I rewatched Avalon I and II and...

[KindlyKeller]

... the Ori started out as incredible villains. Now, I enjoyed Season 10 and "The Ark of Truth" very much, but the Ori lost a lot of their luster, creepiness, and such after their amazing introduction and early portrayal.

They were a more powerful villain than the Gou'ald ever were, but they were defeated much, much easier. Part of it is just the time constraints with the show being cancelled, I know, but the sense of immediate danger was lost by the middle of Season 10.

Watching Avalon II, I'm struck by how wonderfully evil they are. And the scene when they burn Vala, oh my GOD! They really went for it there! And poor, poor Daniel's reaction is amazing.

The turning point for me might have been when they invented the "anti-Prior" weapon. That made the Ori seem easily beatable to me. There wasn't the same "oh my God, we're in trouble!" feeling after that.

Anyway, just my thoughts. I enjoyed Season 10 and the movie, but I felt like they dropped the ball a little bit on what started out as incredible antagonists.

What do you think?

[g.o.d]

I totally agree with you. They had a potential to become the worst villians in SG history but TPTB wasted it. In the end, it was easier to defeat them than the goa'uld or replicators. WE just sent another miraculous weapon through the supergate and they were gone. Such a shame

[silly sally]

I totally agree with you. They had a potential to become the worst villians in SG history but TPTB wasted it. In the end, it was easier to defeat them than the goa'uld or replicators. WE just sent another miraculous weapon through the supergate and they were gone. Such a shame

We didn't defeat the Goual'd - the replicators did it for us in 'Reckoning'. We just took care of the damn legos...

[g.o.d]

We didn't defeat the Goual'd - the replicators did it for us in 'Reckoning'. We just took care of the damn legos...

but we killed many system lords a few minor goa'ulds

[Pharaoh Atem]

if TPTb had kept vala dead at the end of Avalon pt 2 i would have been totally sold that the ori were really evil and great villains

[Ladyinred]

if TPTb had kept vala dead at the end of Avalon pt 2 i would have been totally sold that the ori were really evil and great villains

TPTB contracted Claudia Black for SIX EPISODES at the beginning of season 9, so killing Vala would break this contract. Why would they want to do this?

BTW, they BURNED Salis and Harrid at the end of Origin. Not enough evil for you?

[garhkal]

not really as we were not as emotionally involved in their characters.

[coolguy55220]

i agree, they started off so evil and scary and creepy, but due to the fact that show was gonna end, i dont see anything the writers could have done, im sure they could have stretched out another 8 seasons from ori storyline but they had to kill it fast... wat can u do... its life..
I personally think SG1 ended better than it started, i like the ori storyline 5x better than the g'ould(i know i cant spell it) and it had potential to be such a better storyline than the first 8 seasons but everything must come to an end... Im just glad we still have the stargate world. Hopefully Atlantis keeps on doing well and we get 10 years out of it like SG1!!!

[magictrick]

The Ori storyline started off strong but I think it couldn't be fully developed with the time constraints since the series was ending. They could've focused more on how powerful the Ori really were, maybe show how much devastation the plague caused to other planets, or have more allies get wiped out.

Seeing it rather than just hearing about it would've had more of an impact.

[Tri_rule]

Yeah The Ori seemed like good villians at the beginning but by Mid-season 10 they lost there 'Magic' and to me it was evident that it was adria who was the primary bad guy not the Ori themselves by that time

'The Shroud' was the episode that confirmed adria as the prime bad guy.

[suse]

TPTB contracted Claudia Black for SIX EPISODES at the beginning of season 9, so killing Vala would break this contract. Why would they want to do this?

BTW, they BURNED Salis and Harrid at the end of Origin. Not enough evil for you?

Yes, they did burn them... but then Daniel and Vala got them into that position well, Vala did because the 'experienced' con artist couldn't keep her mouth shut to begin with.

Actually, deciding not to use CB for all 6 eps wouldn't really have broken the contract if she'd still have been paid. If they'd have made Vala a real Stargate character instead of a "we need to tone her down for S10 as she's now full-time" 'sexy' 'fun' er, not alien I'd actually have liked her.

suse

[suse]

Yeah The Ori seemed like good villians at the beginning but by Mid-season 10 they lost there 'Magic' and to me it was evident that it was adria who was the primary bad guy not the Ori themselves by that time

'The Shroud' was the episode that confirmed adria as the prime bad guy.

Of course it was, as they

Spoiler:

killed off the (B)Ori in that ep.

suse

[Tri_rule]

Of course it was, as they

Spoiler:

killed off the (B)Ori in that ep.

suse

Yeah I never really understood why they decided to kill the Ori, it just seemed like an 'easy way out' if you know what i mean

[jenks]

Not really, the Ori were never the real threat anyway.

