Prometheus Unbound

From SGCommand

SG-1 Season 8
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Season 7				Season 9

Prometheus Unbound is the twelfth episode of the eighth season of Stargate SG-1.

Contents 1 Plot 1.1 References 2 Notes 3 Sources

[edit] Plot

The episode opens with Daniel Jackson and Gen. O'Neill arguing about whether or not Daniel can go on the upcoming mission to Atlantis. General Hammond solves the issue by telling O'Neill that Daniel will in fact be taking part in the mission, as Hammond himself is going to be in command of the Prometheus, and therefore, the mission. Walter Harriman will also be going.

On board the Prometheus, Daniel briefs the command crew on where they're going. He meets Dr. Lindsey Novak, who apparently turned down the opportunity to go on the first mission to Atlantis. As they are talking, an alarm goes off on the ship. Daniel goes to the bridge, where they are picking up a distress call.

They drop out of hyperspace, and find a suspicious-looking Al'kesh, sitting dead in space. A team is sent to investigate; however, the team is stunned and a Kull Warrior transports over to the Prometheus. It rings the entire crew (except for Daniel) to the Al'kesh, then pilots the Prometheus away.

Daniel finds his way to the bridge, having grabbed a P-90 with the Kull Disruptor embedded in it. He sneaks up on the Kull and shoots it twice in the back but to no avail. The Kull Warrior then turns round and zats Daniel.

Meanwhile, the Prometheus' crew attempts to get the Al'kesh running again.

Daniel wakes up on the bridge of the Prometheus, tied up in the command chair. Daniel attempts to make small talk until the Warrior removes "its" helmet, revealing Vala. She attempts to extract the Prometheus' command codes from Daniel, but he resists, eventually managing to break free of his bonds and regain control of the situation. However, the computers have been programmed to accept commands only from Vala, and an Al'kesh suddenly appears on their radar. (Unbeknownst to Daniel and Vala, it is the Al'kesh containing the Prometheus' crew.) Vala explains that she has commandeered the vessel only as a means of helping her people, who are refugees. She and Daniel struggle for control of the ship and Daniel gains the upper hand, but not before the Prometheus jumps into hyperspace.

Daniel puts Vala in the brig and returns to the bridge, but cannot figure out how to access the navigational controls. When she wakes up, he tries, unsuccessfully, to get her to tell him how to turn the ship around. When the ship arrives at the given coordinates, Daniel disembarks, only to find out that there are no refugees at all. Apparently, Vala instead planned to trade the Prometheus for a large quantity of refined, weapons-grade Naquadah. While Daniel attempts to explain the situation to Vala's trading partners (members of the Lucian Alliance), a pair of Death gliders begins strafing their position. Daniel Zats the two traders and returns to the Prometheus.

Daniel is forced to allow Vala out of her cell so that she can fly the ship. They lift off, and attempt to go to hyperspace, but the hull has taken too much damage. They raise the shield and activate the automatic weaponry, but the shields soon fail when more Gliders and some Al'kesh arrive. As they are running out of ammunition, they notice that one of the Al'kesh is firing on the other ships. It proves to be the crew of the Prometheus. Daniel persuades Vala to unlock the rings, and the crew rings aboard.

Vala asks Daniel what he intends to do with her, and he admits that he's not sure. However, as she begins to make some conciliatory remarks, he shoots her with the Zat again.

Finally, it turns out that the Prometheus has sustained too much hull damage to make the trip to Atlantis. The crew plans to return to Earth to make repairs. As this discussion concludes, another alarm sounds: Vala has escaped. She rings to the Al'kesh and escapes into hyperspace.

[edit] References

Al'kesh, Hans Olo

[edit] Notes

• This is the first time we see Daniel on board the Prometheus.
• On the European and Australian DVD release of Season 8, this is the 11th episode, not the 12th.
• This episode does not feature a Stargate.
• This episode also shown before Gemini during Season 8 Russian premiere on TV-3 channel
• This episode marks the first appearance of Vala Mal Doran (Claudia Black) on the series. As noted on the DVD audio commentary for the episode, Vala's appearance mimics that of the first appearance of Aeryn Sun, Claudia Black's role on the TV show Farscape, with both characters revealing themselves by removing imposing armored helmets.
• Lindsey Novak (Ellie Harvie) later became a recurring character on Stargate Atlantis.
• Amanda Tapping and Christopher Judge do not appear in this episode, as it occurs within the same time frame as "Gemini". While Daniel was asking to go on the Prometheus to Atlantis, Teal'c and Carter were dealing with RepliCarter on the Alpha Site.
• This is the only episode in the series in which Teal'c does not appear.
• Gary Jones' character's name is confirmed to be Walter Harriman, changed from Walter Davis as established in previous episodes.
• The two aliens that were originally supposed to deal with Vala will reappear later in The Ties That Bind.
• When Daniel meets the two aliens, he introduces himself as Hans Olo, a homophone of Han Solo.
• One can see, when Daniel Jackson is shown watching Vala Mal Doran eat, that behind him the screen is showing news stories from Earth. It is unclear whether this was intentional, or an oversight.
• This borrows the name of a poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley
• Going from a still image of this episode at approx. 5 min 5sec, the Prometheus likely has between 10 and 14 stories/floors; this is reasoned using the number of buttons on the elevator in which Jackson and Novak are on.  There are 28 buttons on the elevator's switchboard, however, given that there appear to be doors on the opposite side of the elevator it is likely that at least haf would open said rear doors.

[edit] Sources

• Official Stargate SG-1 site. MGM. Visited June 8, 2006. Most of site requires Flash.
• Screenplay (PDF). Distributed by MGM. Prepared by Line 21 Media Services Ltd (2004-10-19). Retrieved on October 29, 2006.
• Episode guide from Skyone. Visited June 4, 2006.
• Summary from SciFi. Visited June 4, 2006. Requires Flash.
• Review from GateWorld. Reviewed by Lex. Visited May 7, 2006.