Full Circle

Summary | Production | Review

SG-1 is called to defend the people of Abydos from the Goa'uld once again when they learn that Anubis, in search of a powerful device, is about to attack.

RATINGS SCORECARD
OUR RATING -
FAN RATING - 8.99 
NIELSEN - 1.8 
EPISODE #622
ORIGINAL AIR DATE: 03.21.2003
SYNDICATION AIR DATE: 05.17.2004
DVD DISC: Season 6, Disc 5
WRITTEN BY: Robert C. Cooper
DIRECTED BY: Martin Wood
GUEST STARS: Alexis Cruz (Skaara), Gary Jones (Technician), Michael Shanks (Daniel Jackson), David Palffy (Anubis), Sean Amsing (Tobay), Vince Crestejo (Yu the Great), Michael Adamthwaite (Herak), Veena Sood (Abydonian Leader)
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Skaara runs through the tent village on the desert world of Abydos, where the first Stargate team from Earth once helped liberate them from the powerful Goa'uld Ra seven years ago ("Stargate" the Movie). He enters a tent filled with people, and kneels down to speak with an Abydonian elder. She tells him that he must prepare the others for battle. Skaara wonders how they can hope to stand up to a Goa'uld as powerful as Anubis, and is told that they won't be alone. A hooded figure reveals himself to the young man – it is Daniel Jackson.

Back on Earth, Colonel Jack O'Neill enters the S.G.C. elevator and proceeds down to Sublevel 28. There is a power surge, and the elevator stops. Daniel appears, and tells Jack that Abydos is in trouble. Anubis is on his way, looking for the legendary Eye of Ra.

When O'Neill reports this to General Hammond and the rest of SG-1, he's surprised to learn that they don't think he's nuts for claiming to have seen the deceased Dr. Jackson. But the team is given the go-ahead to visit Abydos, and try to find the Eye before Anubis does.

They arrive, and Skaara shows them to an area of the pyramid where writings on the wall speak of the Eye. When they're unable to make progress, O'Neill demands that Daniel shows himself. He appears, though he insists that he's not allowed to help. If he interferes with unascended people, he explains, Oma Desala herself (a rogue member of the ascended) would intervene to prevent "the others" from bringing down their wrath.

But Jack convinces him to help a little, at least to locate the Eye for them. Meanwhile, Teal'c and the Abydonian boys set up a perimeter around the pyramid. Kasuf has taken the women and children into the caves to seek refuge. Anubis has arrived, and his death gliders streak over the Abydonian desert.

Daniel shows Jonas and Carter another chamber, where he'd always suspected there to be a hidden chamber. O'Neill and Skaara head to the surface to help the others fend off the attack. With Daniel's help they figure out how to access the secret chamber. Inside, Jackson makes a remarkable discovery: his people, the ascended, are actually the Ancients – the builders of the Stargate network!

He tells Sam and Jonas that he must do something, and vanishes. But before going, he tells them to guard the stone tablet he has found. Written in a very old dialogue of the Ancients, it tells of a lost city with a stash of the Ancients' weapons and technology – which can give Earth a huge advantage over Anubis. After he leaves, Sam and Jonas find the Eye of Ra hidden in a secret compartment.

Outside, Anubis's Jaffa land in force, and push the Abydonians back into the gate room inside the pyramid. Anubis's forces dial the Stargate from another world to prevent their escape. A vicious battle ensues inside the gate room, and several Abydonian fighters – including Skaara – are shot. Jack orders them to retreat into the catacombs of the pyramid.

When they meet up with Jonas and Carter, Jack slaps a brick of C-4 explosives onto the Eye of Ra. The Jaffa army fills the catacombs, led by Herak ("The Other Guys") – apparently, Anubis's new First Prime. O'Neill threatens to destroy the Eye – and everyone with it – unless they give them a clear path to the Stargate. After consulting the shrouded and sinister Anubis (who has arrived in orbit aboard a massive Goa'uld mothership), Herak refuses. Anubis will destroy all of Abydos if he does not hand it over.

But Daniel appears on board Anubis's own ship to confront him. He tells the Goa'uld that he will not allow him to harm anyone else on Abydos, and that he has the power to stop him. But Daniel may not be right: Anubis reveals his true, dark face to Daniel, who is stunned to learn what he is.

On the surface, SG-1 and the Jaffa are at stand-off. But Skaara is near death, and when he passes, his body begins to glow with an intense, white light. He has ascended.

In orbit, a hyperspace window opens, and Anubis's ship is surrounded by a fleet of Goa'uld motherships. Lord Yu tells him to surrender the Eye – he commands the collective forces of the System Lords. Daniel indicates that he summoned them, and threatens to tell them that Anubis doesn't have the Eye – that they can win if they strike now. But instead, he settles on a bargain with Anubis: Daniel will get him the Eye if he swears that no harm will come to the people of Abydos ... ever. Anubis is eager to accept, and it is a promise to which Daniel swears he will hold him. The rest of the Ancients be damned.

Daniel visits SG-1 on the surface, and explains the plan. The most important thing, he tells O'Neill, is that they get that tablet safely back to Earth. It holds the key to Anubis's defeat, and he promises to help them find the lost city. O'Neill agrees, and hands over the Eye to Herak.

