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MAL DORAN

Mal Doran

A Mal Doran is a system of justice on P8X-412. When Vala Mal Doran had returned to the planet and ruled by impersonating Qetesh, her former symbiote, she established the procedure as a way to settle disputes between two parties, and named it after herself. Under the practice of Mal Doran, Vala would have presided as the judge, each side in the dispute would present his case, and the outcome would be determined by a general vote of the people.

Upon her return to the planet with SG-1, Vala confessed that she had deceived the people, and she was promptly arrested and sentenced to be executed for posing as a god, however SG-1 persuaded Azdak, the leader among the people, to hold a Mal Doran instead. Azdak presided, presenting the opposing case that charged Vala with betrayal, forced labor, and responsibility for the poverty of the planet. Daniel acted as Vala's defense and used the opportunity as a platform to warn the people of the greater threat presented by the Priors and the Ori as false gods. The trial was interrupted by the return of the Prior, who warned that the Day of Reckoning was at hand.

As the Mal Doran concluded, Vala's sentence was commuted from execution to life imprisonment, but after Vala worked tirelessly to cure the people from the Prior plague, Azdak again changed her sentence, allowing her to leave the planet, but retaining the entirety of her property as payment.

Cross Reference: Azdak, Vala Mal Doran, P8X-412

Episode Reference: The Powers That Be