diff --git "a/OriginalStoriesSeparated/Stargate.txt" "b/OriginalStoriesSeparated/Stargate.txt" new file mode 100755--- /dev/null +++ "b/OriginalStoriesSeparated/Stargate.txt" @@ -0,0 +1,702 @@ +One year previously, Colonel Jack O'Neill led a team through the Stargate to the planet Abydos. After killing the System Lord Ra by ringing a nuclear warhead onto his ship as it left Abydos, O'Neill returned to Earth with two survivors of his team, leaving behind Dr. Daniel Jackson, who remained with his new love Sha're and her brother Skaara. In the present day, with the Stargate Program no longer active, having been shut down altogether in the aftermath of the Abydos Mission, Stargate Command itself is empty and almost completely deserted. Also, all the equipment in the Control Room or Stargate Operations room has been covered over with sheets, having been mothballed. In the Embarkation Room, which is relatively empty, a group of five Airmen, including Senior Airman Carol Weterings, are busy at a makeshift table, playing poker while also eating some potato chips. In spite of the relaxed atmosphere, Weterings can't shake off her uneasy feeling despite her colleagues telling her that they're the only ones who went down there and that the people in charge of the SGC had been shipping personnel out of here for months. A short time later, Weterings's uneasy feeling comes true when a loud rumble echoes through the building, forcing the guards to abandon their game. As they look on, the Stargate activated, leaving everyone stunned which also prompts the soldiers to begin arming themselves in preparation for an attack. However, a mysterious object comes through the Stargate and starts to examine Weterings before cutting off altogether. As she grabs it despite her colleagues telling her not to touch it, a being dressed in armor resembling a serpent suddenly arrives through the Stargate and grabs Weterings with the other guards aiming their weapons. One guard, presumably the leader tells his companions to hold their fire. As this happens, six more serpent-armor wearing beings emerge through the open Stargate followed by one being who's wearing gold armor. With the Stargate now shut, the being whose armor slips aside, revealing his face then orders his troops to "kree" before ordering his main guard who is called Teal'c to "Kree". The being in the gold armor then grabs Weterings and examines her with a mysterious device with one of the guards telling the being to let Weterings go. As such, a huge battle begins with the serpent-armored beings having a huge advantage over the poorly equipped guards and although the guards themselves kill two Serpent Guards, it isn't long before the four men are all killed although one guard manages to get the call for reinforcements before he's struck down. Seconds, as silence descends on the room once again, the previously and clean Embarkation Room has been left a mess stained with nothing but destruction as well as the lifeless bodies of the four guards. Meanwhile, as an alarm echoes through the building, numerous other guards begin racing for the room, having gotten the call for help. They then reach the room with Major General George S. Hammond in the lead although Hammond orders the troops to hold their fire after seeing an unconscious Wetherings which ultimately gives the enemy enough time to go through the Stargate with the main being's eyes glowing which leaves Hammond stunned. This gives the beings enough time to go through the Stargate before it shuts down altogether. As silence descends, Hammond stands on the ramp among all the carnage trying to make sense of what has happened while the soldiers remain behind him, silently awaiting their next orders. A few hours after the attack, Hammond sends Major Bert Samuels to talk to retired Colonel Jack O'Neill. Despite Jack's misgivings and telling Samuels that the Major should get himself reassigned to NASA because that's when all the action's going to be, Jack eventually relents after hearing that Samuels's visit is concerning the Stargate. Under guard, Jack arrives at Cheyenne Mountain on Hammond's orders. He is eventually escorted to the Mountain and then questioned, along with his former teammates Major Louis Ferretti and Major Charles Kawalsky about the events leading up to their return to Earth from Abydos. When they refuse to reveal anything other than what is in their reports, Hammond chooses to send a nuclear bomb through the Stargate to Abydos, believing that the aliens could only have come from Abydos and hoping to destroy whoever came through so that what happened at Stargate Command will never be repeated. With this threat hanging over his head, O'Neill reveals that he had in fact lied about using the bomb to destroy Abydos. He admits that while the alien Ra was destroyed, the Abydonians are still alive and living in freedom, with Dr. Daniel Jackson living among them with Hammond being left furious over the fact that Jack disobeyed an order. After talking to his superiors, Hammond allows O'Neill to send a message through the Stargate. Once the Stargate's been dialed, Jack throws a tissue box through the wormhole and seconds later, the wormhole closes with the Stargate shutting down as well. A while later, the box returns to the SGC with the message, "Thanks. Send More," scribbled on it and as such, O'Neill is recalled to active duty and regains his rank of Colonel. A while later, a briefing is summoned with everyone in attendance and during the meeting, the astrophysicist Captain Samantha Carter arrives, having been transferred to the SGC from the Pentagon. Despite everyone's positive feelings on the Stargate, Samuels voices his belief that they should bury with the Stargate but Jack disagrees, stating that the beings who attacked them now know that what kind of a threat they are and that the aliens could come by ship instead of using the Stargate. Hammond soon agrees and gives the team 24 hours to head through the Stargate to Abydos. A while later, with the Stargate having been brought online, the team composed of Jack, Kawalsky, Ferretti and Carter get ready to leave. Just before they go through the Stargate, Hammond tells Jack to follow orders and to make sure that Jack brings Daniel back this time with Jack agreeing as both Hammond and Samuels salute Jack with Jack saluting back. On Jack's orders, the team head through the wormhole with Carter staying behind for a few seconds to assure Jack that she won't let him down. Jack remarks that it's good and believes that ladies should go first. Carter assures him that he'll like her when he gets to know her. "Oh, I adore you already, Captain", Jack replies. Carter then gets distracted by the wormhole, obviously stunned at what she's seeing. Jack eventually loses patience with her ramblings and gives her a push which sends her through the wormhole. Seconds later, Jack himself walks through the wormhole. When he arrives on Abydos with the Stargate shutting down him, Jack watches as the Stargate and he then takes stock of the situation and as the other survey their surroundings, bracing for a possible attack, Sam complains that she's going to be sick with Jack telling her that she shouldn't have had that big lunch after all. As everyone gets to grip with things, they soon find a group of Earth weaponry-armed Abydonians waiting for them. It looks like it's going to be a tense stand-off with neither side giving in until Daniel arrives, telling everyone to lower their guns. As everyone greets each other, Jack tells Daniel what happened on Earth with Daniel stating that the beings didn't come through this Stargate. As they wait for a raging sandstorm to pass, the group settle down for an evening meal. During that time, Sam meets Daniel for the first time with the two quickly forming a strong friendship. Daniel leads O'Neill, Kawalsky, and Carter to a large cavernous room that has innumerable hieroglyphs on the walls. The archaeologist reveals that he believes that the hieroglyphs of the cartouche match the various symbols on the Stargate, leading him to believe that the walls are actually a map of the coordinates of a vast network of Stargates across the Milky Way with Jack realizing that the Stargate can go to other places in the galaxy. While O'Neill and the others are gone, everyone continues celebrating with Ferretti remarking to one solider that they've got to give Daniel credit because Sha're is one beautiful woman. Suddenly, the Abydos Stargate opens, causing everyone to run for cover and hide while a few of the Abydonians along with some members of the SGC teams prepare themselves for battle. As the wormhole appears, Jaffa Serpent Guards emerge, firing staff weapon blasts which kill numerous Abydonians. Skaara joins in the gunfight but is captured and subdued but not before Apophis's First Prime asks him where he got the weapon from with an angry Skaara spitting in the First Prime's face. Sha're attempts to run but is knocked unconscious and eventually kidnapped as well. Once the Serpent Guards have gotten what they came for, they depart, leaving behind an area full of blood, destruction and dead bodies. Seconds later, Jack, Sam, Carter and Kawalsky return with Daniel calling for Sha're as everyone attempts to grasp what has happened. One Abydonian, Bolaa manages to weakly tell Daniel that the being who looked like Ra took Sha're and Skaara before Bolaa dies from his wounds. As everyone tries to get a grasp on things, Carter tells Jack that Ferretti needs medical treatment now. Daniel tells them to go back and that he can send them back but Jack tells Daniel that Daniel is coming with them because Jack has orders. With no other options left, Daniel, clearly emotional over leaving his adopted family instructs Tobay to bury the Abydos Stargate after SG-1 leaves and tell Kasuf to reopen it exactly one year later. All the Abydonians there then give Daniel one big group hug as Jack silently watches from a distance. Back on Earth, the now occupied Embarkation Room is full of numerous soldiers when the Stargate comes online. A wormhole is established and the SGC teams return from Abydos, bringing with them the injured members of their respective teams who survived the attack on Abydos. As Jack approaches Hammond, Jack learns that they've got an Iris to shield them from any other unwelcome surprises. Jack gives Hammond the grim news that the Abydos settlement was attacked by the group that attacked Stargate Command and that Daniel Jackson's wife and brother-in-law were both kidnapped. Daniel meets Hammond who is extremely hostile towards Daniel with Hammond stating that Daniel isn't in a position to make any demands. At a palace and under the command of Apophis's First Prime, turbaned guards drag away one of a dozen gaudily dressed young women, the woman in question being Weterings. Protesting that she's a US Air Force Sergeant and demanding answers, Weterings is later stripped naked and inspected with the Jaffa Priestess holding Apophis's Queen emerges. The Goa'uld inside the Priestess's belly takes one look at Weterings with Apophis asking, "Does she please you, my love?". The Goa'uld on the other hand simply retreats back inside the Priestess's belly, suggesting that it does not consider Weterings a suitable candidate for possession. "Shame", Apophis remarks before he uses his Kara kesh to give Weterings's brain an electric shock. This ultimately causes Weterings to start bleeding from her nose and mouth before she finally stops breathing altogether with Weterings later lying on the table, dead, Apophis then examines Weterings's body in disgust before ordering that another woman be chosen. As Apophis heads off, his First Prime looks on. Back at the SGC, another meeting is held, this time with Daniel in attendance with Daniel revealing that the story behind Ra and Hammond announces that he's been given permission by the President to form nine teams who will use the Stargate to gather information about any and all possible threats to Earth and to make peaceful contact with the various worlds they visit. O'Neill is given command of SG-1, with Carter as his second-in-command and Daniel accompanying him, due to his determination to find his kidnapped wife despite Hammond insisting that Daniel needs to be a consultant for the SGC while Kawalsky is given command of SG-2. When the injured Ferretti who's regained consciousness is able to reveal the symbols that the invaders used to leave Abydos, a mission to the planet is authorized with Daniel accompanying them this time. As before, Hammond gives them 24 hours and reveals that their iris codes will be locked out with the Stargate being buried. As such, they will be left stranded on the planet forever with no means of ever returning home. They eventually head through the Stargate and arrive at their destination to discover that it's freezing cold which leaves everyone stunned. Jack soon recovers and orders them to move before stating that they should get the gear out too. Back in the palace and at the First Prime's request, the guards return and grab Sha're despite her protesting and screaming. In the main area near the Stargate, the SGC team makes preparations in case they come under attack from the enemy while retreating to the Stargate while Daniel confirms that he has the code figured out. The guards take Sha're to Apophis and as she continues struggling, Apophis is amused, remarking that Sha're has spirit. Apophis subdues Sha're with his hand device and as this happen, Sha're is stripped naked before she is laid on the table. As before, a Jaffa priestess carrying Amaunet, Apophis's Queen appears with the symbiote emerging and as it begins inspecting Sha're with Sha're greatly terrified, Apophis wonders if Sha're is suitable for his Queen. Having passed the test, Amaunet takes control of Sha're's body almost immediately which the symbiote does by burying itself deep into Sha're's neck. This causes Sha're to scream with horror as she feels the Goa'uld entering her body while Apophis's First Prime watches, obviously displeased and disgusted with what is happening. As SG-1 and SG-2 forge ahead, they plan to set up camp. Jack tells Kawalsky that if they're not back in 20 hours, they'll go back through the Stargate before the iris is locked. As Jack, Sam and Daniel push on, they meet a group of monks who escort them to the nearby town of Chulak (a name which, incidentally, soon begins to apply to the entire planet). During a meal they find out that Sha're has been taken, and when Daniel runs to her they are taken prisoner. In the dungeon, the team discover Skaara and Daniel explains to Sam that it was not Ra who kidnapped Skaara and Sha're, but Apophis, named for the Egyptian serpent god of night. Before Skaara and the team can escape, the First Prime enters with Serpent Guards and yells something in Goa'uld with Skaara revealing that they're planning on choosing who will be the children of the gods. As everyone looks on, Apophis soon arrives in and introduces his Queen who is none other than Sha're/Amaunet which leaves Daniel greatly shocked. Daniel attempts to approach Sha're but Jack and Sam restrain him. Several other Goa'uld come forth and begin to pick people out of the crowd of prisoners who will become hosts to the children of the Goa'uld. Skaara is among the few to be chosen and is dragged away, screaming frantically for Jack who attempts to intervene, only for Jack to knocked down. Daniel wants to be picked to be with his wife but he isn't chosen. As the hosts are being dragged away. Apophis glances around the room and then orders that the rest of the prisoners be killed and as he departs with Sha're, the prisoners all flee to the other side of the cell, screaming in fear as the Serpent Guards close in, creating a sense of chaos and despair as Jack, Sam and Daniel look on. As the guards charge their weapons, ready to execute the prisoners, Jack calls to the First Prime, stating that he can save these people before insisting that the other being in question help him. The First Prime hesitates for a few moments, grimly noting that many have made that promise, before turning on a fellow Serpent Guard and firing on them, killing one. As he does that, he adds that Jack is the first person he has met who he believes can achieve what he claims. The now former First Prime then hands Jack a staff weapon and they team up together and turn on the Serpent Guards, killing every single one of them although the guards manage to kill a few of the prisoners first. Once the remaining guards have been chased away, Jack uses his staff weapon to blast a hole in the wall of the cell and as he examines the scene, Carter and Daniel help the prisoners escape. Meanwhile, Apophis's First Prime, still stunned over what he has done wanders around the cell with Jack calling for the First Prime. Still struggling to come to terms with what he has done, the former First Prime remarks that he has nowhere to go. Jack tells him that he can stay at his place before telling the former First Prime, "Let's go". As they both leave the cell, Jack asks the First Prime what his name is with the being replying that his name is "Teal'c". O'Neill, Carter, Daniel, and Teal'c lead the prisoners away from the palace back towards the Stargate with serpent guards pursuing, having been given the task of killing them. While escaping the town, Teal'c shows O'Neill that he has a Goa'uld in his stomach, much to the shock of the others. Teal'c then reveals that he is a Jaffa, a servant of the Gods and in exchange for the larva he has, it gives him long life and perfect health before stating that if he were to remove it, he would eventually die. Near the gate, SG-1 is pinned down by a Death Glider. Kawalsky and SG-2 rescue them by bringing the ship down with an FIM-92 Stinger missile. At the gate they find Apophis leaving with his wife and the other Goa'uld families - Skaara is among them. O'Neill calls out to him, causing him to hesitate and wait for O'Neill to come closer. However, a Goa'uld has already possessed him. Skaara uses a Kara kesh to throw O'Neill back and then leaves through the gate. Meanwhile more Jaffa Serpent Guards arrive. While O'Neill, Teal'c, Kawalsky, and the rest of SG-2 provide cover, Carter and Daniel lead the prisoners through the Stargate and back to Earth. Carter is the first back to Earth and tells the SGC guards to hold their fire because they've got refugees. Hammond tells her that he hopes she knows what she's doing. Back on Chulak, as Jack and the others fend off the approaching Jaffa guards, Daniel helps the refugees gain safe passage and head through the wormhole to Earth although a single staff blast kills one of the refugees. As the evacuation continues, more refugees continue arriving on Earth while Daniel arrives with a small group, joining Sam who's already at the ramp. Teal'c eventually arrives in the SGC Embarkation Room, prompting the guards to raise their weapons at him. Sam and Daniel intervene, ordering the guards to lower their guns and telling them that Teal'c is with them. As Hammond looks on, obviously stunned at what's going on, Teal'c hands over his staff weapon to Sam who accepts it without any arguments. Just before Kawalsky goes back through the Gate, one of the refugees strangles a Jaffa Serpent Guard to death while one member of the SGC team lies on the ground, injured after being shot by a staff weapon blast. Seconds later, the Goa'uld inside the now dead Serpent Guard emerges. As Kawalsky attends to the injured member of his team, the symbiote uses that opportunity to slip into Kawalsky's body via his right ear which leaves Kawalsky stunned. After everyone has made it safely through the Gate, Carter orders that the iris be locked which happens and as that happens, thuds are heard, suggesting that the Jaffa that pursued them are now dead. Once the wormhole has been disengaged and the iris unsealed as well as the gate shut down, everyone tries to come to terms with what has happened. As SG-1 walk down the ramp, the refugees thank the team for their efforts. Hammond asks Jack what's going on and Carter tells the General that they can use the Stargate to send the refugees home. Hammond isn't too thrilled about seeing Teal'c with Jack defending Teal'c, stating that Teal'c is the man who saved their lives and that Hammond will accept Jack's proposal, then Teal'c will join SG-1. Hammond states that the decision might not up to Jack himself. As he takes everything in, Hammond tells Jack and Kawalsky that this is sure to be an interesting debriefing and that it will take place at 0730. As everyone leaves the gate room to be accessed and for further medical treatment to be given to the injured members of the large group, Daniel looks back at the Stargate and remarks that Sha're is still out there. Jack tells him that so is Skaara. "What do we do?", Daniel wonders. "We find them", Jack states. With that, the future members of SG-1 all head off. Meanwhile, Kawalsky who was in the background stares at the Stargate for a second before he walks down the ramp. As Kawalsky approaches the end of the ramp, his eyes begin glowing, implying that the Goa'uld has now taken complete control of his body. + +In the Stargate Operations room of Stargate Command, Major General George S. Hammond, the commander of the officially-reopened Stargate Program and also Stargate Command is discussing the planets where SG-1 and SG-2 are when they come under attack from an unknown off-world source. Not willing to take any chances, Hammond has the iris brought up and also the self-destruct set to three minutes and activated while various security guards aim their guns at the closed iris. As this happen, numerous thuds are heard against the iris, suggesting that the Jaffa who are attempting to make through are now all dead. Major Charles Kawalsky soon begins experiencing a powerful headache that hasn't gone anyway despite Kawalsky taking aspirin. This is due to the fact that in the previous episode, Kawalsky wound up being unknowingly infected by an infant Goa'uld symbiote without anyone noticing. The Goa'uld had remained fairly dormant in him for a while due to its youth, but as it matures it begins to take control of Kawalsky, causing him to experience blackouts, during which the Goa'uld takes over his body. Kawalsky gets permission from Hammond to head the infirmary. During one blackout, Kawalsky's Goa'uld emerges and kills Dr. Nimzicki, the doctor who's on-call in the infirmary who had discovered the symbiote, and stands before the Stargate without doing anything with Kawalsky unable to remember anything. In the meantime, Teal'c, who had recently come to Stargate Command, is questioned by Colonel Martin Kennedy of The Pentagon. He does not know the answers to their questions because the Goa'uld's technology is considered magic. However, he can tell them what he knows of Goa'uld culture. They rule by fear, and kill any who do not serve them. He also says there are a few like Apophis (the System Lords) who rule over many planets, but they would not be interested in peace. Many worlds fend for themselves and when they meet the Goa'uld, they are enslaved. It would take months for the Goa'uld to make ships to attack Earth since its impenetrable iris prevents invasion through the Stargate. The Goa'uld are few in number but strong and growing. He knew of a human race where everything started, the Tau'ri, the First Ones. Some became hosts, others became Jaffa and slaves. Yet their world was forgotten for centuries. Colonel Jack O'Neill stated that the Tau'ri are the people of Earth, the ones who sealed the Stargate. Now many worlds out there are seeded with the ancient peoples of Earth. Teal'c felt the Tau'ri are their best hope. The high-ranking officers decide to bring him to Washington D.C.. Once the SGC discovers that Kawalsky has a Goa'uld in him, they call upon the expertise of some medical experts for an attempt to remove the Goa'uld. Dr. William Warner discovers that it is wrapped tightly around his spinal cord, and removing it could either kill or paralyze Kawalsky. Teal'c also informs them that the Goa'uld will kill its host if attempts are made to remove it from him. As such, a suitable sedative must be found and applied to the symbiote before operation can begin. Teal'c reveals that every Goa'uld has the genetic memory of those who came before it. Kennedy suggests convincing the symbiote to share that knowledge. However, Daniel realizes that the Goa'uld view them as an inferior race and will not tell them anything whatsoever. Kennedy wants the Goa'uld to be studied further, even going as far to state that they return the Goa'uld to where it came from via the Stargate and as a gesture of good faith which leaves Hammond enraged. As Kennedy goes against Hammond, stating that he should call his superiors, Hammond tells Kennedy that they're going to go ahead with the operation as long as there's a snowball's chance in Hell that Kalwasky will get through it. Teal'c allows medical staff to perform controlled experiments on the larval Goa'uld that acts as his immune system until they find an effective sedative. They then use this and begin work on Major Kawalsky, who adamantly makes O'Neill promise that he'll kill him if the Goa'uld wins the battle for his body. The operation appears to be successful. Afterwards, he requests a few moments with Teal'c alone to thank him for his help, but as soon as they are alone, Kawalsky's eyes glow and he grabs Teal'c by the neck. The Goa'uld, though mostly removed, had already bound itself to the host's brain and is in full control. In control, the possessed Kawalsky sets the co-ordinates for Chulak and even triggers the self-destruct code, injuring the technician there who tries to stop him. The Goa'uld infested Kawalsky heads for the Stargate, only to find Teal'c standing on the ramp blocking his path with Teal'c stating that the Goa'uld will not pass. They fight and struggle while O'Neill and Hammond try to shut down the Stargate. The Goa'uld pushes the struggle right up to the Stargate, and ends up getting the back of Kawalsky's head partially dipped into the event horizon. O'Neill shouts to Teal'c to keep it restrained there: when they manage to shut off the device, the back of Kawalsky's head is gated away, effectively slicing it off and killing the symbiote instantly. Teal'c gives O'Neill his condolences over his friend's death although O'Neill says that Kawalsky died on the operating table before everyone walks off, leaving Kawalsky's body on the ramp. Later, in Hammond's office, Colonel Kennedy is presumably given a dressing-down by the President as Jack and Hammond look on. A few hours later, SG-1 are getting ready to ship out for their newest mission when Teal'c, now wearing the SGC uniform arrives in, informing Hammond that he is reporting for duty with Jack telling Teal'c to add a "Sir" which Teal'c does. Hammond welcomes Teal'c aboard and Teal'c and Jack walk up to the ramp to join Sam and Daniel who are waiting for them. For a second, SG-1, now officially a four-man team stand there, examining the Stargate before they head through the wormhole, ready to embark on their first ever mission as a four-man team thanks to Teal'c having finally been accepted as a member of both the SGC and SG-1. + +On a routine trip through the Stargate, SG-1 finds a beautiful planet, named Simarka, with no apparent signs of technology. They suddenly see a young man running from a bunch of rabid dogs, and save his life. He is initially very grateful and introduces himself as Abu of the Shavadai, which Abu translates as "the people of the steppe". Suddenly he realizes that one of them is not a man and points to Captain Samantha Carter, and exclaims, "She is a woman!" Abu's father, Moughal, and some of his clan show up, and when they see Carter they point arrows at her. In this culture, women are not allowed to show their faces or wear the clothes of a man. Carter is offended and does not react well. Abu tells his father the woman saved his life, and the father declares Carter is thus saved from her fate at the hands of the law, and invites them all back to his village. Once there Dr. Daniel Jackson discovers the local culture resembles that of Mongolian nomads, probably from the Chagatai, perfectly preserved since likely being transported from Earth by the Goa'uld close to a thousand years before. Moughal, though a law-abiding man, is very tolerant and open to the concept of change. The laws of the various clans of this culture state that women must be obedient, hide their faces, and remain silent unless spoken to. To prevent Carter from punishment, he places her in the care of the tribe's women to instruct her in these rules and provide her a woman's gown complete with headpiece and veil. The remaining male members of SG-1 poorly contain their avid appreciation for her new attire. She is less than amused. While Daniel immerses himself in the Anthropology along with Colonel Jack O'Neill and Teal'c, Abu kidnaps Carter and takes her to a neighboring clan led by a fierce warlord, Turghan. Abu tells Carter he intends to trade her for something he wants more than life itself. When Daniel discovers Abu's deed he confronts Moughal, who, having guessed his son's intentions, joins SG-1 to pursue Abu. Turghan lusts for Carter and debases her, studying her appearance as if she were an animal; her resulting sarcasm and attitude make Turghan extremely violent. Abu wishes to trade her for the hand of Turghan's daughter Nya. Turghan refuses, instead offering Abu 300 weights of gold or death in exchange, Abu takes the gold and reluctantly leaves. Nya is in love with Abu and becomes distressed as her father - who already has the allegiance of 22 tribe chieftains - tells Nya she will marry the warlord of a 23rd clan by the "next moon". Later, Abu sneaks into Turghan's camp and tells Nya he will wait in the forest for her to escape so that they may elope. If SG-1 waits until the next day to rescue Carter, Turghan will 'partake' of his newest purchase; knowing this, SG-1 attempts to repurchase her for 500 weights of gold; they tell Turghan that she is their shaman and they must have her back. Turghan refuses all offers until O'Neill offers his M9 pistol side arm, demonstrating its effectiveness by firing it at a gourd pot. The trade is made and all four members of SG-1 quickly leave with Moughal before Turghan can learn that the pistol has a limited amount of ammunition he can't replace. During this time, Nya attempts to escape but is captured in the process. Turghan intends to stone her to death for her disobedience. Abu begs Carter and the others to use their weapons to save Nya, but Moughal tells them this would bring war to the Shavadai. After considering the problem, Moughal explains that there is a law that allows a clan leader to challenge another to a duel in order to halt a stoning. If Turghan can be defeated in combat, in the setting of this legal challenge, the stoning would be stopped and there would be no war between the groups. Carter challenges Turghan as the chieftain of her clan. Turghan pulls out a short sword-like dagger while she pulls out her much smaller (by comparison) Ontario knife. She wins the ensuing hand-to-hand combat but refuses to kill Turghan; instead making him swear to release Nya, not make war with the Shavadai, and to yield to her. In celebration of Carter's bravery, Moughal, as an example to other clans and tribes, abolishes the old laws regarding women allowing them to walk freely about the camp with their faces revealed. SG-1 returns to Earth with a new anesthetic derived from one of the local plants. + +After a briefing in which Major General George S. Hammond reveals that the refugees the SGC teams including SG-1 brought back from Chulak, SG-1 and SG-3 head to the planet designated P3X-797. Upon arrival they find themselves attacked by a group of savage primeval men living in the forest like animals. They scare them off and walk out of the darkness into the light. Once out of the forest and in the light they find a beautiful civilization that appears to be of Minoan origin, which fascinates Dr. Daniel Jackson immensely. The locals refer to their land as "The Land of Light" and the savages in the forest as "The Touched". Citizens of the Land of Light afflicted with a "curse" devolve into savage beasts and are banished into the dark. After returning to Earth, Lt. Daniel Johnson begins to act irrationally and attacks Teal'c. Other members of SG-3 soon start displaying the same symptoms as "The Touched". Captain Samantha Carter tries to seduce Colonel Jack O'Neill, but he realizes she has the mysterious disease and takes her to the infirmary. Later, when Daniel expresses concern for Carter, Jack becomes unaccountably jealous, insisting "she's not yours to care about", and assaults Daniel with everyone realizing that Jack has the disease. As a result, Cheyenne Mountain is placed into lockdown with Stargate Command being cut off from the outside world until a cure can be found. Very heavily sedated, Jack asks Dr. Janet Fraiser to experiment on him in hopes of finding a cure, but she refuses. Teal'c returns to the planet with Daniel, as they are the only members of the SGC except for Fraiser who haven't come down with the disease. Teal'c brings back a blood sample of the Untouched for Fraiser to analyze, but Daniel is taken by the Touched. Fraiser realizes Daniel and she were not infected as a result of their antihistamine allergy medicine, and the "curse" is actually a disease targeting histamine. From analyzing the blood she concludes there must be something in the diet of the people in the Land of Light that acts as an antihistamine; which, if eaten more often will prevent the "curse". In one of the Isolation Rooms, Fraiser then tells Jack and Teal'c that she has a cure that could help. Jack volunteers to be the test subject with Fraiser giving him the dose. As Jack falls asleep, Fraiser tells Teal'c that they have to wait with Teal'c later lying Jack down and placing a blanket over him. The next morning, Teal'c is interrupted by someone banging on the door of the cell he's been guarding. When he opens the slide, it's shown that Jack has returned to normal, the injection having worked. After some minor confusion over Jack calling Teal'c "Lucy", Jack is later released and he and Teal'c set off to find Fraiser. A while later, thanks to Fraiser synthesizing a cure (lots of antihistamine), the SGC is finally brought out of lockdown with everyone infected being cured and operations returning to normal at last. In the Embarkation Room, the team receive guns from a solider while Fraiser explains that by hitting one of the Touched with the darts should be more than enough to starve the disease altogether. She then wishes them good luck before leaving while Jack and Sam debate as to whether Daniel's still alive. When the Stargate opens a wormhole seconds later, Jack tells Sam, "Let's find out" as the team goes through the Stargate. Arriving on P3X-797, the team head to the area where the Touched reside and discover Daniel is still among them but unfortunately as a result of not having his allergy medicine, Daniel is now one of the Touched too. The team soon use darts loaded with Fraiser's cure for the disease to take down all the Touched with Sam attempting to inject Daniel, only for Daniel to attempt to attack her which is ultimately halted thanks to Jack shooting a dart into Daniel's body which leaves Daniel and the rest of the Touched unconscious. SG-1 then arrive at the temple in spite of the villagers objecting and explains to the people the "curse" is reversible as well as their lost family members will be returning. When Daniel awakens back to his normal self, he serves as proof to the people who rush into the forest. SG-1 follows and witnesses a moving moment of reunions as the former Touched, now cured of the "disease" reunite with their loved ones. They give some medication and aid to the Land of Light so that none shall ever be "Touched" again, and, having made new friends, return to Earth through the Stargate. + +Two members of SG-9 are running while being pursued by natives wielding spears and wearing imposing domed masks. One member of SG-9 is captured and shot by a soldier with a gun, and then set on fire. SG-1 is sent to the planet Avnil after SG-9 is declared MIA. Shortly after their arrival Dr. Daniel Jackson is attacked by the frightened Lt. Laurence Conner - the surviving officer from the earlier chase and witness to the murder of his team-mate, Lt. Thomas Frakes. After setting up camp, Conner explains Captain Jonas Hanson, SG-9's leader, has convinced the planet's primitive inhabitants he is a god; and now has them working to build a temple. All who oppose him are tied up in the sunlight to be slowly burned to death by the planet's high ultraviolet radiation levels. Originally, Jonas simply played along with the natives' belief that he was a god; but after disappearing for two days, Jonas came to believe himself to be a god. With the assistance of a fellow soldier, Lt. Matthew Baker, Jonas killed the remainder of the team. Captain Samantha Carter, having previously been engaged to Jonas, tells Daniel that Hanson is a man who always needs control. During the night, Conner is captured and tied in the sun to die. While Colonel Jack O'Neill investigates, Carter helps a young boy who is being beaten by Baker and is also captured. When she is brought before Hanson she realizes he has become a megalomaniac unwaveringly convinced that he is in the right bringing the local inhabitants out of their cave-dwelling squalor. Jack, Daniel, and Teal'c corner Jamala (the slave Sam rescued) according to whom Hanson has found a device that, when activated, will "turn the sky orange" - this is surmised to be an solar radiation shield left behind by the Goa'uld. By making his people build a temple, Hanson buys himself time to work out the activation of the device. He plans to activate it upon completion of the temple as a divine reward to his people. Hanson admits to Carter his inability to activate the device and forces her to decipher the mechanism. She tries to force him at gunpoint to surrender; but finds herself incapable of shooting him. The rest of SG-1 is informed of Hanson's plan by Jamala. Teal'c is aware of this particular form of technology and determines a second device must lie on the other side of the valley, a repeater of sorts necessary to bounce the shielding back and forth thereby stabilizing the field. Daniel and Teal'c search the forest and find the second device sealed in an underground chamber. Jack, in disguise, attempts to rescue Conner from his stake in the middle of the valley quarry. Wearing Jamala's clothing, he unties Conner but is captured by Baker and escorted to Hanson's cave. Hanson threatens Jack's life in front of Carter and she activates the device; producing a pillar of orange light which strikes the ceiling of the cave but does nothing more. Hanson decides to execute both Jack and Conner by sending them back to Earth through the Stargate without sending the IDC signal to deactivate the iris. Hanson gathers the natives in front of the 'circle of the gods' which he has had laid on the ground so the wormhole opens vertically. Hanson tells his people he is sending the demons back to hell. Daniel tells the natives that Hanson is not a god, that he does not wield magic, and that he merely uses machines. To prove Daniel's point Jamala uses Teal'c's staff weapon to shoot Baker. Hanson tells them he can make the sky orange and turns on the device but the pillar of orange light that erupts from the cave does nothing. Daniel tells the people there are two devices and that anybody can use them. Jamala fires the staff weapon into the air, Teal'c sees the shot and activates the second unit. The shield forms in the sky, and the people of the planet come to understand that Hanson is an impostor who has been working them to death. They fall upon Hanson, and in the ensuing fight Jack, Conner, and Carter free themselves and the natives toss Hanson through the gate before anybody can send the IDC signal, resulting in Jonas's death. As SG-1 and Conner are ready to leave Avnil, Sam is brooding over her inability to end Hanson's reign when she had the chance. Jack assures her "killing a man is no badge of honor" and doing so would only bring her closer to becoming what Hanson was. Jack points out the Sixth Commandment as opposed to Hanson's distortion of the First - No Murder. Daniel eventually dials the address to Earth with Sam sending a IDC code through. As SG-1 and Conner leave, Jamala stares at the Stargate, stunned at the sight before him before the camera pans up to show the sky which is now orange. + +On an exploratory mission of P3X-562, SG-1 find a strange planet of unreal, bright-yellow sand dunes, littered with smashed blue crystals. None appear to be intact. Colonel Jack O'Neill goes off to explore out of eyeshot of the rest of the team. When he does so, he encounters a blue crystal that hasn't been smashed, and, staring into it, he tentatively reaches towards it. Suddenly, it blasts him backwards, leaving Jack lying in the sand, unconscious. Instantly, a replica of him is standing over him, apparently manifested by the blue crystal, or transformed from the blue crystal. Captain Samantha Carter calls for Jack to return through the Stargate, and the replica ("Crystal-Jack") goes, leaving the unconscious and real, flesh and blood Jack behind. Back on Earth, Crystal-Jack does not appear to be hostile, and seems to have a purpose that it doesn't even quite know itself. It seems confused but focused. No-one else on the base works out that he is not the real Jack. He leaves the base that day and returns to the home he left many months ago. This was where he lived with his wife Sara, and their son Charlie. Charlie killed himself accidentally using Jack's gun, and Jack never forgave himself for it - he and Sara split up. Crystal-Jack now returns to this house and speaks to Sara. She is shocked to see him. Crystal-Jack asks to see Charlie, and Sara asks him if this is his idea of a sick joke, but it is obviously not. She runs back inside the house, upset. Crystal-Jack is invited in by Sara's father and allowed to look around Charlie's old room. He has flashbacks of the love that used to permeate the house, as he nestles himself amongst Charlie's belongings. Sara finds him crying in the room. Jack and Sara talk for a while and later go to a park where they sit and continue their conversation. Sara seems to wish that Crystal-Jack would say he wants to get back together, but they are both still very upset about the death of their son. At this moment, Crystal-Jack suddenly falls to the ground, bolts of blue electrical energy arcing from him into the ground and the bench. Meanwhile back at Stargate Command, Carter analyzes the smashed crystals they brought back, and she and Teal'c confirm that the damage was done by Goa'uld Staff weapons. One of the more intact crystals suddenly speaks to her, assuming a human-face-shape for a moment. They realize that the crystals are a strange alien race that must have been destroyed by the Goa'uld (this explains the initial reaction to Jack, blasting him away, as humans and Goa'ulds are alike in form). The crystal using Carter's face explains that their race is composed of energy, they call themselves the Unity and relate the tale of how once a Jaffa was killed by accident by one of them and the Goa'uld in revenge gathered all the crystal Unity together and slaughtered them. It also warns them that they are running out of energy now that they are on Earth away from their planet, and when they do there may be a dangerous radioactive reaction. At that moment, the real Jack O'Neill returns from the planet, having awoken, and they all realize that the other one, Crystal-Jack, must have been a crystal like this one. The SGC is immediately searched and they discover that he has left the base. Sara has taken Crystal-Jack to the hospital. She is tending to him when he bursts out in electricity again and the hospital is cleared. SG-1 and the police arrive, and evacuate the area, ionizing particle radiation is reaching dangerous levels. Sara has a very confusing moment as the real Jack runs past her into the building as she is led out. Once inside, SG-1 find Crystal-Jack slumped in a corner, dying. Crystal-Jack explains that he was able to see into Jack's memories and thoughts, and, after incapacitating him, saw that he was not Goa'uld. He wanted to help Jack get better so he searched for Jack's pain, and found the death of Charlie in his memories to be a far greater pain than any physical one. Crystal-Jack thought that if he could somehow bring Charlie to Jack then he would get better but he didn't understand the concept of permanent death of humans because there is no permanent death amongst the Unity. Jack replies that Charlie is gone, but Crystal-Jack disagrees, saying that Charlie is always with Jack and touches his chest over his heart and at that moment, he changes into an identical duplicate of Charlie. It is a very emotional moment as Jack sees his son again. They now have to take Crystal-Charlie out of the place. Jack walks him out and Sara can't believe her eyes. Jack explains it's not really Charlie, but they hug each other and whisper that they "were pretty great together", "the greatest" in fact. Lastly, Crystal-Charlie is brought back to the SGC and he, along with the rest of his crystalline race, is to be returned to his planet so that he won't die. Jack walks him up the ramp to the open Stargate and they step through together. + +SG-1 travels to the planet Gaia in search of a being with the ability to appear and disappear at will - such abilities would give a great tactical advantage against the Goa'uld. When Apophis arrives on the planet, in pursuit of the same creature, the team plot to sedate him with the tranquilizer guns they brought to take down the creature. After taking down one of his armed guards, Apophis himself uses his energy shield to protect himself from Colonel Jack O'Neill's tranquilizer dart. The team are killed, apart from Teal'c who declares "Tal shaka mel - I die free" - but disappears as Apophis moves to fire upon him which leaves Apophis himself deeply shocked. Later, O'Neill, Dr. Daniel Jackson and Captain Samantha Carter awaken in a place that bears similarities to a barn. They discover that they were brought back to life by the Nox, a race of peaceful, advanced people with healing powers and the ability to make objects disappear and reappear at will. They also revive a Jaffa guard who Teal'c recognizes as Shak'l, one who he had trained while he was in the service of the Goa'uld. Meanwhile, Apophis and his remaining entourage attempt to locate the team. Apophis is agitated at the fact that Teal'c stood before him, then disappeared moments later. Adding to his frustrations are the fact that their searches for the team, and the Stargate, are fruitless. The Nox appear primitive, though refuse to share how they healed the team. They tell SG-1 that their weapons are "gone", and continuously try to talk them out of trying to defend them against Apophis. Adding to the situation is an apparent complacency regarding their safety, stating that their ways have kept them alive for as long as they have existed. They also refuse to allow any harm to Shak'l, despite SG-1's protests. Teal'c offers Shak'l a chance to join them, who refuses to believe that Apophis is a false god. He feigns an injury and attracts the attention of Lya, who he kills after stabbing Teal'c. He subsequently escapes and finds Apophis, who he tells about the Nox. While the Nox begin the healing ceremony to revive Lya, SG-1 begin their pursuit, during which the Nox child, Nafrayu, appears behind him, asking to see a Goa'uld. O'Neill tells him to go home. The Nox reveal that the healing ceremony leaves them vulnerable as they are unable to hide themselves during this time. Despite their attempts to convince the Nox of the impending threat, they refuse to do anything to defend themselves. Moments later, it is revealed that Nafrayu has not returned home. During their search, Anteaus says that he told SG-1 to do the same, and that "the very young do not always do as they are told". Nafrayu finds Apophis in his quest to find a Goa'uld, who kills him. The search party find Nafrayu's body and take him back to the camp to begin the healing ceremony. SG-1's offer to defend the Nox from the Goa'uld during the ceremony falls on deaf ears, with the Nox demanding that there will be no more killing, and that SG-1 return home. SG-1 plots to take Apophis down a second time, this time utilizing a flaw in Apophis' personal defense - a slow moving object, like a staff weapon or an arrow, passes through the field easily, while also deflecting faster-moving bullets and staff weapon blasts. They take out the Jaffa guards, leaving O'Neill to corner Apophis with his bow and arrow. Just as the arrow is about to hit Apophis, the Nox make him disappear. SG-1 return to where the Stargate was, and are greeted by Anteaus and Nafrayu, who wishes to bid them farewell. The Nox make the Stargate appear again, and promise to bury it once their guests leave. O'Neill protests, saying that the Goa'uld would return in space craft to destroy them. Anteaus then reveals a large floating city for SG-1 to see, proving how advanced they really are, and that their primitive appearance was merely a front. Anteaus communicates a hope that one day the Tau'ri will learn that their way is not the only way. After they disappear, the team laments the fact that they would not listen to the Nox and now they were going to leave, never to return. O'Neill reveals that many lessons were learned, and were worth taking home. + +SG-1 arrive at a beautiful planet, Argos, and immediately Dr. Daniel Jackson has to deliver a baby for two of its inhabitants, Alekos and Thetys. Successful, they thank him immensely and name the child Dan-el. Daniel observes that the culture worships an ancient Greek hero, Pelops, as a god. This suggests that the myths surrounding the man originated from him being a Goa'uld (and therefore able to inspire and possibly force worship from the aforementioned culture). Pelops must have transferred these people to Argos a long time ago for his own purposes, but he is no longer here except in statue form. The Argosians treat SG-1 very well and one woman, Kynthia, takes a strong liking to Colonel Jack O'Neill; they have lots of close contact. That night, however, all of the Argosians, as well as O'Neill, suddenly fall asleep at exactly the same time. Captain Samantha Carter supposes that there is something in the Argosian diet that has caused this (considering O'Neill ate some Argosian food that was "only for him" and was the only team member to pass out with the rest of the Argosians). The next day, all of them wake up at exactly the same moment, and this is apparently a normal thing. Soon, they meet the young newborn Dan-el again, except he somehow is already a toddler. A little investigation reveals that Argosians live for only 100 days, and the normal human life-span is squashed into that time-limit: they grow old extremely quickly, but savor "all that Pelops has given to them". Returning to Stargate Command, Carter and Dr. Janet Fraiser identify Nanites in O'Neill and the Argosian's blood which is responsible for making them grow old at this fast rate. Pelops was experimenting on the Argosians: he wanted to see what the Goa'uld host (i.e. the human) would eventually become, hence he sped up the evolutionary process. For unknown reasons he left before his work could be completed. Ultimately, SG-1 cannot work out how to cure O'Neill, who now looks about 80 years old, and he refuses to return home in case he infects others. Stuck on Argos, O'Neill walks and talks with Kynthia, and they walk beyond Pelops' boundary of the village. Then at night, they don't fall asleep. O'Neill realizes that there must be a transmitter of some kind in the village that is responsible for the functioning of the Nanites. The transmitter is discovered in the statue of Pelops (which O'Neill convinced the Argosians to destroy earlier), and with the return of SG-1 the Nanites are stopped. The Argosians will now live full human life spans and can go to sleep when they please. Carter also realizes that the Nanites only imitated the effects of age, and so now that they are deactivated in O'Neill, his own immune system will return him to his original age. + +Through examining and comparing Norse mythology to that of the Egyptians, Dr. Daniel Jackson theorizes that there may be another race of aliens who pose as gods, but are good gods, against the Goa'uld, and, thus, a potential ally. Jackson believes that Thor was an alien, and his legendary weapon Thor's Hammer was an alien device that would be an invaluable weapon against the Goa'uld. This possibility is increased when Teal'c makes mention of a world that was banned by the Goa'uld (Cimmeria), which is represented by a hammer sign. The reason why is that any Jaffa or Goa'uld who goes there is never heard from again. Before departing, Major General George S. Hammond gives SG-1 a box to show friendship to the good aliens they will encounter. SG-1 travels to Cimmeria, and, upon arrival, they encounter a group of people who laugh at them, and then begin chanting the name "Thor" as a giant stone hammer starts to charge. It scans each member of SG-1 with a beam of light, bypassing Daniel, Sam and Jack before it scans Teal'c with the device, causing him to scream in pain. When Colonel Jack O'Neill tries to push him out of the way of the beam, both disappear, leaving Jackson and Captain Samantha Carter by themselves. O'Neill and Teal'c appear inside a cave, where a recording by Thor (in the appearance of a viking) informs them that the Goa'uld in Teal'c's abdominal cavity will die when he tries to leave the cave, revealed to be a labyrinth. Meanwhile, Jackson and Carter, with help from Gairwyn, who came to see who had come through the Stargate, find a person who had once been in the labyrinth herself. The person, Kendra, was once a Goa'uld host, and so when her Goa'uld had visited the world before, she taunted the symbiote that Cimmeria was full of riches, she was taken to a cave, and, upon leaving, her controller was killed and she was freed. Inside the Labyrinth, O'Neill and Teal'c realize that they are not alone in the cave. They discover that an Unas, the first host race used by the Goa'uld, is alive in the cave, and he is a dangerous foe. Since Teal'c's staff weapon does not work inside the cave, he and O'Neill rely on bullets to try to kill the alien. Though this appears to kill the creature at first, it is unsuccessful. As Teal'c and O'Neill reach the exit of the cave, they discover that they were followed by the Unas, and, in order to kill it, Teal'c is forced to push the creature into the door of the cave, killing its symbiote (and nearly killing Teal'c's, too). Carter, Jackson and Kendra arrive soon afterwards, and in order for Teal'c to leave the cave, his staff weapon is taken outside the cave, then used to destroy the Thor's Hammer. Although, Thor's Hammer could have saved Jackson's wife Sha're and Skaara, Jackson relents to O'Neill's order in order to save Teal'c. However, this also destroys Cimmeria's only defense against the Goa'uld with Daniel reluctantly firing a shot from Teal'c's staff weapon to destroy the defense, enabling Teal'c who had been trapped to leave the Hall at last. Before SG-1 leaves the planet, they leave the Sagan Institute Box made of a special alloy for Kendra to give to Thor if he ever returns to the planet, in hopes that they will be able to make contact with him at some point in the future. + +In 1945, a group of scientists are busy working on the then newly discovered Stargate, trying to get it to work. Not knowing about the effect of stellar drift on the dialing (later discovered by Captain Samantha Carter), they should not have been able to turn it on but against all the odds, they manage to get it active. In the modern day, 1997, in the Briefing Room of Stargate Command, Dr. Daniel Jackson is busy watching the footage when Colonel Jack O'Neil wanders in, telling Daniel that they've got two days of medical tests to go through. But both men are left stunned when they discover that the scientists managed to get the Stargate working and they're even more shocked when a man steps through the gate, the wormhole it created collapses, apparently trapping him on whatever planet he was transported to, causing Jack to whisper, "Holy cow" in disbelief while Daniel just stares at the TV, stunned. Daniel visits Catherine Langford, the daughter of the man in charge of the program back then. She recognizes that the man who went through the gate was Dr. Ernest Littlefield, her then fiancé. Her father had told her that Littlefield died during an explosion in the lab. Jackson brings her back with him to Stargate Command, causing Major General George Hammond to berate Daniel for breaking protocol, i.e., revealing classified information to a civilian. In a briefing, Daniel reveals that he was able to extract the chevrons that the scientists dialed from the old footage. Carter mentions that this address is not on the list found on Abydos, which is direct proof that the Goa'uld are not the builders of the Stargates. Teal'c points out that this may mean that there will be technology unknown to the Goa'uld at the address that Dr. Littlefield has traveled to, and Daniel points out that they have an obligation to bring back the first man who saw the Stargate for what it was. Hammond agrees that SG-1 should go to the planet and attempt to bring Dr. Littlefield home. Catherine insists on joining the mission. A while later, SG-1 and Catherine depart for the planet. On the other side of the wormhole, they find themselves in what appears to be something of a castle perched dangerously on outcropping rocks over a stormy sea and under a thunderous sky. Within the castle, they find Dr. Littlefield, emaciated but alive. Carter then discovers that the Dial Home Device is broken and hence they are stuck. While she works on a solution, Catherine has her moments with Ernest - they are cold to each other at first (as they've been through a lot) but warm up to each other later. Jackson also talks to Ernest, who has kept a journal all these years. He takes them to a special room where a central device, when activated by Jack projects a light-display into the air. The light-display turns out to be a representation of atoms and basic elements. On the four walls are four types of writing, and both Jackson and Ernest believe this to be some kind of meeting place for four great alien races of the past. That is when Jackson realizes that the atoms are a kind of universal language - to ensure universal comprehension the language has been reduced to basic elements common to all life. There turn out to be many pages of this 'book' and Jackson becomes obsessed with copying it down. Ernest tells there are 146 basic elements. While Carter and Teal'c are working on the DHD, a large wave hits the cliff, triggering a rockfall that causes the DHD to fall through the floor and into the ocean below. Carter works out that a lightning strike channeled into the gate may supply enough power to allow dialing it manually, enabling them to escape while hopefully not destroying the Stargate in the process. In the meantime, the storm is becoming rough, and it looks like the castle will collapse. Daniel's obsession with the book makes him want to stay to study it all. At the last moment, Ernest persuades Daniel to leave. Although the information held in the 'book' may be the source to understanding the very meaning of the existence of humans ("meaning-of-life stuff"), it would take more than a lifetime to study it all, as evidenced by Ernest, and there's no joy in knowing it all but having no one to share it with. Due to the obviousness of Ernest's wisdom on this matter, Jackson leaves the 'book' and they escape through the collapsing castle through the Stargate just before the wormhole destabilizes and shuts down. Later, an attempt is made to open another wormhole to the planet to see if returning is possible. The attempt fails, presumably because the destination gate has been buried. However, Ernest reminds them that their expedition was productive beyond rescuing him, because they also brought back his notes, which are being worked on as they speak. Ernest tells Daniel that one day he might meet the ones who wrote the book and tell him what it means. After this, Catherine and Ernest finally share an emotional embrace with Jack and Daniel looking on. + +After an experiment to remove Teal'c's symbiote and maintain his body with drugs fails, he reluctantly asks Major General George S. Hammond and the others for assistance. He explains that he has a family he left behind Chulak to join Stargate Command, but his son Rya'c is scheduled to receive a Goa'uld larva, which will make him dependent on the alien symbiotes. He asks the SG-1 for assistance and when they refuse, he tries to travel to Chulak on his own. Hammond stops him, but after Colonel Jack O'Neill informs Hammond about Rya'c and seeing Teal'c’s determination, and with the promise of recovering a larva and undermining the Jaffa's belief in the divinity of the Goa'uld, Hammond eventually agrees. A while later, SG-1 prepare to leave for Chulak, having disguised themselves as scholars of the court of Apophis with Teal'c telling Jack that he is in his debt. Jack states it's nothing and then tells Hammond that they're ready to ship out. SG-1 returns to Chulak find themselves facing two head priests along with some of Apophis's Jaffa guards. After fooling the guards at the Stargate, they make their way Teal'c's old home (now burned down) they make contact with Bra'tac, another Jaffa rebel and Teal'c's old mentor. Since being declared "Shol'va" (outcast, cursed, condemned) as a result of Teal'c defecting to the Tau'ri, Teal'c's family has been demoted in Jaffa society and live in a primitive camp. Bra'tac takes O'Neill and Teal'c to Teal'c's family while Captain Samantha Carter and Dr. Daniel Jackson watch the Gate. They spot priests delivering a container of Goa'uld larva to a nearby temple and follow. Teal'c interrupts the implantation ceremony, the prim'ta, and rescues his son. Drey'auc, Teal'c's wife is none too happy with the low straits that Teal'c's actions have brought their family to. Worse, Teal'c’s son is suffering from the equivalent of scarlet fever and only a Goa'uld symbiote can "cure" him. Meanwhile, Daniel and Sam have snuck into the temple and take a larva but as they walk away, Daniel wants to kill the remaining larvae to prevent them from taking human hosts in the future. Sam argues that it is immoral to kill them as they are now, stating that if they did that, then they'd be no better than the Goa'uld themselves. Daniel appears to agree but as they are leaving he changes his mind, turns around and shoots the tank, destroying it while killing the symbiotes inside. The two soon come under attack from some Jaffa guards with Sam opting to throw a grenade that kills the guards. They then meet up with Jack who explains that they couldn't get back to the Stargate in time and as such, Teal'c had to give up his own symbiote to Rya'c in the hope of curing Rya'c's illness. Worse still, Teal'c is dying as his immune system shuts down. Jackson and Carter show up and they give the captured symbiote to Teal'c. As he begins to recover, they head for the Stargate. Once Teal'c is strong enough he says goodbye to his son and wife, telling them to claim he kidnapped them against their will. After a brief reconciliation, Drey'auc leaves with Rya'c, and Bra'tac takes them to the Gate pretending he has taken SG-1 prisoner. Bra'tac takes out the guards and priests at the Gate, and then stays behind as SG-1 makes their escape. + +Colonel Jack O'Neill, Captain Samantha Carter and Teal'c of Chulak return prematurely from their mission to Oannes, completely drenched and in shock while believing that Dr. Daniel Jackson is dead. They are all examined and questioned and are completely in shock. They believe that Jackson was burned to death and that they survived by submerging themselves in a nearby ocean. Jackson is given a full military funeral ceremony and a wreath is sent through the Stargate. When the thought of going back to the planet is mentioned, the team reacts with horrified protests. They are afterwards given a week free to relax. Although Stargate Command believes Jackson to be dead, he is seen sitting down very much alive, shouting for the others. He then is confronted by an alien who wants Jackson to translate various Cuneiform writings and when he reads the name "Omoroca", the alien reacts angrily. Eventually the alien asks what has happened to Omoroca, who was his mate. Jackson doesn't understand what has happened to her, but the alien accuses him of lying. The alien believes Earth is still enslaved by the Goa'uld, and thinks Jackson is possessed by the Goa'uld. At this Jackson explodes, asking why he would serve the race which took his wife from him. On Earth, all members of SG-1 can't stop thinking about Jackson's apparent death and especially O'Neill reacts very angrily as he dwells on it. He is considering retiring. Meanwhile, Jackson becomes more frustrated about his work for the alien, who also isn't much of a help and only wants to know what happened to his mate. Meanwhile, Dr. Janet Fraiser again examines the team and realizes that they were all manipulated. They are then studied and it turns out that their memories are false and that they are all programmed to be afraid of going back to the planet again. Carter then agrees to be hypnotized by Dr. James MacKenzie, where she remembers the mission again. She also then remembers that they were all in an alien room and she finally realizes that the memories of Jackson's death are false. So the team mounts a rescue mission and returns to the planet. They reach the ocean where they last saw Jackson, but there is no sign of him. However, O'Neill says he won't leave without Jackson this time. Jackson has agreed to undergo the memory-retrieval technique, and reveals that the alien is an Ohnes, and that the Goa'uld Belus killed Omoroca. Learning this, Nem agrees to let Jackson go and suggests that his race may someday ally itself with the Ohnes. Nem says "In time, perhaps." and that in time, Jackson will learn the fate of his wife Sha're. Nem then leaves, and Jackson returns to Earth discussing with the others what happened while he was away including his memorial service. + +In Mexico, a team of archaeologists, which consists of Dr. Kleinhouse and Dr. Cole investigate a Mayan pyramid, which houses an ancient tomb. They note that until recently, the Mexican government wouldn't allow them to investigate the tomb. In the tomb, they find a Sarcophagus. Cole discovers that the sarcophagus somehow contains Egyptian hieroglyphs, in a Mayan temple, and it has the symbols of the Egyptian goddess Hathor. Kleinhouse remembers reading a journal from "ridiculed" Egyptologist, Dr. Daniel Jackson, leading them to believe his idea that all ancient cultures are alike may be true (to the oblivious Tau'ri) after all. They open the sarcophagus, where a woman rises. In a female voice, she demands to know where Ra is. When she realizes they are not Goa'uld, she uses her Kara kesh, and kills the team. Sometime later, the sarcophagus makes its way into the Embarkation room of Stargate Command by the living members of the archaeology team in Mexico, who believed Cole and Kleinman were murdered by crypt robbers. They heard of Jackson's work and managed to track him down. Jackson and Colonel Jack O'Neill recognize this from Abydos, since they could bring people back from the dead. They are interrupted by an SF, who informs Major General George S. Hammond that an intruder has entered Cheyenne Mountain. Furthermore, she somehow knows of the Stargate's existence. She is detained by base guards, and put in a cell. Hammond, along with Jackson and O'Neill arrive at the cell. She is the same woman who killed Kleinman's team in Mexico, and introduces herself as Hathor, the Egyptian goddess of fertility, inebriety and music (or sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll, as O'Neill puts it). Thinking she isn't a threat, Jackson decides to remove her restraints. She thanks him for this, and kisses his hand. Unknown to him, she blows out a mysterious pink mist. This seems to have some sort of effect on Jackson. She tells them she was drawn to the "chappa'ai", and wants to know where Ra is. They cannot say, as the information is on a "need to know" basis. She then wants to kiss Hammond's hand. Thinking she is crazy, he still plays into her delusions. When the pink mist makes its way to his hand. Hammond and O'Neill leave the room so Hathor could talk to Jackson. She again ask him where Ra is, and after glowing her eyes, Jackson co-operates and tells her Ra is dead. However, Hathor is quite thrilled by the news, especially when she learns they killed him. She declares Jackson to be her beloved, and after using the pink mist again, they kiss. While they consider who Hathor is, Jackson enters the Briefing Room with Hammond and the rest of SG-1, and tells them that the woman claiming to be Hathor has either extensively researched Ancient Egypt, or has lived there, meaning she's a Goa'uld, but possibly a "good" Goa'uld, since she may help defeating Apophis and other "evil" Goa'ulds. He requests to allow her into the briefing room. O'Neill, Captain Samantha Carter and Teal'c seems to reject the idea, but Hammond decides to go ahead with it, though he is persuaded to hide the Stargate by closing the blast door. Hathor later enters, and meets O'Neill again, who she learns was the one who killed Ra. O'Neill attempts to avoid her, but after using the pink mist again, O'Neill complies with her wishes. She attempts the same thing on Teal'c, who doesn't wish to serve any Goa'uld. The pink mist does not work on him. When she notices that the Human males are acting strangely, Carter questions Hammond's orders. She tells O'Neill if he could back her up, in which he says he will, if there is a problem, oblivious to the fact that there is a problem. After Carter is stunned, Hammond offers Hathor a tour of the facility. She is taken to guest quarters, and is informed that two guards will be posted for her protection. However, she suggests to remove the guards. When she breathes the pink mist again at him, he obliges and orders the guards to leave. The power of her suggestion also reaches to O'Neill. After Hammond and O'Neill leave, Hathor wishes to talk to Jackson alone again. She wishes Jackson to be her "chosen one", her pharaoh, and with the power of suggestion, Jackson says that he will honor, and even die for her. Carter is getting suspicious that all the males in the facility seem really infatuated with Hathor. She decides to some research, without Jackson's help. Despite the lack of experience, she finds a website that says that all the sex goddess from various mythologies may be the same woman, included Greece's Aphrodite, Babylon's Ishtar, Syria's Astarte, and Rome's Ceres. It isn't only Carter that is suspicious of Hathor, all of the females of the facility; including Dr. Janet Fraiser also notice. Fraiser thinks that Hathor may be using some kind of chemical to influence the men. Believing Hathor is a threat, Carter suggests that they should neutralize her. In the guest quarters, Jackson learns that Hathor is a Goa'uld Queen, where she creates the Goa'uld. He also learns that she wants Jackson's DNA, through sexual reproduction to create more Goa'uld. Jackson tries to stop her, but after using the pink mist again, they kiss again, so she could get him to impregnate her. In an armory, Carter, Fraiser and the females of the SGC arm themselves in order to kill Hathor. They are interrupted by Teal'c, who believe him to be under Hathor's control. However, Teal'c's Goa'uld protects him from Hathor's influence. They allow Teal'c to join them, as Hathor plans to use the base as her nest to spread out. Eventually, Earth will be filled with Goa'uld. After cautiously making their way through the base, they arrive at the guest quarters, where they see Jackson, motionless. They soon track her to the locker room, where they see her resting in a hydrotherapy whirlpool bath, by herself. As they make their move, Hathor awakens and orders the guards to protect her. They circle her, and Hammond orders the women to stand down. After they are surrounded, the women and Teal'c decide to stand down, who are then taken to the brig. At the cell, Carter realizes Hathor's powers are very advanced, since O'Neill has been given Special Forces training to repel mind control techniques, and is now under her influence. While Carter explains that she often feels like "the girl", Fraiser has a revelation; if Hathor's drug is hormone-driven, it could drive the men to become libidinous, so they decide to seduce the SFs to escape. The plan works, and they are able to seduce, and then subdue the guards, takes their weapons, and locks them up. O'Neill visits Hathor in order to ask her questions about herself. However, instead, Hathor decides to give him a gift. Under her uniform is a glowing device on her belly. It is active. She then embraces O'Neill firmly. The device causes considerable pain to O'Neill. Hathor announces that he would become Hathor's new First Prime. After she pushes him away, O'Neill is startled to see that the device has created a symbiote pouch in O'Neill's abdomen, turning him into a Jaffa. The women are able to subdue a few more men, including General Hammond, who is knocked out by Carter, who feels that once he recovers, her military career would be over. They then free Teal'c, and decide to return to the locker room. There, they see Hathor rising from the bathtub, which is now filled with infant symbiotes. She then puts an unconscious O'Neill into the bathtub, and leaves him to allow a symbiote into his pouch. After she leaves, Carter, Fraiser and Teal'c remove him from the bath, and after checking the pouch, finds that no symbiotes made its way inside it. However he now has no immune system. Teal'c suggests they use the sarcophagus in the Gate room to heal him. They are able to place him into the sarcophagus and closes it. After it is closed, the blast doors open, where two Airmen immediately open fire on Carter, Fraiser and Teal'c. While she fires back, Fraiser is shot and wounded, as is Teal'c. Hathor stops the airmen, and sees O'Neill emerge from the sarcophagus, healthy again. When she realizes O'Neill is human again, she uses her hand device at the sarcophagus, before leaving the room. As the sarcophagus goes into an overload, the team hastily leave the gate room, seconds before it is destroyed. Carter checks O'Neill's stomach, where the symbiote pouch has been completely removed. Now O'Neill is back, Fraiser and Teal'c go to the infirmary. O'Neill takes Carter to a storage room, to arm themselves with tranquilizer guns to stop the guards by non-lethal means. They soon find Hathor in the locker room again, where she tells the Airmen to capture Carter and kill her to regain her retribution. They then emerge and shoots the SFs with tranquilizers. Hathor retaliates by knocking Carter back with her hand device. Before she could use it again to attack O'Neill, Carter quickly gets up and shoots her several times with her sidearm. The tub catches fire, killing the infant Goa'uld. While Jackson, still under her influence looks in disbelief, unknown to them, Hathor actually leaves, using the energy shield of her Kara Kesh to escape unscathed leaving while everyone is concentrating on the stunned Jackson. She dials the Stargate to Chulak and leaves. The second she leaves Earth, all the men are quickly snapped out of their trance, and are returned to normal; there must be some kind of proximity to her influence. In the infirmary, Hammond confronts Carter. As she explains her actions, Hammond tells her that he is putting her and Fraiser in for commendation; even though she knocked him out, he congratulates her, and if it weren't for her actions, Stargate Command, and Earth would face certain doom. + +SG-1 is leaving Stargate Command through the Stargate, traveling to a planet called Hanka, where SG-7 has established the Douglas Mclean Memorial Observatory which SG-1 is now visiting in hope of seeing a black hole. Technically, as Captain Samantha Carter explains, the black hole itself cannot be seen; rather, they intend to watch the matter spinning towards the hole. Dr. Daniel Jackson is surprised when Colonel Jack O'Neill announces that this is called an "accretion disk", and Carter mentions the telescope on the roof of O'Neill's house as proof that he knows a thing or two about astronomy. However, after walking through the gate, SG-1 finds that the situation on the planet has changed. They quickly run into the dead body of a native who has been killed, apparently by a disease. After they've donned protective masks except for Teal'c, the team immediately begins searching the village and observatory. As Daniel and Teal'c check the village, Jack and Sam check the observatory and find the bodies of SG-7 who are in the exact same condition as the villager they discovered earlier. As Jack and Sam struggle to grasp what's happened, Daniel and Teal'c arrive in with Daniel breaking the news that everyone is dead. A while later, Dr. Janet Fraiser explains that the complex has been decontaminated. Carter wants to leave the compound and search for any survivors, but Fraiser insists that the team be examined immediately. Because O'Neill touched the first body found without gloves, he is the first to be examined. After being examined and released by Fraiser, the team begins searching for and tagging bodies. Daniel begins the scene by talking about what information they had received from the natives three months earlier when the SGC sent its first team to the planet. The natives had said that “with the darkness would come the apocalypse.” Daniel appears to believe it was in part the fault of Earth that the people died -- they insisted that it was merely a myth and that the darkness was merely an astrological phenomenon. The subject is dropped when they find their first bodies. Once Carter tags one, someone in the bushes removes the tag. Believing the person is scared by the protective outfits the team is wearing, O'Neill tells Teal'c (not wearing a protective suit since his symbiote will protect him) to “try to look friendly” and get the survivor to come out from hiding. Teal'c convinces the person to leave the bushes and it is seen that she is just a young girl (whom Teal'c favors with one of the few smiles he displays in the first season). The team brings her back to the complex for Fraiser to examine. Carter attempts to communicate with the girl, but she does not respond to anything. Fraiser calls Carter over and informs her that while not infected, the girl has traces of Naquadah in her blood -- perhaps the reason she was able to resist the infection. Fraiser briefs the team on the problem -- the area's water and ground are both contaminated, but none of SG-1 tested positive for the infection. While Carter attempts to convince O'Neill to allow the team to stay and observe the eclipse, the young survivor comes up from behind and hugs her. O'Neill tells Carter she won't be staying, but that he and Teal'c will. Carter returns to Earth with the young girl, who appears amazed and intimidated by the gate room. She then takes the girl to the room she will be staying in while at the SGC Carter attempts to leave, assuring the girl she will be back soon but has important work to do, but the girl does not want her to go, so Carter agrees to stay. Meeting with Major General George S. Hammond and Daniel, Fraiser explains that Earth may be “indirectly responsible” for the disease. She explains that one of the teams may have brought a harmless bacteria to the planet, where it then mutated into an infectious and deadly strain. Reassuring Hammond that the nobody brought the bacteria back to Earth, she explains that they may have brought back the cure, a young girl who, for whatever reason, survived. She hopes that the girl may have a natural immunity that could be used to prevent other infections on Earth. Carter, who stayed with the girl, appears to have decorated the room during the briefing. Using paints provided by Carter, the girl illustrates the death all around her. Attempting to convince the girl she is not alone, Carter paints herself into the picture (as a stick figure). Back on Hanka, Teal'c tries to understand what exactly a black hole is. O'Neill attempts to explain, describing it as a “really big thing,” or a “massive hole” that is “out there.” Teal'c simply responds, “I see.” O'Neill continues his explanation, describing what the black hole actually does); Teal'c matter-of-factly says, “Thank you.” On Earth, after Carter tries to leave the room, the young girl grabs her arm and speaking for the first time, says, “Please don't go.” Carter then learns the girl's name: Cassandra. Complaining of pain, Cassandra is taken to Dr. Fraiser, who discovers that the girl has low potassium levels. Cassandra then suddenly collapses. Fraiser immediately begins trying to help the girl, but while listening to her heart, finds an unusual noise. A chest x-ray reveals that something has attached itself to Cassandra. A biopsy reveals that whatever it is appears to be at least partly organic and has the ability to stop Cassandra's heart. Carter's analysis of the object reveals that one side is made of iron and potassium, which accounts for Cassandra's low potassium levels, and the other side of Naquadah. She performs an experiment to see what happens when potassium and Naquadah react. The microscopic amounts create an explosion large enough to destroy the camera on the other side of the room. Radiation levels in the room were off the charts. On Hanka, Teal'c and O'Neill are observing the black hole when they discover a Goa'uld attack vessel (the first appearance on the show of what would later be called a Ha'tak starship). In a meeting, Daniel and Carter speculate that Cassandra is being used involuntarily as a weapon by the Goa'uld as a means of destroying at the very least the SGC complex and Stargate. Fraiser also reveals that the cellular decay leaves them with only one hour and fifty-two minutes to solve the problem. While observing the attack vessel, Teal'c sees something leave the attack vessel and insists they must leave for the Stargate. On Earth, Hammond has made the decision to send Cassandra back to her home planet to prevent Earth's Stargate and the facility from being destroyed. Back on Hanka, Teal'c and O'Neill, who are running from Goa'uld gliders. Teal'c explains to O'Neill that the Goa'uld, Nirrti, had before used negotiations as a ploy to destroy opponents' Stargates. O'Neill realizes the girl is another of Nirrti's attempts to destroy a Stargate. On Earth, while the crew is dialing Hanka, Cassandra once again collapses. Before the final chevron can be encoded, Teal'c completes the dialing sequence on Hanka and thereby opens the Earth Stargate, returning to Earth with O'Neill. As soon as they get through, Jack orders Cassandra be taken away from the Stargate. In the Briefing Room, Teal'c believes that if Cassandra goes through the Stargate, the gate will be destroyed because the Earth Stargate is what the Goa'uld want to destroy. The decision is later made to send Cassandra to an abandoned nuclear facility although Sam is obviously reluctant at the decision. On the way to the bottom on the nuclear facility Cassandra wakes up. She notices that Carter is crying, but Carter is unable to explain why. Once the 30th floor is reached, Carter opens the vault where Cassandra must stay and tells her to “rest” there for a while. In tears, Carter explains that she must leave. Cassandra tells Carter she promised never to leave her alone. Carter tells her she is brave, closes the vault, and, still in tears, leaves for the elevator. Once she reaches the 26th floor Carter changes directions and heads back down to Cassandra. Carter declares to O'Neill that she is staying, despite his order to come back up. The time is reached, yet Cassandra has not yet exploded. Carter explains that she simply “knew” that Cassandra would not explode. The episode closes with Daniel, Carter, and Teal'c walking through a park with Cassandra. O'Neill approaches, carrying a dog (a shiba inu). He explains it is a rule on Earth -- every child needs a dog (Carter smiles upon hearing this "rule"). Carter explains that Fraiser will take care of Cassandra until adoptive parents were found, and that the object has been shrinking ever since she was taken away from the gate. Like Cassandra, Teal'c knows nothing of dogs either. Finally, Cassandra acknowledged that the Stargate is a secret, and she will tell people that she is from a place called "Toronto". + +SG-1 arrives on a grassy, mountainous planet and ventures forth into what looks like the central building to a village. Shortly after entering they are surrounded by villagers with crossbows. After Colonel Jack O'Neill attempts to communicate with them, one of them notices Teal'c, screaming "Jaffa!" O'Neill tries to explain that Teal'c is a good guy, when the enraged villager claims Teal'c killed his father. Teal'c is willingly taken prisoner, but the rest of SG-1 are allowed to roam free. While sitting outside Teal'c's cell, O'Neill, Captain Samantha Carter, and Dr. Daniel Jackson question Teal'c about the incident. Teal'c does not remember the man, but admits he killed many people under the service of Apophis. The villagers have a custom called Cor-ai, which is a kind of court trial where the accuser acts as prosecutor, judge and jury. This comes from the belief that only the victim can deal an appropriate punishment, as only they know their own feelings. It is also apparent that dishonesty does not exist in their culture. During the Cor-ai, the villager who accused Teal'c explains that when he was a boy, the Goa'uld came and Teal'c killed his father. Teal'c remembers and admits his guilt. Each member of SG-1 then makes a plea for Teal'c, explaining that he is not the Jaffa he once was. O'Neill tells how Teal'c saved him and his team and the people of Abydos for the cause of freedom. Jackson explains that despite Teal'c being the one that took his wife, Sha're, to become host to a Goa'uld, he is a good friend of Teal'c because he knows that people can change. Hanno is not satisfied, saying that this Jaffa's good acts cannot bring his father back. Teal'c is sentenced to die the next day. While talking with the rest of SG-1, Teal'c reveals the reason for killing Himilco. The villagers on the planet had no defenses from the Goa'uld, so they always ran to nearby caves to hide from them. No one was left behind, so the whole could only move as fast as the slowest member. Apophis ordered Teal'c to kill one of the villagers, and Teal'c being as compassionate as possible, chose Himilco, who was crippled, because it would allow the group to escape more quickly next time. Despite this strong testimony, Teal'c's prosecutor is unmoved and sentences him to death. Meanwhile, O'Neill's return to base for a combat unit to forcibly intervene is flatly rejected first by Major General George S. Hammond and then by the President of the United States as an uncalled for interference in that culture's due process for a man for who is not an American citizen (or even a citizen of Earth for that matter), especially considering he has committed several war crimes under the service of Apophis The next day, before the execution, the planet is again attacked by Apophis. Teal'c is recognized by Shak'l, a Jaffa he once trained, but manages to kill him and save several people from the Jaffa, including Hanno. Hanno finally looks at Teal'c and says that he was mistaken: Teal'c is not the Jaffa who killed his father. Teal'c, wanting to give restitution for his crimes, insists that he is the one. "No," Hanno says, "That Jaffa is dead. You have killed him." In the end, SG-1 offers the villagers defenses to protect them from the Goa'uld and returns home safely. + +SG-1 reaches a planet which is at the brink of destruction, something which happened only recently. There they find several survivors of an advanced civilization, fleeing the destruction of their planet and despite the protests of one of them the team brings them all back to Earth. However, the survivors, known as the Tollan, flaunt an arrogant air about Stargate Command over their advanced knowledge and technology. Especially their leader, Omoc, behaves very arrogantly and is even angry about being rescued by SGC since a rescue transport was already on its way. However another Tollan, named Narim, becomes interested in Captain Samantha Carter and they even develop some kind of relationship. SGC offers to find the Tollan a new home, but the Tollan are doubtful of SGC's ability to help them. This becomes evident when SGC offers the Tollan a place in the Land of Light that they had been to some time ago, but they react very arrogantly about the primitive civilization on that world. The US government, seeing their first chance at securing some advanced technology, places the Tollan under lock-down. They also send Colonel Harold Maybourne to get information from them. Nevertheless, the Tollan, using their advanced technology, are able to walk through walls, and easily escape to the surface. This proves that their technology is far superior to that of the Goa'uld. However, they are unwilling to share their technology with what they see as primitive cultures because of what happened on their home planet. In former times, the Tollan discovered another inhabited world, named Sarita, near their planet and when they became advanced enough, the Tollan shared an unlimited energy source with them. Within one day, the people had used the gift to make weapons and destroyed their entire civilization. This, in turn, was what caused the orbital alignment of Tollan to shift and the destruction of their world as well. Because SG-1 and Major General George S. Hammond are unhappy about how Maybourne is treating the Tollan, they decide to help Omoc and his people through Dr. Daniel Jackson, as he is a civilian. He tells the Tollan about the Nox and leads Omoc outside, where he sends a signal to the coordinates Daniel provides for the Nox homeworld. Daniel then leads them to the gate room where the Nox come through the Stargate and offer the Tollan a home with them until they can leave to their new homeworld. Maybourne intervenes and says that if Dr. Jackson allows them to leave he will be court-martialed, but Colonel Jack O'Neill reminds him that Daniel isn't in the military, and therefore can't be court martialed. Maybourne then threatens to have the guards in the gate room open fire, and actually issues the order when he is ignored, but the Nox use their technology to disarm the guards and hide the Tollan. Daniel says goodbye to the Tollan, and the Nox take the Tollan home with them. Lya tells Daniel that, "Your race has learned nothing, but you have." Later the team recalls "what the little guy with funny hair" once told them "That the very young do not always do as they are told." + +Just as Stargate Command has an unscheduled activation and receive a GDO signal, Dr. Daniel Jackson and Teal'c come flying through the Stargate. A surge of energy follows, and the gate shuts off without Colonel Jack O'Neill or Captain Samantha Carter coming through. Jackson and Teal'c do not understand: they were in a group. Initially unconscious, O'Neill and Carter wake to discover themselves in an icy cave. O'Neill is suffering from a broken leg, and Carter splints it with some difficulty. With O'Neill only able to move short distances, Carter begins to explore the cave and notes that she can see light at some of the fissures in the roof, indicating they are not buried very deeply, although the fissures are too narrow to reach their ends. With limited supplies of food and fuel, survival will be short. Adding to the problem is that they have a small number of batteries for their flashlights, and there is not enough light to move about easily without them. At the SGC, Dr. Jackson and Teal'c theorize that since SG-1 was taking fire from a group of Jaffa as they tried to get back to Earth, several staff weapon blasts may have struck the gate, causing the surge of energy. This created a malfunction and caused the wormhole to jump to a nearby gate, which Dr. Jackson theorizes is somewhere along the line between the planet, P4A-771, and Earth. O'Neill and Carter are trapped "somewhere out there." Several SG teams are sent to try to find the two, to no avail. Major General George S. Hammond informs Jackson that he regretfully has to declare them MIA and stop the search, as they cannot endlessly search for them. Meanwhile in the icy cave, Carter and O'Neill attempt to sleep. They have to combine body heat to make it through the night. Which is hard to do with O'Neill's broken ribs. They start discussing they won't have any regrets except dying. Meanwhile, in the icy cave, Carter finds the gate's Dial Home Device embedded in ice and they begin to chip it out. O'Neill has trouble doing this, and reveals that he also has a broken rib. They eventually unearth the DHD, but when Carter tries to dial Earth, the Stargate does not activate. Back at the SGC, Jackson realizes that there was one planet they had dismissed and they shouldn't have - Earth. Remembering that the first time they opened the gate, it used to shake a lot. A check of recent seismic activity across the globe reveals rumblings in Antarctica at precisely the same moment SG-1 returned, and these rumblings would be explained by the activation of a second Stargate on Earth in Antarctica. The gate cannot be dialed from the Stargate at the SGC because the addresses are too similar, the gates can only dial to other worlds, not to another gate on the same planet. Even if the seventh symbol looked different, the coordinates would be exactly the same. The same problem is preventing Carter from activating their gate. She keeps getting a busy signal. In the icy cave, O'Neill tells Carter to climb out of the cavern and attempt to find shelter. With some difficulty, she climbs out only to discover ice plains as far as the eye can see. Discouraged, she radios O'Neill saying, "It's an ice planet!" She returns and the two of them fall unconscious, only to be re-awakened to the sight of SGC members. It turns out, the Stargate did malfunction, but the wormhole jumped to a previously unknown second Stargate in the ice of Antarctica. The second Stargate is later secured. + +SG-1 arrives on P3X-989 and finds themselves in a huge complex and are, moments later, knocked unconscious by a mysterious light. They wake up dressed in new clothing and lacking their equipment, and soon meet a strange character named Harlan who claims that SG-1 are now "better." Harlan takes them through the complex to retrieve their equipment and then prepare to leave, ignoring Harlan's strenuous protests that they must stay. The team returns to Stargate Command where they are sent to the infirmary and are examined by Dr. Janet Fraiser. When checking Colonel Jack O'Neill for a heartbeat, she hears a mechanical sound. O'Neill uses a scalpel to open his arm and discovers that they are androids. They are confined on Earth until they become too weak to function and convince Major General George S. Hammond to allow their return to P3X-989. Upon arrival, Harlan confesses to making them into androids but is not willing to "transform them back" to their Human form. Harlan himself is in fact also an android, the last member of an extinct race called the Altairan that was programmed to keep the giant facility on P3X-989 running. After helping Harlan to solve a malfunction in the facility they eventually find out why Harlan refuses to change them back; SG-1 wasn't transformed into robots but have been duplicated from the real SG-1 team, which is restrained and kept prisoner by Harlan. Harlan confesses his plan in which he would eventually release the real SG-1 team so that they would not know of their robot duplicates. He hoped that the robot SG-1 would remain with him and help maintain the facility. After a small period of confusion between the real and robot SG-1 team, the robot team decides to stay with Harlan and bury the Stargate while the real SG-1 team returns home, despite the hesitancy of the robot Jack O'Neill, who naturally sees himself as human even though he knows he is not. + +SG-1 is exploring an alien complex on the planet P3R-233. Dr. Daniel Jackson stumbles onto an alien artifact resembling a mirror. He touches the artifact and unknowingly enters an alternate reality. Finding the complex suddenly abandoned, Daniel concludes that the rest of SG-1 returned through the Stargate without him, and dials home. Upon his return to Earth, Daniel discovers that Stargate Command has suddenly become quite different, not least of which is the fact that nobody knows who he is. He is arrested by Colonel George S. Hammond and is held captive. Catherine Langford, in charge of the gate program, confronts him and demands to know how he acquired SG-1's code to open the iris. Daniel, still believing that he is in his own reality, insists that he is a member of SG-1. Through his encounter with Catherine, Daniel quickly discovers several differences in this reality, including the fact that he turned down the offer to work on the Stargate program and that Samantha Carter is a civilian astrophysicist assisting the Stargate Association, having never joined the United States Air Force or risen to the current rank of Captain. When Daniel tells Catherine that she was retired and living with Ernest Littlefield she is shocked and confronts Brigadier General Jack O'Neill, who is now commanding officer of the SGA. Daniel uses his probing knowledge of O'Neill, such as his knowledge that O'Neill was contemplating suicide after the death of his son, to get his attention. When Dr. Carter enters, she explains that they "lost" Washington D.C. and Philadelphia. Asking what they mean by "lost", Daniel learns that Earth is under attack by the Goa'uld, One and a half billion people are dead, and most of the world's major population centers have been destroyed; including the Egyptian city that was the last known residence of Daniel's counterpart. Dr. Carter soon concludes that Daniel is from an alternate reality, triggered by the "Quantum Mirror". Analyzing a transmission received from the planet he returned from, Daniel, Carter and Catherine realize that the transmission is actually a Stargate address, apparently for the source of the current attack on Earth. O'Neill wants to send a bomb through the 'gate, but Daniel points out that, while this won't stop the problem here, his Earth still has a chance. Despite the fact that he will be the only person they can save, as they lack the time to dial the gate more than once, the alternate SG-1 agree to help Daniel. However, Apophis' Jaffa, led by Teal'c, who in this reality never met SG-1, invade the SGA in retaliation for the destruction of Chulak, making it even more difficult; they have around twenty minutes before the Stargate can be dialed again, and it may be impossible to hold the Jaffa back for that long. Fortunately, Daniel offers O'Neill a video recording of his mission back in his reality, suggesting he show it to Teal'c to buy them time. Before O'Neill confronts Teal'c, Carter fondly embraces him. Catherine explains to a confused Daniel, "I take it they're not engaged in your reality." One by one, the alternate members of SG-1 die as they try to buy Daniel time to escape; O'Neill dies first, shot by Teal'c in revenge for O'Neill sending the bomb through the Stargate to Chulak in an attack that ultimately killed Teal'c's wife and son. Hammond and MSgt. Walter Harriman are the next to be killed, dying by the Jaffa Serpent Guards entering the lower levels of the Base. In the Briefing Room, Carter announces that she's surrendered before triggering a grenade that kills her and several Jaffa while Catherine is presumably struck down and killed by Jaffa after programming the Stargate for Daniel. As Daniel rushes for the Stargate, the alternate Teal'c heads in and shoots Daniel with a staff weapon blast. Despite that, Daniel heads through the Stargate and rushes back to his own reality. Seconds later, the SGA is destroyed in a blast that also wipes out the invading Jaffa force. Daniel later emerges from the Stargate and uses the Quantum Mirror to return to his own reality. In the complex, Jack, Sam and Teal'c regroup, reporting that they haven't found Daniel when they heard Daniel yelling. They rush in and find Daniel lying on the ground, his right arm injured. Carter takes the address and wonders what it is. As they prepare to take Daniel back to the SGC, Daniel suddenly awakens and frantically tells his team that they're all in very big trouble before remarking that "They are coming". + +Senator Robert Kinsey has shut down the Stargate program. Major General George S. Hammond went to him twice and the second time he was thrown out of Kinsey's office. He then went to the Secretary of Defense, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, even the President of the United States himself; but it would be political suicide for any of them to override the Senate Appropriations Committee. Knowing that the slaughter that took place in There But for the Grace of God could happen in this reality, Dr. Daniel Jackson convinces his team members to violate orders. They then arm themselves, activate the Stargate and travel to the home of the Destroyers. They find themselves in a large room and at first don't know on which planet they are. Exploring the room, they however find an until now unknown type of Goa'uld small hand weapon named Zat'nik'tels, which they take with them. Suddenly there is a strong movement and all the members of the team (except Teal'c) are thrown back. Hidden doors open and SG-1 hide as Jaffa march in. They bow before the Stargate as a large ball rises into the center of it. The Jaffa leave. After they've gone, Teal'c explains the ball is a Goa'uld Long range visual communication device. SG-1 soon discover they have gated not to a planet but to a Goa'uld mothership which was in orbit of a planet. It launched into hyperspace towards Earth after their arrival, cutting off escape. On Earth, Major Louis Ferretti is ordered to bring them back, officially for court-martial, but because the ship jumped into hyperspace they also can't go through the gate. SG-1 hid in the Death Glider bay and realizes they are on an attack ship headed to Earth. They also notice that Jaffa are heading to a gathering. Sneaking back into the cargo room, they watch a large meeting in which they overhear Apophis state that they are getting closer to Earth before Apophis unveils his son, Klorel (Skaara), the leader of this ship until Apophis rejoins them. Colonel Jack O'Neill orders Captain Samantha Carter and Daniel to plant C-4 all over the ship while he and Teal'c grab Klorel, in the hope that Skaara can fight the Goa'uld within him. Back at the SGC, Hammond, having realized that Daniel was right all along orders that the SGC prepare for a possible assault from the Goa'uld and also from space. They capture Klorel but Skaara is able to assert control only briefly after one painful shot from a Zat gun (two shots kill). He says sorry to O'Neill since he feels responsible for Klorel's doings but then the Goa'uld takes back control. When guards enter they surrender rather than kill Klorel, who then brings the two into the cargo room and contacts his father. Apophis is pleased, and orders Teal'c's and O'Neill's immediate execution. When asked if there are other humans aboard, Klorel makes a typical Goa'uld mistake of overconfidence, declaring "I assure you, father. There could be no more." Skaara seemingly exerts some influence, as Klorel disobeys his father's orders and delays their execution, bringing them to the Pel'tak (bridge) to witness the destruction of Earth. Carter sets a timer on the bombs, and she and Daniel try to free their friends. They successfully take out the guards but then Klorel grabs Daniel, knocks the gun out of his hands, and uses a Kara kesh on him, intending to kill Daniel. When Klorel doesn't stop, O'Neill is forced to kill Klorel/Skaara. Looking through the window, they see Earth while the Death Gliders prepare for launch and as the camera pans out, a second ship is seen. + +Still horrified over the fact that an attack on Earth may happen, Colonel Jack O'Neill orders Captain Samantha Carter to prepare to set off the C-4 which would ultimately destroy but as they prepare, another Goa'uld mothership slides into view. Teal'c identifies it as Apophis' Ha'tak, and notes that it has defense shields and will not be sufficiently damaged by the destruction of this one. Destroying the ship they are on would no longer guarantee that the invasion would be stopped. Jaffa then break into the room and despite SG-1's best efforts, the Jaffa throw a shock grenade, disabling and capturing SG-1. On Earth, Major General George S. Hammond wants to know why they haven't gone to full alert. Lt. Colonel Bert Samuels, coordinating with The Pentagon, informs him that Area 51 has created two "Goa'uld-busters", missiles with stealth Mark 12-A warheads enhanced with the Stargate element, Naquadah. Curiously, the Goa'uld ships have delayed entering orbit, giving the United States the necessary time to prepare. Bra'tac, believed to be part of Klorel's loyal Jaffa and put in command of killing SG-1, informs them that he engineered the Goa'uld's delay by placing Klorel in a Sarcophagus. He knew Apophis would wait until Klorel arose, hopefully giving Earth's warships time to attack. He originally planned to lead his fighter wing (Teal'c makes four) against Apophis in Klorel's name, leading father and son to attack each other's ships in the heat of battle. However, being aware of the humans on board, they will now bond against their common enemy. O'Neill thinks they need a new plan. Hammond evacuates people through the Stargate, the best in their fields of expertise to preserve humankind at an off-world Alpha Site. Samuels' missiles are easily repelled by the defense shields, but Klorel almost didn't raise them, as Skaara continues to fight his symbiote for control. Samuels unknowingly repeats the embittered Brigadier General Jack O'Neill's orders in the alternate reality as recommendations to Hammond: Waiting to send people on the Alpha/Genesis list to the Alpha/Beta Site as they defend Earth, and sending a bomb to Chulak. Hammond scoffs at his recommendations, and Samuels's request to join an Alpha team which Hammond also denies. Bra'tac and SG-1 fight their way to Klorel's command center without raising an alarm, Bra'tac quietly dispatching Jaffa guards. On the bridge, Klorel is captured and Bra'tac directs the ship closer to Apophis's but one of the guards seriously wounds Dr. Daniel Jackson. Daniel's cry alerts Jack and instantly, Jack is at Daniel's side, attempting to treat Daniel but Daniel, knowing that time is running out, tells Jack to leave him. Jack reluctantly does so. The rest ring over to Apophis' ship. With Klorel as a temporary hostage, Bra'tac destroys Apophis' steering console. O'Neill then drops two Fragmentation grenades into the core of the ship, destroying the shield generators so both ships will be destroyed when the C-4 explodes. Bra'tac is impressed and prepares to die. O'Neill overrides that plan, and directs the team to the Death Glider bays. Jack and Bra'tac take one Death Glider while Sam and Teal'c take another. Seconds later, the two Gliders launch. Apophis and Klorel, unable to control either ship, escape through the rings and Stargate. Daniel wakes up in a sarcophagus, having crawled into one to heal his injuries. With seconds to go, he dials the Alpha Site, hoping the coordinates are the same in this reality. Both ships then collide and explode. At Stargate Command, Harriman tells Hammond that they've got reports from all over the country and that there's a huge fireball in the night which has all the scientists and civilians in the room erupting in celebration and joy as Hammond stands there, stunned. The gliders have escaped but are heavily damaged from the proximity. They share a quiet moment, reflecting on the beauty of Earth. And the Space shuttle Endeavour, which Hammond had prepped for launch to rescue SG-1 on the very small chance that the flash of light witnessed on one of the Goa'uld ships (from the first shock grenade) was SG-1 sabotaging the ship. When Daniel arrives and confirms SG-1 was in those ships, Hammond had the shuttle launched. SG-1 composed of Jack, Sam and Teal'c along with Bra'tac arrive into the SGC's Embarkation Room where they are greeted with applause while General Hammond takes Bra'tac for his efforts. The team also meet Daniel who manages to make his way through the crowd with Jack and Sam hugging Daniel while Jack calls Daniel "space monkey". It then pulls away to reveal that the crowd including SG-1 and Daniel talking happily as everyone in the Embarkation Room celebrates SG-1's triumphant return and their efforts in defeating Apophis. + +The planet Nasya is in chaos as the Goa'uld launch an attack, some of the Goa'uld ships killing Nasyans but luckily, a group of SGC personnel and SG-1 are there. As the SGC personnel fire back at the ships, SG-1 participate in ensuring that everyone gets back through the Stargate safely. On the way back to the gate, Captain Samantha Carter stops to give CPR to Quinta, a fallen villager. He suddenly grabs her head and something enters her mouth. Gagging, Carter spits on the ground before glancing up, her eyes glowing as it's revealed that she has been possessed by a Goa'uld symbiote. Carter returns through the gate and tries to act as normal as possible, though through the mission debriefing her comrades notice something is different about her. Dr. Janet Fraiser invites her to come check on the Nasyans, many of whom have been moved to the hospital at the nearby Air Force Academy. Finally, she goes to visit Cassandra Fraiser, and the young girl senses that Carter has been taken by a Goa'uld. She locks herself into Dr. Fraiser's office and demands to see Colonel Jack O'Neill. Meanwhile, one of the badly burned refugees assaults Dr. Jacobs, and emerges from his bandages fully recovered. He is an Ashrak, a Goa'uld hired assassin. Cassandra convinces O'Neill that Carter was infected, and he takes action. When he injects Carter with a serum that "would bring down an elephant", the Goa'uld inside her becomes active and demands the Stargate be activated. Carter is apprehended and put behind bars at Stargate Command. The Goa'uld reveals itself to be Jolinar of Malkshur, and demands release. The parasite even promises to return Carter to them, fully restored to who she was. O'Neill does not budge. Suddenly, Carter's personality emerges and begs O'Neill to believe Jolinar but he takes it as a Goa'uld trick. Finally, Jolinar reveals that she is a member of the Tok'ra, a group of rebel Goa'uld who oppose the System Lords and seek power for good. They are the most hated enemies of the System Lords, who constantly chase down any leads in an attempt to infiltrate and destroy them. She also explains that the System Lords will not allow the Tau'ri to thrive and become a threat. Already a far more powerful attack is being planned. Teal'c, at least, is convinced. Jolinar talks with Dr. Daniel Jackson and tells him she knows where Sha're is. When the Ashrak finally locates his victim, Jolinar, Carter suffers torture and almost death at his hands. The hunter is found, and Teal'c finally kills him with two shots from a Zat'nik'tel, also stunning Daniel in the process. Meanwhile, Carter is fighting for her life in the infirmary. When she recovers, she tells O'Neill that Jolinar has given its life to save hers. A while later, Fraiser brings Cassandra to the SGC infirmary where Cassandra tells Sam that she's going to be okay as Jack, Fraiser and Daniel look on. + +SG-1 are exploring a planet which according to Colonel Jack O'Neill has nothing to offer but "trees and moss" and have just decided to leave when a panicked native named Roshure stumbles into them, claiming he is being chased by "Taldor". SG-1 take him with them but are suddenly transported to a circle of light where disembodied voices find them guilty of aiding a murderer, and trespassing with weapons - Dr. Daniel Jackson realizes that "Taldor" means "Justice". For their crimes SG-1 are sentenced to life imprisonment in "Hadante", an underground prison accessible only through a Stargate which has no Dial Home Device. On arrival Captain Samantha Carter is attacked by another inmate but the attack is stopped by an older female inmate named "Linea", who the others appear to fear. Afterwards SG-1 explores the prison and decide that if they find an energy source they could dial out manually. Carter and Linea then become friendly and they talk about their world and power. Linea then reveals that she can create cold fusion using organic ingredients. Carter realizes that they can use the power generated to activate the gate and dial out by hand. Later the gate activates and the inmates scramble to collect a gruel-like substance that is sent through as food. This reveals that there is a strict pecking order, with Linea at the top. While they eat Linea reveals to them why she is in this prison. Meanwhile, SG-3 has been sent to investigate while SG-1 is missing, and converse with the aliens. After returning to Stargate Command, they inform Major General George S. Hammond that SG-1 won't be freed. Hammond decides to talk with the people on the other world himself, but is also unable to get them to free SG-1. In Hadante SG-1 and Linea wait until the other inmates are distracted by food and then escape by going to P2A-509 where they know SG-3 are due to be. Unknown to SG-1 Simian manages to slip through the Stargate just as it closes. They borrow a GDO from SG-3 to open the iris and gate back to Earth. Hoping that Linea may have useful knowledge Carter shows her how to operate the Stargate Command computer and reveals the existence of the Stargate network and the Stargate addresses they have. Afterwards Linea uses a hand device to render Carter unconscious. SG-3 captures Simian and brings him to Earth as well. When he is questioned he reveals that Linea is the notorious criminal nicknamed the "Destroyer of Worlds", who created a disease which wiped out an entire planet (apparently in order to satisfy her scientific curiosity). An immediate search of the base is started to locate Linea but she is already in the gate room and has locked up the computers to prevent interference. Linea escapes through the gate, leaving a message on the computer "Thank you for your kindness. All debts have now been paid". SG-1 realize that they have freed a psychopathic mass murderer and given her access to hundreds of worlds. + +SG-1 visits a world and finds itself in a large beautiful garden, but then they find out that all people on the world are tied to some machines. Suddenly all team members are captured by some empty machines. Afterwards they are separated and find themselves in other places. Colonel Jack O'Neill and Teal'c of Chulak find themselves in a wooded area and suddenly meet other human soldiers from Earth, including Charles Kawalsky, who died one year ago. O'Neill then recognizes this place and remembers that this was the time of an undercover mission in East Germany, 1982, where one of them died. However the soldiers act as if Teal'c of Chulak is one of them and call him "Thomas". Because they think that they might have traveled through time, they again go through the mission. However it again goes wrong and suddenly the mission starts again from the beginning. This scenario happens over and over again and O'Neill isn't able to change the outcome. Dr. Daniel Jackson and Captain Samantha Carter in the meantime find themselves in a museum and Jackson remembers it as the time when his parents were killed by falling stones. He also tries to change this event several times but also fails. During on of his attempts, Melburn called him "Danny" like tiny child. Back at O'Neill and Teal'c they are visited by a strange man named the "Keeper", who tells them that he offers them the possibility to change the past - albeit only in a simulation. Afterwards he also visits Daniel and Carter and tells them the same. However all members of SG-1 decide that they won't take part in this simulations anymore and refuse to do anything. Because of this the Keeper brings all the team members back together and tells them that over 1000 years ago a chemical disaster took place which destroyed this world. Because of this the whole civilizations entered stasis and now they want more scenarios for their virtual world. Because Teal'c's and Carter's brain can't be accessed (Jaffa are apparently immune to the process and Sam's mind has been altered by Jolinar of Malkshur), the Keeper lets them take part in the simulations of their friends. While they talk they are watched by many people (the other inhabitants of the virtual world) and when they hear that the outside world has recovered, they react. However the Keeper then sends them away and finally lets SG-1 free. The team then returns to Earth, where they are checked in the infirmary and then report to Major General George S. Hammond. However the General tells them to get more information about this virtual world, which would mean that they would have to be hooked up to the machines again and Hammond orders them to do so. Due to his uncharacteristic behavior, SG-1 then concludes that they are still in the VR and O'Neill attacks the General, who then orders them to be arrested. In the cell they are visited by Kawalsky who tells them that they simply should stay in the VR. However the team then escapes and suddenly meets the residents of the VR, who ask the team about the outside world. They tell them that outside a beautiful garden exists. Since they are unaware of any exits out of the VR, SG-1 decides to show the residents their planets through their memories. Before they could step through the Stargate to show how, it is shut off by the Keeper, who was disguised as Hammond. They chase after him and accidentally discover the exit doors that the Keeper has been trying to keep his people from discovering, enabling them to exit the VR for real. They then capture the Keeper in the garden and demand to know why he didn't let out the people. He tells them that they would ruin the garden which he manages and finally the whole world, thus repeating their former mistakes. However they suddenly see that the people have already left the VR and now go through the garden and pick flowers, much to the anger of the Keeper. Promising to return and help the residents begin new lives, SG-1 returns to Earth. + +SG-1 find themselves on a planet, watching raw Naquadah being sent through the Stargate. They decide to try to obtain some of the metal for research. While they investigate the planet they see a large pyramid and some Jaffa. They then follow Shyla through the forest, and Dr. Daniel Jackson rescues her when she is about to commit suicide. However she then starts to scream and Jaffa surround SG-1. The team is then brought into the pyramid and before the woman's father Pyrus, the ruler of the planet. However she is unwilling to tell her father the truth about what Daniel Jackson has done and Pyrus also doesn't believe the team that they come from a Goa'uld-free world. In the end SG-1 is forced into labor in the Naquadah mines of the former Goa'uld planet, accused of attacking the princess. SG-1 has to work in the mines as slaves and while working they conclude that Pyrus isn't a Goa'uld and that the people in the Jaffa armor aren't real Jaffa. In the evening SG-1 attempts to escape the mines, but Jackson is badly injured in a rock fall due to pursuing shots from Staff weapons wielded by the pseudo-Jaffa. Daniel later wakes up in a Sarcophagus, and the princess who Jackson rescued, Shyla, tells him that he is destined for her. Jackson attempts to get SG-1 released, but the princess tells him that he will first have to earn the trust of her father who believes that SG-1 are spies sent from the Goa'uld to retake the planet. While Jackson lives a life of luxury the rest of the team are tortured and are worked to the breaking point. Shyla asks Jackson to use the sarcophagus again on the grounds that it will make him feel better than ever, and he initially refuses, but ends up doing it to gain her trust. Jackson becomes increasingly deranged from perpetual use of the sarcophagus, and finds himself in an ever-deepening relationship with the princess. After agreeing to marry Shyla, who is about to become queen due to the senility of her father, Jackson secures SG-1's release. Jackson returns with the rest of SG-1 to Earth, promising that he will come back to marry the princess. Unfortunately, upon returning to Earth, it's become clear that Daniel has changed albeit for the worse. He experiences a tense withdrawal stage which leaves him mentally unstable to such an extent that the SGC's medical personnel are forced to restrain him. Daniel eventually escapes and goes into hiding, leading to a widespread manhunt for him. Colonel Jack O'Neill eventually finds him and talks Daniel down although Daniel attempts to kill Jack with a gun. Seconds later, Daniel finally breaks down, collapsing, sobbing into Jack's arms. After he has recovered, SG-1 returns to the planet, where Daniel persuades Shyla (whose father has finally died) to destroy the Sarcophagus and lead her people in a different way of life than her father did. She complies and fires a Staff weapon on the Sarcophagus. Afterwards she has to say goodbye to Daniel. It is also mentioned that Stargate Command intends to find an alternative method (other than slavery) for mining the Naquadah, which shows great promise for military applications. + +A connection is made to the Earth Stargate, but since no IDC is received the Iris is left closed and something impacts it. Investigations reveal that the impacting object was not organic but contained high levels of Iridium. Captain Samantha Carter is convinced that the object was the Sagan Institute Box, which was left with the Cimmerians to give to Thor, should he show up. They assumed that he had gotten it. A MALP is sent and shows dead Cimmerians, Jaffa, and Gairwyn (who SG-1 met on their previous visit) pleading for help because the "Ettins" — meaning the Goa'uld — have come. SG-1 felt responsible as they destroyed Thor's Hammer to free Teal'c, leaving the planet open to the Goa'uld. On arriving on Cimmeria, SG-1 finds a large Goa'uld presence under the command of Heru'ur (Son of Ra and Hathor). They go with Gairwyn to Kendra's grave where Carter finds out that she can use Kendra's Kara kesh. They then retreat with Gairwyn to the caves where the population are hiding. After discussion, Dr. Daniel Jackson and Carter with Gairwyn as a guide go to look for the Hall of Thor's Might which they suspect contains weaponry, whilst Colonel Jack O'Neill and Teal'c start a fight with the Jaffa using conventional weapons (principally A-M18A1 Claymore mines). Carter, Jackson and Gairwyn find the Hall of Thor's Might and are faced with a hologram of Thor demanding they complete his challenges to "prove their worth". Once they successfully complete the challenges (which include a test of teamwork followed by one of mathematics), another hologram of Thor appears, this time in the "god"'s true form: a Roswell Grey. Carter, Jackson and Gairwyn are shocked by this and begin debating this revelation, only to be shocked again: Thor is communicating with them in real-time from his flagship. Jackson and Carter tell Thor how his Hammer was destroyed to save Teal'c and apologize, then ask where the weapons are. Thor tells them that the tests were not to protect any weapons, they were to check that the Cimmerians were advanced enough before revealing the true nature of the Asgard. Irritated at SG-1's "outside interference", Thor transports Carter and Jackson back to the planet surface — without Gairwyn. Disappointed, they return to the caves where they meet O'Neill and Teal'c who have retreated from fighting the Jaffa. Unfortunately, the caves have been discovered and SG-1 are forced to surrender themselves in order to save the remaining Cimmerians. As they are escorted back to the Ha'tak, an even larger spaceship appears in the sky which they realize must be Thor's Chariot — all the Jaffa and their ships disappear as they are touched by white rays emanating from Thor's Chariot (this phenomenon will later be revealed as the Asgard transporter). Heru'ur escapes through the Stargate at the last minute. Gairwyn materializes next to them and tells them that Thor gave her a message: "They are friends to all. Protector of all. All except the Goa'uld with whom they are at war. Thor's new hammer will make an exception for the one called Teal'c". + +SG-1 are on P5C-353, a sterile planet with a moon-like landscape, they are looking for the source of EM radiation which the probe has detected. The source is a spherical metal artifact of obviously alien (but not Goa'uld) design. SG-1 are reluctant to take the artifact back through the Stargate, but Captain Samantha Carter realizes the object must have a power supply which has lasted since Neanderthals were a dominant species, hundreds of thousands of years ago. Colonel Jack O'Neill decides that the potential benefits outweigh the risks and the artifact is brought back to Stargate Command for study. Carter and Dr. Daniel Jackson make little progress studying the object and SG-1 are about to leave on a mission to a "primordial world" (with no advanced life forms) when the artifact suddenly starts heating up and emitting high levels of alpha particles, beta particles, and gamma rays. O'Neill decides to return the sphere to its original world so he and Teal'c carry it to the gate room. When the Stargate is activated, the sphere shoots out metal spikes in all directions. One of the spikes penetrates O'Neill's shoulder and pins him to a wall. O'Neill starts to show signs of infection and other people begin to become ill. SGC quickly discover that the "infection" can eat through concrete and is particularly attracted to wiring. Dr. Janet Fraiser finds out certain antibiotics slow the infection and Carter finds that low oxygen also slows growth. Major General George S. Hammond orders the quarantine procedures known as "Wildfire" whereby the whole base is totally sealed and the base self-destruct is put on automatic countdown. Meanwhile, Carter has realized that energy speeds up growth of the organism and a nuclear explosion is just what it needs to help it spread all over the Earth. When Hammond is told, he tries to cancel the self-destruct but the base computers have now been "infected" and will not respond. Jackson sees an image on one of the computer monitors which matches a symbol on the sphere, he finally understands that the organism is trying to communicate. Carter suggests that they allow the organism to grow and the oxygen levels are increased, with Teal'c firing his staff weapon at the sphere several times to provide more energy. O'Neill wakes up from his coma and Hammond calls his name to which he responds "O'Neill is here". Hammond then asks "Who else am I speaking to?" and O'Neill says "We are also here". A discussion with the alien intelligence reveals that although it has no desire to harm humans, it will not allow itself to be returned to its previous world and intends to remain and "consume" the Earth. Jackson suggests that the sphere allows itself to be taken to P4G-881, the primordial world SG-1 were due to visit, where it will have ample resources without interfering with other intelligent organisms. The sphere agrees and the spikes retract allowing a miraculously healed O'Neill to push it through the Stargate. The base computers reboot with the infection removed, allowing the self-destruct countdown to be terminated at the last second. + +Bra'tac arrives through the Stargate to inform Teal'c that his son is being held by Apophis. In the Briefing Room, Major General George S. Hammond tells Colonel Jack O'Neill that O'Neill's report clearly gave everyone the impression that Apophis had died on the explosion. When Hammond wonders what Apophis would want with Rya'c, Teal'c states that Apophis does not want Rya'c and that Apophis wants Teal'c himself. Bra'tac agrees and then tells them that Apophis and Klorel successfully escaped the blast via the rings system although nearly all the Serpent Guards loyal to the two Goa'uld died in the explosion that destroyed the two ships which ultimately caused Apophis to return to Chulak in shame. After thinking it over, Hammond then allows SG-1 to return to Chulak on the condition that they bring Drey'auc and Rya'c back to Earth, so that Teal'c will no longer be vulnerable to the Goa'uld through his family while telling Teal'c that is to be the last time that Teal'c withholds any information concerning his family. After arriving on Chulak, having knocked the Serpent Guards who were guarding the Stargate unconscious via some gas they go to a house where Drey'auc is living (previously she had been forced to live in the camps of the outcasts because of her husband's treason). It turns out to be the house of Fro'tak, an old friend of Teal'c's, who reveals that because Teal'c had been thought to be dead, Drey'auc had married Fro'tak in an attempt to give Rya'c a better life, a fact Bra'tac swears he did not know. Teal'c feels betrayed, and initially has to forcibly keep Teal'c from killing Fro'tak; however, Teal'c swears to Bra'tac that he will not attempt to kill Fro'tak. O'Neill and Bra'tac decide that, while Fro'tak has been a trusted ally in the past, it would be best to keep a close eye on him in the future. The initial attempt to rescue Rya'c is met with failure, as he runs away from his rescuers, appearing to have been brainwashed by Apophis. In a broadcast message to the people of Chu'lak, Rya'c confirms his brainwashing by calling his father a traitor to Apophis, to Chulak, and to his family. A price is set on Teal'c's head, 1 milion shesh'ta, and on the heads of SG-1, but Teal'c has hope that Rya'c is fighting his brainwashing (or perhaps pretending to be brainwashed), because Rya'c refers to his mother as Drey'auc of the Morning Groves, which is incorrect. Teal'c interprets this to be a request to attempt another rescue in the morning. SG-1 and Bra'tac are not convinced, but Teal'c is determined to try. As they finish discussing the matter, there is a knock at the door, and Drey'auc hides everyone in a secret room while Fro'tak goes out to meet a group of Jaffa who have come to search his house for the traitor. After a brief search, they leave, and Fro'tak regains Teal'c's trust. Late that night, Drey'auc finds Teal'c refusing to sleep, Teal'c informs Drey'auc that he never wishes to lay eyes on her after Rya'c has been rescued, but Drey'auc tells Teal'c that she married Fro'tak because he was the only one who offered to marry her, and not because she harbors any love for him and they end up kissing. Unknown to them, Fro'tak sees this, and he sneaks out of the house, heading straight for the palace, remaining unaware that Jack has been keeping an eye on Fro'tak as well. Fro'tak arrives at the palace and informs the Jaffa on guard that he will lead him to the traitor and his evil friends. Jack sneaks in and shoots the guard with a Zat before attempting to reason with Fro'tak. For a second, it looks like Fro'tak may agree but the second he gets up, he starts yelling for the Serpent Guards. Jack kills Fro'tak with the Zat before firing a third shot to disintegrate the body, destroying the evidence. As Jack flees, a Serpent Guard appears and orders that the palace be sealed off, leaving Jack trapped inside. The next morning, a Serpent Guard descends on the house much to Bra'tac's outrage. However, it's soon revealed that the Guard is none other than Jack who states that now he knows why the Guards are cranky all the time given how heavy the helmets are. As Sam and Daniel remove the helmet, Daniel demands to know where Jack has been while Drey'auc wants to know where Fro'tak is. Jack grimly tells the group that Fro'tak left last night and made a beeline for the palace, that he planned on turning them in and Jack was forced to kill him, with Jack apologizing for his actions. This leaves Drey'auc and Bra'tac deeply shocked. A while later, the group try a second rescue attempt with Jack stating that this can't be a firefight and that they are to target a single Jaffa guard closest to them. On Jack's signal, SG-1 and Bra'tac successfully dispatch the guards and save Rya'c who is thrilled to be reunited with Teal'c. They reach the Stargate, only to discover it's guarded by two Jaffa, so O'Neill and Captain Samantha Carter remain very suspicious of Rya'c. However, there appears to be nothing to do except take Rya'c back to Earth, so SG-1 along with Drey'auc and Rya'c return to Earth, while Bra'tac remains on Chulak. Upon their return, Rya'c passes his medical exams with flying colors, but Drey'auc remembers that while training with Bra'tac before he was taken by Apophis, he lost two of his teeth. No teeth are missing, so he is anesthetized to remove the false teeth and to have his body intensively scanned to make sure there are not any other suspicious implants. Upon waking, he immediately attempts to break the teeth, which the SGC has determined contained two organisms which, when combined, would be able to wipe out all life on the planet within a week. Teal'c's attempts to convince Rya'c that Apophis is not a god do not work, so electro-shock therapy is suggested as a method of deprogramming. It is not known whether conventional electro-shock therapy will kill the Goa'uld inside him. Teal'c asks what electro-shock theropy was, and after being told, he suggests that one shot from a Zat'nik'tel might safely mimic the effects, as it has a similar discharge to the therapy and is known to not kill any Jaffa or their Goa'uld. He tells Drey'auc that it would be extremely painful, but she gives her full support as to him deciding what would be best. With no other options, the parents go into the room together, and though difficult, Teal'c shoots Rya'c with the Zat, which causes him extreme pain; however he awakens with no memory of any of the events leading up to or including his rescue, and he is free of Apophis' brainwashing. Drey'auc and Rya'c are then sent to the Land of Light, where they can be safe and free. + +The one year anniversary of SG-1's departure from Abydos has arrived, and Dr. Daniel Jackson requests to go back to Abydos as he promised (though without his wife Sha're). He returns with Teal'c only, because Colonel Jack O'Neill and Captain Samantha Carter are due at a medal ceremony with the President of the United States. Upon arriving, he informs his father-in-law Kasuf that he has been unable to rescue Sha're, but his father-in-law is one step ahead of him, as Sha're is already on Abydos, and very pregnant. Sha're reveals that the child is indeed Apophis's, but she is in her right mind (although still possessed by the Goa'uld Amaunet) because the child will be stillborn if she takes over while Sha're is still pregnant. Apophis has hidden Sha're on Abydos, so that rival Goa'uld will not know of the child, whom he intends to someday be his new host. Furthermore, they realize that Sha're still has access to the sum total of Goa'uld memories while her symbiote is dormant, so after much soul-searching, Daniel Jackson agrees that they should take her back to Earth so that she can give as much information as possible before she has her child. Meanwhile, in Washington D.C., Samantha Carter's father, Major General Jacob Carter is present at his daughter's medal ceremony. Their reunion seems to be a little awkward, and the general atmosphere of unease is heightened by his assertion that he knows their fabricated cover story (for the awards) is false, and that he has arranged for Samantha to get into NASA where she can "actually go into space." Captain Carter obviously can't accept the offer, and they part rather abruptly after Samantha repeatedly refuses to consider NASA. Jack O'Neill briefly leaves the reception, and is followed to a bar by a reporter named Armin Selig who apparently knows of the Stargate program. Worse yet, he has an audio recording of a brief, but rather to-the-point discussion of the Stargate program between Captain Carter and Colonel O'Neill while on their way to the ceremony. Colonel O'Neill manages to come up with a poor cover story, and denies the existence of the program. After a brief consultation with Carter and Major General George S. Hammond, Colonel O'Neill attempts to re-initiate contact with the reporter, hoping to find out who has caused the leak. Back on Abydos, Daniel Jackson and Teal'c attempt to leave for Earth with Sha're, but are stopped when a Goa'uld pyramid ship lands on top of the pyramid. Amaunet comes forth, saying Apophis has come for her. It turns out to be the ship of Heru'ur, a sworn enemy of Apophis, who has come with the intent of stealing Sha're's child. Sha're goes into labor, and Teal'c leaves Daniel and Sha're in an attempt to keep Heru'ur's Jaffa from finding them while she is in labor. Though Jackson realizes that Sha're will become Amaunet again as soon as the child is born, he refuses to leave her. Colonel O'Neill allows Armin Selig to find him, and they have a brief discussion in which Selig reveals that he knows a LOT about the program, including the recent episode in which Earth was nearly destroyed by two alien spacecraft. He casually tells O'Neill that he'll be a hero once the story gets out. O'Neill quips "Alright, if you're gonna go ahead with it, I want to make sure you get one thing right: It's O'Neill, with two "l"s. There's another Colonel O'Neil with only one "l",; he has no sense of humor at all." As O'Neill walks back into the building, he watches as Selig is run over when he steps out onto the road; Selig believes that the hit-and-run was arranged by O'Neill, but O'Neill denies this, and Selig dies on the scene. O'Neill is unable to attend the ceremony because he was witness to the accident, so the ceremony is canceled. Carter finds her father before leaving, and he reveals to her that he has lymphoma, and that he had really hoped to see Carter become an astronaut before he died. While completely devastated by her father's revelation, Carter is still unable to fulfill his dream of seeing her become an astronaut, neither can she tell him the truth about her super-astronaut status in SG-1. Jacob soon leaves while Carter simply stands there in tears. Sha're's child is born, and Amaunet reasserts control over her host, though not before Daniel Jackson has sworn to love Sha're forever, no matter what happens. Teal'c appears immediately after the birth, dressed as one of Heru'ur's helmeted guards, and commands Daniel to give him the baby, which he delivered and is therefore holding. Amaunet also demands to be given the child, but is powerless to stop Teal'c (still disguised), and he shoots her with a Zat'nik'tel, telling her, "tell Apophis that Heru'ur has taken the son as his own." Teal'c and Jackson give the baby to Kasuf, who goes into hiding with the child. At Stargate Command, Colonel O'Neill and Captain Carter are given their medals by Hammond, and told that they may ship out to Abydos when they are ready to bring Daniel Jackson and Teal'c back. After Carter leaves the room, O'Neill remains, and Hammond answers O'Neill's unvoiced question, saying "It was an accident." Teal'c (still in full disguise) returns to the Stargate on Abydos with Daniel Jackson as a "prisoner." Heru'ur is waiting there, and while Daniel Jackson pretends to offer an alliance with Earth against Apophis, Heru'ur declares that he will make Earth a slave world as soon as he has eliminated Apophis. Teal'c lies to Heru'ur, saying that Apophis has already come to reclaim his child. At this moment, O'Neill and Carter come through the Stargate while Teal'c makes use of the confusion and wormhole "kawoosh" to eliminate the rest of Heru'ur's Jaffa guard. As Sam uses her Zat to finish off the Jaffa guards Teal'c attacked, Jack heads down the steps of the temple, firing his gun at Heru'ur with each shot being useless due to Heru'ur's personal force-field. Heru'ur is not impressed, outraged at Jack challenging him. Jack abandons his gun and grabs his knife, stating that he's been thinking about it before throwing the knife which heads straight into the palm of Heru'ur's hand, partially disabling the force field and forcing Heru'ur to retreat although Heru'ur swears that Jack will pay for his insolence. Yet again, the Stargate is activated from off-world just as the group is about to depart, and this time it is Apophis, coming to retrieve his queen and their child. Amaunet/Sha're comes into the room as they arrive, and tells Apophis that the child has been stolen by Heru'ur. She and Apophis soon depart with Amaunet managing not to tell Apophis where SG-1 is hiding, which suggests that Sha're is fighting back and managing to retain some control. Seconds later, knowing full well that a Goa'uld ship is hovering overhead, Jack orders Sam to dial home and she does so with SG-1 heading back to Earth. + +SG-1 visits a world named Svoriin, which appears to be at a technological level slightly above that of Earth. The city surrounding the gate, however, appears to be completely deserted, though entirely intact. After a brief recon, SG-1 stops in a plaza to discuss what might have caused the city's abandonment but are interrupted when a large insect lands on Teal'c. Colonel Jack O'Neill moves to shoot the insect off Teal'c, but as he cocks the gun Teal'c is stung and the insect flies away. Captain Samantha Carter and Jack attempt to treat Teal'c's wound with Dr. Daniel Jackson informing his team that they need to flee. When Jack looks up, he sees a swarm of the bugs approaching and with that, Jack and Sam bring Teal'c with them as Daniel prepares to dial. Seconds later, at Stargate Command, SG-1 arrive through the gate with Sam yelling for a medical team and Jack ordering that the iris be locked. Teal'c is later examined by Dr. Janet Fraiser, but he tells her that his symbiote is not healing him. Fraiser soon explains to SG-1 and Major General George S. Hammond that Teal'c seems to be suffering from a viral infection and that his symbiote is not able to cure it. As well, a blood sample shows that there is a small amount of DNA present that is not Teal'c's. Carter recommends a Dr. Timothy Harlow be brought in to help, as he's already cleared for the Stargate program and working for The Pentagon in DNA research. After Harlow arrives, he conducts secondary tests on the blood sample from Teal'c and finds that it is now completely changed to the alien insect DNA. Harlow concludes that the insect's venom is converting Teal'c's DNA into its own, which will eventually convert him into one of the alien insects, and that the Goa'uld symbiote is unable to reverse the process, only slow it down. In the infirmary, Teal'c asks Jack to kill him if there's no hope for recovery, as he does not wish to become the alien insect. Shortly afterwards, Colonel Harold Maybourne arrives at the SGC and gives General Hammond orders to turn Teal'c over to the NID for further treatment - and study, if Teal'c cannot be cured and turns into the insect. Carter then confronts Harlow, who admits it was he who informed the NID and requested their help. Teal'c is restrained and taken away in a van by the NID, but breaks free of his restraints in transit and escapes. The SGC receives a distress call from the van that was transporting Teal'c, and SG-1 is dispatched, finding the van crashed, but the driver and passengers are alive. SG-1 also finds Junior, which he has deliberately removed, Harlow suggests this is because he is mentally unstable due of the change he is undergoing. The SGC begins a search as Fraiser tries to keep Teal'c's symbiote alive, with limited success. Teal'c uses a two way radio to contact Jack and tells him to call off the search, Jack asks him to give himself up so they can cure him, but Teal'c drops the radio and continues to flee. A manhunt begins, with the SGC attempting to find Teal'c before the NID can, so that they may resume treating him, rightly suspicious of the NID's intentions. It is realized that Teal'c is outside the SGC's perimeter, however, and therefore outside their jurisdiction. Local police are ordered to report to the NID, so the SGC attempts to quietly locate Teal'c first, though without legal authority. Fraiser, though, has trouble keeping the symbiote alive and is unable to find a solution. Harlow then offers a new type of drug to help Teal'c, but first a sample of the insect venom is needed. Daniel, Carter and O'Neill return to Svoriin, and arrive back at the SGC late, but retrieve one of the alien insects. Harlow studies the insect and collects a sample of the venom while SG-1 shows General Hammond video footage of the city, explaining that they found some of the city's former inhabitants, all of which were in very late stages of transforming into not individual insects, but swarms thereof. Teal'c, meanwhile, finds his way into Colorado Springs, and takes shelter in an abandoned building. He is discovered by a young girl, Allyson Martin, who shares a chocolate bar with him. Teal'c asks her to buy him more food, and when she returns, she finds him in a much worse state than when she left, as he is now covered in lesions. Ally suspects that he is wanted by the law, and offers him a place to hide in the abandoned building. At the SGC, Harlow is able to find a drug capable of slowing the transformation, and with the assistance of a symbiote, reverse it, but the Goa'uld symbiote is still inexplicably dying. Meanwhile, Major General George S. Hammond is able to have the police report to the SGC instead of the NID, but the President of the United States does not cancel the NID's search. The NID storms the building Teal'c is hiding in, but cannot find him, thanks to Ally's hiding place. At the SGC, Fraiser saves the symbiote by providing it with an electrical current. Ally is made even more suspicious by the NID storming of the building, and when she returns to Teal'c, realizes he is in a much more advanced stage of the transformation process, as he is partially covered in a form of cocoon. Ally asks Teal'c if he wants help, he agrees and Ally makes a call to a friend of her father who "they can trust". She is eventually put through to Jack O'Neill. Teal'c is located due to Ally, and recovers, thanks to Harlow and Fraiser. Harlow makes amends for telling the NID about Teal'c's illness in the first place, by destroying the samples of the alien insect so the NID does not get a chance to experiment with it. Teal'c returns to the abandoned building after he is fully recovered and rewards Ally by giving her a new water blaster and spending time playing with her. He even sprays Daniel. + +Captain Samantha Carter has a vision from Jolinar of Malkshur, the Tok'ra with whom she was temporarily joined. She gets a glimpse at the coordinates of the planet to which the Tok'ra in her vision are fleeing. After waking up, she discusses with Major General George S. Hammond and SG-1 whether they should go to the planet or not. They agree to go there, hoping to form an alliance with the Tok'ra to destroy the System Lords. Just before they leave, Carter calls Jacob Carter to see how he is doing. SG-1 arrives in a desert with no apparent footsteps or any sign that people have been around for some time. They make their way towards a dune when they are ambushed and surrounded by several people with Staff weapons. Carter recognizes one of the people as Martouf and says she recognizes them all as Tok'ra. Meanwhile at Stargate Command, General Hammond receives a phone call from Jacob Carter. Things are not going so well and General Hammond goes to the hospital to visit him. It seems that despite the fact that they have cleaned out all of the lymph nodes, 'a squadron of those little buggers got themselves reassigned to his liver'. It doesn't look like he has long to live. He asks Hammond to tell him the truth about what his daughter is doing. Unfortunately, Hammond has to refuse because it is classified. However things start to go wrong (Jacob even flatlines) the doctors tell Hammond to get his family here ASAP. SG-1 is then taken underground with Transportation rings into a compound which looks exactly the same as the one from Carter's vision. They are taken through the compound, which is made entirely out of grown crystals, to meet the leader of the Tok'ra. On their way, they see Selmak, a dying Tok'ra. All members of SG-1 are asked whether they want to be the new host for Selmak, but they all refuse. Especially Carter, who feels that once was enough. Afterwards they meet Garshaw of Belote, the most wanted Tok'ra of all. SG-1 explains that they want an alliance with the Tok'ra and also the way in which they found the base, and what happened to Jolinar. After a rusty start SG-1 is asked to wait until the Tok'ra High Council will meet to discuss their proposal of an alliance. While waiting, Carter takes a walk with Martouf, hoping to understand Jolinar better and maybe order her thoughts from Jolinar. Carter is beginning to understand Jolinar a lot better when Dr. Daniel Jackson shows up, informing her that the council is ready to meet. In a newly grown chamber, SG-1 meets the council and starts negotiating about the alliance, specifically on how the Tau'ri would be of use to the Tok'ra and whether they could be trusted or not. They are interrupted by the arrival of SG-3, who have orders to extract Carter. However, before they can leave, the council reaches a decision: the Tau'ri are no use to them, and that as they are a security risk to the Tok'ra because of their knowledge of their base location, they cannot leave until a new base can be established. Worse still, Carter is not allowed to leave either because according to the Tok'ra, she is the highest security risk of all since she contains the memories of Jolinar of Malkshur. + +SG-1 goes to a planet, hoping to find the Tok'ra and form an alliance. Their proposal is denied and SG-1 hopes to gain their trust, by helping them to evacuate from an attack of the System Lords. After SG-1's proposal for an alliance is denied by the Tok'ra, SG-1 and SG-3, who were sent to extract Captain Samantha Carter because her father is dying in a hospital from cancer, are being held until the Tok'ra move to another base. Carter asks to see Garshaw of Belote, the leader of the Tok'ra, to offer her a host, she needs to save a fellow Tok'ra, Selmak. Jack and Carter are allowed to leave through the Stargate, to propose Jacob Carter blending with Selmak. Carter talks to her father and tells him the truth about her job, and explains the situation. He agrees to help them gain the trust of the Tok'ra. Upon their return to the Tok'ra base, they discover that everyone is evacuating and Dr. Daniel Jackson, Teal'c and SG-3 are helping. Daniel tells Colonel Jack O'Neill and Carter, that the Goa'uld System Lords are poised to attack the planet. Jack goes off to help the evacuation and Sam and Jacob make their way to Selmak. While Selmak and Jacob get to know each other, Jack does some digging on how the System Lords got wind of the bases location. He discovers, that Cordesh uses a Long range visual communication device which are not used by the Tok'ra, since the network is not secure. After Jack tells this to Garshaw, she and several other Tok'ra go to arrest Cordesh. They find him or rather his host, Firnan in one of the vanishing tunnels, claiming that he is not who he seems to be and commits suicide by throwing himself into one of the vanishing tunnels which crushes Firnan to death as the others look on, stunned. Jacob, after talking to Saroosh, Selmak's host, agrees to blend with her. Selmak decides that she likes him and also agrees to be blended. After the symbiote switches over to Jacob, Saroosh dies and Selmak starts to heal his cancer. Meanwhile moving him would kill him, so they have to wait, until Selmak has healed Jacob. Jack discovers Liandra carrying a box, in which he previously found the long range communication device and stops her. She is revealed to be Cordesh, who has not died in the vanishing tunnel, only his previous host. She insists that the plague that is the Tok'ra will soon be wiped out. Having regarded Cordesh as one of her friends, Garshaw is left disgusted by the news and soon tells them that the Goa'uld is to be executed and put into one of the vanishing tunnels while also hoping to save the host. SG-1, SG-3 and Garshaw go to Carter, Martouf and Jacob, who is still unconscious. Carter and Martouf are holding hands, and Carter jumps up at arrival of Garshaw. Carter and Martouf agree to wait until Jacob wakes up, the rest make their way to the Stargate. They barely make it through the Stargate, with Death Gliders approaching from the skies. After some waiting, Jacob awakens, fully healed (both of his cancer and his arthritis), and they too try to escape. At the Gate they see, that the Goa'uld are dialing to the planet and Sam tries to dial faster than they do. A Wormhole engages and they take the risk, that Sam was faster, and go through. They, of course, go to Earth and the Tau'ri and the Tok'ra form an alliance because of Jacob, who agrees to function as liaison between the two people. His last words, before he leaves through the Gate with Garshaw and Martouf, are "Don't call us, we'll call you.". + +SG-1 is briefed about SG-11 finding Trinium, a rare and very strong metallic element on PXY-887 and that SG-11, who were sent to mine more Trinium, are 48 hours overdue with no contact. SG-1 is supposed to find them. While they are in the briefing, the Stargate starts dialing and SG-11's G.D.O. code is transmitted but instead of SG-11, an arrow comes through the gate, smashing a window in the Briefing Room but without destroying it. As everyone struggles to get to their feet, General Hammond wonders if they're all alright. Colonel Jack O'Neill sits up before collapsing into Dr. Daniel Jackson's arms where it's revealed that the arrow has gone straight through the glass and into Jack's right arm, staining the right sleeve of Jack's base uniform with blood. With Jack grounded for some days due to his injury, Captain Samantha Carter gets command of SG-1 for this mission. On PXY-887 SG-1 discovers the mining site, but SG-11 seems to have just disappeared. While investigating a Salish Indian Clan Crest, SG-1 is taken down by tranquilizer arrows. After waking up, they find themselves in an Indian settlement, "Couple of days' walk" away from the mining site. SG-1 meets Tonane, the apparent leader of the settlement, who suggest them to ask the Spirits where SG-11 is. Tonane takes them to the forest, where he points out a wolf and says it is T'akaya, one of the Spirits. Carter is not convinced that speaking to a wolf will help them. A raven appears, which is supposed to be Xe'ls, and Daniel asks Xe'ls to release SG-11. Xe'ls squawks and Daniel is sure, Xe'ls said, that he would release them, while Tonane thinks he said, he would think about it. They continue to look around, but shortly afterwards, Xe'ls catches up to them and SG-11 walks out of some mist. After having found SG-11, they meet with the Elders of the settlement, hoping to negotiate a mining treaty. The Elder send Tonane with SG-1 and SG-11 back to Earth, where he can determine, whether the Tau'ris mining methods are acceptable. Back in Stargate Command, Tonane is shown some videos from mining operations. But he refuses to let this happen to their mountain, as the methods are too "wasteful and destructive". While Daniel shows him around SGC, Major General George S. Hammond informs SG-1 and SG-11, that he has been ordered to send a mining expedition, regardless of Tonane's decision. SG-11 turns out to be the Spirits and they start to make everyone in the SGC disappear. Jack, Carter and Teal'c are the only ones left after a Code 9 alert. Daniel hides with Tonane in a storage room. Jack, Carter and Teal'c manage to incapacitate Xe'ls and take him to the infirmary, where Daniel and Tonane catch up with them. Teal'c and Daniel go to the Stargate Operations room, in order to gate to PXY-887 and appeal to the Elders. In the Gateroom Daniel meets with T'akaya and tries to explain and asks, in exchange for Xe'ls, that the Spirits listen to him. After the Spirits have healed Xe'ls, they immediately are transported to the Gateroom and Xe'ls wants to destroy the SGC. But after talking with Daniel and Jack, they agree to leave them, return everyone and bury the Gate on the other side. They also come to an agreement with Tonane, to show themselves in their real form, rather than in the form of animals. + +SG-1 returns to the planet Madrona, where they intended to study (using some of Carter's 'doohickeys') a device called a Touchstone, which controls the planet's weather. However, on returning to the planet, SG-1 is accused by the Madronans of stealing the Touchstone, who claim that men dressed in Stargate Command uniforms stole the device. Without the Touchstone, Medrona's weather is spinning violently out of control. The team quickly reports back to Stargate Command and Major General George S. Hammond of the accusation. After checking the base computer's mainframe, Captain Samantha Carter does some research and discovers that the Earth's second Stargate is being used -- but not by Stargate Command. She also explains that the second Stargate was activated at the precise moment the SGC's gate is used to prevent detection. After unsuccessful attempts to contact the President of the United States, Hammond begins to believe someone is controlling the President's schedule. Daniel also has suspicions -- after noticing unusual weather on Earth, he realizes the cause must be the Touchstone. Carter has also learned more about the situation. She confirms the location of the second Stargate -- Nevada. Hammond then reveals that Colonel Harold Maybourne has been transferred to Area 51 in Nevada. SG-1 then leaves for Area 51 to confront Maybourne. While there, the team learns that the second gate, supposedly under 24-hour guard, has been replaced with a replica. In an attempt to track the second gate, Dr. Daniel Jackson and Colonel Jack O'Neill return to Madrona to overpower the gate and send a MALP through. With the MALP, Stargate Command finds that the second gate is somewhere in southern Utah. Calling in a favor from Bernie Whitlow, Hammond learns that a C-5 Galaxy cargo aircraft has just been requested to pick something up from a particular airfield in southern Utah. The C-5 is among the only aircraft large enough to move a Stargate. The team is sent to the airfield, where they find the second gate. They recover the Touchstone, but four men jump through the gate before the team can learn their destination. SG-1 returns the Touchstone to Madrona, where the people faced a deadly winter storm. Thanks to the return of the device, weather is restored. The second Stargate is again moved, this time under the guard of the SGC, where a permanent iris is installed on the gate to ensure it is never used again and will be constantly watched by soldiers under Hammond's command. + +From space, above the planet designated P3W-451, which orbits a binary-star, one of the stars starts to collapse, while drawing energy from the other star. It then collapses into a black hole, pulling space debris in its path. The hole is starting to affect the planet. On 451 in "slow motion", or time dilation caused by the black hole's gravitation, SG-10, commanded by Major Henry Boyd, runs through the desert surface to the Stargate. Boyd orders his Lieutenant to dial Earth. The team seem panicked, and fear that they won't make it. Boyd tells them they will make it, and they dial the Stargate. In Stargate Command, Colonel Jack O'Neill asks Captain Samantha Carter to explain to him how wormhole physics work. Even Carter's metaphor of a worm burrowing through an apple rather than go around the surface confuses him, but he claims that he knows how it works. They are interrupted by an unscheduled offworld activation. They wonder who it could be, as there are only three teams on mission currently. They include SG-4, SG-6 (Dr. Daniel Jackson is with them on a dig on PX3-808), and SG-10. They receive a transmission, but they are unable to read it. Carter notices a low frequency, repeated signal, and orders Lt. Graham Simmons to play it faster. After running it at 600% speed, they read SG-10's GDO, and as a result they open the iris. They await SG-10's arrival, but a few seconds later, the Stargate shuts down. O'Neill requests a rescue mission, but Major General George S. Hammond holds them off, at least until they launch a MALP. Major General George S. Hammond tells SG-1 that Boyd's team went on a mission to 451 to determine the cause of the planet's recent extinction of indigenous life. After they activate the Stargate, they launch the MALP through to see what is happening on the other side. However, all they see is a distorted infrared images. Carter believes the image from the MALP has red shifted, and asks Simmons to implement a shorter wavelength. They see a clear image of the team, but according to Simmons, from the teams perspective, 11 frames (less than half a second) went by in the last six minutes. O'Neill thinks SG-10 is in trouble and asks to go in, but Carter believes the team is beyond help, and wants the MALP's camera to tilt upwards to see what Boyd is so afraid of. They are stunned to see a black hole, and a newly formed one at that. They believe that due to time dilation, when they tried to Gate to Earth, from their perspective, it could not have been opened for as long as a second. They eventually agree there is nothing they can do to help, and Hammond orders Simmons to disengage the wormhole. However, they cannot shut it down, even after two attempts. Outside Cheyenne Mountain, Colonel Frank Cromwell and a team of United States Air Force Special Forces, dispatched by The Pentagon arrive and asks a Guard for a situation. Apparently, they lost contact with Stargate Command for four hours, and before losing contact, things went "funky"; personnel in the SGC talked to them fairly slowly. Believing an alien incursion of some kind, Cromwell and his team start going down the emergency shaft to Level 28. In his office, Hammond tries to make contact with the President of the United States on the red phone, but he can't get through to anyone. When he returns to operations, he hears news that they lost contact to anyone below level 24. Carter has MSgt. Sylvester Siler run several possible solutions to shut down the Gate, but nothing is working. They have passed the 38 minute window, and due to the stresses of the black hole, the event horizon starts to swirl. Hammond plans on getting online to the President above the surface, leaving O'Neill is charge for the meantime. After he leaves, O'Neill proposes that they should just "pull the plug." He and Siler go to the power vault. Heavily gloved for safety, they shut down the circuit breakers, but nothing happens. The technicians and Teal'c are asked to leave the Gate room while O'Neill and Siler plan to shut down the main breaker. However, this causes an overload, and a power surge injures Siler. In the Gate room, the surge sends currents coursing round the Stargate, causing a series of small explosions, burning Teal'c as he evacuates. However, the gate still does not shut down. Carter believes the wormhole is powered by the black hole itself. While a med team assist O'Neill and Siler, Carter checks on Teal'c, who has some major burns on him. She then sees smoke from the fires being pulled to the wormhole. Carter walks up to the event horizon and holds up her dog tags. They are being pulled as well and as she lets go, they disappear into the black hole. Carter believes the black hole's gravity is responsible, and orders Simmons to close the iris. Major General George S. Hammond goes to the main level, NORAD to get to the next secure phone to contact the President. However, he arrives and exits the elevator to see several heavily armed soldiers aiming their guns at him. A man orders them to stand down, and introduces himself as Major Paul Davis. He tells Hammond that he will escort him to an aircraft to debrief the President himself. On the way to the air field, Davis tells Hammond that they believe they lost contact with the SGC because of time dilation; time is passing slower in the base than the rest of the World, which is caused by the black hole. They arrive at the field so Hammond can talk to the President via tel-conference about the situation. Meanwhile, Colonel Cromwell and his team have arrived to storm the SGC and encounter a very startled Dr. Janet Fraiser, who is on her way to treat Siler. However, Cromwell believes that the SGC is in the middle of an alien incursion, and thinks Fraiser is one of them. Time is starting to warp further within the level. O'Neill encounters Cromwell and scoffs at the prospect of Cromwell "rescuing" them. When hearing five hours has passed (relative to the outside world), rather than just a handful of minutes, O'Neill is confused. Carter confirms this, and when they arrive at operations, Simmons reports that the distortion field is expanding, having read 7 Gs from the iris. Carter believes that the black hole's gravity, causing the time dilation field, may cause the SGC to slowly suck through the wormhole, and eventually the Earth. Carter wants to talk to the Pentagon, though Hammond later arrives and tells her he already has been, and to his perspective, 18 hours has passed. He has set up a command post above the mountain, so they could monitor the expansion rate, and destroy the base to stop the threat, though Carter believes that the wormhole would still be intact. Hammond overrules her, and orders an evacuation of the base. O'Neill and Cromwell stay behind and wait five minutes to activate the Self-destruct. As they arrive outside the base, they realize that 22 hours has passed, as opposed to 20 minutes. It would take around six hours for them until O'Neill activates the self-destruct. Carter, not believing the Pentagon's decision (the military's ideology is blow up something they don't understand) tries to work on a solution herself, but can't think of anything, even with Teal'c's "assistance". By morning, Major General George S. Hammond checks up on Carter, who tells him that the best the explosion would do is dampen it; the Gate would still be active and suck the mountain through within six months, and Colorado six months after that. Hammond proposes using the second Stargate to restart the program. This gives Carter an idea; they will use an explosion, but only one to give the Stargate enough of a power surge to jump the wormhole to another world, so they could shut down the Stargate with ease. They rush in to stop O'Neill. Meanwhile, only five minutes are gone from O'Neill and Cromwell's perspective. Cromwell reveals that the two men used to be good friends, and he made a judgment call to save the rest of his team when O'Neill was injured, and he was forced to spend the next four months in an Iraqi prison. Cromwell asks for his forgiveness, but O'Neill doesn't give it to him. Cromwell compares it to Major Boyd's terrified face, still frozen a few seconds later on the screen. The glass shatters from the control room, and they are about to activate bomb, but are stopped by Carter, who tells them it won't work. They gear up in G-suits in preparation to rappel "down" to near the Stargate, and activate a Shaped charge. Teal'c, having been gone for several days in his perspective, arrives with the shaped charge from Travis Air Force Base with Carter's collaborations. Since a remote detonator won't be practical, O'Neill and Cromwell rappel to the Stargate and set their own time limit (20 seconds). However, as they struggle to hold on to place the bomb, the rest of the glass from the control room fails, and rushes towards the Colonels, and smashes straight to the iris. One glass shard has lodged onto Cromwell's rope. O'Neill then starts arming the bomb, but before activating it, the iris completely fails, and is sucked through the wormhole, which now looks like a backwards vortex. This forces the two and the bomb even closer. Furthermore, the glass breaks the rope, and Cromwell holds on to O'Neill, but knowing that one rope will not hold both of them, he lets go, and is pulled straight to P3W-451. O'Neill struggles up to get to the bomb, and sets the timer. As he gets up, Teal'c, Carter and Siler use their strength to pull the rope from the black hole's strong gravity. After a while, the shaped charge detonates. Sometime later, O'Neill awakens in the infirmary, where he sees Carter, Major General George S. Hammond, Teal'c and Jackson, who returned from his mission to PX3-808. They inform him the plan worked; the shaped charge sent the wormhole to P2A-870, and they easily shut off the Stargate from there. Hammond informs them that a new Trinium-strengthened iris will be placed over the Gate from now on. When O'Neill asks what day it is, Jackson tells him "Well, this might be a little difficult to accept, but since you reported for duty yesterday, two weeks have actually gone by." O'Neill decides to sleep in. + +SG-1 visits the planet P3R-272 and find themselves in a room with a circular inscription in the middle. Colonel Jack O'Neill steps over the circle and immediately a device comes out of the wall. Teal'c looks in it but only sees blackness with colored lights. When O'Neill steps up and takes a look, the device grabs his head for a few seconds, then lets go and O'Neill collapses into unconsciousness. SG-1 travels back to Stargate Command. O'Neill is checked for injury but none is found. While SG-1 is being debriefed by Major General George S. Hammond, O'Neill replaces a common word with an unknown one. General Hammond then orders him to stay on base for a while so they can keep him under observation. O'Neill's language condition starts getting worse and soon he is replacing common words with unknown words more frequently ("cruvus" for wrong, "cosars" for legs and "falatus" for ability). Jack, along with Teal'c, goes to Dr. Daniel Jackson's lab to see if they can find out what is happening to him. Daniel quickly realizes that the language is similar to Latin. A picture of the circular inscription from the planet is on Daniel's computer, which Jack can now read aloud: "Nou ani Anquietas. Hic qua Videum." They discover that O'Neill is also able to read other writings that Daniel has been working on deciphering. O'Neill then writes a series of complex equations on a chalk board in half a minute. The equations don't make any sense, even to Captain Samantha Carter. O'Neill is taken back to Dr. Janet Fraiser for tests and it is discovered that he is using over 90% of his brain capacity at one time compared to 5 to 10% at any given time for a normal human (myth propagated for story purpose). Daniel speculates that the device downloaded an alien language into O'Neill's brain. Hammond is then called to the Stargate Operations room. They find O'Neill entering a software program into the mainframe computer. Hammond then orders him to stop but O'Neill replies that he can't. Teal'c is then ordered to physically restrain him. When O'Neill's program runs, Carter informs everyone that it added new gate destinations, however they are not from the Abydos cartouche. Back in Daniel's office, O'Neill (who has lost the ability to speak anything but the alien language) and Daniel are translating the inscription. It reads "We are the Ancients. This is the place of our legacy." Daniel, identifying them as Roman deities, speculates that: Carter, perplexed by the equations, wishes that Jack could explain what the formula is all about; Jack responds by handing her a paper that says 10=8, this is to state that the equations are using base 8 math as opposed to the base 10 commonly used. It turns out to be a revolutionary way of calculating the distance between planets. Dr. Frasier, after examining O'Neill further, concludes that the information is slowly taking over his brain. Jack can no longer speak English and is in danger of eventually dying. The SG-1 team, minus O'Neill and Daniel, are sent off on a mission to one of the new gate addresses (P9Q-281) in the hope that there they might find new information to help Jack. Meanwhile, Jack starts building a device which he himself doesn't know the purpose of. After he completes it, Daniel tells O'Neill that SG-1 is trapped on P9Q-281 because the Dial Home Device (DHD) is stuck mid-dial. SG-1 is in trouble because a second sun has risen up on the planet, which will roast the team alive. Jack draws and writes very detailed instructions on how to fix the DHD, which are then sent through the gate to the team. SG-1 returns home safely but were not able to find anything which could help Jack's problem. Soon after, the computer dials a gate address and cannot be overridden. Carter informs Hammond that the gate needs more power to activate. Meanwhile Teal'c and Jackson follow O'Neill to the power room, where he hooks up the device that he made. Carter then tells Hammond at the control room that the Gate has suddenly obtained the amount of power it needed. The Gate dials on its own, and a wormhole is established at its eighth chevron (instead of the normal seventh). Jack, Daniel and Teal'c then enter the control room and Sam figures out that the gate has dialed outside of the Milky Way galaxy and the eighth chevron is for a distance calculation to that galaxy. Hammond allows O'Neill to go through the gate, but without an GDO for safety precautions. O'Neill, upon arriving on the other side, makes contact with the Asgard. The Asgard remove the memory of the Ancients from his brain. They explain to him that the information was not meant for him as his brain was not developed enough for it. However, his subconscious mind brought him to Othala, in the galaxy of Ida where he could get help. They have been monitoring Earth for some time and discovered that the humans of Earth have great potential. The Asgard inform him about the Ancients and how there was an Alliance of Four Great Races (the Ancients, Asgard, Nox, and Furlings), and that O'Neill's race is advancing to become the Fifth Great Race and he had taken the first step. O'Neill is then sent home through the Stargate with none of the Ancient knowledge. He expresses faith in humanity's future, hinting that the Asgard has told him "The Meaning Of Life". The program that O'Neill had been writing earlier allowed him to return without an ID device. + +Stargate Command receives a set of coordinates which they believe originated from the Tok'ra. They soon send SG-1 to the world when suddenly, a Goa'uld Death Glider screeches overhead and crashes nearby. They investigate the crash site and find their long time adversary, Apophis, extremely wounded and begging for help. Knowing he will soon die, the former System Lord asks SG-1 "for sanctuary," and the team reluctantly brings him to Earth. When Dr. Janet Fraiser insists that Apophis be rushed to the Operating Room if he is to live, Captain Samantha Carter concludes that he was tortured with a Hara'kesh, the same hand device that was used to kill Jolinar of Malkshur. With such a valuable source of information, Stargate Command calls the Tok'ra (who send Martouf) and then waste no time interrogating Apophis. In desperation, he asks for a new host, but Colonel Jack O'Neill quickly tells him to "go to hell". Apophis then reveals that he was defeated by a powerful Goa'uld named Sokar, who is an old and extremely powerful Goa'uld and who once lived on Earth where he posed as Satan. Because of this Martouf and Lantash try to persuade SG-1 and Major General George S. Hammond to send Apophis back to Sokar but Hammond refuses. Soon after, the Stargate activates with Sokar on the other end, who demands his prisoner be returned to him. However, just as the SGC dismisses his demand, Sokar fires a particle accelerator through the gate, heating the Iris to dangerous levels. The SGC resorts to spraying the iris with liquid nitrogen, but its effect is minimal. Dr. Daniel Jackson suggests dialing out between attacks, exploiting the 38-minute window, the time a Stargate can stay open without additional energy (used in the episode "There But for the Grace of God" for the same purpose). Unfortunately, Sokar easily reopens the gate faster than the SGC (Because a Dial Home Device dials faster than the SGC's dialing computer) and resumes his attack. Over the time every member of SG-1 talks with Apophis. Daniel asks him for his wife Sha're and also reveals to him that it was Daniel, not Heru'ur, who stole the child of Apophis and Amaunet. Teal'c happily watches his former master experience pain (he even stops Fraiser when she wants to help him) and tells him that one day all Jaffa will be free. To end Sokar's attack, it is decided to allow Apophis to die and return him to the planet where he was found. Rapidly aging and weakening, Apophis can no longer control the host body, and Apophis' host emerges and Daniel speaks with him before his death. Daniel gives him an Egyptian funeral that the host would've normally received. Sam creates a new rapid dialing program that establishes a wormhole before Sokar can attack a third time. Once the wormhole is open, the corpse is passed through the gate, and Sokar is apparently satisfied. Martouf reveals that Sokar will surely revive Apophis with a Sarcophagus to torture him as long as he wants. With the threat from Sokar gone, the Tok'ra give General Hammond a Tollan Inverted phase communicator to contact them with. In return, Jack gives them a GDO for future contact. + +SG-1 comes upon what appears to be in an alien lab with many bizarre devices scattered about in the room. They soon find a palm pilot-like device with peculiar symbols on it, in no language Dr. Daniel Jackson can recognize. An old man suddenly appears whom Teal'c identifies as Ma'chello, an outlaw highly hunted by the Goa'uld. The old man, after eccentrically conversing with Jackson, tells him to take hold of a device, seemingly having no more effect than a static shock. The old man collapses and is brought through the Stargate to Earth. Soon after, Jackson starts acting strangely. He claims that he was told to go home when he wasn't, walks around asking people to teach him about local customs, and befriends a homeless man named Fred. Meanwhile, SG-1 is called to the infirmary because the "old man" knows quite a lot about Jackson. They soon realize that Jackson and Ma'chello have switched bodies. However, Jackson (in Ma'chello's body) is very ill, on the verge of death. He slips into a coma, with no apparent outlook from Dr. Janet Fraiser for recovery. Captain Samantha Carter begs him to wake up. He does, saying, "Nice to know you don't just like me for my looks!" Ma'chello is soon tracked down after treating Fred to a "bounteous feast" of ice cream sundaes in a diner. He uses his credit card to pay, allowing the police to easily locate and arrest him. He is taken straightaway to a cell at Stargate Command and bargains with Carter to keep Jackson's young body. He offers to teach Carter how to decode his "palm-pilot," which contains coded plans for powerful anti-Goa'uld inventions, written in a code Ma'chello invented. Carter quickly declines, but takes him to meet Jackson, who Ma'chello has told Carter to consider as "a casualty of war." Jackson accuses Ma'chello saying that if he really hates the Goa'uld yet would steal another's body, then he's no better than the Goa'uld. After returning home from Ma'chello's planet to retrieve the device, Teal'c and Colonel Jack O'Neill reveal they have accidentally switched bodies. Yet, trouble soon strikes as Teal'c's body contracts an illness. This mean O'Neill must learn kelno'reem, a deep-state of meditation Jaffa use to heal themselves, in order to make his body whole again. After many fruitless attempts in Carter's lab to switch O'Neill and Teal'c back, Ma'chello divulges the fact that switching is strictly a one-way process; a unique exchange of bodies can only happen once. He offers to translate his work so Earth can use advanced technology to fight the Goa'uld. Nevertheless, Carter soon formulates a plan to play a little "musical chairs" with everyone's bodies, simply rotating their minds through the affected circle of people, instead of trying a direct exchange. Ma'chello reluctantly agrees and expresses regret that he cannot teach Carter his code. So, O'Neill (in Tealc's body) switches with Ma'chello (in Jackson's body). Then Teal'c (in O'Neill's body) switches with Jackson (in Ma'chello's body). Then Teal'c (in Ma'chello's body) swaps with Ma'chello (in Teal'c's body). Finally, O'Neill (in Jackson's body) swaps with Jackson (in O'Neill's body). Ma'chello, finally returned to his own organic vessel, thanks Jackson "for the holiday," and passes away quietly. + +After an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle is downed on the mysterious flora-covered planet PJ2-445 but a few minutes after take-off, the plane does not respond to controls and begins to go down. The video from the UAV shows that it has crashed into a plant, and a curious alien appears in the camera's view, and drags the UAV away. SG-1 must travel there to recover it. After arriving on the planet, SG-1 soon discovers a primitive people who do not talk. After recovering the UAV, the people immediately begin to fall ill to unknown "illness". As Colonel Jack O'Neill and his team try to help the villagers comfort the increasing number of sick, Dr. Janet Fraiser arrives to assess the situation. Teal'c and O'Neill check villages nearby to see if the disease has spread. While en route, O'Neill nearly collapses and is coming down with a headache. When the headaches worsen O'Neill and Dr. Daniel Jackson return to Earth and the headaches stop. After taking one of the sick aliens back to Stargate Command for medical attention, Captain Samantha Carter and Fraiser discover that the plant the UAV crashed in was releasing a sound at a certain frequency. This sound made the humans feel ill and irritated. It also made the native inhabitants seriously ill. Furthermore, they discover that the natives relied on this sound that the plants released in order to survive. Carter sets up a special sound system to cure the natives. With SG-1 watching the village from afar, the natives release a sound that causes the plants to bloom. Carter realizes that the natives and the plant had a symbiotic relationship. While the plant released one sound, the natives released a different sound to help the plants survive. SG-1 returns to Earth. + +During an unscheduled activation of the Stargate, the iris continually opens, despite Stargate Commands attempts to close it. A young boy with a bald head steps through and Captain Samantha Carter examines him. She finds that he is neither a Goa'uld nor a Jaffa. The young boy then claims that he was sent to warn the humans. After further examinations to make sure he doesn't have a small gate-destroying bomb or poisoned teeth like other alien children that came through, the boy tells them that his "Mother" wants him to talk with Colonel Jack O'Neill alone. Once everyone leaves, the boy tells O'Neill about his mother's findings after she followed the SG team through the Stargate. He takes on the name of Charlie, O'Neill's son. Charlie comes from Reetalia, where invisible aliens, the Reetou, live. The Goa'uld regard the Reetou as a possible threat and have been trying to wipe them out. As a genetically engineered human, his rapid growth was failing, and it was necessary for him to come to Earth immediately. He explains that Mother kept the Iris open for him and that another rebel faction of the Reetou wants to defeat the Goa'uld by destroying all humans, thus depriving the Goa'uld of potential hosts. SG-1 call the Tok'ra with the Tollan Inverted phase communicator. Jacob Carter and another Tok'ra bring in devices called Transphase Eradication Rods which can detect a Reetou and destroy it. Charlie gives SG-1 the co-ordinates for the rebel base. SG-1 and the Tok'ra gate to the planet in question and although it looks clear, as they approach a hill, Selmak emerges, informing Jack that the Reetou are present. Taking cover, the team then edge closer to a cliff and by using a TER, discover a large group of Reetou Rebels which leaves the team and Jacob stunned. They then return to the SGC to inform Hammond of the troubling news where they inform Hammond that threat assessment is very high. To prevent any Reetou Rebels from returning or even accessing the gate, Sam installs a Palm scanner but upon learning that a Reetou Rebel has come back with them due to Teal'c reacting as if he's in a great deal of pain, she puts the Base on lockdown while Teal'c destroys one in the Control Room although the Reetou Rebel manages to kill the Tok'ra accompanying Jacob. As a result of the invasion, SG-1 split into four teams to search for the Reetou Rebels and destroy them if the opportunity arises and although Jacob is left injured and two members of the teams are killed, they're ultimately successful in getting rid of all the Reetou Rebels. In the infirmary, Charlie's mother shoots a rebel but is shot by another which leaves Charlie devastated. After cleaning the base, Charlie's major organs begin to shut down. The Tok'ra offer to take him in and blend him with a symbiote, which Jack and Dr. Janet Fraiser agree to. However, it is not known if this worked in the end. + +A powerful solar flare crossing the path of the Stargate's matter stream causes the SG-1 team to be propelled around the sun and travel back in time 30 years. They arrive in the Embarkation room, which was then a top-secret missile testing facility, and are arrested by guards that think they are Soviet spies because Dr. Daniel Jackson can speak Russian. While Colonel Jack O'Neill is being interrogated and using comedic answers (i.e. Star Trek and Star Wars references) to obscure their true identities, a young Lieutenant searches through SG-1's possessions and discovers a note stating that he should help them, a note Major General George S. Hammond had given Captain Samantha Carter before they left. While escaping custody with the help of the lieutenant, they discover that he is in fact General Hammond, 30 years younger, who recognized the note as in his own handwriting. He gives them some money to purchase disguises (which O'Neill promises to pay back, with interest), they swear him to secrecy, and hit him with a Zat'nik'tel blast to make it look like he fought them. The SG-1 team must find a way home—if nothing else, Teal'c will eventually be taken over by his symbiote unless he can return to the present—but it seems apparent they are doomed to be stuck in the past. However, Carter sees that the note includes two dates and times, and grasps that the dates actually describe two upcoming solar flares on the opposite side of Sol. This information was identified from research on alternative applications for the gate she was ordered to work on by General Hammond. To use these flares as an effective means of getting back to the future, they must find the Stargate. After a bold hitchhiking maneuver by Teal'c, SG-1 is able to travel across the country with a hippie couple, Michael Clark and Jennifer Clark, who are heading to Woodstock in their bus. Late in their trip, the couple reveals that Michael has been drafted, and they are trying to decide whether or not to flee to Canada. O'Neill begins a response to Michael, but Carter stops him in order to prevent them from influencing the past. Michael is never mentioned again in the series, and his choice is not known. Donning a convincing German accent, Daniel learns the location of the Stargate from Catherine Langford. SG-1 manages to activate the gate (stored in an old Washington D.C. armory) and run through while under fire from guards. However, they arrive in an empty, dark gate room rather than in Stargate Command that they know. An elderly woman walks in, who, it turns out, is Cassandra Fraiser, and she tells them that they stepped into the Stargate a few seconds early and were sent far into the future. Long ago, Sam told her that she must rendezvous with them. Using an unknown device Casssandra activates the stargate without needing to dial or generating an unstable vortex. The team steps through the gate and arrives back in the normal gate room with General Hammond waiting for them. He explains that as a young lieutenant he was ordered to escort four trespassers out of Cheyenne Mountain. In Carter's vest pocket he found a note requesting for his assistance. Obviously he followed its instructions. All he had to do was wait for the right time to give Carter the note. He remembered the cut on Carter's hand as he removed the handcuffs. General Hammond also reminds O’Neill of the money he owes him ($539.50, including interest). + +Colonel Jack O'Neill awakens from cryogenic stasis pod and is informed that his team and everyone he knew, is dead. He is told that they are in Stargate Command and 79 years have passed. Now there are 28 SG teams and another 10 occupy offworld colonies. Earth is still fighting the Goa'uld and is losing. To find out what race could have put him in cryogenic suspension, they connect him to an interface to remember key events from his past using a Tok'ra Memory recall device; these memories are displayed to them, (and represented to as snippets of previous episodes). It wasn't the Nox nor the Asgard. Suddenly, O'Neill slips into a coma. Meanwhile, in another room, the SGC is bringing up another stasis pod which Captain Samantha Carter and Dr. Daniel Jackson awaken individually from. They are each informed that they are the sole survivor of SG-1. Meanwhile, Teal'c awakens in the real SGC and is informed that he was left for dead by the Stargate and SG-3 and SG-7 and has been unconscious for three weeks. Teal'c declares his intentions of finding his friends, which Major General George S. Hammond finds pointless, since they'd been searching all over that planet and found no trace of SG-1. Teal'c then leaves the SGC and goes to Chulak. Carter taps into her memories of when they destroyed Apophis' two Ha'taks. Jackson recounts his memories of the System Lords they faced: Apophis, Heru'ur and Hathor. O'Neill wakes up to hear his "rescuers", talking in Goa'uld. He knocks out the man looking after him and takes his clothes. O'Neill discovers he is actually in a mock-up of the SGC inside a Goa'uld compound. He hides from Serpent Guards and Horus Guards. He finds similar mock-ups and rescues the other members of his team. They want to know who would make a mock-up of the SGC and who would know so much of its design. Suddenly, Hathor appears and they are surrounded by Jaffa and minor Goa'uld. Hathor wants the information from SG-1 of how to contact the Asgard and the iris codes. When they would not speak, she announces her intent to implant one of them with a Goa'uld symbiote. + +Colonel Robert Makepeace returns to inform Major General George S. Hammond that the Tok'ra have found SG-1 and that they've been kidnapped by Hathor. Hammond sends SG-teams 3, 5, 6 and 11 to find them. In the mock-up Stargate Command, Hathor ponders which member of SG-1 should be a new host. The mature symbiote chooses Colonel Jack O'Neill, but before she could implant the symbiote, Jack attacks and is shot with a Zat'nik'tel by Dr. Raully. In the stasis chamber, Hathor implants the symbiote and tells O'Neill that once it takes control, he'll swear loyalty to her. Suddenly, gunfire is heard and Hathor commands the Jaffa head to find the source. The Raully reveals herself as a Tok'ra and puts Jack in stasis to kill the symbiote. Hathor finds out and uses her Kara kesh to throw the Tok'ra against the wall. Makepeace and his men free Captain Samantha Carter and Dr. Daniel Jackson, but soon get a message from the men at the Stargate: They have been ambushed. Carter, unaware that a Tok'ra spy has helped Jack, informs Makepeace that O'Neill is now a host. Makepeace declares Jack a casualty and they head to the gate. When they get there, the gate is guarded by Jaffa, a forcefield and staff cannon towers. A cannon blast from one of the towers punches a hole in the ground as Makepeace dives for cover. Noticing a strange blue glow emanating from the hole, he looks inside to find a network of Tok'ra tunnels created by the spy as a means of entering and exiting the compound unseen. They are forced to retreat to the Tok'ra tunnels where they attempt to find a way under the shield, but discover it extends underground and they cannot pass. Meanwhile, Hammond contacts them for an update because they are now behind schedule. As he lets the teams know he will send reinforcements, he scans the area with the MALP. Trofsky fires at it with his zat and disables it. Because of the sheer size of the forcefield, Carter deduces there must be a massive generator nearby. She takes with her a device to detect energy readings and heads back to the fake SGC to shut down the power to the shield. On Chulak, Teal'c finds Bra'tac left for dead. After helping Bra'tac, he summons nearby Jaffa together to speak with them. He announces to the Jaffa that the Goa'uld are false gods and asks for help in fighting alongside the Tau'ri. Only a few Jaffa and Bra'tac remain to join the fight, but it is revealed that Hammond has tagged along because the President of the United States refused to risk any more lives to save SG-1. He went to Chulak to find Teal'c, to ask for reinforcements and to help out himself. Bra'tac leads them to a now derelict Needle Threader hidden nearby many years ago. Makepeace, Daniel, and everyone else still hiding in the Tok'ra tunnels are captured by the Jaffa. In the Goa'uld compound, Carter finds Raully and revives O'Neill, but is attacked by Hathor. O'Neill manages to throw Hathor into the stasis chamber unprotected, which kills her. Rually tells them where the power generator for the shield is. They arrive in the fake gate room and Jack flips a switch, revealing the generator. At the gate, O'Neill confronts the Jaffa, first pretending to be a Goa'uld, then telling them that Hathor is dead. They refuse to believe him. Sam blows the generator at the last minute. Suddenly, the gate activates and a Needle Threader (flown by Teal'c and Hammond), Bra'tac and rebel Jaffa came through. Trofsky is finally killed by Bra'tac and the two staff cannon emplacements are destroyed by Hammond and Teal'c. Once all of Hathor's Jaffa are taken care of, SG-1 returns home. + +Jacob Carter of the Tok'ra comes to Earth to inform SG-1 that a Goa'uld named Setesh has been missing from their records (they describe as a sort of "Goa'uld census") for thousands of years, about the time that Ra left Earth. The Tok'ra have come to the conclusion that Setesh is still living on Earth and Selmak agrees to help them capture Setesh. Dr. Daniel Jackson begins scouring historical records and finds that several "cults of Setesh" have existed in many cultures throughout history. He finds that the ATF has begun monitoring a modern cult led by a Seth Fargough. Several deprogrammed former cult members have stated that, among other things, Setesh even murdered many fellow members but the most incredible detail is that Setesh also has the ability to make his own eyes glow. SG-1 arrives at Setesh's compound in Seattle, Washington and break into an area surrounding the compound. However, upon discovering the weapons involved, they retreat, only to run into an ATF team led by ATF Special Agent James Hamner who demands to know what the Air Force are doing here. In a tent, Hamner informs them of what they're doing but keeps running into brick walls with Jack and Jacob both telling him that their work is highly classified. Daniel also mentions that Setesh has probably set up escape tunnels around the compound and Colonel Jack O'Neill has the ATF assist in locating the entrance. Setesh uses an Nish'ta to brainwash the cult, so SG-1 used electrical shock devices built into ear pieces to counter the effects of the virus. After infiltrating the compound through the escape tunnels, the team manages to free Setesh's followers from his mind control by shocking them with Zat'nik'tels, but Setesh hides among the followers and attempts to escape through the tunnel. Jacob senses him but Setesh attacks him with his Kara kesh, leaving Jacob and Selmak incapacitated. Selmak then gives Captain Samantha Carter his Kara kesh before telling her to Setesh but despite Carter insisting that she can't, Selmak tells her that she can do it, stating that she has the will. Sam then heads for Setesh before yelling his name. Setesh turns around and tries to attack, only for Sam to use the hand device first, sending Setesh to the ground. Setesh tries to fight back but Sam uses the device yet again, the impact killing Setesh once and for all. Afterwards, Carter and Jacob visit Mark Carter in San Diego. + +At Stargate Command, the U.S. Secretary of Defense, Arthur Simms, visits and gives a speech during a gathering in the gate room. After Simms has finished his speech, Major General George S. Hammond tells all the military personnel to come to attention which they do before announcing that Captain Samantha Carter has been promoted to the rank of Major much to Sam's own surprise. As Sam steps forward, Hammond and Sam's commanding officer, Colonel Jack O'Neill remove her Captain insignia, replacing them with those of a Major before both men salute Sam. Hammond then announces that Jack is to speak but when Jack starts his speech, he is suddenly transported away, much to everyone's shock with Hammond announcing that the situation is a Code Nine. Jack finds himself aboard an Asgard ship where he is greeted by Thor. Thor wastes no time in telling him that the Goa'uld System Lords plan an attack on Earth due to the killing of Hathor even though she tried to overthrow the System Lords. The System Lords will send a fleet far more powerful than the one SG-1 faced at the hands of Apophis. The majority of the Asgard fleet is busy. However, Thor offers Earth a membership in the Asgard's Protected Planets Treaty as an alternative to destruction. Back at SGC, SG-1 talks with Hammond about the offer, when Thor appears and says that the System Lords will appear soon to negotiate, arriving via the SGC's Stargate and that O'Neill will represent Earth. A while later, during a briefing, Dr. Daniel Jackson informs the people at SGC about the three System Lords who will be appearing on behalf of the System Lords: Cronus, Yu, and Nirrti. Cronus was the Goa'uld who banished Sokar. Yu was based on one of China's greatest emperors. Yu is most willing for Earth to join the Protected Planets, because his territories are located on the far side of the Goa'uld Empire and thus Earth's survival would destabilize his enemies with little adverse affect on himself. Nirrti was an Indian god of destruction and death and also the Goa'uld who destroyed Cassandra Fraiser's planet Hanka. The SGC takes immediate actions to follow the rules of the meeting as given them by the Asgard, which includes the removal of every weapon from the premises. Finally, the Goa'uld arrive and are quickly ushered away as Cronus seems to resentfully regard Teal'c. Daniel learns from Teal'c that his father, Ronac, was Cronus' First Prime and Cronus his executioner. Cronus sent his father to fight against a System Lord much more powerful than himself and when his father came back defeated, Cronus killed him, and Teal'c and his mother fled to Chulak. Teal'c then vowed to become Apophis' First Prime seeing as Apophis and Cronus are mortal enemies. The negotiations soon begin but O'Neill offends the visitors before the meeting even starts by talking without recognition, effectively ending it. Thor explains that he spoke out of turn and the System Lords don't like each other, which is the reason they didn't help Apophis. Jack and Daniel later talk with Thor, asking him why the Asgard haven't taken the Goa'uld out. Thor tells them that the Asgard are not proud of the situation, but reveals to them that the Asgard have to constantly bluff their power with the Goa'uld because a much greater threat is at the forefront of their own galaxy. Banished System Lords like Sokar, wo be thrown back by the System Lords if he were to attack Earth. O'Neill informs SG-1 of the situation and negotiations continue, after an apology is sent for any previous "misdemeanors." Finally, the Goa'uld agree to the Asgard offer, yet demand a high price from Earth: immediate and unconditional surrender of the two Earth Stargates, which would end the SGC and destroy any potential for future acquisition of advanced alien technology. Therefore, the Tau'ri would cease to be a threat to the Goa'uld. After talking it over with SG-1 and Hammond, O'Neill asks Thor for his advice but he is unable to help him. Regretfully, the United States Secretary of Defense informs them that Earth agrees to the demands of the Goa'uld arguing that the Stargates would be of no use if Earth was gone. Daniel goes to relay this to the System Lords when he hears an alarm and discovers both Cronus and Teal'c badly wounded. Upon the sight, it's assumed Teal'c would be the main suspect for attack considering his family's unfriendly connection with Cronus. Dr. Janet Fraiser diagnoses that Cronus is mortally wounded and as Jack, Sam, Daniel, Hammond and Fraiser discuss the case, Daniel reveals that Teal'c's resentment towards Cronus is due to the fact that Cronus killed Teal'c's father, which has Jack completely stunned and wondering why Teal'c didn't tell them although Daniel defends him, stating that Teal'c confided in Daniel. SG-1 enlists the aid of Nirrti to use a Goa'uld healing device (the one device Carter is able to leave at the base as seen earlier in the episode) yet she claims he is beyond her help. Thor tells O'Neill he must depart from Earth, leaving the negotiations in the hands of the Tau'ri. Teal'c later wakes up and recalls that he and Cronus were attacked by an invisible force, however, it was not Reetou, which is the first suspect. Putting that aside, Sam herself is able to use the healing device on Cronus again and heals his abrasions, which suddenly causes a guilty Nirrti be backed into a corner. They accuse her of lying and developing cloaking technology that throws Yu into a rage, accusing her of threatening their relationship with the Asgard and coveting Cronus's territory. He attacks her but she easily cloaks herself, procures a weapon and flees, intending to head for the Stargate. However, Sam and a SGC solider arrive with the two of them now wielding a Transphase Eradication Rod that is aimed directly at Nirrti. Sam asks Nirrti if the Goa'uld has ever seen a TER work because right now, Sam would love to demonstrate. This ultimately forces Nirrti to surrender. Under the circumstances, both Yu and Cronus agree to the treaty without Earth giving up use of the Stargate. Before the Goa'uld leave (with Nirrti now a prisoner of Cronus), Cronus informs SGC that he will show no mercy to captured personnel in the future nor will any other System Lord. The episode ends with Thor's ship leaving Earth. + +On the planet PY3-948, SG-1 comes upon a closed chamber. Upon opening it, they discover the dead bodies of the Linvris, a group of nine lesser Goa'uld who fought against the System Lords. However the cause of their death is unclear. Dr. Daniel Jackson looks at a Goa'uld tablet that one is holding and then takes it and a Page turning device for it back to Earth. Back at Stargate Command, Jackson suddenly starts having hallucinations. At first he sees a member of an SG team as a Linvris and later he sees one of the dead bodies of the Linvris coming out of an activated Stargate in his closet. However Dr. Janet Fraiser can't find anything physically wrong with him, and relieves him of duty, suspecting that he is developing hebephrenic schizophrenia (it is even believed that the cause for this may be the Stargate itself). While playing cards with Colonel Jack O'Neill, Jackson suddenly sees a Goa'uld sneak up and then implant itself in O'Neill. Panicked, Jackson jumps on his friend and tries to stop the symbiote. This final outbreak causes Jackson to be sent into a nearby mental hospital, where he spends the next few days in a white cell, still having hallucinations. Some time later the rest of SG-1 visits him, shocked at what is happening to their former comrade. During their visit, Jackson sees a Linvris walk into his cell and tries to attack it, but is stopped by Teal'c. However, when he comes in contact with Teal'c, he sees a small, glowing blue thing climb out of him and into the Jaffa. However, when he says this, it is thought to be just another hallucination. He is then stunned, and as he collapses, he says the name "Ma'chello." Later Teal'c suddenly falls ill. His symbiote is dying, so there is no help for him. Daniel in the meantime begins to recover and decides that the cause of his insanity is a Goa'uld killing weapon designed by Ma'chello, with whom SG-1 came into contact earlier (see "Holiday"). He tries to explain this to Dr. James MacKenzie, the leading psychologist of the hospital, who naturally believes that Jackson is still hallucinating. Jackson then challenges MacKenzie to find out if Teal'c is sick. When MacKenzie discovers that Jackson is right, he releases Jackson back to the SGC. One of the tablets similar to the one found on PY3-948 is brought to the SGC from Area 51 (where all of Ma'chello's weapons were stored) in hopes of finding a cure. However, when the device is activated, the ten blue things inside it emerge, break out of containment, and infect Major Samantha Carter, Dr. Fraiser and O'Neill. While Dr. Fraiser and O'Neill start to suffer the effect of the weapon very quickly (since they were infected with three of the beings), the weapons inside Carter fall out and die, as she has a protein marker left over from when she was blended with the Tok'ra Jolinar of Malkshur. With Dr. Fraiser's help she uses some of the proteins from her blood to create an antidote, which is able to fool the weapons. The creation is injected into Dr. Fraiser and O'Neill, then into Teal'c, and all of the weapons die. + +Stargate Command is participating in an exchange of information and technology. The SGC has made contact with another world, Orban, the Orbanians are more technologically advanced than Earth, but know little of the Stargate or Goa'uld. The SGC provides them knowledge of both, in exchange for Naquadah generator technology. Teal'c and Dr. Daniel Jackson remain on Orban while Major Samantha Carter and Colonel Jack O'Neill return to Earth. Teal'c relates all his knowledge of the Goa'uld to a boy named Tomin, who is "Urrone", an Orbanian apprentice. Daniel works with other Urrone to investigate the ancient temple where the Orbanian Stargate was discovered. On Earth, Kalan, the Orbanian liaison, and an Urrone girl, Merrin, present Sam with a Naquadah generator, and Merrin remains behind to explain the generator technology to Sam. On Orban, Daniel realizes the Orbanians are not of Aztec but Teotihuacan descent, and theorizes that the arrival of the Goa'uld caused Teotihuacan's downfall. Daniel is directed by Kalan to explain this to Tomin. Back on Earth, Sam is having trouble understanding Merrin's explanation of the generator technology. She attempts to have Merrin simplify her explanations, but Dr. Janet Fraiser interrupts and asks to conduct "Follow-up tests" on Merrin. When the tests are complete, Fraiser calls a meeting with Major General George S. Hammond, Jack, and Sam, explaining that she has discovered Merrin has nanites in her bloodstream and brain, superseding her normal brain synapses. General Hammond quickly begins preparing for a crisis, but Merrin explains that the nanites were designed on Orban, that all Orbanians carry them as a means to gather information, and that each Urrone is given millions of nanites to assist them in learning large amounts of information very quickly, accounting for the high intelligence of the Urrone children that had been observed. Merrin also tells the group that each Urrone must undergo the Averium and that at each Averium all of the Orbanians are given one nanite, but does not explain any further. General Hammond is mollified and allows Carter to continue studying the Naquadah generator with Merrin's help. The next morning on Orban, Daniel recovers evidence of Goa'uld occupation, and Kalan gives Daniel more tools to continue excavation. Kalan also directs Teal'c to teach a new Urrone boy, Solen, of methods to combat the Goa'uld. Teal'c asks to teach Tomin instead, but Kalan tells Teal'c he is unavailable. Teal'c and Daniel point out that Tomin is already familiar with the subject, but Kalan insists it is impossible as Tomin has undergone the Averium, and Teal'c demands to see Tomin. Kalan takes Teal'c and Daniel to see Tomin, but Tomin does not respond or interact with them. Teal'c asks Kalan to explain the Averium, and Kalan tells him that an Averium is a ceremony where an Urrone's nanites are removed and dispersed among the population to increase the Orbanians' knowledge. Daniel asks Kalan what will happen to Tomin, and Kalan replies that he will remain with the other past Urrone in an institution as he cannot be taught because his brain will reject nanites. Daniel asks if it has been attempted to teach Urrone children without nanites, but Kalan appears confused. Teal'c returns to Earth and tells General Hammond what he has learned, where Fraiser hypothesizes that as nanites replace natural synapses in a the brain, the Averium reverts an Urrone's mind back to an infant state. As Merrin will be required to undergo the Averium when she returns to Orban, SG-1 and General Hammond attempt to have the Orbanians not remove Merrin's nanites in an attempt to retain her personality. The Orbanians, however, refuse and Merrin does not accept the offer of amnesty. Daniel, who remained on Orban, prevents Kalan from attempting to travel to Earth without first sending an IDC, but Kalan insists he must retrieve Merrin, as without her the Orbanian scientists waiting for her nanites will be forced to wait another twelve years as another Urrone is chosen to specialize in Naquadah generators. Daniel realizes the effect that withholding Merrin is having, and takes Kalan to the SGC with him. General Hammond agrees to allow Merrin to return to Orban and undergo the Averium, but Jack intervenes and takes Merrin from the base, without permission. Jack takes Merrin to a nearby school and the teacher allows her to participate in an art class, where the students are asked to paint something they love. Merrin, displaying a characteristic of the Orbanians, struggles with the concept of 'fun', and begins to paint a Naquadah generator. Jack gives Merrin a new sheet of paper to paint on and directs her to paint the flowers in Samantha Carter's lab. Merrin struggles with this task as well, as Jack attempts to break her mindset by asking her to paint a garden without the correct colors or brushes to paint fine lines. Eventually, Merrin comprehends the task and enjoys painting, thanking Jack for giving her the opportunity. Jack offers her amnesty again, but Merrin insists she must return to Orban and undergo the Averium to help her people. Jack takes Merrin back to the SGC and gives her a box of crayons before she returns to Orban. General Hammond threatens to Court-martial Jack, but he merely replies that he was giving Merrin a chance to be a normal child and will accept any punishment General Hammond decides to give him, which sways him into giving Jack no punishment. Several days later Kalan asks SG-1 to return to Orban, and SG-1 is taken to the institution for past Urrone. The institution is now filled with children playing, rather than sitting around in an infant state, and SG-1 is informed that all past Urrone children will now learn, without nanites, after their Averium, as a result of changes that Merrin has brought about. + +In an alternate reality, Dr. Samantha Carter and Major Charles Kawalsky are running from a Goa'uld attack inside Stargate Command. Using the Quantum Mirror from planet P3R-233, they make their way to Area 51, where the Quantum Mirror of our universe is being held, having been discovered by SG-1. (see "There But for the Grace of God") The two are captured and sent to Stargate Command where they are interrogated. During a meeting it is learned that in the universe of the alternate SGC (there called SGA), Colonel Jack O'Neill and Dr. Carter were married until O'Neill was killed defending the SGA. Also Teal'c is still an enemy of Earth as the First Prime of Apophis and has led the attack on the SGA, while Dr. Daniel Jackson never joined the SGA. The most shocking revelation is, however, that the Goa'uld have invaded Earth, conquered every major city and made slaves of the population. Dr. Carter and Kawalsky are allowed to remain at the SGC. Colonel Jack O'Neill visits Dr. Carter and she tells him about their marriage and how he died. She cries on his shoulder as he awkwardly comforts her. Later, Dr. Carter starts suffering from Entropic cascade failure--the result of two Carters in one universe--which she had predicted but had not expected to start so soon. If Dr. Carter and Kawalsky stay, she'll eventually die, but if they return to their reality the Goa'uld will kill them. To prevent this a mission is planned in which O'Neill, the Dr. Carter and Kawalsky, Dr. Daniel Jackson, and Teal'c (in Jaffa armor) will go back to the alternate universe and contact the Asgard to free Earth. While the two Carters work on the Power booster device which will help them contact the Asgard, Kawalsky explains to Jackson how the Quantum Mirror works. After the team goes through the mirror, they are able to capture the alternate Teal'c, who is then killed by the Teal'c of our reality. Teal'c then takes his place while the others activate the power generator and successfully dial the Stargate to get Dr. Carter to the Asgard homeworld. Apophis discovers Teal'c's betrayal and the team is captured. Apophis questions them and has the alternate Major General George S. Hammond killed. Even after they then inform him of the alternate reality they come from, he threatens to kill Jackson. Before he is able to do so the Asgard arrive, forcing most of the Jaffa to flee and resurrecting Hammond. The mission completed, the non-alternate team returns home, but not before O'Neill and the alternate Carter share a kiss. + +While looking for a downed Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, SG-1 runs into a red forcefield which turns out to be a trap set by Aris Boch, a non-human bounty hunter who works for the Goa'uld. They are disarmed and escorted to his cloaked Tel'tak, where they are imprisoned. Although Boch was hunting someone else, he is happy to have captured the famous SG-1. Afterwards he leaves but then returns with a shoulder injury, which he orders Major Samantha Carter to take care of. Afterwards he tells SG-1 that he is hunting a Goa'uld named Kel'tar. This Goa'uld is plotting against Sokar and thus the powerful System Lord offered a high reward for his capture. He then press-gangs the help of Colonel Jack O'Neill and Dr. Daniel Jackson to capture Kel'tar, while Carter and Teal'c are imprisoned in the back of the cargo ship. Outside the ship Aris even gives Jack a Zat'nik'tel with which to hunt, but the Colonel immediately shoots Boch. Jack and Daniel then return to the ship, planning to fly it to the next planet with a Stargate. However upon returning to the Tel'tak they trigger a self-destruct mechanism that they are unable to shut down (since Carter and Teal'c are still imprisoned). However, this is revealed to be another of Boch's mind games - he returns and deactivates the self-destruct. It is then revealed that a Zat does not affect him, thanks to his armor (or an innate aspect of his physiology). After their plan went wrong, Boch tells Carter more about his species: because his race can't be taken as a host for Goa'uld symbiotes, they nearly wiped out his whole race and enslaved the survivors. He says his wife was killed and his son enslaved. Boch also tells her that one day he wants to free his son. After SG-1 is able to capture the Goa'uld Boch is hunting, it turns out that he is in fact a Tok'ra named Korra. He reveals to them that Boch is not a loyal servant of the Goa'uld but in fact is chemically dependent on a substance named roshna, which only the Goa'uld can produce. He also tells them that the story of Boch's son is a lie. In the meantime, Boch has set up another trap for the team (using Carter as a bait) and finally captures all of them. SG-1 then is able to convince Boch that the Tok'ra are not like the Goa'uld and the bounty hunter finally lets Korra go after Teal'c offered himself to be given to the Goa'uld. However Boch then decides to let him also go by tricking Sokar that he and Teal'c were destroyed on his ship due to "malfunctions," but in reality they jettison themselves in the escape pods. In the end Boch gives Carter a sample of roshna, hoping that one day his race will be free of it. He then leaves and tries to find another employer because Sokar will eventually find out about his betrayal. + +The SG-1 team arrives on a primitive planet that they soon discover has medieval Christian beliefs. At first, they speculate whether or not a Goa'uld is posing as Yahweh of Judaism and Christianity. The team enters the village and sees a girl named Mary chained up to a pole, they release her and Simon, a monk from the village, comes up to them and beg for the girl's life. He is told by the team that they are not demons, and the girl is not possessed, she is just sick (she only has chickenpox). As he tells them of the demon that comes to the village, an Unas enters, and demands five sacrifices by the next day, as there was no one for him to get now. SG-1 realizes Sokar plays Satan in this world. The Canon arrives at the village, and is told about the happening. The Canon is the one to choose those to be given to the Unas and blatantly abuses the position. He wears a "magical" ring, that seems to be of Goa'uld technology, that allows him to summon lightning to strike others. Feeling threatened by SG-1, he uses this ring to incapacitate them and rallies the townspeople against them by calling them demons (since they came from the "Circle of Darkness", the local name for the Stargate). Teal'c is accused of witchcraft and put through The Tests on the basis of the mark of Apophis on his forehead ("a mark of the devil") and appears to drown in the last of these tests. Due to his symbiote and Kelno'reem state when drowned, Teal'c is able to "return to life", which is deemed to be a sign of Satanic influence. SG-1 is sentenced to be offered to the demon along with Mary, the girl. The "demon" comes to the village and takes the team and the girl, SG-1 manages to escape from the Unas, and after they receive their weapons from Simon, they are able to stop the Unas, but not before the Goa'uld takes the Canon as a host. Major Samantha Carter discovers that the Canon has been possessed by the Goa'uld and both host and symbiote are killed. A while later, as SG-1 prepare to return to Earth, they advise Simon and Mary to tell their fellow villagers to bury the Stargate so that they can spend the rest of their lives in peace. After saying goodbye, SG-1 step through the Stargate and return to Earth as Simon and Mary look on. + +Upon exiting the Stargate on an unnamed planet, SG-1 finds a group of SG soldiers in the midst of battle with a Jaffa army. Believing the soldiers to be the MIA SG-11, Colonel Jack O'Neill radios them but receives no response. O'Neill decides to assist them but the SG soldiers shoot them with their weapons. SG-1 wakes up in the soldier's training camp with headaches and no weapons. They are taken to the camp's leader, Captain Kyle Rogers, who assumes they are from a rival camp. When Rogers accidentally refers to the Stargate as the Chappai'ai, Teal'c recognizes that he is a Jaffa being trained by Apophis to infiltrate Stargate Command. Teal'c tells the soldiers that they were sent there by Apophis to test them. Major Samantha Carter and Dr. Daniel Jackson go to the weapons tent to retrieve their weapons but they find replica weapons called Intars that inflict no real harm on the opponent, but instead deliver a nasty jolt. This is trouble though, because SG-1's weapons are recirculated into the fake ones and are missing. Teal'c uses the Vo'cume projector to summon all the soldiers to the campsite and O'Neill tries to call off the training by telling them that Apophis is dead so they are all dismissed, but they believe it is just a test of their loyalty. Unable to convince them not to participate in the battle, SG-1 goes looking for their missing weapons. Rogers is accidentally seriously injured with one of the real weapons, but instead of stopping, the recruits see this as a sign to upgrade to real weaponry in their war games. SG-1 convinces Rogers to come back to the SGC for treatment of his wounds by telling him he is going to meet Apophis. When they arrive at the base and Rogers realizes that he is not being taken to Apophis, he loses control and must be restrained. In the Briefing Room, Teal'c explains how, in a Jaffa's training they use the nonlethal weapons until blood is shed for the first time, then the soldiers are issued real weapons and do battle to the death until one side is victorious. O'Neill visits Rogers in the infirmary and tries to convince him that Apophis is not a god and is dead. Rogers is not convinced until he is shown a video of Apophis on his death bed. Rogers agrees to help SG-1 stop the final challenge. In order to prevent the boys from pointlessly slaughtering themselves, the team hatches a plot to prevent both the invasion of Earth through the SGC and to convince the boys that Apophis is a false god. After returning to the planet and stunning many soldiers with Intars, SG-1 and Rogers hold off the remaining soldiers until Carter can upload the recording of Apophis' death into the Vo'cume. His fear followed by his death proves his lack of godhood, and the soldiers disband and return to their planets of origin. + +SG-1 and SG-3 are rescuing a group of Abydonians, including Kasuf (Dr. Daniel Jackson's father-in-law). Around their prison we see a group of dead Jaffa (presumably killed by SG-1 just before the episode begins). Kasuf reveals that Amaunet (the Goa'uld possessing Sha're) has returned and taken back her son who was being hidden from the Goa'uld by Kasuf. Daniel spots Amaunet standing outside a tent some distance away. As she goes back inside it, the team are attacked by a large number of other Jaffa. While the rest of SG-1 try to fight off the Jaffa, Daniel slips away and follows Amaunet into the tent. He asks her where the boy is, but she refuses to tell him and then attempts to kill him with her Kara kesh. Just as he is about to die Teal'c arrives in the tent. The next thing we see is Daniel waking up in a bed in the infirmary back at Stargate Command. At first he can't remember what has happened. It is revealed that Sha're is dead, and that Teal'c killed her in order to save Daniel's life. He refuses to believe that his wife is really dead, but is taken to see her body which was taken back to the base so she could be buried according to Abydonian tradition. Daniel blames himself for not being able to save her, but he also blames Teal'c for acting too soon, even though Daniel had been only moments away from dying. After falling asleep, Daniel wakes up to find Sha're by his side. He is told that the Tok'ra found a way to heal Sha're and remove the Goa'uld after she was injured by Teal'c's staff weapon. As the rest of the people leave the infirmary, Sha're says that she only came to tell Daniel "about the boy". Before she can continue, Daniel wakes up. It was only a dream, and Sha're is really dead. After being released from the infirmary, Daniel hands in his resignation to Major General George S. Hammond and begins packing his things. Jack is convinced that he will return to the team before too long, but Daniel claims otherwise. Before leaving, Daniel runs into Teal'c who attempts to apologize, but Daniel refuses to accept his apology. As the days go by, Daniel continues having dreams about Sha're. In the dreams, she tells him that he must return to the SGC and continue traveling through the Stargate to find the boy (Sha're's son), who is Harcesis, a human child of two Goa'uld who, therefore, knows all the secrets of the Goa'uld. She also tells him that he must forgive Teal'c. Eventually Daniel figures out that the dreams are a message which Sha're sent into Daniel's mind via the hand device while Amaunet was trying to kill him. He goes to speak to Teal'c, who verifies what Sha're has said about the Harcesis and tells him that this form of reproduction is forbidden amongst the Goa'uld. It is punishable by death, and the children are hunted down and killed. In the end, Daniel forgives Teal'c and realizes his own importance in the team. He decides to return to the SGC, much to the delight of Colonel Jack O'Neill who highly disliked Robert Rothman, Daniel's replacement on SG-1. While the team is off-world exploring, the Stargate activates and Daniel disappears through it. He returns to the planet when Sha're died. There, he sees her one last time, and she tells him that the boy is hidden on a place called Kheb. He promises that he will find him. Then, as the series of dreams finally ends, we are back in the beginning of the episode. Teal'c shoots Amaunet and Daniel says goodbye to Sha're. + +SG-1 arrives through a Stargate in an alien storage facility. They are met by two locals, a man, Orner, and a woman, Mayris, who are amazed that SG-1 has memories which extend back to "before the Vorlix." It seems the entire population of the planet is suffering from some form of amnesia and have no recollection prior to a date "at least a year ago." Additionally, there are no children or "elders" although they have pictures of the "elders." Orner takes SG-1 to meet an important member of the "Transitional Government" named Ke'ra, who shows them the main library and explains that their society is unstable and badly compromised because of the Vorlix. When Ke'ra discovers they have traveled via the Stargate she produces a notebook made by a scientist before the Vorlix which mentions a "visitor" who came to the planet by the same means. The visitor was "something of an apothecary" and was called "Linea" (see "Prisoners"). SG-1 suspects that Linea, nicknamed "the Destroyer of Worlds", caused the Vorlix, and that they bear some responsibility. Ke'ra, Orner, and Mayris return to Stargate Command so that Dr. Janet Fraiser can study the problem. She determines that the catastrophic event was related to an insecticide called "Dargol," which had built up in the planet's food chain and prevented conception in the human population, which explains the lack of children. Linea had discovered a derivative of Dargol that had the potential to prevent aging, and/or restore youth--the elders are not missing because the young people left are the elders. Amnesia was an unintended side effect. Their suspicions aroused, the SGC runs a DNA test on Ke'ra, comparing it with DNA taken from Linea. The two samples match, confirming they are the same person. However, Dr. Frasier is unable to synthesize an antidote without Ke'ra's expertise. Reasoning that Ke'ra without her memories isn't really the same person as Linea, Major General George S. Hammond allows Ke'ra to continue assisting Frasier. Having suspected her true identity, Ke'ra steals a small amount of the antidote and regains her memories. Horrified by the memories and heartless personality she has thus released, Ke'ra attempts to commit suicide. Dr. Daniel Jackson, who has been steadily falling in love with Ke'ra, finds her and stops her in time, suggesting a different way to destroy Linea. Ke'ra takes another dose of the Dargol derivative, causing her to lose her memories again. The Vyans agree to offer the new Ke'ra a home on their planet, and a new life. + +Stargate Command is contacted by the Tok'ra and although Major Samantha Carter hopes that her father would come, Martouf visits them. He tells them that Jacob Carter/Selmak was captured by Sokar and sent to "hell" -- actually Netu, the moon of Sokar's homeworld Delmak. The moon is a heavily guarded penal colony, and only one person has ever escaped: Jolinar of Malkshur. Sokar is gaining power in the galaxy, and as the rescue of Jacob might help undermine his power, SG-1 agrees to a rescue mission with Martouf. After going to Vorash using the Stargate, the team boards a Tel'tak to fly to Netu, since the moon doesn't have its own Stargate. The plan is for Teal'c to stay on board and monitor them, as they'll have to take escape pods to reach the planet and the ship only has four. During their journey, Martouf uses a Memory recall device to help Carter recover Jolinar's memories, since Jolinar never told anyone how she escaped. While it's activated, Carter sees memories of her father telling her about her mother's death, a romantic moment between Jolinar and Martouf, and an image of Sokar torturing Jolinar. They don't find any memories of the escape. Arriving at the moon, the team takes the escape pods to the surface, where they enter a cave system. There they are surrounded by prisoners led by a Goa'uld named Na'onak. Recalling more of Jolinar's memories, Carter claims they're here to see Bynarr, the lord of Netu, who appears and has them imprisoned. Once locked in a cell, Carter explains that Bynarr is somehow the key to the escape. In the cell they also find Jacob, injured and weak from torture. Bynarr uses Transportation rings to Delmak where he meets up with Sokar and tells him about the new arrivals, whom he assumed were sent there by his lord. Sokar says he did nothing of the sort. On Netu Jacob reveals that Sokar has created a giant fleet to destroy the other System Lords two weeks after he was captured. SG-1 relays this to Teal'c; if they don't make it out, he can still pass the intel to the Tok'ra High Council. When Carter is taken to Bynarr, she has flashbacks about Jolinar, who seduced Bynarr in order to flee by using the Transportation rings in Bynarr's room. After a short interview he attempts to use his Kara kesh to kill her, but is unexpectedly shot by his First Prime Na'onak. Carter is dragged back to the cell where she tells the others about what happened. They develop a plan to flee by using the Ring Transporter in Bynarr's room to reach the ones in the Tel'tak. They contact Teal'c, who is attacked by Death Gliders. The team breaks out of their cell and makes it to Bynarr's room, though Na'onak sees them. Lacking the key for the Rings, Martouf tries to hotwire the controls. Just before he succeeds, Na'onak and his soldiers walk in and capture them. Na'onak declares that he will be known again by his true name—removing his helmet to show the horribly scarred face of Apophis which leaves SG-1, Martouf and Jacob stunned. + +SG-1 once again meet Apophis. He throws them in the pit and brings Major Samantha Carter up for interrogation. Using the Tok'ra Memory recall device and a drug called "The Blood of Sokar", he plunges Sam into a dream made up of old memories. She sees herself on the day of her mother's funeral, with Jacob asking for her forgiveness. Confused, Sam remembers that she forgave her father years ago, and if she didn't, she wouldn't have joined the Stargate program. Out of the blue, Jacob Carter starts asking her how to get to Earth, and what her IDC is. Sam refuses to give in, and Apophis puts her back in the pit. Meanwhile, Teal'c escapes the Death Gliders and returns to the Tok'ra. The Council decides to launch a device that would burrow to the center of Netu and destroy the moon within twelve minutes, while Sokar is in his ship and unable to escape the blast. Back on Netu, Apophis interrogates Colonel Jack O'Neill as he did with Sam, plunging him into a dream-memory of his son. Charlie O'Neill accuses Jack of never playing with him, saying that if they'd played ball together, Charlie would never have shot himself. He refuses to play ball unless Jack tells him where the Asgard homeworld is. Jack manages to break out of the memory, and is thrown back into the pit. Afterwards Apophis has Martouf and Sam brought in together, threatening to kill Jolinar of Malkshur's last host if Martouf doesn't tell him where the Tok'ra are. Martouf lies convincingly, and Apophis uses the information to gain an audience with Sokar. Dr. Daniel Jackson is tortured next with a memory in which Jack asks him where the Harcesis child is. Despite Teal'c's protests, the Tok'ra launches the device into Netu. Apophis is grabbed by Sokar's men. Sokar explains that he already conquered Entac, and his Jaffa starts to torture Apophis to death. At a moment of distraction, Apophis draws a concealed blade and kills Sokar's First Prime by stabbing the first Jaffa in the chest before using the blade to slit the throat of a second Jaffa guard who has appeared to inform Sokar of the moon erupting. Taking the Jaffa's staff weapon, Apophis fires it at Sokar, but Sokar activates his personal shield device. Apophis is forced to flee while Sokar roars, angry over what has happened. Trapped on Netu, SG-1 and Martouf can only escape by using the Transportation rings, but these will take them to Sokar's ship, which is about to be destroyed. Teal'c solves this by flying the cargo ship into the path of the beam while it is being activated, intercepting them in the ship's own set of transport rings. They escape while Netu and Sokar are destroyed. A while later, Apophis stands in Sokar's power base, having gained Sokar's army and as a result, is now the strongest Goa'uld among the System Lords. + +SG-1 returns from a mission and notices increased security at the base, but are told it is just a precaution due to a chemical tetrachloroethylene spill on Level 23. However, once in the infirmary, the team is promptly sedated. Teal'c awakens some time later and sees Dr. Janet Fraiser and Major General George S. Hammond speak with unfamiliar aliens about an invasion of Earth. He feigns unconsciousness, then overpowers MSgt. Sylvester Siler and frees Major Samantha Carter. Their escape is detected and Teal'c is captured, but Carter escapes Cheyenne Mountain. Carter contacts Colonel Harold Maybourne about a potential foothold situation and they agree to meet in public. However, when she meets him face-to-face, Colonel Jack O'Neill and Dr. Daniel Jackson are present. Carter is informed that she is suffering from effects of the tetrachloroethylene which can cause paranoid delusions. She reluctantly agrees to return to Stargate Command. On the plane ride back to the SGC, Carter notices O'Neill's image flickering. She seizes Maybourne's gun and kills O'Neill and Major Paul Davis, revealing their actual alien forms. Maybourne restrains and interrogates "Daniel". Carter finds a small disc (later called a Mimetic imaging device) attached to the alien's chest and places it on herself, taking on Daniel's image. Another device links the alien to the original person's thoughts. In the meantime, the real O'Neill and Davis wake up, hanging from an SGC ceiling in restraints. Other SGC personnel are suspended alongside them, unconscious. They observe the fake Fraiser scanning an SGC member through a device and imparting his appearance to an alien. O'Neill and Davis free themselves. Carter infiltrates the facility disguised as Daniel and finds O'Neill and Davis. She informs them that Maybourne's NID forces are preparing to storm the facility, so they must find a way to disrupt the aliens' disguise. Carter suggests that the incident on the aircraft may have caused by a certain frequency generated by the engines. Carter duplicates the sound and broadcasts it throughout the base, unmasking the aliens. As Maybourne's forces secure Cheyenne Mountain, the aliens flee through the Stargate. Many of them escape, but Carter shuts down the gate. Trapped, the remaining aliens use a self-destruct although Jack is able to activate the shield to prevent them from getting caught in a blast just as Maybourne and his men arrive in. Seconds later, the shield is later brought back up and everyone realizes that the self-destruct has left the Embarkation room a mess. Later, the team piece together what happened while Hammond orders that P3X-118 be permanently locked out of the dialing computer while Carter recommends using a sonic field to make sure the invasion never happens again. + +The Goa'uld Klorel crash-lands on the planet Tollana after his fleet is destroyed in battle. His glider narrowly escapes destruction at the hands of two Ha'tak, which are destroyed by the Tollan surface based defensive ion batteries. Klorel, the son of System Lord Apophis, took Skaara's body as a host. When they were rescued, Skaara temporarily had control, and asked for asylum before passing out. The Tollan, being neutral, hold a trial (called a "Triad" in their culture) to decide who should be given sole control of Skaara's body. A member of the Tollan Curia (the governing body of Tollana) presides over the hearing. Dr. Daniel Jackson and Colonel Jack O'Neill serve as Archons (defense attorneys) for Skaara and Goa'uld Lord Zipacna serves as Archon for Klorel. The Nox woman Lya serves as the third, neutral, Archon. The Tollan install a symbiote silencer onto Skaara/Klorel, allowing the conscious minds present to change freely and thus allowing both parties to speak. Daniel and Jack argue that the Goa'uld are evil, parasitic invaders of an innocent human's body, and that Skaara has the right to it. Lord Zipacna argues that the Goa'uld view humans as inferior beings, and just like humans breed and cull cattle or other animals they view as inferior, so too do Goa'uld do as they please with humans. Meanwhile, Major Samantha Carter and Teal'c discover that Jaffa are marking the Tollan ion cannons as targets for attack. They inform the Curia of their findings, but the Tollan aren't worried. The trial concludes with Lya casting the deciding vote in Skaara's favor, declaring: If Skaara lives, Klorel will still live, and yet if Klorel wins, Skaara's conscious life will come to an end (as the symbiote completely suffocates the host's mind), along with his free will, and this does not count as life in itself. The body is awarded to its original owner, Skaara. The Tok'ra are then summoned to remove Klorel, at which point he will be free to go and seek out a new host. Immediately afterwards, Zipacna uses a small Long range visual communication device to order a nearby Goa'uld Ha'tak to destroy Tollana's ion cannons. However, the attack on Tollana fails, as SG-1 destroy the Goa'uld mothership with an ion cannon that Teal'c asked Lya to hide. The Tollan are for the first time immensely grateful to SG-1. Skaara returns to Abydos and Klorel is returned to a Goa'uld homeworld. + +Stargate Command sends a MALP through to the planet designated P4X-884, and the image they receive back is that of a beautiful beach. The sky is blue, and a large palm tree blows gently in the wind. The planet appears to be an ideal candidate for an off-world research colony, and SG-1 departs to investigate. Colonel Jack O'Neill, Major Samantha Carter, Dr. Daniel Jackson, and Teal'c step through the Stargate, and appear instantaneously back in the gate room on Earth. Shocked, the team is told by Major General George S. Hammond that they have been gone for 15 hours. Dr. Janet Fraiser gives the team a clean bill of health, though they cannot remember a single moment from their mission. After scrutinizing the video sent back by the MALP, Carter discovers that the beach image was faked. Hidden on the video is a single frame of an alien room of some sort. Frasier arrives with more startling news: more extensive scans have determined that a small implant—smaller than the head of a pin—has been placed in the brains of SG-1, all in precisely the same place in their brains. This provides a reason for some strange behavior from SG-1: their senses have been heightened, especially taste and smell. Teal'c downed an entire pot of steaming hot coffee during a briefing. O'Neill has taken to eating pieces of pie like they were potato chips. SG-1 is confined to isolation quarantine, and soon "Urgo" reveals himself. A jovial, fun-loving mental projection, Urgo is the manifestation of the alien devices. Only SG-1 can see and hear him, leaving Hammond to wonder if the team is going insane. Urgo wants to play, wants to eat, wants to learn and experience. That is, in fact, his mission: the implants exist to gather information for the aliens. It is the means by which they explore. Once SG-1 returns to the alien planet, Urgo warns, they will be killed so that the information can be harvested. Urgo enjoys being with SG-1, and encourages them (verbally and subliminally) to show him new experiences. Meanwhile, they are trying to get rid of him. Carter theorizes that because the implants are electronic in nature, an electromagnetic pulse should disable them. Urgo tries to distract Carter, but finally pleads for his life, asking Carter not to throw the switch. But she does, and Urgo vanishes. O'Neill rejoices that the annoying man is finally out of his head. But the alien technology has a reset switch, and Urgo soon reappears. SG-1 decides to pursue the aliens back on the planet, rather than living with Urgo for the rest of their lives. They send the MALP back through the gate, and use it to broadcast an audio message to the aliens. A deep, terrifying voice booms back at them. It is that of Togar, who tells them that Urgo is "an error." Urgo was not supposed to reveal himself, and Togar invites SG-1 back to the planet to have the implants removed. Urgo will be destroyed. The program appears genuinely fearful of his impending fate, and Carter begins to ask him questions. She and Daniel soon conclude that Urgo may be sentient—that he may have become a living being. He is self-aware, he fears his own death, he is conscious, and he can think independently. The team steps through the Stargate to the alien world, and is instantly transported away in a flash of light. Togar appears, and bears a striking resemblance to Urgo—though not nearly as fun. He promises that they will not be harmed by the removal of the implants, and demonstrates the procedure on another alien life form. But the team is not satisfied with simply having Urgo removed from their heads. They convince Togar of the possibility that Urgo is alive, and he agrees to transfer Urgo into himself. With the implants removed and Urgo safe and sound, the team returns to Earth. But their memories have been erased again—they have no memory of Togar or the alien world, though Hammond tells them that they have been gone for more than ten hours. + +SG-1 visits the planet Edora to negotiate a trade deal for Naquadah. The team views an annual meteor shower. During the "show" it becomes evident that the meteors are large enough to pose a serious threat to the planet. Laira, the leader of a local village, notes that the shower has been building in strength for several years. SG-1 returns to Stargate Command to discuss the situation. Major Samantha Carter determines the annual shower is due to the planet passing through its system's asteroid belt, and that every 150 years it passes through a denser section. Because of this the planet is periodically bombarded with meteors that destroy the planet's surface and wipe out almost the entire population. This time around, however, SG-1 is able to evacuate the Edorans back to Earth with the intention of transferring them back to Edora following the shower. Unfortunately, during the final evacuation, Colonel Jack O'Neill and several dozen Edorans become trapped on the planet when a meteor hits the Stargate. The Edorans who escaped to Earth are forced to stay there until an alternate home can be found for them. On Earth, Stargate Command discovers that the Stargate on Edora has survived, though it is buried underground with a layer of rock covering the event horizon much as the Iris covers the Earth Stargate. Carter, however, develops a plan to free the Stargate. Carter's plan is a spin-off of the method used by Sokar to attack SGC's iris, by using a particle accelerator. Although the iris prevents any sort of object traveling through the Stargate, Sokar bombarded the iris with subatomic particles which heated it up to near destruction. Using the same basic idea, Carter plans to melt the rock surrounding the Stargate, then reinitialize the wormhole and create a pocket large enough for one person to enter when the wormhole activates. This plan, however, will take many months to complete in order to build the particle beam, though it is faster than having the Tollan get a ship to the planet which would have taken almost a year. Back on Edora, however, all is not lost though much of the village is destroyed. Over the following months O'Neill helps the survivors rebuild their homes and replant their crops. O'Neill falls in love with Laira. After spending weeks attempting to dig out the Stargate he begins to settle into the fact that he may be trapped here forever. After three months have passed, O'Neill has become an integral part of the new community. At the same time, however, Carter has finished her particle beam and is implementing her plan to save O'Neill. After completing the "excavation" process a MALP is sent through the gate, but is destroyed, to everyone's disappointment. However, while reviewing the telemetry that survived, it becomes apparent the gate is lying flat "on its back", and the MALP simply fell back into the wormhole after arriving intact. Carter and Teal'c develop a plan to deal with this problem. Once the gate connection has been established, Teal'c shoots a harpoon through the gate, which lodges itself into the rock above the buried gate. Attaching himself to the trailing rope, he pulls himself through the wormhole, ending up suspended in the cavern above the gate. The wormhole is left active while he digs, allowing him to stay in contact with Stargate Command. The wormhole cannot be kept active indefinitely however, and the wormhole cannot be re-activated with Teal'c in the cavern, as the expanding surface will kill him while the gate is being established. Adding to the problems is the fact that Teal'c has a limited supply of air, supplemented by a small oxygen bottle which will last only a few hours. Just prior to the Stargate disengaging, Laira happens to turn on O'Neill's radio and overhears the conversation. She mentions this to O'Neill. O'Neill tracks to Teal'c's location and begins to dig, eventually pulling Teal'c free. Once they dig out the Stargate, O'Neill has to make the painful choice of whether to remain on Edora with the woman he loves, or return home to his old life. Ultimately he chooses to return home and the Edorans trapped on Earth can, too, return to their home. Carter winces upon seeing that her boss is in love. The ending fades out on Laira holding her stomach. + +SG-1 goes to Tollana to negotiate a treaty with the Tollan, asking for technology to help defend Earth against the Goa'uld. The Tollans have not changed their policy about sharing their technology, and refuse to give them anything. In response, an angry Colonel Jack O'Neill steals a device that disables weapons. After SG-1 returns to Earth, the diplomatic incident caused by the Tollan's discovery of the theft forces O'Neill into early retirement. When Dr. Daniel Jackson visits him at home in an attempt to figure out what's going on, O'Neill insults him, telling him that apparently his teammates didn't really know him at all, and that he's finally acting like himself. Now retired and unaffiliated with Stargate Command, O'Neill is approached by Colonel Harold Maybourne to take part in a secret operation regarding the Stargate. After accepting Maybourne's proposal, O'Neill joins a rogue SG team whose standing orders are to acquire technology from other worlds, through trade or by theft. One member, Major Dean Newman, is one of the men who fled through the second gate when SG-1 re-captured it in Utah. O'Neill's first mission as a member of the rogue SG team is to steal an Asgard invisibility device on a protected world. SG-1 is informed that a new commander will be taking O'Neill's place, and that Major General George S. Hammond has chosen Colonel Robert Makepeace over Daniel Jackson's desire to have the team led by Major Samantha Carter. Upon returning, Newman explains to O'Neill that they attempt to reverse engineer most of the technologies they find, while smaller items such as the invisibility device are secretly passed to a mole in the SGC. Maybourne gives them the drop-off address for the device, and O'Neill offers to run the mission himself, explaining it as a desire to do at least once every job his new command does. Arriving at the planet where the mole will soon be, O'Neill hides the Asgard device underneath a rock near the Dial Home Device. Just as he tries to dial back, the Stargate opens, and SG-1 comes through. O'Neill barely makes it to cover in time. He watches as Makepeace retrieves the hidden Asgard device and SG-1 goes back through the gate. O'Neill returns to the rogue team base after SG-1 leaves, and an Asgard appears next to the DHD as O'Neill departs, noting the address. When O'Neill returns to the base, an Asgard ship descends and begins beaming out the stolen items. O'Neill reveals his true allegiance to the SGC and dials the Stargate to Earth. He tells the rogue team that the Asgard will start taking prisoners once they finish beaming up the stolen technology, and that their only other option is to follow him through the gate, which he will be holding open on the other side to prevent any redialing. The rogue team decides to follow O'Neill and arrives at the SGC, where Hammond has them arrested. O'Neill arrests Makepeace personally. O'Neill and Hammond reveal to the remaining members of SG-1 that O'Neill's uncharacteristic actions, at the request of the Tollan and the Asgard, were a ploy to get Maybourne to reveal the location of the rogue team, which had been damaging Earth's interests by stealing off-world technology. Carter, Teal'c and Daniel are all offended that they weren't in on the plan, though Hammond explains that he had to be sure their reactions were genuine. Not to mention that the Asgard were the ones who had requested that O'Neill be the only one involved. As the reunited SG-1 leave the Gate room, O'Neill apologizes to Daniel for his behavior, saying that their friendship is solid and that the fact that it was Daniel who visited him "means something." Straight-faced, Daniel tells him that it didn't: "We drew straws. I lost." + +The team goes to a new planet where two rival factions, Bedrosians and Optricans, each living on different continents, fight over their rival theories. Bedrosians believe that they were created by Nefertum (a Goa'uld). Optricans believe that they were brought through a "gateway" by Nefertum as slaves. Stargate Command makes contact through the newly uncovered Stargate which, according to Major Samantha Carter, previously could not be connected to, presumably because it was buried. Carter created a "cold-dialing" program to redial these Stargates in case they become uncovered again. On sending a MALP telemetry probe and seeing people, Dr. Daniel Jackson talks to one of them, Nyan, and secures his permission to visit; the other person, Mallin, runs off. As no Dial Home Device can be seen, SG-1 arrives shortly afterward with a Naquadah generator and computer to dial the gate for home. Mallin, who with Nyan are members of the archaeological team which uncovered the Gate, has told the Bedrosian military that people have come through a circle of stone. The military arrives, and capture Colonel Jack O'Neill, Carter and Jackson, but Teal'c and Nyan escape. The officer in charge, Commander Rigar, brutally interrogates the prisoners, hoping to catch their missing comrade and preserve the lie upon which his religion is based. Shot by a Bedrosian soldier's weapon, and wounded by the effects of his own Staff weapon blast, Teal'c is injured and blind, with his symbiote likewise damaged. Too badly hurt to heal both, the symbiote must focus on healing itself before healing Teal'c. Though Teal'c has proven all his beliefs to be wrong, Nyan helps Teal'c with a device that restores his vision partially, recognizing that, as a scientist, it is just as exciting to be proven wrong as it is to be proven right. Rigar's people uncover the DHD, simplifying SG-1's effort to get home. While SG-1 is confined to cages inside a tent, the gate activates and Major General George S. Hammond radios the team. Rigar's aide brings him a field radio and he speaks with Hammond, refusing any cooperation and threatening to execute SG-1 if a rescue is attempted. With Nyan's help, Teal'c recovers to stage a dramatic rescue of the SG-1 team. They, along with Nyan (whom Teal'c returned to save), escape to Earth, where Nyan becomes Jackson's research assistant. Nyan hopes that someday the situation on his planet will improve, and he will be able to return there and reveal his discoveries to his people. + +Stargate Command is visited by Bra'tac, who has barely survived an attack on Chulak, which claimed the life of Moac. He tells them that Apophis is still alive and is now commanding the dead Sokar's forces, making him in fact the most powerful Goa'uld. He was the one who attacked Chulak in his search for the Harcesis child, which Sha're hid on Kheb, a legendary planet on which, according to Earth legends, Osiris hid from Setesh. With Bra'tac's help (who has also heard of the planet in Jaffa legends) they locate the planet, something SGC was unable to do in the last months. So SG-1, SG-2 and Bra'tac travel to the planet to get the child, since it hosts the whole knowledge of all Goa'uld and could be the undoing of all the Goa'uld. While SG-2 guards the Stargate, the others discover that eight Jaffa (Teal'c counts six sets of tracks, but is corrected by Bra'tac) have passed through recently. Two went scouting and brought back a woman and headed into the forest. In their search of the forest, they find the Jaffa bodies, sizzled to a crisp although it appears as nothing has touched them. Bra'tac finds the woman who was possibly carrying the Harcesis child since her hands aren't bound. She tried to run and the Jaffa shot her in the back. Then someone or something took out the Jaffa. The team then finds a Buddhist-like temple. After removing their weapons (since the place is sacred ground), Colonel Jack O'Neill, Dr. Daniel Jackson and Bra'tac go inside and are surprised by a Monk. When they start asking about the child, the monk replies in riddles. Daniel receives training from the monk about his hidden powers of telekinesis and pyrokinesis. He also learns of Oma Desala, which Daniel translates as "Mother Nature" and who is the basis of the monk's religion. Carter is convinced that there is some hidden technology but Daniel interrupts that she always wanted to go to another level. Meanwhile, the others become more and more impatient since they know that Apophis will send another strike force to the planet. However Daniel convinces them to stay and continues his training so that he can protect the child. Nevertheless, the fears of the others become true when they discover that a Goa'uld assault force is on the planet. So SG-1 sets up a defense at the temple while Daniel sees an ethereal being which leads him to the Harcesis. When he is about to leave with the child, he realizes that he doesn't have any powers. It was the being herself, trying to communicate and Daniel realizes that Oma only wanted him to realize that the child would be safe with her. He lets the being take the child, although he knows that the boy would give them a great strategic advantage against the Goa'uld. Meanwhile, SG-1 and the Jaffa are at a standoff, both sides unwilling to bow to the other. The monk, saying they are not welcome, is shot and killed by the Jaffa. Suddenly, Daniel arrives and tells SG-1 to drop their weapons, because using them would anger Oma Desala, the ascended being who is guarding the temple. SG-1 surrenders, but before the Jaffa can execute them, the shots from the staff weapons are dispelled much to the amazement of Bra'tac and Teal'c while seconds later, a bolt of lightning shoots from the clouds above and kills all the Jaffa. The monk’s body meanwhile vanishes in a bright light (he also ascended). Then, Oma appears in her Ascended form and carries the Harcesis through the Stargate to destinations unknown. + +The members of SG-1 are watching MALP telemetry of a giant Mayan pyramid. The MALP proceeds into the pyramid, but comes to a span which is too narrow for it to traverse. Major Samantha Carter pans the MALP camera across the cavern and realizes that the pyramid contains leptons, which means a material is slowing Neutrinos, a significant scientific find. Dr. Daniel Jackson has Sam zoom in on the object at the other end. Daniel informs them that it is a crystal skull, identical to the one Daniel's grandfather Nicholas Ballard discovered in 1971 in Belize. Daniel briefs SG-1, Major General George S. Hammond and Dr. Janet Fraiser on the skull that his grandfather found, explaining that his grandfather believed the skull transported him to another planet where he met aliens. His grandfather never managed to repeat the event and was scorned by the academic community. General Hammond authorizes a recon mission to the planet, but Dr Fraiser warns that she is unsure what effect the radiation caused by the leptons might have, and recommends no more than ten to fifteen minutes exposure. SG-1 travels to the planet and enters the pyramid, where Carter finds high, but safe, levels of muon radiation. The team finds the crystal skull, which Daniel immediately becomes entranced with. Radiation levels begin to increase, and Teal'c notices a form of energy surrounding Daniel. Teal'c, unable to get Daniel's attention, fires his Zat'nik'tel at the skull. The energy dissipates, but SG-1 can no longer see Daniel, who is now unconscious. Carter warns O'Neill that the radiation levels are dangerously high before passing out. SG-1 returns to Stargate Command, without Daniel. O'Neill and Carter are treated for radiation exposure while Hammond uses the MALP to scan for Daniel, but finds nothing. Teal'c, who is partially protected by his symbiote and consequently in full health, returns to retrieve the skull so that it can be studied in an attempt to learn how rescue Daniel, who they believe was teleported to an unknown location. As Teal'c removes the skull, Daniel regains consciousness and asks what has happened, but Teal'c does not hear Daniel and runs straight through him. Daniel follows Teal'c through the Stargate back to the SGC. Tests on the skull find nothing to help them locate Daniel, so Sam suggests they visit Nick Ballard. Fraiser admits she checked on Nick and found he had committed himself to a Psychiatric hospital after suffering a mental breakdown caused by being unable to have the skull teleport him. SG-1 visits Ballard in the hospital. An invisible Daniel attends, encouraging his oblivious grandfather to help them. SG-1 tells him about the skull they discovered, and he asks to assist them. At SGC, Ballard is shown the skull and relives his experience for SG-1: he looked into the skull's eyes and was surrounded by a field of energy, then found himself in the pyramid, where giant aliens, apparently composed of mist, told him He recognized this as "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" in Mayan. He closed his eyes in fear and was returned to the temple where he found the skull. The temple collapsed and he was never able to locate it again. Daniel follows Nick to the VIP quarters where Nick is staying, where he apologizes, apparently to no one. Daniel asks him what he is apologizing for, and Nick replies that it is for not adopting him when his parents were killed ("The Gamekeeper"). Daniel realizes his grandfather can hear him, but believes Daniel to be a hallucination. Daniel convinces Nick to act as a go-between and together they convince General Hammond to authorize a return mission to the planet. Nick accompanies SG-1, misinforming them that Daniel insisted on it. Back inside the pyramid, the skull is placed in its original position. Daniel stares into its eyes and all of the group, except Teal'c, are sent 'out of phase'. The giant 'mist' aliens appear and repeat the words Nick heard long ago. Daniel answers the giant that they are enemies of the Goa'uld. The giant is satisfied that they are friends. He remembers Nick and chooses him to stay and tell the giants about their world while SG-1 return to SGC. + +Dr. Daniel Jackson is resting in the infirmary because his appendix has been removed. Thus, the rest of SG-1 gets leave time. Teal'c is off world visiting his son and Colonel Jack O'Neill tries to invite Major Samantha Carter to a fishing trip in Minnesota. Carter follows O'Neill halfway through the base to wish him a good time when he disappears in a flash of light. O'Neill finds himself on an Asgard ship orbiting Earth. He encounters the Replicators who have infested the Biliskner, Thor's ship. Thor is on board and explains that the Replicators took over his ship. The navicomputer contained the coordinates for Earth and they set a course for it. Thor is also dying but has made recordings about the technical specifications of the Biliskner so that O'Neill might find a way to stop the Replicators from landing on Earth. Thor also disabled the outbound transporter beams to prevent the Replicators from escaping. Back on Earth, Stargate Command has been trying to locate the ship in orbit but the Asgard cloaking device prevents such detection. O'Neill sends a real-time holographic image into the SGC conference room where Major General George S. Hammond, Carter and Teal'c were discussing the situation. O'Neill needs 10 pounds of PBX, a SPAS-12 semiautomatic shotgun shotgun, USAS-12 automatic shotgun shotgun, and a BF-8 at the foot of the Stargate. O'Neill explains that he needs the ordnance to destroy the ship. He also explains that no one is going to get off the ship and orders Carter and Teal'c not to come on board. However Hammond overrules the order and sends them anyway much to Jack's anger. Carter explains that a shuttle is ready to launch and can reach them in a matter of hours as long as they have the correct coordinates. After more discussion with Thor, SG-1 must try to retake the bridge and crash the ship in the atmosphere to burn it up. However when Teal'c and O'Neill reach the bridge it is completely overrun with Replicators and there is no chance of even reaching the navicomputer let alone putting in a new course. They must make a new plan. Carter and Thor then suggest putting an elementary Naquadah enhanced bomb (BF-8) on the deceleration drive and detonate it when the ship enters the atmosphere. SG-1 has to place it on the outside of the hull, as Thor explained that the ship's internal systems included explosion suppressors. Teal'c volunteers to place the bomb because his Goa'uld symbiote will protect him from possible radiation around the ship. As Teal'c leaves the airlock, a small and unseen amount of partially melted metal drops onto Teal'c's air tank and slowly starts eating away. Teal'c plants the bomb and returns to the airlock but the outer door is shut and won't open. Carter tries to override but the airlock has been tampered with by the Replicators. At that moment Teal'c's tank blows and he is losing oxygen fast. Carter tells O'Neill that she can beam Teal'c aboard but only if he is far enough away from the ship. Teal'c weakly pushes off and Carter beams him aboard after an excruciatingly long minute. Thor's vitals crash and Carter activates the stasis pod he's in to preserve his life. With the bomb placed, all SG-1 has to do is wait for the right time to detonate it. They now have to figure out how to get off the ship. SG-1 transports the Alpha gate, the gate at Stargate Command, on board with Hammond later ordering that the Beta gate be brought out of storage and set up. Back on the ship, SG-1 plan to gate to P3X-234 and then home to the Beta gate. However the energy output of the transporter has attracted the Replicators to the Gate. Teal'c activates the gate manually while O'Neill and Carter cover him from a huge swarm of Replicators. O'Neill blows the bomb and the ship tumbles out of control and crashes in the Pacific Ocean. However while the ship sinks, one Replicator crawls to the surface, revealing that it's survived and the threat of the Replicators still lives on. + +Confident that the destruction of Thor's ship the Biliskner in the atmosphere had ended the Replicator threat to Earth, SG-1 had managed to return when Stargate Command had put up the second Stargate. They are shocked when they hear news that a Russian Foxtrot class submarine has been hijacked by creatures with descriptions matching the Replicators. To make matters worse, the Russians picked up the Asgard ship as it entered the atmosphere and according to both Major Paul Davis and Major General George S. Hammond, this has also created a huge political mess. As the team prepares to move out, Thor arrives through the Stargate and enlists SG-1 to aid him. The war with the Replicators is going badly, and the robotic invaders are at the doorstep of the Asgard homeworld. As Colonel Jack O'Neill, Dr. Daniel Jackson and Teal'c go to deal with the hijacked submarine, Major Samantha Carter goes with Thor to help find a way to stop the Replicators. At the submarine, O'Neill, Jackson, and Teal'c decide to penetrate the submarine and try to obtain some intelligence on how to stop the Replicators before they can take control of the submarine. Unfortunately, the Replicators begin to attack, and the team is forced to fall back. Teal'c is injured and at least one member of the scout team is killed. Meanwhile, at the Asgard homeworld, Carter sees the incomplete Asgard ship, dubbed the O'Neill, designed to fight the Replicators and witnesses a short, one-sided naval battle in an attempt to stem the advance of the Replicators. Currently, five Asgard ships are in battle with three Replicator controlled ships. Unfortunately, she still cannot come up with a way to defeat them. They are then contacted that the five Asgard ships have been destroyed. The Replicators aren't attacking them because Thor's ship has less advanced technology than the ones the Replicator control. After some study from video recordings and Replicator samples extracted from Teal'cs wound, Jackson theorizes that the Replicators are made out of the same materials as the objects they consume, and since most of the Replicators are made out of the submarine, contact with the water will cause them to rust and deteriorate and short out. Unfortunately, at least one of the Replicators is the survivor from Thor's ship, and would be made from materials resistant to seawater, so the team must go back into the submarine and ensure that the surviving Replicator is destroyed before sinking the sub. Back on the Asgard homeworld, Carter suddenly comes up with a daring plan. Because Replicators are attracted to new technology, she decides to use the O'Neill as a lure to draw the Replicators into hyperspace and destroy them by making the O'Neill self-destruct, since Asgard shields are offline when flying through hyperspace. Thor balks at the plan, but eventually relents. The Replicators take the bait and are destroyed. Thor admits that the Asgard homeworld is now safe for the time being, but adds that Replicators are never fooled the same way twice, and that they will return. Back on Earth, O'Neill and Teal'c penetrate the submarine and find the original Replicator. They destroy the Replicator, but when they try to escape, the other Replicators block their path. At the same time, the Replicators finally manage to take full control of the submarine and attempt to steer it into the open sea. O'Neill orders the forces outside to destroy the submarine and prepares for the end, but before they are overwhelmed by Replicators, Thor beams them onto his ship, saving their lives. The Replicator threat is over for now. Thor promises that when the Asgard defeat the Replicators, he will come to assist them in their war against the Goa'uld. Jack offers for Thor to come fishing but he beams them down. + +The Stargate Command technical team examining the logs of the Stargate, which has activated three times in the last hour, each time with small impacts on the Iris. Studying the information recorded during the activations, they detect an extremely slow radio message. For the first time in the history of the SGC, humans from another planet calling themselves the Eurondan "call home"; dialing the Earth's Stargate without first being contacted by the Tau'ri. Major Samantha Carter realizes to her regret that the three impacts were messengers attempting to reach Earth. Asking for help from the SGC, the Eurondan claim that they are under attack from an unstoppable and unspeakable enemy. SG-1 arrives and initially assists. Using a Eurondan device Colonel Jack O'Neill shoots down an unmanned reconnaissance drone. This allows the Eurondans to demonstrate their advanced technology; their aircraft are remotely controlled by a neural interface and their underground base is protected by an energy shield, powered by nuclear fusion reactors. However, the reactors are fueled by heavy water, of which the Eurondans have no more supplies. As a result, their defenses are breaking down. Despite imminent defeat, the Eurondans are unwilling to use the Stargate to find a new home because a large majority of their people are trapped in suspended animation and would believe that they've fought the war for nothing if they abandon it. The SG-1 team is impressed by Eurondan military technology. The Eurondan leader, Alar offers to provide knowledge of all their technology in exchange for a continuous supply of heavy water. For the first time, it appears that the SGC has finally found an advanced culture willing to offer them the means to defeat the Goa'uld. However, Dr. Daniel Jackson is skeptical of the Eurondans, concerned that the arrangement has been conducted without any knowledge of the Eurondan's enemy or why the war started. The Eurondans themselves refuse to disclose any information and are apparently disturbed by discussing the enemy and their decadent ways. However, O'Neill is authorized to negotiate on behalf of Earth and becomes irritated with Jackson's objections, not wanting to jeopardize their potential alliance. Carter and Jackson return to the SGC, Carter reporting to Major General George S. Hammond that the Eurondans are "at least a hundred years ahead of us, maybe more," and that they are willing to share all of it. Hammond notes Jackson's disproval, and reminds him that Apophis is alive and in a position to wipe the human race off the face of the Earth. Daniel agrees that saving lives is good, but reminding Hammond of his own proclamation that the SGC would operate under the highest ethical standard, notes that their actions in providing heavy water would be going much further than that. Doing so would be turning the tide in a world war they know nothing about, against an enemy they know nothing about. It may be the right way to get the Eurondans' technology, but is it the right thing to do? Carter admits he has a point, and Hammond agrees with the idea that they need to know more about the Eurondans' war. If SG-1 initially notice the fact that the Eurondans are all Caucasian, they do not comment on it. During negotiations, Daniel asks about their enemy, but despite Carter confirming that Hammond also wants to know, O'Neill orders him to shut up. However, Alar has made several veiled objections to the presence of Teal'c during their time there, and after the meeting, asks O'Neill to not have him return because he is "not of their kind". O'Neill suspects that this is not because he is a Jaffa, as his First Prime mark makes him quite distinct, but because he is non-white. The men are supposed to return to the SGC, but O'Neill stops Daniel from finishing the dial out, apologizes to him and prompts him to ask questions, "lots of questions." Sneaking around for answers, O'Neill and Teal'c find the stasis room and discovers that the population preserved in suspended animation comprises nearly identical white Nordic-looking individuals. Asking Farrell questions under the pretense that they will be allies, Jackson learns that the enemy, which is feared and reviled, are sometimes called 'Breeders' by the Eurondans. They are called this because they had no respect for "genetic purity", breeding without care or plan, and that they are made up of a diverse population. Carter notices pipes extending from the bottom of the facility to the surface (which did not make sense because of the poisoned atmosphere) and realizes that to build a bunker of such size and depth would have required many years of planning and construction before this supposed "war" began. Alar replies stating the war was "inevitable." The Eurondans are all from the same phenotype, populating their race through planned breeding and even through cloning, ensuring the continuance and purity of their people. It was, in fact, they who had originally started the current war, poisoning the atmosphere in an attempt to kill off those who would not submit to their eugenicist beliefs on reproduction. Unwilling to support attempted genocide, O'Neill (and Teal'c, to Alar's frustration) commandeers many of the Eurondans' remote fighters under the pretense of helping out. They instead escort the Breeder bombers to Eurondan territory, with O'Neill finishing up by crashing one fighter right above the shielded bunker which houses the command center and technology of the Eurondans. Alar attempts to shoot him but is easily stopped by Teal'c. SG-1 leaves the facility as it begins to fall apart due to the Breeders' heavy bombing, O'Neill warning Alar not to follow. Alar frantically offers to teach Earth all he knows in exchange for safe passage through the gate. Jack simply turns away, stepping through the gate last, and then orders the iris closed behind him. A slight impact is registered on the iris moments later. Hammond guesses that SG-1 was unsuccessful in obtaining Eurondan technology while Sam stares at Jack, obviously stunned and lost for words over what has happened. + +The SG-1 team (except for Teal'c) becomes guinea pigs for an experiment by the Tok'ra Anise. The experiment uses special armbands, created by a race called the Ataniks, to enhance all their natural abilities. The armbands do not work where there is a symbiote present, so they won't work on the Tok'ra or Teal'c. While wearing the armbands, their strength, speed, agility, and metabolism (and therefore appetite) are all increased massively. At the same time, the device decreases their ability to make rational decisions. This new sense of invulnerability leads the three to rash actions, such as going to a local steak house in defiance of a direct order and getting into a brawl. As the experiment goes on, Anise brings forth a proposal from the Tok'ra High Council to use SG-1's new abilities to destroy a new type of Battleship that Apophis is constructing. An internal attempt at sabotage by the Tok'ra had already failed, but they believe that SG-1 with their new abilities could succeed. Hammond refuses despite Anise and her host Freya's assertions that the new Battleship would give Apophis the edge he needs to gain dominance over the rest of the Goa'uld System Lords, Earth and the rest of the galaxy as he believes Anise has just been manipulating them for exactly this reason and that SG-1 are too judgmentally impaired to perform the mission. Despite orders from Hammond to stand down, SG-1 study the Battleship schematics anyway intending to perform the mission while Hammond consults Teal'c on whether the ship is the threat Anise claims it is. Teal'c confirms that it is as it has many advancements over the Goa'uld Ha'tak-class vessels the Goa'uld currently use and as it needs to be destroyed, offers to go by himself to do it. Hammond refuses however as the Stargate on the planet is heavily guarded and Teal'c would be more likely to be killed than succeed. Studying the schematics of the ship and the surrounding area, Major Samantha Carter determines that if they enter the Stargate at a high rate of speed, they will exit at the same speed and can easily take out all of the Jaffa guarding the Stargate though dealing with the ship itself will be much harder as its not enough to just plant C-4 as they have to take out the Battleship's power core which is sealed in impenetrable trinium. However, Carter determines that the power core is linked to a cooling system in the facility and if they blow up the cooling pipes, the power core will overheat and explode and destroy the Battleship. While the cooling pipes are protected by forcefields, with their ability to run at superhuman speed, they will be able to run right through them. Having come up with a plan, SG-1 arm themselves and enter the Stargate Operations room at superspeed where they drug the technicians manning the room, dial the Stargate and lock off the Embarkation room and Stargate Operations room. Teal'c attempts to stop them, but Colonel Jack O'Neill tells him to stay behind and the rest of SG-1 go through the Stargate at superspeed. When Dr. Janet Fraiser found anti-bodies in their blood that would kill the virus that causes the enhanced powers, Major General George S. Hammond sends Teal'c to assist them. Arriving on PX9-757 where the Battleship is, SG-1 take out all the Jaffa guarding the Stargate at superspeed without getting hit once despite being fired at with a staff cannon. SG-1 reunites near the facility entrance and quickly head for the Stargate before the power core explodes and takes out everything. On the path back to the Stargate, the group is ambushed by two Jaffa, but Teal'c zats them. Getting near the Stargate, O'Neill, Carter and Jackson stop, exhausted while Teal'c goes to the DHD to dial Earth, zatting a Jaffa that has regained consciousness nearby. After the Stargate is dialed, O'Neill, Carter and Jackson quickly make their way to it as Teal'c goes back to help them. The Battleship explodes as they run, sending out a wave of destruction through the whole area. SG-1 makes it through the Stargate just in time to avoid the blastwave and safely make it back to Earth where they are not court-martialed as they were under the influence of alien technology at the time of their actions. + +An old acquaintance of Teal'c's comes to Earth claiming to be able to communicate with her larval Goa'uld and even influence it to the cause of the Tok'ra and Tau'ri. Though Stargate Command wants to believe Shan'auc, Teal'c is not convinced. Shan'auc is offended and is about to leave, but she collapses, apparently because the Goa'uld inside her is fully grown and ready to take a host. She recovers somewhat, but will soon die for lack of a larval symbiote to sustain her immune system. Teal'c determines to try to reproduce her method of communication with the symbiote, which involves entering a deep meditative state. While meditating, he sees a vision of Cronus killing his father Ronac, thereby verifying Shan'auc's claim. The vision which the symbiote chose indicates to him that the symbiote hates its host greatly, even while being beholden to it for its life. Anise of the Tok'ra is summoned, as the symbiote apparently wishes to join the ranks of the Tok'ra. She offers to take the matter before the Tok'ra High Council. The next morning, word comes that the Tok'ra have accepted Shan'auc's offer to trade the fully grown symbiote for a new larval Goa'uld. They meet Hebron, who has volunteered to be the host for the symbiote, but Shan'auc collapses, and the symbiote is forced to jump from her body to his. The Goa'uld successfully melds with its new host, but Shan'auc is unconscious, and near death. The Goa'uld which has taken up residence in Hebron reveals its name to be Tanith, and Hebron is apparently alive and well also. Shan'auc remains very weak, but the symbiote they have given her seems to be healing her. However, Colonel Jack O'Neill is somewhat doubtful of the entire process, and is not convinced that it is really Hebron speaking. He is also annoyed by the Tok'ra's apparent unwillingness to give the Tau'ri all of the genetic knowledge which Tanith possesses. O'Neill decides that SG-1 will return to Earth immediately, as apparently there is no use in arguing the point with the Tok'ra. Teal'c is a step behind as they leave, and reveals to Shan'auc that he intends to leave the SGC, and return with her to Chulak when she is healthy, so that they can teach others to commune with their own symbiotes. Shan'auc confirms a suspicion voiced earlier by O'Neill, calling Teal'c, "my love." Later that night, Shan'auc goes to see Tanith/Hebron, hoping to talk to him. He reveals that he is not what she thought, and that he did not have a change of heart as she had thought. Instead he used her as a means of getting close enough to the Tok'ra to destroy them. He tells her that now she will receive her "reward." Back on Earth, Teal'c informs the SGC of his intent to return to Chulak for good. However, after saying this, the Stargate is activated from off-world by the Tok'ra, interrupting the discussion. Anise arrives with the body of Shan'auc, whose larva appears to have died of natural causes, apparently as a result of the delay in getting her a new larva. In mourning, Teal'c attempts to commune with his larval Goa'uld again. He sees the same vision as before, but realizes how it was that his father was killed by Cronos - Cronos crushed the larva in order to introduce its blood directly into the bloodstream of its host; this is apparently the slowest and most painful death a Jaffa can endure. He comes out of the meditative state, and declares