Avalon, Part 2 (902)

[NakedJehutyV2]

Excellent observation. I think the easiest explanation for this is that the Ancient writing was a defense mechanism. Myrddin/Merlin wanted to make sure that whoever found this area was in fact worthy of the treasure, and not a thief (like Vala), someone who just happened to stumble upon the cache, or even worse of all, one of the Ancients' enemies. Since very few people speak Ancient, the person(s) worthy of the treasure would have had to be someone who not only studied and understood the Ancient language, but also could understand the cryptic clues Merlin left.

Sure, the cache was shielded quite effectively to begin with, but it seems likely that the Ancient writing was a last line of defense, just in case some random person or one of the enemies of the Ancients managed to find a way into the mountain looking for the treasure.

Or it could've just been because Merlin felt like writing in his native language...

i agree

[akimbo]

But Daniel going to her and just being Daniel. I don't want any Daniel/Vala ship but it was nice to see him go to her and hold her. And the tingles comment was priceless. Vala is trying so hard to not show her vulnerability but the look on her face and the way she held so tightly to Daniel betrays that confident exterior.

Yup. Gotta agree there. Vala definitely has a vulnerable side under all that deflective innuendo. Though I'm not convinced either way about the Daniel/Vala ship. I'd wouldn't mind seeing Daniel have a more "normal" relationship, but we haven't seen any ship turn out particularly well for Daniel and I like Vala.

[BodenMaddox]

hmmmm.....possibly. Cam states he took fencing in college, which he flunked.

I apologize if someone else has touched on this, but I have seen this flunk thing mentioned a few times. When I saw the episode (and still now, as I re-watch it), I took Mitchell's comment, "So I flunked fencing," as a joke. I don't think he meant it sincerely. He was trying to lighten the situation and, frankly, shut Vala up.

[StarzSkyMoon]

Just watched Avalon 2 again, and this caught my attention....

Daniel and Vala were still connected with the bracelets when the used the ancient device. Wouldnt that mean that when Vala was killed by the fire Daniel would be effected too? She died on earth, wouldnt the bands sense that and adversely affect Daniel too?

Answers or thoughts?


Lizbeth

[¤Denial-OF-Life¤]

It's a time issue I think, if she was gone too long he would feel the effects to my understanding.

[TOA]

Just watched Avalon 2 again, and this caught my attention....

Daniel and Vala were still connected with the bracelets when the used the ancient device. Wouldnt that mean that when Vala was killed by the fire Daniel would be effected too? She died on earth, wouldnt the bands sense that and adversely affect Daniel too?

Answers or thoughts?


Lizbeth

Lizbeth,

This was (somewhat) answered in part I. It takes a certain amount of time to impact the other person wearing the bracelet. So in the case where Vala gets smoked she wasnt actually dead long enough to kill Daniel. Both Vala and Daniels health stats either fell or completely stopped in Vala's case.

[huzzah]

ToasterOnFire -- You are pretty much spot-on there regarding the arabic numerals. Arthur would have been around sometime near the end of the Roman Empire (in Britain at least) and would thus have almost definitely been using Roman numerals. I would guess that TPTB could argue that Merlin was an Ancient and might have traveled between the areas. Maybe he wanted the treasure to be found by someone at some point in time where societies were more interconnected or something. I dunno.

[majorsal]

Still loving this show, still anxious for the next episode!

About the fight scene... Someone smarter than me explained it this way:
The ancients could care less whether you can out-sword fight a knight. It was all about determination and spirit. In the beginning, the HoloKnight is programmed to fight just one notch higher than the person it is fighting. The purpose is to wear down the opponent and bring him/her to the brink of defeat. It is what the opponent does at that point that is important. If they escape to the rings, than they have failed. If they find, within themselves, the courage and resolve to get back up and fight, then they will win. At this point, HoloKnight fights one notch below the opponent, maybe starting at an equal level to see if the opponent's resolve holds, but allowing the true in spirit to eventually win.
It had nothing to do with whether or not you can hold a sword correctly, but whether you will keep fighting.
I thought this was an excellent analysis and I agree wholeheartedly.

