followed some of the various versions of Arthurian legend to narrow down the search to the Tor of Glastonbury — the Isle of Avalon. (9.01 "Avalon Part 1")

Using the Asgard sensors on the Prometheus, the SGC found that the Tor had underground caverns about half a mile down. Using the ring transporter, Lt. Col. Cameron Mitchell, Daniel, Teal'c, and Vala beamed into the cavern and were soon thereafter faced with a sword in the stone and a holographic image of Merlin. The hologram gave his message, addressed to the Knights of the Round Table, telling them that they would have to prove they had truth of spirit and wealth of knowledge in order to obtain the treasures hidden in the underworld, the storehouse of riches of Ambrosius Aurelianus, the name attributed to King Arthur in some versions of Arthurian legend. (9.01 "Avalon Part 1")

In order for the team to gain access to the treasures promised in Merlin's holographic message, they had to solve two riddles, each contained in its own chamber. When the cavern's sensors detected that someone had crossed the threshold into the puzzle chamber, fires were automatically lit to reveal the puzzle situated on top of a rectangular pedestal which was located in the center of the chamber. After Mitchell and Teal'c both entered their chamber, a large stone came down from within the ceiling to close off their entrance. The same thing happened in the chamber which Daniel and Vala entered. As soon as each team incorrectly solved their puzzles, the ceilings in their chambers began to lower, threatening to crush them to death. Eventually, both teams solved their puzzles, the ceilings lifted, and the doors opened. The final test was issued after Mitchell removed the sword from the stone. He had to fight a holographic knight. Eventually, Mitchell vanquished the knight and replaced the sword in the stone. At that moment, the treasure was revealed. (9.01 "Avalon Part 1", 9.02 "Avalon Part 2")

Daniel reads Merlin's book left in Avalon
Ancient communications terminal
Merlin's interdimensional device

SGC personnel sifted through the treasure to see if there was any Ancient technology. They found a large book which told the story of the Altera, the advanced human ancestors of the Ancients who left their home galaxy millions of years ago and settled in the Milky Way where they called their new home "Avalon" and built the network of Stargates. They also discovered two devices: an intergalactic communications terminal and an interdimensional device. (9.02 "Avalon Part 2", 9.18 "Arthur's Mantle")

They took these devices back to the SGC where Dr. Bill Lee began doing research on them. Daniel continued to study the large book and found that the intergalactic communications terminal could be activated using the communications stones which the SGC already had on hand (8.15 "Citizen Joe"). Daniel and Vala used the two stones in the terminal and were psychically linked to a human married couple named Harrid and Sallis. It was during this link that the Ascended Beings known as the Ori were alerted to the existence of humanity in the Milky Way Galaxy. The Ori are the rivals of the Altera and it was the Ori's attempt to wipe out the Altera which caused the Altera to flee from their galaxy those millions of years ago. Once the Altera ascended (also known as the Ancients and The Others), they shielded the existence of humanity in this galaxy from the Ori so that the Ori would not attempt to convert them into worshippers and sap their life forces in order to grow stronger in the ascended planes. The Ori have declared a holy war on the Milky Way, the prize being the power to wipe out their ascended rivals. (9.02 "Avalon Part 2", 9.03 "Origin Part 3", 9.10 "The Fourth Horseman Part 1", 9.11 "The Fourth Horseman Part 2")

Merlin knew of the Ori and the threat they posed. After he made a home on Earth, he ascended, but couldn't continue to abide by The Others' rules of non-interference. He decided to retake human form to develop a weapon which would neutralize the Ori. Knowing that The Others would be watching him, he built the interdimensional device so that he could do his research in an alternate dimension, supposedly out of The Others' plane of existence. Merlin recorded the Stargate address of the planet on which he continued his research into the development of the anti-Ori weapon. (9.18 "Arthur's Mantle")

Daniel researches Merlin's library
Merlin's hologram in Camelot wears the Sangreal
Artist's rendering of the Sangreal

