They marked the beginning of a "new" ''Stargate SG-1'' that continued after the total closure and possible ending of the previous season. They also bring in the character Vala Mal Doran as a recurring character, later to become a regular in Season 10, and introduce entire new storylines including further information about the Ancients, their links to Arthurian legends, and their origins.
Colonel Cameron Mitchell is at Stargate Command staring at the Stargate for the first time. He piloted one of the F-302's in the defence of Earth against the attack fleet of Anubis at the climax of season 7 (" Lost City "). After his heroic efforts and recovery from injury, Jack O'Neill offered him any job he liked, and he wished to join SG-1. However, when he arrives at the base, he finds that SG-1 has been disbanded, a new general is in control, and he is set to pick and lead the new team.
The new general is Gen. Hank Landry , a friend of both George Hammond and Jack O'Neill . Under his order, Mitchell begins the selection process for new members of SG-1, but can't stomach any of the terrible candidates. He wanted to work with the best, and he's determined to get SG-1 back together.
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An unscheduled offworld activation admits to the SGC a character not seen since Season 8 - Vala Mal Doran - claiming to have something they want. They let her in and she immediately seeks out her "friend" Daniel to pester. She's got a tablet written in Ancient that leads to a trove of hidden Ancient treasures, and she needs Daniel to translate it. However, as soon as they are close together, she throws a pair of cuffs onto both his and her wrists. These are Kormac Bracelets (Teal'c explains, on his return), which link the two of them together such that they cannot be greatly seperated without feeling pain and eventually death. Thus Vala ensures that Daniel does what she says.
This, of course, causes Daniel to miss his trip on the ''Daedalus'' to Atlantis, meaning that he won't make his much-desired trip there (until the Season 10 episode " The Pegasus Project "). Meanwhile however, he translates the tablet and locates the treasure beneath Glastonbury Tor in England ; they discover that King Arthur and his Knights Of The Round Table were Ancients, along with the figure Merlin .
Arriving at the place on the ''Prometheus'', they Ring inside a hidden cavern where a hologram of Merlin tells them that only the true will gain access to the treasures of the Ancients. Daniel and Vala take a right passageway, and Mitchell and Teal'c take a left.
In both rooms, the two parties encounter puzzles, and the doors lock shut automatically. Just when they think it can't get any worse, the ceiling begins to lower to crush them, and they must solve the puzzles in time before they are crushed.
- The title refers to the mystical place in Arthurian legend.
- '' is the '''175th''' episode of ''Stargate SG-1''.
- This episode introduces Ben Browder as Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell , Beau Bridges as Major General Hank Landry , and Lexa Doig as Dr. Carolyn Lam .
- On top of the new cast, SCI FI Channel chose to cut the opening sequences of both ''Stargate SG-1'' and ''Stargate Atlantis'' to , rather than the usual '''60-second''', much to the consternation of fans. The sequence only displayed the "Stargate SG-1" logo and a "Created by" credit, main cast credits were displayed during the teaser. On Sky One in the United Kingdom and Republic Of Ireland , the short opening sequence was also used for Part 1, however when Part 2 aired, a full length title sequence was restored, incorporating new cast credits.
- Many '' Stargate SG-1 '' fans were dubious of how this Season 9 premiere would continue the series after the total climax of Season 8, which effectively closed all storylines.
- Brigadier General Jack O'Neill is promoted once again, to Major General . O'Neill, presumably, now has General Hammond 's position as the head of the Department of Homeworld Security. Hammond's fate is not revealed until "The Fourth Horseman, Part 1" , when he is seen as (apparently) the Secretary Of The Air Force .
- Don S. Davis voice is heard as Hammond in the pre-credits teaser to Part 1.
- Ben Browder ( Cameron Mitchell ) and Claudia Black ( Vala ) are well known for playing John Crichton and Aeryn Sun , respectively, on '' Farscape ''. She says "I know we haven't met, for that I'm sure I would remember."