Someone said that the sword work and foot work wasn't correct. This is also explained by the theory above. Mitchell didn't know how to fight with a broadsword, so why would he be fighting correctly? And the knight is only programmed to stay one-step ahead, so he isn't going to be showing off any clever moves, since Mitchell didn't know any. Put in this context, it make sense that no experts were called on the set to get the moves right.

as i've stated before, this was my fave part of the ep. and i loved that mitchell wasn't so good in the fight. and i loved seeing the flashback, because it (like all the other flashbacks) showed us how hard mitchell's worked to overcome his afflictions. it never crossed my mind that mitchell was supposed to be good at this sword fight, because why would anyone know how to fight like that (unless they were training to be an extra on Xena ).

i know some ppl haven't liked the flashbacks, but they've made me connect with mitchell on a much deeper level.

i've got my own afflictions (missing sam and jack so much), so i'm appreciating the writers giving me this texture to mitchell.


sally

[Kevin]

-I thought the episode was great.

-I liked the take of Mitchell having to fight a hologram that could hurt him. It was well done.

-Vala having some of the jewels around her chest area was fun to watch. I thought they should have given her a bit of the treasure...even if it was just a little something

-I like how they are building up the tension within the Jaffa nation.

-Glad to see some exploring going on. I liked the set of the town, looked elaborate.

-I can't beleive they ended the show where they did. Teasers I mean it was absolutely the right place to end it, but I wanted to see the Ori so bad. I was looking at the time to see if there'd be time to see where Daniel and Vala were going

-Onto Vala......I loved her. I've loved her from the beginning, but we really saw another side of her in this episode. They toned her down a bit, but still kept what made Vala what she is. I like either version equally, so either way is good with me. Well actually, I'll give a 1.36% advantage to the Vala from this episode. More on Vala a little later.

-Daniel and Vala work so well together. Danny boy can hide it, but he likes her....more on that in a bit as well

-Vala being lit of fire. Whoever has said that Stargate is nothing but fluff should watch that scene. The whole thing was stunning. The fluff argument to me has always been 100% ridiculous, and that scene was just another in the long line of examples to prove it. People say Stargate is fluff as a way to dismiss it, but that ignores what happens on the show.

Back to the fire. What a scene, easily the scene of the season. Besides what I said above, there were two key elements to that scene.

1- It showed how much Daniel cares for Vala. You could argue that he'd react that way to anyone, but there was definately more to it then that. He cares about her, even if he won't admit it. His whole reaction before, during, and after Vala being torched was telling. It was more than just the trauma from any regular person dying. The hug between them was really touching and came off beautifully.

2- That one scene added a lot of depth to Vala. It showed how vulnerable she was behind her tough exterior. We got to see a diferent side to her that we haven't seen before. How she is indeed very human. Vala looked like a lost little school girl when she came back to life. Scared, freightened, you name it. Congrats to Claudia on a wonderful job.

I wish there was some way we could keep Vala. The character is wonderful. But it's not possible in any way. A five person team is completely unacceptable. Four is the perfect number (look at Sliders, both Stargate's, etc). And removing Carter is not an acceptable option because I want the orignal team as long as the actors want to play their roles. I've watched them for 8 years, watched the dynamic grow and evolve, and it can't be discarded. The original team should always come first.

Because Vala can't become a regular, hopefully she'll become a frequent recurring character.


Out...

[ComicDiva]