[Prior_of_the_Ori]

... the Ori started out as incredible villains. Now, I enjoyed Season 10 and "The Ark of Truth" very much, but the Ori lost a lot of their luster, creepiness, and such after their amazing introduction and early portrayal.

They were a more powerful villain than the Gou'ald ever were, but they were defeated much, much easier. Part of it is just the time constraints with the show being cancelled, I know, but the sense of immediate danger was lost by the middle of Season 10.

Watching Avalon II, I'm struck by how wonderfully evil they are. And the scene when they burn Vala, oh my GOD! They really went for it there! And poor, poor Daniel's reaction is amazing.

The turning point for me might have been when they invented the "anti-Prior" weapon. That made the Ori seem easily beatable to me. There wasn't the same "oh my God, we're in trouble!" feeling after that.

Anyway, just my thoughts. I enjoyed Season 10 and the movie, but I felt like they dropped the ball a little bit on what started out as incredible antagonists.

What do you think?

I really like the Ori myself and felt parts of their development were wasted, however, there were holes that TPTB wrote themselves into by introducing such a powerful foe. Essentially, the more powerful an enemy, the more likely a plot device is used to defeat them. Priors are extremely powerful and able to wipe out entire planets by themselves which means that a special weapon is required to neutrailize this ability and same with the Ori themselves because they are simply too powerful for SG-1 to fight through ordinary means. The only way to defeat such a foe was to give Earth advanced tech to challenge them and plot devices like the Sangraal and the Ark of Truth.

Mind you, to credit TPTB, the Priors were dropping like flies like the Goa'uld were and it was only some rare occasions were they killed. Plus, the Priors were made quite nasty like the Administrator one who converted the village in the beginning of the season 9. Ultimately though, the cancellation meant an early end to the Ori arc.

but we killed many system lords a few minor goa'ulds

True but while debilitating against the individual Goa'uld, the greater Goa'uld empire was not truly affected by this. The Tok'ra had been engaging in such an action for thousands of years and werent able to topple the Goa'uld's power base and if the System Lords had united then they would have destroyed Earth easily; Protected Planets Treaty or no Protected Planets Treaty. In the end, it was luck that allowed Earth to win and the Replicators... cause seriously, if the Replicators had not intervened, would the Goa'uld have been defeated? If anything, the killing of minor Goa'uld had worked to Anubis's benefit and contributed to his rise to power by allowing him to absorb their Jaffa armies.

[Stef]

Well, in all fairness the Ori wouldn't have been defeated as easily/quickly if there had been more seasons. The Goa'uld had 8 seasons to wrap up a story...the Ori had 2 and one movie. I was disappointed that it turned out to be so easy to defeat the Ori, but I guess it was nice to have closure to that story rather than leaving us hanging indefinitely.

But I agree about the point people brought up about Adria. On the one hand, it made the Ori story somewhat easier to focus on since you had a face to put to the villain...on the other, Adria never did scare me much so the Ori lost a bit of their power in that regard. Then again, after we got accustomed to some of the Goa'ulds, they weren't exactly frightening as villains either.

-Stef

[Thor_Enke]

I totally agree with you. They had a potential to become the worst villians in SG history but TPTB wasted it. In the end, it was easier to defeat them than the goa'uld or replicators. WE just sent another miraculous weapon through the supergate and they were gone. Such a shame

The Ori have lost their creepiness, for sure. But, it's the writter's fault. It's the same thing for the Wraiths. At first, they were creepy, naughty, awesome etc., but by now, they don't scare any one anymore. It's such a waste

[Stef]

True, but I think that happens with a lot of shows. The more you get to know the villain, the less frightening they become. The same thing happened for "Battlestar Galactica" once they started showing the fight from the Cylon's side rather than just from the human's. I just think that in order for writers to develop the plot, to develop the villain in some way, they have to make them less mysterious, which takes away some of their creepiness or scare factor.

-Stef

[Prior_of_the_Ori]

Ultimately, the more you show a 'scary race', the less scary they become. Sometimes, elements are done to reduce the impact but after sometime and constant appearances, that race becomes more average. The Goa'uld were scary in the beginning but that ended after a while, same with the Wraith. The Ori remained scary for a bit due to their short two season run. Replicators were also scary.

[farcue]

Ultimately, the more you show a 'scary race', the less scary they become. Sometimes, elements are done to reduce the impact but after sometime and constant appearances, that race becomes more average. The Goa'uld were scary in the beginning but that ended after a while, same with the Wraith. The Ori remained scary for a bit due to their short two season run. Replicators were also scary.

Im with you there dude. The wraith were the best villians in the franchise to begin with but the more they were humanised the less effect they had.