Wouldn't the Ori be scarier if they...

[Giantevilhead]

actually do ascend people? Feeding off of the will of their followers is just so obvious and cliché. They would make far scarier and dangerous villains if they truly believed that their religion is the true path and it does make sense in a very twisted sort of way. The philosophy of the Ori is that death is beginning. Those who do not ascend will die and disappear into nothingness while those who do will be preserved for eternity. Those who refuse to follow the Ori do not matter because they will not ascend and fade nothingness so they must be eliminated to preserve the existence of those who are willing to follow the Ori.

[AGateFan]

actually do ascend people? Feeding off of the will of their followers is just so obvious and cliché. They would make far scarier and dangerous villains if they truly believed that their religion is the true path and it does make sense in a very twisted sort of way. The philosophy of the Ori is that death is beginning. Those who do not ascend will die and disappear into nothingness while those who do will be preserved for eternity. Those who refuse to follow the Ori do not matter because they will not ascend and fade nothingness so they must be eliminated to preserve the existence of those who are willing to follow the Ori.

I think that is wwwaaayyyy to complicated a plot for the SciFi channel. So the exects would nix it in a second.

[Giantevilhead]

But it would make the Ori such awesome villains. Having the Ori feed on the will of their followers just makes them more powerful versions of the Goa'uld and they can be defeated in the same way the Goa’uld were defeated. All SG1 has to do is show the followers of the Ori that the Ori are lying to them, it will shatter their faith and the Ori be defeated. If the Ori actually believe that it is their purpose to preserve existence by ascending those willing and eliminating those who are unwilling, it would just make them so much more dangerous and complex, and not so obviously evil. The Ori would be so much harder to fight if they actually kept their promise and they truly believed in their religion.

[AGateFan]

Thats true, they would be nearly impossible to fight because there would be no real good reason for people not to join them if they actually do ascend everyone.... now maybe if they only kept their promise to a select few and ate everyone else then there would be hope of actually fighting them... But I still think its too complex for scifi channel.

[Giantevilhead]

Well it would make Stargate a much more complicated and philosophical show. They would have to touch on various themes like choice vs. destiny and change vs. stagnation. It could be argued that the eternal existence offered by the Ori is a stagnant one without true purpose and that death is change, those who choose to live and die rather than devote their entire life to ascension are able to advance their civilization and the accumulate knowledge beyond the reach of even those who are ascended, that it is simply not enough to exist eternally like the Ori, that death gives people purpose to reach farther and achieve more.

[AGateFan]

Yes it does. When the bad guys are not always "bad" it is far more complicated an issue to combat them.

[JanusAncient]

I would have personally loved this route, if they had taken it, but it would have lead to a horrific crossroads, giving Sg-1 the choice between good and evil, whether or not to destroy all of the Ori followers. Given that a growing Ori collective of ascended beings, is not only dangerous to the Milky Way, but to all of the universe, so the end result would be good becoming evil.

[Kanan]

actually do ascend people? Feeding off of the will of their followers is just so obvious and cliché. They would make far scarier and dangerous villains if they truly believed that their religion is the true path and it does make sense in a very twisted sort of way. The philosophy of the Ori is that death is beginning. Those who do not ascend will die and disappear into nothingness while those who do will be preserved for eternity. Those who refuse to follow the Ori do not matter because they will not ascend and fade nothingness so they must be eliminated to preserve the existence of those who are willing to follow the Ori.

Mmmm.... Yeah, I second that. TPTB seem to be going for the whole sucking thing lately, sucking life and sucking will, cliche is the word I'd use for it.

[Hatcheter]

But it would make the Ori such awesome villains. Having the Ori feed on the will of their followers just makes them more powerful versions of the Goa'uld and they can be defeated in the same way the Goa’uld were defeated. All SG1 has to do is show the followers of the Ori that the Ori are lying to them, it will shatter their faith and the Ori be defeated. If the Ori actually believe that it is their purpose to preserve existence by ascending those willing and eliminating those who are unwilling, it would just make them so much more dangerous and complex, and not so obviously evil. The Ori would be so much harder to fight if they actually kept their promise and they truly believed in their religion.

I think that oversimplifies the issue on several levels.

The decision to make the Ori liars about the ascension of their followers easily confirms that they are bad guys, but does not make then easy to defeat. Taking away all their followers would weaken them to some extent, but they would still be around.

Taking away said followers would also be a daunting proposition. We have no idea yet what sort of technology they are making available to their followers, or what numbers they can bring to bear in war.

And if the Ori really were intent on ascending all their followers, I doubt that they would be such a repressive force. They are currently operating on a lie, and have to use force to maintain it. But if they were telling the truth, they would not have to lie to their followers, or maintain that lie with force. Now would they kill off those they could not convert: they would want to keep working on them, keep offering them the chance to follow them.

Or simply ascend everybody outright.

But even if they did ascend all their followers, yet used force to maintain their leadership, they’re still quashing free will, making them bad.

[Giantevilhead]

We may not know the details of how the Ori will be defeated just like how we did not the details of how the Goa'uld are going to be defeated in the first few seasons of the show but we already know the general idea of how it can be done, take away their followers. If the Ori truly believed in their religion then we would have no idea how they could be defeated, there would be room for so much more conflict and development.

The Ori are ancient, they have been around for millions of years. As far as we know, the Ori were once like the Ancients and did not interfere but after seeing the rise and fall of countless civilizations, countless lives lost, faded into nothing, after millions of years of that the Ori began to view those deaths as pointless. The Ori may have simply decided it is actually worth oppressing people so that they could ascend instead of fade into oblivion.

The Ori won’t need to quash the free will of those they ascend. Not only have their followers been taught the philosophy of the Ori from childhood but once they ascend they will gain access to the knowledge of the Ori, they will see that they have not been lied to, they will see the universe as it was before the Ori decided to interfere, they will see the countless pointless deaths, they will understand, and they will continue to carry out the will of the Ori.

[Hywel]

TPTB seem to be going for the whole sucking thing lately

I misread that for a moment!

I agree with what everyone is saying. When Orlin revealed that the Ori grow more powerful from their followers, I was thinking "and the dramatic plot twist is?".

[The Signal]

A bit of a cliche yes, but if it works. I would rather have a simpler idea, that is easier to work on later, than a complicated one that leads to no later development

[Eoin]

A bit of a cliche yes, but if it works. I would rather have a simpler idea, that is easier to work on later, than a complicated one that leads to no later development

yeah it'd be too complicated, but a good idea none the less

[vonbismarck]

How do you convince someone that the Ori do not ascend people?

[the fifth man]

yeah it'd be too complicated, but a good idea none the less

Definitely a good idea. The Ori are still plenty scary nonetheless. I can't wait to learn a bit more about just how twisted they really are.