The Fourth Horseman, Part 1 (910)

[Redwall]

My only comment on this episode: poor Gerak. I think by the end he realized he was wrong, but by then it was too late. (And yeah, the Doci stock footage did not blend well.)

[KatG]

Really, really liked this ep.

Sam was in full scientist mode, which I really love seeing. Liked her interaction with mini-Orlin. I think she handled the whole thing really well. I always suspected she and the original Orlin were more than friends, Landry's comment just confirmed it, although I think it was in rather bad form to bring it up in front of other people.

Knew from spoiler pics that Garak was going to become a Prior, but I like how it happened. I think he was having doubts there at the end, and had no idea what was going to actually happen to him when he went to "see" the Ori.

And the nation being under quarantine - very, very cool. It's going to be really hard to keep the Stargate program a secret now.

Excellent cliffhanger too. Looking forward to January, and that's something seeing as when S9 began, I wasn't sure if I would be or not.

[Ugly Pig]

Anyone notice that Landry used the word "descend" rather than the phrase "retake human form" when talking about Orlin? Isn't this the first time the word has been used (at least in that way) on the show? I know us fans have used it forever, but...

[the dancer of spaz]

Anyone notice that Landry used the word "descend" rather than the phrase "retake human form" when talking about Orlin? Isn't this the first time the word has been used (at least in that way) on the show? I know us fans have used it forever, but...

Nah. I'm pretty sure I've heard Sam or Jack use it before... I think...

[Mattathias2.0]

does anyone else think the ancients are somewhat afraid of the Ori? The whole thing frankly doesn't make much sense to me. The Ori and Ancients were one race. Schism develops, ori tries to kill everyone who doesn't believe, ancients split. The split had to occur pre-ascenscion, since the Ori later sent a plague to milky way to try and kill all ancients in physical form.

Both the ancients and Ori know that having mortal beings "worship" you grants you even more power (?this makes no sense so far, arent ascended beings almost omnipotent?). For some bizarre reason the ancients seed life on their galaxy, hide its presence from the Ori, but pretty much distance themselves from this life. Why? Ok, they are benovelent and want to see their "children" mature and learn on their own.

Now the Ori basically enslave their own galaxy, feeding on the power of belief to ?do what? throw crazy energy parties? the most logical thing would be find the ancients and kill em all. but they dont. Not enough worshippers? If they are ascended they are equal to ancients in power. However having worshippers must give them sort of edge.

The motivations and actions of both the Ori and Ancients basically make no sense. What does having a ton of worshippers provide? Why don't the ancients want it? Why don't the Ori do something with that extra power? Or do they need even more believers to initiate their actions? And how is having a bunch of people "believe" in you help in any way? Are quantum belief waves eminating from my body or something? If I fake a Ori prayer does that help or hurt?

Seeing as both the Ori and Ancients are now Ascended, I don't think the Ori can kill the Ancients, even if they desired too. Anubis was half-Ascended and Oma was completely Ascended, and she couldn't even kill him.

Since the Ancients refuse to generally interact with our level of existence, the Ori decided to do so to gain more... power?... influence to their specifications? I don't know.

[Crichton]

All I have to say is wow, ...seriously.

[Crichton]

ok, so it's not all i have to say.

talk about an uneventful re-entry for the tokkra. don't get me wrong, i LOVE the tokkra...but correct me if i'm wrong, this is the first time we've even heard from them since the gould were defeated by the tauri-and the tokkra fought them for thousands of years?? and we didn't even get to see them deliver the message?? oh well, ANY tokkra is better than no tokkra.

[the fifth man]

ok, so it's not all i have to say.

talk about an uneventful re-entry for the tokkra. don't get me wrong, i LOVE the tokkra...but correct me if i'm wrong, this is the first time we've even heard from them since the gould were defeated by the tauri-and the tokkra fought them for thousands of years?? and we didn't even get to see them deliver the message?? oh well, ANY tokkra is better than no tokkra.

Hey, you never know, we may yet see some Tok'ra this season. I'm not abandoning all hope just yet.

[DigiFluid]

lol another big goof this week.

Gerak was on Dakara, and took a 'spiritual' trip to Celestus. The Prior even said that his body was still on Dakara.

So how is it Gerak suddenly had a shiny new staff to walk into the Jaffa council meeting with? I suppose we could speculate that the Prior gave it to Gerak but that'd be completely unprecedented.

[tsaxlady]

Finally two enjoyable episodes in a row. The season is getting better and picking up speed. Although I did like Prototype better, since this is the first of a two parter I'm hopeful the second part will be better than the first. Not crazy about the fact that we have to wait until Jan for part 2.

Enjoyed seeing Hammond and Bratac in the episode. Young Orlin - not fully sold on him yet. Loved the scenes between Carter & Dr. Lee. All in all enjoyed the episode and look forward to the conclusion.

[bluezero02]

I've got a quick question. I know Danny said Anubis was half-ascended, but in Threads they treated him like he was all the way there.