to O'Neill that Shan'auc was murdered. SG-1 immediately return to the planet where the Tok'ra are currently staying, and reveal that their autopsy on Shan'auc has confirmed Teal'c revelation. Anise correctly deduces that Teal'c has returned for revenge, and though she tells him that it will not be possible, he immediately goes in search of Tanith, allowing no one to bar his path. It eventually takes five or six Tok'ra to restrain him. Anise explains that they have decided to allow Tanith to believe he has succeeded in infiltrating their ranks, and by controlling the information he receives, they hope to deceive the Goa'uld, while hopefully gaining further intelligence at some point from Tanith. O'Neill realizes that they had already suspected the truth when Shan'auc was found dead. Anise further defends the Tok'ra's actions, saying that Hebron was well aware of the risks, and that they will attempt to remove Tanith from him once he is no longer deceived. Teal'c meets Tanith face-to-face before leaving the Tok'ra base, and though barely able to contain himself, manages to say (half-truthfully) to Tanith, "[I wanted] to look upon you, and know Shan'auc's sacrifice will not be in vain." Tanith promises that it will not, and expresses a desire to someday see Teal'c again. Teal'c promises in return that they will certainly meet again someday. + +A meeting is taking place on Vorash between Stargate Command personnel and the Tok'ra for the purpose of discussing a treaty summit; one issue is which day it should be set. One of the SGC men, Major Thomas Graham, goes berserk when he sees Supreme High Councilor Per'sus and starts shooting up the place with a Goa'uld weapon. He kills several people and finally himself. The Tok'ra say that it is not Major Graham's fault. They inform the other summit attendees that Graham is a victim of Goa'uld mind-control technology - a Za'tarc. This technology couldn't be proven to exist, until now. Nevertheless Freya/Anise says that she can detect any other Za'tarcs that might be in SGC, thanks to a device she invented. However the device isn't without flaws. Back at SGC Anise starts to check the SGC personnel (while the Tok'ra do the same on their base), beginning with Major Graham's team. She then finds out that Lt. Louise Astor is also a Za'tarc. Astor agrees to undergo a procedure to remove the programming, but because it is very painful she demands it to stop and finally becomes violent. She breaks free and shoots at several people before she kills herself with a gunshot to the head. Later, SG-1 is tested and they find out that Colonel Jack O'Neill and Major Samantha Carter also seem to be Za'tarcs. O'Neill and Carter are incarcerated, with the intention of sedating and restraining them during the summit. After being told that an autopsy of someone who has undergone the procedure might help to refine it, O'Neill agrees - he says Carter's brain is far more valuable than his. Carter gets injected with the sedative, and realizes that she and O'Neill were lying, but not consciously, about one of their previous missions. She asks for a moment alone with O'Neill, and says that there was something she and he were not admitting - "given their working relationship and military ranks." He understands her meaning and is then retested. He relates the incident as before, adding this time that he did not leave Carter on Apophis' ship because he cares about her "a lot more than I'm supposed to". Carter is retested, and like Colonel O'Neill she is also finally determined to not be a Za'tarc. However, they realize that Martouf could well be one. This conclusion proves to be true, and when the Fake President appears, he starts to fire on him. He is shot multiple times by security before Teal'c and Carter manage to neutralize him with a Zat'nik'tel to prevent him self destructing. His body is preserved in order to later be autopsied, so that his death would contribute to anti-Za'tarc knowledge for the Tok'ra. + +SG-1 is currently assigned to P4X-639, a planet experiencing a coronal mass emission from its sun, causing a geomagnetic storm that Major Samantha Carter is measuring. Dr. Daniel Jackson, meanwhile, is examining the writing on a device in line with the Stargate with an alien archaeologist named Malakai. Daniel observes that the writing on the device is similar to Latin. While he is thinking aloud about the nature of the machine itself, Malakai urges Daniel and his teammates to leave due to the incipient emission. A sensor device that Malakai is holding suddenly alerts him that the geomagnetic storm has reached its peak and that he has to act immediately. He pulls out a concealed weapon and stuns Daniel before starting the machine. Carter, meanwhile, has finished the preparations for her readings and Colonel Jack O'Neill calls for Daniel, who fails to respond. Suddenly the Stargate activates behind them and they duck out of the way of the kawoosh. Meanwhile, on Earth, the Stargate has activated at the same moment, causing a series of electrical arcs around the Stargate. On P4X-639, O'Neill and Teal'c go to Malakai while Carter tends to Daniel, but after a moment a flash strikes the three at the altar and the scene flashes into white. Suddenly, O'Neill is at breakfast, eating Froot Loops, and is sitting with Daniel and Carter, in the middle of Daniel asking O'Neill his opinion of something. He asks them if they had just been on another planet, to which the others say no, and say they're going to be late for their briefing. The briefing is about the upcoming mission to P4X-639, which SG-15 had visited two weeks earlier, measuring the solar activity. Teal'c and O'Neill both observe that they've already been through this briefing, to go to the planet and set up a remote observatory, which according to them they had just been doing. The others are skeptical about his foreknowledge of the briefing, except for Daniel who observes that O'Neill never reads the reports ahead of time. At that moment, an unscheduled off-world activation occurs, and Teal'c and O'Neill both give details about what is about to happen: SG-12 is returning ahead of schedule and one of their number has been injured. O'Neill and Teal'c are both inspected by Dr. Janet Fraiser while they relate the details of the mission that has not yet happened. Based on the odd occurrences, Major General George S. Hammond decides to postpone the mission until they know what's going on. Daniel stops O'Neill in the hallway afterward to ask about details of the ruins, whereupon he is run into by MSgt. Sylvester Siler, which O'Neill implies he'd known would happen and did not stop. Some time after this, Hammond confirms that O'Neill and Teal'c are in perfect health, but before they can be put on active duty there is an unscheduled off-world activation, accompanied by the same arc lightning effect seen before. A moment later, there is a flash of light and O'Neill is again at breakfast at the same moment Daniel asks his original question. They once again go into the briefing, with O'Neill unsuccessfully trying to convince them he knows what they will say (which are all obvious statements in context) until the return of SG-12. They are once again examined by Dr. Frasier, whereupon Hammond walks in, but O'Neill forestalls him before he can postpone the mission this time. O'Neill then again meets Daniel in the hallway, where is once again run into by Sgt. Siler, but this time before that happens Daniel reveals that the writings are a variation of Ancient. Teal'c and O'Neill then visit Hammond, this time successfully convincing him to let them return to the planet. Once they are on the planet, they encounter Malakai, who at first feigns ignorance. While examining Malakai's bag, O'Neill sees an image of the man's wife. Before they can get further, however, the machine activates automatically, and Malakai makes a slip, giving Carter's name before he's been told what it is. O'Neill orders Malakai to shut it off but he refuses, and Daniel has no idea how, even though he can read Ancient. Before they can continue, however, there is a flash of white and O'Neill is once again at breakfast with Daniel and Carter. When Teal'c and O'Neill get to the briefing, they take the initiative of explaining that they're in a time loop and try to get out of being examined by Dr. Frasier this time (unsuccessfully). O'Neill and Teal'c then meet Daniel in his office, presumably at the time of the accident in the hallway in previous loops, and they stress him translating the writing on the altar, but he points out that that wouldn't allow them to operate the machine. In a briefing with Carter immediately after, she hypothesizes that since the arc lightning energizing the gate was transferred to Earth via the Stargate, they should attempt to dial out before Malakai can dial in. They attempt to do so but cannot dial out, and while they are attempting to find the problem, the incoming wormhole activates and the loop begins again. O'Neill and Teal'c experience loop after loop. They are seen in Daniel's office attempting to get him to translate the writing on the altar, but he explains that he can't translate it in less than a day. O'Neill attempts to play a recording he made of the same conversation in the last loop, but the recording ceased to exist when the loop began again. Daniel points out that the only way they can help is by learning Latin and remembering from one loop to another. Carter, meanwhile, has discovered that the Ancient device on P4X-639 simultaneously activates 14 Stargates, including Earth and Alaris, the planet SG-12 had been stationed on, cutting them all off from the normal flow of time in the rest of the universe. O'Neill and Teal'c begin learning Latin so that they can begin learning Ancient, and O'Neill mentions to Teal'c that Daniel always asks a question but he hadn't been listening the first time. Teal'c points out that he also has to "endure some discomfort." The loop begins again, whereupon it is shown that at the moment of the loop's start, Teal'c is hit in the face by an Airman opening a door. There is a montage of scenes from various loops: O'Neill and Teal'c have become quite proficient in the language at a certain point since they correct Daniel's translation, then O'Neill takes up juggling, then Teal'c does and again becoming proficient at it. Jack finally "takes a loop off" and tells Teal'c that if they don't get out of it soon, he'll go crazy. His exact words are: "I'm telling you Teal'c, If we don't get out of this soon I'm going to lose it. Lose it, it means go crazy, nuts, insane, bonzo, no longer in possession of ones faculties, three fries short of a Happy Meal. WACKO!" In a loop after this, while O'Neill and Teal'c are in charge of the translation while Daniel seems to be learning from them, Daniel makes an offhand remark that the two of them could do anything they wanted with no consequences since they know the loop would reset at the end anyway. Getting an idea, they both suddenly leave. For several loops, the two indulge in whatever behavior they feel like. Teal'c takes revenge upon the Airman who opens the door in his face by violently slamming it back on him. O'Neill tries pottery, bicycles through the base, golfs with Teal'c to Alaris through the gate (and shouting at Gen. Hammond for interrupting his back swing), and resigns his commission from the Air Force so that he can kiss Carter. Finally, Daniel has finished the translation and confirmed that the planet was once an Ancient outpost, but was wiped out by some unidentified disaster at some point in the past. In order to avoid this, the Ancients on the planet built a time machine to go back and change their fate, but the machine never worked properly, only creating a loop repeating over and over. Faced with this, the Ancients shut down the machine and let the end come. SG-1 returns to the planet to break the loop, but Malakai is expecting them and has the altar blocked by a Goa'uld force shield. In attempting to talk Malakai into shutting down the machine, he reveals that the reason why he's doing it is to see his wife again, who died twelve years earlier. However, since she died of a congenital heart condition there is no way to save her. O'Neill tells him that he wouldn't be able to stand going through her death again, telling him of the death of his own son and that he could never go through that again. Malakai agrees and shuts down the device before it begins again. Back on the base, O'Neill, Carter, and Daniel are at breakfast. O'Neill comments on how the oatmeal is a nice change of pace from the Froot Loops he has been eating. Carter informs them that the Tok'ra had been trying to reach them for over three months, but the loop could have lasted for longer, there is no clear indication how long exactly it had lasted. Daniel asks O'Neill if he ever did anything "crazy" without fear of consequences while trapped in the loops. O'Neill states that he asked that before, but instead of elaborating he gives a long look at Carter and continues eating. + +SG-1 is about to go on a mission to scout a planet for a possible new homeworld for the Enkarans but the Stargate won't connect. Stargate Command realizes they can't use the gate because the Russians have recovered the Stargate that was onboard Thor's ship, the Biliskner, when it crashed on Earth from a Replicator attack. The Russian gate is "stuck" on an outgoing wormhole, preventing the American gate from being activated. At the request of Dr. Svetlana Markov, SG-1 is sent to investigate why this is. SG-1 and Markov fly to the Russian base and enter the facility. During the search, they discover that all base personnel are dead, seemingly from a nerve gas. After failing to turn off the Russian Stargate, it is discovered that the radio signal from the Nuclear powered reconnaisance drone is keeping the gate open and cannot be shut down from this side. Markov, Dr. Daniel Jackson and Major Samantha Carter go through to the Water planet to turn off the drone, while Colonel Jack O'Neill and Teal'c search the base. They manage to find Colonel Harold Maybourne in a freezer, but when they take him out, he is miraculously revived, and small, watery alien beings come out of him. The water vapor alien then enters Teal'c, and use him to go to the Stargate. O'Neill attempts to stop him, but Teal'c opens the gate, and the aliens come out of Teal'c and go through the Stargate. Meanwhile, on the other side, it is discovered that the water that has submerged the civilization are actually aliens, the same kind that infected Maybourne. After the beings go through the Stargate to their homeworld, Markov, Jackson and Carter are sent back to Earth, having had their sub crushed and having been captured by the aliens. The Russian Stargate program is subsequently shut down and Maybourne is arrested. + +After three weeks with SG-11 on P3X-888, Dr. Daniel Jackson is certain that the Goa'uld originated there. The story begins with Daniel boxing a fossilized Goa'uld queen, and making the "significant" discovery that they have no Naquadah in their blood stream. Suddenly, the camp is attacked by an Unas who knocks out Daniel before dragging him away while the rest of SG-11 presumably give chase. The Stargate opens on Earth, giving SG-11's IDC. Major General George S. Hammond opens the Iris and only one person comes through. Dr. Robert Rothman announces a member of his team is dead, and Daniel has been taken by what he believes is an Unas. Immediately, Hammond tells Colonel Jack O'Neill he is permitted to go with SG-1 and SG-2, and to take FN P90 Personal Defense Weapons. SG-1 arrives on the planet, but they cannot make radio contact with SG-11. They eventually make it to the base camp from which the archaeologists were operating, but it is deserted, except for the body of Loder. Minutes later, Major Gil Hawkins is found in a daze, unable to give a coherent account of what has happened. It appears that the rest of SG-11 is probably dead. As the search for Daniel continues, Daniel is having a hard time keeping pace with his captor, who is allowing him to walk but has tied his wrists, and is pulling him on a sort of leash. Upon finding a stream, Daniel attempts to communicate his desire for water, and the Unas allows him to drink, but only if he scoops the water with his hands. He lets down the leash (which is attached to his wrists), and Daniel sees an opportunity for escape. He wades across the stream, which the Unas is apparently unwilling to enter, but the Unas beats him to the other side somehow. Daniel turns around to go back across, but sees something in the stream swimming towards him. He manages to get out of the stream before it reaches him, but it leaps out of the water, aiming for Daniel's head. The Unas swipes it out of the air, and rips it in half, revealing it to be a Goa'uld. At this point, relations begin to warm somewhat between them, and though Daniel is still concerned that he may be the Unas's next meal, he is somewhat more cooperative. They finally reach the Unas's cave, where the Unas roasts the dead Goa'uld over a fire, and offers the head to Daniel to eat. After inventing a "toss the Goa'uld head" game, in which Daniel manages to amuse the Unas, Daniel shows him some "real" food, which the Unas eats and enjoys. Daniel is allowed to explore the cave, and the pictographs on its walls, along with clues like the bony neck protector which the Unas wears indicate to him that the Unas which did not get taken as hosts by the Goa'uld have moved into the caves in order to avoid being taken. However, while exploring the cave, the Unas does something which changes the mood drastically, drawing another pictograph which indicates to Daniel that he has been 'marked for death'. Meanwhile, the rescue team stops to rest. O'Neill is suspicious of Hawkins's recent behavior/mental lapses, and asks Rothman if he thinks anything is wrong with him. Rothman doesn't think so, but unseen by the rest of the group, Hawkins's eyes flash. The next morning, Teal'c has discovered that the waters are teeming with Goa'uld, and he asks the rest of the team to relinquish their weapons, knowing that any of them could have become a Goa'uld during the night. Since Teal'c, being a Jaffa, is the only one who could not possibly have been taken as a host, O'Neill agrees, and they put down their weapons. Teal'c radios to the two members of SG-2 guarding the Stargate, and tells them to come and pick the rest of the team up. He volunteers to go on alone to retrieve Daniel Jackson. Everyone else is bound hand and foot. A short while later, we see that Major Hawkins is surreptitiously attempting to break his (relatively weak) bonds. When O'Neill sarcastically asks "Alright, anyone with a snake in their head, raise your hand," Hawkins manages to break the bonds on his wrists, raising his hand in doing so. He picks up a P90, and is about to shoot O'Neill, when Teal'c comes out of the nearby woods and fires multiple shots from his staff weapon into Hawkins. Teal'c cuts everyone's bonds, explaining that he knew if any of them had been taken by a Goa'uld, he would be strong enough to break his bonds. However, as Teal'c cuts Rothman's bonds, he sees that Rothman, too, has blood on his wrists, but before he can react, Rothman knocks him backwards and grabs his staff. He manages to shoot Captain Michael Griff in the shoulder before O'Neill takes him down with his P90. SG-1 continue their quest to find Daniel, while the rest of the group stays behind to bury the dead and then return to the Stargate. When Daniel wakes up the next morning, his captor is still asleep, and briefly considers bashing in the Unas's skull with a large rock. He cannot bring himself to do it, however, owing to his total uncertainty about what the Unas really intends to do with him. The Unas's hand appears to be bleeding (apparently a gunshot wound from earlier), and Daniel offers to help him with his injury. He removes the bullet, whereupon he attempts to ask for his freedom (see quote below). However, the Unas does not seem agreeable, and takes him further back into the cave. Daniel makes markings on the walls as they go, and SG-1 manage to find the cave and follow the markings. It turns out that the Unas is taking him to another Unas, who is apparently his senior. The older Unas starts for Daniel, but Daniel's captor intercedes, apparently trying to convince him that Daniel is "Chaka," a word which Daniel has been attempting to figure out for some time now. This stops the Unas, but at this moment, SG-1 arrives. Daniel tells them not to shoot, and they don't, but the elder Unas roars loudly, causing many other Unas to appear from within the caves. The situation begins to look very bad, but Daniel has a flash of insight, and realizes that his captor had captured him in order to fulfill some rite of passage, and that though the intent of the rite of passage was apparently to bring back a captive and kill it, the Unas now desires that Daniel actually be made a member of the clan. The clan does not appear to like the idea, and one of the Unas attempts to kill Daniel. Daniel, however, having learned a couple of words in Unas during his time with his captor, yells what he believes to mean "No, danger!!" The Unas pauses, but charges again, and SG-1 is forced to fire upon him. Though they shoot 15-20 rounds into him, he is still alive, and makes another charge. Daniel's captor, however, stands up to the elder, and ends up dispatching him fairly easily. This victory makes him the alpha male of the clan, at which point he again seems to invite Daniel to join. Daniel declines, but they appear to have parted on friendly terms, with an invitation to Daniel to return someday. + +After several months of searching, Stargate Command finally locates a planet suitable to the unique requirements of the Enkarans. The Enkarans are very sensitive to solar radiation, and thus need a planet with a high ozone concentration in order to survive. However, two weeks after resettling the Enkarans on P5S-381, SG-1 discovers that an alien ship is terraforming the planet, making it suitable for a sulfur-based life form. These changes will kill the carbon-based Enkarans, when it reaches their village the following day. The Enkarans refuse to leave, since they are too many and because there is no other planet they can settle on. After Major General George S. Hammond refuses to grant the ammunition required to mount an offensive against the enormous vessel, Colonel Jack O'Neill decides that their only option is to try and communicate with whatever lifeforms might be on the ship. SG-1 sets up a radio transmitter and within a short space of time they are transported on board the alien vessel. They are greeted on board by a biomechanical life form generated by the ship to appear in the image of the Enkarans. The creature calls itself Lotan. He explains to them that the ship was built by the last of a now-extinct race known as the Gadmeer. The Gadmeer were a 10,000-year-old, highly advanced race of sulfur-based creatures, overcome by a stronger military power. Rather than embrace extinction, the Gadmeer filled the ship with genetic samples of its race, and of plants and animals from their world. The ship's computers were filled with all the knowledge, art, music and philosophy of the Gadmeer. The ship's computer was programmed to search for the most suitable planet where the Gadmeer civilization could be reborn. Now that the terraforming process has started it can't be stopped because there is not enough energy to start on a new planet. So the team is caught in the position of deciding whether to help the Enkarans or let the spaceship terraform the planet. Jack O'Neill is adamant that the Enkarans be saved, stating that they shouldn't care about an already extinct species but Dr. Daniel Jackson remains convinced that there is a way for both races to survive. Whilst Daniel goes back to try and convince the Gadmeer to find another planet to terraform, O'Neill tries to devise a way to launch an attack on the ship. After much hesitation, O'Neill orders Major Samantha Carter to convert the Naquadah generator, which was going to power the Enkaran village for the coming year, into a Naquadah bomb which will detonate when the ship passes the location of it. Meanwhile Daniel convinces Lotan to see the Enkarans and to see what he will destroy. Although Lotan agrees that he doesn't want the Enkaran civilization to be destroyed, he has to follow his program and so the terraforming continues. However Daniel is finally able to convince Lotan to stop the terraforming temporarily, shortly before the ship reaches the village of the Enkarans. The halt allows the ship to avoid the detonation of the Naqahdah bomb. It is revealed that, while searching for a planet suitable for the Gadmeer, the spaceship had located another planet that would be well-suited for the Enkarans. The planet was rejected as a suitable candidate for the terraforming process for three reasons: The team manages a compromise that satisfies both sides. The alien ship will carry the Enkarans back to their homeworld, which has no Stargate, and the ship can return and continue with its terraforming. Jack sarcastically says in reference to Lotan "and he's mentioning this now?", to which Daniel responds that he didn't know, and "technically he is only a day and a half old". Lotan then decides to stay with the Enkarans on Hedrazar's invitation, since he was created in their image. + +An advanced alien city sits in the middle of a planetary ice age. The elements rage around it, but the city remains protected by a giant dome. Deep underground, the working class maintains the systems that power the great city — though they do not even know it exists. Four of these workers are SG-1. Colonel Jack O'Neill, Major Samantha Carter and Dr. Daniel Jackson line up for the afternoon meal. Kegan, the young woman who dishes out their food, is not happy to see Carter. She refuses to give her bread, and a scuffle ensues. Daniel and Jack end up in a fight, but Teal'c grabs the colonel and tries to stop him. He tries to convince them that they are friends — that all four of them are part of something called "SG-1." Teal'c is dragged away shouting, "We do not belong here!" The memories of SG-1 have been wiped out — or at least covered by false memories. They know of O'Neill as "Jonah," Carter as "Thera," and Jackson as "Karlan." Teal'c, they believe, is called "Tor." While O'Neill and Carter seem to know each other well, Jackson is estranged to them. He spends his time with Kegan, his friend. Living conditions for the workers are rough, and their days are hard — but they believe it is an honor to serve, that they are helping their people survive an ice age. On Earth, Major General George S. Hammond is in contact with Administrator Calder — one of the alien city's local leaders. SG-1 has been missing for many days. Calder explains that the group had gone out to explore the nearby glacier region, and never returned. Hammond sends an SG team, led by Major Michael Griff, to look for them. Beneath the surface of the planet, Jackson begins to dream about the Stargate and about O'Neill — but cannot figure out what the shimmering circle of water is. Slowly, his memories start to resurface. He believes that Jonah and Thera — and even Tor — may have once been his friends, and that they are supposed to be doing something bigger, something more important. His friend Kegan tries to dissuade him, believing that Carter and O'Neill are only trying to win special treatment from Brenna, the workers' foreman. But Jackson continues his search for the truth. He realizes that he cannot remember very far into his own past, and finds that strange. He speaks to Teal'c when he returns—but the Jaffa tells him he was night sick and does not know him. In Administrator Calder's office, Brenna has brought some of Sam's ideas to share with her supervisor. Carter has many good ideas for improving efficiency at the plant, but Calder isn't interested; he worries that one day, she might make things so efficient that the system does not require workers at all. He is interested only in maintaining power—both literally and figuratively — and keeping the working class subjugated to the people above whom they serve. Sam's ideas are rejected. Major Griff's team returns to Earth, reporting that no sign of SG-1 was found on the glacier. Beyond that, though, Griff expresses doubt that O'Neill would have ever let his team go out there, and that if Administrator Calder said that was the case, he must be lying. Later, while moving to release the pressure from one of the machines, Teal'c passes out. The pressure rises dramatically, threatening to explode and take out the entire section. Daniel, Jack and Sam work together to save the facility. Daniel takes the opportunity to try and get to know the two better, and learns that Sam has had the same dream—a dream about the Stargate. They agree to meet after lights out. Carter, Jackson and O'Neill continue to slowly remember more and more of their pasts. Sam recalls details about the SGC — names like "SG-1," "DHD," "GDO." Jack begins to remember his feelings for Carter, and the two grow closer. Personalities begin to resurface as they continue to dig deeper — expressions, like Jack's "for cryin' out loud," escape. Sam inadvertently refers to O'Neill as "sir." In a dream, O'Neill remembers seeing the city and speaking with Calder. He confronted him about the slave labor underground, and refused to recommend trade with this world. Calder had SG-1 captured and stamped them with new personalities in order to keep the secret slave labor from being revealed. Brenna is dissatisfied with Calder's treatment of the workers. Some days later, she reports back again: SG-1 has been seen meeting together late at night, and there is evidence that they are beginning to remember. The memory stamp ordered by Calder is not keeping its hold. In addition, Teal'c is now dying. He cannot remember to kelno'reem, the Jaffa meditation process that allows his symbiote to cure him of illness. Calder orders O'Neill, Carter and Jackson expelled to the surface, to die in the cold. General Hammond has very few choices other than breaking off diplomatic relations with the planet. Instead, he orders Griff to draw up plans for a covert search and rescue operation. Fortunately, the mission is not needed. Brenna, herself a worker, decides to act against Calder rather than expelling SG-1 to die on the surface. She brings all four of them into her office and tells them that their suspicions about false memories are true. Brenna explains who they really are — but before she can help them to escape the facility, Calder arrives with two armed guards. He shoots Brenna in the shoulder for her disloyalty, and turns his weapon to SG-1. Teal'c awakens suddenly and overpowers the guards, and O'Neill grabs Calder's weapon. Teal'c explains that he undid his bandages (covering his symbiote pouch) in the night. When he realized he was different from everyone else, he began to remember who he really was. He put himself into a deep state of kelno'reem through the night, and woke up healed. Before they escape, O'Neill drags Calder in front of the workers and tells them the truth — that they are slaves to the city above. To prove it, Jack shoots out a skylight overhead. Instead of ice and snow burying the workers, they feel the warm rays of the sun. Brenna tells SG-1 that their memories will return in time, especially once they are home. They will take her with them to receive treatment for her wound, and promise to relocate the workers to a tropical world they have recently found. Calder and his people will have to work for themselves for a change. + +Martin Lloyd telephones Stargate Command and gets their attention by describing the Stargate and mentioning Colonel Jack O'Neill by name. He goes on to request a face-to-face meeting. While O'Neill meets with the man, the rest of the team listens in. Martin explains that he is from outer space, and that he doesn't belong on Earth. O'Neill continues to stall him, even hunting through a local forest to find his spaceship, while Major Samantha Carter, Dr. Daniel Jackson and Teal'c (using his pseudonym Murray for the first time) head to Martin's house to investigate further. There, what the team finds is of very little of use. He is a conspiracy theorist who catalogs everything. The main find, however, is a cabinet full of prescription drugs, antidepressants and antipsychotics. As the team is searching Martin's house, a mysterious group of men observe them through cameras planted throughout. Out in the woods, O'Neill and Martin have been unable to find anything and give up their search. O'Neill convinces Martin that he should stop taking his medications to help him remember more; he has a vision in which he see seven symbols; a Stargate address, with Earth as a point of origin. O'Neill now is convinced that there is more to Martin than meets the eye. While this is going on, Jackson and Carter meet with Martin's psychiatrist, Dr. Peter Tanner. He gives them Martin’s work address. Jackson and Carter go to what appears to be an empty warehouse, and are captured and interrogated by the four men watching them earlier. Unable to make contact with Carter, O’Neill goes to the doctor’s office but finds it deserted. As Martin continues skipping his medications, he remembers the location of his spaceship, and leads O'Neill to it. O'Neill calls in a team to analyze the ship; to get a better understanding of Martin's species. Martin further remembers that he had companions with him when he landed, fellow soldiers; his world was at war with powerful creatures that demanded Godlike worship; the Goa'uld. They set a trap for the four men, by opening the ship's cockpit, and using Martin as bait. When they take Martin, O'Neill and Teal'c follow them to a warehouse where Jackson and Carter are being held. O'Neill and Teal'c free them, and find Martin tied up in the back of the van. As this happens, Martin's ship explodes, leaving a massive crater behind. Martin now remembers everything; the five of them were soldiers, deserters that left their world behind and came to Earth to hide. Martin, learning of the existence of a Stargate on Earth, wanted to return home; but his compatriots overruled him and drugged him into amnesia. O'Neill takes Martin back to his home world only to find a smoldering ruin where a great city once stood. + +Teal'c is test-flying the X-301 Interceptor, an experimental United States Air Force fighter assembled from parts of two of Apophis' Death Gliders (recovered after Apophis' attack on Earth) and human tech. It can achieve escape velocity with virtually no G-forces for the pilots, and even Carter doesn't fully understand how it works. Lt. General Maurice Vidrine is impressed (though not as much by O'Neill's sense of humor.) The next test is aerial combat, with the SGC serving as Mission Control Center. Colonel Jack O'Neill joins Teal'c in the X-301, but they overshoot the attack run, heading directly out into space. "We are no longer in control of the vehicle. I repeat, we have lost control and cannot eject. Please advise." Once they're moving at a million miles an hour through space, propulsion shuts down. Apophis' recorded voice states that he installed booby traps (aka Recall devices) in his gliders, so none of his betrayers would be able to use his craft, and they would return to his homeworld after a very long time. Affected by the time lag it takes for radio signals to reach the X-301, Major Samantha Carter and Major Paul Davis at the SGC - with O'Neill and Teal'c on the glider - collaborate on a plan to slingshot them around Jupiter: The rocket motors of the AIM 120A air-to-air missiles, never fired during the weapons test, are still under their control. Unfortunately, the missiles don't have enough thrust and one breaks away from its mounting, hits the glider causing some damage, forcing O'Neill and Teal'c to reduce life support to freezing temperatures and very low oxygen levels. Dr. Daniel Jackson contacted allies capable of spaceflight. Anise of the Tok'ra throws him a secret bone by saying she will not risk exposing a covert operative on a Goa'uld-occupied world, even though a Tel'tak is within a day or so of Earth. Carter pinpoints the world, she and Daniel 'gate there and are picked up by Transportation rings. Fortunately, it is the Tok'ra operative, Jacob Carter, who quickly reigns in his temper (he was preparing to destroy part of the planet) once he realizes his friends' lives are at stake. The ship will reach the X-301 in roughly 24 hours. With 12 hours of air remaining, Teal'c decides to go into an extremely deep state of kelno'reem, slowing his heart rate, reducing his oxygen consumption. O'Neill asks who he'll talk to. Teal'c renders O'Neill speechless with his depth of feeling and friendship. Jacob pushes the cargo ship beyond maximum safe velocity, resulting in the hyperspace engines crashing within spitting distance of two Ha'taks. Daniel stalls them by saying he's the Great and Powerful Oz in Goa'uld. They launch gliders in response, but Jacob and Carter repair the engines and the ship is able to re-enter hyperspace. Upon arrival, Teal'c and O'Neill are asleep, near death. Jacob nudges the X-301 with the cargo ship, waking O'Neill into an amusing but dangerous daze from oxygen deprivation. Fortunately, he understands enough to wake Teal'c up by throwing a pen at him. Obeying Carter's instructions, they saturate their lungs with the remaining oxygen, open the glider's canopy, exhale and push away. Five meters from the glider, Jacob rings them aboard. Though they fall over to the floor, they're both alive. A while later, the SGC receives the message from Sam and the control room erupts with joy at the news that the rescue has been a success. + +Dr. Daniel Jackson reads in a magazine that his archaeology professor, Dr. David Jordan, has died in a lab explosion. He attends the funeral, where he is reunited with colleagues whom he knew before he began speaking about his 'wild theories' concerning the Egyptian gods. Dr. Steven Rayner is not pleased to see Dr. Jackson because of Dr. Jackson's theories. Dr. Sarah Gardner, with whom Daniel had a relationship before he entered the Stargate program, is happy to see him. Gardner shows Jackson the artifacts from the Stewart expedition, which are rumored to be cursed. Sarah realizes a gold amulet is missing. Jackson goes to the storage area of the museum, where he finds an Egyptian burial jar which Dr. Jordan had been forbidden to open by the Egyptian government. Jackson calls Major Samantha Carter to inform her that the canopic jar has Egyptian hieroglyphs and Goa'uld symbols on it. Jackson takes the jar to the SGC. Jackson calls Teal'c, fishing in Minnesota with Colonel Jack O'Neill, for help with a translation from Goa'uld of the line "banished to oblivion." Jackson explains to Major General George S. Hammond and Carter that the jar is related to the myth of the mother of the Egyptian gods, Isis, who was thrown into the Nile along with Osiris by Setesh. Furthermore, the record of the expedition that found the jars records two jars having been found. Jackson returns to Chicago in search of the other jar. Rayner tells Daniel that the Osiris jar was destroyed in the explosion of the lab and denies knowledge of the missing amulet. Samantha Carter performs an MRI on the canopic jar of Isis, and finds inside it a Goa'uld symbiote. Dr. Janet Fraiser removes the symbiote from its jar. It is dead, but in perfect condition. The jar was meant to keep the symbiote alive indefinitely, but when the jar's seal was broken, it died. On Dr. Jordan's computer, Gardner finds an e-mail he received on the night of his death, which reveals that the carbon dating analysis on the missing gold amulet proved it to be about 10,000 years old. Dr. Gardner realizes that Dr. Jackson's theories have been right all along. Gardner also realizes that the results of the test were sent to Dr. Rayner. Jackson tells Gardner that he believes Dr. Rayner stole the amulet and killed Jordan, the Curator, and the technician who performed analysis on amulet. Jackson returns to the SGC to inform the team that he thinks that Steven Rayner has been possessed by the Goa'uld Osiris, and is in possession of a gold amulet which could be Goa'uld. Carter, Jackson, and Dr. Fraiser head to a temple near Cairo, Egypt to find Rayner. At the temple, Rayner uses the amulet to remove a Goa'uld hand device from the wall, but he is attacked by Gardner, who is instead revealed to be possessed by the Goa'uld Osiris. When Sam, Daniel, and Fraiser enter, she attacks them also. She raises a pyramidal spacecraft and escapes via the rings after threatening to one day return. As Sam, Daniel and Fraiser tend to Rayner, Osiris's ship leaves the pyramids where it was stationed and heads for outer space. + +Late at night, on Chulak, Teal'c meets with two Jaffa, Rak'nor, and Ma'kar, to pitch his idea in the possibility of a great rebellion against the false gods, the Goa'uld. All goes well until the end of the meeting, when Rak'nor reveals that the meeting was a trap to capture the Shol'va (traitor). Selmak/Jacob Carter is at Stargate Command, "on vacation", when a transmission comes through the Stargate from the Tok'ra. They have intercepted a transmission (thanks to Tanith) between Heru'ur and Apophis (currently the two most powerful Goa'uld in the galaxy), who intend to meet. Though Heru'ur is ostensibly allied with the System Lords against Apophis, it seems as though he is attempting to forge a deal with Apophis behind their backs. Such an alliance would prove too much for anyone in the galaxy to oppose, ultimately resulting in the complete domination of Apophis over the entire galaxy. Selmak states that their best bet would be to attempt to sabotage the meeting, causing Heru'ur and Apophis to war against each other, decimating both armies and returning the balance of power to the System Lords, which for the time being would be preferable to one, all-powerful Goa'uld. Selmak knows that the meeting is to take place in a minefield left behind by the extinct Tobin; a minefield which will actively seek out and destroy any use of weapons by either party. The plan is to reach the minefield before the meeting, and reprogram one of the mines to target Apophis's mothership. If he thinks Heru'ur is behind the attack, Selmak believes he will retreat, then order his armies to attack Heru'ur's planet. The catch comes in the difficulty of reprogramming the mine - the mines apparently change location somewhat randomly, and the Tok'ra have been unable to translate a text which they believe is the manual for how the mines work. Fortunately, with Dr. Daniel Jackson's help, they complete their translation, and Selmak believes that, due to the way the mines operate, it should actually be possible to teleport a mine onboard their vessel, and as long as they move their ship along with the mine, it should be unable to tell the difference between deep space and the inside of their vessel. Meanwhile, Teal'c is being heavily tortured on Heru'ur's Ha'tak by Terok, a lesser Goa'uld. Both Rak'nor and Terok attempt to convince him that the Goa'uld are gods, telling him that they are only doing it for his own good. Teal'c is steadfast, however, and frustrates even Terok by his constancy. SG-1 and Selmak arrive in the Tobin system, where the meeting is to take place. They teleport one of the mines aboard, and Selmak maneuvers the ship through the minefield, having to both avoid other mines, and keep their mine centered in the ship. At first, they can't even find an access panel on the mine, but they eventually take a chance, and an access panel opens up on the bottom. They begin attempting to reprogram, but they have a close call, and the mine almost touches the inside of their vessel. Suddenly, Apophis's mothership arrives, and they are forced to cloak. At the same time, green lights begin flashing on the control panel, which is apparently a "very bad" thing, so Colonel Jack O'Neill is forced to take the controls so that Selmak can assist in the reprogramming. According to Jackson, the mine is due to explode in five minutes if they cannot enter a certain code. Heru'ur and Apophis begin the meeting, and Heru'ur offers the alliance as expected. Heru'ur also offers a gift, as a token of his goodwill - to SG-1's horror, that gift is Teal'c. Apophis accepts the offer, the alliance is sealed, and Heru'ur commands Terok to send Teal'c over to Apophis. Terok goes to get Teal'c, and decides to kill him himself, knowing that Apophis can (and will) simply resurrect him with a Sarcophagus. Rak'nor finally breaks down, as he cannot watch someone who has suffered so bravely be killed, and attacks Terok with his own Rod of Anguish. At the last minute, Major Samantha Carter realizes they are making a mathematical error in the code they are attempting, which solves their problem. They succeed in reprogramming the mine, but when the mine is ringed off the ship, it does nothing. Since they have completed their part of the mission, they decide to attempt a rescue of Teal'c by intercepting him during the ring transport between the motherships, just as he saved them from Sokar. However, they barely miss the teleportation, and since it was necessary to decloak to use the rings, they are discovered. At this moment, the Tok'ra operative aboard Apophis's ship activates the beacon which will attract the mine to Apophis's ship. However, it was not Teal'c who was transported to Apophis's ship, but Terok, still unconscious from the use of the torture device. Apophis is convinced that Heru'ur is mocking him, and then the mine impacts Apophis's ship. Apophis uncloaks at least ten other motherships (the Goa'uld have never before managed to cloak a mothership), and makes short work of Heru'ur's mothership. However, the mines activate, and begin attacking Apophis's remaining motherships. Selmak's Tel'tak's sensors pick up a Death Glider which apparently managed to escape Heru'ur's ship before it exploded. They assume it may be Heru'ur himself, and give chase, sending a transmission asking which god the pilot worships. The pilot responds with a Tok'ra passphrase, and Jacob Carter reveals his identity to the pilot. The pilot is Rak'nor, who has Teal'c aboard, alive, though very weak. Though Teal'c has been rescued, the mission is a failure, because Heru'ur is dead, and Apophis is alive and will surely absorb the remnants of Heru'ur's fleet, making himself the most powerful Goa'uld in the galaxy by far. + +On an alien planet, SG-1 is ambushed by the Goa'uld. Major Samantha Carter manages to dial out and transmit the SG-1 IDC back to Stargate Command. On the other end, the SGC receives their radio call and Colonel Jack O'Neill's explanation of the situation. Major General George S. Hammond, in violation of procedure, orders the Iris to be opened. Goa'uld energy blasts start coming through the Stargate, hitting the insides of the gate room. SG-1 makes it through just in time before General Hammond closes the iris. In the debrief afterwards, O'Neill thanks Hammond for opening the iris. Hammond gravely responds that had he followed procedure, they would all be dead. He then announces to the SG-1 team that he has decided to retire. O'Neill doesn't believe him and later tries to talk him out of it as Hammond is leaving his office. Afterwards, he exchanges personal words of farewell with each of the SG-1 members, including Teal'c: "On Chulak, when a great warrior retires from the field of battle, it is customary to sing a song of lament. --- Fortunately, we are not on Chulak." The SGC is put under the command of Major General Henry Bauer, who quickly turns the SGC on its head. He divides up SG-1, putting Teal'c in SG-3, the marine combat team, Dr. Daniel Jackson behind a desk, and Carter to oversee the development of a new Naquadah-enhanced bomb. O'Neill, after complaining, is asked to take a vacation and rethink his insubordination. O'Neill, predictably, goes to see Hammond, who insists it will just take time to get used to the new CO. But after much coaxing from O'Neill, Hammond reveals that he was forced to retire by the NID, who threatened him by picking up his granddaughters for a ride and then return them unharmed from school one day. Meanwhile, at the SGC, Teal'c leads a strike force to a Goa'uld-held world on P3S-452 to gather more refined naquadah for the "Doomsday device" that Carter is now working on. They return with Lt. Morrison wounded, and Major Wade dead, but a sufficient amount of naquadah. Bauer doesn't care about the casualties, and is content that the naquadah was retrieved. O'Neill then goes to see ex-Colonel Harold Maybourne, behind bars where O'Neill had put him in "Watergate". He gets him out of jail, and Maybourne takes O'Neill to his apartment, currently purchased off the books, where they would hopefully be able to procure information from Maybourne's computer to blackmail the NID with. But Maybourne's access codes have been removed, and several minutes later, a black-ops team with mini-uzis and MP5K submachine guns bursts in. O'Neill and Maybourne barely manage to escape through a hidden door. Carter finds out that the test planet for the naquadah bomb has life on it, and protests, to no avail. The bomb is sent by MALP to the planet, with a secondary observation MALP following. Daniel bursts into the gate room, warning Bauer that the planet contains naquadah in the soil, which will amplify the effects of the explosion. Carter realizes that this is why the planet was chosen in the first place; many Goa'uld strongholds are laced with naquadah, and utilizing this fact may be to their advantage. However, in this case it may create an explosion that would consume the whole planet. Bauer insists that if this happens, the Stargate will be destroyed and Earth will feel no effects from the bomb. O'Neill and Maybourne now have to blackmail someone high in the NID in order to get what they want. They go to Senator Robert Kinsey's house, the politician who almost had the SGC shut down. Getting him to lead them up to his office, O'Neill holds him at gunpoint while Maybourne accesses his computer. At the SGC, the bomb is set off. Exactly as Carter expected, the bomb starts a chain reaction, and the explosion destroys the observation MALP. The planet is destroyed, but the Stargate is not: the energy from the explosion provides it power, keeping the wormhole active, and transmitting deadly radiation through the Stargate back to the SGC. Carter orders the iris closed, but it will not hold forever. Carter urges the now in-over-his-head Bauer to order the evacuation of the base. At a security station on Level 16, Teal'c, Daniel, Carter, and Bauer monitor the gate room. Carter explains there's still a chance that the wormhole will collapse after the theoretical 38-minute limit. Otherwise, the radiation will melt through the iris, and even if they were to engage the self-destruct, the Stargate would most likely survive, and with the planet on the other side turned into a ball of plasma able to power the gate for months, even its burial under a mountain wouldn't stop the radiation. In Senator Kinsey's house, Maybourne has succeeded in accessing the NID sites. Over threats and curses from Kinsey, O'Neill figures out that the password must be "Oscar", the name of Kinsey's dog. They get information that link Kinsey to numerous illegal NID actions, including Maybourne's Area 51 operation, the Russian operation from "Watergate", and the blackmailing of Hammond. O'Neill delivers his offer: re-instate Hammond, or he'll give the information to the press. Unfortunately, Mrs. Kinsey has meanwhile called the NID, who have just rolled up to the front door. While they don't dare come in with Kinsey's party guests downstairs, O'Neill and Maybourne have no way out. There is a tense minute at the SGC when the 38-minute window comes and goes. Bauer declares for there to be no point in remaining, and starts to head towards the surface. The team follows him, but Teal'c turns and stays one more minute. At 38 minutes and 34.12 seconds, the gate deactivates. When Senator Kinsey exits the house with O'Neill and Maybourne accompanying, NID personnel are prevented from moving to apprehend the pair by the press, whom O'Neill called to create a diversion. The press pester Kinsey about his presidential ambitions, and Kinsey launches into his usual politicking while O'Neill and Maybourne get away. Later, back at the SGC, Hammond has been re-instated. He thanks O'Neill for what he's done and asks how he can ever repay him. Suddenly, there's a phone call for O'Neill from Maybourne; Maybourne emailed himself a copy of the incriminating evidence, and used it to get himself transferred to a prison with reduced security, from which he escaped. He is currently on a tropical island. O'Neill hangs up the phone and tells Hammond that one day, he would like the General to "buy back my soul". Meanwhile, on the unnamed tropical island, Maybourne is busy having a good time and is even seen dancing with an unknown woman. + +The episode begins with Samantha Carter breakfasting with her husband Joseph Faxon as they discuss their fertility problems. They also mention the Aschen, an advanced civilization who possess a very high grade of medical and other technology. It turns out that the year is 2010, a 10-year jump into the future from the previous episode. Earth has transformed into a seeming paradise of long life and perfect health thanks to an alliance with the Aschen Confederation. It is the 10-year anniversary of SG-1's first encountering the Aschen, and there is going to be a ceremony commemorating the event. The Stargate now serves as a public gateway to other worlds and stands in the J.R. Reed Space Terminal. With the help of the Aschen, the Goa'uld have been defeated; the President of the United States is SG-1 nemesis Robert Kinsey. During the ten year anniversary ceremonies, the former SG-1 members are all present—minus Jack O'Neill. It also turns out that Major General George S. Hammond is dead. At this point in time, Sam and her husband, Ambassador Joseph Faxon, are trying to get pregnant, but so far no luck. Their doctor, an Aschen, says there's nothing wrong with either of them and that they should just keep trying. When she tells Dr. Janet Fraiser, Janet asks Sam to come by her office for an examination. Janet mentions that she is bored, given the near absence of disease thanks to Aschen medical technology. Sam agrees to be examined by her, and Janet makes a shocking discovery: Sam has been sterilized. She'll never be able to have children. Sam is devastated, not only because she can't have children, but because her Aschen doctor lied to her by telling her there was nothing wrong with her. Both wonder if this problem has occurred anywhere else in the world. They use the Aschen computer at Sam's lab to do a search, under the guise of running simulations of the collapse of Jupiter into a star. Sam and Janet soon discover a dark secret: the Aschen have made over 90% of humans infertile, allowing them to bloodlessly take over the Earth through a long-term invasion. They appear to have killed General Hammond when he became suspicious. The former members of Stargate Command and SG-1 realize that it will be impossible to defeat the Aschen, so their best hope of victory lies in preventing Earth from ever meeting the Aschen. Using the advanced sensors the Aschen have given Earth, they pinpoint when a massive solar flare will happen, allowing them to repeat the same form of time travel they used previously to travel to and from 1969. They plan to send a warning to the past, using the centrally located, very public and heavily defended, Aschen-controlled Stargate. First, they must go to great lengths to obtain a GDO in order to cause Stargate Command to open the Iris. In the course of this, Sam discovers that her husband knew about the Aschen plan to decrease human fertility, though they had told him they would only make 1/3 of the population infertile. In contrast, O'Neill never trusted the Aschen, and is bitter that his word was ignored. After initially rebuffing the former SG-1 team when they ask for his help, he joins them in carrying out their plan. Sam must ask her husband, who is an ambassador to the Aschen, to steal it for them, because the only remaining GDO is in the Oval Office, on President Kinsey's desk. Joe agrees to aid them in exchange for the paternalistic promise that Carter be kept out of the final assault on the Stargate. On O'Neill's word that Sam won't take part, Joe visits Kinsey and successfully swaps the GDO out with a display replica. To get control of the Stargate, they enlist the help of Teal'c and another Jaffa. They are able to break through the strong defense measures surrounding the Stargate and dial the gate. However, as the former SG-1 members try to send their hand-written notes through the gate, they are killed one by one, with each getting a bit closer to the gate. After the deaths of Teal'c, Jack, and Dr. Daniel Jackson, Sam breaks away from her husband and rushes to the Stargate. As she is cut down by the lasers, she manages to throw O'Neill's note, stained with his blood, through the gate. Janet is the only survivor, as she had traveled to Chulak to set things up with Teal'c before the attack began. Back in 2000, Stargate Command receives an incoming transmission, accompanied by an SG-1 IDC, and through the gate comes a small, crumpled paper note. Written on it, in Colonel Jack O'Neill's handwriting (and with spots of O'Neill's ten-years-older blood on it as well), is a simple message: "UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES GO TO P4C-970, COLONEL JACK O'NEILL". General Hammond orders P4C-970 be locked out of the dialing computer to prevent the planet from ever being contacted. + +SG-1 arrive on Abydos after Kasuf has asked for their help in investigating a strange incident; a wind blew out of an active Stargate with a mysterious voice calling Sha're's name. Kasuf leads them to the place where the voice was heard. Major Samantha Carter's instruments report a buildup of static electricity as Daniel hears a voice call his name. A wind swirls into a tornado. Dr. Daniel Jackson identifies himself and the vortex dissipates, leaving a young boy who says he is Shifu, the Harcesis. Being a Harcesis, Shifu has the genetic memory of all previous Goa'uld that came before his parents, Apophis and Amaunet. He says that Oma Desala, on Kheb, taught him how to suppress this knowledge. The boy is unnaturally old considering he was last seen as a newborn only a year ago (see "Maternal Instinct"). SG-1 takes Shifu to Stargate Command where Dr. Janet Fraiser discovers traces of nanites (the same as those from the episode "Brief Candle") in his system, which explain his accelerated growth, but they are inactive. Since the treaty between the Tau'ri and the Tok'ra states that they must share all potential sources of information related to the Goa'uld, the Tok'ra are told of Shifu. The Tok’ra communicate plans to use a Memory recall device in order to access his memories. In the meantime, Dr. Jackson talks to Shifu about Sha're and how she passed a message to him through the ribbon device (see "Forever in a Day"). Jackson quickly inquires about his Goa'uld memories. Shifu, quoting Oma, says the evil in his mind is too strong to resist so, “the only way to win is to deny it battle.” Daniel, knowing the importance of the knowledge, asks him to remember. Shifu simply touches Daniel, who collapses. Jackson awakens with the Goa'uld knowledge in his head and begins to spout plans for a satellite, capable of detecting Goa'uld vessels thousands of light years away as well as easily destroying them, the perfect basis for an anti-Goa'uld defense system. Even Carter is unable to completely understand the device. Jackson demands the Tok'ra not be involved as any spy in their ranks would alert the Goa'uld before the project could come to fruition. In addition, only a network of these satellites orbiting Earth will create an effective shield. Thankfully, Shifu, having imparted this useful knowledge, does not have to remember anything. Later, in a full briefing with Major Paul Davis from the Pentagon, Daniel explains that the entire SGC must focus its resources into raw Naquadah retrieval. Jackson insists that the Russians be kept in the dark, even though this violates a treaty, and the project be completed in only a year, effectively doubling the cost to $160 billion, according to Davis. Labor will be strategically divided to maintain security. Daniel then supplies Major Davis with a list of "personal requirements". Colonel Jack O'Neill goes to talk to Jackson after the meeting. O'Neill has been put in charge of the retrieval operations, it was either that or retire again. Jackson has sent Teal'c off-world somewhere on a mission he refuses to discuss. A while later, Apophis is brought before a Goa'uld System Lord with Apophis begging for mercy. The being in question does not respond and instead begins torturing Apophis with a hand device before revealing that the Goa'uld System Lord in question is none than Daniel himself. One year later, Jackson wakes in a large house, apparently his, with Shifu also living there. Carter, no longer with the project, forces her way in to confront Jackson, claiming to know his "plan." She accusingly claims the "strategic division of labor" was an effort to keep anyone from catching on to the big picture: world take-over. Jackson has her jailed, brushing off her statements as "insanity." O'Neill visits Carter where they talk about Jackson, and an incident involving Teal'c that Daniel allegedly caused. The two remain unaware that Daniel is secretly watching them. O'Neill decides to speak with Jackson, who has been watching Carter and O'Neill. He arrives at Jackson's compound the day of the launch. Inviting O’Neill to watch the launch, they ring to an underground control room from a concealed set of Transportation rings. O’Neill jokes about Carter's rantings about Jackson. The launch goes perfectly, dispersing 288 AG-3 (anti-Goa’uld) satellites into orbit. With a Goa'uld defense in place, the President of the United States plans to reveal the Stargate’s existence to the public. However, the launch brings about an international crisis with Russia and China, who put their forces on high alert over these new "communications satellites." As the Russians prepare to destroy an AG-3, Jackson advises the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (General Maurice Vidrine, promoted from Lt. General in "Tangent") to make a demonstration by taking out a Russian satellite with the AG-3 system, which only succeeds in infuriating the Russians into launching more anti-satellite weapons. In a bold move, Daniel commandeers the AG-3 system, targeting and obliterating Moscow, but not before O'Neill tries to stop the man by pulling a gun and shooting at Daniel. However, the bullets are harmlessly stopped by a Goa'uld personal shield around Daniel. Daniel awakes in the infirmary at the SGC, and the dreary scenario turns out to be naught but a dream. Fraiser says she has no idea what is wrong with him. The rest of SG-1, Major General George S. Hammond, and the Tok'ra, Aldwin, are discussing what to do with Shifu. Aldwin suggests using a Za'tarc detector to test Shifu’s claims about being a Harcesis, as the device doubles as a lie detector. Through Aldwin’s questions, it is determined that he is Harcesis. Shifu explains through the dream, he was teaching Daniel: "The evil in my subconscious is too strong to resist. The only way to win is to deny it battle." He thanks the newly awakened Jackson, turns into a glowing energy entity, characteristic of ascended beings, activates, and then disappears through the Stargate. + +SG-5 along with Dr. Daniel Jackson discovers a deserted Goa'uld palace on P4X-347. One of the rooms in the palace contains a pedestal that generates a huge, cascading light show that mesmerizes everyone. Back on Earth, Major Samantha Carter along with Lt. Dean Barber from SG-5 prepare to leave for the planet, but Barber commits suicide by running into the energy vortex of the unstable wormhole. As a result, the rest of SG-5 and Jackson are recalled from the planet. As usual, Jackson is impatient to return to the planet to continue working on various devices and translations within the palace. As the day progress, Jackson gets more frustrated and decides that he needs to return to P4X-347 to continue work. Colonel Jack O'Neill tells him that they will return the next morning, and Major General George S. Hammond refuses to send him earlier. The next morning, Daniel fails to report in, and when Jack investigates, he finds Daniel moments away from committing suicide from depression. Jack is able to stop him and later takes him to the SGC infirmary where Dr. Janet Fraiser detects a significantly low level of neural activity that appears to be drug withdrawal. The rest of SG-5 is also displaying similarly low levels of neural activity. While Jackson is in the infirmary, the rest of SG-1 go to the planet and discover the same room with the light show. The three of them are hypnotized by it, although Carter is not able to detect any other form of radiation. As the team continues to explore the palace, they find a young boy, Loran. He claims that his parents have left, but will return soon. SG-1 takes various environmental samples, along with blood samples from Loran and O'Neill returns to Earth to deliver them to Dr. Fraiser. Within a short amount of time, O'Neill begins to exhibit similar symptoms as SG-5. Jackson is continuing to deteriorate and the rest of SG-5 has already succumbed to the symptoms and ultimately died from the effects. As Daniel's neural activity continues to drop, Dr. Fraiser has no choice but to send him back to the planet and hope that whatever is in the palace will be able to save him. Once he reaches the planet, Jackson begins to slowly recover. SG-1, once Jackson recovers; manage to figure out how to shut off the light generating pedestal. Since they have a few hours before the withdrawal symptoms begin, Teal'c, O'Neill, and Carter explore the countryside outside of the palace with Jack and Carter both being the first to display symptoms as they get into an argument over Jack having rank over Carter. On a nearby beach, they find the remains of two humans - most likely Loran's parents. As they begin to feel the effects of withdrawal, they quickly return to the palace where they begin to feel better almost immediately upon their arrival. Jackson, on the other hand, stayed back to translate has been feeling fine the entire time. They reason that the light itself is not causing the addiction, but rather something else. After examining the pedestal, they learn that it emits radiation without the light. O'Neill confronts Loran; he shows the team the control panel and how to disable the device. Teal'c is able to figure out how to shut down the device slowly, to wean the team off the radiation. After a few weeks, SG-1 returns home and they tell Loran that he can come with them. + +While Colonel Jack O'Neill and Teal'c are visiting an off-world research facility on a moon and Dr. Daniel Jackson is on a mission with SG-11, Major Samantha Carter is sent to the Air Force Academy to give a lecture on wormholes. During her stay, Carter meets Cadet Jennifer Hailey, a cocky, insubordinate, brilliant cadet, who even finds a mistake in one of Carter's equations. Carter believes that Hailey would be a great asset to Stargate Command and tries to convince her stay in the academy, although she always gets in trouble and is even threatened with expulsion for breaking an upperclassman's nose. O'Neill and the scientists stationed at the facility in the meantime begin to butt heads. The scientists are irritated that O'Neill seems paranoid about everything, while O'Neill believes that the scientists are not being careful enough in their research. While exploring the moon, the team discovers an alien lifeform similar to a Will o' the wisp that can fly, pass through solid matter, and act intelligently. Despite O'Neill's protests, the scientists capture one for further study. The scientists believe that it may be an energy based life form and that it would be one of the greatest discoveries for mankind. Meanwhile, back on Earth, Carter discovers that most of Hailey's negative attitude stems from boredom and frustration with the courses she is taking. Hailey is so brilliant that none of the classes at the academy challenge her. However, Hailey is also angry about being constantly compared to Carter who managed to get a high score in every class she attended and even win a lot of awards during her own time at the Academy. Carter gets permission to reveal her work and gives her a tour through the SGC with Major General George S. Hammond expressing disapproval, simply because Hailey's file says otherwise. Carter, on the other hand strongly disagrees, stating that if Hailey can get one glimpse of her possible future, then Hailey will graduate at the top of her class and also become an officer worthy of serving under Hammond's command. Hours later, Sam and Hailey prepare to go off-world with Hailey being left stunned when she sees the Stargate in action for the first time. They arrive at the same moon as the research facility where O'Neill and Teal'c are located. At the facility, things are not going well. Two scientists venture out into the forest to find more wisps, but the wisps are apparently aware that one of their numbers had been captured, and the scientists are mercilessly attacked. One scientist, Dr. Bill Thompson, is killed when the wisps pass through him several times and every time they do so burn the person. The other, Dr. Bill Lee, is injured, but manages to run and warn the others. In the fight, a zat shot aimed at wisps also hits a man, and the wisps leave that man alone afterwards; it is guessed that it is due to temporary electrical change in the skin caused by being zatted. The team on the moon is forced to take shelter in the main building. Carter runs an electric current through the aluminum walls of the facility to keep the wisps out, but since it was last serviced by the scientist who was killed, no one else knows how long the power should last, and it could cut out at any minute. There Carter and Hailey clash about what to do. Carter thinks the wisps are angry at one of their number being imprisoned; Hailey thinks they turned violent as a result of substantial changes in the magnetic field present around the moon, caused by the moon passing over a magnetic pole of the gas giant. If Hailey is right, the creatures should return to being peaceful in a few hours. But if Carter is right, waiting will only make things worse. There isn't enough evidence to decide whose hypothesis might be correct either way, nor is each mutually exclusive. Finally O'Neill decides to let himself be shot with a Zat'nik'tel, to reproduce the effect that happened to the man zatted, so that for some time he shall be immune to the wisps and can run to the Stargate. Hailey doesn't understand why O'Neill is risking his life since if it turns out she is right, time should solve everything. Carter explains that assuming Carter is right means O'Neill risks his own life; assuming Hailey is right means risking everyone else's. So for O'Neill, the choice is easy. He will have Teal'c zap him, then run to the Stargate and use its energy to create a field large enough to give the others safe passage from the building to the gate. The plan works, although Teal'c has to use the zat a second time on the wisps to give O'Neill time to complete the protective field. That done, the team run for the gate as the wisps flee into the forest. SG-1, Hailey, and the remaining scientists escape to Earth, and an excited Hailey decides to stay in the Air Force so she can work at the SGC after graduating. + +When Stargate Command dials P9C-372 and send a MALP, they discover highly advanced life. Suddenly the MALP seems to start flying, and before the connection is lost, the computers overload. Colonel Jack O'Neill cuts power to the gate manually, but computers are behaving as if controlled by an intelligence. Soon SG-1 realizes an alien life force has taken over the base's computer system. It uses cameras to follow their actions and shuts down the computers if necessary. When Major Samantha Carter wants to reboot the SGC's network, formatting drives and rebooting from the unnetworked backups from the day before, everything seems to be normal again. Only a minute later, a section is detected infested by the program/being, which had stored itself on the drive of a MALP. When SG-1 break their way into the MALP-room, the entity has used the MALP, then other machines and all computers in the room to build a supercomputer. It runs on the battery powering the emergency lights in the room. Dr. Daniel Jackson argues instead of destroying the machine as O'Neill suggests, they should use the interface it provided (a keyboard and monitor). Carter asks the entity what it wants, and after a reply from the machine, an electric current runs from the keyboard to her fingers. She faints and is brought to the infirmary. Finally, through Carter, the entity is able to communicate its intentions: to destroy the threat Earth poses to its homeworld. SG-1 finds out that when the SGC had sent a MALP to the world, the Earth radio equipment needed to control their robot interfered with the aliens on the world, destroying many of them. Interpreting the action as an attack, the alien entity was sent to infiltrate the SGC's computer system and destroy the facility. While matter can only travel the way a gate was dialed, the entity, like radio waves, could use the radio carrier wave to get into the computer (though when the gate was shut down, it had not had time to complete the total destruction it intended). Angered with the fact that it uses Carter as host, O'Neill tells the alien that if it stays in Carter's body, the SGC would send wave after wave of MALPs to his planet unless it gave Carter back. In agony, Carter's body breaks free from the restraints it was put in, is trapped in the hall and (picture) emits an energy beam to the mainframe (via the lights and power outlets in the hall). O'Neill zat's Carter's body once but it does nothing. O'Neill is forced to zat her again (which should kill her). Carter falls to the floor. In the medical room Carter is on life support with O'Neill sitting watching over her. Dr. Janet Fraiser comes in and asks if Sam ever told him about her living will (that she doesn't want any extraordinary means) to which he replies, "Yeah, she told me." Dr. Frasier tells O'Neill there is no brain activity of any kind and that "I think it's time to let her go." O'Neill quietly asks Dr. Frasier to "wait a minute, huh?" Back in the MALP room, SG-1 sees "I AM HERE" written again and again on the screen. They realize it might be Carter, and Dr. Fraiser connects Carter's body to the supercomputer. Immediately a power surge enters the body, and the supercomputer shuts down. Carter's consciousness, restrained while the entity was in her body, is now returned to her body, and she is soon conscious again. Hammond orders the planet locked out of the dialing computer. + +On the world Juna, the Stargate activates and SG-1 comes through. However they are soon attacked by Jaffa and the natives of Juna. One of the natives named Darian recognizes them and asks them how they dare to return. SG-1 is captured but Colonel Jack O'Neill escapes. Captain Samantha Carter, Dr. Daniel Jackson, and Teal'c are brought to a pyramid and confronted by Sindar, the First Prime of Cronus. SG-1 is then imprisoned and, in their cell, they discuss what to do next. In the evening Darian goes home but finds O'Neill waiting for him. O'Neill asks him what has happened on this world. Darian explains that SG-1 helped them free their world from Heru'ur but then Cronus came and enslaved them again. He also tells the Colonel that this time he won’t believe them. O'Neill leaves. The next day Cronus appears and the prisoners are brought before him. O'Neill sneaks in the base, disguised as a warrior of Juna, and has to watch as Cronus orders Darian to kill Daniel with a Staff weapon. Darian is at first reluctant, but obeys when the Jaffa hold their weapons on his people. The shot blasts Daniel's head from his shoulders only to reveal that he is in fact a robot, much to the shock of the Juna and Cronus. Cronus sends the natives of Juna away and commands Carter and Teal'c to tell him what they are. They don't answer, and so are sent to Cronus' Ha'tak to be questioned. Darian goes home and tells his wife what has happened. At Stargate Command the Gate is activated and they are contacted by Harlan, who they then let in. He tells them that they should help their robot doubles (from "Tin Man") who have started to go on missions and now are missing. Both Major General George S. Hammond and Colonel Jack O'Neill are reluctant about rescuing the doubles. Harlan then shows them the coordinates of the world and they remember having visited it previously. They dial the Gate, send a MALP through and see the robot O'Neill, who has overcome the Gate's Jaffa guards. Shortly thereafter Darian arrives and they explain the situation. SG-1 (without Dr. Daniel Jackson) then goes through the gate to help. The two O'Neills get into an argument, which devolves into the beginnings of a wrestling match, but eventually they agree to work together. On the ship a Goa'uld named Ja'din questions the robot Carter and Teal'c, but they refuse to answer. She then tells Cronus that Teal'c wants to speak with him and he agrees. Teal'c is brought to Cronus but he kills the Jaffa and attacks Cronus. However before he can kill the System Lord a Jaffa frees his master. The female Goa'uld again questions Carter and she tells her how to reactivate the energy source of the destroyed Daniel. This turns out to be a self-destruct command as well. The "dead" robot explodes, killing the Goa'uld and freeing Carter. In Darian's home, SG-1 and their remaining doubles make a plan to free the others and kill Cronus. Later a Jaffa brings O'Neill in the pyramid but are ambushed by Darian, SG-1, and the doubles, who kill the Jaffa. The robot O'Neill is critically damaged in the firefight. The team is then beamed on board by the robot Carter. Teal'c helps his double but he is also overwhelmed. Before Cronus can kill him (in the same way as he killed his father Ronac, by crushing his symbiote) he is shot by the robot Teal'c, who then dies, his last words being "For our father". In another section of the ship, the robot Carter accesses the ship's controls through a powerful forcefield, cutting off all sections, but fatally damaging herself as well. Darian attempts to help robot O'Neill as best he can, although the double tells him not to bother. Darian knows enough that as a machine, he could be repaired, but robot O'Neill reveals that he is running out of power and any repairs would come too late for him. In the end O'Neill beams down to the pyramid and tells Darian that Cronus is dead. He informs his counterpart that the copies went down in the line of duty, but "the real ones" are OK. Robot O'Neill asks him "Are we still so far from real for you?" and O'Neill agrees that they aren't. He watches as his double finally dies. Afterwards SG-1 secures Cronus' ship for themselves. + +A Goa'uld Ha'tak appears in orbit of the planet Vorash, the current main base of the Tok'ra. SG-1 transports down, much to Tanith's surprise. Colonel Jack O'Neill and Teal'c meet with the Tok'ra High Council where they reveal to Tanith that they know all about him being a traitor. He is then imprisoned and Teal'c visits him. He informs Tanith about what will happen to him and they also talk about Shan'auc. On the ship the Tok'ra prepare to evacuate while Jacob Carter talks with Jack about the ship and the Goa'uld. Jack states that they are lending the ship in exchange for learning how it works; Jacob reminds him about the time when the Air Force tried to retrofit a Death Glider. Jack states that they have been smart enough to steal the Ha'tak in the first place, more so than the Tok'ra have even thought to do. Jacob points out that SG-1 has been knocking down System Lords one by one, resulting in more power hungry Goa'uld to take their place, reducing the Tok'ra chances to defeat the Goa'uld once and for all. They have a plan but are still working on it. In his cell Tanith talks with a guard and then collapses (and is said to be dead by the guard). When the guards enter the cell he kills them and flees. He returns to the surface and uses a Long range visual communication device to contact Apophis. Teal'c then searches for him together with the Tok'ra. Meanwhile Jack and Dr. Daniel Jackson are informed by Major Samantha Carter and Jacob that Apophis is coming and that they plan to destroy his fleet by blowing up Vorash's sun. This would be done by throwing the Stargate currently on Vorash into the sun while it is connected to P3W-451 -- the planet where they found the black hole. The gate would suck in enough mass from the star to cause it to supernova. Jack agrees to the plan. Later Daniel talks with Teal'c about his revenge on Tanith with Teal'c stating that in the future he will not be capable of such restrain. After the Tok'ra are all evacuated, SG-1 and Jacob fly to the sun where they are able to connect the Stargate on board to P3W-451 as planned. They then send it to the sun and wish to flee. Suddenly an Al'kesh, a Goa'uld mid-range bomber, de-cloaks and attacks. Although Teal'c fires back he can only make one hit. Finally the Al'kesh is able to damage the ship, so that they can't enter hyperspace. Jack and Teal'c then board a Death Glider to fly to the Al'kesh but before they can fire it flies back to the planet. Teal'c follows it, despite Jack's worries. On the Ha'tak Jacob and Sam start to repair the ship's systems. At the planet Teal'c and Jack are able to destroy the Al'kesh (much to Tanith's shock, who was waiting for it on the planet) but they are caught in the explosion. Jack can only send an emergency call to the Ha'tak, where Jacob and Sam are partly successful with their repairs. Back on the planet Jack and Teal'c are unharmed although their glider crash-landed. They intend to go to the Tok'ra base to find Tanith. However, Apophis' fleet appears and he sends two Jaffa to retrieve Tanith. The repairs on the Ha'tak are finally complete and so they can hide from Apophis. At the location of the rings Teal'c is shot in the back with a staff weapon, presumably killing Teal'c and Jack is stunned by a Zat'nik'tel, but is able to kill the two Jaffa attacking them before ringing back to the Ha'tak. Later, on board the mothership, Tanith meets Apophis with Apophis noting that Tanith is injured. Tanith assures Apophis that the wound will heal with Apophis asking about the Tok'ra. Tanith admits that his effects were stopped but he has managed to get a gift that will make the journey seem worthwhile for Apophis. On cue, two Serpent Guards emerge and dump Teal'c's lifeless body before Apophis with Apophis commenting that it's the shol'va. On the He'tak, Jacob launches all the Ha'tak's gliders, which are programmed to flee the solar system. Apophis follows them but soon realizes that it was a trick. In the meantime Jack is rescued from the planet by his teammates. Finally, the sun explodes and SG-1 flees, while Apophis' fleet is destroyed. Suddenly SG-1's flight through hyperspace is interrupted and when Jacob scans the area they realize that they crossed four million light years in mere seconds which leaves Sam stunned as she tells her father that what they've just done is apparently impossible. Jacob then reveals that it's going to take them 125 years to return to the Milky Way. Suddenly, Apophis' mothership then appears, trapped with them far from home. It then cuts to a view of the two giant ships who are now in a stand-off of some sort with each other. + +With very little choice (weapons won't cause a dent in Apophis' mothership, and hyperdrives are offline), SG-1 and Selmak/Jacob Carter decide to make contact with Apophis in order not to get killed. However, Apophis shows no interest in what they are going to say, and even ignores their surrender, saying "Klavel ha" in Goa'uld,which Daniel translates as "too late." Apophis charges up weapons, but takes a while in actually firing them, which makes the team feel uneasy. However, as the ship finally fires, the shots all miss the Ha'tak as Apophis is trying to hit a second unidentified vessel instead. The ship's shield proves powerful, and even uses its weapons to block several shots, as well as firing back at Apophis. While Colonel Jack O'Neill admires the people of the ship for fighting Apophis first, calling their style "shoot first, send flowers later", Jacob decides to retreat, since they have no idea if the aliens on board the ship are hostile or not. He sets a course for the corona of the system's Blue giant, since its radiation can make them invisible to ship's sensors, but SG-1 would also be blind. Another problem is that they have one hour until the radiation could become dangerous so Jacob and his daughter, Major Samantha Carter decide to fix the shields to buy them nine more hours. While they are repairing them, Carter won't stop thinking about the loss of Teal'c. After they switch the control crystals, the shields are back online. However, they discover another problem; the hyperdrive crystals are burnt, and with no spare crystals, they can't go into hyperspace. In the Pel'tak, Dr. Daniel Jackson asks O'Neill what happened on Vorash. O'Neill is reluctant but eventually explains they were ambushed by Jaffa and that Teal'c was shot in the back. Meanwhile, in Stargate Command, a Tok'ra contingent arrives in the Gate Room. One of them introduces herself as councilwoman Ren'al. She informs Major General George S. Hammond that the plan to wipe out Apophis' fleet worked, though they did find a one-man pod that traveled to Goa'uld-occupied territory, but the identity of the occupant is unknown for the time being. They also inform Hammond that they detected two distortions during the supernova, implying two ships may have escaped, though they are confident nobody would have survived, thinking SG-1 and Selmak were those people. Ren'al tells Hammond that whether they survived or not, their actions caused a power vacuum for the Goa'uld, who would be fighting each other for years to come. When they consider the team heroes, Hammond says to her; "you'll forgive me for holding out hope a little longer. SG-1 has a surprisingly good habit of beating the odds." The shields have almost become ineffective to the radiation, and Carter and Selmak are still unable to repair the hyperdrive, as even retro-fitting other crystals doesn't work. With no alternative, they must risk leaving the corona of the blue giant and face whoever may have survived. As they leave the corona, they see that Apophis' ship is still around, but the other ship isn't. Fortunately, they notice no life signs on board. They decide to take the opportunity to commandeer the ship, since it has a faster hyperdrive and more advanced weapons and shields, and at the very least, they could retrieve the necessary control crystals for the damaged hyperdrive. However, as they enter the ship via the transportation rings, they hear a self-destruct counting down on four minutes. Jacob Carter plans to go to the Pel'tak to shut it off while Carter and O'Neill retrieve the crystals. On the way, they notice a group of dead Jaffa and while they examine the scene, Carter is distracted by a familiar noise. They both then look up to see a Replicator scaling up a wall. O'Neill contacts Jacob on the radio and recommends pulling back. Jacob seems to agree with him; Replicators have taken over the Pel'tak. With three minutes remaining, Carter still goes to find the crystals. With one minute left, Jacob awaits Carter and O'Neill in the ring room. They have retrieved the crystals, but they're being chased by Replicators. They are able to ring back on board the Ha'tak before being overrun by Replicators. With no time to fix the hyperdrive, Jackson pilots the ship with sublight engines to get as far away from Apophis' ship as possible. As it self-destructs, Jacob takes over control of the ship and transfers all power to the shields despite believing they won't make it and the shields are powerful enough to protect the Ha'tak from the shock wave. After the narrow escape, the Carters then start to utilize the newly acquired control crystals to repair the hyperdrive, which is a success. Their joy is short lived when Jackson calls for them, as he has detected something on board the sensors: a ship. When they arrive at the Pel'tak, they pick up a Tel'tak on sensors. Believing they may have escaped the Replicator incursion, Selmak hails them. The individual who answers comes as a surprise for the team: Teal'c. He reveals that since Tanith presented him to Apophis, he managed to revive Teal'c in a sarcophagus. After the Replicators attacked, he and a small number of Jaffa who support the rebellion were able to escape. They allow him to enter the ship. Sometime later, SG-1 and Teal'c reunite. O'Neill runs to him and they embrace. However, the reunion takes a shocking turn when Teal'c gets hold of Jack's sidearm and aims it at them while other Jaffa appear and train their Zat'nik'tels at them as well. O'Neill and the team wonder what is going on. Apophis enters the scene tp congratulate Teal'c, and inform him that he has resumed his rightful position as Apophis's First Prime. SG-1 are stripped of their weapons and armor and taken to an empty room, where O'Neill thinks Teal'c has a plan going until Teal'c punches him in the face. Teal'c claims that he was in the service of Apophis all along for the past four years, and calls his four years with SG-1 "subterfuge;" out of all the times O'Neill's life was in danger, he wished him to die. The team realize that he has been brainwashed to serve Apophis again, much like what Apophis did to Teal'c's son, Rya'c. Teal'c listens to them no further, and locks them in the room. Fortunately, Jacob is still at large. O'Neill asks Carter to see if she could look around the control panel and make the doors open. Teal'c and some of the other Jaffa unload the cargo, including a sarcophagus and some crates. However, unknown to them, as they leave the room, the top of one crate starts to dissolve, meaning the Replicators have boarded the ship. In the main room, Apophis examines his new Pel'tak and despises the late Cronus's sense of decoration, calling the chair in question "disgusting". After a course for Delmak is plotted, Teal'c enters in his Jaffa armor and kneels down before Apophis. When Apophis says that Selmak has eluded capture, Teal'c promises to take care of it personally. In the room, Carter, despite not knowing what to do, fiddles around with the control panel. Just then, the doors opens, revealing Jacob, who is busting them out. Just as they are about to leave, however, they are stopped by Teal'c, who after telling O'Neill that he would become the host to his symbiote, "Junior", shoots the control panel, before leaving them again. A few moments later, the ship unexpectedly drops out of hyperspace. As Teal'c investigates, he and the other two Jaffa find the engine room swarming with Replicators. The doors open partially in SG-1's cell. They then see a Replicator enter. Fortunately, it doesn't pay much attention to the team, as they don't pose them a threat, yet. They swiftly exit the room. Meanwhile, Teal'c informs Apophis that the ship is infested with Replicators, and their weapons have proven to be useless. Apophis sends his Jaffa to protect him while he walks out of the Pel'tak. However, they are cut off by Replicators. Apophis retreats back to the Pel'tak while his Jaffa troops stay back to fight the Replicators but unfortunately, their staff weapons and zats prove to be no match whatsoever for the Replicators and the Jaffa guards all die in the process. Furthermore, Replicators make their way to the Pel'tak. SG-1 arrive in a cargo room and find a crate carrying several FN P90 Personal Defense Weapons. The team and Jacob arm themselves with P90s and body armor. Jack states that Daniel and Jacob are to go to the Tel'tak while Jack and Sam will get Teal'c back, brainwashed or not. Teal'c and the rest of the Jaffa plan to use the Tau'ri weapons to dispatch the Replicators. Carter and O'Neill await in an ambush. O'Neill throws the shock grenade, and after exchanging weapons fire, all the Jaffa guards except for Teal'c are killed. After shooting a Replicator, Teal'c is in a vulnerable position which means that Jack has a clear shot. Teal'c refuses to surrender, and aims his Staff weapon at O'Neill, intending to kill him. However Jack manages to wound him first with the force of the shot causing Teal'c to collapse to the ground. As they approach him, Carter checks for a pulse and discovers that Teal'c is still alive. They bring him back to the Ha'tak and tie Teal'c up, but the Ha'tak enters hyperspace, preventing their escape. Jacob and Sam soon discover that the Replicators are heading towards Delmak, the last set of co-ordinates Apophis entered. Also, the ship is going ten times faster than its normal top speed, and rising. Jacob think this is good news, since when the Replicators reach a critical number, they're going to need new resources, and Delmak sounds appetizing; they'd wipe out the Goa'uld and arrive home in no time. Jack points out this is far from good news, since they'd "eat" anything, and SG-1 can't let them get a foothold situation in the galaxy with Sam telling Jacob that the Replicators are relentless and that the Asgard haven't been able to stop them. Since they figured out Goa'uld computers from Apophis' mothership, they'd override the self-destruct very quickly. One alternative remains; the second the Ha'tak drops out of hyperspace, they'll destroy the sublight control crystals; because the Ha'tak uses the sublight engines to decelerate, without sublight, the Ha'tak will fly helplessly into the planet's surface, destroying it, and the Replicators, similar to what SG-1 did with the Biliskner two years ago. Since the Replicators would also deactivate the C-4 timer, Carter proposes a close range burst of fire from a P90, though the engine room is bound to be "bug central." With the ship going 800 times faster than normal top speed, they have little time before the Ha'tak arrives at Delmak. Jacob is in the Tel'tak in the cargo bay while Carter, Jackson and O'Neill head to the engine room where they find a giant-beetle Replicator which is powering the hyperdrive. They open the panel that contains the sublight engine control crystals and wait. Moments later, the Ha'tak drops out of hyperspace, confirming that it's finally reached its pre-programmed destination, Delmak. As the giant Replicator powers down, Jack aims his P90 and fires at the crystals, instantly destroying them. The Replicators retaliate by sending a wave of Replicators. SG-1 retreats while taking turns firing. On the way, their exit is blocked, so they shoot their way through to the rings. However, as they transport on board the Tel'tak, the Replicators override the controls to the cargo bay doors, and they begin to close. Fortunately, they are able to leave before it completely closes. The Ha'tak is flying helplessly towards the planet. In the Pel'tak, the Replicators crawl over Apophis's personal shield. Apophis screams in defiance, obviously outraged that he has been finally defeated, this time permanently. The Ha'tak falls straight to the surface, causing mass destruction, as well as the death of the evil Apophis, once and for all. SG-1 watches the destruction, while O'Neill checks up on Teal'c. Jacob warns him that he has his body back, but getting his mind back will not be as easy. Teal'c informs O'Neill that he will not succumb to torture, but O'Neill insists he won't and apologizes for shooting him, before telling him that Apophis is dead. However, Teal'c doesn't believe him, claiming that Gods cannot be killed. Teal'c's words leave Jack completely and utterly stunned. + +Colonel Jack O'Neill, Major General George S. Hammond and Dr. James MacKenzie enter a room Teal'c is in. It appears Teal'c has returned to his normal self with the help of MacKenzie, and says that he once again pledges allegiance to the Tau'ri, and Earth. O'Neill wants to know how far Teal'c is cured. He quickly answers that the Goa'uld are nothing but false gods. The team seems convinced that he has been cured, and allows him to return to duty. Teal'c leaves the cell, and reunites with Bra'tac and the rest of SG-1. After saying hello again, Bra'tac keeps staring at Teal'c's eyes, then announces that Teal'c is deceiving SG-1. Teal'c immediately attacks the team, trying to flee Stargate Command. However, he is quickly surrounded, and as he is about to make a run for Bra'tac, he shoots him with Zat'nik'tel. The second Teal'c is down, Bra'tac quickly confiscates Junior. O'Neill wonders what he is doing. Bra'tac replies that if Teal'c won't hear the truth in words, he must learn of it another way. Bra'tac has trained Teal'c and fought alongside him for several years prior to meeting SG-1. Bra'tac, who at the time was First Prime to Apophis, and his men are granted an audience with Apophis, who has just defeated one of his enemies. Apophis congratulates Bra'tac, and Bra'tac in turn presents the three Jaffa who had "honored" him most during the battle. One of these is Teal'c. Apophis shows interest in him, and wonders who his father was. Teal'c reveals that he is the son of Ronac, former First Prime to Cronus, who was killed by Cronus when he lost an unwinnable battle, and his family subsequently exiled to Chulak. When Apophis declares that Ronac was a coward, Teal'c insists otherwise, as the battle was unwinnable. Apophis punishes his insolence with a Kara kesh. Sometime later, Teal'c recovers from his punishment, where he is met by a friend of his, Va'lar. When he learns of Teal'c's defiance after being granted an audience with Apophis, he tells Teal'c to never question his god again, and to regain enough strength to serve Apophis well the next day, so that he might live through this. More time passes. Teal'c is being trained further by Bra'tac, who blindfolds him in a snowy clearing, to test his senses in battle with the absence of sight. Teal'c is easily outmaneuvered by Bra'tac, despite claiming to be stronger; and when Teal'c claims that Apophis would protect him, Bra'tac retorts that Apophis may not be all seeing or all knowing, and faith alone will not save Teal'c in battle; with his cocked staff weapon at Teal'c's chin, he asks, how could Apophis save him right there and then if Bra'tac were to fire? After finishing training that day Teal'c returns home, where his wife, Drey'auc is testing his temper. Teal'c is upset and confused as to why his mentor, someone highly regarded and known for his wisdom and bravery, would ever suggest something so sacrilegious. Fortunately, she calms him down, saying that he must honor Bra'tac, if he is to stand any chance of succeeding him as First Prime of Apophis. She then persuades him to join her in bed. After a disastrous defeat by Ra's armies, Teal'c is summoned before Apophis but is accosted by Va'lar who led the defeated Jaffa. Va'lar explains that his men were outflanked and forced to retreat, but promises that with greater numbers he can be victorious. In a meeting with Teal'c and Bra'tac, Apophis brands Va'lar with cowardace and disgrace. Teal'c tries to convince Apophis otherwise; he spins Va'lar's retreat as actually being a "cunning strategy" to lure an overconfident enemy into a trap, and that Va'lar wishes to lead the second, more numerous, assault himself. Apophis dismisses Teal'c's explanation, and asks if he would have stayed behind and died with honor. Teal'c reluctantly admits that he would have done so. Apophis orders him to personally take Va'lar back to the battlefield on the planet, and kill him. Teal'c escorts Va'lar, bound and resigned to his fate, to the battlefield, with dead Jaffa everywhere. Va'lar prepares to die, and asks Teal'c to tell Apophis that he died well. Teal'c hesitates, remembering that his father was in the same situation, then cuts Va'lar loose. Teal'c tells him to hide in a village a few days away, and that he must not allow himself to be captured, or Teal'c would suffer the consequences. Va'lar tells him that Apophis would find out. Teal'c replies, "We shall see." As Va'lar starts his journey to the village, Teal'c takes the symbiote from a dying Jaffa. Returning to Apophis, he says he has done the deed, and holds up the dying symbiote. Apophis tells Teal'c he has promise. After he leaves, Teal'c reels in shocked silence, realizing that Apophis may not be omniscient after all. Years later, Teal'c wakes up from a nightmare, from his experience of razing the village that Va'lar had fled to. He feels shame in knowing that he spared a friend, only to kill him again to protect himself. Drey'auc tells him that he must be strong, as he will be First Prime soon, and will have a better home for their unborn son to grow up in. Days later, he runs to Bra'tac in the woods, and in joy, shows him that his tattoo is replaced by a gold emblem; he has become First Prime to Apophis. Bra'tac is not pleased, and informs Teal'c that his doubts about Goa'uld divinity are indeed correct, and that he too knows that they are false gods. But, as he tells the sobering Teal'c, that like Bra'tac before him there is little that he can do, other than trying to save as many lives as possible by bending their "god's" will. Finally, in 1997, Teal'c observes SG-1, who are prisoners on Chulak. He tells Bra'tac that their technology suggests that they are not enslaved by the Goa'uld, and that they know freedom. Bra'tac tells him that dreams of freedom may be his undoing, and that he should pray they do not become hosts. Sometime later, as Teal'c and his Jaffa prepare to execute the prisoners who have not been taken as hosts, O'Neill says that he can save the prisoners, and begs Teal'c to help him. Teal'c believes he can do so, and turns on Apophis' guards. They both slaughter the Jaffa and free the prisoners. Teal'c has defected, and has joined SG-1 ever since, until he would be brainwashed again. After Bra'tac, confiscates Teal'c's symbiote, he explains in the Briefing room that he has removed it in order to save Teal'c. Despite dying, Teal'c is undergoing the Rite of M'al Sharran; a symbiote is removed from a Jaffa to teach them the truth. If Teal'c still believes Apophis is still a god, then he would die, but through experiencing flashbacks, he may uncover the truth about Apophis and his quest for Jaffa freedom. Dr. Janet Fraiser strongly objects to the idea, but Bra'tac tells them that he has seen Tau'ri methods, and they are ineffective in the situation. Hammond allows this to happen, where Teal'c is restrained in the infirmary. Bra'tac tells the rest of the team to stay with Teal'c during the ordeal. Teal'c awakens, where he once again claims that he only worked with SG-1 for subterfuge and defeat Apophis' enemies. He also believes Apophis would be reborn, and that no one has ever been through M'al Sharran and lived to talk about it. Bra'tac pressures him to remember. There, he has the flashback about the first time he met Apophis. Teal'c shows obvious pain, which Dr. Fraiser again objects to. Bra'tac tells her that Teal'c has led his path through suffering, and it will work if he is to break the brainwashing. Bra'tac then leaves to enter Kelno'reem from his long and tiring journey, but before he leaves, he tells SG-1 to speak to Teal'c, and challenge his beliefs. After he leaves, Major Samantha Carter shows some skepticism, but Bra'tac insists that this is the right thing to do. He also confides in her that Kelno'reem has become more difficult for him, and that his symbiote will mature in two years. After that, he will receive no more symbiotes, and die of old age, at 139 years old. In the infirmary, Dr. Daniel Jackson and O'Neill talk to Teal'c, who suddenly utters "Va'lar", though Jackson thought he said "velour," the fabric. A weakened Teal'c tells the two that Va'lar was his friend, and receives another flashback, about conversing with him after being punished by Apophis. Teal'c then awakens and claims he has been cured, but the other two wish him to talk about Va'lar. When he is asked about what happened to him, Teal'c still shows signs that he still believes in Apophis, and tells them Va'lar "failed his god." His outburst causes his vitals to spike again. After he calms again, Jackson tells him that he is a very logical person, and him believing in Apophis as a god is illogical. He receives another flashback, about his wife, Drey'auc. Junior is fine, but according to Fraiser, Teal'c isn't. The team also believes that the Rite is working somewhat. Carter has a go to talk to him herself. Teal'c is increasingly weakened, and urges her to save him and help him escape. Carter tells her she won't, and that he won't die, because she knows Teal'c believes in freedom, protection from false gods, and that he despises everything involving Apophis and the Goa'uld. He receives another flashback about the time he "executed" Va'lar. Hammond later tells O'Neill what will happen if Teal'c cannot recover from the ordeal, just in time for Teal'c to have a vision about the aftermath. Later, Teal'c wonders what he has done, followed by the fading of his heart rate. SG-1, Fraiser, Hammond and Bra'tac enter the room, where Bra'tac urges Teal'c to choose death or freedom. He tells Dr. Fraiser not to introduce the symbiote yet. As Bra'tac yells at him to choose, Teal'c receives a flashback where he defects and rescues SG-1, and through several brief flashes, reveals that Teal'c has spent the majority of his past four years with SG-1, whom he considers friends and even family. After the flashes are finished, and Junior is reintroduced to Teal'c, Fraiser quickly uses the defibrillator to restart his heart. He awakens and announces that he chooses freedom. The team realizes that Teal'c has returned to them. Teal'c gladly admits that Apophis is a false god. A dead false god. O'Neill demands the restraints be removed from Teal'c, who he deems has fully recovered. Teal'c greets SG-1 properly this time, and asks Hammond permission to rejoin SG-1 and help fight the Goa'uld, which he grants. + +SG-1 are on the planet Velona with Colonel Jack O'Neill and Teal'c of Chulak exploring the planet. They meet up with their teammates, Major Samantha Carter and Dr. Daniel Jackson who are busy examining a device and some ancient writings respectively. In the process of investigating a device, Sam is attacked by some mysterious spirit. When Daniel goes to investigate, he finds Sam lying on the ground, unconscious which prompts Daniel to summon Jack. In the Stargate Command infirmary, Carter and Dr. Janet Fraiser are talking about what happened. Sam then leaves to attend the briefing and reveals that the device significantly more advanced than any other technology on this planet. Despite requesting that she join SG-16, Sam is denied much to her dismay with Major General George S. Hammond giving most of the SG-1 team some time off. Daniel, being the expert linguist, stays on the planet to help SG-16, who will be analyzing the alien device. After a short time home Carter begins to see a strange man who appears to be invisible to everyone else. She informs her superiors at Stargate Command, who then place cameras and microphones in her home. The strange man does not appear again until the cameras are removed. It turns out that the man is an ascended being who goes by the name of Orlin. He gives up ascension to be with Carter and begins to create many different things in her home. While Orlin was ascended he helped the people of the alien planet to develop the alien device that SG-1 discovered. As it turns out, it is a powerful weapon that protected the planet from the Goa'uld and the civilization eventually attempted to use this weapon to conquer other planets. Because Orlin interfered with the lower planes of existence, the Others wiped out the alien civilization and ordered Orlin to destroy the weapon. Carter is working to create a link between a Naquadah generator and the weapon. Orlin knows what the device can do and convinces Carter to stop her research. They then attempt to stop anyone from activating the device. Colonel Frank Simmons learns that Orlin is not a delusion brought on by Carter's stress but a human from the alien world. When the government attempts to capture Orlin, Carter is sent in to convince him to come peacefully. Orlin then leads her to a Mini Stargate that he has built in her basement. The two of them travel to the planet and Orlin sacrifices himself to stop Colonel Albert Reynolds and SG-16 from activating the weapon. The other ascended beings allow Orlin to ascend once more and destroy the weapon so that it can no longer be used. + +Under attack from Jaffa on P7S-441, SG-1 attempts to escape through the Stargate. However, Lt. Tyler, who is with them, is injured and Colonel Jack O'Neill stays behind to help him while Major Samantha Carter, Dr. Daniel Jackson and Teal'c go for reinforcements. Upon arriving at Stargate Command, the three learn that there is no Lt. Tyler. As the members of SG-1 seem to have false memories, they are not allowed to go back through and are sent to the infirmary. After the evaluation Carter hacks into the base computer system and to their surprise finds out, that there really never was a Lt. Tyler. However they find out that a mysterious 'User 4574' has been looking through the SGC files for their past missions. Back at the planet O'Neill and Tyler hide in the ruins of an old stone structure. Soon a Death Glider finds them, and although O'Neill is able to bring it down with a grenade launcher, their position is already compromised, and he begins setting up defenses as Tyler is still incapacitated. Later Colonel Frank Simmons from The Pentagon arrives to question the members of SG-1 and Major General George S. Hammond begins to suspect that he might be involved with the NID. During the inquiry Simmons reveals that he isn't fond of SG-1 at all, accusing Daniel of sympathizing with the ones that have been taken as hosts by the Goa'uld and questioning Sam's judgment due to her romantic encounter with Orlin. He also suggests that Teal'c is still loyal to his old masters but Teal'c counters this by pointing out that he would have killed Simmons where he sat if such was the case. Carter in turn confronts him about User 4574, who Simmons apparently is. In the meantime Dr. Janet Fraiser examines the clothing SG-1 wore on the mission and she comes in contact with an alien powder, giving her a brief memory of seeing Lt. Tyler. The powder is similar to the neurotransmitter acetylcholine (although the chemical structure shown on her computer does not actually look like it) and she concludes that this is what caused SG-1's false memories of Tyler. On the planet, Tyler confesses to O'Neill that he is in fact a Reol named Kaiael and what he has done to them. He also shows him his real form and tells him that his species uses their abilities to survive. When the Goa'uld found out about their abilities they started to hunt the Reol hoping to use their memory-altering abilities for themselves. Nevertheless O'Neill is determined to save both of them. After Dr. Fraiser determines the effects of the powder, SG-1 gets permission to go rescue O'Neill, despite the objections from Simmons. Carter, Jackson, and Teal'c manage to arrive just in time to help O'Neill finish off the Jaffa, who attacked their position and nearly overwhelmed them. As a large amount of Jaffa are now guarding the Stargate, Daniel stays with Tyler while the others plan to retrieve a Staff cannon from the Death Glider which O'Neill shot down earlier for additional firepower. Feeling responsible for SG-1's trouble, Tyler stuns Daniel with a Zat'nik'tel and flees into the woods to lead the Jaffa away from the gate but is quickly captured. Having succeeded in their plan, SG-1 ambushes the group of Jaffa who are taking Tyler back and kill the remaining Jaffa at the gate. In the end Kaiael thanks them for their help and tells them that his people will likely bury their Stargate. Back in the SGC, Simmons plans on reporting serious problems within SGC, with which he hopes to bring down Hammond. + +SG-1 has a rough landing when they dial to K'tau: Carter explains she had to override the safety protocols of the dialing computer when the Gate wouldn't lock on. They meet a 16th-century (or similar period) society that worships the god of the sun and rain Freyr, one of the Asgard. Village elder Elrad is happy to meet SG-1, but one citizen, Brother Malchus, is suspicious. The "elves" (as they are called since they came through the Gate, here called an Annulus) might as well bring mischief. Seconds later, the sun goes red. Major Samantha Carter realizes the sun (referred to as the "Eye of Odin") of the planet has been passed through by the wormhole, which picked up traces of a heavy element and deposited it in the sun's mass, shifting the light emitted towards the infra-red end of the spectrum. Suddenly, photosynthesis has become impossible and the plants will die soon, which is certain destruction for the life on that planet. SG-1 go to a worship service, where the two elders are beamed to a cave by an obelisk and are told by a hologram version of Freyr that the town should prepare for Ragnarok, the end of the world. Colonel Jack O'Neill tries to interfere and convince them to take their fate into their own hands, but concedes to Dr. Daniel Jackson's warnings not to try. Instead, all but Teal'c go back to the church and the cave, where Carter finds a board to switch the hologram into a "phone" (O'Neill's term) to "call" Freyr. SG-1 contact Freyr, but apparently he cannot help because the planet is protected by a treaty which protects many planets from Goa'uld invasion, including Earth. Also, the decision isn't entirely Freyr's, so he suggests O'Neill step onto the hologram platform to face the Asgard High Council. The meeting does not go well: interfering with the sun would be interfering with the natural development of the planet, and be a violation of subsection 42 of the Protected Planets Treaty. Carter comes up with a plan to bring an artificial element much heavier than plutonium to bond with the plutonium into the sun to restore the natural nuclear processes within the star. The inhabitants of the planet, meanwhile, refuse any assistance, saying that if the gods wish them to die, they accept their fate. Major General George S. Hammond is convinced to bring a rocket ready for launch (mentioning the high price of rockets) to K'Tau. A friend of Carter's, Dr. Douglas MacLaren, provides the kind of element they need, HU-2340; he is flattered when Carter names the element "Maclarium". Back on K'tau, village elder Malchus convinces two suicide attackers to blow up the rocket, killing two members of SG-6. O'Neill, furious about the ignorance, arrogance and hypocrisy of Malchus, orders his people to leave K'tau to its fate. It takes Daniel and Carter to convince him otherwise. Daniel tries to convince the villagers to leave the planet, without success. O'Neill rushes into the argument, claiming the Asgard are not gods, but aliens with spaceships, but the K'tau don't believe them. Meanwhile, following a number of simulations, Carter thinks that if she shuts down the gate at a precise time, a wormhole could still deliver the element into the sun. It doesn't seem to work, but when Daniel joins in a prayer to say sorry and goodbye and that they may still evacuate, the sunlight suddenly shifts to normal. Carter suspects it might have been the Asgard, now able to shift the sun back without the Goa'uld knowing, being able to claim it was just a success of Carter's wormhole plan and providing them with plausible deniability. Daniel ends the episode, saying "We'll never really know for sure, will we?" + +It is the 4th year of Dr. Janet Fraiser's adopted daughter, Cassandra Fraiser, living on Earth. She has become a difficult teenager. Cassandra goes outside and meets Dominic from class. He gives her a shiny crystal prism which sparkles under the outside light. They then kiss. Suddenly, the outside light flickers and explodes, and Cassandra collapses. At Stargate Command, Cassie demands to go to a forest. Fraiser discovers that there's a retrovirus reworking her DNA. Dr. Daniel Jackson reviews the tapes SG-7 brought back. Apparently, when Hankans reached their 16th birthday, they would suddenly collapse. They would have to go into the forest and, a few days later, come out cured. The village elders said it was normal among their people. SG-1 goes back to Hanka and discover that a fire was recently made. Daniel touches a green handprint on a tree, and the fire starts up. Suddenly, Colonel Jack O'Neill and Teal'c are ringed to an underground Goa'uld lab. Carter and Daniel ring in as well and begin a search. Daniel finds a record tablet and sees the word "Hok'tar", which--according to Teal'c--hasn't been used in centuries. Suddenly, the rings activate, but nothing comes through them. As SG-1 leaves, something with blue vision watches them. Cassandra wants to leave but is restrained, and wires in the room shoot sparks. Major Samantha Carter gives her a chess board. Cassandra suddenly begins to levitate a knight, saying it's the only way to transfer heat to relieve her of her fever. Fraiser tries touching it, and the piece is hot. Daniel finishes the translation of the tablet and determines that "hok'tar" means "advanced human". Nirrti was trying to create a human to become the perfect host. After countless generations, she had succeeded with Cassandra. When SG-7 had arrived, she had wiped out the entire planet so the System Lords wouldn't be alerted. Fraiser is busy studying the results and when she leaves her work, something invisible is also studying it, which then becomes visible as a blue burqa-clothed person. Cassie senses a Goa'uld in the facility, prompting Carter to call in a Code Three. Everyone wanders in and as they attempt to figure out what's going on, Daniel realizes that since Cronus is dead, Nirrti managed to escape and that she came back through the Stargate with them with Sam also figuring out that Nirrti was waiting for them in her lab all along. As such, they're all given Transphase Eradication Rods and Zat'nik'tels and they begin to search the base, sealing off various levels as they go along. Hammond tells them to keep in radio contact and that if they locate Nirrti, then they should not shoot to kill. Daniel, Sam and Teal'c check various levels and report that they're all cleared. In the main room, O'Neill is knocked down by a hand device blast but a soldier uses his TER to show the invisible Goa'uld and O'Neill Zats Nirrti with Jack ordering the teams to stand down because Nirrti has been captured. Nirrti claims to be able to cure Cassandra, but in return her terms are freedom (with her cloaking device), as well as a sample of Cassandra's blood. SG-1 feel uneasy about it: if they give her what she wants, Nirrti will have succeeded in creating the perfect host. Fraiser becomes more and more desperate. While SG-1 and Major General George S. Hammond argue about the situation, Fraiser forces her way into Nirrti's cell and threatens to kill her. Hammond comes in and they all make an agreement to exchange Nirrti's freedom for curing Cassandra with no blood sample or cloaking device. Nirrti says that is not enough, while Hammond then pointedly reminds the former System Lord that Fraiser is Cassandra's mother. Going to Cassie's room, Nirrti uses a Healing Device along with her equipment but Cassandra doesn't stir. Fraiser fiercely tells her to try again. This time, Nirrti succeeds. O'Neill escorts Nirrti to the Embarkation room, where she tells him that she still will try to create the perfect host; however, she will have to start all over again. Back in the infirmary, Carter teases Cassandra about how she kissed Dominic and the lights "exploded". They start playing chess, while Fraiser smiles joyfully. + +A camera left behind on P3X-888 records the capture of the Unas Chaka, whom Dr. Daniel Jackson befriended a year earlier. The camera also records the gate address of the planet where the kidnappers took Chaka. SG-1 goes to the address and discovers a planet where the people use Unas as a slave race, declining in vigor due to centuries of inbreeding. Posing as traders and meeting the villagers and Chaka's captor Burrock, SG-1 learns that the Unas had been the masters of the humans when they were controlled by "those with the glowing eyes" (the Goa'uld), and with the tables turned are allegedly better treated as slaves than the humans were. Negotiations break down over price after Burrock discovers that Chaka is valued by Jackson. SG-1 tries to free Chaka but Colonel Jack O'Neill and Jackson are captured and imprisoned for "beast stealing," a capital offense. Jackson attempts to convince Burrock to release the Unas but Burrock tortures him and O'Neill with a Rod of Anguish and kills an Unas with O'Neill's P90. Teal'c and Major Samantha Carter use C-4 to destroy the cart of water, and set a fire in the village that requires most of the rest of the villagers to help extinguish it. While Teal'c distracts the guards, Carter helps O'Neill and Jackson escape, and free Chaka and some of the other Unas in the process. The Unas' human masters attempt to recapture SG-1 and the escaped Unas on their way to the Stargate. Having helped liberate his captured human friends, Chaka kills Burrock. Jackson then realizes Chaka thought he was the one helping them escape, as he intended to stay and free the rest of the Unas the whole time. + +SG-1 reluctantly join a Russian team (headed by Colonel Alexi Zukhov) in a daring mission to uncover the fate of a lost Russian team and a powerful Goa'uld device, the Eye of Tiamat. After entering the tomb, SG-1 and the Russians split up to search. SG-1 discovers the remains of a previous Russian team member that has apparently been gnawed upon, and the Russians find an ancient Goa'uld Sarcophagus. Colonel Jack O'Neill orders Zukhov to hold his ground, but Zukhov moves to investigate the Sarcophagus. In so doing, he sets off a trap that shuts the door to the temple, and Lt. Marchenko is crushed by the door trying to keep it open. Trapped inside, the teams force open the Sarcophagus and find a skeleton inside with similar gnawing marks. With a little research of the carvings in the room, Dr. Daniel Jackson determines Marduk was trapped inside the sarcophagus with another creature by his priests. The teams split up into pairs to find this creature, while Daniel stays behind to study the room. After a short amount of time in the search, Major Samantha Carter and Lt. Tolinev are attacked, and Tolinev is bitten, apparently poisoned. Whatever the creature is, it killed the Russians and, worst of all, Sam senses a Goa'uld symbiote inside it. When Sam and Teal'c encounter the creature later, it drops dead from wounds from its previous encounter with Sam, and Teal'c concludes that the symbiote is no longer present in the creature (by cutting open the creature's neck). Teal'c and Sam inform the rest of the team that there is a Goa'uld in their midst. Meanwhile, Daniel studies the writings on the walls of the tomb to realize that there is a ring transporter in the temple, and Teal'c locates a secret panel that exposes Goa'uld control crystals, which would allow SG-1 to activate the ring transporter. As they get ready to leave, Marduk shows up to threaten his revenge with Jack telling the Goa'uld that they always say that. As the ring transporter dematerializes the four members of SG-1 and Tolinev, Major Carter activates a ten second timer on a large quantity of C-4, killing the host Goa'uld and collapsing the already very unstable tomb. If the Goa'uld survived the initial explosion, he would probably soon suffocate under the tons of stone and dust that would subsequently bury him. Back on Earth, in the SGC briefing room, the surviving Russian backs up O'Neill's account to her superior, but at the debriefing Colonel Chekov suspects that the SGC is hiding something, and they are clearly disappointed at the failure to recover the Eye of Tiamat. Jack tells the Russian not to expect another joint mission, since their priority should have been the rescue part of the rescue mission, not the Eye of Tiamat part. + +On Tollana, SG-1 is attending the funeral of Omac who died of a heart attack recently, and Narim is giving the eulogy. They were invited as his testament, the equivalent of a will, stated that he only wanted those he respected to be present. Afterwards Chancellor Travell invites them back to discuss Tollan policy of not sharing technology with less advanced cultures, much to their surprise. She asks that they return the next day, as the Tollan Curia, the ruling council, has recessed for a day of mourning. Before they leave through the Stargate, Narim secretly gives Samantha an object. Back at the SGC the object is revealed to be a hologram projector with a message from Narim. He's not sure of whom he can trust at home, and Omac gave him a warning before he died: Earth is in grave danger. The next day Jack and Daniel meet with Travell who tells them that the Tollan civilization is expanding quicker than anyone anticipated and the planet's reserves of trinium is becoming depleted. The issue of sharing technology with Earth was hotly contested in the Curia and Omoc was the swing vote: his passing means that the policy will change. When Jack asks why the Tollan doesn't just get more elsewhere, she first turns off the room's security recorders so she can talk off the record, and tells them that the Curia counselors opposed to the change still have much leverage with the public. They can get more off-world if necessary, but agrees with Jack's assessment that it's about saving face. Turning security back on, she proposes an exchange to them: the Tau'ri would supply trinium and in exchange they will get a Tollan ion cannon. Outside they inform Samantha, Teal'c and Narim of this and the latter is shocked since it goes against everything the Tollan stood for. However back at the SGC Carter informs them that not only can she not reverse engineer the cannon's technology as it is too advanced, one cannon is not enough to defend Earth; Tollana requires nine, but the size of Earth means they would need a minimum of 38, which leaves Jack and Daniel stunned. The next day SG-1 return to Tollana with a sample of trinium and are met by Narim, who claims to the guards that he was sent to escort them, but this is a lie so he can talk to them alone. He has been going through Omac's personal effects which he is responsible for, and found Omac's health implant scanner, a device that also keeps a health record of the user. However it revealed that not only was the man in perfect health, Health officers took over 10 minutes to reach Omac when he had his heart attack which is simply not possible, as the system has a response time of under five minutes. Careful to not be overheard by anyone else, especially security officers, the evidence has led Narim to believe that Omac was murdered. Daniel and Jack take the trinium to Travell and somewhat reluctantly inform her that they would require 38 cannons instead of one. Travell says that she will discuss it with the Curia. Narim takes Samantha and Teal'c to his house, at which Daniel and Jack will arrive later after their meeting. His home's AI system greets him which sounds exactly like Sam; it is clear from his dignified, if embarrassed reaction that he would have changed the voice system beforehand if he had anticipated Sam visiting. On her asking about it, he replies that he had hoped she wouldn't notice. They begin looking through the minutes of Curia meetings, which is public record, to find any evidence of disagreements between Omac and the Curia. Daniel and Jack arrive and tell them that they are getting all 38 cannons much to Narim's disbelief. Teal'c then finds an official protest in the records from Omac after an unscheduled test of the ion cannons two months previously, but no further explanation. Narim is shocked to realize that there are almost two hours of notations missing from the meeting's records, which is a heinous crime in their laws. He only knows this because Omac was supposed to come over for dinner that day and was late; the record says the meeting ended in late afternoon, but Omac arrived at Narim's right after it ended. An official protest of policy could not possibly be erased because it would be filed with every governmental branch and level, far beyond the Curia's control; it would take a massive conspiracy just to accomplish it. Narim also recalls Omoc being very angry and ranted about the unfairness of random testing on the people for his entire visit, which Narim thought to be strange for him to get so upset over an ion cannon test. Back at the SGC they inform General Hammond of all this and Samantha recommends tagging the trinium with a radioactive isotope which would allow them to track it, which Hammond approves. They return to Tollana and inform Narim about this and they ask him to help them break into Travell's office to uncover the truth. As Travell was the one that approached them about the deal, there is no way that she is not involved. Narim is reluctant, but they point out that by deleting meeting minutes, the Curia was already prepared to commit one of the highest crimes possible. They finally convince him that investigating is his civic duty by informing him that Travell was able to turn off the security in her office, which he tells them is a severe violation of the governmental conduct code. Among Omac's personal effects is his data device which would contain his security code; as one of the highest ranked counselors, he was able to access the security in the building Travell's office is located. Hopefully the code wasn't deactivated yet. Jack also asks for Tollan sidearms and at least one phase device, which enable the Tollan to walk through solid matter. Narim reluctantly agrees. In the dark of night, Teal'c and Jack track the trinium to a warehouse where they find a large number of devices being stored. Narim, Daniel and Samantha successfully get into Travell's office and look through her computer. They discover that a Goa'uld mothership entered orbit above Tollana and the ion cannons fired, but were ineffective. However, the records show that the ship left peacefully afterward, which Daniel and Samantha find hard to believe. They then find records of the devices the Tau'ri trinium has been made part of, which are weapons of mass destruction that utilizes the Tollans' phase-shift technology, and a video of a weapon test. Travell then unexpectedly arrives with security guards and lets them know that there are more in the building (so escaping is unlikely). Narim demands to know what is going on and it is revealed that the Curia is being manipulated by Tanith, in the service of another Goa'uld, into building the bombs or else Tollana will be destroyed. When Teal'c and Jack arrive at Narim's home (apparently where everyone was to meet up), two security guards are waiting for them but are successfully taken down. They realize this means that Travell is on to them. Narim shares a glance with Sam: she and Daniel split off in a different direction as a distraction while Narim activates his phase device and jumps through the wall with security guards chasing him. It is already daylight elsewhere when he is grabbed by Teal'c and Jack and pulled into the foliage they're hiding in. He tells them everything to which Jack says that they have to destroy the weapons so that the Goa'uld cannot get their hands on them but Narim is really the only one that can effectively do so. Narim is very reluctant since it would mean the destruction of Tollana, but Jack points out that Earth and many other worlds will be sacrificed for Tollana's safety, and that Narim knows he must do the right thing. In the meantime, Travell receives an update on the search for Narim and orders them to track him through his health implant, yet another violation of their laws. Tanith leaves for his ship, and tells Travell that once the rest of SG-1 is caught, he wants Teal'c to be sent up to him. Back in Travell's office Tanith contacts Travell and demands the first shipment of weapons which Travell informs him that they will make. But before they do, Tanith tells Travell to activate one of the weapons and send it to Earth in 30 minutes which shocks Travell. Sam and Daniel confront her with the fact she was well aware of what the weapons would be used for, just not that the Goa'uld would force her to pull the trigger. The Curia is being used as pawns: since Earth is under the Protected Planets Treaty, the Goa'uld cannot attack it themselves without facing the wrath of the Asgard. Travell tiredly states that she didn't have a choice, but they frankly respond that she did. After Jack and Teal'c are caught trying to disable the weapons, security guards bring them to Travell's office but they reveal that while the guards have been concentrating on them, Narim has been able to move freely - especially since they had his health implant with them. Narim takes control of an ion cannon, destroying the warehouse and the weapons. Realizing this Travell and her guards leave, abandoning SG-1 in the locked office but Narim comes through the wall and rescues them. Outside the Goa'uld start destroying Tollana and Narim tells SG-1 to get to the Stargate. They ask him to go with them but he wants to stay with his people and help while they fight an un-winnable battle: it's the least he can do for forcing the situation. Back at the SGC Hammond debriefs them and try to determine who was controlling Tanith but they do not know. If there is one bit of good news out of the whole fiasco, Teal'c states that the Goa'uld do not share their technology with each other, so Tanith's master will have the only ships with ion-impervious shields. Walter Harriman informs them they they are receiving a communication from a Tollan long-range communication device. It is Narim, who reports that the Stargate is buried and the city is being destroyed, while ships that are trying to escape the planet are being shot down. He tries to say something he wants them to know, but the transmission is cut off before he can finish. + +Earth seems to be have found the perfect ally in their fight against the Goa'uld: the Aschen, whom SG-1 met while visiting the simple, low-tech, pastoral planet Volia at P3A-194. To negotiate with the Aschen, SG-1 is accompanied by Ambassador Joseph Faxon, whom Major Samantha Carter quickly starts to like. They meet with the Aschen representatives on one of their big harvester ships (which harvests Volian fields and sends the crop through the Stargate). The Aschen not only offer them their advanced technology but also membership in the Aschen Confederation. In exchange, Earth will share with the Aschen their knowledge of the Stargate network, as the Aschen claim to be ignorant of the network and know only how to access a few gates. Their bio-technology is particularly interesting because it would allow Earth to create a Biogenic weapon that could target specific DNA combinations. After Colonel Jack O'Neill's positive introduction to the Aschen, in which they proclaim their willingness to trade, negotiations endorsed by the President of the United States begin. However O'Neill starts to feel uneasy, a feeling strengthened by the fact that the Stargate would have to be revealed to the public (because the Aschen only want to negotiate with all the nations of Earth) and also because the Aschen representative mentions that Earth's current population growth is unsustainable (suggesting military action to curb it). At Stargate Command at about the same time, Major General George S. Hammond and Carter discover that the Aschen home-world may be the location of a Stargate address that was locked out of the dialing computer earlier, when they received a mysterious note that they thought might be from the future SG-1. This note was not only in O'Neill's handwriting but also had his blood on it; it warned them away from going to P4C-970. As Stargate Command has narrowed down the Aschen homeworld to one of four possibilities, Hammond decides to send teams (specifically, SG-3, SG-12, and SG-15) to the other three possible locations to determine if the Aschen world is the forbidden address. However, the search is stopped by presidential order, because if one of the teams were to find the Aschen at one of the other three locations, they might feel their privacy invaded and trust betrayed, thus stopping negotiations. In the meantime, Dr. Daniel Jackson and Teal'c start to investigate Volia in response to O'Neill's order to find out more about the Volians' relationship with the Aschen. After questioning a Volian farmer (who has only positive things to say about the Aschen), they find buried beneath the agricultural fields a city of technology and complexity far more advanced than that evinced by the Volians, yet that is only a few hundred years old. In an underground library the two find newspaper articles that reveal disturbing information about the Aschen. Meanwhile, after learning of the likelihood that the Aschen are not all that they appear to be, O'Neill journeys to Washington D.C. to tell the President about his concerns. But Senator Robert Kinsey, one of O'Neill's Earth-based arch rivals, beats him to it and convinces the President not to listen to O'Neill, then intercepts O'Neill and makes him return to the SGC, to O'Neill's considerable frustration. Daniel and Teal'c find the final issue of an old newspaper in the ruins, which they assume must have the last information available before the unknown catastrophe destroyed the civilization. Daniel can translate the newspaper to the extent that he knows that a drug the Aschen gave members of the society (in order to cure a plague) caused something, but he doesn't know the translation of that one word. In a later good-will meeting in which Earth will prove their good faith by sharing a few of the Stargate addresses they know, Carter tricks the Aschen Ambassador Borren into translating the word. It means "sterility". Realizing Carter and Faxon have figured out the Aschen's intentions, they lock Carter and Faxon in a room on a harvesting ship and dial Earth in order to send a powerful bio-weapon through. Sam sets up a rope to climb down straight into the (horizontally oriented) Stargate, but as Faxon prepares to join her, Borren walks in and Faxon attacks him. With no time left for him to get away, he tells Carter to go on without him. She falls through the Stargate and quickly orders the Iris shut behind her. Earth is saved, and Sam never learns that the man who gave up his life to save her and Earth is the man who would otherwise have been destined to be her husband. It is then revealed that what had been given to the Aschen is a list of useless gate address, the first one being a black hole, and the rest getting "progressively darker after that". + +A truck full of Russian soldiers is ambushed and slaughtered by a group of unknown men posing as Russian soldiers conducting an inspection. One of the killers enters the vehicle and finds a man with a tattooed forehead, presumably a Jaffa. As she leaves her local gym, Major Samantha Carter is kidnapped by men in black ("ninjas") using a white van. SG-1 suspects NID. Colonel Jack O'Neill contacts Harold Maybourne, who denies responsibility and points the finger at "user 4574" (which Dr. Daniel Jackson recognizes as Colonel Frank Simmons). O'Neill contacts Simmons, who also denies responsibility and points the finger back at Maybourne, who has been the recipient of three million dollars from a numbered offshore account. SG-1 learns that the account is owned by Zeditron Industries, run by a businessman named Adrian Conrad. O'Neill learns through Maybourne that he had arranged to obtain a Goa'uld symbiote from a Russian SG team for an unknown purpose. All Maybourne knows is where it was delivered: to immunology Dr. Neil Brooks. Breaking into the doctor's computer, Jack and Maybourne retrieve Conrad's medical records. It turns out that the symbiote was purchased by Conrad to heal his life-threatening disease, which is in the final stages. They needed Carter to figure out how to remove a goa'uld without killing the host. Conrad is staying in an abandoned hospital in Seattle, Saint Christina's. SG-1 and the local SWAT team surround the hospital and prepare to rescue Carter. In the hospital, Conrad's doctors put him in restraints and implant him with the Goa'uld. The doctors then leave to kill Carter and study her brain tissue (so they can learn how to remove the symbiote). Just as the doctors are about to administer a fatal injection to Carter, O'Neill and Maybourne come in and stop the procedure. O'Neill and Carter go to search for the symbiotec, leaving Maybourne guarding the two doctors. Maybourne tells Jack he will be there when Jack returns. Meanwhile Conrad (or the symbiote pretending to be Conrad) sweet-talks his executive assistant, Diana Mendez, into releasing him--and then he kills her. Daniel and Teal'c find her dead body and realize that the Goa'uld has escaped, so SG-1 begins scouring the hospital to find him. Daniel goes to the room where Carter was held and finds the two doctors handcuffed to the gurney. Maybourne is missing. O'Neill corners the Goa'uld in the basement but is shot in the back by Simmons. Simmons then takes the Goa'uld to one of NID's facilities for his own purposes. Carter finds O'Neill in the basement. His bulletproof vest stopped the bullet in the back, but he is still injured by one to the arm. The team finds that Maybourne managed to escape the hospital. Since nobody was aware of Simmons's presence, O'Neill assumes it was Maybourne who shot him, but Carter and General Hammond say basically nothing is known except that a Goa'uld is loose. At the NID facility, Simmons begins negotiating with the Goa'uld, promising it something "of great value" in exchange for information. + +This episode is a continuation of the Season 4 episode "Point of No Return". A spaceship that had been hidden in the outer solar system activates and begins approaching Earth, and its energy signature is matched to that of Martin Lloyd's escape pod suggesting that this is its mother ship. The military tracks down Lloyd and discovers that he has become the creative consultant for a television series whose concept he sold to a Hollywood studio, Wormhole X-Treme!. The parallels between Wormhole X-Treme! and the real SG-1 are uncanny, but the United States Air Force had decided that while being a breach of secrecy, they are willing to allow the show to continue, because it can provide 'plausible deniability' to any future leaks of classified information about the Stargate program (i.e., if info leaked out, it could easily be attributed to the fictional TV show, thus helping keep the actual Stargate program secret). Colonel Jack O'Neill is given the position of "Air Force technical advisor" to the show, in order to covertly confront Lloyd about both the secrets he has leaked and the approaching spacecraft. He discovers that Lloyd has resumed using memory suppressants and does not consciously remember his previous encounter with them or his own extraterrestrial origin. O'Neill initially suspects Lloyd's associates of drugging him again, but in fact Lloyd started taking them on his own so that he could feel more comfortable with living on Earth. Lloyd's associates are nevertheless nearby, and also another secret government group, called the NID, wishes to seize the ship's technology for themselves. The rest of SG-1 is sent over as backup, and Teal'c infiltrates the set, while Dr. Daniel Jackson and Major Samantha Carter scan Lloyd's house for broadcasts, which leads them to a warehouse used by the NID. Lloyd had in his possession the remote control device necessary for boarding the empty ship when it arrives, thinking it merely another of the many useless science fiction props of the show, and both parties want to recover it. His associates kidnap Lloyd and O'Neill, injecting Lloyd with a memory-restoring drug. Before they interrogate him, however, Teal'c (recognized as "Murray" by Lloyd) helps O'Neill and Lloyd escape. O'Neill and Lloyd recover the remote control just as the spacecraft arrives, with Lloyd's associates in close pursuit and the NID on their way. O'Neill gives the remote to Lloyd's associates allowing them to flee Earth, both because he sympathizes with their plight and to deny the ship's technology to the NID. Lloyd decides that he is comfortable with his new life and remains on Earth to continue consulting for Wormhole X-Treme!. At the end of the episode there is a "Making of Wormhole X-Treme!" featurette with interviews of several of the actors from the fictional show and behind the scene footage. + +Colonel Jack O'Neill and Teal'c of Chulak led a group of four young Stargate Command recruits, Lt. Kevin Elliot, Lt. Jennifer Hailey, Lt. Carl Grogan, and Lt. Satterfield through a small wooded area. This is the recruits's training program and also a means of preparing them for the rigors of off-world missions by having them participate in various mission-like scenarios. As Jack and Teal'c head to an abandoned warehouse, Jack tells the four recruits that two of his team members: Major Samantha Carter and Dr. Daniel Jackson are missing, having been kidnapped by a Goa'uld. Jack and Teal'c head into the warehouse and the young soldiers—commanded by Lieutenant Elliot—rush in a few moments later when they hear gunfire despite Elliot hesitating over the situation. The recruits storm into the warehouse where they find O'Neill and Teal'c unconscious on the floor, and Sam and Daniel pointing weapons at each other with Sam stating that she's a Tok'ra and Daniel is a Goa'uld. Daniel claims that Sam is a Goa'uld, advising Elliot to listen to Sam's voice. Grogan eventually subdues Carter which in turn draws Elliott's anger and the group of recruits begin bickering among themselves about Grogan shooting her with Grogan insisting that he did the right thing and that two shots from a zat will kill someone. The argument comes to a halt when Daniel tells the recruits that may be true but they're wrong about one thing before stating in a Goa'uld voice that Sam was actually telling the truth all along: that she was a Tok'ra and that Daniel himself is a Goa'uld. Without waiting for a response and as the four recruits stand there, shocked, Daniel uses his gun to stun all four of them. Seconds later, the training exercise ends, and as everyone recovers, Colonel O'Neill chastises Elliot and his team for failing. Later in the SGC mess hall, Carter talks to O'Neill about Lieutenant Elliot. Jack recognizes that Lieutenant Hailey ("Prodigy") is brilliant, but thinks that the rest of the team doesn't hold great promise for the future of the SGC. Elliot is a fine Air Force Academy graduate, but being in the SGC takes an extra something. Jack believes that Elliot thinks too much, and that makes him indecisive. The next day, back at the training facility, Colonel O'Neill leads the recruits in another simulation. They are to infiltrate a building believed to house a valuable piece of Goa'uld technology. They find the device, but it is booby-trapped. After a moment of indecision, Elliot orders his team out, and the device explodes. But one of his men, Grogan, doesn't make it out. Jack condemns Elliot for leaving a man behind, stating that leaving someone behind is something Jack himself will not tolerate under any circumstances and declares the exercise to be another failure and as a result, the leader already considers himself a "wash-out" for leaving one of his team (Grogan) behind during a simulated explosion. Colonel Jack O'Neill receives a phone call from Major Samantha Carter, warning him about a situation at "Sierra Golf Charlie"; he consequently attacks the personnel that met him near the training area; one of the opponents manage to shoot him back. The trainees offer their help, stating that they're all that's available. Infiltrating Stargate Command, they use the armory to stock up on stun weapons and back-up "live ammunition" handguns. Reaching Carter's lab, they find out that the entire SGC, including the rest of the SG-1, appears to be under a sort of Goa'uld mind control last seen on the planet Argos (identified as P3X-8596) and it appears that the leader is none other than Daniel Jackson. The plan is to have the cadets shut off the gate, and then destroy the device. Jack wants to go along with them but is badly injured with Elliot urging Jack to stay behind while telling Jack that he's no good to them if he's dead with Jack telling Elliot that these are their people. With that, the recruits depart with Elliot and Hailey taking the upper level and Grogan and Satterfield head to Daniel's lab. However, when Elliot and Hailey are outside the Embarkation room, O'Neill recalls them, ordering them to fall back to the lab where he is. In the lab, the recruits regroup and discover a blood sample with nanobots while Jack is less than impressed with the memory of being on Argos, stating that when he was a hundred years old and that the memory's the first to go. After forming a plan, the recruits depart once again. Once they've left, Jack tells someone that they're on their way. In the hall, the recruits approach and find Carter around a corner. They search her and deem that she's fine although when they head into the lab, they find Jack ready to interrogate the guard. The guard is immediately knocked unconscious and Carter draws Sattersfield's gun, revealing that she believes that Jack has been compromised. Elliot sedates Jack and tells Carter that thanks to the blood sample, they figure out that Carter is immune to any kind of Goa'uld nano technology. The recruits then head back into the hall and split up once again. In the lab, Jack who has recovered is pissed at the fact that Carter told the recruits that he'd been compromised. Carter assures him otherwise and informs him that the Pentagon staff are monitoring the situation. In a security room, Major General George S. Hammond and Brigadier General Michael Kerrigan discuss the supposed foothold situation which is actuality a training exercise. The recruits then launch their attack on Daniel and Teal'c and rig the supposedly mind-controlling device with C-4. When it doesn't explode (it was clay, not C-4), SG-1 reveals that the whole thing was a very elaborate ploy set up by SG-1, Hammond, and the SGC personnel; the "real" bullets were in fact blank ones. They congratulate the lieutenants. Hailey, however, is still in the Embarkation Room, trying to finish her part of the mission. Suddenly, the Stargate engages and opens a wormhole that turns out to be releasing deadly radiation. Hailey tries to manually override the Iris, but is electrocuted in the process and passes out. Elliot, ignores Hammond's orders to evacuate and runs into the room anyway to attempt to rescue his fallen teammate. She turns out to be not only fine, but also a part of this last training exercise. SG-1 congratulates the cadets again, and all four members are told that they have a bright future in the SGC with Hammond revealing that Elliot will be assigned to SG-17 under the command of Major Mansfield. + +On the planet, Memphis, SG-1 run for the gate while coming under heavy fire from various Al'keshs and Death Gliders. As soon as they've reached the Stargate, Dr. Daniel Jackson dials the address for Earth via the DHD. As he does that, Major Samantha Carter, Colonel Jack O'Neill and Teal'c protect Daniel and also provide cover fire by shooting back at the Death Gliders. Once the wormhole to Earth is active, Jack orders Sam and Daniel to go through which they do. As they head off, Jack fires back at a glider but is knocked to the ground with Teal'c later helping him. As Jack heads for the Stargate, Teal'c sees Tanith's Al'kesh emerge and seeing this as an opportunity, uses the Death Glider cannon he has to destroy the ship. As the single shot destroys the center of the Al'kesh, Teal'c smiles and heads into the wormhole but moments after Teal'c has entered the Stargate, the Al'kesh crashes into the DHD, causing a huge explosion that cuts off the wormhole to Earth and also severs the connection, presumably destroying the Stargate as well. Back on Earth, Daniel, Jack and Sam are in the Embarkation room, waiting for Teal'c to come through but instead they watch as the Stargate disconnects before cutting off altogether. Major General George S. Hammond walks in, wondering where Teal'c is but Jack states that he doesn't know before stating that Teal'c was right behind him. Hammond, Jack, Daniel and Sam head for the Stargate Operations room where Walter Davis redials the planet in the hope that they'll be able to contact Teal'c but Davis reports that they're getting an "Unknown Error", causing Sam to realize that there's a problem with the Stargate, not the SGC's Dialing computer. With the error still there, Sam has them abort the sequence and Davis does so, resulting in the Stargate being shut down. Up in the Briefing Room, Daniel and Hammond discuss what happened on the planet with Hammond believing that the Tok'ra intel was right and that the Goa'uld were scouting the planet for a new Base. Daniel states it looks like that way except for the fact that the Tok'ra didn't tell them the identity of the Goa'uld: Tanith. Teal'c wanted to kill Tanith to avenge the death of Teal'c's former lover Shan'auc (See Crossroads). Tanith chased them after a Glider made their position. Sam soon arrives, stating that Teal'c's energy signature is in inside the gate's energy pattern buffer and grimly concludes that if someone off-world tries dialing into the SGC or if they try dialing out, then Teal'c's energy signature will be permanently erased. When Hammond wonders how they can stop an ongoing wormhole, Sam tells him that they can do this by moving the Iris back several micrometers which would have the same effect as them actually burying their Stargate before informing Hammond and Daniel that Sylvester Siler and his team have told her that they can have it done in an hour. When Hammond asks how they're getting their people home, Daniel realizes that they need the Russians's DHD with Sam agreeing. Hammond goes to call the Pentagon while Daniel heads off to look at the team schedule to determine how long they've got before the next SGC team is due back. As Sam oversees things with Davis, Hammond informs the President that they're doing everything they can and that it's only a temporary situation before stating that they'll get their best man on the job. Daniel arrives in, telling Hammond that the next team due is SG-5 who have a scheduled mission report at 1600. Hammond wants to know how the work on the iris with Daniel stating that they're working as fast they can. Hammond then announces they need a liaison to help get the Russians agree to their demands before telling Daniel to pack a bag and that he leaves in half an hour which has Daniel stunned. Having been treated for his injury in the Stargate Command infirmary, Jack arrives into the Control Room and learns from Sam that for all the efforts they're putting into this, they may not be able to get Teal'c back. Meanwhile, Daniel and Major Paul Davis arrive in Russia in order to negotiate for temporary use of their Stargate to allow eight SG teams to return to Earth, and later for the Dial Home Device needed to rescue Teal'c but, for their help the Russians led by Colonel Chekov demand access to all technology retrieved by the SGC. Hammond arrives in the Mess hall where Jack curses the Jaffa revenge thing and rues the fact that Teal'c didn't follow orders. Hammond insists that Jack go get some sleep and that everything can be done is being done before ordering Jack to get some rest. With that, Hammond leaves. Hammond then arrives into the Briefing Room where he meets Colonel Frank Simmons who is being accompanied by Dr. Rodney McKay with McKay instantly making an enemy of Carter by pointing out the flaws with the dialing program that Carter created. Hammond later summons Simmons to his office and tells him that the other man is not allowed to give Hammond any kind of orders whatsoever. Simmons insists that he's only bringing Hammond his orders and that Carter and McKay have two days to come up with a way to save Teal'c or else Hammond will be ordered to resume sending SG teams through the Stargate. In Russia, Daniel and Major Davis continue talking with the Russians but things aren't going in the American's favor. Jack, now in civilian clothes meets Harold Maybourne at a gas station causing Jack to react violently over the fact that Jack believed that Maybourne shot him in Desperate Measures with Maybourne insisting that he's innocent. Maybourne then tells Jack that he heard about Teal'c and that he hopes the SGC get him back before warning Jack to be wary of Simmons because according to Maybourne, whatever Simmons has on his mind, it won't be good for either Teal'c or the SGC. Maybourne states that if Jack needs him, then Maybourne's at the Accent Inn, using the surname, "Cassidy". Jack wonders if it's David or Shaun Cassidy with Maybourne stating, "Butch". As Maybourne walks off, Jack shouts that Simmons believes that Maybourne is the one who sullied the name of the NID with Maybourne wondering if Jack believes that. Jack admits that he doesn't with Maybourne grimly sating that he knows Simmons well because as it turns out, Maybourne was the one responsible for recruiting Simmons into the NID. In Carter's lab, she's busy working on her computer when McKay wanders in, having been looking for her. The two instantly clash with McKay angrily berating Carter for the system she created for the Stargate while he also points out the many flaws as well. Left extremely annoyed, Carter snaps that her job is to present the risks, not to decide whether to take them before telling McKay that if he doesn't have anything positive to add then he should get out of her lab. McKay's response is interrupted by Daniel contacting from Russia where Daniel tells her that SG-5 just contacted the Tok'ra who have suggested using the DHD as a means of freeing Teal'c but Daniel soon tells Sam that the negotiations aren't going too well which has Sam hanging up, obviously disappointed. Simmons arrives into Hammond's office and blackmails Hammond into giving him a Goa'uld Hand Device- a Kara kesh. Hammond refuses but soon realizes that the only reason Simmons would want it is due to the fact that Simmons has the Goa'uld that escaped during "Desperate Measures". Jack arrives at Maybourne's house where Maybourne states that they've got to find the Goa'uld first before realizing why Jack is here. In Russia, Major Davis isn't impressed with what the Russians have to offer but Daniel suggests that they ought to compromise. In the hotel room, Maybourne is illegally hacking into the NID database and later finds that Simmons diverted to Minot Air Force Base on his way to Colorado Springs. In the mess hall, Carter and McKay are having lunch together with the two still debating over the Stargate as they try to form a plan to save Teal'c from the Stargate. During the lunch, McKay reveals that he has a fatal allergy to anything lemon-related and that he needs to constantly eat to stop a severe hyperglycemic reaction from happening before he yet again berates Carter's plans. Carter soon discovers that McKay was the one responsible for the Pentagon's 48 hour deadline because McKay told them that Teal'c would already be dead. This causes Carter to get up in disgust as McKay remarks that he wishes he didn't have a weakness for dumb blondes. "Go suck a lemon", Carter snarls before she storms out of the mess hall, leaving McKay still there, eating while muttering, "Sexy. Very sexy". At an NID "safehouse", Jack and Maybourne who have teamed up take down the operatives stationed around the house, using Zats to knock the men unconscious before Jack meets the Goa'uld controlling Adrian Conrad. He refuses to help them, but after Jack stuns him, reveals that Simmons was a better negotiator. This prompts Jack to seek the surveillance videos which indeed show Simmons interrogating the Goa'uld prisoner; also recorded was the Goa'uld describing how to rescue Teal'c. Daniel manages to convince the Russians to loan them the DHD - a requirement for the rescue - by offering them Naquadah generator technology with his heartfelt plea managing to finally secure them the DHD. At the SGC, Sam informs Hammond of the development, only to be told that Hammond has been ordered to resume operations by the President and that SG-2 are preparing for a mission P4C-796. Sam protests, stating that if they open the Stargate, then they're murdering Teal'c before she realizes that she can't tell Hammond. In the Control Room, Walter Harriman begins dialing the Stargate as Sam looks on from the Briefing Room, angered. Sergeant Westerholm arrives, informing Carter that she has an urgent phone call from Jack. Down in the Operations Room, the dial-up is still continuing when Sam arrives, telling them that they've got to abort. Simmons pulls rank and orders that she stand down but Sam continues on, stating to Hammond that Jack has the information they need to save Teal'c as well as knowledge that incriminates Simmons. Simmons insists that she's lying but Hammond overrules him, ordering that the dialing be stopped and that Simmons is to be arrested before telling the Airman that if Simmons resists, then the Airman should shoot Simmons. In the Briefing Room, after the clip of Simmons talking to the Goa'uld has aired, McKay protests, stating that it's impossible and that the Goa'uld wants them to destroy themselves. When Carter objects, McKay states that she's a certifiable whackjob and that she's letting her feelings get the better of her before insisting that Teal'c is dead. McKay's ramblings are interrupted by Hammond who tells him that his plane for Russia leaves in an hour. As a stunned McKay struggles to digest the news, Hammond states that McKay's new assignment is to help Russia with their Naquadah generator technology with McKay protesting and refusing to go. Carter then drops McKay in it by stating that as long as McKay's on the Air Force payroll. The revelation then finally sinks as McKay who realizes that he has no way out of this. He then complains again, stating that it really sucks before he rushes out the door. As McKay runs out the door to get ready, Hammond tells Carter that she should do whatever she needs to do with Carter getting straight to work. A while later, with Jack, Hammond, Chevok, Daniel and Major Davis in the Control Room, Carter and Siler use the DHD to make the necessary modifications to the DHD, by removing the main control crystal, in order to create an event horizon without a wormhole, thereby "tricking" the Stargate into reintegrating Teal'c. As the DHD powers up, it creates a temporary hole of some sort and Teal'c stumbles through the Stargate with no perception that something had gone wrong much to the joy of Sam and Jack. However, the DHD unexpectedly explodes moments later. Teal'c then steps off the ramp and states that he has had his revenge - Tanith is dead before wondering what has gone in his absence. As they head off, Jack tells Teal'c that he owns his life to a Goa'uld despite Teal'c being in denial while the DHD soon crackles and fizzles as they walk past it. + +Zipacna has summoned Osiris to his flagship. He complements Osiris' success in gaining a such a large army in the very short time since she has returned, and tells her of the situation among the System Lords, offering a position of great power. Osiris refuses to serve Zipacna, but Zipacna reveals that he is merely a servant of a Goa'uld who Osiris once knew well - Anubis. Dr. Daniel Jackson is sent by the Tok'ra to kill the Goa'uld System Lords, who are meeting to discuss the possibility of forming a new order. Since the deaths of Apophis and Cronus, the System Lords have been facing an unknown enemy of late, one which seems to be dispatching their armies with great ease. The Tok'ra see the meeting as an opportunity to kill all the System Lords at once, since the Tok'ra have recently developed a poison which is effective against Goa'uld symbiotes. It is an aerosol poison, making it relatively easy to use, and is non-lethal to non-blended humans. Daniel, because of his ability to speak Goa'uld fluently, is sent disguised as Yu's personal human slave, or "Lo'taur," with the idea of releasing the poison as soon as all the System Lords have gathered with Daniel posing as a slave named "Jarren". However, the Goa'uld Zipacna is aware of the poison, and has sent a large attack force to Revanna, where the rest of SG-1 is currently awaiting the results of Daniel's sabotage mission. The planet comes under attack, and the Tok'ra's Stargate is rendered unusable by an incoming wormhole. The base shuts down power to remain undetected, but the attack force has more than enough Al'kesh to bomb the planet's surface indiscriminately. Portions of the base begin to crumble, and the base is in chaos. Lantash, who has been in a stasis chamber since the death of Martouf, is forced to blend with Lt. Kevin Elliot when his chamber is destroyed by falling rock. SG-1 decides to leave the underground base and take its chances on the surface, with Elliot barely alive as a result of a tunnel collapse. As they near the Transportation rings, another section of tunnel caves in, blocking off their escape. The conference of the system lords is delayed when a request is made, presumably by the mysterious enemy, to send his own representative to the council, instead of appearing in person. The System Lord agree to hear out the representative's proposal, and allow her entry: it is Osiris. Daniel is taken completely off guard, and decides not to release the poison yet. When the Council breaks, he hastily informs Selmak of the situation. Before they can work out a plan, Osiris corners Daniel, and reveals that she does indeed remember who he is. + +Osiris pulls a dagger on Dr. Daniel Jackson after finding him alone in Yu's quarters. Before she can do anything, he stabs her with the Reol chemical, convincing her that he is Jarren, Yu's Lo'taur. It works, and she leaves, but not before he manages to point out that it is completely against the rules of the summit for her to possess any sort of weapon. He contacts Selmak again, and explains what just transpired. He has decided not to release the poison because he wishes to save Sarah Gardner. Selmak/Jacob Carter reminds him of what is at stake, and tells him that he must release the poison immediately. Meanwhile, the rest of SG-1 and Lt. Kevin Elliot/Lantash are still trapped in the Tok'ra tunnels. Lantash tells them that they may be able to construct more tunnels if they can get their hands of some of the tunnel-building crystals in the lab. Teal'c and Colonel Jack O'Neill go to find the crystals, while Major Samantha Carter and Lt. Elliot, who is still too weak to walk on his own, remain where they were. O'Neill and Teal'c acquire the crystals, but are cut off by Jaffa. Another bombing run commences, and Major Carter and Lt. Elliot are trapped between two cave-ins. Osiris addresses the System Lords, telling them how weakness is befalling them, and how they must join together, or be destroyed. Daniel is about to release the poison, when Osiris reveals to the System Lords that she has been sent by another Goa'uld: Anubis. The System Lords had believed Anubis dead, and though only Yu remains of the System Lords which banished and attempted to kill Anubis, they do not like the idea of allowing him to return. Osiris informs them that their only other option is to place themselves at the mercy of Anubis. Daniel reports back to Selmak, and they decide that releasing the poison would only accelerate the domination of Anubis, who was apparently one of the worst Goa'uld ever. Selmak tells Daniel that Anubis was "banished by the System Lords because his crimes were unspeakable even to the Goa'uld". O'Neill and Teal'c manage to kill the Jaffa pinning them down, and return to where they left Carter and Elliot. When they arrive, they make radio contact, and Lantash tells them to use one of the crystals they have retrieved to make a short, straight tunnel which should connect their two tunnels. It works, and Teal'c seals the tunnel behind them. They continue creating tunnels and moving further away from the main base. Lt. Elliot tells them that the Tok'ra have broadcast a signal which will warn any potential rescuers to stay away from the planet; however, SG-1 decides to attempt to reprogram one of the signals to send an S.O.S. to Daniel and Selmak. They use one of the last crystals to get to the surface, and begin the 22 mile walk to the nearest broadcaster. While walking through the space station in which the summit is taking place, Daniel finds a tank with a number of Goa'uld symbiotes inside. Later, Osiris meets in private with Yu, who is opposed to the idea of allowing Anubis back among the System Lords. Osiris tells Yu of her master's plan: since Anubis is not a System Lord, the Protected Planets Treaty does not affect him, nor does it require the System Lords to retaliate against him, a Goa'uld who is supposedly dead. He offers to destroy the Tau'ri as an offering to the System Lords, before joining their ranks. Daniel reports this information back to Selmak, and they realize that the Goa'uld are planning on making their human slaves into hosts as soon as the summit is over. Daniel decides to wait a little longer before making his escape. When the Council next meets, Ba'al opens a vote on whether or not to accept Anubis back, and the motion passes, 6-1, with only Yu opposing his return. Then, before continuing the summit meeting, they bring in the symbiotes. Instead of allowing them to blend with their slaves, they each take one, and they eat the symbiotes which leaves Daniel greatly disgusted and horrified. Later, Daniel has the opportunity to speak with Ba'al's Lo'tar. He reveals that he too, knows the true nature of the Goa'uld. In fact, the Lo'tar (or at least this one) enjoy their positions because of the hope that one day, if they have served their masters well, they will be granted the "honor" of implantation. Daniel's attempt at intelligence gathering backfires when Ba'al's Lo'tar warns Yu that Daniel cannot be trusted. Meanwhile, Daniel is attempting to steal Yu's cargo ship, and leave with Osiris. He has learned of the attack on Revanna, the base of the Tok'ra, and communicates this information to Selmak. He manages to capture Osiris in the cargo ship, but is attacked by Yu. Yu releases Osiris, but she assumes that he is behind her capture and stabs him with her dagger. Before Osiris can kill Daniel, Yu gets up and begins wrestling with her for control of the dagger. Daniel escapes the cargo ship in an escape pod, and Selmak picks him up. Daniel and Selmak arrive at Revanna, and cloak immediately after leaving hyperspace. Lord Zipacna, commander of the attack on Revanna, is, however, aware that a ship has entered the system. Daniel and Selmak receive the automatic warning telling them that the base has been compromised, and Jacob decides that they should leave. However, SG-1 finally make it to one of the broadcasters, and Jacob receives the S.O.S. They go in to land on the planet, and a number of gliders lock onto their heat signature as they enter the atmosphere. They take heavy damage, and they crash on the planet's surface, but SG-1 see the crash, and start off towards the downed cargo ship. Daniel and Selmak leave the ship, which at this point is beyond a quick repair job. They meet up with SG-1, and they decide that their only chance is to escape through the Stargate. Since Daniel still has the poison, O'Neill decides to take it with him, and once he gets near the Stargate, release it into the atmosphere in the hopes that it will kill all the Jaffa guarding the Stargate. Teal'c does not think he could make it to the gate either, but Lantash comes up with a different plan. He will take the poison from Daniel, and the others will hide. When the Jaffa find him, he will tell them that he knows how to synthesize the poison. When they take him to the base camp to teleport him up to the mothership, he will release the poison himself. Lantash and Elliot insist on the plan, as they are near death anyway, the others leave him to execute the plan. + +A civilian is viewing through his telescope and sees what looks like a giant asteroid heading towards Earth. He is "convinced" by the U.S. military to keep it quiet. At Stargate Command, SG-1 and Major General George S. Hammond discuss their options. They have only 11 days and 16 hours to stop the asteroid otherwise all life on Earth will be wiped out. The SGC gets no response from trying to contact the Tok'ra. They have been overextended and hard to reach since the assault on Revanna. The SGC contacts the Asgard through the Hall of Wisdom on K'Tau, but learn that the Protected Planet Treaty prevents the Asgard from taking any action to avert a natural disaster with Jack eventually losing his temper and according to Daniel, making a reference to Freyr's mother. After a discussion, SG-1 and an engineering team go back to Revanna to fix the downed Tel'tak Jacob Carter/Selmak and Dr. Daniel Jackson crashed. The team plans to plant a Naquadah enhanced Nuclear warhead on the asteroid which would detonate with the force of 1,200 megatons. They arrive in Earth's solar system and after their engines fail they are on a collision course with the asteroid. Both SG-1 and Stargate Command realize that the ship doesn't have enough space to decelerate to land. While the SGC sees them hit the asteroid's surface, the scout ship actually enters a massive canyon, and it gives them the extra distance to brake enough to put the ship down, but their communications with Earth are severed. General Hammond believes them to be dead and an evacuation on Earth commences. Having landed on the asteroid, Major Samantha Carter completes detailed scans of the asteroid and discovers that it's made almost entirely from Naquadah. Since naquadah doesn't naturally occur in the solar system, SG-1 conclude that the Goa'uld must have launched it to make it look like a natural disaster. If the asteroid is detonated, the resulting explosion would be big enough to burn Earth's atmosphere, and boil the oceans. Due to a cave-in that occurred while they were back at the ship, the control keypad isn't functioning to stop the bomb from detonating. Colonel Jack O'Neill has to open the bomb and disarm it manually by clipping 'the red wire' but upon opening the casing, he finds the wires are all yellow. He is forced to cut them at random, and after cutting four of the five finds the correct one with only a few seconds left. After considering their options, Sam manages to open a hyperspace window large enough for the asteroid to pass through, long enough for it to miss Earth entirely. Knowing beforehand that their engines will burn up and Life support will fail a couple of hours after that, SG-1 succumbs to their fate. Fortunately, not long after, a Tok'ra ship piloted by Jalen appears to give them a ride home. + +K'tano, First Prime of Imhotep, announces to a group of rebel Jaffa that the Goa'uld are not gods and they shall fight for their freedom. In the crowd, Teal'c and Bra'tac are listening to his speech. They report back to Stargate Command and tell them that K'tano has gathered an army culled from several different System Lords and that he strongly believes in Jaffa traditions. However, K'tano is incredibly reckless. In addition to attacking targets that include civilians as well as Goa'uld, he uses terrorist tactics such as suicide bombers in order to spread dissent throughout the ranks of his enemies. SG-1 decides to make an alliance with them because the Tok'ra are weakened. Upon arriving, they learn that K'tano is raiding Zipacna. When he returns, he praises SG-1 for their killing of several System Lords. He then asks what SG-1 has to offer in exchange for an alliance. They show FN P90 Personal Defense Weapons and supplies. K'tano thinks it is generous but he was expecting Zat'nik'tels and Staff weapons, true weapons. They do a weapons test and show the Jaffa that though their weapons are less advanced technologically, they are superior in battle. This earns K'tano's trust. The next day, K'tano and SG-1 raid one of Nirrti's Tel'taks and K'tano convinces her Jaffa to come to their cause, by marching straight through an all out firefight. Colonel Jack O'Neill believes that K'tano was suicidal and reckless and, after witnessing K'tano send a force of Jaffa on a suicide mission, decides not to form an alliance with him due to his tactics and beliefs. Teal'c leads an attack on Lord Yu at the behest of K'tano, along with several other rebel Jaffa to destroy the "weak" System Lord and acquire all of Yu's Jaffa. Teal'c is captured and the other rebel Jaffa are killed. For his own reasons, Lord Yu decides to let Teal'c go, but first he tells him that the attempted mutiny on one of Yu's Ha'taks has failed, as well as one other piece of information. Teal'c comes back through the Stargate and heads to the Jaffa camp to challenge K'tano to Joma secu, the Jaffa rite of leadership to the death. Teal'c feigns exhaustion until K'tano thinks him beaten, at which point he gloats in Teal'c's ear. In doing so, he reveals himself as Imhotep, a minor Goa'uld. K'tano/Imhotep raises his staff for a killing blow, leaving himself open for Teal'c to utilize a quick jab with his broken staff point. The jab kills Imhotep. When Rak'nor goes to save the symbiote for use on other Jaffa, he finds no pouch revealing Imhotep to be a Goa'uld. Lord Yu's mothership begins its attack, and the Jaffa flee to the relative safety of Earth with SG-1. Bra'tac vows that their day will come. + +SG-1 arrives on a world ravaged by war. In a building, they find a young woman android, completely unscathed. Major Samantha Carter and Dr. Daniel Jackson convince Major General George S. Hammond to allow them to bring the android back to Stargate Command for further study. The android is activated and speaks with SG-1, telling them its name is Reese, but will not reveal any details of how her world was destroyed when asked. Colonel Jack O'Neill, Teal'c and SG-3 return to the planet and discover Replicator blocks, they realize that the world was annihilated by Replicators. After the team's return Reese creates a Replicator as a toy for her and Jackson to play with. He is shocked, and the Replicator is contained, being placed in a reinforced glass box guarded by Teal'c, much to Reese's dismay. Reese becomes upset, believing everyone hates her because she was 'Created Wrong', and believes that they all wish to destroy her and her toys, the Replicators. Jackson tries to console her and convince her otherwise, in the process learning that the people of her world came to fear her and her 'toys', leading them to attempt to destroy them. Reese admits that she told her 'toys' to 'make more of themselves' and that she 'taught them how to defend themselves', then lost control of them, accidentally creating the Replicator plague. Eventually, Reese, believing that everybody is plotting to destroy her and her 'toys', again, creates an army of Replicators and attempts to escape through the Stargate, locking herself in the Embarkation room while she learns how to use the Stargate. Fearing that she will lose control of her Replicators again, Hammond decides that they must shut down or destroy Reese. Jackson attempts to shut her down by tricking her into trusting him again and then removing her power source, while Carter and Hammond activate the base's Self-destruct and Teal'c, O'Neill and several SGC personnel attempt to break into the gate room. Jackson fails but continues trying to convince Reese to stop what she is doing while the self-destruct is activated by both Hammond and Carter and the gate room blast doors are cut open thanks to Siler. After activating the self-destruct, Carter realizes that the Replicators are beginning to act independently of Reese, as they had feared. O'Neill breaks into the gate room, just as Jackson appears to have convinced Reese to deactivate the Replicators. O'Neill shoots Reese, inflicting mortal damage on the android. As Reese shuts down, the Replicator blocks separate. Even though he understands that O'Neill had no choice, Jackson becomes extremely angry at him, since he believed he had convinced Reese to stop the Replicators, that she turned them off rather than because O'Neill destroyed her and that he destroyed their only chance to stop the Replicators. Jack then orders that a sweep be done of the Base, insisting that he wants those damn Replicators out of here before he walks off, leaving Daniel alone in the Embarkation Room with Reese's lifeless remains. + +The episode begins as Major General George S. Hammond attempts to contact SG-9 on Latona, who are eleven hours late reporting in. SG-9 was attempting to re-establish diplomatic ties with the Latonans, creators of an advanced defensive weapon named the "Sentinel", which was developed over three hundred years ago by their ancestors, to defend the planet. Contact is established with Lieutenant Carl Grogan, a member of SG-9, who reports that SG-9 was attacked by Jaffa and that he is cut off from the Stargate, but is then attacked by a Jaffa patrol and cuts out. Hammond briefs SG-1, explaining that two years previously an NID team attempted to analyze the Sentinel, to create copies to defend Earth, but were refused access to the weapon by the Latonans. Immediately after the NID team returned from their mission, they were captured, imprisoned, and placed on death row for stealing technology from Earth's allies. Colonel Jack O'Neill volunteers to visit them, as a consensus is reached that the NID team lied and gained access to the Sentinel against the Latonans' wishes and that they somehow damaged the device in the process. O'Neill speaks with Colonel Sean Grieves, who reveals that they disassembled and reassembled the Sentinel in an attempt to understand it. O'Neill asks Grieves to tell him how to fix the Sentinel, but Grieves insists that he and Lt. Kershaw, the other member of the NID team, go with them and have their death sentences commuted to life. SG-1, SG-3 and the two convicts travel to the planet and find Grogan, the only remaining member of SG-9. SG-9 was attacked by the Goa'uld, indicating the Sentinel is inoperative. Major Samantha Carter, Teal'c, Dr. Daniel Jackson, Grieves and Kershaw trek to the Sentinel to repair it while O'Neill and Grogan set out for the city to offer the Latonans a chance to escape. Carter's team locate the Sentinel and attempt to disable the force field protecting it, an action which took forty-eight hours the first time, according to Kershaw. Teal'c and Carter fight off a Jaffa patrol while Daniel, Grieves and Kershaw attempt to deactivate the force field. Meanwhile, O'Neill and Grogan attempt to persuade Marul, the leader of the Latonans, to save his people and evacuate the population through the Stargate. Jack is unable to convince him, as Marul insists that as long as the candle in his chambers burns, the Sentinel and its caretaker are protecting them. A Goa'uld Ha'tak begins bombarding the city and Jack tries one last time to convince Marul, but is ambushed by Jaffa and captured. Daniel succeeds in deactivating the force field as a battalion of Jaffa approach, and it is reactivated in just time to protect the group from the Jaffa, but Kershaw is shot in the back with a staff blast as she activates the force field. Grieves attempts to repair the Sentinel while the Jaffa try to shut down the force field, but he cannot find anything wrong. Daniel then translates a small portion of text on the Sentinel, reading 'Life Force', 'Life Energy', and 'Two as one'. Eventually Grieves admits, at Kershaw's behest, that he shot and killed a Latonan man claiming to be the Caretaker, then Kershaw rigged a dead man's switch that the Caretaker was wearing, so that it was not set off when the Caretaker died. The Jaffa bring Jack and Grogan to the Sentinel and demand that Carter's team lower the force field. Jack orders Carter to destroy the weapon, but Grieves tells the Jaffa he will deactivate the force field from inside. Jack repeats his order and Carter attempts to communicate to him that she can tell Grieves knows how to fix it. Grieves realizes what they are doing incorrectly, and grabs hold of the Sentinel, making "Two as one". The Sentinel releases a beam of bright light and the Jaffa disappear, as does Grieves; the Sentinel is powered by the life force of a single person, which was the Caretaker's ultimate role. When the beam has passed, Carter realizes Kershaw has died from her staff wounds. Teal'c suggests they ask the Latonans for permission to study the Sentinel further, but Jack merely replies that he thinks he knows what they'll say. + +The episode starts out as SG-1 returns to base, Major Samantha Carter hastily tells Major General George S. Hammond that Dr. Daniel Jackson has been exposed to radiation. Hammond asks for an explanation as Daniel and the rest of SG-1 head for the infirmary, meeting a medical team part way there. Daniel cautions them not to touch him and Carter explains that he may still be radioactive. Colonel Jack O'Neill and Teal'c tell Hammond that they did not witness Daniel's exposure and aren't aware of exactly what has transpired. Once Daniel reaches the infirmary Dr. Janet Fraiser asks Carter for details, Sam explains that Daniel was exposed to a device containing an 'unstable radioactive variation of Naquadah and that the dosage was lethal. A briefing is called and Carter explains to Hammond that the world Langara they were visiting has three superpowers in a situation roughly analogous to that of America and Russia in the Cold War, though the countries have yet to develop Nuclear warheads. Langara's Stargate is located in Kelowna, one of the three Superpowers. The first of three flashbacks begins, introducing Jonas Quinn as an advisor to the First Minister of Kelowna, the Head of State. Jonas shows SG-1 a high security project he is overseeing, testing of a radioactive isotope called Naquadria for use as a weapon, with the aim of creating a deterrent. The flashback then cuts back to the briefing, and Jack explains that the Kelownans are accusing Daniel of attempting to sabotage their research. Jack visits Daniel in the infirmary, where Daniel explains that because of the intense exposure to radiation he will begin to die in the next 10-15 hours, and there is no cure. Jack implies a request for help from the Asgard or Tok'ra, but Daniel responds that his life is no more important than anyone else's and they would not go to such lengths for others. Jack changes the topic and asks Daniel directly what happened, but receives the reply "That doesn't matter", but Jack insists. Daniel reveals only that there was an accident and that the scientists working on the project blamed him to avoid repercussions. Jack speaks to Hammond in his office, where it is explained that the Asgard and Tok'ra cannot be contacted and there are no other feasible options. O'Neill then checks in on Carter in her lab, she informs Jack that she has calculated Naquadria is much more powerful than Naquadah, allowing them to generate enough energy to achieve Hyperspace and Shield technologies. General Hammond decides to send a letter to the Kelownans apologizing and requesting trade for the Naquadria, using Colonel O'Neill as the courier. While on Langara, Jack speaks with Jonas Quinn, appealing to him to admit to his government that Daniel did not attempt sabotage, Quinn replies that he could not clear Daniel's name even if he tried, which would result in the cancellation of the Naquadria project, which Quinn feels is vital to the survival of Kelowna. Back on Earth, Janet Fraiser tells Carter that there's nothing she can do for Daniel, except sedatives and painkillers. Carter volunteers to attempt to heal Daniel with a Goa'uld healing device, admitting that she is not entirely sure how to use it. The attempt sends Daniel into a seizure and causes his health to deteriorate. While the doctors try to stabilize Daniel's condition, he slips into a sort of dream, where a suited woman approaches him in the gate room with a cryptic message. Jack visits Daniel while he is conscious, and tells Daniel that he won't let the Kelownans defame him as a saboteur, Daniel inquires as to why, and Jack admits that he respects and admires Daniel. Daniel re-enters his 'dream' and realizes the woman is Oma Desala. She speaks in Zen koans and encourages him to ascend in characteristic roundabout way. Daniel asks how, and Oma tells him to "Release [his] burden", Daniel says he has released his burden and asks for the next step, but Oma just provides another Zen koan and Daniel wryly comments that he didn't expect ascension to be easy. Meanwhile, Jonas Quinn has had a change of heart and realizes how destructive a Naquadria bomb would be. Jonas brings an amount of Naquadria with him and informs Jack that he has told his government the truth and then defected. The second flashback occurs, and Daniel is observing the Naquadria experiment with Jonas. Suddenly the experiment goes awry and enormous amounts of hard radiation are released. The researchers flee as the Naquadria begins to go supercritical (reaching critical mass). Daniel draws his sidearm and begins firing at the glass window separating the observation room from the lab. Daniel then breaks through the glass and removes the top half of the device with his bare hands, exposing himself to radiation in the process of preventing a nuclear catastrophe. (This incident is much likely based on Louis Slotin's one, except it was plutonium that caused the radiation poisoning instead of fictional Naquadria). The scene changes to Daniel conversing with Oma in the dream-gate room, where Daniel confesses that he feels his entire life has been a failure. Carter intrudes in the dream-gate room and tells Daniel how his perspective of life has changed her and many others. Oma Desala tells Daniel that to ascend, one must believe they are worthy of it. Daniel replies heavily that they have a large obstacle in the path of his ascension. Teal'c then expresses to Daniel what great effect he has had on the course of Teal'c's life and the course of history as a whole. Daniel is now in a dream-version of his office, where Oma asks him why he feels like a failure, Daniel explains he felt he was unable to make a real difference, but concedes that he was able to make a small difference occasionally. As Daniel battles with his own inadequacy, Oma explains to Daniel that because of the size and scope of existence, the only thing that a person really has control over in life is whether they are good or evil and instructs Daniel to judge his worthiness on that basis. Jacob Carter/Selmak arrives and uses the Goa'uld healing device to assess Daniel's condition, stating that he is unsure if the device will be successful due to Daniel's extensive injuries. Jacob Carter/Selmak then begins to attempt the healing process but Daniel intervenes: he pulls Jack into his dream and explains that he has decided to ascend. Jack stops Jacob/Selmak and Daniel ascends as the group look on. + +An Asgard ship confronts two Goa'uld Ha'taks in orbit of the planet Adara II. Thor contacts one of the ships, which is under the command of Osiris, and orders them to retreat because they are in violation of the Protected Planets Treaty. She refuses, so Thor opens fire; surprisingly, his weapons have no effect. At Stargate Command, Major Samantha Carter sadly looks over Dr. Daniel Jackson's belongings when Major General George S. Hammond arrives. They talk about the situation with Sam expressing her despair and unwillingness to believe if Daniel is truly dead. The talk is interrupted when the Stargate activates and as the two reach the Embarkation Room, they realize that their visitor is none other than Freyr of the Asgard. Freyr informs them about the Goa'uld attack on the planet and that Thor was killed. With the Goa'uld showing that they have more advanced weapons, the Asgard can no longer be certain of victory when dealing with superior numbers, and therefore none of the Protected Planets are safe, including Earth. He also asks them to rescue a scientist, who is trapped on the planet with Colonel Jack O'Neill agreeing to do so. As they prepare to leave, Sam tries to talk with Jack, only for Jack to shut her down, stating that they've got a mission. SG-1 takes a Tel'tak to the planet, and Sam talks with Teal'c about Daniel en route. When they arrive, they are beamed into a hidden laboratory. There they meet the scientist Heimdall, who informs them that Thor is still alive and imprisoned by the Goa'uld. They are able to contact him but he refuses to be rescued because Anubis will soon arrive and Heimdall's research is too important. Heimdall informs them that the Asgard are all clones and they are suffering from genetic degradation. They then develop a plan to rescue Thor and when Anubis arrives, Jack and Teal'c transport onto Osiris' ship. With Sam's help they are able to avoid capture. In the meantime Anubis confronts Thor with a device which will be implanted in his brain and link with the ship's computer. Later Osiris orders the coolant of the engines to be vented into the lower decks. This stuns Jack and Teal'c, rendering both of them unconscious. On the planet Heimdall shows Sam his research work -- an ancient Asgard who he's researching to find out how to make the Asgard reproduce sexually. Heimdall beams to the Tel'tak with the research while Sam remains behind. On Anubis' ship the imprisoned Jack and Teal'c are contacted by Thor, who is able to control the ship's computer through the mental link. He opens their cell and guides them through the ship. In the meantime, the laboratory is found by the Goa'uld and they use their weapons to blow a way to it so that they can transport inside it. Afterward, Osiris and some troops enter the laboratory and capture Sam with Osiris demanding to know where Daniel is. Sam tells Osiris to forget it. In response, Osiris proceeds to torture Sam with the Kara kesh. Back on the ship, Jack and Teal'c are still examining the crystals at a loss at what to do before Jack powers up his staff weapon and destroys the crystals, resulting in the ship's systems going offline. In the main control room, the Jaffa Commander informs Anubis of this with Anubis telling the Commander to repair the systems. Back in the underground lab, Osiris stops torturing Sam with the Kara kesh and asks her again where Daniel is. Sam replies that Daniel's dead which leaves Osiris stunned. He tells Sam that she's lying with Sam telling Osiris to go to Hell. Thanks to Jack destroying the crystals, Heimdall is able to beam Jack, Teal'c, Thor and Sam, who was questioned by Osiris, onto the Tel'tak. However because of the device in Thor's brain they are located and nearly destroyed with the first shot preventing them from escaping in hyperspace with Teal'c remarking that they cannot sustain another hit. Suddenly three O'Neill-class Asgard ships under the command of Freyr arrive and confront the remaining Ha'tak (the other two left earlier to fight against Yu) and Anubis is forced to flee. Back at SGC, Sam informs the others about the situation of the Asgard and Thor and that Thor fell in a coma when the device was removed from his brain. That night, O'Neill, Carter, and Teal'c are on their way out of the base to go out to eat when there is an odd breeze inside the base. Though no one is really sure what caused it, as Jack enters the elevator he smiles. + +The peace of P2X-374 is shattered when Colonel Jack O'Neill being supported by Captain Hagman yells for someone to dial the Stargate. As Major Samantha Carter dials the Stargate, Teal'c of Chulak rushes to assist Hagman with Jack. Seconds later, as the three head for the Stargate, a group of natives come rushing down the hills, attempting to attack the fleeing SG-1. Back at Stargate Command, Sergeant Norman Walter Davis Harriman greets Major General George S. Hammond with Hammond telling Harriman to tell Carter that he has a message for her when she gets back. Suddenly, Harriman realizes that there's an incoming wormhole and as he examines it, he tells Hammond that there's an IDC and it's a Code Red which Harriman stating that SG-1 are under fire. This prompts Hammond to call for both the defense and medical teams. As the defense teams arrive in, SG-1 arrive in through the Stargate, followed by a spear but Hagman is struck by a dart and knocked unconscious while Teal'c brings Jack to the infirmary with Jack muttering "Next" as they pass. Hagman is tended to with one of the medics confirming to Hammond that he's got a steady pulse and that Hagman is just unconscious. As she heads down the ramp, Carter tells Hammond that it looks like the planet can be classified as unfriendly and primitive with Hammond remarking that it looks that Hagman will need to be reassigned with Carter agreeing. As she leaves to prepare for a briefing in an hour, Hammond tells her that this morning he got a call from Area 51 and that it is done. A while later, Carter visits Jonas Quinn who's now occupying Daniel's office with classical music playing in the background. Jonas is taken with the weather channels, comparing it to predicting the future. Carter then asks if he'd like to leave the Base with Jonas happily agreeing and wondering where they're going. Carter informs him that they're heading to Area 51. Jonas just asks Carter what he should wear before Carter leaves, stating that they call each other every morning. A few hours later, Jack, Sam, Teal'c and Jonas arrive at a hangar and head into it where they discover the newly X-302 hyperspace fighter. As Carter meets Dr. Larry Murphy, Jack, Jonas and Teal'c examine the aircraft for themselves. Unsurprisingly, Jack has misgivings about the test flight given what happened the last time he and Teal'c took part in a test. Carter then tells Teal'c and Jonas that the X-302 if successful could be the first ever spacecraft capable of interstellar travel given how it has a hyperdrive generator. Back at Stargate Command, Jack sees Hammond and Colonel Chekov talking in Hammond's office with Jack trying to dodge, only for Hammond to call Jack in. Jack meets Chekov with Hammond revealing that the Russians want one of their officers to join SG-1 Jack denies the proposal, stating that it will happen over his rotting corpse while saying "Bite me" when asked to reconsider the offer. As soon as Chekov has gone, Hammond tells Jack that SG-1 not choosing a fourth team member in the aftermath of Daniel's ascension is in turn is causing Hammond's own patience to run. With Jack on stand-down until his injury, Hammond has Jack go through numerous files in the hope of choosing a possible candidate suitable enough to join SG-1 with Jack reluctantly accepting. Jonas arrives into Carter's lab and they talk about the X-302 with Jonas stating that he wants to be a member of SG-1. Carter then honestly tells Jonas that she can't see it happening. In the gym, Jonas and Teal'c are having a boxing match with the two discussing Jack's mistrust in Jonas and both agree that Teal'c should talk with Jack. In the cafeteria, as Jack goes through files, remarking that the universities are getting a little lax in their admissions, Teal'c talks about Jack adding Jonas to the team but Jack claims that Jonas is an alien which Teal'c doesn't like. Jack admits that he doesn't exactly trust Jonas to watch him in battle. Suddenly, they're interrupted by the announcement that there's an unauthorized incoming wormhole which has some soldiers leaving the cafeteria. As Jack and Teal'c head off, later joined by Carter, they see Hammond talking to Bra'tac of Chulak, Teal'c's mentor and father figure. Teal'c happily greets Bra'tac but Bra'tac has bad news: Teal'c's wife Drey'auc of the Cord'ai Plains is gravely ill. Teal'c looks to Hammond with Hammond telling him, "No need to ask. Go". Teal'c then heads off with Bra'tac as Jack and Carter look on. A while later, in one of the SGC's elevators, Carter talks to Jonas about Teal'c. She reveals that in addition to Drey'auc, Teal'c has a son named Rya'c and that in the aftermath of Teal'c defecting to join the Tau'ri, the SGC and later SG-1, both Drey'auc and Rya'c were banished from Chulak and that at one point, the Goa'uld System Lord, Apophis, Teal'c's former Master attempted to use Ry'ac against them which later prompted Bra'tac to start looking out for both of them. She also tells Jonas that Teal'c tries to see his family as often as he can but given he's always out on missions with SG-1, it's not easy. Jonas implies about Teal'c bringing Drey'auc and Rya'c to the SGC but Carter states that Drey'auc wanted to stay with her own people. As they leave the elevator, Carter and Jonas talk some more but they're later interrupted by a furious Colonel Chevok who has learned about the X-302. In Hammond's office, Chevok is stating his complaints to Hammond with both Jack and Sam in attendance when suddenly, the alarm goes off, causing Sam to wonder what's going on now while Hammond states that he'll take anything over this. In the Stargate Operations room, Carter examines things but there's no IDC, no radio signal, nothing. Sergeant Norman Walter Davis Harriman reports that there's nothing from space watch either. Hammond tells Carter to figure it out and that he'll go call the President while Jack tells Carter he's got nothing. On a planet, Teal'c and Bra'tac are discussing things with Teal'c suggesting all the Jaffa who support their cause can go the outpost built by the Tau'ri but Bra'tac states that Drey'auc is no state to be moved right now and reveals that he brought Teal'c here against Drey'auc's own wishes with Teal'c believing that Drey'auc has always been proud. The two Jaffa discuss the possibility of a symbiote for Drey'auc but Bra'tac states that Drey'auc herself did not want one, especially from one who worshiped the false Gods. When Teal'c protests, Bra'tac states that things have changed and that the descent they've brought has triggered many changes which also means that the Goa'uld no longer trust the Jaffa priests with their young as they once did. They're interrupted by Rya'c of Chulak, Teal'c's teenage son emerging from the tent but when Teal'c calls him, Rya'c is hostile, stating that Teal'c has dared to show his face before revealing that Drey'auc is dead. As Rya'c heads off, Teal'c is left completely stunned by the news. At Stargate Command, in the Briefing Room, Hammond, Carter and Jack are examining the still active Stargate. Hammond wonders if it's a malfunction but Carter doubts it, suggesting that they wait until the Stargate shuts down because to her knowledge, no-one's been able to sustain an open wormhole for longer than thirty-eight minutes. When it becomes apparent that the Stargate is still active, Carter admits that they've got a problem. On the planet, Teal'c then enters the tent and sees Drey'auc's dead body which has him breaking down and crying. In a forest, Teal'c later confronts Rya'c who tells Teal'c that he is ashamed of Teal'c for all Teal'c has done nothing but bring pain, shame and above all, false hope to countless Jaffa. Wielding his staff weapon, Rya'c then starts to give Teal'c a vicious beating while demanding that Teal'c fight him. Teal'c simply stands there, silently taking the beatings. At Stargate Command, as Harriman heads off, Carter arrives in and talks to Lieutenant Graham Simmons with Simmons telling Carter that there's a rise in power which has been happening for the last twelve minutes. Tests are run and Carter discovers that there's a slight surge with Carter telling Simmons that this has a distinct pattern. Back in the forest, Teal'c is taking the beating. Bra'tac later intervenes, telling Rya'c that he should be grateful that Teal'c does not fight for if Teal'c did, he would snap Rya'c in half. Bra'tac tells Rya'c that while he has become a skilled warrior, a true Jaffa warrior does not let grief cloud their judgment. Rya'c is still furious with Teal'c although Bra'tac states that all Jaffa are victims of the Goa'uld. Bra'tac later gives the staff weapon back to Rya'c who storms off as Teal'c looks on. Back at the SGC, Carter reveals to Hammond and Jack that the energy is continually rising and that the gate will eventually explode, which will even cause the destruction of Earth. Even worse, Carter and the scientists at the SGC have no idea how to stop this from happening. It's nighttime and as everyone gathers, Teal'c lights Drey'auc's funeral pyre and watches as her remains are cremated. Teal'c talks to Bra'tac who reveals that Rya'c has been harboring strong doubts ever since Apophis brainwashed him. On Bra'tac's encouragement, Teal'c talks to Rya'c with Teal'c revealing how he too was captured by Apophis and brainwashed with Teal'c even turning against his friends. Teal'c tells Ry'ac that he doesn't need to win back Teal'c's trust because Ry'ac never lost it in the first place. With that, father and son embrace. At Stargate Command, numerous civilians and military personnel are attempting to come up with an idea. One officer suggests cutting the power to the Stargate but Simmons dismisses it, stating that Carter still wants to be able to monitor the Gate through feedback activity. As they head off, Sylvester Siler tells another man that they can't use the Russian Gate because they can't dial out of another Gate where there's already an established incoming wormhole to Earth. As this goes on, Jonas looks up at the Control Room. In the Control Room, a female scientist tells Carter that the energy build-up has reached eighteen per cent. Carter states that there has to be a way to drain the capacitors. Suddenly, she's interrupted by a male voice telling her that she's still sexy as ever. As she turns around, it's revealed that the voice is none other than her estranged rival, Dr. Rodney McKay. Carter is not happy about McKay's return, wondering what he's doing here. McKay tells her that there's no point in building Naquadah reactors for Russia if there isn't going to be a Russia and that the Pentagon thought Carter could need some help. "Not from you", Carter snaps. McKay just smiles, telling her that he'll go get a coffee and a doughnut and wait for the big bang. As he heads off, Carter is furious, muttering that that's just what she needs before she's interrupted by Harriman. Carter takes the headset and talks to the caller. While Chekov is angry that there is nothing they can do, Carter arrives in and tells them that the X-302 will soon be ready to go so that they can contact the Asgard. In the meantime, a Jaffa named Shaq'rel comes with a Tel'tak and warns Teal'c and Bra'tac that Anubis is going to attack Earth's Stargate. They start to dial the worlds which belong to Anubis and finally find out which world the weapon is on. O'Neill and Carter then prepare to start with X-302 but Jonas and McKay tell Hammond that the hyperspace engine won't work because of the instability of the Naquadria. They nevertheless start and all looks good but when they want to enter hyperspace, they miss the window and the mission is canceled. Back at the SGC, Carter discusses what went wrong with the ship but they can only assume what caused the problem. O'Neill later talks with Carter but she doesn't know what to do. Suddenly the lights start to flash and when Jack and Sam both enter the gate room, it's all quiet. Suddenly, a hologram of Anubis appears, causing the guards to aim their weapons at it. Carter then realizes that the holographic image probably came from when Anubis downloaded Thor's mind in the computer of his ship. The Goa'uld tells them in a very dramatic way that they will all be destroyed soon. It then cuts to Jack who simply mutters, "Oh, please", obviously annoyed at Anubis' actions. + +A few hours later, Dr. Rodney McKay and Major Samantha Carter head up to the Embarkation Room while discussing about the situation including the Goa'uld and Anubis with McKay regarding Anubis's performance as being "theatrical" although Carter assures that pretty much all the Goa'uld are like that. Both are listening to two scientists when McKay interrupts, having gotten the idea of using an Electromagnetic pulse. Major General George S. Hammond allows him to proceed, despite Carter's protest. She also presents the problems with that plan, but Hammond orders her to work with McKay. The plan is finally carried out, but it doesn't work with electricity shooting from the machine and causing everyone in the Control Room to jump back in shock. When Carter closes the Iris, she is hit and falls to the ground, unconscious which leaves McKay shocked and wondering if Carter will wake up. On the Jaffa world, they find out where Anubis has positioned the weapon and together with Rya'c they use a Tel'tak to go there. The planet is guarded by Ha'taks, who detect the cloaked cargo ship and forcing Teal'c, Bra'tac and Rya'c to ring down to the planet, where they attack the Jaffa. During the battle Rya'c is wounded. They then hide because there are many guards and patrolling Death Gliders. The three Jaffa then find the weapon (which is of Ancient origin), and while Rya'c has to stay hidden, the two adults go to the weapon. They believe that since it is not Goaulld technology, if they damage it, it might take Anubis a long time to repair it. However, the weapon is protected by a force field. At the SGC, Carter's wounds are treated in the infirmary and she is visited by McKay who apologizes to her and tells her about his past. He tells Carter that he is a technical genius, but she is an artist, and he is counting on one of her crazy ideas saving them all. It is also revealed that the time until the explosion has been cut in half, meaning that they've got about 25 hours before the Stargate detonates. Back at the SGC, Carter who's recovered and Hammond meet with the two scientists who detail a possible plan that if successful would also mean that the Earth would no longer be capable of sustaining any kind of human life. Carter then heads over to McKay who tells her that the two scientists are morons before wondering what the little alien guy, Jonas Quinn is doing down in the Embarkation Room, watching the Stargate. Curious, Carter leaves and joins Jonas who tells her that he's curious as to how the Stargate came in. Carter explains that it came down through a retracted hole in the ceiling and Jonas asks if it could also go back up. This gives her an idea and has Jonas remarking that he knew Carter would think of something. In the main room, Carter tells the scientists that they should use the X-302 hyperspace fighter to bring the Stargate through hyperspace despite many scientists being in disbelief and McKay calling the idea "crazy" but Carter insists that they have a chance but it won't happen if they're all standing around. Hammond then comes forward, telling them to move and all of them start working. Hammond later talks with Colonel Chekov, who suggests the Russans might be willing to rent the use of their stargate to SGC after the SGC stargate is destroyed. However, Hammond explains that Anubis could just do the same thing to the second stargate, destroying Earth that way, so the Russian stargate needs to remain buried for now. On Anubis' planet, Teal'c and Bra'tac are caught by Jaffa and questioned but they keep silent. They then ask for Rya'c, which makes Teal'c angry. Rya'c later overhears what will happen with Teal'c and Bra'tac. He then goes to a place with ships and steals a Death Glider. Afterwards, he attacks the Jaffa guarding Teal'c and Bra'tac, who then free themselves. On Earth, Carter tells Colonel Jack O'Neill what he has to do and that there are problems because the fighter wasn't built for something like this. They also talk about Jonas. At the base Dr. Larry Murphy tells O'Neill more about the plan and he then sees the X-302 mounted on a plane with the active Stargate strapped underneath, causing Jack to remark "Holy crap", obviously stunned. In the SGC's Briefing Room which has been converted into a small area for the visiting scientists and McKay, Carter informs Hammond that they're airborne. Once they've reached the proper height and getting confirmation, the X-302 separates from the plane it's attached to and rises up, heading straight up into the atmosphere. After two engine malfunctions which include Jack firing the rocket boosters far too early, the fighter starts to sink, forcing Jack to call for help. While O'Neill can't do anything, McKay suggests sinking the gate in the ocean in order to lessen the potential devastation of the explosion but Carter rejects the plan, stating that it won't be enough to reduce the damage. McKay snaps back that it should be enough that it's worth a shot. O'Neill suggests using the hyperspace engine (as it doesn't matter where the unstable hyperdrive takes the gate, as long as it's far away), but they don't know what will happen if it is used inside the atmosphere, causing an enraged McKay to confront Carter and berate her while regarding her as a certifiable lunatic. However their argument subsides when Jonas intervenes, stating that they might be able to reduce the risk a little. As McKay and Carter wonder how, Jonas then explains that the instability of the Naquadria. "Is relative to the size of the burst you're trying to extract", Carter finishes. With that, she and McKay begin developing a plan while Hammond picks up the red phone, stating who he is before stating that he needs to speak to the President immediately. They nevertheless plan to do it and only open a hyperspace window for about one second, long enough to transport the X-302 far enough away from the Earth that the Stargate's explosion is harmless. They carry out the plan successfully and O'Neill also ejects in time, much to the joy of the others. McKay leaves and says goodbye to Carter who responds by kissing McKay and telling him that she doesn't hate him anymore which has McKay temporarily confused before he leaves the Base. On Anubis' planet, Rya'c uses his ship and attacks the weapon, and despite being hit by another glider, he destroys the weapon. Jack arrives in Hammond's office where Hammond congratulates Jack for completing the mission before they're interrupted by a phone call that tells the two to report to the Control Room. As Jack, Hammond and Carter assemble there, they are all contacted by Teal'c, who informs them that the weapon has just been destroyed by Rya'c and they are returning to Earth in a cargo ship. A while later, the gate from the Russians is installed at SGC in exchange for dollars and the plans for the hyperdrive ship. They also want a Russian member as part of SG-1 with Hammond eventually deciding that the Russians can have their own SGC squad which should make them happy. When Hammond prompts further, Jack states that he's already chosen his new team member. A while later, SG-1 leave on a new mission and after saying their goodbyes to Hammond, all four members of SG-1 head through the Stargate, Jonas having finally been given the position left vacant by Daniel's departure. + +A Tel'tak with SG-1, Jacob Carter, Major Paul Davis and Dr. Friesen on board flies to a Ha'tak which was detected near Earth. Jonas Quinn is very joyful since he has never been in space before with Teal'c agreeing. When they arrive at the ship (which Major Samantha Carter identifies as the one Anubis used to hold Thor captive) they detect that it is unmanned and all except Teal'c and Jonas ring on board. While they go to the pel'tak they hear an unknown crackling sound. In the meantime Teal'c contacts Major General George S. Hammond. On the pel'tak they find out that the self-destruct was suspended, so Carter and Davis go to the computer core to completely stop it; however, the area is sealed off. Meanwhile, Colonel Jack O'Neill and Friesen look around when O'Neill is called to blow up the door to the computer core. Friesen then looks for the shield generator but he is suddenly confronted by three ninja Jaffa. On the Tel'tak Jonas talks with Teal'c about the rumor that he was only chosen so that a Russian wouldn't have to become a member of SG-1. However Teal'c tells him not to listen to things like this. Back on the Ha'tak, Carter suggests that Thor may be responsible for the situation of the ship. When they contact Friesen and he doesn't answer, O'Neill looks for him and finds him dead and warns the others. Jacob is then shot by the ninja Jaffa, who program the ship to fall to Earth. The others then arrive on the pel'tak and O'Neill calls Teal'c. Moments later, the three ninjaffa beam on board and are quickly neutralized by Teal'c. However, they destroy the transportation rings, stranding SG-1 on the Ha'tak. Back at Stargate Command, Teal'c and Jonas arrive and are informed by Hammond about the situation. The two aliens then join the rescue mission. On the way to the airport Jonas is angry about himself because he couldn't do anything but Teal'c remarks that it was not anyone's fault because no one could have possibly known about the ambush. On the submerged Ha'tak, Jacob talks with O'Neill about what has happened when Carter and Davis tell them that there is structural damage. Carter and O'Neill attempt to go to the computer core, but there is water coming in and suddenly the two are locked when the door behind them closes. Jacob can't open it and the water rises until he believes that they have drowned. Suddenly the door opens and they escape. Meanwhile, Jonas and Teal'c have arrived in the rescue submarine. They all meet on the pel'tak and it turns out that the crackling is Thor's voice, leading them to believe that Thor's downloaded mind is still intact in the ship's computer. SG-1 (without Jonas) is able to load his mind into a data storage device. On the way back, the door closes because the corridor is flooded, and as all the other corridors are already flooded, they seem to be stranded. Then, Carter and Teal'c come up with the idea to try to escape through the Death Glider hangar. While Jacob and Davis escape with the submarine, Jonas tries to activate the force field of the hangar. He is successful and then uses a ring transporter to beam to the rest of the team. They get into the gliders and fly out, shortly before the ship explodes. Then, they use the gliders to fly home and in the end, O'Neill tells Jacob that all members of SG-1 are "present and accounted for." + +In Antarctica, Dr. Francine Michaels talks with Major Samantha Carter—who is at Stargate Command—about their work at Antarctica. They talk about the Dial Home Device that was located in Antarctica and that the Stargate there is perhaps the oldest in existence ("50 million years," when the Antarctic plate "was not even at the South Pole"). Suddenly two other scientists, Dr. Norm Woods and Dr. Harold Osbourne, come in and tell Michaels that they have a surprise for her regarding something in the ice. Some time later, SG-1 and Dr. Janet Fraiser visit the Antarctica base (White Rock Research Station) and are greeted by the scientists there. They are led through the base until they are confronted by a frozen female body. Michaels named the person Ayiana, regarding her as female due to the contour of the body. Michaels then reveals that the woman is millions of years old and this could be evidence that humanity evolved much earlier than 800,000-900,000 years ago. Michaels shows Fraiser some cells of the specimen's body, which seem to be intact (suggesting that Ayiana may be very much alive), and so they start to melt the ice. It turns out that Ayiana is indeed still alive (which should be impossible for someone who has been frozen for millions of years) and so they start to unfreeze her at a quicker pace. After the ice is gone, they start to reanimate her, and she recovers extremely quickly, even to the point of waking up. They talk about Ayiana while Woods and Osbourne decide to do some more research on the ice where they found Ayiana. Core samples of the ice can confirm Dr. Frasier's theory about early human evolution. Meanwhile, Jonas Quinn decides to talk to Ayiana. It turns out that she can talk, although she has to try very hard, and he discovers that a wound on her arm has healed quickly. It seems possible that her brain is damaged. Jonas brings Ayiana something to eat and tries to get some information from her, showing her a picture of a Stargate. Ayiana can do nothing more than say "amazing" while eating. Meanwhile, Fraiser tells Carter that Ayiana's EEG shows similarities between her brain and that of Cassandra Fraiser, as well as that of Colonel Jack O'Neill when his mind was overtaken by the knowledge of the Ancients. Thus, Ayiana might be an example of an advanced stage in human evolution; perhaps she is even an Ancient. Suddenly, Jonas calls both of them into the quarantine lab because Dr. Michaels has collapsed; it turns out that she is sick. They believe that there was a virus frozen with Ayiana and Fraiser decides that they should all be placed under quarantine. While a storm is raging outside, Osbourne appears, who is also sick, while Woods is still missing; thus O'Neill and Teal'c decide to search for him. Meanwhile, Jonas talks again with Ayiana, who can understand him but not help him. Later, Fraiser talks with Sam about the virus; Jonas comes in and tells Frasier that Ayiana can't remember how she managed to heal herself. Meanwhile, O'Neill and Teal'c have found Woods who is nearly dying; Ayiana starts to heal him with her bare hands and he quickly recovers, but Ayiana collapses. Jonas asks Ayiana to heal Dr. Michaels and Dr. Osbourne, which she agrees to although she shows concern. The healing greatly weakens her, which is revealed by Fraiser through a blood sample (declining white blood cell count). Dr. Fraiser talks with the rest of SG-1 and then orders them to rest. Later, Dr. Woods tells Ayiana that the others are still sick. He is supposed to make sure that Ayiana does not heal the others, but Ayiana quickly renders Woods unconscious with the touch of a hand. She then proceeds to heal Frasier, Carter, and Jonas. Before being able to heal O'Neill, Ayiana falls unconscious. Some time later, a disease control team comes and brings them all back to the SGC where it turns out that Ayiana will die and O'Neill too. While Jonas talks with Ayiana her heartbeat stops and she finally dies, saying "sorry." A Tok'ra named Thoran visits the base and suggests that O'Neill could be saved by temporarily blending with a symbiote whose host is dying. Carter asks O'Neill what he thinks about it, and although he refuses at first, he agrees to it when he learns that it will enable the Tok'ra and SGC to retrieve vital information that only the symbiote has. A while later, Carter, Teal'c, Jonas, Thoran and two medics bring the capsule containing Jack through the Stargate as General Hammond looks on. + +On a rainy night, a man named Dr. Richard Flemming calls Major Samantha Carter while driving a car. He tells her that he knows about Adrian Conrad and what happened to her but suddenly there are crashing noises and the connection is terminated. At Stargate Command Carter informs the others about what she discovered. It is apparent that while Flemming's car was badly damaged, the man himself is missing; thus, Major General George S. Hammond believes that SG-1 should investigate. However, Colonel Jack O'Neill cannot join the mission since the Tok'ra still need a new host for his symbiote, who cured him from the Ancient contagion (see "Frozen"). Carter, Teal'c and Jonas Quinn are ordered by Hammond to drive to the city where Flemming worked, and there Carter questions Sheriff Knox. He tells her that Flemming's laboratory was burned, possibly on purpose. Afterward, the trio decide to check Flemming's house but they find absolutely nothing. Suddenly, someone brings a package (and it turns out that it comes from Flemming himself (i.e., sent from Flemming to Flemming)) which contains a syringe. They decide to investigate further about Immunitech Research, where Flemming worked. At night, many people gather in a large boathouse elsewhere in town and decide to do something if the "uninvited" three from SGC find anything of significance. The next morning, Carter tells Jonas and Teal'c that she didn't discover anything, but Jonas says that the people in the restaurant where they eat have been act strangely for some time. Suddenly, a policeman comes in and brings Carter to the sheriff, who tells her that someone intentionally created a fire at Immunitech, as evidenced by leftover containers of gasoline. He also tells her that two months ago another worker at Immunitech named Peter Stofer vanished and was never found. He then shows her documents which reveal that Stofer worked with Flemming. In their motel Carter tells her friends that Stofer and Flemming ordered materials on stem-cell research which could be used for cloning. In the evening Jonas and Teal'c enter a bar but they nearly get in a fight with three men until the sheriff intervenes. After Jonas and Teal'c leave, the sheriff tells the shady men in the bar that they should not "disturb the operation" or else he'd kill them himself. The next morning Jonas sees one of the three men again in a restaurant and apologizes for their previous confrontation; however, the man does not remember Jonas. When the three leave the restaurant, they see a man spying on them. They deliberately run down the street so as to capture the man for questioning. The man tells them that he was a security guard at Immunitech and believes that Flemming was murdered. Carter, Teal'c, and Jonas then think about what could go on in the city and Jonas suddenly remembers something he saw by the shipyards. They travel to the shipyards and find a lot of hardware and, in another room, an Incomplete Goa'uld spacecraft. At night, while Carter tries to decode some discs that were taken from the shipyards, Teal'c and Jonas investigate the yards. Suddenly, while several people from the town appear at the shipyards, Carter finds out that the information on the hard disks is written in the Goa'uld language. It appears that the whole town is infested with Goa'uld. She informs her friends just as they are suddenly captured by several men; concurrently, several other Goa'uld-infested people arrive at her motel. In a van, a man named Agent Cross tells Teal'c and Jonas that he is a member of the NID and has watched these people since they were infected with cloned Goa'uld (copies of the Goa'uld that infested Adrian Conrad). The Goa'uld do not wish to remain on Earth and are building the spaceship so that they can escape. The NID's agenda, which is unknown to the Goa'uld, is to steal the spaceship and establish a "planetary defense system." Meanwhile, Carter is stunned by the sheriff and infected with a Goa'uld. When Teal'c, Jonas, and Cross arrive at the motel, they find Carter missing and tell Agent Cross to do something; Cross gives in and calls for troops. Immediately after this, one of the NID agents, who is actually a Goa'uld, stuns everyone with a Zat'nik'tel. They are brought to the house where Sam is and Cross is infected with a Goa'uld. They then want him to infiltrate the rest of the NID. When he leaves, the Goa'uld in Carter says that they should kill Teal'c and Jonas. Meanwhile a containment team arrives and reports to Agent Cross, who wants to go to the headquarters. Suddenly Carter appears, and after talking with Agent Cross, she stuns them with the Zat, citing their stupidity. Back at SGC Carter reveals that the substance in the syringe prevented the Goa'uld from taking her over. The Goa'uld were physiologically immature and could thus control the host only at night. It was apparent that the drug in the syringe (an antibiotic) could kill the Goa'uld within minutes. Before being captured, Carter injected herself with the drug, thus causing her symbiote to be killed within minutes of implantation. Hammond then tells SG-1 that all other citizens from Stevenson are being freed from the Goa'uld with the drug (under the guise of a meningitis vaccine) and that the incomplete spaceship is being brought to Area 51 for further studies. + +On an unknown planet, a man and a woman run away from a number of Jaffa. The man, a Tok'ra, tells the woman to hide, while he tries to reach the Stargate. However, before he can activate it, he is shot down with a Staff weapon and the symbiote leaves his body. The host, Colonel Jack O'Neill, is captured and later wakes up in a Sarcophagus. He is watched by a strange man in the shadows. At Stargate Command the Tok'ra Thoran visits and tells Major General George S. Hammond and SG-1 that the Tok'ra Kanan (who had blended with a comatose O'Neill in a previous episode to save him from an Ancient contagion) left them on his own. The SG-1 thinks that he might have done this without O'Neill's approval, which angers Thoran. He later discusses Kanan's behavior with SG-1 but refuses to give them mission reports from Kanan. Because of this he isn't allowed to leave the base. Hammond and SG-1 explain that they only want the mission reports so that they can attempt to find O'Neill, so he finally agrees to give them to SG-1. The team then tries to find out why Kanan left, but cannot find any clues. Meanwhile in Ba'al's base, O'Neill is brought into a room and pinned to a wall with some kind of gravity device. He is then questioned by Ba'al who tortures him with knives, "dropping" them into the gravity field, and thus into O'Neill, who soon dies. He is then revived via the Sarcophagus and brought into a cell. After seeing a woman at the top/end of his cell (a similar gravity device to the one used by Ba'al to torture O'Neill redirects the gravity in his "cell" 90°, turning it into an oubliette when activated) he is visited by the ascended Dr. Daniel Jackson. Although O'Neill first thinks that he is a delusion, Daniel manages to convince O'Neill that he is real. They start to talk about what has happened to O'Neill and why he is imprisoned. Eventually, Jackson offers to help him ascend but O'Neill wants more information, which Daniel cannot give him. Instead, O'Neill wants Jackson to help him escape but he is unable to do this due to the Others' policy of non-interference. They are interrupted when two guards appear to take Jack back to Ba'al. O'Neill is again questioned by the System Lord, this time being tortured by acid. After some time, O'Neill finally gives him the name of his symbiote. Ba'al heals O'Neill once more and sends him back to his cell. O'Neill is later brought back into his cell where he again sees the woman from before. Daniel appears shortly thereafter and they continue their discussion. While Daniel tries to explain to him what a person he is, O'Neill gets angry with Daniel's refusal to interfere. Jack is taken away once again for another torture session. Back at the SGC, Major Samantha Carter points out that during Kanan's mission to get information about Ba'al's base, the Tok'ra used the System Lord's lo'taur, Shallan (his personal slave) to get the information. She concludes that perhaps he had an affair with the female lo'taur and that he wanted to rescue her, using O'Neill's body to do so while he still had the chance. They tell Hammond about what they discovered, but he won't allow a rescue mission since Ba'al's base is a veritable fortress. Back in Ba'al's base, O'Neill sees the woman again while being tortured by Ba'al. O'Neill can't answer Ba'al's questions but the System Lord nevertheless tries to get the information. O'Neill is later brought back to the cell where he nearly breaks down, this time Daniel does not appear to comfort him. He is soon questioned again but his mind is too weak to give clear answers and he only mumbles Daniel's name. At SGC, Teal'c, after his kelno'reem during which the ascended Daniel has lead him to understand that they would be able to rescue O'Neill if they only had a Ha'tak, so they make a temporary alliance with the System Lord Yu and give him the plans of the base so that he can destroy its power generator. Back in O'Neill's cell, Daniel once again visits O'Neill, explaining his absence as having had something to do elsewhere is visiting Teal'c in his meditation, but the Colonel is too weak to fight on. However Daniel, confident in Teal'c and the rest of the SGC's abilities, tells him that it will soon be over but their conversation is interrupted by explosions. It turns out that Yu is attacking, giving O'Neill the chance to flee. He finds Ba'al's lo'taur (the woman he had seen many times previously) and they both escape. He later wakes up in the infirmary of SGC, where he thanks his friends. After they leave, Daniel appears and they have a short discussion. Daniel leaves just before Carter returns. + +The Stargate is activated and Stargate Command is contacted by a member of the Kelownan government. Later, during a meeting, it is revealed that they want to re-establish trade relations with Earth; the SGC is interested so that they can obtain more naquadria. After the meeting, Teal'c talks with Jonas Quinn, who feels uneasy about meeting his people again. Later, three Kelownans come to the base: Commander Hale, Ambassador Dreylock, and Dr. Kieran--Jonas's former academic mentor. At the meeting, the Kelownans reveal that the two other hostile nations on their world--the Tiranian Confederacy and the Andari Federation--are about to sign a non-aggression pact. This means that if war is to break out, Kelowna would be completely destroyed in under a month; therefore, the Kelownan government wants military technology from Earth in exchange for a significant quantity of naquadria. The SGC is reluctant about giving the Kelownans technology because of a previous incident with the Eurondans. The Kelownans then reveal that they would otherwise have to use a Naquadria bomb if not given defense technology. After the meeting, the members of SG-1 talk about the situation and Jonas reveals more about the situation on his world. Later, Dr. Kieran comes back through the Stargate alone to meet with Jonas. During this meeting, the doctor reveals that he is a member of an underground network--a resistance--that wants to overthrow the government in order to stop the potential war. Jonas then discusses this with SG-1, and Major General George S. Hammond orders them to find out more about the situation (another nod to Earth's failed alliance with the Eurondans). SG-1 goes to the planet, where they negotiate trade relations with Valis, the First Minister of Kelowna. While the Kelownans want military technology, SG-1 only offers them medicine. After several fruitless hours, they decide to adjourn for the day. Afterwards, SG-1 talks with Dr. Kieran, who tells them where the headquarters of the Resistance is; O'Neill wants to know more about the resistance and asks Dr. Kieran to contact them. Kieran later travels to the headquarters to schedule a meeting. Concurrently, Jonas meets the First Minister in private and talks about his situation and whether or not he did the right thing in leaving Kelowna. They also talk about the situation on the planet and the minister reveals that Kieran is acting erratic. He hopes that Jonas will "watch over" his former mentor (which Jonas interprets as spying) in exchange for a full pardon. SG-1 meets with the Kelownan council for a second time, offering to negotiate with the enemies of the Kelownans. However, the council is reluctant about this. They refuse to reveal the existence of the Stargate to their enemies, as they had not even revealed the existence to their own public. When SG-1 suggests that this would be the perfect time to reveal the existence of the Stargate--as it could potentially unite the people on the entire planet--the council retorts that revealing the Stargate is not so simple; if it were, the people of Earth would have revealed the existence of the Stargate on their own planet from the beginning. After the meeting with the council is over, SG-1 meets with Dr. Kieran, who reveals that two scientists, who were members of the resistance, were "transferred" and have not been seen or heard from since. Colonel Jack O'Neill then wants to leave, but Kieran tells them that the resistance will attack soon and offers SG-1 naquadria for their help. Later, the doctor goes through the city when he meets Jonas, who reveals that spies have been following the doctor. They run away and are chased by guards. During the chase, the doctor falls from a height and is rendered unconscious. He is brought to the SGC. During this time it is revealed that he was found on a street and nobody knows how he came there. Dr. Janet Fraiser reveals that Kieran seems to have an advanced onset of schizophrenia and may be suffering from "paranoia, delusions, and full-blown hallucinations." Thus, apparently the Jonas Quinn who was running away with Dr. Kieran - and the guard who fired at them - were constructs of the doctor's own mind. Afterwards, SG-1 (without Jonas) goes back to the planet and successfully locates the headquarters of the "resistance" - which is long since abandoned. Concurrently, (the real) Jonas talks with the council and tells them about the threat of the Goa'uld; the council is incredulous that the Goa'uld would attack now after thousands of years of silence. Jonas retorts that detonating the naquadria bomb could attract the Goa'uld to the planet. Meanwhile, in the empty "resistance" base, SG-1 finds a large cache of naquadria, which they bring back to Earth. O'Neill then comes into the room and reveals to Jonas that there never was a resistance - and that Dr. Kieran is schizophrenic. Jonas then confronts the council about the two other scientists; the council reveals that they exhibited symptoms similar to Kieran's, and were sent into psychiatric care. It is apparent that the scientists' schizophrenia was a result of improper shielding from naquadria radiation. Back on Earth, SG-1 talks about the situation of Kieran and the danger of the naquadria, believing that while the Kelownans' safety procedures were inadequate, theirs should be ample enough to continue researching. Dr. Fraiser tells Jonas that while Kieran's brain damage can be kept from deteriorating further, there is no known treatment that can reverse the existing damage. Jonas then meets Kieran, who is about to be transferred to a mental institution. The ill doctor still believes that there will be a coup. Jonas can only sadly agree. + +A Goa'uld named Khonsu has learned of SG-1's location and orders his First Prime, Her'ak, to capture the team. On another world, three scientists research a set of Transportation rings. One of them, Dr. Jay Felger, is fascinated with watching SG-1. He giddily talks with Colonel Jack O'Neill and Teal'c, when the two are suddenly called by Major Samantha Carter. O'Neill orders the scientists to stay put while he assists Carter. Felger begins to quarrel with one of his colleagues when an Al'kesh suddenly screeches overhead. Felger contacts SG-1, which is under attack by several Jaffa. The three scientists hurriedly run to the scene, only to see the team transported away. Felger valiantly decides to use the ring transporter to ring himself and another comrade, Dr. Simon Coombs, aboard the nearby Ha'tak, while the third Dr. Meyers reports back to Major General George S. Hammond and Stargate Command. On the ship SG-1 is sequestered in a cell, discussing their fate, when suddenly Her'ak enters and speaks of SG-1’s future. In the meantime, Felger and Coombs slip through the ship in search for SG-1. They find them, much to O'Neill’s dismay. He angrily reveals to the bumbling pair that their capture was planned in order to contact a Tok'ra. SG-1 is able to procure the assistance of two free Jaffa to move the scientists to a safe location whilst they carry out their mission. The Ha'tak arrives on Khonsu’s planet where SG-1 is imprisoned in a special cell inside of Khonsu's base. On the ship, the two free Jaffa are shot down as known traitors, much to the shock of the two scientists. Coombs panics but Felger calmly assures his partner that he has a plan. They disguise themselves as Jaffa and ring to the planet under protest from Coombs. Inside the fortress, Her'ak confronts Khonsu and shoots him. He exposes Khonsu to the other Jaffa as the Tok'ra spy and orders that their allegiance now belongs to Anubis. He promptly takes over command and orders SG-1 be brought before him. They are told of Khonsu’s untimely demise. O'Neill is tortured with a Rod of Anguish to make him reveal where the Tok'ra are. However, he knows nothing, so the team is taken away. Back at SGC, Hammond is informed that Khonsu was killed but knows they are powerless to do anything without knowing SG-1's location. The two other scientists, again in search for SG-1, find a control room with access to the entire base. They contact SG-1 and, with the help of Carter, Coombs is able to lower the energy field holding SG-1. In the meantime, Felger brings the team weapons. They formulate a plan to take out the Jaffa outside the base, while Coombs aids from the control room. SG-1 successfully immobilizes the Jaffa on the ground despite overwhelming numbers. However, Felger relays the fact that Coombs is trapped inside the control room, nearly breached by Jaffa. Coombs beams O'Neill and Teal'c inside the base where they decimate the Jaffa and rescue him. The three ring to the planet and leave through the Stargate. Back at the base, Felger and Coombs are honored in a ceremony as heroes by Hammond, O'Neill personally thanks the two, and Carter passionately kisses Felger. However, it's all revealed that the kiss was a daydream in Felger's mind and as he snaps back to reality, he and Coombs resume their work on data calibration with the two men also exchanging insults at each other. + +The Tau'ri Alpha Site prepares to receive several Tok'ra who have come through the Stargate fleeing an assault by Anubis' forces. The Tok'ra have suffered heavy losses; many are badly wounded or dead. One of the Tok'ra, named Malek, comments about the Jaffa on the base and indicates that tension may arise. Later, the dead Tok'ra are given a funeral ceremony in which their bodies are vaporized by the unstable vortex of the Stargate. After the ceremony, a fight breaks out between a Jaffa and a Tok'ra because one of the Jaffa had apparently insulted a Tok'ra. This sets an atmosphere of animosity between the Tok'ra and the Jaffa; the Jaffa see the Tok'ra as no different from the Goa'uld, while the Tok'ra have lost most of their population at the hands of Jaffa soldiers of the Goa'uld. A time later, Major Samantha Carter discovers that someone tried to sabotage a naquadah generator to overload and potentially destroy the entire base. SG-1 informs Major General George S. Hammond on Earth and requests that no-one enter or leave the site as there may be a spy in their midst. The base is locked down, and the Tau'ri begin using the Za'tarc detector to question people, beginning with members of the Tok'ra. Later, a Tok'ra named Ocker is found dead and all suspicions point to the Jaffa Artok, who was previously arguing with Ocker. Artok is immediately examined by the detector and when it detects that he is lying, he is detained, although his prior feelings against the Tok'ra may have influenced the detector. Ocker's autopsy reveals that the Ocker was killed quickly from behind; Bra'tac concludes that it could not have been done by a Jaffa as they confront their enemies face to face. Suddenly, Artok is found dead in his cell, perhaps killed by the same weapon. The deaths of both people serve to heighten the tension between the Jaffa and the Tok'ra. When the dead body is brought away, a trade of insults between a Jaffa and Tok'ra escalates into all of the Jaffa and the Tok'ra holding their weapons against each other. As Colonel Jack O'Neill tries to calm the situation, Bra'tac finds footprints of an unknown person leading away from the camp; this further suggests a spy is in the area. The personnel are all accounted for and they follow the footsteps into the forest in groups of three, with a Tok'ra, Jaffa, and Tau'ri in each. After some time, Teal'c finds a search party dead and informs O'Neill. Bra'tac and Malek are then attacked and Bra'tac futilely tries to fight the invisible assailant. He is supposedly killed and pulled away. Malek flees and informs O'Neill that Bra'tac is dead. However Teal'c is enraged and nearly strangles Malek to death before he is calmed down with Jacob telling Teal'c that Bra'tac would not want Teal'c to act this with Teal'c eventually relenting. Malek informs the others about the invisible force; since the Tau'ri do not have any transphase eradication rods available and cannot go offworld to obtain one, they plan on using the naquadah reactor to create a high-frequency electromagnetic field that can de-cloak the enemy. At the base, all people gather, while Malek and Carter prepare the Naquadah reactor for the field emission. All three parties defend the Stargate and speculate that the enemy is an Ashrak—an elite Goa'uld assassin. Suddenly, the Ashrak attacks, causing the defenders of the gate to blindly fire their weapons. This results in casualties through friendly fire. The Ashrak escapes and Major Ben Pierce discovers that his GDO has been taken, further complicating matters. Finally, the EM field is ready and the enemy is revealed. SG-1 and the gate defenders attack but without success. While they prepare to reactivate the reactor the Ashrak attacks again and then disappears. When the field is ready again, the Ashrak prepares to attack but he is suddenly shot by a staff weapon, which turns out to be Bra'tac, who is still alive. He reveals that he was left for dead in the forest but his symbiote managed to sustain him. Malek then shakes hands with Bra'tac, thanking him for his heroic deeds. Bra'tac takes the Ashrak's blade and states that it did what everyone could not—it brought them together. The episode ends as Bra'tac thrusts the blade into the sand. + +On the planet Pangar, several people stand in front of the Stargate. They talk about the visitors who will soon arrive (the leader expects an excellent and savvy negotiator) that may have more advanced technology than theirs; when the Stargate activates SG-1 comes through. The team is led into the city, where they talk with the representatives of Pangar about diplomatic negotiations. The Pangarans also show them their greatest invention, Tretonin, a drug which gives them perfect health. At the ruins with the Stargate, Jonas Quinn and Teal'c meet Zenna Valk, with whom they talk about the Stargate. In the city Colonel Jack O'Neill and Major Samantha Carter continue their negotiations about the Stargate and the Tretonin; however, when they give the Pangarans ten addresses to peaceful worlds, the Pangarans instead want the addresses to visit worlds which are under Goa'uld control. Back at the ruins, Jonas and Teal'c are led into an underground chamber where they find out more about the Goa'uld, who once ruled the planet. Zenna also wants to tell them something about the Tretonin, but when Jonas later confronts her she doesn't want to talk. Because of this Jonas sneaks into her tent and searches through some material, where he finds a map of the city. At night Jonas and Teal'c sneak into a large facility, where they find a large basin full of Goa'uld symbiotes. They are discovered, and during a fight, Jonas and a guard fall into the basin. While Jonas is rescued by Teal'c, the guard is taken by a Goa'uld. The next day, the leader of the Pangarans informs SG-1 that the symbiotes are used to produce Tretonin. When SG-1 wants to know where the Pangarans got all the symbiotes, despite not knowing how to travel through the gate, they show a Goa'uld queen. They then talk about the infected man, who shows an unusual behavior for a host and so SG-1 decides to call the Tok'ra. Jonas later talks with Zenna, who apologizes to him. In the facility two Tok'ra, Malek and Kelmaa, examine the infected man and later the queen. It turns out that the queen will die soon. However, the symbiote inside the guard has none of the knowledge that the queen is supposed to pass on. Dr. Janet Fraiser later informs SG-1 that the Tretonin destroys the immune system of the user so the user becomes dependent on it. The Pangarans later tell them that they found the queen 60 years ago and because of their research they finally developed the Tretonin. However, they have no method to reverse the effects of the Tretonin. In the underground chamber, Jonas, Teal'c and Zenna do more research, where they find out that Ra once lived on the planet. It also turns out that the queen is in fact Egeria, the mother of all Tok'ra, who was defeated by Ra and imprisoned here. They talk with their teammates about their research and then inform the Tok'ra about it. However, the Tok'ra tell SG-1 that they are not able to easily find an antidote because there is something strange about the symbiotes. When the Pangarans refuse to set Egeria free, Kelmaa shoots the guard outside Egeria's room with a Zat'nik'tels and enters. She sacrifices herself, leaving her host so that Egeria can enter her and be free. O'Neill later talks with Carter about what will happen now, when Egeria awakes. She tells them that she will die soon but she is happy about how her children have turned out. Jonas in the meantime talks with Zenna about his people and how they built a Naquadria bomb. Egeria reveals that she passed on a flawed gene to her children so that they would stop producing Tretonin. She also knows about how to find an antidote, which will be her final act. Because of this the Pangarans apologize to her. Later the dead Egeria is brought away and the Pangarans hope that there will be further negotiations. The episode ends with Carter dialing out. + +While going to her car, Major Samantha Carter is stopped by a journalist named Julia Donovan, who questions her about a secret project dubbed "Prometheus." She catches Sam’s attention after brandishing a sample of the metal, Trinium. Carter simply shrugs it off and drives away. Back at Stargate Command, she informs Major General George S. Hammond about the incident. The general reveals their next course of action. In the meantime, Miss Julia Donovan is contacted by Major Paul Davis, with the intention of stopping the story’s release. However, she couldn’t care less and reasons the story must be big if the military is trying to cover it up. Davis informs Hammond and partners with Carter to go confront Miss Donovan at her network. Although they are able to stop the network from distributing it, she threatens to go to a foreign network. Her producer Al Martell then bargains to get the exclusive rights, and agrees to reveal the source of the information in exchange for allowing Donovan and a camera crew into the facility. The SGC then plans to double-cross her and destroy the video after getting the source. As agreed upon, Donovan, her producer, and a camera crew are brought to a secret location in the desert. They travel in an elevator down several hundred feet and are confronted with the Prometheus, the first starship of the Air Force. Carter explains the background and technology behind the Prometheus. While Donovan and her producer are led through the ship (where they are also shown the engine room and the hyperspace engine), the camera crew stuns two guards with a Zat'nik'tel and starts to commandeer the ship. Unaware of the camera crew’s duplicity, Carter is unable to contact the bridge and goes to check the situation while Jonas Quinn watches the two reporters. Carter is then attacked by two of the camera crew but is able to escape to a storage room on deck 7, which is then sealed by the intruders. In the meantime, Jonas wants to retake control of the ship, doing anything he can to slow them down, but he and the journalists are stopped by the intruders. The producer reveals himself as an agent working with the camera crew and helps them gain a firm foothold in the ship. The rogue camera crew activates the hyperdrive engines, and Jonas determines they're attempting to overload them in order to create an explosion. Outside the hangar, Major Davis informs a furious Colonel Jack O'Neill about the situation, when they are contacted by the hijackers. They demand the release and delivery of Frank Simmons and Adrian Conrad. While events transpire outside the ship, Carter is able to contact the outside by modifying some equipment found in the room she's sealed in to create a radio, and devises a plan to sever control of the sub-light engines. Inside the ship, the hijackers threaten to kill their hostages if Jonas doesn't fix the settings vital to hyper drive functions that he modified in his attempts to slow them down. The producer protests the hijackers' callous nature and is swiftly killed. Jonas, to spare further loss of life, submits to their demands. As promised, Adrian Conrad (still controlled by a Goa'uld) and Simmons appear and are brought aboard Prometheus. Simmons takes the bridge and they start the ship, while Carter, after a quite a while, is able to free herself from the storage room using a plasma cutter to cut through a bulkhead. O'Neill and Teal'c plan to get to the ship themselves in a Death Glider. When the Prometheus has left Earth, Simmons informs the hostages about what will happen now. Carter is finally able to sever the connection to the control relay for the sub-light engines but is then confronted by three of the hijackers, who are quickly immobilized by O'Neill and Teal'c. It's too late as they are unable to stop the ship from entering hyperspace. On the bridge, the Goa'uld attacks the female hijacker, knocking her into a bulkhead. Simmons and the Goa'uld struggle and Simmons manages to shoot Conrad several times, killing the host. The Gou'ald then transfers to Simmons. O'Neill, Carter and Teal'c arrive at the bridge and find Conrad dead and Simmons missing. they revive the female hijacker, who tells them the hostages are in the supply room on Level 4. Carter stays on the bridge while O'Neill and Teal'c go to free the hostages. While they are working on the door, Simmons, now controlled by the Gou'ald, attacks them. O'Neill succeeds in opening an emergency airlock that blows Simmons into the vacuum of space. Afterwards, SG-1 interviews the female hijacker, who divulges their original plan, to search for a cache of advanced Gou'ald weaponry. However, the instability of the hyperdrive has sent them off course and the group appears to be lost somewhere in space with no way to get home when an Asgard ship appears. Thor beams onto the bridge. He explains that the Asgard have been monitoring all hyperspace activity around Earth and tracked them and pleads for their help … to defeat the Replicators who have overrun the Asgard homeworld. + +Thor, who has rescued SG-1, informs them that he needs their help to defeat the Replicators and because the Prometheus isn't very advanced (compared to Asgard standards), they could fly unchallenged into Replicator-controlled territory. In addition, he informs them that the Asgard were able to call all Replicators back to one point, their first colony world, Hala, by using a signal found in the android Reese. They then tried trapping them using a time dilation device, in a sphere encompassing the entire planet, but their plan ultimately failed. If they are allowed to escape, they will conquer the Asgard and most likely be drawn to the Milky Way and Earth's raw materials. Now he wants SG-1 to solve this problem but Colonel Jack O'Neill is by no means interested in this operation. Thor brings them back to Earth, where he beams up supplies from Stargate Command and transports extraneous passengers off the Prometheus, except SG-1, to the planet. Jack later uses a holographic communicator to contact Major General George S. Hammond and briefs him about the situation. Afterward, he talks with Major Samantha Carter about the Asgard plan and then goes to the cargo bay to eat something, where he meets Jonas Quinn and Teal'c. They talk about the Replicator threat then feel themselves losing speed. Thor tells them that they have reached their target but the time-dilation device has long since been changed so that time now passes faster within the field ("by a factor of ten squared," as Thor explains). Thor wishes them luck and departs. SG-1 flies near Hala, is scanned by a Replicator patrol ship, and enters the atmosphere of the planet. They land on a large surface with only one construction, the one spot on the planet that breaks the smooth terrain. As SG-1 steps outside, it turns out that the whole ground consists of Replicator blocks. They enter the nearby building and find the time-dilation device, when suddenly a man appears. Then, four more human-like persons appear and an older man demands that Carter stop her work on the device. The groups reveals that they are in fact replicators. Upon hearing this, SG-1 opens fire on them—--with no success. Suddenly, several bug-like replicators appear and surround the team, so they are forced to disarm. The leader of the five human-form replicators offers O'Neill his hand but when O'Neill takes it, the man seemingly pushes his hand into O'Neill's head and Jack finds himself in the Gate room where the man appears. The replicator tells him that they are in O'Neill's unconscious mind. Eerily, the replicator starts to read O'Neill’s mind, including his iris deactivation code. The two go through an imaginary Stargate. The replicator leader tells O'Neill they will go on a journey "to every place you've ever been." SG-1 wakes up, finding themselves back on the Prometheus. It turns out they have all experienced the same thing, one of the replicators entered their minds. They determine they were out for 37 hours. In order to decimate this new threat, they plan to blow up the hyperspace engines. Jonas suggests they try reasoning with the replicators instead, but O'Neill just wants to blow them up. However, when they go to execute this plan, they meet one of the human-form replicators, who calls himself Fifth. He carried each of the humans back to the ship so they would be more comfortable. Fifth tells them that they are invited for meal with the other human-form replicators. He also says exploding the ship would only feed energy to the replicators. Fifth leaves, and Carter suggests they try to find out as much as they can about the evolved replicators and try to report back to Thor. SG-1 returns to the building and First tells them about their history and construction. First explains that, instead of the larger replicator blocks, they consist of microscopic cell units. They modeled themselves on the form of their creator, Reese. There are currently six of the human form replicators. First also tells them that it was he who deactivated the time-dilation device and reprogrammed it. They converse about Reese and the error that embedded in her systems. He says their purpose is still to increase their number. First, with a condescending attitude about him, reveals that they attempted to correct the error that Reese had in Fifth, yet First says Fifth is weak. First says they intend to explore SG 1's minds over and over until they have learned everything they can. Fifth is ordered to enter one of the human minds and Carter agrees to do it. However, instead Fifth brings Carter into his own unconscious mind so that he can communicate secretly with her. Carter says Fifth is more like humans than replicators. He says the other replicators will destroy him if he tries to help them. She says if he will help her repair the time dilation device, the replicators will be frozen in time and Fifth can come with them. SG-1 awakens again with Fifth telling them that he has reconfigured the device. While Jonas and Teal'c return to the ship, Carter programs the device. However, she is secretly ordered by O'Neill to set the time on three minutes instead of the predetermined five, which they originally told Fifth to be the setting. SG-1 starts toward the ship after telling Fifth to head there himself shortly after three minutes. First suddenly appears and tells Fifth that SG-1 has lied to him but Fifth is adamant in his convictions about SG-1’s honorability. He looks at the timer and is shocked to find that it’s nearly to zero. Just as it activates, SG-1 leaves the planet. However, both Jonas and Carter feel bad that they used Fifth's "humanity against him." O'Neill insists that Fifth was not human and tells the team they did the right thing. Back on Hala, Fifth and the other Human-Form Replicators stand there, trapped in the device. + +SG-1 comes back to Stargate Command with a strange device which was built by the Ancients. While they talk about the device, Jonas Quinn suddenly sees a large, flying, insect-like being, which seems to fly through the wall. However, no one else witnessed the being. Nevertheless, Major General George S. Hammond orders the lockdown of the base. The searches turn up nothing, so Jonas' comrades think he might be having hallucinations. While Colonel Jack O'Neill leaves the base to go fishing, Major Samantha Carter and Jonas examine the device. During their research, Jonas again sees a large insect and is immediately examined by Dr. Janet Fraiser. Nothing unusual is found in the scans, but nevertheless, Hammond removes Jonas from active duty. While talking with Teal'c, Jonas sees another large insect, however, this time Teal'c sees it too. Outside the base, O'Neill, while filling his car at a local gas station, sees an insect himself, pulls a gun, and shoots at it, much to the shock of the owner of the gas station. O'Neill calls Hammond to report the incident, only to learn several people in the base have begun to see the creatures themselves. In the SGC, Jonas and Carter again study the Ancient device and discover that it allows people to see entities from another dimension, or as Carter calls it, an "interdimensional bleed-through" effect. However, they are unable to ascertain how the machine affects people in this way, so they deactivate it by removing the power core, thus hoping to stop its effect. Later, Jonas and Carter talk with Teal'c in the mess hall when a woman suddenly screams (it is assumed she saw one of the insects). Because of this, SG-1 (without O'Neill) brings the device back to its home planet. The insects continue to appear, so SG-1 takes it back to Earth again. They conclude that the device not only attracts the insects, but allows people to see the bugs by imparting a slight electrical charge which can then be passed from person to person. Hammond has Colorado Springs quarantined to limit the device's effect. Several military personnel are stationed in the nearby area, using the cover story of a chemical spill that can cause hallucinogenic side effects. For a third time, Jonas and Carter inspect the device and deduce that they have to rearrange the device's control crystals to produce the desired "antidote." Meanwhile, the owner of the gas station, who O'Neill visited earlier, disbelieves the cover story and runs away. O'Neill pauses before pursuing the man, as a car crashes into a sign due to the driver seeing an inter dimensional bug on his windshield. Back at SGC, Carter and Jonas finally discover the correct crystal arrangement and begin to pass on the “cure” from person to person. However, the owner of the gas station, named Vernon Sharpe, eludes authorities and hitchhikes to the airport. Meanwhile, Carter and Jonas find out more about Vernon through his grandmother to narrow down where Vernon might be. She reveals that Vernon doubts the cover-story because of his prior experience in the Gulf War, where he believed the military experimented on the troops with toxic chemicals. Vernon arrives at the airport and unsuccessfully tries to board a plane before the military cancels all flights and shuts down the airport. O'Neill drives to the airport in pursuit. Vernon, now scared out of his wits, hides himself in a nearby hangar. O'Neill locates Vernon and shares deeply his personal concern for how badly the Gulf War Veterans have been denied help to recover from "seeing bugs" and other anomalies. When O'Neill touched him on the shoulder, it represented the first time a Gulf war Vet was "validated" for their suffering. O'Neill went on to explain about the bugs (the beings are aliens from the planet Melmac). Vernon agrees to keep quiet and O'Neill cures him of the device's effects. + +As Senator Robert Kinsey is leaving a building a sniper prepares a rifle. Before the Senator is able to enter his car, he is shot in the heart by the sniper, much to the shock of the crowd. Suddenly Colonel Jack O'Neill leaves a building. Back at Stargate Command, SG-1 (without O'Neill) watches TV about this incident when O'Neill enters the room. They talk about the incident when Major General George S. Hammond enters. He tells O'Neill that he is under arrest for the murder of Kinsey. The remaining members of SG-1 are informed by Major Paul Davis about the facts: a live video feed of O'Neill, and a gun that was dumped in O'Neill's cabin's lake. The other members of SG-1 do not want to believe that the murderer was O'Neill. General Hammond relieves them of off-world duties and reassigns them to find out what really happened. Jonas Quinn and Teal'c visit O'Neill in prison and question him about where he was. Afterward they talk about the time when aliens infiltrated SGC by using devices which allow them to impersonate another person. They go to Area 51 to look for the devices; all twelve devices have been replaced by non-functioning duplicates. Some time later Major Samantha Carter visits Agent Malcolm Barrett at the NID headquarters and talks with him about the situation. Since his office is bugged, he hands her a note that asks her to meet him later in a nearby park ("STANTON PARK 3PM"). At Stanton Park, Barrett tells Carter that he was ordered by the White House to find out who belongs to the shadow organization inside the NID and that Kinsey was helping him. At the SGC, Jonas and Teal'c find out that one of the scientists named Dr. Brent Langham, who was working with the Mimetic imaging devices, was supposedly killed in a car accident but it appears that he faked his death. They find out that Langham took a new identity. Jonas and Teal'c visit his new home. Langham disguises himself but Jonas and Teal'c realize he is in disguise. Langham tries to flee but is caught. Carter and Barrett visit an underground store for weapons where the killer bought the rifle. They find out that it was bought by someone looking like O'Neill, actually an NID agent. Back at SGC Langham is imprisoned but does not talk until Teal'c forces him to. Major Carter and Agent Barrett visit Agent Mark Devlin, who really shot Senator Kinsey. When they break into his house they only find a bomb and barely escape. At the SGC, Dr. Langham reveals that he was working for an organization named The Committee and that they do this for profit. He doesn't want to tell them more "because the Air Force doesn't have a Witness Protection program." Hammond says if the Committee is so powerful, there's no place on Earth where Langham will be safe--but Stargate Command can offer him other options. He agrees to give them the names. Carter is informed about this by phone. She tells Barrett about the mimic devices and he reveals that Kinsey isn't dead; he is in a coma in a hospital and will shortly be visited by Major Davis. Carter tells him that Davis is one of the people who can be imitated by a mimic device. In the meantime, Devlin, the rogue NID agent, imitates Davis and goes to the hospital to kill Kinsey. Devlin then visits the Committee and tells them Kinsey is really dead this time although there were a few complications when he had to fight some of Kinsey's guards. The committee says that that's fine, Davis can take the blame. They aren't worried about Langham because he has no one to corroborate his testimony. They order Devlin to take out General Hammond next. Devlin says SGC will be prepared for the mimic devices. The committee tells him to try to negotiate with Hammond, and if that fails, to kill him. A flashback at the hospital showing Devlin being captured, and the "Devlin" in the committee room turns out to be Major Carter in disguise, much to the surprise of the Committee. Barrett then enters the room with troops and arrests the Committee. Later, O'Neill is released and visits the recovered Kinsey, with whom he must shake hands in front of the press in order to achieve full public vindication. O'Neill is of course none too thrilled with this prospect, as it may have ensured Kinsey's victory in the upcoming presidential election. + +Colonel Jack O'Neill is visited by Harold Maybourne, a man notorious for his illegal NID operations. Maybourne tells O'Neill that he knows about the goal of Frank Simmons: when Simmons tried to steal the Prometheus, it was to find a planet with a cache of weapons. Maybourne tells O'Neill that he knows the Stargate address of that planet. SG-1 visits the planet P5X-777 without Maybourne. There they find out that the writings on the planet aren't of Ancient origin but instead belong to the Furlings, another one of the Alliance of Four Great Races. However they don't know how to unlock the seal to get to those weapons, so they have to trust Maybourne, who later goes with them to the planet. Unbeknownst to SG-1, Maybourne has his own agenda in mind as he escapes from SG-1 and flees through the alien door, which turns out to be a transportation device; however, he is immediately pursued by O'Neill. Major Samantha Carter and a team of scientists try to activate that device again, but fail. Searches come up empty; O'Neill and Maybourne are nowhere to be found. The two adversaries are in the meantime spirited away to the planet's moon (though no one is yet aware of this) where Maybourne explains to O'Neill the significance of the moon, described in legend as an "alien utopia" where Maybourne had hoped to hide away from his checkered past on Earth. As Carter begins a frantic project to reopen the alien portal, O'Neill and Maybourne discover an empty shell of a civilization with no survivors left to explain their demise. They both realize they may be stuck on this alien world indefinitely and begin to dig in for the long haul, which Maybourne doesn't make easy for Jack. After a week the scientists have to give up (much to Carter's protest) and even the Tok'ra don't find anyone on the planet. O'Neill begins to uncover clues to the utopia's fate and notices increasingly paranoid behavior from Maybourne. Maybourne hears something at night, demands Jack's pistol and even runs away after a few days. Finally, O'Neill discovers Goa'uld skeletons in some of the houses with a mysterious plant nearby that he identifies as the substance he saw Maybourne eating all throughout their stay on the alien moon. O'Neill returns to discover that Maybourne has taken weapons that O'Neill hid with the very intent of keeping them from the delusional Maybourne. However he also starts to become paranoid. Back at the SGC, Carter is crying over O'Neill's absence; Teal'c comforts her. Later, Carter realizes that O'Neill and Maybourne were sent to the alien moon from MALP playback footage. By this time, however, Maybourne's paranoia has erupted into a firefight with O'Neill. When O'Neill tries to explain how the plant has affected Maybourne's mind, he is answered with more gunfire from Maybourne. The fight ends with O'Neill shooting Maybourne, subduing him. O'Neill cares for the wounded Maybourne who now, with a cleared mind and injured body, can understand that O'Neill isn't trying to kill him. Soon afterward, a Tok'ra Tel'tak, whose aid was enlisted by Carter, flies over O'Neill's position, rescuing him and Maybourne from the empty paradise. Jack also says he will convince the Tok'ra to take Maybourne to a nice planet on which he can retire. + +The Russian SG-4, led by Lt. Colonel Sergei Evanov, returns ahead of schedule. They bring back from P3X-367 a sickly man named Alebran, who informs Colonel Jack O'Neill that Nirrti is experimenting on his people. Apparently, she is not using eugenics (selective breeding) anymore, but a machine that can alter DNA in real-time. After being brought to the infirmary, Alebran reveals that Nirrti has killed many of his people. SG-1 then plans to help, because Nirrti only has a small group of Jaffa to defend her (and because O'Neill let Nirrti go last time and he won't do the same this time). Alebran suddenly starts to panic, sweat, and have convulsions. Finally, his body breaks down and liquefies, splashing down to the floor, much to everyone’s shock. Dr. Janet Frasier speculates that Nirrti's machine broke down every cell in Alebran's body simultaneously. SG-1 and the Russian SG-4 return to the planet and Evanov brings SG-1 to Nirrti's fortress, protected by Jaffa. Carter and Jonas use diversions and the Jaffa are quickly defeated. The team (excluding Evanov, who is covering them) sneaks into the fortress, where they meet grotesquely deformed people. One of them, Wodan, tells SG-1 that Nirrti is helping the residents because they are “sick”. He also shows them Nirrti's machine, an Ancient DNA resequencer. SG-1 tells them what Nirrti was really doing to Alebran, who was Wodan's brother. They plan to help the people but another mutant, Eggar, who is able to read minds, knows that they plan to assassinate Nirrti, and would sacrifice them all in the process if necessary. While O'Neill meets Evanov to plan the ambush, Jonas Quinn and Teal'c are taken to the basement, where Wodan and his people are living. There they are stripped of their weapons and radios and are imprisoned by use of Wodan's telekinetic powers. While Carter inspects Nirrti's machine, two Jaffa use transportation rings to arrive at the palace, but Carter stuns them both with her Zat'nik'tel. However, Carter herself is stunned by a cloaked Nirrti minutes later. O'Neill enters and sees Nirrti holding Carter as a hostage. A Jaffa awakens and O'Neill quickly attempts to shoot him, but Wodan uses his telekinetic powers to stop the bullet mid-air. O'Neill, recognizing his defeat, surrenders, removes his P90, and is stunned by Nirrti's zat. Together with Carter, he is imprisoned in the basement, where he attempts to bargain with Wodan's people for SG-1's freedom, to no avail. Shortly thereafter, Wodan and Eggar bring in Evanov, who was apparently held in Nirrti's machine; Wodan then asks for Carter. Jack attempts, unsuccessfully, to take her place. Carter tells O'Neill not to worry, then glibly adds, "At least now I'll get to see how the machine works". She is brought to Nirrti, who scans her with the machine and starts to manipulate her DNA. Back in the basement, Evanov reveals what has happened to him and that something is different after he was taken from the machine. Nirrti finishes with Carter and sends her back to the prison. As Wodan tries to take Jonas, Jonas attacks Eggar but is quickly defeated by Wodan and brought to Nirrti. She also scans his genetic coding and to her surprise, he seems to be different from the other humans. Jonas confirms her suspicion that he doesn't originate from Earth, telling her that a Goa'uld had transplanted his species from Earth thousands of years ago. She replies that “those few thousand years on another planet have changed you more than you know.” In the meantime, the rest of SG-1 talks about the mutated humans, while Carter’s and Evanov’s conditions worsen. Suddenly Evanov starts bubbling at the mouth and convulsing, and dies in the same fashion as Alebran. The mutants are surprised by the death but not yet convinced it's Nirrti's doing. Jonas awakens, not in prison but in Nirrti’s quarters where she tries to seduce him so that he will help her. She promises him incredible power ruling alongside her. However, after a little teasing he slyly refuses, which angers her. He is then taken back to the prison, where SG-1 tries to reason with Wodan’s people yet again, to convince them that Nirrti is no god, even trying to encourage Eggar to use his telepathic abilities and look into Nirrti’s mind. However, the people again refuse to believe that Nirrti is evil, and looking into her mind is forbidden as she is a god. They then proceed to take O'Neill to Nirrti. Jack demands that Nirrti heal Carter and let his team go, but she refuses. When she wants to scan him with her machine, Eggar tells her to stop because he has finally read her mind. He tells Wodan that everything they told them is true, she did kill all their people. Wodan then kills her Jaffa in a rage and starts to strangle her with his powers, lifting her right off the floor, while she attempts to bargain for her life with promises of even greater powers. O'Neill attempts to keep her alive so that she can reverse whatever she did to Carter, but a seething Wotan breaks her neck. However, Eggar assures O’Neill that he managed to take from her mind all the knowledge that he needed before she was killed. Carter enters the resequencer and Eggar reverses the manipulation that Nirrti had done; however, Carter's plan to study the machine will not happen, because the natives intend to destroy it after restoring everybody. O'Neill agrees that that would be best not to anger them unless they don't let SG-1 leave. Afterward, SG-1 is freed and Eggar begins to heal his people, starting with Wodan. + +During a meeting of permanent members of the United Nations Security Council at The Pentagon, Colonel Chekov speaks with the Chinese Ambassador about a sunken Russian submarine, the Rostov. When Major General George S. Hammond and Major Paul Davis arrive, they explain that this meeting is actually intended to inform the ambassadors about the Stargate program. They are also informed about the nature of the Stargate and other such devices but the ambassadors are initially in disbelief. They are also informed about the Russian involvement, and a clip from the episode "Nemesis" is shown; when SG-1 leaves Thor's ship with the Stargate. The British Ambassador is indignant at the fact that the Russians are involved, while America's "closest ally", the United Kingdom, is not. While they talk about some meteors being in fact crashed alien spaceships, similar to the submarine cover-up of the explosion from "Descent", Senator Robert Kinsey appears and is finally able to convince the ambassadors in believing in the Stargate. However he also tells them about the threat for Earth and he lays the blame largely on the "flagship team", SG-1. The ambassadors are also informed about the Goa'uld and their ships (several clips from different episodes are shown which present the different types of ships). They also show how the Goa'uld attack and act towards a planet (again clips from several episodes are shown when the Goa'uld attack planets). They talk about the threats of Apophis and the new threat presented by Anubis and his attempts to destroy Earth (a clip is shown when Anubis tries to throw an asteroid at Earth). The representatives of the USA and Russia then hope that the countries which are present will help them because of their military strength. However, the Chinese ambassador thinks that the general public should be informed. Afterwards a clip is shown when SG-1 uses a Stargate to blow up Vorash's sun to destroy Apophis' fleet ("Exodus"). The ambassadors are presented with the new technologies the SGC has invented (like the X-301 Interceptor and X-302 hyperspace fighter) (again clips from former episodes are shown of SG-1 using the new ships). Afterward, the ambassadors are informed about the X-303, Prometheus. The Chinese ambassador becomes angry when he sees these new ships and the fact that the Stargate program is solely under US-control. Senator Kinsey then tells them about the NID, and argues that this organization should have control over the Stargate program. General Hammond is reluctant about this proposal due to the dubious nature of the organization (a clip is shown from the episode when Hammond resigned due to threats made by the NID against his family). The ambassadors are informed about the time when NID agents captured a weather-control device from Madrona (again clip shown) and how the rogue NID members are captured by Colonel Jack O'Neill and the Asgard. Afterwards Kinsey informs the ambassadors about the threats to Earth which are a consequence of the operation of the Stargate, for example when they made contact with a black hole and of how alien-entities, such as the Replicators, infiltrated the base. Kinsey states that he can't allow General Hammond to keep control of the SGC any longer. During a break, Hammond talks with Major Davis about the fact that he still has an ace up his sleeve, while Colonel Chekov talks to the Chinese ambassador about the economically-advantageous Russian position in the program. Hammond and Davis also learn that Kinsey is now in a position where he has power over the NID and has thus been manipulating the situation to gain control of the Stargate for himself. When the discussion starts again, Hammond talks about the friends they've made, such as the Asgard, but the Chinese and French Ambassadors threaten to recommend to their respective leaders complete public disclosure. Suddenly, Thor beams into the room much to the surprise of the Ambassadors, Senator Kinsey and even Chekov. Thor informs the ambassadors of SG-1's role in defeating the Replicator menace, and states that the Asgard would prefer that the Stargate remain under the control of Hammond. Afterward, all ambassadors, British, French, Russian and reluctantly Chinese, agree with Thor's assessment that the Stargate is better off in the hands of Hammond and SG-1. Senator Kinsey finally concedes defeat to General Hammond ("Well played."). + +SG-1 is on a planet for scientific research when Colonel Jack O'Neill suddenly finds a photo. O'Neill and Major Samantha Carter are then contacted by Jonas Quinn, who has found a crash-landed ship that cannot be identified. Suddenly, three people arrive and threaten SG-1 with weapons. They introduce themselves as the Hebridans and tell them how they crashed. While they talk they are watched by two unknown aliens. SG-1 agrees to help repair the ship. While Carter and the ship captain named Aden Corso examine the ship, the people outside are attacked by the two aliens. During the shootout one crew member, Tanis Reynard is wounded and one of the aliens is killed when suddenly one of the crew members activates an ear-piercing sound and the other alien is forced to flee (it appears that the alien's ears are more sensitive to the sound than human ears). SG-1 is then informed that the aliens are a deadly enemy and killed the other crew members. Back at Stargate Command, Major General George S. Hammond is informed about the situation and where the people might have come from. SG-15 also comes to the planet to help. Meanwhile, the wounded female crew member is in the infirmary of the SGC and talks with Jonas about her life and the Stargate, which the Hebridans don't know about. On the planet, Carter helps repair the ship while talking with Aden. Outside, the other alien sneaks to his dead partner but is confronted by O'Neill; one of the crew members shoots at the alien, who then runs away but is chased. At SGC, Jonas tries to learn about the ship, which is named Sebrus, while Hammond informs him that someone tried to hack into the computer. Back on the planet O'Neill and Teal'c find the camp of the aliens when they hear weapons fire. Carter is, in the meantime, able to repair several systems while the captain attempts to seduce her. Back at SGC Jonas shows Tanis his room, where they kiss. Suddenly Jonas is called by General Hammond and leaves. Back on the planet, Carter repairs more systems and suddenly sees a video of an emergency call, in which a person calls the Sebrus a prison transport ship, much to Sam's shock. Outside, Teal'c and O'Neill are confronted by the alien. He tells him his name is Warrick Finn and that he is the captain of the Sebrus. Inside the ship, Sam confronts Aden with her zat'nik'tel and informs him about what she learned. She then ties him up while he falsely tells her that he accidentally let the prisoners gain control over the ship. He also tells her that the aliens are his prisoners. Back in the forest, Warrick tells O'Neill that three years ago he transported the prisoners but an asteroid storm forced them to crash-land the ship. When he and his first-mate went looking for food, the prisoners escaped and killed seven crew members. Since then, the fighting has been constant. O'Neill then shows him the photo of the woman which he found in the beginning and Warrick identifies her as his wife. He also asserts that his species, the Serrakin, freed the Hebridans from the Goa'uld thousands of years ago. Meanwhile, Carter is knocked unconscious by Lyle Pender. At the Stargate, Jonas and Tanis come through. Aden is in the meantime freed by Pender; he then stuns Jonas. Reynard informs Aden that the Stargate allows for many more criminal opportunities than a ship ever could. They then tie up Carter and take Jonas to the gate. O'Neill, Teal'c, and Warrick manage to stop the ship's sonic weapon and free Carter. Back at the gate the prisoners use Jonas as a hostage and try to flee through the Stargate to a stolen address, but once they get through, the prisoners actually find themselves at SGC (Jonas having arranged for them to steal that address) and are imprisoned. SG-1 gather for Warrick's departure, they ask Jonas how he knew to plant the 'fake' address, "call it intuition" he says; but then adds that before, whilst researching Hebridian history, he happened upon a story of a well known POW-vessel also named Sebrus, so when now confronted with this situation wondered if perhaps the ship's name never lost it's meaning (i.e. prisoner associations) down the generations. O'Neill, impressed, congratulates his brilliance. "Besides, I've never trusted a woman that kisses on the first date" adds Jonas jokingly to all their amusement. Then they finally say their goodbyes, Warrick thanks them all and O'Neill especially for trusting him, then leaves wishing they meet again in future. + +In a hospital, a doctor visits a patient. The patient is Teal'c and the doctor is Apophis. Teal'c (who has no tattoo or symbiote pouch) wakes up and is asked how he is by Jonas Quinn, whom he calls "probie" (which is short for probationary fireman). They talk in colloquial English about Teal'c's stepfather and suddenly Teal'c again wakes up after a kelno'reem. He visits the mess hall, and is talking to Major Samantha Carter when the scene changes to the interior of a fire station. He is talking with the other members of SG-1, who are all members of a fire brigade, about a kidney transplant for Teal'c's stepfather, Bra'tac (whom people call "Brae" in the fireman reality). The alarm rings and the fire brigade responds to a car collision. There they prepare to help the wounded in one car while Teal'c helps another victim outside the second car (who again looks like Apophis). The first car, leaking gas, catches fire and Teal'c sees Bra'tac alive inside the car as the previously declared dead driver. Against the team's advice, he tries to free Brae, and continues despite Brae's urge to save only himself; moments later, both cars explode. In the canteen at Stargate Command Teal'c is thrown backwards (appearing as if he fainted) and is taken to the infirmary. Dr. Janet Fraiser doesn't know what is happening, so she asks him to stay while she completes a more detailed check-up. Teal'c tries to sleep but wakes up in a hospital bed. He talks with Colonel Jack O'Neill, who is again the chief of the fire brigade, about what has happened. Outside he meets Brae (Bra'tac) and Teal'c's wife Shauna (Shan'auc). Brae says that something is wrong because he has no burns from the accident. Teal'c is at SGC again. O'Neill and Fraiser talk to Teal'c about his situation and he tells them about his "visions," which they find similar to dreaming. Teal'c is in the hospital again, where he is visited by Dr. Daniel Jackson, the hospital psychologist. They leave the hospital to talk about Brae and the transplant but Teal'c insists he isn't afraid of the operation. Daniel leaves and Teal'c finds himself back at SGC shortly before he and SG-1 leave on a mission through the Stargate. They go through the gate but Teal'c finds himself in a hospital, where he is confronted by Apophis. A nurse calls out to him (he seems lost) and he runs away, only to find himself in the gate room again. He believes that his symbiote is missing and passes out. Teal'c wakes up on another planet full of dead Jaffa, where he and Bra'tac are lying half dead next to each other. Teal'c takes Bra'tac's symbiote and implants it in himself. Teal'c wakes up "at home" with his wife Shauna and they talk about the kidney transplant he just had and about Teal'c's dreams. His wife convinces him that all is OK. Teal'c says that when he is at the SGC, the fireman life feels like a dream, but when he is in the fireman reality, the SGC seems like a dream. Teal'c tries to tell her that what "where he is is a dream" and that "it can't be real". On the next day Teal'c visits Brae who tells him that his body is rejecting the kidney. Teal'c is shocked and outside the hospital he meets Daniel again. They talk about the operation and especially Teal'c's dreams. Daniel tries to find connections between the two dreams but Teal'c can't say what is real. Daniel says that perhaps both worlds aren't real and walks off just as Jack approaches, placing his hand on Teal'c's shoulder with the scene soon shifting again to the gate room where a badly wounded Teal'c is lying on the ramp.  