Jackson also explains what he has learned about Anubis: he is one of them, the ascended. The Goa'uld must have learned how to ascend, but the others didn't want him. They tried to send him back, but it didn't completely work. Now, he is still a being of energy, trapped between ascension and mortal life. His dark mask holds his form intact.

The Eye is delivered to Anubis, and its terrible power is revealed. Joined with the five other Eyes that Anubis has collected, it transforms his new mothership into a powerful weapon – which destroys a pair of motherships with a single burst. A massive battle ensues, and the System Lords are routed. Those ships that survive quickly flee.

Breaking his vow to Jackson, Anubis now moves to destroy Abydos. But Daniel is there to stop him. Using the power of the ascended, he tries to throw a burst of energy at Anubis – but is stopped and pulled away. Anubis confesses to Herak that it was not his doing; Oma Desala or the others must have stopped him.

Anubis activates his weapon once again, and a massive burst strikes the pyramid on the planet's surface. SG-1 returns to Earth through the Stargate, and Jack witnesses the pyramid collapse around him as he steps through the gate. The pyramid, the planet, everything is utterly annihilated.

Earth tries to redial Abydos, but fails time and time again. Carter insists that they keep trying – she won't give up until someone with a ship flies over the planet and tells her there's nothing left alive. But to her surprise, the Stargate finally connects. A probe shows the pyramid intact and undamaged, so SG-1 returns to investigate.

They find the tent village in the desert, bustling with the normal routine of the Abydonians. Even Skaara is there, alive, to greet them. But he explains that one named "Oma" did this; that death is just the beginning of one's journey. Suddenly, the village is gone, and O'Neill realizes that Oma helped the entire population of Abydos to ascend. Skaara tells them that the Stargate will remain until they leave, then disappears.

PRODUCTION NOTES

  • "We've already laid the groundwork for the Ancients. As a matter of fact, we've revealed more than many fans realize. Come this season, a lot will be revealed." (Writer / producer Joseph Mallozzi, in an online chat with the Sam/Jack Horsewomen)
  • "Anubis hails from the same galaxy as the other System Lords, although his host body ... well that's another story. We'll learn more about him (and that weird host body) near season's end. No direct relationship to the Furlings." (Writer / supervising producer Joseph Mallozzi, in an Q&A at GateWorld Forums)
  • "'Full Circle' was written with the intention of, if need be, having it close out the series run. However, there were and are still plans in the works for a movie. So even though the episode would have closed out the series, it wasn't 'the end.' ... 'Full Circle' will answer a lot of questions – and open the door for plenty more that we'll be trying to answer in Season Seven (i.e. the opening two-parter)." (GateWorld chat with writer / executive producer Joseph Mallozzi)
  • "Yes, Yu is interesting – much in the same way that Maybourne is interesting. It's getting hard to tell the good guys from the bad guys from the ones playing in the middle. Yes, Yu will be playing a significant role in a major arc in Season Six." (Writer / producer Joseph Mallozzi, in an online chat at GateWorld Forums)
  • "We go back to the beginning of the Stargate story and go through a similar battle process with the evil forces of the alien. I always love taking the story back to Abydos because Daniel has a strong relationship with the people there. We managed to include a great location in Vancouver. The shoot has a great film look.

    "I think Daniel knows that [Anubis] won't (attack). It was part of my original thought process, too. I was thinking, 'Yeah, what is he believing this guy for?' But he's not. I realized that after a second read of the script. He's not trusting Anubis, he's saying that making this deal will allow his friends to escape with the tablet so that they can find the lost city. He's already told the System Lords that Anubis is there. They will come to create a distraction while Daniel tries to get his friends out and save the people on Abydos.

    "Daniel also wants to actually confront Anubis one-on-one. He knows if we find the tablet it will lead us to the lost city where the weapons are that can destroy Anubis. I think that he believes in keeping Anubis' trust in that particular moment. Daniel will do wherever it takes to get this Eye that will allow his friends to escape and possibly the people on Abydos.

    "I think he is confused. He's sort of lost. Oma Desala took Daniel away from the battle because he committed actions that were forbidden. Daniel took a great risk in crossing that line." (Cyberex Online interview with Michael Shanks)
  • Who thought to use the ninja Jaffa for "Full Circle?" "I believe that was either Robert [Cooper] or Brad [Wright]. They wanted to make Anubis's Jaffa distinct – a little different from those brawny lunkheads that would follow Apophis around." (GateWorld online chat with executive producer Joseph Mallozzi)
  • "Ah, another series finale. Executive producer Robert Cooper wraps up SG-1 in fine style – except that, as we learned late in Season Six, this season would not be the show's last. After six seasons, SG-1 was still going strong, much to the delight of our new broadcaster, Sci-Fi, who were more than happy to pick up the series for one more year. Which, of course, we assumed would be its last ..." (Writer/producer Joseph Mallozzi, in a post at his blog)
  • "One of my favorite SG-1 episodes, and certainly one of the grander ones, is 'Full Circle.' Because we thought the series was ending, we pulled out all the stops, so there were huge sets as well as lots of explosions and the SG-1 team walked off into the sunset as if it were the finale." (Director of photography Jim Menard, in an interview with Steve Eramo)