Stargate SG-1: 09-15, “Ethon”
Rating: 
Okay. I’ve been complaining ever since the return of SG-1 that it was missing something, namely Daniel. Although this wasn’t a Daniel rich episode, he at least got some screen time and more than a few lines of throw away, red shirt material.
In “Ethon”, last season’s “Icon” storyline is somewhat continued. That world was split into two primary forces, the Rand Protectorate and the Caledonian Federation. Disputes between the two nations really heated up when the Stargate, located in a museum in Rand’s territory, was activated and the SG-1 team came through.
This time, it’s the Ori who are driving these nations further apart. The Rand Protectorate has embraced the message of the Ori, so naturally the Caldonians are opposed. Rand works with the Ori to build a satellite weapon, capable of wiping out the Caldonians. With the help of Jarrod, a Rand officer who doesn’t want to see this result in more bloodshed, SG-1 obtains preliminary plans for the weapon. Their first choice is to send Daniel there to try to talk some sense into the Protectorate about the Ori and convince them to dismantle the weapon. Plan B involves sending Prometheus there to destroy it themselves. Neither plan quite works out in the end.
Episode spoilers inside!
Rand’s President refuses to listen to reason and is completely convinced in the divinity of the Ori. Both Daniel and Jarrod are held as prisoners. When it seems obvious that Rand will not be swayed, Prometheus attempts to fire at the weapon, however they are caught by surprise by the fact that it is shielded. The weapon powers up and they prepare for impact, only to be surprised again when the shot nearly destroys the ship. Clearly this weapon is far more sophisticated then the acquired blueprints indicated. We find this is the doing of the Priors, but shouldn’t that have been expected? SG-1 should have anticipated the Priors would beef up the weapon, otherwise it would be of no use to them in their greater purpose.
“It was disturbing and sad to see Prometheus go down, but most of all, it was unexpected."
A few more hits and Prometheus is brought to its final demise. Some of the crew managed to beam down to an open field in Caldonia, but at least a hundred lives were lost, including the ship’s commander, who stayed on her ‘til the end. It was disturbing and sad to see Prometheus go down, but most of all, it was unexpected. It’s good to have Earth’s butt kicked a little every now and then to keep them in line and remind them that they can’t be content with the technology they have.
Back in Caldonia, Sam figures out they can create an EM pulse from blowing up some F302 parts to disrupt the communication between Rand and the weapon to hopefully destroy it during the downtime. When Rand realizes they’ve lost control, they start back peddling and Daniel is able to get the President to agree to negotiations which would allow Caledonians access to the Stargate to leave and at least temporarily escape the Priors.
“...the President sings a different tune and orders to fire on Caldonian’s capital building."
Of course, as soon as the EM pulse wears off and Rand gets control back, the President sings a different tune and orders to fire on Caldonian’s capital building. Rand’s Commander has been slowly convinced by Jarrod that this whole Ori worship thing is stupid and the weapon is a bad idea. He’s had enough with the lack of mercy the President displays, so he disputes the order. They go back and forth for a while, making the guards do a back and forth dance trying to figure out who’s really in charge. The Commander gets fed up, pulls out a gun, and shoots the President which causes the guards to fire upon him. His final order is to shut down the weapon and keep the deal they just made with Caledonia.
SG-1 and Prometheus’ survivors return to Earth, only to find that shortly after they left the planet, talks broke down. Caledonia didn’t want to leave, so they launched an attack on Rand, who of course fought back. Their Stargate is presumed buried in the rubble.
It was interesting to see Mitchell come up to Daniel in the office with a few beers to throw back. Daniel and Jack used to have beers on occasion, but as far as I recall, never in the office. After Mitchell’s snotty words to Teal’C last week insinuating there would never be a friendship between them, it was good to see him opening up a bit with Daniel.
Overall, a great episode!
