New Order (Stargate SG-1)


"New Order" is the two-part Season 8 premiere of the science-fiction series Stargate SG-1. The episode earned a 2.4 Nielsen rating, a new record high for the show during its run on cable, which has since been tied, but never beaten. It also became the most-watched regular series episode ever for the Sci Fi Channel and the highest rated episode in the history of Stargate SG-1, drawing 3.22 million viewers. Part 2 was nominated for a Gemini Award in the category "Best Visual Effects".)

Plot

Part 1

At Stargate Command Dr. Jackson packs for Antarctica but Dr. Weir tells him that talks over the use of the outpost have stalled again. Meanwhile, Major Carter proposes using the modified Tel'tak to get to Othala to contact the Asgard, who could help Col. O'Neill. Weir denies the request on the grounds that the modified hyperdrive was too valuable to risk losing and because there was a chance engines could burn out on the flight. However, she relents when Carter implies that she would refuse to contribute to the study of the ship.
Once Carter and Teal'c are under way, Earth receives a message from Camulus, a Goa'uld System Lord, who wants to arrange a meeting between Earth and the System Lords. Weir is authorized by the President to begin negotiations.
Meanwhile, Carter and Teal'c reach Halla but find that the Halla sun has become a black hole and are rescued from its gravitational pull by Thor. He informs them that the Asgard collapsed the sun to create a black hole to permanently destroy the Replicators on Halla. The replicators nonetheless escape, and fire a projectile composed of replicator blocks at the ship, infesting it. Carter and Teal'c attempt to destroy the replicators, and Carter is beamed away by the replicator ship.
On Earth the Goa'uld representatives, Camulus, Amaterasu, Yu, and Yu's First Prime Oshu arrive. To avoid open war, the System Lords agreed to divide Anubis's territories and armies equally, but Ba'al had taken control of the Kull warriors and begun conquering the other System Lords. Ba'al believes, correctly, that the Asgard can no longer exercise power in the Milky Way galaxy, and plans to attack the worlds protected by the Protected Planets Treaty. The Goa'uld seek to use the Ancient weapon against Baal. They offer hyperdrive engines, but Weir counters that if Earth defeats Ba'al, they should inherit all that is his.
In the Asgard galaxy Thor follows the Replicators, which head towards Orilla, the new Asgard homeworld. Orilla is rich with neutronium, which would allow the construction of many Human-form Replicators. On the Replicator ship, Carter is confronted by Fifth, who is angry at her betrayal of him. He tortures her for some time, but eventually relents.
Thor closes in on the replicator ship with the intention of using a self-destruct to destroy both vessels, but his ship abruptly loses power due to a replicator co-opting its systems. Teal'c destroys it, but the opportunity is lost, and Thor sends a warning to his people.
On Earth Daniel decodes a message between the Systems Lords and deactivates the Stargate before they can leave, having learned that a ship has been dispatched to attack Earth, and Weir orders them taken prisoner.

Part 2

Penegal of the Asgard Council informs Thor that although the Replicator ship has been destroyed, a number of blocks made it to the planet's surface. They infest the technology used to save the minds and cloned bodies of the Asgard, which makes them unwilling to abandon Orilla. Thor travels to Earth.
At SGC, Daniel informs the System Lords that their ship was destroyed by Ba'al. Suddenly, he is beamed aboard Thor's ship, the Daniel Jackson. Thor then beams O'Neill into a stasis pod, hoping to harness the Ancient knowledge in his mind to devise a means of defeating the replicators.
Meanwhile, Carter wakes up in bed in a Montana farmhouse. Pete Shanahan greets her and maintains that what she is experiencing is reality, but Carter does not believe and it is revealed to be Fifth.
Thor interfaces O'Neill's mind with his ship's computer and O'Neill creates a schematic for an unknown device. With O'Neill close to death, Thor erases the Ancient knowledge from his mind and revives him. After awakening, his memories of what has transpired since having the repository downloaded into his mind are clouded. Thor synthesizes the device which O'Neill designed, but even he does not know its function. Penegal contacts them to inform them that the Replicators on Orilla seem to be controlled by a human-form Replicator. This gives SG-1 hope that Sam may have survived, however the Asgard are unable to locate her life signs. During transmission, contact with Orilla is lost.
At SGC, Oshu asks Weir to let them go to fight against Ba'al. Weir eventually agrees, but Camulus requests asylum, saying his forces had fallen.
While Thor examines the Ancient device, he is contacted by Aegir, commander of the Valhalla, who tells him that they found the remains of a human-form Replicator in space. Thor beams him aboard, and begins to access the Replicator communication network. They are able to locate Carter, but the human-form Replicator wakes up and attacks. The human weapons are useless, but O'Neill then uses the Ancient device, the Replicator Disruptor, causing the replicator to disassociate into its constituent components. After observing its function, Thor begins development of a large-scale version of the weapon to destroy all Replicators on Orilla.
In the meantime, SG-1 beams down on the planet to rescue Carter; they engage the replicators until Fifth appears and threatens to kill Carter. O'Neill is then contacted by Thor but suddenly all the Replicators start to move in one direction. They converge on a ship composed of Replicator blocks, which jumps to hyperspace. Thor deploys the weapon, destroying the remaining replicators. Afterward, SG-1 finds Carter.
Later, O'Neill visits Weir who tells him that she will supervise the Ancient outpost. She also tell him that General Hammond will be promoted and made the new director of the new unofficial "Department of Homeworld Security", and the new commander of SGC will be Brigadier General Jack O'Neill.
A large gathering is held in the gate room during which Weir says goodbye and presents Stargate Command with their commanding officer. As his first act as C.O., O'Neill promotes Major Samantha Carter to the rank of lieutenant colonel.
On the Replicator ship Fifth greets a newly created human-form replicator, which is patterned after Carter.

Production

The episode earned a 2.4 Nielsen rating, a new record high for the show during its run on cable, which has since been tied, but never beaten. It also became the most-watched regular series episode ever for the Sci Fi Channel and the highest rated episode in the history of Stargate SG-1, drawing 3.22 million viewers. Part 2 was nominated for a Gemini Award in the category "Best Visual Effects".)