SG-1 went to this planet and found a village strongly affected by Arthurian legends, for it was named Camelot and had a sword in a stone in its center. Merlin's research library was as he left it centuries ago because the villagers were afraid to go into it for fear of Merlin's curse. This curse was another holographic knight similar to the one Mitchell fought against in the Avalon cavern. Daniel read through Merlin's books and found some of his prophecies, one of which is said to be that as soon as the sword in the village's center is pulled from the stone, Arthur will return. Daniel had hypothesized that Merlin helped the man known as King Arthur to ascend, based on the myths of Arthur which said that Arthur would return after his mortal injury in the Battle of Camlann (the Once and Future King). The legend was different in the village of Camelot, however, stating that Arthur had defeated Mordred in the Battle of Camlann and then gone off along with some of his knights in search of the Sangreal, the "Holy Grail". As it turns out, this Sangreal was Merlin's anti-Ori weapon, taking on the form of a blood-red pendant which Merlin's Camelot hologram wore. (9.01 "Avalon Part 1", 9.20 "Camelot Part 2")

Because a local village girl pulled the sword from the stone to help Mitchell fight the holographic knight, the villagers of Camelot are enthusiastically awaiting Arthur's return. Merlin's fate was unknown to those of Camelot; they knew only that he had disappeared about the same time that Arthur and his Knights began their quest. (9.20 "Camelot Part 2")

Sir Gawain's sword
Vagonbrei village archive
Merlin was Moros, Atlantis High Councilor

SG-1's search for Merlin's weapon became Daniel's highest priority. He returned to Camelot to obtain more of Merlin's journals, trying to connect them with Earth's myths. He was specifically looking for the location of the planets which Meurik, the governor of Camelot, had told him the Knights had gone in their quest: Castiana, Sahal, and Vagonbrei. Daniel's research led him to discover the Stargate address of Vagonbrei depicted in a volume which Merlin had written featuring the adventures of Sir Gawain, one of the Knights of the Round Table. (10.02 "Morpheus")

The village on Vagonbrei was abandoned. All of its inhabitants had died in their sleep due to a parasitical infection. While there, the team was also infected with the parasite, so they were distracted with finding the cure while Daniel tried to stay awake with continued research in the village archive. He found that Morgan Le Fay had been on the planet and had hidden herself away in a cave. Apparently, Le Fay had stolen the Sangreal from Merlin and the Knights had gone after her. The villagers told the Knights about the cave and soon thereafter, they became infected with the parasite. One of the last entries in the archives told of the villagers' belief that Le Fay had cursed them with the sleeping sickness as punishment for revealing her location. (10.02 "Morpheus")

Daniel knew that Morgan Le Fay was depicted in Earth's legends as Merlin's greatest rival. If she had taken the Sangreal, then it was possible that the stories about Merlin's being cursed by Morgan had some measure of truth. That would explain his disppearance at the same time the Knights had left on their quest. (10.02 "Morpheus")

After finding the cure for the sleeping sickness, the team decided to follow up on some of the information Daniel found in the village archives by going to Atlantis. Since Merlin was known to have been one of the Ancients who left Atlantis 10,000 years ago, Daniel thought that there might be more information about him and the other planets involved in the Knights' quest. (10.02 "Morpheus")

The team took the Odyssey to Atlantis. Before their arrival, Daniel asked Dr. Elizabeth Weir, the leader of the Atlantis Expedition, to search the archives for the names Castiana and Sahal and any other variations. Her research come up empty, so Daniel decided to start at the beginning of the Ancients' time in the Milky Way and obtain the names of all of the settlements. He hoped to associate the Ancient names with the Old English names of the planets Castiana and Sahal. Weir showed the holographic interface to the database to Daniel and Vala where they could interact with an avatar. (10.03 "The Pegasus Project")

Vala grew impatient with Daniel's methodology and urged him to ask the hologram his question directly. After a brief argument, Daniel asked the question, not expecting an answer. To his complete shock, the avatar not only gave him the Ancient names of the planets, but also their Stargate addresses. Daniel stared at the female projection in silence for a while, trying to understand how it was that the avatar knew the Old English names of the planets since that language didn't come into being until several thousand years after the avatar was created. (10.03 "The Pegasus Project")