So, assuming he was all the way there, how was he not like a god among the other Ascended? He had the fanatical devotion of a whole lot of Jaffa, not to mention those Kull warriors...

It just seems kind of convenient that the Ori feed off their disciples, and that's why they do what they do.

[Daniel's_twin]

Well, the way I understand it, they

Spoiler:

weren't all the way to the Ascended plane. Oma said that it was kind of a stop along the way, so it's likely that Anubis could "access that site" if you will.

And I'm guessing with the worshipping Jaffa thing, that it might not have the same effect on a half-ascended being as it would a fully-ascended being. Even so, he's outnumbered on a grand scale.

As for those Kull warriors, not sure they would count. They have no free will, and from what I understand, in order to gain that power that the Orii are looking for, it needs to be given through free will. So, no boost from the Super-soldiers.

[entil2001]

After finally watching the “summer finale”, I understand why the producers had little issue with airing the previous episode immediately before this one. That episode was largely a prologue to this episode, especially in terms of giving the SGC a possible direction in the hunt for a weapon against the Priors. That’s a good thing, because they’re going to need it.

The writers are clearly shooting for a massive escalation of stakes in the growing war against the Ori, and since this is a two-part story, that means a lot of exposition. Unfortunately, that doesn’t work to anyone’s advantage, especially when a boring child actor is the one delivering the exposition. Of course, the writers were also trying to get past the background and get the story moving, so perhaps it’s all forgivable in the end.

So the Ori are basically like something out of Celtic folklore: evil faerie who gain their power from the directed belief of those who believe in their power. In turn, the Ori take the power and keep the evolved humans from advancing far enough to ascend on their own. Since the only other way to ascend is through the help of another ascended being, the followers of the Ori are basically screwed.

What I like about this is that we learn more about the Ancients themselves through the filter of what they didn’t become. The Ancients and their non-interference position are a lot more reasonable within this context. It’s not that they don’t want to help, so much as they know all too well what they could become if they are tempted. Anubis, it seems, is just a minor glitch when compared to what might have been.

The Priors are humans who appear to have been evolved as far as they can go without being ascended, and then kept in that artificially evolved state with no hope of true free will. I’m rather convinced that some kind of mind control is involved as well, though when someone is that fanatical already, just getting that sudden rush of power must be more than enough.

I always knew Garek would be trouble, but this is a twist I didn’t see coming at all. I give the writers credit for coming up with a twist in the arc that I didn’t anticipate. In fact, that’s something I can say about the season as a whole. It’s done a great job of taking me places that I would never have expected the series to go at this stage of the game.

Certainly I didn’t see the plague striking Earth! In my book, that’s a great bit of foreshadowing. Nearly every episode of the season to this point has now become a part of the overall context of the dire situation here. If the International Committee wanted proof that the Priors were a danger, then I think this fits that description.

While the Orlin scenes were annoying because of the actor involved (why not just use a different character and eliminate the queasiness of the situation?), they did help give scope to the situation and how far out of their depth the Tau’ri are. Against the Goa’uld, they had allies. Now they have enemies among the Jaffa, and there’s precious little that anyone seems to be willing to do. Certainly the Asgard and Tok’ra aren’t directly involved.

Whatever the case, despite the pitfalls of some awkward scenes and bad exposition, this was a good episode, if only because we’ve rarely seen the worst-case scenario play itself out so completely. Earth has been struck with a plague, the Jaffa are led by a murderous Prior, and there’s no assurance that the anti-Prior field is going to solve the problem. Like I said about the Ori all along…it’s been a long time since I’ve actually been this intrigued at how it will all play out in January.

[Metarock Sam]

OMFG This episode Rocks. Not only did we get to see hammond again aswell as Bratac but we got Dr Lee listening to heavy metal (aptly named Dark Prior), we got to see Garick become a Prior (one of the best Stargate SG-1 Cliffhangers in a while.), we got to learn how Priors draw their energy. All I can say is from the look of things the second half of the season is going to be explosive (I doubt that we will get a Jaffa civil war.)
This episode also got to show Orlin again although he is shorter and younger he is still the nice unascended guy we all know and love.
Gerak wouldd have got his staff after being initiated into become a prior. I guess the Prior either gave him a staff non caporieally and it appeard caporieally or they can replicate themselves. Or the Prior had a spare one. Whatever all I can say is Roll On The Forth Horseman Part 2.

[japhmi]

I agree, Orlin's little "Us good guys believe in science, while those EVIL Ori believe in RELIGION" (shudder the thought) is a little over the top.

I'd like to see either Orlin himself or another Ancient (may over in the Pegasus galaxy) counteract this statement. Another thought I'd been having - what if the Ancients were the ones who made the Goa'uld as bad as they are. Maybe a rouge Ori who had infiltrated the departing Ancients and tried to give them the Ori religion via their genetic memories - but messed up so that they thought that they were Gods.