SG-1 has searched long and hard for the sangraal, a weapon that the Ancients built and then concealed because it can kill Ascended beings, including both Ancients and Ori. Finally, Daniel discovers the stargate address of the planet where the weapon is hidden. Journeying there, SG-1 finds a rustic village whose residents warn them that the path to the sangraal is cursed. No adventurer has ever returned alive.
The village librarian, Osric, shows them a parchment that lists everything they'll need for the quest: "prudence, wisdom, charity, kindness, and faith," along with the unknown name of a dragon who guards the weapon itself. As the team wishes for more to go on than vague clues, an army of Ori soldiers suddenly invades the village. Frightened, Osric vows to use his knowledge of the route to guide SG-1 on their quest if they will protect him from the army. With him, they escape from the village and set out.
Soon, they run into the first of many obstacles set up to protect the sangraal. The unnerving traps seem like dark magic, but SG-1 knows that they're just extremely advanced technology. At the second obstacle — an empty chest that lures victims forward until they're trapped by a force field — the team finds Ba'al, alone and starving. He has also been hunting for the weapon. SG-1 is trapped with him until Daniel guesses that each so-called curse requires the team to enact one of the virtues mentioned on the parchment. In this case, to escape, they must display charity by placing personal objects into the chest.
Ba'al claims that he knows the name of the dragon-guardian, so the team grudgingly allows him to come along as Osric painstakingly guides them to a cave in which the sangraal is hidden. Daniel, however, has noticed odd things about Osric's behavior, and, as they reach the cave, accuses him of being an Ori agent. To the team's shock, Osric transforms: he's not an Ori agent. She is Adria, the supernatural human incarnation of the Ori themselves.
Adria explains that, despite her amazing powers, she can't reach the sangraal alone. In fact, she believes that only Daniel — who was once Ascended — can ultimately obtain the weapon. Accordingly, she has manipulated SG-1 into helping her, and now she threatens to kill Daniel's teammates unless they allow her to come along. Thus, accompanied by two of their worst enemies, SG-1 enters the cave to confront the final deadly obstacles between them and the weapon that they seek.