Obviously stunned at what's happening, he is without his symbiote and is taken immediately to the infirmary. As this happens, SG-1 tells Major General George S. Hammond that a supposed meeting of the rebel Jaffa was actually an ambush and that they found over a hundred Rebel Jaffa dead, each one having had their symbiotes removed while Teal'c kept himself and Bra'tac alive for three days by sharing his symbiote between them. Dr. Fraiser reveals that because they were sharing the symbiote, it is not strong enough to heal either and all three of them are dying. Some time later Jacob Carter arrives and brings a modified version of Tretonin which has been engineered for Jaffa physiology. They then decide to use it because the symbiote is dying. When Teal'c wakes up later, Daniel appears at his side and they talk about what has happened. Teal'c thanks him but Daniel says it's all because of his strength and explains that the dreams were Teal'c's mind's way of coping until he could be rescued. Daniel promises that this reality is the real one and that Teal'c will be fine before disappearing. + +In orbit around Earth, the Prometheus, now finally having undergone upgrades and also been completed detects a Goa'uld Ha'tak vessel and prepares to attack it. Colonel William Ronson, the ship's C.O. orders Major Erin Gant to sound general quarters as the ship prepares for battle. However, the situation is nothing more than a battle simulation drill to help the ship and its crew prepare for the real-life battles it will go through someday once its shakedown cruise is complete. On board the ship are SG-1 and Colonel Jack O'Neill isn't too happy about the constant drills. He and Teal'c of Chulak head to the bridge with O'Neill talking to Ronson before eventually relenting, enabling the drill to go on. O'Neill contacts Major General George S. Hammond, believing that SG-1 are getting in the way. Despite O'Neill's misgivings, Hammond believes that having SG-1 on board is the best option, considering how SG-1 has valuable experience with both hyperspace travel and the Prometheus itself. Hammond advises O'Neill to enjoy the journey before ending the call. Later, the Prometheus, having received a go from Vandenberg Air Force Base goes into hyperspace for a shakedown cruise mission to P7X-009. Ronson tells Gant he wants another battle drill to begin at 0500. As Gant heads off, O'Neill and Ronson meet in the elevator; Ronson tells O'Neill that the Prometheus's crew needs to be able to count on Ronson himself and each on other once SG-1 has left. Suddenly, the ship drops out of hyperspace. Concerned, Ronson heads off while O'Neill summons Teal'c and Major Samantha Carter to the bridge. After some investigation, the crew finds out that the reactor's buffer overloaded because they came in contact with a gravitational wave from a star while in hyperspace. In addition, they are unable to repair the buffer. Jonas Quinn identifies—from the cartouche—the gate address of a nearby planet, P3X-744, which is only 0.38 light years away. They decide to fly there, using the hyperspace engines for a short jump, to find a Stargate. After the short flight they establish an orbit around the planet, but the Naquadria reactor suddenly overloads, forcing the crew to jettison it.It detonates in a massive explosion, discharging an electromagnetic pulse that damages the ship, even through its Asgard shields. After determining the damage, they detect long-range ballistic weapons, originating on the planet below and heading their way. They conclude that the hyperspace engine explosion could have been construed as an attack against the planet. Since they have no other available options, the crew contacts the planet and O'Neill asks them to disengage the rockets. The rockets ultimately self-destruct 17,000 meters away from the ship. Afterward, the ship is contacted and given landing coordinates on the world, which is named Tagrea. The Prometheus lands and SG-1 leaves the ship. Upon going outside, they are confronted by a large army and forced to disarm. They are brought into a city, where they meet Chairman Ashwan and his council. The team tells him about the Stargate but it turns out that the council believes it's a myth. After SG-1 leaves, the chairman talks with Commander Kalfas, who is skeptical of SG-1’s account of events. Back on the ship, the team looks over several historical documents, given to them by the council, but find nothing regarding the Stargate. Teal'c and Jonas then get access to the archive of the Tagreans (after inviting them to a dinner, over Colonel Ronson's protest) but again turn up empty-handed. However, they notice that a strange man (Tarek Solamon) has watched and followed them. He clandestinely tells them that he can help. Meanwhile, on the ship, O'Neill and Carter lead Ashwan and Kalfas on a tour. During dinner, it is revealed that the recorded history of the Tagreans only goes back 300 years because there was once a "dark age" (speculated by SG-1 to be when a Goa'uld controlled the planet) that the Tagreans want to forget ever happened. In his office, Tarek shows Jonas and Teal'c relics from ancient times and believes their creator and god to be Heru'ur. Thanks to an old document, they also find out where the Stargate may lay. Jonas and Teal'c are then taken to the Wastelands of Anhur by Tarek (although Kalfas has an argument with Ashwan about this), where they uncover the Stargate. After unearthing the device, however, they are attacked by Kalfas, who takes them prisoners. When Kalfas ignores Ashwan's orders to release them, Ashwan convinces the soldiers manning the batteries surrounding Prometheus to stand down, allowing it to launch and fly to the location where Kalfas is holding Jonas and Teal'c. As they prepare to ring off the ship, Sam wonders if Ashwan is ready, stating that things could get bad. Ashwan assures that he isn't afraid and that he should have done this a long time ago. Thanks to the help and courage of Ashwan, who convinces Kalfas' soldiers to stand down, Kalfas is arrested. SG-1 uses the Stargate to bring back equipment from Earth to repair the Prometheus. Jonas says goodbye to Tarek and SG-1 heads home. + +SG-1 has a meal on the planet P4S-237 with the poor inhabitants. Their leader, Ellori, tells them that their planet once belonged to Ba'al, who extracted naquadah from it until the deposits became scarce. However, the people still have to give naquadah to Ba'al's underlord, Mot. During the meal, Jonas Quinn has a strange vision; shortly thereafter his vision really happens. Afterward, Jonas suddenly collapses. At Stargate Command, Dr. Janet Fraiser tells Major General George S. Hammond and Jonas that she has found strange activity in Jonas' brain. During a meeting, SG-1 informs Hammond about what they learned on the planet and plan to free the people from oppression. During the meeting, Jonas again has a short vision and it again happens just as he saw it. He talks with Major Samantha Carter about it, who finds the premise scientifically impossible by the laws of quantum physics. Fraiser later informs Hammond that she has possibly found a tumor in Jonas' brain, so Jonas is suspended from the mission. Suddenly, a Tok'ra named Sina comes through the gate and meets with SG-1. Strangely, Jonas already previously knew about this appearance. Sina informs SG-1 about the situation of the System Lords, especially Ba'al. Later, Jonas suggests that perhaps Nirrti is responsible for his visions and Fraiser warns Hammond that the tumor could kill Jonas. Jonas again has a vision about Sam being hurt and rushes to stop SG-1 from going through the Stargate. It is logically decided that Carter will stay on base. SG-1 and SG-15 go to the planet and enlighten the inhabitants about their plan. Ellori tells them that his people will help them whilst another villager, Chazen, goes in the forest and uses a Goa'uld long range visual communication device. At Stargate Command, Jonas is informed by MSgt. Sylvester Siler that an accident happened and that Carter was badly wounded. Jonas sees that this happened in his vision and apologizes to Carter, she quickly accepts his apology, knowing he was trying to keep her safe. They discuss his visions and Carter suggests that what Jonas is seeing are probable futures, but not absolutes. Jonas argues that all of his visions have come true exactly as he saw them, but Carter says that doesn't mean they always will. On the planet, SG-1 speaks with Ellori when suddenly, a Goa'uld ship appears and Chazen tells them that he's notified Lord Mot about the Tau'ri, and the Goa'uld has arrived early. Chazen then drops a Goa'uld shock grenade which stuns everyone. At the SGC, Fraiser finds Jonas blacked-out in his lab. She drops her file and calls for a medical team. The imprisoned Colonel Jack O'Neill talks with Lord Mot, who plans to extract information on how to deactivate the iris at the SGC which he will then use to destroy the SGC with Mot even believing that Anubis will congratulate him for his initiative. Mot even threatens to torture the villagers with Jack stating that the villagers had nothing to do with this although Mot believes otherwise thanks to his spy. At the SGC, Jonas has another premonition about a Goa'uld attack on the base which occurs with SG-15's ID code being used. In the image, Jaffa come through the Stargate and begin attacking before setting off a bomb that eventually destroys the mountain while killing all the personnel. Jonas then informs Hammond about it and plans to focus his mind to find out how the Jaffa get the ID code. In the meantime, the SG teams are freed by Ellori's daughter, Natania, and plan to get reinforcements. Jonas uses meditation to obtain another vision about how the Jaffa attack starts. He sees the SG teams on the planet use the DHD and transmit their ID code and then as the gate opens the Jaffa ambush them, kill everyone, and rush through the gate. Jonas again blacks out but not before he is able to tell Carter about the ambush and he is rushed into surgery while Carter rushes to tell Hammond what's happened. Carter and Hammond try to warn SG-1 but Chazen intercepts the message and sounds the alarm, only to discover the SG teams have escaped. At the gate, the SG teams are ambushed by the waiting Jaffa while Mot nearly kills Chazen for sounding the alarm and causing the Jaffa to attack early. However, Ellori's daughter brazenly shoots and kills Mot with one of the team's sidearms and, thanks to the alarm, the SG teams are alerted to the presence of the Jaffa and manage to fight off the ambush with only one man wounded. In the meantime, the doctors at SGC successfully remove the tumor. Hammond calls in several reinforcements to the gate room, preparing for any impending threat. The iris is opened and the SG teams finally come through. Jack asks Hammond to go back to the planet (of course, with more men) to help the people. SG-1 later visits the recovering Jonas and tells him of their success on the planet. In the end, Jonas talks with Carter about his visions, pondering how odd it is that, in changing his vision of the future, they fulfilled a prophecy that was made on that planet a millennia ago. + +On Abydos, Skaara speaks with the Abydonian elders about Anubis, who will attack soon. In the middle of their council, Dr. Daniel Jackson appears, telling them that they will not fight alone. At the SGC, Colonel Jack O'Neill steps on an elevator, which malfunctions in the middle of the ride. Just as he tries to use the emergency phone, Daniel appears behind him and updates him on the situation with Anubis, who plans to get the "Eye of Ra" from Abydos, a key (along with five others) to using a superweapon. Jack demands to know why Daniel, with all the powers of the Ascended, can't stop Anubis himself, and Daniel tries to explain again what he is and is not allowed to do. Jack relays Daniel's Intel to Major General George S. Hammond and SG-1. When they ask where he got that kind of information, he reluctantly admits to seeing Daniel, and that it isn't the first time. No one seems terribly surprised to hear it, and Teal'c mentions that he, too, has seen Daniel. Hammond approves the mission, and SG-1 goes to Abydos where they meet up with Skaara, who brings them into an underground chamber, where they hope to find the Eye. While Sam and Jonas explore the chamber, Jack asks Skaara if he's seeing anyone, and Skaara tells him that he's betrothed. In the meantime, Anubis' mothership appears out of hyperspace and several ships fly to the pyramid, which is defended by Teal'c of Chulak and a number of Abydonians. When the ships and ground troops attack, Teal'c of Chulak radios Jack, who, irked by Daniel’s absence, starts yelling for Daniel. Daniel appears and tries to say he still can't help, but Jack pushes him. Giving in, Daniel agrees to help Sam and Jonas figure out how to find the chamber while Jack and Skaara go above to assist Teal'c of Chulak. Daniel, Major Samantha Carter and Jonas Quinn open the chamber, full of artifacts, but not the Eye. In the pyramid, Skaara is mortally wounded while Jack and Teal’c fight valiantly to hold their ground. They are finally forced retreat to the underground chamber where Daniel concludes that the other ascended beings are the Ancients. They discover a tablet, written in the Ancient language, which reveals information about a lost city of the Ancients. Daniel instructs Jonas to not lose it, and then departs. Carter and Jonas find another secret chamber, which Sam shoots open, revealing the Eye. Jack and Teal'c, with Skaara, appear, bedraggled from the Jaffa onslaught. Their leader, Her'ak, confronts SG-1, demanding the Eye. Jack simply threatens to destroy the Eye. Her'ak returns to the ship and informs Anubis, who tells Her'ak to inform O'Neill that he will destroy Abydos if he does not receive the eye. As Her'ak departs, Daniel confronts Anubis, and threatens to stop Anubis if he attacks Abydos. Anubis dismisses Daniel, saying he knows Daniel is ascended and unable to act, and reveals that he himself is partially ascended. In space, a fleet of Ha'tak vessels appear and Yu contacts Anubis, threatening to destroy him. Daniel, on the other hand, offers Anubis a deal: he will bring him the Eye if Anubis promises to leave Abydos unharmed forever. The Goa'uld agrees. Daniel goes to SG-1, where he hears to his surprise that Skaara has died and ascended, realizing that Oma must be present. He advises the team of Anubis' partially ascended state: stuck between the mortal world and the ascended one. Anubis was thought dead but actually ascended. The Ancients, only accepting pure of Heart among their ranks, De-ascended him but not completely. The shimmering energy that hides his true face keeps his form intact. He also informs them about his deal with Anubis because he wants SG-1 to find the lost city of the Ancients before Anubis can. O'Neill surrenders the Eye to Her'ak and the Jaffa leave. On the ship, Her'ak gives Anubis the Eye, and Anubis powers up a large weapon. It fires on Yu’s ships and destroys many of them. The few left retreat, unable to penetrate Anubis' shields, with Lord Yu, also still alive. Anubis plans to destroy Abydos anyway but Daniel appears and demands that he stop. Anubis refuses and goads Daniel into attacking him. Enraged, Daniel attempts to use his ascended powers to destroy Anubis, however, his attack is cut short and he is spirited away by Oma Desala. Anubis, now rid of his last obstacle, fires the super weapon at the pyramid on Abydos and Jack slips through the event horizon of the Abydos Stargate just in time. Then the planet is destroyed as Jack arrives back on Earth, informing Carter, Teal'c of Chulak and Jonas that Abydos has been hit. As such, Sam calls on Sergeant Walter Harriman to bring up a full gate diagnostics which he does. Back at the SGC, they attempt to dial back to Abydos, but they are unable to connect. They fear that Abydos may have been obliterated by Anubis's super weapon. SG-1 continues to brief General Hammond about the situation and everything that transpired on Abydos. Carter and Walter continue dialing Abydos, as Carter refuses to believe that the planet is gone. Suddenly, after dozens of attempts, the Stargate establishes a wormhole to Abydos. Hammond allows SG-1 to return to Abydos to find out what has happened. SG-1 goes through the gate and discovers Skaara and his people. Astonished and yet relieved, SG-1 asks Skaara what happened. Skaara tells them that Oma helped all the Abydonian people around the planet ascend and that the people and the Stargate are only an illusion. Skaara sadly informs them that he has not heard anything about Daniel’s fate. Suddenly, all the people disappear. Relieved that the Abydonians had not perished during Anubis's attack, SG-1 then returns to Earth. + +On an alien planet with a mass of Ancient ruins, four humans are wandering the ruins. The older man, Shamda tells the younger three a tale he has already spoken to them not too long ago. Their conversation is interrupted by a nearby bright flash. As they investigate, they see a naked man lying on the ground. The men approach, and ask who it is. The man is revealed to be Dr. Daniel Jackson, who doesn't know who he is. In Stargate Command, Jonas Quinn is trying to translate the Ancient tablet SG-1 found on Abydos, when he is struck with an epiphany, and decides to run to Major Samantha Carter about his progress, finding her in Major General George S. Hammond's office. On the way, he bumps into Teal'c of Chulak and MSgt. Sylvester Siler. He enters the elevator, and tells the other man in it that "it's not the lost city". When he arrives at Hammond's office, he interrupts Carter's briefing Hammond about Anubis wiping out various other System Lords. He tells them that what they're searching is a mistranslation; it is actually the "city of the lost". When Carter pushes him for a gate address, Jonas points out that since Colonel Jack O'Neill downloaded several new gate addresses since his mind was altered by the Repository of knowledge, the address of Vis Uban may very well be the last one on the list. Hammond finds the lead solid, and orders a MALP to be sent. Some time later, SG-1, along with SG-3 and SG-5 arrive on the planet, which is the same one Jackson was found on. They find a mass of ruins and start searching. There they find a group of villagers, who tell them that they migrated to this planet. Meanwhile, outside the ruins, a hooded man, who turns out to be Jackson, comes across another SG team, and the SG team decide to escort him to SG-1. The team is clearly in shock when they see Jackson again, who tells them that he does not remember anything, even his old team. The locals name him "Arrom", meaning "naked one". As Jackson enters his tent, O'Neill visits him and attempts to jog his memory about who he is, explaining that he once ascended, and must have De-ascended somehow after he wasn't able to use his powers to defeat Anubis. However, Jackson still does not remember anything and wishes to be left alone. O'Neill exits the tent, where Carter soon joins in. Jackson seems less defensive when Carter enters, who again attempts to jog his memory on who he is. She tells him that he was one of the most caring, passionate people she ever knew, and he would give his own life to save someone he doesn't even know, and would be torn apart if his help didn't make a difference. Carter tries to get him to come back though he merely says he'll think about. Before she leaves, Jackson wonders if there was something between them, to which Carter replies that they are just good friends. Meanwhile, since the ruins of Vis Uban are quite extensive, they recommend using an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle to examine the ruins further. They decide to return to Earth. When Teal'c of Chulak wonders what is to be of Jackson. Jackson himself interrupts by telling them that he will come with them. The team reunites after a year and returns to Earth. Dr. Janet Fraiser examines Jackson, where she gives him a clean bill of health, with one minor exception: his glasses would make a real difference. He is then taken to his old quarters, which is still much like he left it, even though Jackson still has no recollection of anything: even the picture of a woman next to his bed is unfamiliar to him. O'Neill lets him figure it out for himself. He falls asleep, but wakes up again soon, and brings the picture with him to Teal'c, who is attempting to Kelno'reem, but is unable to do so since he took Tretonin. Jackson explains that the picture is of Sha're, and that he remembered by himself after dreaming about her. However, he is devastated by the fact that she died, and wonders why Oma Desala made him forget while still allowing him to be able to partially remember. Teal'c explains that Jackson once said that there are rules you had to obey when being ascended and that Oma may have erased his memories by laws of the Others, but wished that they would one day return. Jackson then wants Teal'c to explain to him about Anubis. The next morning all but Jackson are in a briefing room, where Jonas reports that after a preliminary scan of Vis Uban, they weren't able to find any powerful weapons or technologies to defeat Anubis. Jackson enters the room, despite the fact that the meeting is classified, and Hammond allows him to stay even if the reason is merely a feeling Jackson has. After a while, Jackson tells them that the translations were wrong, and Vis Uban is in fact not the lost city. He explains that it isn't the "city of the lost", the Ancients made the city lost to anyone else, and has been removed from any written history, making the lost city impossible to find; they are now back in square one, and Anubis is still wiping out several System Lords. Later, Jonas visits Jackson in his quarters, and theorized that since Anubis is only half-ascended, he still doesn't know everything about the Ancients. Anubis is unlikely to know the location of the lost city, otherwise he would have conquered it already. With the knowledge of the Ancient language, Anubis will likely not make the same mistakes in translate as Jonas did. This gives the team an idea to cripple Anubis, by planting a modified tablet for him to find. Their plan would be to send him to Vis Uban for him to search the area. While Anubis will verify if it is the lost city, his ship's super-weapon might be vulnerable to an F-302 fighter-interceptor attack. The Tok'ra has an operative in Anubis' ranks and provided the team with a basic blueprint of the ship, but a key information is missing. Jonas and Jackson will sneak into Anubis' mothership, after being given a radioactive Tok'ra isotope, which would render them undetectable to Anubis' sensors for eight hours. This would give the two time to find the location of where Carter and O'Neill will have to target so they can destroy Anubis' superweapon. However, this won't destroy the ship, only its primary weapon, while the shields and secondary weapons will remain active; so Teal'c would use Yu's help, since he's the most co-operative System Lord for the Tau'ri to send his fleet to wipe out Anubis once and for all. O'Neill points out that this is "the wackiest plan we've ever come up with". With their plan ready, the Tau'ri decides to set up a temporary base on Vis Uban and set up a runway for the F-302 fighter-interceptor. Teal'c comes to Yu, where he agrees at the opportunity to defeat Anubis. Hammond and MSgt. Walter Harriman join in on the base, and it seems Anubis is heading straight for Vis Uban. Carter and O'Neill take off with the F-302 and fly it into space, while Anubis' mothership exits hyperspace and arrives over the planet. Jonas and Jackson find a Transportation rings platform, where some of Anubis' troops arrive. The two Jaffa guards are stunned, and Jonas and Jackson ring aboard the ship. Meanwhile, Yu changes his mind about ambushing Anubis at Vis Uban and orders Oshu, his First Prime, to send the fleet to Chodawwa, which is across the galaxy. Teal'c tells Oshu to disobey the order, but since Yu is his master, he sends Teal'c to a cell instead, even though he warns that if Anubis is not destroyed, both Oshu and his master will be doomed. After Jonas and Jackson arrive at a section where they can access the plan of the ship, they lock it down from Anubis' Jaffa, while Carter and O'Neill fly the F-302 towards the ship, encountering a squadron of four Death Gliders zeroing in on their position. Destroying half of it and eluding the rest prompts Anubis to send another squadron, so Carter works on opening the planned short-lived hyperspace window to allow the F-302 to pass inside Anubis' shields. Her'ak detects a Human base on the planet, but Anubis is not interested in targeting it; instead, he seems to be activate his weapon to destroy the Stargate. As the weapon powers up, Jackson and Jonas eventually manage to acquire the target co-ordinates to give to Carter, while the F-302 eludes Anubis' secondary weapons. While the team below gets word that the Stargate is targeted by Anubis, they start evacuating. Meanwhile, Jonas and Jackson have to exit the room another way, since the door is being forced open by Jaffa. They find a vent and attempt to make their way through. Jackson makes it, while Jonas has to hold off the Jaffa, but is shot with a Zat'nik'tel and is captured, while Jackson closes the vent in order to not get spotted as well. In the F-302, O'Neill targets the co-ordinates and fires two missiles, which overloads the superweapon and destroys it, shaking the ship violently and angering Anubis. The F-302 exits Anubis' ship and the occupants make contact with Jackson, who congratulates them, but then gives them the bad news of not being able to meet them. Meanwhile, Anubis enters the room where Jonas is restrained, who gloats to him that his advantage over the other System Lords is gone, and that he will not tell Anubis anything; Anubis calmly replies that he will, showing Jonas his mind probe. + +Major Samantha Carter and Colonel Jack O'Neill arrive back in Stargate Command from Vis Uban and reports to Major General George S. Hammond that the mission was a partial success; Anubis' superweapon is disabled, but the ship has jumped into hyperspace, with Dr. Daniel Jackson and Jonas Quinn still on board, and they have no idea where Anubis is heading. Meanwhile, in Anubis' mothership, Jonas is sent to the Pel'tak, where Anubis tells him that he learned about Naquadria, the powerful variation of Naquadah, which he got from probing Jonas' mind, and know of only one place in the galaxy they can find the compound, Jonas' homeworld, Langara. Anubis informs Jonas that his mothership is over the Kelowna capital. In the SGC, Hammond reports nothing from the latest Tok'ra intelligence about the whereabouts of Anubis' ship, and they still haven't heard anything from Teal'c. The Stargate then activates, where they receive a radio signal, from Ambassador Dreylock. Expecting that there has been some internal affairs on Langara, they find that Anubis' mothership is over the Kelowna capital. In Yu's Ha'tak vessel, Teal'c is being detained in a holding cell, where Yu's First Prime Oshu enters, and admits that he is beginning to doubt whether Yu is indeed a god, since he spends most of his time in a Sarcophagus, and hence has gotten more paranoid about Anubis attacking Yu's domain, and is no longer capable of taking a host, as he is the oldest living System Lord. Teal'c attempts to persuade Oshu that if they do not do something to stop Anubis, Yu will lose, and millions of Jaffa will die in the process. Carter and O'Neill arrive in Langara, where they learn that Anubis' Jaffa are taking the capital building, and that they are currently located in a secret bunker deep underground the outskirts of the city. By using a Tok'ra Short range communicator, they are able to contact Jackson in the ship, where he learns that he is over Langara, and he is trying to find out where Jonas is being held, but has only three hours until the Radioactive Tok'ra isotope wears off. They soon learn that Anubis came to Langara to get his hands on Naquadria, and had several Kelownans killed before they complied, and give him the entire stockpile. Meanwhile, Teal'c and Oshu flies Yu's Ha'tak, where Oshu has objections to Teal'c's idea. His idea turns out to be contacting Ba'al. While he is outraged that another First Prime, as well as a Shol'va has contacted him, Teal'c convinces him that if he doesn't listen, he will miss the opportunity to rid Anubis once and for all. Oshu will follow Ba'al's orders, since defeating Anubis is in both their interests, and Oshu's Jaffa will follow him. Afterward, Teal'c wants to be dropped off at the nearest Stargate. In Langara, Carter wonders why Anubis is still here, since all of Langara's Naquadria is gone. They learn that Anubis is gathering archaeologists from the Academy of Sciences, possibly looking for the Stargate, which they would not know, since the location of the bunker is top secret. At that point, the Kelownans are forced to admit that they moved it when there was war between the Kelownans, Andari and Tiranians, and despite the Kelownans being outgunned, they made a ceasefire after the Kelownans used the naquadria bomb on innocents. This has made negotiations between the parties a little easier, so Dreylock decides to bring other delegates to form a way to unite, since sooner or later, Anubis will enslave everyone, and will take more as hosts. Meanwhile, Anubis has one of his lieutenants make the Naquadria more stable to repower his superweapon. Jackson finds Jonas and moves to the adjacent store room, where they are able to talk, and Daniel tells him that he will get him out. Dreylock presents the team Ambassadors Noor and Sevaarin of the Andari Federation and Tirania Confederacy. They see the Stargate activate, where Teal'c comes through. O'Neill, much to his dismay, is informed that Teal'c has convinced Ba'al to fight Anubis, since both Ba'al and the Tau'ri have the same goal. The other two delegates are convinced that Anubis will only attack Kelowna, but Carter insists that Anubis will not respect any borders, and the whole planet will be affected. Inside Anubis' ship, Daniel is cornered by Jaffa. Meanwhile, Anubis' Goa'uld Lieutenant believes he is ready to start a test to power the superweapon. However, despite this, this causes an overload, and an explosion rocks the ship. Anubis has his First Prime Her'ak kill him. Jaffa leaves the storage room, and Jackson is able to reach Jonas, who attempts an escape, since there isn't enough power to maintain the forcefield, and it is flickering on and off. For a split second, the force field shuts down, and Jonas manages to jump through. Their next step to escape is to get on board a Tel'tak. On the planets surface, Hammond reluctantly sends SGs 11 and 15 as technical advisers. Meanwhile, Carter figures out why Anubis has not left yet: he is ransacking the Museum of Antiquities, and in that museum is a Data Crystal, that may contain the Goa'uld Thanos' knowledge about Naquadria's instability and secrets to its control. With this knowledge, Anubis could easily and successfully power up the super-weapon again. Carter, Teal'c, O'Neill, and Dreylock go to the warehouse where the crystal is stored. There, they find the crystal in a box, but Jaffa quickly surround them in the storage room. In the ship, Jackson and Jonas decide that since they do not know where to find any Tel'taks, they should use Transportation rings, since there's a platform on the planet. They arm themselves with Zat'nik'tels and head towards the ring platform, but find Jaffa guarding it. Furthermore, the isotopes have worn off, and they are now detected by sensors. They ambush the Jaffa and ring down to the planet, which is conveniently placed in the same room SG-1 and the Jaffa are in. The two are able to take out all the Jaffa. They take back the crystal and return to the bunker. However, as they arrive, Hale wants the crystal, and then insists, since he has betrayed the team, and several Jaffa surround them. Hale tells the team that Anubis has promised him to leave Kelowna untouched in exchange for the crystal. A feud breaks out between Sevaarin and Noor until Jonas stops them, convincing them that they must stand together, as Anubis will attack the whole planet, not just one nation. Hale gets the crystal and hands it to Her'ak, who then kills Hale, and then announces that the rest will be publicly executed as an example to those who defy Anubis. Fortunately, Ba'al's fleet exits hyperspace over Langara, and immediately starts bombarding Anubis' mothership. As stray Ha'tak weapons fire hits the surface, shaking the bunker, O'Neill manages to get his hands on a side arm, and starts killing Jaffa, and Teal'c who also gets a weapon and kills more Jaffa. Her'ak receives an order to retreat through the Stargate, and takes the crystal with him. As he dials the address, Carter attempts to get the crystal off him. Daniel gets the crystal, but a Jaffa is firing his staff weapon at him; the shot meant for Daniel is instead intercepted by Jonas. Meanwhile, Ba'al contacts Anubis and tells him to surrender, but he is not on the bridge. Instead, he uses an escape pod and jumps into hyperspace as his mothership is destroyed over the planet. In the bunker, they have the crystal, and Her'ak leaves, empty handed. With the Jaffa gone, they team check on Jonas, who needs medical attention. Sometime later in the SGC, Jonas has recovered from his injury, and is prepared to move back to Langara, as Dreylock announces that he is no longer a traitor, and his experience with SG-1 the past year will prove vital to defend the planet from any possible future attacks. Jonas says goodbye to everyone, including O'Neill, whose respect he has finally gained. He promises to keep in touch, and asks Jackson to feed his fish. As he approaches the Gate, he turns to look at his team once again, before walking through. In the end, O'Neill welcomes Jackson back as a member of SG-1 and tells him to get ready for dinner by seven o'clock, since Teal'c gets "cranky" from low blood sugar if he is to be late. Jackson then tells him; "not that I mind rejoining SG-1 and exploring the galaxy, meeting new cultures, jeopardy, saving the world, that kind of thing. We get paid for this, right?". + +Major Samantha Carter arrives at Stargate Command and meets up with Major General George S. Hammond, where she is informed of an intruder on the base. Hammond tells her that the intruder has used Colonel Jack O'Neill's ID card to enter the base. When they walk to the holding room the intruder is being held, Carter is surprised to learn that the intruder is a 15 year old boy wearing clothes that are obviously too big for him. The boy claims that despite appearances, he is Jack O'Neill. The boy tells Carter that last night, he had dinner and a beer, and then went to sleep, and woke up like he is now. No one believes his claim. Soon, Dr. Daniel Jackson and Teal'c arrive to see the "intruder," but they also do not believe him. The boy then recites major events from the team's past, including Carter being taken as a host by Jolinar of Malkshur, Daniel's ascension, and that Teal'c has been taking Tretonin since he lost his symbiote. After the team leaves, Hammond wonders how the boy could have access to such classified information. Carter starts to think that the boy may be O'Neill. The only way to know for sure is to run tests on him. Some time later, Hammond and SG-1, except O'Neill, are in the Briefing room with Dr. Janet Fraiser, who ran DNA tests on the boy and compared them to O'Neill's sample. It is almost a complete match, with a tiny margin of error, tiny enough to convince them that the boy is in fact O'Neill. Fraiser also finds a tiny abnormality, but has no idea what it might be. Carter and Teal'c later see young O'Neill, and attempt to encourage him to enjoy his new found youth while he can, until a solution can be found. Later, the team arrives at O'Neill's house to investigate what might have caused his youth. They find some food, which they plan on taking back to the SGC for analysis. While doing some more investigating, O'Neill receives a short flashback with floating lights, and an alien head peering down on him. He tells the team his flashback; he believes that last night, he may have been visited by an Asgard. Back in Stargate Command, the team reports to Hammond about the findings. Hammond is skeptical, but he allows Jackson and Teal'c to investigate past alien abductions with accounts similar to O'Neill's flashback. Meanwhile, Carter is to give a presentation on how to fly F-302 fighter-interceptors to a group of pilots, even though it was originally O'Neill who was to give the presentation, until circumstances changed. Jackson and Teal'c manage to narrow the database for all alien abduction accounts that match O'Neill's description, and they find eight known claims in the United States of America alone, with them going on for the past 19 years, so they decide to visit the eight people. Carter is giving a group of pilots a presentation on 302s, and gives them a packet for Operation Blue Phoenix to test the flight capabilities of the 302s. The pilots seem more eager to listen to O'Neill, though she tells them that he is unavailable. The briefing is cut short by some commotion from outside, between O'Neill and an SF. Carter lets O'Neill in, and explains that this is O'Neill. Though the pilots at first refuse to listen, the boy convinces them otherwise, and successfully gets the pilots' attention. Jackson and Teal'c talk to the eight people who claimed they were abducted by Aliens (presumably the same Asgard from O'Neill's flashback), where the eight give away exactly the same description from O'Neill's experience; however, none of them experienced any physical changes, such as being their younger selves. Carter attempts to contact the Asgard, but doesn't hear anything yet. However, Dr. Fraiser warns the team that help better arrive soon, because she learns that although he may not feel any side-effects yet, he's dying. Fraiser explains to O'Neill that his degeneration may take days or weeks. The side effects will include fatigue and the shut down of vital internal organs. With the Asgard not coming, they seek help from the Tok'ra, who send Selmak/Jacob Carter to Earth. They give him a solution: instead of implanting him with a Tok'ra symbiote like last time, they could send him in a stasis pod until they can find a way to halt his cellular degeneration. A reluctant O'Neill asks for five minutes to think about it. Hammond gives him ten minutes. While the rest of the team wonders if he will do it, they detect a security breach. Young O'Neill is actually behind this, and since he knows the SGC plans very well, he quickly manages to escape Stargate Command. Hammond calls the local authorities to search for him. Soon, O'Neill attempts to buy beer from a store, but is quickly kicked out for being too young. He then spots Lt. Colonel Harlan Beck, who used to serve with O'Neill during Operation Prove Force in the Gulf War. Young O'Neill tells Harlan that he is O'Neill's nephew, and wants him to buy some beer for the boy, though Harlan refuses to do so. In the SGC, Fraiser and Selmak discover what the small abnormality from his DNA's test might be; the young O'Neill is a clone. Jackson thinks he knows why he's a clone (being aware of the Asgard's 'degeneration' problem): the Asgard must have cloned the abducted to not arouse any suspicion, so the Asgard could do tests on the abducted, until he is finished, and then switch the bodies back again. In that case, the real O'Neill would return again soon, but in order for the plan to succeed, they need to recapture "Duplicate O'Neill". They then get a phone call from Harlan Beck, concerning O'Neill's "nephew". With that information, they are able to find Duplicate O'Neill in a wooded area by a stream, where they tell him that he's been cloned by an Asgard, and he doesn't have to go into stasis. Instead, they can work on a plan to apprehend the Asgard responsible. O'Neill ultimately agrees to this (though he's not impressed with their apparent disregard for his predicament, just as long as they can get the 'original' O'Neill back), and they plan to send him back to his cabin, where the Asgard would beam the original O'Neill back and take Duplicate O'Neill; he hopes to stop the Asgard, and beam the others on board. Hammond agrees to give O'Neill a Zat'nik'tel, when he insists he's the only one who can do it. That night, Duplicate O'Neill is on his bed, with his team outside the house, when suddenly he is beamed away by an Asgard transporter. The rest of the team rush to his house, where they see the original O'Neill, lying in bed, waking up, wondering what the rest of his team is doing in his bedroom. Meanwhile, Duplicate O'Neill is on board an Asgard science vessel, where an Asgard tells him not to be afraid. However, he is then stunned by O'Neill's Zat. Duplicate O'Neill goes down and finds a console, where he manages to beam the rest of his team on board. The unconscious Asgard is restrained. The team informs the real O'Neill that he has been abducted by an Asgard for seven days, and that for that time, a clone of him has been made. The Asgard wakes up, and tells the team that his name is Loki, the Norse god of Mischief. Loki tells them that he is a scientist, and for two decades has been abducting humans to conduct research on them. Since the Asgard's cells are degenerating due to excessive cloning, the Asgard will soon die out, and experimenting on humans may hold the solution; he discovered about O'Neill's reputation, as he is "legendary" among the Asgard. As a result Loki wondered if he may hold the key to end the Asgard cloning problem. He made clones so as not to arouse the suspicion of the public, but made them in a way that they would not live for long, though even Loki doesn't know why the clone has not reached the target age of 51. To Loki's alarm, O'Neill decides to have Carter contact Thor. After a few seconds, Thor manages to beam himself on board; he angrily confronts Loki. Duplicate O'Neill starts to feel the effects of his degeneration. Thor explains that O'Neill's DNA was altered by the Asgard, a marker added as a tamper-proof safety against illicit research like that conducted by Loki, which resulted in the premature state of O'Neill's clone. He explains that while O'Neill is genetically advanced, research on his DNA did not result in anything that could help them. He assures them that Loki will be punished for his crimes, and after some convincing from O'Neill, Thor agrees to try repairing the clone's DNA, so he will no longer degenerate. He predicts that if he succeeds, the clone will be able to age at the normal rate. Some time later, O'Neill drops his clone off outside Mountain Springs High School; it is clear Thor was able to save him. After a great deal of thought, the duplicate decided he has a chance to embrace high school, something the real O'Neill never did. He's relishing the idea of starting all over again, with the extra 30 years of knowledge and experience he's gained - something most people wish but never have the chance to do. He asks O'Neill if he ever wished to do the same if he could, to which O'Neill says it has never crossed his mind. The clone then agrees not to keep in contact, since both agree that would be "weird," and not to worry as the United States Air Force would take care of anything he might need. In the end, O'Neill wonders if his younger self is really sure about this, which he ensures he is (when O'Neill notices some nearby girls giving him the eye, he recognizes the appeal.) O'Neill wishes him well on his way, so his younger self can start high school, as well as introduce himself to one of the girls flirting with him. The Colonel then drives off with a knowing smile on his face. + +At Stargate Command, the Stargate is dialed. SG-1 radios in and says that they are under fire and retreating. Major General George S. Hammond instructs the platoon of guards to prepare for any unwanted visitors. As the Iris is opened, they are bombarded by Staff weapons fire. All of SG-1 but Teal'c manages to get through, where he catches up a few seconds later. However, he is quickly followed by a Jaffa, who tries to shoot, but is quickly gunned down by the platoon. Unfortunately, the Jaffa manages to shoot Teal'c in the abdomen, who collapses to the floor. He is quickly taken to the infirmary. Some time later, Teal'c awakens while Dr. Janet Fraiser injects him with Tretonin. Fraiser tells Teal'c he's lucky, since he was wounded in the symbiote pouch, and if he still had his symbiote, he'd be dead (which was likely the intended result of the Jaffa soldier aiming there); however, he is still on a long road to recovery. In the Briefing Room, SG-1 briefs Hammond and tells him that they managed to escape by creating a diversion with a radio, then killed the Jaffa guarding the Gate. They identify that the majority of the Jaffa carried the symbol of Ba'al, whose empire is growing faster than anyone had anticipated, most likely to even the odds against Anubis. Fraiser then walks in and tells them about Teal'c's recovery progress, and that it will take time. She tells them that they can visit him. Dr. Daniel Jackson later visits him, and asks about his son, Rya'c, since he doesn't want to keep asking how Teal'c is feeling. He tells Jackson that Rya'c is with Bra'tac recruiting Jaffa to join the rebellion. He then feels that he let the team down, even though Jackson tells him that he stayed behind to cover for the rest of his team. After Teal'c tells Jackson to leave him alone, Jackson hears mysterious voices as he walks out, but they stop after a few seconds. Jackson and Major Samantha Carter then work out in the gym, where she discusses a movie she recently saw when Aliens invade Earth, but they had a weakness of water. They are then overlooking Teal'c's physiotherapy session, where the therapist tells him that he has passed his session for the day. However, Teal'c does not listen, and continues anyway, even ignoring Carter and Jackson, who says that overdoing his recovery could make his recovery last longer. After Teal'c tells them to leave him alone, Jackson hears the same voices again, thinking they were left over memories during his ascension. (He has recovered almost all of his memories from before he died, but is frustrated because he cannot remember anything from the time when he was ascended, not even whether he chose to return to physical form or was forced to. He also wonders whether he would have done more good if he had stayed ascended.) Jackson and Carter find a computer, where they are looking for any anomalies from any incoming wormholes, even though Jackson admits that he doesn't know what to look for, since he still has lost a lot of his memories. Carter leaves him alone so he can continue looking through any anomalies. Some time later, Fraiser tells Teal'c that he has finished his recovery, and has lifted more weights than anyone else, "alien technology not withstanding" (a reference to the Season 4 episode "Upgrades"). However, Teal'c goes to another machine and continues his exercise, despite the fact that he is cleared for active duty. Teal'c tells Fraiser that he is not ready. Colonel Jack O'Neill decides to pay Teal'c a visit, wondering what is wrong with him. After Teal'c doesn't answer, O'Neill is forced to order him to answer. There, Teal'c starts to make a confession. He always thought that tretonin is what he thought would make the Jaffa become free once and for all, but after he started taking the drug, he felt weaker. He says that among Jaffa, the word for weakness is the same as the word for death, because to be weak is to die. He didn't say anything to his team because he thought the effects were only temporary, but he still feels weaker than he was before, and has now lost much of his confidence, no longer performs kelno'reem. However, despite this, Jackson wants Teal'c to teach him how to kelno'reem, since he keeps hearing voices, and thinks that he is unable to remember because his memories were stripped after he de-ascended. He tells Teal'c that humans meditate even though they also still need sleep. Teal'c agrees to teach him and they begin kelno'reem. While Jackson meditates, he sees a vision where Rya'c and Bra'tac are forced to work as slaves, and sees Rya'c being whipped by Jaffa, until Bra'tac offers to take his place. Jackson then tells Teal'c what he has seen. Teal'c says he believes the vision is true because when Jackson had ascended, Jackson watched over Teal'c after he and Bra'tac were the only survivors on the ambush of Kresh'ta. They tell Hammond about this, where the rest of the teem fear that Bra'tac's tretonin supply must almost be depleted. While they cannot determine which planet they are on, Teal'c requests the help of Rak'nor, which Hammond agrees to. Meanwhile, Rya'c and Bra'tac are working as slave miners, where they both hope that rescue is forthcoming, despite the fact that Bra'tac is growing weaker everyday. They then witness four Jaffa unable to pick up a crate of rock then lined up for execution for being too weak to work. Just as they are to be executed, one attempts to flee, only to be killed by the Erebus Jaffa Commander. The other three are later executed as well. Rak'nor is in Stargate Command, where Jackson wonders if he knows of any planets that match the description (two moons, slave labor, and a levitated Ha'tak). Rak'nor says that there is: Erebus, which Jackson says in Greek mythology is a place where condemned souls pass when they die. Rak'nor also tells them that the planet was recently taken by Ba'al, and he uses the planet for Jaffa slaves to mine Naquadah to build Ha'tak vessels, until the gases would eventually kill them. The Jaffa are ones who refused to shift allegiance to a new master after theirs was conquered. Rya'c and Bra'tac went there to recruit rebels, but were captured. However, the Tau'ri can not go there, since the Stargate is protected by a shield, and they do not know what the code is to deactivate it. Jackson is then given a flashback where he was ascended and witnessed Rya'c and Bra'tac approaching the Stargate after recruiting rebels, and sending the deactivation code with a Goa'uld GDO, but were captured before they could flee. With this new information, Jackson believes that the rebels were trying to gate to the Alpha Site, and is angered by the fact that he did nothing to intervene, because it would break the highest law of the Ancients. Carter then finds something; a Stargate activation at the Alpha Site. They found an anomalous energy reading, but no one came through the gate. Jackson believes this was the shield deactivation code, and wants the signal duplicated. The team, as well as SG-3 plan to go to Erebus to rescue the imprisoned Jaffa. Before they depart, Teal'c wants O'Neill to look after Rya'c should he be killed in the line of duty, though O'Neill says he hopes it won't come to that. The SG teams activate the Stargate, and send the code to deactivate the shield. The Jaffa on the other end train their staff weapons on the gate, only to see a shock grenade emerge, and they are all stunned after it goes off. SG-1 and SG-3, as well as Rak'nor, come through and secure the area. They then sneak onto the top of the hill to oversee the camp and better understand the layout, though Teal'c believes infiltration is the best option, and decides that he and Rak'nor will sneak into the camp undetected during the night. Meanwhile, Bra'tac tells Ray'c he will attempt to ration the tretonin he has left, though in truth this will be impossible, since he has in fact run out of it, and Rya'c notices. At night, Teal'c and Rak'nor sneak into the tents without detection, where Teal'c reunites with his son, and see a dying Bra'tac. Teal'c gives him some tretonin, which is helping. Rya'c attempts to convince Teal'c that he shouldn't just come to Erebus to rescue Rya'c and Bra'tac, and they should free all the slaves. Rak'nor says there are too many, but Rya'c says the slaves will fight for their freedom. Unfortunately, the conversation is cut short when O'Neill radios him and tells him to get out, since he has been made. Both Rak'nor and Teal'c are caught. Teal'c is then taken outside and restrained, where he is repeatedly whipped by the Jaffa leader, and the teams can only watch. The next morning, Teal'c has returned to the tent, where Bra'tac has improved his health, and Teal'c tells the Jaffa the rescue is coming. He, however, is unable to fight, because he says he is not the Jaffa he once was. Meanwhile, SG-1 and SG-3 notice that the enemy Jaffa are heading towards the Gate, so in order to ensure the success of the mission to free the enslaved Jaffa, O'Neill needs to create a big distraction: disabling the anti-gravity platform on the half-built Ha'tak. Carter and Jackson ring aboard the ship and plant some C-4 on one of the panels and sets the timer for five minutes. However, as they try to get out, they see six Jaffa guarding the ring room, and are stuck. Back at the tent, Bra'tac has recovered much of his strength. He notices Teal'c's lack of confidence, and tells him that the true strength of a Jaffa warrior is from his heart and mind, not muscle. After a while, Teal'c's confidence returns. Meanwhile, Rya'c goes to other slaves and spreads the word that there will be an uprising. However, the guards notice that he is away from his workstation, and he is to be executed for being out of place. Just as he is about to be, Teal'c stumbles out and begs the Jaffa leader to take his place, saying that Ray'c is still strong and can work. Before he is to be executed, the Jaffa taunts Teal'c about the fact that he was once the First Prime of Apophis and is now a weak, pathetic shol'va. The overseer says it was a good trade, since Teal'c probably wouldn't gave lasted through the day anyway. Fortunately, before he is executed, the C-4 goes off, and they witness the Ha'tak dropping out of the sky. As the Jaffa rush to the location, they are ambushed by mortar fire from the SG teams. Carter and Jackson return, while O'Neill picks off the Jaffa with his rifle. Meanwhile, with the SG teams gunning down the Jaffa, the slaves start a revolt and fight against the masters. Teal'c takes the leader and fights him in hand-to-hand combat. Though Rak'nor is about to shoot the leader, Rya'c tells him to stop, to allow Teal'c to finish this battle on his own. Teal'c manages to snap the leader's neck, killing him. Teal'c, Rak'nor and Bra'tac pick up staff weapons, and aim at some more oncoming Jaffa. Sometime later, SG-1 returns through the Stargate back to Earth, where they give the good news that the camp has been liberated, and now the former slaves are taken to the Alpha Site, keen to join the rebellion. In the end, Teal'c has gained his confidence back, and is able to kelno'reem again, despite it no longer being necessary. Teal'c tells Jackson that O'Neill declared that Teal'c has his "mojo" back. Teal'c and Daniel meditate together and converse about Daniel's ascension. Both agree that for the first time they feel that they are involved in something important and that they belong in the SGC. + +Stargate Command sends a MALP through the Stargate to P3X-289, a planet with a highly toxic atmosphere, including finding Sulfur dioxide, Carbon monoxide, Methane and Ammonia. The MALP then sees a strange dome, around 2.2 kilometers in diameter, and 500 meters tall. Major Samantha Carter guides the MALP to the Dome. It stops right outside the "mist", and extends its arm, where it seems to go through some barrier of some kind. Out of curiosity, Carter commands the MALP to inside the dome, where she, MSgt. Walter Harriman and Dr. Daniel Jackson see a lush green landscape. However, a few seconds later, the transmission terminates. SG-1 is dispatched to retrieve the probe and investigate the inside of the dome. To prevent them from succumbing to the toxins, the team is issued full Hazmat gear, which should last for at least 12 hours. They walk to the dome, finding remnants of old structures, indicating a once thriving civilization. They arrive just outside the dome, where Carter picks up a static charge. Colonel Jack O'Neill uses his FN P90 Personal Defense Weapon to poke through the dome. After that, the team starts walking through it, where they encounter some resistance, and see the lush surroundings, and detects a clean atmosphere of Oxygen and Nitrogen, enough to remove the Hazmat suits. Carter deduces that the resistance, and a slight electrical charge, must be there to prevent people from accidentally moving through and becoming exposed to the poison atmosphere. They also determine that the MALP is still fully operational, so they surmise that the dome probably blocked the signal. The team then notices a young boy peering at them from behind a tree. He tells them that his name is Nevin, and that he can take them to the village to meet his people, but only if he can have a Hazmat suit, which SG-1 obliges to. They soon arrive at the village, and meet Nevin's father, Kendrick who, as well as other villagers haven't seen any visitors before. They all wear silver devices on their left temples. SG-1 is then taken to the Council, where they are greeted by four councilors. SG-1 explains that they avoided the toxic atmosphere through the Hazmat suits, and came from Earth by Stargate. At first, the councilors do not know what it is, until the entire village pauses for a moment, and then remembers the Stargate as the "Gate of Magh Mar". The councilors then explain to them the devices on their heads, known as the "Link", which gives everyone the same information whenever they need it. Afterward, O'Neill and Teal'c of Chulak manage to move the MALP in a way that they could make contact with the SGC. Major General George S. Hammond is pleased with the situation, and gives O'Neill another 24 hours until the next scheduled contact, meaning SG-1 is to stay the night in the village. O'Neill and Teal'c stay the night in Nevin and Kendrick's home, while Carter and Jackson stay in another house, belonging to Pallan and his wife Evalla. The couple tells them that a few hundred years ago, their advanced technology slowly poisoned their world, and started creating the dome by using Geothermal energy, and seriously cut back on their advanced technological lifestyle, and have been for 400 years. Jackson asks about their history, and Evalla offers him a link, but Carter says it might not be compatible with Earth human physiology. Pallan offers to show Carter the generators the next day. Meanwhile, the female member of the council wakes up from her sleep and then walks out of her home and through the barrier into the toxic area outside. The next morning, Jackson still wants to know about the past of their civilization, and Evalla shows him to a room full of old books, and helps him translate them, since Jackson does not wish to access the Link. She says that once the people started using the Link, they didn't really need books any more. Meanwhile, Carter is shown the power room, which contains the only computers in the dome, which is used to control the Link, as well as the power readings from the geothermal generators. Carter then notices something, but when she turns to see Pallan, he freezes, as does the entire village. They are then taken out of their trance, where Carter tells Pallan of a drop in the energy reading, which Pallan says is impossible, since they "stay the same". Afterward, SG-1 meets together, and they wish to offer the people of the dome relocation. They talk to the councilors, who tells them that they do not wish to leave. When the team tells them about the councilwoman, the other councilors tells them that they apparently never had a fourth council member, or at least a female council member since the last election two years ago. Carter believes the Link might be responsible for this, but they continue with their findings. Jackson asks Evalla questions concerning population controls, while Carter uses her computer so she could understand what their computer is saying. She then notices power fluctuations, with the energy going down by 2%. However, Pallan again tells her that the power variation is always between 0.01% to 0.07%. Meanwhile, Teal'c and O'Neill encounter Kendrick, who tells them that he and his son are willing to be relocated to another planet. However, when O'Neill and Teal'c approach the MALP, they find that it is no longer there. Carter then radios in and tells him that the dome is losing power, and has shrunk by 4% in the past 24 hours, and if the power levels continue to drop, the dome will fail, and everyone will be killed. Carter then notices everybody freezing again. Jackson witnesses Evalla walking away. Jackson tries to stop her, but she walks round a corner. Jackson runs after her, but when he turns the corner, it's a dead end. He walks to the end and realizes he is approaching the barrier and stops himself. Carter radios O'Neill and tells him its happening again, everybody's freezing. The team meets up inside a house, where they agree that the culprit this is the Link; every time the power levels drop, everyone is in some sort of trance, and then continue as if everything is normal, because the Link wants them to believe everything is normal. Their plan is to convince people that the Link is lying to them, and to reprogram it, while Jackson continues to read in the old books to find proof that not everything was as it is now. O'Neill and Teal'c then plan to leave to retrieve their suits to make contact with Earth. However, on the way to Nevin and Kendrick's house, Nevin stops them and tells them that their home is somewhere else, but insists he lived in the current location for his whole life. After they make it to their "home" and retrieve their Hazmat suits, they tell Kendrick that they will make contact with Earth, and re-iterates their desire to leave the dome. However, Kendrick appears to change his mind, and denies making the request, as well as finding out that Nevin no longer wishes to become an explorer, but a gardener instead, like his father. Knowing the Link is manipulating their minds, O'Neill wishes for Kendrick to remove it. However, he says he can't as removing the Link would cause "instant death", something they never said before. Carter tells Pallan and tries to convince him that the power levels are dropping, and that the Link is updating every time it does, to make everybody believe that the power levels are constant, and that she has to warn everyone to leave the dome and relocate. However, when she mentions Evalla, Pallan asks who she is. When Carter tells him she's his wife, Pallan tells her that he has never been married. Daniel continues to look through the library, and then finds something to back Carter's case. He picks up a document and runs to the control room, where he tells Carter and Pallan that - based on the paper plans and legal documentation that were used when the dome was initially established - 100,000 people once lived in the dome, rather than the 1,300 that are living now which causes Pallan to wonder where all the people went. O'Neill and Teal'c then search outside the dome, where they see skeletons of people who once lived in the dome. Some of the skeletons are very recent; Teal'c notes that there are more that are actively corroding in the toxic gasses, so there are probably many more that have already been dissolved. They also find the MALP and realize that it never moved: the dome just shrank, leaving it outside. Back in the control room, Carter tries to convince Pallan that removing the Link would not be fatal, because Evalla removed hers at dinner last night to offer it to Daniel. Now, though, the Link has updated everyone's memories so that they will think removing the link device will kill them. Carter realizes that the Link is compensating for energy loss by shrinking the dome--and sacrificing some of the population so the remainder can survive. Asking him to trust her, Carter gently reaches out to Pallan's forehead and removes the device, which does not kill him. Pallan, now realizing the Link is false, helps Carter in trying to reprogram it. However, in the process, the Link updates itself again. This time, the village people think that SG-1 needs help, having been made to believe that SG-1 was disconnected from the Link. After O'Neill and Teal'c re-enter the dome and have shucked their gear, they notice they are being followed by everyone in the village, and are soon completely surrounded with their backs to the dome. Kendrick offers them the devices to connect them to the Link, which O'Neill refuses. Meanwhile, Pallan, who admits that without the Link, he doesn't know how to access the system as he once did, finally manages to finds his way into the Link's base programming level. With no time to explain everything, Carter tells him to remove all memory of SG-1; working feverishly for several minutes, to his elation he successfully does so. The villagers pause for a moment, and react to O'Neill and Teal'c as if they've never seen them before. Some time later, the SGC sends more people and by outfitting them two or three at a time in Hazmat suits, helps the entire village to relocate to another planet. Carter tells Pallan that she found out that 200 years ago, the geothermal vents started to cool, and that slowly, the dome shrank, and will completely fail one day. Pallan is now curious about knowing he had a wife, though he does not remember her. He asks Carter to help him remember by telling him about Evalla. + +While exploring P2A-347, SG-1 encounters a crashed alien space ship containing a plethora of Stasis pods. The team separates to cover more territory and see how many aliens are contained in the pods. Soon after Dr. Daniel Jackson finds a pod that has failed, SG-1 is attacked by an energy wave. Teal'c of Chulak soon recovers to find Colonel Jack O'Neill and Major Samantha Carter unconscious and suspects that they are not alone on the ship. He finds Jackson awake but terrified, and seemingly unaware of who Teal'c is. Another SG team brings all four back to Stargate Command. SG-1 is examined by Dr. Janet Fraiser who finds that O'Neill and Carter just suffered minor neural shock but Jackson had become host to many different minds of the alien ship's crew. Jackson's own mind is in a coma like state, but the alien minds are all tangled up together, struggling to control the body. They emerge one at a time and are interviewed. Fraiser learns from crewman Tryan that the ship named the Stromos is one of the three ships built by Talthuns as a last hope to preserve their civilization, which was facing the destruction of a dark star. The ship was headed to Ardena but malfunctioned and crashed on P2A-347. During the conversation many other people emerge including Martice the Sovereign and a young boy named Keenin, the son of one of the crew. Major General George S. Hammond then dispatches the rest of SG-1 back to the planet to investigate the alien ship and find a way to cure Jackson. They discover that the minds of the passengers are being saved in the ship's computer. The ship's power source is failing and there is not enough energy to restore the minds in the computer to the bodies held in cryogenic freeze. They also find that one of the crew, Pharrin (Keenin's father) is awake and he was the one that downloaded the other minds into Jackson's body. The crewman also carries many minds within himself. When a pod would fail he would download the person's mind into his own. Once the pods failed and the bodies died, there was nowhere for the minds to go and they would be completely lost as the computer failed. Since the crewman was becoming delirious from too many minds inhabiting his body, he wanted to save more of the crew by putting them into Jackson and the rest of SG1. However, Teal'c recovered from his stun weapon much sooner that Pharrin expected, so he was only able to use Jackson as a vessel. Pharrin begs Teal'c and Carter to each host some of his people. Since they are the last survivors of their planet, he believes every one is precious. They refuse, but Carter explains about the Stargate. She says she can provide their ship with a new energy source, enough to revive all the remaining survivors into their own bodies and power a stasis chamber for Pharrin. Then Star Gate Command can relocate them to a new planet, perhaps even Ardena. Their only condition is that all the alien minds be removed from Jackson and placed into Pharrin. Hopefully his people will eventually find a way to recover them, but meantime their civilization will be saved. Carter brings Pharrin to Star Gate Command to prove that the Star Gate works. He is able to talk to Tyron and his son, who both agree to the sacrifice to save their people. The boy is just happy he will be with his father again (as both their minds will be in the same body). However the sovereign, Martice, gains control of Jackson's body and orders Pharrin not to go through with the plan. He wants to keep Jackson's body for himself, and he doesn't care if all his people die. Pharrin kneels, bound by his oath of loyalty. Suddenly an exasperated O'Neill rushes in from the observation room and pulls Pharrin to his feet. He tells him his sovereign is dead. He has to save his people now. A shaken Pharrin agrees. SG-1 provides a Naquadah generator to repower The Stromos. With his help SG-1 is able to remove the other minds from Jackson and transfer them into Pharrin. (Because Jackson had kept his own consciousness in a coma, he had never become entangled with the others, making the separation possible.) After the transfer, the remaining passengers of the ship are awakened and the situation is explained to them. Jackson, too, awakens, fine except for a residual headache. Pharrin remains asleep in stasis as his people prepare for relocation. + +After being on the planet P3X-403 for three months, Colonel Martin Edwards, who is in charge of the survey operation on the planet, is informed that they have found a significant amount of Naquadah deposits which could be mined to meet The Pentagon's need for the production of BC-303s and battle cruisers. However shortly after this discovery Lt. Ritter, a member of Edwards's team mysteriously goes missing while conducting some geological surveys. SG-1 is called in to help with the search and rescue mission of the missing member. Dr. Daniel Jackson after having examined some mining artifacts that Edwards' team had found while working on the planet informs the team that the mining instruments were used by Unas. Daniel recommends to Edwards that he shut down the operation saying that there still could be Unas on the planet and they may be responsible for Ritters disappearance. Edwards refuses to listen to Daniel's suggestion. Teal'c of Chulak, while leading a search party for Ritter and accompanied by Major Evan Lorne finds him dead hanging up on a wooden structure used by the Unas to ward off their enemies. Edwards, after having recovered Ritter's body, gives the order to find the Unas responsible for the lieutenant's death much to the objection of Daniel Jackson. The experience of seeing Ritter's corpse causes Major Lorne, a new recruit who has been never off-world to throw up. During the search the Unas attack the group. Both sides are taking casualties. Colonel Jack O'Neill while fighting is knocked down by an Unas. However, before the Unas can finish O'Neill off Daniel speaks to the Unas in his own tongue. The Unas then shouts out to his fellow Unas and they flee into the woods. Edwards argues that they should go after the Unas but Jack tells them they should head back to Stargate Command. Back at SGC, Edwards is informed by General Maurice Vidrine who is in charge of the BC-303 production (possibly also commander of the Air Force Space Command) that the Pentagon wants his team to head back to P3X-403 and commence mining operations. Daniel convinces the General that with the help of Chaka, an Unas that Daniel has met previously, they would be able to settle the Unas problem peacefully, as this is their world after all. The General reluctantly agrees, but tells Daniel that if the negotiations fail, Edwards is permitted to use lethal force to get the Naquadah. Back on the planet, Daniel with the help of Chaka manages to communicate with the Unas. Daniel finds out that the area that they were in was sacred to the Unas because that is the place where they were slaves to the Goa'uld and where they rose up against them to defeat them and end their slavery. Daniel informs Edwards about this and tells him that they shouldn't begin mining there. However the Colonel tells Daniel that they aren't going anywhere because they have just found a solid deposit of Naquadah which weighs 53,000 metric tons. Daniel reports back through a video transmission to the SGC. Vidrine tells him that they need the Naquadah and that the Unas will have to be tranquilized and relocated. Daniel asks if he can work something out with the Unas instead. The General gives him 24 hours. Daniel and Chaka begin further consultation with the Unas tribe's Alpha Male Kor Asek. They eventually come to the understanding that if the Unas mine the Naquadah for them that Earth will provide them with food. While Daniel is in negotiations with the Unas, he tells them that they must negotiate with the humans or they will relocate them. The Unas counteracts with, no they cannot, and if they try they will relocate the humans, as they have many tribes. When Daniel asks how many tribes, he's surprised as to quite how many tribes there are on the planet. He immediately tries to contact the team not to do anything rash, just as he hears gunfire. He runs over towards the gunfire and finds a dead Unas that Lt. Woeste had killed thinking it was trying to attack him. Daniel informs the soldier that he was only wanting to get a necklace that he had lost in the previous fight with the search party that was located by the soldier that had killed him, in reality he was only walking towards him. The rest of the Unas hearing the gunfire gather together to attack the party. Edwards tells Daniel, "Let them come, we'll be ready for them", and lifts up his weapon. However Daniel tells Edwards that he would not stand a chance since there are many more Unas than he thinks; they'll never stand a chance. They immediately head back to the camp and start preparing to evacuate through the Stargate. While they are doing this the Unas surround the camp. The Unas show their true numbers and the SGC personnel realize they are heavily outnumbered and are no match to fight all of them. The Unas' leader comes down to the party and Daniel Jackson tries to make him understand that there doesn't have to be any bloodshed and that they can work together. Much to 'thick-skulled' and 'Unas-racist' Edwards's surprise, Daniel eventually manages to negotiate with the head Unas an even better agreement. As the Unas insist that as part of their contract, they will mine the Naquadah and send it to Earth, whilst they in turn would receive food supplies from the humans. Thus they become allies in the fight against the Goa'uld. + +Major Samantha Carter is called to Stargate Command to meet Warrick Finn, the Serrakin they rescued from an uncharted planet. (See "Forsaken") He asks for her help to win a race in exchange for access to Serrakin ion drive. Warrick explains that it is called the Loop of Kon Garat hosted by a large corporation known as Tech Con Group. The race is hosted every year which anyone can enter and the winner gets a lucrative contract with Tech Con. He is able to bring the Sebrus into the race since Carter recharged it with a Naquadah generator. Carter asks to fly with him because the generators are precious to humans and they know how to hook it up. On the Hebridan/Serrakin homeworld, SG-1 is introduced to Eamon Finn, the Sebrus' creator and Warrick's younger brother. Warrick escorts Colonel Jack O'Neill and Dr. Daniel Jackson to the Hebridan capitol building while Teal'c stays behind with Carter and Eamon to check on the Sebrus. Eamon explains to Carter that since Warrick returned, work has been scarce and his wife had remarried and has children of her own. Warrick hopes to win the race to get his life back and wants to do anything to achieve it. The race data comes in, explaining the course and who Warrick and Carter are racing with. Eamon recognizes one of the racers as Golan Jarlath who apparently is out of jail. After the work on the Sebrus is done, we see some man walking up to it, carrying a tool box. The race starts and the first stage is using shields to defend against weapon drones. The second stage is riding against the surface of the sun. Suddenly, the Sebrus' systems begin to shut down. Warrick does a diagnostic of the power diverter and finds out that it has been deliberately sabotaged. Carter begins to hook up the generator while Eamon and Teal'c of Chulak begin some investigating. Once they are successful, the Sebrus blasts out of the sun's coronasphere and uses the sun's gravity to slingshot back into the race. Meanwhile, Eamon has found out that his supervisor, Del Tynan had accessed their computer. To find evidence, he and Teal'c go to Tech Con. They get in with Teal'c as Eamon's cousin, Murray. They look into Tynan's computer and find out he sabotaged nearly every ship in the race except a hired man named Muirios. Suddenly, they get caught by Tynan. Back in the race, Warrick and Carter decide to rescue Jarlath and find out he has been sabotaged as well. At Tech Con, Tynan explains to Teal'c and Eamon that he thinks that the Serrakin are destroying the human race by crossbreeding and he's making sure that the winner is a human for the first step of overthrowing the Serrakin. He contacts Warrick and tells him to drop out of the race or else he'll kill Eamon and Teal'c. Suddenly, O'Neill, Daniel and President Miles Hagan come in with guards and arrest Tynan and his men. Hagan now has the evidence to put Tynan in jail for corruption. With Eamon and Teal'c safe, the Sebrus is back in the race but in third place. Jarlath reconfigures the communications array to freeze the controls on Muirios' ship. With Muirios' ship disabled, the winner is Lael Montrose. Later, at the SGC, Carter receives word that Warrick has been hired by Lael to co-pilot on her new contract from Tech Con and Earth has an ion engine to study. Carter swears that next year, she's going to kick butt. + +Dr. Jay Felger and his assistant Chloe Angstrom are working on some kind of Plasma weapon at Stargate Command. Felger tells his assistant about the time when he rescued SG-1 from Her'ak (see "The Other Guys"), when suddenly Colonel Jack O'Neill and Major Samantha Carter appear. He presents them his new weapon, which should be used one day on Prometheus as an energy weapon. However when he activates it burns out and causes a power failure on the whole base. Afterward, Felger talks with Major General George S. Hammond about his work and Hammond tells him that although Felger assured him that he will give them something, he created nothing in the last six months. So Felger tells him that he is working on something and Hammond tells him that he has 24 hours to present his creation. Afterward, Felger talks with Chloe who tells him that he can't create something in 24 hours, however Felger tells her that he has Avenger and starts to work on it. On the next day he presents his idea of a computer virus which will cause chaos in the Stargate system to Carter and she is interested. Later, she decides not to take part on a mission with SG-1, although O'Neill is not interested in Felger's work. While Felger works on a diorama at home, he is visited by Carter, who tells him that the General allows further research on the virus and that she will work with him on the virus. They then start to work on it at SGC and after some time decide to test it on a real gate in Ba'al's territory and wait on an answer from a Tok'ra spy. During the test however they contact SG-1, who missed a scheduled contact. O'Neill tells them that they can't dial the gate and they think that it is Felger's fault. While they search for the cause of this problem, the Tok'ra contact them and report about a series of malfunctions in the gate system. Afterward, Carter gets some data and finds out that the virus started to spread through the gate system thanks to the correlative update system which compensates for stellar drift. Later, SGC calls back all off-world teams but several teams can't come back because the entire gate system has gone offline and now only SGC can dial anywhere. Later O'Neill reports and tells them that the negotiations in which they were taking part went awry but then they are attacked and the contact breaks down. Carter, Felger and Chloe work on a solution of the problem and Carter is informed that Ba'al started to attack the other System Lords since he has the largest fleet. Afterward Carter talks with Felger about the situation and when she tells him about an incident from a few years ago he comes up with a solution, which however doesn't work. Carter later informs Hammond that Felger has left the base since the pressure has become too much. Carter finds him at a bridge and starts to talk with him about the problem and they again try to find a solution. They then conclude that they have to go to the planet to which they sent the virus and both Felger and Carter volunteer to go there. Afterwards Felger says goodbye to Chloe who kisses him. Both Carter and Felger then leave for the planet, where they start to work on the Dial Home Device. However Felger soon finds out that Avenger was tampered with and Carter concludes that it was Ba'al, since he gained most when the gate system went offline. Now Felger has to work on a new antivirus system when suddenly Jaffa appear, whom Carter fights. Suddenly an Al'kesh appears which fends off the Jaffa. Later, O'Neill and Teal'c of Chulak ring down and are enthusiastically greeted by Felger. Felger is then able to solve the problem and they return to SGC, where they inform Hammond about what has happened. Later Felger daydreams how Chloe kisses him passionately when suddenly O'Neill and Carter appear and see them. Carter then attacks Chloe and while the two women fight Felger's dream is disturbed by Chloe and they go back to work. + +On an alien planet a Jaffa named Ryk'l walks through the forest and is confronted by SG-1. He wants to help them but they are ambushed and he is killed by attacking Jaffa. Suddenly, the ambushers are killed by several female Jaffa, who ask SG-1 to come with them. They also take the Goa'uld symbiote from the dead Jaffa. SG-1 follows them through the Stargate to their planet Hak'tyl (meaning liberation in Goa'uld). While walking to the Jaffa village, SG-1 discusses the similarities between these women and the Earth legend of the Amazons. At the village they meet the leader Ishta, who knows about Teal'c of Chulak and wants an alliance with Earth. Teal'c of Chulak is not happy about the Hak'tyl killing other Jaffa, though Ishta shows him a girl whose life was saved by the symbiote. Ishta later tells Major Samantha Carter that the Goa'uld lord Moloc decreed that all newborn female Jaffa should be killed. However, because Ishta was the temple high priestess, she had the means to bring the girls to Hak'tyl. The Jaffa want the help of Stargate Command for basic supplies and symbiotes, but Carter tells them about the Tretonin. Later Carter discusses this with her teammates, but Teal'c of Chulak is not pleased. He goes into the forest, where he finds a glade marked with symbols of several designs. Ishta shows up and they talk about the situation of the Jaffa. When they enter a great place they start to fight with training weapons. During the fight Ishta finds out that Teal'c of Chulak doesn't carry a symbiote, much to her surprise. Ishta then informs her people about the situation and wants four volunteers to go to Earth to test the Tretonin. Although the women are initially reluctant, four volunteer. One of them is a girl named Nesa but her older sister doesn't want her to go. At Stargate Command, the Hak'tyl Jaffa are greeted by Major General George S. Hammond. On the planet Teal'c of Chulak talks with Ishta about his family and the Jaffa Rebellion. In the evening, when they are in a tent, they kiss. At SGC Carter talks with a woman named Mala about her life. It later turns out that Mala doesn't respond to the drug. In the village Dr. Daniel Jackson talks with the girl Nesa but in the morning he is confronted by her older sister Neith, who tells him that two of her sisters were killed. To save Nesa she was forced to kill her own father. Back at SGC, Mala's situation continues to worsen while the other three Jaffa respond well to the Tretonin. Although she will die without it, she refuses to take back her symbiote. Back on the planet Neith plans to challenge Ishta's leadership, despite the worries of the others, while Nesa's health worsens. Neith says Ishta's judgment has been compromised because she is consorting with Teal'c. Some of the other women back her challenge. At the SGC, Mala finally dies and Carter informs Daniel. Meanwhile, Ishta and Neith battle, and Ishta knocks Neith to the ground. Ishta is about to use her staff weapon on Neith when Teal'c intervenes. As Ishta and Teal'c argue, Daniel arrives and tells them that Mala is dead. Neith tells Ishta this is her fault, and the two women agree to go together on a raid to find a symbiote to save Nesa. Ishta has Daniel and Teal'c held captive and tells them they will be killed if the other four women do not return in good health. Ishta and Neith leave with a raiding party. However, Nesa asks to have Daniel and Teal'c brought to her. They are then brought to Nesa and inform her about the situation. She says she doesn't want someone else to die so she can live and agrees to try the Tretonin. On another planet, the Hak'tyl have defeated several Jaffa, but Ishta is shocked when one of the severely wounded Jaffa declares his desire to be free. As Ishta wonders at how many others like him they have killed that day, Neith is shot by a Jaffa, who is then shot by Teal'c's zat. Teal'c and Carter arrive. Neith's symbiote has been damaged. Ishta starts to take a symbiote from the Jaffa who spoke of freedom, but Teal'c holds her back and says it is time to choose another way. Neith is brought to the SGC and Ishta tells her her symbiote is dying. Neith asks Ishta to procure her another, but Ishta says she must now choose life without a symbiote. Neith refuses. Jackson brings in Nesa, who now also takes the Tretonin, much to Neith's shock. The girl is able to convince her sister to take the Tretonin and she finally agrees. The female Jaffa are soon healed, and prepare to leave the SGC. Just as they do so, Teal'c and Ishta kiss passionately. + +On an unnamed planet, Teal'c and Bra'tac visit a place where many dead Jaffa lie. They find a dead Goa'uld named Tilgath who wanted to forge an alliance with Ramius, whom they think betrayed Tilgath. They find Ramius' First Prime who tells them that they were attacked by a warrior, who then appears and kills the First Prime. Teal'c and Bra'tac fire on him with their staff weapons, but to no avail. The warrior then attacks with some sort of energy weapon on his arm but is finally killed by Teal'c with a Zat'nik'tel. The warrior is then brought to Stargate Command where the two Jaffa inform SG-1 and Major General George S. Hammond. Together with Jacob Carter, Major Samantha Carter examines the warrior, and together they discover that he is a genetic creation, brought to life by a Goa'uld symbiote. They also find out that the warrior died because of a heart attack and not because of the Zat. Later it is discovered the warrior was apparently not alive when he was created and Selmak tells them how the Sarcophagus was created by a Goa'uld named Telchak (who used a device of the Ancients) since he thinks the warrior was created by the same technology used to create the sarcophagi. The original device had a lot of negative side effects, even killing humans. The Goa'uld Sarcophagus was an improvement, but still repeated use tends to turn humans evil. Selmak says if they can find the original device perhaps the Tokra can create weapon against the new warrior--and perhaps in time develop a sarcophagus that will heal without corrupting the personality. Dr. Daniel Jackson remembers some research his grandfather Dr. Nicholas Ballard did about the Fountain of Youth and they surmise Anubis created the warriors by recreating the original Ancient device using knowledge he obtained while ascended. General Hammond then gives Daniel permission to search for Telchak's original Ancient device. So Daniel travels with Dr. Bill Lee to Honduras, where, according to Ballard's researches, Telchak's temple should lie. They are accompanied by a guide named Rogelio Duran. At the SGC, the others plan to capture one of the "super soldiers" alive by stunning him with a small dart that should penetrate his armor. SG-1, some SG teams, and several Rebel Jaffa go to Ramius' homeworld since they think that a warrior will appear there. When the warrior arrives, he withstands all their weapons, kills some Jaffa, and finally escapes, while the others are captured by Ramius' Jaffa and imprisoned. They are confronted by the Goa'uld, but he doesn't believe their story about the warrior. Teal'c and Bra'tac tell the guards that Ramius is a false god and the warrior will kill him, but the guard's leader says Ramius is invincible. Suddenly they hear the warrior attack and the guarding Jaffa run to their master. It turns out that Ramius was killed trying to escape (leaving his Jaffa behind to die as Bra'tac predicted he would) and so the Jaffa guard leader releases them and lets the prisoners go, and at the invitation of O'Neill even joins them. SG-1 is then able to capture the warrior by ringing him up to a Tel'tak Cargo Bay and then expelling the oxygen, knocking him out. In Honduras the three go into the jungle in search of the temple and finally find a hidden entrance to it, which Daniel and Lee enter. At a dead end Jackson remembers the phrase "All water flows to the healing device." He pours water on the floor and it runs to a crack between the tiles, where they hear the dripping sound echoing below. Prying a stone block up, they find the Ancient healing device but when they remove it from its location they activate a trap and the temple is flooded with jets of water bursting through the temple walls. The two are barely able to swim up to the entrance, but when they leave the temple they are confronted by guerrillas, who capture them and shoot the guide when he tries to flee. At the guerrilla camp, the guerrilla leader Raphael then threatens them with death unless a ransom is paid. Jackson and Lee are interrogated but refuse to talk, so the leader says he will torture them, and maybe even kill one, even if he gets nothing for them, just to make an example of them as a warning to others. At SGC attempts are made to interrogate the prisoner, but he reveals only that he serves Anubis. However, thanks to a Tok'ra Memory recall device it is discovered that the warrior was created on a planet named Tartarus, when he envisions the night sky above his planet, enabling them to work out its location. Suddenly, Hammond enters the room and explains that Jackson and Lee were kidnapped and may have crossed the border into Nicaragua, but they have no idea where he is, much to the shock of the others. + +In the guerrilla camp, Dr. Daniel Jackson is questioned by their leader Raphael but refuses to tell him anything about the artifact. Raphael starts to torture Jackson with electricity. Giving up, Raphael returns Jackson to the locked shack where he and Dr. Bill Lee are being held prisoner, and takes Lee. At Stargate Command, Major General George S. Hammond informs Colonel Jack O'Neill that ransoms have been demanded for Jackson and Lee by anti government Honduran rebels, but official US policy means no ransom will be paid. However, O'Neill will be allowed to lead an unofficial extraction team to rescue Jackson with the help of a CIA Agent named Burke, who O'Neill seems to know. The Colonel says goodbye to Carter. Later in the conference room, Jacob Carter informs the others about Tartarus and that the Stargate there is protected by a force field. Selmak decides to use the Kull armor to gain access to Tartarus to deactivate the sensor array so that Carter, Teal'c and Bra'tac can access the planet with a Tel'tak. They can take the Tokra isotope they've used before so the other Go'auld sensor devices won't spot them after they're in. Bra'tac says he can power down a scout ship and hide it nearby to use for their escape. Although it is a dangerous plan, they all agree to it. In Honduras, O'Neill meets Burke who informs him about what has happened and the current situation between Nicaragua and Honduras. (Basically Nicaragua is granting free passage to anti Honduran extremists.) They start to quarrel about their past. Apparently, Burke was discharged from the military for accidentally shooting and killing a fellow soldier, Woods. Burke blames O'Neill for not testifying on his behalf, but O'Neill says he didn't witness the shooting so he couldn't back Burke up. Burke says it's ironic that now O'Neill needs him. They argue about who will be in charge of the mission. O'Neill says he 'll be in charge, Burke is just a guide. Burke gets angry and leaves, and O'Neill hires a local guide instead. Meanwhile, in the rebel camp, Lee is returned to the shack and tells Jackson that he told the guerrillas all he knew. Raphael activates the Ancient healing device. Back at SGC, Jacob puts on the armor and enters Tartarus where he is immediately taken to a laboratory by a Goa'uld named Thoth, who starts to examine him. Suddenly Anubis enters the room and calls Thoth away. Meanwhile Carter, Teal'c and Bra'tac wait in a Tel'tak near the planet and while Carter is angry about her father's stubbornness, the sensor array is deactivated and they fly to the planet. In Honduras, O'Neill and the guide find Telchak's temple where they meet Burke again. Burke is more conciliatory this time. He has thought things over and he wants to help. He says this valley is as far as the local guide can take O'Neill and besides, he's going to need real backup when they take on the kidnappers. Burke thanks the local guide and offers him double payment. O'Neill is sceptical, but agrees and the local leaves. The two former friends start to look for Jackson and Lee. After some time they find Jackson's guide who was shot but is still alive. The guide tells them that bandits took Jackson and Lee north across the border. Later Burke tells O'Neill that he killed Woods because Woods was a traitor, but kept silent because of his wife. In the rebel camp Jackson is further questioned about Telchak and the device and is shocked to see that the Ancient healing device was activated. He tells Raphael that it is dangerous. But the rebel leader doesn't believe him, seeing as the device is rejuvenating him. However, one of his cohorts, Chalo, having uneasy feelings about the device, and wants to deactivate it, so Raphael shoots him dead. On Tartarus, Teal'c and Carter are let into Anubis' base by Jacob. While there, they find a Goa'uld queen symbiote, which is creating larvae without a mind, in the same way the Tok'ra Queen Symbiote Egeria from Pangar did with Teal'c instantly realizing that Anubis learned about the technique when he probed Jonas Quinn's mind. As such, they plan to destroy the tank containing the Goa'uld Queen so that she can't be spawned again. Jacob, Teal'c and Carter then find a room with thousands of super-soldiers, ready to be fashioned into the Kull Warriors by Anubis. Thoth finds the team but is killed by Carter, which triggers an alarm. They escape (after blowing up the queen with C-4) but are chased by Kull Warriors and one of them makes it into the Tel'tak. They beam the soldier out with the Transportation rings. In Honduras, Chalo is reanimated by the device and he starts to attack the guerrillas violently. In the ensuing mayhem, Jackson and Lee escape but are quickly found. Before Raphael can kill Jackson, O'Neill kills the rebels. Meanwhile, Chalo is blown up by Burke's Colt M203 grenade launcher. They then take the Ancient device and leave. O'Neill thanks Burke for the backup and Burke says anywhere, anytime. O'Neill says he will recommend a better posting for Burke and they part as friends. Back at SGC, SG-1 is reunited. Carter tells Hammond that all they did was delay Anubis' ability to create more super soldiers, but he still has an army of hundreds. O'Neill Congratulates Carter on a successful command and they leave to get lunch in the commissary before the full debrief. + +The Prometheus is traveling back to Earth with a Hyperspace engine from an Al'kesh. Every couple of hours, the Prometheus has to jump out of hyperspace to cool down the Al'kesh hyperspace engine. The Prometheus stops near a Nebula that Major Samantha Carter thinks doesn't conform to nebulae she has previously studied. When they jump out of hyperspace, the Prometheus is attacked by an unknown vessel. They can't jump into hyperspace because the engines need to cool down. The Prometheus is chased into a gas cloud by the alien ship. Samantha Carter is knocked out when she tries to divert power from auxiliary to the hyperspace engine to make a small hyperspace jump into the cloud. When she wakes up, all the other crew members have disappeared. She alone must get herself and the Prometheus to safety. She has visions of a little girl, "Grace," running around the ship, playing with bubbles; and of her friends, who vocalize her worries and theories about her predicament. As Carter checks the status of the ship she discovers that all the escape pods are gone, and theorizes that an evacuation order was given and she must have been left behind in the confusion. She has several months worth of food and water, and knows that both Stargate Command and the Prometheus crew should eventually come looking for the ship. The hallucination of Dr. Daniel Jackson frankly confesses that he is unreal but he is present because there is something she has overlooked. The hallucination of Teal'c warns her that this whole scenario could be a result of the hostile alien species mind-probing, with a view to her inadvertently surrendering information about the Prometheus' engine technology as she attempts repairs. Back at Stargate Command, both O'Neill and Jackson are concerned because the Prometheus is 18 hours past check in. Jackson is organizing a search of planets near the route Prometheus was supposed to take, but O'Neill feels the crew would have contacted them already if they had reached a planet. On the ship, Carter has discovered that corrosion is affecting the hull, with an expected inner hull breach in eight hours. This means she must find a solution quickly, but the effects of her head injury are slowing her down. She tries venting some of the ship's atmosphere to move the ship, but has a hallucination of the little girl, Grace, screaming in one of the compartments being vented so she stops the procedure. Jackson then reappears and tells her that the "nebula" may be a living being, which is why she and the alien ship are stuck inside. He suggests she try finding the little girl and explaining to her that they have peaceful intentions. Carter passes out briefly. When she comes to, Grace is there, and they begin to talk. Grace tells her to eat and keep her strength up. Grace then disappears and hallucinations of Carter's father and then O'Neill appear. The hallucinations of Jacob Carter and of Colonel Jack O'Neill serve as a means by which Carter confronts her personal life and her relationships (in particular when talking to 'Jack', her feelings for him). Carter considers resigning from the Air Force so they could have a relationship, but she's not sure of his feelings for her. 'Jack' says he's a simple guy; he doesn't think he's the problem. She realizes that by holding an affection for Jack, who is unobtainable because regulations prevent their relationship, she protects herself from having any real relationship and potentially getting hurt. 'Jack' tells her he will always be there for her, no matter what, and that it's time for her to go save herself. The real O'Neill and other Stargate personnel have searched 7 planets with no luck. The Tokra have also been searching with no result. Teal'c and O'Neill talk briefly about Carter, and Teal'c says when O'Neill was missing with Maybourne, Carter was similarly concerned. After another encounter with Grace, who is playing with bubbles, Carter hits on a solution. She will engage the hyperspace engines with only a fraction of the usual amount of power. This will have the effect of rendering the ship partially intangible. Grace wants to know all the details, then approves of the plan. Carter contacts the alien ship and offers them the solution to escaping the nebula in exchange for the return of the Prometheus crew and safe passage once they are out of the nebula. After the crew is returned, she creates a hyperspace bubble large enough to encompass both the Prometheus and the alien ship and they are able to exit the nebula safely. The aliens keep their end of the bargain and fly away without harming the Prometheus. Carter collapses and is taken to the infirmary on the Prometheus. When she wakes up, she finds herself in the Stargate Command infirmary, with O'Neill sitting on the bed beside hers. After they talk and O'Neill leaves, Carter hears Grace singing as she falls asleep again. + +Jonas Quinn returns to Stargate Command, because there is a problem on Kelowna. He tells them that they found out how the Naquadria was created and that the process which transforms Naquadah into Naquadria is still going on. This process now works deeper and deeper into their planet and will soon destroy it. Major Samantha Carter goes to Kelowna where she is presented with Jonas's research. During this time she also meets his assistant, Kianna Cyr. In the meantime, the representatives of the three major powers of Langara (the new name of their planet) arrive on Earth where they are presented with the fact that although the center of the catastrophe will lie in Kelowna, the whole planet will become uninhabitable. Back on Kelowna the three scientists are still researching until an earthquake takes place. On Earth the three parties are still facing problems in their plans of evacuating the planet. Another problem is brought to the table when it is revealed that it was the Kelownan test of the Naquadria bomb that caused the chain which is destroying the planet. This causes much outrage from the representatives until Colonel Jack O'Neill loses his patience and tells everyone they need to focus on the immediate crisis. SGC has an ally, Medrona, at a similar level of development as Langara and who can take in several thousand refugees. The councilors ask about relocating to an uninhabited planet, or rather three uninhabited planets, one for each country but Teal'c explains that if they simply arrive on a primitive planet they will not have the resources to support a large population. Plus, there are logistical limits to how many people can get through the Stargate in time. So no matter what they choose, many people will die. Jackson explains again that the most practical way to save what can be saved of their civilization is to accept Medrona's offer. On Kelowna, Carter finds a way to approach the problem by detonating a nuke in a fault near the Naquadria vein, stopping the transformation from reaching the pocket, and Jonas shows her a Deep Underground Excavation Vehicle which can dig into earth. Together with tunnel crystals from the Tok'ra they would be able to dig deep enough, so Teal'c goes to the Tok'ra to bring some of them back. While Carter is checking the digger she talks with Jonas about Kianna, who, unknown to them, injects herself with something in the laboratory. Later Carter finds out that the machine uses Goa'uld technology and they discover that Kianna is controlled by a symbiote, with proof being that she had a long-range Goa'uld communication device hidden in her quarters. When they confront her she reveals that she works for Ba'al but that she also wants to save the planet. The injections masked the presence of the symbiote so that Carter did not detect it. The Goa'uld tells them that they have a common goal: to prevent the planet from exploding. However, Quinn rejects her help, and is taken away by guards. Carter and Quinn keep working on the excavator, but all of their simulations with the digger fail. Star Gate Command consults with the delegates, and they decide their best chance to avoid the planet's destruction is to take the Goa'uld on board to help make constant ongoing modifications during the digger's operation. She joins the team on the Excavator, along with Teal'c as security. In the meantime, the delegates on Earth face the problem that Ba'al may come to the planet because the Goa'uld in Kianna hasn't made a scheduled contact with him. However, they decide to ignore this problem and instead concentrate on the possible evacuation, which also brings problems due to the mistrust between the three nations, until O'Neill tells them that Star Gate Command has decided they won't help them with the evacuation, the Medronans are nice people and shouldn't have to put up with people as annoying as the Langarans. The refugee deal is off. The delegates can stay until the excavator team reports, but that's it. Hammond confirms the decision, leaving the delegates speechless. Back in the digger they also have several problems but thanks to the Goa'uld, Quinn, and Carter they are able to solve them each in turn. When the Goa'uld and Quinn are alone she tells him that she has feelings for him, but he finds her disgusting. She reminds him that he never knew the host before the symbiote took her--his previous attraction was always to the Goa'uld personality. But he still does not trust her. An underground volcano causes the excavator to lose hull integrity. Thanks to Carter (and over the goa'uld's objections) they divert power to the shields and make it through. The goa'uld is impressed with Carter, but doesn't understand why she would risk her life for aliens who likely would not do the same. The excavator starts slowing down and they realize the forward drills were damaged by the magma from the volcano. They finally get stuck over a kilometer from the target, too far to detonate the bomb effectively. There isn't enough time to return to the surface for repairs. The only way to come close enough to the Naquadria is by using the tunnel crystals to create a tunnel just large enough for a single person to get down. Because the tunnel would be filled with toxic gas and heat, the Goa'uld decides to go, as she can protect her host, and although this offer was made much to the surprise of the others, as there is no other choice, they agree. The Goa'uld is able to plant the bomb despite being heavily weakened from the journey, but the digger is steadily losing power, because the generators were also damaged. The Goa'uld tells the others to abandon her as time is running out, if they wait for her, they will die, too. Jonas Quinn orders her to come back, but the Goa'uld protests that the host body is severely damaged and she may not be able to heal it. Quinn tells her to come back anyway, and she struggles upwards, barely managing to return to the excavator in time due to her condition. They start their rise back to the surface and just reach it before they deplete their energy reserves. Quinn comforts Kianna, who is not doing well. At Stargate Command the parties are informed by the Kelownans that they detected a large explosion at the planned coordinates. After this mission the team returns to SGC where Kianna gets medical treatment, although her symbiote dies. She reveals that the Goa'uld was impressed by them and that she saved her life. Together with Quinn she returns to Kelowna. + +Dr. Daniel Jackson is sitting in a room full of artifacts and books, studying them. A woman appears in the room to help. She introduces herself as Sarah Gardner. Suddenly, we see Daniel sleeping with a Memory recall device attached to his temple, while Osiris sits at his side, having the same device attached to her temple. In a coffee shop, Major Samantha Carter is sitting at a table when a man appears and starts flirting with her. After some time, she kisses him, and it is revealed that they already know each other. After some additional talk, she leaves. At Stargate Command, Sam talks with Daniel, who tells her about his strange dream. Next, she enters an elevator and starts talking with Colonel Jack O'Neill about her new friend, Pete Shanahan, and that her relationship with Pete was set up by her brother Mark Carter. That night, Osiris again appears and enters Daniel's dream. In this dream, she (as Sarah) starts to develop a relationship with Daniel and represents herself as a great fan of him and his work. Abruptly, she ends the connection and uses an Asgard transporter to leave the room, confusing Daniel, though he doesn't wake up. The next day, Sam has a date with Pete at her home. When he kisses her, she nervously breaks it up. In Daniel's dream later that night, Sarah shows him a tablet with strange symbols and tells him about it. Enthusiastically, he starts translating it. The next morning at the SGC, Daniel is extremely tired and talks with Sam and Teal'c about his dream. They think it possibly has something to do with his time as an ascended being. In his next dream, Daniel finds out more about the tablet and tells Sarah about it. In reality, he talks with Teal'c again about his dream. That evening, Sam has a date with Pete. She goes dancing with him, and afterwards they spend the night together at Sam's house. In the meantime, Daniel has another dream about the tablet and Sarah. In the morning, Pete talks with Sam about his past but later leaves frustrated because Sam doesn't talk about hers. In his car, Pete contacts Special Agent Dave Farrity of the FBI and asks him to find out more about Sam, who later reveals to Pete that Sam's background information has been blocked. At the SGC, Daniel again talks with Sam and Teal'c about his dreams and Sarah. This time Teal'c reveals that there is a Goa'uld device which allows them to enter other people's dream. They talk with Jack and Major General George S. Hammond about it and develop a plan to capture Osiris who they plan to have removed from Sarah by the Tok'ra in order to finally free her. Sam later talks with Jack about her relationship with Pete. At night, SG-1 supervises Daniel in his bedroom from a nearby truck, when suddenly Osiris appears. Jack and Teal'c enter Daniel's house but keep quiet until morning. Sam continues surveillance from the truck while she, in turn, is watched by Pete who has secretly been following her. In his dream, Daniel finally gives up, admitting he never knew the location of the city. Osiris ends the connection and attacks him with her Kara kesh, but the others intervene. When Osiris can't use her transporter she leaves the house while attacking SG-1 with a Za'tarc ring. Outside Pete appears, but he and Sam are attacked by Osiris, who has activated a personal shield and blows up the truck. Osiris is stunned by Jack, but Sam realizes that Pete was critically wounded. At the SGC, Sarah wakes up with a start; Daniel, sitting at her bedside, explains that they captured her and had Tok'ra extract Osiris. Finally free from Osiris's contact, Sarah breaks down and cries on Daniel's shoulder. In another room, Pete is visited by Sam, who finally tells him the truth about her work and the Stargate. + +Major Samantha Carter and Jacob Carter are at the Alpha Site working on the prototype of a weapon that would kill the Kull Warriors that Anubis has built. Soon, an alarm sounds: the site has been compromised and is under Goa'uld attack. Evacuation is ordered. When SG-1, without Carter, goes to the Alpha Site after the attack to see what has happened, they see that the Stargate is on its side and has dug "the perfect foxhole." Colonel Jack O'Neill determines that the crater they find themselves in was caused by the self-destruct of the Alpha Site complex. O'Neill orders everyone to begin searching the trees for survivors. Soon, several survivors are found: M'Zel, some rebel Jaffa, Major Green, and other SGC personnel are recovered in the woods; O'Neill and Teal'c find Jacob with a broken leg. Nobody, however, can find Major Carter. Jacob says that he and Sam were being pursued by a Kull warrior, and that if he survived the blast, then she and the Kull are probably still alive. After giving the prototype Kull disruptor to Jack, Jacob and Dr. Daniel Jackson go back to Stargate Command, while O'Neill and Teal'c, and the rest of the SG teams dispatched to the area, continue to search for Sam and other missing personnel. Carter is being chased through the woods by the Kull warrior. Several dead bodies found by both indicate that the Kull has already caused significant destruction. At the SGC, Major General George S. Hammond is attempting to find out what happened at the Alpha Site. M'Zel accuses the Tok'ra of having an operative in the ranks of the System Lord Olokun, but Delek denies this. After a confrontation between Selmak and Delek, it appears that there was an operative there. This angers M'Zel, and he demands to know why this operative was not used to assassinate Olokun and thus allow his Jaffa to choose freedom; Delek responds that this could have handed a large army to Anubis. An armed Unmanned Aerial Vehicle is sent to the Alpha Site, where the Kull warrior chasing Carter shoots it down. This, however, draws Jack and Teal'c into the area. Carter makes her way to the downed UAV and sets it up to shoot the missile at the Kull as it comes into the clearing. When she shoots it, however, it is only covered in rubble, and emerges again, still fully armed and alive. However, at that moment, Teal'c draws its attention away, and Jack rushes to Carter. She has the power augmentation device for the disruptor, and Jack uses this to kill the drone. Delek announces that the Tok'ra will not come to the new Alpha Site since they cannot operate with full disclosure to the Tau'ri. M'Zel announces that the rebel Jaffa, too, cannot go to the new site, since they need to set up their own government and communities without outside assistance. + +It is revealed to the viewer that the President of the United States, nearing the end of his time in office, has grown concerned over how the public will react if the Stargate program becomes public knowledge after he leaves office. Hoping that he will be able to put a positive spin on his association with the program, he has commissioned a reporter to create a documentary on the people within Stargate Command and their activities. However, few key SGC members demonstrate willingness to participate in the documentary and the reporter seems to irritate the members of SG-1, and occasionally rants about censorship. (While he has been given complete access to all past mission reports, current activities of the SGC are off-limits since The Pentagon has yet to review and certify them safe for public viewing.) While Major Samantha Carter and Dr. Daniel Jackson do participate in the interviews (unlike Teal'c, who simply stares silently at the camera, and Colonel Jack O'Neill, who goes to great pains to avoid the reporter completely), it is only Dr. Janet Fraiser who seems willing to tolerate the reporter's presence (including his rather clumsy attempts to make a pass at her). Meanwhile, on a distant planet being explored by SG-13, a Goa'uld Reconnaissance probe (possibly inspired by the MALP) stumbles across the human exploration team and, after a brief firefight, is successfully disabled. Deeming the world to be safe, at least for the immediate future, the SGC allows SG-13 to continue to study the ruins they had found. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to the SGC, the probe had dispatched a sub-space signal before it was destroyed, and a Goa'uld strike force appears soon afterwards to engage the explorers. With one team member wounded by a Jaffa staff blast and unable to move, Dr. Cameron Balinsky returns to the SGC, informing Major General George S. Hammond of Balinsky's own team, SG-3 who are in grave danger and battling against the Jaffa. As such, SG-1, SG-5 and SG-7 are deployed to stop the Jaffa troops while Dr. Fraiser is going to stabilize the wounded airman until she deems him safe enough to be moved and brought back through the Stargate for further treatment. + +SG-1, SG-5 and SG-7 enter the combat on P3X-666 and provide cover for Dr. Janet Fraiser and the wounded Senior Airman Simon Wells as the SG teams exchange gunfire with Jaffa troops. Shockingly, while gunning down Jaffa, Colonel Jack O'Neill takes a Jaffa staff weapon blast to the torso and falls to the ground amid continued violence. Major Samantha Carter breaks cover and rushes to Jack's aid while the gunfight rages on. The embattled SG teams return to Earth and while the camera crews are forced out of the Embarkation room due to the 'No current activity' prohibition, an unidentified individual stretched lifeless on a gurney is visible to concern the viewer and the reporter, as well as Carter seen walking by in tears. Soon afterwards, the reports that there was a KIA during the mission begins to filter through the SGC and piques the interest of the reporter. In addition, Agent Richard Woolsey conducts an investigation into Stargate Command, with many of Major General George S. Hammond's, Dr. Daniel Jackson's, and Carter's operational decisions questioned. During this, the reporter continues to try to determine exactly what happened, who was on that stretcher, and whether rumors of O'Neill's death are accurate. Eventually, Hammond orders him off the base. However, after being reprimanded by Woolsey, Hammond comes to support the need for some form of documentation besides the official documents, and allows the reporter to view the tape that Jackson had made of the mission. Through the tape, it's shown that Fraiser tended to the wounded Wells and, almost immediately after stabilizing him for travel, taking a staff blast to the torso which kills Fraiser instantly. Jack survived his own impact, and the wounded soldier was saved due to Janet's actions. Towards the end of the episode a memorial service for Janet is held, with Sam reading the names of those who, instead of having given their lives for their country, were still alive and serving due to Janet's excellent care. The first name on the list is Sam's own, followed by Daniel, Teal'c, Jack and many others. A touching moment, it illustrates just how large an impact Dr. Fraiser had on the SGC and how gravely her absence from it will be felt. It is revealed that Wells, who was saved by Janet, had a newly born baby daughter. She was named after Janet. The show ends with Jack finally sitting down for an interview with Emmett Bregman. + +SG-1 arrives at a warehouse in Los Angeles where a rogue element of the NID was previously operating. Nearly everyone involved has been killed in a wholesale massacre. The only survivors are a scientist known as Dr. Keffler, and a girl, named Anna, who is being held in a strange sort of containment cell. While Major Samantha Carter and Agent Malcolm Barrett attempt to get information out of Keffler, Dr. Daniel Jackson talks with Anna, asking her what the NID wanted with her, and about the strange and disturbing charcoal drawings that decorate her cell. As they continue searching the warehouse's labs, SG-1 discovers the nature of the experiment as well as the horrifying truth about Anna: Anna is not an ordinary human being. She is in fact an human-Goa'uld hybrid, created by Keffler and his team in an attempt to access the memories and knowledge of the Goa'uld. It was her Goa'uld personality, Sekhmet, that took control of Anna's body and who also brutally slaughtered the rogue cell except for Dr. Keffler. Through analyzing her drawings, Jackson discovers how to open a Goa'uld ark that had been discovered in the warehouse. However, on opening it, it was found to contain a Naquadah bomb. Dr. Bill Lee and Teal'c set to trying to defuse it, while Jackson tries to encourage Anna to remember how to defuse it through meditation. Unfortunately this leads to her alternate personality emerging, who then sets fire to all the drawings in the cell. Anna manages to escape her cell, as does Keffler when he hears about her escape. They encounter each other in a corridor, and gunshots are heard, after which Jackson discovers them both lying dead. During this time Jackson finds the drawing of the abort code to the bomb and Anna regains control of her body at some point and its Anna, not Sekhmet who kills Keffler which she does because of how evil he is. + +The newly-elected President of the United States, Henry Hayes, walks through the White House, followed by an aide who tells him about current events. However, Hayes pays him little attention and instead looks around, seemingly overwhelmed by his first day. He enters the Oval Office and is greeted by General Francis Maynard, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who urgently wants to reveal the Stargate program. However, the president wants to soak in the moment (he even takes off his shoes). General Maynard soon discloses the premises and necessity of the Stargate program which the president takes as a joke. However, General Maynard quickly tells him that it is no joke. Afterwards Hayes angrily asks Vice President Robert Kinsey, why he wasn’t informed although Kinsey was. Kinsey uses this chance to expound on his grievances with the staff at Stargate Command and the need for change. During the evening, the President looks at some files from the Stargate program and talks with General Maynard about it. During this discussion, General Maynard also complains about Kinsey’s previous attempted take-overs of the Stargate (a scene from the episode "Disclosure" is shown here). They also discuss the NID and Kinsey’s connection with the clandestine group. Soon after, the president and General Maynard have a meeting with Kinsey and Richard Woolsey where they deliberate about the SGC. When General Maynard complains about the absence of Major General George S. Hammond who is hosting the clip show, Woolsey immediately cites Hammond as one of the problems. To further his case, he gives examples of the insubordination of SG-1 (flashback to "Upgrades") as well as alien incursion into the team (flashback to "Entity"). He points out several other “problems” with SG-1 and then delves into their psychological stability. Kinsey encourages the president to take action at the SGC soon. There are flashbacks to several other episodes ("Meridian", "Enemies", "Paradise Lost", "Evolution, Part 1", "Full Circle", "Maternal Instinct" and "The Fifth Race"). Following a break, they discuss other “mistakes” at the SGC and Woolsey complains about the close relationships between the team members of SG-1 (namely Major Samantha Carter and Colonel Jack O'Neill). The president ends the meeting so as to make a fair assessment of the situation while Kinsey and Woolsey converse in private. During this discussion, Woolsey begins to have doubts about the President’s connection to the Vice President. Later, the President is informed by the aforementioned General Maynard about the pending threat from Anubis, describing the awesome power that the System Lord wields. However, he also brings to light to the ongoing search to find the Lost City of the Ancients. The President finally acknowledges the benefit and contributions of General Hammond and SG-1, looking past their previous mistakes and misdemeanors. In secret, Woolsey meets with General Maynard to reveal his suspicions concerning the vice-president and his tactics. General Maynard tells Woolsey to find incriminating evidence to show up the unscrupulousness of Kinsey and his cohorts. To accomplish this goal, Woolsey meets with General Hammond, who entrusts to Woolsey a copy of a disk secured by O'Neill and Harold Maybourne in "Chain Reaction" (a flashback is shown of Hammond receiving the disk from O'Neill) that holds Kinsey accountable for his actions. At last Woolsey meets with the president, relaying information about the many groups bent on unlawfully acquiring alien technology, and gives him the disk. + +Colonel Jack O'Neill is in his home, shaving. On the bathroom mirror in front of him hangs an unfinished crossword puzzle which he is trying to solve. As he shaves, he receives a call on his cell phone which, after several rings, he eventually answers. On the other end is Dr. Daniel Jackson. He informs O'Neill that SG-2 has returned from P3X-439 where an Ancient Repository of knowledge may be located that could potentially contain information as to the location of the Lost City they've been looking for. Knowing the information from the repository almost killed him in 1999, he is initially skeptical about Daniel's desire to investigate further. He tells Jackson he will be at Stargate Command in half an hour before hanging up, while continuing to shave and solve the crossword. In Washington D.C., a blond woman emerges from a residence at a hurried pace while talking to her colleague, Michelle, from her head-set cell phone. She is running a little late for a meeting at the White House with the President of the United States. As she approaches the street, she attempts to hail a taxi that a Russian man is also hailing. While they both argue over whose taxi it is, both in English and Russian, a limousine stops nearby, and the driver asks for a Dr. Elizabeth Weir. The blond woman acknowledges, revealing that she is Dr. Weir. She then surrenders the taxi to the Russian man and enters the limo, in which Vice President Robert Kinsey is sitting. On the way to the White House, Kinsey tells Weir that the President wishes to talk to her about an alien transportation device called the Stargate. At first, she thinks this is a joke. However, Kinsey shows her a note saying "THIS IS NOT A JOKE" signed by the President, and he gives her a mission report. Weir begins to read it, appearing dismayed. O'Neill arrives at the SGC, still solving the crossword puzzle in the elevator. As the doors open at Level 28, he finds his teammates there waiting, who tell him that he is half an hour late for a mission briefing with General Hammond. As the group walk to the briefing room, O'Neill hands Carter his crossword. She beings playfully expressing her frustration over his preoccupation with the puzzles, reading entries from it which are blatantly incorrect. The team finally makes it to the Briefing Room where Colonel Albert Reynolds and Major Harper are already waiting. As they gather around the table, Major Samantha Carter informs O'Neill that SG-3 discovered a Goa'uld Reconnaissance probe on P3X-439, meaning that the Goa'uld are now aware of the planet and likely of its importance: that the planet may contain the whereabouts of the Lost City and other Ancient knowledge that could prove capable of defeating Anubis. When Major General George S. Hammond joins the meeting, he greets O'Neill, though appears irked by O'Neill's tardiness. As Hammond is seated, the team discusses the benefits of acquiring the Ancient repository located on the planet as to convince O'Neill of the importance of the mission despite the potential health risks involved in using the device. Carter reveals that the Asgard have not responded to their requests for assistance in the matter and Hammond reveals that many other allies of Earth have been unreliable as of late. Since Anubis is quickly wiping out other System Lords and Earth could potentially be at risk, Hammond authorizes the mission: SG-1, SG-3, and 5 will to go to the planet, find the repository of knowledge, and bring it back to Earth where the information can be safely extracted. Meanwhile, back in Washington, Weir arrives at the White House and is escorted by Kinsey to a room full of boxes containing SGC mission reports. As she opens one of the boxes, the shock of the existence of the Stargate and aliens is still fresh in her mind. She asks Kinsey why the President has decided to tell her about this and questions what kind of job he could possibly want to offer her. Kinsey tells her to try and say no to the President's offer, before leaving her to read the mission reports. In the gate room, Hammond bids SG teams 1, 3, and 5 farewell and good luck as they enter the Stargate. The teams emerge through the gate on P3X-439 in a large field surrounded by trees and dry brush. A large ruined monument is clearly visible in the distance. Once all teams are through, O'Neill instructs Reynolds to establish a defensive perimeter around the gate while SG-1 moves out to investigate the structure. As the SG-1 searches the monument, a small Goa'uld fleet composed of a Ha'tak and two Al'kesh emerge from hyperspace in orbit of the planet. Unaware of the approaching Goa'uld threat, the team continues to investigate the structure when Carter finds an energy reading coming out of a wall. As Daniel continues to translates the Ancient text on an adjacent wall and O'Neill approaches, the Ancient repository suddenly materializes. As the team approach it, attempting to find a way to remove it from the structure, it responds to their presence, further extending from the wall. Back at the Stargate, SG-3 detects a squadron of Al'kesh and Death Gliders on approach. Reynolds immediately warns SG-1 via radio, who are already under attack from a squadron death gliders, which begin bombing the surrounding area. Knowing that they can't hold their position or allow the device to fall into the hands of Anubis, O'Neill decides to destroy the repository with C-4. Jackson, Carter, and Teal'c protest, emphatically arguing that doing so will lose them their only chance to find the Lost City. As an Al'kesh approaches their position, Daniel begins to run toward the device but is pulled back by O'Neill. Daniel insists that he be the one to use it, but O'Neill protests as he needs Jackson to translate the speech of whoever "goes Ancient." Seconds later, as the Al'kesh begins bombing the area, O'Neill decides to put his own head in the device. As he stands in front of it, the front of the device immediately jolts out of the wall and grabs his head. As the knowledge is downloaded, a light engulfs O'Neill's face. Daniel, Sam and Teal'c stand there, horrified. After several seconds, the repository disengages and O'Neill falls to the ground unconscious. While SGs 3 and 5 hold off the Goa'uld attack, Teal'c and Daniel carry O'Neill back to the gate while Carter sets off the C-4, destroying the repository. As SG-1 race back to the gate, gliders quickly overwhelm their position, and the team is briefly knocked to the ground by a nearby explosion. Upon standing up, O'Neill regains consciousness but is confused. As the team finally nears the gate, an Al'kesh approaches from the distance, but the teams are able to enter the Stargate before it can attack. Back in the gateroom at Stargate Command, O'Neill remarks to Hammond, "I did it again", and proceeds to the infirmary. Meanwhile, at the White House, night has fallen. Weir is in the Oval Office touching a small trinket on a desk when President Henry Hayes walks in. He apologizes for keeping her so late and asks to spend five minutes with her to tell her his offer. Weir admits that the Stargate Program seems too unreal after reading the mission reports. As Hayes pours himself a drink, he says he understands how she feels, himself only having found out about it a few weeks prior. As Hayes continues on to state several of Weir's accomplishments, including her having brokered half a dozen treaties and speaking several languages, Weir repeatedly asks him what all of this has to do with her. Growing increasingly frustrated with Hayes' lack of response, she emphatically blurts out "what are we talking about", to which Hayes responds "you running the Stargate Program". She sits there aghast. Hayes proceeds to tell her that an initial review of the program has already been undertaken and that current operations will be suspended until a new government division can be established. Weir responds that she is unqualified to run such an operation, but Hayes acknowledges that no one really is given the magnitude of the project. He furthermore states that, were the program to be revealed to the public, she would be a "friendlier face" for it than a military general, though Hayes notes that that wasn't his main reason for choosing her. At the end of the meeting (which actually took seven minutes), Weir wonders what would happen if she refuses to accept the position. Hayes is confident she won't. As she exists the oval office, Kinsey approaches her and advises her to be careful who to trust. He warns her that he is the man that is on her side, unlike the President, and warns her further that she does not want to cross him. Weir appears unswayed. While debriefing Hammond of what has transpired on the planet, they must now face the inevitable; O'Neill's human consciousness will soon be obliterated as the Ancient knowledge slowly begins to overwhelm his mind. As it progresses, he'll begin speaking in Ancient. Not long after that, his human physiology will no longer be able to handle the strain of all the knowledge, resulting in his death. O'Neill requests to take the weekend off to get his personal affairs in order before his mind can conjure up the Lost City's location. Hammond grants it. The next day, Carter arrives at O'Neill's home. As O'Neill opens the front door, he is surprised to see her, and she admits that she had been unable to sleep the night before, being preoccupied with his present situation. After inviting her in, they briefly stand in the entry way where Carter, appearing uncomfortable, awkwardly stumbles through an explanation as to why she decided to come by. As O'Neill walks away to the kitchen to get refreshments, Carter meanders through his house, coming across several picture frames including one containing an old family photo of O'Neill with his son and ex-wife. When O'Neill enters the room, she tries asking him about his ex-wife and then asks about how he's feeling, both questions which O'Neill avoids as he sits on his sofa with a beer. Cater, now not knowing what to talk about, still feels awkward and suggests she should leave. O'Neill, however, tells her to say. She sits down next to him and the two talk briefly about what happened on P3X-439. A playful knock is then heard at the door. It is Daniel and Teal'c who have also arrived to check up on O'Neill. O'Neill, still sitting with Carter on the sofa, indicates for them to come inside. Teal'c is carrying a box of doughnuts, much to O'Neill's satisfaction. Meanwhile, on P3X-439, night has fallen. Several Jaffa stand in formation in front of the wreckage of the Ancient repository SG-1 just previously destroyed. As Anubis approaches them with two Kull warriors at his side, the Jaffa hold their head low in disgrace, knowing they have displeased their master in failing to capture it. As Anubis stops just before them, he orders the Jaffa Commander to rise. The commander appears visibly shaken. As he reports to Anubis, he admits that the Tau'ri have destroyed the device, and Anubis acknowledges his gross failure. While the commander begins to plead with Anubis, Anubis simply turns his back to him and walks away in silence. The two kull warriors, however, stay behind and begin opening fire on the Jaffa, all of which are immediately killed. Back at O'Neill's house, the team gather round and drink beer, apart from Teal'c, who doesn't drink alcohol and is given fruit juice. They talk about O'Neill's analogy that The Simpsons character, Mr. Burns, is a Goa'uld. After no one else agrees with him, O'Neill then jokes that his entire Simpsons VHS collection is going to Siler. Daniel also mentions that he thinks Teal'c is one of the "deepest" people he knows. Another knock is then heard at the door. When O'Neill opens the door, expecting it to be the pizza man, he is greeted by General Hammond. He invites Hammond in and gets a chair for him. As Hammond enters the living room, he is surprised to see SG-1. After he takes a seat and O'Neill hands him a beer, Hammond gives the team some bad news; he has been relieved of command of the SGC. The team is visibly stunned. Hammond continues on that the President has ordered a three month review of the Stargate Program, in which time the SGC is to be shut down and a new government department for the Stargate will be formed. O'Neill tells his team that they've been in similar situations, but Hammond tells them it is different this time. The team suspects Kinsey may have had something to do with this, using his influence with the President. Hammond insists that, despite choosing Kinsey for VP, President Hayes is a good man. Hammond also informs them that the SGC will be under the leadership of Dr. Elizabeth Weir, someone Jackson is familiar with; she does high level negotiations for the United Nations. He has furthermore been called back to Washington for reassignment and feels that he could do more about the situation there than at Stargate Command. SG-1 is still scheduled to return to duty on Monday. That Monday, Jackson walks into the briefing room where he finds it filled with boxes of mission reports. Elizabeth Weir is there too and stands alone at the window, looking out at the Stargate. As Daniel begins to speak to her, he realizes she's just finishing a phone call on her headset. After finishing the phone conversation, she and Jackson introduce themselves. While they talk, it quickly becomes apparent that Weir feels unwelcome at the SGC. Though initially trying to be welcoming, Daniel brings up the fact that she is anti-military and has replaced Hammond, a "great man". She suggests that the best policy to fight the Goa'uld would be to end the proliferation of weapons, but Jackson warns her that the Goa'uld are pure evil. In an impassioned manner, he tells her that, regardless of how many mission reports she reads, she won't really know what's going on in the galaxy and what Earth is up against until she steps through the Stargate herself. As Jackson continues to make his case, he stops when the Stargate suddenly engages. Noting that all SG teams have been recalled to Earth, Weir and Jackson head down to the control room to investigate. As they enter, Col. Pearson informs them that they're receiving master Bra'tac's IDC. After opening the iris, the two walk down to the gate room and greet master Bra'tac as he arrives. As Bra'tac walks down the ramp, his pace slows when he sees Dr. Weir, and he is puzzled that Hammond is missing. Daniel introduces the two of them, and explains that political changes have forced Hammond out. Bra'tac acknowledges this, but still looks worried. Upon being asked what's wrong, Bra'tac finally replies that the Jaffa Rebellion members loyal to Bra'tac received intelligence that Anubis is gathering his force to Earth and will arrive at Earth in just three days time. Back in Washington, President Hayes sits at his desk in the oval office while on the phone with Kinsey, discussing Bra'tac's warning, when Hammond arrives. After a very friendly welcome, the two sit on a couch and begin to talk. Hayes admits that he was pushed by Kinsey to make Weir the new leader of Stargate Command and that he was completely unaware of Kinsey's history with Hammond when choosing him as his VP. He informs the General that he does not want him to retire and instead discusses his reassignment. He knows full well that Hammond's experience will remain invaluable in the near future. At the SGC, Bra'tac and SG-1 are in the briefing room discussing Anubis' impending invasion when Weir and Kinsey walk in. Weir quickly greets O'Neill, Carter, and Teal'c for the first time, acknowledging the strange circumstances under which they are first meeting. As they all sit at the table, Kinsey is hostile and questions the validity of "Mr. Bra'tac's" claims. He purports that the attack is entirely fictitious and was merely conceived of by SG-1 as a means to prevent the Stargate program from shutting down. O'Neill becomes agitated about Kinsey's obliviousness to the situation. When Weir suggests trying to negotiate with Anubis, O'Neill claims that the whole situation is "derantis", which Jackson translates to mean "insane". O'Neill goes on to claim that the location of the Lost City will eventually come to him and asks for permission to pursue it when it does. Kinsey strongly objects, but Weir states that she will consider it, which upsets Kinsey. As the meeting concludes, Bra'tac and Teal'c stand, stating they will leave for Chulak to procure ships and warriors to help defend Earth. As Weir then exits the room and returns to her office, she is followed by Kinsey. Kinsey, who is still agitated, slams the door behind him and immediately launches into an argument. He wonders why she is disagreeing with him and Weir answers that she will not allow Kinsey to use her as a puppet to control the Stargate. Before he leaves, Kinsey tells Weir that she isn't as smart Kinsey thought she was. In the gate room, Bra'tac and Teal'c stand at the end of the ramp. O'Neill is about to give Teal'c the "if I don't see you again speech," but Teal'c is certain they will see each other again with the rest of SG-1 hoping that he's right. After bidding farewell to the rest of the team, Teal'c walks through the Stargate with Bra'tac as Jack, Daniel and Sam look on. + +Dr. Daniel Jackson and Colonel Jack O'Neill sit in Dr. Jackson's lab. At a desk, O'Neill attempts to finish his crossword puzzle as Daniel thumbs through a book across the room. After several seconds, Daniel begins to approach O'Neill, asking if any of the words in the book look familiar to him, attempting to gauge how far the Ancient knowledge has progressed in his brain. O'Neill is uninterested, and replies that he is still unable speak Ancient. As the two talk, Daniel becomes agitated when it becomes apparent that O'Neill is unwilling to help him understand what's happening in his mind, eventually grabbing the crossword from O'Neill's hands in frustration. As he begins to inspect it, Col. Samantha Carter walks in. She begins to speak but is quickly interrupted by Daniel, who notes that for the clue "label", O'Neill has inserted the answer "Praclarush" and for the clue "sphere", he has answered "Taonas". Upon realizing this, Daniel contends that "Praclarush Taonas" is the name of the planet on which the Lost City is located. Carter and O'Neill however appear skeptical. O'Neill, still appearing uninterested, walks out of the room to the mess hall with Carter and Daniel following closely behind. In the SGC Mess hall, O'Neill, Carter, and Daniel sit at a table while Daniel reads through his book. From his reading, he quickly discovers that "Proclarush Taonas" translates into "lost in fire", which he claims is further support for his belief that the lost city is located there. Carter responds that, unless they have a gate address for the planet, simply knowing its name means nothing. At that moment, O'Neill reaches across the table and rips off the patch containing the Point of Origin symbol on Daniel's jacket. Upon placing it on the table, the trio look at each other perplexed. O'Neill, appearing equally as confused over what has just transpired, responds that, when he looks at Earth's point of origin symbol, he feels that it means "at". Daniel thinks he understands what O'Neill is trying to say and proceeds to test his hypothesis; He searches for a blank page in his notebook in which he draws the glyph representing the constellation Orion. He shows to O'Neill, who responds by simply saying "shh". As the trio again look on perplexed, O'Neill and explains that the sound "shh" is what the symbol reminds him of. Daniel then realizes his theory is correct. He goes on to explain the possibility that each symbol on the Stargate has a corresponding sound that can be spoken aloud. He thus claims that, because the name "Procarush Taonas" has six syllables, which could correspond to the six glyphs needed for an in-galaxy Stargate address, the name of the planet is also its address, with Earth's "At" symbol serving as the point of origin. In the Stargate Operations room, Daniel shares his discovery with Dr. Elizabeth Weir while Carter, sitting directly in front of them, searches for the planet in the base's computer. However, she quickly discovers that they already tried dialing the planet over two years ago but were unable to successfully establish a wormhole, possibly because the planet's gate is buried. She contends that the lost city could still be on the planet and that the planet's position in space could be calculated based off of its gate address, but that a ship would be needed to take them there. Daniel suggests they use Prometheus, an idea Dr. Weir rejects, acknowledging that when Anubis arrives, Prometheus will be Earth's last line of defense. Thus, they must rely on Teal'c to procure a ship. Dr. Weir then asks where Col. O'Neill is and Daniel replies with "packing". Daniel, Carter, and Weir then proceed to an SGC storage room strewn with shelves of equipment. As they enter, they see O'Neill quickly walking around the room grabbing armfuls of supplies and collecting them into a large pile. As they follow behind him while he continues, O'Neill claims that he doesn't know why he's doing it. Daniel and Carter explain to Weir that, the last time O'Neill interfaced with the Ancient repository, he similarly began doing things without knowing why and that it's likely a good sign. O'Neill asks Carter to grab a Naquadah generator before walking away to grab more supplies. Meanwhile on Chulak, night has fallen. Teal'c and Bra'tac sit in a large tent gently illuminated by candlelight as various Jaffa are called in one at a time. As the next Jaffa approaches the tent, the several Jaffa guarding the entrance allow him to enter. He approaches Teal'c and Bra'tac and introduces himself as Ronan, whose father is known to Bra'tac, and states that it is an honor to meet them in person. He reveals that he has a Tel'tak at his disposal but warns them that, no matter how brave they are, he has seen the extent of Anubis' fleet. He contends that one Tel'tak is no match for such a formidable force. Bra'tac however, tells him that they only intend to use the ship to find something far more powerful that has the potential to defeat Anubis once and for all. Upon hearing this, Ronan agrees to offer his ship on the condition that he join them in their mission. Teal'c and Bra'tac accept his offer, noting Ronan to be a fine pilot. At the SGC, Dr. Weir stands in the embarkation room and is surrounded by several crates of supplies that are being prepared for travel. The Stargate is active. As SG-1 enters the room, they are dressed in their mission uniforms and are carrying the last of their supplies with them. They approach Dr. Weir who, jokingly, implies that they've packed everything but the kitchen sink. She tells the team that she hopes they find what they're looking for. SG-1 then depart through the gate, followed by several gate technicians carrying supplies. In Ronan's Tel'tak, which has been loaded with SG-1's supplies, the team, including Teal'c, Bra'tac, and Ronan, set off for Proclarush in hyperspace. While en route, Daniel and O'Neill sit in the back of the ship among the crates. They look at each other, both quiet as they reflect on their situation, when Daniel states that he would have used the repository in O'Neill's place given the chance. O'Neill says he knows. Daniel states that they'll find a way to reverse what's going on in O'Neill's mind before it kills him, but both seem unsure if they actually can. Carter then enters the room, stating that, despite pushing the engines as fast as they can go, it'll still take them two days to reach the planet. She asks O'Neill how he's going, and he replies that he's "a bit Kruvis" with a "little fron ache", though doesn't realize he's spoken Ancient. He then immediately stands up while claiming 'we need to go faster'. Meanwhile at Earth, three of Anubis' Ha'tak vessels have exited hyperspace over Earth's Moon and are approaching the planet. At the white house, General John P. Jumper enters the oval office and informs the president that space-based radar has detected the Goa'uld fleet on approach. Vice President Robert Kinsey, Major General George S. Hammond, General Francis Maynard and General John P. Jumper, the Chief of Staff, are also in the room. Hayes remarks to Kinsey that Bra'tac's warnings were correct. However, given that only three ships have arrived, a mere fraction of Anubis' total fleet, Hammond suggests that such ships are simply the vanguard of Anubis' force, sent to see if Earth has indeed procured Ancient technology as Anubis fears. Hayes adds that the main invasion fleet will likely be soon to follow once Anubis' initial assessment is complete. General Jumper suggests that Prometheus and Earth's fleet of F-302s could succeed in repelling this initial force, though Hammond, agreeing with Jumper's assessment, concludes that launching Prometheus now would only serve to demonstrate to Anubis that Earth lacks Ancient technology, the threat of which is, for the moment, forestalling Anubis' attack. Hayes decides to remain at DEFCON-3 and orders that the governments of Canada, China, France, Russia and the United Kingdom be made aware of the situation. As the briefing concludes, the group begins to leave the office while Hayes walks toward is desk, intending to prepare a speech on the situation for the public. Aboard the Tel'tak, O'Neill is in the engine room rearranging the ship's control crystals. As Carter approaches, O'Neill asks her for a Zat'nik'tel. She hands him one, and he promptly shoots the tray of crystals he was just working on with it. The lights on the panels begin flashing more quickly and the ship's engine begin emitting a higher frequency sound, signifying that the ship's speed has been increased. O'Neill appears preoccupied as Carer begins talking to him. When she states that General Hammond has authorized her to take command of the team once O'Neill's mind has become too far gone, O'Neill quickly replies 'do it now'. She scoffs at the idea, but O'Neill is completely serious. To make it easy on her, he immediately resigns. Carter then begins to express her feelings for O'Neill, but he tells her that he knows how she feels. In Anubis' mothership, Anubis stands in a room looking out a window. Two Kull warriors stand guard at the entrance as his first prime, Her'ak, enters. As Anubis continues staring out the window at empty space, Her'ak informs him that their advance attack force has received no challenge from Earth. Anubis then orders the advance force to begin their attack, claiming it will force the Tau'ri's hand. Meanwhile, SG-1's tel'tak emerges from hyperspace over a dead, fiery world orbiting a single star. As the craft nears the planet, SG-1 approaches the pel'tac at which Bra'tac and Ronan are already sitting. As they look out the main window, they see that almost the entire planet is covered by lava flows, and note that the planet's present state is likely the result of its star having turned into a red giant relatively recently. They furthermore note that, a million years ago, the planet may have been reasonably Earth-like. The group then look toward O'Neill, who appears just as confused as everyone else as to why they are there. Carter posits that O'Neill must have subconsciously realized what the state of the planet would be like, and knew they would have to go to the surface (O'Neill having packed Hazmat suits beforehand). Carter then order O'Neill to sit at the pel'tac to guide them where to go. When O'Neill sits at the controls, the view screen activates, prompting O'Neill to unknowingly say "Tanoas" upon viewing a small domed structure in the distance. The team decided to investigate it, realizing it may be an outpost. Later, in the oval office, General Maynard is on the phone with the captain of the destroyer USS Spruance, a ship in the Nimitz carrier group. He informs the president, and places the call on speaker-phone so that the group can hear what is transpiring. The captain describes one by one the ships of the carrier group being destroyed, each by a single blast from above. As he continues describing the attack in real time, the phone suddenly cuts to static mid-sentence. Maynard immediately grabs the phone, but the connection is lost. Presumably, the captain's ship has also been destroyed. Hayes and the others look on solemnly. Back over the surface of Proclarush, Bra'tac positions the Tel'tak over a section of the dome that appears to be thinner than the rest such that it may be penetrated by the ship's transportation rings. In the back of the ship, SG-1 don their Hazmat suits in preparation to ring down into the structure. As they ring into the structure, they find themselves in a dark, red cavern. The air is toxic and visibly thick and red with high levels of radiation present. The ground is covered with stalagmites. As they begin to explore the structure, Carter notes that the rings may have compromised the integrity of the dome and thus they should proceed quickly. After only a few minutes, the team approaches a small room with a large chair positioned on a platform in the center, clearly Ancient in design. As Carter, Daniel, and Tea'lc begin looking around the room, O'Neill walks toward the chair. Upon sitting it it, the chair immediately springs to life, becoming illuminated from behind meanwhile emitting a gentile hum. As O'Neill positions his hands on the armrests of the chair, a force field is raised around the room and atmosphere to it is restored, leading O'Neill to remove the top of his hazmat suit, followed by the rest of the team. O'Neill continues to interact with the device, placing his hands on the jelly-like interface of the chair's armrests, causing the chair to suddenly lean back and a holographic map of the galaxy to appear suspended in the air above the room. Hundreds of planets once colonized across the Milky Way by the Ancients are displayed as SG-1 looks on in amazement. A map of the Solar system is then displayed, which then zooms in on Earth as it looked millions of years ago. When Carter finally asks O'Neill why they're being shown this, he responds "Terra Atlantus", appearing to be able to speak only in Ancient. When Antarctica comes into view, O'Neill states "Subbo Glacios", which Daniel translates to mean "under the ice". The team then realizes what O'Neill has been trying to show them: that the Lost City they've been looking for is under the ice of Antarctica. Carter then questions why they had to come all the way to Proclarush if the Lost City was on Earth the whole time. Upon hearing this, O'Neill puts the top of his hazmat suit back on and begins to stand up. As SG-1 similarly re-secures their hazmat suits, O'Neill bends down near the edge of the platform on which the chair is positioned. As he waves his hand across the corner, a small, illuminated, orange-colored device begins to rise up from the platform several inches. O'Neill pulls it out, causing the illumination to decrease and the chair to deactivate. He hands it to Carter, who identifies it a power source before placing it into a bag. As the team begin to leave the room and start back to the location where they ringed in, Carter radios Bra'tac, informing him that they've discovered the location of the Lost City on Earth. On the tel'tak, Bra'tac acknowledges the message, and leaves the pel'tac to tend to the transporter rings to ring SG-1 back aboard. As he approaches the rear of the ship, he is approached by Ronan, who unexpectedly and forcefully stabs Bra'tac in his symbiote pouch. Bra'tac realizes he has been betrayed, but Ronan, still holding the knife inside Bra'tac, claims that Bra'tac is the betrayer of his 'one true god, Anubis'. Ronan then removes the knife and Bra'tac falls to the floor. Ronan states that he stabbed Bra'tac in the symboite pouch so he would die more slowly. Bra'tac, however, reveals that he no longer carries a symbiote and kicks Ronan in the leg, making him fall to the ground. Both Jaffa falter, but quickly stand up and begin to fight hand to hand. As the fight continue, Bra'tac appears to be losing. However, when Ronan calls him a weak old man, Bra'tac is emboldened. He proceeds to land a series of devastating blows until, finally, he pins Ronan to a wall and violently stabs him in the abdomen. He stares into Ronan's eyes as Ronan dies in front of him. The tel'tak has meanwhile automatically arrived at the ring-up location. SG-1 has already arrived at the location below and are being pummeled with bits of falling rock as they wait. Bra'tac, heavily weakened by the fight, manages to craw to the ring control pad and activate the rings with the last of his strength, transporting SG-1 to the ship, before collapsing to the ground. When SG-1 arrive on board, they see Bra'tac and Ronan on the floor before them. Carter secures the ship while Teal'c, Daniel, and O'Neill tend to Bra'tac. He explains that Ronan was an agent of Anubis and that, given his injuries, he does not believe he will survive much longer. O'Neill then approaches Bra'tac, removing his hazmat gloves and kneeling above him. He places his hand over the wound in Bra'tac's symboite pouch and begins to concentrate. After several seconds, Bra'tac notices that the pain is fading and his injuries are healing, and SG-1 look on in amazement. O'Neill begins to slowly fall over, having momentarily lost consciousness. He is caught by Daniel and quickly regains composure. Teal'c, meanwhile, helps Bra'tac up, appearing to be completely healed by O'Neill and the healing power he appears to have received from the Ancient repository. Bra'tac informs O'Neill that he is, once again indebted to him. Carter then orders Teal's to set a course for Earth. In the Oval Office, the President and his advisers are discussing the situation. General Jumper states that the US air force in on high alert but that, since the destruction of the Nimitz carrier group, there have been no further attacks. As the discussion continues, the power is suddenly cut, and Anubis appears before the group. Everyone immediately jumps out of their chairs and takes cover, with several secret service officers swarming around Hayes and Kinsey. The rest take out small arms and begin shoot, but quickly realize that what they're shooting at is only a hologram. When the gunfire ceases, Hayes slowly approaches the hologram as Anubis introduces himself. Anubis recognizes Hayes as the leader of Earth, though Hayes calmly responds that the Unites States is one nation among many. He continues speaking with Anubis, dismissing his threats of doom and contending that Earth will prevail, all in a particularly lighthearted manner. Hayes asks to discuss the terms of Anubis' surrender, though Anubis contends that, if the Tau'ri possessed weapons rivaling his own, Hayes would have already used them. The hologram then dissipates and the power to the room is resumed. Everyone looks on at the president, bewildered. Anubis, now feeling confident that the Tau'ri are vulnerable, launches the remainder of his fleet to Earth, including his flagship, all of which emerge from hyperspace above Earth moments later. In the oval office, General Jumper informs Hayes that 30+ ships have been detected approaching the planet. Upon hearing this, Hayes loosens his tie and leans against his desk. Kinsey immediately begins telling Hayes that they need to evacuate off world, but Hayes insists he's not leaving, as do Hammond and General Maynard. Kinsey, not wanting to stay behind and face the attack, scampers out of the room. Hayes, appearing pleased at their decision to stay, offers Hammond a new job. In hyperspace aboard the Tel'tak bound for Earth, O'Neill is working on modifying the ring transporter platform when he is approached by Teal'c. He begins speaking to O'Neill, telling him about the armada of ships they've detected around Earth, but is met with no response as O'Neill continues working. Teal'c then kneels beside him, beginning to make an emotional appeal, when O'Neill places his hand against the side of his face, tenderly. Teal'c is left silent as the two gaze into each other eyes; their eyes saying to each other what words cannot. O'Neill then gently moves his hand to Teal'c shoulder, and Teal'c nods approvingly, knowing that O'Neill's mind is still present and not yet entirely consumed by the Ancient knowledge. O'Neill then finally removes his hand, and continues his work on the ring platform. In the oval office, Hayes stares at a television screen filled only with static. Maynard remarks that the Goa'uld have systematically been targeting power grids and broadcast terminals around the planet, restricting communication, and preventing Hayes' speech from being broadcast to the public. The cover story is a meteor shower, but Hayes knows that that can only hold up for so long. He decides to go to DEAFCON 1 and instructs Jumper to launch the Prometheus. At the SGC, Kinsey and Weir stand in the gate room with a small group of government officials as the address for the Alpha Site is being dialed. Weir accuses Kinsey of being a coward, though Kinsey contends he's simply ensuring the survival of the human race. Just as Kinsey finishes talking, power is cut to the gate room. The room goes dark and the Stargate ceases to dial. Kinsey demands to know what is going on meanwhile Weir orders the iris to be manually closed as a precaution. Kinsey demands that the iris be opened and the Alpha site be re-dialed so he can escape, but moments later an incoming wormhole in established, preventing his departure. As the gate activates, a massive explosion can be heard against the iris, causing the entire room to shake and nearly knocking Weir and Kinsey off their feet. Anubis has dialed in. Moments later Colonel Pearson then receives an encoded message from SG-1 through subspace, prompting Weir to immediately run to her office to call the president, with Kinsey following closely behind. On the phone, Weir suggests that the Prometheus would best be used to assist SG-1 in completing their mission, rather that taking on the entire Goa'uld fleet itself. Kinsey strongly protests, interrupting Weir, and informing the president that he's relieving her and taking command of the SGC himself. Hayes responds by emphatically telling Kinsey to "shut the hell up", and goes on to accept his resignation. Kinsey, now completely enraged, tells Hayes that he will "only live to regret" his decision, and storms out of the room, slamming the door behind him. Now alone with the president, Weir calmly states that sending Prometheus to cover SG-1 is Earth's best hope. Meanwhile, in the subterranean Hangar in Nevada, Hammond and Walter arrive aboard the bridge of the Prometheus as the crew prepares to take off. As Hammond sits in the command chair, he greets Colonel Kirkland and orders the ship be launched. The ship's engines are then engaged, and the hangar's roof begins to open. Meanwhile aboard the Tel'tak, Daniel approaches the pel'tac at which Teal'c and Bra'tac are sitting. He surmises that the modifications O'Neill has made to the transportation rings will allow them to bore a hole through the ice. Daniel then questions how they will evade Anubis' fleet upon arriving at Earth, and Bra'tac replies that they must exit hyperspace just above the atmosphere as to appear on the other side of the armada, but that doing so will leave them very little time to decelerate. As the ship emerges from hyperspace moments later, it is immediately in a nose dive for the surface. Teal'c attempts to pull up, but the ship is unable to do so until the last second, at which point it barely avoids scraping the top of a peak. Upon leveling out, Teal'c questions where to go, prompting O'Neill to stand up and take control of the ship. He pilots it through a narrow crevasse before stopping the ship at a location above a large valley. Meanwhile aboard Anubis' mothership, Her'ak informs Anubis that a tel'tak has been detected approaching Earth's southern pole, and forces are sent to intercept. As the tel'tak arrives at the location, the ring bay at the underside of the ship begins to open, out of which emerges a powerful and steady beam of energy the same diameter of the ring bay. It begins burrowing into the ice, with a hole beginning to instantly form below the ship. Steam is released in its wake. Upon seeing the mechanism work, O'Neill stands up and runs to the back of the ship. Bra'tac takes his seat and detects several squadrons of Death Gliders and Al'kesh on approach, only thirty seconds out. More ships are then detected approaching from the opposite direction. Carter informs O'Neill that the team is about to 'get their asses kicked', when Bra'tac informs her that the other ships approaching are not Goa'uld. As the team look out the window of the tel'tak, they see a massive fleet of F-302s engaging the Goa'uld ships around them. As Prometheus comes into view, taking position directly above the tel'tak, Hammond orders that the ship be protected at all costs. He radios SG-1 who, appearing relieved, proceed to the rear of the ship where O'Neill is. As the battle around them continues, several gliders and Al'kesh begin firing on Prometheus. Meanwhile, O'Neill removes the modifications he had made to the transport rings while the team dons their combat gear. They prepare to use the rings to transport into whatever lies beneath them, noting that the ice between them and the rings below needed to first be cleared for the matter beam of the rings to connect. As the battle progresses, Prometheus begins taking damage to its outer hull and several F-302s begin to expend their ordinance. Kirkland suggests Prometheus break off so the ship's shield may be recharged, but Hammond insists that they hold their position. SG-1 meanwhile gathers on the transport pad, and Bra'tac activates the rings, transporting the team into the structure below. Upon ringing in, the team find themselves in a dark, vacant structure. They activate their flashlights as they begin to investigate the area. The gentile hum of the ring platform persists for several seconds in the silence. Outside, the battle persists as Prometheus continues providing cover fire. Bra'tac meanwhile breaks position and pilots the tel'tak to a less exposed location now that SG-1 has departed. On his flagship, Anubis achieves a target lock on Prometheus and orders the ship to be fired upon. Over the ice, Prometheus is now being bombarded by a fierce salvo of fire from Anubis' ship. Shields begin to weaken, with sparks erupting from several bridge consoles under the strain. Hammond orders Erin Gant to set course for Anubis' mothership. As the engines engage, Prometheus begins to climb into the atmosphere against the bombardment. SG-1 continues to make their way through the structure. Carter remarks that the facility appears familiar as they approach a device embedded into the wall. O'Neill pauses in front of it, saying "dormata", which Daniel translates to mean 'sleep'. Just then, a whirring noise is heard around the corner. As the team move to investigate, they find themselves face to face with Anubis, who claims to have already captured the power of the Ancients for himself. As the team look on, weapons poised, O'Neill calmly approaches the figure. As he begins to talk, O'Neill reaches his arm through Anubis' face, causing the entire body to disappear, revealing it to be a hologram. As O'Neill continues to walk forward, a chair platform like the one on Proclarush comes into view. He approaches it, kneeling at the edge of the platform. As he waves his hand across the corner, a small, orange-colored device begins to rise up from the platform like on Proclarush, though this one is not illuminated. Upon witnessing this from across the room, Carter approaches, removing the illuminated power source from her bag and handing it to O'Neill. As O'Neill begins to insert it, the hum of the transportation rings is heard. Carter, Daniel, and Teal'c take defensive positions around the platform as two kull warriors emerge from the transport beam. They begin to exchange fire, with the team quickly incapacitating one of the warriors using the disruptor technology attached to their P-90s. Meanwhile, O'Neill has finished replacing the power source, causing the chair and platform to illuminate as before. In space, Prometheus, still under massive bombardment from Anubis' mothership, continues its approach. Meanwhile, in the outpost, more kull warriors continue to ring in. SG-1 continues to hold them off while O'Neill sits in the chair. On Prometheus, shields have failed and all weapons have been expended. Various alarms are heard across the ship as it nears the orbiting Goa'uld fleet. Colonel Kirkland instructs Hammond that the ship will not survive another salvo, though Hammond insists they maintain their course, instructing the crew to brace for collision. O'Neill sits back in the chair as it springs to life. As he begins to concentrate, a hole in the ground suddenly opens on the other side of the room before them. A brilliant yellow light emerges from the opening which illuminates the entire room. As the team look on in awe, a massive swarm of bight yellow objects emerges from the opening and begins to race up the shaft carved out by the tel'tak. On the surface, a massive column of the objects stretches into the sky, intercepting and easily destroying a number of nearby death gliders on the way. On the tel'tak, Bra'tac looks out at the massive column through the window in astonishment. A feeling of triumph washes over his face as he looks on, smiling. In the outpost, all is silent again and the weapons have finished being launched. The team begin to approach O'Neill, who is still deep in concentration as he continues controlling the weapons. In space, Prometheus is moments away from colliding with Anubis' mothership as the column begins to make its way out of the atmosphere, quickly coming up directly behind Prometheus. Just as it seems they're about to hit, the column is deflected around the ship, diverging into several smaller paths, many of which begin to violently impact the Hull of Anubis' flagship. As Prometheus breaks off course, the weapons continue to bombard the flagship's hull, completely bypassing the ship's shields, with every other ship in Anubis fleet being simultaneously attacked. Anubis stands at the window of his ship, looking out as ship after ship is obliterated, and sees a salvo of the weapons heading directly toward him. He begins to scream "NO!" as the weapons impact the window, with the entire ship going up moments later in a brilliant blue explosion. On Prometheus, upon witnessing the explosion, Kirkland emphatically exclaims 'What was that?', to which Hammond triumphantly replies 'That was SG-1". In the SGC, Dr. Weir stands in the control room as she listens to the battle being described over the radio. President Hayes meanwhile sits at his desk in the oval office listening to the same transmission, appearing relieved. In the outpost, O'Neill begins to lose consciousness as his head slumps to the side and the chair deactivates. Carter rushes toward him, demanding he stay awake now that they've won the battle, but he appears unresponsive. On Prometheus, Hayes makes contact with Hammond, who informs him that the Anubis has been defeated and the threat to Earth has been eliminated. Hayes expressive his thanks to Hammond, both men appearing relieved by the outcome. In the outpost, Carter makes an impassioned plea for Jack to wake up. He begins to move his mouth, stating "dormata". The team realize he's referring to the device they found earlier. They begin to help him out of the chair and carry him to the device. As Teal'c places him inside, the device illuminates in response to his presence. When the team question what to do now, O'Neill simply replies 'goodbye' in Ancient. The device then activates, projecting a clear, ice-like substance over the pod, completely enveloping O'Neill. As the substance solidifies and the device powers down, the team realize it to be a stasis pod, and look on at O'Neill, now completely motionless in the pod. Carter, now highly emotional, exclaims that there must be something in the outpost capable of reversing what the Ancient repository did to O'Neill. Daniel however notes that the structure they are is far too small to be the Lost City, instead bearing more resemblance to the outpost on Taonas. The team appears shocked at the revelation that they have not yet found the Lost City, and question where it could then be. As the team look on at O'Neill, Carter approaches the pod, gently touching it with her hand, longing for O'Neill. The frozen O'Neill simply stares out at her, motionless. + +At Stargate Command Dr. Daniel Jackson plans to go to Antarctica but then Dr. Elizabeth Weir enters and tells him that the talks stalled again. He gets angry about the situation but because she can't do anything she leaves. She later talks with SG-1 and its members protest that they are not allowed to use the Stargate. She tells them that they can't use it because they want to show their goodwill to the world. Major Samantha Carter then proposes using the modified Tel'tak to get to Othala to contact the Asgard, who could help Colonel Jack O'Neill. However Weir denies that request since they perhaps need that ship in the future to fend off the Goa'uld and because the engines could burn out on the flight. Later Carter talks with Weir privately and asks her to reconsider her request but she denies. However when Carter threatens to refuse to work on the modified cargo ship, she gets the allowance. Carter then talks with Teal'c about their flight and when Daniel enters, he is informed that he has to stay because if the two fail he would be the only one left to help O'Neill. Some time later Carter and Teal'c fly through hyperspace to Hala and during the flight Carter tries to find out how O'Neill modified the engines but she can't find out how he did it. She then tries to start a conversation with Teal'c but it isn't a long talk. At the SGC, Daniel again talks with Weir about the talks between the nations when suddenly the gate is activated. They receive a text message from Camulus, a Goa'uld System Lord who wants to arrange a meeting between Earth and the System Lords. Weir is then authorized by President Henry Hayes to start negotiations and Daniel informs her about the System Lords, their behavior and their representatives, especially Lord Yu. Meanwhile Carter and Teal'c reach Hala but find that Hala's sun has become a Black hole and that their engines have burned out. They are unable to break free from the gravitational forces of the black hole. They try transferring shield power to the engines without effect; the hull breaks apart and as that happens, they are beamed out by Thor. He informs them that the Asgard collapsed the sun to create a black hole to permanently destroy the Replicators on Hala. They estimated that it would take the Human-form Replicators two years to reach the Time dilation device used to trap them, so a more permanent solution was devised. As they talk a large block of Replicators, who have reversed the time dilation device to speed time and their own evolution, form a ship using the energy and matter from the accretion disk of the black hole and escape just before crossing the event horizon, heading towards Thor's ship. They try to escape but the Replicators fire a Replicator-infested projectile on them and board the ship. While Carter and Teal'c start to destroy the Replicators, Carter is beamed away by the Replicator ship, which then enters hyperspace. On Earth the representatives, Camulus, Amaterasu, Yu, and his First Prime Oshu arrive. They reveal that since the defeat of Anubis, the System Lords balance of power was destroyed. To avoid open war, they divided his territories among them, but Ba'al found Tartarus, took control of the Kull warriors, and that he plans to attack the worlds protected by the Protected Planets Treaty. They ask if they could use the Ancient weapon against Ba'al. After a break the System Lords offer them Hyperdrive engines as powerful as a Ha'tak for a fleet of Earth ships to take the fight to Ba'al but Weir declines. Instead she proposes that Earth gets Ba'al's territory after they defeated him but the System Lords decline this offer. Afterwards the Goa'uld contact their allies. In the Asgard galaxy Thor follows the Replicators, which head towards Orilla, the new Asgard homeworld, and rich with Neutronium. It is the key component in Asgard technology, the means for the Replicators to make thousands and construct Human Replicators. Meanwhile on the Replicator ship Carter is confronted by Fifth who is angry with her since she betrayed him. Carter tries to apologize but Fifth refuses to hear of it. He then proceeds to mind-probe her as a means of torture with Carter doing her best to resist him but ultimately with little success as Fifth keeps probing her again and again with Carter even breaking down and begging Fifth to stop, causing Fifth to retort why should he. He then continues doing this for some time so that Carter can feel the pain he felt at her betrayal but once he sees just how much pain Carter is in, Fifth eventually relents. Meanwhile Thor proposes to Self-destruct his ship to destroy both ships and Teal'c agrees. However before they reach the Replicators, the ship loses power because of surviving Replicators on the ship. Teal'c destroys them while Thor warns his people. The Asgard then send a fleet to protect Orilla and six O'Neill-class ships destroy the arriving Replicator ship. On Earth Daniel looks on the message which the System Lords got and before they leave he deactivates the gate. It turns out that the System Lords sent a ship to test Earth's defense and so Weir orders the Goa'uld to be arrested. + +Thor is informed by Penegal of the Asgard High Council that several Replicator blocks rained down on Orilla and started to infest Asgard systems needed to save the minds and cloned bodies of the Asgard. And the Asgard aren't able to evacuate their new home. In the meantime the Prometheus manned by Colonel Lionel Pendergast waits in Earth orbit on the Ha'tak but it turns out that the ship is in fact Thor's ship and they are greeted by Teal'c. At Stargate Command Dr. Daniel Jackson informs the System Lords that their ship was destroyed by Ba'al and he is suddenly beamed aboard Thor's ship, the Daniel Jackson. After he is greeted Thor beams up Colonel Jack O'Neill, whose Ancient-knowledge would be the key to destroy the Replicators. Meanwhile Major Samantha Carter wakes up in a bed and it turns out that she is in a large farmhouse in Montana. She is greeted by Pete Shanahan but doesn't believe that this all is real. However Pete tells her that she left SGC a year ago due to mental stress and after some time she finally agrees to eat something. After a meal she says that she still does not believe that this is real which makes Pete angry. Finally Pete transforms into Fifth who tells her that he loves her. She however tells him that she can't love him back so he threatens to make her very unhappy. On Thor's ship he connects O'Neill's mind with the computer of his ship with a stasis pod sustaining his life and the computer translating Ancient. Finally O'Neill talks to them through the ship's communication system, and he plays around a little, making the lights in the room flash off and on. He then shows himself as a hologram and starts to work on something to fight the Replicators. After some time an alarm sounds because the Ancient knowledge must be erased and O'Neill is barely able to finish his work before he is woken up. When he gets up he still feels dizzy and doesn't remember what happened. Meanwhile Thor materializes the device which O'Neill created but he doesn't know what it is. Suddenly they are contacted by Penegal who informs them that the Replicators on Orilla seem to be controlled by a Human-form Replicator and so SG-1 hopes that Carter survived but it turns out that the Asgard found no life signs of her. Then the communication is disrupted. At SGC Dr. Elizabeth Weir visits Yu's First Prime Oshu who asks her to let them go to fight against Ba'al since he commands the full force of Anubis' fleets with which he would control the galaxy. Later she visits Camulus who wants to request asylum since his forces were destroyed. Finally the System Lords are allowed to leave but Amaterasu tells Weir to tell Camulus that he will be forever branded a traitor and a coward. While Thor still does researches on the Ancient device he is contacted by Aegir, commander of the Valhalla, who tells him that they found the remains of a human-form Replicator in space, which Thor beams on board. He then tries to enter the Replicator communication network. Thanks to this they find out where Carter is but then the human-form Replicator wakes up, repairs itself, resists beaming and takes control of the ship. The three humans’ fire on him but to no avail until O'Neill uses the Replicator disruptor to destroy the Replicator. Thanks to this new information Thor will be able to generate a large version of the weapon to destroy all Replicators on Orilla. In the meantime SG-1 beams down on the planet to rescue Carter. They are quickly attacked by Replicators which they start to destroy until Fifth appears, who threatens to kill Carter. O'Neill is then contacted by Thor but suddenly all the Replicators start to move in one direction. SG-1 tries to destroy as much of them as possible until they see a massive Replicator ship in the form of a large spider. Meanwhile Carter talks with Fifth, who tells her what is happening. She tries to talk some sense into him when suddenly the spider reveals itself to be a ship as well; it lifts off and immediately enters hyperspace. Afterward, Thor activates the massive disruptor which destroys all remaining Replicators on the planet. He then detects another life sign in the proximity of the three humans and it turns out to be Carter. So SG-1 is finally reunited. Some time later O'Neill visits Weir who tells him that she will supervise the Antarctic outpost. She also tells him that Major General George S. Hammond will be the new director of the new unofficial Department of "Homeworld Security" and that the new commander of SGC will be Brigadier General Jack O'Neill since The Pentagon believes he's perfect for the job. Although he is happy about the promotion he doesn't like to be in charge of something, which he also points out during his meeting with SG-1. However they assure him that he is the best for this position but that there are also new challenges for all of them. The next day, with the Embarkation Room having been decorated, Weir approaches the podium and states that although her time here has been brief, it has been enjoyable and vows that she will remember everyone before thanking them for their hard work. Weir also says that she is not one for long goodbyes before announcing that she will introduce the SGC personnel to their new Commanding Officer: Brigadier General Jack O'Neill. The blast door opens and all the military personnel assume the stance as Jack walks in. Once he's reached the mike, he tells all the military to be at ease before telling them that he hopes can be as good a leader as they've had in the past with Daniel saying, "Here, here", causing the room to erupt with applause. Jack then announces that his first order of business as Commander of the SGC is to announce that Sam has been promoted from Major to Lt. Colonel which has Sam herself stunned. Sam then heads up the stage and as Walter announces Sam's promotion, Jack removes Sam's Major golden oak leaves before he replaces them with the silver oak leaves associated with those of a Lieutenant Colonel. The two then salute each other with Jack announcing Sam by her new rank, Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Carter. After some more applause, the ceremony resumes with Carter raising her right hand and repeating the words that Jack says which suggests that they're presumably in the process of doing an oath that has Carter swearing her allegiance to the United States military, particularly the Air Force. On the Replicator ship which is traveling through space, Fifth is busy making final preparations and as soon as it's finished, his Replicator brethen scurry away with Fifth telling the being in question not to be afraid. As it emerges from its makeshift area, the camera pans around to reveal that Fifth's creation is a Human-Form Replicator in the form of Carter. + +Several months after the destruction of Anubis's fleet, Stargate Command gets a new member in the form of the Russian Colonel Alexi Vaselov, who promptly asks Brigadier General Jack O'Neill for a place on SG-1. After the General rejects this request Vaselov talks with Dr. Daniel Jackson about this but suddenly collapses. When he wakes up again he doesn't remember anything since he was in Russia and his body shows signs of extensive viral damage. O'Neill orders the base to be shut off but Daniel, who wants to leave on a mission with SG-11, takes offense at being stopped and suddenly takes a weapon and nearest team member hostage, then shoots two gate guards before he is stopped by O'Neill and Teal'c. Meanwhile, Vaselov remembers that he felt like being trapped in his own body and he blames himself for what has happened. It is also found out that Russian Cosmonaut Anatole Konstantinov from the International Space Station died a week after returning to Russia, exhibiting the same symptoms as Vaselov. Later Daniel wakes up and on being questioned he quickly remembers that he was taken over by Anubis. It turns out that the former System Lord, thanks to his half-ascended form as a dark spectre which was released when his body was destroyed, can jump from person to person. It is concluded that Anubis plans on leaving the base through the Stargate because he can't use his ascended powers, since this would alert the Ancients. In the meantime Anubis easily eludes capture, can not be contained, and can not be killed. SGC responds with a plan to prevent any one person or location to access and control the gate. The base is split into 3 sections using drop-down steel doors. The Stargate is in one section, the control room is relocated from the gate area into another section, and the room which controls the 'lockdown' is in the third. All staff are restricted to 1 section only, so Anubis would have to control two persons each in a different section, one to dial the gate and the other to pass through. Anubis takes over Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter (in the section with the room which controls the 'lockdown') for her technical skills to break the lockdown. He makes her schedule a program (including the self-destruct of the base) to open the doors temporarily, then goes to the new control room and begins dialing the gate. O'Neill stops her, is in turn taken over by Anubis, and goes to the gate. There Anubis/O'Neill meet the previously possessed Vaselov, who came from the infirmary as soon as he heard the self-destruct warning. Vaselov sets a gun on Anubis/O'Neill and insists that he possess his body instead otherwise he'll kill them both, so Anubis leaves O'Neill for Vaselov and walks through the gate. Panic starts about Anubis getting away, but Carter assures everyone not to worry. She explains that she couldn't stop the established dialing sequence, but at least managed to switch the destination address to KS7-535. On hearing the address, a pleased O'Neill says, "chilly!". It then cuts to a close up of a deep snow blizzard, and as it pans away, it's shown that it's a freezing planet, and at the foot of the gate only a few steps away sits a now frozen Vaselov which means that although Vaselov is now dead, Anubis is presumably trapped on the ice planet. + +Brigadier General Jack O'Neill arrives at Stargate Command in the morning and is greeted by MSgt. Walter Harriman, who informs him about his schedule. After briefly talking to John Prior about the security of the base, O'Neill enters his office where he is greeted by a man named Mark Gilmor. Harriman then introduces Gilmor as the General's new administrative aide and after some further discussion Harriman shows Gilmor his office. From there Gilmor makes a strange call telling someone that he is "in position" and that "he" (O'Neill) does not suspect a thing. Later O'Neill talks with Harriman about the bunting for the President Henry Hayes's visit when suddenly Lt. General George S. Hammond calls. After talking with him, O'Neill meets up with SG-1. Dr. Daniel Jackson tells him that they found a planet which formerly belonged to Anubis and which Ba'al doesn't know about. They hope to find something interesting there, however they have to wait until tomorrow, much to Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter's disappointment. Afterwards O'Neill meets Dr. Bill Lee, who shows him an alien plant that grows very quickly. O'Neill is not impressed, however. Next he is informed by Major Paul Davis about the Amrans, visitors from another world with whom they want to start trade agreements, who however quarrel the whole time. Thus O'Neill shows them a room in which the two delegates can stay but then locks them inside, much to their anger. After all this O'Neill starts to write a letter to Hammond. On the next morning O'Neill is greeted by Gilmor, who informs him about the latest happenings. Afterwards he says goodbye to SG-1, who go on the mission to Anubis' planet. They intend to use an old arm device to access a long abandoned base which might hold something of value. There, while SG-3 guards the Stargate, SG-1 looks around, attempting to use the arm device to gain access to the abandoned hidden base when suddenly they are transported away by Transportation rings. Meanwhile at the gate an Al'kesh flies over. Afterwards Colonel Albert Reynolds reports back to SGC about this but even with another search party they don't find SG-1. Meanwhile at SGC the plant that Lee was studying has started to grow extremely quickly and now covers much of the base. Later SG-3 returns when suddenly Ba'al contacts them and tells O'Neill he has SG-1 and wants to exchange them with Camulus. On the next day O'Neill is again informed by Gilmor about the latest happenings and after talking to Reynolds about the exchange he talks to Camulus in his cell. Because Camulus doesn't give him anything he threatens to send him through the gate. Afterwards Camulus tells him about an Ancient device he once found. O'Neill sends a team to the planet, who brings back a Zero Point Module. Suddenly the electricity fails which is caused by the plant and which prevents them from dialing out. Meanwhile Ba'al contacts them but O'Neill simply mocks him, which makes the System Lord angry. Lee in the meantime has found out how to destroy the alien plant and is able to completely destroy it, which brings all systems back online. Later O'Neill wants to send Camulus through the gate but then stops because Lee shows him that the ZPM was manipulated and now is a powerful bomb. O'Neill confronts Camulus about this and the former System Lord confesses that he manipulated the ZPM. Afterwards O'Neill allows him to go through the gate with the tampered ZPM, with which he will kill Ba'al. However Ba'al doesn't send back SG-1. Later O'Neill continues to write the letter for Hammond and later is called in the gate room, where all SG teams tell him that they trust him and will do what he wants. He thanks them and wants to leave the base, when suddenly the gate is activated. It is SG-1 who is attacked by Jaffa and who reveal to him that they weren't captured by Ba'al but instead were trapped in Anubis secret base - Ba'al's troops were there looking for the base when SG-1 went missing. O'Neill then allows them to come through the gate even though they are under fire from Ba'al's troops. However they inform him that they didn't find anything valuable in the base. In the end O'Neill talks with Carter, who informs him that the tainted ZPM could be used as a powerful weapon but O'Neill then reveals to her that he gave Camulus the dead ZPM which they found first. Later Gilmor informs O'Neill that the President has arrived and also tells the General that he was ordered by the President to look over him. However O'Neill reveals that Hammond already informed him, although he wasn't supposed to. Gilmor then tells him that he respects him and they both leave to greet the President. On Jack O'Neill's desk is a letter of Resignation. As the camera zooms in we see it ending with: "Never mind". + +Doctor Daniel Jackson wakes up badly injured, stranded off world on the planet Tegalus, which has a somewhat advanced civilization similar to Earth's in the 1940s. Jackson is being tended to by Leda, an attractive young woman, who is now unwrapping the bandages around his head. When she is done, the two can see each other with their own eyes for the first time. They are "many miles" from "the city" in the house that once belonged to Leda's uncle. Jackson later remembers that a terrible event happened, resulting in many deaths, and he believes that he was at fault for what had transpired over the previous months. Three months ago in a city on Tegalus, a group of Tegalan tourists are being guided in a museum, to one of its most well know artifacts, "The Great Ring of Avidan" (the Stargate), which was discovered over 150 years ago on the Kirellian wastelands. Though they have yet to discover its purpose as a portal to other planets, they believed that it was made by ancient worshipers to honour their gods. The tour is cut short when the Stargate activates and a Mobile Analytic Laboratory Probe emerges through the event horizon, leaving the group in bewilderment. One tourist even asks if this is part of the exhibit. Sometime later, SG-1, consisting of Jackson, Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Carter and Teal'c step through to meet with the representatives of the Rand Protectorate, one of the two nations of Tegalus. The representatives include Commander Gareth and his chief aide Jared Kane. Carter begins by apologizing for startling the tourists, as this is the first time the Tau'ri encountered a civilization that viewed the Stargate as a museum piece. Kane also notes that the Tau'ri are also human (they have yet to discover that the Tegalan ancestors were themselves, from Earth). Gareth hopes an alliance can be formed and further understand the purpose of the Stargate, which Jackson notes is used as a cultural motif (necklaces with the Stargate symbol can be seen worn by some of the Tegalans); they previously believed that the device was a source of their gods' power, though not as many believe that now. It appears that the Tegalans are more secularised in the modern times. Despite this, Gareth shows some concerns that the Stargate's activation may cause a stir among the minority who still follow the old ways. Back in the present, Leda continues to tend to Jackson, who was sleeping. He wakes up and Leda hands him some medicine to help with the pain, although medicine is in such short supply. Leda gets up to leave Jackson alone, but Jackson wants her to stay. Two months ago, SG-1 are briefing Brigadier General Jack O'Neill at Stargate Command's Briefing Room on their progress with the representatives from the Caledonian Federation, the other of the two nations of Tegalus. Gareth would not allow the team too much time to talk with the Caledonians due to security concerns. It turns out that both nations have been in a state of Cold War for several decades, and both sides have weapons capable of wiping each other out. Furthermore there is a third element vying for power that has Jackson more concerned; a group of religious fundamentalists led by a man named Soren. The fundamentalists believe that life on their planet was created by ancient gods who would one day return to reward them for their faith, and the Stargate's activation seemed to have vindicated their beliefs. Before, the group were considered zealots, but now they will gain more support and followers. O'Neill admits that although the news is bad, it is not their problem. Later, Jackson confronts O'Neill in the corridors. He wants to return to Tegalus, as what has transpired over there is their fault. Things would not escalate off world if SG-1 had not arrived. Jackson hopes he can make the Tegalans understand what they are facing, as well as make them see it should not mark the end of the world for them. O'Neill decides to allow Jackson to return solo, but tells him to make regular contact, as well as evacuate the second things start to get "squirly". In the present, Jackson is on his feet again, despite Leda's protest. He wants to know what has happened, since the last thing he remembered was being in a bunker with Gareth, and then was attacked. It turns out Jared Kane is Leda's husband, and she feels best that he would answer Jackson's questions after he has finished searching for survivors in the city. Jackson wants to return home, but Leda tells him access to the Stargate is no longer possible, as there are several rebel patrols in the area. He then asks what happened to Gareth. Leda does not answer, but by the look on her face it cannot be good news. Meanwhile, Carter and Teal'c return to the Embarkation room after having met with Soren, which was less than constructive. They tell O'Neill that they were only allowed to see him for fifteen minutes, after a wait of several hours. Soren has united all the fundamentalist factions of Rand and, following a coup d'etat, he is now in control of that nation. Soren was not willing to allow them to search for Jackson, though he claimed he would look into the matter before "insisting" that they leave. Furthermore, Soren is against the Tau'ri's access to the surface, including an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, as he claims it would interfere with their radio communication systems. As of now, they do not even know if Jackson is even still alive. Six weeks ago, Jackson arrives at the bunker and learns that the Rand Protectorate is at a high state of alert following civil unrests, largely by Soren's followers. Over a dozen municipalities have fallen to Soren and his forces, and Rand forces are now attempting to "pacify" those areas. They have also raised the alert in response of Caledonia's hightened state of alert. Jackson is witnessing Gareth trying to talk with Minister Treydan of the Caledonian Federation. The talks are not going well, particularly concerning the Stargate. It is also revealed that since its activation, the Caledonians have declared a state of martial law, with their domestic security intact. Treydan urges Gareth to control the situation on his end, because if Soren is in control of Rand, the Caledonians would see this as an act of war. Back in the present, Jackson has spent several days on the radio to make contact with Stargate Command, to no avail. Leda pays a visit and persuades him to stop for a while to get some fresh air. As they walk, Leda asks how Jackson can be sure that Soren is wrong. He merely explains that the gods Soren reveres, are known as the Goa'uld; parasitic aliens who use indimadation and fear to rule other worlds, and are certainly not benevolent. The Tau'ri has even fought and killed some of them. Lada assures him that it was still better that the Tau'ri arrived over the Goa'uld, but considering the state of the planet, Jackson is not so sure. Leda tries to assure him again by telling him the fued between both countries have been going on for generations, and that SG-1's arrival was merely a catalyst, the conflict would have happened sooner or later. In Stargate Command, Carter and Sergeant Norman Walter Davis Harriman have been trying to reach Jackson, also without success on their end. It seems that Soren has radio-jamming measures in place, preventing them from making contact with anybody on the planet. In the meantime, O'Neill hears that SG-9 has tried negotiating with Soren, but it is not going well; Soren will not allow an SG team to search for Jackson, claiming that any Tau'ri presence would cause more panic. O'Neill decides it is time for him to be talking to Soren face to face. On Tegalus, Jackson wanders outside the house and is held at gunpoint by an armed man. He is revealed to be one of Jared Kane's men, who lets him ago after realising who he is. Inside the home, kane tells Jackson he and his team got as close to the capital city as they could, as Soren's forces are sweeping the region for survivors, and anybody suspected of being loyal to Gareth's government were to be executed on the spot. Kane then completes the story leading to Jackson's stranding, the parts Jackson could not remember; A few weeks ago, Jackson returns to the bunker, but is stopped by Kane, who tells him she should not be here. The rebels have controlled most of Rand's major cities, and are closing in on the capital. In response the Caledonians have readied their missiles in case Rand falls to Soren completely. Treydan speaks with Gareth over the radio again, where Treydan learns that Rand's military is on the verge of mutiny, and the civil unrest is now turing to a civil war. Then, Gareth hears some disturbing news from Kane; Soren's forces have just gained control of one of Rand's missile deployment facilities. Gareth gets back to Treydan, who already knows about what happened. Treydan orders the Caledonian missiles to take off and target all of Rand's missile sites. In the present, Kane tells Jackson that Soren used the missile site to attack Caledonia, resulting in a full scale war.In a matter of days, every city was leveled, and the majority of the survivors came from the rural areas. Soren used the chaos as an opportunity to gain control of the bunker. Jackson also learns that rather than Kane saving him, it was in fact him saving Kane. Back in the flashback, with the Caledonian missiles striking the city, Kane is ordered to escort Jackson back to the Stargate so he can return home. As they make their way out however, the doors to the entrance of the bunker is blown, preventing Jackson access to the Stargate. A contingent of Soren's forces storm it. In the resulting firefight, Kane is shot in the leg. Jackson helps him up and they make their way to an emergency hatch to the city. Once they are out, there is an explosion nearby, and they both take cover as a dust cloud evelops them. Jackson was more badly injured, but loyalist forces spotted them before Soren's did, and they were sent to the house. The bunker meanwhile, has been lost, and Gareth was swiftly executed. Soren is now leading a provisional government, and has confiscated the Stargate. Daniel is trapped behind enemy lines. In the meantime, Soren has arrived at Stargate Command to talk with Carter, O'Neill and Teal'c. Soren reveals that he renamed the Rand Protectorate to Avidan, which he says speaks more to his people's beliefs. Teal'c explains to O'Neill that Avidan is a word in ancient Goa'uld dialect, meaning "the gods are just." On Tegalus, Jackson realises that Soren is still using the bunker as a command center, meaning he has not consolidated his power yet. They could still retake the bunker, but since Kane only has a dozen men loyal to him, it would be suicide. He also knows Jackson has been trying to contact Earth, with no success. They just have to accept the fact that Soren has won, and Rand belongs to him now. Soren is admiring the view of the Stargate from the Briefing room as they begin their talks. When Soren mentions that the struggles was to defend his people's way of life, Teal'c speaks honestly, telling him that he merely killed those who believed differently to him. Carter gives Soren an offer of aid; food and medical supplies, as well as helping them rebuild if they are allowed to search for Jackson. Soren however, declines the offer, believes Jackson to be dead, and then admits that he is more interested in Earth's weapons technology, claiming the revolution is not yet complete; he conquered Rand, and now he wants to conquer Caledonia. Though he admits that the Tegalans are facing starvation and disease, he thinks it is more important for him to "purge" everybody who refuse to share his beliefs, something O'Neill would count as crimes against humanity. Back on Tegalus, Daniel approaches Leda to tell her to convince Kane to take back return of the bunker. Leda however, tells him that Kane is right. At this point, Leda reveals she has feeling for him; she is saddened at the thought that Jackson will leave once and if they retake control. Jackson was the first man she was able to talk with in a while; over the past few years, ever since Kane became Gareth's chief aide he has become distant to her. She reluctantly decides to talk with her husband, but she tells Jackson he will likely not listen. Carter, O'Neill and Teal'c are in the General's Office, where O'Neill thinks that talking with Soren was a waste of time. However Carter notes that he is still here, and that means he is willing to make a deal. She is also still trying to monitor the countless radio frequencies from Tegalus, and finding a way to find Jackson. Leda has talked to her husband, but Kane's opinion remains unchanged. He also notices that Leda has feelings for Jackson. He tells her that if he could live the past few years differently, he would, but there are no time for regrets. He asks Leda if she is in love with Jackson. Leda's only answer is that she trusts him. Back at Stargate Command, Soren continues to talk about his gods, and how his people are waiting for their "inevitable return". O'Neill and Teal'c then tell him that the gods he worship are not who he thinks them to be; should they return, they will "reward" their faith with enslavement. Soren believes this to be a tactic to sway his beliefs, and that his faith is unshakeable. He and his aides later return back to Tegalus empty handed. After they leave, Carter reports to O'Neill from the Stargate Operations room. By implementing new spread-spectrum frequency, hopping into their communication software, they have found Jackson, who is calling out to Stargate Command. In the transmission, Daniel starts speaking with words in a different language, which the team recognize is the Goa'uld language. Teal'c translates one of the words, "Ring kol nok", as "strategy", and another word, "Kaltesh", is a well-known Jaffa battle tactic; a flanking attack from two sides. Later, Carter, O'Neill and Teal'c return to the Briefing room and translate the Goa'uld words Jackson used, leading to a strategy to retake the bunker, by proposing a coordinated attack against Soren. While Jackson and Kane's men enter the bunker from the surface, at the same time the rest of SG-1, with SG-3, SG-6 and SG-12 as back-up, come through the Stargate, secure the bunker, and extract Jackson, who has also supplies an estimate number of guards in the bunker with a possible date and time for the assault. They will call Jackson again in five hours to confirm the details. O'Neill approves of the mission. Later, Jackson and Kane are talking. Kane is skeptical that fifteen people from Earth will take on Soren's forces, but Jackson assures him that those people are among the best trained people from the planet, having been trained from missions like storming enemy compounds. Leda hurries inside the house to tell the men that a rebel patrol are approaching the house. Everybody except Leda retreats down to the cellar before the patrol barge in and interrogate Leda. Jackson attempts to intervene, but Kane stops him. The patrol find a set of men's clothes and boots, despite Leda's lie that she is living by herself. Leda makes up a story that her husband was killed during the initial bombings. She also pretends to want to be a simple follower of Soren's movement and follow their ancient texts to distract them from looking. The patrol are able to leave. Once they are out of site, Kane's men and Jackson arm up and discuss their plan to take back the bunker via the city's tunnel system, and then wait for Tau'ri forces to arrive and strike. After the team agree on the plan, Kane and Jackson each have a chance to say goodbye to Leda before they continue. Later, Jackson and the Rand loyalists march through the tunnel system. Meanwhile, at Stargate Command, the Stargate is activated and the SG teams make their move, with Carter and Teal'c throwing smoke grenades through the wormhole. Soren hears about the attack from one of his aides, when she reports that the loyalists have taken down several sections, and they are also being attacked by Tau'ri forces; they are losing control of the bunker. Soren does not like to hear her idea to surrender. They then hear gunfire nearby. Soren's forces have pinned down Kane's team and are firing at them. Carter and Teal'c are nearby and throw stun grenades at the enemy. With those people distracted, Jackson, Kane's men and all the SG teams have the upper hand and kill everyone guarding the control room following a brief firefight. They make their way to the control room entrance and await, while calling for their surrender. Carter asks Kane if Soren is likely to just surrender. Kane does not answer, but by his expression, the possibility is doubtful. In the control room, Soren's aide tells him they are surrounded. Soren responds by shooting her dead. He addresses the rest of his army in the room, to tell them their purpose is to follow the will of the gods, purge the unbelievers, and die for their faith. When he then orders them to engage the loyalists, the rest of the army refuse to follow his order, so Soren grabs a weapon and decides to face the loyalists and SG teams himself as a show of faith. He walks out of the control room, surrounded. Carter orders him to drop the weapon. Soren merely raises his hands while still holding his weapon. Suddenly, Kane emerges from the group, rifle raised, and shoots him dead. As most of the others move in on the control room to apprehend the rebels inside, Jackson and Kane stand over Soren's body. Kane states "it's over", to which Jackson hopes so, as he may have just made a martyr out of Soren. Kane claims he had no choice, and tells Jackson he can return home now. He also assures him that what happened to Tegalus was not his fault. Jackson says he intends to keep his promise to help Kane rebuild their civilization. Jackson then joins Carter and they start to return to the Stargate, back to Earth at last. + +Stargate Command is under attack by a Kull Warrior, one of Anubis' super soldiers, who wreaks havoc in the Embarkation room and even kills Brigadier General Jack O'Neill. However, Teal'c is able to destroy him with a Kull disruptor from a fallen soldier. It then turns out that this attack was only a simulation. Using one of the Virtual reality pods from P7J-989 (seen in "The Gamekeeper"), modified by Dr. Bill Lee, Teal'c is testing a program meant to simulate a security breach in the SGC. After completing the simulation, he comments on how easy it was compared to actual combat with a Kull Warrior, and volunteers to improve it by allowing it to learn from him while he runs through a scenario. Unfortunately, it absorbs a lot of Teal'c's combat experience and Teal'c soon finds himself losing multiple times in a row. In addition to simply providing more skilled opponents, the game begins to add previously encountered difficulties throughout the game. After he believes he has completed one objective, the program adds an additional objective, and even places multiple Kull Warriors into the scenario and provides one warrior with a Goa'uld cloaking device. In the real world, Teal'c is being shocked by electricity every time he is wounded in the game, simulating the injuries he is sustaining at the hands of the Anubis drones. Though each individual shock is rather minuscule, a safety feature designed to prevent the chair from killing its user prevents it from delivering a lethal jolt, but the cumulative effects begin to worry Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter. Over time Teal'c's adrenaline level rises, as well as his heart rate and blood pressure. If the program isn't stopped, Teal'c will eventually suffer a cardiac arrest and major organ failure. Within the game, Teal'c is progressively improving his style of play each time he has been killed, donning armor and more powerful weaponry when he had previously charged directly into battle. However, when he has planned an ambush for the Anubis drones and it finally seems that he and the simulated SGC personnel have the upper hand, the game adds another challenge and renders the Kull disruptor useless; negated by newer drone armor. He is again killed and, when the simulation begins again, the simulated Carter reveals that she has been working on a new device to counter such armor, providing Teal'c with the ability to again kill the Kull Warriors. Unfortunately, when it seems that they have won the next round and eliminated all Anubis warriors, the base self-destruct is activated and the game reset. In the next round, though he begins the game by having Carter deactivate the self-destruct, but he is unable to eliminate all the Anubis drones. After a fierce hand-to-hand struggle with the third Warrior, he decides it is time to end the simulation. Unfortunately, the fail-safe built into the game designed to allow a player to quit at any time, activated when the base elevator is taken to the surface of Cheyenne Mountain, instead simply resets the game. The game, which has been learning from Teal'c the entire time, has determined that if this were a real situation (Teal'c wanted it to be as real as possible), Teal'c would never quit under any circumstances. In the next round, instead of the base self-destruct, a Naquadah generator overloads and Dr. Daniel Jackson is revealed to be a Goa'uld. Another obstacle that the game introduced when it seemed that Teal'c had overcome all the others. Eventually, the constant battle, frequent deaths, and seemingly never ending supply of new challenges overwhelms Teal'c, who simply gives up playing the game, sitting against a base wall and letting the Anubis drones destroy the base unopposed. In the real world, the doctors are discussing various methods of forcibly extracting Teal'c from the chair, a possibly fatal action, and whether or not they can keep his adrenaline levels artificially high for the duration of the game. Meanwhile, Carter is working with another chair simulator and a brain-imprint of Teal'c from six years ago (When they had originally been trapped on P7J-989)\. She discovers that at the time of their original entrapment, despite what he had told the SGC personnel, Teal'c did not truly believe that the Goa'uld could ever be defeated, and the game appears to be acting upon that belief by continuously adding newer and more challenging obstacle to the game. Though Teal'c had changed his beliefs in the years since, after seeing so many Goa'uld fall and watching a Jaffa Rebellion spring from nothing, he still had a core of doubt that the game is acting upon, even adding new elements to prevent him from winning even when he seems to have the upper hand. Thankfully, after an innocent suggestion by O'Neill, Carter realizes that, by hooking up a second chair without using the data recorder that allowed them to monitor Teal'c progress in the game, she would be able to give the second player a two second virtual precognition, which works since they would receive the data before Teal'c's brain can process it. After a short argument about who should enter, it is decided that Dr. Daniel Jackson should enter the virtual simulation via the second chair. Unfortunately, the first time Daniel finds Teal'c, Teal'c believes him to be a Goa'uld spy (as this had happened in a previous simulation) and quickly shoots him. This happens repeatedly before Daniel convinces Teal'c (whom he has shot with a Zat'nik'tel) that he is there to help. The two decide to work together to end the program but, when Teal'c is again killed by a Kull Warrior, his heart stops beating. Though a doctor in the real world manages to restart Teal'c's heart, such an action will not work again and if Teal'c dies one more time it will likely be permanent. Fortunately, in the last scenario Teal'c and Daniel manage to eliminate all Kull warriors while the virtual Carter deactivates the overloading reactor, and Teal'c kills the Goa'uld infested MSgt. Sylvester Siler when Daniel 'sees' him begin to rise, thus finally ending the program. In the real world, an obviously exhausted Teal'c weakly exclaims that "We have won", which prompts O'Neill to reply "It's what we do." + +On a city street an incident involving several thugs and a man with whom they are trying to pick a fight with occurs. As one of them threatens another driver he is suddenly stopped by Teal'c, who demands that they resolve the incident legally. The thugs refuse and try to attack Teal'c, and are subsequently easily dispatched. After the incident, back at Stargate Command, Colonel Richard Kendrick comes into Brigadier General Jack O'Neill's office. He is displeased with Teal'c's recent behavior. He believes that Teal'c may become a threat to the Stargate program's secrecy. Dr. Daniel Jackson visits Teal'c in his apartments. He is worried that Teal'c attracts too much attention to himself with his habit of intervening in conflicts outside of the SGC. During Daniel's visit Krista James, a neighbor of Teal'c's in his apartment complex, shows up. She asks Teal'c for help with her plumbing. Before leaving them alone Daniel says that there are exceptions to every rule. In a park, Pete Shanahan and Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter meet. Pete tells her that he has asked for reassignment to Colorado Springs and proposes to her. Teal'c meets a neighborhood kid, Eric, and they become witnesses to a street theft. Teal'c hesitates to stop the thief, remembering Daniel's advice about interfering, but is swayed by the residents around him to act and easily knocks the thief out by throwing an avocado at him, much to everyone's admiration. Later in the evening Teal'c hears Doug McNair, Krista's boyfriend, arguing with her in the hallway of the apartment complex. Teal'c politely asks Doug to leave as Krista wanted. Doug leaves, promising to return the next day. Back in the SGC Teal'c asks Daniel and Sam to explain what was happening between Krista and Doug. The next day in the park Krista meets Teal'c, who is practicing lok'nel. She tells him of her break up with Doug and asks Teal'c to train her. Teal'c agrees. After several days of training Teal'c visits Krista to ask why she has missed her most recent training session. Teal'c finds Doug in Krista's apartment and learns that he has been violent to her. Teal'c and Doug have a short confrontation, witnessed by Mrs. Conners, in which Teal'c threatens to kill Doug if he hurts Krista again. At SGC Carter seems distant, and is constantly thinking about Pete's proposal. She reveals this to Jack along with her worries about the future of her family. Teal'c finds Krista sitting next to her door. She tells him that she has broken up with Doug and that she wants to be far away from him. She asks Teal'c to go with her. Meanwhile, Sam reveals to Daniel that Doug was found dead in Krista's apartment and that Teal'c is a suspect. On a road, Teal'c discovers that he is being followed by unknown people. They manage to lose them and stop in motel where Krista passionately kisses Teal'c. Carter meets Pete Shanahan. She tells him that she needs more time to think and proceeds to ask for his help in an unrelated matter, presumably with Teal'c. The following morning Teal'c wakes up to discover that Krista has disappeared. He hears knocking on the door and opens it to find a police squad which comes to arrest him for Doug McNair's murder. He is brought back to base and put under arrest in his room. Kendrick reveals that he located Teal'c with an anonymous call. Daniel, while working in his office, suddenly has a message appear on his computer in the Ancient language, along with a message saying "Look familiar?" He receives a phone call demanding that he translate the Ancient message in exchange for proof of Teal'c's innocence. Meanwhile Pete and Sam start their own investigation into Doug's death. They realize that Teal'c was most likely framed and discover a former hideout of the people who were spying on Teal'c. Pete suggests that they look for witnesses in a nearby pizzeria. Daniel, at the same time, attends a meeting with a man about the translation. He is threatened with snipers and the man forces Daniel to come with him. Sam tells Teal'c what she and Pete have discovered. They find out about a new client who may be a suspect in the case. Daniel, who is being transported and held hostage in a van, discovers that the people who kidnapped him and framed Teal'c are former NID agents who call themselves The Trust. He also discovers that Doug was killed by Krista in self-defense using a method taught to her by Teal'c. Pete finds information about the car of the kidnappers and relays the information to Sam. The Trust agents bring Daniel to an abandoned warehouse and threaten to kill Krista in order to force Daniel to translate the symbols. Using the GPS in the rental car of the Trust, SGC manages to locate them. The Trust agent stuns Daniel and Krista with a Zat'nik'tel and disappears with a beam transporter a moment before the assault team breaches the warehouse. After the ordeal is over Sam and Pete talk about the disappearance of the Trust agents. In this time Sam also finally accepts Pete's marriage proposal. Later, Teal'c packs his things, says goodbye to Eric and Krista, and leaves his apartment in a car, listening to dance music. + +Alec Colson, a wealthy and veritable aerospace entrepreneur, claims to the world he possesses evidence of extraterrestrial life, effectively exposing Stargate Command's various exploits over the years. He gives the United States of America 24 hours to reveal the truth, or he will. Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter and Dr. Daniel Jackson visit him, and he shows them photographs of Anubis' fleet exiting hyperspace and the Prometheus during the Battle of Antarctica. He warns them he has more evidence, and refuses to back down. The next day, he produces an Asgard at a press conference. The team discovers that Colson Industries was one of the many tech companies that the SGC contracted to work on back-engineering alien technology, and that he was a key member in the production of the F-302 fighter-interceptor. As part of the SGC effort to sequence Asgard DNA, one of the subsidiary companies under Colson's direction was contracted for the work; after performing the process for the SGC, the company proceeded to secretly clone the Asgard, which was then presented in the press release. Meanwhile, Colson is contemplating releasing information about Anubis' attack on Earth when suddenly, the Asgard clone, all of the cloning equipment, and Colson himself are beamed out, much to the surprise of his staff. At the SGC, Carter reveals the truth about the Stargate program, and pleads with him not to reveal the truth. The plan backfires, however, and Colson is even more emboldened to tell his story. However, after an assassination attempt, as well as the suicide of Brian Vogler, one of Colson's most trusted employees, SG-1 discovers that The Trust has targeted Colson for assassination. Carter visits Colson, who appears to be about to shoot himself, and tells him that his company and employees will be safe. She finally convinces him that the only way for him to avoid jail is for him to go into hiding, not on Earth, but another planet. + +Teal'c and Bra'tac return from a visit with the Hak'tyl Resistance, the former in a foul mood. He has just discovered that Rya'c is in love and has pledged to marry a young Hak'tyl woman in three days time. Teal'c not only believes that he is far too young, but is also angered by not being consulted by Rya'c first. Ishta arrives through the Stargate with urgent news: Hak'tyl may be compromised. She requests that haste be made to locate a new world for her people before Moloc finds out about the resistance. In the interim, Brigadier General Jack O'Neill agrees for their entire population to take up temporary residence at Stargate Command Rya'c and Kar'yn, his bride-to-be, arrive with the scores of Hak'tyl, announcing to Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter and Dr. Daniel Jackson that relocation will not change their wedding plans: they intend to marry among friends at the base. Teal'c believes Ishta has been avoiding him, but she says that he must have no respect for her because Rya'c is marrying a warrior that is not worthy of his father's respect. Teal'c makes it clear that he simply believes he has too much life ahead to make such a rash decision so early, but Ishta argues that as Teal'c had no choice but to break away from his family to serve, Rya'c should have the authority to do the same. Their opinions also differ on how to proceed in the war against the Goa'uld. Carter reports that they have scouted a planet Ishta may be comfortable with, but that it will take about a week to set up a livable camp, meaning the wedding will still proceed on-base. Therefore, Bra'tac begins preparations, including a practice session of the ceremony. It is then that Rya'c and Kar'yn's beliefs are revealed to differ considerably. Kar'yn refuses to kneel before her would-be husband, and Rya'c is unable to put up with her aversions from the old ways. Ishta receives a communication from Jaffa resistant to Moloc to convene in a summit on the new home world, as it will be the most secure location from the Goa'uld. In preparation for this meeting, she speaks to Kar'yn about the importance of the Jaffa men to make the war their priority above all other things. Bra'tac does the same with Rya'c. At the summit the Jaffa soldiers report that the numbers of loyalists to their cause are growing too large to conceal. In order to prevent the risk of exposure prior to the fact, Moloc must be defeated soon. As Teal'c attempts to dissuade them from acting prematurely, their tent is swarmed with dozens of plasma blasts. Moloc's Imperial Guard have been alerted. Only Teal'c, Ishta and a Jaffa named Aron manage to escape in time. As night falls, the three warriors spy on Moloc's encampment. It is not yet known if he has joined his troops, but it is clear that survivors are being tortured for information, their cries piercing the darkness. They move off to a safe distance to rest. While alone, Teal'c and Ishta discuss the possibility that Aron might be the infiltrator who told Moloc of the meeting. Teal'c encourages her to rest and takes first watch. When daylight comes Aron wakes Teal'c and asks where Ishta has gone. But it is too late. She has been captured and now faces Moloc. Aron believes Teal'c is weak for carrying feelings for Ishta and wants to take Moloc immediately. To insure that he cannot betray him, Teal'c shots him with a Zat'nik'tel and takes his staff weapon. While Ishta is tortured by Moloc's hand device, S.G.C. makes plans to send an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle to the planet to drop Tretonin for Teal'c and target the Jaffa back at the Stargate. However, it is shot from the sky, five hundred meters from Teal'c's location. He gathers the tretonin upon arrival, but it is soon obvious that he has been tracked by the Imperial Guard, and he doesn't have time to take it. After a failed attempt to convince the guards to join the fight for freedom, Aron arrives and takes out 3 Jaffa. Teal'c also grabs a weapon, injects himself with the tritonin, and together they fight off the remaining guards. Teal'c thanks Aron, and they continue toward the Stargate. Ishta is now too weak to stand. Moloc learns that 2,000 Jaffa have gathered against his temple on Goranak. Moloc taunts her, offering her a vial of tritonin if she will beg for more time with her god. When he prepares to depart, Earth makes contact with the planet, sending missiles through. Aron, possessing a targeting device for the missiles, aims the weapons straight at Moloc, killing him and his battalion. Meanwhile, Teal'c saves Ishta from Moloc's First Prime, Cha'ra. She had secretly taken the tritonin after Moloc left, enabling her to survive the encounter. Ishta can barely believe that after everything, Moloc is dead so Teal'c suggests they go see for themselves. However, Ishta needs a moment to regain her strength before she can go confirm her foe's death. At their ceremony, Rya'c and Kar'yn give their vows and Bra'tac completes the joining, without the kneeling Kar'yn had objected to. Later, Teal'c tells Rya'c that he could not have made a better decision for a companion, and that Drey'auc would have been equally proud. He wishes both of them well as they depart to another planet that the SGC has managed to locate. Unfortunately, Moloc's defeat has opened his dominion to Ba'al. Eager to meet again, Teal'c and Ishta embrace before she and the rest of her people depart. + +When the Stargate disappears from the Embarkation room in Stargate Command, Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter and Dr. Daniel Jackson investigate while Teal'c is on an offworld mission to negotiate with rebel Jaffa. Having received a "Do Not Proceed" response to his IDC, Teal'c travels to the Alpha site, where he discovers that they can't contact Earth either. Teal'c decides to return to P4S-161 to get a Jaffa Tel'tak to travel back to Earth. But when he arrives, he finds an entire Jaffa army lying dead without a mark on their bodies. Daniel and Carter trace the adapted Asgard beams to a warehouse and make a shocking discovery. The warehouse contains missiles and a nerve gas. When investigating the warehouse they are attacked by a member of The Trust and a number of the nerve gas capsules are smashed. Daniel and Carter believe death to be only a matter of seconds away and are shocked when they remain alive. At the Alpha site, Teal'c and other Jaffa are outraged by the attack and believe it must be the work of the Tok'ra using the Symbiote poison. Colonel Ben Pierce points out that the start of attacks coincided with the Earth's Stargate going offline. Teal'c and rebel Jaffa M'zel decide to seek out a nearby Tok'ra on a deep cover mission to find out what is going on. Their attacker in the warehouse won't talk but he was carrying an Area 51 ID card. Daniel and Carter go to investigate and find the captured Goa'uld/Asgard beaming gauntlet present and in working order. Dr. Hugh Bricksdale, the scientist investigating it insists that they have never been able to make it work and that it had not been removed from the site. Bricksdale meets with Hoskins of The Trust and expresses his disquiet at what he had been made to do. Carter, Daniel and an armed response team arrive and pursue Hoskins on foot. Carter manages to shoot him with a Zat'nik'tel and while investigating his pockets she accidentally activates the Asgard beaming device and finds herself as well as the Trust agent beamed aboard a cloaked Goa'uld vessel in lunar orbit. She is instantly stunned by a Trust member bearing a Zat. Teal'c and M'zel allow themselves to be captured in order to meet with Zarin, the Tok'ra posing as the head of the Jaffa garrison. They're taken before her and she expresses her anger as they have risked exposing her as a Tok'ra. Daniel interrogates Bricksdale and he only breaks when Daniel informs him that the SGC will allow him to keep the two million dollars the Trust have paid into his Cayman Islands account. The scientist reveals that the Goa'uld device worked and that he had transported to the vessel in orbit. The Trust now have several devices that allow them to transport to the vessel. He agrees to fix the original device for Daniel. Carter awakes to find the Trust preparing to fire a nerve gas missile at another planet. She argues with them about the morality of their actions stating that millions of innocent Jaffa will die. The Trust do not accept her argument and press on with their attack. While arguing with the Tok'ra about the attacks, a rocket engine can be heard in the background. Teal'c immediately realizes that they are under attack from the anti-Goa'uld weapon but he is prevented from leaving and then suddenly is the only one left alive on the planet. Daniel prepares to beam up to the vessel and argues with Brigadier General Jack O'Neill about his plan. O'Neill considers the idea insane and Daniel wonders out loud where who learned to consider insane plans from. The Prometheus begins to search for the Goa'uld vessel. Carter continues to argue with the Trust about the morality of their actions but they refuse to listen to her. They ask her to offer up 'harder' targets for them to hit if she is so concerned about innocents being killed. She refuses. Daniel disables the cloak on the vessel and the Prometheus closes in. The Trust see that their cloak has failed and they head off to try to fix it or go into hyperspace. Daniel sneaks around the ship to try and shut down the hyperdrive. He is zatted and captured. The Prometheus closes in and requests orders from General O'Neill. They have had no signal from Daniel and believe the hyperdrive is still working. They request orders to attack. O'Neill is torn and does not want to order an attack on a vessel containing SG-1. The Trust prepare to hyperdrive away from Earth. They turn on Daniel and Carter and prepare to kill them. Suddenly the Stargate starts to dial in and when the wormhole bursts out Carter and Daniel take advantage of the situation to attack. While fighting the Trust, Daniel and Carter hear Teal'c radio through for clearance. They scream at him to come through and he does just in time, killing Hoskins who had them in his sights. SG-1 signals the Prometheus to beam them and the Stargate out. They make it just as the Trust go into Hyperspace. The Stargate is returned to its rightful position and devices are placed around it to prevent it from being beamed out again. O'Neill does not seem happy with having to make big decisions. + +Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Carter and Dr. Daniel Jackson walk through a level of the SGC, discussing the Prometheus's new assignment which is to go to find the lost Atlantis expedition. Daniel wants to go but Sam reveals that Brigadier General Jack O'Neill has turned down Daniel's request yet again with Sam quoting that Jack's exact words were "Over my dead body". As soon as Daniel has gone into the elevator, Stargate Command receives an unscheduled off world activation, and with it an old IDC that had been used by Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter. Then comes the message, "SEND M.A.L.P.," and when one is sent through, it reveals a second Carter. She identifies herself as a Human-form Replicator, designed by Fifth with all of Carter's memories and thoughts. Her message is urgent: Fifth has discovered a way to overcome the Replicator disruptor O'Neill designed while he had the Ancient Repository of knowledge downloaded into his brain. The replicator version of Carter has rebelled against Fifth and offers her assistance in altering the weapon to work again. Carter accepts the proposal, and with O'Neill's approval, goes to the Alpha Site with Teal'c to work on the weapon with Replicator Carter herself soon arriving. To get an insight into what happened, Replicator Carter reluctantly probes the real Carter's mind, showing Carter one such training scenario of Replicator Carter arriving at the SGC before killing her original self's colleagues and friends in cold blood which left Replicator Carter in tears. After connecting to the Replicator collective, Replicator Carter downloaded the cipher and after experimenting with the disruptor, they adjust the weapon and launch a Replicator disruptor satellite. However, it is eventually revealed that Fifth had no immunity to the weapon, and in fact he had sent her to study the weapon and develop the very cipher she claimed to be trying to defeat. She destroys Fifth with the disruptor satellite that had worked all along and makes her way to the Stargate. After taking out the guards, she begins dialing the Stargate. Teal'c attempts to stop her but she deactivates the nanites in her own left arm Teal'c is holding and she escapes through the Stargate while the arm itself dissolves into nanites. Later, in the lab, Jack and Teal'c try to assure Carter that what happened wasn't her fault but Carter grimly remarks that it is her fault, because Replicator Carter learned betrayal from Fifth who had in turn learned it from the original Carter herself. + +Dr. Daniel Jackson and Brigadier General Jack O'Neill are arguing about whether or not Daniel can go on the upcoming mission to Atlantis. Daniel wants to go but Jack refuses, stating that he needs Daniel right here. Lt. General George S. Hammond solves the issue by telling O'Neill that Daniel will in fact be taking part in the mission, as Hammond himself is going to be in command of the Prometheus, and therefore, the mission. MSgt. Walter Harriman will also be going. On board the Prometheus, Daniel briefs the command crew on where they're going. He meets Dr. Lindsey Novak, who apparently turned down the opportunity to go on the first mission to Atlantis. As they are talking, an alarm goes off on the ship. Daniel goes to the bridge, where they are picking up a distress call. Daniel finds his way to the bridge, having grabbed a FN P90 Personal Defense Weapon with the Kull Disruptor embedded in it. He sneaks up on the Kull and shoots it twice in the back but to no avail. The Kull Warrior then turns round and shoots Daniel with a Zat'nik'tel. Meanwhile, the Prometheus' crew attempts to get the Al'kesh running again. Daniel wakes up on the bridge of the Prometheus, tied up in the command chair. Daniel attempts to make small talk until the Warrior removes "its" helmet, revealing Vala Mal Doran. She attempts to extract the Prometheus command codes from Daniel, but he resists, eventually managing to break free of his bonds and regain control of the situation. However, the computers have been programmed to accept commands only from Vala, and an Al'kesh suddenly appears on their radar. (Unbeknownst to Daniel and Vala, it is the Al'kesh containing the Prometheus crew.) Vala explains that she has commandeered the vessel only as a means of helping her people, who are refugees. She and Daniel struggle for control of the ship and Daniel gains the upper hand, but not before the Prometheus jumps into hyperspace. Daniel puts Vala in the brig and returns to the bridge, but cannot figure out how to access the navigational controls. When she wakes up, he tries, unsuccessfully, to get her to tell him how to turn the ship around. When the ship arrives at the given coordinates, Daniel disembarks, only to find out that there are no refugees at all. Apparently, Vala instead planned to trade the Prometheus for a large quantity of refined, weapons-grade Naquadah. While Daniel attempts to explain the situation to Vala's trading partners (members of the Lucian Alliance), a pair of Death Glider begins strafing their position. Daniel Zats the two traders and returns to the Prometheus. Daniel is forced to allow Vala out of her cell so that she can fly the ship. They lift off, and attempt to go to hyperspace, but the hull has taken too much damage. They raise the shield and activate the automatic weaponry, but the shields soon fail when more Gliders and some Al'kesh arrive. As they are running out of ammunition, they notice that one of the Al'kesh is firing on the other ships. It proves to be the crew of the Prometheus. Daniel persuades Vala to unlock the Transportation rings, and the crew rings aboard. Vala asks Daniel what he intends to do with her, and he admits that he's not sure. However, as she begins to make some conciliatory remarks, he shoots her with the Zat again. Finally, it turns out that the Prometheus has sustained too much hull damage to make the trip to Atlantis. The crew plans to return to Earth to make repairs. As this discussion concludes, another alarm sounds: Vala has escaped. She rings to the Al'kesh and escapes into hyperspace. + +SG-1 receives intelligence that the Goa'uld are now beginning to return to previously abandoned planets with the intent to turn them into new strongholds and hideouts. Even worse, they discover that the System Lord Ares is preparing to invade the planet which former Colonel Harold Maybourne has retired to. Brigadier General Jack O'Neill sends SG-1 to bring Maybourne back to Earth. Upon arriving at the planet, the team discover that Maybourne has been proclaimed 'King Arkhan the First', much to their chagrin. When Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter tries to bring Maybourne up to speed, he reveals that he already knows the Goa'uld are on their way. He shows them a set of stone pillars inscribed with Ancient writings, which appear to be a historical record of things that have yet to occur. Maybourne had already translated it, and had used the knowledge of the future to help the people of the planet. Most shocking of all is the prophecy that "the oppressors of old" - the Goa'uld - would return, and that a team of warriors - SG-1 - would save them and defeat the invaders. Carter says that SG-1 can't help and tells Maybourne that they have to take him back now. But Maybourne refuses to go; he enjoys living with the civilization here and is confident that the prophecy will be fulfilled. Dr. Daniel Jackson's and Teal'c's further investigation of the surrounding forest turns up the most interesting find of all: a Puddle Jumper that seems to be capable of time travel. But the ship requires the pilot to have the ATA gene. The only person they know of who has the gene is General O'Neill. O'Neill arrives on the planet to much fanfare from Maybourne and his minstrels, and proceeds to the ship after a tense reunion. Carter's repair attempts fail, and O'Neill can't even get the ship off the ground. With no other options, Maybourne steps down as king and is forced to reveal to his people that he's not a prophet like he claimed, and that the prophecies are written on the pillars for all to read. He tells them all that they must leave or risk being killed or captured. But the townspeople refuse to accept Maybourne's resignation, saying that the prophecy will come true like all the others and holding other, non-prophecy related achievements (introducing irrigation, crop rotation, a new legal code) as examples of his great leadership. As a career bureaucrat and later a NID mole, Maybourne has always been a thief, a liar, a scoundrel; in short, an object of scorn, even by his supposed allies. But on this world, no matter how selfish his reasons, he has helped people, and been praised for that help. Maybourne is struck speechless by their loyalty, and the SGC team is struck just as speechless by the concept that Maybourne just might be a good man. O'Neill is too bewildered by the whole affair, and decides to pull out. However, it is too late; Ares's First Prime Trelak and several Jaffa have arrived. While the Jaffa take control over the small village, O'Neill and Carter hide out in the ship while Daniel and Teal'c hide out amongst the townsfolk. But both are quickly discovered; Daniel and Teal'c are captured, and O'Neill is forced to defend the ship until Carter can get it working again. When she finally does, O'Neill takes the ship up into orbit, where a Goa'uld Ha'tak has arrived. Some of the village warriors attack the Jaffa in the village, allowing Daniel and Teal'c to escape and help fight and kill the few remaining Jaffa. In orbit, O'Neill uses the ship's limited, but immensely powerful weapons (the same Drone weapons, which he used in the episode "Lost City, Part 2") on the Ha'tak, severing some vital systems and causing the ship to explode. Ares, who was on board, is killed - as the prophecy predicted. As SG-1 leave, O'Neill offers Maybourne a chance to return to Earth, but Maybourne declines; he'd miss his people, his new home, his wives. + +Brigadier General Jack O'Neill returns from shopping to find his door open. Inside, he finds former Vice President Robert Kinsey. He considers calling his friend, the sheriff, but Kinsey offers help to defeat The Trust. At Stargate Command, Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter proposes that Kinsey meet the Trust while they video and track him. At the Trust estate, Kinsey is shown something but interference blocks out first the video and then the audio so SG-1 storms the mansion only to find everyone gone. Suspecting that the Trust is in their cloaked Al'kesh and taking precautions to avoid detection, Teal'c is sent to the Prometheus, Carter works on a program to detect the Al'kesh and Dr. Daniel Jackson is sent to Russia. When Jackson arrives in Moscow, he meets his liaison officer - the very pretty Captain Daria Voronkova. However, whilst Jackson is being taken to see General Miraslov Kiselev, the Russian Defense Minister, he is arrested and accused of being on an assassination mission. He is told that Kinsey tried to assassinate Kiselev, and Jackson is shown a video showing that Kinsey is a Goa'uld. Carter theorizes that when the Trust were forced to flee the Solar system, they were captured by the Goa'uld, were given Goa'uld symbiotes and have been sent back to Earth to compromise the Russian President Mikhailov. The SGC receive word that Russia and China are preparing for nuclear war, on the assumption that the US government is wholly under Goa'uld control. This means if Earth annihilated itself, then the Goa'uld could come and take the Ancient outpost in Antarctica. Jackson interrogates Kinsey's Goa'uld and learns that he is working for the System Lords. When Russian troops interrupt, he beams out with Kinsey to the Prometheus with Kinsey's Goa'uld stating that due to Daniel's little stunt, it will give the Russians positive confirmation that the American government is under control of the Goa'uld with the symbiote stating that they've convinced the Russians far more than Kinsey's Goa'uld ever could. On Earth, Carter determines that Kiselev is a Goa'uld because he's not wearing his glasses, and has been for some time. The Trust's Al'kesh begins firing on the Prometheus. In the confusion, Kinsey assaults his guards, escapes to the Al'kesh and kills the Goa'uld in Jennings who would otherwise have sacrificed Kinsey's life along with the Prometheus. On the command of Colonel Lionel Pendergast, the Prometheus opens fire and successfully destroys the Al'kesh. But it is not known whether Kinsey was on board at the time. The SGC advises the Russian President of what they suspect, and the episode closes with the revelation that the Russian President has successfully reeled Kiselev in. Nuclear annihilation is averted. + +The episode opens with Brigadier General Jack O'Neill walking into his kitchen, talking on the phone to Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter about his "world famous omelet" (the "secret ingredient" being beer), when a man O'Neill has never met bursts in with a gun claiming that O'Neill has ruined his life. The viewer is then taken to a flashback 7 years earlier where Joe Spencer, the man in O'Neill's house, is at a garage sale and picks up a mysterious black stone. When he does, he receives a vision of SG-1 going through the Stargate against orders in the season 1 episode "Within the Serpent's Grasp". He buys the stone and, as the episode progresses, continuously receives more and more visions of the exploration team. Joe, unable to create or tell amusing jokes or stories of his own, tells of the visions he sees as if they were stories he had conjured out of thin air. To start with, he tells these visions to his son Andy Spencer and the customers in his barbershop, entertaining them where he had previously been nothing but a bore. Later, at the suggestion of his wife Charlene Spencer, he starts to write them down and send them in to various magazines (all of which reject them) instead of telling each and every individual the tiniest of details relating to SG-1. As the episode goes on, skipping ahead in years, the people he tells start to get tired of the tales of SG-1 and, eventually, they stop coming to his barbershop. Despite his wife's urging, telling him to stop writing the episodes down, he continues to type and becomes convinced that the visions are actually happening. After years of too-intense focus on SG-1, long since passed into obsession, his wife leaves with their son. At this point he tries to find evidence that what he has been seeing is real, collecting data on mysterious stellar phenomenon and unexplained deaths, but is unable to contact Colonel O'Neill. Eventually, he tracks down where O'Neill lives, bringing the viewer to the opening scene. It is then discovered that the reason Joe has been seeing the visions, flashes of the life of Jack O'Neill, is because of an Ancient Long-range communication stone brought back from P3R-233 the same world as the Quantum Mirror. The device, which was activated by O'Neill when he touched a mysterious black stone in Dr. Daniel Jackson's lab, connects two minds together telepathically and Joe, who possesses the same Ancient gene as O'Neill, activated the companion device when he touched the stone at the garage sale. That stone, we find out, was discovered by the grandfather of the garage sale's operator and had been found at a dig in Egypt. When Jack had been on the base, writing his mission-reports of their off-world adventures, the stone in Daniel's lab transmitted his thoughts to Joe. Conversely, O'Neill had been seeing visions of Joe's everyday life periodically, as the two devices could work in either direction; Jack never said anything because he found the visions "relaxing." At the close of the episode O'Neill helps Joe start to piece his life back together by personally talking to Joe's wife. Just as the camera pans out O'Neill begins by telling Joe and his wife that "it's all true". + +Selkhet, an emissary of Ba'al, offers a "generous" term of surrender to the three remaining System Lords. The term is that the System Lords may continue to administer their domain, however they must pledge their allegiance to Ba'al. Suddenly, Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter is brought on board. She was captured by one of the two Kull Warriors serving as sentries of Selkhet. Yu questions her. Unfortunately, it is not the real Carter but in fact her psychopathic doppelganger, Replicator Carter. Her right arm turns into a massive blade and she stabs Yu, killing him instantly as the other Goa'uld in attendance look on, horrific. Then it goes to an external shot showing the Replicator cruiser approaching the Hasara space station. In the next scene a Ha'tak is in orbit, and on board on the Pel'tak level Teal'c and Bra'tac are commanding the vessel. They are soon joined by Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter and Dr. Daniel Jackson. They are accompanying Teal'c and Bra'tac as observers on one of the first formal attacks by the Jaffa Rebellion. Sam "observes" that it may not be wise to continue without reinforcements, and Daniel remarks that this may lead to the death of the "observers". Yet Bra'tac and Teal'c contend that the effort is underway. The conversation is interrupted when another Ha'tak ship exits out of hyperspace. Teal'c begins the mission by transmitting the security code to confirm they are allies, in an attempt to get the other ship to lower their shields for boarding. However, the ship fires at the ship Teal'c is on and easily overwhelms their defense. Without weapons, shield, or engines Bra'tac, Daniel, Sam and Teal'c head for the level with Transportation rings to ring down to the planet. As they proceed to that level they are caught by a horde of Replicators. As they flee, Daniel is beamed away much to Carter's horror. In the next scene, Jacob Carter/Selmak arrives to inform Brigadier General Jack O'Neill that the replicators will soon defeat the Goa'uld and then proceed to conquer the galaxy. In a laboratory, Jacob explains that the Tok'ra over the past few years have begun an effort to track the movement of as many Goa'uld mothership. This information is accessible on a secret subspace network. Jack is dismayed to learn such a thing existed, which highlights the on-going lack of trust between the supposed allies. By tapping into the network, it is revealed that the Goa'uld are losing countless battles across the galaxy. The gravity of the situation is interrupted when an incoming wormhole is announced. Jack and Jacob leave the lab for the gate room. Bra'tac, Sam and Teal'c arrive. When Jack questions where Daniel was, Sam reveals that he was taken by the replicators led by Sam's Replicator double, Replicator Carter. When asked why, Carter replies that Daniel was once ascended and may know a means of destroying the replicators (The weapon that was once effective against the replicators was of Ancient origins). In a meeting Jacob reveals that the effort of the Rebel Jaffa movement was waning. Numerous Jaffa were re-pledging their loyalties back to Ba'al and other Goa'uld. Bra'tac reaffirms this statement stating that many Jaffa see the replicators as a plague unleashed by their "gods" as punishment for their betrayal. Later in that meeting, Sam informs the others that Thor hasn't had much luck in modifying the weapon that once was effective against the replicators. Sam will later be transported aboard Thor's ship to help in the effort to modify the weapon. Meanwhile, Teal'c and Bra'tac discuss the critical situation of the rebellion movement. To restore the faith and momentum of the movement, Teal'c suggest taking the temple at Dakara. The temple is considered a holy site amongst Jaffa. It was there that the "gods" gave strength and longevity to the Jaffa and it is there that the Jaffa were bonded to eternal servitude. By capturing the temple, it will strike a blow to the image that the Gou'ald are gods. In agreement, both head to Jack's office to inform him of their plan to take the temple. Jack questions the simplicity of the plan. As Jack says, "There has to be a catch. Otherwise you guys would have done this a long time ago". It is revealed that under normal circumstances, the temple at Dakara is heavily fortified. However with the element of surprise and the fact that Ba'al is using his forces to counter the replicators, the planet should be relatively undefended. The next scene shows Daniel trapped in the same prison that once held Sam and presumably the same room where Replicator Carter was born. As Daniel glances, Replicator Carter soon emerges and greets Daniel with Daniel wondering what the Hell she wants. Replicator Carter tells Daniel that he will be interrogated to obtain certain information. When Daniel says he will answer honestly to avoid the whole "hand-in-the-head" thing, RepliCarter replies it’s not a matter of honesty but rather that the information which is buried in his subconscious. As such, Daniel is pinned to the wall with shackles holding his arms, legs and head in place before Replicator Carter announces that they're going to begin. On Chulak, Teal'c and Bra'tac persuade others of the rebellion leadership to attack the temple of Dakara. The others at first voice their doubts. However Bra'tac and Teal'c lay out their argument that with Ba'al distracted and the element of surprise the planet will be easily taken. Realizing a golden opportunity to deal a death blow to the Gou'ald stranglehold, the leadership agrees. Back on Earth, Jacob is becoming concerned at the rate of conquest by the replicators. He suggests to Jack to inform Ba'al to change tactics, mainly retreat and stop aggressively attacking the replicators. Jack is wary of Jacob's suggestion, because it would mean that Ba'al would notice the attack on Dakara. Therefore, he will use his fleet to crush the attack and possibly kill Teal'c. The conversation is interrupted when an incoming wormhole is announced. Although no IDC is received, eventually a hologram with Ba'al appears. Ba'al wishes to ally with the Tau'ri, namely to get the weapon used against the replicators. Jack at first gloats over Ba'al's request, then flatly rejects it by stating, "Why don't we sit back, and watch while you get your ass kicked". While the rebel Jaffa attacks Dakara, Daniel is strangely baffled to find himself in the same clothing and setting where he was first found on Vis Uban. Oma Desala appears before him telling him of the situation, and states she is there to guide him for ascension again. On the planet Delmak, seemingly Ba'al's new homeworld, Ba'al approaches the throne room. On the throne is a sickly man with numerous lesions on his face and body. Ba'al gives a report on the current state of the war with the replicators, essentially he is losing. The man, a Goa'uld, retorts that Ba'al should not be concerned, and ask Ba'al to trust in him. Later back at the SGC, Sam reports that she and Thor may have come up with a modification to the weapon allowing it to work again. She states that they need to do some battlefield testing. While Sam and Thor locate the nearest replicator infested ship, it is shown that the rebel Jaffa attack on Dakara was successful. They were able to capture the temple without much resistance. Thor has located a ship and fires the newly modified weapon. It cleanses the ship of the infestation. Another replicator-controlled ship arrives, and Thor fires on that ship. However, the replicators have adapted and so they flee into hyperspace. Ba'al returns to Delmak and interrupts the Goa'uld, who is taking control of yet another host. When he is done, Ba'al informs him that the rebel Jaffa has taken Dakara. The Goa'uld grins and stated that he foresaw this. He knows that all the rebels are on the planet and know they are presented with the chance to once and for all destroy the rebellion.  Ba'al is told to break off his fleet with the Replicators and take back Dakara. Thor's ship has now been affected and in a valiant effort, transports Sam back on Earth and to force the ship as far away from Earth as possible. On Dakara, the rebellion learns that Ba'al has broken off contact with the replicators and is heading towards Dakara. Back in Daniel's world, the discussion between Daniel and Oma ends when Daniel sees through RepliCarter's disguise. Knowing it was fruitless to continue, RepliCarter appears and informs Daniel that she has found it: a weapon built by the Ancients that is capable of killing her and the replicators. The weapon is on a planet named Dakara. Back at the SGC, MSgt. Sylvester Siler and MSgt. Walter Harriman are nervously hosting an amused Ba'al, awaiting Jack. He informs Jack that he has learned of a weapon hidden on Dakara, and wants Jack to destroy it before he can claim it, because it is capable of destroying all life in the galaxy. There is someone who would use it, and would be capable of surviving the weapon: Anubis. + +Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter and Jacob Carter get inside the Temple, and find the Dakara superweapon. They quickly realize that it can be reprogrammed to disrupt any specific type of matter, rather than just everything. Sam realizes that if she changes its wave-output to match that of an enhanced Replicator disruptor, the weapon can be used to destroy every Replicator in the galaxy simultaneously, giving them no time to adapt. However, to extend the blast-radius of the Weapon to encompass the entire galaxy, they will have to reprogram the Dakara Stargate to dial out to every other Stargate in the galaxy. This is a feat that they know Ba'al is probably capable of (having demonstrated extensive knowledge of the workings of the Stargate network in "Avenger 2.0"). Sam relays her plans to Teal'c, and Teal'c contacts Ba'al. Ba'al refuses to listen, but Teal'c explains the situation anyway. He merely asks that Ba'al slow down his approach towards Dakara to allow Sam time to realign the Superweapon to destroy all the Replicators, which will defeat a common enemy. Ba'al uses the Goa'uld hologram communication device to appear inside the temple next to Sam, and she, Jacob (grudgingly) and Ba'al work together to try to make the device work. Ba'al will reprogram the Stargate. They have to change the weapon's wave-pattern to resemble that of the Replicator Disruptor to within a degree of 0.76%, and the difference is currently large. A random suggestion by Ba'al improves the situation, prompting him to state "I am a god. Gods are all-knowing." Time is running out. Replicator Carter is still probing Dr. Daniel Jackson's mind because she wants to assimilate all the Ascended knowledge it contains. However, there is too much there, and it strains the entire Replicator army to hold even a portion of it. It is infinite knowledge, "all the knowledge and power of the universe." At the same time, however, RepliCarter goes against her word and attacks Stargate Command. Replicators begin to flood the place. The mountain goes into full alert, with Brigadier General Jack O'Neill being backed into a corner as the Replicators take over the base. He and the few who haven't gotten out are now desperately fighting for their lives. Cut off from the surface and with the base set to be nuked, they try to escape through the Stargate, but MSgt. Sylvester Siler has trouble dialing out due to the Replicators' attempts to gain control of the computer systems. The Replicators land on Dakara and begin flooding into it. They know they are in danger. Sam desperately tries to finish aligning the weapon. In the meantime, Daniel has used the link between his and RepliCarter's mind to secretly probe back into her mind all this time. RepliCarter realizes he has done this and tries breaks the link - but it is too late. Daniel locks her with him in the mental link probing her mind. Suddenly Daniel finds a way of assuming control of her Replicator army, ? but it is too much for his mind to handle, there are too many of them. Daniel only succeeds in freezing every Replicator in the galaxy for a few moments. This gives Jacob enough time to get the Dakara superweapon to within an acceptable margin of the wave-pattern with the Disruptor, and he sets it off. It slowly rises out of the mountain and charges up. Now they can only pray it will work, as Daniel loses control of the Replicators, they spring back into attack. Replicator Carter breaks free of Daniel's mental grip and in that moment, she instantly changes her right hand in a sharp blade which she uses to stab Daniel through the chest, piercing his heart. Ba'al dials every other gate in the galaxy, and every shot of every gate opening is replayed. In the last moments, Sam is with a last fight machine-gunning the Replicators that are only meters away, Teal'c is fighting on the Ha'tak, O'Neill is defending himself in a corner as the Replicators swarm the remaining portions of the SGC, and Daniel drops to the floor, dead. Then the Dakara superweapon blasts, and a bubble of light explodes from the mountain-top, passes through the gate, and shoots through the galaxy. Every Replicator everywhere is destroyed while on board the ship, Replicator Carter glances at Daniel's lifeless body before she sees the disruptor approaching which leaves her horrified. Seconds later, both she and the Replicator ship are destroyed. Ba'al laughs. Now that the Replicators are gone, he is free to take back Dakara. However, not all has gone to his plan. Rebel Jaffa led by Bra'tac had boarded his ship and have him surrounded. None of his subjects any longer sees him as a god. They make to kill him, but he escapes, inexplicably, by the use of an Asgard transporter. The Jaffa Rebellion has succeeded, and they make the Temple of Dakara the center of their new Free Jaffa Nation. Jaffa loyal to the System Lords had all come together to help. The SGC receives a message that Thor had survived by transferring his mind to his ship's computer and was ready to get in a clone body. Yet Carter and O'Neill can't help but wonder about what happened to Daniel. + +Ba'al is missing, but finally the Jaffa are free after millennia of slavery under false Gods. Teal'c and Bra'tac are knighted Blood Kin by the new Free Jaffa Nation, the highest honor that can be bestowed on a Jaffa, at the Temple of Dakara. When the Jaffa bow to them in respect, Bra'tac makes them stand, for he declares that no Jaffa shall ever bow before another person, and furthermore, never again bow before a false god. With the Replicators destroyed and the Goa'uld defeated, Stargate Command is a little more peaceful. Somewhere out there, Anubis and Ba'al remains, but they can ignore that for now. However, perhaps because it's too peaceful, Brigadier General Jack O'Neill refuses to accept that Dr. Daniel Jackson is dead, not wanting to be "tricked" as last time, when Daniel managed to Ascend and then come back to life much later. However, they all know that Daniel was on Replicator Carter's ship when it was destroyed, which gives him zero chance of being alive. During the events prior to the ships destruction, Daniel was indeed killed. However, the visions of Oma Desala which RepliCarter forged for Daniel may not have been as empty as they seemed - for Daniel finds himself in a strange Astral Diner, a café, full of people, where the waitress is Oma Desala. This place seems to be some kind of strange Ascended metaphor. Daniel seats himself and talks to Oma. She explains that she has once again given him the choice to Ascend and live, or die. If he Ascends, he must accept that he can never help his friends again (as that's against the rules). If he leaves the diner, he dies. It is a difficult choice for Daniel. He knows that last time he couldn't resist breaking the rules. The diner is full of other Ascended Ancients, none of whom will talk to Daniel because that's beneath them. One other man, however, a large, fat man, seems to be arguing with Oma. Daniel talks to this man, who talks back, calling himself Jim. The man seems some kind of rebel who doesn't take too much notice of the pedantic rules of the others. Jim is reading a newspaper called The Ascended Times which details happenings in the mortal world. It describes that Anubis is tricking the new Free Jaffa Nation so that he can take back Dakara. If Anubis captures Dakara, the whole galaxy could be destroyed, as Anubis wishes to use the Dakara superweapon to kill all life in the galaxy. Daniel knows that he must help his friends out before it’s too late, but can't work out how he can do it. He screams at the others, but they do not even turn. The Free Jaffa Nation attacks an empty Tartarus with the majority of its forces leaving a weak force defending Dakara. Against warnings, they do not destroy the Dakara superweapon. Now Anubis attacks Dakara and takes it back. It is now only a small matter of time before he uses it to destroy all life in the galaxy. In the meantime, Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter is questioning her decision to marry Pete Shanahan, even going so far as to visit Jack unannounced to discuss it, only to find him there with Kerry Johnson (a CIA agent heading up the investigation into Goa'uld still at large after an incident with The Trust), with whom he is in a (secret) relationship. Her father, Jacob Carter, also informs her that Selmak is dying, and that he will have to die with him, apologizing because he will miss her wedding. Until Jacob's eventual death, she speaks with him and with Jack about her happiness at the closeness she and her father have enjoyed over the past several years. During one conversation with Jacob, he tells her that he wants her to be happy, that she can still have everything she wants, and not to let rules stand in her way, implying that she should leave Pete for Jack. Meanwhile Kerry, though she liked Jack and thought they were "good together," breaks up with him after she sensed the feelings he still had for Carter. They parted on good terms; before leaving, she advised Jack that he was making a mistake by letting Air Force regulations prevent them from being happy together, advising him to retire, and inferring that even as a civilian he could still run the SGC, as a civilian (Dr. Elizabeth Weir) had been appointed to run the SGC before. After Kerry leaves, Jack visits the infirmary to comfort Sam, and soon after, Jacob dies; his last words are to Sam: "I love you." After Jacob's death, Sam ends her relationship with Pete. Back in the Astral Diner, Oma explains that she has gotten in trouble before for helping people like Daniel Ascend, and she has been punished. There are deep-seated rules in the Ascended universe that not even she would dare to break. There seems to be something sinister about Oma's connection with Jim, whatever it is. At the last moment, Daniel works it out. Anubis is half-Ascended, and it was Oma that helped him Ascend. Anubis had tricked her into thinking he was not evil, and as a punishment for breaking the rules, the others didn't totally de-Ascend Anubis, but gave him his current power, the ability to destroy the galaxy and vent his evil. And the final piece of the puzzle clicks in place - Jim is Anubis - Anubis' chosen manifested form in his half-protrusion into the Ascended realm. Back on Earth, the gate dials, and they can't stop it. Anubis has dialed every gate in the galaxy and prepares to unleash the superweapon. O'Neill, Teal'c and Carter can do nothing but wait for their fate. O'Neill begins the SGC's self-destruct sequence. It looks like it's the end. However, back in the Ascended realm, Daniel has persuaded Oma. She must take responsibility for the mistake she made which has caused Anubis to be able to unleash so much evil, and she will not allow him to commit this greatest evil now. She stands up to fight Anubis, and all of the other ancients turn in surprise. Anubis laughs, saying that she cannot possibly defeat him, both of them being equally matched. Oma knows this, but also knows that so long as she is fighting him then he'll have to fight back, taking him out of the cosmos and locking him into an eternal ethereal battle with her. The two of them collide and disappear in a flurry of light, locked in eternal combat. Anubis is gone from the universe forever, his last word a cry of terror of the hell that awaited him. Then two miracles occur. The Dakara superweapon shuts down, and the self-destruct at the SGC freezes itself and shuts off—the latter of these events suggesting to some fans that Oma's being has gone beyond that of known ascension. The Stargate's wormhole closes. It's over. Back in the Briefing Room, they can't understand what's happened. Anubis just disappeared. Teal'c and Bra'tac tell Sam and Jack that the Kull Warriors the Free Jaffa Nation were fighting suddenly became confused, as if their master were no longer there to tell them what to do. Anubis' forces are destroyed, leaving the team wondering whether it was Daniel's work and thinking that he might have ascended again. At that moment, they hear Daniel's voice coming from inside Jack's office. Jack goes to investigate and finds Daniel naked (as before). Jack hands Daniel a flag (choosing the SGC flag over the American flag) to cover himself up, and Daniel enters the briefing room, alive and himself once more. The final scene is of Sam and Jack, fishing at Jack's cabin. She remarks on how they "should have done this years ago," while Jack replies that they shouldn't dwell on it. She remarks that there are no fish in the pond, and when Jack agrees she laughs. Daniel and Teal'c appear around the corner carrying lawn chairs and a cooler, having joined them on the trip, and the episode ends as Jack and Sam continue to cast out their fishing lines, smiling and happy. + +In her lab, Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter reveals to her teammates, Teal'c and Dr. Daniel Jackson the existence of the Daedalus: a new Earth-built battlecruiser which is capable of reaching the Pegasus Galaxy and is also larger and much more advanced than the Prometheus. While there, Daniel receives a phone call and learns of Catherine Langford's death and, after her funeral, receives Catherine's collection of documents and artifacts relating to the Stargate program. From one book in the collection, Daniel learns of the former location of a Zero Point Module in Ancient Egypt. Jackson and Carter persuade Brigadier General Jack O'Neill to use the time travel capabilities of the Puddle Jumper they found to travel back and take the ZPM, assuming that Ra never knew of its purpose, although Ra took it with him, thinking it was nothing more than a simple, function less, religious artifact. Once they arrive in 3000 B.C., they join in an offering to Ra and witness his brutal murder of an Egyptian making the offering. Teal'c disguises himself as a Horus Guard and retrieves the ZPM from Ra's treasury. However, Ra's Jaffa discover the cloaked Jumper after a sandstorm covers it in sand. Unwilling to upset the future by fighting the Jaffa to get the Jumper back, SG-1 give up and head off, presumably back to the camp where they decides to live out the rest of their lives in the past, knowing that the rebellion that overthrew Ra will eventually happen. However, as a result of their actions, an alternate timeline is created, one in which the Stargate was never discovered and everything SG-1 have done for the last eight years never happened and as such, the characters are all leading different lives. In this timeline, Dr. Daniel Jackson is teaching English as a second language, Dr. Samantha Carter, having never joined the military spends her time double-checking other scientists's work at the Department of Aerospace Research, Jack O'Neill is retired from the military and Teal'c is still the First Prime of Apophis. Daniel and Carter are contacted by the Air Force and brought to Cheyenne Mountain. O'Neill, now living in Canada, (O'Neill speaks with a Canadian accent and Canadian flags are on the boats surrounding his at the marina and on shore) is contacted by Major Paul Davis and asked to return to the United States Air Force, but he declines, and departs in his boat, Homer. At Cheyenne Mountain, Brigadier General George S. Hammond informs Carter and Jackson that archaeologists found a video camera in a vacuum-sealed canopic jar at a dig in Giza. The video contains a recording of the made by the original SG-1, explaining who they are and what they were doing, as well as a number of events and situations that are true in their timeline, such as recent political events, Presidents and personal details. Their plan is that if things have changed in the future, then SG-1's alternate selves will travel back in time and restore the timeline to its proper path. The details are slightly different (in the alternate timeline, Kinsey is President while Henry Hayes is Secretary of the Interior), but the camera technology is also slightly different, and the Air Force are investigating. They also found the ZPM. An expedition team is sent to find the Giza Stargate, but find nothing. Instead, they discover that the original Daniel Jackson left a tablet where the gate should have been, inscribed with an obscure dialect of Ancient Egyptian that only Jackson can read. It reveals that the original SG-1 instigated a successful rebellion against the Ra of 3000 BC. However, this caused him to leave Earth with the Stargate but they do find the Puddle Jumper, and Jackson and Carter figure out how to find the Beta Gate in Antarctica ("the land of the cold to the south") with the Stargate being brought back. Alternate timeline Carter and Jackson are told they cannot join the expedition to the Beta Gate. Feeling left out, they go to meet with O'Neill, hoping that he can convince Hammond to let them be more involved. He now operates a fishing boat, and charges them $150 to sit on the boat and talk. However, he is not interested and they return without him. Back in Colorado, Hammond takes them to meet the alternate version of Dr. Rodney McKay who is the lead scientist on the project concerning the Time Jumper that the original SG-1 used. Major Davis also reveals that the Jumper was found buried near the dig where the tape and the ZPM were located. McKay instantly takes a liking to Carter, wasting no time in inviting her off for lunch where the main course is Lemon chicken, McKay's favorite much to Sam's own dismay. Carter escapes from McKay's unwanted attentions and she later informs Jackson that she's found a way to discover the second Stargate. Her theory eventually pays off and the Stargate is uncovered and brought back to Stargate Command. The two later meet with General Hammond who thanks them for their help before stating that they are not going to be on the team or the mission to recruit Teal'c because they don't have the necessary qualifications or essential training. Exasperated, they can only watch as the newly discovered Stargate is lowered into the Gate room. + +The scientists working on the recovered Puddle Jumper cannot make it work because they don't have the ATA gene. General Hammond is assembling a military team to go through the Stargate and locate Teal'c. Jackson and Carter are still arguing that they should also be allowed to go, but Hammond says they lack the necessary military experience. As they are arguing, Colonel Jack O'Neill arrives to join the team. He has only agreed because Kawalsky asked him to. As in the previous episode, alternate timeline Carter continues to display a strong tactical intuition. She says the team will be going into enemy territory, outgunned and outmanned--but she has an idea. She takes O'Neill to the Jumper as Jackson says the video explained that O'Neill has the gene to operate it. Jackson and Carter encourage him to sit in the command chair and he is able to power it on. Hammond agrees to let the team take the ship (which McKay names Gateship One) through the Beta Gate to find Teal'c, and agrees that Dr. Daniel Jackson and Dr. Samantha Carter are to join the team at O'Neill's request. However, Hammond tells them that under no circumstances are they to attempt time travel. Jackson says he has both Gate addresses, to Chulak and back to Earth, and he dials the address on the Jumper console. As this happens, up in the Control Room, Dr. Meredith Rodney McKay is dismissive, giving it nothing more than a fifty-fifty chance of working although General George Hammond tells him that in the original timeline, it worked for eight years. But once the Stargate finally comes online, everyone is left dumbstruck and amazed while in the Control Room, McKay is equally stunned before stating that he's glad he's not going through the Stargate. On Chulak, the team is caught by Jaffa loyal to Apophis and imprisoned. Daniel Jackson is taken to Apophis for interrogation. Teal'c defects to their cause after viewing himself on the video talking about freedom for all Jaffa and helps them escape, but Daniel Jackson is infected by a Goa'uld and shot by Teal'c. The Goa'uld Jackson kills a solider and shoots Teal'c in the left arm before he is finally killed by Kawalsky and O'Neill. Teal'c tells them that Jackson's infection means Apophis already knows everything Jackson knew, including the location of their ship. He will undoubtedly plan an invasion of Earth. The team are ambushed by Jaffa. During the escape, Kawalsky is killed, and O'Neill, Carter, and Teal'c flee in the Puddle Jumper, and are chased by Death Gliders; the Jumper getting damaged in the process. Unaware of the jumper's cloaking capacity, they believe that only way they can survive is to time-travel. They travel back to 3000 B.C. and use the Stargate to pass from Chulak to Ancient Egypt where the original versions of SG-1 were stranded and where Ra is still alive and ruling. Carter and O'Neill agree the only way to stop Apophis from invading Earth is to fix the timeline in the past. The alternate team makes contact with the locals, who recognize "them" from the original team's visit 5 years before. As Carter becomes increasingly concerned about causality, the locals bring them to a tent with one introducing them to Dr. Daniel Jackson, the only survivor from the original SG 1. Jackson is confused to see them, but realizes the timeline must have been altered. He reveals that SG-1 attempted the rebellion because O'Neill and Teal'c didn't want to stay under Ra's rule without doing anything about it, and O'Neill, Carter and Teal'c were killed when it failed. He has not yet made the tablet detailing the second successful rebellion attempt because it hasn't happened yet. This means that his current plans with the underground of the local populace are destined to succeed, however, they lead to the Stargate being removed from Earth by Ra. The plan is to instigate the rebellion, thus diverting Ra's attention, and securing the Stargate to where it was originally buried, allowing the original timeline to evolve as it was supposed to. Jaffa attack the camp, and Jackson and alternate SG1 hide in a secret weapon room. They discuss strategy for stealing the gate. Jackson explains about the ship's cloaking device. A surprised O'Neill begs to know why the hell Daniel didn't leave that detail (the cloaking device) on the tape before. Daniel just nonchalantly replies that he thought he had. The Jaffa leave without finding them. Carter and O'Neill go to test the cloak to see if it still works, as the ship had been hit when they came through. Carter works on repairs and O'Neill begins flirting with her, but she surprises him with a rejection and tells him she's actually attracted to Jackson instead. O'Neill is totally incredulous finding it hard to believe, but begrudgingly accepts it. He goes outside to keep watch and spots a Jaffa patrol approaching. Fortunately Carter gets the cloak to work just in time, at the very last minute. However, it soon fails again, and the patrol attacks the Jumper. Carter is afraid that if the patrol penetrates the shield, the Jumper might explode. So edged on by the danger she kisses O'Neill, much to his surprise, then says she lied about being attracted to Jackson, she just wanted to go slow and get to know him a little better first. An ecstatic O'Neill returns her kiss ardently. Just then, Teal'c and Jackson bring the armed villagers and rescue the Jumper. The rebellion ultimately succeeds. Ra's Jaffa surrender, outnumbered by the local Ancient Egyptian population, who were armed with staff weapons and Zat'nik'tels, looted from a Goa'uld armory by Jackson and his rebels. The alternate SG-1 bury the videotape, along with the Zero Point Module, for the SG-1 of the future to find. The Alternate-SG-1 and Daniel Jackson from the original SG-1 (of 3000 BC) live out the rest of their lives in Ancient Egypt. The original SG-1 of the present day receive the videotape and the ZPM left for them a few weeks before they were to go back in time. As the timeline has been restored, they have no reason to go back in time, and they've gained a ZPM free of charge. The episode ends with SG-1 at O'Neill's cabin, fishing, in a scene identical to the end of "Threads", except there are now fish in Jack's pond. Realizing they are now living in an alternate timeline in which an Alternate-SG-1 lived out their lives circa 3,000 B.C. Jack O'Neill comments, as to the presence of fish in the pond (having been told there were supposed to be none by the Alternate-O'Neill speaking on the canopic jar videotape) - "Close enough". + +Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell is at Stargate Command staring at the Stargate for the first time. He piloted one of the F-302 fighter-interceptor's in the defense of Earth against the attack fleet of Anubis in the Battle of Antarctica. After his heroic efforts and recovery from injury, Major General Jack O'Neill offered him any job he liked, and he wished to join SG-1. However, when he arrives at the base, he finds that SG-1 has been disbanded, a new general is in control, and he is set to pick and lead the new team which leaves Mitchell stunned and greatly dismayed. The new general and commander of Stargate Command is Major General Henry Landry who is a friend of both Lt. General George S. Hammond and O'Neill. Under his order, Mitchell begins the selection process for new members of SG-1 but can't stomach any of the terrible candidates. As such, Mitchell who wanted to work with the best is determined to get SG-1 back together. Teal'c is off world on the planet Dakara, which has been established as the capital of the newly founded Free Jaffa Nation, the aftermath of the fall of the Goa'uld. Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter has been moved to Area 51, where she is aiding the research. Jack O'Neill has been promoted out of the SGC (hence the new general), and Dr. Daniel Jackson is set to take a ride on board the Daedalus, the newest Earth intergalactic battlecruiser, to Atlantis, the now-found City of the Ancients. An unscheduled offworld activation admits to the SGC Vala Mal Doran who claims to have something they want. They let her in and she immediately seeks out her "friend" Daniel to pester. She has a tablet written in Ancient that leads to a trove of Ancient treasures hidden somewhere on Earth, and she needs Daniel to translate it. However, as soon as they are close together, she throws a pair of cuffs onto both his and her wrists. These are Kor mak bracelets (Teal'c explains, on his return), which link the two of them together such that they cannot be greatly separated without feeling pain and eventually death. Vala had known it would affect Daniel Jackson, but not that it would affect her, too. She promises she will take them off after they find the treasure and she gets her fair share. Mitchell suggests that the fastest way to solve the problem is to put together a team to find the treasure, and invites Teal'c to join them since the Jaffa High Council is in recess. Since Jackson can't be separated from Vala for the time being, he has to miss his trip on the Daedalus to Atlantis, meaning that he won't make his much-desired trip there. Meanwhile however, he translates the tablet and who wrote it: an Ancient fleeing Atlantis after the war with the Wraith, named Myrddin, who Jackson says is Merlin, the wizard associated with King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. After further research, Jackson concludes that the treasure is located beneath Glastonbury Tor in England. Mitchell wants to have Carter join the expedition as well, but she's busy at Area 51. However, if they do find something, she'll want to see it. Arriving at the place on the Prometheus, they use Transportation rings to get inside a hidden cavern where a hologram of Merlin tells them that only the worthy, those with "a wealth of knowledge and truth of spirit," will gain access to the treasures of the Ancients. There is a Sword In The Stone, but Mitchell is unable to remove it. They decide to explore further; Daniel and Vala take a right passage way, and Mitchell and Teal'c take a left. Both parties find rooms which light up upon entry. In both rooms, the parties encounter puzzles, and the doors shut automatically. Just when they think it can't get any worse, the ceiling begins to lower to crush them, and they must solve the puzzles in time before they are crushed to death. + +Dr. Daniel Jackson solves their puzzle, a logic/Ancient Proverb hybrid. He and Vala Mal Doran correctly assume that Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell and Teal'c are facing a similar test. They arrive in time for Daniel to translate one word of the Ancient text on the other puzzle, and Mitchell barely manages to rearrange the 8 blocks (corresponding to the numbers 1 through 8) in correct order. They return to the main anteroom, where Mitchell is now able to remove the Sword In The Stone. However, as soon as he does so, a Knight, fully armored, appears, and Mitchell is forced to fight. Teal'c attempts to shoot it with his FN P90 Personal Defense Weapon, but it turns out to be a hologram. Hologram or not, ignoring it appears not to be an option, because while a blow across the back does not actually leave a cut on Mitchell, it "hurt[s] like hell." In fact, Mitchell is the only one able to wield the sword - to everyone else it is just a hologram. After taking a number of blows, Mitchell manages to impale the knight, and the hologram disappears. Nothing happens after he defeats the knight, so Daniel hypothesizes that perhaps only Mitchell has gained the right to actually continue the quest. The others leave by means of the rings, and as soon as they do, the room begins to shake. Mitchell does not interpret this as a good sign, and rings up to the Prometheus himself. Daniel immediately divines that Vala is the cause of the problem, and asks her what she has taken. She has, in fact, taken the coin which was the "treasure" spoken about in the riddle that Daniel solved. Mitchell rings back down with the coin, and replaces the coin before the caverns collapse. On a hunch, he replaces the sword into the stone, and upon doing so, a massive amount of treasure appears in the cavern. Among the treasures, which the SGC sends a team to catalog, Daniel finds a book which reveals more about the Ancients than was previously known. Apparently, the Ancients (originally called Alterans) actually originally came from another galaxy to the Milky Way. Daniel extrapolates from this that there may actually be Alterans living in some other galaxy in the present day - that perhaps not all Ancients ascended after they returned to the Milky Way from the Pegasus galaxy to flee the Wraith. It could mean that some non-ascended Ancients can share knowledge with them freely. Major General Henry Landry has no problem with Daniel's theory, but wants hard evidence and/or a plan of action. Daniel has hopes that one strange device found along with the treasure may be a method of intergalactic communication. Dr. Bill Lee has managed to figure out more about the device - it appears that in conjunction with the Ancient Long-range communication stones (which appeared in "Citizen Joe"), the device actually allows the user to see through the eyes of someone else. Daniel lays claim to one of the stones, on the grounds that he has already missed his chance to go Atlantis because of the treasure hunt, and Vala takes the other spot, on the somewhat feeble grounds that the "separation" might be enough to activate the Kor mak bracelets they are wearing. They insert the stones next to each other on the device, and it emits a brief blue light, causing them both to collapse. They appear together in the same room, though Daniel appears as a skinnier man, and Vala appears as a somewhat shorter, blond-haired woman. They appear to be themselves in mind, but certainly not in body. Daniel further discovers that they are husband and wife. The general atmosphere of the house, coupled with their mode of dress seems very different from what either of them expected Ancient culture to be. Daniel and Vala (Harrid and Sallis) are apparently expected to attend something called "prostration," which they duly attend. They find that it is some sort of religious daily worship, a worship of gods called "the Ori". However, while at prostration, someone their inhabited bodies apparently know tells them it is necessary for them to meet by the "portico of light at the hour of bly." Daniel and Vala arrive back at "home" after what was apparently six hours of "prostration". Upstairs in the house, Vala discovers a fake "Book of Origin" (the sacred text of the religion of Origin), which actually contains Ancient communication stones. Later, the friend who Daniel and Vala were supposed to meet shows up at their house, and Daniel reveals the truth of who they are to him. Fannis explains that they are actually part of a secret group of heretics, and that since Daniel and Vala cannot seem to return to Earth, they must pose as Harrid and Salis so that the group is not discovered. Vala leaves to go to some meeting with an acquaintance of hers - apparently the wife of some type of priest. Back on Dakara, the site of the new government which is to govern all the newly free Jaffa, Gerak has established the government as a High Council, made up of representatives based on military strength, which Teal'c strongly opposes. Having won this political battle, Gerak is instated as the new leader of the Free Jaffa Nation, much to Teal'c dismay. Outside Harrid and Sallis's house, a crowd gathers around some sort of altar in the middle of the street. Daniel goes outside to find out what is happening, and Vala is brought to the altar. Daniel tries to explain, but he is restrained and is forced to watch as some sort of burning liquid is poured into channels which guide the liquid across the altar to where Vala is chained. Vala reveals to Daniel that she did not recite some type of blessing, which caused the priest's wife to accuse her of heresy. While Vala is ignited by the burning liquid, on Earth, her body goes into cardiac arrest. Dr. Lee cannot remove the stones, and Daniel's attempts at explaining the circumstances to the priest go unheeded. Vala is burned to a crisp. On Earth, Dr. Carolyn Lam pronounces her dead. As Daniel holds Vala's charred body, a man in robes, holding an ornate staff, approaches the altar. The staff begins to glow, and Daniel watches in amazement as he brings Vala back to life. Daniel thanks him, but he responds, "Thank the Ori". He then tells them to follow him out of the square, and they follow. As they leave, it then cuts to the Administrator who remarks, "Hallowed are the Ori". + +Dr. Daniel Jackson and Vala Mal Doran, still in the bodies of Harrid and Sallis, are taken by a Prior of the Ori to the City of the Gods, on the Plains of Celestis. They are left in a dining room with a copy of the Book of Origin. Another Prior is sent to the Milky Way to convert the people there. Daniel meanwhile begins to read the Book of Origin. The Prior of the Ori returns, and asks Daniel and Vala who else in the village has strayed from the path of Origin. Daniel insists on talking to the Doci, the chief Prior and mouth of the Ori. He is taken there while Vala is left behind. The Doci takes him to the Flames of Enlightenment, where he is possessed by an Ori who says, "All will know the power of the Ori". Back in the Milky Way galaxy, Major General Henry Landry orders Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell and SG-12 to investigate on the planet where the Prior appeared. The team brings the Prior back with them. Landry in the meantime meets with Gerak of the new Free Jaffa Nation because he wants to make a treaty with the Jaffa nation. Gerak, however, is more interested in the Prior, wanting to hear and challenge his claims. Daniel returns to Vala, telling her the Ori believe that their ascension entitles them to worship by all Humans. Priors will be sent to convert the people of the Milky Way, and if they don't see the light, they will be "cleansed". Recognizing the threat the Ori posed, the Ancients were shielding their existence from the Ori until recently, and it is unlikely that the Ancients will do anything to stop the Priors, as they are still human. Daniel and Vala are returned to the village. Worried that Fannis and the resistance will be discovered through them, they stay in the house. Fannis comes to them, insisting on helping even if he dies. Fannis takes them to another Ancient Long-range communication device, which they use to return to their original bodies and to warn Earth of the Priors. However, the device is destroyed and Daniel and Vala again enter Harrid and Sallis and witness Fannis being killed by a Prior, who also prevents Daniel from helping him. Then Daniel and Vala are taken to the Ara to be burned to death. Back at Stargate Command, Mitchell and a team of guards go to confront the Prior meeting with Gerak, who demands an explanation. They take the staff from the Prior, but he takes it back and destroys himself in flames. As Daniel and Vala's heart rates rise when they are tied to the Ara, Mitchell and Teal'c dial the Stargate and throw the Ancient long-range communication device into the unstable vortex, which destroys it and breaks the link. Daniel and Vala are returned, leaving Harrid and Sallis to most likely to be burned to death in their place. Back at Celestis, at the request of the Doci, The Administrator comes to the Flames of Enlightenment, where he is transformed into a Prior. The Doci says that great holy armies will be gathered to fight the evil and that ships will be built to send warriors across the stars. All this is necessary to spread Origin over the stars. Vala meanwhile releases the Kor mak bracelets from her and Daniel. Daniel discusses whether or not the Ancients will continue to protect them from the Ori. The fact is, however, that the Priors will come, but Landry says that they will use their strength against the enemy's weaknesses. Major General Jack O'Neill drops by the SGC, and he and Daniel discuss the Ori, with Daniel admitting that for the first time since he came to the SGC, he's truly scared, while O'Neill reminds Daniel that they've been up against some powerful bad guys in the past and won. O'Neill also takes a flight with Mitchell in an F-302 fighter-interceptor, and mentions it to Mitchell that hasn't picked out his team yet. Mitchell replies that he's hoping he won't have to. + +Dr. Daniel Jackson is seeing off Vala Mal Doran, as she prepares to leave through the Stargate. Vala interprets this as concern on Daniel's part, Daniel instead tells her that it's to make sure she's "thoroughly searched." Sure enough, he discovers and takes back a gold artifact she has stolen. Vala then leaves. One hour later, when Daniel is talking with Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell he suddenly collapses and awakens in the infirmary. Dr. Carolyn Lam tells him that it seems to have to do with the Kor mak bracelets because his condition became better when Vala came back. She is in the bed next to him. They later inform Major General Henry Landry about this and their belief that the Ancient Long-range communication device caused a permanent bond between Daniel and Vala. In the meantime Dr. Bill Lee tries to run some tests on the two but Daniel stops him when he finds out that Vala knows a scientist who could help them. So Daniel and Mitchell travel to another planet and meet the scientist, named Arlos Kadawam, who Vala believes can sever the bond between Daniel and Vala. They don't tell him about Vala but he nevertheless finds out about her and claims he will only tell them what he knows if he can see her again, since Vala not only stole the bracelets but also his heart. Meanwhile at Stargate Command, Landry is visited by Major Gibson who tells him that the Senate Appropriations Committee plans to cut the budget of the SGC by 70% due to wanting to spend more money on making Daedalus-class ships, as the SGC does not in its opinion need as big a budget anymore (now that the Goa'uld and Replicators have been defeated). To change this decision, Landry has to talk to the committee himself. When Arlos sees Vala again, she lies to him about why she left him, and he tells her that he will only help her if she will bring him back his mother's necklace. Vala, however, has already sold it. Mitchell insists they will get it back. So they travel to another planet where they meet a Jaffa named Inago, who has the necklace but who wants back a useless power coil from an obsolete Tel'tak. They agree to trade and then travel to another planet to get the power coil from a monk named Caius, who set it up as a religious device. It turns out that Caius was once a smuggler and only would give back the coil if he gets back his modified Tel'tak, which Vala stole. Meanwhile somewhere else two aliens named Tenat and Jup meet up with a fleet mainly consisting of Al'kesh and inform a human man that they plan to bring back Vala since she defied the Lucian Alliance. Back at the SGC, the team informs Landry about what they have to acquire to get the information of the scientist. Also Vala informs them that the Tel'tak now belongs to the Lucian Alliance and that this alliance now wants her and Daniel dead since they screwed up a deal with them (see "Prometheus Unbound"). So getting the ship back will be difficult, and since Landry doesn't allow a mission to get it, Daniel and Vala will remain linked. Daniel tries to go on with his work, but Vala constantly disturbs him and even tries to seduce him in his bedroom. Daniel is not amused. The next day, Daniel, Landry, Teal'c and Vala are at the committee in hopes of getting more money for the SGC, but Senator Fisher decides to run the program with only 30% of the former money since he also doesn't believe the story of the Ori. He believes they should focus their efforts on building more Daedalus-class ships. Vala interrupts and insults the senator, which prompts Landry to allow the mission to get back the cargo ship to get rid of her. Mitchell, Daniel, Teal'c and Vala travel to a planet to meet Tenat and Jup, who now own the Tel'tak, pretending that Daniel and Vala were captured by Mitchell and Teal'c. The two aliens fall for the ruse and the team gets back the Tel'tak while Tenat and Jup remain on the planet. However the two then contact the Lucian Alliance, who ambush the Tel'tak with a large fleet when it leaves the planet. Thanks to Caius' modifications to the ship, the team is able to escape. They then trade everything back to its "rightful" owners until they bring back Arlos the necklace. Though pleased, the scientist admits that he can’t sever the bond and believes that the effect will wear off by itself after some time, something which doesn't make Daniel happy. Daniel tells Landry the bad news. Landry then informs Daniel that he has agreed to give the International Oversight Advisory, a civilian watchdog, oversight of the SGC in exchange for them funding the Stargate program further, to make up for the withdrawal of almost all federal funding by the Senate Appropriations Committee. In the end Teal'c leaves again for Dakara but Mitchell is sure that he will come back. + +Because nothing but time will dissolve the link between them, Dr. Daniel Jackson and Vala Mal Doran are forced to remain together at Stargate Command, much to both, but especially Daniel's, irritation. So they continue at each other's throats, as usual. But when Vala learns that P8X-412 is one of 43 planets already visited by a Prior of the Ori, she persuades Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell to help the villagers of that primitive world resist this new danger. Mitchell, Daniel and Teal'c accompany Vala to the planet, where they discover the real reason for Vala's special interest - the villagers there worship her as a god, the Goa'uld Qetesh. Vala was once host to the real Qetesh, and after she was freed of the symbiote, she discovered that the people of this isolated planet hadn't heard that their god was dead. She continued posing as Qetesh, and the villagers showered her with the few riches they had, plus continued mining the Naquadah for her. Now she's back to collect all the loot she had, well, looted there. She also thinks she can simply order the villagers to reject the Prior. Daniel and the rest of the team doubt her assumption. The Prior's powers are very real: on his previous visit, he apparently healed a villager, Vachna, of a terrible illness. This has caused a rift between the villagers, with Vachna praising the Ori and the village leader, Azdak, remaining faithful to "Qetesh." Vala won't be able to compete with the Prior in a god-versus-god showdown; the villagers will inevitably lose faith in her and submit to the Ori. Daniel finally persuades Vala that their only hope is to tell the truth. If her people come to see Vala as a false god, maybe they'll be suspicious of the Ori, too. Unfortunately, the revelation of Vala's true identity doesn't go over so well. The outraged villagers, led by Azdak, toss her in prison and put her on trial for her life (Vala actually implemented the trial system herself, when she previously ruled on the planet, and she called it a 'Mal Doran', her own surname). As Daniel argues against Azdak that Vala deserves mercy for at least bringing the truth to them, the Prior of the Ori returns. He debates with Daniel, and it's obvious that some of the villagers are buying his claims and are all to ready to worship as he demands, whilst few others believe Daniel's explanation that the 'power' of the Ori arises from understanding and technology, not magic or 'godhood'. They finally deliberate on Vala's fate, they tell her that they have decided they will not sentence her to death, BUT will be imprisoned for life. As she and Daniel attempt to change Azdak's mind on the whole 'life imprisonment' thing, they are informed that Vachna has fallen ill again. So Daniel has an idea and gets Vala to heal him using a Goa'uld healing device. This demonstration forces many villagers, including Vachna, to question the validity of the Prior's claims until more people collapse with the same illness. A plague ensues, and Daniel postulates that it could have been the Ori that dealt the plague to the Ancients that led to their extinction. This leaves Vala with little hope of being able to cure it with just one hand-device, and indeed, the disease spreads too fast for her to keep up. A medical team is sent from the SGC, led by Dr. Carolyn Lam, but their efforts ultimately also fail. Worse, those Vala had healed fall sick again afterwards. Soon, even Mitchell succumbs. The Ori, it seems, want to teach a mortal lesson to SG-1 and the people of P8X-412. Mitchell falls ill beyond anyone's aid, and Azdak dies. Vala sheds a secret tear for him. Ultimately, when the Prior returns, the townsfolk pledge their allegiance to the Ori and beg to be saved in return for their worship. When he at first refuses, Vala now totally fed up, points a weapon at him and insists that he heal everyone. When he refuses, spouting some more religious Origin stuff, she guns him down in a shower of bullets. However, much to everyones horror, the bullets all freeze in mid air inches from his body to then just drop to the ground, needless to say the Prior remains totally unscathed. Much to the villagers surprise who become all the more convinced of his power. And when the whole village fall prostrated at his feet, bowing to his will, the Prior activates his staff and cures the whole village of the plague. Even Mitchell is saved, but when even Azdak comes back to life, Dr.Lam is utterly confounded, as she had been utterly stumped for a cure. The Prior then leaves, only telling SG-1 to tell others what they had seen that day. It then cuts to Vala, Daniel and Teal'c who silently watch as the Prior leaves with the villagers bowing to the Prior as he passes. + +On Kallana, a group of Jaffa meet a Prior who wants to know about them joining the Ori and bowing to the teachings of Origin. The Jaffa refuse and attempt to attack, only for the Prior to strike them down and engulf the planet in a mysterious blue force field. In the Stargate Operations room, the Stargate activities with Major General Henry Landry learning that the message is in Goa'uld. At the SGC, Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell, Teal'c of Chulak, Dr. Daniel Jackson and Vala Mal Doran are all playing a game of basketball when Landry arrives in, asking about the minor Goa'uld, Nerus. Vala warns them anyway, but Landry decides to risk inviting Nerus to Stargate Command. A while later, after going through the security checks, Nerus arrives at the SGC and greets them. He explains that a mysterious force field has appeared on the planet Kallana. The field surrounds Kallana's Stargate and periodically increases in size. The Stargate hasn't shut down for two days, which violates all known laws of physics but worst of all, there's a Prior of the Ori on the scene. The team is forced to agree with Nerus's frightening conclusion: The Ori must be establishing a beachhead from which to launch their invasion of the Milky Way galaxy. In Landry's office, he's talking to General Jack O'Neill when Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter arrives in, stating that she's reporting for duty. After dialing the planet has failed, Landry and SG-1 revise their plan: they're going to take the Prometheus to Kallana and use one of the military's latest superweapon, the Mark IX "Gatebuster" Naquadria-enhanced Nuclear warhead. Vala is also accompanying them due to the fact that her life is still connected to Daniel's yet in the presence of the full SG-1 team, even she can tell that she's just a fifth wheel. They eventually arrive at Kallana with Colonel Lionel Pendergast, the Prometheus's commanding officer ordering that a subspace message be sent to Stargate Command: they've arrived at the enemy beachhead. Mitchell, Daniel, Teal'c, and Vala manage to transport down to the planet's surface with the Mark IX. They try to negotiate with the Prior, threatening to use the Mark IX in 30 "earth minutes", but even the threat of imminent nuclear vaporization doesn't budge him. Suddenly, a bombardment of energy weapons rains down from above. Gerak, the leader of the Free Jaffa Nation, has learned of the Ori incursion and demands to take matters into his own hands. At the same time, the force field expands again. Out of options, Mitchell arms the bomb and transports his team back to Prometheus. Humans and Jaffa alike brace for impact as the Mark IX detonates below. As the shockwave dissipates, they are stunned to discover that the force field has only gotten bigger. Soon it will engulf the entire planet, and they have no idea what will happen next. Gerak resolves to continue his bombardment of the surface, threatening to target the Prometheus once he has dispatched the Ori if the Tau'ri do not join him in his attack. Mitchell gives the order to attack. Before long, Carter notes that their attacks are only making the force field bigger: The force field is using their attacks to power and increase itself, and as Nerus, who reveals he has been working with the Ori all along, informs Landry, the Ori would have been unable to get this far without Earth's Mark IX. The Tau'ri plan has backfired. Once the force field has engulfed the entire planet, a number of small, rectangular projectiles eject from the Stargate, destroying two of Gerak's ships while also striking the Prometheus. Meanwhile, the force field begins to collapse the entire planet into a micro-singularity. Gerak retreats as the projectiles come together, forming a colossal ring in planetary orbit. SG-1 gapes in awe as the first Supergate forms before their eyes. The Supergate, between 300 and 400 meters in radius, powered by a black hole, is large enough to allow an Ori armada to enter the Milky Way galaxy. Carter notices that the pieces of the Supergate are becoming interconnected by a common energy signature. Vala, who realizes that Gerak has left behind a cloaked Tel'tak to watch them, uses the Transportation rings to board the ship. She moves the ship into the path of the last piece of the Supergate, disrupting its energy signature. When the planet finally collapses and the micro-singularity forms, the shockwave destroys the Tel'tak and disperses the now-inert pieces of the Supergate. The Ori beachhead is then destroyed much to the joy of the Prometheus crew with Sam astonished that Vala's plan worked. Back at the SGC, Nerus is sent to a prison underground in Area 51 until he comes up with a plan to fight the Ori. Nerus asks, "What would possibly compel me to do that?" Landry answers, "Hunger." Vala vanishes after the explosion, which puts Daniel in danger, but SG-1 soon realizes that the effect of the bracelets have begun to wear off. Carter notices that a matter stream left the cargo ship before it exploded. Vala may still be alive somewhere in the Ori galaxy. Daniel breathes a sigh of relief, saying, "Well, we wanted to send them a message." + +With Vala Mal Doran missing in action after the incident at Kallana, Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell unites Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter, Dr. Daniel Jackson and Teal'c under his command at last — and not a moment too soon. A Jaffa warrior belonging to the warlord Gerak turns up dead by the side of a rural Virginia road, and the team has to figure out why. Mitchell and Teal'c interrogate Gerak at the Free Jaffa Nation capital on Dakara, but he evades their questions. Daniel and Carter, meanwhile, head to Virginia, where they slowly uncover an intricate conspiracy involving several corporations, especially defense contractor Farrow-Marshall Aeronautics. Most of the men involved have also been linked to The Trust, a secretive international organization that was recently infiltrated by the Goa'uld. SG-1 hoped they'd solved that particular problem, but Daniel and Carter now suspect that more Goa'uld might still be operating within Earth's highest circles of power. Back on Dakara, Ka'lel, another Jaffa leader, privately confides in Teal'c and Mitchell. Her shocking news confirms Daniel and Carter's theory: Ba'al, one of the most despotic of the Goa'uld System Lords, is living incognito in the United States of America. Gerak has been sending Jaffa to Earth, hoping to capture Ba'al and thereby solidify his own grip on the hearts and minds of the Jaffa High Council. After Gerak's Jaffa conduct an unsuccessful raid on Farrow-Marshall's headquarters, Ba'al himself steps openly into the game. He sends a videotaped message to Stargate Command, announcing that he wishes only to conduct his business on Earth in peace. Left alone, he promises to cause no trouble. But if anyone — human or Jaffa — tries to capture him again, he'll detonate a Naquadah bomb somewhere in the United States. Letting a former system lord treat Earth as his personal playground is, of course, not an option. Mitchell and Teal'c struggle to restrain Gerak's Jaffa from making further attacks while Carter and Daniel track down Ba'al with the help of Agent Malcolm Barrett and the NID. They hope to kill him quickly and quietly, denying him time to detonate the bomb. Their plans are foiled, however, when Ba'al goes public at a TV news conference. Posing as a human businessman, he proudly announces his acquisition of Hammel Technologies, a major corporation. SG-1 must now find a way to capture the newly famous Ba'al, outwit Gerak's Jaffa warriors, and defuse a bomb hidden in a major U.S. city — all without exposing the Stargate program. SG-1 decide to kill Ba'al using the same symbiote poison created by the Tok'ra and used by the Trust to wipe out several Goa'uld planets the year before. Teal'c and Mitchell, meanwhile, return to Dakara, where Teal'c accuses Gerak of lying to the High Council and vows that, if the people of the Tau'ri capture Ba'al, they will deliver him to the Jaffa. Ba'al makes no attempt to hide himself. Having received information about the Air Force's imminent attack on his location, he sends another message to Stargate Command, saying that the Naqahdah bomb is located in a skyscraper in Seattle, and that he will detonate it within the hour. This, he adds, will only be the first of such demonstrations. Despite Teal'c's attempts to stop Gerak's interference, a small Jaffa contingent attacks the compound where Ba'al is located. Major General Henry Landry calls the attack, and the missile carrying the Tok'ra weapon hits the compound, killing all Goa'uld in the area, including the Jaffa contingent. Carter is transported to Seattle by the Prometheus to meet with the team that is trying to find the bomb. They have evacuated a five block radius, but they cannot find the bomb, as Naqahdah readings appear to be coming from multiple locations throughout the building. The skyscraper, which was only built one month before, was constructed with Naqahdah laced throughout its internal structure which means that the bomb isn't in the building: the bomb is the building itself. With only a few minutes left, Mitchell contacts Colonel Lionel Pendergast on the Prometheus, which transports the entire building into space. It harmlessly explodes, though Ba'al has disappeared. When Teal'c goes to Dakara to confront Gerak, he finds that Gerak has captured Ba'al. Ba'al is killed right in front of Teal'c, by Gerak with a staff weapon. Gerak has won, and the Jaffa High Council now favor him completely. Carter, however, discovers that Ba'al had been experimenting with cloning technology; the Ba'al that Garek killed is one of many new Ba'al clones that are now on Earth, free to do as they please. + +SG-1 goes in search of the Sodan, a lost tribe of rebel Jaffa predating Teal'c's defection by thousands of years. In an ambush by cloaked Sodan warriors, Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell manages to shoot one Sodan warrior who also wounds him. Mitchell is taken captive for killing the warrior while the fallen Sodan warrior, Volnek, is taken to Stargate Command so that he may recover and be interrogated as to the location of Mitchell. Mitchell later awakens in the Sodan camp. They have tended to his wounds and work to restore him to health and prepare him for a match to the death. In the process, Mitchell learns that the Sodan regard the Ancients as their gods. One of his captors, Jolan, trains Mitchell in the Sodan fighting technique of Kel shak lo in preparation for the match, but, during his training, Mitchell witnesses a Prior visiting the Sodan, and learns that the Sodan leader, Lord Haikon, is considering converting to the way of Origin. Mitchell and the man come to respect one another during the training, and the warrior listens to Mitchell's warnings that the Ori should not be worshiped because of their power; it is what they would do with their power that makes them worthy of worship. Meanwhile at the SGC, Dr. Carolyn Lam and her team save Volnek's life after a long operation. He recovers thanks to Tretonin, but refuses to tell them anything, even when interrogated by Teal'c. He refuses to believe the Ori are not true gods, even in front of evidence. Back on the Sodan planet, Mitchell and Jolan end up fighting in the match because Jolan is Volnek's brother. Jolan apparently kills Mitchell, but it turns out to be a ruse. The two of them fake Mitchell's death with a powerful elixir made by Jolan, who vows that he will tell his fellow Sodan of the threat the Ori pose to their people. Mitchell returns to Earth and a still unconvinced and resentful Volnek is allowed to return to his planet. + +While Major General Henry Landry walks through the corridors of Stargate Command, Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter catches up to him and tells him that the Tok'ra have found a gravitational disturbance, which may be an Ori incursion. Carter plans to investigate from a nearby planet, P3X-584, and Landry sends her there with SG-5. The team returns unexpectedly: they were on the wrong planet. Suspecting that something's wrong with the Gate, Landry suspends all Stargate activity. After some searching, Carter and CMSgt. Walter Harriman find some sort of anomaly (a "bump") in the Gate's logs, which Carter suggests might be a safety protocol that prevents unwanted people from gating in. Since it would take two weeks for the Prometheus to reach the planet, Carter tries to override the safety protocol and succeeds. Carter and Harriman find multiple "bumps" in the Stargate logs, and it is soon determined that these anomalies were the receiving gate sending out a request for a seven-code combination. Unlike the initial M.A.L.P., organic matter that has not delivered the correct combination before arrival is "call-forwarded" to a random Stargate address. Carter devises a program to crack the combination, and during the next try a bacterial culture has been placed in the M.A.L.P.'s cargo compartment. The cipher works and the probe arrives on 584. SG-1 and SG-5 follow. SG-1 and SG-5 arrive on the correct planet, where Carter finds a device connected to the Dial Home Device. Meanwhile, Teal'c and Dr. Daniel Jackson find a set of Transportation rings, which transports them, along with Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell, to an underground laboratory with a DNA resequencer and a person in an Ancient Stasis pod. When Mitchell presses a button (against Daniel's protests), the capsule releases and the man revives. The team returns him to Earth. Fortunately the gravity anomaly was simply an uncharted black hole and not a new Ori threat. Dr. Carolyn Lam compares the man's physiology to that of the Ancients mentioned in their database, and determines that he is far along the evolutionary path. The man becomes conscious, and is informed that he is on Earth. Saying his name is Khalek, he claims that he was kidnapped by a "man" who manipulated his DNA All he would like is to return home. Carter suspects that Nirrti was not the only Goa'uld who was interested in exploring the possibility of an advanced host, but Mitchell cannot help but comment that the lab looked far more Ancient than Goa'uld. However, when Daniel searches through the database at the lab, he finds out that Khalek is a genetic human-Goa'uld hybrid created by Anubis -- Khalek is more or less the son of Anubis. During a meeting, the team discusses what to do with Khalek, and Daniel suggests that since Khalek has the powers of an advanced human and the personality of a Goa'uld, they have to evaluate the possibility of killing him. When Daniel later questions Khalek, he reveals that he intends to Ascend, and from there succeed where Anubis failed; he also taunts Daniel as he talks about the genetic memories he inherited from Anubis (Including Daniel's confrontation with Anubis) and the many lives Anubis has taken, knowing that nothing will match the sweetness Khalek will feel when he kills for the first time. Richard Woolsey arrives at the SGC and announces that the International Oversight Advisory plans to study Khalek to find a weapon against the Priors, since they share similarities. Landry and Daniel protest, to no avail. The team uses the Ascendometer found by Major Altman in the alien laboratory on Khalek to scan his brain and determine how advanced he really is. Even as they watch, Khalek's brain advances further and he uses telekinesis to steal Mitchell's Zat'nik'tel. Mitchell shoots him twice in the chest with his sidearm, but Khalek just heals the wounds, which advances his brain even more. The senior staff again discusses what to do with him. Since Woolsey still wants to study him, all they can do is take further security measures, including using a hormone to paralyze him. Carter considers using the DNA resequencer to find out how long it will take until Khalek ascends. Meanwhile, Landry and Woolsey have another discussion about the security of keeping Khalek awake. Finally, Landry informs Woolsey that he plans to put Khalek back into stasis, and they start to bring him away when SG-1 arrives. They inform Landry that Khalek wants to go back to the planet since he needs two more treatments in the DNA resequencer to ascend. Khalek uses his advanced hearing to eavesdrop on the conversation. Realizing he's been thwarted, Khalek frees himself, kills two guards, and heads for the Gateroom. On his way he defeats all the guards and overwhelms all the security measures the SGC had put in place, even blocking bullets with his mind and short-circuiting the base. Khalek reaches the Gateroom, uses his powers to activate the gate dialing computer and walks through the gate, but returns moments later because of the security measures in place in P3X-584. Mitchell shoots him but Khalek blocks it. But, suddenly, blood appears on his uniform. Daniel had fired from the other end of the Gateroom, and Khalek, having been distracted by Mitchell, had not been able to stop the bullet. Having wounded him, Daniel and Mitchell continue to fire until Khalek is dead. Carter reveals to Landry that she reprogrammed the device on the planet to send anyone who dials the planet back where they came. At the end, Woolsey apologizes to Daniel, and although Daniel can't forgive him, he tells Woolsey that he wishes he'd been wrong and Woolsey had been right. + +Colonel Barnes and Lt. Fischer return from an undercover mission on P2X-885 that has fallen to the Ori. Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter proposes creating a machine that will emit a field that will cancel out the powers of a Prior. She and Dr. Bill Lee begin to work on the machine. Gerak is visited by a Prior on Dakara. He tells him that he has read in the Book of Origin, and he becomes convinced that the Ori are the gods they've been searching for. He sets out to make all Jaffa bow to the Ori as gods. Gerak then presents his beliefs to the Jaffa High Council and several of them are interested. Teal'c and Bra'tac discuss this after the meeting and they decide to oppose Gerak's vision. However after some time the council agrees to legislate Origin. Fisher returns to Earth as a carrier of the Prior Plague, which appears to be both airborne and persistent. When he listens to a speech of Lt. General George S. Hammond at an Air Force base he is taken captive and brought back to Stargate Command. At the base he reveals that he was 'blessed' by a Prior during a Prostration, who seemingly was aware that he was from Earth. Also because he is the carrier of the plague he isn't sick. However the plague begins to spread wildly throughout the country, until the President Henry Hayes is forced to put the entire nation under quarantine. While Carter is still working on the device, a young boy suddenly appears. It's Orlin, an Ancient who returned to make some startling revelations about the Ori and their true intentions. He reveals that the Ori won't give the secret of Ascension to their followers. Instead they suck the life force from them which gives them more power. Not wanting the Ori to gain control of the Milky Way Galaxy, he descended yet again to help Carter find a cure. Orlin then starts to work on a cure but during a lunch (where he also reveals that he still has feelings for Carter) it becomes clear that he starts to lose what is left from his ancient knowledge. However he finds out that that they will need the blood of the Prior who infected patient zero. Capturing him may be more difficult than anything SG-1 has ever done before. However the weapon Carter and Lee were working on is finally completed and thus Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell and Dr. Daniel Jackson lead a team to capture the Prior. On Dakara a Prior visits Gerak and tells him to go to Chulak to convert the population to Origin and he agrees to do so. However in the end he can't bring himself to follow the order. The Prior is angry and thus takes him to Celestis to meet the Doci. There, he is turned into a Prior of the Ori and returns more powerful than ever. + +Gerak tries to convince the Jaffa High Council to follow the Ori as a Prior now. However Teal'c plans to fight against him on Chulak. Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell and his team prepare to stop the Prior on the Sodan's homeworld. There, Lord Haikon reveals that he and the rest of the Sodan have renounced Origin, having been ordered to slaughter a community of simple farmers who rejected the Ori, and having found that another civilization who rejected the Ori was wiped out by a plague. The Sodan agree to help SG-1 capture the Prior, who was the one to start the plague on Earth, by using the Prior disruptor Dr. Bill Lee and Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter constructed. Once the Prior arrives, SG-1 and SG-22 manage to find the right frequency, stunning the Prior who is surprised that his powers are gone and extracting the blood sample Orlin needs to finish the cure. Meanwhile, Teal'c tries to stop Gerak by amassing a fleet of those who are not willing to follow the Ori. When Gerak encounters them with a larger fleet, they both teleport to Chulak where Teal'c manages to appeal to Gerak's still-Jaffa side to stop following the Ori, as the two of them visit the site of the battle where Gerak's father fell in the fight to free all Jaffa. At the same time, Major General Henry Landry visits the planet where the Prior was captured, with Orlin - who reveals to him the true nature of the Ori and supports his assertions by revealing parts of the Prior's past: his name Damaris and the names of his family: his wife Adina and his two sons Jadin and Allon. The Prior however, cannot be convinced to abandon the Ori. He begins quoting the Book of Origin and tries to capture Landry using his telekenetic powers only to be shot by Mitchell. However, the Prior was able to infect Landry with the plague. Orlin also tells them that the Prior has revealed why the Ori are coming to the Milky Way: they're coming to destroy the Ancients. Back on Earth, Gerak goes into the Stargate Command infirmary, but hesitates to use his powers. When Teal'c asks him why he hesitates, he admits that he shall die for helping them, but proclaims that he shall die free. Using his powers, Gerak heals all infected with the plague in the SGC, but then instantly bursts into flames; evidently, the Ori include a 'fail safe' in their Priors should the Prior turn against them. Dr. Carolyn Lam is able to isolate an antibody from those healed and synthesizes a vaccine with the help of Orlin's previous work. The plague that has reached most of the world at this point is successfully stopped, with casualties estimated at about 3000 people. Unfortunately, the effect has taken its toll on Orlin who soon becomes a normal human being with possible brain damage and with no memories at all. He is confined to a mental hospital with Sam later visiting him and helping him work on a puzzle. + +SG-1 establishes diplomatic relations with the Galarans, a moderately advanced human civilization that has enjoyed generations of peace under the Asgard Protected Planets Treaty. SG-1 discovers that the scientists of this world have recently built a device based on Goa'uld technology that can implant the memories of one person into another, remove memories, or even create new ones. They believe that the device could revolutionize their society with the knowledge of one generation quickly and easily passed on to the next, reducing the time and cost of educating a new generation of people. Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell experiences the astonishing technology first-hand as a demonstration to the rest of SG-1. Mitchell strikes up a relationship with the head of the project, Dr. Reya Varrick. This platonic relationship quickly becomes a romantic one when Cameron consoles her after she discovers that the military plans on taking over the project. She invites him back to her apartment, where they share a drink and she comes on to him. When he wakes up in the morning, he finds himself in her apartment with blood on his hands and apparently remembers committing the murder. The authorities arrest Mitchell, but he's pardoned by Emissary Varta, in an attempt to maintain negotiations between this world and Earth. Mitchell turns down the pardon and pushes for an investigation, believing that his memory of the murder is false and probably implanted in his mind with the memory device. This puts him in a dangerous position, as the penalty for murder, if convicted, would be death. With the aid of two scientists involved in the project, Amuro and Marell, Cameron is hooked up to the machine and is prepared to scan the suspect memory to determine if it's false. Before they begin, the scientists use two important real memories from Mitchell's past to establish a baseline. It is here that a part of his life is revealed. It's revealed that his father, Frank Mitchell, was a test pilot for the United States Air Force until he lost both legs in an accident, and we also learn that he was ten when the first Space shuttle was launched (STS-1 April 12, 1981 - April 14, 1981). After enduring the process of watching the memory of the murder repeatedly, it's discovered that the memory looks real. This angers Marell, who is revealed to be married but separated from Reya. Teal'c and Dr. Daniel Jackson, meanwhile, are searching for clues in Dr. Varrick's records, but are frustrated that parts of it are censored. When Varta reveals the results of the memory scans and suggests the possibility of sending Mitchell back to Earth and covering up the murder, Daniel responds by threatening to prevent an alliance between Earth and Varta's world. Back in the lab, Mitchell undergoes the memory scan again, this time using a memory with similar emotional content to the murder so as to compare the results. They use a memory of him using a F-16 Fighting Falcon to bomb targets which had at the time been identified as enemy targets, only to learn that they were innocent refugees immediately after launching his missiles. With the comparison of two occasions where Mitchell has killed innocent people available to them, the scans are able to discover an inaccuracy in the memory, proving that Mitchell is indeed innocent. At Mitchell's insistence, Marell scans deeper to try and uncover the identity of the real killer. In the memory, Cameron sees his reflection in a mirror, but the face is blurry, an indication that his mind is having trouble processing seeing a face that isn't his in the mirror. Going even deeper, the face is soon revealed - it's Marell's. Disconnecting from the memory device, Mitchell reveals his discovery, but he, Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter, and Amuro find that Marell erased his own memory of killing Reya after implanting it in Cameron's mind. Later, the memory is removed from Mitchell's mind and the team discovers that Marell's memory has been altered and he now believes Reya was killed in an accident. At the SGC, Mitchell talks with Major General Henry Landry who knows about his past because he has read Mitchell's service record. It's revealed that Mitchell nearly resigned as a result, but his father convinced him not to. + +An unscheduled offworld activation has summoned Major General Henry Landry and Dr. Carolyn Lam to the control room. As the Stargate prepares to open, there is a brief, blinding flash of light and an odd noise. SG-1, dressed in their black uniforms, comes through the gate. Landry notes that they are early. A briefing follows, during which a number of discrepancies come to light. Before they can be resolved, there is an offworld activation. SG-1 (in green uniforms) arrives right on schedule. Landry orders Lam to investigate. They conclude that both teams are really SG-1, but that the facts indicate that the green SG-1 is ours. (The black team, for example, believes that the Tok'ra Selmak is still alive.) Back in the conference room, Landry and the green team discuss the situation. In need of more information, a series of interviews takes place. Black team Jackson is interviewed by green team Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell; Landry speaks with the black team Mitchell; green team Dr. Daniel Jackson takes notes in his discussion with the black team Teal'c. Meanwhile, green team Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter and black team Carter talk science as they try to sort out what caused this problem. As the green team Carter briefs Landry and the rest of the green team SG-1 -- she suggests the beachhead black hole the Ori tried to create is involved in bringing another SG-1 here from an alternate reality—there is another unscheduled offworld activation. Assembled in the control room, the green team and Landry watch as another SG-1 team, taking fire and dressed in blue tiger camo, rush through the gate. Landry orders all gate travel restricted. While Dr. Bill Lee discusses the situation with the green team Carter, the black team Carter joins them. As they work, more SG-1 teams arrive. Eventually, Landry takes the green team Jackson and Teal'c to a room where Dr. Janet Fraiser awaits them. They are stunned, as our universe's Fraiser was killed two years ago. She reveals that her Earth is suffering from the Ori plague. Also on this team is Martouf, who Landry takes to see the green team Carter, now working on the problem with at least 16 other Carters. As green team Carter sits talking to Martouf—who she was forced to kill several years ago, black team Carter approaches and delineates the problem and a potential solution. The green SG-1 and Landry confer with Kvasir, who comes in Thor's place, about a risky plan that involves using Prometheus to close the breach in space that has diverted so many SG-1 teams. Unfortunately, all of the teams will then be stranded permanently. Fraiser visits Landry to ask for more time to find a better solution. Landry feels sympathetic but at the same time believes that he must act first and foremost to protect his own reality. Staffed only by the green and black SG-1s, the Prometheus heads off. But the black team soon launches a plot to take command of the ship by breaking into the armory. Armed with Zat'nik'tels, they capture the green team Mitchell and take him to the bridge just as the Prometheus is in position to launch its Asgard-primed weapon to close the breach. The green team is taken to a brig while the black team re-routes the Prometheus to Atlantis in the Pegasus Galaxy. Their intent is to steal Atlantis' Zero Point Module and drop off the green team on a habitable planet. As soon as Teal'c destroys the camera in the cell, the green team hatches a counterplot. Green team Mitchell then asks to speak with the black team's Mitchell with the two men meeting each other. Black Mitchell reveals to the original Mitchell that Black Mitchell himself and his own team feels that the Atlantis ZPM is only being used to power the Stargate for one-way travel to the Pegasus Galaxy and reveals that the billions of lives he and his team save in their reality will be well worth the inconvenience of traveling back and forth on the Daedalus. He also reveals that the ZPM in their reality is depleted and they're planning on taking the ZPM in Atlantis so that they can use it to power the Ancients' Antarctic outpost. Green Mitchell strongly disagrees, stating that the ZPM the black SG-1 are planning on stealing is needed in this reality to cloak Atlantis itself and that if the Wraith discover the city wasn't destroyed during the Battle of Atlantis, then the Wraith will return and launch another attack. Worse, if Atlantis falls, then the Milky Way Galaxy will be next. Green team Mitchell suddenly realizes that the black team created the entire situation to come to our universe deliberately—and that they already have a way home. Once the green team Mitchell is back in the cell with the green team, Carter hotwires the door and she and Jackson set off for the engine room, while Mitchell and Teal'c head for an armory. As they try to open the armory door, the black team Jackson and black team Teal'c show up and prepare to take green team Teal'c captive once more. It's a trap: the green team Mitchell is really the black team Mitchell. But before they can touch Teal'c, green team Carter and green team Jackson arrive and Zat black team Jackson and Teal'c. Our SG-1 anticipated the trap from their other selves, and set one of their own. The black team is taken to a holding cell where the door cannot be hotwired; black team Mitchell is dressed only in T-shirt, underwear and boots. Green team Mitchell, similarly clad, locks the door on them. Green team Carter works out a plan for returning the many SG-1s to their respective universes, and upon the return of the Prometheus to Earth orbit she requests the use of an Asgard directed energy weapon. They fire it into the open Stargate, recreating the conditions the black team used to cause the breach. Starting with the black team, the teams are sent back to their realities. On the ramp, the black team Mitchell stops and enigmatically tells the green team Mitchell, "When the time comes, cut the green one." Finally, the last team assembles. After Carter, Jackson, and Teal'c share an emotional goodbye with Martouf and Janet, Landry provides them with the cure to the Ori plague and the team heads home to save its Earth. + +The Jaffa High Council is debating over a proposal to dissolve the Council and have free election for the new government, when one by one the supporters of this action turn against it. After Ka'lel and Maz'rai, the strongest campaigners for democracy turn against it, Bra'tac and Teal'c try to find out why this happened and to convince those yet undecided of their cause. Meanwhile Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell is in the hospital visiting an old friend, Major Bryce Ferguson, who is about to die of an aneurysm caused by fragmentation. Mitchell pulled strings to get Ferguson into the Air Force Academy Hospital with access to Stargate technology. He tells Dr. Kelly that Ferguson would have had his place in the F-302 fighter-interceptor project if he had not being injured saving Mitchell's life, the same injury that ended up causing the aneurysm. At the same time, Teal'c gets kidnapped on Dakara. Bra'tac and Dr. Daniel Jackson investigate his disappearance and, after an interrogation of U'kin, Bra'tac realizes brainwashing is at work. Meanwhile, in his prison, Teal'c discovers that Ba'al is behind the brainwashing of the Council members in order to get himself chosen as leader of the Free Jaffa Nation. Teal'c resists Ba'al's brainwashing and the Goa'uld tries to convince him by telling him that he will help them against the Ori. On Earth, it turns out Ferguson has correctly deduced what Mitchell really does, based on some information he got when consulting for one of the SGC civilian contractors. Unluckily, Dr. Kelly tells Mitchell that there's no way to help Ferguson. Mitchell asks Major General Henry Landry for a favor and Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter delivers him the Galaran memory device that will allow Ferguson to experience some of Mitchell's memories from the last two years. On Dakara, Bra'tac confronts Maz'rai about the brainwashing. Once alone, Maz'rai removes his symbiote to attempt the dangerous Rite of M'al Sharran. Shamed by his failure, he dies in the attempt but leaves a note leading them to Ka'lel. On his stronghold, Ba'al tries to blackmail Teal'c by withholding Tretonin. On Earth, before leaving to save Teal'c, Mitchell apologizes to Ferguson for his hot-headed actions that caused his injuries, but his friend tells him he doesn't need to, that's who he is and it was his job. Mitchell leaves, leaving his friend with the memory machine. Mitchell, Carter and Jackson, with several SGC soldiers backing them up, and with the help of an Al'kesh piloted by Bra'tac, gate to rescue Teal'c. On Ba'al's stronghold, Teal'c fakes having been brainwashed, but Ba'al doesn't believe him and orders him to kill a captured Bra'tac. Mitchell arrives then, and shoots the guards with a Zat'nik'tel. Teal'c then kills Ba'al (or more likely, one of his clones), proving he was never brainwashed. Back on Dakara, the Jaffa Council votes in favor of democratic elections. On the SGC locker room, Teal'c thanks Mitchell, but he rebuffs the gesture, saying that it is his job. He then asks Teal'c how he resisted the brainwashing and Teal'c tells him "To resist the influence of others, knowledge of oneself is most important." Mitchell says to himself that he is still working on it. + +Stargate Command is contacted by Jared Kane from Tegalus, who reveals to them that his nation, the Rand Protectorate, was given an Ori satellite weapon and thus become followers of the Ori. The Caledonian Federation, which is engaged in a cold war with Rand, however refuses to follow the Ori. He tells them what he knows about the weapon and SG-1 agrees to help and they also plan on using the Prometheus to destroy the satellite. However, upon their arrival, Kane and Dr. Daniel Jackson are imprisoned in Rand. The Prometheus emerges from hyperspace and tries to rescue Daniel by using an Asgard beam to beam Daniel directly to the Bridge but they only end up getting Daniel's locator beacon which has Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell realizing that things aren't going so well. Captain Kevin Marks then confirms that they're being targeted with Colonel Lionel Pendergast, the Prometheus's commanding officer giving the order to fire missiles at the satellite but the missiles themselves are destroyed in seconds which has Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter realizing that defensive capabilities have been added. The satellite then attacks, breaching Prometheus's shields while also dealing an incredible amount of damage. This has everyone on board the ship scrambling to limit the damage as they prepare themselves for the possibility of another devastating attack. Worse, as a result of the attack, the Prometheus's weapons and hyperdrive system are both offline which means that the Prometheus can't defend itself nor can it even escape into hyperspace which means that the ship has been left stranded and is also vulnerable to attack. Mitchell and Teal'c of Chulak along with a group of F-302 fighter-interceptors then leave the Prometheus and attempt to attack the satellite directly, only for their attacks to be stopped by the shield. Despite one fellow pilot radioing Mitchell and informing it's no use and that they're not getting through, Mitchell encourages the other fighters to keep at it. On board Prometheus, there's chaos as everyone struggles with the aftermath of the first attack with Carter and Marks heading off to an upper level in the hope of getting the sublight engines back online. Marks heads for an elevator, only for Carter to stop him and say that the elevators aren't safe. Marks apologizes and states that he doesn't know what he was thinking before he and Carter move on. Back in the main area of the ship, Lt. Womack who's been examining the console quickly returns to her seat and informs Pendergast that the weapon is reaching maximum power. Pendergast then activates the intercom system and tells everyone on board to brace for impact with everyone on the ship presumably bracing themselves for another hit. In the X-302, a frustrated Mitchell states that the damn thing's shield is not weakening. Seconds later, the second shot from the satellite hits, dealing even more damage than the first shot. It tears through a small area of the ship, sending debris into space with the impact severely shaking the ship and causing two crew members to be thrown out in space, killing both of them in the process while Marks who's climbing a ladder injures his left arm with Carter eventually saving him. As she helps Marks, Carter tells the Bridge that they can be beamed up to Control Room 2. Back on the Bridge, Wormack tells Carter that's a negative because the Control Room no longer has life support. Goran wonders if they should broadcast a call for surrender but Rand is adamant, stating that the Book of Origin states enemies of the Ori show no mercy in attempts to draw others away from the path with Rand insisting that they need to face this with all the strength they've been given before telling a Tegalan Technician to finish it. Mitchell radios the Prometheus for a status report. Pendergast tells him that it's not looking good right now. Mitchell wonders if they can assist but Pendergast states that it isn't possible before telling Mitchell to stand by for further orders. Mitchell agrees to do that. To buy Carter some time, Pendergast attempts to negotiate for surrender but eventually his efforts are in vain with Pendergast informing Carter who's still working on the generator that it's over and to give him power for the Asgard transporters before announcing that they're abandoning ship. Eventually, most of the Prometheus crew including Marks are evacuated to the surface of Caledonia while Rand soon gives the order to destroy the ship which leaves Daniel and Kane horrified. The satellite strikes again with the severe power of the attack causing Prometheus to break apart and seconds later, the ship ultimately explodes, killing Pendergast and any remaining officers on the ship as well. As this happens, Mitchell and Teal'c who are still in the X-302 can only watch in dismay as the ship is destroyed with Mitchell removing his mask and muttering, "Ah, Hell", obviously stunned at the sight with Teal'c taking off his own mask as well. In the bunker, Daniel can only watch in silent dismay and horror as a tech confirms to Nadal that the Prometheus has been destroyed. In Caledonia, with Mitchell and Teal'c having been reunited with Carter, the team begins to hatch a new plan to destroy Rand's space weapon. Meanwhile, Daniel continues to try and convince Rand's President Nadal to solve the issue peacefully, but is ignored. Back in Caledonia, Carter comes up with a plan to detonate equipment from an F-302 over the Rand command bunker to release an electromagnetic pulse and disrupt the systems controlling the space weapon. The plan is effective and while the systems are down, Mitchell and Teal'c move into position to destroy the space weapon. Realizing what will happen, Nadal finally decides to make a deal with Caledonia, which was proposed to him by Daniel: He will give Caledonia the Stargate and any Caledonian that does not wish to believe in Origin would be allowed to leave the planet. Caledonia's Minister Chaska grudgingly accepts the terms and Mitchell and Teal'c don't destroy the satellite. When the control systems reactivate, Nadal goes back on his word and orders the space weapon to destroy the Caledonian capital building. However, Commander Goran Pernaux doesn't agree and shoots Nadal, killing him. In turn, Goran is shot by Nadal's bodyguards. Jared steps in and convinces the Rand soldiers to accept Pernaux's order to stand down and deactivate the space weapon. When SG-1 leaves, both nations agree to try and solve their problems peacefully. Awhile later, Mitchell visits Daniel is his office after having personally delivered a letter to Pendergast's family about his death. Mitchell notes that it was thanks to Daniel and Pendergast's leadership that they survived and Daniel realizes that Mitchell hasn't heard the news: shortly after SG-1 and the Prometheus crew returned to Earth, the SGC lost contact with Tegalus. To discover what happened, the Daedalus was diverted to Tegalus on its way back from Atlantis. The Daedalus discovered that the Caledonians were apparently not content to leave the planet and talks broke down, leading to a war between the two sides that destroyed the Rand Protectorate and the Caledonian Federation. The Daedalus only discovered a devastated planet with the Stargate presumably buried in the rubble. + +While investigating the nature of an addictive corn-like crop grown on an alien world, found by accident by SG-3, SG-1 gets into a firefight with members of the Lucian Alliance. After SG-1 retreats to the gate, Dr. Daniel Jackson tries to dial out only to have the Stargate beamed off world before he can finish. Having nowhere to retreat to, SG-1 is captured and Worrel, leader of the local Lucian Alliance faction, suspects them of the theft. Meanwhile, on Earth, Major General Henry Landry learns from the Tok'ra that someone has been stealing Stargates all over the galaxy. He suspects Ba'al but needs proof and turns to the imprisoned former follower of Ba'al, Nerus. At the same time, the newly-commissioned Odyssey with Colonel Paul Emerson leading it receives a conference call from Landry who informs Emerson of the development. Despite the Odyssey being on her shakedown mission, Emerson agrees to take on the mission and orders Major Kevin Marks to set a course for the alien planet SG-1 are on. Nerus confirms Landry's suspicions and tells him that Ba'al is likely trying to establish a new empire with the gates. Following a sizable feast provided by Landry, Nerus admits to have developed a way to disable a Stargate's correlative update system, effectively rendering one undetectable to the network. Ba'al's plan was to set up his own network of Stargates on his own planets, isolating himself from the wider network. Meanwhile, on the alien planet, Worrel is about to execute SG-1 when they are beamed aboard the Odyssey and filled in with the latest information on Ba'al's scheme. Nerus requests his freedom in exchange for the coordinates to Ba'al's location, but Landry is reluctant to accede. As he knows better than to trust a Goa'uld, Landry secretly feeds a subspace locator beacon to Nerus and then agrees to release him. When Nerus finally returns to Ba'al's ship, the beacon transmits his position to the Odyssey. When trying to use his technology with Ba'al's ship, a virus created by Dr. Bill Lee executes, disabling the ship's defenses and rendering it blind to the arriving Odyssey. SG-1 beams aboard the ship, makes its way to where the stolen gates are stored and begins planting locator beacons on them so they can be detected by the Odyssey. Not everything goes smoothly as the Lucian Alliance detected Ba'al as well, and three Ha'taks begin firing on Ba'al's defenseless vessel. Ba'al quickly manages to restore his shields, preventing Odyssey from beaming out SG-1 and the final gate. With Jaffa closing in, SG-1 launch a final attack. Seconds later, Marks reports that Ba'al's ship has been destroyed. On the ship, Netan orders that the Odyssey be attacked. Back on the Odyssey, Emerson orders the Odyssey head back into hyperspace, Emerson himself stunned at the possibility that SG-1 may be dead. As such, the Odyssey jumps into hyperspace while back on the Lucian Alliance ship, Natan is furious, his chance at attacking the Odyssey having been denied. A while later, SG-1 return to Earth and they reveal that thanks to Carter being able to successfully reprogram one of the DHDs, they were able to escape. Carter suggests that they let the Odyssey know that they're OK with Daniel stating it is due to the fact that the Odyssey probably still think that SG-1 were on board Ba'al's ship when it exploded. Mitchell also hopes that the Odyssey managed to get all the Stargates off Ba'al's ship before it was destroyed. Landry welcomes them home and tells them that it's been an eventful few days before announcing that they'll debrief in one hour. Mitchell remarks to his teammates that they've got the best jobs but Daniel and Carter don't share his joy with Carter stating that she's going to hit the shower while Daniel states he's going to find a doctor. Only Teal'c agrees with Mitchell, stating that they are indeed suitably employed. As SG-1 go their separate way, Mitchell stares at his gun and remarks that it was a good day before he too heads off. + +SG-1 prepare for a mission off-world, only for Major General Henry Landry to cancel the mission. Landry then reveals that their new assignment is to "babysit" a group of foreign diplomats of the International Oversight Advisory, which is currently funding most of the Stargate program. The team, together with the representatives Richard Woolsey (US), Shen Xiaoyi (China), Jean LaPierre (France) and Russel Chapman (United Kingdom), visits the "Gamma Site", one of Earth's off-world bases where scientists are currently, among other things, interested in an alien bug called R-75. It is supposed to originate from the Priors as a new form of threat to worlds where the plague has been defeated, feeding on plants to destroy them completely. However the scientists discover soon that after being deprived of food, the bugs now start to feed on meat as well and that causes them to multiply at an alarming rate. Meanwhile the Chinese representative complains that her country hasn't been given any of the technology which Stargate Command acquired, although they also signed the Gate Alliance Treaty. Meanwhile Dr. Myers is bitten by one of the bugs which makes him ill, soon after he is taken back to Earth. However, before they can enter the Stargate a swarm of new reproduced bugs leaves Myer's body reducing it to only his clothes, and swarm the stargate room. Therefore the room is sealed and SG-1 and the diplomatic team are locked down and can't return to Earth. Following emergency routine, SG-1 and the diplomats are sent to the surface and try to make their way to a research station, at which point they are attacked by the bugs, who escaped the base and burrowed through the earth. Although one soldier is lost, the team retreats to a cave; the bugs are unable to burrow up from underneath, and the team is able to use gunfire to hold the entrance. Meanwhile on Earth, the SGC is partially aware of the situation. Since they believe all people at the Gamma Site are dead, General Landry sends the Odyssey to the planet with instructions to destroy the bugs from orbit "As per Protocol CR-91." Back on the planet Dr. Daniel Jackson and Shen Xiaoyi again argue about China's position in the Stargate program while another soldier is killed by the bugs. Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell and Teal'c decide to try to get back to Gamma Site and get a F-302 fighter-interceptor fighter to retreat far off but find out that the base was destroyed by its self-destruct system. Retreating back to the cave their only hope now lies with the Odyssey. The only problem is that the beacons SG-1 have won't work with the atmosphere (which has a strong ionosphere interference) and thus the Odyssey most likely would proceed with emergency protocol and poison the whole planet to kill the bugs. Thus SG-1 try to reach the research facility where Carter would be able to send a signal to the Odyssey to pick them up. They reach the research station, but must hold off the bugs until the Odyssey can pick up the signal. This task is done by Mitchell, Daniel and Teal'c, while Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter prepares the signal. After a desperate holding action, the plan succeeds and the team and the diplomats are beamed up to the Odyssey just as they run out of ammunition and the bugs flood the base. Despite the disaster, the IOA deems that the incident was beyond anybody's control, and decides to continue funding the Stargate program. However, Landry informs SG-1 that two other planets were attacked by the bugs. + +Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter has been trying for weeks to find a way to access an Ancient device found in Merlin's cave in "Avalon", so far without success. Just as Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell joins her to offer some breakfast, she manages to access the device, shifting them both into an alternate dimension. After their attempt to contact Dr. Daniel Jackson fails (they expected him to have the ability to see them, as he had experienced something very similar in a previous episode - "crystal Skull"), they wait for the base personnel to detect them. Meanwhile, the SGC learns that the Sodan homeworld has been attacked and, as Mitchell is missing, Teal'c takes SG-12 to find out what happened. On the base, Daniel finds out, by comparing security camera footage, that the device must be responsible for his colleagues' disappearance. At first Dr. Bill Lee believes they have been miniaturized, but that theory is quickly abandoned. Daniel is reminded of the device that shifted him years ago when he hears that this device emits lepton radiation as well. He goes to study the manuscripts from Merlin's cave and discovers that Mitchell and Carter have been shifted much as he was. However, the device exists in both dimensions, so they begin to communicate by pressing buttons on the device. Meanwhile, on the Sodan homeworld, Teal'c learns that Volnek, a Jaffa nearly mortally wounded by Mitchell in an earlier episode, has been driven mad by a Prior and recently killed all villagers except for the chief, Haikon, who is badly wounded. He survives when a member of Teal'c's squad administers Tretonin to compensate for the death of his symbiote (Volnek has, logically, struck at the traditional Jaffa weak spot when he was engaging the villagers). Haikon reveals that Volnek is using an Invisibility device, and Teal'c decides to use one himself in order to find Volnek. He succeeds but is unable to kill him as Volnek simply rises to his feet when he is struck down by either staff blasts or Tau'ri weaponry. In the meantime, Major General Henry Landry sends SG-3 and SG-22 to support Teal'c's team when he does not report in; Mitchell, still invisible to the rest of the base, decides to tag along to help. Volnek, apparently retaining some measure of intelligence despite his madness, has disabled the Eye of the Gods to reach the Stargate from their lofty mountain village and has trapped Teal'c and SG-12 with him. Mitchell discovers that while Teal'c and Volnek are cloaked, they can see and hear him, but are unable to interact with him, effectively making Mitchell invincible against Volnek's enhanced strength. Mitchell and Teal'c decide to lure Volnek into an explosive trap, using A-M18A1 Claymore mines that will hopefully completely obliterate the body. On Earth at the same time, Daniel has been shifted to the same dimension by a mistake of Dr. Lee and learns from the device's logs that Merlin used the device to hide his latest invention from his fellow Ascended Beings. Carter is shocked to learn that he willingly gave up Ascension, until she learns what he was hiding from the Others - a weapon capable of killing ascended beings. Daniel explains that Merlin believed that the Ori posed a threat to the people of the Milky Way and anticipated the inaction of the Ancients. As far as Daniel can determine, Merlin completed the weapon, and Carter and Daniel learn that the weapon is on another planet, and the log contains the Stargate address. Back in the regular dimension, Dr. Lee is further tinkering with the device and accidentally drains nearly all of its power. Daniel succeeds in bringing Carter and himself back just as they learn the coordinates where Merlin stored his prototype. Unfortunately, the device also affects Mitchell on the Sodan homeworld who had almost succeeded in luring Volnek into the trap. However, with some help from Teal'c, the trap succeeds after all and Volnek is reduced to minuscule and harmless pieces. Thankfully, Mitchell managed to remove the vital control crystal from Volnek's pocket before the explosive detonated and was able to repair the transport device. + +A very pregnant Vala Mal Doran makes contact with Stargate Command, using the Long-range communication device to take over Dr. Daniel Jackson. She tells the surprised SG-1 what happened to her after the Battle of Kallana. She has been thrown on an Ori homeworld in their galaxy by means she does not know about and awakened in the bed of the man who found her, who thought that she was a present from the gods. She learned that the town where he lives is one of dozens building ships and providing troops for the Ori invasion fleet. To stay undercover she decided to take a role as homemaker to the crippled Tomin, the man who found her. When she found out that she is pregnant she quickly marries Tomin to make him think it's his child. However Vala didn't know who the father really was since she had no relationship with anyone but later found out that the child is in fact "the will of the Ori." Meanwhile on Earth, Colonel Chekov informs Major General Henry Landry that Russia has no interest in participating in the Stargate program, and plans to let their agreement with the United States of America expire. This means that Russia gets the Stargate back, as they had only loaned to the USA. Russia apparently has the backup of China on this move. Back in the interrogation room, Vala tells the rest of SG-1 that she was suspected to be an unbeliever and was chained in public for three days by Seevis, the local Administrator. Tomin rescued her without interference after this time. When she went by herself to see the ships built she was surprised by Seevis, who revealed himself to be the leader of the Anti-Ori underground movement. He planned to sabotage the ships to kill thousands of Ori followers. Among other pre-Ori artifacts, Seevis had acquired the Ancient communication device that Vala and Daniel had used the first time, which is how Vala was able to use it again. In the meantime, on Earth, Landry finds out that the Russians do not really want their gate back, but are merely trying to coerce the US government. In exchange for the gate, the Americans are forced to give the next Daedalus-class battlecruiser under production (the third in the series after the Daedalus and Odyssey) to the Russians. Meanwhile, on the Ori homeworld, a Prior visits Tomin and informs him that the same ailment he was born with, and which he had recently healed him from, had also made it impossible that he father a child. When he asks if his wife has therefore deceived him, he is told by the Prior that the child is the will of the Ori and that he will be rewarded for going along with it. Upstairs Vala overhears that her pregnancy is indeed 'immaculate' as she suspected/feared, and that the Ori are responsible. When the day comes for the priors to bless the ships, Vala begs Tomin to stay with her instead of going to the ceremony because she has a bad feeling, but he refuses. Later, Seevis' sabotage plan fails and nothing happens, although Vala is not sure whether it was the priors or the Ori who stopped it. In either case, the Ori are aware of the planned sabotage and send Tomin to kill Seevis. Tomin kills both him and Denya, and destroys the communication device, disrupting the communication from Vala. She is able to persuade Tomin that she was not part of the conspiracy, that Seevis had forced her into using the communication stones, and that she will accompany him on his crusade against the nonbelievers. On Earth, the SGC realize the communication has been severed and decide to do everything possible to find out where the Ori have built their second Supergate. SG-1 decides to search for Merlin's weapon which is able to kill ascended beings. With the Ori gone, their followers will no longer see them as gods and the crusade would be unimportant. After hearing their argument, Landry eventually gives them the go-ahead and SG-1 depart for their newest mission: find Merlin's weapon. + +SG-1 has traveled to the planet Camelot, which is believed to be the hiding place of Merlin's weapon, despite not knowing what precisely it looks like or does. There, they find a village, complete with a Sword In The Stone similar to the one found in the Avalon cave on Earth. Soon they are greeted by the village leader, Meurik, and welcomed to Camelot - the once and future home of Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. After some inquiries, during which they learn that Merlin is not remembered fondly in the town, SG-1 discovers that Merlin built a library in Camelot, but that it is protected by a powerful curse: the Black Knight, which SG-1 assumes is a holographic guardian similar to the one located in the Avalon cave. Still persistent on finding the weapon, Dr. Daniel Jackson convinces the village historian, Antonius, to help them enter the library. Once inside, they spend some time going through the collected books without result. When Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell finds a secret passage, which leads to a chamber containing an Ancient control panel, Antonius decides to leave, saying they have tempted fate enough for one night. When he arrives in his home, he is attacked and killed by the black knight. The village leader, Meurik, discovers that the five of them had entered the library, demands that SG-1 leave the village. Jackson realizes that Merlin designed this Black Knight to attack the village specifically to generate this type of reaction. If the Knight only killed those in Merlin's library, there would always be someone else willing to risk it. By having the Knight kill someone in the village, the entire town would try to prevent anyone entering the library. The team tries to convince the villagers that the Knight is just a security device, but is unexpectedly beamed aboard by the Odyssey which leaves all the villagers shocked. Once aboard the Odyssey, Colonel Paul Emerson tells them that the Free Jaffa Nation who were investigating some unusual energy readings have discovered a fully formed Supergate at P3Y-229 with Carter theorizing that the planet was probably destroyed when the Supergate was first created which also explains why Stargate Command who have been trying to dial the planet haven't been able to get a lock. Emerson also explains that his orders were to pick up SG-1 and to proceed directly to where the Supergate is. Unfortunately, the Daedalus is still in the Pegasus Galaxy, presumably assisting the Atlantis expedition but Russia's new Daedalus-class vessel, the Korolev will be joining them in the battle despite the fact that it's being rushed into service. Emerson states that they're to meet up with many Jaffa and Tok'ra ships as they can muster with the orders being to destroy the Supergate at all costs. Nonetheless, Daniel and Mitchell return to Camelot, in the hopes of finding a way to defeat the Black Knight (Merlin's Curse) and find the weapon before being picked up by the Korolev. Since the villagers remain unhappy with SG-1, the Odyssey beams them directly into Merlin's library, where Daniel searches for the means to deactivate the knight hologram. His first attempts are unsuccessful, and the knight again appears in the village. Mitchell attempts to fight it, but does not fare well - even after a local girl, Valencia, manages to draw the sword from the stone and gives it to him. Eventually, though Daniel does manage to make a room full of treasure appear along with a hologram of Merlin, he has to shoot the device's control crystal in order to stop the knight. A large Jaffa fleet has already assembled at the Supergate by the time the Odyssey arrives; Teal'c immediately transfers to the nearest Jaffa vessel, saying only that he intends to enlist "some much-needed allies". Soon afterward, an Asgard ship drops out of hyperspace, delivering Kvasir to the Odyssey. There, he and Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter search to find a way to activate the Supergate, and prevent the Ori from dialing in. Meanwhile, Teal'c flies an unmarked Tel'tak into Lucian Alliance territory, where he is captured and brought before Netan. Teal'c implores Netan for assistance, but Netan would rather have Teal'c killed. However, after Teal'c overpowers his guards, takes one of their weapons and makes a point of not killing Netan, the Lucian Alliance leader reconsiders his request. In Camelot, Daniel and Mitchell search through the treasure for a stone pendant that Daniel believes to be Merlin's weapon, eventually being greeted by the villagers. Meurik identifies the pendant they seek as the Sangraal - the Holy Grail, in search of which Arthur departed the world long ago. He says there is no need to worry, however: since Valencia's pulling the sword from the stone, in his view, is a sign that Arthur will soon return. Daniel attempts to convince the villagers that nothing supernatural is at work here, but he and Mitchell are then beamed up by the Korolev in the midst of Daniel's argument. Despite the failure to find the weapon, Carter convinces Emerson that dialing out from the Supergate is still worthwhile, as it would at least prevent the Ori from sending any ships through. Therefore, she undertakes a spacewalk to replace the Supergate's dialing crystal with one she and Kvasir have modified. Unfortunately, before the new crystal can be put into effect, the Supergate activates with a massive wormhole emerging which ultimately causes Sam's magnetic lock to disappear and leaves her drifting into space. As the Supergate comes online, signalling that the Ori are ready, Sam can only mutter "Oh my God", obviously horrified and in disbelief at what's going on. The Korolev then drops out of hyperspace and arrives at the site with Mitchell and Daniel on board. Colonel Emerson advises the Korolev to prepare for battle with the Korolev bracing itself as Mitchell grimly states that the Ori are coming. As that happens, four Ori warships arrive through the Stargate, facing off against the allied forces. A brief stand-off quickly descends into battle. Despite the allied forces's best efforts, the four Ori ships prove themselves to be far superior. Even Teal'c's last-minute arrival with three Lucian Alliance vessels proves to be of little help: the four Ori ships quickly overwhelm the allied forces, destroying the Korelev and several other ships. Carter, still trapped in space near the Supergate, can only watch in despair as the carnage continues. Eventually, with their victory clear, the four Ori warships head off, leaving behind a trail of destruction and damage. Meanwhile, on board one of the Ori warships, Vala Mal Doran is similarly helpless as she witnesses the battle through a large observation window and contemplates her soon-to-be-born child before realizing seconds later to her horror that her waters have broken which means that Vala is going into labor. + +On board an Ori warship, Vala Mal Doran gives birth to her miracle child, a baby girl with a Prior proclaiming that the baby girl who is the chosen Champion of the Ori and also the Orici will lead the Ori to victory over and any all unbelievers. The four Ori warships then head into hyperspace. In the aftermath of the battle, Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter is floating in space near the Stargate due to the fact that she lost her magnetic grip when the Supergate came online which has her left stranded in space. She radios for help but gets no responses whatsoever. Worse still, she only has a few hours of life support left. Her transmission for help eventually reaches Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell, her fellow SG-1 team member and also SG-1's new team leader who is lying unconscious in an X-302 hyperspace fighter that in a flashback is what Mitchell used to successfully escape the Korolev mere seconds before it exploded after the Ori warships attacked it. They talk about what happened, only to be interrupted when they both hear Colonel Paul Emerson, the commander of the Earth ship Odyssey. Mitchell gets permission to board the Odyssey but the crew of the Odyssey are unable to beam Carter back on board, simply because their beaming technology is offline due to damage sustained in the Battle of P3Y-229 and also because they're still undergoing repairs. When the Asgard beams fail, Mitchell chooses to bring the Odyssey directly to Carter despite Carter's misgivings. The plan soon works and Carter is eventually brought on board thanks to Mitchell who gets a little help from Kvsair. On the Ori warship, Vala is shocked to see that her daughter has already begun changing, aging rapidly in a matter of hours up to the point where she is twelve years old. The girl is an oracle, programmed with the knowledge of her race -- and with their power -- destined to lead the Ori on a campaign for galactic domination. Though attended by servants and worshipers, she remains a human child who yearns for love and approval from her mother. The Ori fleet has arrived in the Milky Way galaxy ("Camelot"), with Dr. Daniel Jackson (who managed to ring off the Korolev as it was destroyed) and Vala on board one of their ships. Ori warriors roam the halls, while peasants serve as staff on the ship. Vala visits her child in the impressive "Oracle's Room," and learns that the young girl knows and believes all that the Ori do about ascension. The girl, now named Adria also claims that it was the Ancients who tried to destroy the Ori for their beliefs, and not the other way around -- and that the Ori most certainly do ascend their followers, contrary to what the Ancients have told them. She even further claims that it is the Ancients, and not the Ori, who drain power from their followers. They created human life in the Milky Way galaxy to gain enough power to destroy the Ori -- making this bloody crusade a preemptive strike against the true "evil" with young Adria insisting that all those who cannot be made to follow the true path must be destroyed or all will be lost to evil. Vala wonders if it's a preemptive strike with young Adria stating that it does not matter what she calls it but the cause is just and the truth will see the Ori through to victory. Elsewhere, the Odyssey squares off against the sole remaining ship of the Lucian Alliance fleet, whose crew, more importantly the leader Netan have decided that Teal'c talked them into joining the battle against the Ori ships to weaken the Lucian fleet. Both ships are heavily damaged, but the Lucian Ha'tak mothership has no weapons functionality. Unfortunately, two more Lucian ships exit hyperspace in the vicinity. Three more Ha'taks, however, exit hyperspace nearby as well -- commanded not by the Alliance, but by Bra'tac. Before a firefight can ensue, the two fresh Lucian ships open fire on and destroy the disabled original before leaving. Luckily, Carter and Kvasir manage to fix the Odyssey's Asgard transporter in time and beam Teal'c aboard just as the ship is destroyed. While Daniel and Vala deal with her daughter, the rest of the team joins Bra'tac and the Jaffa in an assault on three ships in orbit of the Jaffa planet Chulak. The Odyssey is left behind to finish repairs on its hyperdrive and then go back to Earth for full repairs. Adria is leading the conquest of the planet, on board a ship that has landed on the surface. Vala hopes to sway her daughter, challenging her decision to slaughter innocent people. Carter radios the Ori ships in the hopes of contacting any survivors of the Korolev, the Russian-commanded Earth ship destroyed by the Ori. Daniel finds his radio and responds, assuring Carter that he made it okay. He and Vala hope to stun Adria and capture her. It is learned that the Russians discovered that the Ori ships have a weakness: their shields flicker slightly at the moment their weapons fire, allowing Transportation rings onto the Ori ships. Daniel used this weakness at the last second as the ship was about to explode. Meanwhile, two of Bra'tac's three Ha'taks have been destroyed. The crew attempts to send a powerful explosive aboard an Ori warship, taking advantage of the shield "flicker". Unfortunately, this does not work, and Bra'tac resolves to ram the Ori ship. As the ship heads towards destruction, the Odyssey suddenly drops out of hyperspace, having come to help. At Mitchell's order, the crew beams aboard himself, Teal'c, Carter and Bra'tac upon whom he'd planted a locator beacon just in case the Odyssey came to help. Seconds later, the Ha'tak impacts the Ori shields, following Carter's prediction that it would not even come into contact with the ship's hull with the Ha'tak being destroyed while the Ori ship moves on, unaffected. Inside the ship on the planet's surface, Vala attempts to convince Adria to question her faith in the Ori, but Daniel enters before his cue, followed by her husband Tomin, who has realized that Daniel is not one of the Ori soldiers. Tomin attempts to shoot Daniel with his staff weapon, but Vala jumps into the path of the blast. As Adria and Tomin rush to Vala's side, Daniel stuns them using the Ori stun weapon mounted on his wrist. Before they can leave the room, flames spring up in front of the door, and a Prior steps through. But before he can do anything significant, Daniel realizes that he is about to beamed aboard the Odyssey and grabs Vala, causing them both to be beamed to safety, but leaving Adria behind, who could have been a powerful ally if convinced to denounce the Ori unconscious on the floor while the Prior is left seething at the fact that he has been denied the chance to kill both Daniel and Vala. The Odyssey then jumps into hyperspace, escaping while also narrowly avoiding a shot from one of the Ori ships. As SG-1 recuperates and discuss Adria, the Ori have complete superiority in the Milky Way. Mitchell says that he's not giving up and that he will fight to his dying breath but he believes that they need a new plan. + +After learning that the Ori have successfully invaded six more planets, SG-1 goes off-world to Vagonbrei in the hope of finding an Ancient weapon that Dr. Daniel Jackson believes is the key to defeating the Ori. SG-1 and Red Team led by Dr. Reimer travel through the gate and discover a village in which all the inhabitants died of a mysterious illness. What is more curious is the fact that most of them seemed to have died in their beds. But before they can decipher what the cause of this is, they themselves are infected by the plague they come to know as "the curse of Morgan Le Fay," which is really a parasite that feeds on melatonin and serotonin. They discover that this induces the urge to sleep, and once the brain falls into its dormant sleep state, the parasite feeds even more and becomes larger and larger until the infected person suffers a fatal stroke. Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell and Teal'c set out to find any sort of cure or treatment for the disease that might exist in the natural environment of the planet, while Jackson and Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter continue to search for evidence of the weapon that Merlin created to fight the Ori. All are simultaneously fighting a desperate battle to stay awake. Meanwhile on Earth, Vala Mal Doran attempts to cram for her psychiatric evaluation which she worries will be incredibly difficult, even though Major General Henry Landry assures her it will be very simple. When she finally does take the examination, she is so nervous that she attempts to fake the exam and as a result makes a fool of herself, much to the genuine surprise and bewilderment of the examiner. As Vala continues to worry about her future, she is visited by Richard Woolsey who offers to ensure she passes her evaluation if she agrees to act as a spy by keeping the International Oversight Advisory informed of confidential goings-on at Stargate Command. On Vagonbrei, Teal'c and Mitchell trek through a cave to search for any animal that might have developed a resistance to the disease. They find one in the form of a strange lizard. The pair chase it even though they are both on the verge of collapsing from exhaustion. Back at the village, Lt. Bernie Ackerman dies in his sleep, while Dr. Reimer succumbs of a heart attack due to an overdose of amphetamines and other energy boosting drugs that they are using to stay awake. Despite all of their efforts Carter and Jackson nearly nod off several times and begin to rely on each other to stay awake. Several hours of hazy exhaustion pass, until a medical team sent to rescue them arrives and seals them in quarantine containers. Carter attempts to tell them of their condition but is too exhausted to speak. Both know that they will probably not be able to resist the urge to sleep any longer. In the cave Mitchell and Teal'c finally catch up with the lizard, and Teal'c tackles it and catches it in a bag. At this point though Mitchell collapses and is unable to get up, despite many attempts of aid by Teal'c. Teal'c is forced to leave him behind and makes his way up to the entrance of the cave, whereupon he too collapses. The medical team that "helped" Carter and Jackson arrives though, and it’s at this point that they figure out that the lizard must be a part of a treatment. The episode shifts back to Earth, where all of the team members seem to be perfectly fine. They talk about how the medical teams were able to synthesize a cure from the lizard and they have spent many hours sleeping - and how Carter and Jackson were able to discover the next clue to the location of Merlin's weapon - Atlantis. They are then informed that there is a situation in the gate room - and upon going there quickly learn that it is Vala, who is demanding that they dial the gate to wherever she wants to go. At this point Landry informs Vala that she really passed the test and that Woolsey's offer was part of it. The episode ends with everyone satisfied (although Woolsey is a bit miffed about Vala's sexual accusation against him), and the team preparing to go to Atlantis for the first time. + +With the threat of the Ori now pressing upon the Milky Way, SG-1 continues its desperate search for any way to stand up to them. Still rumored but undiscovered is a powerful weapon invented by Merlin, whom SG-1 learned was a Lantean scientist (Myrddin, also known as Moros) who returned to Earth from Atlantis 10,000 years ago Merlin was once ascended, but chose to retake human form to create a weapon that can destroy ascended beings in order to fight the Ori—and to keep that work hidden from the others of his kind who have a strict rule of non-interference with un-ascended mortals. Continuing their search for the device, Dr. Daniel Jackson and Vala Mal Doran visit the Ancient city of Atlantis, now an Earth outpost in the Pegasus galaxy and which is inhabited by the Atlantis expedition. In the city's Holo room they discover Morgan Le Fay, who is masquerading as the teaching computer's interface, a holographic projection of a 30 to 40-year-old woman. Along with Dr. Elizabeth Weir, they seek Morgan's help in discovering the whereabouts of Merlin's weapon—despite the fact that Merlin was apparently rebelling against the Lanteans and the other Ancients in creating it. Meanwhile, Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter, Dr. Rodney McKay, and Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell join the Odyssey for a dangerous mission. Having been unsuccessful in dialing out with the Supergate the Ori used to invade the Milky Way galaxy, the team hopes to dial in from Pegasus since the Supergate was designed to be dialed from another galaxy. Their plan is to plant a normal gate next to the Supergate and another next to a black hole in Pegasus. Due to relativistic effects of the black hole, once the two gates are connected they can virtually not be shut down. Then using a Nuclear warhead, they will make the matter stream "jump" from the normal Stargate to the Supergate (the same plan that saved Earth in the season two episode "A Matter of Time".) Unfortunately, the first test is unsuccessful. Compounding matters, Atlantis detects a Wraith Hive Ship heading toward the Odyssey's position, but are unable to warn them due to interference from the black hole. They dial Stargate Command to have them to relay a message to Teal'c (who is positioned in a cloaked Al'kesh near the Supergate) who can relay the message to SG-1. Later, Daniel, Weir, and Vala are stunned to learn that Morgan is not a holographic interface at all: She is an ascended Lantean, the real Morgan Le Fay, who is walking the line of breaking her vow of non-interference to help the humans battle the Ori. She reveals to them that when the Lanteans resettled to Earth many millennia ago, they found only a harsh land and primitive peoples. There was no hope to rebuild their great society, so they spread out, some seeding ancient civilizations, others living out their lives in secluded meditation. In this later fashion Morgan and Merlin both one day learned to ascend. When he later descended to create the anti-Ori weapon, she was sent by the Others to watch him. Merlin was able to keep all his ascended knowledge when he retook human form and also many powers. Using these powers, he made the weapon. Meanwhile, McKay realizes that the problem isn't that they don't have enough power to make the matter stream transfer to the Supergate, but that they can't sustain the thermonuclear reactions long enough for it to obtain the desired reaction. They decide to set off two devices, one moments after the first to get the necessary result. Unfortunately, this also fails, and now Teal'c is detecting an Ori warship heading toward the Supergate, possibly to rendezvous with others that are going to come through the gate. Carter tells him to extend his cloak around the gate on his end and wait it out. However, moments later, Teal'c receives the message from the SGC about the Wraith about to prey upon the Odyssey and informs the Odyssey. This leaves everyone stunned while McKay, the only member of the Atlantis Expedition on board the Odyssey and also the only person to have fought against the Wraith remarks with disbelief, "Oh, Wraith. That's not good". Back at Atlantis, Daniel and Weir argue that in Arthurian legend Merlin and Morgan were rivals. If she was sent to watch him and, if necessary, stop him, would she really be helping them to find the technology now? They realize that she is breaking the vow of non-interference just by talking to them and that she is a part of a small group of Ascended Ancients who feel that they need to get involved for their own sakes because the Ori will go after the Ancients after they conquer the Milky Way. However, this small group of Ascended Ancients are afraid of the consequences that will result from their interference. The Odyssey, pulling out of the black hole, comes under attack by the Wraith, with their systems having been disrupted by the black hole. As the Odyssey gets hit somewhere, causing explosions inside the ship, Carter theorizes that they can lure the Hive ship into the black hole's pull and their systems should be affected too, including their Jamming code. Then the Odyssey can use the gravity well to slingshot away. The Wraith fall for the trap and as the Odyssey is flying away, they beam their last two thermonuclear devices aboard the Hive ship. It explodes, right next to the open Stargate. Suddenly, on Teal'c's end, the Stargate emits a blast of energy and then the matter stream jumps to the supergate, which dials and the Ori ship that had come to observe is destroyed in the unstable vortex of the forming wormhole. By destroying the Wraith Hive ship, they not only sealed off the gate to more invading Ori ships, but destroyed one of them in the process. Even more amazing, the Stargate on the Pegasus end was not destroyed, meaning they have the Supergate blocked off indefinitely which has Sam, McKay and Mitchell stunned with Teal'c remarking that today they've achieved a great victory. Meanwhile, Morgan is persuaded by Daniel to tell the group which planet they must go to and thus find Merlin's weapon. However, just as she begins to mention something important about the weapon, she is stopped at the last moment by the Others. After the confrontation, Daniel comes to the realization that the SGC and their allies cannot expect any assistance from the Ascended. + +An Al'kesh bomber heads for Earth. In the Briefing Room of Stargate Command, SG-1 composed of Lt. Colonels Cameron Mitchell and Samantha Carter, Teal'c and Vala Mal Doran are busy updating Major General Henry Landry on the search for Merlin's Sangraal that could defeat the Ori. Landry informs them that Dr. Daniel Jackson is working at Camelot to decipher the texts in Merlin's library. Via an intercom, CMSgt. Walter Harriman informs them that an Al'kesh has entered Earth's atmosphere and is heading towards the SGC. When the vessel does not respond to hails, Landry orders it to be shot down by an F-16 Fighting Falcon and it crash lands. To everyone's surprise, the pilot is none other than Ba'al. As such, Ba'al is taken into custody. Ba'al informs SG-1 that his clones, which he had created to assist him, are now turning against him, and he is seeking SG-1's help in tracking them down and obliterating them. In exchange, he promises to assist SG-1 by giving them the key to finding the planet on which the Sangraal is located. Agent Malcolm Barrett arrives to take possession of Ba'al as part of his investigation into The Trust but Landry refuses. Realizing that Ba'al's clones might turn over the location of the Sangraal to the Ori, the team sets to work capturing the clones and bringing them back to the SGC. Soon, there are twenty Ba'al clones in isolation at the SGC, all claiming to be the real Ba'al. Barrett not willing to wait, goes to interrogate one of the prisoners but is overpowered and all the clones escape and take Barrett and Carter hostage. Ba'al forces Carter to download the list of all gate addresses in the SGC computer - including the addresses of Ancient worlds that was installed by Colonel Jack O'Neill when he had the information from the Ancient Repository of knowledge in his brain. While Dr. Bill Lee and MSgt. Sylvester Siler attempt to pump Symbiote poison into the ventilation system, Mitchell, Teal'c and Vala lead teams to corner the clones. Unfortunately, the clones use their combined locator beacons to overcome the SGC's jamming signals and beam out of the SGC. After learning that Baal's plan worked only because of Barrett, they question him, believing and soon confirming he has been the victim of brainwashing by The Trust. He is taken into custody. Carter apologizes for giving Baal the list of Stargate addresses, but Landry says that she did the right thing. + +Major General Henry Landry has ordered SG-1 and Vala Mal Doran to join him at O'Neill's cabin so they get to know one another better -- and to take a break from the constant pressure of the Ori. Driving his vintage black Mustang, Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell is the first to arrive despite getting lost. The others have been delayed. Teal'c is off-world assisting SG-3. Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter, in command of Stargate Command, can't join them until Teal'c and Reynolds return. Vala will travel with them. Dr. Daniel Jackson, in England, has found a private book collection concerning Merlin and Morgan Le Fay. Mitchell makes his first stuck-alone-with-your-boss faux pas when he remarks that Jackson is like a fat kid in a candy store, Landry reveals he was a big boy in his youth. They are not alone, however. An unseen observer is watching, using a cloaking field SG-1 has encountered before. On P9J-333, Teal'c observes the brutality of whatever has ripped villagers apart. Back at the SGC, Carter and Vala discuss the possibility that this creature is Ori-related. Vala volunteers her extensive experience hunting rare, deadly creatures. If her help isn't wanted, she'll devise activities for quality time at the cabin. Carter sends Teal'c, Vala, Reynolds and SG-3 and 25 back to P9J-333. Vala is thrilled; Teal'c is not, especially when Vala tries to negotiate splitting the money if they sell the captured creature. On the planet, there is another attack. Vala runs to the Dial Home Device to summon help. The creature and Teal'c follow. Teal'c uses a grenade to kill it. During a raging storm, Mitchell loses his third chess game to Landry before admitting that he hates it. Landry has been pondering Mitchell's comments about not being in charge ("Insiders"). After Mitchell says he's used to a clearer chain of command, Landry points out that Mitchell made it his personal mission to bring SG-1 back together. Mitchell admits he wouldn't change anything, that he has learned he needs the rest of SG-1. Landry expresses his assurance in Mitchell, but adds that winning will require them to work together. Mitchell's job is to see that that happens. As Mitchell prepares for bed, the power fails. Hearing a noise, he grabs a pistol. In the process of investigating he nearly shoots Landry, armed with a shotgun, as they round the same corner from opposite directions. They agree to try not to shoot one another before morning before finally turning in. Next morning, with the power and phones still out, Mitchell prepares to leave, but the road is washed out. The colonel is horrified by the prospect of another day alone with Landry. Back at Stargate Command, Carter is wide-eyed when Vala, who has used the Goa'uld healing device on the wounded of SG-25, actually sits in Landry's chair. But she draws the line when Vala attempts to put her feet on his desk. Dr. D. Redden performs an autopsy on the P9J-333 creature. A black worm-like animal emerges. Teal'c shoots it with a Zat'nik'tel it before it can attack the doctor. Encountering a wild-eyed hunter, Mitchell helps locate the man's friend, now dismembered like the people on P9J-333. Fearing an alien creature is loose, Mitchell and Landry set out to track it down. While they search, Landry reveals he was shot down and hunted by Viet Cong. Mitchell says he finds work relaxing -- that he's twisted that way. Soon another mutilated hunter is discovered. When another team returns with injuries, Carter concludes that the worms aren't an Ori creation, as they only appear on worlds where SG teams have disguised themselves using the Sodan Invisibility devices ("Babylon"). In addition, one device is missing from Area 51. Agent Malcolm Barrett, who has recently recovered from his brainwashing ("Insiders"), is investigating. Carter and Teal'c test the Sodan devices, hoping to attract the creatures. Emitting radiation, a worm transforms a docile host into a vicious mutant. When Teal'c has been cloaked for a short while, a worm appears. The device's own radiation has provided an inter-dimensional bridge. Mitchell follows a trail of blood to an invisible something. He orders that the cloaking device be turned off. The man using the device, a Trust agent who has been observing the cabin, has been shot. Carter surmises something worse than a bear is in the woods. Landry commandeers the hunt in the name of national security. A skeptical Sheriff Wade Stokes, who is assured by Landry that everything is fine, is mauled by a massive four-legged monster and dragged off. Carter hands out devices to SG personnel to track the creature. After nightfall the team locates the area of the woods it has been detected, but can't see it. It materializes several times before they kill it. To everyone's shock (minus Vala), a second creature appears and is quickly dispatched. The next day Teal'c, Vala, Carter, and Mitchell play poker in O'Neill's cabin. Carter admits that she is not a gambler, but Teal'c agrees, evoking her competitiveness. The others drop out. Teal'c eventually folds, much to Carter's delight. Mitchell commits his final faux pas by laughing about Landry thinking the second creature's attack was a joke. Pleased to see them relaxing, Landry joins the game. + +Martin Lloyd returns to Stargate Command looking for assistance from SG-1 with his feature film script. The team is reluctant, especially Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell, who is excited about his next off-world mission which marks his 200th trip through an event horizon. However, when technical glitches prevent the team from gating off-world, they are stuck in the briefing room under the orders of Major General Henry Landry, because The Pentagon believes a successful science fiction film about intergalactic wormhole travel will serve as a good cover story to keep the Stargate Program a secret. The notes session, however, quickly devolves into the team members pitching their own versions of a successful sci-fi film, including: a zombie invasion (from Mitchell); a previously unseen mission where Colonel Jack O'Neill became invisible (from Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter); "tributes" to The Wizard of Oz and Farscape (from Vala Mal Doran); and Teal'c as a private investigator (from Teal'c himself). Additionally featured are a vignette of the team's mental image of a "younger and edgier" SG-1 (sparked by the studio's suggestion to replace the original Wormhole X-Treme! cast), a suggested scene by Martin that turns out to be both scientifically inaccurate and highly derivative of Star Trek, a version of the original movie where all the characters are marionettes, and even an imagined wedding that features the return of Major General Jack O'Neill. However, the planning session is all for naught, since the studio ultimately decides to cancel the movie in favor of renewing the series. SG-1, Jack, General Landry and Harriman all later head through the Stargate to P2C-106 with Cameron believing that they're going on a mission when in actuality, there's a party being for him to celebrate his 200th trip through the Stargate. At the end of the episode, the focus shifts ten years into the future into the year, 2017 and shows an interview with the Wormhole X-Treme! cast and crew celebrating their 200th episode as well as renewed plans for a movie. + +On an alien world, Adria — the "Orici" and who is now a young woman in her mid twenties— addresses a gathering of the newest followers of Origin, a village of humans. SG-1, who are on a reconnaissance mission has secreted themselves amongst the crowd, posing as simple villagers. As the speech ends and Adria leaves, a massive radiation burst is emitted from the world's Stargate. Fortunately the Earth ship Odyssey is in orbit. On board, Major Kevin Marks is keeping an eye on things before he detects the approaching wave front of the radiation and as such, Colonel Paul Emerson, the Odyssey's commander orders SG-1 to be extracted. The team are successfully beamed up just as the wave hits with the beam sweeping over the village. A while later, a team from the Odyssey return to the planet in hazmat gear and examine the village and discover it untouched except for the complete erasure of all living organic tissue (dead organic tissue, such as clothing, remains). Upon hearing this, Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter and Teal'c realize the only weapon known to them capable of such a feat is the Superweapon on Dakara, built by the Ancients. SG-1 decides they cannot pass up the opportunity to examine the unmanned and completely accessible Ori warship left intact by the superweapon. Carter locates the bridge of the ship which is very similar in design to Ancient technology and Teal'c and Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell locate the ship's power source and plant C-4 on it. Unfortunately, they are not the only ones with the idea to explore the vessel, a group of Jaffa led by a jaffa named Bo'rel is also aboard. During the confrontation the lights throughout the ship flicker and machinery within it begins to hum with activity. Bo'rel, with a rigid mind set of the superiority of the Jaffa, will do whatever he believes is necessary to fight the Ori threat—and captures Teal'c and Mitchell, telling them that he intends to seize the Ori warship for the Jaffa. Carter requests that the Odyssey beam them out but whatever it was that caused the lights to flicker earlier has raised the ship's shields and the beam out fails. Three Ha'tak vessels then drop out of hyperspace in orbit and Odyssey on Carter's advice leaves to prevent a possible confrontation with Carter having advanced the Odyssey not to chance it as they can't risk losing another ship. Bo'rel and his men attack and successfully zat Mitchell and Teal'c, capturing the two while Bor'el's men search for Vala, Daniel and Carter. Meanwhile, Bra'tac comes to Earth to meet Major General Henry Landry, informing him of the use of the Superweapon. Together they travel to Dakara and confront Se'tak, the new Jaffa military leader, about his genocidal tactics in the war against the followers of the Ori. But Se'tak stands by his decision to use a powerful Ancient device against their enemy, even though its use violates the Jaffa's agreement with the Tau'ri—and will result in the deaths of millions of innocents on Ori occupied and oppressed worlds. Se'tak hopes that one day they will capture enough Ori ships to make a stand against the enemy, but believes that until then this great cost is acceptable to avoid the even higher cost of defeat. Meanwhile, Bor’el having heard Mitchell talking to Carter over their radios calls to the rest of SG-1 to surrender or he will harm Teal’c and Mitchell. Before Carter answers Dr. Daniel Jackson does and suggests to him that the humans and Jaffa work together. However Bor'el refuses, declaring that his people will never be dependent on another race again. Daniel continues to try and reason with Bo'rel but he and Vala Mal Doran are at that moment captured by a Jaffa patrol. Adria, who has apparently survived the attack, reappears and captures Daniel and Vala by killing the Jaffa with her telekinesis. Daniel attempts to stun her using a Zat'nik'tel but she begins to telekinetically choke Daniel demanding that they tell her what happened to her new followers on this planet. Despite her best efforts she cannot force the information from Daniel's mind. Daniel and Vala try to reason with Adria. With help from Carter who has returned from the bridge, Mitchell and Teal'c escape from the Jaffa and decide to head for the Stargate. Meanwhile, Adria, increasingly frustrated with the lack of answers responds by reviving a Jaffa warrior she had killed earlier and forces the Jaffa soldier to give up the location of the weapon that wiped out her new followers. With the information having been obtained, Adria then kills the Jaffa soldier again, this time for good by using her telekinesis to break his neck. She then reactivates and operates the Ori warship, without any apparent act except force of will, setting a course for Dakara. On Dakara, Landry challenges the fact that Se'tak chose a human-populated world to target, and not one of the Jaffa worlds that have capitulated to the Ori invaders. He also points out that the use of the weapon violates the agreement between the humans and Jaffa, but Se'tak, paranoid and mistrustful of the humans' motivations, refuses to listen. Moments later he has both Landry and Bra'tac captured suspecting that as the Jaffa nor the Ori could be in control of the warship that it must have been the Tau’ri who have flown it into orbit and destroyed the three Ha'tak ships. On the Odyssey, Marks's scans are coming up empty with Marks voicing his fear that they may have lost SG-1. Emerson, on the other hand isn't willing to give up and has a good guess as to where the Ori ship is going before telling Marks to set a course for Dakara. Adria tells Daniel and Vala, that soon the bulk of the Ori forces will arrive in this galaxy, and if all goes to plan, the Ori will completely control the entire Milky Way galaxy in less than a year. She also wants to keep both Daniel and Vala prisoner. She plans to turn Vala into an icon for the followers of Origin as the mother of the Orici, and states that the Ori have special plans for Daniel, but does not mention what they are. Carter, Mitchell and Teal’c go to the bridge and find it unmanned, Carter remains to try and override the primary systems. Mitchell and Teal’c encounter Bo'rel and convince him that the vessel is under the control of a common enemy. The ship arrives at Dakara and Mitchell decides to destroy the powercore using the C-4 they planted earlier. Unfortunately Adria has prevented the C-4 from detonating. The Jaffa attack the room she is holding Daniel and Vala prisoner in, but she seals the door. As this happens, the Odyssey emerges straight from hyperspace in the nick of time and heads for the planet. Emerson contacts SG-1 with Sam telling him that she's working on getting rid of the shield and tells Emerson and his crew to stand ready. Bo'rel orders that the Dakara superweapon be used once again so that it can wipe out all life on board the Ori ship. Landry and Bra'tac attempt to protest but can do little but watch as the superweapon is brought online. Daniel tells Adria about the Ancients with Adria stating that the Ancients won't interfere because as far as Adria herself is concerned, the Ori have free rein over the entire Milky Way Galaxy. Carter continues her attempts to deactivate the shielding and succeeds. On Emerson's command, all of SG-1 are beamed off and the Odyssey jumps to hyperspace to avoid the wavefront of the superweapon which the Jaffa have deployed in a last ditch effort against the warship. The desperate defense set up by the Jaffa succeeds only in killing their own warriors aboard the Ori ship, since Adria is immune to the superweapon. Eager to destroy the only real threat to the Ori, Adria fires the warship's beam weapon directly at the superweapon. Bra'tac and Landry manage to escape through the Stargate before the superweapon, and the mountain that housed it, is completely annihilated. Back at the SGC, SG-1 receives word that not only has Dakara been devastated but five more planets have fallen to the Ori. With the Dakara superweapon destroyed and the Ori continuing to convert countless planets, Merlin's anti-Ori weapon is now needed more than ever. + +For some reason, Vala Mal Doran is working as a waitress in Sol's Diner. She gets along well with the customers and the cook. Suddenly, a pair of criminals attempt to rob the restaurant. Vala quickly takes them down in hand-to-hand combat much to everybody's surprise, including Vala's. The scene then rewinds three weeks earlier to a fancy restaurant Vala and Dr. Daniel Jackson are having dinner together, since they have spent so little time off-base for recreation, though Vala insists that Daniel is taking her out on a date (a fact which Daniel vehemently denies). As she leaves the table to go to the bathroom, Vala is ambushed, drugged, and kidnapped by an unknown assailant. Once Daniel realizes what has happened, it is too late. Vala and her kidnappers are gone. Vala wakes up in an abandoned warehouse, strapped to an alien machine. She has been captured by The Trust because Athena, a Goa'uld who knew Qetesh (for whom Vala had been a host), believes that Vala possesses repressed memories that can lead her to the Clava Thessara Infinitas, an unimaginable treasure left behind by the Ancients. Using a Goa'uld Memory recall device, the Trust attempts to forcibly retrieve Vala's repressed memories. Meanwhile, Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell, Teal'c, Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter, and Daniel manage to track down the locations of several Trust safe houses and simultaneously raid all of them. The safe house SG-1 raids turns out to be a dead end, but another team raids the correct safe house and a firefight ensues between the soldiers and the Trust. During the fight, a stray Zat'nik'tel bolt strikes the memory device, causing Vala to lose her memories. With both sides still fighting, a dazed and confused Vala manages to escape and disappear. Back at Stargate Command, Sam reports that the raids didn't turn up anything except for SG-15. Tragically, they lost all members of the team as well as two members of the local team with one witness reporting he saw Vala making a run for it. Teal'c then wonders why Vala hasn't attempted to contact the SGC. Daniel and Teal'c interrogate a man named Weaver (the man who was interrogating Vala with the device) in the isolation room, while Mitchell and Carter watch. Weaver isn't very forthcoming with information, and is clearly concerned about what will happen to him if he helps them. Teal'c whispers something in Weaver's ear, causing him to lose all of his courage and tell SG-1 everything he knows. Meanwhile, a confused Vala wanders the streets of a city alone; being hungry, she enters a diner. When she tries to skip out on the bill, the owner, Sal, stops her. She confesses that she has no way to pay her bill and, in fact, she doesn't even remember who she is. She has no memory of her life before she walked into his diner. Sal offers her a job as a waitress, which she takes. Time passes, and Vala begins to get the hang of her new job. However, she experiences disturbing visions (pieces of her repressed memory) and has a nagging feeling that being a waitress just isn't her lot in life. She refuses to seek medical attention. Now the first scene of the episode is shown again, as the criminals enter and Vala defeats them. She is then taken to the local police station, where Detective Ryan is suspicious of Vala's superior combat skills. When Vala can't even tell him her real name, he decides to detain her and begins sending out fliers seeking to find anybody who can identify her. Both the SGC and Trust receive a flier and race to retrieve Vala. Trust agents disguised as Air Force personnel reach the police station first and take Vala with them. SG-1 arrives minutes later and, realizing what has happened, Mitchell commandeers a motorcycle and sets off in pursuit. A scared Vala then attacks the Trust agents, causing their car to crash. Mitchell catches up with them, but is injured by one of the Trust agents. Vala, unsure whether Mitchell is a friend or enemy, takes him prisoner. SG-1 tracks Mitchell down and find him semi-naked and handcuffed to a motel bed. Vala, realizing that she is being tracked, flees into a nearby warehouse. SG-1 pursues her but runs into several Trust agents. A firefight ensues, and SG-1 defeats the agents. Vala attempts to flee again but is stopped by Daniel, who convinces her that he and SG-1 are friends. Vala refuses to believe him but before she can do anything, she receives another group of flashbacks which consist of her remembering herself, SG-1 and Landry in a mission briefing, Daniel in a hallway at the SGC, Daniel riding in an elevator and smiling at her over his shoulder. As the flashbacks fade, Vala begins crying, suggesting that she finally remembers who she is. She lowers the gun with Daniel taking it from her and setting it aside before he pulls Vala into a hug just as the rest of SG-1 arrive. Back at the SGC, Vala recovers her memory and after telling everyone she's been cleared for active duty is given a gift by Major General Henry Landry. Vala opens the box and inside are SG-1 badges. As of this moment, she is now a fully-fledged member and also a permanent member of SG-1 with her teammates congratulating her. When Mitchell proposes going to a rib restaurant near his place to celebrate, Vala tells Daniel that they'll have to finish their date next week. When Daniel denies that it was a date, the team merely walks out the room without saying a word. + +The Odyssey goes on a mission to explain the possibility of a second Supergate, only to fall into a trap organized by the Lucian Alliance. Three Goa'uld Ha'taks belonging to the Alliance begin attacking the Odyssey as it emerges from hyperspace and the Odyssey is eventually lured into a minefield with the effects leaving the Odyssey badly damaged and Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter and Major Kevin Marks are both knocked unconscious in the explosion. In desperation, Odyssey commander Colonel Paul Emerson radios Stargate Command, informing them of the situation with Major General Henry Landry soon telling Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell, Dr. Daniel Jackson and Vala Mal Doran of what's happened. Carter and Emerson soon meet the man responsible: Anateo. His right hand man, Solek threatens Emerson's life with Solek eventually shooting Emerson dead and in cold blood in the hope that it will force Carter to follow Anateo's orders. Anateo believes that his victory will enable him to overthrow Netan, who he believes has failed the Alliance. The capture of the ship is a great victory, but Anateo wants more: he uses it as bait to try and capture SG-1. He is partially successful, capturing Daniel and Vala. Later, Mitchell reports back to Landry. Clearly the Lucian Alliance is behind this, prompting Mitchell to hatch a plan to get his team back: he will go undercover as one of Netan's own seconds, and infiltrate the Lucian Alliance. Mitchell visits Netan under the guise of Kefflin, one of Netan's close friends who runs a Kassa operation on the outskirts of the galaxy. Kefflin is known to be reclusive, and few of the other Alliance leaders knows what he looks like. When he is beaten and brought before Netan, he pricks him with the Reol chemical (the same one Daniel used to impersonate Yu's personal servant in Season Five's "Summit") to convince him that Mitchell is Kefflin, a dear friend. The plan works. Mitchell covertly transmits their conversations to Teal'c, who listens from a cloaked Tel'tak nearby. But when Teal'c is captured and brutally interrogated by Netan's men, Mitchell must think quickly. He convinces Netan that he's the man who can get answers from Teal'c. Meanwhile, on the Odyssey, Anateo forces Carter to bring the ship's systems back online, which she begins to do, stalling as long as she can while trying to secretly free the rest of the crew. She manages to cause a momentary brownout, which also unlocks a hatch in the cargo bay where the crew is being held. Daniel and Vala escape and begin taking back the ship. When Anateo discovers what Carter has done, he threatens to shoot her, but Vala manages to beam him into space at the last minute. The crew retakes the ship without any further apparent issues and set to work on fixing the ship, focusing mostly on the hyperdrive. Word finally reaches Netan that the Odyssey has been found. The bearer of the news is Tenat, the Lucian Alliance trader that SG-1 double-crossed ("The Ties That Bind"). He recognizes Mitchell but keeps silent, believing that whatever Mitchell is planning will be highly profitable, and demands a cut. Netan orders his and Tenat's Ha'tak ships to rendezvous with the Odyssey so that they can claim it and deal with Anateo's betrayal. Upon reaching the Odyssey and learning of Anateo's demise, Netan demands that the Tau'ri ship, still without hyperdrive power, to surrender. Daniel takes command of the Odyssey to try to buy time for Carter and Vala to repair the hyperdrive so they can escape. Netan storms on to the bridge of Tenat's ship, accusing Tenat of hiding the truth of Mitchell's identity from him. To prove his loyalty to Netan, Tenat fires on the other Ha'tak, believing Mitchell (as Kefflin) to be in command in Netan's absence. He is shocked when Netan appears on the viewscreen, demanding to know why Tenat attacked him. In fact, it was Mitchell, who had previously jabbed Tenat with the same Reol chemical, that was posing as Netan on Tenat's ship. On the Odyssey, Vala desperately jams a control crystal into the hyperdrive engine system against Carter's better judgment. However, it is a lucky move as the system immediately begins to power up. Netan's ship starts battling Tenat's ship as Teal'c contacts the Odyssey for beam out. Marks beams Teal'c and Mitchell to the Odyssey and it jumps to hyperspace as Netan destroys Tenat's ship, killing him. As the Odyssey makes its way home, SG-1 reflects upon the fact that in addition to the Ori, Earth is now officially at war with the Lucian Alliance. + +The Quest for the Holy Grail continues, as SG-1 hunts for the mythical "Sangraal" -- believed to actually be an Ancient device invented by Merlin, which can kill the ascended Ori. The Ori have launched a bloody crusade to convert our galaxy to forcible worship, and SG-1 hopes that if their "gods" are destroyed the followers will cease their campaign. Late at night, both Dr. Daniel Jackson and Vala Mal Doran stumble on the key to finding the world the Sangraal is hidden on: the gate addresses of the three planets King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table visited combine into a fourth address. Jackson discovered this by noticing how the planets were related to each other in space; Vala suddenly got the idea in a dream. The team visits a medieval-style village near that world's Stargate, where they meet Osric, a frail old librarian who keeps watch over the entire village's material related to the Sangraal. But they aren't the only ones looking for it: Ba'al is also searching for the device, having passed through three days before. Osric warns them that many have come to him looking for the Sangraal, and have never returned from their quest. The way is perilous (the woods in which it is said to be located was cursed by Morgan Le Fay), and the legendary prize is guarded by a great dragon. Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter doubts that it's an actual dragon, believing it to be some form of advanced security system. Furthermore, an ancient scroll known as the Parchment of Virtues advises that seekers of the Sangraal must possess five virtues: prudence, charity, kindness, wisdom, and faith. The team finally has a solid lead on where the Merlin's anti-Ori weapon is, but Osric refuses to show them the map that Morgan left behind, as the last group of travelers -- Ba'al and his minions -- tried to steal it. At that moment Ori soldiers storm the city and declare the planet under Ori rule. With the help of a local Barkeep, the team manages to escape the Ori troops, and convince Osric to lead them to the Sangraal. While moving closer to the forest, the team is surprised to find dozens of people frozen in time. Carter explains that the people are trapped in a time dilation field and a small corridor of real time leads further into the bubble. Using a special meter and by throwing rocks, the team manages to successfully navigate the maze. As they continue forward, they are greeted with a surprising sight: Ba'al, abandoned by his Jaffa and looking very put-out. The team confronts Ba'al, but fall into a trap. Ba'al reveals that he was lured here by a chest lying on the ground and was trapped for three days inside a powerful shield, and now the team is trapped inside as well. Daniel then realizes that they must follow the five virtues literally. The team used prudence to navigate the time dilation maze, so the obvious answer is to use charity to escape. Each person places an item of value inside the chest and the shield deactivates. The team is about to kill Ba'al, but he informs them that he knows the dragon's true name, which may be an important password or access code, convincing the team to bring him along. However, as they continue on their journey, Daniel suddenly confronts Osric. After observing him for some time, Daniel suspects Osric to be a spy for the Ori. Osric smiles and reveals himself to be Adria in disguise. She tells the team that all of the events leading up until now were orchestrated by her to make the team lead her straight to the Sangraal, including Vala's dream at the beginning of the episode. She then forces Daniel to help her find the weapon or she will kill the rest of SG-1. Daniel reluctantly agrees. They then enter a cave and find a small boy trapped in a cage. The team uses the virtue of kindness to open the cage, and a secret passage is revealed. They then use the virtue of wisdom to solve a series of riddles as the cave begins to collapse. Finally, the team arrives at a huge wall of fire, and are seemingly stumped on how to continue. Daniel, however, is convinced that he knows the way through. He uses the final virtue, faith, and walks through the wall of the flames. The flames disappear to reveal the Sangraal. Adria orders Daniel to take it and give it to her, but Daniel realizes that while inside the cavern, Adria cannot use her Ori abilities. He challenges her to take the Sangraal herself, but she refuses. He then attempts to pick it up himself, but it is just a hologram. Suddenly, the door behind the team closes shut and a massive dragon appears, breathing fire and poised to attack the team. + +The dragon attacks by breathing fire but Adria extends her personal shield to protect the team. SG-1 attempts to engage the dragon, but their firearms have no effect. The dragon swings its tail and knocks open an opening in the wall, through which the team escapes. Thinking they are momentarily safe, Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell soon sees a fireball expanding into the tunnel, and commands the team to run. They are able to find a way outside, but the dragon bursts out of the top of the mountain in pursuit. Mitchell decides that since the prior attempt to fire on the dragon failed, that perhaps a different method of attack would be more successful. He reasons that "bullets don't bounce off Holograms" and decides to use C-4, believing the dragon to be solid matter. They take cover in the tree line while preparing the attack, but Dr. Daniel Jackson states that they have to defeat the Dragon as it is the final task, and that speaking the Dragon's true name will destroy it. Vala Mal Doran suggests it might be Darrell the Dragon, while Teal'c suggests Puff. Ba'al had previously stated that he knew the name of the guardian, but admits that this was a lie. Mitchell, having prepared the C-4, plans to run into the clearing and lure the dragon to the ground, giving him the opportunity to use the C-4 against the dragon's vulnerable underbelly. He prepares to run into the clearing, but is restrained by Teal'c, who silently convinces Mitchell that he should be the one to act as the bait. The plan is initially a success; the Dragon lands and Teal'c throws the C-4 into the dragon's mouth. Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter hits the detonator and a faint light is seen in and around the dragon's mouth but to the dismay of the team the dragon is unaffected, and proceeds to chase Teal'c. As Teal'c begins to run back, Daniel reasons that the guardian referenced in the scroll is not the dragon, but the individual who created the dragon: Morgan Le Fay. Vala runs out, with Daniel in pursuit, telling her to wait. Vala stops in front of the dragon and says "Morgan Le Fay" but the Dragon remains. In desperation, she questioningly states "Darrell?" which predictably has no effect. Daniel catches up and quickly says "Ganos Lal" (the Ancient name of Morgan Le Fay) and the Dragon disappears. The group returns to the mountain and surround the Sangraal. Daniel reaches for it, and they are transported to another chamber. However, they discover that Adria was not transported with them. Daniel and Carter assume it was a failsafe to stop the wrong people coming, to which Mitchell complains that Ba'al remains with them. Upon inspection of the cave they find a frozen body with an inscription: "Here lies Myrddin, archmage of the round". Daniel announces that the tests weren't designed to protect the Sangraal, they were designed to protect Merlin, who is in a stasis pod similar to the device in which Colonel Jack O'Neill was frozen in Antarctica. Morgan would have had to destroy the Sangraal that Merlin had created, or risk the wrath of the Others, so she did, but preserved Merlin in the hope that he would be able to reconstruct it. Vala looking around the cave a bit more, comments to the team about a fixture on the wall, Daniel quickly tells Vala to watch out as the Ancient Repository of knowledge tries to grab Vala, she successfully evades. Merlin is released from stasis, and mistakes the party for some of the Knights of the Round Table. Ba'al begins to complain and Merlin literally silences him with a wave of his hand. Daniel explains that they are not the Knights and also the current situation with them and the Ori. Vala and Daniel remain with Merlin while the rest scout the area. They discover that they have changed locales and now find themselves in a desert environment not the verdant environment they were in prior. Teal'c remains outside while the others head back in to tell Vala and Daniel the news. Back in the village, Adria is angry that SG-1 has evaded her, and that they may be en route to finding the Sangraal. The Prior tells her that when SG-1 beamed away, the Stargate opened for a split second. Adria orders the burning of the town, and attempts to discover where SG-1 has gone by examining the Dial Home Device. Merlin agrees to help build a new Sangraal, but asks one thing in return: that they follow him, and whatever happens, they must allow it to happen. Merlin stares into the Repository of the Ancients, which causes a 3 dimensional hologram to appear. Within the virtual space, Merlin begins to assemble the Sangraal. The team watching Merlin observes a strange shift, and Teal'c advises that the team should come outside. Mitchell with Ba'al and Carter arrive outside and discover that they are now on a Snow Planet. Carter reasons that to keep one step ahead of any pursuer, Morgan has programmed the gate to dial out every few hours and move the team from planet to planet on a network outside the standard gate network. Carter and Ba'al are told to work on the device so that they can figure a way to dial out from the gate. Hours later, Merlin is weakening with the stress of building the device, and insists he rest. Daniel tells him to take all the time he needs, but reminds him of what is at stake. Merlin muses to himself that he is too old and that there is not enough time. He says "Good luck, Dr. Jackson." to Daniel and faces the Repository of the Ancients once more. A blinding white light comes from the device, and Merlin is thrown back to the ground dead. Ba'al gets his voice back and says, "Merlin's little trick with my voice cords expired when he did."" Teal'c replies that it's "yet another reason to mourn his passing.". Shocked at what has just happened, Daniel wonders about Merlin's final words, but realizes that Merlin must have uploaded his knowledge into the Repository of the Ancients. Although O'Neil's previous encounters with the device had proved almost fatal and required intervention by the Asgard to save his life, Daniel speculates that Merlin had used the Repository to store only a limited amount of information, so as to not overwhelm the human brain. He faces the Repository of the Ancients, which downloads Merlin's knowledge into Daniel. Vala contacts Mitchell and tells him to come back quickly; he tells the others to remain outside working. Mitchell, upon returning sees Daniel lying unconscious with Vala holding him. After a while Daniel regains consciousness, holding his head in his hands. Mitchell asks if he is alright and Daniel replies as if he is Merlin, stating that Mitchell really is similar to Perceval. Mitchell and Vala realize that the Ancient knowledge is overwhelming Daniel. sees Daniel holding his head in his hands and saying that he will continue to build the device. Another shift occurs, leaving Merlin's body behind. The team outside confirms that they are now on a jungle planet, pleasing Ba'al who did not enjoy working in the cold. Adria is not far behind. She is able to deduce the gate address from the DHD after some study, and travels from the desert planet to the snow planet. Her guards also find Merlin's body, and Adria begins work on deciphering the next address, stating that each time it is taking her a shorter period to find the address. Daniel, moving at a much greater speed that Merlin was able to, completes the first stage of the Sangraal device in the holographic space, which then beams into existence on the pedestal below the hologram. He staggers from the repository weakened and states he must rest. Vala asks if Daniel would like anything, Daniel replies "water" but as Vala reaches for it, the bottle flies across the room to Daniel's hand. Daniel observes that although O'Neill was able to use the regenerative powers of the Ancients, Daniel has become telekinetic. He returns to the repository and continues with the Sangraal. Carter and Ba'al are disagreeing about how to use the DHD to leave the planet. Carter reasons that, since they can't find a dialing program in the DHD, it must be stored in the obelisk that is next to the gate. Ba'al dismisses the idea as ridiculous because Carter is a human and, worse still, a woman. Mitchell and Vala realize that the Ancient knowledge is overwhelming Daniel. Vala begins to worry about Daniel's safety, and challenges Mitchell to tell Daniel not to continue. Mitchell reminds her about the time she flew into the Supergate and tells her that, "Now you know the hard part about being part of this team is not risking your own life, it's watching your friends take chances with theirs. Congratulations. Now you really are one of us.". Ba'al once again mentions that since Carter is a woman, she can't do much when she has trouble locating the automatic dialing device in the obelisk. Carter punches Ba'al, knocking him to the ground, and advises him that if he refuses to help, then he's no longer worth keeping around. His life now in the balance, Ba'al becomes cooperative. Daniel completes stage 2 of the Sangraal and again steps away from the repository exhausted. Mitchell asks how many more stages there are and Vala says that she thought the red crystal was the Sangraal. But it is actually the final stage of it, the thing that makes the whole weapon work. Carter, struggling with the piece she believes is a way to activate the gate and leave the planet, reluctantly asks Ba'al for help with it. With a smiling look, Ba'al asks why he should help her; Teal'c reminds him of his current situation and he agrees. They are able to disable the safeguard preventing them from dialing out, but before they can act, an incoming wormhole registers. Carter informs Mitchell, and he and Vala head outside, while Daniel continues to rest. Adria's guards come through the gate and the team open fire. Mitchell and Vala arrive for support; Ba'al is shot. Adria arrives in the cave, finding the incomplete Sangraal and proclaiming her victory to Daniel. Daniel uses his new powers to create a lightning storm, as Oma Desala did on Kheb ("Maternal Instinct"), which kills the Ori guards. The team turns to see Daniel flung from the mouth of the cave, with Adria standing triumphantly above. Carter dials out and the team are ready to leave, but Adria uses her power to fire a stream of energy at the team. Daniel uses his powers and creates a force field to protect his friends who head to the gate. Carter tells Daniel to follow her, "We aren't leaving without you!!" to which he replies "I'll be right behind you!". Mitchell walks through, and Adria overwhelms Daniel, who collapses. Back at Stargate Command, Vala is looking for a way to go back and rescue Daniel, but the team is unable to determine the address from which they dialed in. Vala, frustrated, comments that Adria didn't have any trouble. Aboard an Ori warship flying through hyperspace, Daniel sits on the floor of a dark room. Adria enters, and he claims that whatever he had is gone, but Adria doesn't believe him. She advises Daniel to rest, because there is much to be done. + +SG-1 (sans Dr. Daniel Jackson) return from a test run of a new device using Merlin's Arthur's Mantle to shift a person into a hidden dimension. In a debriefing the team learns that the planet P9C-882 has recently been visited by a Prior, and that he is returning soon. Major General Henry Landry informs the team, Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter in particular, that the device will be taken "out of the lab" and used to hide the entire village. Stunned, Carter objects saying she has no way to know if it can hide a village. Landry believes this would be a good way to test the device. Overjoyed with the situation, Vala Mal Doran agrees to save the villagers, to which Landry replies "good" and leaves despite Carter's doubts about testing the device on such a scale. Upon arriving on the planet, SG-1 is greeted by the villager’s leader Thilana, a strong and principled young leader. She and Matar, her right hand man, are extremely grateful for SG-1's assistance. Carter hooks up three Naquadah generators for a test run. After a phase shift distortion the village cloaks. In a blinding flash of light witnessed by another SG team guarding the gate the village vanishes. Believing their job done, the other SG team dials home. Night falls and the villagers are celebrating with a feast. Thilana and the villagers thank the team for their good deeds. Unfortunately, a few seconds after another phase shift happens, decloaking the village. Carter reasons something is wrong with the generators and leaves to solve the problem. Back at the generator Carter tells the team that she built in a failsafe which, when the power supply is disrupted or fluctuates, causes the generators to shut down. She now has to find a way to feed the power more evenly but is not sure if she can do it on time. Day breaks, and Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell checks up on Carter who has been working all night. That moment Teal'c reports in to warn of incoming ships approaching the city. Teal'c sees the ships depositing Transportation rings on the surface. He stays to stall the invaders from reaching the city. Matar now has doubts about SG-1's plan and tells Thilana to accept the teaching of the Ori. Thilana is resolute; she and her people were formerly slaves of the Goa'uld, and she will not be enslaved to false gods once again. Mitchell instructs Matar on firing a FN P90 Personal Defense Weapon, which Mitchell says is like a simple point and pull method. Many other villagers see the demonstration and decide to help. SG-1 defends the city with a barricade; both sides take casualties. An Ori general tells his men to flank the enemy. Mitchell notices and heads off to intercept them. An Ori guard appears behind Carter, who is still frantically working on the devices. She spots the guard and manages to avoid a direct hit. Despite that, Carter sustains a severe wound from the Prior's staff weapon. The shot continues through Carter and destroys two of the three generators. The Ori guard moves in for the kill, but is shot from behind by Mitchell who instantly rushes to Carter's side. The battle outside has taken a turn for the worse, as most of the Earth weapons are now out of ammunition and their ten-second training did not include lessons in reloading their weapons. The villagers and Vala surrender. Mitchell asks Carter to help him with the generators. Carter, who is in a massive amount of pain, asks how many generators are working, and Mitchell replies "only one". Carter tells him to bypass the other two and just hook up the one that works and press the macro on the laptop, and then Carter passes out. An Ori guard outside catches a glimpse of movement in the building and walks forward to investigate. Despite many different items showing up on the Laptop, Mitchell finds the macro and activates it. From the guard's perspective the building vanishes in front of him. He runs back and inquires the captured villagers about the building. Vala responds saying "perhaps it was the will of the gods.". A soldier is about to execute Vala when a new Ori general appears and orders that Vala be removed from the group. He then reveals himself to be Tomin, Vala's husband, and orders the rest to be killed. Vala desperately tries to persuade him to do otherwise but fails, watching in horror as the Ori troops kill the group. Back in the house, Carter wakes to Mitchell stitching her wound. In the corner of her eye she sees an Ori guard appear and tells Mitchell to watch out. He does but puts his gun down. Mitchell tells a confused and in pain Carter that the generator is working and they are safe. He injects morphine and continues stitching up her back. Teal'c in hooded attire reappears in the village and finds Thilana attending to the wounded. She questions Teal'c about the rest of his team, but he was about to ask her the same question. Matar, seeing what the Ori have done, asks Thilana to accept the Ori and their teaching. She doesn't and still believes there is a way to win. Carter awakes in a groggy state, and Mitchell says he's "been thinking, yes I know it’s a dangerous thing" about placing C-4 around the village as a distraction so that he can get Carter out. Carter persists that he can't save her due to her injuries and state, and he can also not leave the device as it would fall into enemy hands. On the ship, Vala is joined by Tomin, who thinks he can convert her to Origin. He claims to have no feelings for her at all and that it is only the standing orders of the Orici that Vala not be harmed that stop him from burning her himself. In the middle of his reciting the book of Origin, Vala asks where in the book is the murdering of innocent lives preached. Tomin continues, and an argument between the two ensues. Vala, upon saying "the Ori are not Gods" is slapped by Tomin, who leaves the room in a rage. Meanwhile back on the planet, Ori guards enter Teal'c's location and begin to question the villagers about the vanishing building. Thilana asks why the Ori are unable to find it. Matar stands up and tells the guards that Teal'c is not of this village and knows what happened. The Ori guards take Teal'c, Matar and Thilana outside to meet the Prior. Tomin returns to Vala and apologies for his behavior, telling her that she will not see him again. Vala however takes the opportunity to continue her conversation and relates the history of the Ancients and of Ori ascending and feeding off their worshipers - and the reason they would never want others to ascend and feed with them. Tomin leaves and asks the Prior to reassign him back to command of ground troops on the planet. He is rebuked and then unsure, when the Prior incorrectly cites a fable in the book of Origin to justify the annihilation of the village below, twisting the meaning dramatically for his own purposes. Carter wakes up again and has a talk with Mitchell about how she has spent "the last 10 years of science to take down and tell people about false gods". In her current condition, she believes her time is up and wonders if there is a God and if she believes in one. Mitchell reaffirms that whatever she believes in, she will survive. Outside, the Prior asks Teal'c about the vanishing building. Teal'c, typically, doesn't respond, and is assaulted by the Prior's power until he collapses. Mitchell now sees the Prior walk towards the area where the building vanished. The Prior stops in the same room as Mitchell and Carter are in and attempts to use his power to find them. A blinding light appears from the Priors staff but he can't find them. Mitchell smirks at how the Prior is now confused since his powers are not working. The Prior then threatens to destroy the village if they don't reveal themselves. When they do not answer, the Prior leaves. Thilana sees the Ori guards fleeing the city and Teal'c awakens. Matar bursts in with a few other villagers and proclaims that Teal'c must be sacrificed so that they can be seen as followers and be spared. Thilana says that "any god that wants a sacrifice is not a god". Matar, now nervous, hears Thilana and hands over his weapon. Meanwhile, Carter informs Mitchell that the original crystals had been replaced with Naquadah generators, of which two out of the three are disabled. The Ori staff weapons however are powered by a power crystal of Ori design, similar enough to Merlin's Ancient based device to be compatible and retaining enough energy to hide the village for at least a short time. Following Carter's instructions he tries to interface the Ori crystal with the Ancient technology, then brings her laptop to Carter who, though in great pain, forces herself to try and make the device work. Tomin goes to the Prior and questions him about proceeding with this course of action as the villagers have pledged their loyalty and will follow the teaching of Origin. He passionately believes that the Ori would never want a village of innocents destroyed and indeed that his oath is to protect such followers of the Ori. It makes no difference to the Prior who dogmatically and blindly defends his actions. Telling him to witness the power of the Ori, he opens fire with the ships weapons and blasts the village from orbit, after which the ship prepares to depart. Tomin leaves and finds Vala, leading her to the teleportation rings. He says the Prior will probably have him killed for this, but he is going to save her.  She asks him to come with her, but he refuses and tells Vala he still loves her. He teleports her down to the planet. Vala, walking through the location of the village, sees nothing but craters. Suddenly around her the village reappears with the villagers safe; she is delighted to see Teal'c and jumps on him. Teal'c tells her that Carter was able to expand the field to protect the whole village. Teal'c calls Mitchell by radio to tell him Vala is in the village and they believe the Ori ship has left. Mitchell requests a medical team for Carter immediately. Back at Stargate Command, Carter is recuperating in infirmary and Mitchell appears with a present: macaroon cookies from an old family recipe. Carter says she is still feeling bad but Mitchell persists. After tasting one she says they are good, but Mitchell seeing her facial expressions inquires "you hate it" and she agrees. Mitchell is glad to see Carter is doing well. + +Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter is experimenting with Merlin's Arthur's Mantle in one of Stargate Command's isolation rooms in hopes of creating a larger phase-shifted field. Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell enters and informs her that a recent sighting of the MIA Dr. Daniel Jackson was a false alarm. Mitchell asks her to go to lunch with Teal'c and himself so they can discuss the mission report. Carter wants to run one more test, and tells Mitchell that he can watch from the observation room. Carter activates the device and phases. While phase-shifted, she hears a strange sound. The device emits a strange glow which quickly encompasses the phase-shifted isolation room. As the glow subsides Carter reappears to the sound of blaring sirens. Mitchell is not in the observation room, which now looks a bit different, and there are signs of an explosion on the floor. Carter lowers the force field as Dr. Bill Lee enters. He asks "Major Carter" if she is all right. Carter is further puzzled when Major Evan Lorne enters the room. Upon asking him why he is here and not on Atlantis, he says he has no idea what she's talking about, and mentions that he is the "leader of SG-1." Carter suspects she has somehow entered an Alternate reality. She asks to see the footage of the incident in the lab. Major General George S. Hammond, watching through video link, tells Lee to show her the footage. The video depicts Major Carter's power capacitor experiment. A sudden power spike in the experiment leads to an explosion and results in loss of the video feed. It is at that point that Lee entered the room and found Carter. Lee explains that Major Carter was drawing energy from parallel universes and storing them in power capacitors in order to power the Ancient Control chair. The explosion resulted in the death of Major Carter and, combined with Carter's phase-shifting experiment, resulted in her transfer to this parallel universe. In the universe Carter is now in, when Anubis attacked Earth three years earlier, the President of the United States was forced to reveal the existence of the Stargate Program to the world. A month ago the Ori attacked. The lone Ori warship was destroyed by the Antarctic outpost in Antarctica, but the Zero Point Module was depleted. Reports indicate five Ori warships are on course to reach Earth in five days. They need Carter's help to finish Major Carter's work in order to power the Chair. Carter also discovers that the Carter of the other universe used to be married to Dr. Rodney McKay, who is a dot com millionaire. Vala Mal Doran is imprisoned at Area 51. Atlantis has never been discovered. Daniel is missing still, and Lorne doesn't know where "former 302 pilot" Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell is. Also in this reality, the Tau'ri have cut ties with the Jaffa and other allies, and become isolationist. Realizing Major Carter's work is incomplete and she is unable to catch up in time, Carter decides to work on extending the range of her phase device. Carter tells them she was working on the device in her world to hide Earth from the Ori. Without the ZPM, she needs an alternate source of power. Henry Landry, the President of the United States, whose office is now part of the Cheyenne Mountain facilities, promises Carter that she will get all the power she needs. Carter estimates her needs are about 80% of the entire United States' power grid. Landry already worked up a system to draw power from the entire U.S. power grid. After a few days of feverishly working on Earth’s defense, the Ori ships appear. Energy is redirected to the device and the United States plunges into darkness as a result. The power level increases to 93% before time runs out, and Carter activates the phase-cloak. Earth vanishes in a flash of light. The Ori ships, assuming Earth is just cloaked, open fire but hit nothing, while the SGC folks watch the Ori weapons' rays cascading through them harmlessly. Landry congratulates Carter on a job well done, and then, with no warning, ushers her into a press room, where her victory is publicized and celebrated. Shortly thereafter, Carter attends a celebratory party given by the President. But it is interrupted by a protester chanting “No security without freedom.” Security guards armed with a Rod of Anguish neutralize him. Landry and Carter are beamed onto Prometheus, which the president has commandeered as "Air Force One". Carter learns the President instituted martial law and is disliked by many people. Later, at the SGC, Carter watches the news and sees an F-302 fighter-interceptor bombing an Irish village. Hammond asserts that they were bombing terrorists. Angry, Carter accuses him of using the 302’s against political enemies. Hammond replies that the “threat is still out there” to which Carter replies “that’s the problem; it always will be”. Wanting to return home, Carter seeks out McKay for help with Major Carter’s inter-universe bridge, since he and his sister worked on it in her universe. They have a humorous conversation, in which Rodney thinks she's there to tell him that she is a lesbian. Meanwhile, Hammond and Landry have a brief discussion, agree they cannot afford to lose Carter, nor can they let her knowledge of advanced technology disappear. During the discussion, Landry indicates he has always hated politicians, but Hammond adds that he had to do it (possibly means that US was pushed into a military rule under threat of anarchy). Lee finds the device she described, in the same cave in Glastonbury that it was in Carter's universe, and tells Landry. Lee informs him they don’t know anything about it, but Carter would. Carter returns to the SGC to find her equipment has not returned. Landry tells her the timing is not good for her to go back, and she learns that Landry has suspended all democratic elections and replaced them with a plebiscite. Carter realizes that Landry may never let her go. Carter visits Mitchell, now in a wheelchair and living in a dilapidated building; he is a depressed, bitter alcoholic and his apartment is strewn with garbage. After the dogfight over Antarctica, the wounded Mitchell was used as a tool to boost national morale. When he became troubled by the policies of the government and would no longer play along with their propaganda, they punished him by dropping him, and, no longer with access to good medical care, his condition worsened. He warns Carter about the price of non-compliance with the government. Carter spots a black car with tinted windows on the street outside Mitchell's building. She calls Landry’s chief of staff, Charlie, and tells him she’ll play ball. Landry arranges for Carter to deliver a live televised interview. During her speech, Carter states that as Presidential advisor she will push for the restoration of civil liberties. Charlie orders the broadcaster to cut the transmission, and mention of her appearance is censored in print. Afterwards, Carter is attacked and rendered unconscious by Secret Service Agents. She awakens on Air Force One with Landry. In a talk with her he says that public relations and the phase technology are important, that her world still has freedom and the Stargate program is one of the greatest secrets that the government has ever known. She then talks about General Hank Landry and how he would not allow the rest of the galaxy to fall to the Ori. Carter returns to the SGC to discover that McKay is now working on the device discovered at Glastonbury, with an implication that he was forced to do so, and that Landry has realized he'll have more control over McKay, but that Carter will be too much trouble to control. McKay has also replaced Carter as special adviser to the President. McKay informs her that they are going to be allowed to build the inter-universe bridge to send her home. Carter tells McKay to nudge the president about galactic threat. Back in Carter's world, Dr. Bill Lee uses a sound device to scan the isolation room. Carter suddenly reappears behind him in a flash of light and goes unnoticed until she says his name. Back in her lab, Carter talks with Vala, Teal’c and Mitchell. She has been gone for two weeks and no information about Daniel has surfaced. The others embarrassingly say that, thinking she was stuck while phased, they had been taking turns keeping her company, talking with what turned out to be an empty room, for hours at a time. Vala gives her a hug. + +SG-1 discovers a planet recently visited by an Ori Prior. They learn from Tevaris, the leader of the village, that this Prior, oddly, made no threats whatsoever and spoke only of the merits of Origin. A villager alerts them to the return of the Prior and SG-1 requests that their presence remain hidden. Subsequently, a hooded Prior asks Tevaris if the village is to convert to Origin. Tevaris wants to know more about the Ori and their ways before giving an answer. Without giving any threats, the Prior removes his hood and reveals himself to be Dr. Daniel Jackson. The team immediately returns to Earth to inform Major General Henry Landry. While reciting Ori teachings to the villagers, Daniel is transported onto the Odyssey. He appears before Teal'c and Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell, who render him unconscious by a Zat'nik'tel blast (though not before expressing shock at the fact that he said "Hey! What took you guys so long?"). Daniel is physically restrained and the Prior disruptor is used to inhibit his powers. The team is shocked to hear Jackson speaking normally and making no threats on their lives, unlike past incapacitated Priors. Daniel explains that he let himself be captured as he knew Merlin's consciousness would protect his mind from Adria. During Adria's attempted conversion of Daniel to Origin, Merlin's consciousness protected him, allowing him to remain himself while acquiring the abilities of a Prior. The reason Adria converted Jackson was that she had little choice but to trust him as she felt that he was the best chance of converting Earth (as well as Vala Mal Doran, her biological mother). Daniel reveals his (and Merlin's) plan to SG-1: By allowing Adria to believe that he had been converted to Origin, Daniel and Merlin were able to work with Adria to complete the Sangraal. Merlin's consciousness surfaces for a moment and tells them that thanks to his protection, Daniel was able to successfully lie to Adria; even with her powers, she was unable to detect it. Adria hoped that the weapon would lead to a swift end to the war with the Ancients. Daniel secretly planned to complete the weapon, pilot an Ori ship through the Supergate, and use the device to eliminate the Ori once and for all. Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter reminds him the Supergate is currently being blocked by the black hole in the Pegasus Galaxy. Daniel explains that, in order for the plan to succeed, the gate connection must be broken, albeit with the assistance of SG-1. Major General Jack O'Neill, at Stargate Command, is briefed by the team before boarding the Odyssey. O'Neill and Daniel delve into a heated discussion about their personal lives. Daniel explains that he has very little time before he reverts to his original form; therefore, the plan must be completed soon. Adria will be growing suspicious as to why he has not returned, and Merlin has altered Daniel's DNA so that after a specific passage of time he will revert to his normal state, losing both Merlin’s knowledge and his abilities as a Prior. O’Neill asks how the Supergate can be deactivated. Daniel says a Mark IX "Gate-Buster" bomb placed behind the gate in the Pegasus galaxy will destroy the Stargate and permanently disconnect the wormhole to the Supergate. Carter confirms a Mark IX placed behind the gate should destroy the Stargate and sever the connection. Teal'c, visiting Daniel, asks why Adria is not suspicious about him leaving Merlin’s weapon unfinished. Daniel tells him that Adria told him to wait as she feared the Ancients would take action if it was completed. Daniel adds that the Ori need the entire galaxy converted in order to distract the Ancients so that they can use the weapon to destroy the Ancients from a safe distance. Daniel also explains why he was preaching on the planet: he was supposedly doing it to gather more followers on Adria's own orders, but unknown to her, he chose that particular planet because he knew SG-1 was going to go there and he wanted them to capture him. Teal'c believes Jackson is telling the truth, but the International Oversight Advisory has vetoed the plan even after the team and O'Neill modify it so they can complete it themselves with the intel Daniel gives them. Worse of all, Richard Woolsey hesitantly informs them that Jackson’s life is to be terminated immediately but the team convinces him to freeze Daniel in a stasis pod instead. Vala informs Daniel about Woolsey's intentions, which Jackson had feared after the Khalek incident. Woolsey visits Daniel to tell him that with Merlin's knowledge in his mind he is to be frozen in stasis, beamed straight into the Ancient pod in Antarctica. Daniel overcomes the Prior disruptor and frees himself. Daniel beams Woolsey back along with the entire crew and beams up O'Neill, as he trusts him to give the command to the Daedalus to destroy the Pegasus gate. They plot a course for the Supergate. On the way, Daniel reveals that he overpowered the crew and Woolsey before taking control of the ship because he does not believe that SG-1 can complete his plan on their own. Additionally, he did not want to be frozen, something O'Neill agrees with after his own experience with a stasis pod. SG-1, minus Daniel and O'Neill, is ringed onto an Ori warship. After encountering some resistance, they find the unfinished Sangraal, as well as the remaining pieces and Daniel's instructions. The Ori ship enters hyperspace and Carter seals off the level, preventing more guards from appearing. Vala starts assembling the weapon piece by piece until only one remains. She says the final piece will initiate the device, leaving five minutes until its activation. Upon its completion, Vala is surprised to see that no ascended Ancient appears and takes the device away from them. After exiting from hyperspace, SG-1 finds an Ori ship blocking their path to the Supergate. Ori guards appear behind Vala and Mitchell with weapons drawn. Mitchell carefully questions Carter on his radio. He thought she locked off the level. Carter replies with "Me too” as Adria stands before her. The Odyssey exits hyperspace and immediately cloaks. O’Neill comments that the Ori ships can see them, but Jackson tells him he activated the cloak. O’Neill points out that the ship does not have a cloak and Daniel indicates that it does now, thanks to the Zero Point Module. The duo make preparations to interrupt the Pegasus gate, although O'Neill still remains somewhat suspicious of Daniel. Daniel beams to the Ori ship and asks Carter and Teal’c how the plan is progressing, but they refuse to answer. Adria cannot sense Daniel's intentions and confronts him. Daniel fires an energy blast from his hand using his abilities as a Prior which knocks her unconscious. Daniel reveals he held the Prior disruptor behind his back to prevent Adria from reading his mind or fighting back, and that he was able to focus his powers sufficiently to defeat her personal shield. He tells Carter that O’Neill is on the Odyssey and can give the command and beam them back. Daniel, now weak, moves to the Ori Control chair and tells Carter and Teal’c to arm the Ancient device. They take out the guards, and with Vala and Mitchell arm the device. Daniel moves the other Ori ship away from the Supergate and tells O’Neill to contact the Daedalus to destroy the Pegasus gate. After a moment of hesitation, O'Neill gives the order. The Supergate shuts down. Daniel re-opens the Supergate and directs the Ori ship towards the wormhole. SG-1 returns to the bridge to find Daniel unconscious and no longer a Prior. Carter tells O’Neill to beam them onto the Odyssey. Vala worries about Adria as O'Neill beams them out and they leave her behind. The Ori ship enters the wormhole and the Supergate shuts down. Daniel wakes in the infirmary of the Odyssey and convinces O'Neill he no longer has Merlin's consciousness within him. The team wonders whether the device worked. Carter informs everyone that the Supergate has started dialing, and it soon activates. From the bridge the team watches as six Ori ships come through the gate and jump with the seventh into hyperspace. + +Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell rings into a darkened room. Moving to the cargo he slices open a bag with his knife, finding kassa kernels inside. Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter, Teal'c, and Dr. Daniel Jackson ring into similar cargo rooms and begin setting explosives with a countdown of one minute. Sam notices a green light scanning the room. She radios the team telling them to get out. Daniel and Teal'c finish, and all but Mitchell ring out. He has been caught by a number of guards. A firefight ensues, pinning Mitchell. Aboard a Goa'uld Tel'tak piloted by Vala Mal Doran, Carter informs Mitchell that everyone else is done. Teal'c offers to help, but there is no time—the explosives will detonate in less than 30 seconds. Sam 'comms' Mitchell to just get onto a ring platform and she'll manage to activate it remotely from the transport, which he only just manages to do so by the 'skin of his teeth'. The transport flies away as the kassa transport train explodes. On board a Lucian Alliance Ha'tak, Netan, the leader of the Lucian Alliance, receives the news that a third raid by SG-1 has destroyed yet another of their kassa transports. This has not only severely depleted the kassa supply but Netan deduces was specifically designed to make him look weak. So, enraged by SG1's tactics, Netan places a bounty on their heads. Back on Earth, Vala convinces Mitchell to let her accompany him to his high school reunion in Auburn, Kansas, which he'd much rather avoid it seems. Carter and Dr. Bill Lee are at a scientific conference, presenting the "new" technologies of the Chimera holographic projector (revealed in "Covenant") and as it happens "busted" X-699 plasma cannon. Daniel, meanwhile, is in a library conducting research when he encounters an attractive young woman who seductively offers to help him with his searches. Two alien bounty hunters are shown on board a Tel'tak scout ship, when suddenly the whole ship rocks, and it is revealed that the ship was shot by staff cannons mounted on another Tel'tak commanded by the Bounty hunter Odai Ventrell. The Tel'tak controlled by two aliens has it's shields drained, and one of the Aliens appear to operate the hyperdrive. Ventrell's Tel'tak manages to destroy the other Tel'tak before it jumps into hyperspace. He then replies to himself: "Sorry boys, but I don't like competition." Off-world, the Jaffa Cha'ra urges Teal'c to take a position on the Jaffa High Council. They are suddenly attacked by unseen bounty hunters and Teal'c is grazed by an energy blast. Teal'c urges Cha'ra to put out word that he was gravely injured in order to lure the attackers into a trap. Vala and Mitchell sit with his parents, and Vala misleads them into thinking she and Cameron are dating. While setting up for the reunion, Mitchell reunites with Amy Vanderburg, "the one who got away". Vala is introduced to Mitchell's old friend Darrell Grimes, who is immediately smitten by Vala's charms. Elsewhere, Daniel again encounters the strange young woman, who now attempts to seduce him by asking him if he'd like to go somewhere more private with her. Daniel suspiciously declines, to which the woman pulls out a Goa'uld Za'tarc weapon and fires it at him. Daniel runs while she shoots repeatedly, missing him by mere inches. Daniel exits the museum, but the woman teleports in behind him and tells him to stop or she'll start killing innocent bystanders - a woman walking down the sidewalk with her baby, as it happens, to which she has her weapon pointed at. Daniel surrenders, but just then his pursuer is run over by a bus, much to his surprise. Carter, at the conference, receives a call from Major General Henry Landry about the incident. Landry, believing this to be an isolated incident, tells her not to worry and to stay at the conference. Mitchell's cell phone has no service and he is unable to hear Landry's message. Carter walks onto the stage to deliver her presentation and is shot at by a sniper. The shot, however, passes directly through her—it was a holographic projection, luckily for Carter it passed through the projection of the device they were demonstrating, and the real Carter is backstage still safe and sound. A surprised Sam shuts off the device, and with Lee's help fixes the X-699 enough for a single shot. Carter walks onto the stage with the gun and shoots the sniper. The audience, believing this all to be part of the presentation, applaud them with a standing ovation. Back in the Jaffa Encampment, a cloaked stranger enters the tent where Teal'c is being treated. He pulls out a knife, but is shot with a Zat'nik'tel by Teal'c. Cha'ra and his men come back, astounded that the would-be assassin was a Jaffa. Teal'c is not convinced. With one finger, he wipes the assassin's "tattoo" off his forehead, revealing it to be a fake. Mitchell receives another call from Landry but cannot hear anything intelligible. Two bounty hunters follow him in his search for a hard-line. One is using a mimic device. The other, Ventrell, leads the first bounty hunter into a closet and kills him, then continues to follow Mitchell. Meanwhile, Darrell offers Vala some 'fire water' (which only puzzles her), then takes her into an auditorium where they sit as Darrell attempts to woo her. Vala stops him cold, telling him that unfortunately she is married, much to Darrell's disappointment. Mitchell calls Landry, but finds himself held at gunpoint. Ventrell takes the phone and, using a device to mimic Mitchell's voice, tells General Landry to send backup. He then tells Mitchell to 'sit tight', for he intends to wait in order to get all of SG-1 at once. Vala, coming back from the auditorium with Darrell, recognizes Ventrell and assumes he is after her, when in truth he doesn't even know she's there (yet). Amy, finally getting her longed-for dance with Mitchell, is somewhat disappointed when she senses him holding back and distracted. And to that is added utter confusion when he asks her to slap him and leave the auditorium. But just then Darrell distracts the bounty hunter so Vala can throw a fire extinguisher at him, which does little more than just bounce off his back with a slight energy-flash from his body shield. Ventrell turns around and is delighted to see Vala, which he sees as an added bonus, then punches her flying onto one of the tables, to everyone's cries of bemusement and shock (especially Darrell, who is amazed to see Vala survive such a blow with nonchalance). The bounty hunter pulls out a gun and fires once into the air. The crowd panics and tries to get out, but the bounty hunter has magnetically sealed the door. He threatens to shoot Amy or Darrell, but calms down upon hearing Carter saying that SG-1 will surrender as soon as the hostages are released. The bounty hunter tells Sam that the hostages will be released, but SG-1 has to come in first. Carter, Teal'c, and Daniel beam in unarmed. The bounty hunter herds SG-1 into the center of the dance floor. Suddenly rings break through the ceiling of the gym and they are all ringed aboard a transport ship sitting on top of the gym. A bewildered Ventrell is surprised to find himself held at gunpoint in his own ship. Carter explains that they found the ship, and then used the holographic projection technology to create the illusion that they had beamed into the gym. Ventrell tells SG-1 that stopping him will not stop the bounty hunters. Mitchell replies that Netan's followers will see this incident as yet another failure on Netan's part. Later, on Netan's flagship, an intruder dispatches Netan's guards and enters his quarters, but is shot by Ventrell. Netan tells Ventrell he will be richly rewarded. Ventrell points his gun at Netan and says that he will be, but not for saving him. Back in Kansas at the Mitchell family farm, Amy and Mitchell set things straight and share a kiss, before being interrupted by Vala. Amy agrees to visit Colorado Springs, sometime soon. + +The SG-1 team, minus Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter - who has gone to The Pentagon to brief them on the consequences the alternate Earth had in revealing the Stargate program - set out to a planet in search of Clava Thessara Infinitas treasure (from the episode "Memento Mori"). Upon arriving at the planet they discover they are in fact inside a museum, which is hosting a party. Choosing to follow protocol and return home - then make contact with the local inhabitants who are unaware of the Stargate through use of the MALP - the team attempt to return home but are unaware that the Dial Home Device is a replica constructed from drawings the natives discovered. After their initial plan to wait until the team misses their scheduled check in fails, they are mistaken for a band of zealous rebels. After a shootout in the lobby, the museum is set into a lockdown mode. Along with a wounded security guard, many of the patrons of the party are taken as hostages. After insisting their intentions were peaceful the team is forced to pose as kidnappers until the scheduled check-in passes. After "negotiations" begin, Dr. Daniel Jackson suggests the local task force send in medical personnel to tend to the injured security guard, two medics are sent into the museum. The medics attack Daniel with stun weapons, but are quickly subdued. After the situation Quartus takes command of the negotiations. Cicero, one of the hostages and a researcher at the museum realizes that this is the incident that will prove his theories about Stargate being a portal allowing travel to other worlds, begins to assist SG-1 and provide them with the steps needed to buy the team enough time to get home. Cicero instructs SG-1 on what demands to make so as to pass off as real rebels. Jayem Seran, a night-time security guard inside the museum, hopes to be a hero and contacts the authorities outside with an offer to help take down SG-1. While searching for possible fragments of the destroyed DHD, Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell and Vala Mal Doran discover one of the many Goa'uld artifacts in the exhibits in the museum: a Naquadah bomb. After Jayem attempts to 'save' Cicero from his 'captors' Mitchell and Vala, he attempts to find the other 'rebels'. When he leaves Cicero continues to assist Mitchell and Vala. When Mitchell and Vala capture Jayem, they return to Cicero but discover he has disappeared. Vala activates the timer on the Naquadah bomb, forcing Jayem to enter his security access code. Upon discovering that the bomb cannot be De-activated Mitchell and Vala begin to connect the bomb to the Stargate in order to dial out. After Cicero, who had escaped the museum, informs Quartus of the 'rebels' true identity, he instructs his Special Forces team to storm the museum. As SG-1 retreats back, they are ambushed and captured by Quartus's military forces. Mitchell then makes a plea to Quartus to let them return home. Mitchell informs him that 'there are worlds and races out there that do intend to do you and your people harm, but we are not one of them' and continues to say that 'we are a peaceful people, but we do not take acts of aggression lying down.' After Mitchell's short speech Quartus agrees to allow SG-1 to travel through the gate. After which, the military commander begins a cover-up and buries the Stargate; creating a cover story that a night guard killed four rebels and saved several hostages. In protest of the cover up Cicero attempts to contact the ruling Viceroy to change the decision, but is assumed to have failed. It is implied that the fact the Stargate is a means of intergalactic travel are one of the rebel movement's beliefs, which would legitimize its position if the information were ever made public. Stargate Command attempts to make two connections to the world but the Stargate does not establish a wormhole and Major General Henry Landry believes that the world has no interest in establishing relations with other worlds. Effectively, the planet has 'stuck their heads in the sand'. + +Representatives of the Jaffa, including Teal'c and Bra'tac, meet in a rare summit on Dar Eshkalon to determine the future of their people in the face of the Ori threat. But their enemies are many, and a terrorist attack on the summit leaves many dead, including women and children. A while later, SG-1 and SG-3 wander through the wreckage, discovering the corpses of numerous Jaffa. Dr. Daniel Jackson finds Bra'tac with Bra'tac being brought back to Stargate Command for further treatment where Dr. Carolyn Lam cares for him. Teal'c ignores his team's entreaties and departs on a one-man quest for revenge, having reason to believe that the man responsible for the cowardly bombing is one of his former foes, a ferocious and extremely capable warrior named Arkad. He is a charismatic leader opposed the summit, and wishes to lead the Jaffa people himself -- and he is a follower of Origin. Teal'c's search leads him to an alien bar, where the sympathetic owner points him to a customer named Lizan. A human, Lizan's people were once enslaved at the hands of the Jaffa and he doesn't mind seeing them now killing one another. But Teal'c will do whatever it takes to find a lead on Arkad. But the stakes get even higher: SG-1 learns that Arkad may be stockpiling weapons-grade Naquadah for an attack on Earth. This is revealed from intelligence gathered from rebel Jaffa on an Ori controlled planet who are aware that Arkad has been stockpiling Naquadah for his masters claiming that he will control and bring more Jaffa worlds into Ori control. The enraged Teal'c is taking no prisoners, and his hunt leads him to Bak'al, a Jaffa terrorist working for Arkad. Bak'al does not fear death, because he believes the Ori will ascend him. But Teal'c is not here to argue religion or to watch Bak'al endure torture: he wants answers, and he has removed Bak'al's symbiote and replaced it with a bomb. Bak'al states that he is willing to die as the Ori will ascend him. Teal'c leaves the Jaffa who soon after explodes. Bra'tac has regained consciousness at this point and speaks to Daniel about the warrior known as Arkad. He states that he was formerly one of Bra'tac's pupils and even then he felt that there was 'something wrong' with him. The two would next meet in battle as Arkad became First Prime to another Goa'uld, whose name is not specified. Bra'tac states that Teal'c and Arkad met many times in battle with Arkad always being beaten yet always managing to escape. Bra'tac explains that Arkad is like a serpent and is always lying and is dishonorable. He also explains to Daniel that this battle between Teal'c and Arkad is also a personal one as many years ago Teal'c's mother was found dead, after Teal'c has become First Prime to Apophis which was to be a momentous occasion. Teal'c has suspected it was Arkad's doing but was unable to do anything about the matter. Arkad dials into the SGC, claiming that he can help prevent an attack on Earth. He stated that he was the leader of the Illac Renin, a cult of Jaffa who follow the teachings of Origin. In a meeting with SG-1 and Major General Henry Landry, Arkad reveals that he 'has a fleet that is tenfold bigger than any before marshaled by the Goa'uld'. And that he was attempting to stop radical groups of Jaffa from striking Earth, on the condition that the Tau'ri remove themselves from Jaffa politics claiming that he desired the freedom of choice for his people and if they wish to follow the path the Ori show them then so be it. The International Oversight Advisory takes his claims very seriously and task SG-1 with hunting down and stopping Teal'c as the death of Arkad by Teal'c's hands might appear as though the Tau'ri had commissioned the act. Landry dispatches SG-1 on the Odyssey to Arkad's planet. SG-1 and SG-3 are dispatched to the Illac Renin's planet where they place a trap for Teal'c. However, two members of SG-3 are defeated before Mitchell finds them. Teal'c then throws a stun grenade before Carter, Vala Mal Doran and Daniel which renders them unconscious before Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell finds and apprehends him. Teal'c overpowers Mitchell and continues on to Arkad's base. Teal'c then wages his battle against the Illac Renin and manages to kill many of them before he is taken down. He is brought before Arkad who gives him a fighting staff and the two engage in combat. He reveals some of his history at this point on how he admired Teal'c even when the former First Prime of Apophis had killed his family in order to kill his enemy Co'rak on Arkad's homeworld. He also states the truth on how he deceived the Tau'ri and has plans on leading an attack against them. Teal'c, wounded, puts little resistance before Arkad grabs a sword and stabs Teal'c, who was on the floor. At this point in time, Arkad reveals that he killed Teal'c's mother. Angered, Teal'c pushes Arkad back onto an assortment of bladed items and pulls the sword out from his body. He then spears Arkad with the blade which kills him once and for all. Teal'c is later brought back to the SGC and given further treatment. As Mitchell watches from Observation, Landry arrives in and they discuss the report in which the members of SG-1 were all wounded and how Teal'c came to their aid, ultimately killing Arkad. Despite that, Landry expresses his doubts, stating that the report will be a bitter pill for the IOA to swallow with Mitchell stating that they only discussed that Arkad was planning on attacking Earth. In the room, Bra'tac having fully recovered speaks to Teal'c in a joking manner at how, when he was younger, Teal'c would not be as badly injured. Teal'c remarks that he is alive and Arkad is dead. Bra'tac states that there are many more corrupt Jaffa as he and that they would hunt them down, together. Bra'tac remarks that Teal'c was the son he never had. Teal'c also explains that he had killed the assassin that killed his mother and it was not Arkad as Arkad was too 'cowardly' to do the task himself but still, Arkad had claimed responsibility for the act. Bra'tac and Teal'c then embrace. + +Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter and Vala Mal Doran arrive at Stargate Command wearing civilian clothing, carrying a lot of shopping bags. Carter says that they've just had a "Girls Day Out". Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell and MSgt. Sylvester Siler are talking about a TV show, and Vala says that she was sampling Earth's "cultural offerings". When Mitchell asks what these are, Carter adds "pedicures, mochaccinos, and Victoria's Secret." Siler, distracted by their rather provocative clothing (dresses, high heels, and boots) walks back down the hall and into a door that opened behind him. Mitchell reminds them that they're about to go off-world in about an hour, and suggests that they lose the heels. Major General Henry Landry is at the SGC and is contacted by a person from another world who reveals himself to be Jacek, who claims to have information that would protect Earth against an attack by the Jaffa Arkad. Arkad planned to use weapons grade Naquadah to destroy the enemies of the Ori. Carter states that Arkad was killed; however, Jacek states that his plans are already in motion, with cloaked Tel'tak cargo ships carrying weapons grade Naquadah, awaiting the order for the strike. Vala arrives and mentions Jacek's name - after which she reveals that Jacek is her father. Landry agrees that Jacek is untrustworthy, but decides it's still in their best interest to take him up on his offer - against Vala's wishes. While they prepare for the mission, Landry goes to see his daughter, Dr. Carolyn Lam, and asks her to help him to arrange a communication with her mother, with whom he hasn't spoken for five years. Lam agrees to call her in his behalf. SG-1 goes to the planet Jacek told them about, traveling on the Odyssey which is now under the command of Colonel Ian Davidson. With the ship's scanners they discover a small number of people with a lot of Naquadah; they destroy it and give Jacek the sanctuary he asked for. While on Earth, Jacek proves to be a less than honest citizen, holding a charity phone scam (" Little 'Pepito' needs a new set of kidneys.."), selling "genuine stardust", and hustling senior citizen ladies in bingo games (with a cover charge). It turns out that there was one ship that left before SG-1 arrived, and that it has reached Earth and is awaiting orders. Jacek found out about the cargo ship on Earth from a Jaffa Te'rak he knew from a weapon smuggling operation he used to run. That was the reason why he made a deal with SGC - so he could come to Earth to take Naquadah, sell it, and then split the profit with a Jaffa. When Jacek meets with his Jaffa contact, Daniel and Vala surprise him and accidentally kill the Jaffa. Once again Jacek tries to make a deal with SGC and claims that only he can find the cloaked cargo ship, because the Naquadah was marked by Arkad and he can calibrate detection systems to pick up its unique energy signature. Jacek convinces SG-1 to let him "disarm" the bomb he claims is on board, set to detonate if the ship moves. He claims that he has the override codes. SG-1 does not trust him, as he has spent his time on Earth continuously scamming everyone. Instead, they lead him to a cargo ship of their own and let him steal it; once he is gone and it's obvious he made up the existence of a deadman switch, SG-1 take control of the real cargo ship. After Landry hears that everything has gone according to plan, he rushes to the restaurant to meet with his daughter (Dr. Lam) and ex-wife Kim Lam. The next scene shows the cargo ship Jacek stole on an unknown world where Jacek asks how much he will get for the shipment of weapons grade Naquadah. The "client", a human, notes that the shipment is nothing but lead bars and "these things", which turn out to be foam peanuts. Jacek explains that it's a virility enhancer and manages to con the human into believing the lie. Jacek laughs and says that they both "talk the same language". The episode ends with Vala putting the new necklace her father gave her into a secret box where she kept the other jewelry he gave her, despite having told Jacek that she threw it away. She hears a knock at the door and hides the box beneath her bed after which Carter enters the room with a bottle and two glasses for a "girls' night in". Carter asks how Vala is doing and she explains that her father scammed them and they scammed him in return, with everything turning out OK in the end. Vala inquires about what the "boys" are doing. Carter explains that Mitchell is out on a date, Daniel is exhausted and that Teal'c has gone to see a play. Sitting down at his play Teal'c nods side to side in surprise, noticing the crowd of predominantly females; Teal'c is discomforted to find out that the play is the Vagina Monologues. + +Because Adria is able to sense deception within others, Vala Mal Doran has hatched a plan: SG-1 implants false memories into Vala with the Galaran memory device, detailing her escaping from Stargate Command, as they had turned against her. Because Vala believes that these memories are entirely real, Adria does not realize that it is part of a deception. When Vala leads her in search of the Clava Thessara Infinitas, and take her to the planet SG-1 ambushes them with Prior disruptors to stop Adria from using her powers. However, Ba'al's Jaffa beam in and kidnap Adria. Ba'al reveals that he is going to take control of her armies by implanting her with a symbiote. SG-1 rescues her (killing a Ba'al clone), but realize that the symbiote, Ba'al, has already taken Adria as a host and controls her. He attempts to buy time to overcome the Prior disruptor, offering the information that the Ori are truly dead. When SG-1 informs him that they plan to swap him with a Tok'ra symbiote, he tells them it would not be strong enough to suppress Adria's personality. He also threatens to kill her instead of allowing them to succeed. When the Tok'ra arrive, they say that the procedure will be very dangerous for Adria, but they agree to try. Vala tells Daniel that she is OK if Adria dies, since at least the Ori army will be deprived of a leader, but it is clear she is very upset. The Tok'ra surgical team begins to try to remove Ba'al. He releases symbiote toxin into Adria's bloodstream, leaving her on her deathbed, too weak to be blended with the Tok'ra symbiote. The Tok'ra surgeon explains to SG1 that went Adria does wake up she will be in terrible pain and die soon after. They decide that the most humane thing will be to kill her with a larger toxin dose while she is still unconscious, but she wakes up and throws Dr. Daniel Jackson and the guards across the room. She tells Vala that she cannot allow them to kill her. Knowing that "this body" is dying, Adria seals herself in the infirmary with Vala. Using her Ori telekinetic powers to hold the doors closed, she begins preparations for ascension. Vala and Adria talk, and Adria says this wasn't her plan, but she will be able to accomplish even more after she ascends and becomes a full Ori. Vala asks her to show compassion and stop killing innocents, but Adria says she will leave the human parts of her behind. Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell and Teal'c attempt to cut their way in, but are distracted when Adria releases toxic coolant into the corridor where Daniel is trapped. Daniel cries out and Vala tries to open the door with a crowbar, but cannot. Vala begs Adria not to kill Daniel, but Adria ignores her. Vala grabs one of the guards' guns from the floor and attempts to shoot Adria, but is lifted into the air by Adria's telekinetic powers, allowing Adria to complete the ascension process uninterrupted. Carter manages to cut off the coolant to the corridor. Adria says goodbye to her mother, then ascends, releasing Vala as the other team members rush through the now-open doors. SG-1 is left speculating whether the Ori are dead as Ba'al said, thereby leaving all their former power to Adria, or whether Adria has joined them in their crusade. Carter suggests that regardless, Adria may be able to return in some form. Mitchell also says that he found another Ba'al clone on the ship--it's possible that the symbiote in Adria was just another clone and the original Ba'al is still out there as well. Vala says that, whether or not Ba'al and the Ori are still alive, they have dealt a heavy blow to the invading armies by depriving them of their leader. + +The Asgard contact Stargate Command to tell them to rendezvous at the Asgard homeworld because they have news of great importance to share. During the boring journey Vala Mal Doran arranges a surprise birthday party for Dr. Daniel Jackson, to which he responds with annoyance — since it is not his birthday (and she is only trying to alleviate her own boredom). When they arrive at the Asgard home world of Orilla they are greeted by Thor who announces that the Odyssey will be given a complete copy of the Asgard's latest technology. Thor explains that the Asgard's final attempt to fix their inherent gene degradation was a failure again, and as a result the entire Asgard race has contracted a terminal illness. The damage from years of such experiments is so severe that they are also no longer able to ascend. However, rather than allowing themselves to slowly die out and have their technology plundered, the Asgard people have decided to give their most sophisticated technology and their entire knowledge base to the Tau'ri, the only race they trust enough to do so, whom Thor finally calls the "fifth race", before they will all commit an act of mass Suicide. As the final installations are completed, three Ori warships exit hyperspace and attack Odyssey. The Asgard beam off the ship, and Odyssey flees. One Ori ship follows, the others turning on the Asgard. However, the Asgard destroy their own planet, wiping themselves out. With the Odyssey's shields damaged and the hyperdrive temporarily unusable because of the planet's destruction, Landry orders that they come about and use the new, as of yet untested by them, Asgard plasma beam weapons. This succeeds in penetrating the shields of the Ori warship and destroying it, much to Landry's relief and pleasure with Mitchell remarking, "We got 'em". After entering hyperspace, Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter discovers some strange readings from the new hyperdrive system, and suggests that they stop using it. Immediately after exiting hyperspace, two more Ori warships emerge. After quickly re-entering hyperspace, Carter realizes that the Ori warships are tracking the energy signature of the Asgard computer core, which has been interfaced with all of Odyssey's systems. With no alternative, Landry orders them to head for the nearest planet with an active Stargate and off-load Odyssey's crew. As soon as the crew including Major Kevin Marks are all beamed off, SG-1 and Landry remain on board as Carter tries to disconnect the hyperdrive from the Asgard computer core, which she hoped would prevent the Ori from tracking the ship. The process is time-consuming, and the Ori ships quickly catch up to resume the attack. Odyssey takes several beam shots to the shields causing increasing reflexive damage, and Landry orders that Odyssey's fire be concentrated on only one target with Mitchell steering the ship while attempt to shoot at the same time as Daniel monitors the ship's status. The Asgard energy weapons penetrate the Ori warship's shields, inflicting serious damage. Odyssey's shields fail as a final beam is sent out by the remaining Ori ship. However, just before the beam makes contact which will no doubt result in the deaths of SG-1 and Landry along with the Asgard technology being lost forever, Carter activates a time dilation field around the ship — one of the new integrated features of the Asgard technology. Within the time dilation field, time passes in such a way that years may go by within the field while fractions of a second pass by outside in 'real' time. Safe for the time being, to everyone's surprise and relief, Carter is able to work on several theories to allow the team to leave Odyssey before the beam hits, or to jump the ship out of phase before the beam makes contact. However, all of her simulations produce the same result: the destruction of the ship, the death of all on board, and the loss of all of the Asgard's knowledge. Stuck until they are able to figure out a new solution, SG-1 prepares for a long wait. With a Zero Point Module and the Asgard power core to power the time dilation field and the new Asgard technology synthesizing food, supplies and oxygen, they are at least able to live on the ship indefinitely. However, not everyone's amused by this, firmly believing they're all going to go stir-crazy soon enough (especially Mitchell and Vala). During their initial months on board, Vala repeatedly tries to seduce Daniel, while he continues to repel her advances. Finally, after three months, Vala gets even more direct and attempts to remove Daniel's pants. Daniel rejects her point blank, and angrily confronts Vala for what he believes to be her insincerity, teasing, and mocking of him. He says they could never have a serious romantic relationship, that he couldn't even imagine them having one, and did not believe she ever thought of them seriously having a relationship. Vala, who's in fact always had a very sincere 'soft-spot' for him, is greatly hurt and upset by his words, and attempts to hide her face while tears stream down her face. When Jackson sees the sincere tears and the true depth of her feeling, it finally makes him realize that she really does care for him after all and was actually being sincere. So he gently turns Vala's face towards him, looks deep into her eyes, and plants a kiss on her lips. They finally share a passionate embrace. The next scene sees a somewhat disheveled Vala leaving Daniel's cabin as Mitchell jogs past, seemingly nonplussed at the sight. Vala, exasperated and energized (and seemingly quite elated with the turn of recent 'romantic' events), volunteers to help Carter, hypothesizing that they could reverse time in the field up to the point they left the Asgard home world, and then disable the hyperdrive. Sam however rules this out as impossible, and attempts to explain that's not how things works within the dilation field. Years pass, as each member of the team attempts to deal with their isolation. Landry develops a gardening hobby, as the plants shoot up around all around him; Carter finally learns how to play the cello, something she's always wished she had time to learn; Daniel continues to work on translating information in the database and continues with his never ending studies; Teal'c and Mitchell spar with each ever more vigorously, as always; and Daniel and Vala develop their romance, falling cushily into an easy and comfortable relationship. Mitchell also spends much time jogging throughout the ship, growing more frustrated and angry as the years pass him by. Scenes show him wrecking his cabin, and sitting staring longingly in a F-302 fighter-interceptor, contemplating escape (which would be followed by quick death). In another scene, Daniel holds a frustrated crying Vala. After many years, Landry succumbs to old age and dies. Teal'c however, having an extended lifespan, changes very little, except for a small gray streak in his hair. After fifty years, with everybody besides Teal'c aging greatly, Carter finally figures out how to reverse time within a localized field. By reversing time back to slightly before the point of dilation, they can stop the program being activated and use a new program Carter has written onto a crystal to quickly disconnect the Asgard computer core from the hyperdrive in seconds. Unfortunately, in a last cruel irony, the ship's power supplies no longer have enough energy to complete the plan, due to the constant drain of maintaining the time dilation field over all the last five decades. However, Mitchell directs Carter's attention to the Ori energy beam weapon; he theorizes that by deactivating the dilation field and allowing the beam to hit, they can channel the beam's power to the core. If it indeed works, the dilation field would reverse, and they would go back in time; everything would be undone. However, there are two problems. First, the ship will be destroyed by the blast, and if the time reversal does not activate quickly enough, the destruction will not be reversed, killing everyone in the process. Second, the reversal of the time field will mean the loss of any memories of what happened over the past fifty years. Also, one person will have to remain behind, protected within a separate field, staying aged so as to retain the memories necessary to perform the rescue attempt. Teal'c, who as a Jaffa has a much longer lifespan than the other members of the team, volunteers as the only logical choice. As the group prepares their plan, Vala and Daniel exchange a last embrace, assuring each other of the sincerity of their love and that it was not just oportune. When everything is in place, they deactivate the time dilation field. As the ship explodes around Teal'c, time begins to slow, stop, then slowly starts to reverse. The ship re-forms, the beam withdraws, and time is re-set to the moment just before they would've been hit. Teal'c prevents Carter from activating the time dilation field much to Carter's amazement and gives her the control crystal that disconnects the Asgard computer core from the hyperdrive. They leave before they are destroyed, saving themselves as well as the Asgard's legacy. Back at the SGC, Teal'c refuses to reveal any of the events on the ship to the others, much to Vala's disappointment and frustration. She's convinced that over all that time she must have hooked up with someone, and is desperate to find out who - all her guesses incorrect, and unconfirmed by Teal'c. However, Daniel jokes that Teal'c did reveal to him several bits of good advice that Daniel read in the Asgard database in the alternate timeline, but they're really just common aphorisms. SG-1 contemplates these words of wisdom — among them "life is too short"—as they prepare for another mission. As the episode—and the series—comes to a close, the team says "Indeed" all at once, Landry wishes the team God-speed. With that, SG-1 steps through the gate on their next mission. + +Several million years ago, the Ancients leave Earth in their great city-ship of Atlantis. Ayiana must remain behind for unknown reasons, and watches the great city slowly rise and disappear in the sky. In Antarctica, millions of years later in 2004, a group of researchers and scientists are working in the Antarctic outpost. They are examining Ancient technology which includes an Ancient Drone weapon, and a Control chair. Dr. Carson Beckett is attempting to activate the chair as he has the Ancient Technology Activation gene (ATA), a special gene sequence that allows him to interface with Ancient technology. However, Beckett is unwilling to sit in the chair despite being the one to discover the secrets of ATA. Dr. Elizabeth Weir, the leader of the proposed expedition to Atlantis talks to Dr. Meredith Rodney McKay, the Expedition's Chief Science Officer with Weir stating that they need as many people they have with ATA to sit in the chair so that they can learn more about its operation. However most people are afraid of it because it controls powerful weapons with Weir even admitting that she's afraid of the chair. As they are discussing the chair, Dr. Daniel Jackson interrupts and asks them to come with him. He has news about the address where the Ancients went after they left Earth. They recently discovered a seventh symbol, the point of origin Earth, but found that their address was incomplete. There was an eighth symbol. Atlantis may be far, but it's not out of reach. It is possible to go there. At the same time, Brigadier General Jack O'Neill and Major John Sheppard are flying in a chopper towards the base, discussing their opinions on the Antarctic Continent. At the Base, McKay wants Beckett to sit in the chair one more time. Despite objections, McKay gets Beckett to sit down and asks him to try and imagine an image of their location in the Solar system. The chair activates but it also activates one of the drones that the research team is studying. The drone heads up and out of the base, and targets O'Neill's helicopter. Before they get the warning from the base, though, the drone enters their visual range. Sheppard and O'Neill start to dodge the drone while Weir tells Beckett to concentrate turning off the drone before it hurts someone. He manages to do so, moments before the drone impacts the chopper. Sheppard and O'Neill arrive at the base about seven minutes later. O'Neill leaves Sheppard with orders not to touch anything, while he goes to talk with Jackson, Weir, and McKay. In a room, Jackson tells everyone about how the Ancients left in their flying city a few million years ago, to settle in the Pegasus Galaxy. McKay wonders if it may be possible that they are still there, and Jackson cites that that itself is reason enough to go. O'Neill doesn't mind, but there is one problem. They need the nearly depleted Zero Point Module (ZPM) to power the gate, but O'Neill doesn't allow them to use it. However, the rest insist on using the ZPM since reaching another galaxy requires an enormous amount of energy which can only be supplied by a ZPM and they are fully aware of the mission's one-way nature. At the same time, Sheppard runs into Beckett, who was recounting the events of the drone. Sheppard blames him for "firing that thing" but quickly forgives Beckett. Beckett then goes on to explain the ATA gene to Sheppard. In the process, Sheppard sits on the chair, regarding that the odds are against him having the gene. However, the chair lights up immediately and Beckett rushes to get Weir. McKay asks Sheppard to do the same exercise of thinking about their location in the Solar system, and a map immediately appears above the chair with Sheppard stating, "Do I do that?". This leaves everyone, especially Weir stunned. A while later, Weir talks to O'Neill about Sheppard with the two of them discussing Sheppard's own black mark with Weir even bringing O'Neill's own history although Jack mistakenly believes at first that Weir wants Daniel before telling her that he needs Daniel here. Out in the helicopter, Sheppard is still confused about the Expedition and also about how he has an alien gene as well as the Stargate. O'Neill wants Sheppard to give him an answer by the time they reach McMurdo or else O'Neill doesn't even want him. A bit later, all the members of the team are saying farewell to their loved ones. Some are able to disclose certain details about the mission, like Weir, but others have to fabricate stories. At Stargate Command, the members of the expedition are getting ready for departure with the corridors to the Embarkation Room being full of Atlantis personnel and various supplies as final preparations are put in place. At the same time, McKay and MSgt. Sylvester Siler are tying in the ZPM to the Stargate power systems which lights up upon sensing the Stargate much to McKay's joy. While they wrap up, Weir makes a speech to everyone. If they achieve a wormhole, they go, and she offers them one last chance to withdraw their participation. No-one responds and an Technician (Rising) begins dialing the gate. As the eighth chevron locks, a stable wormhole forms with the expedition team responding with joy and applause. The probe is sent through and a viable atmosphere is detected with McKay examining the room and stating that they're not getting out of this. As such, O'Neill tells Weir that she has a go with Weir thanking O'Neill. In the gateroom, Colonel Marshall Sumner tells the military troops under his command to get ready with Weir then arriving and telling Sumner that they go through together. Just before Weir steps through, she looks at O'Neill who silently nods at her before Weir herself steps through the wormhole. In the control room, Daniel wants to go but O'Neill refuses. After receiving word that it's all clear, O'Neill tells the Expedition team to move out with the remaining military personnel getting ready to step through the Stargate. Lieutenant Aiden Ford and Sheppard are next up with Sheppard wondering what it's like. Ford states that it hurts like Hell before stepping through the gate, yelling "Whoo-hoo!". Sheppard then stares at the wormhole for a second before he gathers his courage and steps through. A large wormhole that goes up and down is then shown before it shows Sheppard emerging from the Stargate and arriving in the Atlantis control room. The lights start to come on as soon as John Sheppard steps into the city. As Sheppard glances around, more military personnel arrive in with the civilians soon arriving, McKay being the first ever citizen to set foot on Atlantis (after Elizabeth, of course). Back on Earth, the remaining personnel step through the wormhole, bringing the various supplies with them as well. As everyone looks around, Sheppard and McKay head up the steps to the main Operations room with all the lights coming in an instant, stunning everyone although there are no reports of any aliens whatsoever. Once the last person has stepped through, Sumner informs Weir that everyone's here with Weir talking to O'Neill via a walkie-talkie and stating that Atlantis offers greetings from the Pegasus Galaxy. She then tells O'Neill that he may cut power to the gate which happens. A bottle of champagne soon comes through Atlantis' Stargate and then it deactivates. As they explore the compound, lights and systems start to come online. Security teams are exploring the city, but have found no signs of aliens, Ancients or otherwise. However, the teams discover a conference room, and a hangar with small spaceships. At the same time, McKay discovers the control room, and the Lantean Dial Home Device. As they are powering up main systems, Sumner calls Weir down three levels, where they see a huge, submerged city through the window. It is Atlantis. Lucky for them, a force field is holding back the water to prevent the collapse of the city. Beckett also found a room with a holographic recording by an Ancient, telling the history of Atlantis. About 10,000 years previously, a powerful enemy besieged Atlantis, which is why they sunk their city, and went through the Stargate back to Earth. The entire story of Atlantis is true, only that one of the Ancient Greeks would have probably have heard it by an Ancient but a problem has arisen with McKay telling everyone to stop what they're doing or else they're all dead. The power levels in the city are dropping, and as soon as the last of three ZPMs fail, the entire city will become flooded. They compress the teams to smaller locations, and attempt to cut back on power. However, they will need to find more ZPMs if they want to survive, as their Naquadah generators cannot provide enough power on their own. Sumner puts together an expedition team, which includes Sheppard, and they open the gate to the planet Athos. The first people they encounter are two Athosian children, Jinto and Wex, who are playing a game. At first perceiving them as a threat, the team later encounters Halling, who clears up the confusion, and takes them to Teyla Emmagan, leader of the tribe. On their way, one of the children briefly tells Sheppard about a creature called a Wraith, and his ignorance of their species surprises both children. Teyla introduces herself, and Sumner introduces his team. She states that the Athosians do not trade with strangers, so Sheppard proposes that they get to know each other. He is quick to "break the ice," and Teyla invites them to share a cup of stout tea. The next day, Sumner explains their proposition, but the Athosians fear that they may provoke the Wraith by entering the great city (a settlement across the lake). When Sumner shows ignorance of the Wraith, the first thing Teyla suggests is that they return to their world, as it best the Wraith never learn of their existence. Despite the warning, Sumner wants to explore the city, as there may be a ZPM there that the Athosians don't know or care about. However, Sheppard is afraid that these Wraith may be the great enemy spoken about in the Ancient history. Teyla feels that it is important Sheppard sees something, especially since they cannot return to their homeworld. Back on Atlantis, the shield is in degrading condition, as another section of the city becomes flooded. Teyla has taken Sheppard to some Athosian caves. There, Sheppard finds a necklace, which Teyla claims to have lost years ago. After putting it around her neck, Teyla begins to explain the Wraith history. They apparently sleep for periods of several hundred years, allowing the number of the humans to increase. They then return to cull them. Apparently, there are no species untouched by the Wraith. Also, there are some Athosians, like Teyla, who can sense the coming of the Wraith, which gives warning to the people. At the Stargate, Ford is updating Sumner on their status, having finished transmitting to Atlantis. However, the Stargate suddenly becomes active, and three ships exit, heading for the city. Teyla senses the approach of these ships, remarking that the Wraith have come. They transport people to their ships, using some sort of beaming technology. Sumner immediately orders them to open fire, but becomes distracted when he sees movement on the ground. Teyla soon informs them that these are mere illusions, and that they should focus on the ships. Sgt. Bates manages to take one ship down. However, both Sumner and Teyla are taken. The two remaining ships then head for the gate, and Ford memorizes the symbols on the dialing device. Sheppard goes to examine the downed wreckage, where he finds a Wraith hand. At the same time, Jinto arrives, scared, as he has lost his father. Back on Atlantis, Dr. Peter Grodin is showing Weir the collapse of another part of the shield. McKay reports that shield failure is imminent, and that they have to evacuate immediately despite Weir's obvious reluctance. McKay, on the other hand insists that they can't wait any longer and that they need to go now. However, as they dial the gate, Sheppard returns with the Athosian refugees. Weir tells Sheppard that they have to abandon the city, and Sheppard asks Jinto to gate an address for them. However, as they are dialing, the entire city begins to rise. Before they can react, Atlantis re-surfaces, solving their shield problem with Weir remarking that while she was hoping for another day, it looks like they got much more than that. As Lt. Ford begins overseeing the organization of supplies, McKay updates Weir and Sheppard on what's going on. Their last ZPM has been depleted, but they can now use their Naquadah generators to provide power, as they no longer have an ocean to hold back. However, they cannot raise their shield, which means that they may as well be target practice. But what Sheppard wants to know is where Sumner and the others were taken. McKay complains that there are 720 permutations of the six symbols provided, but Sheppard tells him that all he has to do is find the permutation that they can lock onto. Despite the technical problem to be solved, Weir asks for a word with Sheppard. She does not want him to carry out his rescue operation. She states that it's risky, especially since they know that the Wraith were powerful enough to destroy the Ancients. Also, their defensive condition puts them in more jeopardy, but Sheppard insists. Weir finally agrees, but says that she wants at least a remote chance of success before mounting a rescue. On the Wraith ship, Teyla regains consciousness, presumably losing it before being beamed aboard. Sumner asks her if she can provide any intelligence on what to expect, but she has no idea what happens. They are discussing their predicament when a Wraith comes. Sumner attempts negotiation, but the Wraith does not hear a word past his first name. He then selects an Athosian, Toran, disregarding both Teyla's and Sumner's offer to take them in his place. On Atlantis, they have managed to lock onto a gate address, but soon discover that the gate is in high orbit around a planet. They cannot walk through it, but McKay has an idea. He takes Sheppard to the hangar of ships, asking if he might be able to fly one. Meanwhile, Beckett is examining the Wraith arm that Sheppard brought back. He tells Weir that the cells of the creature have an amazing ability to regenerate. Also, the former owner of the arm was "very, very old." The Wraith can't die from natural aging as long as the cells of the body are nourished, and they are near impossible to kill, a fact Weir does not like the sound of. Sheppard has learned how to fly the Ancient ships, and also discovered that they have cloaking shields. Along with Ford and a few other soldiers, they prepare to leave. Ford reports that "Gateship One" is ready, but Sheppard overrules the name, favoring the name Puddle Jumper. Not wanting to argue, McKay agrees with the name, and they dial the gate using the Jumper's DHD. They arrive in orbit of the planet, where Sheppard immediately engages the ship's cloaking shield. Also, Sheppard discovers that the ship is controlled mainly by thought, and can access devices and a Heads up display just by thinking. Sheppard then lands the Jumper, and lays down defenses. He also tells everyone not to engage the enemy. On the surface, in the Wraith ship, the Wraith comes back for another person. This time, he takes Sumner. They go to a large room, where an aged corpse lays in a chair, which later turns out to be Toran. Soon after he arrives, a female Wraith comes, remarking that Sumner must feel hungry. She starts asking him questions, remarking that he has little fear. He asks why his people have been taken prisoner, and she responds that they trespassed on the Wraith's feeding ground, a term which shocks Sumner. The Wraith remarks that humans are their food, and starts asking about Sumner's home planet, coercing the answer out of him. She is amazed to learn about the population, remarking that their feeding ground has not been so rich for ten thousand years. After getting the information she needs, she begins to feed on Sumner, making him age rapidly. At the same time, Ford and Sheppard have managed to get inside the ship. Using a life signs detector, they find their people, but soon figure out Sumner has been taken. Ford starts to lay down C-4 explosives, while Sheppard goes to look for the colonel. After wandering for a bit, he hears Sumner scream as the feeding process begins. Sheppard soon finds them, but sees Sumner as an aged man, the Wraith having fed on his life. Sheppard decides to shoot Sumner, to spare him from more pain. Sheppard unfortunately gets stunned, and is brought to the mercy of this Wraith. However, before she can make any headway, Ford opens fire, and Sheppard orders the explosives to be set off. After killing the Wraith, they soon discover that they have awakened several other Wraith from hibernation. They manage to get out of the ship, and head back to the Jumper. However, several of the smaller Wraith Darts are deployed. The Jumper takes off under cloak, but they find the Stargate under the guard of several darts. It doesn't matter that they cannot see the Jumper, they can fire blindly as soon as the gate is active. Sheppard decloaks, and manages to draw the darts away from the gate. He also manages to use drones on the Jumper to destroy some of the ships, and dials the gate. After a few more tactics, they make it through the gate, with three darts in hot pursuit. As soon as they are through, Weir activates the shield, which destroys the pursuing darts and they find themselves in safety. That night, all of the new inhabitants of Atlantis have a celebration of their new home. Weir opens the bottle of champagne for tribute, and Teyla remarks that they have also made a new ally, and with the help of the Athosians, they will make many more. Also, Weir asks Sheppard to put together his team, so they can get back to doing what they came to do: explore a new galaxy. The camera then pans away to reveal Atlantis, the Lost City of the Ancients in all its glory as it rests on the surface of the ocean. + +In the Atlantis infirmary, Dr. Rodney McKay is talking to mice as Dr. Carson Beckett prepares the Ancient Technology Activation gene therapy inoculation. Beckett wonders why McKay was eager to volunteer, and McKay simply responds that he's always eager to help. Also, he wants to be able to use Ancient technology just like Major John Sheppard. All Beckett can give is a maybe, as this is the first human trial. McKay wonders why they haven't done it before, to which Beckett simply responds that it is legal in the Pegasus Galaxy. Before McKay can make any more objections, Beckett inoculates him with the therapy. Meanwhile, Dr. Peter Grodin and Dr. Elizabeth Weir are discussing various city maintenance topics. The water from the ocean is automatically being desalinized, so there will be no fresh water shortages. Grodin also informs them that most Ancient technology only requires activation, while only some of it requires the ATA gene to work. Weir also wants some areas designated for recreation, and wants to get rid of the ten thousand year-old plants. They are also working to assign crew quarters to everyone. As they enter the control room, the first thing Weir sees is Sheppard pushing McKay off of a balcony. Concerned, she rushes to the edge, and sees an uninjured McKay stand up. He is happy to say that Beckett's gene therapy worked, and he has the ATA gene. He was also able to activate a Personal shield emitter, which stood up to the balcony fall, a shot in the leg, and a punch from Grodin. However, a small problem arises when he can't get to the emitter to take it off. Back in the infirmary, Beckett and Grodin are celebrating the success of the first ATA gene therapy test, much to the annoyance of McKay. But when McKay mentions a toast, Grodin suddenly wonders if McKay has tried to eat or drink anything since he put the shield on. Immediately worried, McKay tries to drink a glass of coffee, but he cannot. He complains about dying that day, but Beckett says that he can survive about three days without water. McKay tries to deactivate the device with his mind, but is unsuccessful. In the conference room, Sheppard is discussing security around Atlantis. Although Teyla Emmagan offers the Athosians' help, Weir politely refuses, on the grounds that they need to be trained in Tau'ri weapons and tactics. Also, they fear searching the city too recklessly, an idea which McKay supports, stating that the smallest thing they find could kill them (a reference to his own future demise via dehydration). Concerned for McKay's life, Weir goes to Beckett to ask if there is anything he can do. She is also having Grodin's team look through the tech manuals that came with the device. Beckett thinks it may be a result of giving the gene artificially, but Weir has another theory. On the basis that Ancient technology is controlled by a mental component, she thinks that subconsciously, McKay might be afraid and unwilling to take the device off, and would naturally take it off when it came to the point of severe dehydration. She reminds Beckett that there are other fail-safes in Ancient technology, and doubts that they would build a device that could kill the user. Meanwhile, Grodin has just finished installing a new self-destruct system, which requires two security codes to activate. Everyone will be issued a unique, personal code, which they will have to memorize. The system is in place as a last measure of defense against the Wraith. Lt. Aiden Ford is worried that it won't do enough damage, but McKay assures him that it will, explaining it would be equivalent to a twenty kiloton nuclear explosion. Sheppard wants to let Teyla in on what they're doing, but Weir is still hesitant about the loyalty of the Athosians. That night, Sheppard is recounting a scary story for the Athosian children, but they get distracted when he mentions a hockey mask. Soon, they become more interested in hockey than the story Sheppard was originally telling them. However, not liking hockey himself, he tries to get the children interested in football, but it becomes time for bed. After the children all head back to their rooms, Sheppard warns Teyla not to let McKay in on his opinion of hockey. But Teyla wants to hear more about football, to which Sheppard says he can do better than talk. In his room, Jinto asks his father about how safe they are in Atlantis. His father only says that nothing except their love is certain. He also asks about the wind, and the ghosts of the Ancestors (Ancients), but his father asks him to go to sleep. In the conference room, Sheppard, McKay, Teyla and Ford are watching a videotape recording of a football game that Sheppard brought along. Teyla is a bit confused about the outcome and exact nuances of the game. At that time, Weir comes in, wondering why she wasn't invited. However, the more pressing question is why Sheppard brought along a tape of football as his one personal item, to which he responds that the Atlantis expedition is the biggest Hail Mary of all time, and that the game is metaphorical. Teyla then asks what a Hail Mary is, but Sheppard is unable to accurately respond, so he side-tracks to Ferris Wheels. Meanwhile, Jinto, who cannot sleep, sneaks out and gets his friend. They want to play a game of Wraith Hide and seek, Jinto seeking. After some attempts to find Wex, he starts to look in a closet with boxes from Earth. However, Jinto disappears, and Wex can't find him. Wex tells Halling. Halling goes to Sheppard's quarters, and delivers the news. Even though Jinto knows not to touch anything, Sheppard starts a city-wide search, and Wex is afraid of monsters. In teams of two, they start searching the city, but suddenly the power starts to fluctuate. They can't use sensors, because the sensors won't indicate separate people, but they do pick up a strange energy reading. Weir tries to contact him with the internal communication system, but suddenly, the Stargate dials itself, and McKay is starting to seriously consider the possibility of ghosts. Teyla, though, may have a lead. One of the Athosians, Marta, saw what she claims to be a Wraith illusion. Teyla doesn't sense any Wraith, but Weir still puts everyone on the alert. All the searching stops, and at the same time, more Athosians report seeing the shadow. Halling also offers a prayer to the Ancient Spirits, asking forgiveness if they have angered them. At the same time, McKay's condition worsens, and he faints from hunger. As Sheppard leaves the infirmary, another power loss happens, but this time, he sees the same shadow the Athosians saw. As soon as it passes, the lights come back on, but the shadow also passed Grodin, and went to feed on one of the Naquadah generators. Sheppard and Grodin both report this to Weir and her first idea is to turn off all of their generators. However, if they did that, this being would go and feed off of the people of the city, so they have to leave the generators on. As Weir makes a city-wide call, Jinto suddenly comes on the com line, scared, but safe. Jinto starts to retrace his steps through the city, and they find the room that had boxes, however, the boxes are not there. Sheppard pushes a button on the panel, and they are transported to another part of the city, where they find Jinto. They can also explain the malfunctions as faulty operation of the main systems by Jinto. Back in the gate room, Grodin has figured out a way to track the entity. He has it going in circles by turning the power generators on and off, but Weir fears that they might be angering the creature. However, the entity crosses Ford and Sgt. Stackhouse. Though Ford can open a door, he cannot make it in in time, and gets scorched by the entity, causing him to scream in pain with his cries being heard by the staff in the control room and also Sheppard, Jinto and McKay while back in the control room, Elizabeth closes her eyes, obviously believing that they've lost Ford. In the main area, Ford lies on the ground, unconscious and with smoke rising from his clothes. Stackhouse checks Ford for a pulse and then radios for a medical team. In the infirmary, Ford is recovering from his wounds, and Beckett asks about this posing any real danger. Ford's companion is feeling guilty, but Sheppard reassures him there was nothing he could have done. Back in the lab, McKay finds the source of the energy creature, or more accurately, a sentient life form. They captured it in a Containment vessel, which Jinto accidentally opens. However, the entity becomes increasingly dangerous, so they have to find a way to recapture it in the device. A few moments later, McKay finds a way to use the device, and at the same time, the shield deactivates. Back among the Athosians, the children and some of the adults are fearing sleep because of the creature. However, Teyla comes up with the story that the darkness fears fire, and the Athosians light candles for protection. For good luck, Weir does the same, and they prepare themselves to capture the entity. However, the attempt fails, as the creature seems to recognize the trap, and avoids going into it again. Teyla has a new idea, though. She thinks that maybe the creature wants to leave, and that they should let it go through the Stargate. Despite objections from McKay, they put the plan into action. McKay powers up a Naquadah generator so that they can use that as bait, and they open the Stargate to M4X-337. However, before they get the generator though, the MALP's battery dies, and the creature starts to feed on the Stargate energy. As a last resort, McKay puts on the shield device, and goes into the entity. From there, he throws the Naquadah generator through the event horizon, and the entity leaves through the gate. After it is safely gone, medics arrive to help McKay, who has passed out once again. + +Major John Sheppard leads a team that includes Lt. Aiden Ford, Dr. Rodney McKay, and Teyla Emmagan back to the Wraith homeworld to do reconnaissance on the Wraith. They intend to survey the Wraith stronghold where they were taken prisoner, but soon learn that it was actually a massive ship that has now taken off and left a huge crater in its place (see "Rising"). In awe, they prepare to return to their Puddle Jumper and head back to Atlantis. On the way back, they are attacked by three Wraith warriors. Sheppard orders the rest of his team back to the Puddle Jumper, but stays behind to provide cover by shooting at the Wraith. He manages to kill one, but as he is retreating, he is attacked by a large, black parasitic creature. He is immobilized, and one of the Wraith approaches him. Sheppard is surprised when the Wraith leaves without killing him. He soon realizes that the action was not one of altruism but sadism, since a death at the hands of the parasitic creature is slower and more painful than a death at the hands of a Wraith. Only thirty-eight minutes can pass before a Stargate's wormhole shuts down. In this case, such an event would destroy the part of the Jumper that had demolecularized and would leave the rest open to the vacuum of space. The team members in the still-intact section of the Jumper inform Atlantis of their predicament. Dr. Carson Beckett in Atlantis works with Ford and Teyla to help Sheppard. They notice that the creature has a soft underbelly, and Beckett suggests that pouring various substances onto it could kill it, in the same way as pouring salt on a leech can kill it. They try several substances, everything they have onboard, including iodine, which have no effect. When the team tries salt, then a few drops of water, the bug reacts, tightens its grip, causing Sheppard a great deal more pain. As Sheppard gets weaker, the team search for a solution by discussing the creature's similarity to the Wraith, conjecturing that the two species could be related by evolution, some kind of ancient ancestor of sorts. Sheppard is then struck with an idea. He tells the team to electrocute him with a defibrillator, suggesting that if he is dead, the creature will no longer keeping feeding on him, perhaps detach itself. Ford reluctantly agrees, and he then kills the Major with a large jolt of the defib'. Though it seems not to work at first, given a few moments longer, Teyla is able to pull the creature off him, after which Ford shoots it repeatedly. Ford then uses the defibrillator on Sheppard several more times in an attempt to revive him, but this proves unsuccessful. Not wanting the Major to die, Teyla accompanies his body into the wormhole, where it will stay 'safe' in the meantime through demolecularized stasis. Meanwhile, a team of scientists in Atlantis, including the American Dr. Peter Kavanagh and the Czech Dr. Radek Zelenka work to find a solution to the immobility of the Jumper and the impending death of its crew. Kavanagh voices his concerns to Dr. Weir, about the possible risks to the Atlantis base, and she responds by accusing him of being too concerned about his own safety. He complains to Dr. Elizabeth Weir about his dislike of taking orders, working with the military, and being undermined by her in front of his whole team, and she angrily responds by threatening to send him through the Stargate to an uninhabitable planet if he continues to be disruptive and concerned only with his own ego. When he scoffs at this threat, she responds by asserting that she will carry through with it, if he remains a problem, then orders him back to working on a solution. Zelenka proves to be more useful, as he finds a way to manually retract the Jumper's thrust pods after experimenting on a Jumper in Atlantis. He relays this information to McKay, who has also been experimenting. McKay is successful in manually retracting the pods, but the Jumper remains stationary, which they surmise is probably due to inertia, from the interrupted move-through. Time is running short, and Kavanagh realizes that that there is only one way to get the rest of the Jumper through the Stargate and remolecularized in Atlantis before the wormhole closes and the crew is killed. He states that the team must blow the rear hatch of the craft in the hope that the evacuation of the craft's atmosphere will provide enough momentum to propel the craft through the gate in time. Ford agrees to stay behind and manually blow the hatch, and McKay then goes through the wormhole's event horizon. The plan is successful, and the craft passes through the wormhole and arrives in Atlantis before the stargate deactivates, where Ford and Sheppard are successfully revived by Beckett. + +The Stargate activates unexpectedly in Atlantis, and the shield is immediately raised. After they receive Major John Sheppard's IDC, Dr. Elizabeth Weir orders the shield lowered. Despite several Wraith weapons blasts, everyone makes it through although seconds before the shield is raised, Dr. Rodney McKay gets hit in the face by the Wraith stunners and collapses to the ground, unconscious much to the horror to John, Teyla and Ford with John checking Rodney for a pulse. Elizabeth soon joins them and also calls for a medical team while the Stargate soon shuts down. Later, in the infirmary, Rodney, fully conscious lies in a bed albeit temporarily paralyzed as John and Beckett remark how lucky Rodney was because if the Wraith stunner had been set on another setting, then Rodney would be dead. However, Weir has greater concerns on her mind. Being the fifth time out of nine missions that Sheppard's team has encountered the Wraith, she can make one conclusion. There is a spy in Atlantis. After McKay has recovered, Weir calls a conference to discuss the situation, although Teyla Emmagan was not invited as she is Athosian. Sheppard objects, but Sgt. Bates supports the decision, as he believes only an Athosian could compromise their position. Weir is more concerned about what to do. Bates wants to suspend Stargate activity, but Sheppard states that they need Zero Point Modules to power the city, and more importantly, the shields when the Wraith come. So their primary goal is clear, find out the spy fast. Bates also wants to confine non-essential personal to a section of the city, but Weir says that's going too far. Instead, they create no-go zones, and Weir wants to set up meetings with all the Athosians on the base. Outside, Teyla goes to see Weir, as she was unaware of the meeting. However, she is stopped by one of the guards, informing her of the new off-limit zones. Before she can learn more, Sheppard catches her and takes her outside for a word. He informs her of the potential security leak, and the new security measures put in place. Teyla is alarmed that they would suspect an Athosian, who have been terrorized by the Wraith for centuries. Sheppard manages to convince her it's only a precaution, and Teyla reluctantly agrees to cooperate. Later, Weir is having her interview with Halling. She tries to ease tension by asking him about his son, but it does little to help. Halling believes that Weir no longer trusts his people, but she just states that honestly, they don't know who to trust. She proceeds to ask him about his offworld excursions. He confirms this, and states that on a couple of his outings, he visited some close friends. Bates jumps to the accusation that his visits coincided with Wraith attacks, but Halling takes up a defensive position. He is disgusted that they would be accusing the Athosians, seeing as just about every Athosian there had suffered at the hands of, and lost relatives to, the Wraith, so leaves the interview in anger. Meanwhile, McKay and Dr. Radek Zelenka are running diagnostics on the Puddle Jumpers. While working, McKay finds a command sequence that is new to them. Before he can go to reference it in the Atlantis database, Zelenka accidentally actives the sequence. To their amazement, the roof of the Jumper bay opens up, revealing a way for the jumpers to leave the city. In their quarters, the Athosians discuss the new security measures. Halling feels that they have had to put up with it too long, but Teyla states that she feels that the measures Weir have taken are in the best interests of everyone on Atlantis. Despite this, Halling is still uneasy, and wishes to leave the city to another world, but it is obvious with all the Wraith around that this would not be safe or even really possible. Teyla, having heard all of this, goes to see Weir for her interview. She insists that the Athosians are innocent, but also that they are all not as understanding as Teyla is. She also tells Weir about their talk/plans for leaving Atlantis. At about the same time, Sheppard and Lt. Aiden Ford are preparing to take a Jumper out to take a look at the planet. On their trip, Ford wonders about the name of the planet, wanting to name in "Atlantica", when Sheppard reminds him about their agreement that Ford wouldn't name anything. While in high orbit, they discover land, and that is "really big"; approximately 15 million square miles. Bates wants to dump the Athosians on the mainland, but Weir isn't ready to make that decision. The decision soon falls out of her hands, as Halling comes to inform her that the Athosians wish to go to the land to start their new life. As they are preparing to pack, Teyla visits Halling's quarters to have a word with him. She informs him that Weir has arranged for communications between them, if help is ever needed. After the more formal talks, Teyla and Halling bid each other reluctant farewells. Later, Teyla watches as her people go away, being separated from them for the first time in her life. With the Athosians gone, the Stargate suspension is lifted, and Sheppard's team goes through to explore once more. They are on a historical anthropological mission, examining ruins around the Stargate. Also, Sheppard sends Teyla and Ford on a mission to try and contact the natives. Teyla wanders off alone after a bit as Ford's presence might be scaring the natives. Back at the Stargate though, the team encounter the Wraith once more. They manage to escape, but Teyla and Ford get left behind. As soon as they get back to Atlantis, a medical team takes Sheppard to the infirmary, as he was hit by a Wraith stunner. McKay insists on a rescue mission, but Weir doesn't want to mount one until they know more. Their discussion is soon cut off when the gate activates. Teyla and Ford are under fire from the Wraith, and after security is set around the gate, they drop the shield, and let Teyla, with an injured Ford, through. (Much against Bates' wishes, who was still convinced Teyla must be the spy, and could be bringing the Wraith through with her under false pretences.) Having seen these events, Bates is concerned that Teyla might be the spy, but Sheppard doesn't want to hear it. As Bates accuses Sheppard of letting his personal feelings cloud his judgment, he gets curtly dismissed by Sheppard, though Bates still continues to take matters into his own hands. He takes Teyla's things to McKay and asks him to search them for any non-Athosian technology. Sheppard visits Ford in the infirmary, where he is recounting the events. They match up with Teyla's story, proving that she did not directly help the Wraith in any way. However, McKay comes to talk to Sheppard. Much to his dismay, he has to admit that Bates was in fact correct, as he has indeed found something in Teyla's belongings after all. Her locket happens to be a Wraith relay device, broadcasting a sort of homing signal. Sheppard is relieved, and recounts how "he" was the one who actually found the locket and then gave it to her, back in the caves on Athos, which leads McKay to the solution on the puzzle. The locket was probably activated by Sheppard's ancient-technology-gene when he first touched it, before giving it to Teyla, and she had no idea that she had been signalling/helping the Wraith. Now that they know this information though, Sheppard has a new plan to use the locket against the Wraith. They are going to try and capture one alive. After preparing themselves with an arsenal of non-lethal weapons, they set up their booby traps on the same planet where they found the ruins. Using the locket as a lure, they get the Wraith in position and set off Stun grenades and ground explosives. They manage to down one Wraith, but before they can successfully capture him, he initiates a self-destruct button on his chest shield-plate, nearly blowing up half the team in the process. Meanwhile, Teyla tracks down the Wraith commander, and faces him in hand to hand combat. Sheppard manages to stun him with Wraith stunners, and capture their hostage before he activates his self-destruct. Back on Atlantis, Teyla is going for a visit to the mainland, and Weir sends with her a message and apology to the Athosians. Teyla agrees to pass it on, and assures Weir, to help ease her conscience, that in her place she would have done the same. At the same time, Sheppard goes to question their hostage, who is agitated that he was captured. The Wraith threatens Sheppard, that when he is free he'll be the first he feeds upon. Also, he informs Sheppard that while he may believe his capture is a victory, it will only mean his doom. And will only accelerate the coming of the Wraith, and with them, Atlantis' demise. + +Major John Sheppard's team suddenly loses control of their Puddle Jumper and crashes. Investigating the Electromagnetic field that made them crash, the team discover that the planet they've landed on has no one over the age of 25. They soon learn that upon turning 25, the people of this society commit suicide because they believe it keeps the Wraith from coming back to the world on the grounds that the population are not old enough to interest them. The team discover this isn't the case when they try to find out what brought their Jumper down. They find a device powered by a Zero Point Module which acts as a sort of an Electromagnetic field generator which disables all electrical devices within the radius, including those of the Wraith and the Lanteans; the Wraith have never returned because, even if they simply landed outside the field, they would subsequently lose their technological advantage. Dr. Rodney McKay believes that the ZPM will allow the Atlantis team to power the Atlantis shields and takes it upon himself to bring it back to Atlantis, but Sheppard tells him to be quick, as one of the natives he has befriended; Keras, one of the village 'elders'; is going to kill himself the next day. However, upon returning, he is ordered by Dr. Elizabeth Weir to return it; the ZPM is effectively useless to Atlantis, as it only has enough power to keep their shield running for a few hours, while it is the planet's only defense and could maintain its shield for at least several more years. McKay also deduces that the suicide pact is actually connected to the device; the shield has only a limited range, so the suicide pact was created as a means of population control to stop them expanding too far and thus being deprived of the shield's protection. Prior to McKay's re-activation of the emitter, a Wraith relay device, long deactivated due to the emitter's activity, becomes active and begins broadcasting a distress beacon. Wraith probes are immediately dispatched, nearly resulting in a confrontation between Sheppard's team and some of the natives who believe they are responsible for this change, but McKay reattaches the ZPM, the emitter is re-activated, and the probe are unable to broadcast any data back to their hive ship of origin. As they depart, McKay reveals that, although the ZPM's power is limited, he has managed to work out a means of expanding the shield, allowing for population growth and rendering the suicide pact unnecessary; at least for the next couple of generations. As he departs, Sheppard gives Keras a present of a bag of chocolate, commenting that such a thing is traditional on birthdays back on their planet. + +Major John Sheppard's team travels to the planet Hoff and discover the Hoffans, a race of humans that have advanced to a technological level similar to that of Earth during World War I. Their leader Chancellor Druhin shows them the Repository of Hoffan knowledge where all knowledge is stored in several hidden libraries to prevent total destruction with each Wraith culling. They have been working on a drug for decades which will prevent the Wraith from feeding on them. Sheppard volunteers Dr. Carson Beckett's help, and Beckett helps a Hoffan scientist, Perna, to complete the drug ahead of schedule. To the reluctance of Dr. Elizabeth Weir, they are eager to test the drug, using Merell, a terminally ill Hoffan volunteer as a test subject. They inoculate him with the drug and test him against Steve, the Wraith Sheppard captured a short time earlier. The drug works better than they thought: Steve was killed as the serum combined with the enzyme that is released during the feeding process to create a toxic poison. Sheppard expresses concern that once the Wraith realize the toxin kills them, they will retaliate with their weapons and destroy the entire civilization, along with any other civilization that has been in contact with them. Druhin does not believe that will happen. Beckett wants to run more tests on Steve and Merell but the Hoffans start mass-production and mass-inoculation immediately. It's then discovered that the drug has a severe side effect: a 50% mortality rate including Perna. After a planet-wide vote proves that a 96% of Hoffans are willing to risk it so the Wraith can't feed from them, the Hoffan leader, Druhin, asks for the Atlantis team help distribute the medication to other worlds. The team, appalled and disgusted by the society's ruthlessness, refuses to cooperate and returns to Atlantis. + +Major John Sheppard's team open negotiations with the Genii due to a food shortage at Atlantis. The Genii seem to be a simple Amish community and Teyla Emmagan has known them as such through previous trade deals with the Genii. They are coldly greeted at the Stargate by Tyrus and his daughter Sora Tyrus, dressed in 'old-world' farmer-like attire. But later, unseen by the others, Tyrus covertly speaks into a more advanced-looking wrist communicator, announcing they're bringing the visitors over. As they sit down to negotiate, Sheppard asks Cowen, the Chief of the Genii, for food/crops in turn for medical supplies. However the Genii are not happy with this arrangement, since they claim they would not have enough food for both themselves and the Atlantis crew, and it would now take too long to clear more fields for increased planting before the season is over. He tells Sheppard, "You know a simple way of uprooting the stump of a 300-year-old tree?" Sheppard replies, "As a matter of fact, I do.", then shows them a demonstration in how their C-4 can quickly and easily blow out said stumps. Upon seeing this, the Genii decide to trade some of their food for medical supplies and some C-4. Sheppard is a little surprised that the Genii were relatively unfazed by the demonstration, but brushes it off. Lt. Aiden Ford and Teyla stay behind with the Genii while Dr. Rodney McKay and Sheppard head back to Atlantis to confirm the deal with Dr. Elizabeth Weir. Upon heading back to the Genii, Sheppard gets lost with McKay. McKay then picks up a significant amount of radiation coming from what appears to be an old building. Upon entering the building they find a shaft which leads down to a huge Underground Bunker, but suddenly both Sheppard and McKay are captured by armed security dressed in military clothing. After being stripped of their weapons Cowen appears, his previous Amish farmer façade stripped away to military attire, and tells them he would usually kill people who stumble upon their secret; but the Genii still want the C-4 explosives from the Atlantis team. McKay figures out they want it to use as a trigger for a Nuclear warhead, much to Commander Cowen's surprise. Sheppard and the Commander come to an agreement, to rather form an alliance against their common enemy - the Wraith. They will help them build an atomic weapon and the Genii will supply the Atlantis team with the wished for crops, and continue trading. The Genii and the Atlantis team have a meal to celebrate their new alliance. The Genii inform them that they are planning to finish their atomic bomb by the time of the next Wraith culling. Teyla encourages Sheppard to tell them about how they've actually already awakened the Wraith. Cowen is surprised and outraged, as they'd expected to have their bomb ready only in five years time; so decides to shut down all work on the atomic weapon for fears that the Wraith will detect the radiation just like McKay had. Sheppard convinces them that they can still help; he explains to the Commander that they have weapons far greater than that of C-4 explosives, and tells them that they have a ship which can travel through space, much to the skepticism of the Commander. They then agree to land aboard a Wraith Hive ship and collect intelligence about the location and number of the Hive ships, if Sheppard could supply a spaceship. The rest of the team stays with the Genii while Sheppard tells Weir about the predicament. She agrees to let Sheppard scout out the Hive ship. They head off in the Puddle Jumper with the Atlantis team, Cowen and Tyrus. They manage to sneak into the Hive ship with the Puddle Jumper's cloak on. They split into two groups with Cowen going to collect the intel with Sheppard and McKay while Tyrus with Teyla trying to see what they could do about the humans captured by the Wraith for feeding. Suddenly Teyla is startled by arms reaching out and begging for help, from within one of the cocoons. Teyla wants to rescue him, but Tyrus stops her, insisting that the Wraith must not discover that they've ever been there. Teyla can't believe he's so ruthless, and not at all the man she believed. So in order to stop Teyla attempting to save him, Tyrus shoots him dead. This alerts one of the wraith guards who surprise them and shoots Tyrus. Teyla kills the Wraith but needs to leave Tyrus behind, as she attempts to escape back to the ship. Sheppard and his group managed to collect the data but the other group's discovery is quickly alerting all the more Wraith guards. They return to the Puddle jumper and escape, however the Commander suspects Teyla of killing the Genii. Even if not, were it not for her actions, or the fact she left him behind when perhaps only stunned, as far as he's concerned she as good as killed him. Upon landing back on the Genii homeworld the Genii ambush the Atlantis team and demand they hand over whatever C-4 they have and they're stealing their ship. However, Sheppard, also not having trusted the Commander, had set up an ambush of his own. He orders the two Puddle Jumpers to de-cloak, which had been cloaked hovering above them, and surprise the Genii, forcing them to surrender. Sheppard then takes the intelligence information from Cowen, stating they're not leaving empty-handed now that they've been betrayed by them. Cowen tells Sheppard "You do not want to make an enemy of the Genii", to which Sheppard responds the same goes for them. The Atlantis team then returns to Atlantis, where they determine from the acquired data that the Wraith have in fact over 60 ships. + +Upon exploring the planet M5S-224, Dr. Rodney McKay discovers that the Stargate draws its energy from the atmosphere, and believes that this would be enough energy to power up a wormhole to Earth. After consulting Dr. Elizabeth Weir, the team decides to dismantle the Control crystal in Atlantis and transport it to the planet in order to dial an eight chevron to the Milky Way galaxy. The wormhole connects, and Stargate Command tells them that it is alright to travel back to Earth since the Prometheus is capable of reaching the Pegasus Galaxy in a couple of months thanks to the installation of Asgard hyperdrives. Upon returning to Earth, they find out that the Prometheus has had an accident and is not capable of transporting them back to Atlantis. Each team member slowly begins to realize that things are not as they seem. Major John Sheppard sees friends that had previously died in Afghanistan when he was serving with them, Weir is told by Major General George S. Hammond that Atlantis will now become a full military and Sheppard is strangely in support of this. In his own reality, McKay notices that his scientific results are coming out as gibberish. As each team member comes to the realization that this Earth is not real, they find themselves in the Embarkation room at Stargate Command with Hammond. But it is not the real Hammond, but rather a being of the original planet, which McKay mistook for highly charged mist. Mist-Hammond tells them that he had to create hallucinations for each team member to stop them from dialing the Stargate and currently they are unconscious. Since Teyla Emmagan had no memories of Earth, she had to share Sheppard's memory. For many years, travelers had come through the Stargate and the use of the gate killed mist beings, Mist-Hammond explains that a connection to earth would kill millions, implying that the power the gate could draw from the mist was the hazard to these beings, rather than the vortex, which would be to physical beings. McKay realizes if they are unconscious, without food or water, they would eventually die. Mist-Hammond suggested that they return to their fantasies. Weir convinces him that they will not dial Earth, but head back to Atlantis instead and they are released from the hallucinations. + +Major John Sheppard and Teyla Emmagan are on board a Puddle Jumper, flying over the ocean enroute to Lantea's mainland. Sheppard and Teyla discuss how the latter's people, the Athosians, are settling in. Teyla has said that she heard from Halling that their first crops may have a good yield. She also mentions that the Athosians are still talking about the possibility of returning to Athos, their homeworld, even though the Wraith have scorched it bare in retaliation for their resistance. Their conversation is cut short when they notice a vast storm cloud ahead, which stretches across the horizon, even as it is seen from a high altitude. Sheppard decides to investigate and alerts Atlantis. Elizabeth Weir, who is on the other end, could not fully understand what Sheppard said, as there was static in the transmission. However, she does make out that Sheppard is doing some "weather forcasting". The Jumper is now over Lantea, and Sheppard and Teyla see the storm cloud covering approximately twenty percent of the planet. Sheppard learns via the heads up display that the storm will pass through the Athosian settlement, and will then hit Atlantis. Some time later, Sheppard and Teyla, along with Weir, Lieutenant Aiden Ford, Doctor Rodney McKay and Doctor Radek Zelenka, are discussing the storm. McKay notes that Lantea is approximately the size of Earth, where the storms of the latter usually stop building up when they hit land, but as Lantea's mainland is significantly smaller, the storm will just continue to gain momentum. According to the Atlantis database, the ocean gets unseasonably warm every twenty to thirty years, which would cause the storms. Zelenka further notes that it is actually two storms that is converging on each other. There are very few options to survive the storm, as in the past Atlantis has a shield that would protect the city, but since there is now not enough power to activate it, Atlantis is vulnerable, and incredibly brittle unprotected; high winds will cause serious structural damage, and flooding could sink the city. There are still twelve hours until the storm front hits, so McKay and Zelenka are to work on a plan. After the conference, Weir talks to Sheppard about evacuation plans, since Zelenka seems genuinely concerned about the storm. Weir orders Sheppard to take Ford and see if any planet would take in the Atlantis expedition "for the night". Teyla is in the Athosian settlement, helping her fellow people abandon the settlement and taking town the tents. Doctor Carson Beckett, who was originally in the mainland to inoculate Athosian infants, is helping, albeit very reluctantly. Sheppard and Ford are offworld in Manaria, a planet Atlantis previously settled a trade agreement with. They discuss with Smeadon, who is reluctant to want to take on the entire population of Atlantis. Smeadon states that he would want something in return, but Sheppard merely says that the expedition would "owe them one"; a favour. They eventually and grudgingly reach a tentative arrangement with Smeadon, insuring that their generosity will not be forgotten. McKay and Zelenka are arguing while in the conference room with other scientists to work on a solution. McKay insists that using Naquadah generators would be far too inefficient to power the shield. Zelenka notes that McKay's condescending attitude is not pleasant to work with. When Sheppard and Ford return with the good news, they hear that the expedition is now more likely to survive offworld; over 70% of the mainland will be affected by the storm, and if they stay there and Atlantis sinks, they would be stranded on the planet. Back on Manaria, Smeadon is alone in a room and takes out a communication device from a drawer and activates it. He talks to "Relay Station Two" on the other end, and wants him to relay a message to Cowen, of the Genii; Smeadon has something to trade with him. On Lantea's mainland, the winds are starting to pick up when the Athosians are being evacuated onboard Puddle Jumpers. Ford tells Teyla they should evacuate faster, as they should know how serious the storm is. Teyla says that some are still hunting, and are sceptical of the storm; Teyla admits that she would understand their scepticism should she not see the storm coming from space. In Atlantis, McKay and Zelenka discuss the rarity of hurricanes in their home countries; Canada and the Czech Republic, respectively. McKay then mentions he was once almost struck by lightning. Very quickly after lightning was mention, they are both struck with an idea. They run to Weir in the control room to discuss their new plan; Atlantis has several lightning rods, which channel the lightning to the ocean through four grounding stations, in order to protect the city from its electrical effects. They propose disabling the grounding stations; many hallways are lined with a superconductive material that allows low voltage transfers, and without the grounding stations, those hallways would become supercharged when lightning hits. If they could channel that momentary power surge, it could power the shield. Both scientists still recommend evacuating most of the expedition, save a few members, as the control room is the only safe place in the city. Weir gives them the go ahead. In the Underground Bunker of the Genii homeworld, an unarmed middle-aged man is facing off against three Genii, Sora Tyrus being one of them, armed with staffs. Despite being outnumbered, the middle-aged man disables the first two with ease, and is now up against Sora. He manages to subdue her by trapping her hand between her staff and his, before flipping Sora to the ground. They are interrupted by a young private, who addressed the man as Commander Acastus Kolya. Even though Kolya was asked not to be disturbed, the private tells him that Cowen wishes to speak to him immedietely. Back on Lantea's mainland, the winds are getting ever stronger, Beckett, Ford and Teyla still remain. Teyla tells them there are still three Athosians out hunting in dense vegetation, making it impossible for a Puddle Jumper to land and retrieve them. Another Jumper, Jumper Three, is ready to leave, but Ford and Teyla wish to stay until the hunting party returns. A reluctant Beckett vows to stay as well. Kolya meets with Cowen, who tells him to ready his strike force to invade Atlantis, since the storm will present them a rare opportunity to arrive, take the supplies they need and leave before the storm hits. Kolya opines that the team are not yet a strike force, and they are not ready. Cowen however, insists that they are considering that there will be less than ten people in Atlantis, most of them being scientists. Meanwhile, in Atlantis, with four and a half hours until the storm hits, the expedition and Athosians are being evacuated to Manaria. While in Manaria, Smeadon is drinking moonshine with Doran, a young Athosian, who is now clearly inebriated. Doran discusses trading his farming skill set in exchange for a piece of Manarian land. However, Smeadon has used this opportunity for several Genii soldiers, including Kolya and Sora, to ambush him. They get a hold of his Garage Door Opener and force him to reveal the steps in order for the Atlantis expedition to deactivate the Stargate shield. In Atlantis, McKay, Sheppard and Weir, along with two guards, are all who remain in the city. They prepare to disable the grounding stations. While McKay and Weir will take one each, Sheppard will take the other two, even though there are further away from the nearest transporter than the others. While Sheppard is dismayed to learn he has the furthest stations, he agrees to it. Back on the mainland, it has begun to rain heavily and the Athosian hunting party have returned and board the Puddle Jumper with Beckett, Ford and Teyla. Ford tells Beckett, who is piloting, to take