It was great on all fronts:
- Action: the semi-holographic fence fight. They're really pumping up the character developement for Mitchell, which is ok but he still feels like an O'Neill clone to me.
-Humour: it was funny seeing Daniel and Vala being not nice to each other, but civilised. They had an image to maintain afterall. I laughed out loud when Daniel talked about the incident in "Average Joe" and Mitchell said he read the file on that weird guy. I thought he looked directly into the camera at the audience. Upon reinspection I realised he was looking at the doctor, but still... it would've been a funny scene.
- Drama: Vala going extracrispy. Damn. I really cringed at that one. I couldn't believe the Stargate producers were actually letting us see someone burn to death. And both Black's and Shank's acting was perfect. I loved the fact that Vala didn't just jump up and say: "Ok, I'm back. Let's get some treasure up in here." She died and she knew it. Now she's got something more in common with Daniel. Which reminds me, Daniel holding her burnt body was one of the most emotional scenes ever in this show.
- Character Developement: pretty much all around. I like Doig as the doctor, and her relationship with her father. Nice touch, I love family stories and this could be a nice alternative to the Carter father-daughter story, given that these two don't seem very close. I also liked how she didn't stand around after declaring Vala dead. These people are not her friends, they are her patients.
Teal'c is getting intense!!! I love what they did with him this episode. First almost losing his temper, then going on defense and having to remind the Jaffa they're behaving like inconsiderate, ungrateful little brats and then like complete idiots. Up until now he knew what he had to do, who he had to fight, but how can he fight the will of his own people? Great stuff! And I've never even been interested in the Jaffa plot.
And speaking of moral ambigouity, what's with the guy with the staff? He saved vala, but he encourages the Ori (it's that how it's spelled?) worship.

[ChillinTheMost]

I apologize if someone else has touched on this, but I have seen this flunk thing mentioned a few times. When I saw the episode (and still now, as I re-watch it), I took Mitchell's comment, "So I flunked fencing," as a joke. I don't think he meant it sincerely. He was trying to lighten the situation and, frankly, shut Vala up.

I agree that Mitchell didn't really flunk fencing. He had told them that he had fencing when it first appeared that he was doing well, but when it quickly became clear that he wasn't doing as well as first thought, he made the "well, I never said I did well in the class" deprecating type of comment. Totally the type of thing I could see him saying even if he aced the class, but because he was losing this fight. What I don't see him doing is make excuses for his shortcomings by saying, "But of course, fencing is nothing like broadsword fighting, which is why I am losing..."

Besides, Mitchell is obviously a over-achiever, actually, I would think they all are, and he would probably consider getting a "C" to be "flunking".

[WhatFateAlmondRoca]

Moving on....(from the fight scene, which I stated earlier that I get now so if some of you would kindly please stop quoting me out of context already....) Thanks chillin for shining the light - my brain is happy!

Anyway, I was pleased to see David Palffy again!!! I guess he doesn't mind playing somewhat unattractive characters????

Is it Friday yet?

[Tok'Ra Hostess]

Good premise to this story. Glad they made Cam somewhat clumsy with the broadswoard - at least, compared to a fencing sword it was a broadsword. And the whole puzzle situation put me in mind of Myst so that was kinda fun. Cam's pretty smart, too. Puts me in mind of Atlantis' Sheppard. I did find his snappy dialogue during the swordfight scene to be too close to Andromeda and other comic book material, though. Gawd, boys at Bridge, please don't go that route!!!

Vala... erm... I'm sick of Vala. I wish she'd act like she's in a SF drama, not a sit com. (just my taste, mind you; I'm sure I'd like her if she was a tad more serious. Oh well, maybe the Ori will have burned some sense into her....) Daniel is a sweetheart, though, isn't he? To feel such pity for such an unlikeable person as Vala... (Personally, I think it would have been sooo much more powerful a scene if Sam had been the one burning, but, whatchagonnado?)

I liked seeing the interaction between Carolyn and her dad. She's the only person so far who can put the General off his stride. I'm looking forward to watching that dynamic.

Poor Teal'c and friends. Animal Farm, revisited.

Liked seeing Dr. Lee again, and having the props from Citizen Joe used for their intended purpose was cool.

[Kalliope]

Vala... erm... I'm sick of Vala. I wish she'd act like she's in a SF drama, not a sit com. (just my taste, mind you; I'm sure I'd like her if she was a tad more serious. Oh well, maybe the Ori will have burned some sense into her....) Daniel is a sweetheart, though, isn't he? To feel such pity for such an unlikeable person as Vala... (Personally, I think it would have been sooo much more powerful a scene if Sam had been the one burning, but, whatchagonnado?)

Are we watching the same show? I'm not so sure of it...

[greytop]

Liked seeing Dr. Lee again, and having the props from Citizen Joe used for their intended purpose was cool.

I also liked Cameron's reaction about the stones, about him say reading the report. The TPTB must of use this because Ben had watched all the SG-1 shows before starting his new role.