Vala Mal Doran

From The Stargate Omnipedia

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A thief and a con artist, Vala Mal Doran was an ally of SG-1 before eventually joining the team. She previously made her living trading, stealing, and selling things, and though she provided weapons to shady characters, she was always something of a morally conscious arms dealer. Vala is brash and self-confident, and disguises her true, sensitive character with humor and innuendo. Because of their history together, Vala and Daniel Jackson have a special, love-hate relationship.

Vala was once host to the Goa'uld Qetesh, who ruled over her world. Ten years ago the Tok'ra incited a rebellion there and the Goa'uld was overthrown, according to her story. Vala, as its host, was tortured and beaten by her former subjects. But the Tok'ra took pity on her, as a helpless host, and removed the symbiote and nursed her back to health.

Vala in Kull warrior armour, from "Prometheus Unbound"

Jackson and Vala first met when the thief, disguised as a Kull warrior, got on board the Earth ship Prometheus (bound for Atlantis) and hijacked the ship, transporting its crew to her disabled Al'kesh. Only Daniel was left on board, and after going head-to-head (and lips-to-lips) with Vala he managed to retake the ship. Contrary to Vala's noble claims that she wanted to use the ship to save refugees from her world, she simply wanted to sell the ship to an alien named Tenat, an employee of the Lucian Alliance.

Vala escaped capture, and several months later visited Stargate Command while hunting for a treasure she believed had been left on Earth by the Ancients. She convinced Daniel to help her find it -- thanks in part to the Kor Mak bracelets that bound the two together until she got her way. The treasure was uncovered, and along with it an Ancient long-range communication device.

Vala faces the flames on the Ara, from "Avalon part 2"

Vala and Daniel activated the device, which sent their consciousnesses to a distant galaxy. There they inhabited the bodies of Harrid and Sallis, and when Vala could not keep up the act of playing her role, she was discovered and publicly burned to death in a cleansing ceremony on an Ara. Only the intervention of a Prior of the Ori brought her back to life. The two were introduced to the Ori, a powerful new threat to our galaxy.

Vala remained on Earth with SG-1 for several days and joined them on a number of missions before the effect of the bracelets wore off, allowing her and Daniel to be separated. When the Ori attempted to create a Supergate by which they could bring their fleet to the Milky Way Galaxy, Vala heroically used a cargo ship to destroy it. She was lost in the process, her ring transport matter stream being pulled into the Ori galaxy.

Vala woke up in the village of Ver Isca on a planet of Ori worshipers, who were building the invasion fleet and training as foot soldiers. When she found herself pregnant by the Ori, she quickly married a young man named Tomin to prevent being accused of harlotry and being burned alive again. Vala's husband became a faithful warrior of the Ori, and when the anti-Ori underground was wiped out she joined him on board one of the first ships to pass through a newly-constructed Supergate.

Vala returns on an Ori warship, from "Camelot"

She gave birth to a girl on board the ship and the child was taken away from her and called "Orici", meaning "from One all will learn". A few hours later Vala demanded to see her baby, only to discover the child undergone rapid growth and was already physically and mentally several years old. In conversation with the child, Vala managed to persuade her that the name Adria was a better name than Orici.

After escaping from the Ori warship she and Adria were on Vala returned to the Cheyenne Mountain facility where she underwent a psychological evaluation to assess her suitability for joining the staff. Despite her attempts to manipulate the testers and her failure of a lie-detector test, she was provisionally passed as suitable.

Vala working as a waitress, from "Memento Mori"

During a meal with Daniel at Il Fiore Bianco, an elegent restaurant, Vala was abducted by Athena, a Goa'uld who was allied for a time with Qetesh, and who was convinced that Vala was in possession of the Key to Infinite Treasure. She probed Vala's mind but the process was interrupted by a rescue attempt which went wrong. Damage to the mind reader caused Vala to lose her memory. She managed to escape during the confusion and hid by becoming a waitress in a diner, run by a man called Sal, who took pity on her. After a run in with local law enforcement officers and a failed abduction attempt by operatives from The Trust, Vala was finally re-united with her friends. Back at the S.G.C. with her memory restored, she was given the news that she had hoped for, She had been made a full member of the SG-1 team.

DETAILS

PLAYED BY: Claudia Black
FIRST APPEARED: Prometheus Unbound

KEY EPISODES

Prometheus Unbound - Disguised as a Kull warrior, Vala hijacks the Prometheus with Daniel Jackson still on board.
Avalon, Part 1 - Val Mal Doran arrives at Stargate Command with a tablet that tells of an Ancient treasure -- and she won't take no for an answer.
Avalon, Part 2 - Vala and Daniel activate an Ancient device that sends their consciousnesses to another galaxy -- where Vala is burned at the stake and then resurrected.
Origin - Trapped in the body of Sallis and Harrid in another galaxy, Vala and Daniel learn about the deadly Ori -- and alert them to the existence of human life in our own galaxy.
The Ties That Bind - Vala is forced to revisit her old associates to find a way to break the energy field that continues to bind her and Daniel Jackson.
The Powers That Be - Vala is put on trial by a people she once oppressed as Qetesh, only to try and save them from a deadly Prior plague.
Beachhead - Vala risks her life to stop the construction of an Ori Supergate, and is lost.
Crusade - Finding a way to communicate with Stargate Command, Vala tells her story of waking up in the Ori galaxy and becoming pregnant by them.
Camelot - The first Ori warships invade the Milky Way Galaxy, laying waste to the fleet waiting to stop them. Vala is on board.
Flesh and Blood - Vala gives birth to her daughter, Adria, who rapidly grows into a adolescent girl. Daniel helps her escape the Ori followers.
Morpheus - Hoping to join Stargate Command, Vala must undergo a psychological evaluation.
Counterstrike - Vala meets her fully-grown daughter, who is leading the Ori invasion force.
Memento Mori - Vala is kidnapped by the Goa'uld Athena, who probes her mind for information. But Vala escapes, and with her memories gone takes a job as a diner waitress. When the team rescues her, Vala is made a full-fledged member of SG-1.
Family Ties - Vala is reunited with her father, a con man who has disappointed her for her entire life.
Dominion - Vala hatches a plan to use herself as bait to capture Adria, and must stand by and watch when it is decided that her daughter must be killed.
Unending - Trapped on board the Odyssey for some 50 years, Vala nearly goes crazy -- but finally ends up in a life-long relationship with Daniel.
Stargate: The Ark of Truth - Vala and the team travel to the distant Ori home galaxy, where she confronts her ascended daughter Adria in the hopes of stopping the malevolent force.
Stargate: Continuum - After Baal alters the timeline Vala remains host to his Goa'uld queen, Qetesh -- who soon gains the upper hand over him.