off. However, Beckett believes that taking off is no longer an option, as the weather is now so severe, that "even Major Sheppard would have a hard time flying through this". He suggests they should wait out the storm, as the Jumper should be safe enough, and there are anough rations and water to last. The winds start to reach Atlantis as Sheppard makes it to his first grounding station. Meanwhile, McKay and Weir have already finished deactivating theirs. Over the radio, McKay guides Sheppard on how to deactivate it, which succeeds. When Sheppard starts his run to the next grounding station, the two guards in the Gate room are conversing. One of them states his desire to bring bacon to this galaxy, as it is "the food that makes other food worth eating". Just then, the Stargate activates, and they receive an Athosian Iris Deactivation Code. The woman on the other end of the radio transmission informs them there is an attack on Manaria, with several wounded. One of the guards lowers the shield and then alerts Weir of the situation. As Weir picks up the pace, several people step through the Stargate, including Sora who is disguised as an Athosian. As the guards tend to them, Kolya, who was posing as one of the wounded on a stretcher, stands up and, with a pistol on each hand, shoots both of them. As the "Athosians" take off their disguises to reveal they are Genii soldiers, Sora is dismayed to find the guards dead and admonishes Kolya for it. Kolya however, ignores her and tells her to secure the room. Weir, still running to the control room, alerts Sheppard of the wounded party, not knowing yet it is a ruse. When McKay and Weir arrive, they see themselves being held captive. Kolya correctly guesses their identities, and then asks for Sheppard's location. Sheppard is overhearing the conversation via radio, and decides to abandon his run to the last grounding station, and goes to the Jumper bay. Kolya announced to McKay and Weir that the Genii are now in control of Atlantis. Sheppard enters a Jumper to arm himself, and later manages to get hold of Jumper Two; Beckett's Jumper. The communications prove to be somewhat problematic from the storm, Sheppard hears they are still on the mainland. When Ford learns the Genii have gained a foothold in Atlantis and are holding McKay and Weir hostage, he wishes to aid Sheppard, but Beckett tells them that he is not a good enough pilot to fly through the storm, further stating; "It was a bad idea an hour ago, it's an idiotic one now". Furthermore, there are three Athosian passengers. Although Sheppard is frustrated that he is not going to receive back-up, he encourages them to stay put and to return as soon as they can. Ford wishes his superior luck in the meantime. Kolya admires the look of Atlantis as he properly introduces himself to the hostages. He assures Weir that the rest of the Earth's expedition has no idea of the Genii invasion. He claims that he and his men will leave Atlantis peacefully in return for supplies the Genii "vitally need", including all of their C-4, medical supplies, a Jumper, and the Wraith data storage device they stole from their last encounter. On top of that, he wants to know where Major Sheppard is. Weir attempts to lie her way out of the situation, but Kolya states that he knows a lie. McKay presses a button on a console and hides it while relaying what Kolya said to Weir. McKay activates the city's public address system, which allows Sheppard to hear what McKay was saying. As Sheppard gets to work to sabotage the Genii's operation, Kolya realises what McKay is doing and tells him to get off the console. He then has Weir escort Sora and other Genii soldiers to get to the supplies. In the meantime, he forces McKay to stay with him, to tell him why he is still in the city. Kolya guesses that McKay is here to work on a plan to save the city. When McKay tries to insist he did not say anything about saving the city, Kolya's man takes out a knife to get him to talk. As Sora and her soldiers look over a lab, she asks Weir where Teyla is. Weir realises Sora is Tyrus' daughter and attempts to assure her that Teyla did not physically kill him. Sora angrily tells Weir to stop talking, and continues packing up the Wraith storage date device. Meanwhile, other Genii soldiers make it to the armory and find boxes with C-4 explosives labeled on them. However, they find the boxes have been emptied and replaced with a radio. Weir returns to see that Kolya has tortured McKay for information (his arm is bleeding). McKay admits that he revealed his plan to save the city. The soldiers return to present Kolya with the radio. Sheppard readily answers and informs Kolya that he has hidden the C-4 where the Genii will never find it. However, if Kolya lets his people go, he will reveal the location of the explosives. Kolya, however, admits that he now knows about the expedition's plan to save the city, and now intends to seize Atlantis for his own means. "Atlantis will be ours or the ocean's", he says. The storm is still at full force on the Lantean mainland. Inside Jumper Two, Ford is frustrated that he has not heard from Sheppard. When Beckett asks why the Genii would attack them, Ford responds with their history with them; namely that they did not end on the best terms after they stole some of their gear, did not give them the C-4 they were promised, and the Genii believed that Teyla killed one of their own (Tyrus was actually stunned by the Wraith after he killed a human prisoner inside a cocoon). Ford again wants to return to Atlantis, but Beckett states the winds outside are over 110 knots, and they will not be going anywhere. Weir meets with Kolya, who is now sitting at her chair in the Commander's office, and attempts to dissuade him from what he is doing, ensuring that the descendants of the Ancients are the ones who are meant to use Atlantis to destroy the Wraith, but Kolya is amazed by her arrogance, believing his people may be equally -- or more -- close to the ancestry of the Ancestors. (He does not realise that the Tau'ri have inherited the Ancient gene or inoculated with the gene therapy to operate Atlantis' systems) He intends to use Atlantis himself to destroy the Wraith, and is arrogant enough to believe he will win. Then, a Genii soldier approaches to tell Kolya that Sheppard is at the last grounding station. Sheppard has arrived and after looking at the life signs detector he finds two Genii nearby, following him. Kolya instructs his men to only use lethal force if necessary, despite his previous assurances that he would be unharmed. Sheppard walks around the control panel to track the Genii's movements, before he walks away from it. Impatient, one of the soldiers tries to confront Sheppard, only to be gunned down for his attempt. The second soldier moves away from his cover and fires his shotgun, which misses Sheppard and hits the control panel. Sheppard quickly takes cover and shoots him dead as well. He returns to the panel to find it seriously damaged by the shotgun blast. He gets back with Kolya on the radio to tell him about the damaged panel, and that two of his men are dead, as well as informing him that he has lost whatever credibility had with Sheppard in the first place. Angered at the news, Kolya takes out his pistol and tells Sheppard to say goodbye to Weir before he aims it at her. Sheppard bargains that if she dies, he will activate the city's self-destruct. However, Kolya knows that they would need the command codes from at least two senior members to activate it (he likely acquired the knowledge from interrogating McKay) and he now intends to "take one of them out of the equation". Sheppard tries to bargain with him again by allowing him access to a Puddle Jumper, but he gets no response. Sheppard tries numerous times to get Kolya to answer back, but again gets no responses. He later screams out Kolya's name as it begins to rain on Atlantis. + +Commander Acastus Kolya holds his pistol at Doctor Elizabeth Weir, intending to kill her. Major John Sheppard continues to beg with Kolya over the radio not to do this. Doctor Rodney McKay, in a moment or bravery, decides to speak up, standing in between Kolya and Weir. He attempts to convince Kolya that he needs both McKay and Weir in order to save Atlantis; there are codes only Weir would know to activate the shield, he could also fix the damaged grounding station, and if either of them dies, Kolya will not get what he wants. As McKay continues, Weir stops him as Kolya finally lowers the gun. Weir then attempts to show Sora Tyrus her appreciation for also standing up to her during McKay's monologue, but Sora coldly states she is just an asset the Genii needs. In the meantime, Kolya retreats to the Commander's office and talks with Sheppard, who is still near the last grounding station, drenched from the heavy rain. Kolya decides to lie and tell him Weir is dead, and McKay will join her if he does not stay out of his way. Sheppard vows to kill Kolya. One of the Genii soldiers, Ladon Radim, is in Stargate Operations and manages to activate the city's biological sensors. After he spots Sheppard walking along the hallways, he tells another soldier to take two more men to track him down. Doctor Carson Beckett, Teyla Emmagan, Lieutenant Aiden Ford and three young Athosians are still on board the Puddle Jumper on Lantea's mainland as the storm continues in full force. A tree collapses in front of the Jumper, and in response Beckett adds more weight to the Jumper by resetting the inertial dampeners. Teyla asks how long until the storm passes. Beckett believes they should be half-way through. Moments later, the team is surprised to see the rain has stopped, and the sun is shining. Sheppard in continuing to walk along the hallways and finds nearby signals from his life signs detector; three Genii are approaching him, and he begins to make his move by deploying smoke grenades. Kolya, McKay and Weir arrive at the damaged grounding station. McKay quickly gets to work on the fibre-optical wires which have been severed, and announces to Kolya that the damage is not as bad as it looks. He should be able to bypass this switching station, which will likely take as long as twenty minutes. Kolya is pleased with the news, and Weir helps McKay get to work. On the mainland, Beckett and Ford agree that they are now in the eye of the storm, its dead centre. Presented with the opportunity, Ford wants Beckett to fly the Jumper back to Atlantis. However, Beckett does not believe that to be wise, as he claims landing is twice as hard, especially since the weather conditions on Atlantis would be poor. Ford believes that the storm is not yet in full force, and they have to return; by flying over the clouds then back to the city to assist Sheppard. Beckett protests and tries to get Teyla on his side. However, Teyla goes against him. Defeated, he curses to himself, "oh crap!" The three Genii soldiers, being guided by Ladon to find Sheppard, are lead to one of the rooms which is filled with smoke from another grenade. Sheppard appears to be standing still according to the biological sensors. Ladon notes that they are closing in on him. The soldiers walk to the middle of the room, and they are supposed to be on top of Sheppard, but they do not see him. The soldiers fail to see a laser sight on top of their heads. It is revealed that Sheppard is actually on top of them, hiding on the gantry. Ladon overhears P90 fire, and sees the four life sign spots on the sensors turn to one - Sheppard has killed three more men. Sora reports to Kolya over the radio of the news. Kolya orders Sora to have the Genii fall back to the Gate room. As Kolya is distracted by talking with Sora, Weir colludes with McKay to make an excuse to stall the repairs, as after the repairs are completed and the shields are raised, they will no longer be useful. They should stall for more time to allow Sheppard the opportunity to take care of the rest of the Genii strike team, as he appears capable on his own. Kolya then returns and tells Sora to contact Cowen for reinforcements. Before McKay and Weir get back to work, Kolya warns them, "If you're hoping Major Sheppard can diminish our numbers, you are mistaken!" Sheppard is walking all over the city again to make his next move. Meanwhile, Jumper Two is descending down to Atlantis. Ford notes Beckett is going down pretty steeply, believing his tampering of the inertial dampeners are a factor, even though Beckett claims he returned the settings to normal. Sheppard arrives at a room containing one of the naquadah generators and pulls out its control switch. This disables the power into Stargate Operations, as well as the biological sensors; Ladon can no longer track Sheppard. Ladon and Sora get back to Kolya and appraise him of the situation. Sora suggests sending men to find him. Kolya, however, disagrees, as he does not want Sheppard to take them out in small groups, and thinks they should wait until more reinforcements arrive. Kolya is again distracted, allowing McKay and Weir to think of a plan to stall him. McKay insists that Weir should do most of the talking, as he's a "terrible bluffer". However, when Kolya asks about progress, both McKay and Weir manage to convince him they have hit a "small snag", which would take an additional half an hour. Then, the power goes out in the section, after Sheppard deactivated another naquadah generator. Now the power is out, they cannot repair the grounding station. McKay warns Kolya that even with one operational grounding station, not enough power from the lightning will charge the shield generator. Sora gets back on the radio and advises Kolya to have the soldiers repair the generators and guard the remaining active ones; Kolya agrees to this. Jumper Two has returned to the Jumper bay, Beckett, Ford and Teyla exit, while Teyla instructs the Athosian passengers to stay there for the time being. Ford hands Beckett, who is not military, a P90 for protection. Beckett considers contacting Sheppard, but Ford believes the Genii will be monitoring communications. They find several dots on the life signs detector, which cannot tell who is who; Beckett posits the question, how will they find Sheppard? Ford merely responds, "he'll be the dot getting rid of the other dots". The storm continues to increase in severity. In the Gate room, the Stargate activates; it is the Genii reinforcements. Ladon is left alone in the control room, allowing a hidden Sheppard to emerge and knock him unconscious, as there are fewer Genii on the lookout. Sheppard then activates the Stargate shield after six more Genii soldiers arrive. The rest of the 60 Kolya expected will be prevented from materialising in Atlantis, effectively killing them. When Sora and what remains of reinforcements spot Sheppard, they shoot at him. Sheppard quickly runs and shoots back, killing another solider. Sora finds an unconscious Ladon, and she cannot deactivate the shield, or stop the Genii from continuing to send more soldiers. Furthermore, Sheppard used his personal command code, and only he knows it. Kolya throttles McKay in anger over the news, but McKay tells him he still needs them both to save Atlantis. Kolya calms a little and hears an update from Sora; only five of sixty have made it through. He asks her whether Idos, the son of his friend Athor, was one of them who made it, but is dismayed to discover he did not. Kolya is also dismayed to learn that there will be no more reinforcements until they can crack Sheppard's code for at least an hour, which will be too late as by then the storm will be in full force. Kolya radios Sheppard again, and the conversation can be overheard by Beckett, Ford and Teyla. Kolya tells Sheppard his plan to destroy Atlantis to prevent it getting onto Genii hands is flawed, explaining that by sabotaging the invasion, Kolya will determine McKay and Weir obselete, and he will kill them. Sheppard learns that Weir is still alive, McKay having talked Kolya out of killing her. However, he intends to follow through with the threat for real if the power to the grounding station is not restored within ten minutes. If the power is still out after another ten minutes, McKay dies, and the Genii will leave with what they can before the city gets destroyed. Sheppard decides to run to turn the naquadah generators again. Beckett, Ford and Teyla make their way to the armory to get more ammunition. Ford also picks up a Wraith stunner rifle, in case one of the people he shoots is the major. They then start to search for the naquadah generator responsible for powering the last grounding station. Beckett believes it would be the one closest to it. Sheppard makes it to the naquadah generator and is about to reactivate it, when he is stopped by two Genii. They alert Sora, who tells them to hold him until she arrives. Apparently she is unaware of Kolya's ultimatum. Meanwhile, Beckett, Ford and Teyla arrive at the wrong naquadah generator. They have two minutes until Kolya carries out his threat. They try their luck again. Sheppard tries to reason with the Genii, but they tell him to turn around. When he does, he spots Ford has made a timely arrival and stuns the Genii soldiers. Sheppard puts the control switch of the generator back, and the power to the grounding station is restored. McKay and Weir get back to work as Sora arrives in the generator room, and hears Teyla's voice. She decides to follow them. McKay has managed to fix the control panel, and successfully separates the grounding rods. Now they have to return to the control room for McKay to build a subroutine to allow the lightning to pass by the hallways and be supercharged by the walls' conductive material, so they can power the shield generator, using Weir's command codes. Even though Sheppard deactivated the naquadah generator to the control room, primary systems are still operable, and the shield is considered one of those systems. All the Genii would have to fall back to the control room when the lightning hits. Meanwhile, Sheppard informs his team of McKay's plan as well; the Genii would all be in one place, in the control room, as it is shielded. Kolya radios Sora, and he hears that she has found Teyla, and she wants to kill her to avenge her father's death. He orders her to return to the control room, but Sora's desire for revenge gets the better of her, and she decides to ignore the order. Sheppard tells the rest of the team his plan to save the city; Beckett and Teyla will return to the Puddle Jumper with the Athosian passengers (the Jumper bay is part of Stargate Operations, and would also be shielded), send it down to the Gate room, which would distract the Genii, where Ford and Sheppard will engage them, take back the control room, save McKay and Weir, get the shields up, and "take the rest of the day off". He also tells Ford to drop the Wraith stunner, as his orders are to use lethal force. McKay and Weir return to Stargate Operations and decide to start tricking Kolya and the Genii to evacuate, with Weir intentionally giving McKay the wrong codes. Meanwhile, Beckett and Teyla near the Jumper bay, when Beckett is suddenly ambushed by Sora, who orders Teyla to drop her weapon. Teyla asks why she would want her dead, as they have known each other their entire lives. She tells Sora that her father alerted the Wraith by killing an innocent person, and that if she is to die by his daughter's hand, she would die knowing there was nothing she could have done to save him. Ford and Sheppard arrive at their position, and wonder what is taking Beckett and Teyla so long. Sheppard radios Teyla, but he gets no response. They do not know that Sora has found her; she and Teyla start fighting, even though Teyla warned Sora beforehand that the former will win. As Ladon is detecting a tidal wave approaching the West Pier, McKay is "almost finished" with the programme. When the time comes however, the shield fails to engage, with McKay claiming the city's power conduits cannot handle large amounts of raw power. Kolya is frustrated as he was told McKay's plan would work. But McKay retorts, "I don't know if you noticed or not, but I'm an extremely arrogant man who tends to think all of his plans will work". Kolya punches him, calling him an idiot. Weir interrupts and tells Kolya that the reason the city was evacuated in the first place was in case McKay's plan would not work. She tells him she's now giving Kolya two options : evacuate and survive, or go down with the city. Kolya decides to have him and his men evacuate Atlantis, but intends to take both Tau'ri prisoners with them to serve the Genii as payment for what they have done. The Genii activate the Stargate and evacuate with some supplies they have stolen from the city. Sheppard has a change of plan; he and Ford wait until McKay and Weir are downstairs, and then strike. They surprise the Genii and kill the soldiers holding McKay. As they fire at the others, Ladon runs through the Stargate, while Kolya holds Weir hostage. Sheppard tells him to release her, or he will shoot. Kolya warns him he would risk hurting Weir, however Sheppard tells him that he is "not aiming at her". Seconds later he fires a single shot, wounding Kolya in the shoulder while just barely missing Weir. The force of the gunshot throws Kolya back through the Stargate, which later shuts down. McKay return to the control room to activate the shield and save Atlantis from the approaching tidal wave that will hit in two and a half minutes. However, Beckett and Teyla are still unaccounted for. Sheppard convinces McKay to give them two minutes until they return. Teyla wins the fight against Sora, who is exhausted. Teyla tells Sora that this is not what Tyrus would have wanted; the Athosians and the Genii were destined to be allied, and this feud must end. After hearing Sheppard over the tannoy, Teyla throws Sora's knife to the floor, and walks away. Sora decides to follow her, and help Beckett back to the control room. As the devastating tidal wave quickly approaches Atlantis, the trio make it back to the control just in time, and McKay activates the programme to shield the city. Lightning strikes the rods, and the electricity makes its ways through the corridors. The power builds up, and just as the tidal wave is about to hit, McKay successfully raises the shield. The tall wave goes around the shield, missing the city. While everyone is relieved that the plan has worked, Sheppard notices that Teyla has made a new friend, Sora. Later, the storm has passed over Atlantis and the climate has returned to normal. The Atlantis expedition arrives back from Manaria. Sora is being kept prisoner for the time being, but Weir tells Sheppard she intends to release her back to the Genii in an attempt to repair relations between them and Atlantis. McKay reports that the storm has flooded parts of the East Pier, but the water is being pumped out. Also, structural damage appears to be minimal. Sheppard then asks that by the time the next storm hit, "how far in advance can we book days off?" + +Major John Sheppard, Dr. Rodney McKay, Dr. Brendan Gall, and Dr. Abrams are surveying a Lagrangian Point satellite, when they detect a distress call. On further investigation, they find a Wraith supply ship on the surface of a planet that was shot down by the satellite ten thousand years earlier during final stages of the Lantean-Wraith war. They land the Puddle Jumper on the surface to investigate. Sheppard's team finds the Wraith ship dead and devoid of life, but are shocked to find evidence that indicates the Wraith crew of the ship resorted to cannibalism by feeding off each other - most likely out of desperation due to the lack of food supply on the barren desert planet. Further investigation of the ship reveals hundreds of stasis chambers for storing humans, thus indicating that the Wraith ship was actually a giant supply vessel. Unknown to Sheppard and his team, a single Wraith survivor from the ship's original crew was still alive. The Wraith was not detected on any Life signs detector because the Wraith was hibernating. Once Sheppard's team entered the derelict Wraith ship, the ten thousand year old Wraith reawakened from hibernation and kills Abrams and drains the life force from Gall, but still leaves him alive. Leaving Gall alive provides the Wraith with a tactical advantage, because it forces McKay and Sheppard to split up: instead of both going after the Wraith, one has to stay behind to look after the weakened Gall. Gall reveals that he told the Wraith the location of the jumper and gave it his remote. McKay and Sheppard agree the Wraith won't be able to fly the jumper, but worry that it might be able to use the subspace communicator to contact more of his fellow Wraith. The Wraith finds the Jumper and Sheppard unsuccessfully tries, single-handedly, to reclaim the vehicle. Sheppard calls the Wraith on the radio and tells it that the Atlanteans won the war and it is the last Wraith left. The Wraith does not believe him, but does come out of the ship to attack him. Sheppard finds it impossible to kill the Wraith as the creature had survived for ten thousand years and therefore was a formidable opponent. The Wraith also possesses strong regenerative abilities because he had just fed twice, very recently. Even when Sheppard unloads an entire magazine from his FN P90 Personal Defense Weapon, the Wraith is only temporarily stunned before springing back to life. Not even a close quarters blast from a Wraith grenade kills the creature, or causes any kind of permanent injury, although he is shown to be weakened and somewhat limping after the latter. Sheppard however caught a shot in the upper arm, and almost blows himself up. The Wraith remains stranded on the planet, despite being in control of the Jumper, because it does not possess the Ancient Technology Activation gene and therefore cannot activate the vessel's controls. While Sheppard tries to retake the Jumper from the single Wraith, McKay stays with weakened, somewhat paralysed and severely aged Gall. During that time, Gall tries to persuade McKay to go help Sheppard. McKay refuses to leave, so Gall takes the decision out of McKay's hands by shooting himself (after having seen before just how much he'd aged, seen in a small mirror McKay had reluctantly showed him.) During a break in the fighting, Sheppard eats an energy bar and discovers that it attracts a swarm of the local light bugs. He shakes them off and goes back to the fight. In a last ditch effort to retake the Jumper, Sheppard then distracts the Wraith with a flare and makes a dash for the Jumper only to be foiled when he almost knocks himself out by bouncing off the shield which the Wraith activated before it left the Jumper unattended. Sheppard's failed plan causes the Wraith to smile. The Wraith then taunts Sheppard over the foolishness of his tactics - the Wraith's military tactical senses had been sharped by over ten thousand years of survival on a barren desert planet, with nothing left to feed on but its own Wraith crew. Out of ammunition, Sheppard engages the Wraith in a futile and short lived knife fight during which he manages to stab the Wraith through his feeding hand. The Wraith is about to kill Sheppard when McKay shows up and distracts the Wraith by shooting it, further weakening it but still not killing it. Sheppard and McKay continue to distract the Wraith until Lt. Aiden Ford and Teyla Emmagan arrive in a second Puddle Jumper. Sheppard plants an energy bar on the Wraith while it is distracted by McKay and it causes the Light bugs to swarm around the Wraith, giving it a larger lifesign, the larger of the three, for the crew to target. On Sheppard's order, the rescue Jumper targets the Wraith from orbit and blows it up with a Drone weapon, finally killing it. Ford confirms the kill and Sheppard and McKay head to the Puddle Jumper, with Sheppard promising to let McKay drive once he deactivates the shields and puts it back together. + +During a post-storm damage survey of Atlantis, Dr. Rodney McKay, Lt. Aiden Ford and a team of scientists and United States Marine Corps personnel come across one of many Ancient labs. However, upon coming across two of the exploration personnel, the two persons begin seeing hallucinations and suddenly die. Due to the inexplicable nature of the deaths, Dr. Elizabeth Weir asks that all sections of Atlantis be locked down under a self-imposed medical quarantine. While Dr. Carson Beckett and medical personnel attempt to discern the nature of the contagion, Major John Sheppard and Teyla Emmagan are training in the art of Bantos fighting. Sheppard begins to grow impatient, with Weir pointing out that there is nothing for him to do. Meanwhile, Beckett and his team have begun their work on checking out the team members and prepping the victims for autopsy. Sheppard receives word that Dr. Peterson, a member of the infected team, has escaped and is fleeing towards Stargate Operations and, thus, the hub of the city. Against Weir's orders, Sheppard orders Sgt. Bates to open the doors. Bates does so, offering an after-the-fact apology; "Doesn't really matter now, does it?" replies Weir. Sheppard manages to catch up with Peterson, who uses the Atlantis transporter, ending up at the mess hall. Upon transporting to the mess hall, the city begins to lock down and control to the mainframe is broken. The only two people that can move around safely are Sheppard and Teyla, who procured hazmat suits from a lab. The city's systems appear to recognize that the pair, being so equipped, are definite non-carriers who will be useful in the medical crisis and permit them free access throughout the city. Meanwhile, results from the autopsies show that the victims died of a brain aneurysm above the visual cortex. As another team member begins to die, McKay theorizes that there must be more to the events. While the visual cortex can be affected, the frightening hallucinations are strikingly similar to the point where there had to be another explanation. McKay and Beckett discover that the virus is not organic, but it is a work of Nanites. Shortly after this discovery, McKay runs out of time, but does not die. They theorize that the virus does not kill people with the Ancient Technology Activation Gene, which McKay received in an experiment. While it is designed to kill humans, it appears that the nanovirus is incapable of multiplying, thus limiting their effectiveness. It was speculated that the nanites could be affected by an electromagnetic pulse. Sheppard goes to an Electromagnetic pulse generator in McKay's lab while Teyla goes to the mess hall to comfort the people there. Unfortunately, all doesn't go as planned; the people in the mess area react violently, damaging Teyla's suit in the process. According to McKay, the pulse wasn't strong enough to destroy the nanites. With only 20 minutes until Ford and Dr. Radek Zelenka die, Sheppard devises a plan to detonate a Naquadah generator above the city. With McKay's help in ironing out the details of the plan, Sheppard flies a Puddle Jumper, releasing the overloaded Naquadah generator 20 miles above the city. (The radiation fallout won't affect the city at this distance, but the EM pulse will be devastating enough to incapacitate the nanites permanently.) The plan works: the city rescinds the lockdown and the survey team can return to the main area of Atlantis. While questions loom about who created the virus, it isn't the Wraith, as they wouldn't create a WMD to kill their food source and the Ancients would (theoretically) never reach that extreme; Weir firmly states to Sheppard that the clash in authority is something that should not occur again. Weir also firmly reminds him that Sheppard does not dictate what is and is not a military decision; that's her call. While he reluctantly seems to concede the point, the question is raised as to whether or not this event will occur in the future. + +Three Wraith Darts are chasing Major John Sheppard's Puddle Jumper. Suddenly, electricity from the planet below destroys the Darts. Dr. Rodney McKay theorizes that there might be an Ancient weapon, powered by a Zero Point Module. When they land, they find a pre-industrial civilization who know nothing of the Wraith. The people are protected by a being named Athar. The team are taken to meet Athar's priestess, Chaya Sar. McKay blurts out about the weapon protecting the planet but no one has any idea what he's talking about. Sheppard tells him to be quiet. They ask if refugees can be taken in; Chaya consults Athar and says no. Athar understands their cause is righteous, but she must put her own people first. McKay becomes angry. Shepard tries to calm everything down and meets alone with Chaya. He thinks once she gets to know them and understands they are related, she will get Athar to reconsider. Sheppard invites her to come back to Atlantis, and she agrees. Chaya undergoes some tests at Atlantis. Sheppard shows her the city and talks about Earth. In the control room, Chaya suddenly activates a Biometric Sensor Array, and everyone is surprised to see that she has the Ancient Technology Activation gene. Later, in the conference room, they ask Chaya to accept refugees in exchange for advancements in technology for her civilization, but she declines. She says Athar gives them everything they need. She says further that what her people value most is spiritual knowledge, and asks what they can offer in that regard. They then offer knowledge of Earth's many religions, which she agrees to review. Later, McKay talks with Sheppard and tells him he feels that something is different about Chaya. Dr. Carson Beckett has found that Chaya is in perfect health, much too perfect for a simple pre-technological society. McKay is suspicious of Chaya, and concerned that Sheppard is forming such a close bond with her. It turns out the new machine that turned on when Chaya touched it can detect aliens, a kind of early warning system for the city. McKay's theory is that it didn't turn on because she had the gene, it turned on because she is an alien and set off an alarm. He can't prove anything either way, but he wants Weir to send her back. Sheppard decides to take Chaya out to a late night picnic dinner as a show of goodwill. After some talking, they kiss. Later that night McKay runs into Sheppard in the hallways and tells him of his suspicions about Chaya. Chaya overhears him and walks away. The next morning, McKay is busy scanning her, trying to prove she is an alien, as Chaya tells everyone that though she is fascinated by their religions, she cannot condone the hate and distrust that the people of Earth display for each other. She points out McKay specifically, especially after his comments of last night. McKay suddenly realizes that she is an Ancient; she confirms his suspicions, and admits that she did not come to offer her help, but out of a romantic interest in Sheppard. She says it is true that she can never offer them sanctuary, and she cannot help them here in Atlantis. Before the conversation can go any further, she senses that the Wraith are attacking her planet. She turns into her Ascended form and leaves through the Star Gate. Sheppard takes a Jumper and follows her back to Proculus. He takes out a few Darts and Chaya appears beside him and asks him to leave the battle. She turns into her Ascended form again and uses her power to destroy the Wraith forces. Sheppard comes down to the planet and confronts Chaya. She explains that she is also Athar. Long ago, when the Wraith attacked her planet, she lashed out with one thought and destroyed them all. The Others punished her by restricting her to protecting Proculus only. If she tried anywhere else, she would be stopped. She had been alone for many years until she met Sheppard. After noting that Sheppard will still be permitted to visit her occasionally, she shares herself with him. + +Major John Sheppard congratulating Dr. Elizabeth Weir on her birthday and giving her an earthenware pot which the Athosians made. Afterwards he, Lt. Aiden Ford and Teyla Emmagan explore Atlantis while Dr. Rodney McKay watches from the control room and hopes to find bigger quarters. In a laboratory a cryogenic-like chamber is found, with what appears to be an Ancient woman inside, one who did not evacuate the city with the others. McKay believes that the Ancient is in some sort of stasis, slowly aging but she will eventually die since she is already very old. Despite Dr. Carson Beckett's protests Weir decides to awaken the woman to ask if she knew where any Zero Point Modules were left. When she later wakes up she at first isn't saying anything, but she is listening and looking at them. Afterwards her only words are "It worked", until she falls asleep. Also the team finds a piece of paper with Stargate addresses written on it, including one they already been to, M7G-677. Later when the woman wakes up, she claims that she is Elizabeth Weir from an alternate timeline who traveled through time in the past. Beckett runs a DNA test on her and confirms her words, while McKay finds out that they nearly killed her when they arrived at Atlantis and cut off power to the systems that were attempting to revive her. Later when old Weir awakes again she starts to tell her story: when her team arrived at Atlantis only the lights went on but not the consoles or the computer which is different from what happened in the current timeline. When McKay tells her this, aged Weir falls asleep again, and when she again later awakes she's brought into the conference room. She tells how the shield of Atlantis broke down almost immediately after their arrival in the city, which caused Colonel Marshall Sumner and many others to drown when the sea rushed in. Also, the city had no fail-safe in place, to rise to the surface, so the city quickly collapsed. In the gateroom, McKay died by drowning, although though his last-minute efforts he gave the others a chance to leave. Before water engulfed the city, Weir, Major John Sheppard and Dr. Radek Zelenka managed to get into a Puddle Jumper that is different from the others. The pod was somehow beamed into space above the planet, where the time travel device in the Jumper was activated, causing it to go back in time 10,000 years. As they appear in the past they're immediately attacked by two unknown ships (Wraith Darts). Hoping for a chance to retaliate, Sheppard inadvertently activated the Drone weapons, but was only able to destroy one Dart before being shot down. When Weir regained consciousness from the crash, she was back in Atlantis, being treated by a man named Janus, who informed her that Sheppard and Zelenka didn't make it. She then found out that she went back in time 10,000 years. The Atlanteans then informed her of war with the Wraith; despite their more advanced technology, the Wraith are overwhelming them with sheer numbers. Weir was later brought before the Council of Atlantis and she asked if they would give her a Zero Point Module, and use of the time machine to send her back to the precise moment when her team arrived through the gate, but they refused and ordered the time machine destroyed, as it had been built without their consent, nor do they wish to mess with time. The only way they'd help was to offer her to join them in returning to Earth. Only Janus, the inventor of the Time Jumper, attempted to help her. He informed her that the power generation capabilities of the city might be extended by using a single ZPM at a time, as opposed to the normal configuration of all three simultaneously. He devised a Failsafe mechanism to allow the city to rise should his plan fail and power were to drain to a critical level. Then placed Weir in a stasis pod. The pod is set to bring her out of hibernation every 3,300 years or so, to enable Dr. Weir to rotate the ZPMs over the next 10,000 years. When all the Ancients left, Weir set the city to slumber and nervously went into stasis. Back in the present the young Weir thanks her and her older self tells her that the gate addresses on the piece of paper she had, lead to Ancient outposts with ZPMs. As young Weir informs McKay and Sheppard about the addresses, back in the bed the old Weir finally dies. Later the young Weir sprinkles the ashes of her older self, from the Athosian earthenware pot Sheppard had given her for her birthday, out over the city of Atlantis from the Control Center balcony, as the sun slowly sets in the distance. + +According to the note left by the alternate timeline version of Dr. Elizabeth Weir, a valuable Zero Point Module is hidden on the planet Dagan. Major John Sheppard's team searches for it. When they arrive at the planet, they learn that there was an ancient group, called "The Brotherhood" that was charged by the Ancients to protect a valuable object that when they (the Ancients) returned for it sometime in future, they'd be rewarded for guarding the object. The team suspects this object is indeed the missing ZPM. Back at Atlantis, Dr. Radek Zelenka has discovered new Long range sensors, which can track objects into deep space. It has suddenly activated because, they eventually work out, of a Wraith Dart inbound for the planet, and arriving in about 27 minutes. When, after they excavate a few areas and find a few stones, they finally locate the place where the object is hiding in an underground chamber, an old Genii enemy, Commander Acastus Kolya appears on the scene to sabotage their plans. They realize that one stone (out of a complete set of nine) is missing for them to be able to activate the release mechanism. They get back to a previous location where Dr. Rodney McKay finds the missing stone hidden in a secret compartment within a mural. In the meantime, Sheppard, Lt. Aiden Ford and Teyla Emmagan had managed to prepare a little bit, so when Kolya and his team arrive, they are ready. After Pranos, a member of Kolya's team, dies by placing his hands in the device that would release the ZPM, Sheppard pressed for a solution lest he too die the same way when forced to go next, realizes that the stones need to be arranged in a particular pattern (a Magic Square), so that they add up to 15. This all much to McKay's surprise, who can hardly believe that Sheppard came up with the magic-square solution due to a Mensa test that Sheppard had previously passed. On Atlantis, three Puddle Jumpers have been scrambled. One is destroyed, while the Dart begins to scan the city. After completing its mission, it self-destructs. Back on the planet and back in the underground chamber, once the stones are rearranged in the correct order, they are able to release the ZPM from within a large mandala-like wall carving. Taking advantage of Kolya's distraction, Teyla, Sheppard and Ford get control of the situation by releasing a flash-grenade they had prepared earlier, enabling them to overpower Kolya and his team. Once defeated, Kolya tells Sheppard that the sensible thing to do was to kill him. Sheppard tells him that he's right, and if he ever interferes again, he will kill him. They leave the place all elated with their eventual find of a ZPM, but when they're halfway to the Jumper, a group of armed locals surround them and demand they hand over what they call 'The Potentia' (i.e. the ZPM): Allina, the woman that had been helping them, reveals herself to actually be the leader of the New Brotherhood. They try to reason with her, but since McKay had already commented before that they were not from Atlantis but from Earth, the locals believe that the Ancients are still going to return in the future. Until that time, they're going to hide the ZPM on another world and wait for the Ancients to return, the New Brotherhood still believing that they will be greatly rewarded for their loyalty and dedication when the Ancients return, despite the group itself not knowing that the Ancients are never going to return to the Pegasus galaxy. Back at Atlantis, the team updates Dr. Elizabeth Weir, who tells them about the scanning Wraith dart. Zelenka also reveals the dart sent its information into deep space to three Wraith Hive ships, which could arrive at Atlantis in approximately two weeks. + +After Atlantis discovers three Wraith Hive Ships coming in their direction, the leading team discusses what to do. Lt. Aiden Ford suggests they take the Zero Point Module from M7G-677 but Dr. Elizabeth Weir refuses to back such a suggestion. Dr. Rodney McKay reveals that they can use the whole of their energy resources to open a wormhole to Earth and send a high-compression data burst. Though risky, the team decides to do it. After the meeting, Dr. Radek Zelenka informs the team where the Hive ships will leave hyperspace and Major John Sheppard and Teyla Emmagan decide to personally oversee the threat. They travel to a planet which Teyla knows via Puddle Jumper and meet an old friend of hers named Orin. After warning him of the threat from the Wraith, Teyla tells Orin that they will rescue his family although Sheppard can make no promises. At Atlantis, McKay suggests that since space will remain after the initial data transfer, everyone should include a personal message to be sent to Earth as well. Weir decides that every member of the team should have the possibility to send a video message to their loved ones (given they do not reveal classified information). Ford takes on this task by filming a message intended for his grandparents. Meanwhile, Teyla and Sheppard quarrel about Teyla's promise of help to Orin when the Wraith abruptly appear. Each Hive ship is escorted by three Wraith cruisers, making the force invading Atlantis much worse than they'd expected. They shower the planet with a flurry of Wraith Darts. Before the Jumper can escape through the Stargate, it is dialed by the Wraith, so they unable to leave return to the predetermined location to meet Orin and wait for him. On the planet, Sheppard and Teyla can only watch in horror while the Wraith cull the population en masse. Suddenly, a dart deposits something on the planet which emits a strange beam so Sheppard intrigued resolves to investigate regardless of the danger. While he is away, a Wraith passes right by the Jumper, oblivious to its presence but highly suspicious he only just misses the shield by less than a yard. When he finally walks away a relieved Teyla can hardly believe her luck. Thankfully, minutes later, Teyla is able to collect a few escaping inhabitants who wander by. When Sheppard returns a short while later, he adamantly wants to escape immediately (since the gate is deactivated) but Teyla insists that if he does leave she will stay behind and wait as she had promised to do. So Sheppard reluctantly agrees to wait a little longer for Orin and his family, in the hopes they've still managed to escape the massive Wraith culling going on. After what seems like forever, Orin finally arrives accompanied by several other denizens. Sheppard worries there's too many for the Jumper to cope with, but on witnessing a few get culled by the beams right before their eyes, Sheppard is shook into consenting to take as many as possible. They're able to flee through the gate but not without some unfortunate human loss to the Wraith. In Atlantis, Sheppard and Teyla divulge to Weir the threat which the Wraith fleet poses. Both are shown to be disturbed by what they have witnessed and upset with Sheppard finding a little consolation in the fact that they saved some people. Soon after, Weir asks him to record a message to the family of Colonel Marshall Sumner which he promptly accepts and thoughtfully carries out. The "intergalactic e-mail" is successfully sent to Stargate Command and received by SMSgt. Walter Harriman who asks Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter who sent it. A surprised Carter then informs Harriman that it's from Atlantis. + +It is night in Atlantis. While most of the people sleep, a Wraith walks through the corridors, enters Teyla Emmagan's room and attacks her. She then wakes up as it was only a dream. On the next day she trains with Major John Sheppard but because she isn't concentrating she is defeated. Later a meeting is held where the leading members of the expedition take part and it is discussed what they can do however there seems to be little hope. During the meeting Teyla also aggressively speaks to Dr. Elizabeth Weir much to Sheppard's surprise. Later Teyla meets Dr. Kate Heightmeyer and when the doctor wants to talk with her, Teyla isn't interested and becomes angry when she concludes that Sheppard talked with Heightmeyer first about her. She confronts the Major but he only wanted to help her and even forbids her to come with him to the Alpha Site. She then wants to take a nap but because she can't sleep she visits Heightmeyer. They talk about Teyla's ability to feel the Wraith and she tells her more about it and even reveals that there are other people like her who can feel the Wraith but her sense is one of the strongest. After another nightmare Teyla again talks with Heightmeyer and afterwards she visits Dr. Carson Beckett to find out if it’s perhaps a biological problem. They then decide to go to the mainland to find out more about her. On Lantea's mainland, Teyla visits an old woman named Charin with whom she talks about her past and her abilities to feel the Wraith. After some hesitation Charin tells her a story about some people from another planet who returned after the Wraith captured them. However they were forever changed and began to hear voices. Because of this, many of them either left though the Stargate or were killed. It turns out that Teyla is a descendant from these people and with approval from Weir, Sheppard's team flies to the planet. On the they find a Wraith laboratory which only Teyla can enter at first. Inside the laboratory, the team finds a Wraith data storage device which holds a lot of information. Weir is partially able to translate the information since the Wraith language seems to be derived from the language of the Ancients, meaning that the Wraith evolved in Pegasus after the Ancients arrived. As it turns out the Wraith are related to the Iratus bug that attached itself to Sheppard. Over several centuries, the Iratus bug had absorbed enough human DNA to evolve its own genetic makeup and create the Wraith species the team, and the Ancients before them, were now fighting. She then does some researches with Beckett. On the next day, Teyla is informed by Weir and Beckett that a lone Wraith experimented with some people to make the food more compatible to the feeding process against the wishes of the others and it turns out that Teyla has a small bit of Wraith DNA inside her. While Teyla again talks with Heightmeyer the leading team discusses about her and Weir later finds out that the Wraith scientist stopped because his experiments gave the people the mental abilities of the Wraith who then could hear what the Wraith said. With no way around this, he released them back to their home thinking that interbreeding could dilute the effect. When the others found out what he did, they wiped out the people on the planet. They then conclude that Teyla may be able to get some information from the Wraith. After some discussion with Weir and Heightmeyer she agrees to try it. During the first run she is able to see what a Wraith sees but when the Wraith feeds on a man she stops. She later again tries to find out more but this time a Wraith takes control over her telling them they are fools and they stop. Suddenly the Stargate activates and Sgt. Bates returns since the Wraith attacked the Alpha site as if they knew they were there. Later Lt. Aiden Ford talks with Teyla and she again wants to try it. She does so but again a Wraith takes control of and she wounds Beckett until she is shot down by Bates (who doesn't trust Teyla after the incident with the Alpha site) with a Wraith stunner rifle. After she wakes up she apologizes and also reveals that the Wraith come here to get access to a new rich feeding ground – Earth. They realize that the female Wraith wasn't only feasting on Colonel Marshall Sumner, she was interrogating him. + +While the Wraith come closer to Atlantis, the leading group of the expedition is informed by Dr. Rodney McKay and Dr. Radek Zelenka that the Wraith will pass the last Lagrangian Point satellite; they are very confident they can bring it back online and obliterate all three Hive Ships before they even reach Atlantis. McKay volunteers for the mission, and while he packs up he talks with Zelenka, who tells McKay that he should go and they even start to quarrel about it. Meanwhile, Dr. Elizabeth Weir, Major John Sheppard and Sgt. Bates search for a new Alpha Site; afterwards Bates tells Sheppard that he doesn't trust Teyla Emmagan but Sheppard defends his team member. Weir is informed by Zelenka about the self-destruct of the city (mentioned in "Hide and Seek" as overloading the Naquadah generators) and that it wouldn't destroy enough of the city. He shows Weir a simulation which predicts that the Wraith will be able to recover some of the City's technology, and some of the Atlantis database. Weir realizes they have to find a way to delete the Ancients database so that the Wraith cannot recover it. Suddenly the Stargate is activated and Sheppard's team comes back. Bates assumes they were attacked by the Wraith and immediately accuses Teyla, but Sheppard then says they were attacked by some kind of T-Rex. Later Teyla confronts Bates and they start to fight (with Teyla actually punching Bates in the face) until Sheppard and Lt. Aiden Ford intervene. Meanwhile in space, the Puddle Jumper approaches the satellite and McKay enters it, wearing a space suit, to reactivate it. He is successful in using a Naquadah generator to power up the maintenance systems, creating an atmosphere that allows Dr. Peter Grodin and Lt. Lou Miller to enter and assist with repairing the weapon, although Grodin inadvertently activates the gravity system while McKay is several feet in the air. After frustrated diagnostics, they discover that power connectors linking the weapon's energy storage buffer to the main firing system have been damaged, but to solve it someone must go outside the satellite. After drawing the short straw and much protest, McKay goes EVA. He discovers that meteor strikes have severed the connections, determines that he can reroute the power and finally is able to repair it. However, McKay has inadvertently rerouted power away from the Jumper dock, meaning they cannot dock with the satellite nor take Grodin back on board. Grodin realizes there is no time to repair the fault, and he decides to stay on the satellite. This proves useful, as he will be able to keep the power levels as low as possible, ensuring the Wraith cannot detect the active system before it is ready to fire, and also to repair it if there is a problem. On Atlantis, Halling visits Weir and tells her that he doesn't want Atlantis to be destroyed. However, she tells him that she has to protect Earth. Later, Weir is informed by Zelenka that he invented a computer virus to delete the database and Weir wants him to make a backup of it in the hard-drive they brought from Earth but he tells her that they only can save about 8%. Meanwhile Sheppard and Ford search for more potential Alpha sites until they are called because Bates was attacked and badly wounded. They ask Teyla about it but she tells them that it wasn't her. They discuss with Weir who it could be but then Dr. Carson Beckett finds out that there is a Wraith in the city. With a Biometric Sensor Array they are able to find out where the Wraith is and they try to capture him. However, the Wraith is able to take out Sheppard's team until he is stunned by Ford. The Wraith is imprisoned and Sheppard starts to interrogate him after he named him Bob but he keeps silent. Teyla decides to start communicate telepathically with him but he overwhelms her. Sheppard fires with his gun at him several times, wounding him badly. Meanwhile the Wraith Hive Ships drop out of hyperspace as predicted, and Grodin powers up the satellite. McKay watches from the cloaked Jumper as the energy beam from the weapon successfully slices through and destroys one Hive ship. Amid the celebration, Grodin radioes that he is having trouble - McKay's rerouting has overloaded and the weapon can't be fired again. Grodin cannot bring it back online, and as McKay orders the pilot to rescue him, the remaining ships destroy the satellite, killing Grodin. McKay can't do anything, thus he informs Weir and is ordered to return to Atlantis. Weir informs the base about what has happened and afterwards starts the self-destruct countdown. Having heard the evacuation order, Bob tells them no matter where they go, no matter where they hide, the Wraith will find them, as well as Earth. A frustrated Sheppard finally kills him. + +Dr. Rodney McKay has returned to Atlantis and Dr. Elizabeth Weir orders the self-destruct activation. As they attempt to dial the Alpha site, the Stargate is suddenly activated; the wormhole was established from Earth. Much to everyone's amazement, a company of Marines come through and Weir and the others are greeted by Colonel Dillon Everett who instantly takes over command. He informs them that they are here to defend Atlantis at all cost, and that they have brought weapons and equipment with which to do so. McKay concludes that Stargate Command found a Zero Point Module and Everett informs him that the Daedalus will arrive in four days with it. In the conference room, Everett informs the others about their plan, but Weir is only allowed to join after Major John Sheppard insists. They are informed that they will use advanced RG/BBT SG military mounted guns originally intended for use on Prometheus, and eight Naquadah-enhanced 1200-megaton Nuclear warhead as stealth space mines. Along with these, they have brought a Mark II Naquadah generator, which is capable of a 600% power increase over Atlantis' Mark I reactors, and was designed to power the Control chair. After the meeting, the railguns are deployed and the mines are laid in space by cloaked Puddle Jumpers. Meanwhile, Everett visits Teyla Emmagan in the training room and orders her to stay out of the way, cementing the distrust surrounding her. After considerable tinkering, McKay is able to link the new reactor to the weapons chair, and the platform is activated by Dr. Carson Beckett. McKay subsequently discovers that there are only a few dozen Drone weapons left. The remaining multi-thousand were used during the original siege 10,000 years previously. Without warning, there is an alarm; the Long range sensorss have detected hundreds of asteroids heading straight towards the proximity-activated nuclear bombs. McKay assesses that the rocks were launched by the Wraith, who have somehow discovered the mines. With no way to deactivate the warheads, the locater signals of all eight warheads vanish on the display as the mines detonate, with the Wraith at a safe distance. The radiation causes interference that disables the sensors. Later, Everett meets with Sheppard in the Holo room and Sheppard grimly plays the history of the galaxy. Everett then informs him that he read the report Sheppard submitted surrounding the events in Rising. He explains that Colonel Marshall Sumner was a personal friend of his and that he is outraged with Sheppard for killing Sumner. Suddenly they are informed that there are approaching Wraith Darts and the battle for the city starts. Marines man the railguns and Sheppard takes the Chair; thanks to the Drone weapons and the railguns the first wave of Darts are destroyed but some parts of the city are hit. Contemplating strategies, Sheppard suggests that they remotely control the Puddle Jumpers using the Chair and fly them, cloaked, into the hive ships armed with an explosive; he believes they should ask the Genii to use their nuclear weapons. Suddenly Teyla enters and informs them that there are Wraith in the city, who had invaded during the first wave. Together with a group of Athosians, the military starts to search for them. Meanwhile Weir gates to the Genii world, but is captured by them and held hostage. They want to exchange her for the C-4 they have been cheated out of, however Weir is able to convince them that they will use the C-4 only to test the devices, while they could be used for their true purpose of destroying the Wraith. The Genii finally agree and supply the Atlantis team with two nuclear devices. The hunt for the Wraith is going badly, as the Wraith have begun damaging and destroying the Naqahdah generators powering the City. To make matters worse, McKay soon discovers that the Genii A-bombs are incomplete; he and Zelenka are soon in a lab completing the weapons against their fatigue, much to Beckett's disagreement. At Atlantis the test-run of Sheppard's plan is a success, so McKay and Zelenka start to install the completed weapons into the Jumpers. Meanwhile, several men are taken out by the Wraith and the wounded are taken to the Alpha site. A second wave of Darts appears without warning; Sheppard mans the control chair to take control of the Jumpers. After several attempts at initializing the Chair, McKay realizes the reactor has depleted its supply of Naqahdah. Desperate, Sheppard decides to fly the Jumper himself in a hive ship, much to the shock of Weir. As Weir cannot stop him, Sheppard rushes to the Jumper bay and takes it up. Outside, as Lt. Aiden Ford's team attempt to repel the Darts, a group of Wraith materializes in front of them. Inside, Everett's team is overrun and he is cornered by a Wraith. Out of ammo, the alien begins to feed off him. The final scene of season one sees Sheppard heading undetected into the Hive's Dart Bay, the nuke armed, while back in the control room, McKay counts down until detonation. + +The Atlantis expedition is now faced with the monumental task of destroying the remaining two Wraith Hive Ships. Lt. Aiden Ford and his team engage with the Wraith and as a result, both groups wipe each other out leaving Ford and a Wraith soldier as survivors. Surprising Ford with an attack from behind, the Wraith begins feeding on him until a near comatose marine detonates his grenades, the consequent blast hurling Ford and the Wraith into ocean. Major John Sheppard's brave attempt at a suicide mission succeeds; the Hive suffers fatal damage after the blast from the Genii A-bomb. Much to the relief of everyone in the city, the Daedalus has finally reached the city, and successfully rescues Sheppard by bringing him aboard. The ship's commander, Colonel Steven Caldwell, then sends two soldiers down to Atlantis to deliver the Zero Point Module to Dr. Rodney McKay, which was acquired by SG-1. ("Moebius, Part 2") McKay is ordered to install the module, but on his way to the ZPM station, the two marines are taken out by a Wraith. As he hopelessly defends himself, he is saved by Teyla Emmagan. Meanwhile the Daedalus joins the battle with the Wraith. The ship struggles at first to destroy the second Hive ship, since the nuclear missiles they fire at the ship are intercepted by Wraith Darts miles before reaching the target. Sheppard suggests targeting the Dart Bay using the Asgard transporters to dump the weapon straight into the ship. After persuading Hermiod (the Asgard engineer on board) to override the very safeties in the targeting system that prevents this, they beam a nuke into the ship, which is quickly destroyed. The Wraith cruisers and support vessels jump into hyperspace before the Daedalus can engage them, but the remaining Wraith darts attempt a suicide attack run on the city. The attack is stopped only moments before impact by Atlantis' shield, which McKay and Dr. Radek Zelenka were able to power up with the ZPM. With a few hours of calm, the city and surrounding areas are searched for survivors. Ford, who was thrown into the ocean, is recovered by the Daedalus and beamed down to the city. To Dr. Carson Beckett's horror, a Wraith still appears to be feeding off him when they rematerialize, but the alien is dead. Ford is alive and out cold, but the Wraith enzyme that strengthens hosts during feeding has been seeping into his system. The destruction of the Hive ships does not fully succeed in fending off the Wraith, as the escaped cruisers have called in backup. 12 more Hive ships are en route to Atlantis. On Atlantis, the command crew struggles between what to do about the Wraith, and how to deal with Ford, who is now addicted to a wraith enzyme which makes him stronger, but also make him paranoid. Although he wants to convince his friends that he is OK he reacts very violently towards Beckett when the Doctor wants him to come back to the infirmary. Sheppard suggests a preemptive strike against the new aggressors, which Caldwell agrees with. The Daedalus jumps to the Wraith's rest position and, using the same tactic as earlier, they successfully take out 2 Hive ships using the beams and nuclear warheads. Surprisingly, the Wraith then develop a countermeasure to the beaming technology, somehow blocking the Asgard transporters from materializing objects within the enemy ships. Unable to destroy the remaining Hive ships, the Daedalus disengages and returns to Atlantis suffering moderate but repairable damage in the process. They arrive back with only minutes to spare before the Hive ships enter the system. Caldwell sets the ship down on one of the city's piers, protected by the shield, to effect repairs to the damaged ship. Once in orbit, the Hive ships begin a full scale orbital bombardment on the Atlantis shield. Such a drain means that their new ZPM will be depleted in a matter of days. With the Asgard transporters countered somehow by the Wraith, it is likely the Daedalus re-engaging would result in another defeat (given the odds of ten Hive Ships and dozens of Cruisers against the single ship) which would leave Atlantis unable to strike back at the Wraith. The command crew comes up with a plan to make them think the city has been destroyed by self-destruct; by linking a cloaking generator from one of the Puddle Jumpers to the city's shield, they can make the entire city disappear. To make it look realistic, they plan to use the Daedalus to transport a nuke just above the shield to make it look like a self-destruct has taken place with the thermal pulse and blast wave blocking their sensors for just enough time, before switching the shield for the cloak, vanishing the city in a massive explosion. To further convince the Wraith that they are honest with their plan, Teyla will contact them through her telepathic link and plant a defiant thought; that the people on Atlantis are going to destroy the city rather than let the Wraith get their hands on it. As a precaution, the Daedalus loads up all non essential personnel. If the Wraith don't fall for the ruse, they will run the blockade followed by the last of the Atlantis personnel in cloaked Jumpers to the second planet in the system capable of supporting life. At which point the Jumpers and their self-contained life support (otherwise there would not be enough air for a long Daedalus trip back to Earth) will meet and leave the Galaxy. Meanwhile, Ford has gone insane. He attacks his guard in the infirmary, steals the remaining enzyme (he even threatens to shoot a wounded person in the infirmary) and commandeers a Puddle Jumper from Zelenka as the plan to fake a self-destruct is put into action, appearing at first to fool the Wraith. Using the Jumper's DHD, Ford dials an address, ignores Sheppard and escapes through the Stargate. Weir is shocked by Ford's actions, but also relieved that the energy surge from the gate wasn't detected by the Hives before they break orbit, convinced Atlantis was destroyed and the gateway to Earth is no longer available. + +While the Daedalus flies through hyperspace en route to Atlantis, Dr. Elizabeth Weir talks with Lt. Colonel John Sheppard in the Mess hall about several things such as his promotion; the return journey to Atlantis takes 18 days in hyperspace without the Zero Point Module. Their conversation is cut short when someone calls them; one of the engineers, Dr. Monroe, is dead. The crew are not sure what killed him; Dr. Rodney McKay begins reviewing the security-camera footage, but at the precise moment Monroe is killed, the camera cuts out. McKay concludes that the circuitry in the Engineering door was rewired to deliver a fatal electric shock, taking power from the security camera. McKay recommends dropping out of hyperspace so that they can check the electrical systems, but Colonel Steven Caldwell is unconvinced. He then talks with Weir, prompting a flashback of the Atlantis Command crew's return to Earth; the first is of a discussion at Stargate Command. During this meeting Major General Henry Landry and Weir discuss the military situation in Atlantis, and that Caldwell will be the new military commander, overlooking Sheppard because of his rank. However Weir wants Sheppard to stay military commander and threatens that she still has support from the president. Eventually The Pentagon backs down, promoting Sheppard to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and placing him in charge of the military personnel. Back on the Daedalus, McKay informs Caldwell that Monroe's death may not be an accident; Caldwell finally agrees and orders the crew to disengage the hyperdrive. In the Engine Room, McKay searches the computers for problems together with the ship's Asgard engineer Hermiod (with whom he quarrels) and Dr. Lindstrom. When Lindstrom stumbles upon something in the computers, another 'accident' occurs which turns out to be a coolant leak. While McKay is able to leave the room, Lindstrom has to hide in an airlock. Suddenly the outer doors open and Lindstrom is blown out into space. Later the command crew discuss what or who could have caused the accident. Caldwell orders all civilians to be confined to their quarters since at this stage, no-one can be trusted. Another flashback occurs in which the civilian leadership at the SGC talks about whom should join the Atlantis expedition. During this discussion it turns out that Dr. Simon Wallis, Weir's fiancée, doesn't want to join the expedition. She later confronts him but he needs time. On the Daedalus, Hermiod discovers a virus in the computer systems and, running a translation system, McKay concludes it is an Artificially-Intelligent virus written by the Wraith and most likely uploaded to the ship during one of the battles recently fought during the Battle of Atlantis. The crew concludes that the virus was designed to surrender the ship to the Wraith; it began by terminating personnel as it learned to use the ship's systems. Without warning, the vessel's communications array begins broadcasting a wide-band long-range distress call which the Wraith cannot fail to miss. McKay suggests performing a full shutdown of the ship's computer system to clear the active memory and then reboot the whole system using backups of the network. Meanwhile, attempts to deactivate the communications array have failed and Sheppard decides to use an F-302 fighter-interceptor to physically destroy the communication system. A few minutes later, he takes out a fighter and successfully disables the ship's communications systems, but as he tries to return to the ship, the F-302 doesn't respond to his commands. The team conclude that the virus managed to upload itself to the fighter's guidance computer and has taken over control. Sheppard suggests using the Asgard transporter to transport him out of the fighter, but the targeting systems were part of the array he has just destroyed. While the crew works on how to rescue him, Sheppard has a flashback of when he visits Lt. Aiden Ford's cousin, Lara, to tell her that Ford is missing. Afterwards McKay is able to beam out Sheppard with the Asgard beam using the signal from Sheppard's radio as a locator beacon, a technique last used on the Prometheus before the Asgard installed their own sensors onto the ship. Soon after, the ship's computer system is shut down. Weir has a flashback in which she talks with Simon, who has decided not to join the expedition since he met someone, which upsets Weir. Back on the ship, the system is rebooted successfully and Caldwell orders the ship to leave the area with sub-light engines. However they suddenly veer off course; the virus was not fully removed and has taken control of the ship's engines; it is now taking the vessel into a star. It turns out that the virus is adapting to its environment and is attempting to remove the source of resistance on board with the star's radiation. McKay concludes that the virus survived by uploading itself into an F-302 by referring to an incident at the SGC; McKay and Sheppard head to the hangar to resolve the situation but the virus has anticipated their course of action and sealed the doors. Because they can't enter the bay normally, Sheppard orders them to be beamed in, despite the risk. Transported successfully, McKay and Sheppard get to work disconnecting the navigational computers in the fighters. The virus opens the hangar doors but Hermiod is able to activate the hangar shield, preventing a decompression but not for long. The two quickly remove all memory units and then enter an F-302 just before the shield deactivates. Afterwards the computers are again shut down, but on reboot the virus once again returns. It survived this time by copying itself into the F-302 Sheppard used to destroy the communications array and is now floating in space. Sheppard makes the decision to destroy it (much to McKay's disagreement) and a battle between the two fighters occurs (taking them very close to the star's surface leading to McKay complaining about radiation). They are finally able to destroy it and this time the reboot works. Back in Atlantis Weir discusses the incident with Teyla Emmagan. Dr. Radek Zelenka informs the team that they made many interesting discoveries since they installed the Zero Point Module. Before he can launch into the details, Weir tells them all to get back to work. + +On P3M-736, Major Evan Lorne and a botanist, Dr. Parrish, are walking through a forest. While Parrish is interested in the vegetation, Lorne grows impatient. Suddenly they find a dead Wraith and so they return to the Stargate. However they are watched by Lt. Aiden Ford from a tree. Back at Atlantis, Lorne informs the others and Dr. Carson Beckett reveals that the enzyme sac was removed which identifies Ford as the one who did it. Dr. Rodney McKay however is not pleased to go to the planet since it has a very high UV rate. Later Lt. Colonel John Sheppard talks with Colonel Steven Caldwell who reminds him that Ford is now a threat to the base, much to Sheppard's annoyance. The team then flies to the planet with a Puddle Jumper and start to search the planet. Sheppard and Teyla Emmagan examine the place where the dead Wraith was found. McKay and Lorne talk about Ford while searching for him. Suddenly both teams see someone and chase that person. Before they can catch him, Teyla and Sheppard are shot. Lorne then contacts Atlantis and informs Dr. Elizabeth Weir about the situation. At daybreak, Sheppard and Teyla wake up in a cave and are confronted by a person who threatens them with a FN P90 Personal Defense Weapon. He then tells them that his name is Ronon Dex and he has a flashback about when he was in the military fighting the Wraith. Back at the Stargate teams start to search for their missing comrades. In the meantime Sheppard and Teyla talk with Ronon and he tells them that he has seen Ford and he again has a flashback about when Ford killed the Wraith. They tell him more about Ford and what has happened to him until Ronon leaves. While McKay talks with Lorne the Major is stunned by Ford who then takes McKay with him because he wants to prove that he is now much better. At the cave Sheppard and Teyla free themselves and confront Ronon and Teyla realizes that he is a Runner. He tells them that he was implanted with a Wraith tracker and then hunted. Afterwards he takes the two by surprise and holds Sheppard at gunpoint. Meanwhile Ford tells McKay what has happened to him since he left Atlantis. At the cave Sheppard makes a deal with Ronon which includes removing the tracking device from him. In exchange Ronon will help them capture Ford. Back in Atlantis Weir informs Dr. Carson Beckett about the situation but he is not happy. Back on the planet Ford starts to quarreling with McKay and then leaves to free Sheppard and Teyla but McKay follows him. At the cave Teyla talks with Ronon about his situation and he tells her that he has been hunted for seven years. Suddenly Sheppard and Beckett arrive and Beckett starts to examine Ronon, while Sheppard watches from a short distance away. Beckett is finally able to remove the device (although he had to do it while Ronon was awake and threatening Teyla with his weapon) but then Ronon passes out. Meanwhile, Ford stuns two soldiers and McKay angrily shoots on him then runs away. Suddenly the gate dials and three Wraith Darts come through. At the cave Ronon has left and attacks Ford who wants to kill McKay. The two fight until Sheppard intervenes and then Ford runs away. Sheppard confronts him but Ford runs in the culling beam of a Dart. Back at Atlantis the team informs the others but Caldwell is angry with Sheppard. Sheppard then visits Ronon and brings him to the control room where he is shown a picture of his world Sateda, the Wraith having left the world in ruins. + +While finishing up investigating the planet Thenora leveled by a Wraith attack, Dr. Rodney McKay and security team member Lt. Laura Cadman are scooped up into a Wraith Dart. However before the Dart can escape through the Stargate, Lt. Colonel John Sheppard and the rest of the team shoot it down to prevent the Wraith from learning that Atlantis was not destroyed. Sheppard reports back to Atlantis and has Dr. Radek Zelenka gate over to inspect the wreckage. After inspecting the wreck, Zelenka discovers that the Wraith beaming device contains the signatures of two life-forms, but only enough power to rematerialize one of them. He forces Sheppard to choose a life form not knowing which is which, then activates the materializer, and McKay appears. The group returns to Atlantis, hoping that McKay will find a new way to power the Dart and retrieve Cadman. Then, however, McKay claims to hear Cadman's voice — from inside his own head. Somehow, her consciousness has been downloaded into his body along with his own. While Zelenka works to repair the materializer, McKay and Cadman struggle to co-exist. After Cadman learns to control McKay's body, she can't resist making a few improvements — forcing him to exercise and giving him a woman's perspective on his big date with Dr. Katie Brown. McKay, however, is not even slightly amused. Meanwhile, Sheppard introduces Ronon Dex to life in Atlantis. He quickly grows to respect the enigmatic warrior's incredible abilities both with weapons and in hand-to-hand combat. Eventually, Sheppard decides that Ronon belongs on the Atlantis team — but he'll have to persuade both Dr. Elizabeth Weir and Ronon himself that this is the right decision. After Zelenka's latest attempt to repair the materializer fails, McKay and Cadman's situation grows dire — and not just because they're getting on each other's nerves. When they suffer a dangerous seizure, Dr. Carson Beckett informs them that the strain of containing two consciousnesses has become too great for McKay's body. One of them must voluntarily yield complete control to the other — and disappear forever — or they will both be lost. Cadman insists that she has to be the one to go, partly because she is convinced that McKay will never do so, and partly because it keeps getting harder and harder to hold on. She starts to write a letter home, and requests that McKay deliver it himself, and explain what happened, the next time he goes to Earth. This gives him an idea: interface a gate control module with the dart to build a stable system. Just before Zelenka is to activate the beam, Cadman asks him to wait, and walks over and kisses Beckett passionately "just in case this doesn't work", an act which McKay finds quite repulsive, telling Zelenka "ugh, just hit it." After de- and rematerialization, both collapse, and are taken to the infirmary. While they recuperate, Sheppard gets Weir's approval to include Ronon in his team. When McKay wakes up, he hears Cadman's voice asking him if he is feeling better. He looks at the empty bed at his left, and fears that the separation did not work, in reality, she is in the bed on his right side. He tells her that he feels a little less crowded, a feeling she shares, pleased to have her own body back. Cadman is then congratulated by Sheppard, for surviving what would probably have been his worst nightmare. At the very end, we see Beckett holding Cadman's hand in his, while smiling in a way that indicates that he shares at least some of what she feels for him. + +Lt. Colonel John Sheppard's team are flying in a Puddle Jumper through the Stargate on an unknown world. In the forest over which they fly they see smoke and find a small camp, however no people. Suddenly some people hiding in the bushes attack them with arrows and small explosives but when Sheppard calls to them they stop firing. The team then wants to retreat but the people then fire again. Suddenly some sort of airplane arrives, covers Sheppard's team and literally blows away some of the attackers with wind. This gives the team the possibility to escape to their Puddle Jumper, in which they are contacted by the plane to follow them. The team is led into a city where they are greeted by a woman named Marin who tells them that the island on which the Stargate is located is used as a penal colony. Afterwards they meet the Magistrate who reveals to them that they use the island as a prison. The Atlantis team is surprised that the city hasn't been attacked. The Magistrate says that the Wraith feed on the prisoners and are satiated before leaving the island. in this way the people on Olesia (the planet's name) have reached a high grade of technology. In fact, they have discovered a non radioactive fissionable ore that McKay finds very promising. The Magistrate also assures them that only the most violent criminals are sent to the island. After further talking Sheppard contacts Dr. Elizabeth Weir and informs her about the situation. They agree to talk about trading agreements with the Olesians. Ronon expresses surprise that the Wraiths don't attack the city and Sheppard finds the Magistrate a little creepy, but McKay argues this is just their civilization's form of capital punishment. Later the team flies back to the gate but during the flight the Jumper is attacked with some primitive explosives. One of them hits the Jumper and Sheppard is forced to crash-land. When they leave the Jumper they are taken captive by the prisoners. While the team is tied in a small flat, the prisoners try the new weapons and afterwards their leader Torrell orders Dr. Rodney McKay to fix the damaged Jumper. He agrees to do so when Torrell threatens to kill him. McKay then meets Eldon, who developed the explosives for the prisoners and now shall help him with the Jumper. Also Torrell threatens to kill one after another of McKay's team members if he can't fix the ship. Meanwhile in Atlantis Weir plans to search for Sheppard's team and together with Major Evan Lorne and a team flies with a Jumper to Olesia. There McKay works on their Jumper while talking with Eldon, who says that he is innocent. McKay then finds out that the main power-distribution has been damaged. He also realises there is no DHD on the island, so now there's no way to operate the Stargate. Eldon tells him that if he can't fix it, Torrell will make sure McKay and his friends are the first offered to the Wraith at the next culling. Back at the flat, McKay tells Torrell the Jumper can't be repaired. Torrell doesn't believe him, and orders him to choose who of his friends will die first. When McKay refuses, Torrell says he will give McKay some time to think it over and leaves. Eldon then tells them that most people on the island are innocent but were sent there nevertheless so that the Wraith have enough to feed on. He warns them that Torrell is not one of the innocent--he killed 8 people before coming the island and has killed 3 since. He says in the beginning only the worst criminals were sent to the island. But over time people became so afraid of the consequences that the crime rate fell dramatically. So they had to apply the same punishment for lesser and lesser crimes, and finally even to the innocent. In the Olesian city Weir in the meantime meets the Magistrate and they talk about the missing team and the Magistrate agrees to search for them. Back on the island Sheppard's team is freed by Eldon who wants to escape with them and they agree. McKay says the ship really is broken, but he might be able to fix the DHD so they can dial out and escape through the gate on foot. They then run to the Jumper where they plan to take out the guards. Suddenly the gate activates and a Wraith Dart flies through. This leads the guards away and the team is able to enter the Jumper. McKay starts on the repairs with Eldon's help. In the city Weir and her team are informed about the arrival of the Wraith but the Magistrate promises to search for the missing team again when the Wraith have left. Later the Magistrate meets with a single Wraith which came in the dart and it is revealed that the Magistrate and his predecessors have an agreement with him to give him enough food and in exchange they are spared from culling. This Wraith considers himself smarter and more sophisticated than most of his people. This arrangement has provided him with a steady source of food, so he has not needed to hibernate, and he even enjoys socializing with the Magistrate. Now, though, all the hive ships are awake and he has been pressured to make his source of humans available to more of his kind. The Wraith tell the Magistrate that he needs to augment the population on the island to give the Wraith more people to feed on and the Magistrate promises to do so. Afterwards the Wraith leaves the planet. Meanwhile Weir and her group are informed by Marin that the Magistrate told her to cancel the search for Sheppard's team and has ordered many innocent people to be arrested to augment the population on the island, but then the Magistrate appears with a security team and accuses Marin of lying and plotting to overthrow the government. He orders her to be arrested but Weir protects her and ends the alliance with the Olesians. Then she and her team leave after Weir warns the Magistrate, whom Lorne has at gunpoint, that he doesn't want to cross her. Returning to the island, Weir's Jumper detects three Wraith cruisers approaching, one heading straight for the island. Weir orders the Jumper cloaked. Back on the island McKay still tries to repair the Jumper while Sheppard, Teyla, and Rohon attack the returning guards. Although the three are armed only with sticks, they are able to defeat some of them but they are soon confronted by the other prisoners with their own weapons. Just as McKay is able to fix the Dial Home Device, Torrell and his men enter the Jumper and capture McKay and Eldon. Torrell threatens to shoot everyone if he and the other prisoners aren't allowed to return to Atlantis with them. Sheppard refuses, offering instead to dial a habitable planet for the prisoners to go to, but Torrell refuses as they could be sent through to an inhospitable planet instead. As they argue, a Wraith cruiser approaches to everyone's horror. While Torrell is distracted, Ronon is able to get his weapon back and enters a standoff with Torrell that ends when Sheppard orders McKay to dial the Stargate. However, McKay discovers that the intermittent power to the DHD has gone out again and he lacks the time to get it up again. Though Torrell offers to shoot down the cruiser, Teyla informs him that neither the prisoners weapons nor the team's will damage the cruiser. Instead, Sheppard asks McKay about the Puddle Jumper's drone weapons. As the drones are less intricate, McKay manages to get one online and Sheppard is able to damage the cruiser which retreats. Having reached the island, Weir and Lorne spot the drone attack and realize Sheppard was responsible. Weir calls over the radio to Sheppard that the cruiser has been damaged and is retreating, but two more are on the way. Torrell returns Sheppard's radio to him and Sheppard orders Weir to dial one of the backup planets for the Pegasus Alpha Site. Lorne dials the Stargate and Sheppard tells the prisoners to go and Weir to hold the Stargate open until they've all gone through. Though Torrell hesitates, he ultimately leaves through the Stargate with the other prisoners, still carrying one of the team's P90s. Once the prisoners are gone, Sheppard orders Weir to dial Atlantis and remain cloaked until the Wraith are gone. Once the Stargate is dialed, the team and Eldon race for it under fire from a second Wraith cruiser. The team makes it safely though the Stargate, the cruiser's fire just barely missing them. Detecting no humans on the island, the cruiser heads to the Olesian capital city to cull that instead. Spotting the cruiser on approach, the Magistrate watches in horror. + +When Lt. Colonel John Sheppard's team finds a planet with a destroyed Wraith fleet in orbit, they decide to investigate. They find a devastated planet and on it an intact Ancient outpost. Dr. Rodney McKay discovers that it is a Lantean science lab conducting experiments, as part of Project Arcturus, to create the successor to the Zero Point Module. While in the lab several Lantean bodies are found and questions about the safety of the experiment are asked. McKay in his usual bravado believes he can succeed where the Lanteans failed. McKay's rationale was that the scientists were under stress from the on-going Lantean-Wraith war and were pushed to failure. However on the first test of the experiment, Dr. Collins, a technician, is killed by a burst of Hard radiation. The safety of the experiment is reevaluated. However, McKay believes that the formulas used by the Ancients were wrong, thusly leading to the accident. He convinces Sheppard to talk to Dr. Elizabeth Weir in allowing him one more chance to test the device. Colonel Steven Caldwell backs him up, stating that they need this power source to eliminate the Wraith, run Atlantis' shield and even eliminate fossil fuels. While they are gone, Dr. Radek Zelenka realizes why the hard radiation is being created and why the experiment won't work. The reason why the project failed was because by attempting to withdraw vacuum energy from our space, it creates exotic particles that interact with the energy field in unpredictable manners. He attempts to convey this to McKay who retorts back that Zelenka is jealous of his brilliance, and charges forward. McKay starts up the experiment correcting what he believes were the Lanteans mistakes when the experiment begins to accelerate out of control. McKay continues to attempt to compensate for this uncontrollably when Sheppard finally quips that he's seen this behavior before when fighter pilots who tried to fix a crippled plane instead of ejecting and end up flying straight into the ground. This anecdote seems to set McKay back on track when he looks Sheppard in the face and says "We need to go, NOW!". Sheppard and McKay quickly flee in the Puddle Jumper with McKay warning Sheppard not to fly in predictable patterns to avoid the weapon locking onto them, something a pissed Sheppard is aware of. Sheppard's flies the Puddle Jumper erratically through the debris field with the weapons fire growing ever closer and destroying much of the debris. While Sheppard suggests flying away and coming back after the overload, McKay tells him the explosion will take out 3/4 of the solar system and they have no choice but to head for the Stargate. McKay dials the Stargate and wonders how they will avoid getting hit by the weapon on the final approach, but Sheppard doesn't have an answer. As the weapons fire closes in on the Jumper and it flies into clear space, the Daedalus suddenly rises up between the weapon and the Jumper. To Sheppard and McKay's surprise, Colonel Caldwell contacts them over the radio stating that they had dropped by to check on their progress on the way back to Earth. Caldwell orders the Daedalus to run interference so Sheppard and McKay can make it through the Stargate. With the Daedalus protecting them, Sheppard and McKay make it through the Stargate. The Daedalus then jumps to hyperspace mere moments before the planet explodes and the explosion engulfs 5/6 of the solar system. Meanwhile, Teyla Emmagan and Ronon Dex have been on a diplomatic mission to a Belkan city to foster a trading relationship. While at the local tavern Ronon runs into Solen Sincha an old comrade and discovers that not all the people of his planet Sateda had been captured or destroyed by the Wraith. The remaining people of his planet, three hundred or so, are scattered across several different worlds. He also learns that Kell, his old mentor, is also in the city and arranges to meet him. The meeting is over rather quickly when Ronon, upon seeing his old mentor, kills him instantly with a shot to the chest. Teyla, horrified by his actions, confronts Ronon, who explains that during their stand against the Wraith, Kell acted with extreme cowardice and sacrificed entire squads of soldiers to save himself. Upon hearing his explanation Teyla agrees that she would probably have done the same thing if she were in his shoes, but that Weir and the others would not be so understanding of his actions and they should keep this incident a secret. After the events on Doranda, McKay is read the riot act by Weir, seen briefly by a returning Teyla and Ronon. McKay later approaches Sheppard near a transporter to apologize, having already apologized to Weir and thanked Caldwell for the rescue. Sheppard admits that while it may take some time for him to trust McKay again, he's sure McKay can do it if he really wants to. + +Lt. Colonel John Sheppard's team discovers a village on the planet. They hear stories about a creature called the Daimos that comes out of the woods to feed on humans. The villagers tell of a ship crash many years ago, where there was apparently one survivor – a Wraith. The team decides to help rid the village of the creature they fear and go out looking for it. One of the team’s members who has the ability to sense Wraith, Teyla Emmagan, says she senses the presence of a Wraith, but that it is different. She can’t pinpoint why, but she knows that there is something different about it. Ronon Dex, the newest member of the team and an expert Wraith hunter, tracks down the Wraith as it runs into a cave. When the team enters the cave they find what they are looking for and are also surprised to see a man, Zaddik, protecting the frightened Wraith. Immediately, they assume that this is the Wraith that is feeding on the humans in the village and causing much fear amongst the villagers. They are prepared to kill her, but the man insists that they listen to his tale. They learn that the Wraith is named Ellia and was discovered by Zaddik at the site of the crash that the villagers described earlier. He could not bring himself to kill her, like he was supposed to, and he raised her by himself with compassion and love. Her personality is like that of a human and she is both excited and fearful of the team from Atlantis. She dreads the thought of feeding off humans. Zaddik tells them that she could not be responsible for the humans that are being fed upon because he has created a serum that suppresses the Wraith's natural need to feed on humans. Initially wary of his claims, the team is convinced when they hear of another human being fed on while Ellia is in the cave with them. This means that Ellia could not have done it. The team is excited about this discovery. Teyla asks Ellia to help them discover the other Wraith. All Wraith are connected through a telepathic network and Teyla plans to use this to help them discover the whereabouts of the other Wraith. They have some success with this and are given the general direction of that the other Wraith is heading. Meanwhile, Dr. Carson Beckett is called in to examine the serum. They believe it could be an invaluable discovery. While Beckett and Zaddik are talking, Beckett mentions an Iratus bug retrovirus that he has been working on. This retrovirus is designed to turn Wraiths into humans by altering their DNA, because Wraiths started out as humans. Ellia overheard this conversation and was overjoyed that she would have a chance to become human. She hates being a Wraith and is desperate to be human. The secret that she carries with her tears her up inside. Zaddik truly believes that the liquid works in suppressing her need to feed on humans. It doesn't. Ellia has been feeding on humans without Zaddik knowing, and she hates herself for it. She decides that she can’t do it any longer and despite the retrovirus not being ready, she takes it without Beckett’s knowledge, and it has a horrible effect on her. The exact opposite of what she was dreaming for. Wraiths are a mixture of human and an insect called the Iratus bug. The retrovirus turns her more into the bug than human. Ellia confesses what she has done to Zaddik and also tells him of how she has fed on humans the whole time, timing it to match the feeding time of the other Wraith, and that his serum never worked. She is overwhelmed with guilt and runs out of the cave. During this confession, the team is out looking for the other Wraith. Beckett and Dr. Rodney McKay are attacked by it. However, despite Ellia turning more and more away from being human, she finds it in her to kill the Wraith who had attacked Beckett and McKay. They probably would not have survived without her. Ellia runs off immediately after saving them. Zaddik is out looking for her while this is happening and they encounter each other. Ellia throws him across the forest when he approaches her. The villagers hear the commotion and locate Zaddik. He is mortally wounded. One of the villagers, Goran, is told by Zaddik that Zaddik is his son. Initially, Goran does not believe it. He says that his son would be much younger than Zaddik appeared to be. It’s revealed that Zaddik let Ellia feed on him briefly during the time he worked on his serum, which made him look older than he was. Zaddik never reveals that Ellia ever fed on anyone and dies shortly after. Now the team is looking for Ellia, because she is too much of a danger to be left alone. She barely resembles a human at this point and is extremely strong and fast. Sheppard finds her and says he will try to help her, to reverse the effects of the retrovirus. But it is too late. She is too far gone and attacks Sheppard. She begins to feed on him while Ronon runs up to the scuffle. He realizes that there is nothing he can do but shoot her. She is fatally wounded. Sheppard and Ronon both realize that there was nothing else that could be done, even if they wanted to save her. + +The episode continues the events from the previous episode "Instinct", in which Lt. Colonel John Sheppard was wounded by Ellia after she mutated. He is brought in the infirmary although he doesn't think this is necessary. His wound is treated but it turns out that it completely healed, much to the surprise of Dr. Carson Beckett. The two speculate what could have happened and while Beckett analyzes the blood sample, Sheppard leaves. He later runs against Ronon Dex and is much quicker than him, which surprises the two. Later he trains with Teyla Emmagan who he also easily defeats. However he then pins her against the wall and kisses her. Surprised, he leaves. Later Sheppard meets with Dr. Elizabeth Weir and Beckett, who reveals that he is infected with the Iratus bug retrovirus, because of the wound from Ellia. He is thus removed from duty and ordered to return to the infirmary every six hours. At night, Weir meets with Colonel Steven Caldwell who talks with her about Sheppard. He tells her that he wants to take over Sheppard's duties and she tells him that she will think about this. Meanwhile Sheppard enters his room and when he looks at his arm it turns out that he is starting to mutate. The next day he is scanned by Beckett who reveals that he is mutating into a creature similar to Ellia, which will happen within a matter of days. Although Beckett can't stop it, he injects Sheppard with a viral inhibitor which slows down the virus in his brain. Sheppard then wakes up and tells Weir that he feels like Lt. Aiden Ford must have felt while on the Wraith enzyme. Later the doctors at Atlantis discuss what to do and Beckett points out that they should use Iratus bug stem cells to attack the virus from the inside. However the cells they have are too old to be used so they need new. Meanwhile Weir meets with Caldwell and tells him to take over Sheppard's duties but he proposes some changes which she doesn't like. Later she discusses with Dr. Rodney McKay, Beckett and Major Evan Lorne the plan to get stem cells from Iratus bug embryos and although it's a dangerous mission she allows it. Afterwards Sheppard visits her he wants on this mission but she doesn't allow it so he angrily crashes the glass of her office. On a planet Lorne's team finds a cave full of Iratus bugs and enters it. On Atlantis, Weir talks with Sheppard whose mutation continues and so he proposes a stronger security at his room. Back on the planet the team finds a large room in the cave full of bugs but when Beckett tries to get to the embryos they attack. They are forced to flee but two members of the team are killed so Lorne ends the mission. Back at Atlantis Weir informs Sheppard who wants them to try again. When she refuses he attacks her and then escapes his room. The others then try to capture him but he moves very quickly and is unharmed by the Wraith weapons which should stun him. He then defeats a team and flees before Teyla can capture him, but Ronon finally stuns him with his Particle magnum. Sheppard is then put into a medically induced coma, but in 24 hours the virus will have taken him over completely. Later Beckett finds out a way to probably help Sheppard. He proposes sending Sheppard to take the embryos because he produces signature pheromones of the bugs so they won't attack him. By injecting him an overdose of viral inhibitor he would have one hour to act. Weir then allows the mission and Sheppard goes with his team to the cave. He is able to get the stem cells but then storms out of the cave and is stunned by Ronon. Back at Atlantis Beckett tells the others that the transformation has begun to reverse itself which will however take some time. A few weeks later, Sheppard has become himself again and so he visits Teyla. He tells her that he started to remember things about what has happened during the time that he wasn't himself and that he wants to say sorry but she tells him to forget it. However, Teyla calls Sheppard "John" as he'd told her to during the incident in the gym. + +In the Mess hall of Atlantis, two members of the expedition are playing chess, while Ronon Dex watches them. Ronon, biased to physical action and who has little time for intellectual pursuits, finds the strategy-and-tactics game laughable. Dr. Elizabeth Weir joins Ronon at a table, and Weir and Ronon have an embarrassing misunderstanding, arising from a misunderstood definitional cross-reference as to the meaning of the phrase "I'm leaving". Dr. Rodney McKay calls Weir, saving her from further embarrassment. In the command center, McKay shows Weir and Lt. Colonel John Sheppard a galactic map, which shows the Ancient ship Aurora, activated by subspace beacon transmitted when they installed the Zero Point Module. Because there is no other way to reach Aurora, the team decides to use the Daedalus to fly to the ship's position, although Colonel Steven Caldwell at first wants to take this mission alone. Weir refuses, and insists Sheppard and his team pursue the mission. They reach Aurora, and detect a Wraith scout ship--which the Daedalus quickly destroys as it approaches. They decide to board the Aurora, which is badly damaged, so Sheppard's team has to wear Space suits as they beam onto it. They discover hundreds of stasis pods, which contain members of the crew. McKay activates Aurora's life support systems, so the Atlantis team no longer has to use bulky spacesuits. McKay determines that although the pod systems have kept the crew alive for a very long time, they will eventually die, because although their aging has been drastically slowed, it has not been stopped--and over the course of ten thousand years, their bodies have become very atrophied and aged. McKay also monitors their cortical activity, and concludes further that the Ancients' minds are connected to each other, and that they are collectively experiencing and interacting in a virtual environment. In order to communicate with the Ancients, McKay decides to use an empty stasis pod to connect himself to the link between the Ancients, but Teyla, realizing that the situation is best managed by McKay monitoring the situation, appeals to McKay's ego, and Sheppard goes in instead. In stasis, Sheppard finds himself in a virtual environment on a simulated Aurora. Sheppard is soon confronted by an Ancient and brought before the Captain of Aurora, but none of Aurora crew seem to realize that they are in stasis. Sheppard is then brought into a holding cell, where he tells them about Atlantis today, and that the Ancients ultimately lost the war against the Wraith. The Aurora captain does not believe Sheppard, and declares he has information about a weakness in Wraith technology. Sheppard then disconnects from the virtual environment and informs McKay and Caldwell about what he has learned, and reenters the virtual environment. Meanwhile, the Daedalus detects two Wraith cruisers--which will reach them within the hour. In the virtual environment, Sheppard talks with First Officer Trebal, whom he again tries to persuade that what he says is true--she says that she will inform the captain. However, the Aurora Guard tells Sheppard he has been ordered to ignore him, so Sheppard escapes the cell by momentarily disconnecting, then reentering the environment, and taking a weapon from the guard who has entered the cell to investigate his vanishing. Outside, Teyla Emmagan and Ronon search through the actual Aurora, and find the long-decomposed body of an Ancient woman outside the stasis pods, who had been removed from it, and killed, by a Wraith. The Wraith had subsequently linked with the virtual environment through the pod. McKay and Sheppard later surmise--due to her uncooperative conduct--that the Wraith is masquerading as the first officer. The Wraith also found the ship once it became active, and reconfigured the system to their advantage. Because the Atlantis team cannot risk killing Sheppard, McKay searches for a way to disconnect the Wraith "manually". Sheppard, meanwhile, finds the captain on the virtual bridge, and tries to convince the captain that what Sheppard is saying is true, but Sheppard is stunned by the first officer, who again convinces the captain that they have other things to do, and to ignore Sheppard's warnings. On the actual Aurora, McKay decides to link himself to the virtual environment in order to warn Sheppard, and virtual McKay is also arrested by members of the Aurora crew. Meanwhile, Teyla and Ronon "stall" Caldwell from learning about McKay's entrance into the virtual environment--Caldwell wants to destroy Aurora and leave before the Wraith get there. In the virtual cell, McKay informs Sheppard what he has learned, and Sheppard concludes that the first officer is Wraith. McKay then is able to free them and even stun two of the guards. Outside the virtual environment, Teyla is forced to tell Caldwell the truth, and Ronon and Teyla are beamed back to the Daedalus, and they decide to wait until the last moment to retrieve Sheppard and McKay. On the virtual Aurora, McKay determines that the Wraith has deleted the important information about the weakness in the Wraith technology from the Aurora's computer files. McKay and Sheppard conclude that the Wraith is deceiving the Aurora crew into divulging the secrets of the intergalactic type of hyperdrive--so that the Wraith can reach Earth, the Wraith's sought-after "new feeding ground". When McKay catches a glimpse of the first officer he comments that she is really "hot", commenting on her physical attractiveness. Sheppard chides McKay for 'drooling' over someone who seems to be a human female, but who is, in fact, Wraith. While Sheppard proceeds once more to speak with the captain, McKay disconnects himself from the virtual environment, and then moves to physically disconnect the Wraith interloper. As Sheppard is trying to convince the captain and bridge crew that the first officer is actually Wraith, McKay unplugs the Wraith, thereby causing the female first officer to be revealed for what 'she' really is, in front of the captain and crew--and then causing 'her' to disappear from the virtual environment. This convinces the crew of the Aurora that Sheppard is obviously telling the truth. The Wraith awakens in the real world, none too pleased, and as McKay is standing next to the stasis pod containing the Wraith, he runs for his life while emptying the magazine of his sidearm at the Wraith. Meanwhile, Sheppard talks with the captain, who now believes him, but it turns out that the captain does not know the contents of the communique about the Wraith weakness--it is lost forever. The captain decides to help Sheppard destroy the two Wraith cruisers. Sheppard disconnects just in time to finish off the furious, already-wounded Wraith who had been hunting McKay. The two Wraith cruisers arrive, and Sheppard and McKay are beamed aboard the Daedalus. Sheppard then reveals that the captain of the Aurora gave him his self-destruct codes. The Daedalus flees--and, as the Aurora explodes, the explosion also destroys both Wraith cruisers. Back in Atlantis, the team informs Weir about what has happened and concludes from communications monitored from the Wraith cruisers that the Wraith did not have time to transmit the specifications of Ancient intergalactic hyperdrive technology--and at the request of the Aurora captain, the Atlantis team drinks a champagne toast to the crew of the Aurora. + +Lt. Colonel John Sheppard's team slog through woods on an unnamed planet, pursuing a tip from Teyla Emmagan's contacts. Dr. Rodney McKay whines as usual. The team is suddenly stunned by Wraith weapons wielded by humans, and awake sitting at a table on another planet. There they are greeted by the former Lt. Aiden Ford. He invites them to eat, and tells them what happened to him after he was culled by a Wraith Dart (see "Runner"): he reveals how he was rematerialized on a Wraith cruiser, escaped, met some men in a tavern, told them of the Wraith enzyme and organized them into an enzyme-powered strike team. They even captured some Wraith warriors whom they keep stunned inside their base to get more enzymes. Afterwards, Ford tells them that he wants to show Sheppard's team how good they have become as a result of the enzyme. Later, he reveals that he put some enzyme into the team's meal, which makes McKay especially angry. Sheppard then talks to Ford privately, who tells him that his food was clean so that he can convince Dr. Elizabeth Weir that his team became better because of the enzyme. He allows them to go around freely but when they check the Stargate they find that Ford removed the control crystals from the Dial Home Device so they can't escape. Sheppard then decides to play along with Ford's plan. Back at Atlantis Weir tells Major Evan Lorne that Sheppard's team hasn't made contact, so they decide to search for them. Ford orders Teyla and Sheppard to accompanying his people on an off-world mission. On the planet they find a base of the Genii from whom they plan to steal the weapons which the Genii stole from Atlantis. Meanwhile Ford's lab man, Jace, reveals to McKay that the Wraith are intensely territorial and working on a system to prevent inter-ship communication. Elsewhere, Ford trains with his men then talks with Ronon Dex about the enzyme. On the off-world mission, one man of the team is killed but the team still manages to retrieve the stolen Atlantis C-4. After the mission, Kanayo reveals to Sheppard and Teyla that they want to destroy a Wraith Hive Ship. Back in the base Ford shows them a Wraith data storage device from which they retrieved the course of a Hive ship which they want to destroy. McKay thinks this is crazy even when Ford shows them a damaged Wraith Dart which McKay has to repair and Sheppard to fly. Sheppard convinces McKay to do it, so they can escape back to Atlantis. Afterwards Sheppard coerces Ford into accepting some conditions. Lorne's team meanwhile finds out that Sheppard's team isn't on the planet anymore. Dr. Radek Zelenka then checks the Dial Home Device whence they get 50 gate addresses which makes it nearly impossible to find the team. Lorne then talks with Weir and tells her what they found out. Back at Ford's base McKay repairs the dart while Teyla and Ronon train with Ford's team and get more of the enzyme. Sheppard talks with Ford, who tells him that he wants to return home, but not before completing the mission. Afterwards he talks with Ronon and Teyla who become more aggressive because of the enzyme. McKay comes, tells them the dart is ready, and then shows Sheppard how its new Earth-people controls work. But then Ford reveals that his homesickness was merely a trick and he knows about Sheppard's plan to escape back to Atlantis and thus leaves McKay on the planet as a hostage. He also tells him that the Dart's DHD can only be set to the intended planet where the Hive ship will be. Sheppard has no other option but to follow Ford's orders. He then activates the dart and collects Ford's team with the culling beam. He then flies with the dart to the planet and from there to the Hive ship. But when they approach it the Autopilot activates and the ship becomes automated. Inside the ship he rematerializes the team but a few of them fall from a cliff because Sheppard rematerialized them while flying blind. Sheppard then lands and attacks some Wraith, triggering an alarm and a big fight against hordes of defending Wraith occurs. They are overwhelmed and stunned. They wake up in a cell where Ford accuses Sheppard of sabotaging his mission. Some Wraith then enter and want to know who flew the dart. When Sheppard reveals that it was him, he is taken away. He is brought into a large room where he is confronted by the Queen of the ship. + +Before the Wraith queen can interrogate Lt. Colonel John Sheppard, she senses that a second Wraith Hive Ship arrives (which is also sensed by Teyla Emmagan) and he is brought back into the cell. Meanwhile Dr. Rodney McKay, still on Aiden Ford's hideout planet, tries to convince his guards to let him go since the mission seems to have gone awry, but they refuse. After much hesitation he decides to inject himself with a massive amount of the Wraith enzyme. Thanks to this he easily disables the guards, then takes the control crystals Ford has removed from the Dial Home Device. He replaces them, and escapes to Atlantis where he babbles excitedly and then collapses due to enzyme overdose. Sheppard, Ronon Dex, Teyla, Ford and Kanayo are able to escape from the cell by throwing knives into the device that controls the cell door. They then try to escape with the Wraith Darts. Soon, however, they are captured once again after stopping to rescue some cocooned live humans. They are separated into two cells, with Teyla, Ronon, and Kanayo in one cell, while Ford, Sheppard, and the woman they rescued earlier are in another. At Atlantis the Daedalus arrives to help while McKay is facing withdrawal from the enzymes. Because they have none, McKay faces a hard withdrawal which causes him to become very hyperactive and speak excitedly. Dr. Carson Beckett tries to help him by talking with him but in the end McKay has to make it alone. Meanwhile, the people on board the Hive ship who have taken the enzyme experience the same withdrawal. While Teyla and Ronon are able to withstand it without damage, Kanayo dies shortly thereafter because he was addicted too long. Ford also is near death but Sheppard convinces him to fight. The former Lieutenant is later taken away by the Wraith to be cocooned while they also take Kanayo's corpse away. Later the woman (named Neera), imprisoned with Sheppard, flirts and snuggles and tells him about herself, her world and what has happened to them. She then tries to acquire information from him, particularly the name of his world. He refuses to tell her anything, and is taken away to be interrogated by the queen again. During the interrogation, the woman in the cell is revealed to be a "Wraith worshipper" like thousands of others in the galaxy. Sheppard then tells her that he is the same and has made "deals" with the other queen that arrived earlier in the episode, namely to get rid of the current hive ship to not have to share feeding victims. Suddenly Ford appears and rescues Sheppard. After giving Sheppard Ronon's Particle magnum, Ford stays behind to cover him while Sheppard escapes and also rescues Teyla and Ronon. Sheppard then boards a Wraith Dart with Ronon and Teyla dematerialized in the "cargo hold". He then leaves the ship while hundreds of other darts leave both Hive ships. McKay in the meantime finally became free of the enzyme and informs Weir about what has happened and that the Wraith plan to cull a planet. The Daedalus then travels to Edowin where the culling is to take place and arrives just when it begins. When they try to contact Sheppard they get no answer and prepare to destroy the ships. The attempt to beam nuclear warheads onto the ships fails due to the jamming code the Wraith have developed, and immediately after, the ships attack Daedalus. Seeing the state of the battle, Sheppard turns his Dart on the second hive ship and opens fire, causing the other Darts to turn on each other and eventually the hive ships follow suit. The crew of the Daedalus realize what Sheppard's done and watch in amazement as the hive ships exchange fire until one explodes and the explosion destroys the other. To everyone's horror, the explosion destroyed all of the Darts including, presumably, Sheppard's. On Atlantis, Weir receives word from Chuck that the Daedalus had called off the search, believing that there is nothing to search for. Moments later, the Stargate activates and to Weir and Chuck's relief, Sheppard, Ronon and Teyla arrive. A short time later, the Daedalus lands on the East Pier and McKay is stunned to find his team alive. Sheppard explains that once the hive ships started firing on each other, he realized that it was only a matter of time until they destroyed each other. Rather than head for the Daedalus, Sheppard took his Dart to the nearby Spacegate and dialed a planet he could safely land the Dart, believing it would not fit in the Atlantis Gateroom. He then rematerialized Ronon and Teyla so they could return home. Sheppard goes on to explain how he used information from Ford's group to push the Wraith to fight each other, leaving everyone pleased by the growing divisions between the Wraith and their new potential strategy for fighting them. While Teyla states that Ford was on the hive ship when it was destroyed, Sheppard tells everyone that Ford was last seen on the hive ship and knowing Ford, they may encounter him again. + +While scouting a planet by Puddle Jumper, the team notices what appears to be a massive crater on the surface. Dr. Rodney McKay asks to check out the rim of the crater as he has detected energy readings, but once they get there, all they find is a doorway and some Ancient writing. However, the energy readings are coming from the doorway. Just to be safe, McKay ties a camcorder to the end of a stick and puts it through the door, discovering an energy barrier that it must pass through. He then pulls it out and deduces that the other side appears safe, allowing Lt. Colonel John Sheppard to pass through. A problem arises, however, when Sheppard is unable to pass back through the doorway, and suffers injuries from the stresses of the barrier. What is more troubling, though, is that time within the barrier seems to be passing much faster than time outside the barrier, which Rodney failed to realize until further review of the tape after Sheppard passed through. Sheppard could already be starving to death. McKay, Ronon Dex, and Teyla Emmagan quickly toss all their supplies through the portal. Then McKay departs for Atlantis to get help — before Sheppard dies of old age. Indeed, inside the portal, days have passed. Trapped in a cave without food, water, or word from his team, Sheppard is discouraged. The arrival of the supplies helps, but when more days pass with no further contact, he's forced to seek food elsewhere. He discovers that, on the other side of the immense mountain range above him, the cave opens into a verdant valley. Unexpectedly, a man races up to him, shouting frantically about a beast. Then the beast — a semi-invisible monster — attacks them both, knocking Sheppard unconscious. He awakens in a tranquil village. The man, Avrid, and his sister, Teer, explain that the Ancients created this valley as a place for people to meditate on spiritual truths and, eventually, Ascend to a higher plane of existence. To Sheppard's horror, they add that, except by Ascending, no one can leave the valley. Ever. Weeks turn into months as, with Teer's help, Sheppard struggles to adapt to his new life. Then, one day, the mysterious beast attacks the village. To Sheppard's disgust, the villagers hide, leaving him to face the creature alone. He barely survives. Feeling abandoned by his teammates and now by the passive villagers, the deeply frustrated Sheppard tries to make his new friends understand that Ascension won't mean much if they're mauled to death before they can achieve it. Meanwhile, outside the barrier, only a few hours have passed and the team has returned. Although a probe sent through the field is destroyed, it locates the power source of the field and McKay also concludes that time in the field passes about 250 times faster than in real time, which would mean that a single hour in real time would equate to at least 10 days within the field. Inside the field, Teer confidently responds that her lifetime of spiritual practice has given her clairvoyance. This power warns her that the beast will attack Sheppard's team. But this time he gets help from the villagers who have realized that the beast is only a manifestation of their fears. Now that they have realized this they all ascend – and although they extend an offer to join them, Sheppard declines. Teer then turns to McKay, advising that he not remove the ZPM, for it must remain for others to use. However, they will open the barrier for them to leave. + +Lt. Colonel John Sheppard meets with Dr. Radek Zelenka in the Gate room aboard Atlantis. Zelenka is being sent to M7G-677 ("the planet with all the kids") to repair their Electromagnetic field generator. Zelenka however, is not happy; he does not like children. Meanwhile, Dr. Rodney McKay radios Sheppard, Dr. Elizabeth Weir and Ronon Dex to show them two Wraith cruisers he has discovered near Atlantis, but not on their way to the city. They are actually shooting at each other. At Stargate Command, Major General Henry Landry is visited by Agent Malcolm Barrett, who informs him that The Trust is now controlled by the Goa'uld and that they have planted a bomb in Atlantis, which will explode the next time the Atlantis expedition dials Earth – which is scheduled for later that day. Landry orders Dr. Bill Lee to quickly find a way to warn them. Back in Atlantis, McKay meets Lt. Laura Cadman again but feels uneasy around her, due to a previous situation. Meanwhile, Teyla Emmagan asks Dr. Carson Beckett to accompany her to the mainland to examine her old friend Charin who is very ill. They do so and Charin asks Teyla to prepare the Ring Ceremony, which is used to celebrate the natural death of a person. On Earth, Dr. Bill Lee discovers a way to contact Atlantis by using a small planet at the edge of the Milky Way galaxy and the Daedalus as relay points. They are able to contact the Daedalus, which then relays the warning message just in time to prevent Atlantis from dialing the Stargate. Afterward, McKay disconnects the Zero Point Module while teams search the city for explosives. Unfortunately, they find nothing. The Daedalus is also called back to the city to help find the saboteur; but before this happens, they relay another message to Atlantis. Suddenly, Atlantis' Dial Home Device begins to dial Earth on its own but can not establish a connection due to insufficient power. As if in response, the city's transmitter sends a beacon to the nearby Wraith cruisers, alerting them to Atlantis. The city will have to be cloaked again. Later, Weir begins an inquiry to find out who planted the bomb and when the Daedalus returns, she questions Dr. Peter Kavanagh who was aboard the ship. Kavanagh, however, reasons that he is the main suspect because Weir is being driven by emotions. Next, Weir questions Dr. Lindsey Novak but during the inquiry, McKay has made a discovery: there is no bomb. In truth, the fail-safe of the ZPM was deactivated and blocked with a code, thus causing a massive overload in the device if enough energy is supplied. They now have a dilemma, they need the ZPM to cloak the city. Weir questions Kavanagh a second time, but he does not say anything. She then discusses the situation with the senior staff and Ronon hints at torturing the code out of Kavanagh as a quick solution; however, Kavanagh immediately faints under threat from Ronon. Meanwhile, Teyla evacuates her people back to Atlantis and also tries to persuade Charin to let herself be treated by Beckett; however, Charin is accepting of her fate to die a natural death. She is later brought to the Atlantis infirmary and although Beckett wants to treat Charin, Teyla persuades him to let Charin die. The Wraith have appeared above Atlantis and the city must be cloaked to avoid detection. However, the Inertial dampeners of the city suddenly activate which causes the ZPM to overload. Atlantis will be destroyed in roughly 30 minutes. The senior staff then decides to evacuate the people of Atlantis to a planet in the same solar system where they found the crash-landed Wraith ship and it is at this point that Dr. Weir authorizes the torture of Kavanagh. While all the preparations are being done for evacuation, Teyla and Beckett conduct the Ring Ceremony for the dead Charin, during which Teyla sings for her. Ten minutes before the ZPM would have overloaded, Cadman informs Weir and McKay that she discovered that Colonel Steven Caldwell was responsible for everything. When they question Caldwell, they find that he is a Goa'uld. Ronon subdues Caldwell and Sheppard uses a Taser on him, allowing Caldwell to momentarily take back control and give the team the fail-safe code. McKay enters it into a console and the overload is averted. Later, McKay informs Beckett and Cadman that Hermiod plans to use the Asgard transporter beam to remove the Goa'uld symbiote from Caldwell; the next episode shows that Hermiod does this successfully. Zelenka has also returned from M7G-677, face painted, hair beaded, and in a foul mood. Weir talks with Sheppard and questions her decision in handling Kavanagh, but Sheppard reassures her that she only did what she had to do. + +Dr. Rodney McKay and Captain Hugh Griffin are flying from the mainland back to Atlantis. McKay is worried about the ship, considering it's the first flight its had since it was shot down. ("Condemned") He is also getting irritated by Griffin going on about how science is subject to change. As an example, Griffin explains that Columbus disproved a flat earth, which is actually historically false because no one doubted that the earth was a globe. Otherwise, all seems to be going well until they experience a malfunction and the ship suddenly crashes into the ocean. Back in the Jumper, McKay tries to stave off his claustrophobia and think of a way to save himself. Turning on the emergency transmitter, he discovers that he only has 3 hours of power left in the Jumper because the inertial dampeners were using up most of the power. McKay immediately commits to the idea of doom and starts panicking. Suddenly, Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter appears to McKay in his hallucinations, wearing pink! outfit and unzipped to show some cleavage. After taking a moment to take in the fact that he's hallucinating, and her distracting cleavage, Carter explains to him that she's there as a hallucination to help him and probably due to the rather bad concussion on his head. Back in Atlantis, Sheppard suddenly has a bright idea. If they can turn the Jumper's cloak into a shield like the Atlantis' shield was turned into a cloak, they could dive even deeper. Zelenka informs him that it would take up a lot of power and shutting down anything they don't need would take hours to reconfigure. Sheppard suggests that they make the changes on the way as they make their way down there. Zelenka is reluctant as he can't even swim, he protests, but is finally convinced to help his colleague. McKay's Jumper hits the bottom. Just as McKay is elated that finally a bit of luck, at least it's stopped going any further down, Carter unconvinced, points to the bottom of the Jumper. Sadly the Jumper is leaking, probably due to landing impact, and is taking in water. Now McKay is even more pressed for time to find a solution fast. Soon after the level of water is already reaching his knees. Before when he flirted with Carter she fought him off, however now suddenly she's stripped off to just her bra and is swimming around in the 'indoor-pool' provocatively, coming on to McKay saying that since this is his hallucination, and since he's in such dire straits she reconsidered and now thinks he at least deserves a little 'sugar' after all, then much to his surprise starts kissing him. Though he's appreciative and more than eager to flirt back and finally 'get it on' with with his beloved Carter, he then also suspiciously fears she might just be distracting him from working on a solution, knowing there's literally minutes only left to do so, so reluctantly finally rejects her, calling her her "Lt. Colonel Siren". Finally onto something, Zelenka manages to get the shield up and running. Under the pressure of the ocean, the shield is continually draining power to fight it. They have about 30 minutes if the shield continues to drain power at that extra rate. Sheppard notices that the monster (which McKay had heard a little while back, and worriedly thought was a giant whale out to swallow him, Jumper and all) and Zelenka thinks is probably best to avoid, seems to be circling the same area repeatedly, which he quickly surmises is probably because it's found something interesting or annoying. Approaching it they find the Jumper just beneath the area the monster was circling. Pressed for a solution, Zelenka realizes that they can extend the shield between the two Jumpers and just walk between them. They retrieve McKay from Jumper 6, who is reluctant to open the door thinking it might just be another hallucination playing tricks on him, and if he opens the door it will be the end of him. But, after a little convincing hallucination-Carter advises him to let his friends help him, to trust that they came to save him. He opens the door and as they all return to the other Jumper, the gigantic creature, a whale-like repto-cetecean ancient looking leviathan (apparently a Flagisallus, one finds out in a later episode), majestically swims overhead. As they stare on ant-like in a joint expression of awe, Sheppard let's McKay know he has the creature to thank for his life. McKay is amused by the thought as he walks into the rescue ship relieved to be alive. As the door is shutting, he looks across to the shipwrecked Jumper where a smiling 'hallu-Carter' stands waving him off. McKay waves back with a smile of silent thanks as the door shuts between them. + +Lt. Colonel John Sheppard's team is on a planet and Dr. Rodney McKay begins complains about the primitive society, when a man named Eldred appears and tells them about the Tower. It supposedly protects them from the Wraith, so he agrees to show it to them. When the team sees it they are surprised to find it looks like the central spire of Atlantis. Back in the village, Eldred tells them that the Tower destroys the Wraith ships by using thousands of lights, which the team recognizes as Drone weapons. This sparks interest as the people in the Tower may have a Zero Point Module. They contact Atlantis and Dr. Elizabeth Weir orders them to find out more. While McKay goes into the woods with a local guide to check the Tower, back in the village the rest of Sheppard's team intervene as some soldiers attempt to assault Eldred for his lack of respect. Another man named Otho appears and scans Sheppard's team with an Ancient device, then orders just Sheppard brought to the Tower. Sheppard is then brought into the Tower. He remains in radio contact with the others. He describes the interior of the Tower, which looks like Atlantis except that it is styled like an early modern throne room, mixing baroque and other elements. The throne, Sheppard realizes is actually an Ancient Control chair. McKay has discovered the Tower is merely the main tower of a Lantean City-ship, identical to Atlantis. In the throne room, the Lord Protector talks with Sheppard and tells him he is a guest, not a prisoner. He invites him to dine with them. Afterward, Sheppard contacts his team and orders them to remain quiet and keep a low profile. In the evening Ronon Dex, Teyla Emmagan and McKay eat with Eldred who tells them that they give the Tower half of their harvest. Meanwhile, in the Tower, while Sheppard has dinner with the royal court, the Lord Protector reacts badly and is taken away. Otho tells Sheppard that the Lord Protector has had these attacks before, he should be fine in the morning. Later the Protector's daughter, Mara, visits Sheppard's assigned quarters and tries to seduce him, revealing that her father wants them to marry. In the morning, Sheppard talks to Otho, who tells them that one of his duties is to find the best match for the royal bloodline so that the royalty will still be capable of using the Ancient technology. When he had scanned Sheppard the day before, he had found that Sheppard carries the Ancient Technology Activation gene and thus hoped that it will strengthen the royal bloodline. If Mara doesn't become the next leader of her people, it will fall to her brother, Tavius. Sheppard then calls Dr. Carson Beckett to examine the Lord Protector and Otho leads Sheppard to a Puddle Jumper bay. There, Sheppard offers him the Ancient Technology Activation gene therapy to strengthen the ATA gene in the population. Later, Beckett informs Sheppard that the Protector has been poisoned and that nothing can be done to help him. Meanwhile outside the Tower, McKay enters the underground of the city with a young man named Baldric. They find a room filled with racks of Drone weapons but when he activates the systems, the earth begins to shake and the corridor collapses, trapping them inside. They are unable to call for help, so McKay backtracks to the city's Auxiliary control center and begins to access the Ancient mainframe running the city. In order to provide air and regain radio contact, McKay decides to blow a hole in the ceiling with a Drone. Back in the village, Ronon rescues Petra from the royal guard and in this process kills one of them. This causes a revolt in the village, much to Eldred's shock. Teyla quickly briefs Sheppard on the situation, and he then informs Otho. Suddenly, the villagers hear a bell, which signals that the Lord Protector has died. Otho tells Beckett and Sheppard to leave, at which point Sheppard attempts to bring Mara with him. However, Otho appears and arrests them, revealing that he is the new Lord Protector. He brings them to Tavius, also imprisoned, who says that it was Otho who actually poisoned the Lord Protector. Otho admits it. It turns out he is in love with Mara and Tavius had promised to marry her to Otho if Otho helped him kill his father. However, once Otho used the gene therapy on himself and it worked, he realised he could claim the throne for himself by blaming Tavius for the assasination and he would still be able to marry Mara. Meanwhile, McKay contacts Teyla who tells him that he has to find the ZPM or the village will be destroyed by the drones in retaliation for the uprising. In the prison cell, Mara brings Sheppard his radio who contacts McKay and orders him to remove the ZPM because Otho's first act as Lord Protector will be the destruction of the village. However, McKay is unable to reach the ZPM and instead suggests a massive power drain to deplete it as the ZPM is already nearly depleted. After a moment of consideration, Sheppard orders McKay to charge the Tower's Stardrive, the single greatest drain of power they can find. Despite the threat of the catacombs further collapsing on him, McKay charges the Stardrive and successfully depletes the remaining power in the ZPM, leaving the Tower powerless and rendering the drones inert just before they reach the village. Taking advantage of the shaking caused by the Tower's Stardrive powering up, Sheppard and Beckett escape their cell with Beckett locking Tavius within as he leaves. Arriving in the Throne Room just after the power is depleted, Sheppard confronts Otho and reminds him that without the ability to control the Control Chair anymore, he is no longer Lord Protector. Sheppard announces to the nobles around them that they no longer have to bow to Otho or anyone else, not noticing Otho drawing a knife. Mara shouts a warning, enabling Sheppard to dodge the attack and engage in a brief fight with Otho that ends with Sheppard disarming him, cutting Otho across the palm with the knife as he yanks it out of his hand. Otho tells Sheppard that Tavius was right, "I do have a fair knowledge of poisons" before collapsing dead from the fast-acting poison he'd coated his knife with and that had gotten into his system through his cut hand. Back on Atlantis, Sheppard informs Weir that they have received a supply of new drones and Puddle Jumpers in exchange for medical supplies and a Garage Door Opener so they can contact Atlantis if they need further help. The Atlantis expedition has also offered to help the villagers devise a new system of government. Weir asked if they offered to make him King; he says he declined. + +While scouting an isolated moon by Puddle Jumper, Lt. Colonel John Sheppard and his team discover two battered escape pods in decaying orbit. They bring them to Atlantis, where Dr. Rodney McKay opens the first pod. An aged, unconscious woman lies within, near death. When Dr. Elizabeth Weir approaches for a closer look, an energy beam lances out of a black box-like device in the pod and strikes her, which causes her to collapse. She awakens moments later, claiming to be a woman named Phoebus. Because her body is dying, the pod has automatically stored her personality and imprinted it on the first living person to approach. Before Sheppard, Colonel Steven Caldwell and the other observers can grow too alarmed by this strange story, Weir seems to resurface. She confirms what Phoebus said and adds that the imprinting will last only a few hours. Before Phoebus's personality vanishes forever, however, she has a request. Her husband, Thalan, is in the second pod. If Sheppard will volunteer to host him, the two can briefly be reunited before they die. Sheppard reluctantly agrees and receives the imprinting. Phoebus greets Thalan with a kiss — but then the two grab whatever weapons are handy and start firing at each other. In fact, they're actually the last surviving opponents in an ancient, devastating war, and each is fanatically determined to defeat the other. As the team scrambles to capture them, Phoebus and Thalan carry their vendetta into the corridors of Atlantis. They have total control over Weir and Sheppard's bodies, can impersonate them perfectly, and also have access to their knowledge of the city. Thalan soon sabotages the power systems, plunging Atlantis into darkness. During the struggle, Phoebus shoots Ronon Dex. The hunt goes on as Dr. Carson Beckett struggles to remove the bullet by flashlight. The moment McKay gets the power back on, Phoebus completely locks down the city, trapping everyone in rooms and corridors and blocking all computer usage. Teyla Emmagan, locked into the same section as Thalan, manages to stun him. Then Phoebus contacts Caldwell — who has assumed command — and threatens to turn the city's fire-suppression halon gas against its population unless Caldwell helps her defeat Thalan. Knowing that the hazardous gas could kill up to three quarters of Atlantis's residents, Caldwell reluctantly orders Teyla to drag Thalan to a security camera so Phoebus can see her ancient enemy. Phoebus is pleased and explains the war between their two peoples and how soon she will be painfully erased from Weir's body. Phoebus orders Teyla to kill Thalan and thus Sheppard as well. Teyla hesitates while Phoebus continues to threaten to release the halon gas and Caldwell leaves the choice up to Teyla. Teyla reluctantly goes to kill Thalan and Sheppard when McKay finally overrides Phoebus' control of the city and stops her. Frustrated, Phoebus takes off to kill Thalan herself while McKay is unable to stop her as he had to override everyone's control over the city to stop Phoebus' control. As Teyla prepares to leave to chase down Phoebus, Thalan enters convulsions and is apparently erased from Sheppard's mind. Sheppard appears to regain control though he acknowledges that there's no point in trying to convince Teyla as he knows she won't believe him. At that moment, Phoebus arrives and orders Teyla to step away from Sheppard, only not shooting her due to being unsure of how many rounds she has left in her stolen P90. Teyla lies that Sheppard is unconscious which he pretends to be and Teyla discreetly passes him her Wraith handblaster. Phoebus approaches to get one last look at her enemy's face even if he is unconscious and Sheppard is able to take advantage of the moment to stun Phoebus with Teyla's Wraith handblaster, finally subduing her. Moments after Phoebus is stunned and the handblaster is kicked from Sheppard's hands, the two are joined by Major Lorne and his team who had finally made it out of the corridor Phoebus trapped them in. When questioned by Sheppard how she knew it was him, Teyla admits that she still doesn't but knew that either way, Sheppard or Thalan, he would've shot Phoebus with Sheppard being willing to do so as he'd know that the Wraith weapon was non-lethal. Teyla then orders Lorne's team to take the two to the infirmary and keep them bound until Phoebus and Thalan are confirmed gone. The next morning, Weir wakes up in an infirmary bed next to Sheppard who tells Weir that Phoebus finally went in the middle of the night "kicking and screaming." Sheppard tells Weir that Ronon will be fine and that the only people who believe they are really them are the two of them and Beckett. Caldwell then enters and tells them he believes they are themselves too, being the one person to understand what they've gone through due to his possession by the Goa'uld. Caldwell teases the two in a friendly manner, particularly about Phoebus and Thalan's kiss in their bodies before leaving with Weir and Sheppard being highly embarrassed by the reminder. + +Atlantis receives an emergency call from Major Evan Lorne's team on M1K-177. Lt. Colonel John Sheppard's team comes to investigate only to find them dead, having been burned in a fire. After returning to Atlantis, the Stargate is activated by Ladon Radim, a member of the Genii strike force lead by Commander Acastus Kolya, with the prospects of a new Zero Point Module in exchange for weapons to orchestrate a rebellion and overthrow Cowen, the current leader of the Genii. After informing Cowen of Ladon's plan, Atlantis decides to raid Ladon's base in order to get get the ZPM. Ladon sends his sister Dahlia Radim and a few Genii civilians, all of whom are later discovered to be afflicted by terminal radiation poisoning, to pick up the weapons. While investigating the death of Lorne and his team, Teyla Emmagan and Ronon Dex discover a hit list for members of the Atlantis expedition that have the Ancient Technology Activation gene. Dr. Carson Beckett determines that the remains of the men found in the fire are not those of Lorne and his team but Genii. Sheppard then leads a raid on Ladon's undermanned compound. However, though they stun all of Ladon's guards, they are informed by Ladon that they found the ZPM in their archives, but that it has long since run out of power; then, one by one the whole team fall unconcious - Ladon has gassed them. Sheppard wakes to be confronted by Cowen, who planned Ladon's trap all along. He is informed of Cowen's plans then soon thrown into prison, where he finds the rest of the raiding team, as well as the captured, previously thought dead, off-world team led by Lorne. In Atlantis, the team receives Cowen's demands, he wants all ten of Atlantis' Puddle Jumpers. They inform him that Dahlia and the others can be saved from death with their technology, but Cowen does not care whether they live or die. He then threatens to kill all the captured men, one every 15 minutes, starting with Sheppard. When his demands aren't instantly met, Cowen orders Ladon to kill Sheppard. In the team's cell, Ladon asks if Beckett can really cure his people and when Sheppard confirms this, Ladon states that he's letting them go. Ladon reveals that he really was a planning a coup and all of this was to get Cowen and his elite guard in one place so he could kill them with a nuclear weapon Ladon had built and placed beneath the building. Despite some brief resistance, Ladon, his men and the Atlantis team are able to safely escape. On Atlantis, everyone continues to monitor the wormhole when Chuck receives McKay's IDC. Upon arrival in Atlantis, Ladon's men surrender their weapons and McKay explains the situation to a shocked Weir. Ladon contacts Cowen on the radio and apologizes, saying Cowen was a good leader. A horrified Cowen asks what Ladon's done as the nuclear weapon detonates, killing him and his elite guard. After the death of Cowen, Ladon asks to be taken to his sister and Backett tells Ladon that while he had to remove a tumor from Dahlia's left lung, she will recover. A grateful Ladon asks if Beckett can cure others of the Genii with similar afflictions and Weir agrees. Ladon tells her that he doesn't anticipate any more casualties and returns to the Genii homeworld to take power. Later that night, Sheppard visits Weir in her office and informs her that the coup was a success: Ladon Radim is now the leader of the Genii. The remainder of Cowen's loyalists surrendered once they learned of his death and that of his elite guard so it is being billed as a bloodless coup. Weir wonders if they made things worse or not as usually the governments that take over after coups are worse, but Sheppard suggests that things will be better given the way Ladon has been treating them. + +A man wakes up in the Atlantis infirmary with no recollection of who or where he is. The senior staff of Atlantis tells him that he is Lt. Michael Kenmore and claim that he lost his memory and was injured while attempting to save his team from the Wraith. Dr. Carson Beckett releases Michael back into the general population under the guide of Teyla Emmagan to try to reclaim his lost memories. However, Michael begins dreaming of the Wraith and confides of this in Teyla, who assures him that she, too, has had similar dreams of the Wraith. In a briefing of the senior staff, Teyla brings up the issue of telling Michael "the truth," arguing that it is becoming difficult to keep up this "lie". The rest of the staff, however, disagrees with this course of action. Beckett advises that Michael try therapy to eliminate the dreams of the Wraith, stating that they may purely be psychological in origin. At the same time, Ronon Dex is having more difficulty than the rest and twice attacks Michael, once after he pins Teyla in a training exercise, and again in the hall. During another night of no sleep, Michael asks to go to the infirmary for sleeping pills. Beckett, however, has fallen asleep at his desk, and so Michael looks into his logs, finding more suspicious evidence behind everyone's unease around him. So, he takes this evidence back to his room and discovers the truth: he is a Wraith. It turns out that Beckett has nearly perfected the Iratus bug retrovirus and has successfully eliminated the Wraith DNA, provided he administers daily doses of drugs. Because of this development, Lt. Colonel John Sheppard seeks to develop a biological weapon to launch on the Wraith, though Beckett states that he clearly has no means of causing a permanent effect. After this revelation, Michael argues against what the Atlantis team has done to him, stating that they did it for their benefit, rather than his. Michael has also begun to realize that he still has basic Wraith instincts, and while being escorted to the infirmary to receive his daily dose of the drug, he attacks his guard and grabs his gun, then runs off down the corridor, pursued by Ronon and the remaining guards. Security is called. Sgt. Cole finds Michael first and fires at him. Michael returns fire, killing Cole. Attracted to the blood, he puts a finger on the wound, then smells it only to be stunned by Ronon. Sheppard and the team place him in the Atlantis holding cell. Ronon wants to kill Michael immediately, but the two doctors argue that they are the ones who made him human, they have to treat him as a human. Dr. Elizabeth Weir asks Beckett to increase the dosage after having Michael moved to the new Pegasus Galaxy Alpha Site. They have come this far, they need to learn more about the retrovirus. Beckett, however, begins blaming himself for what has happened, including Cole's death, since it was he who developed and administered the retrovirus in the first place. Weir assures him any fault lies with her since she gave the order to carry out the experiment. Teyla goes to visit Michael in the cell. He tells her he didn't intend to kill Cole, he only wanted to escape. She informs him of Weir's decision: he must continue taking the drug at a higher dose, hopefully eradicating any Wraith impulses that remain. If he refuses, he will be executed. Once moved to the Alpha Site, Teyla visits him again, bringing him food. Michael convinces Teyla to release him because she understands him as no one else does, due to her Wraith gene that allows a certain sense between the two of them. Michael then takes Teyla, as a hostage, into the forest, fleeing Sheppard and Ronon who are searching for them now. Michael and Teyla reach the Stargate where he dials an address and takes Teyla through to an unknown planet, however not before Teyla manages to write the address on a stone. On the other side Teyla becomes aware that there are many Wraith on this planet because that is why Michael went there, to return to his own kind. In the absence of his injection, Michael's body begins to change, eventually re-developing the organ that allows a wraith to feed on a human. He approaches Teyla with his hand out stretched, intending to feed but seemingly apprehensive. Teyla is not afraid and challenges him to try. Sheppard and Ronon catch up and shoot Michael before he can feed, saving Teyla. They flee as Wraith from the nearby Hive ship arrive and attempt to surround them, leaving an unconscious Michael where he fell. The Wraith carry him away. Back in Atlantis, the senior staff discuss the situation. The Wraith will now know that Atlantis was not destroyed. Weir says they need to start planning a defense, and Sheppard says they will need more firepower. + +Atlantis is contacted by a planet that claims to have Ancient technology and is in need of their help to fix it. When Lt. Colonel John Sheppard and his team arrive on the planet they find that there is actually an Ancient outpost which is protected by an Atlantis size shield, but that the inhabitants have apparently run into a problem operating it. The problem, however, turns out to be much bigger than merely powering the shield. As it turns out, the outpost has Long range sensors just as Atlantis does, and after detecting the increased Wraith activity a year ago, the people in the outpost began running the shield continuously. The problem was, however, that the shield was powered by Geothermal energy and never designed to be used continuously. As Dr. Rodney McKay discovers, what the people thought to be a simple geothermal pocket was in fact a Supervolcano, and what they thought was a large valley, turned out to be the caldera of this volcano. Because of this revelation, McKay determines that the extended use of the shield over the last year, and the resulting drain on the geothermal energy of this volcano, has critically accelerated the eruption which would normally not have occurred for up to 100,000 years. McKay is now in a hurry: he not only has to fix the shield generator but also an Ancient warship that is docked in an underground bay, which is of the same class as the Aurora (see "Aurora"). After this discovery Dr. Elizabeth Weir offers to evacuate the populace to Atlantis, but Chancellor Lycus is skeptical. However, he agrees when the earthquakes become more frequent and the ground rips open. While transferring the first wave of refugees, a lava pocket opens up directly under the Stargate, burying it under molten rock. Because of this, Atlantis contacts the Daedalus, which is just returning from Earth, and re-routes it to this planet. The Daedalus, however, cannot evacuate everyone at once, and must make four trips. McKay believes this will take too long and while the Daedalus evacuates the most important people he decides to try to repair the engines of the Ancient ship and simply fly off of the planet. Unfortunately, some of the natives grow impatient, and take their chances seeking refuge in the wilderness because they don't believe that the eruption of the volcano will destroy the entire continent. Teyla Emmagan and Ronon Dex try to evacuate the last of the natives, but the tunnel leading to the Ancient ship is blocked and Sheppard gets separated trying to reach them and barely makes it back in time with the last group of natives. On the surface, Teyla, Ronon and the last natives take refuge in the barn with the collapsed tunnel entrance, realizing that they would never make it back to the base on foot with the ash cloud. Despite their dire situation, Ronon and Teyla attempt to remain hopeful. On the verge of suffocation, Ronon, Teyla and the last of the natives are beamed out by the Daedalus which returns just in time to save them. However, the Daedalus is unable to pick up any life signs elsewhere on the planet and cannot help Sheppard's group in the shielded base. While unable to do anymore, the Daedalus crew chooses to remain and monitor the eruption in hopes McKay will fix the Orion in time. Meanwhile in Atlantis, the expedition team learns from Dr. Radek Zelenka that a Wraith Hive Ship is on its way towards the city, increasing the pressure on McKay to successfully repair the Ancient ship. However, they know that even with their resources they might not be able to defeat the enemy ship. In the end, however, McKay is unable to make the repairs in time and has found that a river of lava has overrun the bay doors, making it impossible to fly out anyway. Instead he re-routes power to the hyperdrive engines and activates the shield. But, due to the high temperatures and pressures of the lava that will soon envelop them, the shield will only last for four seconds. These four seconds will give McKay enough time so that the explosion of the volcano will thrust the ship, which Sheppard named the Orion, high enough to engage the hyperdrive for a microsecond, propelling them into orbit, and saving everyone on board. Upon returning to Atlantis, McKay and a team of scientists begin working on the Orion in hopes of fully repairing it. + +A Wraith Hive ship is approaching Atlantis. While the Daedalus and the Orion wait in some distance from the city, Atlantis itself is cloaked. Suddenly the city is contacted and it turns out that it is Michael Kenmore, the Wraith that they attempted to turn into a human. Though initially wary of his intentions, interest is sparked when Michael claims that the Wraith are being divided by a civil war and says that they want to use Dr. Carson Beckett's Iratus bug retrovirus to turn their rivals into humans to feed upon. In return, Michael promises to turn over valuable technical information about their weapons and defenses. They start by sending a possible method to use their transport technology again to beam Nuclear warheads inside the Hive ships. The leadership of Atlantis discuss what to do and finally agree to provide assistance, although Teyla Emmagan is a bit reluctant. Afterwards Michael, the Wraith Queen and her chief scientist come to Atlantis. Once Beckett reveals that he has found a way to transform the retrovirus into an aerosol gas, the Wraith insist that he help devise a plan to disperse it inside their enemy's ships. Later the gas is tested on a captured Wraith and it works. This results in the queen feeding on the victim. However when the Wraith try to use the gas on an enemy ship, they fail and when the Daedalus tries to help it is damaged. To find a way to better dispatch the virus, the Wraith give Dr. Rodney McKay a computer file, a treasure trove of information about Wraith technology that he needs to complete the job. Using this new knowledge and the Wraith jamming code broken, McKay is able to determine a way to beam the retrovirus gas canister into a hive ship's main life support chamber and thus distribute the gas. A plan is made where the hive ship and the Daedalus will approach another hive ship using difficult maneuvers to mask the Daedalus and perform the operation. McKay chooses to board the hive ship with Ronon for the operation with both wearing transmitters McKay has programed to beam them back to the Daedalus once activated. Shortly after they leave, Zelenka's science team notices something alarming about the Wraith data but are too late to warn the Daedalus. The Daedalus emerges from hyperspace and is immediately fired upon by two hive ships before they can raise shields, one of which is the "friendly" hive ship. McKay and Ronon are unable to beam back to the Daedalus and are taken prisoner by the Wraith while Hermiod is unable to beam over nuclear warheads despite trying many different codes. Sheppard decides to take a flight of F-302s to try to take out the hive ships hyperdrives, but the Daedalus shields starts to fail under the strain and Caldwell orders the 302s back to the ship so that they can escape. Sheppard, approaching one of the hive ships, is reluctant to return and ends up with two Wraith Darts chasing him. Moments later, the two hive ships suddenly jump to hyperspace, surprising the Daedalus crew. While three of the four F-302s return, there is no sign of Sheppard's fighter or his locator beacon. Caldwell solemnly orders the Daedalus back to Atlantis. On Atlantis, Zelenka reports to the remaining command staff and Caldwell that in the Wraith data there was a hidden worm-like computer virus that they only noticed when it erased all of the Wraith data after the hive ship left. Zelenka reports that the virus uploaded only two pieces of information to the hive ship: the Aurora mission reports and the location of every planet in the Atlantis database. Om the hive ship, Ronon and McKay are taken to cocoons where the scientist tells them that the Queen wants them alive since its due to McKay that they will be able to reach their next destination: Earth. + +On board a Wraith Hive ship, Dr. Rodney McKay and Ronon Dex have been captured and cocooned. During the battle, Lt. Colonel John Sheppard flew his F-302 fighter-interceptor toward one of the Hive ships just as it entered hyperspace. He has managed to jump along with it by attaching his ship to the outer hull. With limited air and resources, Sheppard must decide how to disable both Hive ships before they can reach the Milky Way galaxy. Luckily, the Hive ships are largely organic in their structure. They suffered heavy damage in the battle with the Daedalus. Complicating matters for the Wraith, interstellar radiation from hyperspace forces them to stop, make repairs, and let the ships regenerate for many hours in the void between Pegasus and the Milky Way. Dr. Radek Zelenka calculates that there is at least 15 hours of time necessary for those repairs. Dr. Elizabeth Weir asks a reluctant Colonel Steven Caldwell to launch the Daedalus and the Orion as soon as possible in an attempt to rendezvous with the Hive ships. Major Evan Lorne is put in command of the Orion, which is still in no condition to fight. Repairs will have to be continued on the way to the battle. Caldwell realizes that he may have to make the sacrifice of himself and his crews to stop the Wraith from ever making it to Earth. Moreover, these particular Wraith are the only ones who know where Earth is. That knowledge has to be erased from the species by destroying the Hive ships. Weir's mismanagement of the situation demands answers from her civilian superiors. Major General Henry Landry asks her to step through to Earth during a routine check-in with Stargate Command. Reluctantly, Weir leaves Atlantis during the crisis and meets with Richard Woolsey and other representatives of the committee. While there, finger pointing is the name of the game. They don't really want to fire her, but they have to appear to take action. If they relieve her, it is they who will ultimately take responsibility for calling off the desperate bid by the Daedalus and the Orion to reach the two Hive ships in time. Realizing the quandary and political ramifications, Weir accepts full responsibility and commands Caldwell to proceed. On board the Hive ships, Ronon and McKay manage to free themselves from their cocoons. Since McKay knows the ship's schematics, the two set off to do as much damage to vital systems as possible before they can be caught again. Sheppard tries to contact them via radios, but their devices are in a lab where the half-human Wraith, Michael Kenmore, is cooling his heels. Michael did not completely regress back into being a Wraith after ceasing treatments with Dr. Carson Beckett's Iratus bug retrovirus, and now he is an outcast among his original species. Realizing his days are numbered, he answers Sheppard with the communicator. Michael needs an escape and the humans are his only hope, so he offers to help. He directs Sheppard where to launch his missiles to do the most damage, allowing Sheppard to disable one of the hive ship's hyperdrives. When Wraith Darts pursue and disable Sheppard's ship, he is taken into custody aboard the hive. Michael, pretending to be on assignment by the Hive Queen, manages to take Sheppard away from his captors. He returns the human's weapons and equipment before they go to find McKay and Ronon. When the Daedalus and Orion enter battle with the Hive ships, the four manage to beam off their escape craft to the Daedalus. Meanwhile, all plans collide as the Daedalus and Orion engage the Hive ships and a monumental space battle occurs. Lorne's command of Orion is short-lived as the craft is destroyed, but not before destroying the second hive ship with a drone weapon barrage. All of the crew manage to beam on to the Daedalus in time. After recovering Sheppard's team and Michael, the Daedalus fires point blank into the surviving hive ship's Dart Bay as the ship launches more Darts. Secondary explosions disable the hive ship, but a few shots make it through the Daedalus shield, severely damaging the Daedalus and knocking out life support. As a result, there isn't enough air for everyone, and more is venting into space. The only hope for everyone's survival is the air on the one remaining damaged hive ship, but it is filled with Wraith. Thanks to Michael, the team realizes that canisters of Beckett's retrovirus are still on board. Because of the damage to the Wraith vessel, they can beam the canisters over and release it as gas. The plan works, and the gas turns the Wraith into humans whose memories are completely wiped. The Queen is the only one unaffected. Sheppard takes a boarding party over to check and secure the ship for the Daedalus, neutralizing the Queen. Earth forces are now in possession of an adequate oxygen supply, as well as a functioning Hive ship. + +International Oversight Advisory agent Richard Woolsey is assigned to review whether or not Dr. Elizabeth Weir should maintain her command of Atlantis. Having successfully used the Iratus bug retrovirus to turn an entire Hive ship of Wraith into humans, the team returns to Atlantis with their prisoners in stasis. Meanwhile, Weir continues to defend her leadership in the face of an independent review being conducted by Woolsey. Examining the Hive ship that the team hijacked in an attempt to restore it to full working condition, Dr. Rodney McKay determines that the Wraith prisoners cannot continue to be held in stasis indefinitely. The team decides the best thing to do is to set them free on the planet M8G-352 under the guise that they were exposed to a viral outbreak. Lt. Colonel John Sheppard and Dr. Carson Beckett remain on the planet to manage the Human-form Wraith, including a re-humanized Michael Kenmore. But when Sheppard returns to Atlantis they discover a Wraith ship approaching the planet and the team must act fast to keep the existence of Atlantis a secret. Meanwhile, Woolsey has arrived at Atlantis, and is conducting interviews so that he can prepare a report on Weir's fitness to lead the Atlantis expedition. McKay is trying to find out how to control the captured hive ship, but having little success. The controls require a neural interface with a wraith, much as Atlantean technology like the puddle jumper and the chair require someone with the Ancient Gene. Since Teyla has some Wraith DNA, they let her try. She has limited success, but cannot operate the weapons systems. McKay continues to try to build an override. On the planet, Lathan, one of the Wraith prisoners, begins to suspect something is wrong but is subsequently killed by Michael and a group of humanized Wraith. They cover up this murder by setting up an accident site, where Lathan supposedly fell from a cliff. When Beckett discovers that something is amiss with the presumed accident, he finds that the Wraith are already reverting and that Michael didn't take kindly to this second betrayal. As Beckett is returned to the camp, he learns that the soldiers have been killed and that the reverted Wraith intend to offer the remaining humanized Wraith as an offering to the coming Wraith Hive ship. Michael proceeds to strap Beckett to the operating room table, preparing him for something. He believes Sheppard must have left some kind of failsafe defense on the planet in case the Wraith reverted and he believes Beckett must know what it is. Meanwhile Atlantis cannot send Daedalus to the far off planet as their hyperdrive is still in repair. Sheppard returns at the head of the stolen Wraith ship with Teyla piloting and McKay still trying to bring weapons online. Their goal is to save the prisoners and engage the fail-safe Nuclear warhead, hoping to kill all Wraith on the planet before they can relate what they know to the coming Wraith ship. When they arrive at the planet, a number of the ship's systems come online, having detected Wraith lifesignss on the planet below. McKay confirms that the planet now holds both Wraiths and humans, but they can't distinguish their people from the Wraith humanize by the virus. So Sheppard, Teyla, and Ronin beam down to rescue the Atlantis team. On the planet, they kill several Wraith and discover that the security team was fed upon. Teyla finds Beckett strapped to the table in the medical tent, weak but apparently unharmed. They bring Beckett back to the hive ship. As Beckett is rescued they find that they cannot set off the nuke, correctly assuming that the Wraith have found and disabled the device. Sheppard's team decides they have to use the hive ship weapons to destroy the settlement. Beckett argues that they have to try to save the humanized Wraiths, but Ronon says they will be casualties of war, there's just no time. Just as they begin firing on the campsite from orbit, the other Wraith hive ship drops out of hyperspace and immediately begins attacking Sheppard's ship. Sheppard orders the area around the camp blanketed with fire even as the captured hive ship nears destruction. At the same time, Hermiod finishes repairing the Daedalus Asgard hyperdrive and Colonel Caldwell decides to take the Daedalus to M8G-352 in case Sheppard needs help. Upon arrival in orbit, the Daedalus finds only a debris field from the destroyed hive ship and no life signs in orbit or on the planet. To the crew's surprise, they are contacted by Sheppard and the team who were able to escape the destruction of the hive ship in a cloaked Puddle Jumper. The team are relieved to see the Daedalus as with the hive ship destroyed, they had no way back to Atlantis. Afterwards, Weir reports to Woolsey that they can't be sure if all of the Wraith were killed or not and expects Woolsey to use that against her in his report. Instead, Woolsey states that he will put in his report that Weir gave the order to fire on the camp, stating that the IOA doesn't need to know the unnecessary details and only care about the greater truth. Woolsey feels that the greater truth is that Weir belongs in command of Atlantis and his report will reflect that. Woolsey then departs for Earth. + +Lt. Colonel John Sheppard's team encounters a man called Lucius Lavin on an unexplored planet. He lives in a community where everyone seems to like him and he is the center of all attention. Dr. Carson Beckett decides to visit him after the team returns to check if he really has the medical abilities he claimed to have. After several hours, Beckett returns to Atlantis and breaking security protocol, takes Lucius with him. Beckett also begins to display the same signs of infatuation that Lucius' people display. At first, Dr. Elizabeth Weir and the others are skeptical of Lucius, finding him highly obnoxious. However, when Sheppard and McKay return from a mission to scout a Stargate, they find the entire Atlantis expedition under Lucius' thrall, including Weir, Ronon and Teyla who had all disliked Lucius the most. McKay discovers a vial of liquid Lucius drinks using security camera footage and begins running tests on residue within while Sheppard attempts to keep Weir from sending a team to M6H-491, a major Wraith outpost, simply on Lucius' word alone. At McKay's request, Sheppard returns to Lucius' planet where he finds the people sick and in what appears to be symptoms of a drug withdrawal. Sheppard is able to get more of Lucius' liquid, but returns to find McKay under his thrall as well and that Beckett, Ronon and Teyla have gone to M6H-491 despite Sheppard suspending all Stargate travel. Not only does the planet turn out to be a Wraith outpost, but Lucius sent the team to get an herb that grows there. Seeing that he is on his own and Lucius' influence is growing, Sheppard steals McKay's research, stuns Beckett with a Wraith handblaster and kidnaps him in a Puddle Jumper to get him out of Lucius' control so Beckett can help him come up with a cure. Taking Beckett to Lantea's mainland, Sheppard is able to learn from McKay's research that the liquid Lucius drinks contains a chemical that causes his body to emit a pheromone with the effect that people exposed to him are more susceptible to Lucius' influence. Sheppard suspects that the chemical is an extract from the herb Lucius made Beckett, Ronon and Teyla get, but Beckett is too far under Lucius' thrall to believe it. Sheppard keeps Beckett on the mainland, attempting to force him through withdrawal so Beckett can help him, but they are found by McKay, Ronon and Teyla moments after Beckett appears to find something interesting in McKay's research. Ronon stuns Sheppard and the group returns him to Atlantis where Sheppard is locked in the Atlantis brig. In the brig, Sheppard is visited by Lucius who explains that he was a baker who was not at all liked before he discovered the herb while exploring. Lucius found that when he baked it into his bread, people began to like him more so he perfected a potion out of it that makes people want to do is bidding, including his six wives. Lucius tells Sheppard that once Sheppard is over the cold that is keeping him immune to Lucius' influence, they will have a face-to-face chat and become best friends. Lucius is called to the infirmary where Beckett administers the ATA gene therapy to him. While waiting for it to kick in, Lucius proposes to Weir. To test the effectiveness of the gene therapy, Lucius is sent to take a Puddle Jumper up with Beckett. However, before takeoff, Lucius is tied up by Sheppard. Beckett then reveals that he is no longer under Lucius' influence, Sheppard having successfully broken Lucius' hold over him. Beckett has created a serum that neutralizes Lucius' drug and administered it to himself and Lucius instead of the gene therapy to end Lucius' power over people. To keep Lucius away from the expedition while Beckett administers the serum, Sheppard takes him to the mainland in the guise of Lucius' test flight. Sheppard promises that once the expedition is cured, he will return Lucius home, but not before giving Lucius' people the serum first. The next day, Sheppard's team returns from Lucius' planet, having successfully treated the people with Beckett's serum. While Lucius' people are unlikely to kill him, he will face a string of divorces and Ronon's wrath if he tells anyone about Atlantis. Sheppard takes great joy in teasing everyone about their time under Lucius' influence before its revealed that McKay is using the drug on him to get Sheppard to clean his quarters. Weir and Beckett order McKay to destroy the drug despite his protests. + +While Lt. Colonel John Sheppard's team are on an off-world reconnaisance mission on a planet, Ronon Dex appears troubled as they venture through the forest, and admits to the team that he has a bad feeling. Sheppard asks if he recognises the planet, as Teyla Emmagan points out he must have visited countless worlds during his time as a runner. Ronon says he did not count. The team manage to find a village resided by several primative humans, who initially pay no notice. One of the villagers suddenly panics when he sees Ronon and shout "Wraithbringer!", causing the others to flee. As Ronon tells his team they should leave, one of the villagers, brandishing a crossbow, fires an arrow at Dr. Rodney McKay's posterior. The rest of the team respond by firing warning shots, as they retreat to the Stargate. Sheppard helps McKay into the woods, as Ronon and Teyla take cover to fire more warning shots at the pursuing villagers. McKay and Sheppard make it to the Stargate. Sheppard leaves McKay to dial the gate as he runs back for the others. Teyla and Ronon continue to hold the villagers off, until they are both hit by tranquiliser darts. McKay finishes dialing and limps quickly while firing at another villager, also with a crossbow, until he crosses the event horizon. Sheppard meanwhile, sees Ronon and Teyla unconscious, before he too is hit with a dart. McKay makes it back to Atlantis. Dr. Elizabeth Weir, noticing McKay's injury, calls for a medical team. McKay tells her that the rest of his team should be behind him. However, the Stargate closes without them. Sheppard awakens in an open-air cage, with Ronon and Teyla. Sheppard attempts to console Ronon (even though Teyla previously tried, and failed), telling him they were inevitably bound to come across a planet he visited as a runner. Ronon eventually admits that it was night the last time he went to this planet. In flashback, Ronon was near death and was being cared for by the villagers. In the present, the village leader, Keturah, confronts Ronon about his last visit there. In another flashback it is revealed that after Ronon left, because of his Wraith tracker, the Wraith attacked the village and culled several villagers, including Keturah's daughter Linor. Keturah is convinced the Wraith were looking for Ronon. Sheppard and Teyla try to convince Keturah that the Wraith are no longer looking for Ronon, as his tracker was removed, but Keturah refuses to listen. Furthermore, Teyla is disturbed to learn from the leader that the Wraith promised to leave his people alone if they hand over Ronon to them. Keturah reveals a contact device, which is already activated; the Wraith are on their way. In the Atlantis infirmary, Dr. Carson Beckett is working to remove the arrow. Weir notices that McKay is doped. Beckett admits that he dosed McKay with "wee too much" morphine because he was making it impossible for Beckett to treat him. Meanwhile, a Major Elliot Rutherford attempts to extract information about the villagers, namely their location, numbers and weaponry. However, the morphine in his system makes it impossible for McKay to give out a coherant answer. Back on Keturah's planet, Ronon demands to speak with Keturah. One of the villagers mistakingly walks too close to Ronon, giving him the advantage to take the villager's knife and hold him hostage. Keturah appears and orders Ronon to let the man go, even going as far as to threaten to kill Sheppard and Teyla if he does not. Ronon, realising that the villagers need him alive, decides to release the villager and holds the knife against his own throat, demanding that Sheppard and Teyla be released. He apoligises for bringing the Wraith to the village, but warns them that if the Wraith see Ronon dead, they will not hold their end of the bargain. The other villagers manage to convince Keturah to release Sheppard and Teyla, but he warns them that they will be killed if they try to free Ronon. With his companions now released, Ronon drops the knife, and is tranquilised again. Back in Atlantis, the Expedition receives an incoming wormhole, with Chuck recognising Sheppard's IDC. Sheppard and Teyla return to see another team gearing up for a rescue mission. Sheppard explains that Ronon is still on the planet, and they must return to rescue him, even if they are to encounter the Wraith, which could be swarming the planet as they speak. However, unknown to them, Ronon is already onboard a Wraith Hive Ship, and is taken to the Wraith Leader. A re-armed Sheppard and Teyla, along with Rutherford's team, arrive at the village by nightfall. They see the village in ruins, with several corpses scattered around; the Wraith came and went, and it appeared that the Wraith fell back on their "promise" to leave Keturah's people alone. Teyla believes the remaining villagers were culled. The Major finds Ronon's weapon, but no sign of Ronon. The Hive Ship exits hyperspace above Sateda, Ronon's homeworld. The Wraith Leader explains that he fed on the humans from his homeworld, and that is where he will die. Ronon is being restrained, as the Wraith implant him with another tracker. Later, a dart flies over the ruins of Sateda's capital city, and beams Ronon down on the streets. As Ronon quickly starts to run through the abandoned streets, he starts getting flashbacks of the Wraith invasion of Sateda. In the present, Ronon climbs up a ladder to the roof of a building, to look for Sateda's Stargate. He locates it, and starts to head towards it, only to see the Hive fire a shot at it, destroying the Dial Home Device. Meanwhile, a dart beams down a young Wraith into one of the streets, who immediately starts to search for Ronon. In Atlantis, Sheppard is confident that Ronon is still alive, and Teyla believes that since the Wraith previously made a sport from tracking him, they will likely do it again. Weir believes since Ronon was the one who escaped, they will not give him a fair chance this time. With an idea that the Wraith has implanted another tracker on him, Sheppard asks McKay, who is now lucid and recovering from his injury, albeit still fidgeting from it, says it is possible to tune the long range sensors from Ronon's original tracker they kept to pick up any similar devices, assuming Ronon was implanted with another. Sheppard says he will take whatever odds they can get. Ronon meanwhile, makes his way inside an abandoned home and finds an assortment of broken objects. He has flashbacks about Melena, Ronon's lover who died in an explosion during the Wraith invasion. Ronon uses a torn bedsheet to tie a metal shard to a stick to make a primitive knife. When he hears a nearby door open, he moves down to the cellar, as the Wraith tracks him. Using his tracking system, he too follows Ronon down to the cellar, where the room is completely dark. The Wraith is able to see in the dark though, and as he begins the search, Ronon quickly emerges from behind and attacks him. Moments later, Ronon kills the Wraith and storms out of the building. Sheppard enters McKay's lab to see McKay lying on his stomach, since his injury has prevented him from sitting comfortably. McKay has activated the device, albeit at only a fraction of the power so that the Wraith cannot track it, and determines it's subspace frequency it broadcasts on to find seven similar devices being transmitted across the Pegasus Galaxy, possibly all of them runners. McKay is confident he has located Ronon, as one of the tracking devices comes from Sateda. Later in the conference room, Weir has summoned Colonel Steven Caldwell to send the Daedalus to rescue Ronon, as they have been unable to dial Sateda's Stargate. Caldwell believes that there is a Hive Ship in orbit over the planet, and he is not confident to deal with one, especially since their last time dealing with them, just to rescue one man. Sheppard is angered by Caldwell's response, believing he was saying this because Ronon is not a member of the United States military. He tells Caldwell Ronon is a member of his team, and deserves the same respect as anyobody else in the expedition. Caldwell merely explains that rescuing Ronon while going against a Hive Ship has a bad risk/reward scenario. Sheppard and Caldwell then settle on a compromise; the Daedalus will arrive away from the Hive Ship sensors, and Sheppard's team will take a cloaked Puddle Jumper the rest of the way. Beckett will join the team to remove the tracker from Ronon. Ronon, now walking through underground tunnels, is being followed by a Wraith tracking drone. He finds a Satedan corpse and takes his armour and weapons, before finding an armoury to stock up on ammunition. He is being followed by another Wraith. Ronon manages to hide from the ceiling. When the Wraith looks up, he sees a ready Ronon shooting him with a pistol. After he notices the drone, he apporaches and tells the Wraith Leader, who is watching the hunt, that he has to do better than that. He later walks away, while throwing a live grenade behind him, which destroys the drone. In a flashback, Ronon returns home to see Melena listen to the Chieftain's speech on the radio, calling for the Satedans to defend their home against the upcoming Wraith attack. Ronon wonders why Melena has not packed, as he sold his posessions in order to make her a part of Kell's staff, who get to go through the Stargate. Melena intends to turn it down, as she feels she would be needed at the hospital where she works. Angry, Ronon explains there will no longer be hospitals, and the Chieftain's speech is a hopeless attempt to assure the people they have a fighting chance. Ronon however, has no choice but to stay behind. Melena tries to convince Ronon to believe in the fight and show the Wraith they should leave Sateda alone to pick on another world, before warning him that they cannot run forever if they leave. Back in the present, this time five Wraith are grouped in search for Ronon, eventually leading to an empty warehouse. Ronon emerges out of hiding to kill one of the soldiers, before taking cover again. As the remaining Wraith return fire, Ronon has another flashback, during the Wraith attack, where one by one his fellow squade members are being shot down while attempting to hold off the darts, until Ronon is the last soldier remaining. Enraged by that thought in the present, Ronon jumps out of hiding and, using the weapons he strategically placed over the warehouse, kills the other Wraith, finishing off by firing his rifle at the last Wraith under the ceiling. As the last Wraith falls, it activates the self-destruct device on its armour. Ronon quickly runs out of the warehouse, as it explodes. The Daedalus is in hyperspace towards Sateda. Teyla walks in on Sheppard, who is sitting in the mess hall. She has come to thank him for wanting to go after Ronon, even if he is an outsider. As they converse, Sheppard admits that he cannot express his feeling very well (that sentence was finished by Teyla as Sheppard struggled to say it), and even though he lacks social skills, he regards Ronon, as well as the rest of the expedition, even McKay, as family, and he would do anything for anyone, even going as far as to admit he would sacrifice himself the same way Ronon would have before they were released by Keturah. Meanwhile, Beckett is checking McKay's wound albeit without much cooperation from the latter. After they are finished Beckett wonders why McKay would go off on a mission to rescue Ronon, since McKay often refers to him as "the caveman" behind his back. McKay claims that although they do not talk to each other much, he claims they have an "unspoken bond", and further claims that Beckett does not understand. Back on Sateda, Ronon manages to get himself out of the rubble, and limps towards his local hospital, and into a ward, where he works to remove a piece of shrapnel from his leg. As he does so, he gets another flashback where Ronon walks into the crowded hospital to find Melena, who is busy working inside a ward. After they reunite, Ronon explains his fellow squad members are all dead, and Kell used them to ensure his own escape. He wants to bring Melena to the Stargate while they can, or find a place to hide. Melena stops him, telling him about a little girl who is wounded and has lost both her parents. Ronon decides to carry her to bring her with them. However, Melena does not want to leave everybody behind. Later, Ronon is helpless to see an explosion envelop Melena from behind. Returning to the present, Ronon sees several more Wraith, a far larger group, approaching the hospital. He spots another drone. Knowing that the Wraith Leader is watching again, Ronon brands him a coward. Moments later, the familiar sound of P90 fire strikes the device, and it is destroyed. It is Sheppard and Teyla; they have come to rescue him. But they have to act fast, as 25 Wraith soldiers are closing in. Ronon however, raises a pistol, explaining that he does not want to go anywhere, citing the Wraith's deal with Keturah's people. He hears from Teyla that the Wraith did not honour the deal, but he still does not want to leave yet, as he wants to kill the Wraith responsible "for all this", believing that if they kill the 25 Wraith after him now, he can get the Wraith Leader to come to the planet and fight him personally. While McKay thinks its a terrible idea, Sheppard decides to support Ronon, though Ronon wants Sheppard and Teyla to stay out of his way. Before they part again, Sheppard gives Ronon back his weapon. As the three kill all the Wraith in the hospital, which angers the Wraith Leader, McKay and Beckett, who are onboard the Puddle Jumper, decide to do something about it. Beckett gets out a machine gun to help Sheppard, but finds himself struggling with McKay over it. Beckett eventually reasons that they can both go as there are other guns, though by that time, Sheppard radios back that all the Wraith are dead. Ronon gets a hold of the Wraith Leader, and goads him to go down and kill Ronon himself, which the leader obliges to. Ronon later passes Sheppard, and warns him; "you kill him before I do, I kill you", but gives Sheppard permission to kill him should Ronon die. The Wraith Leader beams down to the planet from a dart. Ronon pulls out a knife and charges at the Wraith, only for the Wraith to throw Ronon onto a wall. The Wraith beats Ronon with ease, as Ronon can barely land a punch on him. Sheppard and Teyla are on the rooftops observing the fight, with Sheppard contemplating shooting the Wraith, although Teyla warns him if the Wraith dies, Ronon might not really kill him, but more likely wouldn't forgive him, and the Hive will blast them all from space. Despite Ronon's best efforts, the Wraith Leader defeats him and prepares to feed as Sheppard continues to hesitate. Suddenly, the Puddle Jumper decloaks in front of them, surprising everyone. Ronon tells the Wraith Leader "I win" while Beckett quips "if he doesn't like it he can sue me" before firing a drone weapon at the Wraith Leader. The drone picks up the Wraith and pushes him to the end of the street, where the drone, and the Wraith, explode. Sheppard and Teyla quickly help Ronon to the back of Jumper, and it flies quickly away as the Hive Ship tries, and fails, to shoot it down. Later, the Jumper is in orbit, where McKay and Beckett go to the back to check on the rest of the team. When Ronon asks who killed the Wraith, Beckett takes the credit for the kill while McKay tells him it was his idea. Ronon quickly stands up, where Sheppard tells Beckett that he vowed to kill whoever killed the Wraith first causing McKay to quickly blame the whole thing on Beckett. However, to everyone's surprise, Ronon grabs Beckett to embrace the doctor instead, and thanks him, as well as the rest for their effort in rescuing him. He sits back down to rest as Beckett prepares to remove the second tracker. He asks Ronon if he does not mind a sedative this time. However, instead Ronon passes out. McKay then returns to the cockpit to fly the Jumper back to the Daedalus, cloaking over Sateda enroute. + +After discovering an Ancient outpost, Dr. Elizabeth Weir joins Lt. Colonel John Sheppard's team on a mission to Asuras, a world inhabited by a society of millions. They are an advanced people, and it doesn't take the team long to conclude that they are (unascended) Ancients. Their leader is Oberoth, a powerful, arrogant man. The team also meets a more quiet, sensitive Asuran leader named Niam, who brings the team before the Asuran Council. There Oberoth explains that they are an off-shoot from the Ancients who long ago inhabited Atlantis. Though their race was once united, the Asurans left when the Lanteans did not heed their counsel during the war with the Wraith. Weir and Sheppard challenge Oberoth about the persistent threat of the Wraith, and are amazed to hear that the Asurans have a plan to completely eradicate them, but he will not share the details with them. Oberoth is curious, however, when he learns that Weir's team has set up a base of operations in the Pegasus Galaxy, though she is careful not to reveal that it is Atlantis. She hopes the Asurans might spare some Zero Point Modules in trade, since they are able to make them and have an abundance of them. The negotiation doesn’t go well, since Oberoth believes that the Atlantis team has nothing worth trading for. But he is surprised to find out that Weir requires a ZPM, and suspects the city is of Lantean design. Unable to get a ZPM, Weir and her team plans to leave the Asuran city. But when the team is ready to depart through the gate, Oberoth shows his true colors. The team is restrained and put in a holding cell, however, they are able to easily escape. Stealing a Puddle Jumper, the team dials Atlantis, arrive safe and sound. Soon, though, Atlantis comes under bombardment from 7 Wraith Hive Ships, and 15 more are on the way. Weir orders them to dial Earth and set the self-destruct. However, automated systems were damaged in the initial strike. Unable to give themselves enough time, Sheppard stays behind to activate the auto-destruct. But just as the auto-destruct is about to go off, Sheppard wakes up: his mind has been probed by Asurans, who now know the gate addresses of both Atlantis and Earth. Sheppard, surrounded by his unconscious companions, and still in the cell, is surprised that they are still on Asuras, but a horrified Dr. Rodney McKay reveals that they never left. What's more, the Asurans are not humans: they're similar to Human-form Replicators. When the rest of the team awakens, Niam reveals that they are in space. The Asuran city is an Ancient city ship, and they will finish what they started, destroying the original home of their creators. The Asurans, as Niam reveals to Weir, are not biologically Lantean. They are artificial lifeforms that evolved from an experiment to create nanites to attack the Wraith on a cellular level ("Hot Zone"). But the microscopic creatures came together to form increasingly larger and more complex organisms, eventually imitating their creators to become human in appearance. The Asurans begged the Lanteans to remove the aggression program, but they refused, having put safe guards up, and desperate for a weapon. When the Lanteans realized their experiment had gotten out of hand, they attacked this new race with their fleet of warships and nearly wiped them out. McKay suspects that the Ancient experiment may have been the genesis of the Replicators that SG-1 and the Asgard battled in our own galaxy. But Niam is not like Oberoth. He is one of a few among them who still wishes to imitate his creators, to reach ascension, but killing the inhabitants of Atlantis surely cannot help them reach enlightenment. Niam believes that the only way it is possible, is for McKay to rewrite their Base code. In return, he will stop Oberoth from attacking Atlantis and help in Earth's fight with the Wraith. McKay manages to successfully reprogram Niam, but the team cannot trust Oberoth to call off the attack. Because of this, the team decides to destroy the city before it can reach Atlantis. McKay succeeds in reprogramming Niam by overwriting his aggressive nature. Then he stumbles on a major discovery. McKay sees that the Asurans are connected through a subspace network and inserts a glitch that will paralyze all of the Asurans. The team takes advantage of this by programming the ship's ZPMs to overload. Unfortunately, the Asurans begin to override the glitch and try to stop the team. They manage to escape on a Puddle Jumper with Niam, and destroy the Asurans before it attacks their city, but the Asurans remotely reset Niam in retaliation. The reset Niam reverts to his aggressive nature and attacks Weir, forcing Sheppard to launch him out into space. On Atlantis later, they discover that the Ancients either deleted all records of the Asurans or hid them very well. Despite the victory, they know the Asurans are likely rebuilding and will come again. + +Waking up in Willoughby State Hospital outside Washington D.C., Dr. Elizabeth Weir is shocked to discover that her entire experience in Atlantis over the last two years was solely a figment of her imagination. Through the help of her psychiatrist Dr. Adam Fletcher, she learns that a car accident that killed her fiance left her in a near catatonic state and suffering from delusional psychosis. Forced to come to terms with this new reality, Weir is visited by her mother Katherine Weir and Major General Jack O'Neill, who assures her that he has never heard of a Stargate Program, let alone the lost city of Atlantis. Yet as she starts to pick up the pieces of her life, she continues to have unsettling visions warning her that she must return to Atlantis. Back on Atlantis — which is not the product of a deranged imagination — the team holds a vigil for the comatose Weir, who in reality has been infected by Asuran nanites, which were passed on to her by Niam's attack ("Progeny"), that are quickly taking over her body and mind. Dr. Carson Beckett tries to eliminate the nanites by injecting Weir with Wraith cells. The nanites will then fulfill their programming and destroy the Wraith cells, breaking up into their individual forms and leaving them susceptible to an Electromagnetic pulse. The attempt is partially successful, destroying most of the nanites. Unfortunately, some nanites have survived. Ultimately, Weir's fate is now in her own hands. In Weir's head, the destruction of the majority of the nanites results in her believing that she must return to Atlantis. However, the nanite-induced visions attempt to stop her. Lt. Colonel John Sheppard, risking a nanite infection himself, enters Elizabeth's isolation chamber, gripping her hand and arm in the belief that physical contact may help him to get through to her, and urges her to fight the nanites. In her nanite-induced delusion, Weir then sees Sheppard lead the way to the Stargate, which will take her back to Atlantis. Again, the nanites try to stop Weir, but she ignores them and walks through the gate. Weir then wakes up in Atlantis' infirmary, breaking the hold the nanites had over her. With Weir now fighting, her immune system shuts down the nanites. She and Sheppard, who was not infected, later discuss the whole ordeal which took place over the course of only five hours. Weir is disturbed by the experience and what it means in regards to the Replicator threat. + +While on a mission off-world, the team is ambushed by a Genii strike team. As the team escapes through the Stargate, Lt. Colonel John Sheppard is captured by Commander Acastus Kolya. Back on Atlantis, the team suspects that Ladon Radim, the current leader of the Genii, had betrayed them. Ladon arrives to Atlantis and asserts that he is not responsible for Sheppard's capture. At that moment, Atlantis is contacted by Kolya. He has Sheppard hostage and demands that Dr. Elizabeth Weir turn Ladon over to him to get Sheppard back. Weir refuses to give in to Kolya's terms, so in order to coerce her into agreeing, he uses a captured Wraith to slowly drain Sheppard's life. He gives Weir three hours to answer his demands or he will let the Wraith feed on Sheppard again. Throughout the episode, Dr. Beckett says that they still don't really understand the Wraith feeding process, and he can't predict exactly how cumulative feedings will affect Sheppard, or what will be the point of no return. It is revealed that the reason for Kolya's antagonism towards Ladon is their rivalry for the leadership of the Genii. Kolya firmly believes that he is the rightful ruler of the Genii, but his plans were ruined by Ladon, who informed the government of his rival's plans and pulled off a coup of his own. Ladon agrees to help the team find Sheppard. With the information he provides, the marine team strikes at a Genii outpost, but quickly discover it to be a dead end. Meanwhile, Sheppard begins to talk to the Wraith, who is also a prisoner of the Genii. Both prisoners want to escape; Sheppard wants to get back to Atlantis, while the Wraith is tired of being starved in a prison cell, explaining that, for a Wraith, hunger is like a raging fire inside them, and they have no choice but to feed. Initially, the Wraith does not trust Sheppard, believing that the chances of escaping were zero, he has been there for many years and has had his resolve weakened, but he gradually becomes impressed by Sheppard's unwaning hope that his people will come to save him, and the prospect of truly being able to feast. Eventually, the Wraith agrees to an escape plan. Working together, the unlikely allies escape from their prison. However, as they try to reach the Stargate, Genii forces begin to pursue. In order to gain the strength to fight them off, the injured Wraith feeds off Sheppard, leaving him barely alive, and easily defeats the Genii, feeding on two of them. Sheppard tells the Wraith to finish him, but the Wraith says he doesn't understand. At that moment, the Atlantis team, who have found out the location of the prison, arrive, and are horrified to see what appears to be the Wraith feeding on Sheppard. However, the sated Wraith keeps his word to Sheppard and returns life force back to him, restoring his physical condition; indeed, Dr. Rodney McKay says that Sheppard almost looks younger than he did before. The Wraith reveals that the Wraith give the 'Gift of Life' only to their most devout followers… and, he adds, to their brothers. Sheppard tells the others to stand down, he will honour his agreement with the Wraith to let him go. Using the Genii radio, Sheppard threatens Kolya (who escapes through the Stargate), saying that unlike their last encounter, he will not hesitate to kill him if they meet again. He then stuns the Wraith with Ronon Dex's Particle magnum, and the team drops him off at an unknown planet where he and the Wraith agree that the next time they meet, "all bets are off." The Wraith is then presumably picked up by a Wraith Dart. Both part ways with the realization that there are many things they don't know about each other's kind, but also a newfound understanding. + +Jeannie Miller, Dr. Rodney McKay's sister, is seen playing with her daughter Madison Miller. While watching her daughter push a toy train across a bridge, Jeannie is suddenly hit with a moment of inspiration, and begins writing down mathematical formulas using fingerpaint and Madison's easel. She submits her work to Professor Graeme Peel of the California Institute of Technology, and catches the eye of the US Government, more specifically, the Stargate Program. The next thing she knows, Jeannie is approached by Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter, who appears on her doorstep flanked by a couple of Mounties with an offer to work for Stargate Command. Jeannie, however, refuses to work for the US Government because she believes her physics calculations serve no practical purpose and vehemently opposes the commercial exploitation of theoretical science. McKay is brought back to Earth in an effort to convince his sister to work for the SGC. McKay visits Jeannie and her husband Kaleb Miller and daughter. They don't really know what to think of him, and McKay and his sister bicker about the past. McKay wants her to come with him and help out for a few months because she's almost as brilliant as he is and would be a great help to the Stargate Program. Jeannie balks until McKay beams her aboard the Daedalus. McKay then reveals that Jeannie's calculations can help solve the problems that plagued Project Arcturus. Instead of trying to draw zero point energy from our own universe and release hazardous exotic particles, McKay plans to draw energy from a parallel universe via a Matter bridge so the exotic particles would be vented into the hopefully uninhabited parallel universe instead. Working together, McKay and Jeannie managed to resurrect Project Arcturus and successfully activate it without releasing exotic particles. While being tested, a foreign object suddenly materializes inside the containment chamber. When the scientists arrive to investigate, they are shocked to discover McKay, or an alternate version of him. The alternate McKay demands to see the person in charge of the project – McKay. Meanwhile, the friction and differences between McKay and Jeannie becomes more evident as their bickering and sibling rivalry become more intense. Matters aren't helped when they first meet the alternate McKay. Alternate McKay explains to the Atlantis team that he was sent to this universe in order to warn them that his universe is slowly being destroyed by the exotic particles being created by Project Arcturus. The project is immediately shut down to prevent any more damage. However, the alternate McKay admits that the trip through the matter bridge is one-way only, so he will be staying in Atlantis permanently. Already, there are major contrasts between McKay and alternate McKay, who is soon called "Rod". Rod is more outgoing and social than McKay, and is more comfortable in engaging with personal relationships. Much to McKay's dismay, Rod quickly befriends most of the Atlantis team, including Jeannie. McKay slowly realizes to his horror that he is actually jealous of Rod and his ability to socialize, as well as being able to get along well with Jeannie. Meanwhile, more problems begin to arise. Even though Project Arcturus had been shut down, the matter bridge is still open and Rod's universe is still being destroyed. The Atlantis team in Rod's universe devises a way to stop the process but it would involve destroying McKay's. Suddenly, McKay realizes that there is an alternate way to close the matter bridge without having to destroy either universe. The plan involves using massive amounts of energy to forcibly close the matter bridge. Unfortunately, they only have one energy source powerful enough to use, the Zero Point Module. While preparations are being made, Rod approaches McKay, telling him that he is going to attempt to beam himself back through the matter bridge and return to his own universe. McKay tries to dissuade Rod, pointing out that everybody in Atlantis likes him. Rod however is adamant, stating that even though his teammates in his universe have their faults, they are still his team. Rod even admits that he is slightly jealous of McKay's self-confidence in his own talents and ability to say what is on his mind without hesitation. The plan continues, and the alternate McKay begins to draw energy from the ZPM to close the matter bridge. They successfully close the bridge, but McKay keeps the energy running in order to give Rod time to beam back to his own universe. Once the power is cut however, McKay realizes in horror that the ZPM has been drained of all power as Atlantis is plunged into darkness. With her job done, Jeannie begins to pack up and prepare to return to Earth, but not before Sheppard shows her the video McKay recorded two years previously before the Wraith siege. McKay comes to see her one last time, and the siblings reconcile their differences. After a tearful farewell, McKay goes to the mess hall, where he finds Lt. Colonel John Sheppard, Teyla Emmagan, and Ronon Dex just hanging out, talking and joking with each other. McKay joins them, and is surprised as his teammates admit that they didn't quite like Rod all that much, stating that he was "creepy". They also wonder if Rod ever made it back to his own universe. Then, in a surprising move, McKay begins to hang out with the trio, talking and joking along with them. + +During an off-world mission, Major Leonard's team is overdue for contact, and Lt. Colonel John Sheppard takes his team, Dr. Carson Beckett and three other Marines to find them. Upon arriving, they find four Genii corpses that are seriously decayed—and who appear to have killed each other. Finding a cave with strange energy readings, they discover a Wraith bunker, including a damaged generator. Nearby are the bodies of the missing team, minus their CO, Leonard. A video recording indicates that Leonard killed his men, but one of them mentions requesting evac by the Prometheus, a ship that had been destroyed more than a year earlier. Deciding they need more help, the team tries to get back to Atlantis, but someone has sabotaged the Dial Home Device to explode, which kills one of the marines. On top of that, they draw fire from Leonard, injuring the two other marines, Lt. Kagan and Sgt. Barroso. Sheppard decides to head back to the cave. While there, Dr. Rodney McKay deduces that the device is a mind manipulator designed to cause hallucinations in humans, increasing the Wraith's own hallucination producing ability. The Genii soldiers apparently found and activated it. Unaware of how to turn it off, they tried to destroy it, but only succeeded in damaging the device, and it will take McKay some time to turn it off. Ronon Dex soon follows the hallucinating Leonard, with Sheppard and Teyla Emmagan in pursuit, but Teyla is shot in the leg. Sheppard manages to get the wounded Teyla to Leonard's camp, and tries to dress her wounds. Leonard soon approaches but runs out of ammo. Sheppard tries to calm him down, but Leonard, thinking Sheppard is a Kull warrior, kills himself with a Fragmentation grenade. On Atlantis, Doctors Elizabeth Weir and Radek Zelenka try to make contact with the team with no success due to the device's jamming effects. A UAV is sent, but thinking the UAV is a Wraith Dart, Ronon shoots it down. Soon, the others are affected, and they start behaving unusually strange. Later even the team is experiencing weird things: Sheppard hallucinates that he is back in Afghanistan; Ronon believes there are Wraith nearby; Beckett believes that Barroso is still alive and that Kagan is dead, and McKay believes the generator is on the verge of exploding. Teyla alone is unaffected due to the Wraith DNA in her genetic makeup. Believing Teyla is Captain Lyle Holland, a soldier who was wounded in Afghanistan, Sheppard takes her back to the cave, with Ronon, who believes that Sheppard is a Wraith trying to feed off Teyla, in pursuit. At the cave, Beckett, at the urging of a hallucination of a dead Barroso, takes Kagan to find help, while McKay realizes that he is affected by the machine, but is then shot by Sheppard. As Ronon approaches, McKay tells Teyla to shut the device down, having previously explained the process to her. Teyla, appearing as Holland to Sheppard, convinces Sheppard to aid her in disabling the device. As Ronon closes in, Teyla discovers that McKay had nearly finished shutting it down and directs Sheppard to the main power conduit. With Teyla's direction, Sheppard is able to cut power to the device and the hallucinations immediately cease. Nearby, Sheppard finds Beckett with Kagan who is still alive. With the device off, Atlantis is able to make contact with the team and sends the Daedalus to pick them up. With the Daedalus a few hours away, Atlantis sends through supplies that allow Beckett to stabilize Kagan who will survive and treat everyone else's wounds. As they wait for rescue, Teyla asks if Sheppard got Holland to safety in the end and he admits he failed. + +With Atlantis' Zero Point Module depleted, Dr. Rodney McKay and Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter devise an ingenious solution to solve the problem of transportation between the Pegasus and Milky Way galaxies. Using 34 Stargates from both galaxies, Stargate Command has constructed a massive chain of Stargates between the galaxies that would reduce the time to travel between Atlantis and Earth from three weeks to thirty minutes. The test is successful, but after Lt. Colonel John Sheppard returns from the test, McKay detects strange readings on the Daedalus's sensors. Upon closer examination, McKay finds out that the anomalous contact is actually an Aurora-class battleship moving close to the speed of light. McKay hypothesizes that the ship is a damaged Ancient battleship making its way from Atlantis to Earth, but because its hyperdrive is damaged, it is forced to move at near lightspeed. Though the trip would take thousands of years, relativity from moving close to the speed of light would mean that only a few years, shortened further from stasis, would pass from the crew's perspective. The implications of this would mean that there could be living, breathing Lanteans on board. The Daedalus manages to make contact with the ship, the Tria, and transport the Lantean crew, numbering roughly a hundred survivors, back to Atlantis. The Lanteans are overjoyed to see that their city is still intact, but reveal shocking news. They intend to reclaim the city and ask the Tau'ri to leave. Without warning, Helia the captain of the good ship Tria mentally summons forth an Lantean lockout device that rises out of the gateroom floor, activates it, and casually informs all present that, "Atlantis is now under my control." Major General Jack O'Neill and Richard Woolsey arrive in Atlantis to try to negotiate, offering manpower, resources and infrastructure to help the Lanteans make Atlantis great again, but the Lanteans' position is steadfast. They acknowledge everything the Tau'ri have done and the debt they owe them, but say they need time alone after ten thousand years and that at some point in the future, they will be welcomed back. With no support from the Lanteans, and with an Ori invasion of the Milky Way galaxy to deal with, the Atlantis expedition is disbanded and returned to Earth. Teyla Emmagan, Ronon Dex, and the Athosians are relocated to another planet. Everybody attempts to deal with their sudden separation from Atlantis in their own way. Sheppard is assigned to lead one of the SG teams, McKay is reassigned to Area 51 and Dr. Carson Beckett is given a surgery post at the SGC. Dr. Elizabeth Weir essentially drops off the radar and becomes a virtual hermit until Beckett coaxes her out to have dinner with the others. Meanwhile, back in Atlantis, O'Neill and Woolsey (who the Lanteans welcomed to stay as ambassadors) report that an Asuran ship was detected, but the Lanteans are confident that they won't be harmed, since the Asurans' base programming prevents them from doing so. Unfortunately for them, the Lanteans are taken completely by surprise when the Asurans suddenly attack and invade Atlantis. Sheppard, McKay and Weir are summoned to the SGC, along with Beckett, despite the fact he did not bring his cell phone, though he wasn't called-in in the first place. After hearing O'Neill's final transmission, Major General Henry Landry decides to send the Daedalus to Atlantis and destroy the city with a Nuclear warhead. With the gate bridge in place, the Asurans could use it to gate to any planet in the Milky Way, which the SGC cannot allow. The four Atlantis expedition members told of this are horrified at the news, and hatch a daring plan to try to save O'Neill, Woolsey, and Atlantis. Before anybody at the SGC realizes it, the four steal a cache of upgraded Replicator disruptors (calling them "Anti-Replicator guns" or ARGs), hijack a Puddle Jumper, and use the gate bridge to travel to the Pegasus galaxy. On the new Athosian homeworld, Teyla and Ronon are approached by Ladon Radim, asking them to consider working with the Genii against the Wraith. After Radim leaves, the two discuss this: Ronon has no desire to join the Genii, but Teyla comments that he may not be happy as a farmer. At that moment, Sheppard, McKay, Weir, and Beckett arrive, and recruit Ronon and Teyla to help retake the city. With the team assembled, McKay uses a special backdoor program embedded into the Stargate's programming to open a wormhole to Atlantis and disable its Stargate shield. Sheppard then flies the Jumper straight through the gate, uncertain of what is waiting for them on the other side. + +Richard Woolsey and Major General Jack O'Neill are hiding out in a section of the city where the sensors are not working when Lt. Colonel John Sheppard's team comes through the Stargate, taking fire from the Asurans. Sheppard contacts the two and tells them to stay put, dropping an explosive device into Stargate Operations before piloting the Puddle Jumper through the window directly behind the Gate. The device detonates, damaging critical systems and all but destroying the upper section of the central spire. With the critical systems, including sensors, destroyed, the Asurans attempt to repair the damage. They are also aware of Sheppard's message, and because they had killed all of the Lanteans, suspect that there are humans hiding within Atlantis. The team then take the Jumper to retrieve Niam, who is still floating in space where they left him ("Progeny"). Dr. Rodney McKay plans to use Niam to transmit a program that will make all the Asurans freeze, allowing them to finish them off with the Anti-Replicator guns. Niam has been damaged by his long exposure to vacuum and solar radiation, and is unconscious. McKay begins uploading the program but notes that they need to be very close to the city in order to make it work. Any attempts to extend the program's range would mean increasing Niam's power levels, which risks reactivating him. When the Jumper returns to Atlantis, it is attacked by Drone weapons. Sheppard maneuvers the Jumper between the city buildings but cannot shake them. He takes the Jumper into the ocean, heading for an underwater Jumper bay. However, the bay will not repressurize, and due to the damage taken earlier, the Jumper is taking on water. They radio O'Neill for help, and he swims down to the docking bay control room, holding down a dead man's switch to drain the docking bay while Woolsey keeps a lookout. O'Neill succeeds, but an Asuran search party finds and captures both him and Woolsey. McKay continues to work on Niam, as the others discover that O'Neill and Woolsey have been taken, possibly to be mind-probed. This is indeed the case, and having discovered Sheppard's plan, the Asurans reactivate Niam, forcing McKay to destroy him with an ARG. With "Plan A" gone, Ronon suggests they simply go on a killing spree with the ARGs but McKay warns them that eventually the Asurans will determine the frequency the disruptors use and develop an immunity. McKay comes up with another plan and asks Sheppard how much C-4 they have. The team splits into three groups, each going to different shield control units around the city. Sheppard and McKay go to the Atlantis brig where O'Neill and Woolsey are being kept. McKay tells the two captives that the plan is to disable the city's shield emitters with C-4, allowing the Daedalus to beam Nuclear warheads directly into the city and vaporize it after they get away. However, McKay is apparently unable to override the coded lock to free them, and he and Sheppard are forced to leave. The Asurans finish repairs to Stargate Operations and, with the city now being powered by Zero Point Modules, activate the city's Stardrive. Dr. Carson Beckett and Teyla Emmagan head to the chair room where Beckett launches Drones to damage the Stardrive. The Asurans, however, have extracted information about the plan from Woolsey's mind, and capture Sheppard's team just as the last of the C-4 is planted. The Asurans remove the C-4 and gloat to Sheppard that the humans' plan has failed. Detecting the Daedalus entering orbit, the Asurans raise the shield… …and, in flashback, McKay describes his plan to Sheppard: to insert the disruptor crystals from the ARGs into the shield control units, turning the Atlantis shield into a giant disruptor weapon. A fake plan is told to Woolsey and O'Neill to feed disinformation to the Asurans and the C-4 left as misdirection. When the Asurans activate the shield, they are destroyed in one fell swoop. At the last second, the team contacts the Daedalus and convinces Colonel Steven Caldwell not to destroy the city. The city recaptured, the Atlantis expedition moves back in, and with O'Neill and Woolsey's approval, Weir will once again be in command. + +Dr. Radek Zelenka, Ronon Dex, and Lt. Colonel John Sheppard are in a Puddle Jumper returning from an expedition on the mainland to document and hunt local fauna. As they return, Zelenka notices that Atlantis does not appear on the sensors properly. After adjusting their direction by forty degrees they are on the proper course towards Atlantis again. Teyla Emmagan begins to see repeat visions of Ancients on Atlantis. First she is assumed to be under stress, but after a while other people in the city begin to see the same visions. Meanwhile, Dr. Rodney McKay and Sheppard notice a sea creature which McKay has named "Sam" (after Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter), because he believes it to be the same one that led Sheppard and Zelenka to rescue McKay from a damaged Jumper on the ocean floor. After using Atlantis' sensors to find another of the sea creatures, much larger than "Sam", they decide to take a Puddle Jumper to investigate closer. During a close encounter with the sea creatures, Sheppard and McKay develop intense headaches and McKay falls unconscious. In the infirmary, Zelenka explains that the sea creatures emit a low frequency pulse and an electromagnetic field which, in combination, are very dangerous to humans. Very soon, most of the city is affected by this. Many victims are transported to the Daedalus, now orbiting the planet, but there are too many in the city to all be relocated. During his recovery, McKay uses his tablet to locate an Ancient Bio lab dedicated to studying the native marine life and manages to translate what the whales are saying. The Lantea whales are warning that the Lantean Star is about to send out a gigantic coronal mass ejection (similar to a solar flare) straight at the Lantean planet and although the shield will protect Atlantis, the radiation wave will kill all plant and animal life on the planet and destroy the atmosphere, thereby depleting any breathable oxygen. The whales are congregating underneath Atlantis' shield for protection. The visions that people have been seeing are a genetic memory that the whales have of this catastrophe, which happens every 15,000 years. The Lanteans were experimenting with communicating with these creatures when this traumatic event occurred. An Ancient ship named Adaris was near to the sun when the ejection began and most of its crew were killed immediately by the radiation. The pilot managed to jump to hyperspace and overtake the radiation wave before it reached Atlantis and warn the people there. Now knowing what is happening, the team consult the Atlantis database and discover that the last time this happened the Ancients managed to temporarily expand the city's shield to encompass a large percentage of the planet's surface. Unfortunately, with only one functioning Zero Point Module, McKay is only able to expand the shield by a radius of a few kilometers. In order to save Atlantis as well as the planet, Sheppard comes up with the idea to transfer the ZPM to the Daedalus and move the ship into position between the sun and the planet. When the coronal mass ejection begins, the shields aboard the Daedalus (boosted by the ZPM) successfully deflect the emission away from the planet, with the Daedalus sustaining only minor thermal damage in the attempt. + +Atlantis receives news that a village on M65-PL8 is protected by a hero with superhuman strength. Lt. Colonel John Sheppard and his team visit the planet, only to realize that this hero is really Lucius Lavin. The team suspects that he is using the same drug he used on Atlantis that caused everyone near him to obsessively like him. Lucius says that he doesn't need the drug because he has a Personal shield emitter which makes him invincible, and won the hearts of the villagers after taking out some troublemakers; he maintains their devotion by claiming credit for some of the heroics that he read about in Atlantis's mission reports. While Lucius is hiking in the nearby woods, a small group of thugs with rifles invade the village, asking for the "hero." With weapons raised, the gang's leader, Haemon, asks Sheppard whether he is the rumored hero who will stop them from robbing the town and burning it to the ground. Lucius Lavin arrives with an air of triumph, declaring that he is the hero and will protect the village. The thugs' blows bounce off his shield, and he makes quick work of them. The team visits with Lucius in his new home, but after saying goodbye, they decide to stick around and see if they can learn what Lucius is up to this time. They follow him to a secret meeting with Haemon and his men, learning that Lucius hired them to stage the attack, and that he is paying them less than what they agreed to, despite having legitimately injured two of them. The men are furious - they are proud soldiers of the Genii, former members of Cowen's personal guard, who were forced to work for hire after Ladon Radim's coup ("Coup D'etat"). When Lucius returns to the village, the team tries to expose Lucius's con to the villagers, but the villagers do not believe them. Later, Commander Acastus Kolya and some of his soldiers arrive, looking for Sheppard. The team realizes that they can't fight Kolya without risking the lives of the villagers, so with the help of Lucius, they hide in a closet until Kolya leaves. Lucius confronts Kolya and orders him to leave; Kolya's shots bounce off the shield, but Kolya soon realizes that he can torture Lucius by trying to drown him. Lucius gives away the team's location, but they have relocated. Kolya ties Lucius to a chair and tries to get more information from him. Lucius repeats his false heroics to Kolya and his men, who prove uninterested. Kolya leaves Lucius to deal with some other work. Sheppard's team sneak in and try to break Lucius free, but make a desperate premature exit when a bomb strapped to Lucius's chair goes off. The team is immediately captured by Kolya, except for Sheppard who manages to escape. While Kolya and his men search for Sheppard, Lucius sneaks away and finds him first. Kolya radios Sheppard to tell him that the Stargate is heavily guarded, and that he will kill members of the team unless Sheppard surrenders. Sheppard agrees to return and Lucius decides to help him. Together Sheppard and Lucius are able to come up with a plan that has Lucius rally the villagers to protect themselves rather than rely on one man to do it. As Kolya prepares to kill McKay, Sheppard shows up and after agreeing they should've killed each other the first time they met, Kolya has his men shoot Sheppard. However, Sheppard is wearing Lucius' personal shield and the Genii attack has no effect on him. As Sheppard taunts Kolya, the shield's power source is suddenly depleted, leaving Sheppard vulnerable. Before Kolya's men can reload, Lucius arrives with the armed villagers who surround Kolya and his men. After Kolya acknowledges that he wouldn't accept an offer to surrender, he and Sheppard enter an impromptu duel. Sheppard proves to be the faster shot, hitting Kolya in the heart and killing him. With their leader dead, Kolya's men surrender. After the situation is over, the team departs the village. Sheppard returns the personal shield to Lucius as he had promised to do, but doesn't inform Lucius that its power source is now depleted. As a result, Lucius finds out painfully as the team walks out of the village. + +In order to conserve power, Dr. Rodney McKay and a scientist crew (including Dr. Radek Zelenka and Dr. Rafaela Esposito) are heading through a recently flooded area of the city, shutting down systems recently activated by the Ancients during their short period of controlling the city. McKay powers up the machine and is suddenly surrounded and circled by a giant spiral of what appears to be DNA or some sort of energy (then subsequently gets hit by bolts of electricity from the machine) and stands there, surprised. Everything appears normal, except for the fact that McKay just survived a few lightning strikes with no damage to his body. Later, McKay discovers that his hearing has improved greatly, and he overhears the team talking about him, so he grabs his tablet, which has moved across the table into his hands, and walks over there and has a very minor rant. An announcement comes over the Atlantis PA system calling Lt. Colonel John Sheppard and his team to Stargate Operations. There they receive a transmission from Major Evan Lorne's team. They are under attack with enemy soldiers closing in fast. After they head out to start the rescue, Zelenka talks to Dr. Elizabeth Weir. He has discovered that the device is designed to manipulate human DNA (a DNA resequencer, presumably) Sheppard's team returns with Lorne and according to McKay, the enemy attacking Lorne's team were defeated when McKay "thought 'wouldn't it be great if all their weapons jammed all at once?' and then it just happened". Weir, of course, does not believe him, and neither does anyone else, so to prove it, he uses his telekinesis to pick up Dr. Carson Beckett right off the floor. Everyone stares at McKay. Weir tells McKay to put him down, which he promptly does. McKay is in the infirmary on a bed, hooked up to a vitals monitor, and a few other machines. Apparently there is a dramatic increase in synaptic interaction throughout all the sections of the brain, much higher than normal levels. Weir mentions an incident at Stargate Command "just over a year ago" where they found a highly evolved being in stasis, caused by altering of the DNA by a DNA resequencer by a Goa'uld named Anubis, designed to artificially accelerate the human physiology to the point of ascension. McKay stays a while in the infirmary, and then is let out with Ronon Dex keeping him company. He discovers he can read people's minds, so he heads to Weir's office and 'asks' permission to utilize the control chair of the city and reconfigure the power systems to increase the efficiency of the Zero Point Module, as it will dramatically lower the city's power usage, and thus increase the ZPM's life. While he is fiddling with it, the lights in the DNA resequencer lab where Zelenka is trying to fix the device (it was damaged in the initial explosions/lightning when McKay had his DNA resequenced), go out. He heads to the control chair room to talk to McKay, but McKay is arrogant and keeps working. Zelenka heads back to the lab, very angry at McKay. Weir is going over the research log that the Ancients left behind, in her office, when Sheppard walks in and asks how she's going with it, she says she's just getting to what she thinks might be the "good bit". Sheppard leaves, but before he goes, Weir suddenly reads something that worries her and says that they need to talk to McKay right away. They walk into the control chair room and McKay reads their minds. He realizes what is happening: If he does not ascend near the peak of the evolution, he will die soon afterwards. He is faced with a choice: Ascend or die. At this point, a massive power surge starts going through the city – Zelenka is struck by a bolt of electricity and badly wounded. He is rushed to the infirmary and has a massive wound, in very unstable and critical condition, with no pulse. Beckett prepares the paddles. McKay tells Beckett to "MOVE!" and Beckett protests that "the man is dying!" and McKay says "I know, just give me a second". A look of concentration comes over McKay's face as he puts his hands above the wound. It begins to heal very quickly. In a few seconds the wound is gone. When the wound is healed, McKay is amazed that he could do it. In a panic, he runs out of the infirmary; probably scared of what other powers he has and to continue his scientific research into greater technologies. McKay goes on an inventing spree, inventing a new type of math, a way to increase the shield power on the Daedalus, designing a hyperdrive prototype for the Puddle Jumper and figuring out why light behaves as particles and waves in quantum physics. McKay goes through some emotional changes, realizing his fate is coming; he takes meditating lessons with Sheppard, who learned from the Ascension-seeking villagers he was trapped with the People of the Cloister, so that he will be ready when the time comes. He apologizes to Zelenka for being very mean to him during the past few years, and even calls him a "brilliant scientist". Zelenka is touched, and even a little confused as McKay walks away. McKay also speaks with Teyla Emmagan and helps her with the "tea ceremony for the anniversary of her father's death." He comments that "I know you're not supposed to do it alone." Teyla appreciates this sudden and strange show of compassion and caring. He then finds Ronon and asks him about the scars on his back from the Wraith. He asks, "When you think of your scars, are they like a badge of honor or just a constant reminder of something you'd rather forget?". Ronon responds "I try not to let the things I can't change bother me". McKay, somewhat amazed, answers that it's a healthy choice. Then suddenly hugs Ronon and squeezes him tightly for a few, for a surprised Ronan, too long seconds, then as he breaks away says "Hope you don't mind… I just healed them." He also typed out a book for Weir of all the "good things [she's] done". Elizabeth is utterly surprised that it's a massive 500 pages long, and wonders how he managed it with everything else he's been doing, but quietly touched that he did. McKay and Sheppard try meditating, without much success as McKay just can't let himself go or keep quiet. Frustrated he gives up again, saying it's useless as he just doesn't know how not to be himself. Then asks Sheppard he'd like him to give his eulogy, something simple. He tells Sheppard he wants Beckett to do a full autopsy if any of the research will be helpful, and then to be cremated and have his ashes scattered in space. Then, he suddenly collapses, and Sheppard calls for a medical team. Eventually McKay ends up back in the infirmary, as his body starts to die: the advanced cerebral cortex is affecting the lower functions of the brain and his body is losing its natural ability to keep itself alive. McKay and Sheppard have another go at the meditation, and McKay probably from the gravity of the situation finally slowly sinks to the required level of brain activity. They're all sadly standing around him and Weir tells him they all love him. He's surprised but accepting and looks pleased about it. He slowly goes to 1Hz and suddenly his eyes open and he grabs Beckett violently staring intently into his eyes. He lets him go and collapses back onto the bed. No pulse. Beckett says they need to bag him and get him on the ventilator. Weir protests, saying "He gave us strict orders to. " and Beckett cuts in "No, you don't understand. He's just told me how to save him." At the lab, Zelenka prepares the machine as they place an unconscious McKay on the floor in front of the controls, where he was resequenced before. The machine is turned on, there's another zap and McKay is returned to normal. Apparently (according to the now normal McKay) "The device was designed to manipulate one's DNA, and it couldn't reverse the evolutionary process because everyone's DNA is different, it makes certain changes that cause the DNA to evolve, in ways specific to one's own unique physiology." Zelenka cuts in: "In order to manipulate the DNA to its previous state, the program required a precise reference point." Beckett says "Fortunately we keep blood samples from all the Atlantis team members for base-length comparisons." They just had to input his original DNA as a comparison point. McKay is back to normal, and is no longer "a dead man", however he has regrettably lost all his newfound powers, including the ability to understand the theoretical work he did while he was "advanced", which frustrates no end. He and Weir discuss his recovery and note that it turns out he was very lucky - reading further into the logs Weir has found out that the machine's effects had been wildly unpredictable, and he could just as easily have been melted down into a pool of protoplasm. Weir has decided to forbid any future use of the device due to this instability, even though Sheppard keeps begging to be given a go, hoping for a bit of an 'upgrade'. + +For two years, Lt. Colonel John Sheppard and Dr. Rodney McKay have been playing a computer game left by the Ancients, in which they each develop countries on opposite sides of a river in competition with one another. While McKay has been pushing his country ("Geldar", named after a former romantic interest of McKay's) to develop technologically, Sheppard has been encouraging his ("Hallona", named by the Ancients who created it) to develop its military. On a routine survey mission, however, Major Evan Lorne's team discovers that it is not, in fact, a game. Their countries, and all the people in them, are real; living on a planet somewhere in the Pegasus Galaxy. With a satellite network in orbit to track their development and Ancient technology to receive the "players'" instructions, their civilization has, in fact, been a Lantean social experiment. The team has stumbled upon McKay's country (easily identifiable by the multitude of paintings of his face throughout the village), they go to the planet to investigate. While McKay stays with Nola, Sheppard takes Teyla Emmagan and Ronon Dex to visit "his" civilization, located across the river. There they meet Baden, the aggressive leader of Hallona. He reveals that at the command of Geldar's Oracle, the Geldarans have begun mining for valuable coal under his country. He believes that the proper response is to launch an attack. The team returns to the planet to attempt to forge a peace with McKay accompanied by Ronon in Geldar and Sheppard by Teyla in Hallona. Nola reveals that Geldar has bombs which McKay was unaware of and sends one in a dirigible to bomb a Hallonan village. Sheppard and Teyla are able to harmlessly shoot down the dirigible with the Puddle Jumper, but Nola is not deterred and orders more bombs sent while Baden orders his army to destroy the Geldar villages. With the situation deteriorating, the team is suddenly beamed to the Daedalus, diverted by Weir on its way back to Earth to check on them. While Colonel Caldwell feels there's nothing more they can do, Sheppard has come up with a plan and convinced Caldwell to send them back after McKay enacts part of it. Once McKay's work is done, the team discreetly beams back to their respective countries. In Geldar, the Hallonan army destroys their villages and bombards the capitol with their own bombs. The oracle console loses power and Nola realizes that they have lost. At the same time, in Hallona, the capitol is shook by bombs from Geldar and the oracle console also loses power. With hundreds dead, Sheppard announces that its "game over" to Baden. After the apparent destruction of both countries, McKay and Sheppard reveal what really happened with help from Ronon and Teyla: while on the Daedalus, McKay hacked into the consoles and uploaded a doomsday scenario for each country to give them a taste of what war is really like. In reality, both of their armies are standing down waiting for further instructions. No one has been hurt and the explosions were pinpoint shots from the Daedalus to add realism to the situation. Nola and Baden are left confronted with the true horror of what a war can do to their peoples if they don't stop. Later, Weir visits Sheppard and McKay who are playing chess with each other in the mess hall and tells them that while both sides have returned to the negotiating table, there's still a lot of animosity for them to work out. However, Weir thinks Nola and Baden are at least willing to try now. In the meantime, Sheppard and McKay's war continues through their chess game. + +Lt. Colonel John Sheppard's team investigates a derelict, centuries-old space station on a distant moon. Inside they find the last remnants of a civilization frozen in stasis using reverse-engineered Wraith beaming device. One thousand men, women, and children were put into stasis in an attempt to avoid extinction at the hands of their longtime enemy, the Wraith. Herick is the first to awaken when Sheppard's team restores power. Placed in stasis in his mid-thirties, Herick is the technician who created the stasis device for his people. Though he expects to find his wife and son there with him, they are missing, along with the shuttle they were meant to arrive on. Angry, Herick awakens their leader, Jamus. Due to riots following the launch of the first shuttle, Jamus explains, the second shuttle (with Herick's family aboard) was left behind in order to conceal the existence of the sanctuary space station. Herick, distraught, commits suicide rather than live without his loved ones: He activates the shuttle’s engines and destroys the hangar bay doors, allowing the vacuum to suck him into space. This, however, also alters the moon's orbit; it is now falling toward the planet with an exponential acceleration. As the Puddle Jumper has been pulled into space when Herick decompressed the hangar bay, both Sheppard's team and the last remnants of the dying civilization are now trapped on board, doomed to die. Dr. Elizabeth Weir contacts the team through the Stargate soon, however, and sends a team to help. It seems as though the members of the Atlantis expedition and Jamus have been saved; however, the team cannot possibly save over a thousand people. Jamus, fiercely defiant, states that he will not go without his people — and will make sure that the Atlantis team does not, either. He takes Teyla Emmagan as a hostage, and will only release her if Sheppard gives his people safe passage off the failing station. As way of explaining his refusal to abandon them, he describes to Teyla his people's actions to keep the Wraith away - they used atomic weapons to destroy the incoming Wraith fleet, counting on the radiation from the weapons to sterilize the planet, eliminating the Wraith's desire to feed upon the people any longer - but eliminating the people themselves at the same time. All survivors of the culling were killed by the radiation, making the planet seem useless to the Wraith, and thus ensuring that the survivors aboard the space station would no longer have to deal with the threat of culling. Teyla and the team cannot guarantee the survival of the people in stasis, so Jamus takes Teyla hostage; he places her in stasis, along with himself, and Dr. Rodney McKay is unable to distinguish her life-signs from the survivors already in the device. He is also unable to devise a way of interfacing the storage system's power needs with a Puddle Jumper's systems in the time remaining, so Sheppard, determined to try to save Teyla's life, develops a plan to pilot the shuttle down to the planet’s surface with the stasis unit aboard. As all of the fuel in the shuttle was used up by Herick in his suicide, Sheppard cannot get the shuttle into orbit; he tries to align the vessel for reentry, but at the critical moment, the shuttle's explosive bolts fail, keeping it attached to the station. Sheppard rides out a great deal of turbulence before the moon breaks up around him; he pilots the ship to a rough but safe landing. Both he and the stasis unit survive; eventually, everyone within it (including Teyla) is safely awakened. Unfortunately, due to his injuries, Jamus does not survive the awakening process. Teyla remarks that Jamus was only doing what he thought was best for his people, and that in his position, Sheppard would have done exactly the same thing - to which he objects. + +On a Sunday in the city of Atlantis, the crew is enjoying a mandatory rest day, a newly-instituted policy established by Dr. Kate Heightmeyer to give the Atlantis expedition some time for recreation. Teyla Emmagan and Dr. Harriet Hewston have just finished a sparring session together and are discussing the events of the rest day. They also talk about a man who seems to have a fondness for Teyla; she tries to change the subject, saying the ways of her people are different. After the discussion, they both agree to have a late lunch together. As they enter the mess hall, Teyla remembers that she left her Bantos rods behind in the gym. As she turns around to fetch her things, there is a massive explosion behind her and she gets thrown across the corridor. She realizes that a bomb has just gone off in the mess hall. As she attempts to get up, she sees a piece of shrapnel in her abdomen. Three hours before the incident, Dr. Elizabeth Weir is in her office catching up on some work rather than relaxing, when a handsome young scientist, Mike Branton, finds her. He wonders why she is working on her day off, as she has ordered everyone else to do. It turns out that Branton is also catching up on work, but has just finished. He invites her to lunch, but she thinks that it is a date, since she has a personal rule not to be involved with people under her. However, Branton insists that it is not a date, just friends or co-workers going out for lunch. He eventually persuades her to come. She agrees to go with him in one hour. During that time, she passes Dr. Carson Beckett, who was planning to go fishing with Dr. Rodney McKay on the mainland. He notices that she is hiding something, and just guesses that she is going on a "hot date", but agrees not to tell anyone. Weir later makes it to Teyla's quarters. Initially, she was to have lunch with Teyla, but she had other arrangements, she agreed to go sparring with Hewston. Weir then decides to join Branton for lunch. During their "not a date" lunch, they argue about whether a man and a woman can be just friends. He later decides to take Weir to the outskirts of the city to enjoy the view of the ocean. Weir then finishes her bottle of water, meaning that lunch is over. Branton admits that he should have brought dessert to last longer. He then starts admitting that he likes her and begins to wear down her shields, and even kisses her. She seems attracted to him, but decides she can't allow a potential romance to bloom. She is later saved from the awkward situation when the control tower radios her that there has been an incident in the city. When she arrives, she is informed that there was an explosion in the mess hall, with three people dead and more injured. They believe the explosion may have been caused by a bomb. Five hours before the incident, Lt. Colonel John Sheppard and Ronon Dex plan to play golf with Teyla. However, Teyla regrets that she is behind on paperwork (which is an excuse not to play golf). Sheppard lets her off. Ronon then tells him that he has to catch up on mission reports too. However, Sheppard calls his bluff and takes him to the golfing area, where they meet up with Dr. James Watson, who is also playing golf, and Beckett, who plans to take one of them fishing. However, they all decline. Watson comes up to Beckett, complaining of a headache. However, Beckett points him to Dr. Cole. Later, Ronon becomes bored playing golf, and takes Sheppard to the gym, to play a "real sport". The sport turns out to be an apparent Satedan training sport, of capturing the opponent's flag. Every time a level is complete, the next level becomes harder, such as using one leg, and one arm. Ronon easily beats him on rounds one and two. Sheppard later plans to stop playing, where he takes Ronon to his quarters to drink beer and listen to some music. There, Sheppard wonders if he left anyone back on Sateda, whether a wife or a girlfriend. Ronon says "close enough", referring to Melena. Ronon wonders if Sheppard was married. He says that he used to be. They then hear an explosion. They rush to the mess hall, where they see Dr. Radek Zelenka examining the wreckage. Luckily, there is no structural damage. However, he tells them that McKay is checking up on something, and informs them that a few eyewitnesses claimed to have seen Dr. Hewston mysteriously blow up. Fourteen hours before the incident, McKay is in the Atlantis infirmary in the middle of the night. He is with Beckett, Hewston and Watson. The two young scientists accidentally activated a device emitting radiation, but deactivated it. McKay shouts at them, telling them to take extra care. He later thinks his is being too condescending, and decides to give the scientists a break, by giving them tomorrow off. However, he wasn't aware that it is the mandatory rest day. He looks at Beckett, who is imitating the retraction of a fishing rod, meaning the fishing trip they planned a month ago is happening today. The next morning, McKay sees Dr. Katie Brown in her botany lab. He wonders if he could have lunch with her today, because he thought the month within the planning of the fishing trip and doing it was enough time to think of something to get out of it. He plans to take lunch to her in the lab. When he arrives in the mess hall, he sees Weir talking with Branton. Beckett comes in, thinking he has brought lunch for both of them. McKay then makes an excuse that he promised Katie to have lunch with her, since they are seeing too little of each other. He promises to come fishing next week. Back in the botany lab, the couple were talking about the events over a year ago, with the Lt. Laura Cadman incident. She told him that he was ignoring her ever since for a year, but actually made time to see her the past few months. Later, they both hear an explosion, and McKay runs to a lab. He informs Sheppard, Ronon and Teyla that the device Hewston and Watson activated, was an Ancient device created as a weapon. It uses an unusual type of radiation to create an explosive tumor behind a person's lung. After an unpredictable period of time, during which the tumor grows, it approaches critical mass and then unexpectedly detonates. With Hewston dead, the only other infected person, Watson, is still at large. They try contacting him, but he is already in the infirmary, about to be operated on by Beckett. Two hours before the incident, Beckett plans to persuade someone else to go fishing with him. He tries Zelenka, who is too busy playing chess with another member. He is playing for trades, and is winning. Beckett then comes to Major Evan Lorne. But he's too busy painting the city skyline. He then goes to Dr. Biro, but discovers her erratic personality. He officially calls the fishing trip a bust. He goes to Cole, who has a migraine and dismisses her for some rest, while he catches up on paperwork. A while later, he treats a female Marine with a sprained ankle from playing volleyball, when he hears the explosion. He rushes to the mess hall and sees Teyla, who he promises to take care of. After he finishes on Teyla, he starts working on Watson, when he gets a call from McKay. He tells him the situation, and to leave Watson. However, Beckett evacuates the level, but stays behind with a nurse to operate and remove the tumor. He locks down the section, meaning teams can't get in to stop him. They attempt to talk Beckett out of helping Watson, but he refuses and operates on him. Half an hour later, he took out the tumor, and sends it to a box. He is called to stay in the infirmary while the disposal team moves into the infirmary. However, he takes the box and slowly moves through a corridor to meet them half way. When they meet, he gives the box to an explosives technician. He then proceeds in turning around and starts his return to the OR, when the box suddenly explodes, killing him and the technician nearby. Before the memorial service, after which Beckett's remains will be sent home to Earth for burial, McKay expresses guilt that he did not go fishing with Beckett earlier, because then he would not have been killed. However, Ronon tells him that there was nothing he can do, and tells him "what's done is done". Beckett's memorial service is held in the Atlantis gate room with all of the staff in attendance, and Dr. Weir gives his eulogy. After the service ends, Beckett's casket is carried through the gate back to Earth by McKay, Sheppard, Zelenka, Lorne, Ronon and Cole, as a lone Piper plays "The Dark Island", a traditional Scottish funeral song. After their return from Earth, McKay is standing on one of Atlantis' piers grieving over Beckett's death and sees a vision of him. He explains that his family was amazing, and later tells Beckett that it is his fault, and should've just gone fishing with him. Beckett comforts Rodney and tells him that it's not his fault that he died. McKay says that he's only saying what he wants to hear, and Beckett tells him, "That's what best friends do sometimes. And in this case it also happens to be true". Rodney admits that Carson was the closest thing to a best friend he ever had. They then say a final goodbye before Beckett fades away. + +In the water beneath Atlantis, a large contingent of Atlantis personnel are aboard a Puddle Jumper searching for a Mobile drilling platform on the ocean floor, including Dr. Rodney McKay, Dr. Elizabeth Weir, Dr. Radek Zelenka, Teyla Emmagan, Ronon Dex, and Lt. Colonel John Sheppard. Zelenka and Ronon are complaining that the search is taking too long. McKay starts to argue with both when a Dr. Graydon supports McKay, crediting McKay with narrowing the search field to a remarkably small area. McKay appreciates the comment and welcomes the new Graydon to the team, only to find out that he has been at Atlantis for over eight months and is not the Grayson that McKay originally wanted to join the team. After hours of searching, they finally find the station and begin docking procedures which in turn powers up the station. The camera switches to a close up of a set of Wraith eyes opening. Aboard the station McKay reports to Weir that the station systems are all online and functioning at full capacity. Weir cautions McKay to slow down before producing energy from the station, until they find out why the Ancients abandoned it. Ronon, Teyla and Sheppard are exploring the station when they realize they are going in circles. Teyla then realizes she senses a Wraith presence within the station. Everyone retreats to the station's control room. McKay, in spite of protesting, runs a life sign scan on the station and finds nothing out of the ordinary. Weir reminds the team that Wraiths can not be seen on life scans if they are hibernating. Ronon asks if Teyla's senses have ever been wrong, and she replies that they haven't. Despite the scans, Teyla offers to reach out with her mind to find the Wraith. Weir, Ronon, and Sheppard all watch Teyla reach out with her mind, in order to prevent her from causing trouble, similar to earlier episodes where Teyla was taken over by a Wraith when she opened her mind too much. Teyla awakens from her trance dazed but says she was unable to find anything, and blames the water pressure. Sheppard is glad he will not relive the movie The Abyss. Weir and Sheppard split from Ronon and Teyla in order to explore the station more. While searching, Teyla is being very quiet, which concerns Ronon, and he confronts her. Teyla apologizes and places her hand on his shoulder explaining that he is a good friend, and that she would not want to do anything that made him uncomfortable. Suddenly Teyla viciously attacks Ronon, knocking him out and leaving him behind. She walks in a trance to an auxiliary control room and begins powering down sections of the station. Weir and Sheppard are in one of the blacked out sections, prompting them to call into McKay who still has power but finds out 40% of the station has been powered down. McKay explains that the station has been on the sea floor for a few millennia and could have blown a fuse. Sheppard tries to contact Teyla and Ronon but Ronon is still unconscious and Teyla is not responding. Sheppard asks McKay to see if he can find either of them, but he replies that the internal sensors are down. He reports the power outage was attributed to a control room in the search area that Teyla and Ronon were exploring. Sheppard and Weir go to find out what happened. McKay sends Dr. Dickinson and Graydon back to the use the Jumper sensors in order to find Ronon and Teyla. McKay, Sheppard and Weir all meet up and begin looking for Teyla and Ronon. Teyla opens a control panel exposing some of the control crystals. She then pulls her sidearm and proceeds to destroy the crystals. McKay, Sheppard and Weir hear the shots and run to follow them. In the lower levels of the station the Wraith comes into the station via an open water access door in the floor of the station. Sheppard, Weir and McKay find Ronon, and discover that Teyla attacked him. Teyla continues working at the control panel initiating emergency force fields around the station. Weir and McKay make their way back to the control room while Ronon and Sheppard go to find Teyla. Teyla awakens from her trance and stares at her empty gun, and then is discovered by Ronon and Sheppard with no memory of what occurred for the last hour. McKay finds out that Teyla not only powered down sections of the station she scrambled the operating system code, and disabled the communications center. Weir meets Teyla, in the crew quarters with Sheppard and Ronon. Teyla apologizes and explains what happened. When she opened her mind she found out the Wraith was a Queen. She found the Queen's mind to be very powerful but then remembers nothing else until Sheppard and Ronon found her. Ronon and Sheppard go to look for the wraith and Teyla offers to help but Weir is wary of Teyla doing anything until she is certain the Queen is not still controlling her. Dickinson and Graydon are working by themselves in order to disable the force fields. A force field cutting them off from the Jumper is disabled, but both are unsure if it was due to what they were doing. Dickinson sends Graydon to check it out. Graydon finds wet footprints from the force field to the Jumper. Graydon is inspecting the jumper when the Wraith Queen attacks Graydon from within the Jumper. Back in the control room McKay and Zelenka are debating why the Wraith would be on the station. McKay sends Dr. Coleman to reprogram the station's external sensors to see if there is anything of note in the area. In the crew quarters Teyla and Weir are discussing the Wraith Queen. Teyla feels embarrassed for harming Ronon but Weir thanks her for using her power to discover the Wraith. Teyla tells Weir that the Queen was only able to control her because she had her mind open and was not ready for her. A mistake she will not make again. Ronon and Sheppard are still searching for the Wraith when they hear Dickinson being attacked by the Wraith Queen. Both run to help Dickinson but are cut off by the emergency force fields. McKay and Zelenka finally disable the force fields. Sheppard makes it to the Jumper and finds Graydon after being fed upon. Sheppard whirls around to find the Wraith Queen, who forcibly controls his mind so that he can fly her back to the Stargate, so she can return to her people. Ronon jumps out from behind the Wraith and fires a shot, but using Sheppard who can see Ronon, the wraith jumps out of the way and the shot destroys the Jumper's window that is exposed to the outside of the station, letting in sea water and knocking all unconscious. Sheppard and Ronon wake up to find themselves in the hallway due to the force of the water. McKay initiated the force fields to keep the water from flooding the station, effectively cutting everyone off from the Jumper. Ronon and Sheppard look around and discover the Wraith Queen is nearby and still unconscious. They decide to capture her rather than kill her since she may know a way out. However, the Queen refuses to tell them anything, other than that they are about to die. In a rare moment of humility, McKay is arguing with Zelenka that he should have trusted Teyla. Zelenka offers the repeated life scans that did not show anyone else on board. Coleman comes back and offers that the Wraith came on board after the scans. The external sensors have revealed a Wraith cruiser almost buried in silt about a kilometer away. The crew determines that the Queen swam from the cruiser to the station. After restraining the Queen, Teyla tries to enter the Queen's mind to find out how the Wraith came on board and if there is any more Wraith around, and why she keeps saying they are all about to die. The Queen says Teyla is too weak, but Teyla digs into the Queen’s mind. She finds out that the Queen was in the first wave of ships that attacked Atlantis, Queen of a great alliance. Her ship was damaged and crashed into the ocean. She fed off of her crew for centuries and was awakened from her hibernation when she sensed Teyla nearby. She left her ship and made it to the station so she could make it to freedom. She made it to the Jumper but did not possess the ancient gene to fly it, and needed Sheppard. Teyla then finds out that the Queen set the auto-destruct sequence on the Cruiser before she left it, and it will detonate in two hours. McKay makes the startling discovery that the planet's crust is very thin where they are located and there is a large energy potential there. The explosion of the Wraith Cruiser will be magnified by the large amount of magma nearby and will also wipe out Atlantis. Everyone is unsure about what to do. The self-destruct needs to be deactivated, but the jumper is disabled and there is no other way to get to the ship, until McKay remembers seeing a type of deep water suit that was used to do maintenance on the station. Sheppard and McKay walk to the remarkably intact Wraith Cruiser and get to the main control panel with 30 minutes to spare but find out that they need an access code to disable the self-destruct sequence. The Queen refuses to reveal the code prompting Teyla to try to entering the Queen's mind to acquire it. She loses her control momentarily and Weir stops her from trying again, fearing she is too weak. Teyla tries to convince Weir that she can get the codes, but Weir is unconvinced and tells her no. Weir heads up to the control room and Teyla sends Ronon up to help her leaving her alone with the Queen. Teyla tries to enter her mind again but is quickly overcome by the Queen, and she begins loosening the Queen's restraints. The newly freed Queen jumps at Teyla but discovers that Teyla is trying to hide something in her mind. The Queen digs into her mind and discovers a conversation between Teyla, Sheppard and Weir. They discuss the Wraith Cruiser and how that it is still flyable but that they still can not deactivate the destruction codes. The Queen knocks out Teyla and swims to the Cruiser. The Queen surprises Sheppard, deactivates the self-destruct, and tells him that she is going to "reward" him for fixing the engines, "with a quick death". Suddenly McKay jumps out from behind her and opens up with his FN P90 Personal Defense Weapon, but even unloading the entire magazine doesn't kill her. The Queen whirls around only to be shot more in the back by Sheppard's sidearm. Teyla actually planted the memory of the meeting for the Queen to find so that she would escape and deactivate the self-destruct sequence so she could escape in the Cruiser. Everyone is in the crew quarters when McKay reports that everything is operational again and is excited to continue exploring the station. Weir and McKay go off to continue research of the station while Sheppard, Ronon and Teyla all go to bed to recover. + +Dr. Elizabeth Weir reports that the Taranians haven't contacted Atlantis in over two months. Lt. Colonel John Sheppard's team is sent to look for them. On the Taranian settlement they discover it appears as though the whole settlement has been abandoned. Detecting a life sign below them, the team searches an underground complex made by the people who lived there before the Taranians. There they are faced with a large creature which has similarities with the Iratus bug, after finding a room full of dead Taranians, an Iratus bug in a jar full of liquid and a large cocoon/pod in an empty room. After a scheduled check in, and before the team comes into contact with the life sign, Weir sends them a Marine contingent to help them deal with the creature, but soon after they arrive they are abducted by a Wraith Dart. After Sheppard's team has little luck with destroying the creature (Ronon Dex only manages to cut off its arm) and realizes they've lost contact with the Marines, they try to return to Atlantis, only to find that the control crystals have been removed from the Dial Home Device, disabling the Stargate. Returning to the complex they discover that Michael Kenmore, after being rejected by the Wraith began experimenting with the bug and created these creatures to take over the galaxy. They soon discover that he has hundreds of those creatures on that planet and this is not the only planet on which he is breeding them. While Dr. Rodney McKay and Teyla Emmagan stay in Michael's lab, McKay tries to figure out what Michael was doing and how many creatures are on the planet. Meanwhile, Sheppard and Ronon use the air vents to get to the surface and locate the control crystals. Unable to find the control crystals and with the creatures on their tail, they quickly find Michael's Wraith Dart. Sheppard is able to fly it and then beam Ronon, Teyla, and McKay on it and then use its DHD to dial out. Daedalus is redirected to go and nuke the planet but when they arrive there they find that the whole place is wiped clean with no sign of Michael or the creatures. At the very end of the episode, Weir explains to Teyla that it was their fault the Taranians were killed, as the Wraith discovered their location after they hacked the Atlantis database during their alliance. Weir also mentions that according to what McKay was able to decipher from Michael's device, there are at least three other planets where Michael was conducting his experiment and there are hundreds of beasts out there. + +While walking through the halls of Atlantis, Dr. Elizabeth Weir is approached by her new acting head of medicine, Dr. Jennifer Keller. Keller is daunted by the task of managing the entire medical staff for the Atlantis expedition in the wake of Dr. Carson Beckett's death, and asks Weir to replace her as soon as possible. Weir says that's up to the International Oversight Advisory, but for right now, she tells Keller that dealing with the pressure will get easier over time; she should get used to her new position. As Weir enters the control room, Dr. Rodney McKay approaches her and complains about having to fill out personnel evaluation reports for the people under his command. When she tries to convince him that it is necessary, Lt. Colonel John Sheppard enters the room, turning in his already completed reports to Weir. She is annoyed when she sees that he has ranked everyone with "excellent" and "above average". He retorts that they did perform excellently and above average, and a good leader shouldn't lie. Before Weir has a chance to respond, they are notified that Earth's newest Daedalus-class battlecruiser, the Apollo, has just dropped out of hyperspace. The commander, Colonel Abraham Ellis, beams down to the city and meets with Weir and her staff. He has come to inform them that the Daedalus, which has been conducting routine reconnaissance of the Asuran homeworld, has detected evidence that the Asurans are building a fleet of warships with the possible intentions of attacking Atlantis or, even worse, Earth. Ellis informs Weir and her senior staff that he will be conducting a preemptive strike against the Asurans to see that they never have an opportunity to launch their ships. After viewing images taken by the Daedalus evidencing the construction of the ships, the IOA authorized this first strike. They sent the Apollo to Atlantis with the Horizon weapons platform on board. Horizon is a module containing six Mark IX "Gatebuster" Nuclear warhead and four decoys that can be deployed from orbit. While McKay argues that since the Asurans are actually Replicators, if just one nanite survives, they will be able to reproduce their society, and Horizon doesn't have the power to destroy them all. Ellis explains that their target is only the new Asuran ships; they are constructed of conventional alloys, so the Mark IX's will be enough to completely eliminate them. Once the scientists at Area 51 complete their latest project, the Planet Wide Anti-Replicator Weapon, or P.W.A.R.W., Ellis and the Apollo will return to the planet to destroy the Asurans for good. For now, though, this will have to do. McKay and Dr. Radek Zelenka beam up to the ship to inspect the Horizon and prepare it for launch. Meanwhile, Weir expresses doubt about the whole idea; the Asurans haven't recently made any aggressive moves against Atlantis. Attacking them now would invite a counter-attack upon the city that could have disastrous effects. Ellis proceeds anyway, despite her warnings. Upon arriving in orbit of Asuras, Ellis deploys the Horizon, which successfully delivers the nukes through the atmosphere to their targets. The mission is a success, and the Asuran ships are obliterated. Later, an object is detected exiting hyperspace and entering orbit of Lantea. It's not a Wraith ship, but it doesn't have a recognizable transponder signal either. Apollo moves in range to investigate, and finds that it is a small satellite with a Stargate inside it. As the ship moves in closer, the Stargate activates, and shortly thereafter, the satellite maneuvers so that the wormhole's event horizon faces the Apollo and fires a sustained energy beam at the ship. The ship's energy shields are quickly drained. Before it is seriously damaged, though, the satellite rotates, moving the beam down to the planet, sweeping toward Atlantis. The city's shield is raised just in time. The beam is sustained and fires continually at the city. McKay briefs Atlantis' senior staff and Ellis about the attack on the city. The satellite is protected by a shield powered by the beam, and the beam itself is powered by a large number of Zero Point Modules; clearly, this is the work of the Asurans. With this near-infinite power source, the Asurans will be able to maintain the wormhole and the energy beam indefinitely. Unfortunately, the humans can't maintain the city's shield anywhere close to indefinitely; their sole ZPM will be depleted in 29 hours. Then, the shield will fail and the city will be destroyed. Weir opens communications to Asuras through the satellite gate. She is surprised to see Oberoth again. He tells her that each Asuran exists within a collective consciousness and can be replicated multiple times. Her efforts at diplomacy fail, and when the Asurans try to send a computer virus into the Atlantis mainframe, she terminates their communication link. In light of recent events, Sheppard goes to Ellis and confronts him about the negative repercussions of their mission. Ellis responds that he is just speaking on Weir's behalf. Ellis goes on to say that while Sheppard has blemishes on his record, he should be the one leading Atlantis. Meanwhile, Teyla Emmagan meets with Weir, and the expedition leader reveals that she is deeply troubled by the threat Ellis poses to her authority. She rants to Teyla that the IOA may back her regularly, but when Atlantis faces dangerous circumstances, Weir is nothing more than their scapegoat. Worse than the IOA, though, is the military; sometimes it seems like Major General Jack O'Neill is the only one in the military who supports her command of Atlantis. She muses to Teyla that if they survive this, she may have to step down. Teyla tries to be reassuring but is clearly troubled by Weir's words. Later, while reviewing possible options, McKay and Zelenka reach a brilliant solution to their problem; submerge Atlantis to the ocean floor. The Ancients did it once before, ten thousand years ago. Previously, the team couldn't submerge the city because several necessary systems were offline. However, those systems were restored when the Ancients returned to Atlantis. Once underwater, the beam's intensity will be attenuated. Its weakened strength will buy Atlantis more shield time. This is by no means a permanent solution to the problem, but it will buy them several hours to come up with one. Weir gives the go-ahead, and McKay makes the necessary preparations. The city sinks and lands on the Lantean ocean floor. Sadly, McKay and Zelenka find that the three hours of work necessary to sink the city have saved the ZPM only nine hours worth of shield power. Another solution must be found very quickly. Sheppard and McKay realize that they will always be in range of the satellite on Lantea, and their only hope of escaping the beam is to leave the planet and escape to space using the city's Stardrive. The problem is, there's not enough energy in the ZPM to lift the city out of the atmosphere while shielding it from the beam at the same time. In another shared stroke of genius, McKay and Sheppard suggest to Ellis that he dispatch Major Evan Lorne to lead a squadron of F-302 fighter-interceptor's toward Lantea's Moon. The squadron will tether themselves to one of several asteroids orbiting the moon, and maneuver it into the beam. If all goes according to plan, it will disrupt the beam for several crucial minutes during which the shield's stresses will be alleviated. Even then, one ZPM wouldn't be enough to operate the Stardrive, but supplementing it with power from the Ancient Mobile drilling platform, it should be enough to get into the atmosphere. The plan is approved. All non-essential personnel are evacuated to the Apollo, and the F-302's make their way to the selected asteroid. Ellis tells Weir that while he may not like her, he does respect her, and he apologizes for attempting to overstep her authority. Weir appreciates the gesture; Ellis returns to his ship, the F-302's move the asteroid into the beam's path, the geothermal platform works perfectly, and the city begins its ascent. Unfortunately, there is still not enough energy to power the Stardrive. The city makes it to the ocean surface but can't get far up into the atmosphere. Weir suggests dropping the shield; McKay argues they won't be able to contain an atmosphere without the shield. However, Sheppard, flying the ship from the Control chair, agrees that they should deactivate it; they won't need artificial atmosphere until about 18,000 feet. Once the shield is down, Atlantis moves off into the atmosphere. After reaching 18,000 ft, Sheppard engages the shield. However, at that moment, the Asuran beam destroys the asteroid blocking it, and races down toward Atlantis. It strikes the city before the shield closes, grazing the control tower. Several windows blow out, and the blast from the beam injures many people, including Ronon Dex and Weir. The control room is severely damaged. Despite the damage, Sheppard gets the city out of harm's way, exiting the atmosphere and going into hyperspace. Sheppard sits up, relieved but the mood is interrupted by a frantic McKay stating that he needs a medical team to the control room because there are multiple injured persons. With that, Sheppard gets up and rushes up to the control room, arriving to a scene of carnage where there's a lot of heavy damage and many injuries. Keller loads Weir onto a stretcher. She appears to be severely injured. When Sheppard tells her she'll be okay, Keller says she isn't so sure about it. Sheppard goes into the control room, and finds Ronon there, severely injured, having to order him to get medical attention. Immediately after, Atlantis abruptly drops out of hyperspace. McKay realizes that they have not arrived at the planet designated to be Atlantis' new home, M12-578. Rather, they are truly in the middle of nowhere; there are no nearby stars, planets, or other navigational markers. Atlantis is lost in space, and neither McKay nor Zelenka know what happened to the hyperdrive. Worse, the ZPM has 24 hours of charge left. When it has expired, they will lose atmosphere and die. It then cuts to show the city of Atlantis floating helplessly in space. + +Dr. Jennifer Keller and a medical team takes a gurney with an injured Dr. Elizabeth Weir to the infirmary. However, on the way, Weir flatlines. Keller tries to revive her, and soon arrives in the infirmary to operate on her, but they have to revive her first. Ronon Dex is also in the infirmary, demanding that a Young Doctor remove a piece of glass in his chest. Meanwhile, in the control room, Dr. Rodney McKay works furiously to restore the Stardrive, and Subspace communications, since they were all damaged by the brush with the beam. McKay discovered that the power conduits are damaged, which prematurely deactivated the stardrive. They work on repairing them. Back in the infirmary, Weir has flatlined for two minutes. She's suddenly back in V-fib, so Keller uses the defibrillator, which brings her back to life. Back in the control room, McKay tells Lt. Colonel John Sheppard that they are draining too much power, and will be lucky if they survive the night. A while later, Sheppard approaches McKay, and tells him that since Weir is incapacitated, Sheppard is in charge, and wants McKay to keep him in the loop. McKay tells him that he deployed some teams to patch up the damaged conduits. They have made significant progress in fixing them, and they would have at least an extra hour of power. However, an alarm sounds. They discover that the shield is collapsing, and McKay can't stop it. Sheppard warns a team led by Matthews to finish the work and escape to the central tower. The team attempts to do so, however, the shield is collapsing too quickly. The team almost makes it, but the artificial gravity shuts down, and the shield passes the helpless team. In the control room, the team watches helplessly, as they see the bio signatures fade away. Sheppard orders the other teams not to take too long. Meanwhile, in the almost completed Midway space station, Colonel Samantha Carter and Dr. Bill Lee work on activating the artificial gravity, when Bill vomits due to the weightlessness, but insists on staying to get the gravity on. Suddenly, the Pegasus Stargate activates. Colonel Abraham Ellis contacted her to inform her that Atlantis has left Lantea, but did not arrive on M12-578, since Atlantis was supposed to beat them there. Ellis then took the Apollo to the nearest planet with a Stargate and told Carter the situation. Ellis then decides to head back to 578 and dial back in one hour. Back in Atlantis, Ronon checks up on Weir. There, he learns that Weir is in critical condition, her brain is swelling and if it continues, then they have to perform a decompressive craniectomy. Meanwhile, McKay tells Sheppard that the teams have finished, and in order to save more power, the shield has to collapse to cover only the central tower, which Sheppard authorizes. The shield quickly transforms to a cigar shaped bubble surrounding the control tower. Back in the infirmary, Keller learns that Weir's brain is swelling to dangerous levels. Keller has to stop it, so she performs the craniectomy, which does stop the swelling. McKay brings the team two pieces of good news. A), they're no longer lost, but the subspace communications are beyond repair. B), the stardrive wasn't damaged, just that the conduits were damaged, and Dr. Radek Zelenka is making excellent progress, by using secondary conduits to patch up the damaged ones. Sheppard then pops into the infirmary, where Keller gives him a diagnostic of Weir's condition; she has six broken ribs, one of which punctured a lung, but no spinal damage. However, her head got knocked around badly, causing substantial brain damage. Meaning that even if she will revive, she'll never be the same Elizabeth again. This news puts Sheppard on an uneasy position. In the ZPM room, Zelanka tells McKay they will soon finish repairs to send Atlantis to M12-578. However, there's a problem, the city is on a collision course with an asteroid belt, which leaves them an ultimatum. If they take the shields back to its original shape, the power drain would lose any chance of restoring the stardrive. If they remain, the city would fall apart. With the Chair room out of reach of the shield, Sheppard has one plan left. He calls in everyone with the Ancient Technology Activation gene to fly Puddle Jumpers to make a clearing for Atlantis to go through unscathed. However, most of the people rarely flew Jumpers and had little experience. However, Sheppard has complete faith in them. They fly away and get into formation until they are in firing range of the asteroids. The pilots start firing Drone weapons into the asteroids. Despite little experience, the pilots managed to have wiped out several asteroids. After the half way point, McKay and two more Jumpers pick off some stragglers, particularly the big asteroid about to hit Atlantis, which is intercepted by McKay. The other Jumpers make it through and return to pick off the stragglers. In Atlantis, they feel the effects of some smaller pieces hitting Atlantis. The city sustains multiple hits, but went through the field, putting everyone into relief. The Jumpers return, with McKay's shock that the plan worked. However, he is called to more bad news; some of the asteroids that made it through Atlantis has damaged some of the stardrive's control crystals. They have to repair it. There is a catch, the crystals are outside the shield, meaning they would have to make it there in space suits, and would have to work fast, before the power levels will dip too low to get the stardrive online again. Sheppard and Zelenka ready their space suits. Meanwhile, McKay gets a visit from Keller, who gave him an idea to get Weir back to her original self, by reactivating the nanites she was infected with by Niam a year ago. McKay tells Sheppard about the plan, only to tell him not to, since Weir wouldn't want that to happen. However, McKay works on a plan to reprogram them in a way that it will not be a threat to her. Back in the Midway station, the artificial gravity is now online, where Carter and Bill work on a way to contact Atlantis. Bill proposes an All-gates bulletin, which Carter declines, due to its numerous flaws. Sheppard and Zelenka walk through the exposed hallways. However, on the way, they find a big gap between them and the control crystals. Sheppard plans on a space jump, by pushing Zelenka and using his inertia to pull Sheppard across the gap. It works and Zelenka starts on replacing the damaged crystals. However, a micro-asteroid cuts through Zelenka's uniform and through one of his legs. However, Zelenka insists on continuing. In the infirmary, Ronon comes up to Weir and thanks her for letting him in Atlantis, because he would be dead if he carried on as a runner. However, her vitals spike. Keller pushes Ronon away and tells McKay to activate the nanites or she'll die. Despite not being finished, McKay gives her the activation codes. Zelenka finishes replacing the crystals. However, when Sheppard tells Teyla Emmagan, she tells them that the power levels have dropped below the minimum level required to jump. They have 30 hours before the shields completely fails, which will kill them all. But there's another problem; Sheppard finds out about Weir, and snaps at McKay. He orders him to terminate the nanties, which McKay refuses. But Weir has just awakened from her coma and wonders what is going on. They put the room Weir is in placed in quarantine. Weir tells Teyla that reactivating the nanites is a bad idea, as they have no idea what she went through last time. In the Midway station, Carter has an idea. They use the Apollo to make several little jumps and use the Long range sensors to find Atlantis. However, since several thousand jumps are required, Carter plans on augmenting the ship's sensors. They plan to dial to the Pegasus Galaxy. Back in Atlantis, the team tries to figure out an alternate plan to save Atlantis. Zelenka proposes they override the city safeguards and try to activate the hyperdrive with their available power. However, doing so means there is a 50/50 chance the hyperdrive will either work, or destroy the city. Sheppard rejects the plan as it is too dangerous and insists they try something else. McKay and Zelenka then realize they can use the hyperspace-capable Jumper that McKay designed when he was once physically augmented. Though it can't travel very far, the Jumper does have enough power to jump to a nearby planet and return. McKay and Zelenka plan to take the Jumper to a nearby planet. On the screen, McKay finds M7R-227, which has several Zero Point Modules. 