Ronald Wilkerson delivers a tale that sees SG-1 traveling to a world where Norse religion has progressed and created a devout group of faithful to the Asgardians. That’s all well and good, but by activating the gate, they triggered something that has caused a red shift in the local sun by introducing a foreign element, and has now doomed the planet.

Red Sky first aired on 27 July, 2001.

O’Neill (Richard Dean Anderson), Carter (Amanda Tapping), Teal’c (Christopher Judge) and Daniel (Michael Shanks) have to find a way to negotiate with the Asgardians and make their argument for the saving of the people from the problem they created.

The religious representatives on the planet are ready to draw and quarter the team, can SG-1 save the day? Will the Asgardians help?

It seems if they do help, the Asgardians will be violating their treaty with the Goa’uld, and that will cause a number of planets, including Earth to lose their protected status.

Carter concocts a plan that will entail launching a rocket into the sun to help shift it back. The religious leaders on the planet, however, are becoming increasingly frustrated by the problem, and threaten SG-1 even as the group struggles to finish the rocket, and save their planet.

In fact, Malchus (John Prosky), and some his believers sabotage the rocket, ruining weeks of work, and risking the entire planet. This pushes O’Neill almost to the point of walking away and leaving the people to their fate, but Daniel and Carter continue to work to persuade the people and O’Neill to find an answer.

I like how O’Neill’s character gets fed up in this episode. It’s a believable reaction to the things happening around him. He wants to help these people but their religion is getting in the way.

Rite of Passage debuted of 3 August, 2001 and was written by Heather E. Ash. It was directed by Peter DeLuise, and this time there is a cameo.

It brings back Cassandra (Colleen Rennison), Fraiser’s (Teyrl Rothery) adopted daughter. When the young girl collapses, she’s brought to Stargate Command for examination. It seems there is a retrovirus in her system causing her to emit a strange EM field, and a driving need to return to her home planet for a coming-of-age ritual.

Returning to Cassandra’s planet, they discover that the Goa’uld, Nirrti (Jacqueline Samuda), experimented on Cassandra’s people, and that the retrovirus was created in one of her labs. That means there’s probably a cure to be had. They just have to find Nirrti.

But as Cassandra progresses, and seems to develop some new abilities, she’s not sure she wants to be cured, even though she knows she’s dying.

And despite some of the new protections that have been installed in the gate room, something has come back with SG-1 from Cassandra’s planet and is investigating the young woman’s case. Yup, Nirrti.

She offers them a deal, she’ll help cure Cassandra if they let her go. Can she be trusted?

But no one can count on what Fraiser, as Cassandra’s doctor, and mother, will do.

A tenuous agreement is reached and Nirrti saves Cassanda’s life before returning to the universe at large…

I do like the fact that there is so much continuity in this series, threads may be left behind for a bit, but a number of them are picked up and continued through the run of the series. That keeps me coming back for more.