- Carter is testing hyperdrive engines on a ship—possibly a new, third ship (if so, then it is probably the ''Odyssey'' ), though it could be repairs on the ''Daedalus'' returned from Atlantis.
- Stargate Command has at some point recovered an android body from PX3-989 -- Altair, home of Harlan ( Tin Man ). S.G.C. scientists have modified the android, and hope to one day program it with the knowledge and memories of all S.G.C. personnel. They are currently in need of funding for the ambitious project. It is unknown whether the android body is one of the SG-1 duplicates who were killed saving the planet Juna from Cronus ( Double Jeopardy ), or if Harlan has otherwise provided them with access to Altairan android technology.
- The Goa'uld have lost their dynasties since the war with the Replicators in Reckoning , and are trying to rebuild their forces or are in hiding. According to Vala, without the service of the Jaffa they are having trouble maintaining the lifestyle to which they have become accustomed over the last 5,000 years or so.
- Both Christopher Judge ( Teal'c ) and Michael Shanks ( Dr. Daniel Jackson ) guest starred alongside Lexa Doig ( Dr. Lam ) on '' Andromeda ''. Shanks in Season One and Season Three, and Judge in Season Three (with Shanks). JR Bourne ( Martouf ) was also in the Season Three episode.
- This episode therefore takes place several weeks after the Atlantis season premiere despite the fact that they originally aired back-to-back. is set at least one month after the previous year's season finale (Teal'c is said to have left the program over a month ago), while The Siege (Part 3) picks up from the Atlantis Season One finale on the same day. A brief timeline may illustrate:
- ---A message is sent to Stargate Command from Atlantis calling for help ( "Letters From Pegasus" ).
- ---The Z.P.M. is discovered in Egypt ( "Moebius", Part 2 ).
- ---Using the Z.P.M., Colonel Everett's team gates to Atlantis ( "The Siege", Part 2 ).
- --- The Daedalus is immediately dispatched, and with the Z.P.M. will arrive in four days.
- --- Sometime after the Z.P.M.'s discovery, Teal'c leaves Earth.
- --- Daedalus arrives at Atlantis ( "The Siege", Part 3 ).
- --- Sometime soon after the defeat of the Wraith, Atlantis's senior command staff gate home to Earth.
- --- Daedalus arrives at Earth and, after maintenance, prepares to ferry the team back to Atlantis.
- --- More than one month after Teal'c 's departure, Cameron Mitchell arrives at Stargate Command.
- --- ''Daedalus'' departs for Atlantis (second trip), and Daniel misses it (this episode).
- --- A Wraith virus, apparently dormant since the battle, causes the ''Daedalus'' to go haywire ( "The Intruder" ).
- The opening credits now feature a modified Pegasus Galaxy wormhole, rather than a Milky Way Galaxy one; the main difference being that the Pegasus is streaked with green whereas the new Milky Way animation is streaked blue.
- Among the data brought back to Earth by the Atlantis expedition was a list of names of those Ancients who fled Atlantis when it was under siege and returned to Earth through the Stargate (''). One of them was Merlin (Myrddin).
- ''Avalon (Part 2)'' is the first episode of the series to feature only two members of the original cast: Michael Shanks ( Daniel Jackson ) and Christopher Judge ( Teal'c ).
- As of ''Avalon (Part 2)'', Christopher Judge ( Teal'c ) has appeared in more episodes than any other cast member. The only episode that he was absent in was Prometheus Unbound . Prior to this, he was tied with Amanda Tapping (Carter).
- The hologram of Merlin is played by Matthew Walker who previously portrayed another Ancient named Moros in the '' Stargate Atlantis '' episode Before I Sleep . It is possible that they were intended to be the same character. He also played King Roham in the Season Two episode Touchstone .
- Colonel Mitchell ( Ben Browder ) led the Squadron of F-302 's in defence of SG-1 against Anubis' forces during the Battle of Antarctica in Lost City (Part 2) .
- Teal'c is now sporting a Greco-Roman haircut.
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