227 is actually the Asuran homeworld, and McKay proposes a heist to steal a ZPM. + +In the still-drifting Atlantis, Dr. Rodney McKay and Dr. Radek Zelenka are in a Puddle Jumper, completing the calculations to implement the hyperdrive. After a mishap, involving a short circuit, Lt. Colonel John Sheppard arrives, checking up on the progress. However, he tells McKay a problematic question, that even if they did arrive to Asuras and steal the Zero Point Module, escaping would be suicide. McKay says he had been thinking, and decided that if they stand any chance to succeed, they need help. They turn to the seemingly recovered and improved Dr. Elizabeth Weir. They ask for her help. McKay tells Weir with the team that with her nanites, they will be able to use them to their advantage to steal the ZPM. They could use them to get in and out without being noticed. However, if the Replicators are able to take control of her, Sheppard will order McKay to activate the kill-switch, which will terminate the nanites, but since the nanites are the only thing keeping her alive, she will die. Despite the big danger, Weir immediately wants to start the mission. Sheppard talks with her alone. Weir tells him not to hesitate with the kill-switch, despite his assurances that it will not happen. McKay finishes up on the hyperdrives. Ronon Dex comes in and tells Sheppard that they're ready, despite McKay's skepticism that they could break up on entering hyperspace. Meanwhile, Sheppard tells Teyla Emmagan to stay behind. He tells her that Zelenka found a planet for the city to jump to, but that they would have to evacuate, since the power would be too drained to achieve a stable orbit. He tells her that if he and his team don't return within twelve hours, she should give the order to jump. He then proceeds to the Jumper, where the team takes off. Sheppard tells those remaining on Atlantis not to get into any "wild parties" when they're gone. The Jumper then successfully jumps into hyperspace. Meanwhile, Colonel Samantha Carter and Dr. Bill Lee arrive on a beautiful planet in the Pegasus galaxy. Lee comments that the planet looks a lot like Elwynn Forest from World of Warcraft. He takes out a camera to take a picture. However, Carter contacts the Apollo, who quickly beams them both on-board before Lee takes the photo. Carter tells Colonel Abraham Ellis the plan to find Atlantis. It is a simple, yet tedious one. Assuming that Atlantis dropped out of hyperspace early, they would have to power up the Apollo's sensors to extend their range significantly. They would follow Atlantis' original path, making a short hyperspace jump, scanning the area, and then jumping to the next area. Naturally, such a process is incredibly time consuming, as it would require about 50 jumps. The Jumper successfully drops out of hyperspace and cloaks over the Replicator homeworld. However, too much power was used, so they can't jump back. McKay then proposes to use the to-be-acquired ZPM to power the ship. McKay then tweaks with the nanites, while Weir finds her way into the collective, where she is easily able to find an unguarded ZPM. The cloaked Jumper lands above the building, where Sheppard and Ronon exit and follow Weir's instructions. They easily enter to steal a ZPM. They then manage to return to the Jumper undetected. However, McKay discovers the command directive to attack the Wraith that was left dormant, and proposes to use Weir to reactivate it. However, Sheppard doesn't want to hear about it and prepares to leave the planet. McKay then has another proposal; they can upload his code to activate it through the Central data core so the Asurans will start to attack the Wraith on the next merge. The problem is that it is in the middle of the building in the center of the city. Sheppard decides to do this after they return from Atlantis. However, if they leave now the Asurans will upgrade their security and the team will not have this opportunity again. The Apollo exits its eleventh hyperspace jump, with 39 to go. However, the long range sensors aren't able to pick up Atlantis, meaning they still haven't found them. They prepare jump number twelve. The Jumper arrives over the necessary building, where they de-cloak to make room for an Anti-Replicator field, which will protect the core room and the Jumper. Sheppard leaves McKay with Weir, while he and Ronon make their way to the core room. However, Oberoth is made aware of the field, and finds out that the core is inside it. He orders the other Replicators to attempt to breach the field. Meanwhile, Sheppard plugs the computer tablet with McKay's code into the core, but nothing happens. With several Replicators sacrificing themselves to override the field's frequency, McKay quickly instructs Sheppard on implementing adjustments to the negotiation protocol to exploit parallelism at the device interface. However, the Replicators are quickly able to breach the field, and Oberoth is on his way. With no other alternative, Sheppard frantically works on fixing the interface before getting captured. When Weir suddenly leaves McKay, he attempts to disable the nanites and kill her, ignorant of her true intention (to stop Oberoth), but the command fails to work for unknown reasons. Meanwhile, Weir confronts Oberoth and makes physical contact with him, connecting herself to the Replicator network. She uses her access to freeze all of the Replicators, giving her team time to allow them to escape. A surprised Oberoth admits that he admires her attempt, but is quickly able to overpower her, claiming to her that she has under-estimated him. Now that he has regained control, all the Replicators start moving again. They easily capture McKay, Sheppard and Ronon trying to escape. With all of them captured, Oberoth visits them in a holding cell, telling them that Weir's attempts to stop him proved too taxing for her, and is going to upgrade her to join the collective. He then wants to probe their minds on the precise location of Atlantis, so the Asurans could destroy it. However, Oberoth finds it hard to extract the information. He then discovers that it was all a trick, made by Weir. In reality, all the Replicators are still frozen. Weir says that she never under-estimated him, but he has truly under-estimated her. Oberoth angrily tells her that she will not leave the city alive, which Weir replies by saying that her team will. After fixing the interface, and uploading the Wraith attack code, Sheppard is ready to go back to the Jumper, but not before getting Weir back. Oberoth, who will not be fooled again, overpowers Weir for real this time and manages to physically grab her arm. Sheppard and Ronon find her, and even try to shoot Oberoth with an Anti-Replicator gun, but can't terminate him, since the Replicators have managed to override the frequency. Weir, who can't release herself from Oberoth, pleads with Sheppard to leave her behind, and is eventually forced to order him to do so, as the Replicators regain control and fire at them, and surround Weir, preventing her escape. Sheppard is forced to leave her behind and run back to the Jumper and escape without her. Boarding the Jumper, Sheppard orders McKay to hook up the ZPM so that they can escape to hyperspace, but McKay is unable to do so in a timely fashion due to the intricate nature of the task. With no cloak due to a lack of power, Sheppard flees into orbit, losing weapons from Asuran attacks. Reaching orbit, an Asuran cruiser decloaks in front of the Puddle Jumper and powers weapons. As the team braces for their fate, the cruiser unexpectedly takes missile fire. To everyone's astonishment, the attacker is the Apollo which had finally located Atlantis and rushed to Asuras to help upon learning of the mission. Colonel Ellis informs Sheppard the Apollo 302 Bay is open for them to land and suggests that they hurry. At Sheppard's request, Carter scans the planet for Weir's subcutaneous locator beacon in an attempt to beam her out, but can't find her. A devastated Sheppard acknowledges this then, while the Apollo continues to lay down covering fire, lands the Puddle Jumper in the Apollo's port hanger bay. With the Jumper on board, the Apollo jumps to hyperspace. Back in Atlantis, they are able to install the ZPM, and the city is now fully powered. McKay finds them a new home planet, M35-117, a planet with a large ocean, like Lantea. He purposely left out a group of planets during earlier considerations, so the Asurans can probe Weir's mind and still never find Atlantis. The city jumps into hyperspace, and arrives over M35-117. Sheppard goes into the Control chair, where he will land the city. The re-entry (or, more accurately, as Bill Lee points out, just plain "entry," since Atlantis never left that particular planet) into the atmosphere and landing are very rough, but the city is now on its new ocean, with plenty of power remaining in the new ZPM. At night, a grieving Ronon and Teyla pack away Weir's personal belongings, wondering who will fill in for her. Meanwhile, Carter and McKay are able to contact Stargate Command and are now back on the grid. Also, Zelenka arrives with a surprising announcement; long range scanners have detected a massive fleet of Asuran ships heading for a Wraith controlled planet. McKay concludes that their mission was indeed successful. Later, Carter talks with Sheppard, looking over the two visible moons on their new planet. Carter tells Sheppard that she is amazed that they have pulled off the mission. She has been ordered back to Earth, and passes on Major General Hank Landry's condolences for the loss of Weir. Sheppard, however, vows that he will find her again. + +At a small village on some forested planet, Teyla Emmagan and Ronon Dex enter the village, where they are greeted by a local, who believes that Teyla is the woman he arranged to marry. Teyla tells him that she has not come for him. Instead, they are looking for a group of travelers who came to the village, which Ronon believes is a group of Satedans. The villager tells them that they're usually in the local inn, or the tavern. While Ronon checks the inn, Teyla checks the tavern, where she asks the bartender about the group of travelers boasting many Wraith kills. There, a man approaches her and warns her to keep the information to her self. After he insults her, Teyla tries to fight him, where the man is given help by his two friends, who overpower her. Just as they threatened to take off her eyes or ears, Ronon approaches them with his Particle magnum trained on them. However, just as they turn around, Ronon easily recognizes them, as his Satedan friends, Ara, Rakai and Tyre and embraces on a joyful reunion. Meanwhile, in Atlantis, Dr. Rodney McKay approaches Dr. Radek Zelenka concerning their new leader the International Oversight Advisory will appoint, despite no announcements yet. He tells Zelenka that the leader is their foremost expert in Ancient technology and Replicator activity, which McKay assumes means him being the new leader. He then meets up with Lt. Colonel John Sheppard, who is talking about the situation of the Asuran-Tau'ri-Wraith war to Colonel Samantha Carter, who is in Stargate Command. When McKay talks to Carter, he soon realizes that it is her, not McKay who is going to be the new leader of Atlantis. Back at the Tavern, the Satedans and Teyla starts drinking and conversing about what happened to them. Ronon believed they were dead, since he saw several Wraith Darts approaching them on a botched operation. They explain that they were hiding in a network of caves, but soon collapsed and were sealed in. After they dug their way out, they saw an infantry of Wraith preparing to attack Sateda. By the time they arrived, the city was left in ruins and were forced to move around, where they spent most of their time eating, drinking, and killing several Wraith. They also heard of Ronon's time as a runner. They then toast the reunion. In Stargate Command, Carter packs up for Atlantis, where Teal'c comes in the room and gives her a farewell. Carter admits that she is looking forward to it, but can't help but miss SG-1. Teal'c assures her that her team will come to visit one day, and that it is not goodbye forever. The two embrace before Carter walks to the Embarkation Room. In Atlantis, the expedition all await Carter's arrival, while McKay holds a basket full of fruit from the planets they traded with. Sheppard thought this was "lame" and tells him to get some flowers instead. He hands another man the fruit basket and tells him to get rid of it. The Stargate activates, revealing Carter. She gives off a speech, telling the team of her looking forward to working with them all, before going to her new quarters. Back on the planet, the Satedans talk some more. They tell him that they were five of them in the caves. Over the years, Marika and Hemi, the other Satedans were killed during battles against the Wraith. They admit that living on the run is not without its casualties. Ronon then attempts to tell them about the help he could provide, only to be stopped by Teyla, who then toast to Marika and Hemi. In her quarters, McKay comes in with a bunch of flowers, when he notices the fruit basket, which Carter says was given to her by Sheppard, meaning he had double-crossed McKay. He does however come and welcome her, and abruptly mentions that he is seeing someone. He brings this up since they will both work together more often. As they chat more, Ronon breaks up the conversation, and wonders if Carter is the new woman in charge. He wants his friends to come to Atlantis, and wants Carter to clear them for entry. Unfortunately, since the planet is on a new location, more safety protocols have been put in place to keep Atlantis' location a secret, despite Ronon's assurances that they won't talk. But after learning that she is not going to let his friends join, Ronon gives her an intimidating look before leaving. Ronon spreads the bad news to Tyre, who knows of Atlantis, but intends to keep the fact he was working with them a secret. He then tells Ronon to join them, and persuades him that the Atlantis expedition are merely their allies, not friends, no matter if they caused more damage to the Wraith than anybody else. This leaves Ronon torn on what he is to do next; leave his friends, or Atlantis. He returns to Atlantis to have sparring session with Teyla, who senses his unease. He tells her that he is thinking of leaving Atlantis. Teyla tells him that she has been in his position when she left her people, but realized that she can do more for them with Atlantis to hurt the Wraith more than anyone could. Meanwhile, Sheppard confronts Carter about his proposed plan to rescue Dr. Elizabeth Weir from Asuras. She denies it, since they were lucky the first time they infiltrated the Asurans, but without the advantage, going back would be suicide. She tells him that she will consider the plan when he will come up with one that will have a slight chance of even succeeding. He then joins Ronon in the mess hall and hears of Ronon's decision to leave. There, Ronon informs him that the Satedans have an operation, that will require Sheppard's help. Both teams meet on the planet and Sheppard is made aware of a proposed strike of a Wraith weapons research facility. The only thing the Satedans need is a Puddle Jumper to insert them into the facility undetected and extract them. However, Sheppard declines, since the Wraith are being attacked, but soon changes his mind when they are told that the Wraith are working on a way to de-activate the Wraith attack code. When they plan to leave, Ronon tells Sheppard that he has made his choice; he is going to leave Atlantis. Upon hearing the news, Carter comes into Ronon's quarters, where he is packing. She attempts to convince him to stay, but Ronon still stays with his choice. This forces Carter to stop, and even arrest Ronon, if he does leave after the operation. Sheppard, McKay, Teyla, and Ronon accompany the Satedans to the facility. After taking out some of the Wraith and making its way to one of the levels, Sheppard's team and the Satedans split up, with Ronon staying with the Satedans, and wishing them luck. However, they are soon ambushed by Wraith. Ronon hears the FN P90 Personal Defense Weapon fire from a distance and runs towards Sheppard's team, despite the Satedans' attempt to stop him. Ronon runs and shoots several Wraith. Sheppard's team attempts to break into a room. However, Teyla and Sheppard gets stunned, but McKay was able to hide in an empty cocoon. He then meets the Satedans, and is grateful to see him. However, Rakai raises his stunner and shoots him with it. So it is revealed that the Satedans are actually working for the Wraith. The Wraith Commander brings Sheppard's team to a holding cell. When they regain consciousness, McKay tells the rest that the Satedans are actually working for the Wraith. The Commander makes another appearance and takes McKay away. Meanwhile, Ronon returns to Atlantis and explains about the ambush. Carter immediately orders a rescue and recovery operation to get the teams back. She plans on sending two Jumpers to the location, and then mentions that she will now respect Ronon's decision on his future and both agree to make the most of their one and only operation together. Back at the research facility, the Commander reveals that the Wraith actually shut down the Replicators' attack code 10,000 years ago after defeating the Ancients, after they discovered the attacking Replicators weren't people, so they let them thrive on their planet. Now that McKay reactivated the code, the Wraith tells him that their war against the Replicators is going badly. They attempted to upload the deactivation code, but their virus is no longer effective. They bring McKay to a captured Replicator and force him to find a way to reprogram the Replicators so that they would no longer be aggressive to the Wraith. Carter's team uses one of the Jumpers to lure the Wraith Darts out, leaving her Jumper easy access, where they ambush the Wraith and shut down the facilities' main power. During the fighting, they rescue Sheppard and Teyla. When they reach the room McKay is being held in, the Replicator breaks free from his prison. The team attempts to shoot it with lots of firepower, but the bullets simply cause no effect on it. However, the Replicator is not targeting the humans, instead he follows his programming and begins to kill all of the Wraith in the facility with ease. Meanwhile, Ronon runs into the Satedans and discovers that they are working for the Wraith. They explain that they were captured and repeatedly tortured and brainwashed, by being fed on by the wraith until they were at the brink of death, and then given their lives back. They went through this several times until they swore allegiance to the Wraith. They want Ronon to join them. They also admit that they killed the other two Satedans they mentioned in the village when they refused to work for the Wraiths. Angry, Ronon urges them to leave before he kills them, saying "You are not Satedans". They refuse to leave and all four set aside their weapons in an honor ritual. Ronon engages the Satedans in brutal hand to hand combat. After knocking out Ara and Rakai, he goes for Tyre, who is better at fighting. After a while, Rakai gets back up on his feet and takes out a knife. When Ara tells him not to use weapons, a startled Rakai slits her throat, and she dies. Ronon directs his attention to Rakai, manages to break his arm and takes his knife before driving it into Rakai's chest, killing him. Ronon, visibly upset turns his back on Tyre, saying "Has there been enough killing?". Tyre then decides to walk away. After the fight, Ronon meets up with Carter and the others and Carter questions where his friends are. Looking at Sheppard, Teyla and McKay, Ronon declares that they are "right here" and returns to Atlantis. + +Lt. Colonel John Sheppard's team explores the planet designated M3X-387, a jungle planet where it is night. They investigate a strange energy reading in the hopes of finding Ancient technology. However, they don't find anything, which makes Sheppard wanting to turn back. However, Dr. Rodney McKay will not let it go, since he had a bet with Dr. Radek Zelenka and he'd win if they didn't find anything. However, Sheppard became more frustrated and ordered everyone back. However, just as they do, McKay notices a strange crystal glowing all by its self out of a tree. However, when he is close enough, Sheppard compelled himself to touch it, which causes a massive shock which throws him about ten feet backwards. He claims he has no idea why he did that, but the crystal is now dead. They all return with the hopes of bringing in a science team to research further. Back in Atlantis, Sheppard is checked on by Dr. Jennifer Keller, who can't find anything wrong with him, but tells him to no longer touch any "strange things", with which Sheppard easily complies. He leaves the infirmary with Teyla Emmagan and tells her to get some sleep, since it is late. While doing this, he pats Teyla on the back, which triggers a transfer of blue energy that neither person notices. They wish each other a good night. Teyla sleeps and has a mysterious dream in which she is having dinner with Sheppard, with fine Athosian dishes. Ronon Dex states that they were "hooking up", then McKay is heard reciting a quote from the mission concerning the energy reading. Later, Sheppard tells her that nobody trusts her but him, since the ordeal with a Wraith Queen a few months ago. She then hears Wraith Darts and hears her father's voice. She tries to save him, only to see Sheppard, who is now a Wraith feeding on her. Teyla awakens from the nightmare, and looks very disturbed. The next morning, she talks with the team about the nightmare, and that Sheppard was the "big, bad monster". Though this was only a dream, she leaves without finishing breakfast, with Sheppard believing that she is mad with him, and claims that he can't control people's dreams. Teyla speaks with Dr. Kate Heightmeyer concerning the dream and says she believes the way she feels for Sheppard as being related to it. She also says that she had several nightmares of Wraith attacks, but none as terrifying and realistic as the one she witnessed, meaning she is actually afraid of going to sleep again. After the session, Teyla goes to Keller to receive sleeping pills, so she can have a good nights sleep. That night, Keller wakes up to an urgent radio call. She rushes to the infirmary, where she discovers Teyla with severe abdominal pain. Sheppard tells her that Teyla was getting a late night snack when she toppled over from the pain. From there, Keller notices a moving lump in her stomach. She desperately tries to help her, but is completely helpless when blood sprays all over the medics, and an alien insect is seen bursting from Teyla's stomach, killing her, with Sheppard thinking that this is very cool. However, that was also a dream. Due to the realistic nature of the nightmare, she goes to the infirmary to get some sleeping pills, when Ronon and Sheppard suddenly appear, scaring her. They had been sparring through the night, and Sheppard got in a lucky shot cutting Ronon's forehead. Ronon tells Sheppard to leave, so that Keller can stitch his cut, and have a rematch tomorrow. Keller tells Ronon to lie down, so she could treat him. When she is done, Ronon walks out, heading for the Gate Room. However, he notices that no one is in and the city is completely abandoned. This somehow puts Ronon in a state of panic and frantically runs to find someone, until he opens a door, leading him to a forest. Now he is in a forest, when Wraith stun blasts blaze at him. He runs through the forest, dodging each shot. He is then knocked over, when Sheppard shows himself, and knocks him out with a stick. When Ronon regains consciousness, he is tied and bound in a pit, seeing Sheppard shoveling earth into it. Ronon tries to escape, but is ultimately buried alive. However, this was also just a dream, as Ronon slept through the stitches. The next morning, Keller and the team begin to discuss their nightmares and notice that Sheppard seems to be involved in all of them, as a significant negative presence and that the nightmares occurred in a sequential pattern, from Teyla to Keller and then to Ronon. However, Ronon believes that the dreams were just coincidental random occurrences and doesn't give them a second thought. Keller, still concerned, approaches Colonel Samantha Carter about the problem and believes that it might have something to do with the crystal Sheppard touched back on M3X-387. However, their conversation is cut short when there is a situation in Crew quarters atrium. In the atrium, a dazed and tired Major Evan Lorne holds Sheppard at gunpoint, where he accuses him of being a Replicator. The surrounding armed team and Heightmeyer attempts to talk him into lowering the gun, but Lorne refuses to do so, until someone either brings in an Anti-Replicator gun, or shoot Sheppard to prove his point. Carter approaches and calls for the ARG, which might help Lorne lower his gun. However, Lorne then accuses her of being a Replicator. He is actually about to fire his weapon, when Ronon saves them both and stuns him. Lorne later wakes up, and tells them that he did not know what happened, and that he was glad no one was actually hurt. He theorizes that he was sleepwalking because of the lack of sleep, but didn't have an incident like that since he was ten years old. The Atlantis team realizes that a serious problem is brewing and decide to lock down the city and perform no off-world missions and gate travel is only as-needed. During a meeting, it is theorized that the crystal Sheppard touched contained an alien entity that feeds off people's fears, and may even take sadistic pleasure in harming its hosts. After some discussion, they decide to go back to M3X-387 to gather the crystal Sheppard touched, despite McKay's protests. The team returns to the planet on which they found the crystal and manage to find a second one, which is active as well as the original. They bring both crystals back to one of the labs for further study. McKay and Zelenka theorize that the crystals need conductive material for transport, so they confine them in glass containers. Keller feels the impulse to touch one, but is fortunately stopped by Zelenka. With their new data, McKay and Zelenka scan Lorne to try and find the entity, but don't detect it. They then realize that the crystal entity is transporting itself via the city's power conduits, which means it can be anywhere. During more bickering, Keller again feels compelled to touch the live crystal, until she is stopped. She swears she has no idea why she did that, when McKay tells her that this is the way they "rope in its victims". Meanwhile, outside, Teyla sees Heightmeyer standing on the edge of a railing, proclaiming that she doesn't want to die, but still can't walk to safety. She pleads for Teyla's help. However, Sheppard suddenly appears and prevents her from doing so. Teyla can only watch as Heightmeyer topples off the railings and falls down to the water below. The sequence is revealed to be another nightmare. Keller is summoned to Heightmeyer's quarters by Teyla, who tried to wake her up after she didn't report for duty, but couldn't. Keller finds Kate in her bed, dead. Faced with this threat, Carter is forced to put the city into full lockdown, where Keller tells her that she said the right words, despite the circumstance. Sheppard tried to come to Teyla, only to see her coming to him instead. Fortunately though, Zelenka finally manages to create a program that can track the alien entity, but discovers that McKay is now infected. He sends McKay over to the room where he notices the rubber walls. After Zelenka leaves, McKay realizes that he is now infected. The rest of the team try to figure out a way to eradicate the alien entity. Sheppard comes up with a plan that if he could somehow contact McKay in his dreams, he can help him communicate with the alien entity and hopefully make it leave. Carter is then suddenly struck with an idea, and uses the equipment from the virtual reality pods SG-1 encountered on a mission in 1998 that can link people's minds in a virtual environment. The team prepares to hook Sheppard into the machine. McKay thanks him in advance for trying. Soon, McKay sleeps, and has a dream that he is rowing a boat in the middle of the ocean, with Atlantis in the distance. It is heavily raining. He then notices a whale coming up to him. Sheppard then appears, but this one tells him to give up. The real Sheppard then shows up, and helps McKay row back to the city, telling the nightmare-Sheppard that he can't hurt him. However, nightmare-Sheppard tells them that they're wrong and summons the whale, which jumps up and swallows the boat and all of its occupants. Sheppard wakes up to find the medical team trying to resuscitate McKay, but with no success. Keller apologizes and confirms that McKay is dead. Sheppard leaves the room, distraught over the death of Rodney. As he is trying to come to terms with events, the rest of the team arrive and begin to blame Sheppard for McKay's death. It is at that moment however, that Sheppard looks up and sees himself watching from the other side of the hall, he realizes that he is still dreaming and tackles the enemy through a wall and into the gate room. Meanwhile, in the real world, Keller manages to resuscitate McKay and save his life, but Sheppard hasn't awakened yet, since the entity is now inside him. They notice his vitals spike, and can't revive him without risks of serious trauma or even death. However, McKay has an idea, and tells Keller to hook him up to the VR again. Back in the dream, Sheppard begins to fight with the alien entity in hand-to-hand combat inside the gate room, but nightmare-Sheppard quickly gains the upper hand. The real Sheppard gets thrown around and seriously beaten by his evil counterpart. Afterwards, nightmare-Sheppard urges him to fight. However Sheppard declines, telling him that is what he wants. There, McKay appears and confronts nightmare-Sheppard, telling him his vulnerable to electric shock, which is why he didn't kill McKay. In the real world, Keller begins using a defibrillator on Sheppard. Because the alien entity is composed of electrical signals, the electric shock from the defibrillator weakens it. Sheppard takes advantage of the opportunity and throws the alien entity through the Stargate. Sheppard and McKay both wake up in the isolation room, and the crystal is glowing again, signaling that the alien entity is back inside. The team returns the two crystals back to their home planet, when the entire jungle begins to light up with countless crystals. The team beats a hasty retreat back to Atlantis, where none of them seem to be able to get any sleep and all meet in the mess hall in the middle of the night. + +Lt. Colonel John Sheppard is returning from a resupply mission from a paradise world where Dr. Mackenzie is studying a race of primitives with "little or no social inhibitions". Dr. Rodney McKay is stunned to hear that he happened to have free time when it comes to this particular mission. However, a mysterious wave hits Sheppard's Puddle Jumper, knocking out his weapons and cloak. McKay wonders if it is the Replicators or Wraith, which Sheppard doesn't think so. Another wave disables the whole ship, meaning he is now drifting in space, where a mysterious space ship picks it up and hastily jumps into hyperspace. Sheppard, with his hands tied behind his back, is in the ship, where it looks old and run down. After suggesting some decorating to his captors, he is taken to a room, where someone takes a blood sample from him and is then being questioned by a strong man named Silas, and asks him some very simple questions, which Sheppard tries to feign ignorance at, attempting to ask him the same questions. Knowing he is not completely cooperating, Silas starts to beat him up. Meanwhile in Atlantis, McKay is with Ronon Dex and Teyla Emmagan, where he tells them that Sheppard was right that his attackers aren't the Wraith, since the residual radiation left from hyperspace doesn't match any hyperdrive technology they encountered before. He prepares a Jumper to search the planet. However, when they arrive, they can't find Sheppard's Jumper anywhere, meaning he hasn't crash landed. McKay then works on a way to find where Sheppard is, but says that sometimes there is nothing we could do. Back in the ship, Sheppard is still being beaten, when an attractive woman named Larrin stops them. She tells him that they need his help and if he co-operates, she will let him go. They take him to another room, where he is given some stale food. Larrin explains that they are Travelers. They built spaceships that can hide from the Wraith, so they can advance technologically. They rarely stop to trade on other planets, explaining the stale food. They also found him by sending dozens of satellites over planets with Spacegates to track Sheppard, and got lucky. Larrin tells Sheppard that if he cooperates with them, he gets to keep some of his secrets. She then orders the ship to drop out of hyperspace, to send Sheppard somewhere. He is then taken to the hanger, wondering what they want with him. He is taken to the hanger alone, when Larrin, from the outside raises the force shield. The bay door opens directly below him, where there is just the shield between him and open space. Larrin tells him not to worry, since the shield failing rarely happens. Sheppard is then made aware of what they need him for, below him is a drifting Aurora-class battleship. Larrin explains that they know he has the Ancient Technology Activation gene to activate Lantean technology, and they need him to help them activating it. The Travelers have access to the ship's records, and reveal that the Lanteans that once crewed the ship engaged in a battle with the Wraith, which resulted in the ship becoming heavily damaged. A radiation leak from the main drives forced the crew to abandon ship. But since they found it, they set up shield emitters circling the radiation's point of origin. He is then taken to the bridge, where Silas, and a scientist named Nevik urges him to sit on the control chair, followed by all the systems activating. Nevik explains it took him two months to build an interface, but was unsuccessful. Now with Sheppard, he could make it work. He then instructs Sheppard to move the ship. However, Sheppard states that Nevik should first tell him to activate the inertial dampeners, and flies the ship without them, resulting sending all his captors flying backwards and incapacitated. He notices Silas carrying a gun, similar to the one Ronon has. He then hijacks the ship and jumps to hyperspace, leaving the Traveler ship behind, possibly to Atlantis. Even though he is in control, Sheppard is forced to relinquish command when Larrin threatens to deactivate the radiation shields, which would mean sacrificing her own people. However, Sheppard shut down the ship, forcing the Travelers to keep him alive, where they take him into a holding cell. Meanwhile, the Atlantis team is trying to track down Sheppard. While searching, they find an SOS signal in Morse code when looking through background noises from subspace. McKay quickly concludes that Sheppard is the source of the signal. They track down the source to the outer edges of a star system. A fleet of Jumpers, with Major Evan Lorne leading takes the Jumpers to the nearest planet with a Stargate, and proceeds to follow the source of the signal, which will take five hours. Meanwhile, Larrin confronts Sheppard and finds out about the secret code. She tells him that his plan worked, only that his people haven't found him, but the Wraith. They sent a Wraith cruiser to the area, where it immediately starts to attack the ship. The shields are online, but are only at 20% charge. Sheppard convinces Larrin to send him to the Control chair and destroy the ship. However, soon the shields fail. Silas and Nevik, who are in the bridge can't divert any more power. The Wraith fires at the ship, which hits the bridge, destroying it. Silas and Nevik are killed. Sheppard then manages to launch a horde of drones, which swarm and then destroy the cruiser and then activates the internal communications. He leads Larrin to the room, where she is then locked in. Sheppard is in the auxiliary control room and tells her that he is going to find his people first. But Larrin points out that her people need the ship more, since she was forced to abandon some of her people, after they lost a ship, and they no longer have any resources to build any more. Having this new ship will solve their population problems. However, when Sheppard still tells her to stay put, Larrin pulls out her weapon and sets it to incinerate setting, which blows a hole in the door and escapes. Sheppard continues to put obstacles in the way between him and her. She then runs to a door, where Sheppard reads a set of life signs. He attempts to persuade her that they aren't Silas or Nevik, since they are both dead. His suspicions are correct, Larrin opens the door, revealing a Wraith. They both engage in hand-to-hand combat, when the Wraith gets the upperhand, and is about to feed on her, when Sheppard approaches, with Larrin's gun and shoots him several times with it, killing him. However, the charge of her weapon is gone, and the Wraith's handblaster is damaged as well, meaning they're defenseless. This doesn't help the situation, when Sheppard picks up three more from the Life signs detector. Worse, Sheppard and Larrin notice that the three Wraith are directly between them and the control room. Because Sheppard had neglected to turn off the controls, the Wraith can potentially find the control room and take control of the ship themselves. They continue to get into an argument, and Larrin reveals that she only kidnapped Sheppard in the first place because she was afraid he would refuse their help. They then go into hiding from more Wraith, until they leave. Larrin proposes a plan to kill the Wraith; she can lure them into a side of the ship, however, one of them notices something and runs the other way. There, Sheppard fires a single Drone weapon into the section and to kill the Wraith. The plan works, and the Wraith are killed. Just as Larrin thinks it is over, she turns around, where the last Wraith catches and feeds on her, until she is near death. The Wraith keeps Larrin alive so that he can interrogate her to answer how many others are on board. Before he can get any further, Sheppard arrives and holds the Wraith at gunpoint, with the uncharged gun, playing a bluffing game. Sheppard forces him to relinquish his handblaster, and then forces the Wraith into a deal. If the Wraith returns Larrin's life force, then Shepperd would let him go and he would fly to the nearest planet with the Stargate five hours away. The Wraith reluctantly agrees to the terms. After the Wraith leaves, the revived Larrin is grateful for this, and a sexual tension builds between the two, and Larrin seduces Sheppard with a kiss, steals Sheppard's stunner and stuns him. He wakes up in the same corridor, but locked in a room. Larrin, in the secondary control room, tells him that his attempts to alert his people to find him first has failed, since some of her other ships arrived first, by sending probes to all Spacegates in the vicinity of their previous position. Eventually they detected the energy signature. Sheppard's locked out corridor door opens, revealing. Meanwhile, The fleet of Jumpers are somewhat near, but detected there are now more than one signal now. They find out that one of the ships is an Aurora-class vessel, with several unknowns. They wonder if they should carry on, despite being outnumbered, Ronon tells them that even if it was a fleet of Hive ships, they still won't stop. They proceed. Sheppard is now back in holding, where Larrin tells him that they still need him, in case his genes are needed again to operate the ship. However, Sheppard convinces Larrin that she is leading her people down the wrong path by always running from the Wraith, and that she and her people would be doomed to a slow death. He reveals that the Wraith are caught up in their war with the Replicators, and to tell them to strike back when the time is right to tip the balance in the war, and also offers an alliance between the Travelers and Atlantis. Meanwhile, the Atlantis crew has reached the fleet. They consider attacking the ships when the battleship and the Traveler ships jump to hyperspace. The team is about to lose hope when they detect a single Jumper with a life sign and realize it is Sheppard adrift in his Puddle Jumper. Back on Atlantis, Sheppard recounts his story to the team, and is teased about his relationship with Larrin, especially by McKay, who wishes to be kidnapped by a sexy alien himself. But Sheppard then points out that Larrin is still out there, and that they may meet again. + +At night in Atlantis, a scared and confused Dr. Rodney McKay wakes up sitting on a chair, with one hand tied to the desk. He asks for help, but there is none. He then finds a note on a computer tablet, telling him to turn it on. On it is a recorded message that shows McKay. He tells him that he was the one who tied himself up, and tells him to grab a knife from under the seat and free himself. He then tells him that it is vitally important to find a woman named Teyla Emmagan, as she is the only hope to save the city, or hundreds will die. He also tells himself not to trust anybody, before showing him the picture and description of Teyla. Fourteen hours earlier, McKay visits the Botany lab, to see Dr. Katie Brown. She has been busy collecting plant samples from the mainland of M35-117. She then shows him a cactus-like plant, which she wants to name after him, called a Rodneyana villosa. McKay then wonders if she wants to join him lunch. However, she says she feels ill, with a headache. They both visit the infirmary, when Dr.Jennifer Keller tells them both to stay, since several people from the Botany department have fallen for the same symptoms. In the control room, Colonel Samantha Carter talks with Lt. Colonel John Sheppard about the Replicator-Wraith war, where they learn the Wraith are now fighting back, as they gathered debris from one or two Replicator ships over M6R-214. They then hear from Keller, who tells them of the situation of the botany lab, where everyone in the infirmary are infected. In the present, McKay encounters a dead person, and then encounters Dr. Radek Zelenka, wielding a metal rod. They evidently don't know one another, and Radek doesn't know who he is and urges McKay to come with him to safety, saying the "soldiers" will shoot them and take them away if they're hanging around. When McKay insists on keeping his search for Teyla, Zelenka storms away, back into hiding. Ten hours earlier, Keller's team are in Hazmat suits, when Marie falls ill, despite the hazmat suits. This illness has somehow breached quarantine. The entire city is infected. Keller recommends all Stargate travel in or out of the city suspended. Worse, McKay notices that Katie Brown is starting to lose her memories, when she doesn't remember who McKay is. Back in the present, McKay is still looking for Teyla, when he is noticed by Major Evan Lorne and the soldiers. They stun him and take him away, but McKay's computer tablet is left behind, with Teyla's photo shown on it. Eight hours earlier, Carter confirms that the entire city is infected, and still no Quarantine lockdown. She gets a call from Keller, who tells her the prognosis. The illness is being caused by a bacterium that interferes with the infected individual's memory, and that the conditions gets progressively worse without treatment. The severity and timing of the illness varies from person to person. She then admits that she is feeling the headache, and will start to lose her memories in around six hours time. Carter and Sheppard decide to use the mess hall as a secondary ward to evacuate the people to. In the present, McKay awakens in the mess hall, with several dozen people, including Keller, wondering who he is. McKay notices the computer is missing, and wonders if anybody knows Teyla. They don't. He also tried to open the door, but it would not open. In the past, Teyla and Ronon Dex ready the mess hall for new patients. They both discuss the fact that they have yet to experience symptoms. Ronon meets with Keller and tells her that he is not having any headaches. Thinking he has an immunity to it, Keller takes a blood sample from him. In the present, McKay takes note of everything he remembers from his own message, to prevent him from forgetting. He then announces to everyone that they must escape somehow, since Teyla is their only chance. However, he forgets her name, until Carter jogs his memory. Carter agrees with him and tells everyone that the soldiers most likely don't know anything either, and need to formulate an escape plan. In the past, McKay is now out and about, since there is no point in keeping with the infirmary. Both he and Sheppard experience headaches, so it is only a matter of time before they start to lose memories. Carter tells them the situation, and gives them stimulants from Dr. Nieves, who says they will slow down the effects of the memory loss. Carter also says that she ordered Zelenka to remove the Control crystals to the gate, and is hopeful Keller will find a solution before everyone will lose their memories. Meanwhile, Ronon checks up on Keller's progress on him, only to discover that she has started to lose her memories, which hampers her ability to treat the patients. Suddenly, one of the patients begins to convulse and, despite Keller's best efforts, ultimately dies. In the present, Lorne and the team drop off more loose members and open the door, when the crew ambushes the soldiers. Lorne and his team stun as many as they can. Keller points Carter and McKay to a hallway, only to get stunned herself. Lorne gives chase to Carter and McKay, but soon loses them. As they rest, Carter wants to know where Teyla is, and agree on searching room by room, thinking the complex isn't that big, until they open a door to the outside, realizing they have a city to explore. In the past, Sheppard and Ronon escort a confused group to the mess hall, and already seem to encounter resistance. He tells Carter that he ordered Lorne's team to arm themselves with stunners. Sheppard, who now starts to lose his memories, has an idea, and brings up that idea to Lorne, who is taking stimulants, which he says should delay the memory loss as much as possible. In the present, Carter and McKay are lost, but then encounters a paranoid Zelenka again, this time armed with a stunner. McKay knows him and notices that he is holding the computer tablet McKay lost. In it is the picture of Teyla, saying "find her", but have no idea how. In the past, Keller has found the mysterious illness, but no longer looked through the Atlantis database, but looked through Dr. Carson Beckett's records of a common Pegasus Galaxy form of a childhood disease called Kirsan fever, an illness that Teyla had at only eight, and Ronon at ten. McKay theorizes that the illness was transported to M35-117 by the Ancients when they scouted it, where it then mutated separately from the rest of the Pegasus Galaxy version, as the planet they're on had no Stargate before Atlantis arrived. The illness now adversely affects humans not native to the Pegasus Galaxy, as most natives have an immunity from previously having it when they were children. This is why Ronon and Teyla are not affected, because they had it and grew an immunity to it, so they still have antibodies in their systems from that which protects them. Unfortunately it would take months to synthesize a cure, if it even is possible. Fortunately Teyla identifies a solution; the Athosians use the Enchuri plant, a plant abundant on many worlds, to treat the illness. Teyla plans to get some from New Athos, but they forget that Zelenka has the gate crystals. They contact Lorne, who tells them that he has seen Zelenka, but he panicked when seeing soldiers and attacked Lorne's team before fleeing. Without the gate crystal, the crew decides to check the mainland for the plant. Ronon assures Sheppard that the colonel knows how to fly a Puddle Jumper to the mainland. Meanwhile, McKay is working on how to tweak the ventilation system to aerosolize the enchuri plant, when he gets a big headache for a few seconds, and recovers, only to forget what he is doing. Teyla attempts to calm him down and to keep working. In the present, Carter, McKay and Zelenka continue to elude the patrols by hiding in the ransacked infirmary, when Lorne's soldiers enter. They find what they're looking for, stimulants. It is revealed that in order to stave off the illness, Lorne and his men have been taking those stimulants. While they helped keep their symptoms from worsening, the drugs also served to make the soldiers more paranoid and irrational. In the past, The Jumper arrives on the mainland, where Sheppard now loses his memory, and gets suspicious of Ronon, who is eventually forced to stun him and tie him up, not wanting him to get in the way. Ronon goes to search for the enchuri plant. Meanwhile, Rodney continues working, and is almost finished, when Teyla hears a noise. She leaves the lab and sees Lorne and a team of soldiers. Lorne insists that Teyla go to the mess hall, ignoring Teyla's plea that she remains to help stop the disease. When Lorne doesn't listen, Teyla knocks out the men and attempts to run to the nearest transporter, but is stunned and taken to holding. Without Teyla, McKay is unable to focus on his job and in desperation, begins recording a message for himself in the future. In the present, Lorne goes to the city's brig where Teyla is being held. He interrogates her, believing her to be responsible for the illness. Teyla notices Lorne taking the pills, believing them to be responsible for his behavior. McKay, Carter, and Zelenka then arrive and stun Lorne. They say they couldn't locate her on their own, so they followed Lorne. McKay had written the code to the force-field on his arm, and is able to free Teyla. At dusk, Ronon returns to the Jumper with the plant, but Sheppard is not where Ronon left him. Ronon looks for him, but is ambushed by the amnesiac Sheppard, who holds him at gunpoint. Ronon manages to talk Sheppard down and convince him that he is a friend. Sheppard is convinced to lower his gun and board the Jumper to return to the city. Meanwhile, Carter, McKay, Teyla and Zelenka return to McKay's lab, where McKay completes the preparations to disperse the cure throughout the city. It turns out, that when he said he was almost done, all he had left to do was press "Enter". They then have to wait for Ronon and Sheppard. In the control room, the soldiers detect the oncoming craft and confront Sheppard and Ronon. Ronon tells Lorne, who has woken up and returned, to look in his vest pocket. There, he finds a picture of Sheppard with writing that tells Lorne that Sheppard is the commanding officer and to obey his orders. This was Sheppard and Lorne's backup plan in case the both of them lost their memories. Seeing this, Lorne and his men stand down and defer to Sheppard who simply tells them to do what Ronon says. With the situation under control, Ronon takes Lorne and his men to distribute the cure. One day later, Sheppard wakes up in the infirmary. The cure was spread through the city's ventilation systems and everybody has regained their memory in time to save most of the crew from the fatal stages of the illness. Meanwhile, McKay has been at Katie's side ever since the cure had been distributed, slept by her side and refusing to leave, even after Keller's assurances that she will tell him when she'll wake. Later, Katie wakes up and remembers McKay, which makes both of them glad. + +In Atlantis, Dr. Jennifer Keller packs up medical supplies and lolly pops to check up on the Athosians in their new settlement on New Athos. Keller tells Teyla Emmagan that she might not fit in, since the Athosians loved Dr. Carson Beckett. However, Teyla tells her that they will enjoy Keller's company, especially since she learned some of the Athosian culture and are looking forward to meeting her. They go through the gate, but not before Lt. Colonel John Sheppard wishes them luck, and hoping Teyla would enjoy her "hot date". The women walk through the thick forest and arrives in the Athosian settlement. Keller wonders whether the settlement is always quiet, since no one is in. As they search for clues as to what has happened, Teyla begins to suspect an attack by the Wraith. When the women find nobody in the settlement, they notice two figures from a distance. Teyla and Keller hide, since they're not Athosian. Teyla says she knows of them, but hasn't seen one until now. She knows they're dangerous, but didn't bring a weapon. Keller wonders who they are. Teyla tells her that they are Bola Kai. They must hide from them, and decide to retreat back to Atlantis, since the weapons cache, which is used in case the settlement was attacked, is too far away. But on the way, Keller trips and twists her ankle. They abandon the backpack and go to the Stargate. However, from a distance, more of the Bola Kai are seen guarding it. With nowhere to turn, they plan on ambushing them, despite Keller's admittance that she doesn't know anything about fighting. However, the Bola Kai notice and chase towards them. The women run away and hide down by the river. The Bola Kai can't find them and walks back. Teyla tells a panicked Keller that she should be prepared to fight back. They know that if Atlantis hasn't heard from them by tomorrow, they will send a Puddle Jumper to help. Right now, their best chance of survival is to get to the weapons cache. Keller needs her back pack to treat her ankle. The kit is on the way, but they hear drumbeats, meaning the hunt for them has begun. They retrieve the gear that Keller has left behind in the forest and use it to treat Keller's injury. While treating her sprained ankle, Keller laments that she is not cut out for this kind of stress. Teyla tries to encourage Keller by saying that people are usually unaware of the amount of discomfort they can tolerate, citing the ten-day long rite of passage where Athosian children are to survive on their own. Keller gives Teyla her own version; summer camp, which she left due to homesickness after 3 days. They continue on to find the weapons cache, but it is empty. Both women have no idea what could have happened to the weapons as the Bola Kai obviously do not have them and the Athosians could have used the weapons to easily fight off the savages, since the primitive Bola Kai weapons are no match for Earth guns. The women decide to spend the night in a hunting camp, which is concealed. On the way, Keller and Teyla reach a sturdy Athosian-built rope bridge spanning a ravine. Keller is reluctant to cross, citing her Vertigo. When Teyla has had enough of her complaining, she proceeds to cross the bridge without her. Keller suddenly changes her mind and slowly walks across the bridge. She is about half-way, when she suddenly slips and desperately holds on for her life. Fortunately, Teyla is able to return to her and rescue her. After they cross the bridge, Keller has a thought the Athosians managed to have evacuated, since they saw no dead bodies and knows the Bola Kai don't consider themselves to bury their victims. However, Teyla tells her that from what she heard of them, they may be cannibals. As they continue their trek, Keller narrowly misses a flying disc. A Bola Kai finds them, followed by two more. As Keller does nothing, Teyla engages them in hand-to-hand combat, and knocks two of them out, and then kills one. The third member attempts to run to alert the others. Fortunately, Teyla stops him and suffocates him to death. As the remaining man gets up, Keller stays in fear, until Teyla comes up, takes her knife and Keller cringes, as Teyla kills him off-screen. Teyla tells her they need to take no one prisoner, as they may track them and hunt them down. They continue searching for the blind, when they notice an injured man, who is going to bleed to death if they don't save him. Keller decides to stay to treat his wound. Teyla objects, stating that the stranger is not Athosian, but ultimately agrees with Keller. After treating him, they take the stranger to the secure place to camp for the night. Teyla manages to set traps around the perimeter, and hears a noise. It is actually a squid-like animal, which is attracted to body heat. Teyla kills it, and tells Keller that this is dinner, as it will sustain people, despite the fact the taste is somewhat acquired. Keller, rejects it, stating this was her least favorite part of Survivor. Teyla however, swallows it down. Later, the injured man awakens. He says his name is Nabel Golan, who is a Genii sent to spy the Athosians, but since he arrived, he claims the Bola Kai were Wraith worshipper and alerted the Wraith, who culled the village. He says the Athosians are all dead. He then asks questions, when Teyla tells him that he should not keep seeking intel for the Genii. The next morning, Keller struggles to eat the squid-like creature, but has the courage to swallow it down. Teyla tells her that she reminds someone she knows, who doesn't get into much challenging, which Keller disagrees, as she feels going to another galaxy is challenging enough. Teyla then confides in her that she'd started a relationship with that non-assertive friend, an Athosian named Kanaan. She hasn't told anyone yet. She then goes to get water, when a Bola Kai with a lolly pop steps on a trap. The women, and Nabel, who can now walk are forced to run and then loses them. Unfortunately, Nabel's condition slows the group down, and Teyla considers leaving him behind, a side of Teyla Keller had not noticed before. However, they are soon surrounded by Bola Kai. Teyla attempts to fight them off, but is quickly surrounded. When Keller is taken, Teyla gets up and knocks out a few more, before getting subdued. They are taken to their camp, apart from Nabel, who has escaped. Meanwhile, Sheppard, Dr. Rodney McKay and Ronon Dex attempt to contact Teyla and the Athosians, since their check-in is late, but they cannot reach them. They decide to send a Jumper for help. Keller and Teyla are tied up and placed in a cage as prisoners. Teyla calms Keller down by asking her about her past, including the fact the she is from Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, and that her mother died four years ago, and her father is all that is left. Teyla tells her that she will see him again. They are then brought to the Bola Kai leader, Omal, who begins to interrogate them. Teyla accuses the Bola Kai of killing her people. However, Omal is confused, saying that his people are also being hunted by the Wraith and that the village had already been deserted since they got here. Omal knocks out Teyla after her accusation and takes her away. He then questions Keller, saying that they'll both be alive if she gives him the gate address from her world. In order to buy time, Keller gives the Bola Kai a gate address to an uninhabited planet, and tells the news to Teyla. They both then overhear a conversation between a few of them, who tells Omal that a ship went though the gate and cloaked, meaning the rest of her team has arrived. The entire tribe leave to get them, while two are left behind to guard them. Sheppard, Ronon, and McKay arrive in a Jumper to look for Teyla and Keller, when they notice the people guarding the gate don't look Athosian. Ronon tells them they are Bola Kai, meaning he knows of them as well, but assures them that they can handle them. They land and notice that there are life signs around them. At the camp, the two guards are shot and killed. It is Nabel, who has a gun from his own weapons cache and frees Keller and Teyla from their cage. They all run away from a distance, where Teyla thanks him. However, Nabel betrays them and knocks her out. He threatens Keller at gunpoint, demanding the gate address to Atlantis. Keller then realizes that the spy is not Genii at all, and accuses him of being the Wraith worshipper. He admits to lying about being Genii and implies that he may have lied about the fate of the Athosians. He agrees on giving her the information of the Athosians in exchange for Atlantis' location. Teyla manages to trip their captor, but is about to kill her, when Keller overcomes her fear and aversion to violence and attacks Nabel and disarms him. She is about to free Teyla, when Nabel stops her, telling her that she is a doctor, not a killer. However, this doesn't stop Keller from shooting his leg. Teyla begins to interrogate him further for information about the Athosians, but the Bola Kai arrive, surrounding them. Fortunately, Sheppard's team arrives in time and takes down the Bola Kai, who later run off, but more Bola Kai arrive and the team is then forced to retreat. Meanwhile, Nabel has disappeared. Back in Atlantis, Teyla is in the infirmary for her injuries. Sheppard tells her that the Bola Kai had disappeared as well as Nabel, and that they are still investigating the fate of the Athosians. Teyla swears she will find whoever is responsible for the disappearance of her people and will make them pay. After Sheppard leaves, Keller privately approaches her. She tells Teyla that she's just gone over some test results and that there is something she must tell her. Teyla shows an expression of concern. + +With the Athosians now missing for several weeks, there is still no new information on their whereabouts, even the forensics team is coming up with nothing on New Athos. Teyla Emmagan however, proposes that they go to a world where it is rumored that a seer into the future named Davos resides. The rest of her team, particularly Dr. Rodney McKay, has doubts on the so-called seer. Despite this, Teyla is hopeful that he will provide answers, and Lt. Colonel John Sheppard's team has been given the go ahead on the mission to Vedeena. On the way to the Stargate, McKay makes his own prediction, that it will be a complete waste of time. Sheppard then warns them that, since they've never made contact with them before, they may be unnerved by a bunch of heavily armed people and tells them to be on their best behavior. Strangely though, when they arrive, they are stunned to see a group of Vedeenans greeting them, as if they have been expecting them. Meanwhile, Richard Woolsey arrives for the scheduled three-month evaluation on Colonel Samantha Carter. He complains about the mandatory 24-hour quarantine on the Midway space station, a new order from the International Oversight Advisory since the Kirsan fever outbreak on Atlantis. Woolsey says that he will be an observer only and will not interfere in her work. Shortly after he arrives, another team from M2R-441, a planet recently culled by the Wraith, and to which the expedition is lending aid, dials Atlantis. Captain Robbins informs Carter that another Hive ship showed up, but did not cull anyone. The people were given a message, a particular Wraith wants to speak only with Sheppard. Back on Vedeena, a woman named Linara tells Sheppard's team about Davos' prediction two years ago. He predicted that Hive ships would arrive over the planet, so he and the others hid in caves while the Wraith searched for them. The Wraith never found any of them and not a single Vedeenan was killed. They also need the expedition's help, since Davos has recently fallen ill. Linara tells them that Davos is important to them, especially herself, because Davos is her father. They meet Davos in a tent, where he seems to be the leader. Davos is pleased to meet them, and notices McKay's skepticism. He claims he has the ability to show other people his vision, and offers his hand to McKay. As McKay holds his hand, he is stunned when he has a vision of himself and his team on a misty planet with ancient ruins, when they are surrounded and captured by the Wraith. Shortly after, Davos falls ill and is unable to provide further visions. They return to Atlantis where McKay recounts his vision. There, Carter tells them the a Wraith wants to meet them on M2R-441, where strangely enough, has ancient ruins very similar to McKay's vision. Also, the Wraith described by Carter is also the same one Sheppard had an acquaintance to last year when they both escaped the Genii. With no option, apart from Woolsey stating the obvious, they go to the planet expecting an ambush. When the team arrives in the ruins, McKay recounts that this is exactly the same ruins from his visions and starts to believe in them. Seconds later, a group of Wraith surround them. The Wraith approaches them and wonders why they didn't come in unarmed like he requested. However, since Sheppard's team anticipate an ambush, two Puddle Jumpers de-cloak, and the Wraith surrenders. Meanwhile, Dr. Jennifer Keller diagnoses Davos on Vedeena and informs Carter over the radio. Davos has a form of lymphatic cancer, which they can't do much on treating. With no option, they decide to bring Davos in to Atlantis, where Keller wonders if they're here to help him, or study him. Sheppard goes to the Wraith in the brig, where he plans to interrogate him. The Wraith tells Sheppard that he knows McKay was the one who uploaded the Wraith attack code on the Asuran Base code. The Wraith managed to have shut down the code with a virus 10,000 years ago, but since McKay tampered with the base code, the Wraith computer virus is now ineffective and wants help on shutting them down. Sheppard however, tells him why he should care about the Wraith being wiped out. He tells Sheppard that the Asuran's latest strategy is to attack the Wraiths' food source, destroying human worlds to carry out this plan. As proof, they dial M5S-768, a planet the expedition visited last year. They send a MALP, where they see the planet in ruins. Worse, the residual radiation from weapons fire matches the Asuran technology, not Wraith. All 75,000 people on the planet are all dead. The Wraith is telling the truth. Later on two more planets are discovered to have been annihilate by the Asuran's bringing the death count to 150,000. As McKay feels responsible for their deaths and questions his original decision to change the base code. He works on trying to deactivate the code. Woolsey however, suspicious of the Wraith, disagrees and decides to contact the IOA on what to do next. However, they take the decision "under advisement", something Sheppard points out as something the IOA are very good at, stonewalling them. Carter begins to feel why Sheppard never wanted the job of leader in the first place. Keller then calls Carter and discovers something. From a brain scan of Davos, she found abnormally high synaptic activity, similar to the one McKay once experienced with the Ascension machine. However, this isn't advancing, meaning he was born with the gift. Davos then awakens, and meets Carter. He then takes his hand out, as he has been given another vision he would like to share with Carter. In the vision, the city gets attacked by an Asuran-built Aurora-class battleship. The inhabitants try to escape, but the city gets entirely destroyed. Woolsey believes the vision is more evidence that an alliance with the Wraith is the wrong decision. Their meeting is cut short when the city's Long range sensors detect an approaching Wraith Hive Ship. Their captive Wraith admits he has an implanted Wraith tracker and activated it when he arrived, and broadcast his location. He says the hive ship is loyal to him and is carrying the Wraith's original anti-Asuran virus, and claims the ship will not reveal Atlantis' location if the humans help him develop an Asuran virus. However, he does warn Sheppard that if he blows it up, the Hive will launch a Subspace communication on the location of M35-117 to every Hive in the Pegasus Galaxy, before telling him that all he wants is an alliance. Teyla approaches Davos with questions about the Athosians. He confirms that they're still alive, but says he doesn't know where they are. He also tells Teyla he knows she is pregnant, though she wishes to keep it a secret. Davos suddenly collapses, but grasps Teyla's hand to show her a vision. She sees Sheppard attacking and destroying a hive ship with Drone weapons. Again, the vision only serves to make Woolsey more paranoid about the alliance with the Wraith. The team agrees they only need obtain the virus from the Wraith, and then can destroy the Hive Ship. Carter approaches the Wraith and sets down strict terms for their cooperation. The Hive Ship must stay in orbit and transmit the virus to a non networked computer in Atlantis, all work will take place in the city, the Wraith will remain their prisoner, and when the programming is done, they keep the virus. Any breach of the terms will result in the destruction of the Hive Ship. The Wraith agrees to the terms and reveals that this plan will not only benefit the Wraith and humans by eliminating the Asurans, but also himself because such a plan would help ensure him a seat of power in the Wraith hierarchy. He then offers a hand shake, only to be stopped, since the Wraith hands have the feeding organ, but he reveals this is only meant to be a Wraith joke while laughing (I think you know Woolesy's opinion on Wraith humor.). The Hive Ship then arrives and transmits the virus. After working on it, McKay discovers that part of the code is missing. He reports the findings to Carter and Woolsey. He suspects the Wraith are hiding something, something they both know, since they detected another Hive Ship is approaching the city. They believe it doesn't yet know of Atlantis' location, but instead had tracked the first Hive Ship. They may have no choice but to cloak the city when the second ship arrives, leaving them vulnerable to attack from either ship. Worried, Carter consults Davos for answers. He says that all his visions have proved true, as they were seen. He tells Carter the galaxy is at some kind of crossroads and that never before has the fate of so many depended on the actions of so few. Carter is left to ponder what to do. Sheppard encourages her that whatever her choice, it will be the right one, and that all of Atlantis supports her. Shortly before the second hive ship arrives, Carter orders the city cloaked, with Sheppard standing ready to launch a drone attack. Meanwhile, Davos succumbs to his illness and dies. The ship arrives and the two exchange communications while the Atlantis team monitors for a possible attack. Suddenly both ships begin to power weapons. Sheppard wants to launch the drones, but Carter tells him to wait. Woolsey, clearly believing the hive ships are going to attack Atlantis orders Sheppard to fire, but Carter countermands him. Her instincts prove true as the hive ships begin firing on each other. Both ships end up destroyed in the battle, and McKay verifies neither had sent off a subspace message. With this turn of luck, Atlantis is safe, their location remaining a secret. Afterwards, Linara plans to take her father to be buried to Vedeenan customs on her home, and admits that for the first time, she is afraid of the future, but Teyla assures her otherwise. When they leave, Teyla tells Keller that Davos knew of her pregnancy. Keller tells Teyla that she won't be able to keep her pregnancy a secret much longer. Meanwhile, Woolsey, embarrassed by his behavior, returns to Earth, telling Carter he'll give her a favorable report to the IOA. McKay and the Wraith continue to work on the new virus. In the end, Sheppard misses Woolsey's departure, regretting to say goodbye to him. He then tells Sam that her vision of Atlantis being destroyed by Asurans might not come true for a thousand years. Or it could be tomorrow, she agrees. + +In an Atlantis lab, Dr. Rodney McKay, with a group of bored scientists, including Dr. Radek Zelenka, trying to perfect the Wraith computer virus to upload to the Asuran Base code. The scientists are bored, due to the fact that they have been stuck for ten hours, with McKay just sitting still, looking at the calculations hoping for an epiphany. Zelenka and the others push him to e-mail his sister, since she helped them through the last time they were stuck. However, McKay insists they don't need help from her, or the Wraith. Eventually, they are forced to leave him, which makes McKay e-mail his sister. Meanwhile, in Vancouver, Canada, Jeannie Miller, with her husband Kaleb Miller and daughter Madison Miller are baking chocolate chip cookies. Madison feels she would like to bake one massive cookie. Jeannie then receives an e-mail from her brother, and quickly helps him with the calculations. Later, at night, Kaleb and Jeannie are in bed, when they hear a noise. Thinking Madison has stolen a cookie, Kaleb investigates. However, the door breaks open by four masked armed men, who subdue Kaleb and takes Jeannie away. As soon as McKay hears the news, he Lt. Colonel John Sheppard and Ronon Dex go to Stargate Command to find her. They are met by NID Agent Malcolm Barrett. They quickly rush to Vancouver to their house, with CSIS assisting them. But first, Ronon has a change of clothing to blend in with the Tau'ri. At Vancouver, they all arrive in the Miller residence, where McKay is to work on Jeannie's computer. But first, Kaleb talks with him privately in the kitchen. Since the kidnappers were obviously tracking their top-secret e-mails, Kaleb blames him for Jeannie's kidnap. McKay tells him that he will find her, but for the time being, he sends Kaleb and Madison to a hotel for safety. After they leave, McKay looks into the computer to track the trackers. Since it would take as long as twelve hours, Ronon and Sheppard go to a hotel. Meanwhile, in a secluded lab, Jeannie is taken there, where she is met by a man named Henry Wallace, and tells her that he needs her to do some work for him. At night, McKay discovers that someone has hacked into their e-mail, so he tracked their Trojan and found an address. He calls Ronon and Sheppard the news. Meanwhile, Barrett and McKay arrive in the address and searches the place, when Barrett is suddenly ambushed by the same masked men, and they capture McKay. A moment later, Sheppard and Ronon arrive and see an injured Barrett, who tells them the men took McKay away. He is taken to the same lab Jeannie is in, and the siblings reunite. Wallace then arrives and introduces himself. Henry Wallace, President of Devlin Medical Technologies. His company gets a lot of government contracts, and is one of their primary resources for integrating alien technologies acquired by the Stargate Program into Earth's medical technology. Wallace therefore has only the lowest level of access to information, but after a few too many astounding breakthroughs by the military, he has managed to find out all about Stargate Command, Atlantis, and Rodney McKay. Soon Wallace shows the two brilliant scientists why he's brought them here; his daughter Sharon Wallace is suffering from leukemia. McKay isn't sure what he wants the two of them to do as neither are medical doctors. Wallace explains that Sharon has been given prototype nanites to try to heal her, but they are doing more harm than good. He originally thought his men ironed out and perfected the coding, but was wrong. She is now dying. He says he doesn't care if he gets arrested for what he knows, just as long as Sharon is cured. Wallace assures them that if they help him perfect the coding, and save Sharon, he will let them go. Back at Stargate Command, Ronon, Sheppard and Barrett work on how to find them and who took them. Barrett originally thinks that The Trust is behind this. The team work on tracing the corporate structures to find them. Back at the lab, Jeannie is working on the coding and is hopeful to save the girl. McKay however, has other plans. Thinking there is nothing they could do to help, he doesn't want to see what happens if she dies and plans to escape. He coerces Jeannie to join him, and they both hack into the network computers to hack into the security door code. They both escape, but are soon lost because of McKay's sense of direction. Meanwhile, Wallace discovers they have escaped and activated an alarm. The siblings are surrounded and as they make a run for it, the guards fire Tasers at them, knocking them out. When McKay awakens, they are both confronted by Wallace. He tells them it was a mistake to give them unlimited access. He begs them for their help, since his wife died three years ago and does not want to lose the only thing he has left. But when McKay says he made a mistake in giving her the nanites, Wallace is forced to give them an incentive to help. He infects Jeannie with the same malfunctioning nanites. They must work, or Jeannie will die too. Back at the SGC, the team breaks down the corporate structures, but soon discover that the Trust may not be involved. Barrett looks into a company that has been given access on nanotechnology. He soon finds out the company responsible, DMT. Sheppard tells Ronon, who is talking with CMSgt. Walter Harriman, and tells him of the situation. Meanwhile, the siblings discover the flaw of the nanite coding; the nanites are not communicating with each other, making them disorganized and inefficient. They manage to fix the problem. They give their findings to Wallace. While they wait, the siblings talk about whether or not McKay should marry Dr. Katie Brown, since he has been seeing her for over a year. They are then interrupted by a guard, who takes them to the ward. There, they discover that the nanite coding works, since Sharon is now fully recovered with no trace of the leukemia on her. Due to this breakthrough, they toast with champagne. However, just as they start the celebration, Wallace is given the news that without warning, Sharon's heart stops. Everybody believes she has died. Jeannie attempts to talk a devastated Wallace into letting them go, when her heart suddenly restarts, much to everybody's surprise. After further analysis, McKay and Jeannie discover that Sharon had a heart murmur that was separate from her leukemia. The nanites detected the condition and shut down her heart to repair the damage. Unfortunately, because the nanites were only programmed to repair damage and not to be concerned about the patient, they shut down Sharon's heart without regard to the lack of oxygen reaching her brain. The nanites begin to fix the brain physically however the information stored in those cells will be lost, resetting Sharon to "zero". Thus, the nanites have effectively put Sharon into a vegetative state. McKay and Jeannie realize in horror that the nanites will soon try to cure Jeannie's epilepsy, most likely killing her in the process. However, before they can do anything about it, Sheppard and Ronon with a group of Marines break into the lab and arrests Wallace. McKay quickly wants Jeannie and himself brought back to Stargate Command, and they are beamed away to the Daedalus. Back at the SGC, McKay attempts to fix the nanites' programming, and in order to save Jeannie, he purposely breaks her legs to give him time as the nanites are distracted. However, he can't do this on his own, and calls the captive Wraith on help. the Wraith is brought through the stargate to SGC. At first, he doesn't co-operate, so McKay attempts to talk him into helping. Eventually, McKay convinces the Wraith that stopping the nanites will be a significant help in stopping the Asurans. The Wraith agrees and starts helping. Unfortunately, as they make excellent progress, the Wraith collapses, due to his starvation. Since Earth won't allow to supply him with a Human, McKay urges Sheppard to let him feed off McKay, which Sheppard refuses to do. McKay convinces him that Sharon died, because the nanites ran out of power before they could repair her damaged blood vessels and she died from blood loss. Sheppard however, then uses this information on Wallace. He tells Wallace about the Wraith physiology, and the fact they feed on Humans. Sheppard tells him that since Sharon dies, he may be responsible for the death of Jeannie, which will leave her husband and daughter with no wife or mother. The distraught Wallace is wracked with guilt and regret. Meanwhile, McKay attempts to break into the lab with Dr. Bill Lee's keycard to sacrifice himself, only to be stopped. However, the door soon opens, with the nourished Wraith. Wallace agreed on sacrificing himself, since he has no one. Sheppard makes up a cover story that he was showing Wallace the labs, until the Wraith had the upper hand. The Wraith finishes the coding to save Jeannie. Much to McKay's relief, Jeannie is saved, and reunite again. However, Jeannie gives him some terms, including eating more vegetarian food, reading Madison three bedtime stories instead of two, and a Prius. In the end, back in Atlantis, McKay later confronts Sheppard, asking whether he manipulated Wallace into sacrificing himself. Sheppard responds that he merely stated the situation to Wallace, and that like McKay, he was simply trying to do the right thing. They both agree on ending it all on a late dinner together. + +In Atlantis, its Stargate has somehow been mysteriously inoperable for more than a week, around the same time since McKay was "screwing around with it". Dr. Rodney McKay and Dr. Radek Zelenka are working on restoring it. But just as they work, they hear a noise, as if something has crashed into the city. McKay puts the repair of the Gate on hold and investigates. He then discovers a mysterious probe that has somehow arrived undetected. He then notices a scorch mark, as if someone fired a Drone weapon to stop it. McKay and Zelenka attempt to determine its origins. Zelenka tells McKay it could take hours, but McKay ignores him and finds something. He sees Zelenka attempting to do something, but stops him. McKay then sees nanite coding for a sec, but then the diagnostic system suddenly crashes, which causes them to lose all their data. Something that McKay suspiciously blames Zelenka for but which he denies. McKay finds out that the probe belongs to the Asurans. He runs to Lt. Colonel John Sheppard and tells him the Asurans have found them. Zelenka is with them too, but tells them that he did not see anything, and claims he had the same data readings as McKay. He insists that he saw the Base code, but as he is about to prove it, they hear an explosion. Major Evan Lorne tells them that the probe self-destructed, meaning their chance of finding any clues to the origins has gone. McKay suspects foul play. Sheppard then goes to the gym for a sparring session with Ronon Dex. During the session, Ronon says he and Teyla Emmagan has noticed strange behaviors from other people. Sheppard just shrugs this as simple paranoia, due to inactivity from the broken Gate. However, Ronon says he is not paranoid and in the process injures Sheppard. He walks to the infirmary, where he goes to Dr. Jennifer Keller for stitches, but she says he does not need stitches, despite he is bleeding, the bleeding injury is completely gone. Sheppard wonders if he may have been infected with nanites from the probe. Keller hesitantly scans him, but sees no nanites. Sheppard then suspects that the Iratus bug retrovirus he once had in his system two years ago has reared its ugly head again. Sheppard demands a blood test when Keller starts stonewalling him. Later, Keller and Lorne talk in a secluded place. They thought they had everything handled. Since they are far from learning the "truth", they decide to be careful. Later, Keller gives Sheppard a clean bill of health, but he refuses to ignore the fact that the abrasion happened, so Keller claims that he made a mistake. When Keller leaves, Sheppard suspects something is not right, and begins to feel the same as Teyla and Ronon. They bring McKay in. When Sheppard threatens him with a knife, he tries to run, but is stopped by Ronon and Sheppard cuts his hand with a knife. When it rapidly heals, they know that something much bigger is going on, and it's not just about Sheppard. The entire team is affected. They also believe that several key personnel on the base, including Keller and Lorne, have been acting suspicious and secretive lately. When Sheppard points out his magic healing, McKay accesses the city's medical archive, as all scans are recorded. However, he finds that the data has been erased. In order to confirm their suspicions, Teyla and Sheppard decide to sneak into the infirmary undetected, so McKay hacks into the city's Atlantis Biological Sensors to avoid Atlantis personnel. However, as he accesses the life signs, he reads only four. In order to avoid suspicion, Sheppard and Teyla continue anyway, but are noticed by Lorne, Keller and Zelenka. Meanwhile, McKay picks up a fifth lifesign in one of the piers. McKay and Ronon investigate. Sheppard is under the medical scanner, and Teyla watches the screen. Ronon and McKay go to the area of the lifesigns, and discovers a secret door to the room. There, they see Dr. Elizabeth Weir, who was taken captive by the Asurans a few months ago. They wonder what is going on. At that moment, Keller arrives and tells them this is how they made Weir, and the rest of Sheppard's team. Meanwhile, Teyla and Sheppard confirms their fear; they are infected with nanites. There, they are confronted by Lorne. Sheppard warns Lorne, and even holds his sidearm. Lorne tells him it wouldn't do much good, and tells him to shoot anyway. The bullet causes no effect, meaning they are all Asurans. Keller tells her group that since McKay was able to tamper with the base code, they are now able to take form of anybody they please, and took form of the Atlantis expedition. McKay knows of their first encounter of the Asurans, and that Keller hasn't been head of medical, and has never even arrived yet, but Dr. Carson Beckett was. Keller explains that she had new information from Dr. Elizabeth Weir, who was latest to be kidnapped and had her mind probed. Even the city is a copy and is on another planet. Now in the brig, Weir proves the fact she is nanite manufactured, by cutting her hand, only to see the nanites repairing them. The replicated Atlantis team then realize that they are just test subjects for the Asurans. Teyla wonders why McKay didn't notice the fact they are on another planet, since the stars would determine their location. Unfortunately, there was solid overcast for over a week, ever since the Gate was broken. So they've not had a chance to get, or even notice, their bearings. The replicate Weir is then taken to Keller. She reveals their true purpose for the team. She informs her that the real Weir was killed several months ago because she was too dangerous. Oberoth gave her nanites to save her life. However, she used her mind and gave the other Asurans an "unhealthy influence", so Oberoth had her terminated. RepliKeller and her team are a part of Niam's faction, a group of Asurans who wish to learn ascension. Most were reprogrammed, but a small group managed to have escaped detection and stole a Zero Point Module to construct the city. They discover that since they're machines, not organic, they need the Human counterparts to study their nature and the existence of a "soul" so they too can finally learn to replicate the process to ascend. And now that Weir's team is made aware of their purpose, they plan to wipe their memories and start again. But the team plan to escape first before they can be subjected to the whole process again. RepliKeller then confronts them again, and tells them that Oberoth has sent the probe, and that now he has found them, he plans to take them back to the collective. The group refuses, so Oberoth now plans to destroy them. An Aurora-class battleship starts attacking the city. They can't raise shields, because the ZPM has used up too much power in creating the Organic Asurans. The team persuades RepliKeller to let them go rather than let them be just a 'failed experiment', so that they can at least attempt stop Oberoth once and for all. Keller finally succumbs and lets them go. As the city shakes and collapses from the weapon's fire, Keller runs to the control room and gives the team a core drive of a ships' tracking system, which should track every Aurora class ship in the Pegasus Galaxy. The team manage to escape to a cloaked Puddle Jumper. Weir tells Keller to come with them. However, she says she may be tracked by Oberoth and would only be a liability, insisting they leave without her. Weir reluctantly leaves her behind. The team escape, while the city is destroyed (matching the same vision Colonel Samantha Carter received some time before). The Jumper cloaks and chases after the Aurora class ship and hitches a ride as it jumps into Hyperspace, thinking the ship will go to Asuras, which it does. There, McKay notices the ships they destroyed have been rebuilt, but with even far more being built since. They land on the planet and steal a ship, which they take to an outpost on M34-227. Meanwhile, back on the real Atlantis, Dr. Rodney McKay is working on the Stargate, when Lt. Colonel John Sheppard receives a transmission from an off-world base on M34-227. Major Jordan introduces them to a familiar face. The team are first shocked, then amazed, relieved and elated to see Weir alive and well. She tells them that she is not the real Weir and that they must meet each other, as they have a way to stop the Asurans. Both teams meet, and are a little suspicious when Sheppard's team has a duplicate copy of themselves. There, the duplicate McKay presents the real team the core drive, which should track every Asuran ship in the galaxy. While the McKays work on the base, since it is a security risk to send their copies to Atlantis, the real Sheppard wants to know where the real Weir is. There, the duplicate Weir sadly informs Sheppard that the real Weir is most likely killed. Ronon Dex and Teyla Emmagan are also mistrustful of the replicates. Meanwhile their duplicate selves are talking about their real selves. Despite Teyla telling them that since he's a duplicate, he feels himself as a lesser, but with the nanites, can go into more battles with the Wraith, where the nanites will repair him if he's injured. However, the duplicate Teyla tells him that the nanites can't heal him forever. The two McKays however couldn't be happier, getting along like a house on fire, both relishing the opportunity to have each other's superior mind for company and better combined problem solving - which they go off to do immediately. Sheppard and Weir talk more, when an Asuran cruiser arrives and begins attacking the camp. Weir thinks that their ship had a system, which the rest were able to track. Worse, there's another ship guarding the Gate and will take out anything they see attempting to leave through it. With the gate cut off by the Asuran ship, they need to stage a diversion if they hope to escape. The replicate Atlantis team plan the diversion, to prove themselves how Human they really are. They take a Jumper and use it to distract the warships. The two chase after them, as the Stargate is dialed to Atlantis. Meanwhile, the Jumper attempts to cloak, when the Jumper gets shot down. The Asuran patrols scout the area and find the crashed Jumper. They enter to see the team seemingly dead, apart from Sheppard, who gets healed by nanites and confronts the Asuran team, much to their surprise as they observe his wounds healing right before them. He tells them "Yeah, we tricked you. But don't feel so bad. After all, we almost had ourselves convinced" before he is shot and killed. Their selfless and heroic sacrifice has allowed the real Atlantis team to escape successfully. Back on Atlantis, Sheppard finally decides to remove Weir's personal effects from the city and return them to Earth, now that she is confirmed dead. Meanwhile, McKay works on the core drive for hours, trying to forget about the loss of Weir, stating it's like Carson all over again. Zelenka attempts to talk to him, only to be hushed and sent away, telling him maybe later but not now, before regretting his abruptness and thanking Zelenka for trying. Several hours later, Sheppard enters the lab, where McKay finally manages to get the Aurora-class warship tracker working. At first, they only see a few dots across the galaxy, and are pleased that it doesn't look too critical. Until he notices more popping up, and then even more again. Eventually, they are shocked to discover around 30-40 Aurora class ships lighting up the whole screen. During the fade-out, still more beeps are heard with McKay's horror clearly heard as he ends with an : "Oh, crap!" + +Lt. Colonel John Sheppard and his team ready a mission to planet M9R-373 to evacuate its human inhabitants, the Sion. The world is in the path of the Asurans advance. Sheppard is anxious that they have had little or no contact with the populations they are evacuating and needs Ronon Dex and Teyla Emmagan as much as possible, despite Teyla feeling a little ill. The Stargate activates and people start coming through to Atlantis. Lt. Kemp, managing the evacuation on the far side, requests Teyla transit through to convince those opposed to the relocation. Before this can happen, the Asuran attack begins. The Gate deactivates and Kemp and the remaining 2,000 people are lost. Daedalus and Apollo arrive from Earth with Colonel Abraham Ellis and Colonel Steven Caldwell and the newly acquired Asgard plasma beam weapons. Dr. Rodney McKay reports a lack of progress on the anti-Asuran computer virus. This leaves Plan B, which is to use the new weapons and use brute force. McKay points out that Plan B is not optimal as while space can incapacitate the Asurans they may yet be recovered and reactivated by inquisitive space-faring civilizations. After a heated argument between McKay and Ellis a compromise is reached: if McKay cannot produce a working virus in ten hours, the ships will begin conventional strikes. Once McKay has left the room Carter, furious at Ellis being arrogant and rude to McKay, informs him in no uncertain terms that if he ever speaks in that way to someone under her command again then he will no longer be welcome on Atlantis. Ellis, somewhat taken aback but realising he was indeed out of line, accepts the rebuke. McKay and Todd, the captured Wraith, continue work on the virus. Todd doubts that it can be done in ten hours and is proved correct. Daedalus and Apollo are deployed to intercept an Asuran Aurora-class battleship. The enemy warship is easily destroyed with the Asgard weapons as soon as it exits hyperspace. Caldwell expresses confidence in the new strategy but Colonel Samantha Carter cautions that the Asurans have a history of adapting quickly. Within a week the two ships destroy a further six ships. However, Caldwell's success is its own undoing. The Asuran fleet begins to withdraw to Asuras, their homeworld. The Tau'ri do not have the strength to attack the planet and the consolidated fleet by themselves, but neither can the Asurans be allowed time to rebuild their strength and adapt. Interest in McKay's anti-Asuran program returns to the fore but the doctor is convinced he cannot deliver it. McKay presents another possible solution to Sheppard and Carter. He references the Anti-Replicator gun (ARG) which disrupt the bonds between each Asuran nanites. As the Asurans are likely resistant or immune to the ARG's effects, McKay proposes to strengthen the inter-nanite bonds, causing every nanite to coalesce into one immense blob so dense as to incapacitate the nanites, and the Asurans by extension. McKay also conceives a way to induce this without the need to infiltrate Asurans and upload a program. The vector would be a block of nanites, serving as a magnet to other nanites, created by the Lantean nanite creation machine abandoned on Atlantis. The block would be delivered to the planet surface where it would do its work without further intervention. The only issue is the effects will take some time to reach into orbit and disable the Asurans on board ships. If even one enemy ship escapes all will be for nothing. The two human ships are insufficient to block the Asurans from escaping. On Sheppard's suggestion the humans approach Todd, who tells them he can easily send at least twelve Wraith ships in support. Todd is adamant that his people can only be convinced by himself personally. Sheppard's team, minus McKay, plus Todd, take a Puddle Jumper to a fleet of Hive Ships near a Spacegate. Sheppard warns Todd not to betray them. The Jumper is given permission to land in one of the ships. When they land the humans, especially Ronon Dex, are stunned by Wraith warriors. Back on Atlantis, McKay and Dr. Radek Zelenka cannot make the block. Too many of the nanites' protocols have been disabled for the block to maintain cohesion. Zelenka is summoned to Section Seven where a Naquadah generator is malfunctioning. While Zelenka is gone McKay realizes a potential solution and begins work on it. Elsewhere, Sheppard regains consciousness and is greeted by Todd, who says the Wraith needed to negotiate alone. Todd reports seven Hive Ships have agreed to participate. The remainder will not because of the risk and a shortage of Wraith Queens. As the Atlantis team prepares to depart the Traveler Aurora-class ship commanded by Larrin arrives near the Wraith fleet though not in time to see them leave. Sheppard boards the Traveler generational ship. Larrin reveals her ship has encountered a human world razed by the Asurans. Sheppard offers Atlantean assistance to repair Traveler generational ships in return for cooperation in the coming attack on Asurans. Larrin promises to bring the offer to the Traveler Governing Council, but admits even if the council is in favor ships will be able to decline on an individual basis. Back on Atlantis, McKay successfully completes the nanite vector, not as a block, but as a Human-form Replicator. Zelenka is subsequently shocked when McKay's new creation greets him with a cordial "Hello". McKay tells Zelenka it was easier to create the human-form as that was what the machine was designed to do. The Jumper with Sheppard's team returns to Atlantis, Teyla prepares to go to Dr. Jennifer Keller for a checkup because of the stun. When Sheppard asks why this stun is any different Teyla reveals she is three months pregnant. Sheppard is both surprised and infuriated; he takes Teyla off active duty to minimize further risks to mother and child. Ronon congratulates Teyla and confides that he knows Kanaan is the father by the way she talks of the Athosian. Ronon agrees to accompany Teyla to the check up. Sheppard tells Carter of Teyla's pregnancy, who in turn tells him of McKay's human-form replicator. McKay assures the flustered Sheppard that most protocols aside from walking and talking are disabled and it cannot replicate or contact the other Asurans. FRAN takes the liberty of going over McKay's calculations and finds a flaw in the plan. At the current projected rate the nanite blob will not reach critical density before the nanites adapt, take control of the mass, and prevent their own collapse. However, the human-form, shortly to be named FRAN, has a solution. McKay presents the new plan to his human, Wraith, and Traveler compatriots. The detonation of a half-dozen Zero Point Modules (ZPMs) around the mass will speed compression and prevent the creation of a "Replicator Godzilla". McKay likens this to creating a "Replicator fusion bomb". The planet will be destroyed in the process. However this requires McKay to beam down to the Asuran Core Room to take control of the planet's power grid and overload the ZPMs. While McKay works in the Core Room, FRAN will beam down and begin creating the blob. In space the combined fleet will attempt to prevent the enemy from escaping by targeting hyperdrives. Sheppard accepts a place on Larrin's ship to control its Drone weapons. Ellis is skeptical as the plan is based on information provided by a Replicator. Sheppard counters that they are trusting McKay. The fleet assembles before the attack. Carter is impressed by the sight. Caldwell tells her he once thought carrying out joint operations with the Russians after the Cold War was strange. The fleet then jumps into hyperspace. FRAN is excited about stopping the Asurans. The prospect of non-existence is a seemingly minor concern to FRAN compared to the opportunity to fulfill its purpose. McKay and Zelenka are taken aback by this nonchalant attitude. The fleet arrives at the Asuran homeworld and the battle begins. FRAN beams down in one place. McKay, Ronon, and ARG-armed Marines beam down to the Core Room. McKay takes control of the power grid and soon afterwards FRAN begins forming the blob. In orbit, damage and losses mount on both sides. One Asuran warships attempts to escape into hyperspace but is destroyed by drone weapons directed by Sheppard. A Traveler generational ship and a Wraith hive ship are also destroyed and Todd's ship is nearly destroyed too, but he is saved by the Daedalus which destroys the enemy warship with its beam weapons. As Apollo prepares to transfer power from the beam weapons the enemy warships stop firing as the massive nanite blob gains enough power to draw in the nanites from orbit. With every nanite part of the blob, McKay prepares to overload the ZPMs. Unfortunately, the massive blob destroys the Subterranean power grid and the ZPMs can no longer be overloaded. Sheppard suggests firing nuclear warheads at the "Replicator Godzilla", but McKay doubts it will work: the blasts have to be timed to the nanosecond to compress the blob as required, something not likely to be achievable with such weapons. Carter reports neutronium is abundant in the planet's soil. The ultra-dense neutronium can be incorporated into the nanite mass by increasing the attraction some more. This would make the mass dense enough to sink all the way to the planet's core where the pressure will implode and destroy the mass. McKay makes the necessary modifications and he, Ronon, and the Marines beam out as the Core Room begins to shake violently. The fleet jump into hyperspace as the planet explodes. Back at Atlantis the Travelers amicably depart after the expedition is done fixing their Aurora-class ship. The Wraith never showed up at the rendezvous and the Atlantis team assumes they are enemies again, putting life back to normal. McKay happily deletes the Asuran homeworld from the Ancient database before accompanying Sheppard for a late lunch. In the debris field of Asuras, a single Aurora-class battleship scans the area and detects no trace Replicator cells causing one of the technicians to announce to the ship's commander that the Replicators have been completely wiped out. "Good, we can finally get to work without looking over our shoulders. Its time to begin" announces the ship's commander, the long-lost Doctor Elizabeth Weir. + +As the Asuran nanites are being sucked out of their ships to the planet, the Wraith commander and former Atlantis prisoner takes this as an opportunity to send a few Wraith Darts to the planet's surface. There, they quickly use their Wraith beaming device to pick up a certain cargo. When another Wraith crew member notices the nanite mass is sinking into the planet's surface, he urges the head Wraith that they should leave, as the planet could go critical any second. The commander refuses to leave until the Darts return. The Darts are able to return to the Hive Ship, which then narrowly escapes the destruction of Asuras. The commander then given their cargo, which is revealed to be three Zero Point Modules, which are vital components for the next step in his plans. About one week later, Dr. Rodney McKay and Dr. Radek Zelenka are looking at the status of the Wraith after the Battle of Asuras. Now that there are too many Wraith for Humans in the galaxy, many Hive Ships have started dividing into factions, meaning the Wraith are now more than likely in a state of civil war. They also notice a Wraith tracker broadcasting, particularly the one that their temporary Wraith ally had used. But since they have no idea what the tracker is meant for, whether he is asking for help or just wants to ambush them, they decide to just keep an eye on it. Meanwhile, Ronon Dex sees Teyla Emmagan exercising excessively on an exercise bike. Teyla tells him that the exercise will be beneficial to her unborn child, and continues. About another day later, the Wraith's tracker still has not moved, so Lt. Colonel John Sheppard finally plans to send a team to investigate. As they get ready, Teyla comes into the changing room and requests to join in the mission. However, Sheppard tells her that he hasn't relieved her of duty because she is pregnant, it is because she is likely the last of the Athosians and if she risks her life on missions, she may lose her child, and the sooner she realizes this, the better. Sheppard's and Major Evan Lorne's teams leave without her and sends a Puddle Jumper to investigate. They discover that the Hive Ship has taken heavy damage, and when arriving, they notice that nobody's home, and a dead Wraith appears to have been fed upon. They are tracking the subspace tracker and soon find that the tracker is out in the open, the Wraith in possession of it, has disappeared. Later, Sheppard decides to give their Wraith friend a name, "Todd", after a pale student he once knew in college. McKay and Sheppard realize that they now have a new Hive Ship, despite the fact that 30% of the ship is damaged. As McKay investigates what the ship was doing, Ronon accidentally touches some of the controls, and activates the co-ordinates to a top-secret Wraith outpost. Sheppard returns to Atlantis and talks with Teyla in the mess hall, where he admits that he feels a little too harsh with her. Eager that she is going out on the field again, she quickly agrees on joining the mission to control the Hive Ship. On the way in the Jumper, Teyla says she wanted to tell him earlier about her pregnancy, but could not just stand back and stay and do nothing while her people are still missing. They arrive in the Hive, where McKay is able to get Hyperdrive back online, and informs Sheppard of his discovery of a top-secret outpost. Teyla takes the controls, and suddenly notices that controlling the ship is a lot easier than last time, most likely due to the combined minds of her and her child, since they both have the Wraith DNA. She is able to drive the ship without feeling weakened. She sets the co-ordinates to the outpost, and tells Sheppard that their past chance is to take them there to investigate the outpost. Sheppard reluctantly agrees and Teyla takes the ship into Hyperspace Some time later, they reach the co-ordinates, where Teyla establishes a stable orbit around one of the planet's moons, out of reach from Wraith sensor range. McKay notices a guarding Hive Ship and an orbiting Spacegate, but only knows about it, since much about the planet is top-secret. Teyla then stumbles out of the controls, due to the fact that it is still slightly tiring, even with a stronger ability. She stays with Lorne's team, as Sheppard, Ronon and McKay take the Jumper and cloaks it to avoid detection and lands near the facility (similar to the weapons research facility, encountered by the team and the Satedans a few months ago). They enter it and explores, where they notice a Queen, who is hibernating in a chair filled with tendril-like cables. They soon realize that the Queen is actually secreting genetic material into pods, which is used to create a new-born Wraith warrior. They witness the birthing the process of a Wraith from a distance. They see a Commander pulling one out and gives him a mask, before taking him away. The team investigates and discovers that there are several chambers going down several miles underground, and discovers it is a Wraith cloning facility, and they should not let it remain operational. C-4 would do insufficient damage to the facility, so they plan to use their Hive Ship to bombard it from orbit. However, another Hive is guarding, meaning they won't even come close. They have to plan something else. Meanwhile, the Queen finishes secreting her genetic material. The Commander congratulates her on a job well done. However, the work drains her, and must feed. She orders the Commander to send the prisoner, "Todd", since has now outlived his usefulness. As the Wraith is about to take "Todd" out of holding, they are all killed by Ronon's Particle magnum. The team asks him questions, or he'll join the two dead Wraith. "Todd" tells them that he needed ZPMs to power the facility, which explains why the Wraith have grown in numbers; 10,000 years ago, the Ancients sent the ship into deeper Wraith territory, where the Wraith were able to take over them and steal the ZPMs from the ships to power the facility. Now that the ZPMs have ran out of power, "Todd" stole three more from Asuras and planned to use them to create an army to wipe out the other Wraith, but was later betrayed and sent to the facility as a prisoner. McKay now knows that if they take away the ZPMs, the facility will be out of power, meaning it will be useless, since the Queen needs the ZPMs to send her genetic material. However, on the way, the Wraith alarm sounds, meaning the Wraith have discovered the missing "Todd". The team are then surrounded by Wraith, and attempt to shoot their way through. However, the team gets stunned, and "Todd" escapes in a Dart to the team's Hive Ship. Meanwhile, Lorne sits with Teyla and congratulates her on her pregnancy, stating his sister has two children, and later tells her that she is going to be a great mother. Soon, they receive a communication from a Dart, with "Todd" inside. He tells them that the team has been captured and they must leave soon, since the other Hive will soon notice the Dart has gone to theirs. However, they refuse to leave until the team is rescued. Teyla has an idea. The team awakens in the cell, but are soon taken to see the Queen. She uses her mind powers to gather information from Sheppard, but finds it hard, since she never encountered a mind so strong before. She threatens to feed on one of the others to gather the information she needs. When Sheppard is still uncooperative, she goes to feed on McKay, but is stopped for some reason. She then orders the team to be taken back to the cell. Using her gift of Wraith telepathy, Teyla takes control of the Queen, and with the child's mind, is able to control her more easily than last time. During the mental battle, Teyla gets the Queen to stand and taken to retrieve her team's weapons and takes the Queen to the cell and releases the team. However, meanwhile, the Queen is able to discover Teyla's help, and starts attacking the baby and tries to kill it. As Sheppard's team escapes, Sheppard urges Teyla to let go. However, when she can't, Sheppard shoots and kills the Queen, which releases Teyla's mind and allows her to recover from the strain. The team tries to have McKay overload the ZPMs, but can't find them, so the think of another plan. Meanwhile, the other Hive tracks Atlantis' Hive and starts attacking. Despite "Todd's" wishes to leave, he is forced to shoot back, but since their Hive is weakened, their weapons are not very effective. Sheppard's team manages to shoot their way out and makes it back to the Jumper, to their Hive. Sheppard informs Lorne of his new plans. The ship is evacuated, but not before Teyla sets a new course. Back in the facility, the Commander hears news from the other Hive; Atlantis' Hive is heading straight for the facility. They can do nothing, but wait for the Hive Ship to crash into the facility, destroying it. The team is able to return to Atlantis through the planet's Stargate. Back on Atlantis, Sheppard reveals that "Todd" has gone his separate ways again, taking a Dart and disappearing. Teyla talks with Sheppard, and tells him that with the baby's mind, she is able to determine that her baby is a boy. Teyla then tells him about her harrowing experience with the Wraith Queen. Before, she was adamant about risking her life for the team whenever they were in danger. However, the mission had made her realize just how much danger she had put her baby in, and now understands why Sheppard has been so worried about her putting herself in harm's way. + +It is a normal day in the city of Atlantis, with expedition members performing their usual duties. In the lab, Lt. Colonel John Sheppard plans to play a computer game of golf with Dr. Rodney McKay. However, McKay plans to have lunch with Dr. Katie Brown, but with a surprise. He brought a diamond ring from Earth, and plans to marry Katie, since they had been seeing each other for around two years. Sheppard promises to get him a beer after this to congratulate. McKay then leaves and on the way, passes Teyla Emmagan, now visibly pregnant, who comes to see Sheppard. Meanwhile, Dr. Jennifer Keller sees Ronon Dex, who has yet again injured himself in a sparring session. Also, Colonel Samantha Carter joins Dr. Radek Zelenka in the transporter to the main tower. McKay joins Katie in the botany lab to get some lunch. A nervous McKay then reaches down to get the ring. However, as he is about to, an alarm sounds and the door behind them closes. He is not the only one, the entire city has mysteriously locked down. Sheppard, Keller and Carter separately calls McKay for help in what is going on, but there are no answers. Zelenka notices that communications are down. Meanwhile, McKay explains to Katie that they are in a quarantine lockdown. He tweaked the system after the Kirsan fever outbreak, since the quarantine did not take effect then. Now that he knows what is going on, he needs access to a computer to stop it. However, Katie says he can't since she left the computer and radio in another room, that can't be reached because of the lockdown. In the infirmary, Keller has Ronon help her ready the infirmary, since she knows that this is also a quarantine. Sheppard and Teyla discover that they are in a "category five" lockdown, the highest level, meaning absolutely everything is out; ventilation, communications, long range sensors, as well as all primary and secondary systems. Teyla then tells Sheppard that she originally came to discuss the future of her position in the team, due to the child. If the rest of the Athosians aren't found, then she may have to pull back, since she doesn't want her son to grow up without a mother. Sheppard then assures her that if something does happen, then Atlantis would be the son's family. Meanwhile, Carter and Zelenka, who are also trapped figure out the quarantine status. Carter starts to doubt if there is a disease outbreak, since everything is down. Their suspicions turn out to be correct, as there was an intense ionospheric storm that day which spiked Atlantis' power, which ultimately caused the city to lock down. They realize it doesn't have anything to do with McKay's changes after all; it is a feature of the new planet they are on. They briefly discuss steps they will have to take to prevent future lockdowns. They also begin to wonder why McKay hasn't figured out the problem yet, not knowing he has no access to a computer. In the botany lab, Katie and McKay begin to argue about what to do next. Afterwards, McKay decides to cheer her up, but couldn't think of anything, until he notices the Rodneyana villosa, which has fully grown. McKay then starts to feel ill, believing the disease has affected him, not knowing there is no outbreak, and is likely just allergic to some of the shrubbery and plants. Ronon, who doesn't like sitting around tries to force the door open, tearing up his stitches in the process, but the door still won't budge. Keller frustratingly restitches his wound. They decide to both talk to pass the time. However, she can't find anything to speak to him about. Soon, Keller starts to admit that she is not good at sitting and waiting either, since nothing has happened for a while. Ronon starts to talk about how she reminds him of Melena, his former lover who was killed on Sateda during a Wraith attack several years ago, trying to save her people. Keller tells him that there was nothing he could've done to make her come with him, if she wanted to stay and help her people. Meanwhile, Sheppard feels unnerved that "in the movies", the pregnant woman always goes into labor, despite Teyla saying that the baby is months away. Sheppard sees McKay's headset on the table, then remembers he has gone to the Botany Lab where there are no computers. Realizing McKay cannot be working on the lockout, Sheppard then plans to hack into McKay's systems, and does so by typing his password, which McKay once told him, because he never thought Sheppard would remember it. He types McKay's password, which happens to be 16431879196842 (a combination of Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein and McKay's birth years, and 42, the ultimate answer to life, the universe and everything). There, he discovers that the city has activated a distress signal since the lockdown, which is leaving their position vulnerable. He still can't go to the control room. Teyla's baby then starts kicking. Sheppard plans to blow the door open, but can't find any explosives. With no other option, Sheppard breaks open a window, and plans to climb up to the control room, which is only four levels up. He starts to climb up the central tower. Carter and Zelenka are starting to get a little hot, since the ventilation is down, no cool air is coming in. They plan to use the computer to get the transporter door open. However, in the process, a power surge knocks Radek back. The surge also burnt out the RAM, meaning they are now stuck for good. Sheppard continues to climb up Atlantis, and almost falls on one occasion. However, he is able to make it up to the control room balcony and then breaks himself into the control room. There they find a group of technicians frantically working on restoring the ventilation, which they restored on the central tower, and tries to stop the distress call, which is protected by McKay's password. Sheppard is able to get into McKay's system and shuts down the signal. However, there is another problem, since Sheppard broke into the control room, this means that there is a breach in quarantine, which causes all the computers to shut down and the self destruct sequence activates with an unknown time until the timer goes off.. After hearing the destruct sequence, Ronon tries to open the door again, without any success. Since he doesn't have his Particle magnum with him to blow the door open, he plans to find explosives, despite the fact that it is an infirmary, not armory. He then has an idea when Keller mentions the oxygen tanks. He plans to use an oxygen tank and shoot it to blow a hole into the door, similar to how Sheriff Brody stopped the shark in the movie Jaws. However, since there are no guns in the infirmary, he has Keller score some marks into the neck of the tank with medical machinery. Meanwhile, Chuck is able to shut down the alarm, but not the self-destruct sequence. The only way to stop it is to go down six levels, enter the power room and shut down everything to reboot the systems. With half a dozen doors to get through, they plan to blow through them. However, Major Evan Lorne only has one block of C-4. A team of Lorne, Sheppard, Chuck, and Amelia Banks starts to climb down Atlantis. McKay is now lying on the ground in the botany lab, and tells Katie that the technicians may have only muted the alarm. There, Katie notices the ring McKay is carrying, and McKay admits that he came to her today to propose to her, but now that he thinks he is dying, says there is not much point in doing so, which upsets Katie a little. In the infirmary, Keller is done marking the oxygen tank. Ronon sets up a contraption, by using a few hospital beds, a scanner and another oxygen tank. From a distance, the two take cover behind a wall, where Ronon then activates the scanner, where the second tank falls onto the end of the other tank, where it acts as a missile, and then bounces off the door, before flying past Keller and Ronon. When they check if the door opened or not, all they saw was the a lot of mess, and the door hasn't opened. Sheppard and the team are now inside the city, and uses the last of their C-4 to blow a door open. There, Carter and Zelenka hears the noise and shout for help. Sheppard hears them, and he and Lorne help open the transporter door, since they aren't as strong as the other doors. There, the two are briefed on the situation. With no more C-4, they see an air vent, which leads to the power room. Zelenka volunteers, since he is small enough to fit. The team helps him up, and he crawls though the vents. In the botany lab, McKay is still lying on the floor, with Katie not talking. In the infirmary, Ronon admits to Keller that when she first arrived, he thought she was weak, but has a change of heart since the attempt on scoring the oxygen tank. Keller tells Ronon that there was never a part in her life where she belonged, since she was focused on education more than her personal life when she was younger. Zelenka falls into the power room, stands up and limps to the control switches and turns them all off. Ronon and Keller are about to kiss, when the power shuts down. When it reboots, the entire city has now become fully operational again, with the lockdown overwritten, and the self-destruct sequence deactivates. This distracts Keller and Ronon from their very near kiss. Meanwhile, McKay is relieved that the doors have opened again, but looks awkwardly at Katie, who is holding the ring. In the mess hall, the whole team congratulates Radek on his work in shutting down the lockdown, and all owe him a debt of gratitude. Carter also informs them that for 24 hours now, there has been no sign of any ships, Wraith, or otherwise that has detected the signal, and are all in the clear. Ronon tells them that he heard McKay thought there was an actual quarantine, since he was sick, but stops talking when Keller arrives. Sheppard and Teyla then tease Ronon about a possible relationship between him and Keller. Meanwhile, McKay returns to Katie in the botany lab and admits that after the lock down experience, he has realized that he has "shortcomings" and says he isn't ready for marriage and doesn't want to risk ruining her life until he's worked out his own personal problems. Katie also admits that she's not quite ready for marriage either, and both she and McKay agree to put off the proposal for a future date, and having a raincheck on lunch. As McKay heads to the door, Katie says "bye" with a very sad look on her face, before the door closes. + +Lt. Colonel John Sheppard and Dr. Rodney McKay meet with Flora and Mardola, the royalty on a planet the Atlantis expedition trade with since their first year of operation, where they also warned them of a Wraith culling. The two sisters are very grateful for their kindness and toasts them for it. The sisters then say they need the men's help, they have another sister that needs their assistance. When they step out for a second, the team are expecting a sister as beautiful as Flora and Mardola, but they are stunned when they are met by the third sister, who is actually thirteen years old, named Harmony. Flora and Mardola explain that their mother, who was Queen, recently passed away. They performed a ceremony, and later determined that Harmony is to become the next queen. There is a rite of passage: Harmony must go on to the Ruins of Larris to become Queen. Originally, the next of kin would travel alone, but since Harmony is thirteen, the other sisters fear for her safety. They explain that although the planet's residents are prohibited from escorting the new queen, the law does not apply to visitors from other worlds. They appeal to Sheppard and McKay based on maintaining their alliance, and they reluctantly agree. McKay and Sheppard take Harmony into the woods, and she finds out that Sheppard is the leader, despite McKay's attempts to argue against it. She wonders why Sheppard puts up with McKay's impertinence. On the way, Sheppard follows the map, when he notices that a wooden bridge over a ravine has since collapsed, and sees no other way to cross. He tells McKay to stay with Harmony, while he looks for another way over. While he is gone, Harmony takes an energy bar from Sheppard's pack, against McKay's wishes, and she opens it. When McKay tells her to put it back, she hands him the empty wrapper. When Sheppard returns, he thinks McKay took his food, despite him saying Harmony took it. McKay then aggressively tells Harmony to tell the truth, when she bursts into fake tears. The deceived Sheppard takes pity on her, who agrees on letting her navigate using the map when they return to the path. After more navigating, they all hear a strange noise. Harmony tells them that it is the sound of the "beast", which is assigned to attack anybody, or anything, that is a threat to the throne. After some further walking, McKay and Harmony notice that Sheppard has disappeared. Harmony wonders why McKay isn't taken, since she thinks the beast is behind this. This is proven to be wrong, when McKay is surrounded by a group of three Genii, who don't seem to recognize him, since he helped them with their nuclear weapons program. They tell him that all they need is Harmony, and they'll spare him. McKay considers it for a second, but then Sheppard (who had sensed the ambush) shoots them all down from behind the foliage. They wonder what the Genii are doing here. Harmony reveals that her people used to trade with the Genii, but after they kept cheating them several times, her mother banished them. Sheppard leaves McKay with Harmony again, to find out how many more Genii are out there. During that time, McKay and Harmony continue their arguments, whilst Harmony tries to intimidate McKay with threats, for fun. Sheppard returns to them, and tells them that there are Genii everywhere. They decide to hide out until nightfall, when they would then return to village. However, Harmony disagrees, since she wants to make it to the ruins before the end of the lunar cycle. She knows her throne will be forfeit if she fails the quest. Sheppard however has to insist on returning, since it isn't safe to continue. In the palace at night, the Genii leader, Toran sneaks into the palace, and meets up with Mardola, one of Harmony's sisters. They both have a secret meeting. It is revealed that Mardola has ordered the hit on Harmony, and would become queen herself if she were not to return from the ruins. Toran blames her for the death of three of his men. But Mardola simply states that having Sheppard and McKay around was unfortunate, and agrees on paying the Genii three times as much as she originally intended to give them. Toran gives her a Genii communicator to contact him. She also tells Toran to keep the fact that she ordered the hit on Harmony a secret, as if anyone finds out, it would be bad for both of them. Meanwhile, McKay comes up to Sheppard, and suggests that they stun Harmony and take her back. Sheppard disagrees, and decide now would be the time to head back, whilst it is still dark. However, as they turn around to tell Harmony, they notice she has disappeared. They proceed to search for her in the woods, but can't find her. McKay then feels hungry, when Sheppard admits that having Ronon Dex there to track her down would useful. McKay smells a fire and food and is able to track the origin of the fire. They find Harmony hidden in a cave, and sees that she has caught a Loden bird and started a fire to cook it. Sheppard quickly puts out the fire, and warns Harmony that she is in trouble. They have to turn back to the settlement, despite Harmony telling them that the ruins aren't that far away. As they plan to leave again, they hear the beast approaching. They decide to wait it out and then turn back. Later they chat and Harmony says that since she is going to be Queen, she is going to need a King, and suggests that Sheppard become her king. However, he defers. They then hear the beast again and screams and weapons fire coming from the Genii. Sheppard goes to investigate, and again leaves McKay with Harmony. Harmony wants McKay to teach her about love, since she thinks that she's in love with Sheppard. McKay advises her that Sheppard won't be interested in her, and she would have to find her own king. McKay realizes she was only having fun back in the forest and that she is not really so bad, admitting he "doesn't not like her." Meanwhile, Sheppard finds two Genii bodies, who have been attacked violently by the beast, and turned into "Swiss cheese". He then hides from other Genii soldiers, who find their dead comrades. When they leave, Sheppard discovers that the Genii now have a shoot-to-kill order on the three of them. When he overhears the communication, Sheppard returns to the cave and reiterates that the must go back to the castle. Harmony disagrees, since they're close to the ruins, and insists the beast will avoid the ruins. Sheppard finally agrees and decide to leave as soon as possible. As dawn sets, the trio arrive near the nearby ruins and take cover, where they find two Genii soldiers fiddling with some Control crystals on the ruins. McKay gets his stunner out and begins to aim, but Sheppard quickly snatches the weapon off him and does it himself. When they arrive in the ruins, they notice that the structure is Lantean architecture. McKay discovers that the "ruins" are actually a testing place for Mini-drones. McKay explains that the noise of the beast, is just the noise of the drone's engines. Also, the drones haven't attacked the trio, because they all have the Ancient Technology Activation gene. Unfortunately, the Genii have fiddled with the control crystals, meaning the drone controls won't activate. Harmony gets out her pendant to control the "beast" and explains it will light up once she activates the neural interface but McKay realizes that because of the tampering from the Genni, the controls will not function. Harmony sees her pendant not glowing as a sign that she should not be queen. Sheppard tries to explain that it's just broken and that McKay can fix it. Whilst McKay replaces the crystals in the correct order, Harmony insists she can make it work if she focuses (believing that the Lantean technology is holy and cannot be destroyed), but after several tries begins to believe she is not the true queen after all. Toran then radios the Genii prisoners, and Sheppard tries to bluff through a conversation that he is Heiron and everything is fine. However, as the two Genii cry for help, Sheppard stuns them again, as Toran announces that back up is on its way. Preparing for a Genii attack, Sheppard takes cover with Harmony, while McKay works on re-activating the device. However, just as he is completed and the device powers up, the Genii start firing on them. In the process, Harmony runs toward cover. McKay runs to her and trips whilst trying to push her out of the way, dropping her to the ground too. They get up and run to Sheppard's cover spot. Toran admits that one of her sisters ordered the hit, when she says her sisters would take them down. McKay isn't sure if the device is working. Sheppard then plans to activate the device. He tells McKay to lay down cover fire, while he snatches Harmony's pendant, since anyone with the Ancient gene can activate the drone system. He makes a run for the device and commands the drones with his mind, and the drones mobilize and kill Toran, as the others run away and the drones chase them. Harmony is duly impressed by McKay, and declares him a hero, because he shielded her from the Genii with his own body, to which McKay responds he just fell. She also starts to denounce Sheppard for taking her pendant. She then places her pendant over the device, making it glow, and is pleased to know she is the true Queen after all. They return to the palace and search Mardola's quarters, since they searched Flora's quarters and found nothing. They find the Genii radio. Mardola tries to angrily justify herself that Harmony is too young to become queen, to which Harmony says that by the time she will be released from jail, she will be too old to remember it, and has her arrested. McKay and Sheppard later attend the coronation, where Harmony congratulates McKay and Sheppard for their work in protect her. She then unveils a portrait of the event painted by her best artists. The painting shows a heroic Harmony in the middle, with brave McKay defending her from the Genii and Sheppard cowering in fear behind her. + +Lt. Colonel John Sheppard and Ronon Dex talk on one of Atlantis' hallways, talking about a movie Ronon saw last night, Blades of Glory. He complains that the movie title is misleading, as there was barely any fighting in it. When Sheppard explains that the movie was about ice-skating blades and that it is a sport, Ronon tells Sheppard that "your planet's weird". Sheppard is about to enter his quarters, when he is stopped by Colonel Samantha Carter. She tells him that she received a communication from Stargate Command that his father, Patrick Sheppard had a heart attack last night and had passed away. Meanwhile, on Earth, a woman is looking for intel and looking through satellites to do it. With her are pictures of Sheppard and Ronon in Vancouver when Jeannie Miller was kidnapped. Her computer then finds something, a newspaper report about the death of Patrick Sheppard. Sheppard is packing his bags to Gate back to Earth. Dr. Rodney McKay then visits him in his quarters, and tells him that he's sorry about the loss. He also requested to join him, but the EM generator on M7G-677 is malfunctioning, and has to fix it to prevent the planet from being attacked by the Wraith. Sheppard then goes to the Gate Room, where the Stargate is dialing. He is then joined by Ronon, who says he's coming with him to Earth. Sheppard and Ronon arrive in a big house to attend Patrick's wake. There, Ronon realizes that there are a lot of people attending and Sheppard explains that his father was well-connected. Sheppard meets his brother, Dave Sheppard, who has now taken over their father's company. Dave and Sheppard agree that they should soon talk. Afterwards, Sheppard enters a room, where he sees his father's coffin. Ronon picks up a plate and collects a lot of food from the tables. When he meets up with Sheppard again. He explains that the house was one of many houses he grew up in, and that his father pretty much arranged Sheppard's life for him since he was fourteen, but they never talked again after Sheppard's decision to join the United States Air Force. They are then met by Nancy Sheppard, Sheppard's ex-wife, who works at Homeland Security, and was recently promoted to director. Without realizing, the same woman looking for them is also attending the wake. When Ronon and Sheppard enter the bar, they are met by the woman who identifies herself as Ava Dixon. She says she knows about the events of McKay and Miller's kidnapping. At first, Sheppard attempts to tell her that he doesn't know what she's talking about, but tells her what she wants when she clearly knows too much. They need to talk, but not in the house. When they take her to the car, Dave stops them, and accuses Sheppard of challenging their father's will. When Sheppard explains he has nothing to worry about, Dave tells him that his father regretted his son's decision to break the contact with him to join the Air Force ever since, and wanted a chance for things not to end badly between them. Ronon, Sheppard, and Ava then leave. At night, Ava explains to the men that Stanton Research, a division of Devlin Medical Technologies has worked with nanites. She was recruited by Dr. Richard Poole, Stanton's head scientist, and witnessed a major breakthrough she didn't expect seeing in her lifetime, on an alleged government funded research called Project Archetype. However, she soon learned that the research was not sanctioned. They were able to make a person out of nanites, a Human-form Replicator, even though replication isn't one of its programs. Three weeks ago, the International Oversight Advisory tracked them down, and attempted to stop them. Poole was planning to destroy the research and shut down the Replicator, but when it realized what Poole was up to, he attacked him, and killed two guards to escape. The Replicator is now loose on Earth, and she needs their help in tracking and stopping it. Ronon and Sheppard storm the lab and arrest Poole, who is also trying to find the Replicator. They then beam him to the Apollo, where they interrogate him. He has heavily encrypted his files, which would take a long time in cracking, and only he needs the code. He refuses to co-operate, even after Sheppard agrees on a deal with him. Ava agrees to help Sheppard track the Replicator, against Poole's wishes. Sheppard and Ronon then meet with Agent Bates, who was honorably discharged from the Marine Corps, and now works for the IOA Field Operations Division. Next they see Dr. Bill Lee, who was interrupted from his first vacation in three years. Ava realizes that the technology in the ship is alien. There, they track the Replicators' signature to an old abandoned warehouse, where it's hiding because social interaction is not included in its programming, and it will kill if it's scared again. Sheppard talks with Poole again to track him down. At first, he doesn't co-operate, since he knows there will be no trial for him regardless. However, he changes his mind, when Sheppard threatens to lock up Ava. At the warehouse, Poole tells everyone that the Replicator is immune to Anti-Replicator guns, and if they have to take it down, enough firepower and bullets would do it, since it has a limited ability to self-repair. They then split up in teams to search the Replicator. Poole is with Bates. They see the Replicator, but after Bates informs Sheppard, Poole knocks him out and enters the warehouse alone. The Replicator comes out of hiding, where he tells it that it has to shut itself down like it has done several times, and assures him that he will re-activate him. However, the Replicator does not believe him, and kills him. Sheppard and Ronon finds Bates, and then finds Poole, dead. As they exit the warehouse, they hear weapons fire and track it. There they find the Replicator, and try to kill it, but even with several armed men and machine guns, they only caused minor damage. Eventually the Replicator escapes by jumping into a lake, and the team loses it. Now it has disappeared and they can't find it The team returns to the Apollo, and give Ava the news, since her parents died very young and Poole was like a father to her. Meanwhile, Lee can't find the Replicator anywhere, even by boosting the sensitivity for energy signatures by 200%. They then wonder why Poole went by himself. They think that Poole has a buyer, most likely from the military. Meanwhile, Sheppard goes to Washington D.C. and encounters Nancy. He wants her to find out anything she can on Project Archetype. Nancy reluctantly agrees, after they argue about the time they were married, that Sheppard kept leaving her on top-secret missions around the World. Later, Sheppard returns to the Apollo, where Lee is finally able to hack into Poole's computer, and made a shocking discovery; Ava Dixon was actually killed in a car accident last December, meaning she'd been dead for months. The Ava they encountered is also a Replicator. They come to the Stanton Research labs, where Ava has disappeared, with a note saying "I never meant for any of this to happen. I am very sorry. Ava". They then discover that Ava is a different type of Replicator, one programmed with social interaction skills and emotions. Sheppard then gets a message, saying that Nancy is waiting for him. He returns to Washington, and meets up with Nancy, she hands Sheppard a memory stick with everything she has found on Project Archetype. She also took the liberty in researching Sheppard, but realizes this was a mistake. She then wishes him luck, says goodbye and leaves. Now with the new-found information, Lee is able to find out a warehouse in Redding with "pre-assembled masonry panels", which is actually a code word for shipments of Neutronium, the base material for Replicator nanites, so the Replicator could go there to repair. Bates organizes a stake-out, in case the Replicator shows. However, they need a way to terminate it, but Sheppard gets an idea when Lee mentions a volcano, or molten steel, like in the movies. The teams arrive in the warehouse at night, but couldn't find the Replicator anywhere. However, it is inside the building, and knocks out the entire team, besides Ronon and Sheppard, where they attempt to fight it. However, the Replicator is about to kill Sheppard, where Ava saves him, and fights the Replicator in hand-to-hand combat. Unfortunately, the male model gets the upper hand throws Ava aside to deal with Ronon. Sheppard is then able to get a knife out and stabs the Replicator with it. The knife has a locator beacon and on Sheppard's command, the Replicator is beamed away. Ava wonders where it is. Sheppard explains that he has sent it to low-Earth orbit. The Replicator is quickly destroyed through the friction of re-entry. With the situation resolved, the team discuss what is to become of Ava. Despite the fact that she saved them, she is still too much of a security threat. In the end, Sheppard meets with Ava, and tells her that she can be free to roam around Earth, just as long as she is not to work in any scientific fields. Sheppard wishes her luck, and she walks. However, Sheppard then inexplicably disappears. It is revealed that her consciousness has been transferred into Virtual reality, giving her room enough to explore her own World, without her knowing. They also destroyed her body. In the end, Ronon plans to go back to Atlantis. However, Sheppard decides to stay a little longer. He takes a taxi to a house, where his estranged brother, Dave lives. He enters the house, where they have a discussion. + +Dr. Jennifer Keller and Dr. Rodney McKay report their findings on M5V-801 to Colonel Samantha Carter and Lt. Colonel John Sheppard. The planet has been suffering from tremors for several generations, and experiences around four tremors a day, as the settlement is built over seismically unstable ground. Also, it was a mining planet. Twenty years ago, the Genii came and forced all the inhabitants to work as miners for the Genii's own ends. However, after the Genii got the resources they needed, they abandoned the planet. Because of this, and the unsafe air quality, an abnormally high number of inhabitants are suffering from respiratory problems. They organize a mission to evacuate the settlement into another part of the continent, but in order to do so, the inhabitants have a list of demands a "mile and a half long". Carter arranges for her, Keller and McKay to go to the planet. An hour later, they arrive and are walking to the settlement when McKay steps on a very weak, hollow part of the ground, causing a hole which McKay falls through. Carter and Keller lay on the ground to spread their body weight, and see McKay at the bottom, hurt but alive. However, as the women plan to go back and dial the Stargate for help, the hole gets bigger and they fall through also. The trio find themselves in the abandoned Genii mining facility. Upon further investigation, they see a massive door, presumably the main entrance and exit. McKay notices a panel of Genii numerals, which requires a code to open the door. However, since they don't know the code, they move on to the next sealed door, painted red, which they surmise most likely means the door was sealed for a reason. Their suspicions turn out to be correct when they notice a very high drop down a chasm on the other side. With nothing much more to do, they decide to just sit and wait for rescue to arrive, since if they don't report to Atlantis, help will soon be dispatched. However, as they settle in to wait, they feel a ground tremor, and realize that the room they're trapped in is becoming unstable. The facility is only supported by metal stilts, which are starting to give way, since the three people and the earth is putting on more weight for the complex to support. They have to assume that help may come too late, so escape is now imperative. The room has several leftover crates strewn about it, which the Carter and McKay begin to stack up to the opening. Meanwhile, in order to reduce weight, Keller moves the earth down the chasm. Once the stack of crates is finished, Carter begins the climb up, as McKay and Keller immediately chickened out, each citing a paralyzing fear of heights. As Carter approaches the top, the wood starts to crack below her and give way. However, so close to escape, Carter continues to try to reach the hole and climb up, but before she is able to do so, the crates shatter, and Carter slams into the ground on her stomach. Since that plan didn't work, they have to think up a new one. Soon, McKay finds something to use as a grappling hook. McKay suggests tying their clothes together to create a rope long enough. He tells them to strip, and Keller starts doing so, but Carter derails the plan by finding an actual rope. Keller then pulls her shirt down and replaces her jacket, while an obvious look of disappointment crosses McKay's face. Carter explains that the rope must be climbable before they can use it, so she and Keller start tying knots in it. McKay reads through Genii files, hoping they could contain the codes to unlock the door. Meanwhile, the women play "Who would you rather?". McKay overhears the name Neil deGrasse Tyson, whom he claims he once stole an idea from him. He is then forced to play the game with them. Suddenly, they hear the noise of children playing in the field. Together, they all scream for their help. The children hear, but are just curious why the trio are down there. The trio ask them for their help. However, the children say they can't oblige, because if their parents find out that they are in an area they're not supposed to play in, they'll all get into trouble. This upsets McKay, but Carter attempts to bribe the kids by saying "We'll get you what ever you want." Knowing exactly what a pair of ten-year-old boys would want, McKay states that is a brilliant idea and tells Carter to take her shirt off. Carter says "I think we can reason with them without going into that." After the kids leave, the trio talk about Dr. Radek Zelenka, whom Carter was trapped with during the quarantine lockdown, and all agree that they find him weird. The women then wonder what happened between McKay and Dr. Katie Brown during the quarantine. He told her that he needed some time to figure out his emotional problems. However, Katie interpreted that as McKay breaking up with her and she has been put on the list for return to Earth. McKay assumes its for the best, but Keller thinks that she deserves to be with a nice guy like him. This seems to cheer McKay up. They then hear the kids return and become hopeful of rescue, but the children reveal that they only returned to win a bet with their friends. As McKay barks at them, another tremor strikes the area. They have to move fast, as the facility is becoming more unstable. They finish with the rope, and McKay insists on throwing it through the hole. However several attempts later, McKay still can't do it. One attempt hits a gas pipe, which ignites. Carter quickly stops it. Carter then has a go and succeeds in sending the rope through. Unfortunately, the hook fails to grab, bringing more earth in with it. With this plan in the toilet, McKay has another idea. Tying the rope to the metal beams, they could make a bridge using planks to put up a crate on it, and climb to safety. However, there's a problem, the planks aren't long enough to make it from one metal beam to another and the crates are too heavy. Keller, however, has an idea on how to make it work, by a simple bar trick: they use three planks in a way that it could support the crates. Keller demonstrates with knives and cups in their packs. After the demonstration, they get to it. They line up the planks to form the bridge, and place a crate in the middle. Afterwards, Carter attempts to get on the crates, manages to reach the hole, and is about to grab hold of it, when the bridge collapses. Carter falls 25 feet down (7.62 meters) and breaks a leg. As Keller tends to her, she estimates that Carter has about an hour until the internal bleeding could get severe. McKay then has another idea on how to escape, by using the hook and rope option, except this time, they use the gas pipe. McKay constructs a cannon and fills it with some gas. He then places the rope on the cannon and then uses a detonator to ignite the gas. As Keller carefully aims it at the hole, the rope is fired out of the hole and catches some ground. McKay pulls the rope, so the hook can find purchase. However, the more he pulls, more earth drops down into the facility, increasing its weight. The facility's metal stilts start to buckle under the strain. Keller falls through the red door and continues falling. Luckily, she has hold of the rope, and McKay manages to stop her fall, causing rope burns on his hands in the process. As McKay tries to pull her up, Keller tells him to stop, since she can see light, a mine shaft coming out to the open. Keller is able to swing over and makes it into the tunnel. However, this causes McKay's rope burns to open and bleed. Nevertheless, he insists on lowering Carter down, since her leg is broken. McKay makes a makeshift seat for her and ropes her down, where she is able to swing to safety. Once she's safe, it's McKay turn. He goes down the rope, but pauses in exhaustion when it is time to swing. He admits that after four years of "shooting guns, running around, and saving people," he should be better at it by now, but isn't. He swings and makes it to the tunnel with the women. Just after, they see the facility completely collapse and fall down the chasm. Carter, McKay and Keller make their way back to Atlantis. Keller tells McKay that he lost a bet with the bar trick and that he owes her a drink. However, McKay is, as usual, oblivious to feminine interest. Keller asks him again, clarifying her intent, and they leave together. + +Teyla Emmagan has just returned from an interview with the International Oversight Advisory at Stargate Command. She tells Colonel Samantha Carter and Lt. Colonel John Sheppard of her harrowing experience, since she was warned about James Coolidge, who was brusque and arrogant towards any alien members of the Stargate Program. She also tells them that he felt distracted with her pregnancy, and kept calling her "honey". After she leaves, the two colonels are wondering what to do next, since Ronon Dex's interview is next, and his temper could cause "tsunamis" against Coolidge. Carter however, has an idea. Since his interview is not for three days, she calls for some assistance to teach Ronon, Teal'c. Carter welcomes him to Atlantis, and notices his change in hair style. After awing at the site of the Ancient city, Teal'c finally meets Ronon, who is sparring with someone, and easily beats him. Carter introduces him to Teal'c to help him through the interview process. However, it is obvious that Ronon does not trust him, even after the two are left alone to become better acquainted. Later, the two meet in the mess hall, where Ronon tells Teal'c that he has dealt with the IOA before, and knows how to handle interviews, despite Teal'c's warnings that Coolidge is far less pleasant than Richard Woolsey. They then proceed to talk about other topics, namely what happened on Sateda several years ago. Ronon explains that his people never gave up in fighting them, and they all fought until they were all dead, or captured. When Teal'c accused him of leading the Wraith to Sateda, an angered Ronon stood up, and aimed his weapon point blank at Teal'c's head. Teal'c tells him that this question would be what he will face in the upcoming interview, and trusts that Ronon won't aim his gun next time. Sheppard comes in and orders Ronon to drop the gun. He then tells them to go to the gym and teach each other how to fight. During their sparring session, they attract a large crowd, who are betting on who would win, since the two have been sparring for an hour, with no breaks, and no sign of who is winning. Carter sees the brutal sparring match, where she decides to break it off, announcing the fight as a draw. Afterwards, both Ronon and Teal'c leave Atlantis for the Midway space station to get to Earth. But before Ronon leaves, Sheppard tells him to just think about what Teal'c has said, since he is over a hundred years old and knows how to handle himself. Meanwhile, as they leave, on the arid planet of M4F-788, a group of Wraith are preparing an attack somewhere. Ronon and Teal'c arrive at the Midway station. Dr. Bill Lee is working with Scott Dempster and Dr. Peter Kavanagh on familiarizing themselves on Midway's systems. Lee greets Ronon and Teal'c and shows them their quarters, since they have to share. He also tells them of the 24 hour quarantine. As they enter the quarters, they both decide on taking the bottom bunk, before staring at each other. Meanwhile, back in Atlantis, Dr. Rodney McKay discovers that the McKay/Carter Intergalactic Gate Bridge is down, and is working on restoring it. In horror, Sheppard thinks that Ronon and Teal'c have gated to one of the Spacegates and are dead in space. McKay assures him that the malfunction is coming from M4F-788, so in all likelihood, they are just stranded on that planet. However, they do not know that Wraith are there, and are actually gating to the Midway station. On Midway, Lee notices the unscheduled activation of the Pegasus Gate, and can only watch in horror as the Wraith come through the gate and overpower and stun the guards. Soon, they enter the room where he, Dempster and Kavanagh are in, and hold them. Meanwhile, Ronon and Teal'c are watching The Three Stooges on the TV, when they hear the alarm. When the two come to investigate, they notice the Wraith. Ronon kills two of them, and wonders what the Wraith are doing. Teal'c asks the same question and investigate further, and proceed to the armory. The Wraith Commander orders one of his technicians to Gate to Earth, but there's a problem, they cannot access the Gate system because of a lock-out command. The technician tries to hack the code, but in order to reach the code faster, the Commander feeds on Dempster. McKay is finally able to dial to M4F-788, because someone dialed out of 788's gate to prevent them from dialing in. Sheppard thinks that if Ronon and Teal'c are in the planet, nothing will stop them from dialing back. They send a MALP to investigate the planet. At first, they find nothing, but as they pan back and forth they see a Dial Home Device with Wraith technology, and a Wraith cruiser, before the MALP is destroyed by a Wraith guard. They deduce that the Wraith have infiltrated the Midway station, and think that "Todd" is involved, since he had plenty of time to hack into their computer systems while he was a prisoner. With the Daedalus out of reach, they decide to send a team to take back Midway, by gating to M6R-125, a planet near 788, so they could reconfigure the macro and then gate to the Midway station. The Commander has fed on Dempster, who is now dead. He then plans on feeding on Kavanagh, who reacts by fainting. He then plans to feed on Lee instead, but stops when his technician hacks in, meaning they can now Gate to Earth. In the SGC, their Gate dials, and CMSgt. Walter Harriman receives Midway's IDC, and opens the Iris. They then see a large orb arriving, which discharges a blue pulse wave that knocks out everyone on the base. The Wraith now have control of the entire base. Meanwhile, on the Midway station, Ronon and Teal'c see Wraith going through to Earth. They agree to follow them and kill them all. As they approach the Gate, the Commander shuts it down, but the two have made it through. They find the Wraith bomb, with several unconscious soldiers, and no sign of the Wraith. In the Stargate Operations room, they find several Wraith through CCTV cameras, trying to break out. Teal'c notes that the Wraith device has effectively locked down the entire base, so no one gets out. Sheppard, McKay and a strike team ready a strike to take back the base. On the station, the Wraith notice the Pegasus Gate activating. The Commander did not expect reinforcements so soon, and sees humans entering. Sheppard radios Ronon and Teal'c not realizing they are actually stopping Wraith in the SGC. Sheppard's team is cornered by Wraith, but they open fire and are eventually able to kill them all. A screen activates in front of Sheppard, revealing the commander. He confirms to Sheppard that he got the information from "Todd". The Commander doesn't take Sheppard's threat kindly, and responds by sending in the second wave. Sheppard tells the marines to guard the gate and kill anything going through, while he, McKay and two marines make it to the control room, where they kill the Wraith, but the Commander has disappeared. Lee and Kavanagh are rescued. Unfortunately, they can't close the Stargate, and more Wraith are infiltrating the Midway base. Back in the SGC, Ronon notices Teal'c says "indeed" a lot, which Teal'c says that he has indeed not noticed. They then find several Wraith, and succeed in killing or stunning them all. In the process, Ronon gets into a struggle with one, but it is killed by Teal'c firing Ronon's Particle magnum. He shows a great interest in obtaining one. They then pass a room, and hear a noise. They investigate and find Coolidge, who has regained consciousness. He tells both of them to send him to a radio for assistance when he learns of the Wraith incursion and that the two "aliens" are the only two dispatching them. On the way, the trio encounter more Wraith, Ronon and Teal'c shoot and kill all of them, but Coolidge has fled due to the gunfire, and his fear. The two split up to find him. Kavanagh regains consciousness and is able to shut down the Gate by using the critical systems bypass. However, McKay tells him that the Wraith have tampered with that idea, sabotaging it so that shutting down the gate initiates Midway's self-destruct, with 10 minutes until the station blows up. McKay radios Sheppard, who tells them that there is a Puddle Jumper in case of an emergency such as this. They plan to evacuate, but Wraith are surrounding the control room. Sheppard finds more Wraith and kills some of them, before he is outnumbered and retreats. When the marine team is overrun by the incoming Wraith (and presumed dead), Sheppard tells McKay to vent the station's atmosphere, which McKay reluctantly agrees to do. McKay starts venting the station, and Sheppard tries to find safety. However, as he is about to, the Commander shows up and they get into a struggle. Sheppard manages to get his sidearm and kills him. Unfortunately, with most of the air gone, Sheppard struggles to stand up and continue. In the SGC control room, Ronon finds Coolidge, who has contacted the military, who have been ordered to destroy the SGC base, which Coolidge won't abort until every Wraith is dead. He also wants Ronon, and a group of SGC personnel who have just awakened, to escape in an escape hatch. However, Ronon sees Teal'c in trouble and goes to his assistance, against Coolidge's wishes. Ronon rushes to Teal'c's aid, and fights off some of the Wraith. He takes out a pipe and kills one of the warriors. Teal'c loses a battle and is pushed to the wall, where the Wraith starts to feed on him, but a few seconds later, Ronon jams the pipe through the Wraith, killing him. They now both believe that all the Wraith in the base are dead. On Midway, McKay re-pressurizes the base, as all the Wraith are now dead from lack of oxygen. The team runs to the escape pod modified Jumper, but on the way, McKay hears breathing noises from a space suit near the Jumper. It is Sheppard, who hid in one of the suits to survive. They are surprised to see Sheppard alive. With just seconds to go, Sheppard pilots the Jumper and flies out before Midway is destroyed. In the SGC, now the Wraith threat has disappeared, Ronon goes for his interview. Coolidge asks him if he feels he can fulfill the duties of an SG team member with diligence, integrity, and respect for those in authority over him. When Ronon says yes, Coolidge looks at the fellow IOA members, then merely says "good enough for me". With the interview over, Ronon tells Teal'c that the IOA committee said he is everything they're looking for, and that he didn't threaten them with his weapon. Now that events have finished, Ronon is beamed aboard to the Daedalus to check out the status of the Midway station which has not responded to any communications since the attack began. About a week or two later, the Jumper is still drifting in the massive void between the two galaxies, where Lee and Kavanagh argue about the movie Pearl Harbor, which Kavanagh likes. McKay snaps at them, and tells them that they never shut their mouths the entire time. The team then experience a shudder. The rear hatch opens, revealing Ronon, who tells them that they are on board the Daedalus' in the 302 bay. Ronon wonders where Sheppard is, since he didn't hear the radio call. McKay opens the door to the front section, where McKay says that after just a day, he sealed himself in. Sheppard is asleep, wearing a pair of headphones. Ronon wakes him up, and tells him that the IOA has approved him for active duty. The Daedalus then jumps into hyperspace, heading back to Atlantis. + +Teyla Emmagan is in a forested world with Colonel Samantha Carter and Lt. Colonel John Sheppard, Dr. Rodney McKay and Ronon Dex, with a group of other people. There is also a pyre, with her baby's father, Kanaan, who died of some unknown cause. Carter emphasizes that he would have made a good father. Teyla grabs a torch and starts to burn the pyre. However, as it is set on fire, Kanaan suddenly opens his eyes, and yells Teyla for help. Teyla attempts to save him, but is stopped by Carter, who tells her that it is too late to do anything. Teyla watches in horror as Kanaan is being burned alive. Fortunately, these events did not happen, as it was just a nightmare. Teyla wakes up in shock. Dr. Jennifer Keller is investigating a mysterious plague that has spread through seven planets. Sheppard then arrives and tells her and Carter that they just visited a world also hit by the plague, making the grand total of eight planets. Keller says that the plague is mysterious, as the planets hit by it has no contact with any other planets that are affected, and the infected worlds made contact with other planets that has not been hit with the plague, meaning that it is so random, Keller can't determine the planet of origin. It also has a mortality rate of 30% after the sickness has run its course on M1R-992. Keller predicts that if this is representative then around 200,000 people would still die from the affected planets. Meanwhile, in the mess hall, McKay joins Teyla, who wonders about Keller's progress in the plague. Teyla then notices McKay holding something behind his back. He reveals it to her as a pre-baby present; an MP3 player, which contains some of McKay's scientific theories, since he knows that on Earth, a company specializes on sound recordings for pregnant mothers listen to teach the fetus on certain areas, so if Teyla's unborn son learns McKay's theories, he could become a brilliant scientist. Teyla is grateful, but McKay couldn't help notice Teyla is also hiding something. She confides in him that she had a dream last night, and thought it was a vision. A sceptical McKay tells her that he believes her, citing his time in the Battle of the Void, the Lt. Laura Cadman incident, and seeing himself from a Alternate reality. He then talks with Sheppard, and tells him that he doubts she had a vision, thinking that the thought that the Athosians are gone for six months is really starting to get with her. That evening, Teyla has another dream. She wakes up in a forest, and sees Kanaan materialize in front of her eyes. After a happy reunion, Kanaan asks her for help in finding him and the other Athosians. Teyla does not know where to begin, until Kanaan shows her a pendant she gave him once in the village of Croya, which gives her a clue on finding them. Teyla then wakes up, sitting up on her bed, with her hand out and open, as if she was living the dream. After telling her team, the team, except for Teyla has a meeting with Carter. They tell her of M2S-181, a peaceful trading settlement, which they will find surprising if they had anything to do with the Athosians. But since it's Teyla, and that they owe her one, they decide to send Teyla with them to the planet, since the rest of the teams are stretched thin with the plague. The team arrives in the village of Croya, where they warn Teyla that if anything happens, she will run for the gate, leaving the team to deal with the problem. However, as they enter the village to meet with the same artisan the Athosians bought the pendants and jewelry, they discover that he died during the "great sickness" (possibly the plague). After they search the village twice for any answers, the team has to leave and go back to Atlantis, disappointing Teyla. Meanwhile, Keller informs Carter that she found something for investigation; they have encountered something like this before. The protein markers are almost an exact match to the same drug created by the Hoffans, but a new and improved version, with a lesser mortality rate than 50%, like last time. When she reports the findings to the team, she tells them that the Hoffans must have distributed the drug without the expedition's consent. However, the Hoffans are not responsible, McKay tells them that when the Wraith found out what they were doing, the Hoffans were wiped out. Whoever was responsible, laced the drug into the planets' food and water supply, and due to the random nature of it, the Wraith would have no idea which "meal" would become their last. Carter orders the team on a mission to Hoff to find what they can. Teyla is in her quarters, meditating, where she has the dream again, only this time, she isn't asleep. She sees Kanaan again, and tells her that she was so close to finding a clue, and wondered why she left too soon. He urges her to go back to Croya. Teyla later confronts Carter, and wants her to send her back to M2S-181, and this time, she won't take no for an answer. She tells her that she and Kanaan both have the Gift, which they are able to communicate each other over a distance. Carter is convinced and has Major Evan Lorne and his team assist her, since she doesn't want Teyla going alone. Carter tells Teyla to call her Sam. Meanwhile, Sheppard and McKay arrive in the city on Hoff, except this time, the city is heavily damaged from a Wraith bombardment. McKay searches through a room which used to hold the repository of Hoffan knowledge, except the room has been ransacked, and there is no information on the Hoffan research. McKay then finds a group of scared children, running away. McKay stops one of them and wants an answer on what happened. The kid tells him that they found the place empty when they got here, before running away again. With nothing more to report, they return to Atlantis. Lorne's team and Teyla arrive on M2S-181 and starts searching for clues. This time, however, Teyla spots a merchant holding a necklace that looks familiar to her, Kanaan's pendant. She confronts the merchant, and demands to know what else he received from the trader who gave her the pendant. She sees a box, containing a necklace from Balera, and a ring from Halling. The merchant tells her that the trader is more than likely going to pay him a visit today. Meanwhile, back in Atlantis, the team returns, where they find an activated Wraith tracker, and that it is from their "friend", "Todd", who wants to meet them, or just draw them to an ambush, so they Gate to the planet, much to McKay's chargin, since he hasn't had lunch yet. On M2S-181, after waiting for some time, the merchant signals Lorne from a distance that the Trader has arrived. The trader shows the merchant some more valuable merchandise. Lorne confronts the trader on the whereabouts of the merchandise. The trader attempts to flee, only to have Teyla hit him in the head with a log. They send him to a room and wake him up. They press him for an answer on the whereabouts of his merchandise. He doesn't co-operate, but decides to help after Teyla threatens him that she will tell the village that he is a Wraith worshipper, which they won't take kindly to. The trader admits that he got the merchandise from a planet with a mass burial ground. He tells them that he didn't take them from dead bodies, since he found a box instead with all the merchandise. He agrees to send the team to the planet. McKay, Ronon and Sheppard finds "Todd" in a Wraith lab, where he tells them of the drug that makes the Wraith die if they feed on Humans. At first, "Todd" accuses them of unleashing the drug, until they tell him that they think he did it himself. If neither are responsible, "Todd" explains that there could only be "one other" who would be responsible, but he wants a price for the information, the research into the Hoffan drug. Meanwhile, Lorne plans to Gate Atlantis first to inform them of the situation. However, a Wraith Dart approaches. As Teyla tries to run, the trader grabs Teyla and holds her in the path of the Dart's culling beam which captures her. The Dart then flies away before Lorne's team can attack. Teyla awakens on a Wraith cruiser and is met by the person responsible for the Hoffan plague and her kidnapping: Michael Kenmore. Back in Atlantis, the team, Carter and Keller discuss the situation and Sheppard tells them that it has to be Michael who hates both humans and Wraith and for whom the Hoffan drug is the perfect weapon. Carter decides whether to give "Todd" the information. McKay says that it's a good idea since Michael would likely weaponise the virus into something that could be used on the Wraiths directly without going through humans first. It would lead to the Wraiths' downfall. The Gate activates, with Lorne's team. They tell Carter that Teyla has been taken. On the cruiser, Michael admits to have been behind the plague the whole time, and that he rewrote his DNA to eliminate his feeding need, meaning he has turned into a Hybrid. He is also the one that kidnapped the Athosians and assures Teyla that they are alive and working towards the common cause of eliminating the Wraith. He intends to create an army of Hybrids who will become the dominant race in the Pegasus galacy. He also admits to being responsible for the kidnapping of the Athosians, and turned Kanaan into a Hybrid. He also has plans for Teyla's child. Before he leaves her, he explains that he had "help" in locating and perfecting the Hoffan drug but doesn't explain further. When Teyla tries to get through to Kanaan, he merely says that their child would serve the cause. Teyla tells Kanaan she came to find him just as he asked her to in her visions, but Michael interrupts and says it was he who contacted her through the visions, "appropriately disguised, of course." He says that he and Teyla share a connection that will become even stronger once her child is born. Sheppard's team approaches "Todd" and tells him that they already know who's responsible. When he asks why they are there and they give him part of the Hoffan research, and promise the rest in exchange for information on Teyla's whereabouts. They also give him the gate address to a relay outpost that he can use to communicate with them if he finds something. After they return to Atlantis, McKay finally eats some food in the Mess, where the team learns that Todd has sent word that there is a rumor from Wraith worshipers of one of their people being held on another planet. Having gotten the coordinates, Sheppard and Lorne's team travel to the planet on the Daedalus to rescue Teyla. Arriving in orbit, the Daedalus is unable to detect Teyla's subcutaneous locator beacon, presumably removed by Michael, so the two teams are beamed to the facility to rescue Teyla "the old fashioned way." Splitting up, the teams are engaged by a Wraith worshipper each with Sheppard and Ronon mortally wounding one. Sheppard questions him to learn that they have arrived too early and the worshipers are expecting Michael back soon. Sheppard warns the Daedalus and Ronon takes out the other guard. Meanwhile, Michael's cruiser emerges from hyperspace in orbit of the planet and attacks the Daedalus which returns fire with its railguns. The Wraith cruiser proves to be no match for the Daedalus which is able to inflict heavy damage before Sheppard learns that Teyla is on board and warns the Daedalus not to destroy the Wraith ship. As the Daedalus attempts to cripple Michael's cruiser, Michael makes a run for hyperspace. Despite the Daedalus attempting to use its Asgard plasma beam weapons to disable the cruiser's hyperdrive, it is able to escape into hyperspace with Teyla. Colonel Caldwell then passes on the bad news to Sheppard. Following Michael's escape, Sheppard and Lorne wonder what the Wraith worshipers were guarding so heavily if Michael hadn't yet arrived. Opening a locked door, the rescue team stares in shock at the prisoner inside. "Finally! Its about bloody time! What took you so long?!" asks Doctor Carson Beckett who has been believed dead for over a year. + +In Atlantis, Dr. Jennifer Keller and a medical team are examining Carson Beckett, a standard protocol Beckett helped to initialize, for people after being imprisoned by a large amount of time. From the observation area, the team; Colonel Samantha Carter and Lt. Colonel John Sheppard, Dr. Rodney McKay and Ronon Dex wonder as to who they are seeing, since the Beckett they know was killed last year. Keller then finishes every test she thinks of, and confirms the fact that this man is Carson Beckett. McKay visits Beckett in an isolation room and they both have a talk. McKay wants to know about what he went through. Beckett tells him of the events on M8G-352, when he was taken prisoner by Michael Kenmore. He remembers being injected with something, and then remembers waking up on another planet. Michael then told him to do some work for him, in working on the Hoffan drug and combining Human and Wraith DNA. At first, he refused to help, but one day, Michael showed him a young woman no more than 20 years old, and killed her in front of him in cold blood. After promising to kill more people like her, Beckett co-operated. He worked for two years, but never gave up hope on his team finding him. McKay then confessed to him that they weren't looking for him, since he was rescued on M8G-352, and continued working for six months, until he was killed by an explosion. Beckett doesn't take this news well. Keller discovers the mystery of the two Becketts. She reports her findings to Carter. His telomeres, which are a part of a Human's chromosome, which gradually shortens by the time the cell divides, has shrunk 30% more than they should for a man of Beckett's age. This means that Beckett's original cells have started to degenerate when they were removed from the original Beckett, meaning the one they encounter is a clone. They tell the findings to Beckett, who also doesn't take that news well, since he discovers that he came "out of a test tube". Meanwhile, Teyla Emmagan is being taken by Michael and some of the other Hybrids, including Kanaan on a planet that was culled by the Wraith, and abandoned by the survivors, making it the perfect hiding place for Michael to conduct his research. Teyla is taken to a room in the facility, where she finally reunites with the Athosians after six months. She sees Halling, and the two gesture the Athosian greeting. Teyla talks with them, who tells her that the night they disappeared, 50 men armed with Wraith stunners took them by surprise during the middle of the night, and there was nothing Teyla could've done even if she was there. Teyla told them they should not give up hope in the expedition finding them, to which they reply by saying they held out the same hope in her rescuing them. Carter and Sheppard's team discusses their plans on Beckett. Despite no matter how willing he is to help, since he was created by Michael, he could lure the team to an ambush. However, they decide to let him help them. Out of all his time as prisoner, he only saw one Gate address, since they blindfolded him every time he was moved to another one of Michael's facilities. They prepare for a mission. In the locker room, Beckett gears up, and tells Sheppard that he won't regret this. The team arrive on the planet, and enters a crowded tavern. Sheppard questions the bartender, who tells him that no-one cares what they look for, so Sheppard offers him a deal. Ronon looks up at the balcony, and sees a darkened figure, who starts firing at them with the distinctive sound of FN P90 Personal Defense Weapon fire. In the process, the assailant kills the bartender, but is stunned by Ronon, but falls, injuring him. They send the injured man to Atlantis to operate on him. There, Keller identifies the man, Nabel Golan. She, Beckett and a team works on operating on him. However, as Beckett gets some equipment, he suddenly collapses. As Carter and Sheppard discuss what has happened, McKay thinks that Nabel had the P90 from the weapons cache for the Athosians on New Athos. Later, they see Beckett recovering. Keller finds out that Beckett's cells has started to degenerate due to the fact he's a clone. They wonder why he is dying now and not two years ago. Beckett remembers getting an injection from Michael once a week, which stops his degeneration, and it now has been a week since his last injection, meaning his cells are degenerating. They both work on finding a way to reverse the effects, by trying to reverse engineer a drug by using the Ancient scans from his arrival. The two works together. At first, they lead to a dead end, but find a breakthrough, which leads in a dead end again. Keller suggests sending Carson into a stasis pod, which he quickly refuses. In Michael's facility, Teyla tries to talk with Kanaan to reach to him, but is unsuccessful, when he leaves. The next morning, Michael's worshippers enters the Athosian room, and takes Teyla away. They take her to a table and restrain her. She notices several chambers where several people are undergoing the process of converting to Hybrids. There, Kanaan guards her again. Teyla again attempts to reach out to him, and tells her that she will take all her people, and him out of the facility and into safety. Teyla successfully reaches out to him, as he now recognizes her. After an emotional reunion, Kanaan tries to break her out. However, just as he continues, he stops, because Michael has entered the room. He excuses Kanaan, and starts to experiment on her. Teyla begs him not to harm her baby, which Michael says he wouldn't dream of doing. Since the baby has the gift, like Kanaan and Teyla, but stronger. With the baby, he can perfect the Hybrids. In Atlantis, Nabel regains consciousness, and notices Keller, which she doesn't hide the fact that she originally didn't want to save him. Nabel tells them that they know he's been captured, since Michael has spies all over the galaxy, and would be killed if he talks. However, Sheppard suggests to give him asylum in another galaxy. He gives the team the location of where they're keeping Teyla. Beckett knows the layout of the facility, and shows it to the team. He volunteers to join them and storm the place. After he leaves, the rest of the team agrees that it wouldn't matter if he leads them to an ambush or not. McKay chases Beckett, who collapses again, but regains his posture. McKay tells him that he doesn't have to this and prove himself, but Beckett insists on staying with the team. The teams arrive at the facility, and reads several lifesigns all over the facility, from both the Athosians, and mercenaries. Meanwhile, Michael closes down the conversion process of the people in chambers, which kills them. Teyla senses his fear, which he merely tells her that it is just concern. They plan to leave aboard his cruiser. As Sheppard's team searches for the Athosians, they're under fire from mercenaries, with Earth machine guns. Halling and the Athosians hear the gunfire, and after Sheppard's team kills the two mercenaries, shouts out for help. Sheppard finally finds what is left of the Athosians, and lets them escape to the Stargate. The teams search for Teyla and find a chamber where she was held. They are then pinned by more mercenaries. McKay then notices that a cruiser is charging its engines. Suddenly, Beckett leaves the team to try to rescue Teyla on his own. He finds the two men escorting Teyla, and kills them. Although she is surprised to see Beckett, she refuses to leave without Kanaan. Beckett attempts to convince her to come with him but is ultimately stopped by Michael. Beckett aims his weapon at Michael, where Teyla urges him to shoot Michael. However, Michael tells her that no matter how much Carson wants to kill him, his is unable to, due to the ability Michael has to mind-control any of his clones or hybrids. As Teyla reaches for the gun, Michael stops her and takes it. He tells Beckett that doesn't have an injection for him, but tells him he served his purpose, before stunning him. Teyla is taken away. McKay, Ronon and Sheppard discover gas canister behind the mercenaries, and shoots them, where they explode, so the team can kill them. They run towards Beckett's direction and finds him, where he tells them that Michael has escaped with her. They hear his cruiser activates, and they rush to the outdoors, where they helplessly watches Michael's cruiser taking off and escapes into space. Teyla is gone. However, they don't give up hope, since they have prisoners that will talk eventually. They also discover that Beckett has weakened so much, that any other collapses can be fatal. They talk him into going to stasis. They take him to a stasis room on a wheel chair, where a pod is ready. The entire team watches him pass them. Keller assures him that she has a whole team working on fixing him. He tells Carter to send his mother a message for him, with random thoughts. He passes Sheppard, who tells him that they'll get him out in no time. Beckett tells him to find Teyla, which he will. He passes Ronon, who finally talks with him, saying he is afraid of this, and the two embrace. Last, but not least, he talks with McKay, who tells him that he programmed dreams into stasis, where he can go fishing in the Scottish Highlands, with "blonde massage therapists", which Beckett says he'll do fine. McKay and Beckett agree that this is not goodbye, but merely, a "see you later". He steps into the pod, where the field activates. Beckett is now in stasis, where the entire team still stays for a moment to say goodbye to him. + +On M4S-587, Lt. Colonel John Sheppard and Major Evan Lorne wait for their Genii contact, where he claims to have information regarding Teyla Emmagan, who was kidnapped by Michael Kenmore. However, the contact doesn't turn up, and they try to decide whether the Genii are reliable. On the one hand, they tried to have Harmony killed, but on the other, Ladon Radim didn't order the hit, and is trying to get on their good side. With time running out, Sheppard gates back to Atlantis, leaving Lorne to stay for a while in case the contact does show up. Sheppard returns to Atlantis. However, the city is different; it is empty, with no power on at all, as well as a glow of red from the daylight and a higher temperature. He calls out, but nobody answers. He decides to look outside, but has trouble opening the door. When he does, he sees that the oceans have mysteriously turned to desert. Sheppard desperately tries to activate the city's systems, but can't. He then hears static, and hears a voice, Dr. Rodney McKay, who wants to know of Sheppard's position, and what has happened. He then tells him to go to the Holo room. Sheppard runs there, and activates the projector, where an aged McKay materializes. He tells Sheppard that he is a hologram of himself from 25 years since Sheppard was missing. He also relates that Sheppard was involved in a freak accident involving a solar flare, similar to the one where SG-1 was transported to the year 1969, but instead of traveling back in time, he went forward in time, by 48,000 years, likely making Sheppard the last man alive in the Pegasus Galaxy and quite possibly in the entire universe. Fortunately, the hologram of McKay didn't just come to chat with Sheppard. Instead, he has a plan to send Sheppard back to 2008, by waiting for a similar solar flare to send him back. The problem is that he would have to placed in a stasis pod for at least another 800 years. This is the only chance, since if he returns later than two months since he was missing, it would be too late. McKay reveals that two months after Sheppard disappeared, they announced him KIA and had a funeral, without Sheppard's body. The team later received solid intelligence on one of Michael's labs, where they finally found Teyla Emmagan, who had delivered her baby, but later that Teyla was dead, Michael having killed her. Michael then used the baby to perfect his Hybrids, and later administered the Hoffan drug on every single planet in Pegasus. The Atlantis expedition, with their limited personnel attempted to lessen the mortality rate of the drug, but were unsuccessful. With the Wraith's food supply tainted, their civil war went into full swing, and within a year, the Wraith were brought to their knees. Michael's army captured a Wraith Queen, where he told her that when he escaped from the Humans, he expected a warm welcome back, but was met with scorn instead. With his anger, he personally decapitated her and showed her head to his army. Now that Sheppard is aware of the situation, he realizes that if he rescues Teyla, he can stop all this from happening. However, on their way to the stasis room, he and McKay see the corridor is blocked off by a mountain of sand, and there is no other way out. The only other option is a trek across the sand to a nearby tower but Sheppard can't walk across the sand due to a sandstorm that is raging outside. He decides to wait it out, while Holo-McKay tells him what happened to the others. He explains that with Michael in control of the galaxy, the International Oversight Advisory were hesitant in giving out resources to help stop him. However, Colonel Samantha Carter didn't take no for an answer. They handed her a new Daedalus class ship, the Phoenix. Since it was barely off the assembly line, Carter, McKay and Dr. Radek Zelenka worked tirelessly and finished installing the Asgard systems on the ship. After they were finished, Carter told McKay to return to Atlantis, while she would strike back at Michael. Carter and the crew performed several guerrilla-style ambushes, where they would exit hyperspace, strike at Michael's Hive Ships, and jump out again. Despite terrible odds, Carter inflicted considerable damage to Michael's fleet. However their luck soon ran out. They found intelligence that Michael will strike at a planet, not knowing Michael's army supplied Carter with misinformation. When the Phoenix arrived, the ship was ambushed, and several systems, including the Asgard plasma beam weapons went offline. The Phoenix fired conventional nuclear warheads, but did not cause much damage. With the ship's hyperdrive and other engines reaching critical, Carter evacuated the entire crew. With the transporters down, Carter was left with little choice but to set a collision course for one of Michael's Hives. The Phoenix charged into a Hive Ship, where the force of the explosion destroyed the other two attacking Hives but also costing Carter her life. Back in the future Atlantis, Holo-McKay has discovered why the ocean turned to desert; the Star is dying, turning into a red giant which heated the planet so much that in 500 years time the atmosphere will burn, which will kill Sheppard the second he exits stasis. Sheppard decides to use the city's solar panels to power the shield (although most likely it was collapsed to protect only a small area) along with the Naquadah generator, which will buy them enough time for Sheppard to return to the present. Then, since he can't wait due to hunger, he covers his face and attempts his walk across the harsh desert. He pressures McKay to keep talking, by asking what happened to Ronon Dex. After the death of Teyla and the apparent death of Sheppard, Ronon no longer felt welcome in Atlantis, and left. He learned that Michael was planning to convert the populations of the stronger worlds into Hybrids, and destroy the weaker civilizations. Ronon planned and developed an army to take down Michael. With the galaxy in a state of panic, he didn't have trouble finding volunteers. The recruits were mainly farmers, but Ronon taught them every assault tactic he could. The Atlantis expedition also supplied them with Earth weapons, particularly C-4 and FN P90 Personal Defense Weapons. After he felt his newly-created army was ready to fight, they embarked on several operations against the Hybrids. In one particular mission, they attempted to destroy one of Michael's labs. There, they ran into an old friend, "Todd" the Wraith, who also planned to destroy the base. When they heard that Michael's reinforcements were zeroing in on the base, Ronon evacuated his army while he and "Todd" planted C-4 to destroy the base, but wishing to allow his forces to escape, the two held off the Hybrids until Ronon's soldiers radioed him that they had evacuated. With no way out, Ronon and "Todd" decided to detonate the C-4, where they shared a smile with each other before Ronon detonated the explosives, killing them all and destroying the base. Sheppard, having survived the trek, is unconscious. After a whole night, he wakes up, and quickly agrees they should go to the stasis pod. They arrive in the stasis room, where Holo-McKay tells him to take a crystal, containing the address to the planet where Michael plans to kill Teyla. Before he steps in, Sheppard wants to know what happened to McKay. Dr. Jennifer Keller planned on a mission to help more lives in the galaxy, only to be stopped by the new Atlantis leader, Richard Woolsey. He told her that since Michael's forces had taken over the galaxy, the IOA ordered all resources to be pulled for the protection of the city. Disgusted by this, Keller quits the expedition. McKay decides to quit as well, and both leave on the Daedalus back to Earth. During their time, the two grew closer and closer, until by the time they returned to Earth, they weren't just colleagues any more, and were seeing each other. Over the next year, McKay got a high paying job in an aerospace engineering firm, while Keller headed her own medical practice. Things were fine between them until Keller fell ill. When she turned to Stargate Command, the doctors discovered traces of the Hoffan drug in her systems, and told her that she was dying. With this, McKay had a revelation to prevent the whole thing from happening. However, Keller told him to stop, since there is no point in chasing after something that is already gone. She died three days later. He got a job teaching physics at the local college which gave him the time he needed to develop a way to predict solar flares. He got help from his sister, Jeannie Miller, but after a while she gave up helping and told Rodney to stop as well. After 25 years he found a way and presented the idea to Major General Evan Lorne, who was then in charge of the SGC. He convinced Lorne to take him to Atlantis to enact his plan. After McKay finishes explaining this, Sheppard enters stasis. Back in the present, Atlantis' Stargate activates, where Chuck reads Sheppard's IDC. Sheppard returns, and discovers that he has returned after 12 days since he went missing. He tries to convince Carter of the news that he can find Teyla, but she finds this far-fetched. When McKay notices the solar flare, they believe Sheppard is telling the truth. Carter sanctions the mission to M2S-445, the planet Michael is planning to kill Teyla. Lorne joins Sheppard's team. On M2S-445, the teams arrive in Michael's base, where they split up. Sheppard and Ronon find a room, with several brutal surgical implements. Sheppard observes that this is the "sick, twisted version of a maternity ward", which means this is the room where Michael plans to both deliver the baby and kill Teyla. Meanwhile, McKay and Lorne enter another room, where McKay finds a relic computer. There, McKay discovers that the information is Michael's database, containing his Hybrid research and planets where he is conducting the research. For a moment, the team is excited at the prospect of Michael's downfall, until the computer shuts down, and a timer activates. The base is booby trapped, and while the teams desperately try to run, they are too late. The base collapses in on them, leaving the teams trapped. + +Lt. Colonel John Sheppard and Teyla Emmagan are in Atlantis, dressed in evening wear. Teyla says she's been wanting to thank Sheppard, and when Sheppard wonders why Teyla says for rescuing her. However, Sheppard doesn't seem to remember rescuing her, and the fire from the candles catches his attention for a moment. When he looks back it's Lt. Aiden Ford sitting in front of him, saying Sheppard doesn't remember rescuing Teyla because he didn't, just like he never rescued Ford. Sheppard then feels a stab of pain and looks down to see blood soaking through his shirt. He regains consciousness back in reality, and notices that he and Ronon Dex are buried under the rubble of Michael's facility. The two are in the same room, where Ronon is free and not as injured, but Sheppard is trapped under a beam that won't budge, and is seriously injured. Ronon says he tried contacting the others, but there is no radio signal. Meanwhile, in another chamber, Dr. Rodney McKay is stuck with Major Evan Lorne. McKay seems fine, but Lorne has broken a leg from the explosion. McKay finds a small opening, and tries to widen it to escape, which only results in more rubble collapsing in. Lorne tells McKay that some of the teams must have evacuated and should dial Atlantis, while the Daedalus is en route to confirm Sheppard's story, and will arrive in under three hours. McKay is forced to just sit and wait. However, in another star system, where Michael's cruiser is, Kanaan gives Michael Kenmore a report that one of their bases self destructed. Knowing that something happened, Michael sends his cruiser into hyperspace to M2S-445. In Atlantis, they receive an unscheduled off-world Stargate activation. Colonel Samantha Carter descends down the stairs and sees Lt. Edison entering Atlantis, covered in dust. He rushed back from Michael's compound and tells her that the compound self destructed. With several people trapped, he requests back-up to help rescue the survivors. Carter calls for a team of combat engineers. Dr. Jennifer Keller is called in to tend to the injured survivors, with the expedition's new member, Captain Alicia Vega joining in on the operation. Meanwhile, McKay tries to make himself busy to deal with his claustrophobia, and finds Michael's computer. There he finds out that Michael's "Wiki" is still mostly intact. However, he notices something, and is about to tell Lorne, when he tells him to be quiet, since he hears footsteps. They both call out for help. Meanwhile, Carter and her team read four lifesigns in two locations, and starts searching, where Keller hears Lorne and McKay. They work on getting the two out. McKay tells them to hurry, since he discovered that after the compound blew, a subspace message was sent to his cruiser, meaning he is on his way. They work on it, but the other two survivors are much deeper, so they may rely on the Daedalus' beaming technology. Sheppard and Ronon attempts to move the beam for Sheppard to move around, but is unsuccessful. Sheppard feels stupid, since he should have known that the building was booby trapped but didn't think of it. He then tells, and eventually orders Ronon to leave him behind, but quickly realizes that he has no intention of doing so. Onboard Michael's cruiser, he scans Teyla for her son's condition through the medical scanner, and tells her that he is doing well, and wonders why Teyla is still looking at him bitterly, since he assured her that the child will not be harmed. Teyla wonders that since he mentions her son a lot, he never mentions what is to become of his mother. Michael hesitates at an answer, and is about to tell that he plans to kill her, when Kanaan interrupts and tells him they are almost over the planet. Michael leaves, where Kanaan then releases her. She tells him that they must escape. However, Kanaan tells her that they will kill him if he is seen escaping, despite Teyla telling him that Michael will kill him anyway. The rescue teams save McKay and Lorne, where they are about to send them back, but Lt. Rivers informs Carter that Michael's cruiser exited hyperspace over the planet. Michael notices several life signs combing the debris, looking for survivors. He plans to launch a squadron of Wraith Darts to capture anyone they find. While a Dart tries to take prisoners, Vega fires her weapon at it, and hits it, where it severely damaged. Keller notes her fine marksmanship, before leaving to the Puddle Jumper. However, as they are about to dial out, the Gate dials in, leaving the team trapped. They cloak the Jumper and fly towards Michael's cruiser. They are tempted at the opportunity to take Teyla back, but can't. Meanwhile, Sheppard is weakening, and is about to give up hope, when they hear digging noises. A group of people are digging them out. Sheppard asks if Harris, one of Atlantis' combat engineers is there, but when they answer that he is, Ronan then remembers that Harris is on leave until the next month. Now wary, Sheppard poses a trick pop culture question; stating that he'll buy a round of beer once rescued, he asks the diggers if they'd prefer Duff beer (from The Simpsons), or "Oprah ale." When the diggers fail to answer correctly, Sheppard and Ronon know they are Hybrids. With their only option being to start firing when they can see the Hybrids, the two determine to keep shooting until they can't and bid each other farewell. The Daedalus arrives at the planet, and finds itself in orbit along with Michael's cruiser. Michael realizes that the Daedalus has arrived, and tries to jump into hyperspace. However, warned by Carter that Teyla is onboard, Colonel Steven Caldwell orders Major Kevin Marks to disable its hyperdrive, and the cruiser cannot go anywhere. Carter tells Caldwell about Sheppard and Ronon and asks him to scan for transmitter signals. Just as Michael's drones uncover Sheppard and Ronon, they are beamed out by the Daedalus. However, as the ship had to drop its shields to beam the survivors, Michael's ship is able to cause considerable damage to it, disabling sublight and hyperdrive engines as well as Asgard plasma beam weapons, before they activate the shields again. They are now target practice for Michael's cruiser. Keller is about to operate on Sheppard. However, he urges Keller to just patch him up so he can rescue Teyla. Keller reluctantly does so. Carter, McKay, Sheppard and Ronon formulate a plan to strike back at Michael to launch an F-302 fighter-interceptor attack on Michael's weapons. He will launch Darts to retaliate, which will allow Sheppard's team to sneak in on a cloaked Jumper and rescue Teyla. With Daedalus' shields at 20% they convince Caldwell to agree and they rush with the plan. Carter reluctantly allows Sheppard to be on the mission when he makes it clear that he's going no matter what, stating he'll submit to a court martial afterward if she wishes. McKay tells Sheppard that he and Ronon can rescue Teyla while Sheppard stays, but he does not agree to it. The Daedalus launches the 302s to strike against Michael's cruiser, to which Michael launches eight Darts in response. The bay doors open and quickly begin to close, but Sheppard manages to get the cloaked Jumper inside. Meanwhile the 302s are able to destroy the ship's weapons. The rescue team begin by McKay tapping into the cruiser's systems to find Teyla. However, he also discovers that Michael is far ahead with the hyperdrive repair, and could be re-operational in 15 minutes. Teyla is in her room, where she is sitting, and having difficulty breathing. Her guard hears a noise and sees Sheppard's team, but is gunned down. The team has now found Teyla, and plans to move quickly, but Teyla announces that she had been having contractions for over an hour, and are getting closer each time. Her baby is coming. They try to get her out, but McKay says Michael's hyperdrive is operational. Sheppard and Ronon takes a charge of C-4 and walks down the corridor to the hyperdrive room. Meanwhile, McKay is to look after Teyla, and tries to talk to her about an incident where both he and his cat once had a kidney stone. However, she has another contraction, and has to have the baby now. Sheppard and Ronon kill the Hybrids guarding the hyperdrive, where they are able to place the C-4, and detonate it from a safe distance. Kanaan investigates, while Michael wonders how the Humans are on board. Teyla is lying down and urges a very horrified McKay to deliver her baby. Reluctantly, he agrees and reaches out his arms to catch the baby. Teyla pushes the baby, and McKay catches it. McKay quickly turns from horrified to joyful, and hands Teyla her son. Sheppard and Ronon return to see what transpired. The five of them leave, and find that the Jumper has disappeared. They have no idea what happened to it, so they plan to take a Dart. There, they encounter Kanaan, who surrenders. Teyla introduces him to their son, and he agrees to help them escape. Sheppard commandeers the Dart and beams them all aboard apart from the baby. Not wanting to risk what effect the beam will have to the baby, Sheppard brings him with him in to the cockpit. Sheppard calls the Daedalus and tells Caldwell that he is free to do whatever he pleases with the cruiser. With the beam weapons back online, he has the ship destroyed and leaves for M35-117. Back in Atlantis, Keller prepares Sheppard for surgery. Carter passes McKay, holding flowers to bring to Teyla and her baby. Carter tells him that she is gating back to Earth to attend the symbiote extraction of the final Ba'al clone, and to head there for an "exhaustive review by the International Oversight Advisory", from her first year of heading Atlantis. Meanwhile, Keller prepares Sheppard for surgery. Sheppard asks Teyla if she planned on the baby's name. She has; Torren John Emmagan, named after her father and John. Carter arrives on Earth and meets Richard Woolsey. However, instead of going for the review, Woolsey says that the IOA is relieving her of command, and he will replace her as the new commander. + +Teyla Emmagan is walking with her new born son, Torren John Emmagan, who is asleep, but in order to do so, Teyla would have to walk while holding him. She passes a tired Dr. Jennifer Keller in the infirmary, where she is looking through Michael's database for the cure on Dr. Carson Beckett's condition, and thinks she may have found something. Teyla came to thank her for reverting the Hybrids back to Humans, and she had a chance to see Kanaan earlier today. Keller tells Teyla that Dr. Rodney McKay often talks with Beckett in the stasis pod, telling him of the latest news. Keller once caught McKay, who was then pretending to look over the systems. Torren starts to wake up, and Teyla gets moving again. Meanwhile, in the control room, McKay, Lt. Colonel John Sheppard and a team await for Richard Woolsey's arrival. He is then beamed down from the Daedalus. However, instead of a speech, he asks for his belongings to be sent to his quarters, and orders McKay to send him his latest reports. Sheppard sarcastically comments on his "nice speech" to the team, before going his own way. At night, Keller has fallen asleep, and wakes up. As she gets up, she notices that her right hand is covered a mysterious gelatinous goo. In horror, she quickly gets up and washes it away. She decides to turn in and sleep in her quarters. The next morning, the team, apart from Woolsey enters the conference room, where they quickly notice that the table is replaced by a twelve foot long mahogany one. The team thinks why Colonel Samantha Carter was relieved of her command, since she has done exceptional work with the destruction of the Asurans, and the weakening of the Wraith. Sheppard thinks that is the problem. Since much of the threat has disappeared, the International Oversight Advisory felt to be put in control, since the threat level of the galaxy has gone down. Essentially, Carter has become a victim of her own success. Woolsey enters the room, and tells everyone to be seated. The group discuss several topics, including the events over M2S-445. However, all but Woolsey know that Michael Kenmore may have escaped through the Puddle Jumper that went missing, and one of his ex-mercenaries reported to have seen him after his cruiser was destroyed. Woolsey deems the source too unreliable, and moves on to the next topic; the former Hybrids. Despite Teyla telling him that they are actually victims, Woolsey says they were also enemy combatants, and are to be held on the mainland until he deems them trustworthy to roam around. The final topic is the status of the clone of Beckett in the stasis pod. A distracted Keller tells him that she thinks she has found a serum that can stop his cellular degradation. Unfortunately, it has only been tested on lone cells, not a live person. The only way to test it is to put Carson out of stasis and inject him with the serum. Despite the risk that Carson may die the second he exits stasis, they go ahead with the procedure. They enter the stasis room, and deactivates the stasis field, where Beckett falls into the gurney. Keller quickly injects him with the serum, and sends him to the infirmary. They wait, when Beckett eventually wakes up. He sees his team again. Keller reports some good news; there are no signs of cellular degeneration, he's in the clear. By the end of the day, Keller goes to her quarters to get some sleep. The next morning, Beckett takes the opportunity to look at the city skyline. McKay confronts him and tells him that they plan to send him back to Earth to recover from his condition. Beckett seems fine with it, believing that he is still some time away from being in top shape again. They are then interrupted by Teyla from the headset. She wants their help. She tells the two that she went to Keller for a breakfast date, but couldn't get an answer. She assumed she was still asleep, and now she is late for her shift. McKay manages to open the door, where they see Keller asleep, with no sign of her waking up. Teyla notices something, and pulls out the bed covers and is shocked at what they see, tendrils covering her stomach. Sheppard and Woolsey are called into the situation. Beckett says that he saw this once before, when he was Michael's prisoner. They move both her and the bed, since the tendrils are attached to the bed as well. They discover that the tendrils are actually growing from inside her. Woolsey lets Beckett stay, despite being scheduled for Earth, and that he is not an active expedition member, but has more experience in Michael's experiments. Sheppard tells Woolsey that this "isn't by the book". Woolsey tells him that they must not get used to it. Beckett operates on Keller, and cuts off a small tendril. Unfortunately, her vitals shut down. The surgical team try their best to revive Keller, which they did. Beckett tells the team that he will not attempt that again, since it may kill her. Beckett takes a blood sample and discovers that she has been infected by a Wraith pathogen. Later, Keller eventually wakes up. McKay enters the isolation room in a Hazmat suit, and discovers that the mass has multiplied in size. Keller is visible afraid, and can't go to sleep, through fear of not waking up again. She experiences numbness all over her body, and hears mysterious voices, which are most likely in her head. Beckett tests the blood samples on everyone that has been in M2S-445, and discovers they are all infected with the pathogen. The infected members are restricted to quarters, and Carter has been quarantined in Stargate Command. Woolsey still has not decided what to do with Keller. Beckett finds out what the pathogen does, and presents his findings to Woolsey. The pathogen is comprised of an organ o-metallic polymer, which overtime, will go hard enough to resist hyperspace radiation, and the material is similar to that of Wraith spaceships, meaning that a Hive Ship is most likely coming out of Keller. Due to this new threat, Woolsey orders the entire tower Keller is in evacuated. Another problem is that the tendrils are growing very rapidly. Teyla talks to McKay, who figures out the tendrils are growing to get access to more power, where it well go too quick to stop it. He believes the tendrils are heading for a power source, a power conduit leading directly to the Zero Point Module. Teyla tells this to Woolsey, who assembles a team to examine the advancing tendrils. Beckett also starts work on how to stop the pathogen. Dr. Radek Zelenka, Teyla and a team are investigating the area, and Zelenka splits off from the team and watches the tendrils attached to a wall, that has attached itself onto the power conduit. As Teyla is coming, the tendrils sense Zelenka's presence and attacks him, knocking him to the floor. Just as he is overwhelmed, Teyla fires her FN P90 Personal Defense Weapon onto the tendrils, which are retreating. She takes Radek to safety. With this information, Woolsey decides to have Keller terminated. Fortunately, Beckett invents the serum, a phage, which should kill the pathogen. The downside is, there is no way to test it. Sheppard volunteers to be tested first. He is restrained on a bed if anything happens. He is injected with the phage. At first, he doesn't feel anything, but soon starts to violently convulse. Eventually, it stops, and Sheppard returns to normal, with the pathogen completely gone. Woolsey decides to break the rules again, and decides to send someone to the isolation room to inject Keller. Unfortunately, there are several tendrils in the way. Ronon Dex volunteers, since he is infected, the pathogen in Keller would detect no threat from him. Ronon takes the phage with him, and starts his move. He goes into a transporter. The second he enters another section, the ZPM is pulled, blacking out the city. Ronon walks past the tendrils with no sign of being harmed. He then encounters a shell in front of him. With no other way, Ronon decides to shoot his way through, against Beckett's wishes. He shoots through the shell, where the tendrils detect that he is a threat. He uses his sword, but is stopped and pinned down to a wall, where they start to strangle him. With the plan going awry, Sheppard makes contact with Keller. However, he hears a deeper, alien version of Keller's voice. She tells him that she is not Keller any more, and when she is completed, she will have her own designation. Sheppard gets the team to buy time, so he could fly a Jumper. He flies it and sees that the entire tower Keller is in is completely covered in the mass. In a daring course, Sheppard flies the jumper straight into the tower and crashes. He arrives just outside the isolation room. He arms himself and makes his move. He quickly moves into the room, and injects Keller with the phage. Keller quickly wakes up in pain, and the tendrils eventually loses its hold of Ronon, who falls. However, as the mass dies, a tendril stabs Sheppard in the stomach. An injured Sheppard is about to kill Keller, until the tendrils stopped moving. Sheppard is in the infirmary, recovering from his injury. Woolsey tells him that Ronon has a bruised larynx, meaning he will lose the ability to speak for several days. Sheppard comments "wonder if anyone'll notice". They then see Keller, who is now up and about, back to normal. Beckett arrives and says he is ready to go back to Earth and thanks Woolsey. He then talks to John and expresses his disappointment in himself for breaking at least half a dozen security protocols during his first week, but if he didn't break them, Keller would be dead, and the city will be in serious trouble. His superiors at the IOA decide to let the matter drop. Woolsey firmly believes that the rules are "there for a reason", and reveals that he is not sure if he is up to leading the expedition. Sheppard smiles and shakes his hand, where he welcomes him to the Pegasus Galaxy. + +On a forested planet, Ronon Dex and Teyla Emmagan are talking about how Kanaan has been released from his prison camp on the mainland of M35-117 and has integrated in Atlantis. They discuss that Kanaan had a scare with the city's showers, and that Ronon offered to spar with him. Teyla then talks about Ronon, who recently stunned Dr. Garrett on his own surprise birthday. Their conversation ends, when they notice a black cloaked figure lying on the floor. The two tries to help, but Ronon inadvertently steps on a trip wire, which detonates an explosive. The hood figure stands up and fires a Wraith handblaster at Ronon, and shoots him three times before he succumbs to the stunner. Teyla looks at the assailant, who unveils himself. It is Tyre, who doesn't look well. He later stuns her. She later returns to Atlantis in the conference room with Lt. Colonel John Sheppard, Dr. Rodney McKay and Richard Woolsey. He tells them that the Daedalus could not detect Ronon's Subcutaeneous locator beacon anywhere on the planet. They believe that Tyre has moved him, but think that he is not acting straight, since nothing would stop him from killing Teyla. They believe he may have kept some of the Satedan sense of honor. They discuss what their next move would be, Teyla suggests looking for another Satedan, and she knows just the one, Solen Sincha, on the planet Belkan. Woolsey commissions the mission to Belkan, and wonders whether Teyla decides to rejoin Sheppard's team, since she hasn't said anything official yet. Teyla says she hasn't decided, but wishes to join the team for the mission. As they leave, the doors close. Woolsey prepares to leave, but the doors wouldn't budge, much to his surprise. On another world, Ronon wakes up tied to a chair. Tyre is next to him and tells him that they are in Sarif Sur, a planet where Tyre almost died in a mission. He then tells Ronon that if he joined them in the first place, Ara and Rakai may still be alive today. Ronon wouldn't listen to him, but notices that his hands are shaking. Meanwhile, on Belkan, Sheppard's team finds Solen in a tavern, who is evidently drunk. They confront him and tells him that Ronon is in trouble, which Solen points out "he's always in trouble". When he hears of Tyre, he tells them that he was a Wraith worshipper, since he disappointed the Wraith, they let him go. This was not an act of kindness, since they serve as an example to those who betray the Wraith, and he would be an easy target for all the Humans in the galaxy. He does however agree to send a message to Atlantis when he finds a lead. On Sarif Sur, Ronon tells Tyre that he doesn't look well. He tells Ronon that after their last encounter, the Wraith was disappointed by him and decided to let him loose. However, due to the Wraith enzyme he was used to receiving for the Gift of Life, he has gotten addicted to it, and after not getting more in a while, starts to get into withdrawal. Ronon, agrees to take him to Atlantis so that medical personnel could help him. However, he had his own intentions, he called for his own help. By capturing him, he alerted the Wraith to the planet, and with Ronon captured, Tyre would be saved again. A Wraith Commander enters the building, where he says he will be looking forward to Ronon serving him, before he quickly feeds on him. Back in Atlantis, Woolsey and Teyla both talk about her future with the team. Woolsey respects her decision to take more time to think, even by offering a substitute for her for now. Teyla wonders if he has children. Woolsey hasn't but once had a pet Yorkie, until his wife took him after their divorce. On Sarif Sur, the Commander, who has fed on Ronon, gives his lifeforce back. Ronon says he'll die before he will submit to the Wraith. The Commander keeps trying. In Atlantis, McKay and Sheppard talk in the mess hall about how to find Ronon. McKay tells him that he thought of everything, and even took the Archimedes approach by bathing for his "eureka moment", but there is still nothing. As McKay talks further, Major Evan Lorne interrupts them and says that Solen has contacted them on the lead, a planet called Sarif Sur. They plan to launch a mission as they speak. On Sarif Sur, Tyre begs Ronon not to delay the inevitable, and join him. Ronon refuses and still brands Tyre as a traitor to him and his people. The Commander enters and tells them that things are progressing slowly. They plan to move. Tyre wants the Wraith to take him back, as they originally agreed. However, the Commander goes back on the deal, and throws Tyre onto a wall, and leaves him to die before leaving with Ronon and the warriors. Sometime after, Sheppard and Lorne's team arrive in the abandoned village and searches it. They find nothing, until Lorne finds Tyre unconscious. With his pulse weakening. They send him back to Atlantis, where Dr. Jennifer Keller tells them that he is going through Wraith enzyme withdrawal, and even broke his restraints to injure the guards. Keller could give him sedatives to ease the withdrawal, but will prolong it. They have to make his detox as quickly as possible. Meanwhile, Ronon and the Commander arrive in a Wraith lab. Ronon tells him he'd rather die, like Marika and Hemi. However, the Commander tells him that they didn't die because they refused to join. They died because they were too weak to survive the process, but Ronon is strong enough, and will submit eventually. For several days, Tyre continues his brutal withdrawal, while the Wraith Commander continuously feeds on Ronon, and gives his life back. Teyla and Kanaan, who is now back as a Human look after Torren John Emmagan. Kanaan tells Teyla that he'll respect whatever decision she makes, since she has both the duty to look after Torren, and the people in Pegasus. Tyre finally recovers his withdrawal, and talks with Sheppard. He tells him that not only will he give him the location of where Ronon is being held, but will join them in finding him. Woolsey agrees to this. Teyla gives Woosley Torren to take to Kanaan in the cafeteria, before she joins in on the mission, in the hopes of saving Ronon. However, it is too late. Ronon cracks, and is turned into a Wraith worshipper, who is told that Atlantis is his enemy. Sheppard and Lorne's team, and Tyre enters the facility, and kills several Wraith warriors. The teams enters a power relay chamber, where Tyre tells the teams to plant C-4 into the key sections and hide them, so that when it detonates, the secondary explosions will destroy the base. After they do that, they carry on searching the labs, when they find Ronon, who is expecting them, but the teams looks suspicious. Their suspicions are correct, when they find he is now working for the Wraith, as they were soon surrounded by several warriors. The Commander arrives to take the teams. Tyre then holds Teyla hostage, revealing he has double crossed the teams to take them prisoner, so he could rejoin the Wraith cause, which the Commander grants. After being taken prisoner, Tyre and Ronon convince the Commander that the teams are more valuable alive as worshipers. As the team are in the cells, McKay plans to talk to Ronon to appeal to him, since he is still a new worshiper. Next, Tyre comes up to Sheppard, and informs him that he has been summoned to the Commander. On the way, Tyre excuses the warrior, while they both take a decoy. Afterwards, they both meet the Commander, with Ronon next to him. The Commander decides that Sheppard would be perfect for the cause and attempts to convert him. He takes out his hand, and is about to feed on Sheppard, when Tyre quickly takes out his sword, and cuts the Commander's hand off. Tyre actually freed the teams and gave them their weapons back. Sheppard takes out two sidearms and kills the Wraith trying to get into the room. Tyre and Ronon engage in a sword fight. Ronon, who is stronger gains the upper hand and is starting to beat him to death, when Teyla and the team arrives and stuns Ronon three times, which takes him down. Sheppard tells rhe Commander to tell his warriors to stand down or Sheppard will kill him, but the Commander says his life would be a small price to pay to have Sheppard and his team killed. Tyre takes the explosive detonator from Sheppard and shows it to the Commander, then asks him if the destruction of the Lab and all its research would also be a small price to pay. The Commander wants to know what will stop them from blowing the facility anyway. Tyre says he will stay behind with the Commander and tells him that when the teams are free, he will hand him the device, before he can walk free. As the teams head back to the Puddle Jumper, Tyre gives his sword to Sheppard, signifying he intends not to follow them. The teams escape, and radio Tyre. The Commander tells Tyre he is not beyond forgiveness, and it is not too late for him. However, Tyre says it is, for both of them, and detonates the C-4. The facility is destroyed, and the Jumper narrowly misses the explosion, which kills everyone within, including Tyre and the Commander. Ronon is sent to the infirmary, where he is to go through withdrawal, but Ronon doesn't give in easily, urging Sheppard to let him free or kill him. However, Sheppard leaves and allows Ronon's brutal withdrawal, which takes several days. The teams could barely watch him, as he begs them to kill him. But eventually, he fully recovers, and tells McKay, who is with talking about his piano to get him some food. Ronon still has to stay off duty for a few more days to make sure. Later, Teyla visits Woolsey's quarters, who is drinking wine, listening to classical music and wears his suit for the first time since his transfer to Atlantis, since he feels the suit is the most comfortable set of clothing for him. She informs Woolsey that she has decided to rejoin Sheppard's team. After the news, Woolsey wishes her goodnight, before she joins Kanaan and Torren. McKay is taking a bath in his quarters, where he gets a sudden idea, like Archimedes. Sheppard visits Ronon in the Infirmary and gives him Tyre's sword and departs. Ronon stares at the sword for a few moments, and begins to mourn Tyre, who in the end proved himself a friend. + +In Atlantis, Lt. Colonel John Sheppard and Dr. Rodney McKay are walking into the control room, talking about how McKay accidentally dropped Torren John Emmagan while holding him, and believes that Teyla Emmagan is hiding Torren from him. As they enter the control room, Chuck informs them that a spaceship has just appeared out of nowhere above M35-117, as they didn't detect a hyperspace window. McKay reads the IFF signal, and identifies it as the Daedalus, which they find odd, as the Daedalus has actually almost completed a return journey to Earth. Sheppard calls for anyone on the ship, but McKay finds no life signs on board either, thinking that it is abandoned, or everyone is killed. To investigate, Sheppard deploys his team to the Daedalus via Puddle Jumper. Chuck informs them that he received a communication from Stargate Command, confirming them that the Daedalus is just two days away from Earth. They wonder if the ship is even the Daedalus, but McKay says they wouldn't use their IFF. They notice that the systems are nearly dead, as the ship is barely giving off any energy readings. They notice signs of battle; visible burn marks on the ship's hull from weapons fire. When they almost arrive, McKay notices another energy reading spiking from inside the ship. They enter the 302 bay, and notice no F-302s, but another Jumper is inside. They wonder what it is doing there. They set foot inside the ship and find it freezing. To cover more ground, McKay takes Ronon Dex to engineering, while Sheppard and Teyla go for the bridge. McKay and Ronon arrive in engineering, where McKay works on restoring power, but discovers that vital systems, including weapons and shields are barely online, not to mention that subspace communications and hyperdrives are damaged beyond repair. In the bridge, Teyla and Sheppard see no bodies on the way at all. Teyla sees the ship's name plate, and confirms that it is the Daedalus. McKay restores lighting and power on the ship. Teyla later finds a recording in the computer; the final entry of the ship's log. It is Colonel Sobel—apparently the commander of the Daedalus—who reports that equipment and supplies have been transported down to the planet's surface, which seems suitable to grow crops and a plentiful water supply. She and her crew hope to survive long enough to be found and rescued, and plans to join them in an F-302 fighter. When the recording finishes, they both say that they never met her before, raising even more questions. Soon, the unfamiliar energy reading starts spiking from the center of the ship again. Major Evan Lorne, who is in Atlantis also picks up the energy reading, and informs the team. The ship then starts to shake, which Sheppard believes is a sign to evacuate to the Jumper. However, just as they leave the bridge, they are overcome from a blinding white light. From space, the ship turns white and quickly flashes out of nowhere. After the energy levels drop, the team contacts Atlantis, but there is no response. Meanwhile, Atlantis can't get a response either. According to Dr. Radek Zelenka, the ship has disappeared. Meanwhile, from the team's perspective, they discover that Atlantis has disappeared; they're over the same planet, but there is no sign of the base, just ocean. McKay sends Sheppard, Teyla and Ronon to the origin of the energy reading. On the way, McKay suddenly notices that the energy readings are very similar to the one when a McKay from an Alternate reality visited Atlantis two years ago, which leads him to believe that this Daedalus is from an alternate reality. The team rush to the location of the energy reading and find a room, where they discover a duplicate version of their team, dead. Due to the coldness of the ship, Sheppard believes that the team may have been dead for as long as months. McKay finds a computer tablet from the alternate McKay, and finds out that the team also came to investigate the ship, and when they figured out what was happening, they tried to find a way out, but couldn't. Eventually, they ran out of supplies and starved to death. McKay believes that since the alternate team failed, they will fail too. Sheppard calms the team down, and sends Teyla and Ronon to search for supplies. The two find nothing, and they talk about the dead team. Ronon says he doesn't care about them, since encountering Replicator-based copies. Ronon then tells Teyla that he heard McKay talk about Alternate realities, and knows that supposedly, there are a million different realities, meaning that there is the possibility of a million Torrens, and wonders if she will worry for every one of them. Teyla says she won't, since it's hard enough to worry about the one she has. In the room, McKay finds an alternate reality drive, which he notices was created by McKay in another universe. The chamber containing the drive has to be closed off from radiation, and uses subspace capacitors to power the drive. The crew from the original reality that the Daedalus belongs to experimented with the drive, traveling to several universes. However they realized that the drive constantly charges up, by which it discharges to other realities, but the drive can't be stopped, and were forced to abandon ship. Soon, the drive recharges, and the ship disappears to another reality. Upon reaching the second Alternate reality, they read Atlantis again. Teyla tells the team that Major Kevin Marks taught her how to operate the ship's systems. She then picks up an unidentified Alien ship, which is charging weapons, and is firing at Atlantis. McKay activates the ship's Asgard plasma beam weapons, which Sheppard uses to disable the ship's weapons with three shots. The ship retaliates by launching fighters. Sheppard quickly teaches Ronon how to operate the ship's weapons. The fighters start to attack the Daedalus, quickly depleting what little shield they have left. Ronon and Sheppard use the ship's railguns to defend the ship, but is quickly overrun. One of the fighters is damaged, but crashes into the ship, causing the ship to shake wildly. McKay tells Sheppard that he could send the ship to the next universe quicker, by sending all of the ship's power to the alternate reality drive. However, the process will make the ship jump faster and faster, and will over-tax it, causing the ship to be set to burn out in just a handful of jumps. Sheppard tells McKay to do it, as the shields are almost gone. As the fighters overrun the ship, it jumps to the next universe. However, the ship's hull temperature is quickly rising. They discover that they are orbiting over a red giant, the same star that should turn into a red giant 48,000 years from now, but is happening sooner in this reality. McKay desperately attempts to transfer all available power to the jump drive before the hull temperature gets too critical and sends Ronon, Teyla and Sheppard down to engineering to transfer the power to the drive. Meanwhile, Ronon hears a noise from a corridor and comes to investigate. He arrives in a room and sees nothing. He turns away, and hears another noise. He opens a door to find a mysterious alien, who was one of the survivors from the crashed fighter. The alien proves to be more of a match for Ronon and takes him down, trying to kill him. Fortunately, Ronon manages to alert Sheppard to his position, by using his free hand to fire his weapon in the air. Sheppard goes while Teyla transfers more power, and saves Ronon in time and takes down the alien, but requires a full magazine from his FN P90 Personal Defense Weapon, and a few more shots from Ronon's weapon before finally taking him down. Soon however, they are under fire from two more aliens. Sheppard and Ronon take cover and a firefight ensues. Meanwhile, McKay tells Teyla to drop whatever shields they have left so the power could be transferred to the drive. It eventually works before the hull deteriorates. The drive charges up and jumps to a fourth Alternate reality. Sheppard and Ronon use the flash to their advantage, by getting out of hiding and killing the two distracted aliens. They discover that M35-117 is nothing but a field of asteroids, most likely caused by an impact several million years ago. McKay figures a way to return to their reality, by using Sheppard's idea and put the drive in reverse. To deal with the Sun, he uses the maneuvering thrusters to move the ship higher so they jump into a higher orbit and McKay will work on fixing the sublight engines to escape the aliens from the second Alternate reality. The ship jumps over the red giant in a higher, more stable orbit. McKay works on the sublight, but gets a power surge. Teyla stops it. McKay realizes that this is about her first mission back. He tells her that he won't make it her last. Suddenly, the drive powers up again, and jumps back to the reality with the aliens. At first, they find no sign of the ship, but realizes that it is behind them. More fighters are launched to attack. McKay manages to get the sublight engines going again, and the ship runs for it while Sheppard and Ronon use the railguns to hold off the enemy fighters who are quickly gaining on them. Soon after the fighters catch up and takes down the engines for good. The Daedalus is outnumbered, with no shields and near destruction, when the Atlantis of that reality launches an F-302 attack, led by an alternate Sheppard to help. Together the Daedalus and the 302s defeat the alien fighters, including one that is about to collide with the bridge. After both Sheppards congratulate each other on their work, the ship jumps back to the first reality they jumped to. They plan to go to the Jumper the second the ship returns to the right universe. However, on the way to the hangar bay, they come under attack from the remaining alien, who shoots McKay on the right shoulder. Ronon and Sheppard manage to take him down, but just as he impacts the floor, he activates an explosive device. Sheppard and Ronon hastily leaves the corridor and closes off the section just as the device detonates. However, the explosion blows a hole in the hull that cuts them off from the hangar bay. Ronon plans to use C-4 when they arrive to destroy the drive, but there is a very high chance that this would cause a hole in the fabric of space-time, which will destroy the solar system. They must have a plan, fast. When they eventually jump back to the correct reality, Lorne and Zelenka pick up the Daedalus again on sensors. They quickly board a Jumper to approach the ship. They head towards them, but Zelenka detects an energy spike from the ship and the two see it flash out of existence. They think that they have lost the team, when they detect four life signs. The team manages to escape the ship by space suits. After recovering in the infirmary, McKay tells Sheppard that the ships will be out of power in just a handful of jumps. He then plans to design his own alternate reality drive, which Sheppard quickly opposes to, despite the fact McKay could remove the flaws. Teyla then comes to the infirmary with Torren, who lets him hold the baby for a minute, believing he would make a great father one day, which apparently scares Sheppard. McKay then hands her back the baby. + +Lt. Colonel John Sheppard and his team just finished scouting a planet. The team recounts their encounter with "flying monkeys", Dr. Rodney McKay manages to upload a blurry, obscured picture of it. But despite this, the team believes that the planet is to be a suitable Alpha Site. They dial the Spacegate back to Atlantis. However, McKay detects a serious power spike. This is followed by Sheppard's loss of the ability to steer the Puddle Jumper. The power spike has quickly turned into a surge. The surge overloads the Jumper's power, and shuts it down. The drive pods can't retract. The Jumper helplessly collides the edge of the active Spacegate, causing the Jumper to spin, without power, and drifting in orbit. The Gate however, uses its emergency thrusters to put it back into position. As the Jumper continues to spin slowly over the planet, McKay finds out that the Jumper's power isn't gone, just that it isn't routed to the systems. McKay then discovers that the Jumper is slowing down, which will send the ship to a decaying orbit. Just as the team think they will all die, one of the drive pods reactivates, allowing Sheppard to control the ship and send it through the gate before it shuts down, as the ship's Dial Home Device is offline. Soon, power is suddenly fully restored, and they return to Atlantis without any further incidents. Back in Atlantis, McKay and Dr. Radek Zelenka report that nothing is wrong with the Jumper, or any other Jumpers, which makes the team confused, since something must have caused the malfunction. With nothing new to report, everyone returns to their normal duties. Sheppard reports the findings on the planet to Richard Woolsey, who reads it from a tablet. He enters a transporter to the control room. On the way, the transporter's screen flickers. Woolsey exits the transporter, but finds himself on the East Pier. He attempts to walk back in to the transporter, but the doors close in front of him. He tries contacting the control room, but there is no answer, meaning he is stuck. McKay finds the same power surges they encountered in the Jumper on Atlantis' systems, with several complaints from members all over the city. Sheppard just misses another displacement current, and reports back to the control room. There, McKay and Zelenka work on fixing the problem. McKay points out that it couldn't have been the same anomaly from the Jumper, as the ship wasn't hooked up with any Atlantis systems. Woolsey finally returns from his walk around half the city. As they plan to solve the problem of the "screwy" readings, the entire power of Atlantis shuts down: the whole city is dead. Just as they try to figure out what the problem is, and to deploy people to tell the other members not to panic, McKay's laptop switches on by itself. He sees text on it. After seeing some gibberish, he sees a "help" message below. McKay types down "who are you". The entity slowly replies "Elizabeth Weir", putting everyone in shock, as they all thought she was killed. McKay asks the computer questions. She has trouble in communicating, and needs help. She explains that she is trapped in subspace and is finding it hard to control anything, and then powers up Atlantis. When McKay asks more questions, she simply says "help me". Later, McKay and Zelenka channel the combined power of three Naquadah generators to merge the glitches that are causing the surges, meaning they can talk to whoever is claiming to be Dr. Weir. They get a response. At first, an evidently male voice calls out. McKay tweaks with the systems, and Weir tries again, this time with a more female voice. It doesn't sound like Weir, but McKay had done the best he could with her voice. Weir begins by telling everyone that she has missed everyone, says hello to Sheppard again, and is shocked to hear that Woolsey is the new boss. They wonder what happened to her. There, Weir starts to recount the events since when she ordered Sheppard to leave her behind last year on Asuras. She had been repaired by the other Asurans, and was allowed to join their community. The whole time she spent there, despite being in her new form, she still retained her consciousness. She tried to hide that from the other Asurans, but a few were able to sense it. They were from the remnants of Niam's faction. Weir joined them in their quest for Ascension, but was forced to flee from their homeworld. Their objective wasn't easy, as they could be tracked by Oberoth, but since the destruction of Asuras they had more free space to achieve their goal. Weir took them to a planet to teach them how to meditate, but still couldn't ascend because of a major flaw: they were machines. However, one of the Asurans, Koracen, believed that he had found a way to reach a digital equivalent of ascension. Their consciousnesses would be enabled to exist indefinitely as fields of energy. As such beings they could essentially upload their minds to subspace and let their nanite bodies disintegrate, allowing them to move freely about the galaxy at will. Lia, another Replicator, was understandably skeptical, but Koracen had a willing volunteer, and demonstrated the procedure. The plan worked. After they had shed their nanite bodies, they could work on the next step to the higher plane. Unfortunately, there was no "next step": they are trapped in subspace, trying to handle the constant motion and deafening noise there. They tried to take refuge in the systems of other races that are technologically advanced, hidden from both the expedition and the Wraith. They even tried Wraith systems, but left due to the unpleasantness. Eventually, Weir broke free and was able to find her way to Atlantis, as the city is the only real way to achieve ascension. She requests to be allowed to send her consciousness into a body, but Woolsey refuses. However, she takes matters into her own hands. She seals off the section which contains the Nanite creation machine. The team works furiously to regain access to the room. They are prepared to blow the door open, only to find that it opens in front of them. The team is shocked to see FRAN on the other side, who then says her trademark "hello". She claims she is Dr. Weir, but can't prove it, as the Replicators have access to all her memories. She assures them that she poses no threat, revealing that she left the technological specs of the other races, including Wraith. After the team meets to decide her fate, they decide to send her consciousness to Virtual reality, like Sheppard did with Ava Dixon. Meanwhile, Weir talks with Teyla Emmagan, and learns that she has a son, Torren John Emmagan. She easily intuits that Kanaan could only be the father, as she had noticed long ago that Teyla was in love with him. Sheppard comes into the room, and Weir talks with him. After a while, Weir senses something: the other Replicators have found her, and are on their way to Atlantis. McKay works on a way to filter out the glitches as "viruses". However, before he could implement the program, the other Asurans arrive. The city's power surges everywhere, but McKay is able to find a way to communicate with Koracen. The other eight demand to create new bodies so that they could work. Woolsey refuses. In retaliation, Koracen breaks off all contact with the expedition, but not before hinting that they will comply to his wishes. They cut off the expedition's access to the city, and powers the Zero Point Module. There, they start to sink the city, to force them to cooperate. However, Woolsey tells Weir to contact Koracen, to tell them that if they don't get what they want, then the city would still sink, everyone will drown, and they will lose their one hope of ascension, and will be "trapped in limbo forever". Weir tries, but there is still no response. Eventually, Koracen stops and restores the city, relieving everyone. Weir proposes another plan: allow the Replicators to gain bodies long enough to build themselves human bodies, like what they did to Sheppard's team last year, in order to live their lives out as humans. They would require food and water, and would age, but this would also allow Ascension. McKay lets them work on that plan by sealing them in a room with a shield surrounding it. The Replicators start working, with Ronon Dex keeping an eye out in case they have a secret agenda. Ronon was ultimately proven correct. Koracen worked not on building the new bodies but on a means to shut down the shield, allowing him to escape. Ronon attempts to stop him, but is thrown across a corridor, rendering him unconscious. The other Asurans insist that Koracen acted alone and that the rest wish to achieve their goal. Sheppard pursues Koracen and tries to shoot him, but is unable to inflict any damage. After one encounter, Koracen explains that he does not wish to be Human, as he feels the human body is "frail and weak". Afterward, Sheppard encounters Weir again. He tells her that she was deceiving them the whole time, and seriously doubts she was Weir all along. Koracen attacks him, but Weir sticks her hand in his head and shuts him down. Koracen quickly turns into a pile of inert nanites. Later, Woolsey lets their work continue. Weir apologizes to them, saying that she believed she and her group would be safe, and realized that the group are too much of a threat. Despite this, Weir has another plan to do the right, by continuing their work on another planet, contacting Atlantis only if they require assistance. The Stargate is dialed to another planet. The Asurans seem skeptical, but Weir tells them that she will go through first to see if it's safe. After she steps through, she contacts the others to let them know she is safe. However, the second they stepped through, they realized too late that they had been sent to a Spacegate. They start to freeze from the harsh effects of space. After the whole team steps through, McKay points out that this act had answered the question if this was really Elizabeth all along, since McKay had modified the DHD to not dial the entered coordinates, but rather a pre-selected Spacegate, and that Elizabeth lured the Asurans to the freezing space. As the Asurans leave, Sheppard grievingly stays behind. In the end, the group of Asurans (including Weir) are now all completely frozen and floating through space. + +Dr. Jennifer Keller is recording Dr. Rodney McKay, who was infected by and has the symptoms of a mysterious disease, known as Second Childhood. It is day 15, and he has already forgotten nearly all of his memories, barely remembering his own name. He calls himself "Mr." McKay, not "Dr." since he points out that the title of Doctor is for smart people, and he is not smart any more, though he was the "smartest person ever". After a while, the recording is paused. Keller and Richard Woolsey show this to Jeannie Miller, McKay's sister. They tell her that due to the advanced stage of the disease, the Daedalus had to drop her off the first planet they passed when entering the galaxy so Jeannie can dial Atlantis. She tells them that he couldn't have advanced that far, since he was fine just two weeks ago, though more polite than ever. They then tell her that this is the opportunity to say goodbye to him, because they have done all they can to prevent this, but he is going to die in two days, at most. While the team prepares McKay's room for Jeannie to come and see him, she wonders how this happened. Keller tells her that they believed that he picked up the disease while on a mission. In a flashback, around three weeks previously, Woolsey calls Lt. Colonel John Sheppard's team to find Dr. Nichols team and his team, who are, as Woolsey points out "an hour and fifteen minutes late". They gate into M44-5YN. Once they stepped through, Woolsey plans to have breakfast, and will return in 20 minutes, which he believes is enough time for the team to get back. However, the second he walks down the stairs, the Stargate unexpectedly activates. They read no IDC, but gets radio confirmation that it's Sheppard. They tell them not to drop the shield, as the gate is almost submerged with water and the team are soaked and cold. The whole team are on the top of the Gate, which isn't flooded. Since the water tries to make it through the Gate, they have to wait for the full thirty-eight minutes for the Gate to shut down. After that, Woolsey can send a Puddle Jumper. On top of the almost submerged Stargate, McKay reckons that Nichols' team are dead, since M44-5YN is suffering from the effects of global warming, and that their base is situated right next to a melting glacier, which breached, causing massive flooding all over the valley. McKay then starts to run a fever and has to wait until the Jumper can dial in. When the Jumper arrives, they were sent back to Atlantis to check up on McKay, where he hasn't run a fever. They believe that he has returned to his old self again, not realizing that his symptoms have started. Back in the present, Keller tells Jeannie it is okay to see him. She enters the room, with no idea what to say. McKay, in his childlike state recognizes Jeannie, stating she is his sister, and also knows his real first name is Meredith, but hears he didn't like it, because it is a girl's name. After a minute, Jeannie suddenly has to leave, because she couldn't bear seeing him like this, as he seemed normal two weeks ago, being kinder than he usually was, and now he's gone. Ronon Dex comforts her when she leaves. She says she wants to say goodbye, but it's like he's already gone. Ronon tells her that there is a place they could take Rodney where he could have one more day as himself before he died, and Jeannie could say a real goodbye, but it is very dangerous to go there now. However, he is willing to take the risk if she is willing. On day six of the recordings, McKay starts to tell Keller everything he knows in front of the camera. However, he realizes that a lot of his memories have already deteriorated. He then wants to tell Keller something. However, as he was about to confess something, Jennifer is watching, and is interrupted by Jeannie. Jeannie wants to know how it started, since Ronon told her that he is suffering from Second Childhood. Keller explains that she missed the first symptoms, which turned out to being McKay as more polite than ever, by offering her his fruit cup. Sharing food isn't something McKay is known for. The disease is very similar to Alzheimer's disease, but has a different process. It's common among the very old in the Pegasus Galaxy. They think Rodney must have had a weakened system from an illness when the team was trapped in the icy water. A parasite went into McKay's brain. Originally too small to be noticed by sensors. However, it rapidly grew until McKay starts forgetting his memories, in which case the parasite grows in such a way, that it would be impossible to surgically remove it. Jeannie tells her that Ronon says he know a way to give Rodney one more day as himself. However, Keller already knew about the option, but decides not to risk it. In another flashback, the team discusses Ronon's idea. There is a shrine on a planet named Talus, and Ronon witnessed the effects of it first hand. When he was six years old, his grandfather, the man who taught Ronon to track and hunt, went with him to the shrine of Talus. One minute, his grandfather was suffering with Second Childhood, the next, he reverted to his normal self. They spent the day together before his grandfather died a quick, honorable death. The shrine is also known by the Athosians. However, the downside is that the planet is a heavily defended Wraith outpost since the war with the Asurans. They decide to tell McKay of the plan, against Keller's wishes. They neglected to tell McKay about the Wraith. Since Keller is to look after McKay, she tells them that it is a very bad idea. Keller wants to use every minute McKay has left to try to find a treatment. She believes the cellular damage could be reversed if she could just find a way to remove the parasite. At the end, Jeannie wants to take McKay to the shrine, despite the danger. She points out to Keller that Jeannie is McKay's next of kin, so the decision of McKay's fate ultimately rests with her. She is taking him to Talus. Keller has had 3 weeks without making progress, so if they stay it's likely he only has two more days and then he'll die. Instead he can have one day as his old self. Meanwhile, on the first day of recording, they create the log to see how the Second Childhood is progressing. On the first day, McKay knows everything, including his name, position, the city, the Pegasus galaxy, and Pi in twelve decimal places. Back in the present, the team of Jeannie, McKay, Sheppard, Teyla, Ronon and Keller ready in a Jumper, as the gate is dialed to Talus. The MALP reads two Hive ships on a valley, firing at the probe. They release the smoke screen, to allow the Jumper time to cloak. After arriving on the planet, it will take a few minutes. In the meantime, Sheppard gets another flashback of the first few days after McKay's diagnosis. In the middle of the night, McKay runs to Sheppard's quarters, as Ronon left him alone when he was sleeping. He woke up and ran to Sheppard, since he has never been so scared, fearing that the next time he wakes, he could lose all of his memories. Sheppard says that they can go out, since it is a nice night to go out on the edge of a pier, and drink lots of Beer. On the pier, McKay admits that he is scared to lose his memories, and that Keller said that the memory loss will go faster soon. He then wants to have what time he has left to say goodbye. However, Sheppard refuses, saying there is still time. McKay then finishes off by joking about his condition, stating "You're a good friend, Arthur". They both look at each other, then burst into laughter. In the present, the team arrives at the shrine, which is hidden behind a waterfall. When they enter the shrine, Keller reads some strange, faint energy readings. McKay feels uncomfortable, and wants to go back. They discover radiation, which makes McKay cry out in pain. However, he suddenly changes. He has returned to normal. He wonders what is happening. in flashback, On day 10 of the recordings, a frustrated McKay attempts to remember his work, but is angered by not remembering. He also remembers his parents, and can hear words they told him, but doesn't know what they are. Back in the present, the team explains the situation to McKay, but he doesn't approve of returning to normal, only to die in a day. After he straightens up, he starts working and notes that the radiation is unlike anything he has seen before. Keller is then struck on an idea, and takes McKay back outside the cave. There, McKay cries in pain again, and they quickly send him back inside. Keller's theory works; she believes that the radiation can apparently shrink the parasite enough for it to protect itself. After about a day, the radiation makes the sufferers ill, and the second they walk out, the parasite will grow in such a way that it can kill the sufferer very quickly. however, the parasite may stay shrunk long enough for Keller to be able to operate on McKay. However, Keller has no equipment. She wants to radio to Atlantis for medical equipment, but Sheppard says the Wraith would detect the transmission. They are forced to improvise by using tools like a power drill and a Life signs detector from the Jumper. In flashback On day 18 of the recordings, McKay, who now barely remembers anything, says goodbye to everyone, Jeannie, Teyla, Ronon and John, before saying goodbye to Keller. Back in the present, they perform the operation. Keller gives McKay enough anesthetic to knock him out, while they drill into his skull. However, they discover that the parasite is moving around. Keller realizes it is trying to escape the radiation, by trying to exit McKay's head. She tells Ronon to get his gun ready. When the parasite exits the wound, she grabs it with tweezers and throws it on the ground. Ronon shoots it, destroying the parasite, and blowing a hole in the floor in the process. (Sheppard opines he could of just stomped on it, but Ronon reminds him he was just following instructions.) Ronon tells Keller she did well, and she says he did, too. McKay is cured. Back in Atlantis, McKay is in the infirmary, sleeping, with Jeannie and Keller next to him. Jeannie wonders when he will wake up, as he has been sleeping for some time. After they talk for a bit, McKay finally wakes up, and can remember everything. He then feels peckish, and wants some food. Keller goes to get some, while Jeannie sits next to her brother again. Keller, however, steps into a private room to play the recording of day six; the one McKay was about to tell Keller something, before he loses that memory. He tells her that he loves her, and has for some time. As she watches it, the memory puts a smile on her face. + +In 2007, on another planet, two men are walking down a dark, swampy, misty landscape, where they notice a darkened figure nearby. They come towards the figure, wondering if he or she is OK. As they approach the figure, a ticking sound can be heard from it. Despite being scared, the two men still walk towards it anyway, until it turns around, revealing something that startles the couple enough to run. One falls to the ground as the figure comes towards him, while the other runs into the forest. When he thought it was all clear, a figure wearing a gas mask appears from behind and attacks him. About one year later, a team of women from the Atlantis expedition enter a mysterious cave on the same planet. Captain Alicia Vega finds a gas mask on the ground of the cavern, when they enter a room, which is actually a lab. They decide to contact Atlantis. Meanwhile, Dr. Rodney McKay is talking to Dr. Carson Beckett, who only just got back after six months of leaving, and was packing to leave, after realizing that his place is not Atlantis, since he helped Michael Kenmore with the Hoffan drug, even though he did it against his will. He plans to travel to different planets in the Pegasus Galaxy providing medical care, hoping to atone in part for the lives lost to the Hoffan drug. However, Lt. Colonel John Sheppard walks in the room, and wants Beckett's expertise, since a team discovered a lab that was operated by Michael. Sheppard and Beckett have a long trek through the heavily forested planet and rendezvous with the other team, commanded by Major Anne Teldy, and composed of herself, Vega, Sgt. Dusty Mehra and Dr. Alison Porter. The guys at first, find it odd to come across a whole team of women, but later proceeds to follow the team to the underground lab. There, they see a Wraith lab hidden inside a network of underground caves. In the lab is a computer terminal and a dozen hidden, obscure figures in stasis along the wall. Beckett discovers that the "test subjects" were the first experiments conducted by Michael, before his creation of the Bug People. While they examine the computer, Vega suggests they check out a village a few kilometers way. Sheppard, Vega and Teldy decide to interact with the locals for some Intel on the caves. They leave behind Mehra, who is ordered to stay with Porter and Beckett. Beckett has become fond with Porter, who tells him to call her Alison. While they strike up a conversation, the rest of the team arrive at the village, only to find it has been deserted for some time. They search the village for any signs of life. But unknown to them, they are being followed by someone. They eventually know this and confront the person who is following them, a native called Mirellus. He explains that about a year and a half ago, the villagers started to disappear in the forest, and eventually happened in the village. The remaining villagers thought the village was cursed, and moved to the neighboring village. Sheppard then gets a radio call from Beckett, and Mirellus suddenly leaves them. Beckett says that they will have to stay overnight and requests to stay in the village for the night. Sheppard grants it, and the team moves out of the cave. On the way there, Beckett wonders what brings Mehra to the Pegasus Galaxy. She says that she wants the chance to fight "bad guys that need killing", since the Ori "had their butts kicked" in the Milky Way. During the night, the team reside in an abandoned house, where Sheppard, Teldy and Vega decide to go to the next village for some supplies. However, on the way there, the flashlights on their FN P90 Personal Defense Weapons die out, most likely due to the collecting fog. They then hear a noise, and deduce that a someone, or something is stalking them. Suddenly, they encounter Mirellus again, who says demons are hunting him and they are all in danger. Vega is skeptical and moves away from the team. Suddenly, she gets dragged, but no one can see by whom, since the fog is getting so thick. They follow her screams until they see Vega lying on the ground, dead. Sheppard notices a ticking noise and is nearly attacked by a humanoid creature but kills it. Soon, more appear and they decide to fall back. Meanwhile, Mehra not knowing the situation, throws a rock into a nearby well and exams it until her flashlight dies out. She moves out, not noticing smoke emitting from a well behind her. When she returns, she notices Beckett and Porter flirting further until gunshots are heard. Beckett attempts to contacts the rest, but could only get static. Mehra decides to go to them, and orders Beckett and Porter to stay. Sheppard, Teldy, and Mirellus head back to the cave and find the pods are open. Mirellus reveals he released the hybrids because his wife was among the missing. When he saw the pods, he believed he could save her. Sheppard tries to contact the others but get only static; it seems the mist is interfering with the radio. They decide to head back to the village and return with Beckett and Porter. Beckett decides to leaves Porter alone, while he looks around through the thick fog. On the way, he hears a ticking noise and moves towards it thinking Mehra has returned. Soon he discovers it is not Mehra but Michael's experiments. He attempts to slowly return to the house when he steps on a twig, alerting the hybrid. He runs for it and takes cover, only to find the hybrid observing him through hearing. Carson takes a good look at the creature, and notices that it is blind and is emitting the "fog" through the gills in its neck. After it leaves, he makes another noise, alerting the creature again, which was about to attack Beckett, when he is saved by Mehra. She escorts him back to the shelter, when they notice Porter is missing. They hear another noise, only to find Teldy and Sheppard, who tells them that Vega is dead. Beckett tells them what he saw, and realized that the mist was used by the creatures to make them unseen, unlike a defense mechanism, and more like a predatory mechanism and since they are blind, they use sound to track and attack their prey. They decide to split up again, and search the village for Porter and use hand-held glow sticks. Beckett is left alone with Mirellus who starts yelling and making a lot of noise, insisting they go to the next village. Beckett tells him to remain quiet, but still makes enough noise to get attacked through the window and dragged away. Beckett starts to freak out and tries to use an old cupboard to seal the broken window. However, mist begins to leak into the house as the door opens. Meanwhile, Sheppard finds Porter, and takes her back to the shelter. On the way, he sees Mehra's glow stick, and they find each other. Meanwhile, Teldy gets ambushed. But later, the rest of the team sees her glow stick and calls for her, but does not answer. They head to the light and find a hybrid which Mehra kills. They return to shelter, where they find Teldy, alive, but no Beckett. In fact, Beckett is alive and running outside. The team realizes that since there were twelve stasis pods, and three hybrids were killed, there must be nine left. This gives Porter a plan. Teldy found out that the cave network from the lab spans for miles, and one goes to the well in the center of the village. They decide to use the hybrids dependence for sound against them, by using a computer tablet to emit a high-frequency noise, to attract the creatures. There, Sheppard will plant C-4 explosives to detonate and kill the creatures, whilst the women take posts above ground to pick off the remaining creatures. Sheppard manages to place the tablet to the well and lowers it through the bucket. He then plants the C-4, when he gets attacked by a creature. Beckett comes out of hiding and kills the creature. However, due to the thick fog, Sheppard can't find the C-4. Eventually, the explosive detonates and the women manages to kill all of the creatures. They believe they are now safe, and they decide to go back to the lab to download all of Michael's research and send it back to Atlantis. However, Sheppard finds a hidden door in the complex leading them a room with more open stasis pods. This only means one thing: there are still more out there. Mehra and Porter hear ticking noises, and begins to investigate. Sheppard, Teldy, and Beckett sees mist, and sees an army of creatures charging for them. However, they are able to hold off the entire force and killed them all. They then find Porter and Mehra, who are unharmed. They return to Atlantis. A short time later we see Beckett continuing to pack again as McKay once again tries to talk him into staying in Atlantis. Sheppard comes in. Beckett wonders if he needs his help again when Sheppard says he came to help pack. Sheppard asks about Porter and Beckett says she's going to spend two weeks on Earth, then return to Atlantis. Beckett thinks she could be a great help to him in his new project (to provide medical care on planets throughout the Pegasus Galaxy) and suggests Sheppard bring it up with Woolsey. Sheppard says he will. McKay asks about Porter, and wants to know who she is. When they ignore him, he claims to not want to know, until the two leave and McKay starts to follow, where a door slams shut in front of him. + +Lt. Colonel John Sheppard's team, along with Dr. Jennifer Keller exits a Spacegate by a Puddle Jumper to a Hive ship. When they are close enough, Keller is awed, yet afraid of the size of the ship, since she only seen them in video logs, but not in person. The Jumper is then given a communication from the Hive; docking instructions, but no simple "hello". When they land, the team prepares their weapons and opens the Jumper's rear hatch, only to find several soldiers aiming their stunners at the team. As they think they are double crossed, a familiar voice tells the warriors to stand down. The familiar voice turns out to be "Todd". He welcomes them on board his Hive, and escorts them to a room. He introduces his second-in-command. Once in the room, the team notices a table of fruit bowls, something "Todd" prepared to make their visit more like home, hoping the fruit to be "as delicious as the farmers who grew them". When he asks what the team wants, Sheppard introduces him to Keller, who nervously delivers a startling proposition. Aided by her studies of Michael's retrieved data, Keller believes she has found a gene therapy, by which to "cure" the Wraith of their need to feed on Humans. All she requires are some Wraith willing to act as test subjects for this breakthrough treatment. At first, "Todd" dismisses the idea as "absurd", but when given some assurances that the test is to be promising, he walks out of the room to think about the proposal. In the meantime, the team talk in the room. Ronon Dex, who has a hatred for the Wraith, thinks this is a bad idea, but since they tried to take down the Wraith for four years, and are still around in large numbers. The gene therapy is going to be for the Humans of the galaxy, who may not need to fear the Wraith again. After a while, "Todd" returns, and says that he is intrigued of the idea, and plans to send the proposal to a new Wraith alliance. However, there is a problem. His position among the Wraith means he is in an alliance of only a handful of Hives, and even if the gene therapy works, only a small percentage of Wraith will take the treatment, and that is even if they agree to it. In order to deliver the proposal to all Wraith, they must convince a Hive Queen, who stands up among the rest, the Primary, the supreme queen. But the only way the queen will listen, is if she speaks with another Queen. Unfortunately, Todd's Queen was killed last year over M35-117. Fortunately for them, the Primary does not know about her demise, so they must find a new Queen, or a close enough substitute; Teyla Emmagan. Since she has the Wraith DNA, she must play queen. Reluctantly, Teyla goes ahead with the idea. Back in Atlantis, Sheppard argues with Teyla that the plan is a bad idea; if they give the Wraith the therapy, due to their technological advances to most Human races, it will just convince them to enslave the galaxy, similar to the Goa'uld in the Milky Way. Instead, they should just wait until they wipe each other out; Teyla counters that once the civil war is over, one faction will emerge victorious and many planets would be culled in between. She sees that they may not get rid of the Wraith permanently, but they can save many people in the galaxy. Later, "Todd" arrives through the Stargate, where he is to consult an operation on Teyla, to turn her into a Hive Queen. For several hours, Keller, with "Todd's" help has managed to have transformed Teyla into a queen, through plastic surgery. The team take a look at her, and are surprised by what they see. Afterwards, "Todd" trains Teyla on Wraith etiquette, and instructs her to show no fear, or their operation will go awry. After "Todd" is satisfied that she is ready, he informs the rest of the team. Sheppard, Ronon and Dr. Rodney McKay come with Teyla, "Todd" and the second-in-command jumps to hyperspace to the Primary's Hive for "Todd" to deliver his proposal, since the less the Wraith know about him working with the Atlanteans, the better. When they later drop out of hyperspace, the other Hive hails them, and Teyla is able to contact the Primary, who had started to think she did not exist, and to tell her to board her ship, before breaking communication. "Todd" tells Teyla that she likes her. Teyla then sees her team one last time, telling them that the introductions are actually working surprisingly well. The team wishes her luck, and Teyla joins "Todd" in a visit to the Primary's Hive Ship via a scout ship. They are met by the Primary's Commander. However, he instructs the crew to send the Hive into hyperspace in order to conduct their meeting elsewhere. The rest of the team could only watch as the Primary's Hive jumps into hyperspace, and there is no way to track them. The team confronts the Wraith, who swears they have nothing to do with this. They have no choice but to trust each other. Meanwhile, "Todd" and Teyla eventually meet with the Primary. However, as soon as they meet, "Todd" pulls out a knife and stabs her in the neck. She activates a pendant before she dies. "Todd" gives a startled Teyla the knife and tells her that she must take the blame. When the commander looks at the Primary's dead body, he prepares to kill Teyla. However, "Todd", later Teyla, who threatens him, convinces him that she was weak, and Teyla is to become the new Primary. She orders the ship to be dropped out of hyperspace over a nebula. Later, when "Todd" tells Teyla that the Wraith have been fooled, she argues with him that she should be consulted on this. "Todd" explains that the Primary was never going to accept their proposal, and killing her would be the only way the entire alliance will be made to accept taking the "cure". Back on "Todd's" ship, Sheppard thinks that this was not a setup, since "Kenny", Sheppard's name for the second-in-command seemed pretty surprised when the other Hive disappeared. "Kenny" then walks in and tells the men that he has located them, via the subspace transmitter implanted in "Todd" outside the nebula, as the tracker isn't broadcasting in hyperspace. They manage to convince "Kenny" to pursue them. Teyla is given the news by the Commander that another Hive that is not in the alliance has encroached on one of their richer feeding grounds. "Todd" convinces her that she should go over there to settle this because not doing so will make her look weak, and their ship is the closest ship. When the Hive ship arrives, the commander requests contacting the hive. However, Teyla orders her ship to open fire on the other ship, much to the surprise of "Todd" and the other Wraith on the bridge. "Todd" realizes that Teyla is doing this on purpose, to kill Wraith on both sides. At first, the enemy Hive is damaged, but retaliates and launches an attack on her hive. The battle doesn't go very well, as half of Teyla's first squadron of Wraith Darts are destroyed, and the other hive was able to shut down their main weapons. When Sheppard's Hive exits hyperspace over the nebula, they find no sign of "Todd", as his tracker is now over a planet far away. Thinking that if they jump again, they could lose them again, or come under attack, Sheppard, Ronon and McKay takes the Puddle Jumper to the nearest planet, where they go through its Stargate to the planet Teyla is over. They discover that there are two Hives engaging, and Teyla's Hive is losing, and they decide to help. Sheppard de-cloaks the Jumper and fires Drone weapons to the enemy Hive's key areas, disabling the ship, before re-cloaking the Jumper. Teyla is able to finish it off, which quickly destroys the Hive. Teyla later reminds the shocked Commander, who thinks that this was impossible, not to under-estimate her. The team enter the Hive Ship to get to Teyla, since they think she is in some kind of trouble and needs help. However, as they search for her, they find that they are cornered, and surrounded. They try to shoot their way through, but they quickly get captured and stunned. The Commander sees them and has them taken to a holding cell. When the team wonder what happened to Teyla, she enters the brig and tells the Wraith guards to leave. She brings them up to speed on "Todd's" plan, that she is in control and tells them that she cannot leave until she has solidified her position as the Hive's new Queen. As she leaves, the Commander has been overhearing the entire conversation. Teyla enters her private quarters, and sees that the Commander has let himself in and confronts Teyla. He tells her that he oversaw her conversation with the Atlanteans, so he manages to call her bluff and is about to kill her for murdering his original Queen. He draws out a sword and the two of them get into a fight. Teyla stabs the Wraith, but he manages to throw her aside and subdues her. He puts the sword to her throat, saying "I'm afraid your reign is over, my queen." Just as he is about to kill her, he is shot by a Wraith stunner, held by "Todd", who then snaps the commander's neck, killing him. The two of them walk out, while "Todd" informs Teyla that Sheppard, Ronon and McKay will be transported to his ship and that she can join them after this is all over. Teyla addresses "her Wraith" to inform them that she will be returning to her former Hive ship and that she leaves her trusted commander "Todd" behind. As Teyla and "Todd" walk out of the throne room, she is saluted by all the Wraith present. In the corridor "Todd" tells Teyla that he won't be administering the drugs anytime soon, because it would be unwise to institute such a large change right after their change in leadership. Teyla agrees, but informs "Todd" that the crew still thinks she is their Queen and that she will not hesitate to come back and have him removed permanently if he does not hold his end of the bargain. She walks away, leaving "Todd" looking surprised. Back on Atlantis Sheppard visits Teyla (who is back to her normal self) in the infirmary to tell her that they will be meeting with "Todd" in a few weeks now that he has solidified his place as leader of the alliance (as word would have it). After a little talk, Sheppard walks out and we see Teyla looking at her hand as if there were still a Wraith feeding organ. + +Dr. Rodney McKay prepares to go off-world, with Dr. Jennifer Keller to M33-985 on a routine medical check-up, since the natives are undergoing an outbreak, comparable to Influenza, but milder. Lt. Colonel John Sheppard notices that he is preparing to impress her, and thinking it's strange that he would volunteer doing humanitarian work on his day off, but lets him off. McKay arrives in the Gate Room to go with Keller, but notices that Ronon Dex has also volunteered to join in, much to the annoyance of McKay. The chemistry between the two doesn't start well, when they both, at the same time offer to hold a bag for her. In the end, McKay lets Ronon take it. When they arrive on M33-985, Keller checks up on a boy, who has the fever. She agrees on giving the boy some medication, some Neuraminidase inhibitor (which McKay memorized) to help ease through the infection. She then starts to check up on Erran, the boy's mother, and tells McKay and Ronon to get to the local tavern to get lunch, so that she wouldn't be bothered. They both go to get some lunch in the tavern. During the meal, McKay notices a leg of some kind of bird in his stew, and wouldn't eat it (unlike Ronon). After they finish, they come back to Erran's house, the same house the infected boy was in. She tells them that she has finished with them both and then gone to join them in the tavern. However, when they arrive at the tavern, they notice that Keller is nowhere to be seen. They radio for her answer, but there is none. She has mysteriously disappeared. Meanwhile, Keller awakens next to a tree, and bound with rope. She notices a mysterious man rummaging through her bags. When he finds out that she has awakened, he turns to her. Keller asks questions. However, the man aims a Wraith handblaster at her, and warns her not to talk, and if she continues to ask questions, he will stun her. She agrees to the terms. He picks her up, and takes her through the forest. However, Keller attempts to run. The man suddenly disappears, then reappears in front of a fleeing Keller, and stuns her. Ronon is also trekking through the forest, and sees tracks, one set belonging to Keller, and another belonging to a mysterious figure. He informs McKay, who is on his way to the Stargate, to call back-up from Atlantis. However, just he is about to dial, he notices someone else is dialing in. McKay takes cover and watches the gate activate. He sees four Wraith step through, and splitting. McKay warns Ronon over the radio, but McKay snaps a twig by accident, alerting one of the Wraith, who notices McKay. McKay hastily runs out of the area, but is continually being followed by the Wraith. He eventually hides behind a tree trunk, until he feels the Wraith has disappeared. However, the Wraith is right behind him. McKay pulls out his sidearm and shoots him a few times. However, the Wraith isn't much affected, so he stops McKay and is about to feed on him, when Ronon saves him, by killing the Wraith. He tells McKay that this Wraith is a Wraith hunter, who hunts for runners, meaning there is a runner somewhere on the planet. McKay and Ronon rush back to the village and warns everyone of the Wraith presence. The villagers decide to evacuate to the caverns, a known hiding place from the last Wraith culling. Keller re-awakens, with the man with her. He tells her that she must never run away again. He promises to tell her everything when they arrive at a certain location. However, a Wraith hunter approaches. The runner was able to disappear again, and re-appear next to the hunter, and drives a sword to him. They both run away, where he tells Keller that he is a runner. Keller tells him that she knows a runner, who had a tracking device on him. Keller tells him that she will remove the tracker. The runner agrees. Keller uses a scanner to search for the device. However, when she discovers it, she notices that the device is fused on the spine and brain stem, meaning that removing the device will kill him. While McKay and Ronon follow the footprints, Ronon notices that the tracks are out on the open, which is unusual for a runner, since they should try to hide their tracks. However, Ronon then notices a brutal floor trap. Ronon tells McKay that runners "aren't stupid", and they move on, only to find more traps. They eventually encounter another Wraith, only this time, McKay shot him enough to kill him. He notices that if they are tracking a runner, he should acquire the tracking device on the hunter's arm. However, they are very far away, but continue on. Keller and the runner manages to go up a set of cliffs, without the need to climb up. There, Keller notices that the runner has a Transporter wrist device, which explains how he was able to kidnap her that quickly. At night, he then takes her to a cavern, which houses a ten-year old girl named Celise. The runner once spent one night on a planet, when the Wraith attacked. He was able to save her and evacuated the planet. She is seriously injured, but the runner was able to look after her. She suffers from a very bad infection from the wound, and will soon die if she wasn't treated. He cleaned out the wound the best he could, and later heard of the Atlantis expedition. When an annoyed Keller points out that he simply had to ask for her help instead of kidnapping her, Kiryk tells her people don't like Runners and he felt the situation serious enough that he couldn't risk her saying no. Keller attempts to save her, while the runner keeps a look out. Celise awakens, and tells Keller that the runner's name is Kiryk. She also says that he has looked after her, and even made a doll for her, and became a father-figure to her. Keller was able to clean out the wound the best she could, but needs to go to Atlantis for more care. However, a Wraith was able to track them, stuns Kiryk and finds Celise. He is about to feed on her, when Keller drives a knife through the hunter, killing him. She then carried Celise to a safe distance, and later came back for Kiryk, and dragged him to Celise. The next morning, Kiryk awakens, and Keller said that there is a probable solution to help him. She would use a defibrillator that would theoretically disable the tracker, which would mean he would no longer be followed, but it carries a risk of killing him in the process. Kiryk tells her that either way, he would be free, and would freely take care of Celise without constantly being hunted. Keller manages to perform the plan, which worked, the tracker is no longer transmitting though she has trouble reviving Kiryk. However, this would mean that McKay and Ronon are no longer able to track Jennifer, and the Wraith would send an army of more hunters and Wraith Darts to search for him. Another problem is that the teleportation device was also burnt out by the defibrillator charge. It came off his arm and no longer lights up. Kiryk starts to throw it away, but Jennifer asks for it, saying she knows someone who would love to study technology like this. Despite the tracker signal going dead, Ronon is able to find Kiryk and Keller, and starts to attack him. The pair fight, until Keller is able to stop them, explaining that Kiryk was just desperate to save Celise. They see Darts in the sky and realize the tracking signal going dead brought the Wraith to investigate. McKay tells Ronon and Kiryk that they should all work together to get back to Atlantis. Ronon and Kiryk agree it's their best chance. However, more Wraith have found them, and ambush them. McKay shoots at one, until his gun is empty. Keller fights one off with a stick in a fighting style similar to Teyla's, buying time, while McKay reloads and finishes him off. Ronon and Kiryk manages to take out another Wraith and Kiryk throws Ronon a knife. He twists it into the Wraith and finishes him. Keller explains that she was able to hold off the Wraith due to a few sparring sessions with Ronon. They continue their journey and the two former runners bond a bit with Ronon sympathizing with Kiryk due to having been responsible for the destruction of an innocent village while a Runner himself. The team comes near the Stargate, when they see a group of at least six Wraith, and more being hidden, guarding it. They plan to shoot their way through. However, this is not necessary, as McKay is able to fix the teleportation device. Kiryk tells the rest he would buy time, so that the rest would escape and save Celise. Kiryk wastes no time in teleporting away, and kills several Wraith while teleporting himself from one location to another. However, soon the teleportation device burns out. He holds them off with a stunner while he dials the Gate to another world. He goes through it, with all the Wraith hunters and darts following, leaving his fate unknown. The team reach the now unguarded gate and dial Atlantis. Now back in Atlantis, Keller was successful in saving Celise. She is now making a full recovery. She is playing one of McKay's hand-held computer game called Fowl Play, when Sheppard tells them that a family in M33-985 would be more than happy to take Celise, to look after her. She wonders when she will see Kiryk again. The team says they don't know. Ronon then comes to Celise and gives her back the doll she dropped on the planet. At the end of the events, McKay comes to Ronon in the gym and wonders whether Ronon has a romantic interest in Keller. Ronon admits that he does, who also learns the McKay too has a romantic interest in Keller as well. They both agree not to fight over her, and agrees on letting her decide who to go with, wishing "may the best man win", before shaking hands. + +Dr. Rodney McKay and Lt. Colonel John Sheppard walk down a corridor to the Atlantis Gate Room. On the way, McKay complains that they shouldn't just go to the Gate Room every time an important visitor arrives to Atlantis, since he is in the middle of work. They meet with Richard Woolsey in the Gate Room. The Daedalus arrives and beams down their guest, Dr. Daniel Jackson of SG-1. Woolsey welcomes him to Atlantis, where Jackson greets Sheppard, and an annoyed McKay. Jackson traveled to Atlantis when his research suggested that the rebellious Ancient scientist Janus may have hidden a secret lab somewhere within the city. Hoping to find it, and possibly a significant portion of Janus' unauthorized research, Jackson enlists McKay's help to find the rumored laboratory. Meanwhile, Woolsey plans to go on the Daedalus to a meeting with the Wraith to eliminate their need to feed. Since Woolsey has to go, protocol states that Sheppard must remain to lead the city, since he is the second-in-command. Dr. Jennifer Keller gets ready, packing supplies for the mission. Ronon Dex offers to help and come with her, since the mission involves the deal with "Todd" a few missions ago, and he feels his presence can help protect her from the Wraith. Keller accepts the help, and passes both McKay and Jackson on the way. McKay later realizes that Ronon is with her, which makes him uneasy. In a certain room, Jackson and McKay find an obscure log entry from one of Janus' assistants, stating that he was going to see Janus when he took a corner to a hallway, and when he came to see him, Janus mysteriously disappeared. They find the isolated hallway, which shows signs of flood damage, since the Expedition emptied it during the first year of their arrival and never gave it a second thought. They find three slits to hold lights, and wonder where they are. They check the CCTV archive from before the hallway was emptied, track the three lights to a storage room, and place them in the slits back in the hallway. Jackson notices that when touching the lights, they give off separate tones, believing it to be some kind of code. After some trial and error, McKay cracks the puzzle; touching them quickly in sequence causes a series of harmonic pulses which opens up the cloaked lab by magnetically resonating a hidden door from solid to a state which can be walked through. They enter the lab, and start investigating. However a subspace transmitter automatically activates, without their knowledge. Meanwhile, on some ice-covered planet, in another Ancient lab, an obscure figure informs the rest of the group that they must travel to the origin of the signal. Woolsey prepares a speech for the arrival of "Todd" and his Wraith, but discovers that when the Wraith arrive, they want the work to be completed as quickly as possible, despite "Todd's" skepticism. "Todd" also confesses that even if the drug does work, the Wraith might never go through with it. However, things progress without incident, with the Wraith and Humans working together. After nearly 24 hours, both McKay and Jackson are still in the lab. At the same time, a hyperspace window opens just above the ocean a few hundred miles away from Atlantis, heading towards the city. The technicians notice this, and they find no IFF signal. They call for Sheppard, who tells them to launch the Puddle Jumpers and to activate the city's shield, since the ship is closing in. However, the mysterious ship manages to zoom right through the shield as if it isn't there. The ship hovers above one of the piers, where a section of the ship opens, with three figures descending down to one of the levels. The mysterious aliens in battle armor erect a circular platform. Sheppard and Teyla Emmagan confront them. However, the platform merely cuts through the floors, leading to the corridor near Janus' lab. As the strike teams rush down, Sheppard warns McKay and Jackson, and tells them to leave immediately. However, the aliens stun them both, take the signaling device and take them back to the platform. Sheppard's strike team intercepts one of the aliens, who activates a shield, making it impervious to projectiles. Sheppard's team sees two of the aliens with an unconscious Jackson and McKay lift off back to the ship, while the team finally brings down the remaining alien with enough firepower, depleting the shield and killing it. A while later, Jackson and McKay wake up and finds that they are in a brig of some kind. They realize that there must have been a subspace transmitter that activated when they found and entered the lab. They attempt to find a way to escape, but there is not enough time, as the ship arrives on the ice-covered planet. Dr. Radek Zelenka is called into the hallway to examine the dead alien. They take it to the infirmary, where he is to examine the body. However, when he looks for whatever was inside the suit, Zelenka finds that an EM field from the suit renders an Ancient scanner useless. He tries to cut into the suit, but barely leaves a mark before the saw's blade dulls out. He gets a bigger blade and cuts into the neck, which is weaker than the rest. He manages to cut through it, but as this happens, Sheppard notices a flashing light. The team quickly evacuates, just before the suit blows up, which wipes out any chance of identifying the alien race. McKay and Jackson enter a lab with an Ancient design. They realize that it must be another one of Janus' labs. The aliens tell McKay to activate a device. After doing some research in the computer terminals located in the room, Dr. McKay realizes that it is a very advanced piece of Ancient technology, the "end game machine", which could ultimately stop the Wraith once and for all. The device is meant to disrupt the exact subspace frequencies associated with Wraith hyperdrive systems, causing any Wraith ship that attempts to enter a hyperspace window to be destroyed. Apparently the technology had a serious unforeseeable side effect, so Janus abandoned the research and the project. After Jackson and McKay try to explain all this to the aliens, they are given an ultimatum: either they set up and activate the device, or Dr. Jackson will be killed. Dr. McKay quickly capitulates and the alien leaves them temporarily. Zelenka thinks that he has found a way to track Jackson and McKay, but has to use a new form of math to backtrack where the other end of the transmission is. He believes they are on M6H-987, a planet with no Stargate, meaning it is off the grid. Atlantis is out of communications range with the Daedalus, so they have to rescue them another way. Jackson realizes that the aliens are possibly using the suit to protect themselves, and they must be hiding their true identities. McKay works on activating the device, and after an unknown amount of time, manages to reactivate it, but without discovering what the side effect is. After about 10 minutes of operation, they still haven't seen any problem, but McKay finally deciphers a log entry explaining it. Jackson asks if they're in danger, but McKay says they're fine, it's the rest of the galaxy that's in danger. He says they have to shut the device down immediately and starts to do so. A group of aliens enter and point weapons at them. They attempt to warn the aliens, since the side effect is very serious, but are stunned before they can explain, leaving the device still running. At roughly the same time, a ship in "Todd's" fleet hails the Daedalus, and "Todd" speaks with them privately. After inquiry from Woolsey and Colonel Steven Caldwell, "Todd" informs them that two of his ships must depart for the moment, since a rival hive is attacking one of the Wraith outposts. They see the cruisers depart and enter the hyperspace windows. However, both Wraith cruisers are destroyed once they enter hyperspace. Suspecting an ambush, an angered "Todd" accused them of obtaining the "Attero device". He pulls two energy rods from his coat sleeves and puts them together, creating an energy pulse that knocks everyone on the bridge unconscious. "Todd" assumes control of the Daedalus and starts to transport his other soldiers and assistants on board. Ronon, walking the halls of one of the upper decks, sees the Wraith soldiers beam aboard and take cover. He sees Dr. Keller and insists that they head to the ship armory, since the Wraith are attacking the ship. However, this proves difficult, since "Todd" manages to lock down the ship, limiting the movements of every Human on board. Back on Atlantis, Sheppard and his team are ready to contact the Daedalus by dialing the Stargate to M5R-179. However, after Chuck dials the Gate, it begins to go critical. They have seconds until the Gate will detonate, which will result in an explosion equivalent to a dozen Nuclear warheads. Sheppard orders the city's shield to encompass the Gate. The Gate explodes, causing a blinding flash. Zelenka works on strengthening the shield, since the longer the shield holds, the smaller the explosion will be if it collapses. However, the shield emitters are overloading, so Sheppard evacuates everyone from the control tower. Only Sheppard and Zelenka remain. The shield is severely weakening. Seconds later, a fairly large explosion rocks the central control tower. + +Teyla Emmagan goes down a few levels and tells everybody in that level to evacuate from the central control tower. Just as the expedition members evacuated, the city shook; the shield emitters overloaded, meaning that explosive energy created from the Stargate exploding was released, causing serious damage all around the top levels of the tower. Teyla and a group of medics, including Marie rush to Stargate Operations, where they find the entire room has been seriously damaged. Just as they think Lt. Colonel John Sheppard and Dr. Radek Zelenka were incinerated in the explosion, they hear groaning. They see Sheppard, who shielded Zelenka from the blast, and has shards of glass on his back. The two men are alive, having taken cover in the Conference Room. Jackson and McKay have recovered from being stunned and are alone in a holding cell. McKay explains the side effect to Jackson. Wraith ships will be destroyed when they enter hyperspace. Ships on any other frequency, including those using Ancient technology, will be unaffected. But as long as the device is running, excess energy will build up in any Stargate that establishes a wormhole, eventually causing an enormous explosion (as happened to the Atlantis gate, although McKay and Jackson don't know that yet). Potentially millions of people throughout the Pegasus galaxy could be killed when their gates explode. On board the Daedalus, "Todd" and his crew have just finished sending in all the Wraith troops and putting all the Humans into a Hangar Bay. He instructs the Hive Ship not to go into hyperspace, since the ship will be destroyed. "Todd" instructs his crew to send the Daedelus to Atlantis. Back in Atlantis, the medics remove the glass from Sheppard, who tells the technicians and Zelenka to set up an Auxiliary control room, which they did quickly. When the medic is finished, he goes to the room, where it is mostly set up. They plan to contact the Daedalus, but before they can find a way, Amelia Banks finds that the Daedalus is contacting them. The team is stunned to see that "Todd" has seized control of the ship, because he believes they are behind the activation of the Attero device. He thinks the negotiations were just a ploy to draw his Hive ship out into the open so the humans could see if the Attero device succeeded in destroying it. He has dropped the Daedalus out of hyperspace far enough away, so they are in communications range, but not near enough for Puddle Jumpers and Drone weapons to be sent to anytime soon. "Todd" says he is willing to let the crew and the Daedalus go, if they give him the location of the Attero device. He says he witnessed the weapon's effect 10,000 years ago during its first test, but the Lanteans shut it down when they realized it would destroy the Stargates. He believes Sheppard will use it because he known the Milky Way galaxy and Earth will be unaffected. He gives them a minute to give him the location, or he will feed on a crew member, one a minute, starting with Richard Woolsey. The team in Atlantis quickly discuss their options. They know it is very likely that the signal from M6H-987 may have been the location of the device. But since there is a high chance Dr. Daniel Jackson and Dr. Rodney McKay are there as well, "Todd" may destroy everything in his path, including the two captives. They put "Todd" back on, and explains they are not behind this. Yesterday, a group of aliens infiltrated Atlantis and stole a device, which may have activated the Attero device. The Atlantis group decide they have no choice, millions of humans will die if the gates explode. They give Todd the coordinates to M6H-987. "Todd" then plots a course for the planet, and goes into hyperspace. Elsewhere on the Daedalus, Ronon Dex and Dr. Jennifer Keller are still at large. Despite being in lockdown, Ronon manages to open a door, and kill two Wraith warriors. Ronon tells Keller that he knows how to sabotage the ship. They both head towards engineering. In Janus' research outpost on M6H-987, McKay and Jackson are discussing the effects on Stargates due to the device, when they are visited by one of the aliens. They take Jackson to another room. In Atlantis, the expedition picks up a hyperspace window opening, but it is not "Todd"; they are the Travelers. The ship is captained by Katana Labrea, who was sent by Larrin. She enters Atlantis and tells them that they established a settlement on a planet for the first time in generations. However, the settlement was wiped out by the destroyed Stargate, which killed 3,000 people, and destroyed two ships, including their Aurora class vessel. She wonders why the Gates are exploding all over Pegasus. The team informs her about the Attero device and their stolen ship. Katana agrees to help them shut down the device. Sheppard and Zelenka board the ship to travel to M6H-987. Fortunately for them, Katana Labrea's ship is one of the fastest in the Traveler fleet. Sheppard leaves Teyla in charge. In the Daedalus, Ronon and Keller arrive in engineering, where Ronon kills more Wraith. Keller wonders how Ronon will sabotage the ship. He opens the crystal tray on the Asgard computer core and shoots the control crystals, and shoots more on other areas, putting the ship's shields, weapons, and hyperdrive offline. The ship drops out of hyperspace. "Todd" accesses the ship-wide P.A. system and threatens to begin killing crew members unless Ronon and Keller turn themselves in. Ronon claims he's bluffing. However, Keller runs to another room and turns herself in. Ronon sighs and continues to look for weapons. In Katana's ship, in the hopes of getting her ship's hyperdrive running at maximum output, Katana brings Zelenka and Sheppard into the aged and cluttered engineering room and introduces them to his chief engineer; Mila, who is only 15 years old. Mila has been working with the hyperdrive engine since she was four years old, and is a brilliant young woman who will do whatever is necessary to get the job done. Where Radek is cautious and doubtful that the job can get done (safely, at any rate), Mila shows him otherwise. However, he warns Sheppard that the system is cobbled together out of mismatched parts. It's possible that once they drop out of hyperspace, they won't be able to engage again. Sheppard tells him to just worry about getting there for now. In Janus' outpost, Jackson is led into a room with another alien. He warns the aliens of the effect the device has on Stargates but the alien is unconcerned by the deaths of millions of humans. The alien explains that their planet can no longer sustain them, so for the first time in thousands of years they have to venture back out into the galaxy, which puts them in danger from the Wraith. They need the Attero device for their own survival. Jackson demands to know who the aliens are inside their suits, knowing that they are not human. The back of the alien's suit opens and, to Jackson's astonishment, an Asgard steps out. An emotional Jackson informs them that the Tau'ri have encountered the Asgard before and were even allies with them along with friends. After Jackson informs him that all the Asgard in the Milky Way committed suicide because of genetic degradation from cloning the Asgard tells him that the Asgard in Pegasus are also clones but by continuing Loki's research on humans they are fixing the problem. They believe in Loki's philosophy that the ends justify the means. 