Daniel decided to do some more research into those who left Atlantis along with Myrddin 10,000 years ago. He asked the avatar to show each person one-by-one and recognized Merlin immediately. Myrddin's Ancient name was Moros, and he had been the last High Councilor of Atlantis at the time of the evacuation. (Moros had a gruff disposition and was against the use of a time traveling machine similar to that found on Harry Maybourne's planet (8.13 "It's Good To Be King"). Ironically, Daniel has theorized that Merlin traveled in time in order to write down his prophecies much like the Ancient who used that time machine had done.) (9.20 "Camelot Part 2", 10.03 "The Pegasus Project"; Stargate Atlantis: 1.5 "Before I Sleep")

Daniel listened to and watched the avatar closely, and after she looked directly at him, called him by name, and urged him to act on the information she had given him, he realized that she wasn't an avatar, but an Ascended Being. More specifically, the avatar was Morgan Le Fay, who had built the holographic interface originally to educate young Lantian minds. (10.03 "The Pegasus Project")

Le Fay, whose Ancient name as Ganos Lal, told Daniel that both she and Moros had ascended after arriving on Earth 10,000 years ago. But then, Moros decided to return to human form to develop his weapon. Amazingly, he returned in an advanced human form, keeping his knowledge and powers. At the time that he retook this form, he was the most powerful being on Earth. He formed the Round Table, established Camelot, and took Arthur and his Knights into his confidence. These men were entrusted with the knowledge of Merlin's nature and the existence of the weapon. Le Fay was sent by The Others, the Ascended Ancients, to watch Merlin's development of the weapon because it threatened all Ascended Beings, not just the Ori. She was also told to stop him if necessary, and she apparently did so by taking the weapon from him. This act was what sent Arthur and his Knights on their quest. What happened to Merlin, however, wasn't addressed in Daniel's brief interview with Le Fay. Although she was Merlin's greatest rival back in the days of legend, she had changed her mind about the threat the Ori posed and wished to help Daniel in his search, but was pulled away by The Others while saying, "Merlin's weapon is not..." Through this action, the Ascended Ancients were telling Daniel that they did not intend to intervene in the war against the Ori. (10.03 "The Pegasus Project")

Morgan's Parchment of Virtues
Adria and Daniel before the Sangreal
Sangreal is a hologram

Using the Stargate addresses Le Fay gave, the team visited Castiana and Sahal, but found nothing. Daniel returned to Camelot to do additional research, feeling that he was missing some clue which Merlin had left behind. His research also took him to England where he had access to a private collection of Arthurian writings. (10.04 "Insiders", 10.05 "Uninvited")

After inspiration came to Vala in a dream, the team discovered that when the Stargate glyphs of the addresses for Castiana, Sahal, and Vagonbrei were combined, they formed a unique address. SG-1 went to this planet and found that it was allegedly the place where Le Fay had hidden the Sangreal. She left a Parchment of Virtues and a map to aid those who sought the prize. These items were burned when an Ori invasion of the planet occurred right after Daniel read the Parchment. The village's librarian, Osric, promised to lead SG-1 to the hiding place with the map he had memorized. Along the way, the team picked up Ba'al, who claimed to know the name of the Sangreal's guardian, a dragon, and Adria, the Orici, who had been disguising herself as Osric all this time. (10.10 "The Quest Part 1")

Adria took contol of the quest by threatening the lives of Daniel's teammates. She was the one who had inspired Vala in the dream because she felt she needed Daniel's help to take the Sangreal. Le Fay had built failsafes into the Sangreal's hiding place which prevented an advanced human such as Adria — and Merlin — from taking it. Adria figured that Daniel, as a former Ascended, was the only one with the "truth of spirit" needed, but when Daniel attempted to take the glowing orb from its resting place, he discovered that it was merely a holographic projection. First, according to the Parchment of Virtues, the team had to speak the name of the guardian, a fire-breathing dragon, before they could possess Merlin's weapon. (10.10 "The Quest Part 1")

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--DeeKayP 15:43, 18 Jul 2005 (PDT)