10,000 years ago, they fled to the Pegasus Galaxy to experiment on the humans there, counting on the Ancients to win the war. For a time the Ancients and the Wraith were too busy fighting each other to notice what the renegade Asgard were up to, and they made progress in their research. But they had assumed the Ancients would win the war. When the Wraith won, they knew they were in danger because the Wraith destroy any civilization with advanced technology. They lost their intergalactic ships in the first Wraith attack, and were forced to retreat to a planet with a toxic atmosphere. That's why they wear the protective suits. But the planet ultimately become unlivable, even with their technology. They left, and came to Janus' lab. After a brief interrogation by "Todd", in which he tells her about Sheppard's cooperation in the mission to destroy the Attero device and save hundreds of thousands of human lives, a skeptical Keller is escorted to the room where the rest of the Daedalus crew is being held. Before they can get there, Ronon drops from the ceiling and kills the two Wraith holding Keller. Ronon hands her a FN P90 Personal Defense Weapon and they both kill more Wraith. Soon, the ship's hyperdrive are online, but the ship's weapons are damaged beyond repair. "Todd" tells the Wraith not to worry, since he has another idea. Ronon finds the crew and releases them. They need to get to the armory and retake the ship. On M6H-987, Jackson returns to the room McKay is in. He tells McKay that the aliens are Asgard, which he finds surprising. They need to figure out a way to stop the device. McKay is able to manipulate the door controls into opening, and they escape. As they enter another room, they see more suits. McKay pleads for their lives, but Jackson notices that the two suits are empty. They have an adaptive interior that makes them "one size fits all." This presents them with an opportunity. Meanwhile, Katana's ship arrives over the ice planet with Sheppard flying and sees no sign of the Daedalus, but notices three spaceships zeroing in on them. They prepare for battle. Sheppard daringly goes close up to one and Katana uses the ship's weapons to destroy a ship. On the Daedalus, the armed crew storm the bridge, without encountering a single Wraith. There is no one in the bridge. The crew quickly finds out that they are also locked out of the ship's controls and the Daedalus is on a course to Janus' lab. A life sign scan reveals that all the Wraith are aboard their scout ship in the F-302 fighter-interceptor bay. The crew try to regain control, but are unable. In Janus' lab, McKay and Jackson (in suits) stun the Asgard guards so they can shut down the device. However, there is a problem; turning the device off requires the control key, which was taken by the Asgard leader who is on one of the ships. The only option left is to get into the device room to remove a crystal. They have to face harsh radiation and electrical currents. Fortunately, with the suits, they can survive the radiation, but maybe not the currents. They both plan to walk in. The Daedalus arrives above the planet to find the Traveler ship engaged in battle with the Asgard ships. "Todd's" ship exits the 302 bay and disappears. The Traveler ship makes contact with the Daedalus to ask for help and are surprised to find Woolsey and the crew in control of the ship. They quickly discover that "Todd" has programmed a command sub-routine on the ship to a collision course with the lab in order to destroy it and the Attero Device. The crew relies on Major Kevin Marks to retake control as the ship dangerously enters the atmosphere. However, As the Daedalus speeds through re-entry and is about to collide with the lab, the Traveler ship opens a hyperspace window in front of the Daedalus and both of them enter it seconds before the Daedalus impacts the planet, carrying them to the other side of the planet. Marks then succeeds in regaining control of the ship and the Traveler ship destroys one of the other Asgard ships they find there. The last one flees into hyperspace during the battle. McKay and Jackson enter the room to remove the correct crystal, or the antenna will explode, killing them all--but they aren't sure which one to remove. Through the heads up display, McKay identifies the right crystal. However, as he does, Jackson gets hit by an energy strike, severely wounding him. As the two men are contemplating their deaths, they are beamed aboard the Daedalus and Jackson is taken to the Medical bay. McKay tells Woolsey that the device is inactive, and unless they take back the crystal McKay took, the device will not activate again. However, this is not enough for Woolsey who wants to ensure the Attero device will never be used again. As the Daedalus weapons are still down, he contacts Sheppard and orders him to destroy the Attero device. Sheppard fires on Janus' outpost with the Traveler ship's weapons, destroying it and the Attero device. They return to Atlantis. Back on Atlantis, the team begins repairs on the city and the Daedalus. The Atlantis expedition has salvaged one of the Spacegates from the former McKay/Carter Intergalactic Gate Bridge to use as their new gate. Ronon asks Keller out to get some food. However, she tells him that it was good for him to come, since they'd be all dead if he wasn't, but tells him that she is interested in someone else. Ronon hides the fact that he is interested in her, albeit hiding it badly. McKay visits Jackson in the infirmary, where he tells him that Major General Henry Landry feels that he should be sent back to Earth to properly recover from his injuries. + +Dr. Carson Beckett is treating several people on Elson's planet in Pegasus, and just finishes on a little girl, who gives her the bad news that she has to go in for school tomorrow. Later, Lt. Colonel John Sheppard and his team arrive. Sheppard has come to deliver medical supplies to Beckett, to help him treat more of the people. Beckett tells them that the locals have taken in the survivors of the Hoffan drug, from the planet of Balar. He introduces the team to Novo, a Balarian. Beckett tells the team that the supplies won't last long because the Hoffan drug has caused infections in the survivors. Beckett also explains that Balar was wiped out by the Wraith, as some of them went on to wipe out any civilization with the drug in their system. Since they're "poison", they can't risk letting a civilization advance, so they have them destroyed. Outside, they wonder how Carson is doing. He is doing very well, and since several worlds have given him such generous hospitality, he fells like he has made a difference, and doesn't miss Atlantis. However, their conversation is cut short, when they hear screaming. They see nine Wraith warriors arrive in the village, and Sheppard's team takes cover. The team realize right away that there are no Wraith Darts, and the nine warriors aren't attacking. They then see the Wraith Commander demanding to speak to the village leader. Elson walks up to him. The Commander explains that he knows of certain refugees from a planet they wiped out. He wants the village to turn over the Balarians, and the planet will be safe, but if not, everyone will be killed. The Commander tells the village that by the end of the night, a Hive Ship will arrive to wipe them out. They have until then to make up their mind. While the Balarian couple, Novo and Sefaris, explain to the team that they and the other Balarians are locked out of the meeting between the village leaders, Sheppard tries to go there. Meanwhile, the leaders discuss the fate of the "outsiders". Elson, and Renni decide not to turn them in, since they are guests who have done nothing to the village, and even consider them family. Jervis on the other hand, wants to turn them in, despite Renni telling him that if they do hand over the Balarians, they will be no better than the Wraith. Sheppard enters the council chamber as they are considering the problem, and offers them another option; Rather than hand over their guests, his team can help resettle everyone on another world, in relative safety from the Wraith, more than 600 people. He convinces them that even if they do cooperate with the Wraith, they could destroy the village anyway and destroy them for being an "inconvenience". Convinced that the Wraith might kill them either way, Elson agrees to the evacuation. Sheppard sends Ronon Dex and Teyla Emmagan to the Stargate, knowing the Wraith have guarded it in order to prevent the village from escaping. The two see a small contingent of Wraith guarding the Gate, and the two prepare to attack them once the rest of the team come. Suddenly the two see dozens more Wraith arrive at the Gate. Ronon and Teyla inform the rest of the team that they can not leave now. Jervis leaves the council meeting, knowing he has lost the argument to give the Balarians to the Wraith. He takes the law into his own hands, and gathers several other villagers to drive the Balarians out. The men arm themselves with rifles, and begin to capture many of the Balarians in the village. A group with Nova and Sefaris try to evade them, but are surrounded. Sheppard's team arrives at the building where Carson is treating the more seriously injured Balarians and tells Carson that they need to move them out of the village. Suddenly Jervis and his men arrive and attempt to take the rest of the Balarians. During the standoff, Carson confronts Jervis and urges them to kill the Balarians, because he will not relinquish them to him, and they would be better off dying anyway. Jervis and his team are forced to surrender. However, Jervis tells them that the rest of his men have already delivered the first group of Balarians to the Wraith. The team lock up Jervis and his men in the village's jail and decide to move the villagers into the mine for safety. In the field where the Stargate is, the Balarians, including Novo and Sefaris are circled by the Wraith. The Hive Ship arrives at the planet and the Wraith informs the Balarians that they will be moving soon. Sefaris tries to make a deal with the Wraith; he knows of someone who is very valuable, but will only give him to the Wraith if they let the Balarians go. After the Wraith don't agree, he does it for an exchange of his own life. The Commander agrees. Meanwhile, the village and much of Sheppard's team are in the mine, and call Dr. Rodney McKay and Beckett to hurry up with the packing. The two are almost finished packing more supplies, when the Wraith and Sefaris arrive. The Wraith stuns both Beckett and McKay. Sefaris tells the Commander that he has made good on his end of the bargain and wants to be released. However, the Commander goes back on his deal, and takes out a knife, more than likely killing Sefaris. Beckett and McKay later awaken in a holding cell on board the Hive Ship. The Wraith Commander arrives and takes them to a laboratory that belonged to their top Wraith Scientist. The Scientist was researching a way to detect the Hoffan Drug before he died. His death was a result of feeding on an infected human, which proved that his experiments had failed. The Wraith tells Beckett that if he finishes the research, they will not kill the humans on the planet below. Meanwhile, upon hearing Beckett and McKay's capture, Sheppard has an idea on who may be responsible. He snakes into the village, and into the jail, where he holds Jervis, pointing his pistol at his neck. He explains the doctors have been captured. Jervis and his men tell him that they didn't have anything to do with this, since Beckett was nothing but good to them. Jervis says that he does know the Balarians are probably behind this. In the Hive, Beckett is working on the research when he stops, and finds something and demands to see the Commander. McKay wants to know what he found, but Beckett will not say. He is then escorted to the Commander's chamber. He tells the Commander that he is not going to finish the research, and will not do his dirty work for him, stating that people will die either way, whether he completes it or not, and isn't scare of what the Commander will do to him. The Wraith, now enraged, feeds on Beckett. However, he is unaffected by the feeding and the Wraith falls to the floor, in pain. Beckett tells the Commander that his Scientist was actually close in detecting the drug, he did a blood test on himself, and discovered that he was infected by the drug too. The Commander dies. Beckett grabs the Commander's weapon and escapes. He stuns several guards and frees McKay. But before they exit the lab, they destroy all the Scientist's research. The two men wander through the ship until they find a control console. McKay goes to work and manages to gain control of communications. They contact Sheppard, who tells them to take the ship's weapons off line, despite alerting the Wraith to them. McKay works on shutting the weapons down, but the Wraith discover the Commander's dead body, and the two men are then attacked by the Wraith. Beckett holds them off while McKay disables the ship's weapons. They then flee to the dart bay and attempt to take one of the Darts. Unable to make it work, McKay tells Beckett that he has another plan. On the planet, Elson sneaks into Jervis' holding cell and tells them that he does not trust the Atlanteans anymore, since they don't have a plan. He asks if Jervis can get the Wraith to honor the original deal. Jervis says he will, but he will need to get all of the outsiders at once. Elson tells him that they are all in the mine and gives him the keys to the cell door. Jervis, his men and the Wraith are marching through the mines, where they arrive at the spot where the outsiders should be, but the room is empty. The new Wraith Commander searches the room, and picks up a block of C-4. Outside the mine, Sheppard detonates the C-4 and a large area of the ground collapses. Sheppard tells Elson that he did a good job, and Ronon asks if he thinks they killed enough Wraith to make a difference. The team takes out the remaining Wraith guarding the Gate and begin to evacuate the villagers when several Darts arrive. Almost all the people have gone through the gate when Teyla is nearly abducted by a dart, but instead McKay and Beckett beam down. McKay tells her that he programmed the dart to beam them down and not beam people up. They all escape, just before a Dart could scoop them up. Back at Atlantis, Beckett is at a workstation reviewing Dr. Keller's research on the enzyme that is keeping him alive hoping to find something to help the survivors of the Hoffan Drug from getting infections. McKay enters to let him know that Major Evan Lorne and his team has found a new planet for the Balarian survivors. Beckett is aware, and plans to leave with them. McKay invites him to lunch so they can catch up, but Beckett says he has to finish reading. McKay says he can download the material for Beckett to study later, but Beckett tells him Richard Woolsey will not let Keller's research off the base. Because of this, Beckett has to work on the enzyme while he can. McKay says fine, but then Beckett has to stop complaining that they never have any social time. Beckett agrees that he can't solve all the problems of the galaxy in one day, and lunch does sound like a good idea. On the way out, Beckett asks McKay if he is interested in anyone. McKay poorly hides the fact that he is. + +Atlantis is asked to attend a meeting hosted by the Coalition of Planets, a group of humans from many different worlds. They now feel with the Wraith at war with each other, an alliance is more feasible to help combat them. They have asked specifically for Lt. Colonel John Sheppard and his team -- who have gained a bit of notoriety in the Pegasus Galaxy over the past few years -- to visit one of their worlds. But soon after the team arrives, they find that they have not been asked there to join the alliance. Instead, the room is gassed and the Coalition has other plans for the team after they are transported to another world. They are made to stand trial for the Atlantis expedition's crimes against the Pegasus Galaxy. Sheppard is made to explain things such as the waking of the Wraith, their betrayal of the Genii, the existence of Michael Kenmore and his Human-Wraith Hybrids, and the unleashing of the catastrophic Hoffan plague that recently swept through the galaxy. Sheppard also speaks to their defense on the matter of destroying several Hive ships, their elimination of the Wraith cloning facility and their believed elimination of Michael several months prior, although Sheppard does admit there is a chance he is still alive. Meanwhile, Major Evan Lorne's team returns with word the team is missing. Richard Woolsey sends teams back out to check planetary addresses dialed recently, nearly clearing out the city doing so. Eventually, Lorne's team returns with Myrus, a messenger who relays to them what has transpired. Woolsey argues with Myrus and imprisons him, at which point Myrus informs Woolsey that he is prepared not to return home. Woolsey decides to travel to the planet himself after deliberating their options and considering the long term possibilities if the trial ended in a loss. His prestigious, extensive and practical background in law makes him ideal to take over the team's public defense in hopes of winning after they were unable to track the location of the trial down. (They even attempted to acquire a Wraith tracker from Todd but received no response.) He stands in for Sheppard, answering for further charges. After concluding that the Genii have a stake in the Coalition as part of the military agenda, Woolsey formulates a plan. He manages to bribe one of the guards to let him see one of the councilors, Kelore. He has concluded that Kelore is the only one up in the air. Dimas will see the logic and reason of their defense, while Shiana will vote against them in retaliation for her family being killed by the Asurans. He knows that Kelore is being bribed by the Genii to vote against them, and instead proposes that Atlantis, a far superior military force, could join instead, which would be to both their advantage. Woolsey also says Atlantis cannot be seen to be too involved, they will need someone to represent their interests on the Council--Kelore. This gives Kelore power that the Genii would keep for themselves. They return separately to the courtroom. There is but one charge left. They confront Woolsey on the dealings with Todd, to which he says without Todd's help the Asurans would still be out there, and by now, almost everybody in the galaxy would most likely be dead. Woolsey makes one last statement. He says the Wraith are fighting each other now, but eventually one faction will win, and then they will come after the Council. He says if, on that day, they want the Atlantis forces with them, fighting side by side, vote not guilty. Otherwise, find them guilty now. Dimas says they should take time to consider, but Shiana says she is ready to vote immediately, and votes Guilty on all charges. Dimas votes Not Guilty on all charges. The camera cuts away before we hear Kelore's vote. The next scene shows a guard unlocking the cell and leaving the door open as Woolsey enters to tell them they can go, they were found Not Guilty. Shepard shakes Woolsey's hand and says he never doubted him for a moment. Upon their return to Atlantis, Woolsey and Sheppard are on the city balcony, sharing brandy and cigars as Woolsey explains the winning tactics to Sheppard. Eloquence, logic--and a bribe to Kelore. He also admits now they will have to put forward more military action in the galaxy, something that will take some explaining to the International Oversight Advisory. + +In an ordinary night in Atlantis, Ronon Dex is in the Commander's office, seeing Richard Woolsey, who tells him that Ronon has not filed a single mission report despite Woolsey's expectations, which were announced to everyone on the fourth day after he took command. He tells Ronon he knows he saw him there, when Ronon tells him that he doesn't remember being in the mandatory announcement. Anticipating that Ronon may not be good at writing, he gives Ronon a recording device on which he is to dictate his mission reports, although Ronan says he is not good at talking, either. Meanwhile, Lt. Colonel John Sheppard and Dr. Rodney McKay are racing Remote-controlled cars in an isolated part of the East Pier. In the process, a passing Teyla Emmagan almost trips on one of the cars. She tells the men that she is walking her son, Torren John Emmagan to sleep, since this is the only way he could sleep. The men tell her that they will stop racing cars. However, as she leaves, they continue. Teyla goes to her quarters, and puts Torren in his cradle to let him sleep. As McKay examines his car, the lights on their corridor turn off. Thinking it is just a power glitch, they radio the control room, but there is no reply. They try contacting other people, but get no response either. The two walk over to a balcony, where they see that the entire city is blacked out, except for lights in the control room. Sheppard and McKay enter a section where other Atlantis expedition members are gathering. Sheppard grabs a handful of flashlights and radios, since radios are offline. Some of the Sheppard's men split up to cover more ground, when Dr. Radek Zelenka arrives, and informs them that everything is offline, they cannot connect the Zero Point Module or Naquadah generators to any of the systems, they're completely dead. They plan to reboot the power in the main power room. Meanwhile, Teyla can't open her door, and tries to radio for help, not knowing everything is down. Eventually, the door opens, and Teyla wonders who it is. However, the two darkened figures raise their Wraith handblasters, and stun Teyla. Zelenka cannot reboot the power, and tells Sheppard and an exhausted McKay, who has to use the stairs because the transporters aren't operational. McKay believes that if the entire city is dead, an external power source of some kind is powering the control room. The two proceed toward the control room and eventually arrive there, while Zelenka works on the transporters. McKay and Sheppard notice that the door to the stairwell leading to the control room are sealed off. They believe someone has infiltrated the base. Zelenka calls McKay and tells him that he has initiated a temporary patch and rerouted it into his lab. McKay goes to his lab, while Sheppard and Major Evan Lorne and his team are planning to blow the doors open. McKay and Zelenka, who are both in McKay's lab cannot access the control room. However, they do have access to the CCTV cameras, to give them a better understanding as to what is going on. Immediately, they find out that there is a Puddle Jumper in the embarkation area, and that the control room is being operated by non-familiar people. They see Teyla awakening in the office, where a familiar face walks in; Michael Kenmore. In a flashback, Woolsey finishes debriefing Ronon, when the Atlantis' Stargate activates. They pick up Major Nelson's IDC. A Jumper arrives instead, and it initializes an energy field of somekind. Ronon suspects a trap, and urges everyone to run out. However, the field expands, stunning everyone. Michael and his squad of Hybrids begin working right away. The Hybrids close off all power and use their Jumper as their power source. Michael plans to bring Torren to perfect his Hybrid research, and then destroy the city, as retribution to what Atlantis has done to him. However, eventually he wants Teyla to join him, as he feels she is special to him. But when she refuses to come with him, he angrily tells her that he will get what he came for, and she will be killed. Sheppard and Lorne plan to storm the control room, where Sheppard tells the team that if they have a shot at Michael, they must take it, not risking to keep him alive. They blow the doors open with C-4, and climbs up the stairs to the control room. However, McKay picks up an energy reading, and tells the team to stop. Lorne is struck by a stun field of some sort. With that plan gone, they have to think of a new strategy. Meanwhile, Ronon awakens in a room, full of personnel, who were stunned. Ronon tries to open the door to escape. However, he cannot do so. Eventually, Amelia Banks wakes up. Ronon tells her that someone has taken over Atlantis, and wants her to open the door. Banks manages to get the door open. However, the door is guarded by a Hybrid, which Ronon tries to fend off. However, the Hybrid eventually manages to get the upper hand, when Banks surprisingly fights him until Ronon is able to get a stunner and shoots him. Banks explains that she has learned kickboxing for five years. The rest of the imprisoned teams start to come round, where Ronon tells them they must arm themselves and take back the city. Zelenka and McKay discover that the "stun bubble" (named by Zelenka) is made from Wraith stunner technology integrated with the cloak. They decide to destroy Michael's Jumper with a Drone weapon. However, powering the control chair is out of the question, and the Jumper bay is out of reach. However, there are two Jumpers in the underwater bay. However, they're both not operational, so McKay has to fix them. Ronon overhears Michael's plans to blow up the city, and they armed the self-destruct. Ronon thinks of a new plan instead, and tells the team to return to the room. There, he charges up to the control room, stunning a couple of Hybrids, and encounters Michael. They engage in hand-to-hand combat. Teyla takes the opportunity to run with Torren, where she sees Woolsey, who guides her to safety. However, as they run down some stairs, Woolsey steps on the stun bubble, where he hurtles to the lower floor. Teyla is cornered, but uses the stun field to her advantage, as she pushes a Hybrid down, where he too is stunned. Ronon continues fighting with Michael, but despite having the upper hand, Michael catches him off guard, and Ronon falls down to the floor below, knocking him unconscious. Teyla tries to find a location to hide. However, with Hybrids after her, she is cornered. She eventually finds a hidden door and hides with her son. McKay and Sheppard arrive at one of the Jumpers, where McKay learns that the Jumper can't fire drones. Sheppard plans on ramming Michael's Jumper, but there is another problem, the Inertial dampeners are out, meaning Sheppard has to under go the on a tenth suicide mission. However, McKay has to finish fixing soon, as Michael activates the self-destruct to lure Teyla out of hiding. They have 10 minutes left. Michael talks to Teyla over the comm system, and tells her she has 10 minutes to show herself, or they will all die, including Torren. If she surrenders, he promises not to harm her in any way. Eventually Teyla talks back, telling him to deactivate the self-destruct, then she'll surrender, so he can trust her. McKay finds out that Zelenka can deactivate the Stargate shield. This means that if they can, Sheppard would be close enough to dial a random planet, so the unstable vortex could disable the Jumper, so they can retake the control room. Sheppard decides McKay should pilot the Jumper, so he can be a member in his strike team. McKay flies the Jumper to outside the control tower. With two minutes left, Teyla urges Michael to deactivate the self-destruct. However, Michael's mood swings gets the better of him, and tells her that he has Torren's DNA to work with, so he plans to leave Atlantis, so it can be destroyed. Before they enter, Michael decides to get his prize, Ronon's head, and is about to cut it off, when Zelenka deactivates the Gate shield. McKay quickly dials a planet, where the unstable vortex destroys a good portion of Michael's ship, which deactivates the stun bubble and self-destruct, and power to the entire city is restored. Sheppard heads a strike team to the control room, where they kill all the Hybrids. Sheppard takes cover as Michael fires at him, but Sheppard is able to wound him, forcing him to flee. Sheppard follows Michael, who is heading to the Jumper bay to escape. Zelenka manages to close the roof, preventing his escape. With nowhere to go, Michael runs up a set of stairs, where he ends up at a dead end on the top of the tower. However, he is still able to surprise Sheppard, and almost throws him over. Sheppard gets back up and starts engaging Michael in hand-to-hand combat. Meanwhile, Teyla learns what Sheppard is doing and hands Torren to Amelia. Michael is quickly able to gain the upper hand and is about to beat Sheppard to death when Teyla joins in on the fight. The two are able to push Michael over the edge, where he desperately holds on for his life. Struggling to get up, he begs Teyla to help him up. However, for a moment, Teyla gazes down on him, and ultimately kicks both of his hands off the ledge, where Michael falls hundreds of feet to his death. In the infirmary, Woolsey, who has a sprained arm, checks up on Ronon, who is recovering from his fall. He tells Ronon that his actions continues to amaze, and inspire him. As he leaves, Ronon tells Woolsey that he has finished a mission report on the Michael event. As Woolsey leaves, he listens to the digital recorder, where he hears Ronon say "Mission report. Michael invaded Atlantis, tried to blow it up. We stopped him. End of report." McKay and Sheppard continue to race remote-controlled cars, where they stumble into Teyla again, she tells them that Torren has actually slept through the whole ordeal, which he hasn't done since ever. She also says that even though Michael's dead, she knows that someone else has taken charge of his reign. But for now, they decide to have some time off, where she agrees to see the men race each other, where Sheppard cheats, by ignoring the countdown. + +Teyla is worried that Richard Woolsey may be lonely since he always eats alone, often in his quarters. She invites him to sit at the table with her, Ronon, and McKay, but Woolsey says he'll just breakfast in his quarters, he is working on a report for the IOA who want to review his performance as head of the Atlantis mission. Teyla says he has been a fine Commander, but Woolsey admits to feeling a little nervous. Lt. Colonel John Sheppard is accompanying a botanical survey team (with a very attractive female botanist) on a routine overnight survey mission. As the scientists study a local plant, he returns to the puddlejumper to set up gear for the night when he is stunned and abducted. He regains consciousness, finding himself in a forest on the mainland of Atlantis's new home planet, to which the city was relocated a year and a half earlier. His hands and feet are bound, and Sheppard shuffles himself toward a sharp rock to try and free himself from his bonds. On his way back to his rooms, he encounters a new member of the expedition in the transporter chamber. She introduces herself as Dr. Vanessa Conrad, a scientist who has recently arrived on the Apollo. Woolsey is immediately smitten. Soon, the two are on a first name basis. Woolsey then goes to meet the IOA representative who has just beamed down from the Apollo. It is Shen. She informs him that she won't need his report: the IOA has decided to recall him to Earth and put him in charge of a new environmental impact committee there. Afterwards, Vanessa helps a dejected Woolsey realize the IOA may be leaning towards replacing him, but if they'd already made a final decision, they wouldn't have sent out a representative to do an evaluation. Woolsey confronts the representative, who admits she wants the job for herself. Meanwhile, Sheppard manages to free himself, and returns cautiously to his Puddle Jumper. He soon discovers who it is who tied him up: Acastus Kolya, the former Genii commander and torture master who he shot dead two years ago. Kolya claims he used Ancient technology to escape being killed. Now he wants Sheppard to give him an IDC code. He plans to have Atlantis open the Gate, then send in a bomb. Sheppard also overhears a walkie communication between Kolya and his troops: the Atlantis science team has escaped. Kolya tells the men to round them up. In Atlantis, Dr. Rodney McKay is in his lab when Zalenka returns early from an offworld conference. He says several team members had an allergic reaction to a local food. Since he's back early, he's had an idea: he wants McKay's authorization to do a sweep of the ocean on the Atlantis planet, something they haven't bothered to do yet. McKay thinks it's a waste of time, but eventually agrees, expecting to find nothing interesting. However, almost immediately they find a submerged pod ship of alien design. They bring it to the city to study. Back on the mainland, Kolya tortures Sheppard, but he will not reveal the IDC. So Kolya comes up with a new plan: they will attack the city directly using the puddlejumper. Kolya calls two of his men to hold Sheppard while he cuts off Sheppard's hand to use to activate the ship. In the lab, they have turned on the pod and begin studying the data. McKay discovers the pod is giving off a mild radiation that covers the entire city, maybe much of the planet. Not dangerous, although it might give some people headaches. Zalenka tells McKay he is brilliant, but says he doesn't say it often because McKay is also a very difficult man to work for. McKay figures out the password to the pod. Woolsey goes to a balcony where he likes to be alone, and finds Vanessa already there. He thanks her for her help with the IOA review, then asks her to dinner. She says yes. He says he'll come by to get her, but she says it will be easier to just meet there. He gets called away to McKay's lab. It is then revealed that Shen has been standing around the corner, listening to the conversation. McKay explains to Woolsey that the pod is a treasure trove of information, a complete alien database. But it also contains the building blocks for the aliens themselves, a silicon based life form. The pod was intended to seed a new planet with life forms that would eventually evolve to where they could use the database left by their long deceased ancestors. Woolsey wants to know why the mission wasn't completed. McKay says he's not sure why the journey was interrupted, but the Daedalus could carry the pod to the intended destination. Woolsey tells him to copy the database, then ship the pod, but McKay explains that just accessing the full database will irreparably harm the biological samples. So they have to decide: either they take the data, or they send it on its way intact. They can't do both. Kolya tells Sheppard that his men found and killed the two scientists. They are now finished rigging the puddlejumper and are ready to attack Atlantis. Kolya tells Sheppard he's disappointed Sheppard didn't put up more of a fight, but as he's talking to one of his men, Sheppard makes a run for it. The subordinate suggests they just leave him for now, but Kolya says no, he wants Sheppard found and killed before they leave. In the city, Woolsey asks a staff member, Amelia to send a message to Vanessa Conrad that in light of McKay's findings they'll need to reschedule their dinner date. However, the staff member talks him there's no Vanessa Conrad listed on Atlantis. Woolsey argues with her, saying it's the same woman he was talking to on the balcony when Amelia came to tell him he was needed in McKay's lab. However, she says he was alone when she found him. At the same time Sheppard tries to escape the men hunting for him. He catches one in a snare and takes his weapon, then uses it to shoot four more. Woolsey goes to the infirmary. Dr. Keller can't find anything wrong, but he can see and hear Vanessa standing next to him while Keller obviously cannot. Woolsey demands an explanation. Vanessa says only Woolsey can see her. She says they need to talk privately. Keller suggests he's suffering from stress due to the IOA review, and gives him a mild relaxant. Vanessa tells Woolsey not to take the pills. In the lab, McKay is still studying the radiation. He tells Zelenka he's just waiting for Woolsey to give the go ahead to extract the pod's database. Suddenly he tells Zelenka he's seen something like this before and appears worried. In Woolsey's quarters, he and Vanessa are alone. He asks who--or what--she is. She says she is a physical manifestation of Woolsey's romantic ideals. She says he's not crazy, and apologizes for deceiving him. just then Shen arrives and asks who he was talking to. He says he's just been practicing a speech. She wants to know his decision about the pod. She argues for extracting the pod, saying the seed mission might not succeed. He says he hasn't made up his mind. She tells him that the information from the database would impress the IOA and probably save his job, but it's his choice. McKay bursts in and says they have to get rid of the pod--the radiation could cause mass hallucinations. Vanessa tells Woolsey it can also serve as a means of communication between two very different species. Shen tells McKay to immediately extract the data and destroy the pod, but Woolsey says he will make up his mind very shortly and has McKay wait. In the forest, Kolya finally catches up with Sheppard, and in the ensuing struggle Sheppard falls over the edge of a cliff, hanging by his good arm. Kolya tells him this has gone on long enough, and tells him to use his other hand and pull himself up and a confused Sheppard does so as he discovers his hand has been restored. Sheppard confronts Kolya who reveals he is not really Kolya: it’s another manifestation of the pod's AI set up to distract Sheppard as he would have the best chance of stopping them if it came down to it. The AI never intended him to die, it just wanted him distracted. As Kolya explains the history of the sekkari to Sheppard, Vanessa does the same with Woolsey. Ultimately it’s revealed that Vannesa Conrad is just a manifestation of the AI of a pod they discovered that holds the last hope for an extinct alien race, named the Sekkari, to survive. She reveals that when McKay flew the Jumper out of the Underwater Jumper bay during the plan to defeat Michael Kenmore, it woke the dormant pod up. The pod had been searching for a suitable planet for its race to populate but a malfunction caused it to end up on M35-117 which was not suitable for it. The AI had been observing the Expedition for weeks to see if they were trustworthy and took on Conrad's form to communicate with Woolsey and ask for his help. Sheppard goes back to the real puddlejumper where the two scientists have been impatiently waiting for him. They ask where he's been, but he just tells them they're returning to Atlantis immediately. Shen receives a secure call from Earth. Luther tells her he supports her as Woolsey's replacement, but the rest of the IOA Council does not. They're going to go with James Coolidge instead. But they're going to " reward" her with the same Environmental Initiative job she offered Woolsey when she first arrived. Angry, she gives Woolsey a glowing review in her report, and the IOA is forced to make him the permanent Commander of Atlantis. Woolsey is confused. Shen mentions the call from Earth yesterday. After she leaves, Woolsey asks Amelia about it, but Amelia says they haven't had a communication from Earth for days. Vanessa then appears to Woolsey again and admits to fooling Shen as a "going away present" for Woolsey. Sheppard and McKay arrive with the pod on a gurney and realize Woolsey is talking to the AI. She then appears to Sheppard as well. McKay complains that after all the work he did on the pod, he should get to talk to the AI too. Woolsey orders the Apollo transport the pod to a suitable world for the alien race to start over and before it leaves, the AI, still appearing as Dr. Vanessa Conrad, shows all 3 of them the true form: an alien, however still very much humanoid. Woolsey wishes her luck with her mission. Later in the mess hall, Teyla again asks Woolsey to join them and this time he agrees. Rodney states that the only reason the AI didn't reveal itself to him was because he would have figured it out. Sheppard wonders why the device was recovered after Woolsey and himself started hallucinating, and McKay says he found it with Zelenka's help. It is then revealed that Dr. Radek Zelenka has been off world the entire time. The episode ends with Rodney saying "Son of a. . ." + +Dr. Rodney McKay is invited to a landmark scientific presentation by an old "friend" from his school days, or rival, Dr. Malcolm Tunney, who has gone on to great success, with public acclaim and lots of money. McKay, meanwhile, hasn't published in years and can't tell anyone about what he really does for a living. Bringing along Dr. Jennifer Keller as his date, McKay returns to Earth for the event. The two are brought to a secret desert facility by Tunney's private jet. There the test of an astonishing new technology is to take place, a demonstration that doubles as a high-society cocktail party for dozens of wealthy and important guests. But McKay and the rest of the guests are unaware that some of Tunney's colleagues have warned about possible catastrophic consequences for what he is about to do. The device to be demonstrated activates, and it causes the temperature in the room to drop. It appears to be a weather-control device of some sort, an ingenious solution to global warming. The crowd applauds but Dr. Tunney is soon informed that his device cannot be shut down. Not only is Tunney's project in danger, but so are the lives of everyone in the facility. It turns out Tunney built a matter bridge to channel heat into an alternate reality. But like the one McKay and Jeannie Miller created, there are problems and it can't be shut down. It just keeps drawing heat. Apparently Tunney managed to somehow get his hands on a paper McKay wrote about the matter bridge he created and disregarding the warnings in it about trying to make such a bridge, Tunney went ahead and created one. McKay and Tunney enlist the other scientists that are there for help, including Bill Nye. Keller takes a cell phone and tries to call Stargate Command for help, but is trapped when Freeze lightning freezes the door to the room she's in and causes freezing water to start to flood it. After an unsuccessful attempt to overload the bridge, McKay decides to open another one to starve the first one of power and cause them both to collapse. After finding out Keller's in trouble, he rushes off to help her and leaves Tunney and Bill Nye to finish the job. As Tunney and Bill Nye activate a second matter bridge, successfully blowing the power and collapsing both bridges, McKay finds Keller and breaks through the door with a fire axe. Finding her not breathing, he successfully revives her with CPR. They kiss as Keller confesses her feelings with a reference to one of the recording McKay made while infected with Second Childhood. Later on the plane, after McKay expresses his annoyance at Malcolm to Keller, she notices that it is just the two of them in the plane (aside from the pilots). + +After being tracked for several days, a Wraith Hive ship exits hyperspace over New Lantea and transmits a file to Atlantis, which has taken precautionary defensive measures including raising the cloak. After seeing the highly corrupted video file, Lt. Colonel John Sheppard and his team are sent to try and make contact with the Hive via cloaked Puddle Jumper. However, as they try to establish radio contact, Dr. Rodney McKay discovers that there are no life-signs aboard. Curious as to how the ship flew itself to Atlantis, the team lands in the ship's Dart bay. Upon securing the - apparently abandoned - ship and making their way to the bridge, they discover that the Wraith crew is in stasis, with all hands stricken with a disease caused in part by Dr. Jennifer Keller's gene therapy. The team also notices a series of power fluctuations occurring on the ship, wreaking havoc on the ship's systems. The team is then joined by Keller and Major Evan Lorne and his team. One of them, Lt. Williams, stands guard in a remote part of the ship when he hears a noise. Williams investigates, and finds that part of the wall is melting away, revealing a hidden corridor behind it. He radios Lorne (who is with Sheppard) and investigates, and is killed when an UN-masked Wraith warrior suddenly reaches out of the opening and grabs him. However, he is not killed by being fed upon, but by being eaten by the wraith drone's newly activated digestive system. When Sheppard and Lorne arrive on the scene with another Marine, they find the Lieutenant gone only his weapon is left behind. Elsewhere, Keller is being challenged to expand her knowledge of Wraith physiology. She discovered that the treatment worked on the Wraith as planned, but when their immune system was at its weakest, a deadly virus became active. However, she has no idea how to eradicate the virus. The pressure is on, and Keller candidly confesses a lack of self-confidence to McKay. The two have begun to grow closer, and he tries to encourage her. Meanwhile, the team notices that the ship's schematics - which they are using to navigate through the ship - are no longer accurate, as new walls are forming and other ones are being destroyed literally melting away. Still experiencing an increasing amount of power fluctuations and systems failure, the team doesn't want to take the chance that any more Wraith will inadvertently come out of hibernation due to a subroutine in the ship that automatically revives them during power failures. And so, the team frantically tries to leave the ship. However, one possible escape route to the dart bay has been blocked by a newly formed wall, leaving only one other passage, a passage that has been completely destroyed, leaving a huge gap in the ship, and the team stranded. McKay then comes up with a theory as to the ship's problems: Because Wraith ships are organic and repair themselves, it is possible that the ship is repairing itself incorrectly. However, because the problems with the ship are too serious and lacking the knowledge to properly fix it, McKay persuades Sheppard to revive Todd. It is Todd who discovers the reason for the ship's problems: during hibernation, fluids are exchanged between the Hive Ship and the occupant of the hibernation pod. Because the Wraith in the pods were infected with the virus, the ship became infected with it as well, leading to the power failures and malfunctions. To avoid the constant threat of Wraith sporadically reviving, Sheppard tells McKay to disable the safety protocols in the hibernation chambers. If a Wraith revives, instead of releasing it, the pod will stay sealed, suffocating its occupant. However, McKay only manages to alter four out of the five active chambers. This is because Wraith from the last chamber have already awoken and are now freely roaming the ship, roughly two dozen of them, hungry with their newfound ability to eat. Sheppard, Ronon Dex, Teyla Emmagan, Lorne and the remaining marines quickly assemble into teams to exterminate them, and soon engage in close-quarters combat as they eliminate as many of them as possible. Meanwhile, Todd works with Keller on a way to cure themselves of the virus. He ultimately realizes a way to do just that. Long ago, a method was devised to restore a Wraith to near perfect health. Hardly any Wraith survive the process, but as he is beyond hope, he is willing to try. The solution is to be fed upon by an Iratus bug. He then asks Sheppard to take the Hive Ship into hyperspace to a planet with Iratus bugs on it. However, not entirely trusting Todd, and questioning the ship's structural integrity, he says no. Todd, who is now incredibly angry, is taken away to a holding cell. As the ship continues to lose hull integrity, a massive stress point spanning the entire width of the ship finally fails, splitting the ship in half moments after the teams fighting the Wraith make it to the front portion of the ship. As the back half remains in orbit, the forward half containing the Atlantis team begins to lose its orbit, and descends into the atmosphere of New Lantea. With the ship heading for a fatal impact on the ground, McKay determines that they can use the maneuvering thrusters to slow the ship down, but doesn't know how to reroute power to achieve this. Sheppard then attempts to enlist the aid of Todd who is enraged at the loss of his crew and believes it to be pointless since he is suffering. Sheppard offers a deal to Todd: if he helps them stop the ship, Sheppard will take him to his bug planet. Todd ultimately agrees to the deal. In the control room, Todd takes over from Teyla who is unable bring the maneuvering thrusters online using her abilities. Todd is able to reroute power and fires the thrusters, yelling at McKay to help him get more power when he criticizes him. However, even with McKay's help, Todd is not able to get enough power to the thrusters to slow their descent enough to avoid a fatal impact so Sheppard instructs him to get the ship level and glide it across the water. Todd is able to level the ship out just before impact and with inertial dampeners failing, the ship crashes to a relatively gentle halt on the surface of New Lantea's ocean, sending out a wave in all directions. Detecting the impact, Woolsey orders a rescue team sent to the ship. The rescue team is able to cut their way to the Atlantis team and Todd and pull them out of the hive ship before it sinks in New Lantea's ocean. Back in Atlantis, Sheppard talks with Richard Woolsey in his office about what to do with Todd, now under guard. After being persuaded by John that Todd is a powerful ally and is more useful to them being out in the galaxy, he decides to honor Sheppard's deal and send Todd through the Stargate to seek out an Iratus bug queen and his cure. As Todd approaches the active Stargate, he has a brief conversation with Sheppard, thanking him for letting him go, saying he will remember what Sheppard has done for him. + +A woman, later identified as Neeva Casol, is standing in a hallway in Atlantis dressed in Dr. Jennifer Keller's jumpsuit. She appears disoriented, and stumbles into a lab occupied by Dr. Radek Zelenka. He asks her if she is looking for Dr. Rodney McKay, and she replies by asking where she is. Believing her to be ill, he takes her by the arm and attempts to lead her to the infirmary. She grabs a pair of pliers and stabs Zelenka, severely wounding him. Noticing her reflection in a nearby mirror, she stops: she is in Keller's body. Leaving the lab, she encounters McKay, who asks why she hasn't been answering his calls. They are then both notified that Zelenka has just been stabbed, and that they need Keller to perform surgery. Neeva gets into the Operating Room, and requests that the other doctors handle it, as she feels ill and "needs to lie down". McKay comments to Ronon Dex that it looked almost like she had never held a scalpel before. Neeva is visited by Ronon, who is growing suspicious of her. Later, Dr. Carson Beckett examines her, stating that she has nothing physically wrong with her, and appears to be suffering from a psychological ailment. Neeva sneaks out of the infirmary and finds her way to the Puddle Jumper bay, hoping to leave the city. She finds a handgun and pockets it, and unable to activate one of the ships, she is caught by McKay. She tries to seduce him into taking her for a ride, asking him to take her to the mainland, but he resists. Still believing her to be Keller, he tries to get her back to the infirmary—but she pulls the weapon and threatens to shoot him. Ronon appears at the back of the Jumper and stuns her with his gun. "Dr. Keller" is moved to an observation room, and the team discusses possible reasons for her behavior. Richard Woolsey suggests that there might be an entity that has taken control of her, and McKay states that he could see in her eyes that she would have killed him. The team goes down to the room, where they manage to persuade Neeva to admit that she is not Keller. She and her accomplices were stealing Ancient artifacts on a different world when she suddenly found herself in Keller's body. McKay is able to corroborate her story by checking an SG-1 report detailing the Long-range communication device. The team decides to attempt to find Neeva's body, which they believe contains Keller's consciousness. They plan to also shut down the device to return each woman to their proper bodies. In return for information leading to the world, Neeva demands that she and her accomplices be freed, along with a puddle jumper. The team refuses to grant her a puddle jumper, and Neeva reluctantly agrees. Meanwhile, Keller finds herself in Neeva's body, and is arrested by the villagers. The Magistrate refuses to contact Atlantis for her, because Neeva is a known and cunning liar. As the team, discovering that Keller will soon be executed, closes in on her location, Neeva's accomplices, Jannick and Bordal, rescue Keller moments before she would be killed. The men don't realize that Neeva has traded bodies with someone, and treat Keller as their leader. They hide in a cave, where Keller makes them grow suspicious of her. They pull their weapons as Neeva, having escaped the custody of Lt. Colonel John Sheppard's team, steps into the cave. The two women share a long look at each other in their bodies, then Neeva attempts to explain the situation to her partners. The two thugs are still suspicious, however they leave the cave, where they are ambushed by angry villagers. Bordal is killed, and Neeva, in Keller's body, is wounded. Jannick and Keller escape, and the Atlantis team discovers Neeva. They rush her back to the village, where Carson removes the bullet and tends to her. Meanwhile, Jannick catches up to, and pulls a gun on Keller, now believing that she is most definitely not Neeva. Back at the village, Ronon shoots the device and it is deactivated. Just before Jannick is to shoot, Neeva and Keller switch back to their original bodies. A gunshot is heard, and Keller wakes up in her body. Back at Atlantis, Keller apologizes to Zelenka for hurting him, and he assures her that it wasn't her fault. Major Evan Lorne finds no trace of Neeva, and she is presumed either dead or escaped. She is still a wanted fugitive on all Coalition planets, in the event that she ever does reappear. McKay brings Keller flowers and chocolates, and he asks that she go with him on a picnic trip in a Puddle Jumper to the mainland. She agrees. + +In the middle of a desert, police have cordoned off an area as a crime scene. A car arrives, with John Sheppard inside, who is apparently a detective for the Las Vegas Police Department. He doesn't reveal anything to the female reporter, and simply enters the crime scene. They have found a corpse, the apparent eighth victim of a bizarre serial murder in the space of three months, where the corpse is withered, with the same mysterious chest wound, and traces of radiation in the victim. Back in Las Vegas, the police discover that the victim was 39 year old Thomas Green, who was missing for only three days. The regular autopsy doctor is replaced by Dr. Jennifer Keller, who says that she didn't find traces of radiation around the wound. Sheppard a little suspicious and still thinking that the radiation poisoning is the key to finding the killer, Sheppard calls someone at a local hospital to see if anyone is being treated for, or is showing signs of, radiation poisoning. Meanwhile at the Lucky Rollers Motel, Laurence Foster vomits on a toilet. He calls his wife who he tells that he thinks the cause is food poisoning, but is forced to end the call when he notices his nose is bleeding again. He gets up because the rock music from the next room is getting too loud. He attempts to go next door to tell the occupant to turn down the music. However, he is disturbed to see someone inhuman, stretching out his hand with a notable slit on the palm (a Wraith). The next day in Police Headquarters, Detective Sheppard is paid a visit by Agent Richard Woolsey of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, who wants Sheppard's co-operation, and is not willing to tell John the FBI's interest in the case, but knows that the murders are happening more frequently. Sheppard claims that he has picked up no leads and soon leaves to catch a lead he just received from a text message, and doesn't tell Woolsey. Detective Sheppard goes to a hospital, where a Nurse says that just yesterday, a man came in with flu-like systems, but suspects radiation poisoning when Sheppard mentions it, as the nurse noticed the man having nose bleeds. Sheppard traces the man to the Lucky Rollers Motel, where the manager recognizes the man, and gives Sheppard the logs. Later that night, the Wraith continues to listen to "Beautiful People" by Marilyn Manson. He uses make up and molds, as well as wearing gloves to disguise himself as a Human to not attract attention to the unsuspecting Tau'ri. He walks out of the motel and heads towards a hotel casino, with Sheppard following. The Wraith enters in a poker game with six more men, later joined by Sheppard. For the whole time, the fellow players notice that one of the players (the Wraith) never looks at anyone, but keeps winning lots of money. During the game, he collects his chips, even though the game has not yet finished. The Wraith gets into a physical altercation with another player and runs away, pushing Sheppard in the process. Sheppard gives chase and picks up a gun from a security guard who fails to capture the Wraith. Eventually, Sheppard corners the Wraith on the rooftops. However, he eludes capture, by falling a hundred feet to the surface, where he manages to survive the fall, gets up and walks away, with Sheppard in total bewilderment. Back at the Lucky Rollers Motel, Sheppard returns and finds Foster, withered and dead (having been fed on). There, Sheppard finds a bag full of money, and takes it to the trunk of his car. He is then surrounded by Agent Woolsey and three SUVs, who tells him to join them. He joins them, and the SUVs drive to Area 51. En-route Woolsey admits to Sheppard that he is not from the FBI. They arrive in order to tell Sheppard what he is into. However, first he must sign a Non-disclosure agreement, which he refuses to sign. Woolsey eventually calls Dr. Rodney McKay to assist. McKay enters the room and instantly shows that he is not to be trifled with, threatening to ruin Sheppard's life if he doesn't co-operate - even though there is not much to ruin. McKay says he knows a lot about him; dishonorably discharged from service in Afghanistan for disobeying orders to rescue a medic he was romantically involved with. Four US soldiers and eight civilians were killed after his helicopter was shot down, but he avoided jail time through political reasons. He never married, he became an LVPD cop, and after failing the exam twice, eventually promoted to Detective. However, his arrest record is low due to mishandling of evidence, and he never had a partner because no one can stand working with him. He is also $13,000 in debt due to his gambling problems. Finally, McKay wonders how he lives with himself. However, before McKay turns and leaves, he tells Sheppard that he once met another version of him. McKay is able to convince him that they are not his enemy, and that they want the same thing as him. McKay explains that the suspect he is looking for is actually not human, but an alien, a Wraith, who can feed on human beings, but fortunately do not know where Earth is yet. However, a few months ago, a Wraith Hive ship attempted to attack Earth, but failed after the weapons platform activated in Antarctica. They used a Control chair, which they now keep in Area 51. However, one Wraith seems to have survived, the one Sheppard has been trying to arrest and that the Wraith is being exposed to high levels of radiation, which is why all his victims had radioactive residue on them. McKay tells Sheppard that Area 51 is also looking for him, since they believe he is going to contact the other Wraith from his home galaxy, Pegasus and inform them of Earth's location. Sheppard then gets a glimpse of what a Wraith actually looks like, and shows him a cell where one, known as "Todd" is being held. "Todd" has been held in captivity and denied the opportunity to feed to the point where he has become delirious from starvation, turning into somewhat of a poet, albeit a bad one, so McKay claims. "Todd" chants to Sheppard, beckoning him to come inside his cell so he can show him his 'destiny', before saying his full name. After McKay snaps him out of the trance ("they can get in your head"), McKay tells Sheppard that he and his team were called back to Earth from the city of Atlantis to help track down the Wraith due to their experience dealing with them. Sometime later, McKay overhears Dr. Radek Zelenka give a presentation to a team about a worst-case scenario; the Wraith could be building a bomb, but McKay interrupts and rebuffs his statement, saying that the Wraith's intention is to alert other Wraith, and they should focus on that instead. When they are both outside, McKay tells Sheppard that a little while ago, he and his team accidentally opened a rift in space/time and visited another reality, in which that Sheppard is somewhat of a hero having saved the world several times over. Sheppard says that doesn't sound much like him, to which McKay responds "I don't think there's much difference between you and that other John Sheppard I met. It's amazing how one incident can entirely alter the course of your life. Still, I like to believe you have the same strength of character. That's why I told you the truth." Eventually, McKay lets Sheppard go, giving him his phone number in case he finds anything. Sometime after he is gone, McKay and Zelenka are still arguing about the latter's theory of the Wraith building the bomb. At this point, Woolsey enters and berates the both of them. He says that he has Earth's best mind power the planet has to offer, and yet a "nobody detective" has gotten closer than anyone in this room. However, Sheppard decides to resign from his job. He packs up his belongings from his office and when Captain Hendricks wonders what he is doing, Sheppard doesn't answer, but just hands him his badge, gun, and his box, keeping only his Johnny Cash poster. He drives out of the city with the money he found, presumably to start a new life. However, while driving, he recalls what McKay said to him, and what John overheard about how the Wraith maybe trying to contact the other Wraith. At that point Sheppard realizes where the Wraith is likely headed and does a 180 deciding to try and stop the Wraith. Back at Area 51, McKay, Woolsey, Zelenka and other scientists are trying to trace the radiation, which only narrows the search area to several hundred square miles, since the desert was a massive nuclear testing site. CMSgt. Walter Harriman tells the three that Sheppard is calling them. Sheppard tells McKay that he has found the Wraith. He had noticed a trailer at the motel, which he has found connected to some powerlines, meaning the Wraith is using the national grid to power the transmitter he salvaged from parts of his crashed Wraith Dart. Area 51 is able to trace the location of Sheppard's car, having previously put a tracker on it and sends two A-10 Thunderbolt IIs to the location. McKay tells Sheppard not to engage, but the signal is cut off before Sheppard could hear him. Sheppard slowly approaches the trailer. Meanwhile, the Wraith had begun dialing up the power to the transmitter when he notices Sheppard's car approaching. The Wraith arms himself with machine guns he acquired, while Sheppard exits his car and loads his pistol. However, as Sheppard slowly approaches the trailer, the Wraith fires a single shot, which hits John's chest. John runs to take cover beside his car as the Wraith opens fire. Sheppard returns fire, but quickly runs out of bullets. He reaches for the glove box for more ammunition, reloads and fires each shot into the Wraith's chest, but they don't affect him. As Sheppard's injuries start to overwhelm him, having no more ammunition with which to fight, the Wraith attempts to feed on him, but then notices two planes zeroing in on his position. The Wraith quickly runs to his trailer and powers up his transmitter, which is giving off energy ten times that of an active Stargate, and rising. The two Thunderbolts then manage to destroy the trailer, as well as cut off the Wraith transmission and kill the Wraith. However, back at Area 51, McKay discovers that while there wasn't enough power to alert the Wraith in Pegasus of Earth's location, the explosion has caused a temporary rift in space/time that resulted in Earth's coordinates being sent, amplified, to alternate realities, meaning the Wraith from other realities know of Earth's location. At dusk, an injured Sheppard attempts to get away from the scene, but he slumps to the ground after only a few feet, where he then lies on the ground, and is assumed to have died. + +Todd contacts Atlantis and reveals that a Wraith subordinate has mutinied and managed to use several Zero Point Modules, acquired during the destruction of Asuras, to power a formidable new Hive ship. He urges Richard Woolsey to attack and destroy it before it becomes a threat to Atlantis. On board the Daedalus, Colonel Steven Caldwell, Lt. Colonel John Sheppard and the rest of the team rush to engage the new Super-hive. But the vessel proves itself an impressive opponent, crippling the Daedalus before making a sudden and inexplicable jump into hyperspace. Puzzled over the Wraith's sudden departure, Dr. Peter Kavanagh on board the Daedalus picks up a weak subspace signal in Wraith code. Dr. Rodney McKay is quick to recognize that the communique was sent, through subspace, from an alternate reality. Once deciphered, their worst fears are realized: the Wraith message contains a familiar set of coordinates — the hive ship is on its way to Earth. McKay is able to calculate where the hive ship will drop out of hyperspace before reaching Earth, of which they can notify Stargate Command via Atlantis once the communications array is repaired. The team returns to Atlantis once the Daedalus' engines are repaired, but are dismayed to learn from a video transmission sent by Colonel Abraham Ellis that both Earth's starships, the Apollo and the new Sun Tzu, have failed miserably to stop the Wraith ship, with the Apollo, in bad shape herself, taking on crew from the crippled Sun Tzu. Sheppard interrogates Todd for the location of more ZPMs, which Major Evan Lorne and his team are able to locate; Atlantis, now with her full complement of three ZPMs, will return to Earth in a last-ditch effort to defend it. Sheppard expects to be the one flying the city, but he is informed by Woolsey that he will be returning back to Earth. The task of flying the City ship then falls to Dr. Carson Beckett (much to the surprise and irritation of Dr. McKay.) Beckett launches the city and Sheppard returns to Earth via the Stargate, alone, to command the chair from the Antarctic outpost at Major General Jack O'Neill's request. Back on Earth, Colonel Samantha Carter is temporarily in charge of Stargate Command (due to Major Hammond's sudden death), and Major Paul Davis informs Sheppard that the Wraith ship has arrived shockingly earlier than anticipated and is now on the other side of the moon, sitting still and doing nothing. They assume it is going to complete its integration with the ZPMs and then attack Earth. Sheppard is able to convince Carter and Davis to let him lead a squadron of F-302s refitted with Nuclear warheads, which are diverted to intercept Wraith Darts sent to destroy the Ancient Control chair (which had been relocated to Area 51), in advance of the main Wraith attack. The attack succeeds and with the chair destroyed, Earth is defenseless; Sheppard volunteers to go on a suicide mission to destroy the hive ship from the inside with the nuke onboard his F-302. Meanwhile, International Oversight Advisory dignitaries prepare to escape Earth to the Alpha Site (Davis quips as "courageous to the end") but discovers the Wraith have overridden Earth's gate. At the very edge of the Milky Way galaxy, Atlantis' hyperdrive disengages due to overtaxing. Woolsey tries to dial Earth, only to find that it has dialed the hive ship above Earth — Ronon Dex, Teyla Emmagan, Lorne, and McKay enter the gate to infiltrate the hive ship. Meanwhile, Sheppard separately infiltrates the hive with his F-302 through the Dart bay, unbeknownst to the rest of the team. In a desperate battle on board the hive ship, Ronon is stabbed in a fight with two Wraith warriors. The knife has pierced his lung, and he dies from the resulting blood loss; with Teyla and McKay visibly upset, Lorne forces them to leave his body behind. Back on Atlantis, with the hyperdrive out of commission, Dr. Radek Zelenka proposes activating a highly experimental and potentially dangerous Wormhole drive based on the same wormhole technology as the Stargate. With it, they could potentially reach Earth in seconds. On the hive ship, just as Sheppard is about to activate his nuke, he receives a radio transmission from McKay who suggests activating it by remote, allowing the team to escape through the Stargate to the Alpha site. Sheppard and the team return for Ronon's body, only to discover the Wraith underling has revived Ronon for interrogation; the team kills the Wraith underling and his two guards and is able to rescue Ronon. However, Sheppard and his team run out of time as they attempt to reach the gate and stopped in a corridor, Sheppard prepares to activate the nuke with all of them still on board. Thankfully, Atlantis arrives in position between the Hive and Earth to buy them more time. Atlantis takes the brunt of the hive ship's assault on Earth and launches a barrage of Drone weapons in retaliation. The sheer force of the Hive's weapons' fire is pushing the city ship into Earth's atmosphere, and it is straining the shields. With little power left, Beckett can either adjust the course of Atlantis, or keep firing at the enemy ship; Woolsey gives the order to keep firing. The team manages to escape to the Alpha Site, and the nuke successfully detonates, destroying the hive ship, but Atlantis is now forced to make a landing through Earth's atmosphere, risking burning up during re-entry. Everyone at Stargate Command waits for news with bated breath, but erupts into celebration when Atlantis lands successfully over water. Although the re-entry caused a giant fireball across the sky, the city is able to cloak before landing, and the area in which they land, just past the Golden Gate Bridge on the Pacific Ocean side, is placed under naval quarantine, so for now at least, Earth's population is still in the dark. Sheppard visits Todd, who's still locked in a holding room. Todd boasts about his help in saving Earth because of his ZPMs and asks if Sheppard has come to kill him, but Sheppard does not respond. Ronon is visited in his Atlantis infirmary bed by Sheppard when Amelia Banks walks in. She takes him to join the rest of the senior Atlantis staff on a balcony overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. + +A relatively long and flat spaceship emerges from a hyperspace-like window. As it glides through normal and empty space, the ship's Stargate engages. The first to emerge is young Lt. Matthew Scott, who stumbles through and quickly draws his rifle in a state of alertness. His arrival is followed by several more personnel, mostly carrying equipment. They also stumble through. People continue to pour in at an increasing pace, tripping over each other as they are thrown out of the event horizon. Scott tells everyone to clear a path and radios through the gate for them to slow down, but receives no reply. People continue to stumble through, several of them injured; some from the flying equipment, others from people landing on each other. Unlike most of the arrivals, who are trying to help the other arrivals, a man in a green top, Dr. Nicholas Rush, immediately investigates the room's consoles, then moves up to a balcony to get a better look over the area. Despite all the panic, Rush smiles. Once the arrivals are through, the Stargate starts to overload, causing the people more concern. A moment later, Colonel Everett Young is shot through at high speed, flying across the room and landing on the hard floor. Shortly after, the Stargate shuts down. As it was the only light source in the room, the sudden darkness sets the arrivals into another yell of panic, as does the steam gushing out of the vents beside the Stargate. Scott goes to check on Young. Young places Scott in charge just before losing consciousness. Scott notices that Young's head is dripping blood, and calls for field medic Lt. Tamara Johansen, who tends to him. The crew has no idea where they are. Scott approaches Eli Wallace, a student-age young man for an answer on their location, but he has no answers. He yells out for Rush, but he is nowhere to be seen. Just then, they experience the effects of sudden acceleration on the ship; the ship has returned to FTL. Before leaving the room, Scott orders one of the marines, MSgt. Ronald Greer, to do a head-count. He then asks Eli to help search for Rush. In a flashback, Eli is playing the online game Prometheus with a friend, where he claims that he was able to beat the seemingly impossible Dakara Weapons puzzle. However, he is disappointed to find that, after solving it, the game simply restarts. The following day, a knock is heard at his door. When he answers it, he is introduced to Lt. General Jack O'Neill and Rush, who proceed to tell him that the Dakara Weapons puzzle was actually created by them as a way to solve an Ancient mathematical proof, which has thus far eluded them. They offer him a prize for his accomplishment: a non-disclosure agreement. O'Neill tells him that if he refuses to sign, he'll be beamed out of his house to their spaceship. Believing this to be a joke, Wallace re-enters his home and is suddenly beamed away in a flash of light while walking up the stairs. A shocked, confused, and disoriented Eli is now aboard the George Hammond, a Tau'ri Daedalus-class battlecruiser in Earth orbit, when he is met again by Rush, who explains the situation. They need his help. Eli is informed that, for his help, his mother's medical expenses will be taken care of. Wallace then quickly accepts the offer, and asks for pants since he was beamed out in sweatpants. The Hammond then leaves Earth orbit and enters hyperspace, en route to a planet 21 light years away where a Tau'ri military outpost, Icarus Base, resides. On this several hour-long voyage, Eli is shown an educational video, hosted and narrated by Dr. Daniel Jackson, which explains the history of the Stargate Program and the workings of the Stargate itself. After a short time, Eli calls his mother, who is back on Earth, and tells her that everything is fine and that she will be taken care of by the United States Air Force. Wallace then proceeds to the ship's commissary, where he has a brief conversation with Chloe Armstrong, daughter of California Senator Alan Armstrong. In the present, Eli and Scott arrive at a large Observation deck and find Rush, the man they were looking for. Through the window, they learn that they are on a spaceship. Rush explains that this is an Ancient ship, launched hundreds of thousands of years ago, and that they are traveling at speeds faster than light yet not through hyperspace. Scott then informs Rush that many people back in the gate room are wounded and that they need to get home. A more immediate problem presents itself when the air vents shut off. Rush quickly concludes that life support is failing, and needs to be fixed. Young is speaking in his house with his wife about a new military assignment he recently received - his post at Icarus Base. However, Emily does not take the news well, and admits that she can't wait for him any longer. As he continues, he suddenly struggles to stand up. Everything becomes a blur, until he sees Emily's face being replaced by TJ on the ship; it is revealed to be a dream. As he regains consciousness, he starts suffering a seizure. With no proper medical supplies, TJ says there's nothing to do but to let the seizure run its course. In the flashback, the George Hammond exits hyperspace over the planet that Icarus Base resides on. In the base, Scott and fellow officer Lt. Vanessa James are having sex in a secluded storage area when Young radios Scott. He informs Scott that the Hammond has arrived a few minutes early and he has to report to duty. Scott quickly dresses as he proceeds to run down the halls of Icarus Base to the meeting location. He just barely arrives when Eli, Chloe Armstrong, Alan Armstrong, and Nicholas Rush are beamed down to an external location of the Base, high atop a mountain that the base is constructed into. During the greeting, Young introduces himself and Eli remarks about the impressive armaments the base has, including several large RG/BBT SG military mounted guns. The group then proceeds into the base. Upon entering the base, Scott and Eli have a brief discussion on the way to the gate room about the planet's core. Scott then jokingly tells Eli that the reason for Icarus Base's subterranean location is that a dinosaur-like creature inhabits the planet. The group is led into the gate room where they are greeted by Icarus Base's senior staff. Meanwhile, Scott explains to Wallace about the planet's unique radioactive core, which provides large amounts of power for Stargate activation. However, this core is very unstable and so the gate has been modified to only allow outgoing wormholes to prevent the core from going critical. After the senior staff are dismissed, including Colonel David Telford, the Stargate's ninth chevron address - which was procured from Atlantis' database - is dialed using the math proof Eli solved. However, the dialing sequence is aborted when the ninth chevron fails to lock and power levels begin to build to critical levels. In the present, people are still confused about where they are and what is happening when the power in Destiny's gate room is activated. Scott enters the gate room and explains that they are aboard an Ancient spaceship, have no idea where they are in relation to Earth, and that they are doing everything they can to resolve the situation. Senator Alan Armstrong is infuriated with the lack of information, and demands the gate be dialled immediately. As Scott attempts to placate him, Alan suddenly collapses from breathing difficulties. TJ rushes to his aid as Alan reaches for heart medication. Scott then tells everyone to remain calm and stay in the gateroom while he, Dr. Adam Brody, and Dr. Lisa Park leave to help Rush repair the life support system. In the flashback, Eli and Rush review Eli's equations in Icarus Base's gate room. Rush is having trouble understanding why he wasn't able to dial the ninth chevron address and blames Eli's solution to the proof as the reason. However, Eli strongly protests this. Just as the two are about to argue, Young arrives and tells Eli that he is invited to a meal in the base's Mess hall. Eli is quick to accept this offer, while Rush insists that Eli stay and help solve their problem. Young wins the short argument, but Rush stays to figure out what went wrong. In the mess hall, a dinner is held for the visitors, where they discuss such matters as the Stargate's ninth chevron. The overall atmosphere is light and joyful. Telford mentions to Chloe that he is an F-302 fighter-interceptor pilot, and offers to take her up in one sometime (although such an offer may have been in jest). She asks him what it feels like to go through the Stargate. Rush, who has become quite frustrated in his attempts to "fix" Eli's proof, briefly steps into the adjacent kitchen. After looking at the group briefly, Airman Darren Becker offers him his dinner, but after a moment, Rush decides not to take it, and quickly exits without notice from those enjoying the meal. Alan Armstrong then proposes a toast, during which he addresses the Icarus project, the billions of dollars he spent on it, and his daughter Chloe, who he is quite proud of. However, Chloe, angered and annoyed by the toast, begins drinking several glasses of white wine. While this is happening, a frustrated Rush briefly retreats to his quarters, where he plays classical music and takes out a picture of him with his wife. There, he starts to cry. Back in the mess hall, Alan is still giving his toast when Chloe interrupts and continues it for him, so to speak. However, while she is speaking, several loud booming noises are heard in concert with several tremors. Icarus Base is under attack. Young orders all non-essential personnel to their designated areas and all military personnel to their battle stations. In the present, Eli and Rush get into an argument over how to repair the life support system. After Scott and Greer arrive, Eli explains that Rush's solution might actually cause the ship to explode. Greer raises his weapon to keep Rush from acting, despite orders to lower it from Scott. In the flashback, several people are running through the halls of Icarus Base, including Young. He makes his way to the brig and releases Greer, informing him that all charges are dropped. He hands him a weapon and sends him out to fight. In space, three Ha'tak motherships have opened fire on the planet and are launching several squadrons of Death Gliders. A large portion of this fire and several of the fighter craft are being intercepted by the George Hammond, commanded by Colonel Samantha Carter, which is also in orbit. Young radios Carter, who proceeds to inform him that the ships (suspected to be of Lucian Alliance origin) began firing the moment they emerged from hyperspace, and that several squadrons of gliders and a troop transport are headed his way, towards the heavily fortified Icarus Base. Young then radios Telford, who has manned an F-302 and is ready to lead a defensive against the incoming enemy ships. Back at Icarus Base, military personnel are assuming defensive positions. In the present, Eli and Rush still argue over Rush's supposed solution, which Greer is adamant about keeping him from implementing lest he land the crew in yet another dangerous situation. However, after Scott is able to convince Greer to lower his weapon, Rush finally presses the button. Nothing happens, and Rush angrily states that he shouldn't have expected it to be that easy. TJ is then contacted by Scott, who is in the gate room tending to the injured Young, and is told to "hang on" for just a little while longer as the life support issue is still unresolved. TJ then thinks back to a conversation she had with International Oversight Advisory representative Camile Wray, in part about her receiving a scholarship and choosing to leave Icarus Base. However, Wray suspects that it is actually about a relationship she has and that she's hiding something to protect someone. When this sequence ends, both Wray and TJ exchange glances. In the flashback, the gliders and troop transport descend upon Icarus Base against a moon-lit night sky. SG personnel open fire on the approaching ships using machine guns, railguns, and missile launchers, managing to destroy several gliders in their opening salvo. Meanwhile, most of the civilians, including Eli, have gathered inside the base's gate room. Rush discovers that power levels in the core are becoming unstable. Because of this, Rush asks for Eli's help in determining how to dial the Stargate's ninth chevron as, due to the orbital bombardment, the planet's core might go critical, causing it to explode. If that were to occur, it could end their chances of achieving a ninth chevron lock forever. Eli suggests that, if his math does indeed work, the problem could be with the address' point of origin. Meanwhile, the battle rages on outside the base as Telford leads a squadron of F-302s against the attacking gliders. However, Telford and his men are outnumbered and so the order to fall back is given as Young orders Sgt. Hunter Riley to dial the Stargate to Earth. Young, carrying an injured SG member back into the base, just barely avoids a damaged fighter that slams into the platform they were defending just moments prior, causing it to go up in a massive explosion. While Riley does as ordered, Eli suggests to Rush that, since all symbols on the Stargate are constellations as seen from Earth, Earth may be the only valid point of origin, like a code, to enable the ninth chevron to lock. Deciding to test Eli's hypothesis, Rush pushes Riley out of the way, halts the dialing sequence to Earth, and begins to dial the ninth chevron address. As the evacuation of Icarus Base continues, people are running frantically through the halls of the base to reach the gate room. In one section, the hall collapses, trapping about a dozen people, including Alan Armstrong. Elsewhere on the base, Young tells Greer that the George Hammond is unable to beam people directly out of the base due to its bunker shielding technology. The two then come across TJ, who is trying desperately to save Dr. Simms, who is bleeding out through a significant neck wound. She continues to do so until Young tells her that there's nothing more she can do for him. In the gate room, Rush successfully establishes a connection with the ninth chevron. However, power levels are reaching critical levels in the planet's core. This buildup is also detected by Major Kevin Marks aboard the George Hammond, who informs Carter. Carter then orders that all fighters be recalled before the heavily damaged ship retreats into hyperspace. Back in Icarus Base, Young enters the gate room to find that the evacuation through the Stargate hasn't commenced. Rush then explains that it was too dangerous to dial Earth as any explosion could transmit through an open wormhole. Young is infuriated with this and orders the Stargate be shut down. However, the gate will not disengage. In the present, Rush, in the company of Scott, Greer, Eli, and several others, activates a holographic log of the ship's journey. This map shows the ship's original departure from Earth and its passage through numerous galaxies, placing them currently several billions of light years from home. In the flashback, Young arrives at the collapsed hallway where Alan Armstrong is trapped. He instructs Scott to begin the evacuation, and to have everyone take as much of the expedition supplies as possible. When he arrives in the gate room, Scott steps through the gate and is followed by Icarus Base's personnel, who enter the gate in three-second intervals. Back in the hallway, Young blasts a passage through the collapsed section of wall using C-4. Everyone is able to walk. While the group heads back toward the gate room, the evacuation is in full swing as the base literally is falling apart around them. After several minutes everyone has made it through the gate, except for Young, who is gathering some last-minute supplies. After doing so, Young starts in an all-out sprint towards the gate as a massive explosion closely follows behind him, eventually lifting him up and quickly propelling him through the gate. Just moments after he makes it though the event horizon, the entire planet goes up in a massive explosion, completely destroying the attacking enemy force in orbit. In Washington D.C., O'Neill is at The Pentagon when he is contacted by Carter aboard the George Hammond. Carter reports that they were barely able to escape before the planet's core went critical and that all enemies are assumed to have been destroyed in the explosion. She also informs him about the number of casualties and the eighty-plus people still unaccounted for who evacuated through the Stargate, which was detected to be active for six minutes. However, O'Neill reveals that the personnel of Icarus Base didn't return to Earth, leaving Carter to ponder, "Then where did they go?" + +On board the Destiny, Lt. Matthew Scott enters the ship's Gate room and announces to everyone that they are going to split into teams and search the ship top to bottom. MSgt. Ronald Greer reports that all together, they only have 23 weapons, which includes handguns. Scott takes Sgt. Hunter Riley and Lt. Vanessa James with him. He introduces himself to her as if they never met, but Greer knows they were having a secret relationship, and finds his attempts of subtlety funny. As the groups split off to look, Dr. Nicholas Rush picks up the bag Colonel Everett Young brought with him, and leaves the room seemingly unnoticed. He walks over to the Control interface room, but hears that not a lot of progress has been made. Dr. Lisa Park and Dr. Adam Brody do find that the life support is only on reserve and at present consumption, they have around six to eight hours of air left. Rush later leaves with the bag, making an excuse that he is going to the bathroom. He continues to somewhere more private, where he opens the bag, revealing a briefcase. Inside the case is an Ancient Long-range communication device. Meanwhile, back on Earth, Dr. Bill Lee is working in a lab, when he and Rush apparently swap bodies. He gets up and moves out of the lab. CMSgt. Walter Harriman reports to Lt. General Jack O'Neill to tell him that they made a communication link to the eighty people that left Icarus Base. O'Neill approaches the lab with Rush, inhabiting Lee's body. Rush explains to him their situation and that they are on an Ancient ship. Rush also explains that the planet Icarus Base resided on was P4X-351 and staunchly defends his reasoning for dialing the ninth chevron and not "dialing up any one of a number of other planets" in the Milky Way. During the conversation, O'Neill becomes quite infuriated with Rush for "taking a bunch of unqualified people halfway across the universe!" O'Neill also tells Rush to "get those people home". Back on the ship, the groups explore the vast vessel. In Greer's group, Dr. Jeremy Franklin questions if they are really alone on the ship or if another race (possibly one that doesn't breath air) is also aboard. Meanwhile, Scott attempts to apologize to James for earlier, but she doesn't want to talk about it now. Later, they encounter a locked door. Scott decides to call Rush, only to have Eli Wallace answer instead, as he has no idea where Rush went. Scott wants Eli to open a door for him. However, Eli, who later finds out where they are, points out that the door he is located at is red, and notes that red isn't good news. Regardless, he opens it anyway. After seconds, Eli sees the screen flash red. On the other side is a large room with a dome shaped-glass, and there is a massive breach in the section, and it seems shoddily patched up with a forcefield. Eli quickly has the door closed, and Scott marks the door with a piece of chalk, meaning the area is out of bounds. Rush soon arrives where Eli is, and tells everyone on the ship via radio to get back to the Gate room, as he has an announcement. In the Gate room, Rush shows them the device he was carrying; it has five communication stones, which are capable for the users to make contact with Earth by taking control of another person's body. He tells them that he spoke with O'Neill, and that he has been placed in charge. However, none of them believe him. As Senator Alan Armstrong demands to talk to O'Neill himself, he collapses. Lt. Tamara Johansen tends to him, and after lifting his shirt up, reveals a large bruise, and that any blood thinners, such as the Warfarin from his heart medication can cause him to bleed to death internally. Rush tells TJ to find accommodation for Armstrong, and that they should all find some while they can. Camile Wray however, challenges his authority, since she is a member of the International Oversight Advisory. Scott breaks up the argument, and tells them that Young put him in charge, and although Rush is right, they should continue searching the ship. Several members, including Greer, Riley, Wray, and Dr. Dale Volker search the inventory of the supplies they brought on board. In the process, Greer notices Wray staring at him, since he was in detention, and for "good reason", and wants him detained somewhere on the ship. In response, Greer attempts to walk up to her, but Riley stops him. Before the situation escalates, he is called by Scott to another section of the ship. Rush also directs Scott to an elevator on the ship, but en route, he is alarmed to see a tiny ball floating around, and starts following it. In one room, TJ is looking after Young, who finally regains consciousness, and wants to know what has happened; they are on an Ancient ship, with no immediate solution to return to Earth, and on top of that, the ship's life support is failing. After hearing that Rush claimed O'Neill put him in charge, Young decides to get up and talk to Rush himself, but discovers he has no feelings in his legs, and lies back down. He does however, tell TJ to tell Rush he needs to talk to him. Scott continues to pursue the flying ball, and enters a room where Eli is. He says he has discovered the flying ball, and tells Scott that it is a "flying camera", which is perfect to search through the ship. He also plans on calling it the Kino, which he names after the Russian word for "cinema". After demonstrating its use, Scott wants to know what else he found. Eli tells him to give him a break, since it is his second spaceship, though Scott admits he is also new to the Stargate program. They both make it to Rush with the Kino, who finds the device fascinating. He diverts attention back to the situation; he has found that a series of CO2 scrubbers are malfunctioning, and others are also failing. Scott and Greer walk up to one, and opens a panel, revealing a ruptured scrubber, leaking a substantial amount of a black oily substance. In one sleeping quarter, Senator Armstrong awakens with Chloe Armstrong at his side. She admits to not knowing what has transpired, because she was with him the entire time. Her father tells her to find out what is going on. As she leaves, she takes the pills with her, to prevent him from taking some, which would make him bleed internally. Meanwhile, Greer, Franklin, and James enter the Destiny's Mess hall and discover that there isn't food and that water only barely trickles out of the faucets. In the Gate room, Rush believes the next priority is to seal off any leaks. Soon enough, Wallace and Rush find two Ancient shuttles on the ship. One of the search teams, comprising of Franklin and Greer finds one of those shuttles, and find that the door to it cannot be closed. As they investigate further, they feel air gushing into the shuttle; the shuttle has a leak, and as earlier, the forcefield is not 100% effective; the shuttle is the culprit for the leaking air problem. By the time Rush and Eli make it to the shuttle, Rush comes to the conclusion that the forcefield isn't working due to the fact there are several hull breaches, far too many for the forcefield to take proper effect. They discover that one of the doors can be closed from inside the shuttle. When they do, air immediately gushes out of the shuttle, and Rush is forced to open the door again. Chloe reports back to her father, while TJ returns to Young, who is making a recovery. Chloe and TJ tells the Senator and Young respectively that the C02 scrubbers are malfunctioning, and that there is a leak on one of the shuttles, and the door to it cannot be closed off from outside the shuttle. However, Franklin is working on finding a way to close it. However, if it cannot be closed off by just over one hour, they will run out of air. Afterward, Eli documents everything with the Kino, which Scott finds annoying. The team come to the conclusion that someone should sacrifice his or herself to close the door. TJ comprises a list of those seriously injured, and that they should choose someone with no immediate value to the expedition. Scott explains that everybody wants Rush dead, implying he should do it. Chloe also argues that no one should be asked to sacrifice themselves, but Rush retorts, saying that if no one will, everybody will die. When Scott reports to Young, he volunteers to close off the door, since he feels that "this isn't the kind of thing I can ask somebody else to volunteer for." However, Scott and TJ does not help him stand, despite being ordered to do so, and slowly gives up. Chloe then reports that her father is missing after she told him the situation. Scott radios Franklin and Greer, believing the Senator is coming their way. Greer reports back that he is already here, and that he has somehow obtained a side arm and holds the two at gunpoint, with the intention of getting in there, despite Franklin saying he can close the door. However, it becomes apparent that he can't, since the ship is too old, and not everything works anymore. Senator Armstrong wants to know what to do. Chloe and Scott run down to the airlock, but by the time they arrive, the Senator is already in the shuttle, and closes the airlock before Chloe can get to him. As she urges him not to do it, Greer remarks that the man was already "dead on his feet". Chloe asks Franklin to open it, but he can't. Chloe is forced to watch helplessly as the shuttle becomes void of all air. Senator Armstrong says that he loves her, before he dies from asphyxiation. As Scott tries to comfort her over her loss, she quickly gets up and runs to the control room, where she attacks Rush, blaming him for her father's death. Scott and TJ manage to break it off. Rush then approaches her and apologizes for what happened to her father, but then diverts attention again, saying that this could be the greatest discovery made by man kind since the Stargate itself, something her father would believe in. He then promises her that no one else will die in vein. In the store room, Young is on his feet again and informs Wray that Senator Armstrong is dead, but his actions have brought the rest of expedition a day at most, before the carbon dioxide poisoning can kill everyone on board. He also tells her that she should tell everyone the situation and keep things as positive as possible. Meanwhile, Chloe is with Scott in the Observation deck, where Chloe says she watched her father die, and now he is gone. Scott wants her to talk about him, as he didn't get to know him very well. She answers that no matter how busy he was with the work, he always found time to talk to her. She also remembers her mother, who believes that she and her father are both dead. Scott decides to leave her in the observation room, to get back to search the ship. Back in the control room, Eli notices Rush is still working, and wonders if he even cared about what happened to Armstrong. Rush says that he does, but at the same time, he is trying to learn as much and as quickly as possible, including trying to find the solution to the life support issues. When Eli asks if he found anything yet, Rush says he has found the ship's name translated from Ancient, Destiny. He also discovered that the ship was sent out unmanned, and that the Ancients planned to use the Stargate to get to the ship when it was far enough away, but they probably learned to ascend before then. He explains what ascension is to Eli. In the Gate room, Riley looks through the Dial Home Device and has found what he believes to be a Gate address back to Earth. Young orders Riley to dial the Gate. Meanwhile, Eli asks Rush about the Lucian Alliance. Rush explains the history of the Alliance and how they, like most people in the galaxy, have taken a keen interest in the purpose of the ninth chevron. Rush explains that many believe the ninth chevron to lead to a source of great power ("Some say it was a key to the universe itself and, once unlocked, you could gain untold power.") However, as they continue, he notices the Stargate is being dialed, and runs to the Gate room to tell them it won't work, since Earth is out of range and dialing it would waste most of what little power they have left. Just then, everyone sees everything blurred around them for a second. Young radios anyone near the observation room to go there. TJ is in the area, and enters the room where Chloe is already observing. They see space, meaning the ship has dropped out of FTL. Rush believes that any minute, the Stargate will automatically dial to another planet, which it does. He says that he told the ship they were in trouble, and the ship is possibly giving them the solution; whatever is on the other end of the wormhole is what they need to solve the air problem. Not knowing what is on the other side, Eli suggests they use the Kino, which Rush believed was its purpose. After it is through, Riley and Park read an atmosphere, temperature, and most important of all, it has oxygen and nitrogen, with little carbon dioxide; the planet is habitable, but they do notice that the area around the gate is desert. Brody finds four other addresses nearby, but Rush says that they're locked out, and the ship chose this planet. There is also a problem; Rush finds a clock, and is counting down from 12 hours; when time runs out, the ship will go back into FTL. With little time, Rush and Young decide on who should go through. Rush proposes Andrea Palmer should go, since she's a geologist. Franklin is also going, as will Eli; Young wants him to experience an offworld mission first hand. Rush also says he knows what to look for, so he's going. Scott and Greer will also go; Scott will be in charge of the operation. Young is also keeping several personnel on the ship to fix life support. Before the team leave to go to the planet, Young orders Scott to keep an eye on Rush. + +Lt. Matthew Scott and six other people, Sgt. Curtis, MSgt. Ronald Greer, Dr. Jeremy Franklin, Andrea Palmer, Dr. Nicholas Rush and Eli Wallace arrive at the planet, where they quickly sense a heat wave. Eli on the other hand, finds it "cool" to be on his second off world travel. While Franklin uses the Ancient remote control to make sure they can Gate back to the ship, Palmer quickly finds that the sand contains gypsum, which is close to what they are looking for. However, after running a test, they find that the sample is not suitable enough. Their best chances are to find a dried lake bed, meaning they have to start searching the area around it. Franklin is able to contact the Destiny, where Colonel Everett Young reminds them they have 12 hours to find what they need. On board the Destiny, Young visits Chloe Armstrong in one of the sleeping quarters. She tells him she's fine, but Young thinks otherwise, and they have a brief conversation. Young tells Chloe that he is going to use the Long-range communication device to make contact with his superiors back on Earth. Knowing what the device does, Chloe asks to talk to her mother back on Earth. In a Homeworld Command lab on Earth, Colonel David Telford has been sitting next to the communication device ever since Rush contacted Lt. General Jack O'Neill. Dr. Mehta tells him to take a rest. As Telford is in the middle of answering to tell her he will stay, he gets a brief blackout. When he comes to, his consciousness has been replaced with Young's. He identifies himself to Mehta and asks for an audience with O'Neill. He also tells her he's going to need her. As this is happening, Telford is in Young's body on the floor of one of the quarters, and hears from Lt. Tamara Johansen that Young suffered several bruises and broken ribs. Mehta, now in Chloe's body, enters the room and helps TJ aid Telford. After O'Neill gives Chloe Major Green to take her to her mother's house, he talks with Young, who tells him what he felt Rush neglected to tell him when he was in Lee's body; there's a failing life support aboard the ship, and despite their best efforts to fix it, Young tells him no one is properly qualified. There, O'Neill tells Young "In the past dozen years or so, we've sent hundreds of teams through that thing. I think the bottom line is: none of us are qualified." Before Young leaves, he tells O'Neill that he thinks soon it may be time to give the people on board the ship their chance to say goodbye to their loved ones. Back on the desert planet, Franklin is already struggling in the trek, and suggests they should check out the other planets, but Rush overrules him. He feels the other gate addresses were locked out for a reason; the materials they need must be on this planet or the ship wouldn't have sent them here. Some time later, the team are still trekking through the middle of the desert. Eli jokes that he saw the Statue of Liberty in a mirage (referencing Planet of the Apes). Finally, Scott decides it would be faster to split up. He takes Greer and Rush with himself and sends Eli with Palmer, Franklin and Curtis in another direction, placing Eli in charge, and Curtis as Eli's protector. They should test a sample of the sand every 20 minutes, and radio the rest if they find a lake bed. On Earth, Chloe Armstrong (in Mehta's body) arrives at her mother's house. When Patricia Armstrong finds out her daughter is home, she rushes out to the car only to find herself with a complete stranger, but the woman insists she is indeed Chloe. Inside, Patricia finds it difficult to accept that Chloe is actually on a spaceship far from home, and takes a drink to calm her nerves. She makes Chloe promise that she should return safely, but Chloe says she might not; the ship's life support system. She later finds out her husband died in the process, and breaks down in tears. Rush's expedition now has nine hours until the ship leaves. TJ gives Mehta the tour, and informs her that everyone is either in their quarters, or working on a way to solve the air situation inside the ship. Telford meanwhile, instructs Sgt. Hunter Riley to dial the Gate to the planet every 20 minutes, even though that could tax the ship's power. He also tells them to try and dial the other four planets in range. TJ arrives and tells Telford he must rest and let Young's body recover, but Telford is adamant about continuing throughout the ship. Rush tests another sample, but it is also negative. While adamant they should keep going, Rush says it would be impossible to maintain the same fast pace on the way back after six hours. He provokes Greer to hit him, while Scott is distracted by a dust vortex that no one seems to notice. As they continue, the vortex hovers over the wet patch of sand and appears to dry up the area. Meanwhile on the Destiny, TJ gives Telford something for the pain, which is revealed to be a sedative, knocking Telford out cold to prevent any further health risks to Young. Mehta argues that TJ was out of line, but she retorts that what's out of line is being willing to disregard the health of another human being, as Telford was doing with Young's body, and she leaves the room, leaving an indignant Mehta with Telford. With another sample turning negative, Eli and the rest of his team continue arguing about searching the other planets. Franklin believes he has found an override to allow the Gate to dial the other 4 planets. Eli is the only one who believes they should stay. Meanwhile, Rush's next test is also negative, and he admits he cannot go on. He gives Scott his canteen so Scott can continue with the testing. Scott appoints a reluctant Greer to take Rush back To the gate. There, Eli quietly reports to Scott about Curtis, Palmer and Franklin who have given up and, having figured out how to override the Destiny lockout, have decided they should check one of the other planets; Scott orders Greer to stop them if he can. Back on Earth, Patricia, having learned of her husband's death, threatens that if anything happens with her daughter, she will go public with information about Stargate Program. Chloe argues with her and then leaves. Once again Scott, now traveling alone, sees the dust vortex on the desert planet. He pours some water on the sand, offering it to the vortex. Suddenly, as the vortex blows away sand, it exposes a human head wearing a priest's collar. Elsewhere, on their way back to the Stargate, Rush asks Greer for water, which begins an argument. When Greer accuses him of thinking that rich people like him gets to boss everybody around. Rush responds that his father worked in the Glasgow shipyards, and earned a scholarship to Oxford while working two jobs. Rush again provokes Greer into fight. Greer threatens to shoot Rush if he fights him again, but he is sure that Greer will not shoot, as they need him. They continue to walk towards the Gate. At the Gate, Eli continues attempting to convince the team to stay on the planet but they refuse to listen. After sending the Kino through and discovering that the planet has plants and water, Palmer and Curtis pass through the Gate to one of the previously locked out planets. At that moment Greer also reaches the Stargate and fires a warning shot at Franklin. Franklin, however, refuses to stop and attempts to run through the gate. Rush tells Greer to shoot Franklin, which he does to the shoulder. Franklin falls to the ramp and the Stargate closes before he can pass through, effectively stranding Palmer and Curtis since Franklin is carrying the Ancient remote. Rush says they can send them another remote lateR. Greer tries to contact Scott by radio but he doesn't respond. On the planet, Scott walks through the desert after the vortex and the same priest appears and follows him. The man encourages Scott to keep moving and not to give up. Scott answers that he will not let anyone down like he did to the man and has no need for this man to follow him around and remind him of that fact. Back at the Gate, Greer decides to go and look for the lieutenant. Rush believes that would be suicide, as there is little time left before the Gate closes and Destiny re-enters FTL. Eli offers to join Greer in his search, but Greer refuses, claiming that Eli will only slow him down. He asks Eli to take the injured Franklin back to Destiny and wait. Also he gives Eli his sidearm "just in case" and teaches him to use it by simply loading the chamber. Eli promises to stay on the planet as long as possible to wait for him and Scott. Back on board the Destiny, Young recovers in his own body and realizes that he was sedated. Meanwhile, Rush and Franklin return through the Stargate, where Rush tells those in the Gate room what happened. Sometime later, on the planet, Eli has activated the Stargate to the address Curtis and Palmer went through. He attempts to contact them, but receives no reply, which worries Eli; either the two are out of range, or they are both dead. Scott is still wandering around in the desert when he collapses and flashes back into his teenage years, where he sits in a church crying as the priest consoles him. Scott finally loses consciousness, coincidentally just short of a dried lake bed. He fully remembers his conversation with the priest. He tells him about a sixteen year old girl that he barely knows, and is pregnant with his child but is going to have an abortion. Scott had intended to become a priest also, but he now thinks he is too weak. The priest assures Scott it is not his fault, that Jesus will forgive him, when he suddenly turns into the dust life form. In reality, the life form moves past Scott and exposes an underground water source near his head, waking him. Scott realizes that he has finally found the lake bed and tests it for lime, which is successful. With little time left, he shovels as much of the mineral as possible into his backpack and starts walking back to the gate. At the gate, Eli meets a group of soldiers led by Lt. Vanessa James, who have brought him another Kino. He points them in the location of Greer and Scott, boots up the kino, and the team start searching. Meanwhile, Scott is walking as fast as he can with the heavy bag of lime. However, he stumbles numerous times, while Greer is running through the sand dunes to find him. On board the Destiny, the carbon dioxide reaches to very high levels, where several expedition members are starting to experience hypoxia symptoms. With very little time and no water, Scott can go no further with the back pack and collapses yet again. Fortunately, he is spotted by Greer, who hands him some water and convinces him to get up, and helps him. Scott however, tells him to carry the bag and leave him behind, but Greer convinces him to get up. There are only three minutes remaining. James returns to the Gate after she cannot find the two, and goes through the Gate, though Eli is determined to stay, and sees through the Kino footage to find Greer and Scott. By now, the countdown has turned red, meaning they have under one minute. Eli is finally able to see Greer and Scott on the horizon with the lime, but with very little time, they won't make it. Rush radios Eli and tells him to stick his arm through the event horizon, hoping that if the Gate is still active, the ship won't jump back to FTL. Eli reluctantly complies. By the time the countdown reaches zero, the ship starts shaking as if it wants to go back into FTL, but it cannot. Fortunately, the Gate remains active long enough for Eli, Greer and Scott to return with the lime. Moments later, the ship is able to jump back to FTL. A little time later, the crew converts the lime into a milk-like liquid, and refills the CO2 scrubbers with it. It doesn't take long for the crew to notice that air is returning to normal, as they hear air vents activating. They are all able to breathe easier again. Chloe visits Scott in his quarters, who is recovering from the mission. She gives him water and tells him to drink it. Knowing what Chloe went through earlier, he tells her that when he was only four years old, his parents were killed in a car accident, and was raised by a priest until he died from alcoholism when Scott was 16. He then tells her that there are some things in their lives they will never get over, but they can go through it the best they can. As the two continue to rest, they do not notice a small spaceship separating itself from Destiny, which was attached while they were traveling in FTL, and is now making its own way. + +One day after the expedition repairs the life support, a tired and shaken Dr. Nicholas Rush works on an Ancient console. He grows frustrated when he discovers something on the console. He walks to a nearby area, passing Sgt. Hunter Riley. Riley asks for his attention, only to be rebuffed. Rush arrives at a room to find Dr. Lisa Park and others working on the room's systems. Rush tells her to shut the room's systems off and keep them off, which she does. Meanwhile, Colonel Everett Young talks with some members of the expedition in the mess hall while Airman Darren Becker distributes food rations (powder mixed into water). Camile Wray supervises the group, which includes Eli Wallace, Lt. Matthew Scott and Chloe Armstrong. Crew morale heightens when Dr. Adam Brody informs the team that they have discovered over 90,000 liters of water in the ship's hold. Young reminds those present that this is not a large quantity, but Wray argues that it should loosen rations. A few of those present begin to joke about taking showers, though Eli points out the Destiny showers don't appear to use water. Rush's arrival interrupts the conversation, and Young breaks off the meeting. Most of the others leave while Young and Wray sit with Rush. He informs them that through the night, he noticed power reserves dropping. After the lights flicker, he tells Young to stop everyone from activating anything and thus draining even more power, and Young agrees. Rush takes his rations and walks back to the console he worked on previously. Riley interrupts him again, but Rush snaps partway through Riley's explanation and throws him against the wall, warning Riley not to interrupt Rush. Another flicker of the lights changes his focus, and he continues back to the console. Elsewhere, Eli activates a Kino and decides to record some of the crew members messages for posterity's sake, should someone (or something) find their recordings if they die or are no longer aboard the ship. Another team enters the mess hall. Young, Wray and Becker are still present, but this time with Lt. Tamara Johansen, MSgt. Ronald Greer, Dr. Dale Volker and others. Young and Wray tell them that they need to help Rush, but they don't want anything to do with him. Young also informs them that Scott is working on the second shuttle, which may be operational. After they leave, Wray asks Young what they are to do to Senator Alan Armstrong's body, but Young hasn't any plans on him yet. Becker asks Young his assignment, and Young asks fervently for recipes to make the rations more palatable. Meanwhile, Lt. Vanessa James is the first to record a message on the Kino. After introducing herself, she simply says that she does not want to die out there. Wray catches Young in the corridors, and wants to know of TJ's role, since she resigned, but under the circumstances, she is reactivated as the ship's medic. He then enters a room with Riley, Park and a few others, who show him a new interesting discover; recharging plates. Riley was able to tweak it to be compatible with Tau'ri technology. He demonstrates by putting a flashlight with a dead battery. A few seconds later, it is recharged. Though he finds it impressive, Young orders it be shut off, since it's draining power. When a solution is found, they can reactivate it. Scott is in the working shuttle, and is joined by TJ and Greer, who wish to help, and noting Scott has no flight experience, apart from flight simulations on an F-302 fighter-interceptor. Since he can't figure out the controls, because they're in Ancient, he asks for them to fetch Brody to help translate the buttons and switches. In another section, Chloe notices Eli is closely following her. When he stops, Chloe asks him to keep her company anyway. After they return to walking, Chloe asks Eli if she could check out the showers, which he reluctantly directs her to. Back in the control room, Young tells Rush everyone has stopped exploring until they are clear. Knowing he is working by himself, Young wants someone to assist him, but Rush says he can do it himself, since it would be a waste of time to bring anyone else up to speed. As he leaves, Young remarks "Volker it is." Later, Sgt. Spencer records a message into the Kino, and tells it that all he wants is to get off the ship. Chloe relaxes in one of the showers. Eli, who is standing outside the room is approached by James, who wishes to talk with him alone. Volker arrives in the control room. Rush says he doesn't want help. However, Volker is able to convince him, since he would be sent back after Young finds out he leaves. Rush tells him that the ship is on the verge of losing power, and that if it weren't for their arrival, power would last a little longer on the ship, but people happened to just explore, turn on several systems, and even attempted to dial to Earth. When Volker argues with him, Rush angrily demands that he "Get Out!". Meanwhile, Eli and James arrive at the Observation deck, where several people are waiting. They insist that they wish to talk to him. They wonder if he knows anything about what is going on and if there is any way to dial Earth. Eli denies he or anyone else knows anything about it. Since the group appoint him their "inside man", Eli promises to tell the crew anything that Rush and Young tell him. Volker, who only left five minutes ago, reports back to Young about Rush's attitude. Young decides to speak to Rush himself. Suddenly, lights all over the ship go out, and Destiny exits FTL. By the time Young and Volker visit Rush, they learn that for the past few minutes, Rush saw several systems fail very quickly, and that FTL was the last to go out. They can't dial the Stargate, because there is no jump countdown. They also can't get reserve power, since that is gone also; all the power on the ship is gone. Volker is the next to record a message on the Kino, in the dark. In the message, he compares Rush to Mozart, Schubert or Elgar. Eli walks up to Chloe in the shower, who is struggling to get dressed in the dark. He uses his iPhone as a flashlight as an aid. She insists she is fine and tells Eli to find out what happened, but as he leaves, she changes her mind, and asks him to wait for her first. Rush, Young and Volker travel through ship. Rush tells them that none of the ship's computer terminals work, and that he could not have access to the core systems. As they arrive in the Gate room, Rush continues ranting about everybody wasting power, including the pointless attempt to dial Earth. He becomes more angry, yet disorientated at the same time. Eventually, Young radios TJ, but by then, Rush collapses from exhaustion. Meanwhile, Destiny slowly approaches a star system. Eli records Riley's message on the Kino, and says his relatives never left his home state, and has "no regrets" about being stranded billions of light years away. In a dark room, Young, Eli, Volker and Brody surmises what has happened; everything but life support is dead, and Rush isn't expected to wake up anytime soon. They wonder how they can find a way to power up the ship again. Eli says he sent a Kino around the ship, and then suggests they find a way to integrate the shuttle's power to Destiny's power. The others think it is a good idea, so Young tells them to work on it. They leave as Young prepares another contact with Earth on the situation. Later, Scott is recording a message on the Kino, who starts to pray. As Young places a stone into the Long-range communication device, Colonel David Telford is reporting back to his shift on Earth, relieving Peter. Moments later, the two swap bodies again. Telford awakens on the Destiny, and abides by TJ's note over the rifle, saying "use the crutch." Outside the room, he encounters Riley, identifies himself, and wants to talk to Rush. However, he learns he has a nervous breakdown, so he has to settle with Scott. Meanwhile, on Earth, Young finishes his debrief with Lt. General Jack O'Neill. He then asks Major Peterson to send him to his wife. However, by the time he arrives, he learns that Emily doesn't want Young to touch her because he is in somebody else's body. On the Destiny, TJ records a message into the Kino, and tells it that she actually resigned a few weeks ago, before sarcastically remarking "to think I could have missed all of this." Back in the present, Telford enters the operating shuttle to find Scott and TJ inside. Telford seems a little uneasy to see that only the shuttle has power, and wonders why Young would let this happen. Meanwhile, Emily hears what happened to Young, and finds it ridiculous. The conversation does not go well, and fairly quickly, he leaves, but tells her that he loves her. As he is about to leave, Emily exits her house as well, and wonders if he is coming back. After he says he doesn't know, Emily leaves him, and tells him to leave her alone, but hopes he is going to be OK. Back on Destiny, Telford orders Scott to do something, but chooses not to obey, saying it is a waste of time, and the ship was there for a reason. After he says that, Young returns to his body, and wonders what Telford ordered Scott to do. He replies that Telford wants Scott to use the communication stones and contact Earth to have Young replaced, something Young himself somewhat agrees to. He then wonders what reason the ship came here for. Park is recording her message on the Kino, and explains the odds of the ship dropping out of FTL right outside a star system is astronomical, even more so to find one with three potentially habitable planets. Also, because the star is a red dwarf, two of the planets may have a short orbital radius, and may be tidally locked; one side would face the star indefinitely, increasing the geological instability. This makes her reminisce her bad experience with an earthquake when she was 13 years old. Rush awakens with TJ tending to him. She informs him that nothing happened while he was out cold, which lasted 10 hours; the first decent sleep he had since he got to the ship. Rush admits that he feels embarrassed about his outburst earlier. Learning he drinks over five cups of coffee a day, TJ tells him he had a breakdown from caffeine withdrawal; several crew members are going through similar withdrawals, as are the smokers on board, which Rush himself is as well. He gets up after hearing Young wants to talk to him. Sometime later, Eli tries to get him say something on the Kino recording, but he has nothing to say, though he does look into the camera for a moment, showing his exhaustion. A now calmer Rush enters into the shuttle with Young, TJ, Greer and Scott. Rush remarks that some of the stickers with the translations Brody added were backwards. With the ship going to pass through a Gas giant (which Young names Big Bertha), they will use its gravity to slingshot the ship deeper into the star system, hopefully finding out if any of the planets are habitable. They have six minutes until this happens. By then, they have to spread the word for everyone to brace themselves for the upcoming turbulence. Brody is the next to record the message on the Kino. However, unlike the others, he keeps wanting to do the message again. On the fourth take. There, he says that ever since he stepped through the Stargate, he knew he would die in deep space, and just knew that what they went through would happen. Meanwhile, Young and Greer walk across a corridor, where Greer takes out his sidearm, only to find the Kino following them. The commotion is heard by James, who notices the Kino, and accuses Eli and Riley of spying on her while she sleeps, though they claimed they took a wrong turn. Young orders her to spread the word to everyone to sit tight for the next few minutes. By the time Destiny is close enough, Eli and Chloe walk to the observation deck, to find several crew members awe at the view of Big Bertha. Young orders them to stay away from the walls to avoid serious injury from the turbulence. By then, the ships starts to shake, indicating the slingshot is taking place. After a moment of strong vibrations on the ship, it starts to subside. Rush tells those in the shuttle that they should determine if any of the planets are habitable. However, he quickly notices that their trajectory has changed more than they anticipated, and they are in a lot of danger. From outside Destiny, it is shown that the ship is drifting directly into the star's direction. + +Sgt. Ronald Greer records his message on the Kino. In it, he says that he cannot think of a better way to die than fly into a star, and go out in a "blaze of glory," a notion which he finds beautiful. Destiny is continuing on its collision course with the star. Colonel Everett Young gathers the entire crew in the Gate room. Once they are all accounted for, he informs them that within a day, the ship will fly directly into the star and that there is no way to avoid it. There is a solution however; there is still one working shuttle, and that he believes the ship arrived in the system for a reason; there are three planets nearby, at least one should be habitable. However, the shuttle can only fit seventeen people on board. Though twice as many can fit, there would still have to be supplies on board and that life support can't handle anymore than seventeen. There will be a lottery where fifteen names will be chosen, while the other two will be selected by himself. However, Young meets some resistance from Sgt. Spencer, who believes Young is going to be one of them. Young, however, informs him that he has written himself out of the lottery. With a few hours left to determine if the planets are habitable, he dismisses the group and sends them to their quarters. As they disperse, Eli Wallace notices from across the room that Chloe Armstrong and Lt. Matthew Scott are holding hands, and leave, which upsets him. Meanwhile, some of the crew select the supplies to be brought onto the shuttle. Chloe and Scott go into the latter's quarters. There, they start to kiss. They later lie down on the bed and proceed to make love. Camile Wray visits Young in his quarters, and start arguing about the lottery. Wray believes he should pick everyone of those seventeen people, since it's the responsible thing to do, and if they need leadership, it will include Young going too. She also believes he should consider her too. Young tells her that selecting the names will not make it fair on the other people, and that everyone is the "wrong people." When she continues, Young warns her that if she doesn't leave, he will remove her name from the lottery. Beat, she complies. In a flashback, Eli is sleeping during the middle of the day, after he was up all night playing computer games. His mother enters his bedroom and wakes him up, since he should be going for a job interview. However, Eli says it was canceled, since it was not his skill set. His frustrated mother, who is late for work herself leaves the room, slamming the door behind her. This makes Eli awaken from his sleep on board Destiny. Meanwhile, Scott and Chloe discuss what is to happen. He sounds sure that both he and she will be going, since he believes Chloe is the second person Young selected because of her political status. She however, doesn't think, and says she'll chance it on the lottery, since there is a one in six chance of being selected. Eli visits several people in a room on board Destiny and tells them that when the shuttle leaves, they should send the Kino with them as a form of "message in a bottle", despite the fact that chances for an alien race finding it later are virtually nil. Chloe takes her chance with recording a message. She says that her father died to save the rest for another day, and points out that that is all he gave the rest. Young visits Dr. Nicholas Rush as he is preparing the shuttle for departure. He had already checked two of the planets out of the three present in the solar system, the third planet being out of reach as it is on the other side of the star. One of the planets are too cold, and the other too hot. The third is orbiting in between in the "Goldilocks zone", meaning it is just right but recommends not to wait until Destiny will be close enough. Young suggests to use the shuttle engines to push Destiny off course, but Rush states that he has already done the calculations, and the shuttle engines aren't powerful enough for it. As Young departs, Rush requests to be excluded from the lottery list also, but wants to know who he selected; Scott and Lt. Tamara Johansen. Meanwhile, Wray records her message on the Kino. She says that who ever will find it eventually should tell Sharon Walker, that her last thoughts were of her. Lottery time. Young arrives and declares that he and Rush have decided to exclude their names from the lottery list, and that Scott and Johansen are the two he selected. He shows a box with all their names on pieces of paper. After shuffling them, all those who are named should run to the shuttle. The first name chosen out of the box is Airman Darren Becker. He later picks up the names of David Walters, Camile Wray, Lt. Vanessa James and Dr. Lisa Park. The first ones run to the shuttle, and are seated under Scott's orders. After announcing the following eight other names, calls for Sgt. Hunter Riley, and Dr. Boone. Spencer, however, doesn't wish to accept his face at the hands of the sun, and tries to incite a rebellion. Before things escalate, Greer knocks him down with his weapon, and warns everyone else he will do the same. The others who were chosen enters the shuttle, and Young orders Scott to countdown a minute before launch. The others, apart from an unconscious Spencer, walk to the Observation deck to see the shuttle taking off. As they take off, Scott says his farewell, and promises to be thinking of them. Young ends the transmission with his final orders; to look after those in the shuttle. Using the images from the Kino, he shows those in the room, what Destiny looks like from the outside, before light engulfs the screen from the remote control. Now with the ship gone, Young plans on taking a walk, and offers Greer to join him, which he accepts. Rush, meanwhile, announces he is to finish reading a "truly mediocre" book. He then apologizes to Eli for involving him. Chloe is curious about how they are to die. He says that there will be turbulence from the solar wind, heat, and intense G-force, which will tear the ship apart, but also hopes their deaths will be quick. Facing imminent destruction, the crew tries to find solace in their final moments. In their walk, Young admits that although he doesn't condone any bad behavior, he thought the look of Colonel David Telford's face when Greer assaulted him before he was detained was "priceless," and that also got away with it. Greer then apologizes for disappointing him, but they continue laughing about; Young even remarks that Telford deserved it. They then say their farewells, and go separate ways. Possibly before the shuttle left, Young records his Kino message. He wants to say something to his wife, but hesitates at it for so long, he ends the recording. Spencer eventually comes round and gazes around the empty Gate room. He wonders around to see a group of Dr. Dale Volker and others playing a card game. He then walks past a room full of people praying before their end. Meanwhile, Rush starts reading the book and listening to classical music in his quarters. Eli and Chloe spend their last hours together, gazing at the sun getting closer and closer. Young sits in his quarters and takes off his wedding ring. Greer strips in his quarters and meditates, awaiting his fate. In the shuttle, Riley looks at his watch and notices it has gone passed midnight; Wray knows it his birthday. Scott then asks Brody to check the readings of the planet. Brody says that there is a breathable atmosphere, but only has trace amounts of carbon dioxide, meaning there will be little vegetation, and the temperatures will barely reach above zero, so it is habitable, just not the paradise they were expecting. Destiny starts burning up on the star's corona. Rush finishes his book and notices they aren't dead yet. He gets out of his quarters and walks to the control room. There, he notices that one of the consoles is online, and laughs when he reads what is on the monitor. He races to the Observation deck, and laughs again. He turns and tells Eli that they will all live, because the ship would have been destroyed by now, because they are so close to the surface. He explains the shield is protecting them, and that since he thought there was no power, he was never so happy to be wrong for the first time. Just then, Destiny deploys her energy collectors to harness the deuterium from the star's photosphere. The lights start turning on all over the ship. Power is restoring. Eli also realizes that they are inside the sun. When Young wonders what is going on, Rush explains that all he could think of, is that the ship came to the sun for the reason of recharging the power on board. However, their joy quickly turns to concern; they have to recall the shuttle, especially, since the jump countdown has begun. Rush works on restoring communications to the shuttle. Approaching the planet, Scott plans on taking it in high orbit and find a place to land. TJ realizes that those on Destiny are gone, and think that they are the lucky ones. Fortunately, they hear Young calling in, telling them that they are still alive, but wants them to head back. The shuttle crew are amazed to see Destiny still flying nearby. However, as they plot an intercept course, Brody notices the ship is gaining speed, and they cannot keep up. Rush has an idea; Destiny went around Big Bertha to perform an aerobraking maneuver, and that Scott should use the planet's gravity to perform a slingshot maneuver to go faster. Since Eli is a mathematical genius, he completes the calculations to work out the correct course for Scott to take. He is able to input the calculations, and sends the ship on a slingshot course. The shuttle shakes violently, but stays intact. Now gaining speed, the shuttle is heading straight for Destiny. Eli runs to the Observation deck, and sees the shuttle approach. However, there is another problem; the shuttle is going in too fast. To compensate, Scott fires up the maneuvering thrusters. The shuttle crashes straight onto the airlocks, but it makes it in one piece. After they engage the docking clamps, the crew on the shuttle leave relatively in one piece. Later, the crew are celebrating their survival and reunion in the mess hall. Young jokes to Scott that he had done the worst shuttle docking he had ever seen. He then commends Rush on his efforts and thanks him for their survival, but Rush dismisses it, saying their situation isn't any better than before. Young tries to convince Rush that he did a good deed by sacrificing himself, but after he leaves, Young soon starts suspecting that Rush had probably known about Destiny's plan all along. + +Sgt. Hunter Riley and MSgt. Ronald Greer are guarding ship's water supplies. Riley tells Greer a story he heard where several miners in China were trapped in a cave in and survived by drinking their own urine, and eating coal, though that almost killed them. They are then joined by Colonel Everett Young, who hears that their water levels have dropped again, this time they lost half of their original supply, to 40,000 liters. No one has had any access to the supply; in one instance, Sgt. Spencer was denied access after he wanted to take a look at the tank. Eli Wallace speculates to Dr. Nicholas Rush that the water may have evaporated when they entered the star, but Rush says that the tank is a closed system. Young says that this no longer matters, as the ship is now recharged; they can dial Earth. However, Rush doesn't think so; since Destiny is a million years old, it could only charge up to 40% its original capacity, and that if they could have the power to dial Earth, it would be thousands of years ago. As Young leaves, he wants to use Eli for the time being, and will send Dr. Adam Brody to replace him and help Rush, since he's an engineer. Young asked for Eli's assistance to use the Kino to spy on everyone who could be responsible for stealing water. The targets include Dr. Jeremy Franklin and Dr. Dale Volker in the mess hall. There, they hear that the two believe that the military is hoarding the water supplies to control the civilian population. Franklin soon notices the Kino. Young gains satisfaction that Franklin and Volker are not responsible, and asks Eli to continue on the other crew members. After Young leaves, a mysterious entity is swirling behind Eli, though he does not notice. Sometime later, Destiny drops out of FTL. Young notices that Greer just had a strange feeling, which is not FTL-related. In fact, a few moments prior, the same entity passed behind him. They both make it to the Gate room, where the Stargate has just dialed a planet in the "Hoth system", named by Eli after the Star Wars film, The Empire Strikes Back. The only planet within range, "Hoth", is going through a snow storm, and is an ice planet. Temperatures are at -47 degrees, and has a thin and toxic atmosphere (only .13% molecular Oxygen, 95% Carbon dioxide, and a hint of Argon. There is however, potentially suitable water ice around the area. After they shut down the Gate, Young radios Lt. Matthew Scott for assistance, but receives no answer. In fact, Scott is in one of the sleeping quarters, kissing Chloe Armstrong. They are interrupted by Lt. Vanessa James, who has caught them, and wonders if he paid attention to his radio; Young needs him. Sometime after, he joins Young with Dr. Lisa Park and a few other scientists, who have worked on two Ancient environmental suits and are working on the third. However, since it will take a day to finish on the third, and they only have 12 hours until the ship jumps back to FTL, they have to settle with two. Young and Scott are to go to the planet and collect the ice. The two suit up and prepare to leave the planet. They are given plasma cutters to cut the ice and bring it back to melt and replenish some of their water. They also only have eight hours worth of air on the suits, and as long as they don't take any deep breaths, they'll be fine. Young appoints Lt. Tamara Johansen in charge during his absence. Riley dials the planet again, and the two go through the wormhole. After the two arrive, Young tests a sample of ice. However, they read very high ratings of ammonia. Scott suggests they dig through the ice to the fresh water beneath. However, the ice could be up to ten feet deep. They could widen the search area, but that would mean they'd bring less ice back. Upon hearing this, Eli comes up with an idea, and runs to his quarters. Young seems to have mined ice before, by suggesting they search for a pressure ridge. They are then struck by a tremor, which happens frequently on the planet. Eli arrives in the Gate room with his invention; a hover board made up with several Kinos hovering below a board; he came up with it in an attempt to fly, but feels it could hold lots of ice. He sends it through, and Scott and Young proceed to find the ridge. Later, TJ discovers that the water level has dropped again. She orders Greer and Cpl. Gorman to start a search for who may have stolen the water. Meanwhile, the thirty-eight minutes is up; the Stargate shuts down. Rush orders Riley to reactivate it. After establishing a connection back to Hoth, Young informs his that they found an area that looks promising. However, testing a sample still proves to contain lethal amounts of ammonia. While, TJ walks through the corridors, she notices the same swirly vortex like entity in a nearby corridor. As it approaches her, the swarm starts to form the shape of her head before breaking up. Greer calls her, and tells her that she should come to Spencer's quarters. Turns out, Spencer has been hoarding two small tanks with water, and hoarding several energy bars. He claims that he brought them with him during the evacuation. TJ orders some Marines to take him to a room until Young returns. She then tells Greer about what she witnessed, and orders him to continue searching the missing supplies. He then searches through Chloe's quarters, though she says she didn't take anything, she has nothing to hide. Franklin visits and resents the search. When Greer finds nothing, he announces Franklin is next. Back on the planet, Young finds fresh ice in the form of a frozen waterfall. They plan to break the ice by shooting at it with the rifle they brought with them. Scott offers to do the honors. Since they only have limited ammunition, Scott fires some well placed shots into the waterfall to continue. On board Destiny, TJ describes what she saw to others. Rush deduces that according to her description, they seem similar as the entity Scott encountered on the desert planet. They speculate that a small number followed Scott to the Destiny, and started breeding, and living off the ship's water supply. TJ suggests that everyone should stop wandering the ship. She uses the ship's internal communication to tell everyone to get to their quarters. She then asks Rush for some advice, but all he could give her, is to always consider the greater good. Young and Scott have packed what they believe to be enough ice to bring back with the hover board. As they return to the Stargate, Greer calls Gorman down to the Gate room and assist. On the way, he encounters the entity, who approach him. Not knowing what they are, he considers them a threat and fires his sidearm. However, all this does is provoke the swarm. He fires more shots, but to no avail. The swarm start attacking him. In the process, they cut his skin several times, causing him a lot of bleeding. The hover board makes it through, and they start unloading the ice. The Stargate is dialed again so they can return the board for another run. Rush informs Young of a problem, but doesn't say anything rather than they are handling it. Eli, however, tells him everything; they have aliens on the ship, and have seriously wounded Gorman, because he may have provoked them, and TJ is doing everything to save him. When Young offers to return, Rush tells him to stay on the planet, as he can handle it. After they finish, Rush tells Eli to keep quiet. His reasoning is that the ice planet would only replenish part of their supply, and they need more planets, and more able people who do not want to hear the situation until they return. Greer suggests they hunt down bugs with his self-made flamethrower. However, TJ discourages it, because this may antagonize them further. TJ tells him to look for the swarm, but he is to do nothing but report to her. Eli comes up with another idea. He and Riley use a Kino and sees a swarm over the water tank. Greer sees the main swarm, and radios TJ. Despite orders not to, he fires the flamethrower, which scares the swarm away. They plan on luring them to an airlock. However, with none in the habitable part of the ship, TJ has another idea. Young and Scott have loaded another pile of ice, and start walking to the Stargate again. However, Scott steps into a thin layer of ice, and falls into a crevasse. Young brings down a rope, so Scott can hold on to, and Young can raise him up. However, getting him out proves to be impossible when Scott is wedged on the crevasse. The two are then hit with another tremor. Fortunately, Scott is still wedged in. Young contacts TJ, and wonders if Park has finished with the third suit. However, everyone is confined in quarters. Greer, meanwhile, is still succeeded in luring the swarm. Scott suggests Young give him the rifle so he can shoot the ice and loosen him enough to be picked up. However, the bullets could ricochet and rupture the suit. Plasma cutters aren't a good idea either. Another tremor hits the area, wedging Scott in further. Scott soon notices that his suit is starting to lose pressure, and can hear air hissing out. Young reports to Rush, who believes Young should leave Scott behind and return with the ice. Chloe, who is recently informed of the situation, overhears this and is appalled by what she heard. Young also disagrees with Rush, and is adamant that both the ice and Scott will return. He tries tugging him up again, but to no avail. Scott starts agreeing with Rush, and tells Young to leave him, since he lost people before. However, Young refuses to let that happen again. Greer successfully lures the swarm to a room, and closes it. From there, Rush drains all oxygen to the room. However, no oxygen does not affect them. All they succeed in doing is angering them. Soon enough, some start to escape through the tiny gaps between the doors. Greer holds them off with the flamethrower, but they need another plan fast. Scott is still in the crevasse. This time, he has lost a lot of oxygen and is not longer responsive. Another tremor hits the area. This time, the crevasse opens up slightly, giving Scott enough space to be pulled out. Scott regains consciousness, and uses what little strength he has to pull himself up. Young succeeds, but with little air left on the suit, they must return to the Stargate. Scott is lying on the hover board, where Young starts pushing it into the Stargate's direction. Meanwhile, TJ has an idea and brings a barrel of water with her, enough to house the swarm. They open the door, while TJ opens the barrel. The swarm does not attack TJ, and they all make it to the barrel, where she soon closes it. Quickly, she and a few others carry the water barrel to the Gate room. She orders to dial the Stargate. Whilst this is happening, Young stills drags the hover board with Scott to the Stargate. He notice the Stargate dialing in, and orders it to be shut down so they can return. Rush tells them to wait a moment, as they are sending the bugs through. After the barrel is through, the bugs escape. They seem to recognize Scott; they proceed to mimic his head and smile down at him. After the Stargate shuts down, Young dials out. Moments later, the two are through. They take Scott's helmet off and proceed to take him to the infirmary. After the ship jumps back into FTL, Young enters Spencer's holding room. He gives him a stern warning; if Spencer steps out of line again, he will be dealt with personally. As he exits, Spencer claims he understands, but after he is gone, Greer doesn't believe he is. Young later walks along a corridor, ignoring Franklin, Park and Volker on their issues. He records another message on the Kino, and says that at around 3am, ship time, Gorman succumbed to his injuries, and TJ did her best to save him. He is planning on holding the appropriate service for tomorrow. + +Lt. Tamara Johansen is checking up on Colonel Everett Young. During the check up, Young tells TJ that she is beautiful, and that he is sorry he hurt her. At first, TJ doesn't want to talk about it, but they inevitably kiss. This turns out to be a dream; Lt. Matthew Scott wakes him up, and tells him "they" are waiting for him. After looking at his watch, he gets up and enters a room with Camile Wray. The two place two stones into the long-range communication device. Young and Wray end up on the bodies of Hamilton and Baldwin respectively in Homeworld Command, at the Pentagon. Colonel David Telford is expecting them. He escorts them to a meeting room to see a number of scientists, International Oversight Advisory personnel, including Dr. Carl Strom, and Lt. General Jack O'Neill; they are also expecting them. Telford announces that they may have found a way to bring the people on the Destiny home. Sometime later, a young scientist, Dr. Williams has just given details of the plan. He explains that the power flow issues are the biggest variable, but the simulations prove encouraging. Though Strom and the IOA support the decision, Wray and Young have their skepticism, believing the plan to be dangerous, though Telford believes it may be worth it. When Young continues to show his doubts, O'Neill sends him to his office. There, he lectures Young that Colonel Samantha Carter saved his life several times with "all kinds of whacky science" he didn't understand, and that since Young is in charge of the ship, he should play it out rather than see what everybody on the ship thinks. He also reminds him that Senator Armstrong is dead with his daughter and dozens of other people trapped aboard Destiny. Even though President Henry Hayes wants this done, Young still insists on letting him know his decision by tomorrow. Wray joins Strom in the park, who is buying a hot dog. He compliments Wray on her work so far. However, she knows he is holding off on the conversation, and wants him to get to the point; he wants her to make the plan happen by using her influence among the rest of Destiny's expedition. He wants the plan to work so Earth engineers could use the data to re-engineer the process on one of the Daedalus-class ships, so they can dial Destiny without another Icarus-type planet, and hopefully send the right people. He then admits that he didn't want to talk to Dr. Nicholas Rush, since the IOA is not convinced he wants to return home. In Destiny's Mess hall, Eli Wallace talks with Scott, TJ, Chloe Armstrong and MSgt. Ronald Greer. He says that ordinarily the ship hasn't enough power to Gate to Earth, but they know it uses stars to refuel. If they time things just right in the middle of refueling they could draw on all the power from the star and power the gate at that moment. The ship would basically be a conduit between the gate and the star. First, though, the ship has to be low on power before it will automatically approach a star. At their current rate of use, it will also take months to drain the power, but Dr. Adam Brody, who is listening in, suggests they can drain it faster. He seems in on the idea, but wants to consult with Rush first. In the Control interface room, Rush talks with Wray and Young back in their own bodies. Rush believes the plan they are suggesting on Earth is dangerous, which could lead to the ship exploding. Sometime later, Young, Eli and Chloe plan to use the communication device. Eli seems wary about using it for the first time, not knowing what to say to his mother. The three then put on their stones to the pad, and they switch bodies with three people. Eli occupies Williams' body, Chloe has swapped with Dr. McCormack's body, Young occupies Telford's body. Eli seems excited to be back on Earth, and in another person's body, noticing he is wearing a suit. Williams, meanwhile, doesn't approve of Eli's dress sense. Telford visits Rush, and explains that he will be taking over from Young, and wants the proposed plan to go ahead Immediately. Young learns that Telford is taking over, as O'Neill doesn't want to wait. He reminds Young that he was offered command of the original planned 9th chevron expedition and turned it down. Young says that's true, but he's in this situation now and he has a responsibility to the people on the Destiny. Later Young tells Eli and Chloe about the situation. However, they can see their families as long as they follow the rules. Eli is concerned about what would happen if Destiny explodes in the test; Young believes they will die, so Eli decides to "live it up" while they can. Meanwhile, Telford arrives at the mess hall to meet Greer. His first order of business is to confine him to quarters, to either carry out his punishment or in case he would assaulted again. He later joins McCormack and Williams with several personnel to inform them of the plan. They do have doubts, but the three tell them that due to the ship's condition, it may experience a fatal breakdown at any time. Telford admits that they may not be sent home, but assures them that the plan is worth a try. Telford later joins Rush in the Observation deck. He has heard the plan, and still thinks it's impossible, since they barely have access to everything on the ship, and that although firing its weapons may drain the power, there is still a big risk. On Earth, Major Green drops Eli off at his mother's house. Since he's in a different body, he has no idea what to say to her. However, he knocks on the door. When Marian Wallace answers the door, Eli says that his name is Philip Fry, and he recently became close friends with Eli. She invites him over, wanting to know how her son is doing. "Philip" explains he is on a "crash diet" (considering Destiny has scarce supplies, but she doesn't know what her son is going through) and that he is doing fine. When he mentions that "Eli" told her she makes great chocolate chip cookies, she offers to make some so "Philip" can send them back to Eli. While he helps out, Marian admits that it was partly her fault Eli didn't apply himself even though he was intelligent, and that she's worried about him, since he doesn't call. "Philip" puts her mind at ease when he tells her Eli is doing good, and misses her. Meanwhile, Chloe talks with her mother, who is starting to get a little comfortable about seeing her daughter in other people. The two are still trying to deal with the loss of their husband/father. On board Destiny, Brody and Sgt. Hunter Riley are in space suits, working on some pipes for the plan. They are able to fix it. However, Telford feels that this is taking too long, but Rush says they need to do it to understand more about the ship first. He later sends the power through the pipes, but there appears to be a coolant leak. However, since it is so close to the hull, it could explode, and the decompression while in FTL will likely destroy the ship. Against Brody's wishes, Riley goes back to repair the leak. Unfortunately, the pipes ignite; the force of the explosion seriously injures Riley. TJ is checking up on Riley in the infirmary, and tells Rush and Telford that it is "touch and go", leaving his fate unknown. Telford later tells Rush that they are proceeding with the plan, even though Riley nearly died. Telford claims Rush put Riley's life in danger, and that after more talking, Telford believes Rush has doubts about the plan because if it does work, Rush may never return to the ship. Back on Earth, Chloe calls Eli about their visits. Eli admits he told his mother he was a co-worker, and Chloe tells him that she told her old friends that she is Chloe's "Cousin Liz", and that they are planning on taking her to see Janelle Monáe, and invites Eli. Meanwhile, Emily Young arrives home to unpack her shopping. Young, who is in Telford's body knocks on the door; she closes the door after seeing him, and threatens to call the Police if he doesn't leave. Young tells her he won't leave, and talks to her through the door. He says that the only thing keeping him from losing it on the ship is her, and even that makes him crazy after what he did to her, and wants her to forgive him. He also believes Emily is afraid that he would die, and that all he wants is to come back home to her. After a moment, he leaves. However, what Young said got through to Emily, who opens the door, and forgives him with a hug. Eli and Chloe enter the nightclub Janelle Monáe is attending. An attractive young woman, Mindy approaches Eli for some small talk. Amazed that a woman is talking to him, he offers her to dance, which she accepts. Meanwhile, Chloe notices a couple, Celina and Josh, and is somewhat disgusted by them. The reason is that Josh was Chloe's ex-boyfriend, and believes Josh left her for Celina. Chloe tries to take her mind off it by buying a drink, but runs into Celina. Their conversation turns into a heated argument, since Celina was her best friend, and just realized she is seeing Josh. Young and Emily are in bed, making love. Meanwhile, Destiny drops out of FTL. This apparently disrupts communications for a short time, placing Young, Eli and Chloe in their own bodies again. In that time, Telford is in shock to discover that Young was using his body to have sex with Emily. Seconds later, they swap bodies again. Both Telford and Young in particular shocked. Telford learn that in the few seconds, Young wants to remove the stones, but Telford overrides it. Eli discovers that Chloe is drunk, partly because of finding out about Celina and Josh, and feels like punching the latter. Knowing she had too much to drink, Eli takes Chloe out of the nightclub and take her back home. Although she had a terrible time, Eli had a good time, noting that he got the e-mail address from the same girl he danced with earlier. Once they get in the car, Chloe starts crying, stating that her life was bad even before she began working for her father. After saying that Mindy only gave him the e-mail address because she was referring to Williams, the body Eli is occupying, he has a fantasy where Chloe kisses him. After a while, she wants him to return her home. Wray joins Rush in the Observation deck. It seems she also has concerns about the plan. Just then, the ship's weapons start firing, which is starting to drain the ship's power. Greer observes also, and asks Scott to turn off the stones, and wants Young to be the commander again, so he can get out of his quarters. However, Scott says the communication room is guarded 24/7. As the weapons continue firing, the ship loses most of its power. In response, the ship jumps into FTL, causing another communication disruption. At that time, Young was having a drink with Emily, who talks about the situation being awkward since Young is with "her" on the ship, implying he had an affair with that woman. Destiny drops out of FTL to the nearest star in range. Eli is starting to grow frustrated about the unforeseen body swapping, before going back into Williams' body. Later, everybody on board converge in the Gate room to witness the plan taking action. They are going to use the sun's power to dial the Stargate to Earth. Three chevrons engage successfully before the room starts to shake. By the time the fourth chevron is engaged, power starts coursing through the Stargate. The capacitors are starting to overload. To compensate, Williams brings down the power flow. However, the more time that passes, the more violent the shaking. Rush also notes that shields are starting to fail. Frustrated, Telford is forced to abort. However, Williams cannot make the systems respond. Telford signals to Williams and McCormack that they need to leave, stranding the others behind. Scott wants Rush to do something; he picks up a radio. Meanwhile, Telford, McCormack and Williams deactivate the communication device. After Eli, Chloe and Young return to their respective bodies, Brody radios Rush, saying that they're gone. After hearing the news, Rush shuts down the power, meaning the whole scene was set up all along, just to get rid of them. He announces to everyone that they won't go home. Despite setting up the whole thing, he knows that the plan will not work and they'd all die even if he didn't stage the malfunction. He also couldn't risk warning anyone because he didn't know who to trust. Young is able to report to his superiors at the Pentagon, and tells them that Rush was able to stop the ship from being destroyed. He also came to scold Telford, who thought his sense of command was all but gone, and that when he couldn't figure out to resolve the problem, he cut and ran. He does expect that there would still be personal visits for those on the ship, which O'Neill accepts, though Strom doesn't feel as highly. When Young returns to Destiny he makes a speech to the rest of the crew, saying that they will make it home, but it may take longer than they thought, but he states that they'll make it through. This speech was recording on the Kino. After seeing this, Young asks Eli to do something; he wants to analyze the data from the dialing attempt, and see if Rush was hiding something from them. Emily is at her home drinking coffee when she is interrupted by a knock on the door. She comes to open the door and finds that Telford has come to visit her. + +An away team consisting of Chloe Armstrong, Dr. Adam Brody, Dr. Jeremy Franklin, MSgt. Ronald Greer, Lt. Vanessa James, Lt. Tamara Johansen, Dr. Lisa Park, Dr. Nicholas Rush, Lt. Matthew Scott, Dr. Dale Volker, Eli Wallace, Sgt. Spencer and Cpl. Marsden travels through the Stargate to a Jungle planet. Eli brought the Kino with him, and is documenting the team's actions as they get to work. They went to the planet to find any suitable fruits and food nearby and see if it is safe to eat, or even edible, and then take them back to Destiny. Eli tests out one, but spits it out. Rush tells him not to eat any more due to possible hazards in the food, so they could single some out. Just then, TJ hears that Volker is feeling unwell. However, he has not touched any fruit. Moments, Chloe faints; she is also feeling unwell. She tells TJ that the illness felt sudden. TJ thinks that going back to the Destiny is a bad idea, as they could be spreading the infection. With 36 hours until Destiny leaves, TJ wants the team to stay on the planet until further notice. Sometime later, the Stargate is dialed; TJ reports to Colonel Everett Young about the nature of the illness, and requests a quarantine until she learns more, as well as have him let her know if anybody on board have gained any symptoms to rule out the planet as the source. Young orders her and Scott to dial in every hour for updates. After a while, the team just wait near the Stargate. Greer is playing some music on a player he brought with him. Scott finds it annoying and asks him to shut it off; Greer complies. The Kino zooms in to a conversation between Rush and TJ about the illness. In the conversation, Rush learns that TJ is using up much of the little antibiotics merely on a hunch of hers. Later, Greer guides Rush, Scott and Eli to a mound almost as tall as the team members that he has found around the foliage near the Stargate. They realize the mound is emitting a strong odor of what Rush believes is sulfur. As he covers his nose and mouth, he looks down the hole to investigate, but backs away. More time passes. It is raining heavily during the night, to the team put covers over them. Eli shares a cover with Rush. To pass the time, Eli wants to talk about the top five movies they'd bring with them on a desert island. Rush doesn't talk, but Eli starts naming the films, until he realizes he should go with ten, as he enjoys several movies. As he continues, they hear Lt. James is starting to exhibit similar symptoms as Chloe and Volker. TJ notices Scott is feeling a little unwell, though he insists he is not. Just then, they hear skittering noises. The Kino turns to see Brody being viciously attacked by an alien creature. In response, the military personnel see more in the area and immediately start firing their automatic weapons. Rush and Eli dial the Stargate to evacuate. However, the event horizon just flutters; Rush doesn't know why this is happening, but they cannot reach Destiny. As the firing continues, Scott is attacked, but Greer is able to pull the creature out and kill it before Scott is fatally wounded. A stray bullet hits the Kino, causing it to land on the ground. It sees a creature burrowing right through Chloe's torso. After she lies dead on the floor, the creature bursts out of her back. Afterward, the footage is paused. The scene cuts away to the Kino room. Several people including Rush, Scott, Eli, and a very much alive Chloe are looking at the footage. Highly disturbed by what she saw, Chloe quickly runs out to vomit. It is revealed that a few hours ago, when Destiny dropped out of FTL within range of the planet, the same team went through and spent no longer than half an hour there. Eli found an old, damaged Kino with its data bank full, and Rush found human skeletal remains (later revealed to be his own). Park and Brody hear about the mysterious Kino, as do James, Spencer and Airman Darren Becker in the Mess hall. Chloe recovers and returns to the Kino room. To investigate more, the team decide to continue watching, though Chloe asks to fast forward the footage of her dead body. Also, TJ requests to Young that they quarantine everyone who went to the planet. In the recording, an upset and disturbed Eli reactivates the Kino, now rendered flightless from the same stray bullet. He says that much of the team are dead, including Chloe, Spencer, Marsden, James and Brody (only he, Rush, Franklin, TJ, Scott and Greer remain). While he continues with what transpired, he tapes the Kino to a helmet so he won't have to carry it. He says the creatures seem to be nocturnal, as they retreated to their mounds when day broke. The assault has resulted in the team expending most of their ammunition. The Stargate is still mysteriously defective; the wormhole is unstable, and Rush believes they cannot risk going through, nor can they contact Destiny. Hopefully it would be sorted out before night falls again, or at most the 22 hours they have until the ship leaves. He also reveals that Volker died, but from the illness, not the creatures. Scott is now in a coma after being bitten by a creature during the attack. By this point, the "real" Greer leaves those who are watching, unwilling to accept that he was powerless to prevent their deaths, regardless of whether or not the events actually happened, and does not want to discover the outcome. Greer has found a cave nearby, which should increase their chances somewhat should they be forced to stay another night; they would no longer worry about being ambushed from all sides. Eli helps carry some bags, as well as carry one side of the stretcher to carry Scott to the cave. When they arrive, Eli sits next to TJ, to tell her he greatly respects people like her, and can tell it really affects her when she is unable to help people. He tells her that his mother was a nurse; when he was 14 years old, she was stuck with a needle whilst she attempted to restrain a junkie, and got HIV as a result. His father then left upon hearing the news. He then asks about her family; she has both parents, and her father was a tailor; he taught her how to do stitches. She also has a sister, who has two children, and misses them. Eli admits that he is worried that is mother would give up if he dies. The recording garnered some sympathy from the crew mates watching the recording. Next, after Rush helps out to mount a defensive position, Eli tells him that the first time he was aware that he will die was seeing his grandfather's funeral, and is scared at the thought that his consciousness was just going to end, and he'd spend the rest of eternity falling through a pitch black hole, and he is still not used to it. Rush explains that everyone becomes aware of their own mortality in their lives, and what he is feeling is not a unique experience. He then explains how the Ancients learned to ascend, allowing the soul to live on as pure energy. He realizes that no ordinary human could ever hope to achieve this, but seems to take comfort in the fact that it can be done, and adds that ascension was the reason he came to Destiny. Meanwhile, Chloe in "reality" faints a similar way Chloe did earlier in the recording. Scott and Young send her to the infirmary, where other people, including James are also starting to complain about headaches. TJ is trying to help them. Young discovers that in the recording, Volker died from similar circumstances, and whoever feels the headaches may die within 12 hours. Some time after the next segment of the recording, people still show up with symptoms. However, with nowhere near enough beds, new entries are escorted to a makeshift ward. Park comes in with headaches, and despite little supply, TJ gives her some antibiotics. In the recording, Greer is teaching Eli how to handle an M4 Carbine, and gives it to him so he can test fire, but should take short bursts, since their ammunition is low. However, Eli more or less fires a long continues burst, due to the nervousness from firing for the first time. Later, he follows Greer to one of the mounds, which is confirmed to be the home of the creatures. He puts down a block of C-4. After they retreat to a safe distance, Greer detonates the C-4; the Kino records the explosion. Greer later goes round to do the same to other mounds, hopefully bringing up the odds of survival in their favor. However, Rush still can't figure out what is wrong with the Stargate, and believes that going through would most likely kill them, so they have to endure another night. Eventually, night falls again. The survivors mount several flashlights to improve their chances of seeing the creatures. Greer, Rush and Eli are armed with rifles to keep watch. After a while, the flashlight behind Eli dies out. Eli responds by activating night-vision on the Kino to see better. Moments later, the Kino picks up several heat signatures; the creatures are advancing to the defensive position. The three start firing steadily at the creatures and keep them at bay. However, in the process, Eli's M4 Carbine jams, and he believes they won't survive. By then, some creatures make it through, but TJ is able to shoot them with her sidearm. Later, Rush expends all his ammunition. Believing there is no other alternative, he grabs a remote control and runs through the dark, completely exposed. Eli follows him through the foliage, and eventually catches up to him. Rush has already dialed the Stargate, and decides to chance going through after all. He will radio them if he survives Stargate travel. Before he leaves, Rush tells Eli "For a moment there, I thought we were in trouble." In reality, Eli is confused as to what that meant. Young explains the quote was said towards the end of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, before the two were facing the Bolivian army, and Rush notes that he and Young do indeed have something in common after all; they both like the movie. In the recording, Eli fails to contact Destiny before the Stargate shuts down. With no other choice, he runs back to the cave, and witnesses Greer already attacked by the creatures. Before Eli continues watching, TJ enters and they stop the recording. She discovered the source; the illness is caused by a pathogen they brought back in the ice from "Hoth"; some of the ice wasn't decontaminated properly. Everybody has drunk the water, meaning everyone is infected. Since not everyone is feeling ill yet, TJ speculates that everybody's immune system is different. Though the incubation period varies, the infection is fatal once it gets strong enough to affect the nervous system. In the recording, Scott finally awakes from his coma the following morning, but is highly upset and anguished after seeing the sight that everyone else is dead, and he is now the only survivor. After regaining his composure, he carries the Kino to the Stargate and tells records a message, saying that he is the only one left, and doesn't recall anything after he was bitten the first night. Despite that, he says that he doesn't feel the headaches and symptoms as before. Unfortunately, the Stargate is still fluttering, with only 45 minutes until Destiny leaves, he plans on sending the Kino, and after he hears from them, he will go through the Stargate regardless of whether he'd survive, since he will most likely be killed the following night. He sends the Kino through the Gate, but for some reason, the Kino ends up back on the planet, rolling down the ramp and stopping next to Rush's corpse. The latest footage from the Kino recording allows Rush to figure out what happened; the wormhole disruption was caused by a solar flare, which redirected the wormhole back in time to the same location. The footage shows what would happen if normal conditions applied. Now that they found the Kino when they arrived, they changed the timeline. They dial the Stargate to see that the wormhole isn't disrupted yet. However, Rush has a feeling that they need to return to the planet. In fact, TJ plays back the footage where Scott says he no longer feels the effects of the virus. This leads her to think that the venom from the bites worked as a cure. With this new information, Young assembles a team to go back to the planet and find a creature, alive if possible. The Kino footage shows that it is nighttime on the planet, and like in the alternate timeline, is raining heavily. According to the timestamp, they have an hour until the solar flare occurs, but plan to return in 45 minutes to be safe. A team consisting of Young, Greer, Scott and Spencer go through. Meanwhile, all the antibiotics are gone. Eli arrives in the infirmary to find Chloe's pulse is slowing down. Vanessa James succumbs to the virus and dies. After he sits next to her bed, Eli talks with an unconscious Chloe. He tells her his feelings towards her, and admits to never having a best friend before, and considers her to be one. He also tells her he will always be there for her. Lastly, he begs her not to die. However, by the time TJ checks her pulse again, she too is gone. Finding this too much bear, TJ retreats to a corridor alone and cries. Lisa Park approaches her in an attempt to console her. Rush radios Young's team and tells them they already lost four people from the virus; Volker, Franklin, James and Chloe. News of Chloe's death starts to affect Scott, who pauses until Young snaps him out of it. Just as they continue looking, the team is ambushed by the Squigglers. The first to fall is Greer. Despite the team firing back, Spencer, and soon Young follows. Scott is once again the only survivor. He decides to run back to the Stargate, emptying his rifle in the process. Rush is no longer able to contact the team, thinking they cannot be reached, or dead. Scott dials the Stargate, and waits for the event horizon to flutter. During that time, he takes out a Kino and records a message, summarizing everything that is going to happen to the Destiny in our reality. He explains that they got a virus from Hoth, and that the deadly creatures are their best chance for the cure. He also explains they live in mounds, so they can find a live specimen during the day without getting attacked. After he sees the Stargate is malfunctioning, he prepares to send it though so that the team from our timeline will find it and heed his warning. Before ending the transmission, he begs them to believe him, and urges them to act fast or everyone will die. + +Everyone on Destiny is going through their daily routine. Chloe Armstrong is practicing yoga on the Observation deck. Lt. Matthew Scott is leading a group of civilians and military personnel in physical fitness training. Colonel Everett Young is watching Dr. Nicholas Rush work in the Control Interface Room through a Kino. Dr. Lisa Park is seen becoming intimate with Cpl. Rivers. In the Kino room, Eli Wallace is going over the calculations from the International Oversight Advisory's rescue plan. Dr. Jeremy Franklin is working in the Hydroponics lab with no success. Camile Wray is in her quarters sketching a beach scene. Finally, Sgt. Spencer has exhausted his supply of prescription pills he has been taking. On Earth, Colonel David Telford is relieved from his watch over the Long-range communication device. He changes and then calls Emily Young whom he joins for dinner. She thanks him for helping her with the trial of Young's absence and he then informs her that he wishes to tell her something. Aboard Destiny, Scott leads a group jogging through the ship. As they pass the Kino room, he notices Eli and tries to get him to join, citing Young's orders for everyone to get in shape, but Eli claims to have pulled something and takes a rain check. Dr. Dale Volker stays behind as the group jogs off. In the Mess hall, Rivers greets Park with a smile but she ignores him. Lt. Tamara Johansen comes in and attempts to join Spencer for a meal, as she is concerned about his state of mind. He brushes off her attempts at conversation and leaves. Eli is called by Rush and asked to operate a Kino to explore two new sections the ship they've opened up. Eli, however, declines, as he is busy with his own work. When Eli refuses to explain himself, Rush begins prodding, getting Eli to reveal Young's involvement. He unsubtly points out that Eli is not a member of the military and doesn't have to obey Young, but cannot convince him to take a break. Rush relents and does the job himself. TJ informs Young of Spencer's behavior, which others have raised complaints about, so Young asks her to do basic psychiatric evaluations of everyone as a precautionary measure. Despite her lack of training and Camile being more familiar with human resources, Young insists that she's up to the task. In the newly opened sections of the ship, MSgt. Ronald Greer leads a team on an exploratory mission while Rush monitors via Kino and radio. So far, all they have discovered is more crew quarters. TJ begins her evaluations with Franklin, who is less than enthusiastic about the interview. He bemoans virtually every aspect of life on the ship, with particular emphasis on his failing hydroponics lab and the fact that Greer shot him in the arm. TJ, somewhat awkwardly but cheerily, sums this up as everything being fine. Young checks in on Eli to see what's he's learned. Eli relates that every simulation he's run has ended in catastrophic failure, but Young asks for a few more tries to make sure. From there, Young reminds Scott that he and Camile are up next to use the stones. Scott is reluctant at first, but Young insists that he take the time. In the unexplored sections, Greer and the team come upon a large room with a chair in the middle, which Greer jokingly claims is the dentist's office. Dr. Boone activates a console, causing the room to light up. Restraints on the chair spring up as a brace flips forward from the headrest. Rush emphatically orders them not to touch anything until he arrives. Later, Rush explains to Young that the chair is likely an early version of the Repository of knowledge encountered by Lt. General Jack O'Neill, and may hold the master code to the ship's systems. As O'Neill's experience with that device was nearly fatal both times, Young bars anyone from using it, unless Rush decides to volunteer himself. Greer is willing to use it if it will get them home. Elsewhere, Telford, having switched with Scott, demands a meeting with Young. When the two meet, he insists that Young allow Earth scientists to review the data from the failed attempt to dial Earth. Young, however, is unwilling to cooperate in light of Telford's actions during the incident. Telford makes a back-handed comment about Young's wife and Young ends the meeting there. On Earth, Wray and Scott take control of the two people on the other end of the stones. Dr. Carl Strom chases down Wray in the parking lot outside The Pentagon. He tries to push the plan to dial Earth again, claiming that it's been refined, but Wray makes it clear that Young will not go along with it, at least not anytime soon. She notes that the crew is divided between Rush and Young, with Young slowly emerging as the victor in their power struggle. Strom hints that she should start her own group of supporters in favor of the plan. In the Pentagon, Dr. Mehta hands Scott the letters he has received while away, one of which catches his interest. TJ has an interview with Park, who cites the stress of her work. When TJ asks how she's coping with the stress, Park becomes nervous and eventually answers with "reading". Elsewhere, Spencer leads the crew in an intense workout. He runs them across the room in wind sprints. Franklin is eventually overworked and vomits while Spencer belittles him about his weight. Scott goes to the home of Annie Balic, the girl he got pregnant when he was a teenager. When no one answers, he goes around back to see if anyone's there, stumbling upon a child. The child claims that she'll be home later, so he waits. Wray, meanwhile, reunites with Sharon Walker. Sharon is initially skeptical, but is convinced when Wray references a chair that Sharon was supposed to sell. On the ship, Dr. Adam Brody, Volker and Rush debate the politics the chair are creating. Volker claims that Young is setting up Rush to take the fall if the chair fails, while success would paint Young more favorably since he resisted at first. Chloe sits with TJ. she talks about the people on the ship. She says that Scott's been a comfort to her. On Earth, Wray enjoys her time with Sharon and the comforts of home. Scott spots Annie walking up later on after it's dark. Being in Telford's body, he greets her and informs her that he's there on Scott's behalf and that he's unreachable as he's on a mission. Wray is debating to see her parents who she can't tell the truth because they are not cleared. Sharon says to go and tell them that she's okay but just say she's a friend. Camille remarks that things are different in the body, just enough to be off. She notices she forgot the row boat from a photo that she was sketching earlier causing her to cry. Rush walks down the hall fixing his glasses to the elevator and dodges his psych evaluation with TJ, and claims that he has no problems whatsoever. Scott meets with Matthew Balic. He concludes that the boy is in fact his son from an earlier relationship. She tells him that she kept it from him cause of the stress of his adoptive father George's alcoholism. On the Destiny, Rush makes a startling but breathtaking discovery. Greer vents in his psych evaluation about how his dad beat him making fun of the whole process as he goes. He confides that he's thankful for what he's got but he storms out in the end. Scott discovers that to make ends meet, Annie dances. Mehta comes in to inform him they have to go. He places a call on her cell phone. Wray gets a pep talk from Sharon before they part ways. Matt reveals that his call was to Scott and that he had has his pay routed to Annie for the time being so she can focus on her son and possibly go back to school to be a lawyer. She declines it saying she has it under control. Wray informs her parents to the best of her abilities that she's safe while still maintaining the cover story. On the Destiny, Rush briefs Young on the discovery. They've unlocked the subspace link to the Seed ships. They have gained data on hundreds of planets gates. Though the database is immense, Rush highlights one planet with conditions almost exactly like Icarus Base's planet. The planet is a year away. They have a lot of issues to solve before they can get there to try and dial Earth but it's possible. Rush states that they can use the chair to help their process to get the master code. Young recognizes the attempt and insists that Rush's job is to crack the code. Later on, Wray and Scott return, downplaying the negativity of their trips when Young asks. Rush garners support in the Mess Hall. Greer, Rivers and most are optimistic. Spencer storms out saying that he can't handle another year. Rush finally manages to finish fixing his glasses. Volker confides that he's ecstatic and glad there is an end in sight when he sits down with TJ. That night while Scott sleeps he dreams of Young's wife and a candle lit dinner. He's never met his wife but seen only one image of her. Young believes it's a residual memory or dream of Telford's when Scott tells him. It unsettles Young visibly. TJ and Wray talk about the planet they've uncovered and the psych evaluations. Wray, like many, puts hers off. Franklin bumps into Spencer walking down the hallway. Spencer snaps and attacks Franklin. Young pulls him off and puts him in his place. Scott informs Chloe of his son. She's supportive though surprised. He's regretful of not being there but she's adamant that he can one day be his father. Eli changes his focus to the planetary database and finds something odd about it. Telford, on Earth, goes to Emily Young's house. Young is watching from another vehicle. He storms in to the house, visibly upset. He verbally assaults Telford at first. Emily defends Telford, believing Young is having an affair with a woman on the ship. As Young is about to assault Telford, Telford has someone disable the Long-range communication device. Young storms off knowing what happened. He's informed by Eli and Scott that the planet that they are so hopeful over is fake. Rush planted it. Young confronts him, debating false hope that he's created compared to the dialing of the gate when they first arrived on the ship. Rush states that there is probably one in there but in order to get to it, they need the Master Code which he believes is lock in the Repository. When Young tells him to sit in the chair himself to get it, Rush falls silent. Eli finds Scott in the Ancient shuttle. Eli banters about the psych sitdown while Scott tries to ignore him. He then congratulates him on being a dad. Scott is upset but Eli realizes he's not being thoughtful and eventually leaves him to his thoughts. Elsewhere, Wray is coming to grips with the news that the planet was fake. TJ sits in the Mess hall with Young. He sums up the day as a bad day. TJ tries to get him to open up as his evaluation but he just claims it as a bad day. He walks off. On Earth, Volker arrives in another body via the stones. Telford is seen exiting a house. He's then assaulted by an airman. It is revealed that it wasn't Volker but Young using the stones all along, so that he could assault Telford. On the ship, Chloe and Eli are doing yoga. Wray is correcting the sketch by adding in the row boat. Park and Greer are sharing an intimate encounter. Young is spying on Rush with the Kino again, but Brody notices. Franklin sees a sprout in the lab, giving him hope. Spencer sits silently in his quarters. Scott sits in the cockpit of the shuttle pondering his thoughts as he stares out the window. + +In the Mess hall, Airman Darren Becker presents MSgt. Ronald Greer a dark-red potato-like crop the team picked up on the Jungle planet. With Dr. Adam Brody, Dr. Jeremy Franklin, Eli Wallace and a recording Kino as witnesses, Greer is to taste-test it. Having analyzed the plant, they assume it will be rather unpleasant. Reluctantly, Greer takes a small amount and eats with a smile, calmly comparing it to a sweet potato. This pleases the rest; Greer tells them to dig in. However, as they do, they quickly realize Greer was lying. Greer matter-of-factly points out that it is food all the same, and they need it to stay alive. He orders Becker to boil, mash and serve it. Becker notes that Sgt. Spencer is late for his shift, so Greer radios him. However, he receives no reply. Frustrated, he goes looking for him. He arrives outside Spencer's quarters and reminds him he is an hour late. After he enters, he turns the light on to see Spencer lifeless on his bed, and a blood splatter on a nearby wall. Meanwhile, Colonel Everett Young and Camile Wray argue about their new scheduling. Greer radios in and informs Young of the situation. He tells him that Spencer has been shot in the head; he's dead. After putting his body in a bag, Lt. Tamara Johansen determines that Spencer died at around 2:00am, and based on the immediate evidence, it would appear that he committed suicide. Wray, who is aware of Spencer's behavior, is wondering why he was even allowed access to a gun. However, Greer points out that it is not suicide, as his weapon is missing; a dead man obviously could not have disposed of it. This leads them to believe he was murdered. When Dr. Nicholas Rush hears of the news, he wonders if there are any suspects, since he points out that virtually no one liked Spencer, and only a few barely tolerated him, so much of the crew would probably have reason to kill him. Young has everybody meet in the Gate room, and announces their findings to the crew. Eli, Brody, Lt. Matthew Scott, Dr. Lisa Park and Lt. Vanessa James were playing poker in the Mess hall at the time of the murder, meaning they have an alibi, so they are put in charge of the investigation. Others begin to claim alibis, and Young calms them by assuring that all the evidence will be reviewed as quickly as possible. Young himself was sleeping at the time, and explains that he cannot expect anyone to take his word for it. He enlists Scott to lead the investigation. He wants everybody to stay in the Gate room while each room is searched for Spencer's missing weapon. However, Franklin wants to be present while they search his room. Just about everybody else wants this also, meaning the searching will take a while. While Eli and Scott search Franklin's quarters, Park and Brody search the quarters of Dr. Fisher. After they are cleared, they instruct the two to stay in their rooms until further notice. While Eli and Scott search Wray's quarters, she suggests to Scott that Greer might have murdered Spencer. However, Scott insists that Greer is one of the few people they can rule out, given how implausible it would be for him to have done it. Rush radios Young, having remained in the Control interface room instead of reporting to the Gate room as ordered. Rush has made an additional discovery about the Destiny interface chair. Young orders Rush to the Gate Room, but Rush ignores him. Scott radios Young, telling him he's next. Unlike Franklin, Young is comfortable with letting them search it unsupervised. Eli and Scott search the room, and Scott quickly decides that the gun isn't in it. However, before he can leave, Eli, being more thorough, notices something in an air vent. After he opens it, he pulls out the handgun they are looking for. Scott radios Young to join him. There, Young learns that the gun was found in his quarters. Eli quickly regrets this, but Young doesn't blame him; he's the one who authorized the search. Scott proposes a cover story, which should hopefully reveal the real killer, since he believes that someone is trying to undermine Young's authority. However, Young agrees with Eli's skepticism that he was framed. Later, Scott wants Eli to search through his Kino footage for anything it might have recorded. With this new evidence against him, Young puts Wray in charge of the investigation and voluntarily has himself sequestered with a guard. Young insists that they need to be open about their investigation in order to keep the military and civilian crew from turning on each other. As Wray prepares to use the Long-range communication device to contact Earth, Rush stops by to remind her that, despite having the communication stones, they are on their own and should settle their problems internally. Once she contacts Earth, she is given the authority to hold a hearing to determine if Young is guilty. No new evidence has surfaced in his defense. With her Harvard background, Young asks Chloe Armstrong to defend him, knowing that Wray will try her hardest to push for him being guilty. He explains that he chose her both for her political background and because he doesn't want to divide the crew by choosing a military crew member. Several Expedition members witness a trial, with Wray acting as prosecutor, and Chloe acting as defense. A Kino is also recording the trial. Franklin is the first to be questioned in the stand. He testifies for Young; he never saw him attack anyone. Franklin is defending Young's actions, as Spencer was out of control. Next up is Volker. He admits that he overheard a conversation between Rush and Young about Spencer, and that in the conversation, Young stated that "drastic measures" might be necessary if Spencer continues to be a problem. Rush is brought up next to clarify; though he doesn't remember the exact details, he does remember it was Young who did most of the talking, believing he wanted to let off some steam. Wray tries to maneuver him into admitting that Young might be justified in killing Spencer as a "drastic measure", and though Rush does not play along, he does explain in detail what she's trying to do. Meanwhile, Scott tells Eli what he found so far to clear Young. All Eli does is confirm another few alibis, but continues to work on it. Finally, TJ is brought to the stand for the medical angle on the case. She laments not having known about his dependence on sleeping pills, for she could have helped if she did. She determines that from what they gathered, all evidence points to suicide. However, Wray points out TJ is not a forensic scientist. TJ counters by pointing out that she's seen gunshot suicides before. At this point, Wray and Chloe become more aggressive in trying to get their questions in, with Chloe eventually taking control. She makes the point that, even with expert investigative knowledge, they cannot really determine what happened, as they have none of the proper forensic equipment, and even the crime scene and the weapon responsible have been contaminated by several personnel. After that, Wray calls a recess in order to speak with Chloe in private. In the hall, Wray argues with Chloe, insisting that they cannot leave the murder unsolved. Chloe interprets this as trying to find a scapegoat, and states that Wray might as well pick the person she thinks is the guilty party. Young, meanwhile, overhears the crew talking about the possibility of him being guilty, though not necessarily saying Spencer didn't deserve to die. Later, the entire expedition plan to have a vote as to whether Young is guilty or innocent. Some of the military personnel, Greer in particular, have become fed up with the trial and want to put an end to the situation by force. Scott doesn't think that is a good idea, but Greer is willing to resort to insubordination. Young interrupts to tell them that getting him back in command will no longer be necessary, as he made a deal with Wray; in exchange for dropping the case due to lack of evidence, he has given her command of the ship. Now that Wray is in command, Rush comes to her, requesting that he be given control of his science team while answering to her. She agrees, having expected something more. His hands untied, Rush immediately sets to work on better understanding the chair. A team, composed of Rush, Franklin, Brody, Park and Eli enter the room. Eli believes those who use it will eventually die, though Rush says they may not, as the first versions aren't as advanced. Eli, however, reminds him that first versions also tend to be the most unstable. The group recalls Lt. General Jack O'Neill's experience with the modern repository, and note that there are no Asgard to save them should the results be similar. Scott talks to Young in his quarters, and believes he made a mistake. However, Young says that if he forces the issue, they crew will be divided, and he can't risk that. Scott then points out that while he can accept Wray being in charge, as far as he and the rest of the military on board are concerned, Young is still their commander. Eli arrives at the chair room to see that Rush assigned Franklin the night shift. Franklin tells him that he ran every Ancient diagnostic there is, but couldn't find anything they need. Rush is trying to write a new program, but all evidence points to the chair being intentionally designed to only download information through the neural interface. Eli says that if the chair was safe, Rush would have already used it. Franklin isn't so sure, then asks Eli to get him some of the "potatoes" from the mess hall, as he is hungry. Moments later, Eli makes a panicked call for help on the radio. Young, TJ, Rush, Wray, and several others converge on the chair room, where they find Franklin strapped into it and convulsing as the chair does its work. Everyone works to free Franklin, and the chair eventually releases him, leaving bloody wounds on either side of his head from where the electrodes connected. Once the convulsions stop, Franklin appears to have gone catatonic. TJ believes that she might be able to revive him with lorazepam, but this won't go without risks. Wray gives the go-ahead. Seeing this, Young takes Rush outside the room and angrily berates for being too much of a coward to try it himself, instead knowing someone else would do it for him. Wray orders them both to stop, as it was her call on letting a science team research the chair. Young storms off, followed shortly by Rush. Fed up with the new command structure, Scott takes Eli back to the Kino room, insisting that Eli should review the logs to see if he missed anything. Eli protests, having gone over them several times, but Scott is not swayed and believes that they must have caught something, knowing that the Colonel was framed. The Destiny soon drops out of FTL. Brody radios Wray in her quarters, telling her that the ship dialed the Stargate to a planet, and that the Kino readings suggest the planet is suitable for exploration. As she leaves her quarters, Greer blocks her path, as wants an explanation as to why he and some others have been called off duty. Wray claims it is a temporary adjustment, but Greer knows it's because Wray think he is a suspect. She admits that there is a valid reason, and asks him to get out of her way. Greer complies, but says he will be there when she gets back, implying that this is far from over. Wray arrives in the Gate room and appoints Volker as the team leader, with Dr. Robert Caine, accompanied by James and Airman Rennie to serve as security. Scott returns to Eli, who found something that he overlooked. The time codes of one entry does not match, meaning that an entry was deleted. Fortunately, Eli has backups on all recordings for his Kino documentary. He restores the backup and they begin to watch it. Scott radios Young; there's something Young needs to see. Meanwhile, on the planet, Caine is complaining about his shoes, though Volker thinks they are a fine pair. He believes that there is nothing on the Gravel pit planet, and wonders how long they have to stay. James, however, sees something worth coming to the planet for, and tells Caine that he spoke too soon. As the others watch in amazement, Caine stands up and also sees what the others see; an alien spacecraft on top of a small hill. After they inform Destiny, Brody radios Rush, who is very excited about the discovery. With just two hours before the ship is set to jump back to FTL, Rush quickly gets ready to see for himself. En route, Young interrupts him, as wants him to see something; he claims that the alien ship can wait. Rush appears nervous. The two enter the Kino room with Scott, Eli and Wray. Eli plays the recording he restored from his backups. It shows Spencer. Spencer explains that he ran out of pills a week ago, and has not been able to sleep much since. He then proclaims that everyone is flying in a big, floating coffin, and apologises for not thinking up anything better to say. He then raises his gun to his head, and fires. This confirms that Spencer's death was in fact a suicide all along. Eli says that the recording after that point is corrupted, removing any possibility of discovering who took the gun. He explains that at least a dozen know how to delete the recording. Rush doesn't particularly care; his only interest is the ship. Wray apologises to Young, and believes they should recall the team. However, Young quickly takes command again, agreeing with Rush's belief that the ship is worth investigating. He decides to join the team. On the planet, the first team has already deduced that the ship is not of Ancient design based on the markings. They can also find no energy emissions of any kind, so the ship is basically dead. There is a hatch, but no obvious release mechanism. Rush wants to keep trying despite their remaining time being rather slim, so Young stays with him while the others head back to the gate, as Rush thinks he can find more on how to enter in a few minutes. Once the rest of the team is gone, Young tells Rush that he knows it was him who took Spencer's gun; Eli lied about the data corruption in the recording. The Kino observed Rush taking the gun. Though Young expects Rush to lie his way out of the situation, Rush instead calmly explains his motives. He knew framing Young would never actually work, but doubt alone would be enough to remove him from command, thereby giving Rush the freedom to do as he pleases. As he sees it, Young is unwilling to make the hard choices that are necessary for this type of mission, making him a liability. Without warning, Young punches Rush in the face. This is followed by two more punches. Rush tries to retaliate by hitting Young with a rock, but Young quickly gains the upper hand. Young asks if they are done, but Rush defiantly states that they never will be. Young headbutts Rush, which knocks him unconscious. In the Gate Room, time is almost up and neither Rush nor Young have made it back. Seconds before the gate closes, Young comes through alone, covered in the dirt from the fight. With the countdown expired, the ship jumps back to FTL, leaving Rush behind. In the infirmary, Young claims that a rock slide caught Rush while only grazing him. Young is put back in command, though TJ orders him to rest for a day first. As everyone leaves, Young stops Eli, asking if anyone else saw the footage of Rush. Eli confirms that only they have seen it. Young hands him a flash drive, telling him to copy the file then delete the original. Eli seems to have something else to say, but just leaves after hesitating. Night falls on the Gravel pit planet. Rush slowly regains consciousness, and realises that, to his horror, Destiny has left without him, stranding him on the planet alone with the spaceship. + +Colonel Everett Young is shaving in his quarters. As he finishes, he has brief flashbacks about leaving Dr. Nicholas Rush on the Gravel pit planet. He decides to pay Lt. Tamara Johansen a visit for a check-up. TJ believes that Young may have been affected by Rush's recent loss, as well as those of Cpl. Gorman and Sgt. Spencer, though Young claims he is fine. TJ offers to talk about it with Young, since emotionally, several situations have been left unresolved. However, Young pushes that request aside and leaves the infirmary, to report back to his superiors on Earth. En route, he encounters Camile Wray, who also wishes to report back to Earth later in the day, to give her details on the events of Rush's "death", believing Young may have killed him due to the tensions between the two. Young is not concerned; since only he and Rush were on the planet on the time, he is confident that his version of events will hold weight. He arrives in the communications room and meets with MSgt. Ronald Greer, Lt. Matthew Scott, and Dr. Robert Caine, who is filling in for the still-recovering Sgt. Hunter Riley. Eli Wallace is listening in from a Kino. TJ and Lt. Vanessa James come in to ask Eli about a pressure problem in the showers. Seeing Caine in the video feed, James admits her infatuation towards him, even after Eli tries to warn her to stop. Caine then notes that he can hear her over the Kino. They agree to act as if it didn't happen and James retreats from the Kino room in embarrassment; TJ, on the other hand, finds it hilarious. In the meantime, Young places a stone onto the Long-range communication device. However, where he arrives is not Homeworld Command, but a corridor of what appears to be another ship. He explores for a little while, and then sees a Nakai exit some sort of elevation platform; Young seems baffled about what is going on. Meanwhile, the team in the Communication lab greet whoever is occupying Young's body. However, he doesn't talk back, and just looks around as if confused. Scott touches Young on the shoulder to get his attention, and the person responds by attacking him. Greer joins in on the struggle and is able to subdue him. As he keeps Young's body pinned, Caine manually disconnects the stones, allowing Young's consciousness to return to his body. Young wants to know what just happened. TJ believes the entire incident may have been in his imagination, but Young insists that his imagination isn't that good; he knows what he saw, and until further notice, all communication between Earth and Destiny is to be halted until the problem is resolved. After he leaves, he returns to his quarters to stitch up tears on his socks. Wray pays him a visit. She again displays signs of suspicion, since it is rather convenient for communication to Earth to suddenly malfunction just as she was about to report to Earth. She believes he is delaying her to tell Homeworld Command about what she believed happened to Rush. He again dismisses her suspicions, forcing Wray to leave. In the Mess hall, Chloe Armstrong is given a few tomatoes which were grown in the Hydroponics lab. She sits with Eli and is enthusiastic about what other fruits would be grown, such as strawberries by next month. However, Eli points out that what she has in her hand are "sort-of tomatoes"; Chloe eats it and discovers that they taste very odd. Chloe soon notices Eli's rather uncharacteristic bad mood. Eli claims he hasn't slept much recently, since Young has him working around the clock to understand everything Rush was working on before his disappearance. They then overhear a conversation between Dr. Dale Volker and Airman Richmond, who question whether or not Young actually killed Rush. Later, Wray holds a meeting with Dr. Adam Brody and Volker in the hydroponics lab. They all agree that the military are acting like they run everything on the ship, and that the last person who questioned this, who was Rush, is now no longer with them. They feel they should do something about it. As the meeting is happening, Eli is recording it using a Kino hidden in a nearby vent. Destiny soon drops out of FTL, and the expedition dials the Stargate to a planet with purple vegetation, which Brody believes is caused by the presence of a Red dwarf star. Brody believes whoever visits the planets should go in environmental suits in case of radiation spikes. Young and Scott leave to get suited. However, on the way, they are stopped by James, who has to show them something that just appeared. When they arrive at the Observation deck, they see a spaceship nearby, possibly the same one Young visited during the communication malfunction. Young rushes to the Control interface room, where Eli is pulling up visual of the ship, which is so far doing nothing. He suggests they communicate with the vessel. He sends out a basic greeting in Ancient. A moment later, they receive a reply: it is just one word, and in English; "surrender". Believing an attack may be imminent, he orders Eli to bring up the weapons, and radios the rest of the expedition to move to their designated areas. Young and Greer head towards the shuttle. Several members gather in the observation deck to see the alien ship. Back in the control interface room, Eli detects what he believes to be several smaller ships heading towards Destiny. Eli discovers only 30% of the ship's weapons are functional, since Rush placed limits to prevent a possible overload of the ship. Young remains confident Eli will find a work around. Scott pilots the shuttle as Greer controls its weapons. After the fighters are in range, they start firing, and are able to destroy some of the fighters before they pass the shuttle and head towards Destiny. Eli starts firing the forward turrets. In the meantime, Destiny suffers heavy fire from the enemy; since the ship is old, it requires some of the power used for the shield to power the weapons. As two personnel run through a corridor, a power surge occurs, electrifying the entire passage. James orders everyone to stay back unless they wish to suffer the same fate. Young tells Eli to get the ship working, as the expedition is counting on him. However, Eli does not believe he can do it, and remarks "you should have thought of that before you got rid of Rush" when pressed by Young. James runs through the dangerous corridor, risking her own life, and reaches a manual bypass, shutting down power in the section so TJ can treat those caught in the surge. Meanwhile, an enemy fighter docks on the hull near Chloe's quarters. She leaves to investigate with Airman Dunning nearby. She witnesses the aliens cutting a hole through the ceiling. After a moment, the same fighter lifts off, exposing the corridor to space. A forcefield seals the breach after a few moments, protecting Dunnig from being sucked out. He radios Young to give him some news. Soon, the expedition witnesses all the remaining fighters are returning to their ship. Greer suggests they keep firing, but is ordered to stop by Young, who just received word that Chloe may be on one of the fighters. The shuttle is called back to Destiny. Scott requests that they send the shuttle back out to retrieve Chloe, as the ship hasn't tried to depart. Young denies the request. He also believes that the attack may have been a distraction to take prisoners. He wants to rescue her his way, by using the communication stones. In the meantime, Chloe awakens to find that she is masked in an underwater holding tank. She sees an alien walk towards her, and it scares her with a menacing screech. TJ and a few others check over the wounded in the battle. The woman who was electrocuted in the corridor earlier is unresponsive, and her heart has stopped. As TJ attempts to revive her, Caine is called into the communication room. There, Scott and Greer restrain Young to prevent an alien from attacking them again after the communication device is activated. Scott wants to go to the ship himself, but Young overrules him. They decide to give Young 20 minutes to find Chloe before they pull him out again. Immediately after placing the stones, Young finds himself in the alien's body again. Meanwhile, the alien inhabiting Young's body starts to struggle in its restraints, but they are holding. Scott questions why they attacked Destiny, but the alien merely snarls in response. Caine speculates that it may simply be incapable of responding, and that the message sent earlier was probably sent through a translation device. Meanwhile on the alien ship, Young passes a room full of aliens. One of them looks up to Young and attempts to communicate. After Young does not reply, the alien just ignores him. After exploring some more, Young notices a window to an underwater tank. He wipes away the condensation, and is stunned to find that an unconscious Rush is occupying it; Rush must have been captured by the aliens sometime after he was abandoned on the Gravel pit planet. Young locks the room so he can break Rush out of the tank. He rips a pipe from a nearby wall and smashes the glass. This awakens Rush, who sees an alien in front of him from his perspective. Young cannot talk, so he gestures to him that he means no harm. Rush shows Young two devices, which he explains a form a mental link between two individuals; one transmits, the other receives. Young takes the transmitter, but once he activates it, Young collapses in pain. After reading his mind, Rush realizes the alien is Young. However, the devices cause a break in the link from the communication stone, and Young ends up back in his body. Rush realises this, and quickly reads the alien's mind to gain a basic understanding of the technology and layout of ship. In its memories, he witnesses the alien handling a communication stone, thus explaining why Young traded places with the alien instead of the intended person on Earth. Since the alien is a threat again, Rush fights with it, and is able to strangle it to death. This prevents Young from returning. The alien ship begins to attack Destiny again, this time more aggressively. Eli and Brody run to the control interface room, and discover that the shields will not hold much longer. Young orders Eli to activate the main cannon and destroy the alien mothership, not revealing what he found on board. Eli insists that doing so will drain power from the shields and leave them defenseless, but Young orders him to do so anyway. Scott tries to object, but is overruled, so he takes the shuttle with Greer in the hopes of rescuing Chloe. By then, the shields are half depleted, but the main cannon, which is now operational, has begun firing on the mothership. However, this action is starting to overload the weapons. Soon enough, one more shot may destroy Destiny in the process. Young, however, is adamant for the ship to be destroyed. On the alien vessel, Rush easily finds Chloe, and frees her. She awakens in shock to see him alive and well. Having learned the layout of the vessel, he takes her to the fighter bay. Meanwhile, Greer and Scott, having yet to launch the shuttle, notice that the fighters are retreating again, except for one. In the interface room, Brody notices something; the mothership goes into FTL, away from Destiny. Meanwhile, the lone fighter docks with Destiny. Greer and Scott run to the location to hear drilling noises. The two retreat to cover and brandish their sidearms in anticipation of an alien confrontation. They are surprised to see Chloe jump down to the corridor floor. She reunites with Scott, while a second person jumps down; Rush. Greer is surprised to see him, since he believed he was dead. Rush asks Greer if Young saud how he died. Greer says it was a rockslide. Rush merely explains Young got it wrong again. Greer radios Young to report something he is not going to believe. Young knows what this means; Rush is back. Destiny enters FTL again. In the mess hall, Rush tells Eli, Chloe, Scott, and Volker that after he was able to "free himself" from the "rock slide", going along with Young's claim, he entered the crashed ship, and began checking the systems. He must have activated the ship's distress signal, which lead the mothership to the location. The aliens found and imprisoned him, occasionally using the mind link devices to extract information on Destiny. Rush managed to resist giving away anything important. When Eli wonders why the aliens attacked them, Rush speculates that their true interest is in Destiny itself, and they only attacked in the hopes of unlocking those secrets. They are all glad to have Rush back in light of what's happened. Rush meets with Young in his quarters. Both admit their wrongdoing, though neither is apologetic for it. Rush wants to know if Young will try to kill him again. Young says he tried to save Rush from the aliens. Moreover, Young doesn't like the person he became during the fight with Rush--he lost control, and that he does regret. He says he hasn't told the crew that Rush tried to frame him for Spencer's murder, since it would be bad for morale. They agree to put aside their differences for the sake of the crew. Elsewhere, Caine and Tamara discuss him possibly having a relationship with Vanessa James. He has decided against it, reasoning that having a relationship fail on an isolated ship would be awkward. However, he does add that he might change his opinion later on. Young, having apparently come to talk to Tamara, overhears the comment and leaves without making himself known. In a montage, James is in her room, crying. Rush and Brody are shown working in the control interface room. Eli shows Young the footage of Wray and the other civilian personnel he recorded earlier. Greer looks at a photo in his bag (obscured to the viewer) happily. Tamara looks over the injured from the attack. Caine is shown drinking alone in the viewing room. Finally, Young is sewing up holes in his socks. In the final scene, Rush meets with Wray in the hydroponics room. They both agree that Young is dangerous, and Rush points out that he was nearly killed when he tried to do something about it. She assures him that "Next time will be different." + +Chloe Armstrong is walking along the corridors of Destiny, which are unusually dark and empty. After passing the empty Mess hall, she walks up to a closed door with an extremely bright light coming through the viewport. Through it, she sees herself standing under a hole made by the Nakai fighter. She sees herself being sucked through the hole, before being dropped into the holding tank, this time with no breathing masks. As she struggles to get out, she sees her mother on the other side of the glass, walking up to her, and tries to get her out. When she can't, Chloe lowers her head and raises it again. Her mother has turned into a Nakai. This is all revealed to be a nightmare, as Chloe wakes up in bed next to Lt. Matthew Scott, who also wakes up, and notices Chloe recovering from the nightmare. After Chloe declines Scott's suggestion of visiting Lt. Tamara Johansen he attempts to console her by announcing the aliens are gone, and she should move on. Chloe finds the advice rather insulting, since she can't just forget about the ordeal. She then gets out of bed and walks out, claiming she just needs to clear her head. After dressing up, she walks to the Mess hall, and finds Dr. Nicholas Rush sitting at a table. He too has had similar dreams. Neither of them remember what the aliens subjected them to. Chloe tells Rush that everyone else thinks they're safe, and questions if they're right; Rush merely replies "no". Sometime later, Destiny has dropped out of FTL. Rush meets with Colonel Everett Young in his office, wishing to discuss something. Young likewise has something to discuss; the Long-range communication stones. Young suspects that since Rush was the first to activate the Long-range communication device, he took one of the stones as some sort of insurance, and kept it with him; that was possibly how the aliens got hold of a stone. Rush neither denies nor confirms this. He then insists that they should worry about how the aliens know where Destiny was in the first place. Young suggests that they could have tracked Destiny through the communication stone link, but Rush points out that they don't know how the technology works, and that the aliens are technologically inferior to the Ancients. Rush believes they tracked the ship with a subspace tracking device; he suspects such a thing because, although not knowing what the aliens did to him, he has been experiencing flashes of memory from being linked to one of them, and is convinced that the aliens have done such an action. Since they've already gotten rid of the fighter Rush stole, and the ship is out of FTL, now would be the perfect opportunity to search for any additional trackers on the hull of Destiny. Scott walks along a corridor with a Kino being guided by Eli Wallace. At one point, Scott opens a door and lets the Kino through alone, because it is about to enter a section that's void of atmosphere after one of the alien fighters breached the hull. Eli flies the Kino through the breach and explores the hull for the tracker. Young leaves Eli and Rush to it while he goes to the Mess Hall. There, he gets himself some water when MSgt. Ronald Greer approaches and wishes to speak with him in private. After the two find an empty hallway, Greer shows concerns about who took Sgt. Spencer's weapon (very few know it was Rush, but Greer does suspect) and what happened between him and Rush on the planet. Before he can continue, Rush radios Young and announces that he has found an alien fighter latched onto the hull. Since Eli programmed in where it is, Young and Scott go to the Ancient shuttle to neutralize it. They have one hour until Destiny returns to FTL. Meanwhile, Rush takes Camile Wray to a Research lab. It has enough connectivity to the ship's systems to act as a substitute for the Control interface hub, in order to enact their plan of controlling the ship. Wray is surprised they have to act so soon, but Rush points out that there is no better opportunity anytime soon; Wray is to get her people into position. Chloe walks into the control interface room where Eli is following the shuttle. Chloe wants him to show her the fighter that is attached to the hull. While Eli shows her a visual of the fighter, unknown to him, the screen on Rush's console activates and numerous files are streaming into the research lab. In the meantime, the shuttle is in position, and Scott fires a shot into the fighter, which dislodges it from the hull. The next few shots destroy the fighter, along with the tracker. Dr. Adam Brody is in the Hydroponics lab, feeding some of the plants. Dr. Dale Volker radios him to tell him to get into position and stay in the lab; Brody is surprised they are moving quickly. The radio conversation is interrupted by T.J, who visits the lab to check up on the medicinal plants. In order to ease T.J's suspicions, Brody lies about the radio conversation by saying that it concerned Volker's "bridge club". Young and Scott have returned the shuttle to its rightful position. However, the Docking clamps will not engage. Eli attempts to engage them via the interface room. However, he realizes he is locked out of the systems. The doors to the ship won't open either. The three realize that they have under eight minutes left until Destiny enters FTL again, and if the clamps aren't engaged again, Destiny's shield won't envelop the shuttle, and would vaporize the second the FTL engines activate. Upon hearing the news, Chloe runs out of the control interface room. As Eli investigates, he discovers that someone is transferring data to another system, which has blocked the request to engage the clamps. Young quickly believes Rush is responsible. When Rush does not respond on radio, Young calls Greer and orders him to put together a team to find him. In the meantime, Chloe arrives at the research lab and urges Rush to stop, but he doesn't want to. Instead, he radios Eli to tell him that he shouldn't try to stop Rush transferring the data; the process cannot be stopped, and Eli's efforts will only drag it out longer, which could result in the deaths of those on the shuttle. Young orders Eli not to listen to him and continue; Eli is conflicted with orders being barked out to him by both sides. Wray arrives in the research lab and hears of the situation; Wray orders Rush to stop. He is reluctant to do so, since it would effectively stifle any future attempts. Wray reminds him that they promised no one will get hurt, and if Scott and Young die, they will lose everyone on their side. With no other choice, Rush stops the transfer, while at the control interface room, Eli believes he has stopped Rush and engages the docking clamps with seconds to spare. However, Rush has control of most of the vital systems. He seals off a series of doors, creating two separate sections of the ship; one side has the civilians, while the other contains the military. The civilians have control of the Mess Hall and the Hydroponics lab, leaving the military in the smaller area with no food or water. Volker walks to the hydroponics lab to meet Brody, wondering why he turned the radio off; T.J. is in the civilian area. She approaches them and wonders what is happening. Brody answers with a "you weren't supposed to be here," mentioning a mutiny is taking place. They then hear Airman Dunning, who is also in the civilian-controlled area, holding Dr. Lisa Park and two others at gunpoint. He demands to be released or he'll shoot. T.J. and Wray arrive; the latter apologizes to T.J. and Dunning, since a few stragglers were anticipated. When he refuses to grant Wray's request to lower his gun, T.J. orders him to, and he complies. Wray promises that this will be over soon. Young, Scott and Greer are with Eli in the control interface room, which is on the military side of the ship. There, Eli discovers that Rush stopped the transfer prematurely, preventing him from taking control of the ship's life support. Young radios Rush and notes that he has his full attention, and wishes to hear Rush's demands. Rush asks that all military personnel are to relinquish their weapons, and submit to civilian authority, since he believes that Young is running the expedition like a military dictatorship. When Young points out that Eli has control of life support, Rush counters with the fact that, since their side of the ship is much larger, and they have the hydroponics lab that is supplying some oxygen, it would take three days for the air supply to diminish completely. By this time, dehydration would claim those on Young's side, and no side would win. Though both sides are thus far at a stalemate, Rush points out that Eli could tip the scales. Young has him busy working to regain control. Young also reports that T.J. and Dunning are trapped on the civilian side, while there are six civilians in the military side, each claiming not knowing what is happening. Besides that he announces that Rush wishes to exchange a little food and water for Eli, and that he agreed to it, knowing that Rush is planning on taking away any advantage the military may have. However, Young is enacting a plan on how to enter the civilian side. Sometime later, Eli is guiding a Kino to one of the doors. He turns the Kino around to prove he is alone. When Rush is satisfied, he orders the civilians on the other side to open the door. There, Eli is met by three civilians, one of them carrying Dunning's sidearm. After Chloe tells him to put it down, Eli comes in, while the others place the containers of food and water on the military side before closing the door again. Chloe escorts Eli to Rush. On the way, Eli confronts Chloe about earlier, believing she was distracting him while Rush took over the systems. She denies the accusation; while she knew the mutiny was coming, she didn't know when. She has sided with Rush because Young abandoned Rush as an inconvenience. Destiny drops out of FTL again. Young and Greer put on Ancient environmental suits, planning to go to the civilian side via the hull breaches connecting the two sides. Meanwhile in the Mess Hall, the civilians are wondering whether or not the military will agree to their terms. Wray points out that Young may not bow down at first, but he just needs to remember that the military are taking orders from a civilian government. Chloe and Eli arrive in the lab, where he is left alone with Rush, who needs his assistance; he wants Eli to help him squeeze every ounce of unneeded power to strengthen the shield, since the Nakai are returning. Eli is quick to point out the destroyed fighter; Rush tells him that there is another tracking device, this time implanted in his chest. As they talk, Young and Greer are on the hull and notice three motherships dropping out of Hyperspace near Destiny. When Rush discovers this, he prepares to activate the shield. Eli attempts to hold him off, in order to buy Young and Greer time to enter, suggesting that attacking might be better. Persistent, Rush states that it would be better to strengthen the shield and weather the attack, as Destiny has done many times before. The aliens will eventually give up when they realize they cannot beat its defenses. Rush activates the shield just as Young and Greer make it through to the other side. Young orders Greer to open the door to allow Scott's team to go through, while he'll search for Rush. Chloe enters a makeshift brig where T.J. and Dunning are being held. She announces that it will only be a matter of time. T.J. however, believes that civilians initiating a coup won't help, but would instead make it war, something the military has training and experience for. As they continue, the ship starts to shake, meaning the aliens have started their attack. Greer manages to knock out the civilians guarding their post and allows Scott's team entry. There, they split up; a team with Greer and Lt. Vanessa James are to go to the Mess hall, while Scott guides his own team to where Chloe is holding T.J. and Dunning. At this point, the relationship between Chloe and Scott comes to question. In the meantime, Greer's team arrives at the Mess hall and holds everyone at gunpoint, ordering them to get down on the floor. When they protest, James knocks one of them down. All comply, except for Volker, who tells them to wait. Greer, not wanting to listen, presses his sidearm at Volker's chest menacingly. Intimidated, he too complies. In the research lab, Wray learns about the implant in Rush's chest, and believes the reason he implemented the coup was because of fear that if Young found out, he'd be thrown out of an airlock. By that time, Young arrives. He orders Eli to return fire on the aliens, but Rush informs them he has locked out the system, maintaining that fighting back isn't a good idea. Eli and Young, however, disagree; Eli believes that even if they do nothing, the aliens will still follow Destiny until they finally conquer it. By the time Scott arrives to apprehend Rush, Young learns of the tracker, and wants T.J. to perform a surgical procedure to remove it. T.J. and Rush protest; they don't have the right equipment, and T.J. has no experience in this. To this end, Young authorizes someone use the communication stones. Chloe volunteers to become host to someone with experience on Earth. Sometime later, Rush is lying down for the surgery, sedated with the Squiggler venom. Dr. Brightman inhabits Chloe's body and is made aware of their current situation, and is slightly unnerved about the use of an alien venom to be used as a sedative. Regardless, she starts the surgery. In order to find it, a camera made from a disassembled Kino is used. Meanwhile, Eli believes he has found a work round to use the locked out weapons. However, using it may drain power from the shields, which is already indicating signs of collapse. He convinces Young that they have no choice but to weather the assault. Back in the Infirmary, Brightman has found the implant and prepares to remove it, when the volume of weapons bombarding the shields causes a disruption; Chloe is back in her body again. By then, Rush regains consciousness, forcing T.J. to administer more of the venom. After he drifts back to sleep, Chloe helps T.J. finish the operation and successfully removes the tracking implant. Scott then proceeds to take the device and destroys it by smashing it with the butt of his sidearm. By that time, Destiny jumps back into FTL, just before the shields could fail completely. Now that the ship is safe, Young arrives at the Mess Hall and orders the civilians back to their quarters, as there's nothing left they can do to resist. Wray approaches him, and in the conversation, she says that both factions have to find a way to work together, noting "you shouldn't have left [Rush] on the planet." To which Young replies "Don't you think I know that?" After she leaves, Greer notes that this isn't over yet; Young agrees. + +Lt. Tamara Johansen is sleeping in her quarters when her alarm goes off; despite being tired, she gets up to get ready for work for the day. Meanwhile, Lt. Matthew Scott is shaving before starting the day. He receives a cut from his first stroke. Dr. Nicholas Rush, determined to work despite having his tracking implant surgically removed from his heart recently, stumbles into the Control interface room against protests from Dr. Lisa Park and Dr. Adam Brody, who state he hasn't devoted enough time into making a full recovery. Since there is too much work to be done, Rush orders Park and Brody to start repairing the damaged and leaking shuttle where Senator Alan Armstrong sacrificed himself in order to give the Destiny expedition more time. Using one of the Ancient environmental suits, Brody enters the shuttle and welds a large metal plate into the damaged section of the hull. After doing so, Park re pressurizes the shuttle. Despite the slight hissing of air escaping into space, Brody is satisfied that the atmosphere is holding and takes off his helmet. Rush orders them to start repairing the shuttle's propulsion and navigation. Colonel Everett Young then walks in, noting that Rush doesn't look so good. Young explains that he's ordered his people to make an effort to reconcile with the civilians, and is trying to do the same himself in regards to Rush. Rush brushes off the effort. Just as they finish, Destiny drops into normal space. Rush discovers that the Stargate isn't dialing, as there are no nearby planets; they seemed to have just stopped in the middle of nowhere. Brody then radios in and contradicts Rush; he can see a star through a shuttle's window. Everyone is baffled as to what has happened; Eli Wallace notes that the Seed ships should have scanned and transmitted a record of this system to Destiny, but for some reason Destiny did not know this was here. A team in the Mess hall is awaiting orders, but doesn't hear word of the Stargate dialling. Scott notices T.J. is starting to exhibit some strange behavior, but she passes it off as exhaustion. MSgt. Ronald Greer briefly changes the subject about the military trying to reconcile with the civilians, and notes that he doesn't like it; Scott tells him to just pretend he does. Rush discovers that the star is a G2-class, the same class as Earth's sun, and because Destiny did not know it was there, the sun's gravity well disrupted Destiny's propulsion systems, causing it to exit FTL; a glitch in its technology. Because of this, Destiny is now performing a parabolic course around the sun, which will take a few weeks. By the time Destiny leaves the system, it will resume its course. Rush also makes another discovery; there's a planet almost identical to Earth in size and climate orbiting the star, and it's within shuttle range. In investigating the reason Destiny did not know about this system, Rush and Eli can find no glitch. Dr. Dale Volker reports that the star has just come out of T Tauri phase, and that it is 200 million years old. This is odd, since the planet couldn't have developed that quickly; it should just be a ball of molten rock. A team comprised of Scott, Greer, T.J, and Dr. Robert Caine take the shuttle to the planet and land near some woodland. They exit the shuttle to check the surrounding area. T.J. takes a sample of water from a stream and tests it in an analysis jar, determining it to be pure. Greer turns up with a kiwi-like fruit. Before they can perform a test to see if it is fit for human consumption, Greer just takes a bite out of it, despite protests that it may be poisonous; Greer brushes off their concerns and enjoys it. Scott later radios Young to report. He announces that they have brought back several plant samples that T.J. believes has some medicinal properties. The water is pure, and Greer had no reactions from the fruit. After the report, Scott finds T.J. admiring the view, noting it looks like home, and reminisces about the time when she and her father went camping in the Olympic Peninsula. The team then enter the shuttle again and fly out. Under direction from Young, they do a fly-over of the area, discovering their first sign of technology; an Obelisk. Upon returning, the team reports that the obelisk is around 2,000 feet tall, and it is emitting a faint EM field, but other than that, it isn't doing anything else. Eli spots the alien text written on it; the obelisk is a piece of technology that is far too advanced for the Nakai to have created it. Rush also believes the same race actually created the planet. Eli cites the Genesis Device from Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan; nobody else in the room gets the reference. Since they speculate that the race also created the star, Eli goes on to believe they may have encountered the work of the "number one all-time advanced civilization." Rush has calculated that Destiny is going to jump back into FTL in four weeks, two days, and seven hours, and suggests they use the time to send some people to the planet. Since they're almost out of shuttle range, they have to send them quickly. Once Destiny passes the star and re-enters shuttle range, those who would be on the planet can return with supplies. Eli points out that their luck with aliens hasn't been that great thus far, but Young assures him that everything they do carries some inherent risk. Camile Wray walks into the infirmary to see about a headache she claims she had since arriving on the ship. T.J. gives her a plant sample from the planet to make a tea from, the plant contains the ingredient aspirin is made from. She is also curious to know whether T.J. will go down to the planet; she will, since she can't pass up any opportunity to get out of the ship for a month. Wray, meanwhile, is skeptical about Rush's calculations, and although a part of her wants to go, she doesn't believe she can trust Rush. Several people are entering the shuttle. Young orders Scott and the military personnel to keep a round-the-clock look out on the camps, and that a team should escort the science teams every time they are to go into the woodland. Young also informs him that they are working on the damaged shuttle, and hopefully, by the time Destiny is within range again, it will be fixed, so they can return some supplies quicker. Chloe Armstrong then walks in, also volunteering to join the team; Scott finds this awkward, since their relationship came into question since the mutiny. T.J. is also ready, having appointed Cole to look after Dr. Jeremy Franklin. Once all volunteers are on board, those who are still on Destiny watch the shuttle take off from the observation deck. Sometime later, the shuttle lands on a clearing on the planet. Once everyone disembarks, Scott wants some tents to be made as soon as possible, though for now, they can sleep in the shuttle. He then leaves everyone to their teams and assignments. As he finishes, Chloe approaches Scott; she wasn't assigned a team. Scott decides to appoint her to help T.J. with the nearby plants. After she leaves, Scott witnesses an argument taking place between Airman Dunning and Dr. Morrison. Greer approaches to see what the conflict is about. Morrison tells him he is not going to dig a latrine Dunning ordered him to. Dunning makes the excuse that "somebody has to do it." In the "spirit of cooperation", Greer solves the conflict by having both of them dig together. Caine, Chloe and T.J. plan to log and take photographs of the plants, and then put them through a test to see if their edible. Chloe notices T.J. is not feeling well; T.J. insists that she will be fine, and it will pass. Chloe believes it may have something to do with the lack of food and water they all consume. Scott then walks by to inform the team that Destiny is now officially out of shuttle range. Eli decides to join Camile in the Mess Hall; they are the only people in there. Wray expresses hope that those on the planet will bring back loads of food, since the fruit they received recently is almost gone. Eli chooses the time to present a piece of fruit he has smuggled in, and offers to share it with her. After cutting it in half and splitting it, Wray asks Eli if making a star is possible; Eli notes that it is possible, since it just apparently appeared out of nowhere, and the planet's age does not match, stating "if some all powerful alien beings didn't create it, who did?" In some forest on the planet, next to a stream, Caine appears to be meditating. From the other side of the bank, Scott appears to refill his canteen, and is startled to see him. After apologizing for the interruption, Caine thanks Scott for being one of the few soldiers who are genuinely trying to mend fences between the civilians and the military personnel; they have the planet to help. When Scott notes they are lucky finding it, Caine remembers that his mother once told him that there is no such thing as luck, "only the hand of God giving you a little help when you need it most." He admits that until now, he did not believe in religion, but since coming onto the planet, he believes that this must be a miracle of some kind. He later relays his belief to other people. Morrison quickly points out that he is not a believer; "You miss your flight and the plane crashes, you weren't spared for a reason. God doesn't have a master plan for you. Things just happen," he says. Young approaches Brody and Park, who are working on the damaged shuttle, and wants a report on their progress. Brody reports that the propulsion system is almost completely shot, but they can make the shuttle perform left turns. Rush then radios in, requesting permission to use the power from the engines to strengthen the shield, so they can take the opportunity to explore more of the ship. Eli and Wray are together in the observation deck. She believes they might have made a mistake by not going to the planet, while Eli believes sending the crew there was a mistake. The weeks start passing on both the planet and Destiny. On the planet, everybody there is having a good time. Chloe takes some time to swim at a lake. They start playing makeshift soccer games. Chloe and Scott's relationship appears to have been fixed. T.J. is starting let her hair down. Upon exploring, she finds a waterfall. Meanwhile, on the ship, everybody there is not having such a relaxing time. The damaged shuttle repairs continue. Lt. Vanessa James leads a team to explore the previously unexplored areas of the ship. Rush is still recovering from his past surgery. Chloe is searching the surrounding area for food, when she hears some coughing. She follows the sounds to find T.J. hunched over and vomiting. When Chloe wants to help, T.J. tells her she isn't sick. Putting the pieces together, Chloe discovers she is pregnant; T.J. is going through morning sickness. T.J. says she is fifteen weeks along, starting just before she left Icarus Base. She plans to keep this news secret for now, and will find the right time to inform others before anyone else notices. James' team has found some sort of robot in one of the crates, but they don't what it is for yet. Rush says he will figure it out as soon as he is able; there are other items of discovery he has to analyze first, and he does not want any body to touch before he does. Young orders James to close the crate. It is soon night time on the planet. The team there all gather around a fire. Scott approaches Chloe, who admits that she likes the planet, and also expresses Caine's belief that a higher power may have detected the expedition's troubles and made the planet for them. Just then, she notices something; a bright beam of light shoots from the top of the obelisk into space. Scott decides to relay the news over to Young; Volker detected some strange radiation, but needs time to work on it. Together, Scott, Young and Rush speculate that the team's presence must have triggered it, and that it may be calling the aliens to the planet. Young tells Scott they won't be there to find out. The next morning, Scott announces that Destiny is almost within range, and they need to start packing their supplies and fly back and forth a few times. Volker wishes to spend more time on the obelisk, but Scott says there isn't enough time. Greer breaks up the silence and orders everyone to start packing. Some members are quite unhappy with this. Young checks up on shuttle status. Brody and Park are confident that the shuttle can now turn in all directions, but since the propulsion system is still a problem child, the shuttle may never be fully operational. Meanwhile, Eli and Wray are talking in the Mess Hall, this time with James joining them. They are all talking about what kind of fruits and vegetables the team will bring back with them. Eli is taking interest in the sweet potatoes they will bring back from Scott's recommendations. Wray notices the troubled look on Rush's face; he says that his calculations are correct, but they will leave the planet for good without knowing who made the system. On the planet, T.J. thinks about what the group is to do. Chloe asks Scott to give her some time, since quite a few people on the team are thinking of staying; Scott and Greer say they shouldn't stay, because the aliens may be hostile. Chloe rather brusquely replies "why do you immediately think they're gonna harm us?" Caine joins in on the argument and reiterates that the planet was created for them, and they were led here for a reason. T.J. tells Scott that she feels healthier on the planet, due to the abundance in food and water. Scott says that they will take a lot back; T.J. points out they will run out eventually. Scott also points out that Volker has found evidence that the approaching winter will reach sub-zero temperatures; they can build shelters, but Caine believes that the aliens will come to them before then. Finally, T.J. admits she is pregnant, and she can't bear the thought of raising her child on Destiny. Scott reports the problem with Young, who is adamant that they return. Scott tells him that, in total, eleven people have decided to stay, including Caine, Chloe, T.J., and himself. Later, Young tells the news to Rush and Wray; Scott believes he has the obligation to protect those on the planet, and wonders what to do with them. Wray believes they shouldn't force them off of the planet; Rush believes otherwise, since they can't risk any more losses. He believes Young should retrieve those who wish to return, and then have the rest rounded up by force. Young however, has another plan in mind. T.J. asks Scott if he told Young about her condition; he hasn't yet. He also believes Young is the father, since he saw certain looks between the two of them at some point, though he heard no rumors about the two. Rush hears of Young's plan of bringing some back, but letting some stay, by giving them the damaged shuttle, against Rush's wishes. Young ignores him, and asks Brody if it is ready to fly; it is, but there are some issues regarding whether or not the shuttle will hold atmosphere. He soon takes off and flies into the planet's upper atmosphere. So far, so good. However, through re-entry, the welded plate starts to creak, but Young and the shuttle make it. The team on the planet spot the shuttle. Once Young successfully lands outside the camp site. He exits and asks if anybody has changed their minds regarding staying or leaving; they haven't. Young has an offer; he will leave behind the damaged shuttle for shelter and fly overs, but not leaving the atmosphere, since it is too risky. His ultimatum is that those who wish to stay will have access to the damaged shuttle. However, all the military personnel are coming back with him. If anyone objects, everyone will return to Destiny by force. When T.J. protests, Young explains that they cannot give up getting back to Earth, and Destiny is their best chance of that. Caine argues that the aliens who made the planet might be just as helpful, but Young's stance remains unchanged. Most of the military personnel come as ordered, and he convinces T.J. and Scott that the crew aboard the ship need them just as much as those on the planet will. Caine and about six other civilians remain behind, while everyone else comes back without incident. Chloe decides to come back to Destiny. The ship soon jumps into FTL again. Young speaks with Rush, stating that he's sorry Rush never got the chance to speak to the aliens who made the solar system, joking that he would finally have had someone to hold a decent conversation with. Noticing that Rush is in the process of carving chess pieces with a knife, he notes that he enjoys the game. After deciding to leave the room, Scott approaches Young about his motives towards staying; Young doesn't want to hear it, he just wants to attend the feast being held in light of all the food they brought back with them. As he leaves, Scott believes they might have abandoned a lifeline that was given to them. Young doesn't feel anyone is qualified to judge such a thing. In the end, the majority of the expedition are in the Mess Hall, attending, and enjoying the bountiful feast of fruits and vegetables. Every one is having a good time. Meanwhile, T.J. doesn't attend, and is in her quarters, crying alone. + +In a house somewhere on Earth, Dr. Nicholas Rush is lying in bed, facing his wife, Gloria Rush, who is asleep. Rush then gets up, and writes some notes on a pocket notepad. He continues at the dining room table, where Gloria awakens and makes some tea. She notices that he is up early; Rush merely states he has things to do. Gloria reminds him about her appointment with Dr. Brown at four o'clock. Hesitantly, Rush says he won't make it in, before retreating to his office. In there, the walls are completely plastered with papers full of notes and calculations, as well as a whiteboard filled with more calculations. Sometime later, Rush is lecturing a class full of students at the University of California, Berkeley, asking if anybody is familiar with the significance of Shor's algorithm. One of the students stands up and describes what the algorithm is. While the student is in the process of explaining, from Rush's perspective, a tunnel of Ancient symbols is streaming towards him. Seeing it apparently overwhelms Rush. After congratulating the student and finishing the lecture, he is met in the hall by Constance, a friend of the couple. She questions why he left his wife to travel to the appointment alone. Rush brushes her off, claiming Gloria wanted to go it alone. After claiming he is very concerned about what may happen to her, he leaves. In his office, which is in the same state as his home office, Rush continues to see the stream of data, as well as a door that did not appear to have been there before. He then receives a call from his wife, who tells him that "it's back", and that she cannot go through the treatments again. Rush moves through the conversation as if it happened before. Gloria asks him to return home, which he says he will. He eventually does so, but doesn't greet Gloria when entering. He sees her with her back turned playing a piece of classical music with her violin. He returns to his home office to continue working. The next day at the university campus, Rush writes down some more notes. Dr. Daniel Jackson approaches him from behind, needing to speak with him; he checked earlier but was told Rush wasn't in yet. Rush already knows what Daniel wants to talk to him about; the Stargate program. He apparently knows what he is about to be told about the ninth chevron and the Icarus project. He admits that this already happened; he is experiencing a vision of what already happened two years ago, a side-affect of what he is trying to accomplish in the present. It is revealed Rush is in fact sitting in the Destiny interface chair, unconscious. Unlike Dr. Jeremy Franklin, Rush isn't convulsing. Dr. Adam Brody is with him. Colonel Everett Young and Eli Wallace enter the room, wondering what is going on, and see Rush sitting in the chair. Young calls in Lt. Tamara Johansen, who checks up on him; so far, his heart rate and blood pressure has increased, but not to dangerous levels. Young is upset that Brody and Rush have used the chair without informing him. Brody insists that they did not want to involve anybody else, and with or without Brody, Rush would have done it alone if necessary. The two found a way to modify the chair in such a way that no harm comes to those using it, and Brody states that this is the only way to unlock control of Destiny. Young wants Rush removed, but Brody says that only Rush can disengage the interface safely; if he is forced out, it could kill him. Brody also reveals that they created a buffer to slow down the transfer of information and limit it to a small portion of his memory center; Rush is having a semi-lucid dream whilst gathering the information. Once he finds enough clues, he will simply have to walk through a certain door, and he will return, hopefully unharmed. Since T.J. believes he is stable for now, Young allows the experiment to continue, but orders Brody to pull the plug should that change. Back in the dream world, Constance and Gloria are talking about Gloria going home again for the last time. Gloria does not want to go alone, so Constance offers to come too. However, Gloria doesn't feel she has the strength to. Rush returns to his office, working. Constance confronts Rush and tries to encourage him to take her, but he insists that he can't go anywhere yet. In the Destiny Mess hall, Eli has been avoiding Chloe Armstrong. Instead of sitting next to her, he decides to sit at a table by himself. When Chloe moves to Eli and wonders why he is avoiding her, Eli claims that she looked busy. Chloe apologizes for what happened concerning the mutiny, and never meant to hurt Eli's feelings; she does not want this to happen again, since she values their friendship. Eli seems to accept this. Then, the FTL engines shutdown. Curious, the two decide to see what is happening. The two walk to the Gate room, where the Stargate has dialed to a planet. Kino footage shows ruins near the planet's Stargate; this is the first planet to indicate that there was intelligent life around. The jump countdown says Destiny has six hours. When Lt. Matthew Scott and MSgt. Ronald Greer prepare to leave, Eli and Chloe wish to go also. Chloe awkwardly attempts to justify her participation with Eli's help, claiming to have read all of Jackson's work, and studied Ancient history in Harvard, making her quite familiar with archaeology. Young grants their request, and tells them to be careful. He has a laugh at their expense once they leave to get ready. Rush presents an Ancient cipher to his class, looking for a pattern. However, they can see nothing, having never seen the symbols before. Rush angrily claims that they should recognize them, being a facet of his subconscious, but they remain dumbfounded. Rush angrily orders them to get out of class. When they leave, Jackson comes in, telling him not to blame them. Rush expresses envy of Eli's genius, noting that despite having no ambitious education, and always playing computer games, Eli solved a problem he never could, and would be better suited to solving this problem, too. Daniel suggests that Rush take some time to spend with his wife, referencing his own inability to save Sha're. Since the data seems to come faster near her, Rush decides to do so. Just then, Jackson tells Rush his nose is bleeding. The nose bleed is translating to reality. Young comes into the room and hears of this. T.J. announces that his vitals have started to fluctuate. Brody also admits there is no way to tell if he has found the answer yet, but is monitoring the flow of data entering Rush's head. He still thinks removing him is a bad idea. In the dream world, Rush is spending time with his wife, who notes that she spent years watching what she ate, but now she is going to die, she could eat anything, but doesn't find it as appealing. Rush is still writing notes on the notebook, but eventually does take a moment to stop and console Gloria. On the planet, Eli is guiding the Kino through what he believes is an underground network of tunnels, and decides they should check them out. Scott questions the purpose of doing so, since the ruins don't appear to be all that advanced. Chloe notes that other advanced civilizations have had primitive-looking structures, then Eli admits that he's lost the Kino within the tunnels. Since they need to Kino to keep the recorded data, Scott reluctantly decides they should check the tunnels after all, while Greer opts to stay outside. When Eli jokingly suggests he's scared, Greer responds with silent anger. Eli quickly tries to apologize. Scott calms him down and has Greer bring up the rear. When they go down, Scott explains that Greer is a little claustrophobic. Greer has flashbacks of being locked in a closet as a child. Back in his dream world, Rush and Gloria spend more time together. In the following days, they both take a walk in a park, sit in church, and Rush witnesses Gloria teaching a little girl. All this time, he still works on his notebook. On the planet, the team has had no luck finding either the Kino or any evidence of the planet's former residents. Chloe freaks out after getting caught in a cobweb, and decides to leave. Scott agrees. At that moment, Greer notices a giant spider crawling on the ceiling behind Chloe. He tells her to stand still, and proceeds to open fire. While this does kill the spider, the tunnels start to collapse, and the team is trapped. After some time, Young opens the Stargate and radios Scott's team. When Scott hears from him, he requests some help, explaining their situation. Young decides to launch a team to help them dig their way out. Sgt. Hunter Riley, who has returned to active duty since injury while repairing the weapons, informs Young they have just under two hours before Destiny jumps again. Underground, the team discuss how the rescue team are to get to them. Greer suggests they use some C-4 he has with him. However, Scott quickly points out that it could make matters worse. Meanwhile, a rescue team headed by Lt. Vanessa James and Dr. Dale Volker arrive on the planet and make contact with Scott's team. Already, the situation looks bleak, but James orders everyone to start digging regardless. In his dream world, Rush is lying down in his office, flashing back to the more fond memories between him and Gloria. He is interrupted by Jackson, who apparently let himself into the house when Rush failed to answer the door. Jackson notes that his nose is bleeding again. He has come to explain that Stargate Command has found a suitable planet thanks to a source from within the Lucian Alliance. Rush diverts Jackson's attention to the whiteboard, asking if he understands anything on it; he doesn't, and neither does Rush. Since all this information he gathered yields no answers, he decides to leave through the door to exit the experiment. Before he can, Jackson tells him he should be with his wife again, since she is in her final hours. This gives Rush a thought; he asks for today's date. It's April 6th; however, Gloria did not die on that date. After writing the date on the whiteboard, then replaces "April" with "4", showing the number 46. Jackson notes that it is four numbers off the Ultimate Answer to Life, the Universe and Everything from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. However, 46 is twice the number of 23, referencing the 23 enigma, where everything is apparently connected to the number 23. Rush realizes that the number 46 keeps popping up everywhere; the time on the clock, his house number, a license plate, and the Bible. As Rush is about to move on, he experiences a sudden surge of pain in his chest. On the planet, James' team tries to dig out Scott's team, but it is going slower than expected. Eli notes they should start panicking, as there is under 30 minutes left. Young visits T.J. in the chair room, where she informs him Rush suffered from a cardiac event; keeping him in the chair will kill him. Brody decides now that it might be worth the risk to disconnect him. Young, however, now sees Rush as their only chance of stopping the ship, so the rescue team will have the needed time to free Scott's team. Volker reports to James and tells her that he has found no other entry points in the immediate area. James thinks that it is time that they make one. She radios Scott and tells him she is going to use some C-4 as a last resort. She advises Scott and the team to take cover from a safe distance; they oblige. James plants the C-4, and her team takes some cover, as she detonates it. After the dust settles, Scott and the team see that no change has been made to the collapse at all. In fact, from the outside, the C-4 made matters worse. With little time left, Scott thanks James for her assistance anyway, and reluctantly orders her to get back to Destiny. In his dream world, Rush decides to visit Gloria at her death bed in the hospital. It is revealed that Gloria is aware that she is part of his imagination. She notes that since her death, Rush has become more callous. Rush tries to justify these acts as being for the greater good, and says that the good in him died along with her, though Gloria believes otherwise. After she laments that she had to inherit a defective gene from her mother which cannot do the simple job of repairing damaged DNA, Rush realizes the meaning of the number 46 from her statement. Gloria is then aware of why Rush is in this particular dream; this is the memory he'd rather forget. In tears, Rush says he has never forgotten her, and he never will. After saying goodbye to her, Rush leaves the dream and walks through the door to reality. Rush is disconnected from the chair. Young confronts him, and tells him that Eli, Chloe, Scott and Greer are stuck on the planet, and they have five minutes to stop the ship. Rush says he can't find a way to stop it. Young radios Scott's team, and breaks the news; the team are sunk with despair over the fact that Destiny is going to leave without them. Young insists that he will not give up hope for them. After the Stargate shuts down, the jump countdown reaches zero, and Destiny enters FTL. The team is now stranded. Sometime later, Young sees Rush in the Control interface room, and wonders what he is doing out of the infirmary; Rush says he has work to do. While he cannot control the ship yet, he, Brody and Volker now have a base by which to decode the system. 46 refers to the number of chromosomes in human, and for that matter, Ancient DNA. They merely need to run through all the possible permutations to find a match. Rush has set up a program to do this automatically, telling Young that they may get a match in a few days. Volker adds that it could also be a few years, though Rush, for once, prefers to take the more optimistic approach. Young questions Rush if it was worth risking his life to be in the chair. Rush simply replies, "We'll see." + +In the Control interface room, Sgt. Hunter Riley is recording the efforts to recover the team stranded on the Ruins planet using a Kino, claiming Eli Wallace would have wanted them to. Dr. Nicholas Rush retorts that, since Eli is among those stranded, he would want them to focus on rescuing him. Riley points out that Rush has already rejected his idea to ask the ship for help, which Rush angrily states he already tried to no avail. By then, Dr. Adam Brody has finished setting up a star map. Riley continues recording and starts narrating what is transpiring. He states that the Stargate model used on Destiny is a more primitive version of the ones used in the Milky Way. Every time Destiny drops out of FTL, rather than being able to dial any Stargate within a galaxy, only a handful can be reached as long as it is in range; the next time the ship stops, it will already be out of range of the planet that Chloe Armstrong, MSgt. Ronald Greer, Lt. Matthew Scott and Eli are stranded on. As he is about to explain what Brody and Rush are trying to do, the Kino suddenly falls to the ground. Riley is baffled, since the Kino he is using was recently taken from the Kino dispenser and should be fully charged. Just then, the holographic star map shuts down. Lt. Tamara Johansen, under the orders of Colonel Everett Young, checks up on Lt. Vanessa James, concerning her relationship with Scott. After James discovers that T.J. was brought there under orders, the lights in James's quarters go out. This issue appears to be ship-wide, as Young radios the control interface room to check up on what is happening. According to Rush, he believes the ship is going into a power saving mode, though life support is still fully operational; Rush says he will find a way to work around the problem, though Brody suggests they shouldn't, since Destiny must be doing it for a reason. Meanwhile, Riley believes the power loss may be due to the fact that Destiny is old and that the computers are malfunctioning. In the underground tunnel, the stranded team finds that they only have two days worth of water. Scott is confident they can find more when they work out a way to get out of the tunnels. After that, they might be able to make it back to Destiny by maybe using the gates to hop from planet to planet to catch up. Eli unenthusiastically points out that the Kino remote only has a list of planets that are within range, not where they are or where Destiny is in relation to them. The tunnels starts shaking again; Greer believes the C-4 may have destabilized the tunnels and they must move on. Onboard Destiny, the flashlight Young is carrying runs out of battery power as the lights in the corridor return. He walks up to the control interface room to check on what Rush is doing about the power loss. Rush says that several systems have shut down automatically and they have little control over it. Rush reiterates that they won't know if the planet is within range the next time they drop out of FTL. While Scott's team traverses the tunnels, Eli becomes irritated that the tunnels seemingly go on forever, and believes this was the reason the race that inhabited the planet died out, as well as wishing the tunnels had the maps used in shopping malls that point out "you are here". When Scott has the team stop for a break, Eli admits that previously, he was freaking out, but is now more optimistic about getting back to Destiny, based on the fact that Stargates were only placed in a line rather than all over the galaxy. He demonstrates how to reach Destiny by drawing three overlapping circles; they can't dial straight to Destiny, but if they can reach gates in-between, they can catch up to it. However, there is a 50/50 chance they will go the wrong way and run into planets they already visited. The team have to move on when another giant spider approaches them. Rush and Brody are looking at the reactivated star map and are concerned about what they are seeing. Meanwhile, T.J. reports to Young about James, and believes she is still mentally fit for active duty. T.J. plans on telling him about her pregnancy, but before she can, Rush radios Young to summon him. T.J. tells Young she can wait to tell him. Young walks to Rush, who informs him that when he was in the crashed alien ship, he saw what he believed was a map of the galaxy. He and Brody have been working on their own map of the galaxy, and have discovered that Destiny is on the very edge of it; if Scott's team isn't retrieved the next time they drop out of FTL, they will lose the chance to rescue them forever. In the underground tunnels, Eli looks at the remote screen and finds that the Kino has found an exit, but he still has no idea where it is. While they decide which way to turn, Chloe notices a map of the tunnels carved into the walls; there are other places where the same map appears, but has a small difference, their equivalent of "you are here". Greer walks off to find another map to verify. Scott follows him. Greer walks back to confirm Chloe's theory. However, at that moment, the tunnels start to quake again; the ceiling above Greer collapses right on top of him. In the infirmary, T.J. is talking with Dr. Lisa Park. Park tells her to inform Young of her pregnancy, since he will find out soon regardless. Then, the two notice that the ship has dropped out of FTL. Meanwhile, on the planet, Chloe, Eli and Scott appear to be fine. However, they are cut off from Greer, who is either trapped under the rubble, or trapped behind it. They cannot reach him. The expedition has three hours to find Scott's team. Since Rush is part of the offworld team going out, he estimates that they will have time to visit 20 planets before they have to return; hopefully, one of those 20 will be the one Scott's team is on. After they leave, T.J. radios Young and asks to speak with him in private. However, Young informs her he is busy, and wants her to wait. Chloe, Eli and Scott attempt to move the rocks to find Greer. However, Scott soon asks the other two to stop, since he now doubts Greer survived. Believing Greer would want them to go on if there was no hope for him, Scott announces they have to leave. He radios Greer, and even though he may not reply, apologizes to him. Meanwhile, in a flashback, young Ronald is trapped in a closet, overhearing his parents arguing. His mother, Angela Greer tries to convince her husband, Reginald Greer to let him out; Reginald claims he put Greer there because he believes "the boy has to learn." After that, the present Greer regains consciousness. He is trapped in some rubble, and struggles to move. He calls out to Scott, but there is no answer. The rest of the team has found the Kino, as well as their exit. After a moment of hesitation, the trio starts climbing up the ladder to the open. Greer meanwhile, is slowly moving the rocks out of the way to escape. He flashes back to his childhood again, where he is collecting bricks in a pile in the back yard. When he tells his father he has finished, the drunken man walks over to the pile and shoves it over. Later, in the kitchen, Ronald is frustrated that his mother keeps saying Reginald was a good man, but at this point, he was too young. Ronald wants him and his mother to leave him. As the memory ends, Greer manages to dig his way out. The other three make it to the Stargate, with Eli preparing to dial. Scott now believes that since the crew may be doing the same thing they are going to do, maybe the best chance of being found is to stay on the planet. Eli believes otherwise. Eventually, Scott gives the OK to dial. Once a wormhole is established, Eli guides the Kino through to see if it is safe. After the Kino is through, footage shows the planet to be foggy, but readings suggest the atmosphere is suitable. Greer finds the exit and climbs out. There, he starts to run through a meadow. He flashes back to two more childhood memories. The first is when he looks through pictures of his father during his time in the military, before Reginald walks in and snatches them off him. The second is where Reginald is driving his son to a very dangerous part of the city at night. After he stops, he tells his son to get out. Back at the Stargate, Scott hesitantly goes through the wormhole. The team have arrived on another planet. Greer arrives too late; the wormhole already disengaged before he was in the area. On the foggy planet, Scott announces they are to spend ten minutes on each planet, just in case Destiny shows up after they arrive. The trio hear rather disturbing noises of growling and stamping that appears to be coming towards the Stargate. Knowing this is a bad sign, Scott has Eli dial the next planet. As the Stargate is dialling, the trio see a large dinosaur-like creature approaching them. The wormhole has engaged. Not waiting for the atmospheric results from the Kino, Eli and Chloe run through to the next planet. Scott opens fire on the creature in an attempt to scare it off. He soon goes through the Stargate. Nighttime has reached the ruins planet. Greer has lit a fire near the Stargate and sits closely to it. In a flashback, his younger self is able to walk home from the rough part of the city, only to find his home on fire. He charges in and is able to rescue her mother. Though unseen, he also saved his father. In the present, Reginald appears in a vision and tells him Greer he should have let him die. Rush and James with their teams have arrived on tenth planet with 90 minutes left. Rush admits finding the team is more complicated than he anticipated, but has said it will take a short time to work out how to return since they visited nine other planets. With multiple Kinos at their disposal, James proposes they split up, and Rush agrees. Greer continues to have memories. In the hospital where his father is recovering, a fellow hospital patient named Virgil Biggs keeps ranting on about 20,000 soldiers being hospitalized after experiencing adverse effects to receiving a vaccine. Eventually, the ranting gets to Reginald, who snaps and starts attacking the patient. Greer manages to stop him. In the Destiny infirmary, Young is talking with T.J., apologizing for being busy. Rather than hesitating, T.J. outs that she is pregnant, about 22 weeks in, and Young is the father; she intends to keep it. When Young pauses, T.J. asks what they are going to do; Young promises he is going to make things work. Chloe, Eli and Scott are on a desert planet, which is experiencing a heavy sandstorm. Eli has dialled the Gate and sent a Kino through. He reports that the next planet is toxic; they can't go there to retrieve it, so any gates dialled from here on will be blind jumps. Scott elects to go through the Stargate first; if the atmosphere is safe, he will radio the other two to come through. Greer is still seeing a vision of his father, telling him his teammates left him behind. Greer says he won't blame them, since they believed he was dead anyway. He then flashes back to the hospital where Greer is older. After hearing that his comatose father's infection has reached into his brain, Greer announces to his mother he has enlisted in the Marines because he failed to earn his scholarship, as well as wanting to "be somebody"; he is not changing his mind. Scott's team arrives on a planet, where it is snowing. Chloe notes that the planet reminds her of the times she spent Christmases in Vermont. When the remote refreshes the list of available addressed, Eli notices something; he recognizes one of the addresses, the Gravel pit planet. They have been traveling the wrong way. However, Eli may have a solution; they can go to the alien ship, and find the map of the galaxy, like what Rush did. Since the aliens may also be on the planet, the others decide what to do next. Ultimately, Scott agrees. On the ruins planet, Greer notices the Stargate is dialing. When it kawooshes, he takes cover, but is stunned to see James and her team arrive on the planet; Scott's option to stay earlier would actually have been the right call, but he and his team have arrived on the gravel pit planet and made it on board the ship. Eli finds Rush's glasses on the floor, indicating they are in the right place. He displays a holographic screen and is starting scroll through, even though he has no idea what anything means. Scott agrees to stay around for 15 minutes. James's team has returned Greer to Destiny; Young congratulates James and asks Greer where the rest of his team are. Greer does not know, but knows they must be on another planet. Meanwhile, the 15 minutes are up, but Chloe asks for more time, as she recognizes one of the symbols. The symbol leads to the star map, and Eli believes he has found Destiny. However, he also realizes Destiny is going to leave the galaxy and strand them for good. They will have to hurry. According to the jump countdown, they have five minutes to get there. They manage to gate through to another planet. Fortunately, according to Eli, this is their last planet, as he recognizes Destiny's address. They quickly dial it. On the ship, the Stargate has dialed, but it is Rush's team who make it through. Because of this, Eli cannot make a connection. Scott has Eli try dialing again, and he obliges. However, before they can establish a connection, the jump countdown reaches zero, and Destiny jumps into FTL. On the planet, the Stargate ceases dialing, and Destiny's address disappears from the remote, indicating it has jumped. Chloe, Eli and Scott are devastated, knowing that Destiny is leaving them behind forever. On board Destiny, Riley follows Greer, wanting him to talk about what happened on the planet, claiming Eli would want him to talk. Greer does not respond and by the time he arrives in his quarters, wordlessly indicates that he does not wish to talk. Riley decides it would be best to ask him at another time. Greer closes the door and sits on his bed, sullen. + +Destiny is pulling away from the galaxy for good. Colonel Everett Young starts shaving, but is interrupted by a radio call from Lt. Tamara Johansen, who informs him everybody is waiting in the gate room. T.J. is now visibly pregnant. Once he arrives, he informs them that Dr. Nicholas Rush has confirmed Destiny is now flying across the void to the next galaxy. This means that Destiny won't make any Stargate connections any time soon, so Young is imposing strict food and water rationing. As he explains how they will be unable to rescue Chloe Armstrong, Lt. Matthew Scott and Eli Wallace, Rush radios him, telling him to join him in the Control interface room. After he dismisses them, Young arrives at the control interface room, where Rush realizes why Destiny is conserving power; they are going to fall short of the jump. A team groups up in the room. Dr. Adam Brody has found that, according to the database, Destiny barely made the last few intergalactic jumps, and the recent damage sustained in the alien attack, as well as the expedition's presence, isn't going to help. When Camile Wray asks why Destiny is continuing, knowing it won't make it through, Rush answers that the ship is following a pre-determined path. Destiny will fall short of their new galaxy by 50,000 light years, but it will eventually drift there at sublight speeds. However, none of them will live to see it. Rush thinks of a possible solution; if they can increase the efficiency of the drives by even 5%, they can make it. Dr. Dale Volker believes doing so may make matters worse given their unfamiliarity with the technology, but he is overruled. Rush states he knows a few people on Earth who can help, and the best expert he can think of is Dr. Amanda Perry, a quadriplegic scientist working on Earth's next generation of hyperdrive technology. Young gathers some of the female officers, telling them that whoever volunteers for the switch will have to be confined to a wheelchair for a few weeks, though there will be someone with the volunteer at all times to help with the day-to-day activities. Upon hearing she will meet her family again, Lt. Vanessa James volunteers to do it. Later, in Homeworld Command, Major Peterson stands over a woman in a wheelchair. James is sitting in it, having swapped consciousnesses with Perry. James finds this new experience overwhelming and can't even answer him. Meanwhile, Perry is in James' body. She is amazed to find herself on Destiny, and greets Rush. However, a moment later, the stones are deactivated. In shock, James admits she can't do it and runs off, knocking over the communication device in her haste. Wray volunteers to do it in James' place. Before they reactivate the stones, Wray tells Young to fix the ship. The stones reactivate, and Wray's consciousness ends up in Perry's body. Petersen gives her time to get used to the ventilator, and introduces her to Perry's helper, Mary. When he suggests she debrief with Dr. Carl Strom, Wray declines; she wants to go home. In the Mess hall, James confides in T.J. that she believes she let Young down, though T.J. assures her otherwise. They then notice Perry arriving with Rush, who is giving her the tour of the ship. She comes to notice James, who quickly leaves the room. Perry then notices some fruit that the expedition picked up recently, and wants to try some, despite Rush's warnings. After Airman Darren Becker hands one over to her, she surprisingly enjoys it; Becker notes that most spit them out. Rush later overhears Young radio T.J., telling her to find Rush, since he seemed to have deactivated his. Rush awkwardly decides to meet Young in the control interface room. Meanwhile, as James walks along a corridor, she halts, apparently confused. Wray has arrived at her home, where her partner Sharon Walker is waiting. Sharon tells her she is spending her vacation time to be with her. Wray quickly notices that Sharon has finally sold the ugly chair they tried to get rid of for several years. To greet her, Sharon kisses Wray on the forehead. When Wray tells her she could do better, Sharon hesitantly kisses her on the lips. In the control interface room on Destiny, Perry is with Rush, Brody and Volker. Perry confirms that an increase efficiency of 5-6% should do what they need to do, but Rush notes it may be difficult to do so considering the lack of control they have over the ship. As Young enters to check on their progress, an explosion takes place at the rear of the ship. The force causes a violent shake on Destiny, which drops out of FTL and sends the crew flying all over the place. This causes a momentary interruption with the communication stones. For a few seconds, Wray returns to Destiny, before she ends up back in Perry's body on Earth, explaining to Mary and Sharon that the ship dropped out of FTL. T.J. is performing triage in the infirmary. MSgt. Ronald Greer walks in with an injured Marine. Before Greer leaves, he asks if T.J. is alright; she insists she is fine. Meanwhile, the scientists have confirmed they are not under attack; a malfunction caused this. Since it happened from the outside, they can't get access to it, since that section is unpressurized. Volker notes he can guide a Kino pretty well, and he is tasked with finding out what is wrong. Rush asks Perry if she's alright. She is, but wonders why she ended up in her body for a moment. Rush explains that, for some reason, the stones deactivate from interference when Destiny either enters or exits FTL. James talks with T.J. concerning a memory lapse she experienced, and said it happened before the explosion. Just then, Dr. Lisa Park brings in Dr. Jeremy Franklin, who was found lying in the floor. Ever since sitting on the Destiny interface chair, he has been in a catatonic state, and although conscious, doesn't move or respond to anything. Meanwhile, Volker guides the Kino over the damaged section, and the footage is relayed back to the control interface room. At Wray's house, Mary talks with Sharon concerning how to look after Camile in her condition. Sharon admits to have never done something like this before. Mary tells her she has been with Perry a long time and knows what to do, as well as assuring Sharon she will be fine. Perry and Rush are working in the gate room, when the Stargate starts dialing in. Concerned, Rush radios Greer to send a team in. Quickly, Greer and other military personnel prepare themselves and run to the gate room. By the time they arrive, Greer tells the two to leave, but Rush assures him that they don't need to be concerned. To his surprise, Chloe, Eli and Scott make it through. When they lower their weapons, Greer and Scott joyfully reunite. Chloe notices that the team didn't seem to have helped them dial in. Eli walks over to Rush and presents him with the pair of glasses he lost on the alien ship. Mary feeds Wray some dinner while she and Sharon converse. It is revealed Sharon joined a book club since their last visit, which is supposedly exclusively to women, though there were some young men who faked interest in the subject. When she laughs, Wray chokes. Mary wants Wray to be concentrated on eating right now. When Sharon offers to take over, Mary gives her the bowl and instructs her to feed her one piece of pasta at a time. When Wray asks if this feels odd, Sharon merely says that she is home, and that is all that matters. Onboard Destiny, Eli tells the tale of how they returned. They were resigned to the fact that they were stuck forever, but on their second night, he noticed Destiny's address on the Kino remote, and dialed, figuring the expedition must have found a way to find them. Young arrives to tell them one of the FTL engines exploded, and he is putting Eli back to work straight away, much to his chagrin. Some time later, James is feeding Franklin, who is still unresponsive. Perry walks over to Eli and asks "Math Boy" if he completed the calculations yet. He has, but asks her to stop calling him "Math Boy". Perry reminisces that since she started working with Rush, he kept calling her "Little Miss Brilliant", and after his wife died, they kept having long talks about each other's work, as well as other topics like ascension. Eli seems very surprised to hear about the side of Rush's personality, since he never knew Rush to be able to do such a thing. More time passes. Young walks up to Eli, Rush and Perry, where they inform him that one of Destiny's 16 FTL modules overloaded. In the long term, this will be to their advantage since that module was the least efficient. If they can go into FTL, they will make it to the next galaxy. The only problem is repairing the system, which will take weeks due to their limited computer access. Eli suggests they use the robot they found to fix it from the outside. If this fails, there is one other option; the chair. Young feels that if there is no other choice, he will sit on the chair. After Perry programmes the robot, Scott is tasked with using the Ancient shuttle to send it to the damaged section. By the time they arrive, Scott, wearing a environmental suit, ejects the robot from the back of the ship, where it quickly starts to work. T.J. visits Young at his quarters, requesting to be on the off-world team to scout Eli's planet. He tells her Scott is on the team. At this point, T.J. tells him she wants to go there out of "maternal instinct", believing if they are to be stuck out there for good, she'd like to raise her child on the planet. Young decides to grant her request. She later joins the team at the gate room. Eli seems baffled that the military are checking on the planet via Kino despite the fact Eli and the others just went there. Young insists that it's standard procedure; his caution is justified when the Kino footage sends back an image of two alien fighters hovering in front of the gate. They shoot the Kino down. Young orders the Stargate be shut down. The aliens can't dial in without a remote, but regardless, the expedition is stuck on Destiny, and they have to fix the ship. Three weeks later, everybody is getting bored. Rush and Perry are still talking. James still tends to Franklin. Brody has made a still and taste tests his moonshine. He later allows James and Chloe to test some as well. Scott leads a run. Becker shaves Greer's head. Chloe and Scott are in bed together. The robot is still making repairs. Meanwhile, on Earth, Sharon and Mary help Wray lay down in bed so she can sleep. The next day, she asks Sharon to do a full grocery shopping run, since they're out of everything. After she goes, Mary says she would've gone, but Wray just wants Sharon out of the house for at least an hour. Perry is finally able to isolate the drive, and will start the bypass soon. In the meantime, Rush asks Perry to join him in Brody's bar. Meanwhile, James talks with Chloe about what happened three weeks ago when she blacked out. She noticed she was in a room, but she wasn't herself. Rush and Perry arrive at the bar, and are given a glass of moonshine each. After recovering from the effects of downing them, Perry notices that Rush is coping fine without any coffee. Perry says she often had dreams about walking again, and thanks to the stones, her dreams can come true, but sooner or later, she'll have to return. James and Chloe walk over to Young's quarters. There, James admits she may be the one who sabotaged the ship. Later, Rush walks Perry over to her quarters. En route, Perry wonders if he knew about how she felt about Rush after Gloria's death; he says he knew she felt sorry for him. When they arrive, she invites Rush in. There, due to the tension between them, they kiss, but after a moment, Rush puts a stop to it, and tells her he can't go through with it, not because of Wray's sexual orientation, but because recently, he went through an experiment where his wife died again. Perry accepts the explanation, but is glad to at least be able to actually give Rush a comforting hug this time around. At that moment, T.J. comes in to get them, surprised to see them hugging, since Young needs to see them in the communication room. Wray becomes impatient, since Sharon has been gone for hours. When she finally arrives, Wray frantically wonders why she took so long. When Sharon tries to assure her she is back, Wray begins to struggle breathing. Sharon calls Mary over to see what is happening. Mary rushes in and responds by raising her legs above her heart so she can relax and calm herself. After recovering, Sharon apologizes, but Wray tells her not to. Later, Major Peterson arrives, telling them that Young communicated with them, and Perry may return in a few hours. The two partners have to say their goodbyes before Wray can return to Homeworld Command. In the communications lab, Young tells T.J., Eli, Rush and Perry about what James has done. When she returned from Earth and knocked over the stones, no one picked hers up and hence her imprint remained, giving the aliens an opportunity to use her to sabotage the ship. Because of this, the team also suspects the aliens may know how to find Destiny, since they knew how to sabotage it. Eli opens a communications terminal to allow Young to address the crew. He says that an attack may be imminent, and they can't evacuate, so they're stuck. He has appointed Scott to lead the ship's defenses, and Greer to co-ordinate a series of strike teams should they get boarded. He then goes to Rush and wants him to tell him how to use the chair. James tells Franklin it was all her fault. At that moment, Franklin becomes somewhat lucid, and turns to her and weakly says "the chair." Two alien mother ships then arrive. Rush starts instructing Young on what to do on the chair when James arrives, stating Franklin needs to use the chair. Rush agrees, since Franklin has been through this before. Young does not want to put Franklin through it again, but is convinced to give him a chance. The ship is under attack. With little time, Rush runs over to Franklin's quarters in an attempt to speak with him. He tells Franklin someone needs to sit on the chair to escape the aliens, or they'll all be taken. Using every ounce of strength, Franklin nods in agreement, signalling he is willing. Scott instructs Eli to concentrate the fire on the fighters trying to board them. Rush and Young aid Franklin to the chair. When he is connected, a mist starts descending down. Rush discovers the room's temperature is dropping rapidly. Franklin tells the two to go, and they do. After closing the door, the mist starts to fill in the room. Young instructs Sgt. Hunter Riley to guard the room. Scott discovers that a fighter is about to board the ship in Greer's section; his team is prepared to engage them. When Rush and Young arrive at the control interface room, Perry notices that the FTL drives are charging up. The jump countdown quickly counts down ten seconds. When it runs out, the FTL engines power up, and they are able to escape the ships. Because several of the fighters are very close to Destiny when it enters FTL, the fighters are destroyed. This causes another momentary interference with the stones. Wray realizes the ship has been repaired. When Perry returns, Rush confirms the drives have increased in efficiency, and believes they will make it to the next galaxy. Feeling her work is done, Perry believes it is now time to go. Sometime later, Rush and Perry say their goodbyes. Then, the stones are deactivated. Wray is back in her own body again for good, relieved she can walk around again. Rush welcomes her back. Meanwhile, Young and James approach Riley about the chair room. Riley informs them he has been guarding the door the entire time, and hasn't seen inside. They enter the room to see that the clamps and restraints are still online, but Franklin has mysteriously vanished. + +Lt. Matthew Scott and Lt. Vanessa James are having sex in James' quarters. When they finish, Scott quickly dresses up to leave, citing that he can't be doing this. Scott is behaving uncharacteristically rude to James and walks to the door to leave. James blocks his path, demanding him to choose between her and Chloe Armstrong. Scott pushes her aside, and a struggle ensues between the two. Eventually, Scott pushes James to the floor. Angrily, she quickly gets up, picks up a lamp and strikes him on the head with it. To her horror, once on the ground, blood starts pooling from the back of his head. James is shocked to realize she has murdered him. Elsewhere, Dr. Dale Volker gets ready to start his shift. However, as he leaves, the door to his quarters will not open. He decides to radio someone in the Control interface hub, but receives no reply. No one else replies either, so he resorts to banging on the door to get some attention, eventually yelling for anybody. The door is opened by Sgt. Hunter Riley, who wonders what is happening. Volker explains the door isn't working. Riley enters the room and is able to close it and open it again without trouble. Volker passes it off as a malfunction. Meanwhile, MSgt. Ronald Greer walks along a corridor, where he comes across Camile Wray working on a console in the empty gate room. Suspicious, Greer asks her what she is doing. Reluctantly, Wray says she is working on updating some personnel files, and claims Dr. Nicholas Rush and Colonel Everett Young authorized her to, encouraging Greer to confirm this with them. Greer promises to do so. As he leaves, Eli Wallace enters, asking if he has seen Scott; Greer has not. James is sitting still on her bed, staring at Scott's dead body. Young radios her, informing her she is late to her shift for the ammunition count, and asks what she is doing. Vanessa claims she just lost track of time, and is on her way now. In the Mess Hall, Airman Darren Becker, Airman Dunning, Cpl. Marsden and other Airmen are at a table. Becker hears that Young called off the search for Dr. Jeremy Franklin. Dunning notes he is not surprised, since Franklin just vanished. As the other Airmen leave the table, Dunning looks at his arm and starts scratching it as if something is inside, until the others snap him out of it. While walking along a corridor, Volker apparently comes to a dead end. Annoyed, he turns around, only to find another wall is blocking his path back. Realizing he is boxed in, he starts to panic. Suddenly, Scott calls him over. Volker turns around to see the walls have mysteriously disappeared. Scott is looking very much alive, and asks Volker what happened, before recommending he should take a rest. As Volker leaves to adhere to his advice, Scott notices a small boy run down a corridor. Scott quickly realizes it is his son, Matthew Balic, and starts chasing him. Rush comes to visit Wray in her quarters. Young is with them and tells the two about what Greer just told him. Wray insists Greer is lying. When Young says there is no reason for him to, she iterates that Greer has been going after her since arriving on Destiny. Scott continues to pursue his son. He runs into Chloe, and asks if she saw somebody pass her; she didn't. Before Scott can explain what he believed he saw, a panicked Dr. Lisa Park yells for help on the radio, urging anyone nearby to help in the workout room. The two quickly run to the room to find Park covered in blood. The blood is Dunning's, who is frantically clawing into his arm in an attempt to remove a snake he believes is under the skin. As Scott and others move to restrain him, Scott sees Matthew from across the room again. Dunning is taken to the infirmary, where he is restrained and sedated. Lt. Tamara Johansen hears about what Dunning thought he saw. Young asks Lisa if she's seen any unusual behavior from him, but as far as she knows he's been acting normally. Young orders T.J. to call for him when Dunning wakes up, as he wants to talk to him. In the mess hall, Eli, Chloe, Riley, and Greer discuss the recent accident, and they assume that stress is the cause. Riley is surprised nothing like this happened sooner. As the conversation continues, Greer watches Rush and Wray intently. Rush gives Wray some instructions. Greer is snapped out of it by Chloe and Riley, then excuses himself. Riley comments that he always assumed Greer would snap first. In the control interface room, Rush sees a shadow moving from a distance. Believing it is Greer, he walks out and tells him just to directly accuse him of doing something rather than hide. However, Greer is not present. Dr. Adam Brody asks Rush who he was talking to; Rush says it was apparently no-one. Meanwhile, Volker wakes up on his bed, but finds himself trapped in a box, and cannot get out. He panics and yells out for anybody to help. Scott sees his son again. When he opens the door, the boy wonders off again. Scott follows. Young is in the armory, and finds James has still not reported for duty. Frustrated, he radios her, but receives no reply. Since nobody saw her today, he realizes she is in her living quarters, and goes to retrieve her. When she fails to answer the door, Young enters her quarters, and finds James sitting in the same position she had been for a while. She looks up to Young and apologizes for supposedly killing Scott. On the Observation deck, Scott finally catches up to Matthew and slowly approaches him. He cannot believe Matthew is real, but is able to touch him. Matthew finally speaks and asks why his father left him. Before Scott can answer, Young radios him; he needs him in the infirmary. He complies, and once there he sees James, who is shocked to see he is alive and well. T.J. informs them that James and Dunning have been hallucinating, but finds nothing physically wrong with them. Scott then reports that he too is hallucinating. This leads Young to conclude that the one similarity the three of them had recently was participating in an off-world mission. Knowing Volker and Cpl. Barnes took part also, Young decides to gather the other two. Riley approaches Volker's quarters, where he hears screaming. After they bring him in, Volker is restrained and given sedatives to calm him down. Young questions Barnes, and is surprised to hear she has experienced no hallucinations. T.J. suspects she could be immune to what afflicted the team. While T.J. works on figuring out the cause of the affliction, Young has a talk with Chloe, informing her that he is going to quarantine the away team until the hallucinations pass. If they don't, T.J. will find out why. Just then, T.J. radios Young, telling him she has found the cause. T.J. presents Young with what she has found; an Alien tick is embedded in Scott's scalp, just above the back of the neck. She passed it over on her first examination because it is so small. T.J. speculates that the ticks inject a venom causing the hallucinations, and believes that removing them is the way to solve the problem. Scott volunteers to be first, so T.J. puts up a magnifying glass over the tick and starts to remove it with tweezers. However, as soon as she touches it, Scott starts to have breathing difficulties, before collapsing. T.J. is able to save him by administering CPR. Young tells her to try and pull it out again, but the tick has dug deeper into Scott's head. She needs to find another way to remove it without jeopardizing Scott's life. Greer is spying on Wray, by hiding around a corner and seeing through a small mirror. He then starts to follow her when she leaves. Chloe passes the entrance to the Ancient shuttle, and notices someone sitting there. She slowly approaches the individual to find out it is her father, Senator Alan Armstrong, who happily says hello to her. Chloe, however, points out he is not real. Her father simply tells her, "real or not, aren't you at least happy to see your old man again?" Greer walks in on Rush and Wray at the control interface room talking. Frustrated, Rush tells Greer to just confess why he is following them. Greer admits he will not let the two take over the ship again. Wray passes his accusation as paranoia, and tells him he has no proof of this. As she leaves, she turns back and smiles smugly at him. Meanwhile, Chloe gives in and talks with her father, telling him about how her mother took his death. The Senator changes the subject after looking at the view of the FTL vortex from the observation deck, and tells her she is living his dream to explore the universe. Young walks in on T.J. again. She may have found a safer way to remove the ticks; by using the squiggler venom previously used to sedate Rush, the tick should be paralyzed and unable to dig in as it previously did. Just then, Scott wakes up, a little drowsy. After being updated of the situation, Scott again agrees to be the first human trial. However, as T.J. is about to apply the venom, she notices the tick has disappeared. The other patients still have theirs, making Scott believe his tick may have jumped to another host. Meanwhile, Eli is walking alone in the corridors and hears Chloe talking in the observation room. When he enters, he discovers Chloe is talking to herself. He suggests that she go to the infirmary, but Chloe is already aware that she is under the influence of the tick, informing Eli of its existence. She claims it doesn't hurt, and just wants some time to talk to her father. She pleads with Eli not to tell anybody for the time being. Rush is walking in a corridor, and hears more noises. He believes it is Greer again, and is fed up. However, nobody is with him. He then continues walking, only to bump into a solid glass pane in front of him. He turns around to find he is stuck in a small glass tank. Rush starts panicking when the tank quickly fills up with water, and tries to break himself free. All of a sudden, the tank disappears. Meanwhile, Young checks T.J. and finds she is clear of the tick, but as a precaution, he tells her to stay in her quarters. She insists she must stay. After a moment, Scott realizes Chloe was in the infirmary earlier and sets off to find her, believing she also has a tick on her head. Rush retreats to his quarters, and hears more noises coming from outside. He opens the doors to realize a Nakai is stalking him. He quickly closes the door. In the infirmary, T.J. finds the tick on James' head. She places some venom on it and is able to safely remove the tick. To prevent it from jumping to another host, Young crushes it with the butt of his sidearm. Rush attempts to radio Young, but just receives static. Reluctantly, Rush opens the door again, and sees the alien has gone. He moves out. Scott finds Eli, and asks if he saw Chloe. Reluctantly, Eli says he has and takes him to her. When they arrive, Chloe denies seeing anything, but Eli tells Scott she is talking to her dead father. Chloe refuses to abandon her hallucination, so they resort to dragging her to the infirmary. Senator Armstrong tells Chloe not to leave him. Rush wanders around the ship and hears the Stargate activate. He witnesses a group of blue aliens entering the ship through the event horizon. As he runs away, Wray leaves her quarters and finds Greer, who tells her to wipe the smile off her face, but Wray has not been smiling. Rush walks towards the two, but from his perspective, he sees two aliens, not Greer and Wray, and runs away. Greer gives chase. In the infirmary, Chloe still tries to make the point that the tick is not hurting her at all, but Young overrules her. He orders T.J. to remove the tick. Chloe tells her father that she loves him, at which point, her father tells her she is living their dream. After he kisses her on the forehead, T.J. removes the tick, and her father disappears. Scott then kills the tick. As Chloe tearfully accepts that her father is gone again, Greer radios Young, informing him the civilians are trying to take over the ship again, and is in pursuit of Rush. Young tells him to stand down, but hears the reply from Greer; "Permission to use deadly force?" Young again tells him to stop. However, from Greer's perspective, Young authorizes him to do so if necessary, and orders him to go to radio silence. At this point, Eli believes Greer is also hallucinating, but all the ticks are accounted for. T.J. believes some of the offworld team members may have brought more than one tick with them. Young orders everyone to find and stop Greer, and orders T.J. to examine the crew. Rush runs to a supply room, and after rummaging through the crates, he arms himself with a screwdriver. He takes cover as Greer enters the room also, telling Rush to show himself. Rush sees an alien walk towards him, and stabs it with the screwdriver. However, unknown to him, he just stabbed Wray. Greer knocks Rush out and then shoots the door panel, preventing anybody from entering the room to stop him. He holds Wray at gunpoint and tells her she is not going to take over the ship. Meanwhile, Young mobilizes additional teams to find them, leaving T.J. to examine the crew. Eli wonders why some hallucinations were more vivid than others. Volker suggests that the ticks affect the limbic system, enhancing negative emotions such as guilt, fear, and anger, which is why so many hallucinations manifested personal fears. Chloe, Scott, Volker, and Dunning each reveal the issues behind their hallucinations, but James does not. In the supply room, Rush regains consciousness, but Greer does not notice; he is still holding Wray at gunpoint, as she pleads with him to get medical attention for her wound. Greer instead talks with Young on the radio, not knowing it is turned off, and Young is not talking to him. Wray tells Greer nobody is talking to him, but he does not listen. Outside the supply room, Scott's team cannot open the door, but they can hear Wray. After she tells Scott what is happening, Scott tries to tell Greer to stop, but he won't listen. Scott resorts to using C-4 to blow open the door. Inside the room, Rush is looking for something to defend himself with. Greer is prepared to execute Wray, but hesitates. His father appears to him, and tells him to do it. As Greer is about to shoot, Rush finds a metal pipe and strikes him with it. Greer quickly recovers and is about to shoot Rush instead, but they are knocked to the ground by an explosion from the door. The team enters and are able to subdue Greer. As Scott is about to report to Young, Rush, who believes more aliens have arrived, attacks Scott and the others with the pipe, until he is subdued also. Scott recovers and tells Young they stopped Greer, but Wray is wounded. Sometime later, T.J. has cleared the crew of the ticks, and has stitched Wray's wound in the infirmary. She believes things will return to normal soon. Destiny soon drops out of FTL and dials to a planet that seems habitable. Young decides to send out a team, not letting the tick incident deter him. He radios Scott and orders him to ready his team. + +While sleeping in his quarters, Dr. Nicholas Rush has flashes of memory. In the memories, he sees the number 314 and meets with a group near an abandoned warehouse. He goes to Colonel Everett Young's quarters and tells him about the dream. He sees himself giving files about the Icarus project to the group. They have a Tel'tak parked in the area, which leads Young to suspect the Lucian Alliance. When Young asks Rush why he'd dream of himself doing this, Rush tells Young that he saw his reflection during the dream: it's that of Colonel David Telford. Young calls in Lt. Matthew Scott to speak about his own experience of memory bleedover from Telford. Scott's experience was nowhere near as vivid. Scott questions the wisdom of accusing Telford of being a traitor, so Young explains that Telford spent a year undercover in the Lucian Alliance. Eight months in, a Lucian Alliance attack on a Tau'ri Base killed 37 people, which Telford knew was coming but did not report. Telford claimed it necessary to protect his cover, and was let off the hook. However, knowing that the Goa'uld have Brainwashing technology, and that the Lucian Alliance have much of their technology, it's possible he was compromised. Scott points out that no one can be trusted if that's the case. In the Control interface room, Young enters. Eli Wallace wants to tell him about the data he and Rush have been going over, but Young tells him to take a break in order to talk with Rush privately. Knowing that Telford is scheduled for a switch with Dr. Morrison in a few days, Rush offers to switch with Telford and try to make contact with the Lucian Alliance, arguing that he is the best suited since he has Telford's memories. Young agrees, warning Rush that he won't have any backup. Later, he is met by Camile Wray, who wants to know why Morrison's spot was taken by Rush. Young refuses to answer, but assures her that it's important. Once the switch takes place, Rush poses as Morrison. Meanwhile, Telford notices that he's not in the body he expected. He asks where Young is, and Scott tells him that Young is busy. Telford asks about why he's inhabiting Rush, and Scott claims that Rush needed to consult with some scientists on Earth about technical problems. Telford easily sees through him. He requests military fatigues, so Scott leads him out. Young sneaks in behind them to use the stones, asking to speak with Lt. General Jack O'Neill. Young speaks with O'Neill about Rush's activities, telling O'Neill to have Rush tailed in case it is actually Rush who is the spy. When Jack questions why Rush would choose now to frame Telford, Young merely claims that this will ensure they get results either way. In the Mess hall, the crew holds a baby shower for Lt. Tamara Johansen. Chloe Armstrong gives TJ a U.S. Air Force shirt for the baby, and Sgt. Hunter Riley gives her a toy truck he managed to construct out of various spare parts. Eli is taking pictures with his iPhone. Dr. Adam Brody and Dr. Dale Volker pull Eli aside, wanting to know about the plan Rush and Young have going. Eli doesn't know much about it, having been left out the loop just as they have. Telford comes by to get Wray. Rush is dropped off at Morrison's home, tailed by Dr. Daniel Jackson. He goes inside, then makes his way around the back. He travels to Telford's house and breaks in, searching for anything incriminating. After a fruitless search, he finds a candle holder with a hidden compartment. Inside is a safety deposit box key, labeled 314. Telford has a receipt for District of Columbia Mutual bank. Rush goes to the bank and retrieves the box, in which is a cell phone. The dialing history has only one number listed, so he calls it. He pretends to have information for those on the other end, and they arrange a meeting. He is picked up in a black van. Telford speaks with Wray on the Observation deck, who tells him that she's being kept out of the loop. Young comes in and takes Telford to Brody's bar for drinks. Telford sarcastically points out Young's upstanding leadership at the revelation. Young merely states that he's making things work, and couldn't stop the crew anyway. The strong concoction is a bit too much for Telford, and he declines any further helpings, citing that they are both on-duty. Young dismisses the excuse, since there's no one around to discipline them, and hints that Telford might reveal something if drunk. He wants to clear the air about attacking Telford in return for Telford trying to sabotage Young's relationship with Emily Young. Telford believes he should just let it go, since he never reported Young. Young knows Telford no more wants the situation revealed than Young does. Telford believes Young to be a disgrace for sleeping with an officer under his command. Young counters that, in spite of that, he's on Destiny and Telford isn't, believing Telford expected to have command as a reward for his time as a spy in the Lucian Alliance. Telford doesn't want to talk about it and gets up to leave. Young says that the Telford he knew would have never sacrificed 37 people to protect himself, and asks what changed him. Telford merely thanks him for the drinks and leaves. Young radios Scott. Rush is brought to the meeting site. Daniel is hiding on one of the rooftops, photographing those present. Jack calls on the radio to tell him that Colonel Samantha Carter, commanding the George Hammond, is unable to beam anyone in the area up due to a jamming signal blocking them. The strike team is ready to move on Daniel's order. Another SUV drives in and Commander Kiva steps out. She recognizes that Rush is not Telford, since he didn't use the proper code word when reporting in, and demands to know who he is. Rush denies her accusations, but when she asks him for her name and he can't answer, he is knocked unconscious. She deactivates the cloak on her Tel'tak and has Rush dragged inside. Daniel calls in the strike team, but they are too late. In the mess hall, TJ is alone, crying. Chloe comes in to comfort her. TJ is upset that her baby won't have a normal life on the ship. Chloe assures her that they might get home, and regardless everyone on the ship will be there to help her when she needs it. At Homeworld Command, Daniel briefs Jack and Young on the Lucian Alliance members present at the meeting. Daniel suggests disconnecting the stones, but Young wants to interrogate Telford. Daniel argues that Telford still has rights, but Young insists that they knew what they were getting into when this started. O'Neill lets him do what he needs to do. Young confronts Telford about his involvement with the Alliance, telling him about the memory bleedover from the stones, but Telford denies everything. Young decides to let him sweat it out for a bit. Greer offers to try persuading him, but Young denies the request. When Young returns, Scott thinks he should come in, but Young insists that this situation is on himself and no one else. He shows Telford a picture of a fire suppression team which burned to death on Icarus Base, claiming Telford murdered them as surely as if he'd done it personally. He says that they already know him to be a traitor and a murderer, and can now add "coward" to the list. Telford attacks Young in a rage. MSgt. Ronald Greer runs in and tackles Telford, hitting him several times before being dragged away by Scott. Young orders them both out. They talk about the outpost that was attacked; Young tells him about one of the soldiers that died. He tells Telford about how he could have been brainwashed, and to give him a gate address if there's still some part of him that wants to help. On the Tel'tak, which is now in hyperspace, Rush awakes in chains. Still posing as Telford, he tries to convince Kiva that he broke protocol on purpose in order to be taken off Earth, claiming that he was under suspicion. Kiva is not convinced, but commends him for the story. She asks for her name, which he couldn't answer before; after a short pause, he tells her. She then asks for Rush's name. She claims that she's just trying to do what is best for her people. Rush sarcastically retorts that she's made a good first impression to that effect. She has Rush tortured, and laments having to use something so primitive; she has brainwashing technology, but is uncertain of the effects it would have if used on Rush in Telford's body. She continues the torture, which Rush manages to resist. She assumes him to be either Young or Scott, given his resistance. Rush believes that she'll kill him if he tells her what she wants to know. She tells him she won't, and he gives up his name when they move to torture him again. In return, Kiva shows him their destination: a planet similar to P4X-351. They have duplicated Earth's research into dialing the ninth chevron, but lack the equation to regulate the power. On the Icarus-type planet, Rush is introduced to Olan, their lead scientist. He begins to help them with dialing the ninth chevron, but stalls, claiming that Olan's crude work may require them to start from scratch. Kiva has Olan killed for his incompetence, and Rush admits he was stalling. She warns Rush that he is out of chances. As Rush works, Varro asks him what it's like on Destiny. Rush simply describes it as a rustbucket, then asks what will happen if he cannot dial Destiny. Varro states that Kiva promised not to kill him; Varro will personally kill Rush should that happen. Wray argues with Scott and Greer about Young's treatment of Telford, but gets nowhere. Young exits the room and heads for the communication room to contact Homeworld Command. Young brings O'Neill in using the stones. O'Neill briefly highlights having been given the body of a Corporal, then is led to Telford. Telford tells O'Neill about what he's being put through; O'Neill knows, except for the part about Telford being attacked. O'Neill tells him to come clean, the gate address having been a bust. Telford claims that it doesn't matter since they can't stop it, but doesn't elaborate on what "it" is. Telford accuses the Tau'ri of leaving the humans of the galaxy to fend for themselves after defeating the Goa'uld, then being surprised when something like the Lucian Alliance formed. He says that people will do what they have to in order to survive, something Young should be familiar with. He claims that they act without care to those they harm, and that Destiny was meant for all mankind, not just the Tau'ri. O'Neill has heard enough, and Young asks to go to the next level. O'Neill agrees, and Young has Riley disconnect O'Neill. Young orders Brody to vent the atmosphere in Telford's room. Eli and Wray separately argue against it, but Brody complies. Telford has five minutes until he suffocates, unless he talks. Telford doesn't believe he'll do it, but Young insists that this is for the greater good and doesn't back down. Telford refuses to talk, demanding to be released. + +Despite being given only five minutes to live, Colonel David Telford, in the body of Dr. Nicholas Rush, continues to resist. As he runs out of air, Camile Wray grabs Lt. Matthew Scott's radio and tries to convince Dr. Adam Brody to restore life support, since he will murder both Telford and Rush otherwise. Colonel Everett Young orders him to disregard the request. Scott begins to argue in Telford's favor, but Young insists that he knows what he's doing, and Greer pushes Scott back when he attempts to intervene. Telford begins to asphyxiate, and same happens to Rush in Telford's body. Young counts down on his watch, then has Brody restore air to the room. Young resuscitates Telford, breaking him free of the brainwashing. Telford reveals that the Lucian Alliance is coming to take Destiny. Young explains the situation to the crew. The gate room is sealed and all nearby corridors are put under guard. The civilians are told to stay in their quarters if and when the invasion occurs. Homeworld Command has been informed of the location of the Lucian Alliance base, and if they're lucky it will be captured before the invasion occurs. Otherwise they'll be on their own, but Young assures the crew that it will be dealt with quickly. Wray confronts Young about his sudden trust in Telford, but he brushes her off. Scott insists that he should have been told that killing and reviving Telford would break the brainwashing, but Young simply states that he does not have to explain every order he gives. He visits Telford in the infirmary and they reconcile their differences, since the brainwashing is what made Telford so confrontational. Telford asks Young to shut off the stones so they he can help on the other side, but Young wants him to recover first. Young then speaks to Lt. Tamara Johansen, asking her to stay back in case the Alliance breaks out of the gate room. She'll be needed to treat the wounded. He explains that he plans to vent the atmosphere in the room once the Alliance arrives. Rush awakens in Telford's body with a large cut on his hand. Commander Kiva wanted to make sure he wasn't faking his near-death experience. Colonel Samantha Carter arrives over the planet in the George Hammond. The facility is shielded against beaming, so she dispatches a squadron of F-302 fighter-interceptor's for a ground assault. As the attack begins, Kiva wants to know if they can dial Destiny. Rush confirms that they can, but doing so will destroy the planet. Kiva orders it done. Her group evacuates through the gate with Rush in tow. Carter is forced to leave the area before the planet explodes; two F-302's are lost. On Destiny, Eli Wallace is watching Dr. Daniel Jackson's video on the Lucian Alliance from the Kino room. He is joined by Chloe Armstrong. Destiny drops out of FTL to receive the incoming wormhole. As the Alliance forces come in, Young prepares to vent the atmosphere, but hesitates when Rush is among those in the gate room. He decides to try a diplomatic approach instead. The communication stone link has been broken by their trip through the gate, so it is actually Telford. Kiva holds him at gunpoint, still believing him to be Rush, and blames him for the deaths of over 100 of her men. Telford tells Kiva her father's name, Masim, as proof of his identity so she'll stand down. Over the intercom, Young informs the Alliance forces that they are surrounded and locked in, and that he can vent the atmosphere at any time. He demands they lower their weapons. Kiva has Telford confirm that Young can do this, then has her men open the doors using devices which override the locks. The Alliance forces move out from the gate room and begin their assault on the crew. Rush heads for the control room, followed by TJ. In the ensuing firefight, four Alliance officers are captured by the Destiny crew while ten of their people are caught by the Alliance, with TJ, Sgt. Hunter Riley, and Cpl. Rivers among them. Eli and Chloe, having stayed in the Kino room, are forced to use an elevator to escape the attacking Alliance forces, ending up in a different area of the ship. Chloe has a gunshot wound on her leg. They are assumed captured by the rest of the crew. Eli has no idea where they are, having randomly entered a destination. They cannot get back, either, since the elevators have been locked down. Instead, they will have to make their way back on foot. Since Chloe can't walk by herself, Eli supports her. In the control room, Rush asks why Young didn't vent the compartment immediately. Dr. Dale Volker claims it was to save Rush, but Rush states that he was switched back as soon as he came through the gate. Young asks for an overview of the situation. The Alliance has taken the gate room and the surrounding corridors. They've stopped so as to avoid overextending themselves, but with their technology no door locks are going to stop them. Likewise, any attempt to overrun them will immediately result in the death of the hostages. Kiva radios Young, informing him that she has no intention of surrendering. She claims to want the same thing as the Destiny crew, and promises to allow them to remain on board or disembark on a habitable planet if they surrender to her. Young responds that he can still vent the atmosphere on Kiva's side. Kiva insists that he'd have done it already if he had the nerve, but Young merely reiterates that he can. Kiva decides to execute TJ, Riley, and Rivers to show that she's serious, but Telford dissuades her, arguing that it will force Young's hand. He instead proposes an alternate plan that will get them around the blockade and into the Control interface room by cutting through into one of the damaged sections. Kiva sends him to complete the mission, with the threat that the hostages will die should he fail. Camile is escorted in by MSgt. Ronald Greer. She wants to negotiate since the situation is no longer possible to swiftly resolve, and believes she should do the talking. Camile radios Kiva and tells her that while they won't relinquish control of the ship, they will propose a hostage trade, four for four, allowing Kiva to regain her men while not sacrificing all her hostages. Kiva will consider it. This will buy some time for Young to prepare a plan. Once their conversation is done, Rush argues that the situation only has one possible outcome. The Alliance members will never give up their hostages, and sooner or later they will need to be sacrificed to resolve the situation. Young, however, is adamant about saving everyone. Since Telford is among the Alliance forces, they have a chance of catching them by surprise. Rush rhetorically asks if they are to trust a traitor with the ship and the lives of the entire crew. Eli and Chloe find a window, learning that the elevator has taken them near the bow of the ship. Chloe notes that the air seems to be getting thin, and Eli confirms that the life support isn't working in this section, since he shut it down himself on Rush's orders. The section is pressurized, but the air isn't being recycled. Chloe collapses when she tries to move away from the railing by the window, and can no longer stand. Eli carries her in his arms. Kiva has TJ treat Varro, her wounded lieutenant. TJ tells her that he's badly wounded. Meanwhile, Young uses the communication stones to inform Lt. General Jack O'Neill of the situation. O'Neill dresses him down for hesitating, stating that the situation should have been resolved on the spot. He uses Carter's necessary abandonment of the F-302's lost in the raid on the Lucian Alliance planet as a comparison, and informs Young that if he can't resolve the situation, he can have someone replace Young to do it. Young assures O'Neill that he will not let the ship fall to the Alliance. In the control room, Rush realizes that the jump countdown is blank, even though they should have gone to FTL almost immediately. After cutting a hole through a nearby wall, Telford leads his group through the ship. He stops to activate a panel to check their position, alerting Young to his activities. They come to one of the sealed doors, and an Alliance officer prepares to open it. However, before he can set the door override device, the part of the shield covering a hull breach above the door begins to radiate with intense blue light. The man spontaneously combusts. Power all over the ship suddenly fluctuates. When it passes, Telford opens the door and asks if Young was responsible. Young confirms he wasn't, and they decide to wait for another opportunity to stop the Alliance forces. Telford asks for a radio, and tells Young that to switch to channel 6 on three clicks. He closes the door and heads back. Elsewhere, Eli is starting to get tired from carrying Chloe, though he tries to claim he's fine. He brags about climbing a mountain once, but under questioning admits it was actually in the video game World of Warcraft. They decide to rest. Chloe wonders why no one's come looking for them, and if the invasion has been stopped. Eli jokingly goes over the things that need to happen first, such as a celebratory party. Chloe is getting tired, and Eli explains that she's still losing blood. He assures her that he will take care of her. Kiva confronts Young about the death of her soldier, and he tells her that it was a random occurrence. As a show of good faith, she requests medical supplies. Camile sees this as a harmless gesture, but Rush argues otherwise: there will come a point when desperation overwhelms reason in the Alliance officers, and when that happens the hostages will die. Young agrees, planning to end the situation immediately. + +Colonel Everett Young radios Commander Kiva, telling her that he has the medical supplies she's requested, but demands a face-to-face meeting for the exchange. MSgt. Ronald Greer pretends to be a medic, in order to switch him for Lt. Tamara Johansen. Lt. Matthew Scott leads an assault team that will invade on command. When the two sides meet, Kiva orders TJ to check the supplies. A sudden power failure puts both sides on alert, and Greer draws his gun on Kiva. Young tells TJ to come over to him, but Kiva threatens to shoot TJ if she does not come back, and warns that the hostages will be killed if Kiva does not return. TJ complies, and Kiva's group retreats to the gate room. Young orders Greer not to fire on Kiva. In retribution for the attempt to surprise her, Kiva kills one of the Marines, Cpl. Rivers, and has TJ report it to Young. Elsewhere, Chloe Armstrong and Eli Wallace are still resting in a corridor. Eli tells Chloe not to fall asleep because it's dangerous. She claims that advice is for concussions. Eli adds that it would also be boring. Chloe wonders what will be done with the prisoners. Eli figures they'll be dumped on a habitable world. Chloe hopes everyone is ok, while Eli hopes it's over. Eli knows they have to worry about themselves and picks Chloe up so they can keep searching. Young goes back to the control room to find out why the power failed. The team doesn't know, and he angrily demands they fix it. Calming down, he tells them that Rivers is dead. Rush callously states that someone was going to die, after which Young loses his temper and tries to attack him. Dr. Adam Brody and Dr. Dale Volker restrain him, while Rush goes on to state that Young's primal desire to save TJ is what got Rivers killed. Young angrily orders Rush to fix the ship. A Lucian Alliance soldier named Koz is sent to assist TJ in treating Varro. Meanwhile, in the Mess hall, Camile Wray suggests to Young that everyone can be saved if they simply surrender, but Young denies this course of action; Kiva would surely kill everyone that she didn't see as valuable the moment she gained control. Kiva radios Young, wishing to speak with Wray. She asks why Wray allowed the ambush to take place; Wray insists she was overruled. She is warned that Kiva will kill again if they attempt something similar. She decides to revive their original deal: exchange four hostages for four prisoners. However, she also wants food and water supplies for three days. Wray agrees on the condition that the hostages are offered food and water. Power fails again, and Young comes to the Control interface room to see if they have found an answer yet. They have. The Lucian Alliance chose a poor time to dial in. The team shows him a sensor scan of a nearby binary pulsar: a rotating neutron star and a white dwarf orbiting a single point in space. It is emitting high levels of gamma radiation and x-rays. Furthermore, the white dwarf is stripping off material from the neutron star and creating an accretion disk, which it plows through during its orbit every 46 minutes, 37.4 seconds, creating an even greater radiation burst. The power failures are being caused by Destiny diverting power to keep the shields up. Soon enough, the shields will fail and everyone will die. For some reason, FTL will not engage, so they can't escape unless the problem is solved. Wray relays this information to Kiva, explaining that after two more radiation bursts people will start dying. Kiva insists on making the trade first, then dealing with the problem. Telford is sent to check on TJ and Varro. She's nearly done, having almost sewn up his wound, but complains that the power interruptions are slowing her down. Telford tells her of the radiation bursts and leaves her to her work. TJ suddenly looses her balance and is aided by Koz; she insists she's fine and claims to be finished with Varro. She asks Kiva for permission to treat the wounded hostages, to which she agrees. Once the food is gathered, Wray prepares to trade with Kiva. She turns down the offer of a flak vest, wanting to make it seem like she is trustworthy. Greer asks if Young is sure about this idea; he's not. Young wishes Wray luck, hoping she makes a better impression. During the exchange, Kiva only brings two civilian hostages and a military officer, since there are no more civilians to trade. When Wray points out the deal was four people, Kiva insists that these two were the only ones she had. Wray asks for TJ, but Kiva refuses to return her. Instead, she has Rivers' corpse dragged in. Wray tries to argue that they should work together, but Kiva refuses to give up her position. Once Kiva leaves, Wray has Brody open the door to let Scott in. She tells Scott that Kiva has no more civilian hostages, which leaves them to wonder what happened to Chloe and Eli. Eli and Chloe continue their exploration of the ship. Eli jokes that carrying a wounded person through the ship is great exercise, and that they should do this every week. Chloe calls him a great friend, and he says that someone can't have too many of those, making note that something like accepting all friends on Facebook doesn't count. Distracted by the conversation, he opens the next door they find without bracing himself, exposing the corridor to a hull breach. Eli manages to get the door closed before either of them are sucked out. Scott is worried about Chloe, but Greer assures him that Eli will protect Chloe with his life. Greer tells Scott to remain focused on the mission, and to have faith that Young will eventually give the order that will let them resolve the situation. Scott isn't sure how Greer can be so sure of that, but Greer simply tells him to learn how. Varro is now awake and thanks TJ for healing him. She is dismissive of his gratitude, saying that she would have done it for anyone. He tries to continue, but she insists that she's been standing for too long as it is and wants to finish treating the wounded. Eli and Chloe hit a dead end in their exploration of the ship. Chloe claims that she never had any true friends before Eli. She wonders why Eli always regards this as getting a runner-up prize. Eli tries to find the words to express his affection for her, but Chloe cuts him short with an "I know." Eli then finds an active console which he can use to contact the control room. The science team has devised a plan to protect the ship. The shields on the side of the ship facing the pulsar are severely depleted, but the shields on the opposite side are much stronger. By rotating power from one to the other, it will buy the time they need to fix the FTL drive. Without access to the primary systems, however, the emitters have to be reset manually on the outside of the hull. Scott and Greer prepare to go outside the ship. Rush tells them it's a simple task, and Greer asks why Rush doesn't do it. He sarcastically states that if Greer can fix the FTL drive while he's working, he'll switch. Before Scott and Greer can get to work, there is another problem: Kiva controls the side of the ship with the hull breach nearest to the emitters, meaning they have to get past her to get outside. Wray tells Kiva of this, and Kiva demands control of the ship in exchange for her cooperation. Telford goes back to the corridor where the man was burned alive and picks up a radio he left behind to contact Young. He convinces Young to transfer control. By having Rush and Brody retreat to an auxiliary control room, Telford can transfer control back to them at the first opportunity he could gain access to a command console. Once the Alliance herds everyone into one area, Rush can vent the sections around the hostages, protecting them. Young agrees to surrender control, under the condition that none of his people are hurt. Kiva accepts the condition. Rush and Brody get ready to leave, but get a message from Eli moments before. Not able to do anything at the moment, Rush and Brody leave. Dr. Lisa Park transfers control to Kiva. A message is sent to Eli, telling him to stay put. Now in control of the ship, Kiva's group rounds up the expedition crew and allows Scott and Greer to get to work. They make their way to the shield emitter and reset it. Varro tells TJ that the lack of shooting is a good sign. He notes that his stitching has torn, a result of him moving around. He tries to offer an olive branch, noting that the ship never really belonged to the expedition and that they'll all have to get along after things are settled. TJ ignores him. Meanwhile, Telford destroys a power relay as a distraction and Calvos reports this to Kiva, who leaves to check on what's happening. Telford arrives in the Gate Room in and orders Calvos to fix the relay, and begins transferring control to Rush and Brody once the room is empty. Kiva arrives in the Gate Room and appears to have caught him in the act, and they both shoot each other simultaneously. Meanwhile, Rush discovers the transfer has stopped and Kiva's men find both her and Telford on the floor. Kiva is alive but unconscious. Telford's condition is not stated but he is seen bleeding and appears unconscious. Dannic receives word of this and takes command. Assuming one of Young's men to be responsible, he decides to deal with the problem by executing the military personnel. On the hull, Scott and Greer return to the hull breach. However, Kiva's men have no intention of lowering the shield to let them back in. Rush radios Scott, telling him of an alternate means back into the ship which they might be able to reach if they hurry. Eli is near the access point, so Rush sends him to open it. Eli tells them of Chloe's location, and makes sure that she knows his feelings before leaving. In the infirmary, Varro asks what's going on over the radio. Dannic wants the injured expedition soldiers brought to him. TJ immediately refuses to treat Kiva if they are moved. Airman Armando Elsinor Von Spelker the Third decides to attack his captors. In the struggle, the automatic weapon goes off and sprays the entire room, killing several people. The Airman disarms the Alliance soldier, but is killed by Varro from a shot through the middle of his chest. He checks on TJ, finding that she has been shot in the stomach, threatening the life of her unborn child. Scott, Greer, and Eli make their way to the alternate access point as fast as they can but Brody thinks they're not going to make it before the radiation burst. Chloe falls unconscious in Eli's absence. The Alliance personnel have separated the military from the civilians and return to execute them. Young simply stares into the ceiling, refusing to kneel down as they prepare to execute him, while the power shuts off from another radiation burst. + +Lt. Tamara Johansen inexplicably wakes up in a bed. After examining her surroundings, she clutches her stomach, remembering that she was shot. Not only is there no wound, she's no longer pregnant. Her baby begins crying, so she picks her up. Dr. Robert Caine suddenly greets her, happy to see her. She is confused, since he was left behind on another planet, but he explains that the aliens who made the planet can also transport people across galaxies. She is on the alien planet. On Destiny, Eli Wallace reaches the airlock to let Lt. Matthew Scott and MSgt. Ronald Greer back into the ship. However, they aren't there. Eli reports to Dr. Adam Brody and Dr. Nicholas Rush that Scott and Greer didn't make it. Brody quietly comments that there simply wasn't enough time, only for Scott's voice to suddenly come through the radio. He explains to Rush that, knowing they likely wouldn't make it to the airlock in time, he and Greer instead ran to the underside of the ship, where they were protected by the hull. Rush informs Eli of the development. Before Dannic can execute the military personnel, Varro steps in and talks him down. Commander Kiva is badly wounded, and with TJ injured, there is no one to treat her. Dannic dismisses TJ as a liability, being military. Hearing this, Colonel Everett Young attacks Dannic in a rage, but is quickly pulled off. Dannic demands Young be killed, but Varro insists on keeping the prisoners alive. He suggests using them to call in doctors from Earth to treat Kiva. Dannic warns him that the prisoners will die if Kiva does. Scott and Greer make it to the airlock, and Eli lets them in. As he comments that he figured them for dead, Chloe Armstrong suddenly walks in, having regained her strength. Eli checks the wound, which has stopped bleeding. Chloe asks what they intend to do. Varro has Camile Wray, Dr. Dale Volker, and two others use the Long-range communication device to call in doctors to treat the wounded. Wray is taken over by Dr. Brightman, Volker by Dr. Zeigler, and Ryder and Kemp by Dr. Timan and Dr. Finch. He escorts them to the infirmary. The FTL drive comes back on-line, the Shields having regained sufficient strength to protect the engines during the jump. Brody thinks this is a good thing, since the radiation is deadly, but Rush thinks otherwise. Meanwhile, Scott and Greer decide to go on recon, sending Chloe and Eli to meet up with Brody and Rush. He warns them to be careful, as the Lucian Alliance will have figured out Rush is missing. Eli tries to object, but Scott orders him to go. In the infirmary, Varro asks about Colonel David Telford's condition, wanting to talk to him. The bullet went straight through, so he'll be fine, though he has not yet revived. Kiva, however, is not so well off. The bullet has lodged in her liver and she isn't likely to survive. Varro recommends they do their best to save her, for everyone's sake. His next question is about TJ. She is also badly wounded; her baby is still alive, but its heartbeat is very weak. She says they may have to remove the baby to save it, and even then cannot guarantee its survival or TJ's. TJ questions the presence of the cabins, as their small group could not have conceivably constructed them in such a short time, much less made all the amenities within. Caine explains that the cabins were just suddenly there. TJ is surprised they just accepted them out of hand, but Caine says that without them they would not have survived the winter. He tells her that the aliens have been scanning them since the moment they arrives, and brought TJ to the planet to save her baby. Varro enters the gate room and asks Ginn for a report. She informs him that the ship will jump in about 30 minutes, assuming that the shield adjustments are allowing it to jump safely. Over the radio, Brightman reports that Kiva is dead. Meanwhile, Scott and Greer approach the Alliance forces. After hiding from a patrol, Greer comments that they need weapons. Scott says that there's something else they need more. Meanwhile, Brody and Rush hear someone approaching their position. Brody peeks outside to check, and comes face to face with Chloe and Eli. Brody questions the blood stain on Chloe's jacket, but she dismisses it as unimportant at the moment. She asks what they're planning to do to regain control of the ship, so Brody has Rush tell them his plan. Though Telford failed to transfer the ship's systems back entirely, they have some control over the power systems. Rush is diverting power from the shields. When Eli questions the wisdom of this, he explains that he needs to do so in order to disable the FTL. At the moment, the pulsar levels the playing field, being a threat to both sides. Without the shields to protect the ship, the Alliance will have to make a deal if they want to survive. Dannic is prepared to make good on his threat to kill everyone now that Kiva is dead, but Varro argues that the original plan was to keep some of the scientists and drop the rest on a habitable planet. Simeon points out that Kiva's death wasn't part of the plan, but Varro counters that a killing spree won't help matters. He has Ginn tell them of a planet within range of the gate. Though it's locked out, presumably because it's near the maximum range of the gate, she can override it. Varro suggests that they check the planet out and leave the prisoners there if it's habitable. They'll keep the doctors, as they still have wounded men, and he argues that TJ should be kept, as well, since she can't be safely moved yet and he believes she could be a valuable asset later on. Simeon asks about Rush and the others that are missing. Varro states that the search parties will find them. Scott and Greer watch the entire conversation covertly through a Kino. Scott notes that they need to tell the others. TJ questions how Caine can know what's happening on the ship. He says he just does, assuming the aliens to be responsible. Dana and Peter enter the house to see the baby. Caine invites her for a walk while they watch the baby. Telford awakens in the infirmary, and is greeted by Simeon. Telford asks about Kiva, and is told that she is dead. Simeon interrogates him about the circumstances of how they were ambushed. Telford claims not to have seen the attackers, even though, as Simeon points out, he was shot from the front. Telford simply claims that it was dark, and he was shot the moment he turned after hearing the first gunshot. Telford inquires about the ship, so Simeon explains the situation to him. When Telford brings up the prisoners, Simeon cryptically states that they'll be dealt with soon. Varro informs Young of the plan to send the expedition off the ship. Young knows that they could not have determined viability in such a short time. Varro notes that Young doesn't have many options, and denies the assertion that it would be a death sentence. Anticipating Young's thoughts, he states that trying to escape now would be futile; Young would just get himself killed. He suggests that it would be best for everyone if Young were there to lead his people. The prisoners are sent through the Stargate. Young is last to enter, pausing to look at the gate room just before going through. They arrive on a rocky world with an approaching storm. Young checks on Sgt. Hunter Riley, who still has blood stains on his head. He says he'll be alright, and sarcastically comments that it's a nice place. Shelter is the first priority. Eli is worried about Scott and Greer, believing that splitting up was a bad idea. Rush tells him to calm down. He hears someone coming and assumes it's them, but it turns out to be two Alliance soldiers. They report back to Dannic. In the gate room, Ginn notices that the FTL has shut down again. Dannic tells her to correct the problem, but she can't. Deeming her useless, he begins to choke her, but Varro interjects and gets him to stop. He orders Rush brought to him for questioning, while the rest are to be killed. Before they can carry out Dannic's orders, Scott and Greer subdue them. Over the radio, Rush explains what he's done to Dannic, and orders their surrender. Dannic immediately notes that everyone would die, but Rush coldly states he'd rather kill everyone than let him have the ship. Dannic throws the radio in frustration and orders a search. Varro again tries to reason with Dannic, but Dannic has lost his patience. He holds Varro at gunpoint, blaming him for the current situation. He has Varro disarmed, and asserts himself as the new commander. Scott tells the group about what happened to the crew. Eli asks about the planet, but other than it being habitable he doesn't know. Chloe advocates doing something and Greer agrees, but Rush interjects. The crew is in the perfect position. On the planet, they'll be safe from the radiation. With the FTL offline, there is no risk of them being stranded.As for themselves, Brody explains that certain sections of the ship are better protected than others, such as the Hydroponics lab. By hiding there, they can survive the next burst. Damage to the ship will be minimal; organic matter will take the most damage. Scott points out that there are still a few people being guarded by the Alliance, and Chloe states that they can't just leave them behind. Scott decides to take Greer and rescue the remaining hostages, telling the others to go to the hydroponics lab and seal themselves in after 15 minutes. On the planet, Lt. Vanessa James has located a system of caves that can provide shelter for everyone. Before they can depart, the gate activates. Varro and a small group loyal to him emerge from the event horizon. He explains the situation to Young. Without saying a word to Varro, Young orders the entire group to move for the caves. Varro tries to get Young's attention, but Young has no interest in speaking to him. Varro asserts that he and his men are in this position because he stood up for Young, and that Dannic would have killed them. Scott and Greer reach the infirmary, where they find Wray, now back in her own body since Dannic broke the communication link. Wray tells them about how she got there, and isn't sure where the other three went. Greer finds TJ on one of the beds. Wray tells them that TJ was shot, but will recover. They ask about the baby, which Wray responds to with tearful silence. Caine takes TJ to see a vibrant nebula in the sky. TJ notes that it wasn't there before, and he explains that it just appeared there the day before. He believes TJ might know why, but she doesn't. Caine thanks her for going back to Destiny so they could stay, and believes this is why the aliens saved her baby. However, he tells her that although her baby can stay, she'll have to return to Destiny. TJ refuses to accept this. Scott, Greer, and Wray attempt to retreat to the hydroponics lab with TJ, but are pinned down by Alliance soldiers. In the hydroponics lab, Brody has begun to seal the vents to prevent the Alliance from venting the air supply; the remaining air will outlast the radiation burst. It's been fifteen minutes, so Rush decides to seal the room. Chloe and Eli want to wait longer, but Rush believes that they'll be discovered if they wait too long. Scott calls over the radio and orders them to seal themselves in. Dannic overhears them, but they don't give away their location. TJ runs back into the cabin where her baby is and quickly picks her up. She refuses to leave without her. Caine points out that it's not up to TJ, since the aliens can send her away at will. He assures her that the baby will be taken care of. In the caves on the planet, the group has found shelter. Young asks if everyone is ok, and tells them that there's no end in sight for the storm. Varro wonders how long it can last, to which Young responds by pointing out Varro's hand in choosing it. Varro notes that they'd have been shot otherwise. Lightning strikes near the entrance, knocking James on her back. She is in pain, but otherwise appears to be uninjured. Young and Varro attend to her. Dannic wants to know if they've managed to restore the shields, but they cannot undo Rush's sabotage. Worse still, Ginn informs him that the shields will fail on the next burst. Dannic's men find Rush's group, but cannot get the door open. Dannic orders them to use explosives, but Telford, having limped his way to the gate room, quickly states that any blast large enough to open the door would kill everyone inside, and without Rush they have no hope of fixing the shields. Ginn adds that by the time they managed to set up the explosives, the radiation burst will have already hit them. Over the radio, Rush orders Dannic to surrender. Dannic claims he's bluffing, but Rush explains that the hydroponics lab will protect them. Ginn believes that it's possible, and Telford adds that Rush is a coward and wouldn't sacrifice himself. Dannic points out that some of Rush's people are still stuck outside, but Rush is willing to sacrifice them. Dannic intends to call Rush's bluff, convinced Rush won't sacrifice his own people. Telford tries to convince him to surrender, but Dannic holds a gun on him to silence him. Watching over the Kino, Eli is convinced Dannic would rather die. Telford says that Dannic will get them all killed, but Dannic simply states that they came prepares to die. He strikes Telford with his gun when Telford calls him insane. Further convinced that they're not going to solve this situation peacefully, Brody asks Rush about the others. Rush simply states he's sorry. Dannic tells the others that the ship is important, and that they shouldn't give up when they're so close to their goal. Telford tells them not to listen, reasserting that Dannic is crazy and will get them killed. Dannic tries to kill Telford for his defiance, but Ginn shoots him in the back first, killing him. She agrees to Rush's demands, then looks at Telford, who gives a nod confirming that she did the right thing. TJ names her baby Carmen, after the child's grandmother. Caine still believes that the aliens have a way to get them home. TJ points out that they haven't done so yet, and he can't explain why. He tells her that when she returns to the ship, no one will believe what's happened to her. He asserts that the most important thing this far from home is who you are and what you believe. It's up to her to decide whether this is a blessing or a curse. TJ awakens on Destiny. She asks Wray how long she was gone, but is informed by Wray that she never left the ship. Her baby is dead. TJ says nothing. The crew is brought back to the ship. Young congratulates Scott and Greer, but they insist that Rush deserves the credit. The remaining Alliance soldiers are locked in a room while Young figures out what to do with them. Scott informs Young about the death of TJ's baby. With the shields restored, the ship jumps into FTL. Everyone on the ship gets settled in. Young consoles TJ in the infirmary. Rush takes a rest in his quarters. Chloe examines the bullet scars on her leg, which have almost completely healed. Young drinks away his sorrows. Brody and Volker are manning the control room when the ship comes out of FTL. Brody explains that the quick jump is due to the interruption by the Alliance; the ship was headed here when they arrived, so the remaining journey was short. They are out of range of the radiation. TJ gets up, against Wray's advice, and heads to the observation deck. Through the window, she sees the nebula that was visible in the sky on the planet. She smiles. + +Dr. Nicholas Rush is unable to sleep due to nightmares of being tortured by Commander Kiva of the Lucian Alliance. He heads to the Control interface room, where Dr. Lisa Park is currently working. As he steps up to one of the consoles, he discovers a red box with Ancient writing on it. Clearly surprised by the find, he tentatively asks Park about it. She states that the program suddenly froze. He asks why she didn't call him for help, and she says that a reset usually fixes the problem. Rush presses a few buttons and clears the error, which confuses Park, who wants to know how he did it. He instead bids her goodnight, sarcastically noting that she has everything well in hand, and quickly leaves. She asks where he's going, to which he responds that he's going for a walk and that she should call him the next time she gets in trouble. Park is left alone, annoyed by his attitude. Rush makes his way to an elevator, which he takes to the top floor of the pyramid structure. He goes to an empty room with a large blast door and inputs a code into the door control panel, causing the blast door to slide away. Behind it is another door, ornately styled. He presses the door release button, opening the room. A small gust of wind passes as the sealed room is pressurized. The interior houses several workstations and a chair with consoles mounted on it. As he examines the chair, the entire room lights up. This is followed by the room suddenly moving, rising up from the top of the ship so the windows aren't obstructed by the hull. Rush has unlocked Destiny's bridge. He sits in the chair and begins taking notes, when he is unexpectedly confronted by his deceased wife, Gloria Rush, sitting in one of the workstation chairs. She explains that he has found the master code, and now has full control of Destiny's systems. Furthermore, she believes he has no intention of sharing this information with the rest of the crew. Camile Wray is holding an interview with Ginn. A Kino is recording the conversation, and MSgt. Ronald Greer is standing guard. Ginn tells Wray of the rumors she's heard regarding the purpose of the ninth chevron, legends that it will grant those who unlock it the power of the gods. Wray scoffs at the notion, asking which gods Ginn is referring to. Ginn assumes it is in reference to the ascended Ancients. She begins to speak about having control over time and space, so Wray interrupts, wondering if she really believes Destiny to be capable of such a thing. Ginn notes that it's just what the legends say. Ginn asks why Wray is here, and Wray states that she's here to get Ginn's perspective. She seems confused that Wray would want to know about her activities over the past 12 years, but obliges her. As Ginn describes it, the Lucian Alliance are warlords. On her home planet, they burned crops to force the native population into dependence on the Alliance for survival. They controlled education, and raised the children as soldiers. Two years ago, Ginn was forced into serving the Alliance at gunpoint, with the threat that her family would be killed if she didn't comply. Wray reaches the conclusion that Ginn had no choice but to serve. Ginn instead changes the topic, saying that they have not been fed well, but Wray assures her this problem is not unique to the prisoners. The ship's food supplies are running low, since they haven't been able to resupply in some time, and they could all starve. Ginn wants to know what will happen to them, knowing that their current situation cannot be maintained indefinitely. Wray simply says hasn't been decided yet. Ginn assumes Colonel Everett Young will have the final say. Wray takes a short look at Greer, then makes it clear that she will also have a part in the decision. Ginn argues that not all of them are bad people, and that they could contribute if given the chance. In the makeshift prison, Colonel David Telford is escorted inside. Still healing, he limps to a box, where Varro sits next to him. He asks Telford what will be done with them. Telford reminds Varro that he is a considered a traitor, and thus wasn't told anything. Varro claims that Telford should know Young well enough to figure it out, but Telford asserts that Young has changed. Varro gets up, leaving Telford to rest. In the Mess hall, Airman Darren Becker is serving rations of food to the crew. Dr. Dale Volker expresses displeasure at the small portions, remarking that it's hardly worth sitting down. Airman Dunning comments that things might be better if they weren't giving rations to the enemy. Sgt. Hunter Riley counters that their treatment of prisoners says a lot about them as a moral and civil society. Dr. Adam Brody and Eli Wallace are amused by his rather formal response, and Eli jokingly asks what pamphlet he read it from. Riley simply states that it is what he believes. Park comments that she has trouble sleeping with the thought that they are currently housing a group which would kill them given the chance. In Young's room, Wray reminds Young that human resources was her job on Icarus Base. Young notes that Psychiatric evaluations are Lt. Tamara Johansen's responsibility, but Wray states that TJ needs to be given time to recover, which Young accepts. She relays a report from the International Oversight Advisory stating that the conflict with the Lucian Alliance has been escalating in the Milky Way, with intel reports that suggest a possible attack on Earth itself being possible. Young asks if she's gained any useful information from the prisoners. Wray thus far has nothing, but suggests that they might be more forthcoming if she could assure them that they would not be dumped on the next inhabitable planet as soon as they were no longer useful. Young notes that they tried to do the same thing, and wonders if everyone on-board will be OK with sharing rations until they run out of food. Wray insists they haven't reached that point yet, but Young asks how long she's willing to let the situation drag on, since this is about more than the proper treatment of prisoners. The simple fact of the matter is that the Alliance invaded the ship, and cannot be held prisoner forever. Wray insists that they're not all dangerous, citing her report, but Young dismisses the "I was just following orders" claim as an excuse by the prisoners to save themselves, having heard it before. Wray comes to the conclusion that they will be left on the next viable planet, and Young merely states that he hopes they run into one soon. He opens the door to excuse Wray. On the bridge, the vision of Gloria is still talking to Rush, noting that his efforts to control the ship is not as easy as he had hoped. Rush notes that the ship was meant to have a crew. At Gloria's suggestion that there is a crew, he adds that the crew is supposed to know what they're doing. He states that the Ancients never intended Destiny to fly itself for so long, and is mildly surprised by Gloria suddenly having moved to the command chair. He believes there to be a purpose to the mission. Gloria notes that, despite his speculation, Rush immediately turned the autopilot back on. Rush notes that, without knowing what he is doing, he could stop the ship near another Binary pulsar or something equally dangerous. Currently, he is attempting to understand why Destiny only stops at certain planets, bypassing others entirely. Gloria suggests that they may simply be rest stops designed to give the crew a break, but are otherwise irrelevant to the mission. Ignoring the suggestion, Rush posits that environments could change over the years, becoming dangerous, but then this would assume Destiny could track the changes in real-time. He points out a nearby planet, which is classified as non-functional. Gloria simply says, "So it seems." Rush sarcastically notes how helpful she's been. Gloria starts reminiscing about their quiet walks in the garden back home. Ignoring her, Rush decides to stop the ship at the planet, as they are in desperate need of food. Gloria notes that a "big red X" is usually a bad sign. Finally fed up, Rush asks if she exists simply to second-guess him. She just asks him what he plans to do. Taking this as a "yes," Rush stops the ship. In the control room, Eli, Brody, and Riley are confused by the sudden stop. Eli states that there must be a reason why the ship stopped. Rush suddenly walks in, telling him that the ship has stopped in range of a planet. Young notes that Riley couldn't find any gates in range, to which Rush suggests they use the shuttle. Brody is confused, wondering how Destiny could have data on a planet with no gate. Rush confirms that there is a gate, it's just not working. Riley expresses disbelief at the convenience of Destiny stopping within shuttle range. Rush angrily states that it's not magic, and that he's been trying to tell the ship they need supplies however he can. Young suggests sending a team to the planet. Rush adds that repairing the gate should be a priority. Eli notes that the shuttle trip will take an hour, and the jump countdown is set to less than seven hours. Young responds that with an active gate, supplies will be easy to retrieve, but Brody counters that they are too close to the planet to dial the gate even if it were active. Rush states that if they stop within range of the planet after the next jump, they'll have more time to collect supplies. Young asks if Rush wants to go, but Rush decides to stay. Young questions what Rush considers more important, food or his work, so Rush clarifies that there are malfunctioning systems he must continue working on. Young decides to check on TJ, who is going on the mission to the planet, just prior to the launch, to make sure she's up to it. She insists she is, though she admits that she isn't at 100% just yet. Since they're running low on medicinal supplies, she wants to collect what she can now, just in case. She promises to take it easy. Young awkwardly states that he just wanted to make sure she'd be ok, and wishes her good luck. The rest of the team consists of Lt. Matthew Scott, Greer, Riley, Lt. Vanessa James, Dunning, Volker, Park, and Eli. Riley has plotted a course to the gate, and Scott launched after being given confirmation by Young. On the bridge, Gloria expresses concern for Rush. Rush feels the same, noting that he "can't leave [him]self alone." Suddenly, Gloria is replaced by a vision of Jeremy Franklin, who states that Rush is missing things. A bewildered Rush says Franklin's name, and Franklin continues, noting that there is too much information here for one person to handle, no matter how smart they are. Rush asks for clarification, so Franklin points out the data on the planet. The data is extensive, Rush notes, but Franklin's specific concern is the volcanic activity and atmospheric super-rotation. This gives Rush pause. The shuttle is now a few minutes from hitting the atmosphere. Rush believes it will be fine, but is again countered by Franklin, who notes that Rush based his calculation on the optimal structural integrity of the shuttle, as taken from the database, without taking into account the wear and tear Destiny's extreme age has had on it. Concerned, Rush contacts Scott and informs him of the turbulence, assuring him that the shuttle was designed to handle it. Scott thanks him for the heads-up. Gloria has replaced Franklin, and silently stares at Rush; he says nothing. As the shuttle enters the atmosphere, it hits extreme turbulence. Some of the walls spark and a pipe breaks, releasing steam. Rush hails Scott, receiving a response after the second attempt, confirming they passed the turbulence, much to his relief. After a short but rough ride, the shuttle makes it through, much to Rush's relief. However, the engines suddenly cut out. With half the systems suddenly offline, Scott cannot correct for the sudden failure. With no engine control, the ship rapidly loses altitude, clipping the side of a mountain with its wing, plowing through a forest, and eventually coming to a hard stop when it plows into a small cliff. Riley's window bursts upon impact, showering the room with rocks. In the crashed shuttle, everyone begins to come to. The lights are flickering and sparks randomly burst from the walls. Scott discovers Riley pinned beneath his console, which is further covered by a pile of rocks. He calls TJ for assistance, making sure she's ok. Riley has a pulse, but is unconscious. Scott checks on everyone else. Dunning's head is slightly bloody, but he assures Scott he's fine, and everyone else has come out of the crash with little more than minor scrapes. Riley wakes up, his first instinct to free himself, only to find he can't move. TJ quickly calms him, and asks if he's in any pain. Riley tells her it doesn't hurt, and that he cannot feel his legs at all. This worries both TJ and Scott. On Destiny, Young enters the control room, asking Brody where Rush is. Brody doesn't know, but has called him. Over the comm, Young speaks with Scott. Scott tells Young that he isn't sure what happened. He explains that Rush informed them of the atmospheric turbulence. Young interrupts, having just heard of this, so Scott clarifies that he warned them over the comm. He continues, detailing their sudden power loss after passing the turbulence. Young asks about injuries; Scott reports Riley's situation, and notes that everyone else is fine. They are working on prying the door open He notes that the shuttle is badly damaged, including a broken window, and they will not be flying it home. Rush walks in and tells Scott to find the gate and get it working. If Destiny stops within range after its next jump, they can be rescued. Scott schedules a report in 30 minutes. Having managed to pry the door open, Eli squeezes through. Scott asks Volker if he can find the gate; Volker simply states that they'll figure it out. Eli asks about Riley, and Scott cannot give a clear answer. In private, TJ tells Scott that Riley is wedged in pretty good, and she isn't sure he should be moved. Scott notes that they'll have to eventually. On Destiny, Wray tries to discourage Young from blaming the shuttle accident on their desperation. Young dismisses it as beyond their control. Wray has contacted the IOA once more, and they insist that Young keep at least some of the prisoners on the ship. Young does not care about their opinion. Over the radio, backup is requested in the prisoner's hold immediately. Wray and Young rush to the scene. The prisoners are trying to overpower their guards. Young enters the room and grabs the nearest Alliance prisoner, who is attacking one of his men. The prisoner elbows him, so Young throws him to the ground and violently smashes his head on the floor several times, while Wray watches in horror. He then begins to choke him. Remembering himself, Young lets go before he kills the man. Telford yells at Young to get him to stop, then pulls him up. The rest of the prisoners have been subdued. On the planet, James' team has reached the rough location of the Stargate, which is nowhere in sight. Eli notes that the Ancient remote control isn't listing any addresses. James asks if Volker is sure about the location, to which he responds that the gate would be visible if he were. Meanwhile, Scott and Dunning are attempting to lift the console off Riley, causing him intense pain. TJ stops them, and informs Riley that she's going to try to check his legs. They lift the console once more, and TJ reaches in. Its weight is too much for Scott and Dunning to support for long, so she withdraws her hand at Scott's insistence. Her hand is covered in blood. She notes that his leg is stuck pretty good, and that the console is helping cut off circulation to the wound. Eli's Ancient remote control indicates that Destiny has jumped to FTL, and he begins to panic, despite suggestions from James to calm down. James asks for the odds of Destiny dropping out within range of the gate; Franklin tells her that there's no way to tell. Greer, standing atop a large pile of rocks, shouts at the others that he has found the gate. Eli believes Greer is simply high enough to see it, but upon reaching his position cannot find it. Greer directs him to look down: the gate is beneath them, having been buried in a rock slide. On the bridge, Gloria recommends Rush gets some sleep. Rush just tells her that it would be easier if she'd help him. Gloria wonders what has drawn him to the conclusion that she can help. Rush asks to speak to Franklin, but Gloria doesn't recognize the name. Rush tells her that one of two things is happening; he's either gone crazy, or the ship has manifested the images of Gloria and Franklin as a way of communicating with him. Franklin has been the more helpful of the pair. Gloria asks him what he's trying to do. Rush explains that he wants to control the jump countdown. Gloria cant help. Rush takes this as proof he's gone crazy. With no Stargates in Destiny's immediate path, Rush will have to stop the ship soon in order to rescue the stranded team, but, as Gloria notes, he'll need to concoct an explanation for the abrupt stop. He can't just drop out of FTL at will, as the drives must remain active for four hours at a time to prevent permanent damage. The next time they drop out of FTL, it will be his last shot. Gloria still recommends that he tell the others, but Rush denies that course of action. She believes it's because he doesn't trust Young, and Rush vehemently insists that Young let the Lucian Alliance take over the ship, calling him mentally unstable. Rush adds that Young is getting worse, citing the incident with the prisoner. Gloria counters that Rush's negligence is responsible for the shuttle crash, but Rush blames their desperate situation on Young, and deems him unfit for command. James' team is busy digging out the gate, having made little appreciable progress. Scott joins them, and Eli asks about Riley. Scott explains that Riley is bleeding heavily, and the console is the only thing keeping him from bleeding out immediately. Eli wants to do something, and Scott focuses their efforts on unburying the gate. In the shuttle, TJ asks Riley if he's in pain. He says he's fine, and asks if she's ever attended to a patient she knows he is going to die. She has. Prior to this incident, Riley had figured that he wasn't meant to die yet, given his previous close calls. Riley tells her about his own religious mother, and how his father never believed yet always went with her. He is not religious himself. TJ tells him that she won't leave him if it comes to it. Riley asks TJ what she believes; she isn't sure. She tells him about her experience on the alien planet while she was recovering from her gunshot wound. She knows it felt real, even though she can't prove it, and sees it as a ray of hope that helps her cope with the situation. Park quietly listens while resting on one of the benches. On Destiny, Varro meets with Young. He apologizes for the behavior of the prisoners. Young informs him that the prisoners will be sent off the ship when they reach the next viable planet, and that he expects them to cooperate; force will be used if necessary. Varro quietly accepts this and leaves. Scott has opted to simply use explosives to clear the rocks covering the gate. Eli remembers reading that large explosions can potentially cause the Naquadah in the gate to overload and explode. Volker, somewhat unsure of his own opinion, doesn't believe it will be that big. Eli asks Scott if he's sure of his decision, but Scott sees no other option; it could take them weeks to dig the gate out manually. Eli wonders if the blast will damage the gate, so Scott asks him to make a decision. Eli gives the go-ahead and Scott flips the switch. The explosion does as intended, and Eli remarks that it was pretty big. Telford meets with Young to inform him that he used the Long-range communication device. Young decides to skip the fact that he didn't authorize that. Telford has compiled a short list of prisoners Earth wants kept on board, as they may prove valuable. Young assumes that Telford has been given orders to take command should he resist, and questions if the crew will be willing to trust Telford. Telford says that the military is expected to obey. The ship drops out of FTL. Young calls Rush, asking for his location, and leaves the room with Telford behind him. In the control room, Brody informs Young and Telford that the countdown is set to less than three hours. The planet is still in range, but the gate is locked out. He doesn't know why the ship stopped, since there are no planets in range save the one where the team is trapped. Brody suggests trying to bypass the lockout and dial the planet, noting its a long shot. Since it's all they have to go on, Young heads for the gate room, informing Rush. Rush comes in as the gate is being dialed. Young questions Rush on his activities, so Rush explains that he was in the engine control room, having determined that the FTL is still suffering from the radiation from the binary pulsar, causing them to shut down prematurely. Young says nothing. On the planet, the gate has been almost entirely uncovered. It suddenly starts shaking, and the team assumes that Destiny is trying to dial in. Volker tells them to clear the event horizon. Destiny's address comes up on Eli's remote. Once the shaking stops, Eli dials Destiny. The gate lights up and connects successfully. Scott comes through with Eli and James. Young is glad to see them ok, and asks about the others. Scott hesitates, and tells Young that Riley won't make it. Young comes back with Scott to see Riley. Greer is waiting outside the shuttle. He enters the shuttle alone. TJ and Park are attending to him. TJ refuses to let Riley die alone, and Young asks to be given a minute alone with Riley. TJ motions for Park to follow her out. Riley apologizes for the situation, but Young assures him this is not his fault. Riley is concerned that they may try to stay to comfort him, and his only concern is that the team leaves before the ship goes back to FTL. He's not going to be around much longer anyway. Young wants to know what to tell Riley's family, but he can't think of anything good enough. He asks for the time until Destiny jumps, and Young says that they have plenty of time to spare. Riley states that he would ask Young for his gun if he didn't think the crew would blame him for the results. Young takes it as a joke at first, but Riley makes it clear that he's in pain. Young tries to leave to get TJ, but Riley stops him. With some effort, he pins his free hand under his back. Taking Riley's cue, Young quietly suffocates him. He informs the team that Riley has passed away. Telford and Wray present Varro with the list of prisoners to remain on the ship. There are nine in total, Varro, Ginn, and Simeon among them. The rest are sent through the gate to the planet. A large gathering is held in Brody's bar, where Greer leads a toast to Riley. Scott is comforted by Chloe, who wipes a tear from his eye. Eli sadly watches Riley's video diary. TJ is alone in her quarters. Young is also alone in his quarters, drinking and silently crying. On the bridge, Rush tells Gloria that there was nothing that could be done for Riley, so there was no reason to stay. She knows, but Rush assumes that her presence is to convince him of his own guilty conscience. He doesn't deny his responsibility; he was trying to save the lives of the entire crew, not just himself. Still, he is convinced of one thing: Destiny's name is not random. The ship has a purpose. On one of the workstations, a small message box pops up, which Rush reads intently. The ship drops out of FTL into empty space. Brody assumes it's another short jump caused by the radiation, but Volker detects something on sensors. Rush issues a general call to meet him on the observation deck. Young and Eli meet on the way there, Eli having heard the call, too. Rush, Brody, and Volker are already present. Destiny is on-course for an unknown object, just out of visual range, which they are headed straight for. + +On the Observation deck, Camile Wray joins Eli Wallace, Colonel Everett Young, Dr. Nicholas Rush, and Dr. Lisa Park, who are watching as Destiny closes in on an unknown object. Young orders Dr. Adam Brody and Dr. Dale Volker to ready Destiny's weapons. Rush doesn't believe there will be any need for that. As the object comes within visual range, Wray identifies it as a ship. Eli notes that the design is similar to Destiny, and has to be of Ancient design. The ship isn't slowing down, and Brody determines that they're on a collision course. Young orders Brody to ready the main guns, but Rush states that Destiny is planning to dock with the other ship. Sure enough, Destiny slows itself down and engages a docking clamp on the underside of the hull. Young asks if Rush has any more predictions, so Rush sarcastically "predicts" that Young will be sending a team to the ship. In the Control interface room, Young questions Rush on how he knew the ship was going to dock. Rush claims he just assumed it from the available facts. The ship is one of the Seed ships, sent ahead of Destiny to seed gates for it to use. Young indicates an active display, and Rush explains that Destiny is exchanging data with the ship. Brody believes that the seed ship experienced some kind of malfunction which has left it dead in space, hence why they managed to catch up with it. Young wants to know what the data pertains to, but Rush says it will take a while to decode, so Young suggests he get started right away. Rush wants to put it off for now, instead wishing to explore the seed ship. Young denies his request; he wants Rush to decode the data as quickly as possible. Young notes the countdown clock isn't active. Volker assumes that the ship is giving them however much time they need, and Eli estimates that it will take about two hours for the download to complete. Young sends Brody and Volker as part of a team to explore the ship with that time frame in mind. Rush tries to protest, wanting to go himself, but is cut short by Young. Colonel David Telford meets with Wray, who assumed he was busy doing a debriefing with Homeworld Command. Telford is more interested in the ship Destiny has docked with. She tells him about the data transfer and the team sent by Young. Telford quickly leaves, ignoring Wray's attempts to get his attention. Lt. Matthew Scott and MSgt. Ronald Greer lead the military team sent with Brody and Volker. They meet at the airlock leading to the seed ship. Rush pressurizes it, and Eli informs them that the seed ship has active life support. Greer takes point, followed by Scott. Brody and Volker follow behind them, releasing a Kino for the people in the control room to see through. Young urges caution, as the seed ship is even older than Destiny. Eli is excited at the prospect of what the data being transferred to Destiny might contain. Rush, visibly annoyed at being stuck in the control room, excuses himself to use the restroom. Rush enters the bridge and begins examining the data on the consoles. The hallucination of Gloria Rush appears behind Rush to comment on the readings his console is showing. Rush confirms that the seed ship has a way of getting the crew home. Gloria knows he won't tell anyone, though Rush figures that they'll likely discover it on their own. On the observation deck, Chloe Armstrong comes in looking for Lt. Tamara Johansen, who was supposed to meet her in the infirmary about 20 minutes ago. As they begin to leave, Chloe tries to get TJ to open up about the death of her unborn child. TJ doesn't want to talk about it in public. Chloe recommends that she talk to someone about it, though not necessarily Chloe herself. TJ asserts that it's not that she doesn't want to talk to Chloe, but that there's nothing to talk about. Her baby is gone, but she might be in a better place, and that might be for the best. Chloe doesn't think TJ's being honest, but TJ changes the subject, deciding to go to the infirmary so she can check Chloe's leg wound. Chloe tells her that it has almost completely healed. TJ wants to know how that is possible, but Chloe has no idea, either. On the seed ship, Volker suggests splitting up to cover more ground. Scott denies that course of action. Volker instead suggests setting the Kino to search mode, which Scott is fine with. The Kino moves down an adjacent corridor, leaving the team behind. They eventually come upon a room with several consoles. Brody assumes it to be the ship's control center. Brody and Volker begin bringing systems online despite Scott's misgivings. Scott radios Young to inform them of their progress; Young simply tells Scott to keep him updated. Brody and Volker manage to restore power to the ship, bringing on the lights. Elsewhere on the vessel, a pod opens, from which an alien hand reaches out. In the control room, Rush finally comes back in, and Young asks where he's been, having been unable to contact him by radio. Rush merely claims he stopped by the mess hall, dismissing the issue of having ignored the radio calls. Telford enters and asks to speak with Young, so they move into the corridor. He is upset that Young did not notify him that a team was being sent to the seed ship. Young asserts that, as the commanding officer, he doesn't have to run everything by Telford. Telford isn't disputing his command, but would like to be kept in the loop. He says he wants to help, but Young claims he doesn't need it. Telford denies this; Young's been working alone since the incursion and it's been taking a toll. It isn't just about Young, but the people under his command, and Telford feels that he hasn't been up to the task of leading them as of late. He suggests that Young either pull himself together or step aside. He knows Young is tired, and again offers his help. Convinced, he jokes that Telford is a "stubborn son of a bitch." Telford feels he owes Young for saving his life. Young points out he had to kill Telford to do it, and Telford assures him that he'd do the same for Young. Young tells Telford about the discovery of the control center, and that the plan is to gather as much information as possible before time runs out. Young enters the prisoner hold, where he is confronted by Ginn, who wants to go to the seed ship, since she believes she can be of help. Young refuses the request, not intending to let any of them near the ship. Varro, who had asked Young to come, takes over the conversation. He wants to know how long they'll be locked up. Young plans to play it by ear. Varro notes that his people have been cooperative with Homeworld Command by providing information, but Young counters that they would have been left behind had they not. He also brings up Dannic, who they killed to give control of the ship back to the expedition. Young treats this as merely saving their own lives, but Varro adds that the lives of several of Young's people were also saved, in addition to his earlier. Young thanks him for the effort, even though he believes Varro did it because he felt the crew was more useful alive. Simeon slams his hand on a crate, angrily stating that they can't remain prisoners forever. Young retorts that they should have considered the possibility before they attacked, and things could be a lot worse. Varro decides to get to the point: he wants to know what they can do to earn their freedom. Young tells him that they need to prove they aren't a threat, and doesn't think they can do so. As Young leaves, Varro shouts at him that they are no longer enemies. Once Young has left, Simeon simply says, "told you." On the seed ship, Scott asks if Brody and Volker have made any progress. They have, so he decides to take Greer and do some exploring. Brody is fine with it. Meanwhile, Eli asks if he's reading some data on his panel right. Rush dismissively states that he's probably reading it wrong if he needs confirmation, but he insists that someone check out the power readings he's monitoring. Park comes over to check his findings, surprised by what she sees, and thinks that Rush needs to see it. In the Hydroponics lab, Wray is watering the plants. Young comes in, having determined that she informed the prisoners of the seed ship. She claims they had a right to know, but he responds that, as prisoners who attacked the ship, they have no rights. Wray states that they have to live with them, but Young doesn't think so. She notes that there are only a handful of them left, and that they made a deal to provide Intel to Homeworld Command so they would get to stay on the ship. Young counters that Homeworld Command doesn't have to live with the deal. Wray believes that this is why they should be treating them better, since many of them aren't dangerous and had no choice but to work with the Lucian Alliance. Young doesn't care; his first concern is to the crew, and he doesn't want to risk their welfare for the sake of these prisoners. Wray notes it's not just their lives at risk; the planned attack on Earth by the Alliance has been confirmed, and the prisoners may have information to avert it. Young thinks they could be supplying false information, but Wray believes it's worth the risk. Wray tries to talk about the how the last few days have been hard on him, but Young interrupts, simply asking her to be more careful with what information she gives the prisoners. Wray tells him that a funeral service will be held for Riley later in the week. Young agrees to say a few words. On the seed ship, Scott is taking guesses at who Greer has been involved with on the ship. His first guesses are Chang and Ramirez, the latter a red-headed civilian contractor. Greer tells him that he was involved with Park, noting that a hamstring injury he said he got doing squats in fact happened during his time with her. Young walks into the control room, having been called by Eli. Eli informs him that, after checking and rechecking their findings, they have discovered that the seed ship has a sizable energy reserve, enough to dial the gate back to Earth. Rush tells Young that he needs to open certain conduits to set up a transfer, which can only be done from the seed ship. Young lets him leave. As Rush makes his way to the airlock, the Kino feed is suddenly cut off. Leaving it to Park, he moves to Rush's console so he can open the airlock. At the airlock, Rush is met by Scott, who has something he believes Rush will want to see. Rush doesn't believe he'll be impressed. Scott brings him to the ship's gate factory, which houses many Stargates the ship had yet to launch before it stopped functioning. Rush takes a moment to admire it, then asks to be taken to the control center now that they're done with the "distraction"; Scott merely chuckles and obliges him. Meanwhile, Brody leaves Volker in the control room alone, as there is a damaged power relay on the next level which he wants to repair. After a few minutes, Volker hears something behind him and assumes its Brody. Turning around, he finds himself staring at an alien, who is merely staring back. Volker holds up his hands in surrender, trying to placate it, only to be confused when it collapses in front of him. He radios Scott to inform him of the alien's presence. TJ is treating the prisoners for any remaining injuries. Simeon is first. She warns him that his cut will reopen if he's not careful. He responds that he can't help it because he likes to play rough. He asks her if she does, too, and tries to grab her arm. TJ quickly twists his arm and motions to the guard that she has everything in hand. She tells him that she does like to play rough, and asks if he can handle her while further twisting his wrist. Over the pain, he simply says "no." She responds, "I didn't think so," then releases him. Varro is next. She notes that his wound is healing nicely. He jokes that he was hoping for a manly scar, then apologizes for the loss of her child. He tells her about how he lost his wife when a shelter collapsed on her and six others. He finds it ironic that for all the risks he's taken and lived through, she would die simply for getting caught in the rain. He got over the grief by coming to the understanding that "life is loss." Over the radio, Young calls for TJ's assistance on the seed ship, not explaining exactly why. Young informs TJ that the alien Volker found appears to be alive but unresponsive. He offers to have someone come in using the Long-range communication device, but TJ wants to examine the alien herself. Telford meets them at the airlock, wanting to join her. Young notes that she already has an escort, but Telford wants to do something, so he gives the go-ahead. Scott and Greer have the alien under guard. TJ comes in and moves to examine it, but it suddenly wakes up, surprising her. Everyone trains their guns on it. After looking around, it moves to a sitting position and begins speaking in an incomprehensible language. Telford asks Rush for assistance, as the resident alien expert, but Rush notes that he works with different aliens. All he can recommend is to lower their weapons. Slowly, the alien stands up. Scott takes the initiative and tries to open a limited dialog, but the alien doesn't comprehend what he's doing, instead just sitting down again. Scott decides to try giving it some food. Volker has a piece of dried fruit, which Brody thinks tastes horrible, but Scott takes it anyway. He takes a bite to demonstrate, then hands the rest to the alien. It takes the piece of fruit, but it spits it back up, which Brody notes is because it tastes horrible. Rush recommends that they search for others of its kind. Scott, Telford, and Greer split up to search, leaving Rush and TJ with Airman Dunning and one other soldier. Scott and Telford eventually end up running into each other, while Greer finds about a dozen more open pods in another room. He radios Scott and Telford to inform them of the discovery. In the control room, Eli follows Rush's instructions for diverting power from the seed ship to the gate. His efforts go smoothly, and they are ready to dial. As everyone packs up to leave through the gate, Wray orders everyone to gather in the gate room over the intercom, as they don't know how long they can hold the connection to Earth. As Young heads for the gate room, Telford informs him of the alien presence. Rush assumes them to be some sort of research team left to study the ship. Unwilling to risk staying when their friends might come back, he recalls the team to the gate room. Rush refuses to go, since he needs to monitor the power transfer. Young is concerned about the alien, not accepting Rush's assessment that it is docile, but Rush insists that he has to stay. Young decides to send reinforcements against Rush's recommendations, so Rush compromises and offers to leave once the wormhole has connected. Dunning is left to guard Rush while everyone else is ordered back to the ship. Young wants the alien brought with them. With most of the crew gathered in the gate room, they begin dialing Earth. Eli calls Rush to inform him that the dialing has begun, and is told to call again once a connection is made. However, the gate shuts down. Young calls Eli, who notes that the power transfer has been interrupted. He calls Rush, who can't offer an explanation. Dunning is suddenly stunned by an energy weapon, and Rush turns slowly to regard the attacker. Power then fluctuates throughout the ship; the power transfer has been reversed, drawing power away from Destiny, and if it continues Destiny will be drained beyond any ability to recover. Eli cannot reach Rush to correct the problem. The aliens have stunned him, and are operating the consoles. Telford, Scott, and Greer are already on their way to investigate. Young comes in to check on Eli and Park; their efforts to stop the drain aren't working. Young suggests cutting the connection, but they don't know how. On the seed ship, the alien being escorted by TJ's group suddenly runs off, avoiding gunfire and crawling up a nearby ladder. TJ reports this to Young. Telford, Scott, and Greer arrive in the control center, which is now empty save for Rush and Dunning, both still unconscious. He radios Young to inform him of their condition. Young wants to disconnect the two ships, and orders Telford back to Destiny. Telford, however, sees this as their one way home and wants to fix it. Young doesn't want to risk the lives of the crew for a chance to dial home, but Telford just asks him to put Eli on. He thinks that he can reverse the transfer from the control center, which Eli believes is possible, and tells Eli to walk him through it. Telford orders Scott and Greer to evacuate Rush and Dunning, ignoring the threat the aliens still pose. He has 15 minutes to correct the problem. TJ's team makes it through the airlock, only to have the door seal behind them. Elsewhere, Scott and Greer continue to drag Rush and Dunning when the path to the control center is sealed by another door. Scott tells Greer to ignore it and keep moving. At the airlock, the soldiers are unable to open the door when it suddenly opened from the other side. They train their weapons, but it's Scott, Greer, Rush, and Dunning, the latter two having regained consciousness. Scott orders everyone to fall back, and Rush immediately leaves the group behind. Telford is making progress in reversing the power drain, but time is running out and Young wants to know if they can break the connection. Park tells him that they need Rush. He asks Scott to get Rush for him, but Rush is nowhere to be found. Eli convinces Young that disconnecting is not an option with so little time, and so their only hope is Telford. Telford is nearly finished rerouting power, but the ship begins shaking; Destiny is disengaging from the seed ship. Young looks to Eli and Park, but they aren't responsible. From the bridge, Rush has undocked the two ships. He tells Gloria that he had no choice. She asks if he did it to save the crew or to save his dream. With Destiny preparing to jump to FTL, Young informs Telford that they have no way of retrieving him. Telford tells him to take care of the crew and himself. Destiny jumps to FTL, and Telford calls over the radio to see if they're still there. Now alone, he is confronted by the aliens. TJ delivers some blankets to the prisoners in gratitude for Varro making sure she was cared for during the incursion, even though he didn't have to. Varro responds that he did have to. She thanks him, and leaves. Simeon watches from the back wall. Eli sits alone in his room, sulking. Young gets a bottle of Brody's liquor. Wray and Greer pack up Riley's belongings. Chloe writes on a notepad, stopping to examine her leg. Rush sits alone on the bridge. + +As he wanders the corridors of Destiny, Eli Wallace stumbles upon Chloe Armstrong operating a console. He asks her what she's doing, but she isn't sure, having no recollection of coming to the room after lying down for a nap. Eli assumes she was sleepwalking, and tries to relate his own experiences in that matter, but Chloe abruptly excuses herself. In the Mess hall, Eli speaks with Lt. Matthew Scott about Chloe's erratic behavior, wanting to make sure it's not just him. Scott has also noticed it, noting that she's been withdrawn as of late. Eli suggests he talk to Chloe, but Scott has already tried with little success. He tells Eli that Chloe has been keeping a diary, which he assumes is a coping mechanism. Eli brings up the gunshot wound she sustained during the invasion, which healed much faster than it should have, but Scott has no answers for him. Colonel Everett Young comes to the table, telling Eli that he needs to use the Long-range communication device; his mother, Marian Wallace is sick. Eli asks for details, but Young wasn't given any, only having been told to bring Eli to Earth immediately. On the bridge, Gloria Rush tells Dr. Nicholas Rush, who is clearly exhausted, that he needs to sleep. He ignores her at first, then tells her "soon" when she continues bug him about it. Manipulating the controls on the main chair, Rush drops the ship out of FTL. The jump countdown is set to slightly less than 11 hours. Jeremy Franklin appears, telling him that manipulating the countdown is complicated, with a large number of variables that determine its length. Rush agrees, noting that Destiny has a myriad of systems, each of equal complexity. Franklin points out that Rush trying to do the work of an entire crew isn't helping manners. Rush's only concern for the moment is trying to control the length of the countdown, and asks why Franklin, still entertaining the belief that he is a manifestation of the ship, doesn't help. Franklin wonders what Rush is really trying to gain by controlling the countdown, and seems unconvinced with his assertion that controlling the ship is key to the mission. Over the radio, Dr. Adam Brody informs Rush of the ship stopping when there's no Stargates in range, indicating that this has happened before. Dr. Lisa Park chimes in, adding that the ship is banking left on a new course, which doesn't make sense. The two are met with silence and try to get Rush's attention, so he claims he's busy and can't help them. They ask where he is and what he's doing, but Rush merely ends the conversation. Both express frustration with the ship's continued erratic behavior. On Earth, Eli is brought to the hospital where his mother is being kept. Dr. Brightman explains that Marian stopped taking her HIV treatments, causing her T cell counts to drop below 300 and allowing Pneumonia to set in. They've restarted her AVR therapy and were successful in treating her pneumonia. With her T cell count leveled off, she's recovering, but Brightman fears that things will get worse if she stops taking her treatments again. Eli urges them not to let her, and to keep her at the hospital in necessary, but Brightman insists that the issue is psychological. She is suffering from depression, and their on-staff psychiatrist has made little progress in addressing the issue, which is why they sent for Eli. Unless Marian wants to get better, she'll neglect her treatment, which at this stage will almost certainly lead to her condition deteriorating to full-blown AIDS. Brightman leaves Eli to visit his mother. Eli does not tell her his identity, instead posing as Senior Airman Tracy, whose body he's inhabiting. He insists that Eli wanted to come but couldn't, adding that Eli's working on great things. He notes that Eli heard about her hospitalization, so Marian tells him to tell Eli she's fine. Knowing better, Eli tells his mother this, and adds that Eli is worried for her. Marian simply notes that Eli wasn't worried enough to come himself. Meanwhile, Camile Wray, inhabiting the body of Airman 1st Class Phillips, is dropped off at Sharon Walker's house. Sharon happily greets her partner after making sure it's her. On Destiny, Chloe and Scott lie awake in bed. Scott asks Chloe where they are in their relationship, wondering if they would still be together under normal circumstances. She assures him that they would. Scott admits that he has little experience with committed relationships, and fears that he might do something to screw it up. Her quiet behavior as of late has him concerned, but Chloe snuggles up to him to reassure him. On Earth, Wray has made lunch for herself and Sharon. Sharon is drinking wine, which Wray takes notice of but does not comment on. Sharon has missed Wray's cooking, having eaten mostly take-out food since she works at nights. Wray asks if everything is OK, and Sharon assures her that it is, though her overly-happy tone of voice fails to convince Wray. Sharon changes the subject back to the food, which she finds delicious. On Destiny, Young has decided to release the Lucian Alliance prisoners into the general population. MSgt. Ronald Greer is heavily against the idea, but Young notes that they made a deal. The prisoners have been forthcoming, so he's going to allow them more freedom. He insists that the decision has been made. He does not intend to give them full freedom, however; each will be followed around the clock by a guard. Scott then comes in looking for Chloe, having been unable to find her anywhere. In the mess hall, Lt. Vanessa James sits down with Lt. Tamara Johansen, who is staring off into space. They begin to make small talk when Simeon comes in under escort. James notes that Young released the prisoners, and comments apprehensively that they'll see how well it works. Simeon walks up to a table where Dr. Dale Volker, Brody, and Park are sitting. He whispers something into Park's ear, and all three immediately spring up. Park backs off, while Brody and Volker move forward to confront Simeon. James and TJ join in to see what's happening. Simeon insists that he was just making conversation, but Volker demands that Simeon apologize. James tries to defuse the situation, but neither man is listening. Simeon tries to intimidate him, but Volker doesn't back down. Greer, having just come in, pins Simeon to a wall before it can escalate further. He tells Simeon not to mess with his people, and when Simeon tries to claim that he was just talking to Park, adds that he isn't to talk to anyone, either. Simeon quips that he didn't know Park was Greer's woman, for which Greer has Simeon locked up until he learns some manners. Simeon tries to apologize, but this only encourages Greer to keep Simeon locked up further, so he accepts the punishment. After making sure that Park's ok, he informs those present that Chloe is missing, and that Young has ordered search teams to be formed to look for her. On the bridge, Gloria notes that Rush is going to work himself to exhaustion, but Rush insists that there is too much work to be done. Gloria says that his lack of sleep will make him careless, citing the two people who have died from his actions. Rush says nothing. In the empty and dark prisoner hold, Young comes in to speak with Simeon. Simeon quickly apologizes for his behavior, and promises that he can get along with the crew given the chance. He reminds Young of the deal they made, and claims that he intends to hold up his end. He insists that he can be trusted. James' team comes across Chloe in one of the storage rooms, who appears to be trying to open a locked case with a screwdriver. James calls Chloe to snap her out of her trance, then asks what Chloe is doing. James radios Scott to inform him. On Earth, Sharon is trying to find her keys. Wray is amused, since it's unlike Sharon to be forgetful. Sharon snaps at her, asking if she intends to help or not, but quickly composes herself and apologizes, chalking it up to being late. She then remembers where she left her keys, retrieving them from the outside lock on the front door, having left them there after getting groceries the previous day. She is upset at her forgetfulness, since it could have led to someone easily robbing the house. Wray calms her down. Changing the subject, Sharon promises to be gone for no more than an hour or two, and will call if things change. At the hospital, Eli visits his mother again. He notes that she looks better, and that the doctors say she'll be released in no time. Marian asks why Eli hasn't called her, since it's not like him to remain out of contact for so long. Eli decides to tell her the truth. He starts by asking for her favorite movie, telling her to go along with his questions. She answers Grease. He says there's another, and she offers The Sound of Music. He clarifies the question to her favorite science fiction movie, which she claims she isn't a fan of. Eli brings up E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, knowing it's her favorite. He reminds her of how she rented for Eli as a kid, and how she wondered if alien life and space travel really were possible. Marian is confused at how this relates to Eli. Eli tells her that it is possible, and tries to explain the Stargate Program to her briefly. She's still confused, and he tells her that he is Eli, talking to her through Tracy's body from a ship far away. She just stares at him in disbelief. Chloe is taken to the infirmary and examined by TJ. TJ questions Chloe on her memory loss. She admits this isn't the first time it's happened at Scott's prompt, describing the experiences as blackouts. Scott brings up the incident where James was taken over by the Nakai through the communication device, but Young has already made sure the communication stones were properly cleared to prevent that. Having found nothing wrong, TJ opts to keep Chloe overnight, just in case. On Earth, Eli is trying to explain the function of the communication device to his mother, but it's clear to him from her expression that she isn't buying his story. At her insistence, he again explains where he is and how he got to be there, also adding that he is unsure when he's coming home. She is upset by his continued insistence that he is her son. Eli brings up the day his father left, which happened when he was 14, and how he ran to his room crying. His mother came up and told him that he needed to be strong for her, to be the man that his father wasn't. He tries to use this as proof that he is Eli, but Marian remains unconvinced, since Eli could have told him the story. Unwilling to listen any further, she calls for a nurse over Eli's frantic attempts to convince her he really is her son. In their quarters, Scott, after a moment's hesitation, decides to go through Chloe's bag. He pulls out her diary and begins thumbing through the most recent pages. Turning to a page bookmarked with a picture of her father, Se is startled to find that Chloe has been filling out page after page with alien writing interspersed with Ancient script. He takes the diary to Young, Rush, and TJ. Rush identifies the alien writing as that of the Nakai. He can understand some of it, but most of it is beyond him. Scott realizes that they must have done something to her, suggesting a brain implant. Young notes that Rush declared Chloe to be free of tracking devices. Rush believes that Chloe is being altered on a cellular level, presumably through some sort of gradual genetic manipulation. Scott takes this to mean that Chloe might be changing into one of the aliens. Young advocates immediate quarantine, but TJ and Scott argue otherwise. Young doesn't want her roaming free if she's a security risk. Rush, however, believes it's a risk worth taking, since monitoring her behavior in the open will allow them to comprehend what happening to her far quicker than isolation will. Young agrees to the plan, so long as she's kept under watch at all times. On Earth, Eli meets with Wray at the hospital, as she's the only person on the planet who can relate. Wray asks how his mother is doing. He tells her that there's nothing wrong with her physically, but that he always feared she would give up if something happened to him. Wray insists that nothing has happened to him, but Eli takes little solace in this, since his mother doesn't believe he is who he claims to be. As far as she's concerned, sees it the military took her son and won't let her speak to him. Eli sees how she could give up under those circumstances. Wray tells him that no one will give up, and that regardless of whether or not she believes Eli's story, he needs to get his mother to keep taking her treatments. On Destiny, Chloe is being escorted by Scott around the ship. She notes she's no longer allowed in the Control interface room, and cannot use the communication device to visit her mother. Scott assures her it's only temporary. Rush comes in to relive him. Scott resists, but Rush claims it's Young's direct order, promising not to let Chloe out of his sight. Scott reluctantly leaves. Now alone, Rush escorts Chloe to a hallway filled with equations chalked onto the walls. When Chloe asks its purpose, he simply calls it a place for study. As Chloe moves down the hall, he asks if any of it is familiar to her. She stops at an empty spot on the wall, the missing solution to an equation Rush has yet to solve. Rush hands her a piece of chalk, and she fills in the answer, much to his surprise. TJ stops by Varro's quarters to see how he's settling in. He invites her in, happy with his accommodations. He asks how long the soldiers will be watching them. TJ claims that they'll remain as long as they have reason, bringing up Simeon. He heard about the incident and apologizes, telling her that Simeon grew up on a rougher world than most. Young has decided to release him, but she leaves an open warning about what will happen if he slips up again. Varro says that he'll talk to Simeon, and says that they're trying to make things work. TJ merely says that Simeon needs to try harder. Scott comes into the gate room, having been looking for Chloe. She calls to him from the balcony, where she is waiting with Rush. Scott was worried, since Rush didn't answer his radio. Rush merely claims that they lost track of time, and leaves Chloe in Scott's care. When Scott asks, she tells him about what they were doing, unsure if she actually understood the equations. Wray arrives home at night, apologizing to Sharon for having spent so much time with Eli. Sharon is drinking wine again. She asks about Eli's mother, who Wray says is fine physically but suffering emotionally. After a tense silence, Wray asks if Sharon is ok. Changing the subject again, Sharon says that Wray's dinner is in the oven. Wray is surprised Sharon actually cooked, and Sharon jokingly depreciates her own work. Wray gladly accepts the meal. Wray strikes up a conversation about Sharon's day, which Sharon quickly passes off as a normal day. Sharon tries to refill her wine glass, only to find the bottle empty. She goes to get another. Varro meets with Simeon just as he's leaving his quarters, bringing him back in to talk. He is furious that Simeon's attitude is jeopardizing their ability to get along with the crew. Simeon doesn't see the point, since the fact that they've been feeding their captors false information will be discovered eventually. Varro, however, really has been cooperating, much to Simeon's surprise. Simeon was under the impression that they weren't really cooperating, but Varro insists that everyone has been. He says that they have to find a way to get along with the crew. Simeon agrees to go along with Varro's plan, but refuses to betray the Alliance. Varro snaps at him to stop treating the situation as a game, and to keep his mouth shut. continued approach to the situation as some sort of game further infuriates him, and he tells him to just keep his mouth shut and not screw up their arrangement. Destiny drops out of FTL again. From the bridge, Rush monitors the jump countdown, now set to a little over 13 hours. He is annoyed at having failed to achieve the desired result. In the control room, Brody and Park again notice the same hallmarks of no gates in range and an altered course that have followed Destiny's erratic stops. He calls for Rush, betting Park a day's rations that Rush won't respond. Sure enough, he doesn't, though Park refuses to honor the bet since she never actually agreed to it. Once Young comes in, Brody asserts that Destiny's behavior is too erratic to be caused by pulsar radiation damage. Park adds that the course changes don't fit, either. With Rush's suspicious absence every time the ship drops out of FTL, Young concludes that Rush is likely responsible. Young asks how Rush could be doing such a thing, but Brody doesn't know a way outside of having cracked the master code. Young wants them to figure it out. Brody would like Eli's help in doing so, but Young is unwilling to bring him back given the situation with his mother. Rush then comes in. Young confronts him about having his radio off, and catches him in a lie when Rush claims to have been resting; Young had someone sent to his room when he didn't answer the radio. Rush tries to change the subject to the situation with the drives, but Young keeps the pressure on. With few options left to him, Rush takes them to his hallway of equations, which he describes to them as the problems which have confused them since they came to the ship. He points out the one Chloe solved, and suggests that the alien influence within her is studying the ship. Young comes to the conclusion that Chloe may be responsible for Destiny's behavior, which Rush goes along with. A security team is sent to her quarters. While wandering the corridors, Simeon runs into Greer, who tells him that the section is off-limits. Simeon notes that it wasn't before, and when he asks why is simply told to return to his quarters. He draws the conclusion that Greer is trying to provoke him, looking for an excuse to lock him up. Greer simply repeats his order with greater insistence. He taunts Greer about having a gun and being accompanied by other soldiers to back him up, but Greer calmly hands off his weapon and dismisses the guards. Face to face, Simeon is unwilling to press the issue. He walks off, followed by Greer. Chloe is put in isolation. Scott brings her a meal and offers to get her anything she needs. He insists that Young is just confining her as a precaution. Chloe wants to know what's happening to her, but Scott doesn't know. He says she feels as if she's slipping away slowly, but Scott assures her that they'll figure it out and fix it. On Earth, Sharon is awake in the middle of the night, staring out the window. Wray comes in to talk to her. Finally willing to talk, she admits that despite knowing it is Wray inside the body of another person, it still bothers her that she can't actually be with Wray in the flesh. Wray notes that the situation is hard, probably more so on Sharon than herself, and that it is easy to lose hope, but these moments with Sharon are what keep her going on Destiny. Sharon breaks down in Wray's arms, assuring her that she'll be ok over the tears. Using a Kino, TJ and Young monitor Chloe during one of her blackouts. Most of the time she just sits there, motionless, occasionally writing in her diary. TJ can't detect any physical changes, and without the proper equipment doesn't know what else she can do. She advises Young that quarantine is not a long-term solution to Chloe's problem, which he knows. On Earth, Eli tries one last time to get through to his mother. He says that he's worried, and can't leave her in her depressed state. Marian admits that Eli was all that she had, even if she didn't realize it at the time. She asks if she'll ever see him again. Eli cannot give her a definite answer. He again calls Wray for help, knowing that if he leaves now he'll lose his mother. Wray tries to reassure him that he'll get through it. He suggests that she talk to his mother, since having someone else from the program would help validate his story. This gives Wray an idea, and she promises to call Eli back shortly. Calling her superiors at Homeworld Command, she tries to convince them to show Marian something beyond her clearance, citing Eli's importance to their survival on the ship and their need for him to focused. Fed up with their resistance to the idea, she simply orders them to make it happen. Marian is brought aboard Destiny using the communication device, seeing herself in the body of Park through a mirror. She examines her unfamiliar face. Young welcomes her to Destiny, then leaves so Eli can talk to her. Elated at finally getting to see her son, she hugs him tightly. Eli takes her to the Observation deck, which currently has a view of a ringed gas giant. After talking about the ship for a bit, he assures her that they'll never stop trying to get home, and that they'll both be alright. Marian hugs Eli once again, telling her son that she's proud of him. After Marian has left, he talks with Scott and Young about the visit. He thanks Young for allowing he on board, adding that he made sure she understood that there couldn't be any more visits, but Young gives the credit to Wray. Over the radio, Rush informs Young that he may have discovered a way to cure Chloe: the interface chair. He believes that the chair is designed to reject any alien that tries to use it, destroying them. By having Chloe use it, hopefully the alien presence within her will be destroyed, leaving only the human behind. Rush can't be entirely sure, however. Scott objects, claiming it's too dangerous, but Rush assures him that he's made improvements to the interface which enable him to sever the connection at will. He believes a few seconds of exposure will be all that's necessary. Eli also objects, but Rush says it's the best option. TJ adds that it's also the only option. Scott doesn't think they should force Chloe into it, so Young decides to give Chloe the choice. Chloe agrees to the treatment. Rush has her sit down, noting that it won't activate until he triggers it. With everything set up, Young gives the go-ahead. Rush engages the chair, which restrains Chloe. Her eyes roll back into her head as the interface connects to her. Once a few seconds have past, Rush disconnects her. It knocks her unconscious, but she is otherwise fine. Rush believes it has worked, but notes that they'll find out soon for sure. Eli visits Wray in her quarters to thank her for her help. Wray asks if his mother believes his story now, which she does. Eli tells Wray that his mother is being discharged from the hospital. He thanks her again, this time for being there to talk to him. Meanwhile, on Earth, Marian is packing her things, preparing to leave the hospital. Sharon comes in and introduces herself, having come at Eli's suggestion. Scott escorts Chloe back to their quarters, followed by TJ and Young. Young still plans to keep an eye on her at all times. Scott is still worried for her, but Chloe insists that she's fine. Later on, however, Rush comes in to talk to Chloe, and she realizes that she hasn't been cured, but Rush promises her freedom in exchange for help in his equations. In a montage, Simeon continues to wander the ship, followed by Greer. Wray sits in her room, alone. Varro smiles at TJ as he passes her in the hall. Finally, Chloe has a meal with Scott and Eli in the mess hall. On the bridge, Gloria asks Rush if he believes Chloe can help him, which he does. He has made a deal with her, hiding the fact that she is still under alien influence in exchange for helping him in his work. Rush tells Gloria that he needs it to be this way for the moment. Gloria wonders if Chloe can be trusted. Rush can't give an answer. In her quarters, Chloe lies awake, staring into the ceiling. + +Lt. Matthew Scott wakes up on a bus, sitting next to MSgt. Ronald Greer, having just arrived in the town of Cloverdale after a tour of duty in Kandahar, Afghanistan. They retrieve their things and leave the bus. Looking back and forth through the windows, he laments the absence of his father. As the bus departs, he sees Colonel Everett Young and Eli Wallace across the street. He runs across the road to meet him, ignoring the oncoming car. It hits him, sending him sprawling. What Scott was experiencing was a dream, and he wakes up in the real world, failing about in pain from a large, bluish organism that has grown over most of his forearm. He asks Lt. Tamara Johansen to cut it off, but she ignores the request. Chloe Armstrong tells her to try something else, but TJ has exhausted all her immediate options. Dr. Nicholas Rush recommends that Scott keep moving, while Eli tries to hold his attention. Scott returns to his dream world, where he is scolded by Young, his father in the dream, for not paying attention. Dr. Adam Brody, the driver of the car, quickly comes out to check on Scott. Young insists he's fine and sends Brody on his way. Brody checks if they're still on for some unspecified event, which Young says they are. Eli, Chloe's brother, offers his camera film as evidence for any insurance issues, though Scott would rather he hadn't recorded it. Scott introduces Greer to Young and Eli. Greer is to be Scott's best man at his upcoming wedding to Chloe. Eli notes that he took himself out of the running for best man, as he plans to film the wedding as a present for the couple. Scott asks where Chloe is, and Eli explains that she's busy getting her wedding dress and will meet him at the house. After joking about Scott nearly getting himself killed the day before his wedding, Young embraces his son, welcoming him home. On the alien planet, Scott is unconscious, so TJ declares that they can move him safely. Chloe wants to know if they can help him once they get back to Destiny but Rush immediately turns down taking him back as too dangerous. TJ agrees; given the rapid growth of the organism, it would spread throughout the entire ship at the first opportunity. Chloe declares that staying on the planet isn't an option, either. Greer passes his gun to Chloe so he can help carry Scott. Greer and Dr. Dale Volker support Scott under either arm, while Eli carries his feet. Greer urges Eli to move quickly. Rush decides to run back to the Stargate to get supplies sent to them from Destiny, hoping to return before they make it to the gate. He takes the dialing remote from Eli. As he runs, a strange noise can be heard all around him. The group goes back to Young's house. Scott is amazed that nothing has changed, while Eli, filming him, narrates in an odd voice. He explains to Greer that he's doing a temporary track for the voice over, which all good documentaries have. He jokes that he's thinking of hiring Kiefer Sutherland for the final version, but will do it himself otherwise. Young comes in and takes Greer's bags, telling him to make himself at home. Greer will be staying in Scott's room, while Scott and Chloe will be staying in Young's room. Young intends to sleep on the couch. Scott remarks that the arrangement will be weird, but Eli jokes that it won't dissuade him. Scott asks them what the plan is. Young generalizes to a basic outline of Scott's married life, from having kids to dying happy. Scott clarifies that he meant a bachelor party, but Young informs Scott that Chloe wants to take him to a movie. Scott is somewhat disappointed, as it's not what he expected. Young wonders if he doesn't want to see a movie with his fiancee, which Chloe, having just arrived, responds to with "he better." Scott and Chloe happily embrace each other. Greer gets Eli to record it. Chloe apologizes for not having met Scott when he arrived. She then notices a bruise on Scott's arm, which he attributes to the car accident. She asks if he's OK, but Scott faints before he can respond. On Destiny, Young is talking to Rush over the radio. Already aware that time is short, he asks what Rush needs. Rush has every possible medical aid sent from Destiny, particularly the Squiggler venom. He also asks for hydrochloric acid, and the supplies necessary to amputate Scott's arm if it comes to that. He tells Young to have everything loaded onto Eli's Kino sled and sent through as fast as possible. In his dream, Scott is awoken. He asks what happened, and Greer explains that he fainted. Eli got it on video. Scott is confused as to why he would faint, and Eli points out that he was hit by a car. Chloe comes in, having made a sandwich for Scott after hearing from Greer that he hasn't eaten all day. Young assures Scott that he's fine, and tells him to go to the movie with Chloe. Chloe takes him to the theater, where the movie Far Afield is playing. The MGM lion logo plays on the screen. Scott reminds Chloe of the first time they came to the theater, and they kiss. The movie starts. The two actors, dressed like Scott and Chloe in the real world, admire a field of strange flowers. The scene is familiar to Scott and he asks Chloe if she recognizes it. Others in the theater quiet him. The actor Chloe passes her hand over the flowers, which change color in a vibrant wave. The actor Scott follows suit. Scott quietly tells the actors to run. The actor Chloe suggests running through the field barefoot and moves to kiss the actor Scott, when suddenly a tendril bursts from the field. Scott is frightened by it, so Chloe tells him to relax. More tendrils appear from the field, getting closer, convincing the actors to run. Their escape is blocked by additional tendrils which spring forth from the dirt. The actor Scott grabs the nearest one, trying to restrain it, but it is too flexible and stings his forearm. He cuts it using his knife, causing a small amount of its blood to splash on the actor Chloe's uniform. The organism begins to rapidly grow from the wound on the actor Scott's forearm. Scott, freaked out by the familiarity of the scene, leaves the room. Chloe follows him out to check on him, with screams from the actors being heard in the background. Scott remembers the scene actually happening to him, but dismisses the feeling when Chloe points out that it's just a movie. He asks to leave. Chloe agrees, going back in to retrieve her purse. The usher, Airman Darren Becker, asks about Scott's sudden panic attack. Chloe can't explain, but says she can stall him for a little longer, asking him to inform the others that they'll be early. Scott watches from the door while the actor Chloe pleads for the actor Scott to wake up. Rush meets with the team en route to the gate, having brought the supplies from Destiny. TJ orders them to unpack everything. The strange noises can still be heard around them. Rush asks if the organism has spread beyond Scott's arm, which it hasn't. Rush is pleased, since that means amputation is still an option. In the dream, Chloe asks about Scott's panic attack, but he insists that it was just déjà vu and he's over it. Scott suggests heading over to Brody's for something to eat. From across the street, Volker, a pharmacist, runs up to meet them. He starts awkwardly making conversation, congratulating Chloe and Scott on the upcoming wedding. He asks what they're up to. Chloe says they're headed to Brody's, but isn't sure if it's open yet. He calls up Brody on their behalf, and confirms that his place is open, telling Brody that Scott and Chloe will be there in a few minutes. Volker says that everyone is there, quickly adding that he's referring to the staff. He then leaves in a hurry. Brushing off his behavior, Scott and Chloe go to the bar. At the bar, which is dark, Scott asks Brody if it's a slow night. Brody says that the place is packed, but everyone is hiding. Scott is confused, then jumps when everyone stands up and shouts "Surprise!" He is greeted by Young, Eli, and Greer, the latter pointing out that Scott couldn't sit through one movie before coming. Scott chastises himself for not seeing the obvious signs. Chloe leaves him to the party, and tells Young that she'll be mad if Scott is hung-over in the morning. Young tells her that there's nothing to worry about. He adds that he'll be very disappointed if Scott is not hung-over by the end of the party. He proposes a toast to Scott, and they all take a drink. On the planet, Scott coughs as he is forced to drink some of Brody's liquor to dull his pain. The strange noises in the background have grown louder, and Rush notes that the plant is still spreading toward them, probably tracking them by vibrations in the ground. TJ has gone through all the supplies sent through Destiny to no affect, amazed by the resiliency of the organism. Rush points out that there's only one option now, and picks up the bone saw. Chloe argues against it, but Rush points out that any rational person would give up a limb to save their life. Eli adds that if they wait too long, it could spread to his bloodstream. Greer and Volker emerge from the trees, explaining that the plant is at the leading edge. Rush estimates that they have fifteen minutes before it reaches them, but Eli is quick to revise the estimate to ten. That won't be enough time to amputate, so TJ decides to wait until they reach the gate. In his dream, Scott's bachelor party is in full swing. Lt. Vanessa James, a waitress, is serving drinks. Young asks Brody about the music being played in the background, which he finds unpleasant. Brody informs him that Greer, as the best man, gets to choose the music. Greer relates on how he's been called different kinds of "man", but never a "best man". James says it's last call, which Young tries to dispute. Scott, at this point quite drunk, begins flirting with James. He starts pulling at her shirt, but she removes his hand, reminding him of their breakup. Eli provides a voice over as he records the scene. Scott calls this his last night of freedom, so she plays along to discourage him. Scott, noticing Eli, tells him to erase that part. Greer and Young help Scott, who can barely stand, exit the bar. David Telford, the sheriff, stops them from getting into their car drunk. He gives them a ride home, which he calls a wedding gift when Scott inquires as to whether or not they're being arrested. During the ride, Telford asks Scott and Greer about their time in Afghanistan. They didn't see any action, which Greer finds disappointing, considering it a waste of ability. Telford remarks that people like Greer usually get themselves killed, which Greer doesn't take well. Young tries to discourage Telford from starting a fight, but Telford merely claims they're having a conversation. Scott suddenly leans forward, asking them if they ever wonder what's real. Ever since he's come home, Scott has had a feeling that he's not who he thinks he is. Telford dismisses it as an effect of the liquor. Scott moans that Chloe will kill him for being hung-over. Young just tells him to go to sleep and that Chloe will get over it. Telford agrees. As Scott drifts off into sleep, Telford tells Scott that he will feel guilty for things he's done and said, some of which he won't remember, and everything will feel like a blur. Then he'll wonder if he'll ever feel like the person he used to be. Scott is now unconscious, unable to hear Telford's voice as Telford tries to get his attention. At the gate, Greer checks to make sure Scott is out, since they don't want him awake when TJ amputates. Chloe leaves, unable to watch. TJ orders everyone to restrain Scott. Rush is asked to hold Scott's infected arm. Rush ties a cloth around it to keep from infecting himself. With everyone in place, TJ makes the first incision with a scalpel. Volker stops her, pointing out that Scott's blood has turned blue: the organism has moved to his bloodstream. Everyone quickly backs off, as there's no point in holding him down. Chloe wants to know what's next. Greer advocates staying, since they have three hours until the ship jumps to FTL. Rush argues against it, as the plant is not something they can fight. Greer is not so easily dissuaded, but Volker points out that the plant will overrun their position in less than one hour. There is only one other planet in range of the gate, and it is locked out, presumably being even more dangerous than this planet. Greer tells Eli to dial the ship. Rush reminds Greer that they can't take Scott back, but Greer says he has no intention of doing so. He needs some supplies. Scott wakes up in bed, where Chloe is waiting for him, disappointed at how drunk he got. Scott asserts that it was expected of him, to which she asks if he's marrying her for the same reason. He denies this, but she continues on the same line of questioning. Still hungover, he cannot think up a decent response, which disappoints Chloe since she thinks he should have thought up an answer much faster. Scott tries to protest, citing his hangover, but she tells him to pull himself together since it's their wedding day. He needs to see the Justice of the Peace, then get fitted for his tuxedo. They both have a laugh when Scott interrupts so he can use the bathroom. Chloe leaves the room. On Destiny, Young is speaking with Dr. Lisa Park about their options. She insists that although it's not up to her, quarantine isn't an option because the plant likely reproduces through the organism Scott is infected with. Young assumes there must be precautions, but Park notes that without knowing how the infection will develop, there's no way to prepare for it. Even if they did get him on the ship safely, the infected area could eventually burst open, releasing spores into the ventilation system that would rapidly infect everyone on the ship. Young realizes this is just a theory, but Park asserts that they cannot take any chances. Park asks Young not to put the burden on her, as Scott is a nice person and she doesn't want to be responsible for leaving him behind. Young assures her that it's his decision. On the planet, Greer has a team dig a ditch as deep and as fast as possible. Behind that, he has a quick barricade set up. Everything beyond the barricade is the kill-zone. He reiterates that they have to hold the gate for three hours. From Destiny, Young radios Greer to inform him that a Kino is being sent through to gather information on the plant. Scott reaches the office of Rush, the Justice of the Peace, and calls him on the intercom. Rush invites him in. Scott has decided to go with the standard vows, which he has some trouble expressing coherently. He apologizes to Rush, explaining that he's not all here. Rush asks if Scott is having doubts about the marriage, but Scott clarifies that it's just a hangover. Rush quips "like father, like son." Scott, upset by the comparison, calls his father a great man, then changes the subject back to the vows. Rush confirms that he'll use the traditional vows. Scott prepares to leave, but turns back, thinking that there might be something else they need to talk about. Scott admits that he's been feeling strange, but Young has just told him that everything will be fine. Scott says he's scared. Rush believes that fear is proof that a person is truly alive, then tells him in the absence of fear is death. He tells Scott that he will die; everyone will, sooner or later. Scott is caught up in his own thoughts on the matter, so Rush lightens the mood by confirming the time for the wedding. Scott says that he'll be there. Through the Kino, Young, Park, and Brody observe the plant. It has grown over a massive area near the gate, and several tendrils are visible above the ground. Park believes that plants visible on the surface are only part of a much larger root system beneath the ground. It likely waits beneath the ground until its prey gets close enough to get stung, surviving long enough to spread its spores. She fears what it could do aboard Destiny. Young wonders what it is. Park believes that it may contain properties of both plants and animals, similar to coral, but with a much larger growth rate. She notes that it's resisted everything TJ has exposed it to. Young just hopes it burns. Greer's team is using flamethrowers to hold back the tendrils, which are assaulting the barricade. He reminds his team to use short bursts to conserve fuel. Over the radio, Young orders TJ to switch to channel 2. He asks for confirmation that Scott is the only one infected. TJ is fairly sure he is. Young tells her to make sure, then send all non-combatants back through the gate, so everyone isn't trying to run back through the gate at once when time runs out. He wants her to come back, too, as he's not willing to lose any more people than he has to. Chloe asks TJ if Scott is dying, and at her silence asks how long it will take. TJ figures that it will take him longer than the three-hour limit to die, so Chloe asserts that she won't leave him. TJ insists that Chloe needs to go back and they begin to argue, but TJ stops when she notices that the organism has begun spreading on Chloe's shirt. TJ quickly cuts the infects portion off, and checks to make sure it didn't transfer to Chloe's skin. TJ has Greer burn the sample, which takes an extended burst to kill. She orders everyone to head back through the gate after confirming that they aren't infected. Chloe leaves the group, moving to the edge of the barricade where one of the tendrils is waiting. She raises her hand to let it sting her. Eli decides to say some final words to Scott, getting TJ to give him some time. In the dream, Scott, Greer, and Eli are getting fitted for their tuxedos. Eli claims that they look good. Scott seems less than enthusiastic, which Greer points out, but Scott just tells him to go change. Once Greer is gone, Eli notes that something seems to be bothering Scott, asking if he's still drunk. Scott assures Eli that he's fine. Eli can tell something is wrong, though, having known Scott long enough to see it. He points out that Scott isn't the type to stick to one girl, which he says isn't an insult but merely a character observation. Eli wonders if Scott's having cold feet, but Scott interrupts, assuring Eli that he plans to marry Chloe. Eli, however, doesn't believe him, and doesn't think Scott believes himself, either. Scott ends the conversation, but collapses as he tries to walk off. On the planet, Eli tells Scott that no one is giving up on him, and urges him to keep fighting, since Greer is fighting to hold the line. TJ calls for Eli, having lost track of Chloe. As they call from her, Chloe emerges from behind the Stargate, putting pressure on her palm. TJ asks what happened, so she shows them the sting wound, which has already grown into a small blue patch. Chloe asserts that she has to stay. She explains to Eli that they wouldn't let her stay, so she had to get herself infected. Eli quietly walks off, and TJ moves back to check on Scott, shining a light in his eyes to check the reaction. In the dream, TJ, a paramedic, is doing the same. Scott wakes up, confused. Eli offers Scott's car accident the previous day as an explanation, but Scott dismisses it as nothing, explaining that he just had too much to drink last night. She chalks his collapse up to a lack of electrolytes, but to be safe wants to take him to the hospital. Scott refuses, since he intends to go through with his wedding even if he can barely stand. TJ recommends he have some chicken soup, at the very least. On the planet, the gate activates. The tendrils react negatively to it, which Greer notes. Greer goes back to burning the tendrils with the rest of the team. Everyone begins leaving through the gate. Eli is among the last, curtly saying "Bye" to Chloe before stepping through. Rush then comes up to Chloe, wondering if her purpose truly was just to keep Scott company. Chloe explains that her true intent was to test if she was immune to the organism, as it should have transferred to her skin once it got on her clothes. As she's not in any pain, while Scott was by this stage of the infection, Rush brings it to TJ's attention. At the wedding, Young greets Telford at the door. Telford asks how Scott's doing. Young says Scott is pale, but passes it off as nervousness. Eli is recording the event. Brody tells Volker about how he ran Scott over, looking nervously into the camera when he notices it. Eli moves to the kitchen to record Scott and Greer. Greer tells Eli not to record him. Scott is having some chicken soup as TJ recommended, clearly not feeling well. Eli narrates the scene. Scott asks if Young has arrived yet. Eli confirms that Young is talking to the guests. Scott asks Eli to get a shot of Chloe, so Eli leaves. Greer suggests that the wedding could be postponed given Scott's obvious fatigue. Young comes in, asking if Scott is ready. Scott says he's not, unsure if he's doing the right thing by marrying Chloe. Young assures Scott he would never do that, but Scott remains unsure. Young asks Greer to give them a moment alone. Young asks Scott what he wants from him. Scott asks for advice, but Young cryptically tells him to wake up. TJ extracts a sample of Chloe's blood, which is red, evidence that the spores are being neutralized in her bloodstream. The growth on her palm has also grown smaller. Chloe says that her blood isn't normal thanks to the Nakai pathogen. TJ questions Rush, who said the chair cured Chloe. Rush just claims Chloe relapsed. Rush recommends a blood transfusion from Chloe to Scott, as whatever is in her could save him. TJ is reluctant to pass her affliction to him, but given the alternative agrees to try. While being given the transfusion, Scott dreams of the wedding ceremony taking place. Rush reads the vows as Chloe is walked to the altar. Quickly running out of fuel for their flamethrowers, Greer orders his men back through the gate. TJ needs just a little more time, as Scott is responding to the transfusion. One of the tendrils bursts through the ground behind the barricade, and Greer wards it off with the flamethrower, expending the last of his fuel. Rush reminds Greer of their reaction to the gate being activated. He tells Rush and TJ to go through the gate, so the only people on the area of the ramp beneath the kawoosh are himself, Chloe, and Scott. He dials the Stargate repeatedly to keep the tendrils at bay, even taking one out by hitting it with the kawoosh when it attacked. In the dream, Rush has almost finished reading the vows. Scott turns to Chloe, only to find that the left side of her face looks alien. Scott wakes up in the real world, the organism flaking off his skin, and the three run through the gate. On Destiny, Young welcomes Scott home. Scott isn't sure how they saved him, but Young knows. He orders the three of them to undergo decontamination, following which Scott and Chloe are to be quarantined until he can figure out what to do with them. Scott is confused as to why, so Young leaves it to Chloe to explain. Chloe just holds his hand, trying but failing to smile. + +Colonel Everett Young returns to his body after using the Long-range communication device. He meets with Lt. Tamara Johansen in the infirmary. Having run comparative blood tests using various pathogens they've encountered on their journey, she has determined that the Nakai pathogen in Lt. Matthew Scott's blood seems to have been eliminated, while Chloe Armstrong is still affected. She believes it is safe to release Scott, and Young agrees. After she notices that he's distracted, TJ asks if he's ok. Young tells TJ that his wife, Emily Young, has asked for a divorce. Young gets up to leave, but TJ stops him, wanting to talk with him since they haven't had the chance recently. Young doesn't feel that there's anything to say about the matter that will help, but TJ doesn't believe that's the point. Young asks what the point is, but when TJ can't answer, he leaves. Camile Wray and MSgt. Ronald Greer escort Ginn to Eli Wallace's room. She introduces her to Eli, hoping that her expertise could be useful. Ginn relates how she spent a year studying Ancient technology, in particular Eli's theories on dialing the Stargate while Destiny is recharging in a star. Eli is left speechless. When Ginn asks if he still thinks he could make it work, Eli admits to having put it aside due to lack of progress. Wray thinks that Ginn might be able to help, so Eli accepts. Wray leaves them to work. After a long pause, Eli offers Ginn a seat. Scott visits Chloe in her quarters, where she is being confined. She confirms that Scott is not being influenced by the pathogen. She seems glad, as she believes everyone else was worried that she poisoned Scott with her "alien blood". Scott insists that she's not contagious. He tries to assure her that she's only being confined as a precaution, but Chloe interrupts by adding that the precaution is against her sabotaging the ship. Scott sees the fact that she saved his life as proof that she's still human, since she would have left him to die if the alien influence were in control. Chloe shows him a growth on her leg, which is getting larger. Scott assures her that they'll find a way to fix her. He leaves the room, his face showing that he doesn't entirely believe his own claims. Young is drinking alone in his quarters, spinning his wedding ring on the table. Dr. Adam Brody calls over the radio. Young hesitates, letting Brody repeat himself before answering. Brody calls him to the Control interface room. Nine Nakai motherships have surrounded Destiny. Young is confused as to how they could have caught up to Destiny from another galaxy. They send a message demanding that Chloe be turned over to them. Brody speculates that the aliens have been turning Chloe into one of them, and want her back. Eli insists that she isn't one of them. Young notes that Chloe has been gathering intelligence, albeit involuntarily, which Eli sees as one more reason not to hand her over. Destiny will not return to FTL for another 44 minutes, so Young orders Brody to arm the weapons. The aliens immediately open fire. During the attack, Scott and Greer herd the crew to their designated areas. Dr. Nicholas Rush enters the control room, wanting to know what's happening. He complains that they can't take on so many ships. Brody notes that the aliens want Destiny and wouldn't destroy it, but Rush counters that they could do so unintentionally by trying to collapse the shields to enable boarding. On the observation deck, Scott watches the alien attack. Some of their shots are getting through the shields. One hit causes a large piece of debris to impact the window, cracking it. He immediately orders the entire section sealed, having accepted his fate. As Young asks for an explanation, Scott is ejected into space when the glass shatters. The continued fire on the shields causes secondary explosions in the engineering section. An overload occurs in the sublight drives. The emergency shutdown is unable to stop it, and the overload consumes Destiny. Young wakes up, having dreamed the entire thing. During a staff meeting, Dr. Lisa Park suggests using the Ancient maintenance robot to repair the domed room they found when first exploring the ship. Once repaired, it can be converted into a larger Hydroponics lab. Wray asks how long it would take to make it viable, but Young interrupts, inquiring as to the status of the weapons. Six of the gun batteries are offline, leaving large portions of the ship undefended. Park notes that Young suspended repairs due to their unfamiliarity with the system. Wray adds that Dr. Kemp was injured by a power surge while working on one of the conduits, and Park expresses her concern that they could risk a much more catastrophic overload. Young deems the risk irrelevant and orders work to be resumed. Park protests that they're not even sure what's wrong with it, but Young insists that weapons are the priority, and that hydroponics can wait. He ends the meeting. After everyone leaves, Wray asks why he changed his mind. Young doesn't want to argue it, but Wray persists, noting that he stopped work in that area because it was dangerous. Young points out that, given everything they've been through, the need to defend themselves from further attack should be obvious. Wray changes the subject to everything that's happened to Young specifically. Young sarcastically notes that she's trying to be a therapist. Wray says that she knows Young holds himself responsible for everything that happens, including TJ and the baby, and needs to know if it is clouding his judgment. Young insists that he's fine, and leaves. Rush visits Chloe, having brought her some food. Chloe says she's not hungry, so Rush offers her company instead. He has some more equations that she might want to look at. Chloe regards the offer with disbelief. Rush insists that he isn't the one keeping her locked up, and tried to help. She asks if the chair being meant to cure her was just an act, but he assures her it was genuine. He believes that she should embrace the advantages of her situation, given that Scott would be dead otherwise. Chloe asks if he has any idea what's happening to her. All Rush can say is that she body is changing, particularly her brain. He hasn't given up hope of curing her, but thinks that she'd at least like something to keep busy. He asserts that he's close to figuring out the purpose of Destiny's mission. Eli and Ginn go over the plan to dial Earth. Ginn points out an error in the calculations which Eli had failed to notice. She notes that Eli's math is always right, but that he loses sight of the context. She explains that she's always been fond of numbers, because numbers don't lie. Eli tells her about how he previously wanted to be a veterinarian. His mother bought him a hamster to teach him responsibility, but he left the cage open and his dad accidentally stepped on it. Ginn believes he would have made a good doctor, putting her hand on his. After an awkward moment, she states that were it not for the accident, none of them would be on Destiny. Eli finds the thought weird, and they laugh about it. Watching them, Greer takes notice of their growing bond. Young goes to sleep, only to once again be called by Brody to the control room. The situation plays out exactly as it did before. Nine ships have them surrounded and want Chloe to be turned over to them. Young hesitates, and Brody asks for orders. Eli suggests powering the weapons, but Young has seen the result of that and knows it won't work. One of the ships fires a warning shot, then an additional message is sent, warning them that Destiny will be destroyed if they don't comply. Brody believes they're bluffing. Rush comes in, and Eli tells him the situation. Rush suggests diverting all power to the shields. Young agrees. The aliens attack as they did before. This time, Scott seals the observation deck without entering it. Based on the time left and the amount of damage the aliens are doing, Rush believes the ship will survive. However, six more motherships arrive and the scenario plays out as it did before. Young wakes up again. Young visits Wray in her quarters, waking her up. He tells her that he's giving her a chance to be a shrink, as he believes he's going insane. Wray notes that Young has been drinking, but Young calls it one of the symptoms, not the problem. Wray appends her statement, calling this a bad time for him to be drinking. Young tells her about his recurring dream which, to him, feels completely real. He tells her about how he tried and failed to save the ship both times. Wray realizes that Young ordered the weapons repaired because of the dream, but he insists that it isn't a ordinary dream due to how real if feels. Wray points out that the scenario only has one apparent victory condition which Young won't consider - handing over Chloe - but Young doesn't believe it's that simple. Wray suggests he speak with Chloe. Young visits Chloe, who is working on the equations Rush left her. Chloe jokes that she must be popular to have three visitors over such a short time. Young apologizes for not coming sooner, admitting that it was hard for him to do so, which Chloe notes is because of what he may have to do later. She relates how she was feeling sorry for herself at first, but seeing how people fear her, she believes she's better off locked up. Young insists they care for her regardless, and that no one has given up hope. Both realize, however, that sooner or later Chloe's condition will force Young to get rid of her if it can't be cured. In the mess hall, Greer comes up to Eli's table and bumps him over. He asks Eli when he's going to make a move on Ginn. Eli asks how he got that from watching them from two days, but Greer insists that it was obvious within ten minutes. He notes that this is likely the best chance Eli will have on the ship, which Eli sarcastically thanks him for. Greer offers to arrange to be pulled away on other duties so they'll have some time alone. Eli reluctantly agrees, asking him not to make it obvious, but Greer insists that obvious is good. He gives Eli a rough pat on the back, spilling his drink, and tells him that it's time to man up. While going over some paperwork, Young begins to nod off. He finds himself in the alien attack dream again. They fire a warning shot like in the previous one, just before Rush arrives. At Rush's suggestion that they divert power to the shields, he explains that more ships are coming. Rush is confused as to how Young would know that. Knowing that attacking and defending will provoke a hopeless battle, he now takes the option of delivering Chloe to the aliens. Over the radio, Brody confirms Young's prediction. The aliens are now sending a shuttle to retrieve Chloe. He takes her to one of the hull breaches made by the previous incursion and has Brody dial back the shields to allow docking. He hands over Chloe without a fight. Scott confronts Young for surrendering her, then attacks him when he insists that he didn't have a choice. Greer pulls him off. Additional shuttles are launched, and Young starts to laugh madly. Power suddenly shuts off. With Young no longer fit to command, Scott takes over. Rush reports that the shields have shut down entirely, assuming Chloe must have figured out how to disable them. Scott organizes defense teams, but they are soundly defeated by the invading aliens. Young wanders the halls aimlessly until one of the aliens eventually finds and shoots him. Young awakens once more. Young visits Brody's bar for a drink. TJ comes in, having come to pick up an extra-strong batch as a disinfectant. She notes that he doesn't look so good, a fact Young considers obvious. She tells Young about her experience on the artificial planet and how the aliens saved her baby, even though she can't prove it. Young clearly doesn't believe her, so she asks him why it's so hard to accept in light of everything they've seen. Young tells her that just because she wants it to be true, doesn't mean it is. TJ tries to confront Young on how he's slowly falling apart, having nearly been there herself, and is afraid that he might not manage to come back. Young apologizes and leaves. In his room, Eli notices that the computer has devoted a large amount of memory to some sort of diagnostic program. Ginn questions him on the purpose of the various pictures he has posted on the wall above the console. He explains that they are stills from his documentary, and shows Ginn a clip of Brody showing off the toilet system to demonstrate. Over the radio, Greer is called to the mess hall by Lt. Vanessa James. He leaves, telling the two that it could take a while. Eli, nervous about being left alone with Ginn, follows him out. He's not so sure about Greer's idea, but Greer insists that he'll be thankful later. Eli is unsure of what to say to Ginn, so Greer gives him advice. Meanwhile, Ginn brings up the last entry of Eli's documentary, in which he discusses his mother's visit to the ship. Eli returns as she's watching. Ginn pauses it and tries to apologize, but Eli tells her not to worry about it. He jokes that his performance in the video is "real smooth", and figures that he might as well have Greer come back, dismissing it as unimportant when Ginn questions the statement. He's unable to figure out what to say next, so Ginn moves to kiss him. After a pause, they continue to kiss until the ship drops out of FTL. Scott visits Young's quarters to inform him of the situation, finding him disheveled and tired. He explains that the ship stopped without activating the jump countdown and with no gates in range. Young just tells him to figure it out and closes the door, much to Scott's confusion. On the bridge, Jeremy Franklin asks Rush if there's a problem. Rush notes that the ship doesn't drop out of FTL for no reason, and he isn't responsible this time. He can't find anything wrong with navigation or propulsion, so Franklin suggests looking elsewhere. In the control room, Brody explains that he can't find anything that would be interfering with the FTL. Dr. Dale Volker suggests that someone may be dialing in, but there's no gate activity. Scott comes in, informing those present that Young is not feeling well. He queries Brody and Volker for an explanation, but they have no idea what's wrong. He turns to Eli next. Eli begins to explain how he's been working with Ginn, going off on a tangent about how their relationship is going. Pointed looks from those present get him back on track. Eli explains that he has discovered a battle simulation being run by Destiny. The scenario exactly mirrors the one in Young's dreams, which Wray recognizes. Rush, too, has discovered this, though he isn't sure of its relevance. Franklin just tells him to look closer, and Rush discovers that the program is overriding the ship's normal operations. Wray believes that the ship is affecting Young's dreams. Volker agrees that it's possible, since brain waves are electrical impulses that could theoretically be manipulated. Brody suggests that it may be a warning from Destiny, but Eli doesn't think the aliens could have followed him. Scott questions Chloe on whether or not she may have signaled the aliens, but she cannot remember what happened during her blackouts. Assuming the worst, Scott orders the weapons to be readied, all non-essential power to be routed to the shields, and organizes defense teams in groups of three. He asks Wray to organize the civilians and move them to their designated areas. However, Rush and Wray have something else to discuss with him. Scott waits for everyone to leave, knowing Young is the subject they want to discuss. He insists that he can handle the situation. This is their point: he can, Young can't, so he needs to assume command. Scott refuses. Rush offers a theory that Destiny's simulation is a test of Young's emotional stability, one he's thus far failing. Scott doesn't see how they arrived at this conclusion, but Wray points out that the ship stopped right after Young sequestered himself. Rush explains that the ship, while not alive in any sense, is starting to understand the crew and their affect on the mission. Scott asks why one of them doesn't take command, to which both Rush and Wray admit they aren't suited, as has been demonstrated in the past. Scott expresses disbelief in this development, but Wray insists that they need a strong leader immediately, and that Scott doesn't have a choice. Scott goes to Young's quarters, demanding to be let in. Young relents and does so. Scott has brought Young some strong tea. Young passes on the tea and reaches for his drink, but Scott takes it, insisting that he needs to get cleaned up and take command. Young closes the door, asking if Scott is trying to order him. Scott tells him about the battle scenario, and that the ship may start moving if he starts acting like a commander again. Young believes that the ship wants him replaced, which Scott notes is Rush's belief. Scott has no intention of taking command himself. Young asks him if he's in love with Chloe, which Scott confirms after some hesitation, and wonders how he'll feel when Young eventually has to send Chloe off the ship, believing Scott will no longer see him as a great commander. Scott asks him to stop, but Young continues, making reference to how Scott seeing him as a father figure. Scott pushes him, but does not hit him despite Young's demand that he do so. Scott insists that, as the commanding officer, Young doesn't get to feel sorry for himself. Young reveals that he suffocated Sgt. Hunter Riley, telling Scott that the burdens add up over time. He asks Scott to leave. Scott admits that he could not handle those burdens, nor could anyone else. Young claims that Rush could, but Scott counters that Rush would not treat them as burdens. They need Young as the commander because he cares enough to be affected by those decision while still remaining able to command. Young isn't so sure he is that person, but Scott insists that he is. He tells Young that it won't ever stop hurting, because that's the point. For the sake of the crew, Young has to live with it. Scott leaves. Taking Scott's words to heart, Young cleans himself up and goes to the control interface room. Scott is discussing the layout of the troops with James. Young asks Brody for a status update. Brody tells him that the weapons are online and the shields at full strength. There's no sign of the aliens. Scott tells him that the troops are patrolling the gaps in the defense grid, as they are the likely points of incursion, but there's a lot of ground to cover. James suggests that two-man teams could cover more ground at the expense of firepower. Young decides that quick response is better than more firepower and gives her the go-ahead. He also orders that they arm as many civilians as possible as a last line of defense, which he will command personally. As James moves to carry out the order, the ship returns to FTL. Scott tells Young that it's good to have him back. In the mess hall, Eli, Ginn, Park, Brody, and Volker discuss the recent developments. Eli expresses discomfort at the idea that Destiny can manipulate their dreams at will. Park asks him what he's been dreaming out; after staring at Ginn, he quickly claims that's not the point. Brody remarks that at least they know Young is supposed to be in charge, based on how the ship jumped to FTL right when he took command again. They can't think of any other explanation. On the bridge, Franklin congratulates Rush, who doesn't feel like talking. Rush is responsible for taking the ship back to FTL, having bypassed the battle scenario that was controlling the ship. Rush believes he had no other choice, since Scott refused to take command. Franklin chastises him for ending the scenario without completing it, since the problem remains. Rush is still under the belief that Destiny was evaluating Young's ability to command the crew. However, Rush is the one in control of the ship. Rush dismisses the Nakai as a threat, since if Chloe had managed to send a signal the computer would have logged it. Franklin reminds Rush that the threat may be yet to come and vanishes. Rush rests in the command chair. + +Colonel Everett Young is lying awake in his bed when he is called by Camile Wray over the radio, who informs him that he's late for the morning briefing. Lt. Matthew Scott, Lt. Tamara Johansen, and Wray are present. As Young eats his breakfast, Wray explains that Ginn has been very cooperative and Homeworld Command would like to talk to her. It is believed that the Lucian Alliance faction planning the attack on Earth is from her homeworld, and she may know their base of operations. Young, still eating, takes a moment to notice that Wray is waiting for his approval. He agrees to let her use the Long-range communication device. All three notice that he's distracted, but say nothing. Wray visits Ginn's quarters and knocks on the door. Ginn doesn't answer. She asks Airman Dunning, the guard, if she's inside; Dunning confirms that she is, but believes that Wray shouldn't disturb her. Before he can explain further, Ginn opens the door, visibly flustered. Wray tells her that Homeworld Command would like to talk to her, to which Ginn is quick to agree, as if trying to end the conversation. Wray asks if she interrupted something, but Ginn just claims to have been sleeping. Moving on, Wray says that the meeting is scheduled for the afternoon, and she'll be by later to explain the procedure. Wray starts to leave, but pauses when she's notices Eli Wallace's shirt on one of the couches. Ginn just smiles awkwardly. Wray doesn't say anything, likewise smiling before leaving. Destiny drops out of FTL. In the Control interface room, Dr. Adam Brody explains to Young that the jump countdown is set to 12 hours, but there's nothing but empty space around them. Dr. Nicholas Rush can't be reached, as usual. Young calls him to no effect. Dr. Lisa Park detects an object in Destiny's path. From the Observation deck, Scott, TJ, Dr. Dale Volker, and MSgt. Ronald Greer can see a ship ahead of Destiny. Scott notes that it isn't a Seed ship, and TJ adds that it isn't of any familiar design. Volker sarcastically gives a cheer for their "new friends". TJ notes that it seems to have battle damage; Greer assumes it was on the losing side. On the bridge, Rush brings Destiny to a stop near the ship. A Kino is sent over to the ship, which appears to be empty. Rush comes in and is immediately met by Young, who wants to know what Rush was doing. Unwilling to answer, Rush insists on getting to the matter at hand. Brody reiterates that the ship looks abandoned. Eli believes that they abandoned the ship due to battle damage. Rush suggests that a boarding party should be sent over. Brody points out that they have no shuttle, but Park notes that they still have the environmental suits. Volker is incredulous at the idea of jumping to the other ship, but Rush insists that Destiny stopped for a reason, and that there may be valuable information or technology to salvage from the ship. Rush volunteers to go, much to Eli's surprise given the risk. Rush rationalizes that he is the most qualified to investigate. Rush and Young are suited up to go to the alien ship. Park explains that they have just over six hours of air, assuming they can't get the ship's life support online. Scott suggests that he go instead, which Young points out is a little late since he's already got the suit on. He tells Scott that he wants to keep an eye on Rush, and assures him that he won't leave Rush behind. Eli visits Chloe Armstrong in her quarters to explain the situation. He notices the equations Rush left for her to work on. Flipping through them, he asks if she understands what they mean; Chloe just shrugs. He apologizes for not having come to see her more often. Chloe accepts, having heard from Scott that he's been working closely with Ginn. Eli tries to explain how they became close, unable to put it into words. Chloe keeps him from saying more, understanding his meaning, and says she's happy for him. In an airlock, Young ties a line to the ladder. Rush hands him a Kino. Young has Brody open the airlock, then is carried to the alien ship by the Kino. On the way up, he notes that the bridge is destroyed. Young is brought inside through a breach in the hull, where he secures the line so Rush can follow. On the ship, Young unpacks a weapon while Rush stores the Kino for later use. They begin their exploration. The corridors have low ceilings, barely big enough for a human to fit, causing Young to bump his head. Rush manages to activate a door behind them, sealing off the breached section. The ship has no life support but artificial gravity is active. As Young documents their exploration, he pauses. Brody calls to make sure he's ok. Rush and Young are still there, having been momentarily spooked by the presence of numerous open pods, the same kind that housed the alien race found on the seed ship. Brody and Volker suggest retreating, as there could be more pods which have aliens in them, but Rush assures him that the first Kino they sent would have registered something if the ship could support life. Coming upon a control panel, Rush begins the process of restoring power. He gets the console online, then sets up the Kino as a stationary communication link. He deduces that the panel is an engineering console. Though it only has limited control, he is able to seal off their section and restore life support, in addition to turning on the lights. Using the first Kino, Park confirms that other parts of the ship are starting to come to life. Rush brings the communication array online so they don't have to rely on the suits. All of a sudden, the engines fire. Sparks fly as Young demands Rush turn the engines off, which he cannot do. After a few seconds, they shut off on their own. Power is nearly drained. However, the damage is done. The ship is now on a course away from Destiny, and they can't turn it around. The crew discusses options to get Rush and Young back. They only have emergency power, the ship having taken too much damage. They have no means of controlling the ship. Likewise, with no way to control Destiny, the crew can't catch up to retrieve Rush and Young. Park thinks that Destiny might do it of its own accord, but Young notes they can't rely on that. Young looks to Rush, suspecting that he may have a solution. Rush claims to have developed a way to override Destiny's autopilot and fire the engines manually, which takes the rest of the crew by surprise. When Brody asks why he did not tell them about this, Rush claims not to have been successful as of yet. Eli offers his help, but Rush states that the equations are beyond them, recommending that Dr. Amanda Perry be brought in since she has the necessary expertise. Brody suggests removing the environmental suits in the meantime, as they consume power while active. Simeon goes to Ginn's quarters, commenting that they're bigger than his. He expresses his concerns about her getting close to members of the crew, which might cause her to reveal something she shouldn't. He asks if she's said anything, but Wray comes in to retrieve Ginn before she can answer. Simeon wonders what they're doing, but Wray bluntly tells Simeon that it doesn't concern him. She is brought to the communication device to switch places with Perry. Eli is there to make sure she'll be OK. Wray tells Eli that Ginn has already given her consent and knows the procedure, and Ginn assures Eli that she'll be fine. Eli promises to see her soon, and she activates the device, switching places with Perry. Perry has been briefed on the situation, and greets Eli and Wray. In the control room, Rush has doled out some basic equations to Brody and Volker. He has sent Park to the engine control room to run some tests, though Park didn't seem optimistic. Brody informs him that Eli is getting Perry as they speak. Rush looks back at Young carefully, then announces that he has pressurized another section of the ship. He suggests that it might hold a way to escape. Young goes to investigate, asking to be kept informed of Rush's progress. Eli brings Perry to the control room. Rush sends Eli off to join Park, insisting that Park will need his help more than Perry. He shows her an equation which he's jotted down, one of several he claims will allow control of Destiny's engines. Brody hands her several more, sarcastically quipping that she must have thought it wasn't going to be any fun. Rush is quick to dismiss the joke since they are on the clock. Perry begins copying his notes. Young radios in to inform Rush that he hasn't found anything, and will be back after checking a few more compartments. After going over the equations, Perry brings up a schematic of Destiny, highlighting the bridge, which she quickly shuts off. She confirms with Rush that he wants her to go there, not giving the location aloud. She leaves the room, telling Brody that she'll be back shortly. She is met in the hall by Simeon, who is still under the impression that she is Ginn. He claims they need to talk, so Perry quickly explains the situation. She tries to pass, but Simeon blocks her, saying they're not done. Greer shows up, asking if there's a problem. Perry explains herself again; Greer has already been informed of the switch, and welcomes her aboard. He allows Perry to go on her way, then sends Simeon in the opposite direction. Perry reaches the bridge and enters the code to unlock it, then tells Rush that she has arrived. Rush deactivates the Kino feed, claiming to Brody that they must be out of range. He advises them to keep working. Brody just shakes his head. Rush opens a private channel to the bridge, explaining to Perry that no one else can hear. Perry is confused by Rush's deception. Rush admits that he's gained complete control of the ship and hasn't told anyone because he doesn't think he can trust them. She promises to explain in full later, but for now needs her to bring Destiny within range of the alien ship so he and Young can get back. She agrees to help. In the control room, Eli comes in, having noticed the loss of the Kino feed. Volker explains that they're out of range. Noticing Perry's absence, he asks where she is. Brody thought she was headed for Eli's lab. Eli radios her, but Rush advises her to ignore him. She engages the ship's engines, setting an intercept course. Brody notices this from his console. When Perry asks how she is supposed to explain herself, Rush tells her to claim that she fired the engines from the engine control room. She is still confused by his need to keep the bridge secret, but Rush insists that he has a good reason. Eli calls Perry over the radio again, more insistently this time. Forced to answer, Perry assures them she's fine and she gives the excuse Rush concocted to explain the ship's movement; though they clearly don't believe her, they play along. Once they break contact, Eli asks what she was doing before she left. Brody tells Eli that she was working on the equations Rush gave her, which she took with her. Though annoyed by the dead end, Eli quickly remembers his Kino logs and begins to review what Rush showed her. On the alien ship, Young returns while Rush is talking with Perry. He stops just outside the corridor, listening in without betraying his presence. Perry says that they'll rendezvous within the hour. Rush is glad to have brought her on board. Eli deduces the meaning of Rush's equations, clearly angered by the result. He, Brody, and Volker confront Perry on the bridge. Perry is speechless, while Eli can only say "What the hell?" Hearing this over the private channel, Rush asks who else is with Perry. In doing so, he betrays his knowledge of the bridge. Eli is furious that Rush has had control of the ship the whole time, unwilling to give Rush the chance to explain. Eli's shouts are broadcast over the private channel, so Rush kills the link. Young enters the room. Knowing Young has overheard, Rush tries to explain himself. Rush is forced to admit that he gained control shortly after the Alliance attack. Young sets his gun down and attacks Rush in a rage, claiming he should have killed Rush when he had the chance. He blames Rush for Sgt. Hunter Riley's death. Rush tries to fight back, pushing Young off then hitting him with the Kino. Young recovers and tackles him, sending the Kino rolling down the hall. Rush gives Young a headbutt and tries to escape, but Young quickly recovers and puts Rush in a choke-hold. He releases it once Rush falls unconscious. He picks up his gun and waits for Rush to regain consciousness. As Rush crawls to a nearby wall, Young asks if he was just trying to see how long he could keep the bridge secret. Rush insists that he had no choice, since he couldn't trust Young with the knowledge, and knows some of the crew feel the same way. Young expresses his displeasure with Rush's fixation on control and power, to which Rush responds that someone has to lead the crew. Young points out that no one is likely to trust Rush after this, but Rush has no intention of leading himself, as long as Young isn't in charge, either. He notes that Young can barely get out of bed in the morning, let alone make command decisions, and believes Young is as much aware of this as he is. He defends keeping the bridge secret as a necessity, since the amount of information is so expansive that he couldn't trust anyone else to handle the systems properly before he deciphered them. Young brings up Riley's death as an example of improper handling. Rush admits he has made mistakes. After a short pause, Young asks if the simulation Destiny put him through was Rush's doing. Rush confirms that the ship did it of its own accord, but admits that he overrode the program. He says that with everything that's happened, specifically noting the loss of TJ's baby, Young is no longer fit to lead. He couldn't trust Young with the code, since Young can't even trust himself. On the bridge, Eli calls for Rush to no avail. Brody speculates that they're out of range, but Eli believes he just shut off the radio. Volker asks Perry why she didn't tell them. She apologizes, having wanted to tell them, and relates how Rush told her he had a good reason. Brody notes that at least they're catching up, though Eli cynically quips that Rush might not be alive by the time they do. Rush asks Young what comes next. Young intends to get back to the ship first, then have Rush explain everything he has found, calling Rush's actions a game. Rush is annoyed by the comparison, claiming that it's about Destiny's mission, which he doesn't believe the crew is ready to commit to. Young doesn't see any mission other than getting home, but Rush insists that it's never been about getting home, only reaching their destination. He asserts that the mission is more important than they ever thought, so Young asks for an explanation. Rush reveals that the Ancients discovered a pattern buried deep in the Cosmic microwave background radiation, one that could not have been natural in origin. This defies the logic of their current understanding of physics. The Ancients didn't know exactly what the pattern is or what might have created it, which is why Destiny was built. The pattern is scattered across the entire universe, so the Ancients sent Destiny to collect the fragments. There are thousands of pages on the subject in Destiny's archives, which he promises to show Young as proof. Since they are now the ship's crew, he believes they might as well be the ones to see the mission through. He tells Young to embrace the mission, rather than fixating on going home. Young's primary concern remains getting home, but Rush suggests that completing the mission may be the only way to do that. The further they travel and the more of the pattern they uncover, the greater their understanding of the universe will be. That will give them the power to control everything around them; "power to change things, control our fate, right the wrongs," as Rush puts it. Young sees this as playing God, but Rush denies that logic, claiming that it is about understanding. He wants Young to work with him on this for the benefit of everyone. Young notes that such a thing would be easier if Rush stopped keeping secrets, so Rush promises that he won't anymore. Young laughs, calling Rush "a lot of work." Destiny makes its approach to the alien ship. Rush restores communications to contact Perry. Both he and Young report that they are still alive to Eli and the others. Rush tells Perry that she has brought the ship in at the wrong angle and speed, asking her to circle back and align the airlock as close to the ship as possible. Eli, Brody, and Volker attempt to micromanage her, much to her annoyance. As she closes in, Scott and Wray barge in, also being quick to start asking questions. Eli quiets them down. On the alien ship, Rush finds that their Kino has been damaged, rendering it incapable of flying them back to Destiny. Young notes that there's another on the ship in search mode, though Rush isn't sure they'll be able to find it in time. As they pack, Destiny comes back into range, but this time Perry's angle of approach is too close. Destiny's shields scrape the alien ship, causing it to begin rolling. Scott offers to take over, but Brody stops him, since they have already matched the alien ship's speed. Young reports in about the damaged Kino. Brody suggests using the other one, but it's lost somewhere on the ship and they don't have the time to find it. Since they're in their environmental suits, Eli tells them that they can use the ship's centripetal force to throw themselves to Destiny. Brody expresses concern at this plan, as the ship is not only spinning but doing so at an odd angle. Each jump will have to be calculated separately to account for every variable. Eli is already working it, confident he will get it right. Rush and Young reach the breach they entered from. Eli tells them to jump exactly when he says. He finishes the calculations for Rush first, so Rush jumps first, landing safely. Young is next, but comes in at the wrong angle. Rush begins to chase after him. Young lands on his back and bounces, heading off into space. Rush manages to catch up and grabs his hand. They nod at each other in lieu of words. On the bridge, Eli is sitting in the command chair. Brody is manning the far-left console, while Volker is manning the center console with Park looking over his shoulder. Eli is going through the data Rush mentioned to confirm his story, amazed at how extensive it is. Brody has found a group of planets coming up which should have supplies they could use. Young agrees to stop, and Eli brings the ship out of FTL. Simeon looks out the window from his quarters. Rush brings a bottle of Brody's liquor to Perry. She asks how the crew is doing. Rush notes that they're angry, but things can only improve now that the truth is out. She asks if he trusts Young now, since he didn't before; Rush says he doesn't have a choice. He apologizes for putting her in a position that forced her to lie to the crew, but she is happy that he trusted her above anyone else. Rush tells her that she's the finest person he knows, so of course he would. Rush has been thinking about seeing Perry again, and vice versa. He promises her that this time is different and kisses her. Eli comes in just as this happens, having come to get Rush on Young's behalf, insisting that it's urgent. Rush promises Perry that he'll be back soon. As they leave, Eli reminds Perry that it's easy to forget she's in someone else's body. Once they leave, Simeon, who has somehow reached the area unguarded, enters Perry's quarters and shuts the door behind him. + +On Destiny's bridge, Colonel Everett Young, Dr. Dale Volker, Dr. Adam Brody, and Dr. Lisa Park are discussing Dr. Nicholas Rush. Brody, Park, and Volker are surprised by Young's willingness to work with Rush given his frequent lies and responsibility in Sgt. Hunter Riley's death. Young says Rush will have to live with the consequences of his actions, and wants to understand his motives. Eli Wallace brings Rush in as ordered, and Rush asks if anything is wrong. Young informs him that he has confirmed Rush's story about the message in the Cosmic microwave background radiation. Brody plays a sample, which sounds like static. Rush sees the confirmation as a waste of time, though Eli points out that Rush has faked data before. Young explains that he's trying to encourage more cooperation. He tells him about how they stopped in range of three planets. Rush asks for the conditions; Volker notes that one is a wasteland while the others show promise. Rush offers to help, but Young assures him that they have everything under control, telling Rush to get some rest. Though hesitant at first, Rush agrees. On the way out, he assures Eli that nothing will happen between him and Dr. Amanda Perry, who is inhabiting the body of Ginn using the Long-range communication device. Volker offers to begin gathering Kino data on the planets. Young decides to form teams in the meantime. Volker leaves, followed by Park. Eli asks Young how long Ginn will remain on Earth, but ceases his questioning and goes back to work when Young simply stares at him in response. Rush returns to Ginn's quarters to see Perry, only to find Ginn dead on the floor. He calls for help over the radio. While Lt. Tamara Johansen examines Ginn, Lt. Vanessa James uses the communication device to check on Perry. Young comes in with Eli. TJ tries to console him, but is interrupted by Lt. Matthew Scott over the radio. He has locked down all the Lucian Alliance personnel save Simeon; his guard, Michaels, is not responding to radio calls. Simeon purposefully strolls through the corridors, shooting out a power conduit to darken the ship. He shoots two guards at the armory, one of which is Airman Dunning. He begins raiding the armory for supplies. In Ginn's quarters, everyone notices the power failure. Eli and Rush are dejected. TJ tries to give Rush hope, since they aren't completely sure that the communication device causes both users to die if either one does. Young orders a search for Simeon and tries to radio Dunning, but is too late. James reports over the radio that Perry is dead. Rush storms out of the room, ignoring Young, and slams a wall in frustration. James adds that Ginn managed to impart information to Homeworld Command which Young will want to hear. Eli asks to be given a gun, but Young just tells him to wait in Ginn's quarters before leaving himself. Volker and Park are in the gate room when they hear an explosion, followed by gunshots. Turning to look down the hall, they see Simeon emerge from a cloud of smoke, holding them at gunpoint. He orders Volker to seal the doors. Rush approaches, having taken a gun from one of the soldiers Simeon shot on the way in, but is locked out of the gate room before he can shoot. He radios the situation in. MSgt. Ronald Greer has also found Michael's lifeless body. Simeon orders Volker to dial the Stargate, then has him bind Park's hands. Volker tries to offer himself as a hostage in Park's place, but Simeon refuses, forcing Park to go through the gate with him. Rush emphasizes to Brody that he needs the doors unlocked, but Park and Simeon have already gone through by the time Brody succeeds. Rush asks Volker where Simeon went, so he explains what happened. Rush grabs an Ancient remote control and heads through the gate against Volker's protests. Scott's team arrives just as the gate shuts down, and he orders Volker to redial upon being informed of the situation. On the planet, Rush finds Park tied up in front of the gate, but Simeon is already gone. She informs him that Simeon attached something to her back, which Rush discovers to be a bomb. He sighs in frustration. The wounded are rushed to the infirmary, where TJ and several others begin to treat them. Cpl. Barnes' patient is bleeding badly, but TJ cannot stop treating her own patient. She tries to talk Barnes through the procedure, but Barnes' patient stops breathing. Unable to help, TJ just tells her to do what she can. In the gate room, Young arrives with the other teams that were searching for Simeon. Scott informs him of the situation. Young orders that Simeon be captured alive. Greer tries to protest, so Young explains that he has vital information about the planned attack on Earth. Scott isn't confident Simeon will talk. On the planet, Rush is working on disarming the bomb. Park confirms this with Rush, noting that they were informed of how the bombs function by Ginn. Simeon is watching them through the scope of his rifle, preparing to shoot, but reconsiders when the gate activates. Rush is quick to radio the teams on Destiny to stay put, lest their presence set off the bomb. A Kino is sent through so Volker can supervise. Volker tells Rush that he can't disarm the bomb, but can remove the proximity sensor. Rush knows this, and tells Volker to shut up. He manages to remove the cover, but lacks the tools to remove the sensor. He apologizes for being unable to help, so Park tells him to run. Rush almost gives up hope, but remembers his glasses, which were repaired with a thin piece of wire. Using it, he is able to disable the sensor and remove the device, throwing it so it can detonate safely in the distance. Young orders the soldiers to go through, while Rush continues his pursuit of Simeon, followed by the Kino. Scott chases after him, and is shot at by Simeon. Rush takes over the Kino, using it to do an aerial survey, but Simeon shoots it out of the sky. Young meets with Varro in his quarters to inform him of the situation. Varro immediately claims ignorance, but the real reason for Young's visit is Simeon's knowledge of the planned attack on Earth, which he believes Varro should have known about. Varro explains that Ginn and Simeon come from the same Alliance clan, and that Young should be well-aware of the secretive nature of the varied Alliance factions. If Varro had known, he'd have told them. He confirms that Ginn and Simeon are the only two from that clan aboard the ship. Varro tries to warn Young not to underestimate Simeon and offers his help, but Young doesn't want it. Varro states that it would be better if they did not try to recapture Simeon, since they'll lose more people trying to capture him, but Young won't change his mind. On the planet, Rush comes upon another proximity mine, which he manages to avoid. Greer sees the explosion and heads for it, ordering the rest of the soldiers to stay put. Scott catches up to Rush as he recovers from the blast. Rush is quick to walk off, but Scott stops him, explaining why they need to take Simeon alive. He convinces Rush that he'd just get himself killed going it alone. He orders two additional teams of three to be formed to locate Simeon while two soldiers are left behind to guard the gate. Scott asks if Rush is going to help, but Rush just tries to walk off again. Scott stops him once more, assuring Rush that he can kill Simeon after they've interrogated him; Greer insists that he'll do it if Rush doesn't. Rush silently agrees to work with them. Scott notes that they have nine hours until the ship returns to FTL. If they haven't found Simeon in half that time, they'll turn back. On the bridge, Brody notices that Volker is withdrawn. Volker wonders why Simeon didn't kill him, which Brody chalks up to either honor on Simeon's part or his way of torturing Volker by making him live with his failure. Eli comes in and immediately moves to the command chair, explaining that Young has ordered them to find a way to extend the jump countdown. Park comes in, also ready to work. She quickly accepts Volker's apology. She asks what they're doing, so Eli reiterates Young's order. In the infirmary, TJ removes her blood-stained medical gloves. Young comes in for a report. She explains that Dunning, Graham, and Lougheed will probably make it, though infection is still a risk. Henderson, however, is dead. Young puts his hand on her shoulder to comfort her. As they search for Simeon, Scott asks Rush about the signal he discovered, wondering if he knows what it means. Rush doesn't. Scott notes that Rush seems to think it's important. Still angry, Rush laughs quietly, explaining that its very existence defies the laws of physics, and figures that Scott wants to know if it's a message from God. He merely states that they'll have to wait and see, then marches ahead. Greer expresses his unwillingness to forgive Rush for recent events, even if Young does. Scott believes that Rush may be right about the mission, but Greer notes that he has no intention of watching Rush's back anymore. On the bridge, Brody explains to Young that they will not be able to control the clock before Destiny jumps back to FTL, but will be able to drop out of FTL four hours after that, which will keep them within Stargate range of the planet. That will be their last chance before Destiny gets too far to return. The clock is at five hours. On the planet, Rush relays the same information to Scott and Greer. Through his binoculars, Scott spots a large, bipedal animal. Greer wonders if it can be barbecued. Rush takes the binoculars to see for himself, then keeps moving without a word. Scott and Greer follow. In her quarters, Chloe Armstrong is working on the equations Rush gave her when she hears the ship powering up to go to FTL. She watches through the window as it jumps. The group reaches a canyon, where Rush breaks into tears over Perry's death, which he blames himself for. Scott tries to console him, as Rush could not have predicted what would happen. Scott understands why Rush felt he needed to hide the bridge, but adds that from now on they need to trust each other. Rush is surprised by the change in attitude from simply following orders, so Scott explains that some things are more complicated than that. Rush sarcastically congratulates him, to which Scott states that they need to figure out what's right. Rush denies this logic, so Scott points out that revenge won't bring Perry back. Rush knows this, and also knows that it won't make him feel better when Scott bring it up. Looking around, Scott figures they aren't likely to find Simeon anyway, but is consoled by the fact that Simeon will die miserably in the desert. Rush points out that Simeon has a remote, and is likely waiting for the soldiers to leave so he can reunite with other the Alliance personnel they sent off the ship. Greer finds tracks made by Simeon, and is quickly shot at. They take cover, and Rush begins working on his remote. Scott orders James to flank Simeon. On the bridge, Chloe radios Eli. Short-tempered, he curtly replies to confirm he can hear her. She tries to console him over Ginn's death, but Eli just says he can't talk. He turns to Volker, annoyed that he is navigation interface against Eli's orders. Volker tries to apologize, but Eli just walks over and closes the interface, as it's interfering with his own work. Chloe tries to call again, but Eli brushes her off, promising to come by later. Brody informs Eli that they need to drop of FTL. Eli tells him to just do it, and Brody adds that he was just warning him beforehand. They drop out, and the clock is set to eight hours. Brody radios Young to inform him of this, reiterating that it's their last chance. Park tries to console Eli, but he asks to be left alone. As James' team closes in on Simeon, Scott takes notice of Rush working on his remote. Rush suddenly stands up, exposing himself to fire, only for nothing to happen. He orders Rush to have James move back. Scott relays the message, but they get it too late. James has a head wound, while Torres is unconscious and Weber's arm is broken. Scott orders Lee to take the team back to the Stargate. Greer is suspicious of Rush's sudden foresight, which Rush dismisses as a hunch. James doesn't want to leave Scott without backup, but Scott turns to Rush, knowing it was more than gut instinct that informed him of the trap. Rush claims to have been checking the time, but Scott easily sees through the lie. Rush admits that he's reprogrammed the remote to track the one Simeon is carrying. He believes he knows Simeon's current position. Scott informs James of the development and sends her back, intending to continue looking for the next hour. On the ship, Eli is getting dressed to join the hunt for Simeon, regardless of Young's orders. He is unable to adjust the countdown in the time they have left. Young wonders what Eli plans to do, and though Eli isn't sure himself, he still believes he can do something. Young points out that the soldiers are trained professionals, yet Simeon has already injured two more of them. Eli rants about how complicated adjusting the clock is, since Rush couldn't do it in the months he had control of the bridge. Young wants Eli to keep working, but Eli points out that there could be unforeseen consequences to adjusting the clock assuming he could do so in the time they have, such as burning out their remaining power, and asks if Young is ordering him to do it. Young states that his consideration is for the lives they could save on Earth by capturing Simeon, though Eli doesn't believe he'll talk. Eli intends to take one of the guns. Young knows that Eli is angry, but tells Eli that he doesn't have it in him to kill someone, and that doing so will change him for good. He states that Eli isn't the only one to have lost people on the ship. Convinced, Eli calms down, so Young sends him back to the bridge. On the planet, Scott's team manages to catch up with Simeon. Since he's out in the open, Greer is able to shoot him. Greer hits him in the leg. Rush urges Greer to fire again, but Greer's next shot goes wide. Rush complains that Greer should have been able to stop him, then pushes Greer in anger. Scott is quick to break up the fight before it starts, insisting that Greer did the right thing. Rush doesn't see the point, since they still haven't caught up. Scott states that Simeon is already wounded, and that they need him alive. Rush doesn't believe Simeon will talk, and they're running out of time to catch him in any case. The argument is enough of a distraction for Simeon to shoot Greer in the shoulder. This in turn provides a distraction for Rush, allowing him to move on ahead unimpeded. Greer's wound is bad, so Scott has to take him back to the gate. Over the radio, Scott urges Rush to turn back before they run out of time, since they need him on the ship. His pleas fall on deaf ears. On Destiny, Young brings Chloe to the bridge, as she believes she can help. Eli is skeptical. Chloe believes she's beginning to gain control over the alien influence which has increased her intelligence, though Brody points out it could easily be the other way around. Eli and the others are reluctant to let her help, as she could sabotage the ship or summon the Nakai without meaning to. Young believes that they can help prevent any damage Chloe might do, and leaves them to work. Eli reluctantly leads Chloe to a console. Using a butane lighter and his combat knife, Simeon cauterizes his gunshot wound. Over the radio, Simeon calls Rush. He knows Rush wouldn't be doing this for Ginn, and thus is doing it for Perry. Simeon relates how Earth soldiers have killed numerous he cares about, which is why he understands Rush's need for revenge. This is why he left Rush alive, so the pain of loss would eat at him. However, he promises to kill Rush the next time they meet, and eggs Rush into trying to take his revenge so he can do so. On the bridge, Chloe is staring at her console. Eli is working nearby on a laptop. Park is in the chair, while Brody and Volker are using other consoles. Chloe suddenly starts pressing buttons, and doesn't respond to Eli when he asks what she's doing. Eli and Brody are quick to stop her. Chloe assures them that it's ok, even though she isn't sure what she did. Eli sends her back to her quarters. Brody looks over her work and discovers something Eli should see. Through his binoculars, Rush spots Simeon, as well as a large herd of animals in the distance. He removes a block of C-4 from his bag. Meanwhile, Scott and Greer reach the gate. James informs them that the ship will jump in two hours. Scott orders her to dial the gate, since Rush isn't coming. Rush starts shooting at Simeon, his shots missing wildly. Simeon returns fire, pinning Rush behind a large rock as he closes in. Rush is down to a single bullet. He triggers the C-4, which explodes in the distance. Simeon is confused, until the animal herd stampedes through the valley in his direction. They trample him. Once the stampede passes, Rush confronts Simeon. Barely able to move, Simeon tries to bargain with Rush using his knowledge of the Alliance attack. Rush kills him without a word. When Rush finally makes it back to the gate, he finds it deserted, as he has been gone far longer than the allotted time for the jump to FTL. However, Scott walks out from behind the gate, and other soldiers in ambush positions emerge from hiding. He points out that Rush is nine hours late. Rush asks about Greer, who Scott says will be fine. When Scott asks why Rush didn't answer his radio, he explains that the battery died. He explains Eli reprogrammed a remote in the same fashion as Rush did, and that they set up the ambush knowing that someone was headed back to the gate with both remotes. He can't understand why Rush would take such a risk to kill Simeon, having no way of knowing that they'd be able to pick him up. Rush claims that he was confident Eli would figure out a way to extend the clock, but Scott reveals that Eli couldn't do it; Chloe managed to input a new course which brought Destiny back to the planet. Scott realizes that the equations Rush gave Chloe were for this purpose, which Rush confirms. Scott notes that there may be consequences for altering the ship's course, which Rush sees as normal for everything they do. As they dial back to Destiny, Scott asks Rush if he feels any better, and hopes that Rush was right about Simeon being unwilling to talk. Rush has no answer. + +In Brody's bar, Dr. Adam Brody is busy fixing his still while Dr. Nicholas Rush is discussing the pattern in the Cosmic microwave background radiation with some of the crew, Lt. Vanessa James and Dr. Morrison among them. Though Rush finds it fascinating, Morrison is not impressed, his concern at the moment being the continued operation of Brody's still. Once Brody fixes it, he goes for a drink. Annoyed by their disinterest, Rush leaves. The ship drops out of FTL while Colonel Everett Young is arranging papers in his quarters. He calls Brody for a report, only to get Dr. Dale Volker instead. Volker explains that they switched shifts so Brody could fix the still, even though it annoys Young. Dismissing it, Young asks for a report again. Volker notes that there are two planets in range, but is surprised when one of Destiny's shuttles suddenly appears out of nowhere. Young orders Rush to the bridge. Once Young reaches the bridge, he asks for the status of the shuttle. Currently, it's flying alongside Destiny. Young wonders where it came from, but Volker has no answer; one moment there was empty space, and the next the shuttle was there. Rush and Brody come in, so Young points out the shuttle. Young smells the scent of liquor on Brody, who is quick to explain that he was fixing the still, not drinking from it. Dr. Robert Caine then calls over the comm, trying to get a response. This further confuses the bridge crew. Young responds, noting that Caine and seven other people were left behind on an artificial planet in the previous galaxy. Caine confirms this fact, as he and the other seven that stayed with him are on the shuttle, with no idea as to how they got there. Rush is curious as to how their shuttle could have made it this far, not being space-worthy let alone capable of such speeds. Again, they have no answer. As they discuss the situation, Young calls Lt. Matthew Scott to the bridge. Eli Wallace has arrived, and is baffled by how the aliens that built the planet could have known where to find them and when exactly Destiny would drop out of FTL. Brody voices the concern that the people on-board may not be who they claim to be. Young asks if a voice-check can be run using previous Kino recordings, but Eli is sure that aliens capable of building planets could impersonate a voice. Volker notes that Dr. Boone was good at impersonating Caine's voice, though Brody believes he has it backwards. Young is not sure they should take returning civilians at their word, as it may be a ruse to get by their defenses; a Trojan horse, as Eli puts it. Rush points out that aliens with such power could destroy then at any moment if they felt like it. Young does find the prospect of having a working shuttle appealing, and so does Rush. Rush recommends bringing them on-board but taking every precaution. Young calls Caine and informs him that Scott will talk him through the docking procedure, to which Caine admits that he doesn't even drive a car. Brody assumes this is what a Trojan would say, leading to a short argument with Eli when Eli tries to correct him on the actual meaning of the term. Young is quick to silence them, then reassures Caine that they'll take it slow. MSgt. Ronald Greer sets up a defense team at the airlock while Young makes his way there. Lt. Tamara Johansen catches up to him, having heard about the returning civilians from Eli. Young insists that she doesn't need to be there, but TJ is adamant about staying and believes Young should have told her. Knowing where this is going, Young voices his belief that Destiny was responsible for the vision she experienced of her daughter being saved, though TJ is not convinced, especially now that the people on the planet are back. Young notes that none of them mentioned a child, and he doesn't want TJ getting her hopes up. TJ, however, needs to see for herself. Scott directs Caine in bringing the shuttle in. Once it lands, he secures the docking clamps. Caine is the first to exit, greeting Young and remarking on the surprise visit. Young orders the crew to exit the shuttle one at a time, explaining that they will be escorted to a holding area. Caine is confused, since they know his group isn't a threat, but Young insists. As the group exits, TJ greets Peter and Val, the last two to leave. They smile in response. Once everyone is gone, TJ searches the shuttle, finding nothing. She fights back the tears, composing herself when Young asks if she's alright, then quickly leaves. In his quarters, Eli records a diary entry about how he's losing Chloe Armstrong, clarifying that her condition is progressing and they cannot stop it. Meanwhile, Scott visits Chloe in her quarters to inform her of the latest developments. Once he's done, he asks if he can get her anything. Chloe declines, then points out the effort Scott is making to hide the fact that he no longer sees Chloe as who she was but what she's becoming, which she is also aware of. She finds his inability to lie endearing. She shows him a new patch of alien skin which has grown on her arm. Scott insists that they'll find a way to fix her, but Chloe isn't even sure if she wants to be cured. Her blackouts have nearly stopped, as she is now consciously aware of the alien part of her, and no longer fears it. Scott tells her to fight it, but she believes it's too late to. The returning civilians are isolated and interviewed by Young, who is joined by Eli and Camile Wray. As far as they can remember, they went to sleep inside the shuttle, which they were using for shelter from the winter, and woke up just when the shuttle appeared near Destiny. Caine believes they were delivered to Destiny by a greater power. Young assumes this to mean the aliens that created the planet, though Caine has not ruled out divine intervention. Wray expresses disbelief at the idea that God brought them to Destiny. Caine is happy to hear her voice, and notes that though he has no proof, he did pray every night for the safety of his group. Eli sarcastically chalks this up to "magic", to which Caine responds that their arrival was miraculous. Eli cuts the audio feed and recites Arthur C. Clarke's third law: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." Young tells him to "turn the mic back on", attributing the quote to Winston Churchill. Eli momentarily believes the claim, then realizes that Young is giving an order and does as told. Once the audio is restored, Peter and Val protest their continued imprisonment. Young tells them that they'll be released after TJ has examined them. Though Caine insists they're fine, Young explains that more answers means less precautions and cuts the audio feed. He tells Eli to keep an eye on them before leaving. Brody, Rush, Scott, and Volker are examining the shuttle when Young comes in for a report. The shuttle is in perfect condition, as if it came fresh from the factory. Brody says it even has that "new shuttle smell". Young ignores the joke and asks for answers, but Rush has none. Young wants to know if the shuttle poses any danger, but nothing has been found. He tells them to keep at it. TJ confirms that Caine's group is in perfect health, which is odd given how long they've been gone. Young notes that all of them have lost their memories of the planet and how they came to be on the shuttle when it showed up. TJ relates how Caine believes it to be God's way of telling them they were reborn, while others assume the aliens returned them to Destiny as an act of benevolence. Young isn't convinced, as aliens with such power could destroy them on a whim, which scares him. Furthermore, the group causes him to feel weird whenever he looks them in the eye, which TJ has also experienced. Rather than welcoming them home, as he thinks he should, being alone with any of them makes him want to leave as quickly as possible. Neither he or TJ understand why, but Young wants to know. Chloe begins recording goodbye messages to the crew with Eli's help. She's not sure where to start, so Eli recommends himself as an easy one. Chloe begins, but then stops when she realizes that Eli will be the hardest person to say goodbye to. Eli calms her down and tells her to pick someone else, but she suddenly freezes up, apparently suffering from another blackout. Young decides to release Caine's group into the general population, curtly informing them that they'll be given a list of duties to perform. Caine is displeased by the less than warm welcome, but Young merely states that he has no reason to treat them like prisoners. Peter tries to thank him, but Young adds that they shouldn't give him a reason to. One of Caine's group goes to the Observation deck and greets Morrison, happy to have been released. Morrison is not so enthusiastic about it, and excuses himself, claiming to have a shift in the Hydroponics lab. He recoils when she tries to hold his hand, telling her not to touch him. As he leaves, Dr. Lisa Park wonders what happened between them. Greer, who's standing next to her, realizes that she hasn't spent time with them. He finds it strange that eight scientists with no survival skills could leave the ship then come back, when numerous others have gone and more will certainly follow. Park says he's "being too deep again" and nudges him playfully. TJ visits the Mess hall, where Caine's group is eating at one of the table. Caine comments on how the food tastes different from that on Eden, which is what they named the artificial planet. She jokes about staying away from the apples, then explains that they've begun growing more food on the ship, which she offers to show him. TJ takes him to the new garden, which has been set up in the repaired dome section of the ship. The Ancient maintenance robot is crawling on the dome, welding parts of it. She tells him about the dream she had of her baby being transported to the planet, but Caine remembers none of it. He apologizes, wishing that he could tell her what she wants to hear. A Kino recording of Wray interviewing Peter is playing. In it, she asks him about his time on the planet, but Peter cannot give her anything but the most basic details. She tries to press for more details, but all he can recall is gathering food and fuel. From her laptop, Wray stops the recording, which she and Young have been watching. She offers to show him other interviews, but notes that the contents are same in each one. Wray believes their memories have been tampered with, and though the act of being transported to Destiny may be responsible, she feels the memory loss is a deliberate attempt to hide something. Young likens their presence to a science experiment, though Wray insists that they are part of the crew. When asked if they creep her out, Wray admits that a lot of people creep her out. Young asks if he creeps her out, and she says that he doesn't creep her out as much as he did. Considering this to be "progress", he tells her to keep trying to jog their memories. Scott makes his way to Chloe's quarters. On the way, he is greeted by Greer. Greer asks if Scott's going to see Chloe, which doesn't sit right with him. This does not escape Scott's notice, and he explains that she's alone all day, so the only company she gets is when he comes to see her. Greer notes that she's isolated for a reason, calling what's happening to her a "freak show". Scott calls him out of line and walks off, but Greer insists that he's only doing his job as a Master Sergeant, which entails keeping "Butter Bar" Lieutenants (referring to the golden bar insignia of a Second Lieutenant) from making mistakes. Scott asks him what's wrong with trying to comfort Chloe during her last days. Greer points out that he doesn't know when that day will be. He realizes that Scott cares for her, but Chloe's condition will soon render her a threat that needs to be dealt with. On the observation deck, Eli walks in to find Val sitting alone. Noticing that everyone is avoiding her, he decides to keep her company. He talks with her about the planet, having never gotten to go there himself. He asks if she misses it. Val's memory has started to return, which Eli finds hopeful. In fact, she just remembered something when Eli showed up. She's embarrassed to voice it, but this only leaves Eli more interested. She admits that it's a memory of skinny dipping, which Eli has already heard about. Val begins rubbing her forehead, as if suffering from a headache. Eli wonders if she checked out the obelisk, but she's doesn't remember. Her headache seems to get worse, and her nose begins to bleed. She starts screaming in pain when blood begins pouring from her eyes and mouth. Eli calls for help as she collapses. Rush is working on the shuttle when Caine comes in, having been looking for him. Noting that the ship is out of FTL, he wonders if there's anything interesting. Rush notes that there always is, then explains that he's been working on the shuttle's navigational data, trying to determine its course from the planet to Destiny. His only conclusion, however, is that there is no path: it was there, then it was near Destiny. Caine wishes he could help, but he experienced the same thing. He brings up Destiny's mission, curious about the message in the background radiation. Rush prefers to call it fingerprints, a sign that some intelligence was responsible for the universe. Caine believes it could be God, but Rush refuses to consider it anything more than proof of intelligence. Caine notes that Rush can't bring himself to think of it as a miracle, which Rush readily admits. Caine wants to hear more, but Rush doesn't see the point; Caine can just think of it as God's will and be done with it. Caine argues that God must saved them for a reason. Rush points out that they don't know what they were saved from, having no memory of it. He cites the stories of Moses and Abraham, who were spoken to by a burning bush and the angel Gabriel, respectively; Caine, by comparison, was given no proof one way or the other. Caine takes this as a cue to leave, but Rush stops him on the way out. He points out that the shuttle was restored to pristine condition by the aliens, though Caine believes God to be responsible. Rush then counters that though the shuttle was restored, its passengers still suffer from various problems (Dr. Norris has astigmatism, Vince Kwan is balding) and have large gaps in their memories. As Rush sees it, either God has lost his touch, or it wasn't God. Before Caine can respond, Young calls Rush on the radio, looking for Caine. He wants Caine to come to the infirmary; Val is dead. Val's death is determined to be the result of massive blunt force trauma to the head. Caine asks what happened, but they can't explain it. TJ notes that such a thing could not simply spontaneously manifest. Wray suggests that it may have happened on the planet, but Caine still has no memory of it. Wray offers to use hypnotic regression to try to access their repressed memories. Young is curious if the International Oversight Advisory taught her that. Wray confirms that they did, claiming that she's overqualified for human resources when Young asks if she has any other hidden talents. He gives the go-ahead, though Caine asks to inform the others of Val's death first. TJ wants to do an autopsy to check her findings, though Young doesn't believe it necessary. She feels like she should do something. Young tries to assure her that she's doing good, but she doesn't feel that way. Chloe is visited by Greer, who asks how she's doing. Chloe is still herself, for now at least. She asks Greer if Young will see her as a threat when she's changed completely, which he believes is true. She wants to know how he'll respond, and Greer believes that he'll remove the threat. Greer admits that he'll probably be the one to do it. She apologizes, but he insists that he couldn't let it be anyone else. He's come to ask for her forgiveness when the time comes, as hearing it aloud is important to him. She obliges, and tells him to take care of Scott. He admits to already trying to dissuade Scott from seeing her, so Chloe offers to do so herself, which Greer thinks is for the best. She asks if she'll see him again, but Greer feels it best if he says his goodbyes now. Chloe gets up to hug him, but Greer motions for her to stay back, apologizing for being unable to accept the gesture. They simply exchange goodbyes instead, and he leaves. Chloe records a farewell message to Scott, telling him that she loves him and wishes they could have done everything a normal couple would have. However, she's grateful for the time they've had. She asks him to take care of everyone, as he's more important to the crew than he realizes. She also tells him to take care of Eli, since Eli will do the same in his own way. She asks him to forgive Greer for what he will eventually have to do, since he had no choice and she's glad it is him that will do it. She ends by telling Scott she loves him again. Wray puts Peter through hypnotic regression. Peter remembers standing in front of the lake with Val, having started a relationship with her without the others' knowledge. Wray asks about the others. Peter says that they're working, and always are. Peter is trying to plant crops, but is dissuaded by Caine, since winter would keep them from growing. Peter insists on trying, but Caine counters that they can try in the spring; for now, gathering food and firewood for warmth is more important, though Peter protests that they've already picked the area clean of food. Peter notes that Caine is afraid. Wray brings him forward in time, to a point where he's chopping down trees for wood. Val comes in as he cuts a tree down, and it falls on top of her. He jumps out of his hypnotic trance, realizing that Val died on the planet. As he tries to comprehend the memory, he suddenly starts convulsing wildly. Wray calls for help, but he's dead by the time TJ arrives. TJ confirms that Peter died from dehydration and hypothermia. Wray relates how Peter remembered that Val died on the planet. TJ believes that Peter also died on the planet, his death being consistent with freezing in winter. Wray notes that Val died before the winter, so TJ posits that they're dying again, in the same order as they did on the planet. Young immediately orders Scott to round them up and bring them to the infirmary. Scott finds Rachel in her quarters, her face covered in boils as she tries to keep from freezing. He brings her back to the infirmary, despite Greer's suggestion not to touch her. TJ orders Scott to get himself decontaminated just in case. Rachel dies on the table as Caine walks in. Young asks Caine for answers, and orders Caine to go through hypnotic regression with Wray when he can't give them, or else. Caine protests that they're part of the crew, but Young counters that they left by choice, and if whatever they have spreads to the rest of the crew, they'll be sent off the ship. TJ argues that it's not Caine's fault, but Young sees Caine as the reason the group remained on the planet. TJ points out that she wanted to stay, as well, so Young offers Rachel's corpse as evidence of what would have become of her. He calls Wray to inform her that Caine has "volunteered", then sends him off before he can argue. Scott knocks on Chloe's door, but she doesn't answer. He opens the door himself, having come to keep her updated. She simply tells him to go away. He agrees to leave, but offers to come back later. The rest of Caine's group is suffering from hypothermia, save for Caine himself. As TJ tries to treat them, Wray helps Caine go through his memories. It's now snowing on the planet. They're using the shuttle as shelter, but are freezing because the door is open. The shuttle lost power, and without life support they would suffocate since the door is airtight. Peter has managed to fashion some candles for light. Peter has already lost hope, and wanders out into the snow in the middle of the night. Wray moves forward to the night before the shuttle appeared next to Destiny. Caine is now the only survivor, the others having frozen to death. All he can do is pray. Caine awakens, as that is his last memory of the planet. He apologizes for not having more answers. Anticipating Young's response, he believes that putting him off the ship will be unnecessary, since he'll probably be dead long before that happens. Wray says he can't be sure, but Caine knows he's already dead. Meanwhile, James brings a Kino to Eli which was found in the shuttle. The rest of Caine's group is now dead, having died in their sleep of hypothermia. TJ guesses that the aliens' method of reviving them wasn't permanent, and now they're reverting to the state they were found in. TJ apologizes for being unable to help, but Caine says it's not her fault. He asks how much time he has left, which TJ assumes to be short. Caine asks to see the stars one last time, which Young agrees to, and asks TJ to spend that time with him. They go to the observation deck. He remarks on the beauty of the view. TJ surmises that the aliens may have sent them back to say goodbye. Caine has come to the conclusion that he isn't really himself; he has Caine's body and memories, but not his soul. He believes this may be why their mere presence was so off-putting. TJ assures him that she no longer feels that way. He thanks her for the kindness, but still believes that he isn't the Robert Caine made by God. His continued faith in God surprises TJ, which is what he describes as faith. He believes his soul is watching over them, marveling at her kindness. though he still believes. He encourages TJ to believe that her baby is in a better place, and that the best thing she can do is keep living for those that have passed on. Eli plays the video from the Kino found in the shuttle for Rush, Young, and Wray. It is a recording made by Caine after everyone else died. He asks for help from anyone who's listening, as he doesn't want to die. Suddenly, a bright light permeates the shuttle. As Caine turns to look at it, the light blots out the video feed, which then goes to static. Eli shuts it off, as there's nothing else. + +Dr. Nicholas Rush walks onto the bridge. He looks around, noticing that Eli Wallace has not shown up. He calls him on the radio, but gets no response. Dr. Lisa Park's console is beeping, which she cannot seem to correct. Rush presses a few buttons and silences it for her. Power on the bridge then shuts off, which Dr. Dale Volker takes responsibility for. He was running a diagnostic of the power systems and forgot to bypass the critical systems. He restores power before Rush can do it for him. Dr. Adam Brody informs Rush that Destiny has detected a remote energy signature. Rush doubts Brody's claim, but confirms it at Brody's request. Rush informs Colonel Everett Young that the energy signature is off the course laid out by the Seed ships, and will take about a day to reach if they change course. Young asks for guesses on what it may represent. Park believes that it could be a power source or signs of intelligent life. Eli, having just come in, jokes that it could be a "big, black monolith orbiting a planet", then apologizes for having overslept. Rush argues that they should investigate it, since they can't be sure without doing so. Brody points out that they agreed to adhere to Destiny's mission, but Rush counters that this would only be a slight delay. Volker reiterates Park's suggestion that the energy signature may indicate intelligent life, which clearly concerns him, but Rush sees this as a good thing. Volker points out that all their previous alien encounters have ended badly. Park doesn't think they should judge these aliens based on their previous encounters, but Volker sees it as the only logical way to judge them. Rush asserts that the energy signature could lead to something of value to both the crew and Destiny. Young agrees to check it out. Rush orders Volker to change course, but Volker has no idea how. Realizing his mistake, Rush decides to bring Chloe Armstrong up to make the necessary calculations. Rush goes to Eli's quarters to get him. Eli doesn't answer to Rush's knocks, as he's listening to music through earphones. Rush opens the door, getting Eli's attention. He notes that he tried radioing Eli to no effect, which Eli blames on the music. He informs Eli that the ship is about to drop out of FTL. Eli thanks him for the heads up. They go to the observation deck. The ship dropped out of FTL into a vast field of debris. Eli comments on it being a battlefield, while Camile Wray describes it as a graveyard. In the Control interface room, Rush, Park, and Brody have brought up a holographic map of the debris field. The energy signature Destiny detected was the pockets of radiation from the various ships. Rush has found one ship in particular which they are familiar with. It is the same type of ship Young and Rush visited. Volker has set up a simulation in Destiny's computer which will form a picture of what the ships looked like whole. While they wait, Rush suggests they explore the familiar ship. He volunteers Brody to visit the alien ship this time. Lt. Matthew Scott visits Chloe to inform her of the recent development. Noticing that she's distant, he asks her what's wrong. She explains that she doesn't want him to visit just to watch her slowly disappear. Her infection is spreading faster now, having grown over the left side of her chest, and she is losing her ability to control it. She knows that soon she won't be herself anymore, at which point it will no longer be safe to keep her on the ship. Scott assures her that he won't let that happen, but Chloe knows it's not up to him. She just wants to be useful while she still can. Scott is still holding out hope, but Chloe points out that he's already starting to distance himself from her even if he doesn't realize it. Scott is called by Young to pilot the shuttle to the derelict ship. Scott leaves, but insists that their conversation isn't done. Once Scott leaves, Chloe begins crying. Wray brings Eli to her quarters, despite his complaints that he's needed on the bridge. Rush has already given her the go-ahead to borrow Eli. Knowing why she's brought him, he insists that he isn't crazy. He finds this rather impressive considering that he went from unemployed and living at home to living on a spaceship billions of light-years from home. He also jokes that The Last Starfighter lied about video games preparing someone for space travel. Wray notes that no one was prepared for this situation, though Eli retorts that everyone else at least had some sort of training in this field, but still believes he's come far in the last ten months, quickly reciting the various experiences he's been through. Wray confirms that she doesn't think he's crazy, which Eli believes marks the end of their conversation. He stops when Wray insists that she isn't giving him a psych evaluation, instead having called him for a friendly chat. She notes that he's been somewhat distracted as of late, which has people worried. Eli doesn't see the big deal, but she elaborates that, given all that he's been through, they think he's not as distracted as she should be. She brings up the memorial video he made for Sgt. Hunter Riley, which she found very moving. Eli admits that, at times, he'll forget that Riley's dead, only to remember upon seeing that Riley is missing from his normal post in the gate room. Wray notes that Riley was an important part of Eli's life on the ship, to which Eli adds that everyone becomes important when less than 100 people on a single ship make up one's entire world. Losing Riley was not only sad, but wrong. Wray brings up the loss of Ginn, but Eli just leaves rather than talk about it. Scott, Brody, and MSgt. Ronald Greer head for the shuttle wearing Ancient environmental suits. Greer asks when Brody repaired the third suit. Brody says he did so yesterday, and assures Greer that it's safe. Greer wonders why he has been given the newly-repaired suit if it's safe, to which Brody explains that it will be easier to fix if it breaks while Greer's wearing it, though that probably won't happen. Scott prepares the shuttle for launch. Young gives him clearance to head out, warning him to be careful. As they fly through the debris field, Brody is amazed by the sight, while Scott is creeped out by it. Greer can only laugh, confident that anything that could harm them is long dead. However, unseen by them, an intact fighter comes to life amidst the wreckage. Rush calls for a report as they approach the remains of the familiar ship. Volker detects faint EM readings coming from the wreck. Scott locates a breach near the front of the vessel as an access point, and Young gives them boarding permission after hesitating slightly. Once the ship is positioned, Greer secures a line to the other ship. Brody follows with the equipment, while Scott remains behind to man the shuttle. Rush orders them to search for anything that can be salvaged. Scott advises them to be careful. Brody tells Greer not to touch anything, which Greer is quick to disregard by attempting to trigger a door panel. It has no power, so Brody gives Greer a crowbar to pry the door open. Greer is unreceptive to Brody's coaching on how to best do so. They manage to get it open and move on with their search. Lt. Tamara Johansen brings lunch to Varro in his quarters. He sarcastically comments on how being confined to quarters works up an appetite. TJ notes that Young had good reason to do so following Simeon's actions. Varro argues that Simeon was unstable, but TJ points out that he didn't tell Young about this. Varro believed he could control Simeon. He changes the subject, noting that it's been a while since TJ came by. She blames her absence on being busy, though she wanted to come by. Varro brings up the group that returned from Eden, specifically that they did not have her child as she had thought. TJ assumes that the ship was responsible, projecting the vision into her dreams as it did with the battle scenario Young was put through, though Varro isn't so sure. TJ prepares to leave, but sees a fighter fly by the window and pauses to investigate. Brody and Greer continue their search of the ship. Young calls for a report. Greer believes the ship is too quiet, though otherwise they have found nothing. TJ reports her sighting to Young over the radio. While she cannot describe it as anything other than "movement", she felt it worth reporting. A loud beep sounds on the bridge, which Eli explains is the indicator that the simulation Volker started has finished compiling. He runs the simulation, which shows four of the familiar ships and seven additional circles of indeterminate origin. Eli cycles the simulation forward again, and, clearly worried by the results, asserts that they need to leave. He explains that the fragments are the victors of the battle. They aren't damaged, merely dormant. Young recalls Scott's team. As Brody and Greer make their way back, Scott sees a fighter fly by his window, unable to describe it to Young due to its speed. Another flies past Destiny, spotted by Wray on the observation deck. Ten more fighters come online. The fighters make a beeline for Destiny, with at least a dozen now online. Young orders Eli to send out a message indicating that they're friendly by every means available, while ordering Park to raise shields and ready weapons. As they prepare for battle, the bridge retracts into the hull and monitors drop down from the ceiling, which Eli is pleasantly surprised by. Alarms sound in the halls to signal the crew to move to safe areas. Brody and Greer make it back to the shuttle. The fighters offer no response to Eli's message. TJ leaves Varro's quarters to be ready in the infirmary. Varro offers his help, but TJ just closes the door. The fighters swarm Destiny from all sides, firing on it. Young orders Park to return fire. The turrets managed to shoot down several fighters, but the attack continues unabated. The hull is breached in one of the unoccupied sections. Rush seals it, but the shields are beginning to fail. He orders power diverted from the weapons, but several power overloads complicate matters. Rush insists that they need to jump to FTL, but Young refuses to leave Scott's group behind. They make it back, but the wait has allowed the fighters to disable Destiny's FTL drive. Several areas of the ship have now lost power, numerous turrets are offline, and the shields are steadily losing power. Only the sublight engines are online, and they cannot hope to outrun the fighters. Suddenly, a seed ship drops out of FTL. Colonel David Telford contacts them. Since time is short, he orders them to follow his ship. The seed ship plots a course for the nearby star. Young orders a pursuit course while all power is diverted to the shields. The fighters, now more than two-dozen strong, follow them in, destroying themselves in the star's corona. Destiny, meanwhile, is able to recharge itself. Volker notes that they've evaded the fighters for now, but they'll catch up once they get around the star. Telford contacts Destiny again, suggesting that they dock so he can tell them his story. Young welcomes Telford back to Destiny. Telford is impressed by the bridge, though Young is more impressed by Telford's arrival. Telford admits that he had help. He explains that the aliens they encountered on the seed ship, who call themselves the Ursini, never meant any harm. They were just desperate. Unable to communicate, the Ursini put him in one of their stasis pods, which are equipped with a neural interface. From that, Telford was able to learn their history. He eventually gained their trust and helped them to bring the seed ship online, and have been trying to catch Destiny ever since. When asked how he survived without supplies, he notes that the stasis pods provide nutrients to their occupants. Eli doesn't believe that the Ursini would be so charitable, and Telford admits that they need Destiny's help. In her quarters, Eli explains the situation to Chloe. The fighters Destiny encountered are automated attack drones. Just as Destiny woke them up by entering the region, so too did the Ursini a long time ago. The Ursini boarded the seed ship for long-term reconnaissance, hoping that it would give them an advantage against the drones. However, no one came back for them. He notes that they only tried to drain Destiny's power because they needed a way home. Now that can go home, however, they don't want to risk making contact until the drones are stopped, which is why they need Destiny's help. Chloe doesn't think they can be trusted, though Eli doesn't see any other option. She asks what the next move it, but it hasn't been decided yet. Young discusses the situation with Rush and Wray. Wray brings up the fact that the drones will soon catch them, and without FTL they have no hope of escape. Young believes that helping the Ursini to defeat the drones is a viable option. Wray isn't so sure given their previous encounter with the Ursini, though Young notes they just went bout first contact the wrong way. Rush explains that the drones are controlled by a Control Ship, which if destroyed should disable the drones. The Ursini know its location, but it's out of sublight range. With Destiny's FTL offline, the Ursini intend to use the seed ship to jump both ships into FTL while docked. It's risky to attempt jumping so soon after dropping out, but if it works it will allow them to jump to a safe location. Rush advocates using the Ursini then betraying them. Wray is against it. Rush argues that the Ursini would have no way to retaliate, but Young sees this as an opportunity to dial Earth, since the seed ship has the power to make a connection. Rush goes to the bridge, where Eli and Volker are working. He asks for the whereabouts of Park and Brody; Volker explains that they're affecting repairs to the damaged systems. Rush moves up to Eli to see what he's doing. Eli explains that he's monitoring the power levels. Rush points out that Eli is bleeding energy from one of the weapons platforms. Rush corrects it for him. He then sends Volker to help Park and Brody. Though Volker is reluctant at first, he gets the hint when Rush takes a quick look at Eli. Eli has also noticed Rush's intent, and is quick to admit his mistake. Rush, however, only sees it as a minor oversight, one of many Eli has made lately, though he is sure Eli will make a big mistake soon enough with his present attitude. Eli sarcastically comments that he can't let everyone down, being the boy genius. Rush notes that his genius could do nothing to stop Ginn's death, which gets Eli's attention. Rush explains that someone stronger took her away, and relates how Eli probably felt like getting revenge. However, even succeeding wouldn't bring Ginn back. Eli tries to leave, but Rush speaks up again, talking about how people are not created equal despite what some might say. Some people have gifts that others don't, and those who are able to recognize and apply those gifts succeed in life. He believes Eli has the potential for greatness, but to achieve it can't let himself give up or be beaten down. Eli is about to respond when Young walks in. They decide to suspend their conversation. Young explains that he has made a deal with the Ursini. On the bridge, Eli asks if the joint FTL jump will be safe, since it should be like how the shuttles dock with Destiny Brody points out that Destiny is three times larger than the seed ship and not designed for such a jump. Volker adds that they're also jumping in the three-hour danger window. Eli believes that the worst that could happen is the jump fails, but Volker's much more pessimistic belief is that the ship's structural integrity could fail mid-jump, vaporizing the ship. Young asks if they are done, quieting them. With a minute until the jump, Young informs the crew that they will remain in FTL for four hours, at which point they will drop out to a safe location. Once they've affected repairs, they will commence the attack on the Control Ship. The seed ship initiates the jump, which successfully brings both ships to FTL unharmed. Eli visits Chloe again, telling her that the Ursini will help them dial Earth once the Control Ship is defeated. Chloe merely stares out the window blankly, having been doing so ever since the first battle with the drones. Eli tries to get her attention when Destiny drops out of FTL. The ship has left FTL much sooner than expected. As Brody, Park, and Volker attempt to discern the cause, the ship's sensors detect a dozen drones and the Control Ship. The Ursini signal Destiny, telling them to target the Control Ship. The seed ship undocks and move ahead to take care of the drones. The drones immediately converge on Destiny, ignoring the seed ship entirely. With the drones blocking their approach, Destiny has no way to attack the Control Ship. Eli tries to head back to the bridge, but is stopped by Chloe, who wants to help. He agrees and brings her out of the room. The guard insists on checking with Young first, so Chloe suddenly slams his head against the wall twice, knocking him out. Eli throws up his hands defensively, but Chloe ignores him, heading off down the corridor. Eli radios Young to inform him of Chloe's escape; though he doesn't know where she's going, she might be dangerous. Young has Brody seal off the section while Scott leads a team to find her. Chloe comes upon a locked door, but simply rips off the panel and bypasses the lock. Scott informs Young that she has broken containment. He eventually catches up to her in the control interface room, where she is working on one of the consoles. She ignores his orders to stop, so he pulls her away. Coming to her senses, she informs him that it's too late. In the infirmary, TJ is treating the wounded. Varro is brought in at her request, since he wanted to help. Destiny, as before, is quickly being overwhelmed by the assault. Young has Telford contact the seed ship so they can execute a strategic retreat. Eli arrives on the bridge, while Rush has yet to show up. By the time Rush arrives, several turrets have gone offline and shields are beginning to fail. The Ursini do not respond to hails. Brody suggests falling back, but Rush points out that they have nowhere to run to. The drones continue their assault on the ship, relentless in their goal of destroying it. + +Destiny is still under attack by the berzerker drones. Eli Wallace notes that there are hundreds of them, more than they could ever shoot down given the situation. Colonel Everett Young suggests using the main weapon, but Dr. Nicholas Rush dismisses it, since it can't hit the fast-moving drones or the distant Control Ship. In the Control interface room, Lt. Matthew Scott interrogates Chloe Armstrong on what she was doing at the console prior to being found. She admits to sending a signal. MSgt. Ronald Greer comes in with a security team, and Scott is quick to get them to stand down so he can continue his questioning. Chloe explains that the Nakai have followed them to their current galaxy, but thus far haven't been able to find Destiny. Thanks to her signal, however, they now know where to look. Within moments, three Nakai motherships drop out of hyperspace, which Dr. Dale Volker detects on the bridge. Greer accuses Chloe of betraying the crew and is prepared to shoot her, but Chloe insists that she's still in control. She claims that sending the signal was the only way to give Destiny a chance. The drones suddenly break off from Destiny, splitting into groups to engage the new targets. Rush notes that they must be indiscriminate in their targets, attacking any alien technology. Eli believes that the reduced numbers may give them a fighting chance, though they are still numerous enough that Destiny cannot hold them all back. Scott calls Young over the radio, explaining that Chloe signaled them as a diversionary tactic, hoping to draw away enough drones to make the Control Ship vulnerable. Young orders Chloe to be placed in a holding cell. As Scott locks her up, Chloe insists that she sent the signal for the crew's benefit. Scott seems unsure, and orders a three-man guard at all times. Volker believes that they should use the opportunity to retreat, but Rush counters that they have nowhere to run. Colonel David Telford agrees with Rush; this may be their only chance to attack the Control Ship. Dr. Adam Brody notes that there is still a significant force of drones defending it, but Eli suggests that they may be able to disable the drones temporarily by jamming the subspace frequency used to coordinate them. Rush believes this is possible, so he and Eli begin to work on it while Destiny sets course for the Control Ship. Destiny takes heavy damage on approach, but Rush and Eli succeed in jamming the drone signal. The momentary break is enough for Destiny to close the gap and fire on the Control Ship, obliterating it in a few shots. With the Control Ship gone, the drones are dead in space. Rush praises Eli for the idea. The Nakai were hit hard, losing two ships. The third seems to be heavily damaged. Scott visits Lt. Tamara Johansen in the infirmary. She informs him that there were no fatalities, only a large number of minor injuries and few serious burns. Chloe's guard, Cpl. Baras, had his arm broken in two places, a fact which surprises both of them. Volker and Brody give Young a report about the status of Destiny's FTL drive. Though the drive itself will be repaired shortly, the shields are another matter. Four of the emitter relays have burnt out, all of which must be bypassed to restore full shield coverage and therefore FTL capability. Brody estimates that it will take a couple of hours, at least. Young asks where Rush is, so Brody points him to the control interface room. Young enters the control interface room, where Rush is going over how Chloe managed to send a signal. She bypassed the bridge controls to do it, which is not an easy task. Though Young notes it was to their benefit, Rush doesn't believe they'll always be so lucky. Young is confused, as Rush seems to be fond of Chloe's new abilities. Rush clarifies that he would have helped her if he could, even though took the pragmatic approach in dealing with her. Now, however, they can no longer control her. Telford calls Young on the radio. He's been in contact with the Ursini on the Seed ship, and has learned of a new problem. In the cafeteria, Telford explains that the Ursini didn't trust Destiny to escape at the first opportunity, hence why they took them straight into battle. Rush notes that it was never their fight in the first place. With the Control Ship gone, the Ursini attempted to contact their colony, only to discover that another cluster of drones is now occupying it. They are likely the last of their kind. Worse still, in contacting the colony, they have given away their position. Another Control Ship and its drones are on the way. Brody and Volker are busy attempting to bypass one of the shield relays when Rush comes in to check on them. They believe they've successfully rigged up a bypass, and radio Dr. Lisa Park to begin powering it up. The relay holds at first, but overloads quickly once significant power is sent through it. Rush simply stares silently at their failure, to which Volker comments that it may take longer than they first believed. In the cafeteria, another meeting is held to discuss options. Wray wonders why they can't just leave, so Rush explains that the shields need to be restored first, lest the ship be destroyed the second it jumps. There's no ETA on the arrival of the second drone cluster, so they could be attacked at any moment. Park asks if a diplomatic solution is possible, but this too is denied; the drones aren't alive or capable of reason, their sole purpose being to destroy any technology other than their own. Scott suggests another tandem jump using the seed ship, but Volker doesn't believe they could extend their shields around Destiny to make the jump safe. Regardless, Telford notes that the seed ship's FTL was permanently disabled after the last jump. Park suggests finding a way to jam the drone coordination signal permanently, but Rush doesn't see how they could without a better understanding of the technology. Eli believes that they should retrieve and study one of the drones to gain that understanding. One of the smaller ones could fit in the shuttle. Though his idea isn't well-received due to the danger involved, Rush agrees and convinces Young that they have no alternative. Greer and Scott begin to put on the environmental suits, with Greer wondering whether it's a good idea to bring a drone on board. Scott notes that they don't get paid to think, and Greer joking notes that they don't get paid at all. Park joins them, as it's her turn to be the scientist in the suit. Greer congratulates her. Once they've suited up, they launch the shuttle to search for one of the smaller drones. The drones don't react to their presence. Wray delivers a meal to Chloe, apologizing for the armed guards. Chloe doesn't mind, since she injured Barris pretty badly. Upon locating a suitable drone, the shuttle crew puts on their helmets and vents the atmosphere. Park is somewhat nervous, but Greer talks her through it. Scott deactivates the artificial gravity so they can bring the drone inside through the rear hatch. Park guides Scott from the hatch. Once it's inside, Scott restores the artificial gravity. Despite the sudden drop, the drone shows no signs of activation. Young recalls the shuttle once they report their success, but the surviving Nakai mothership suddenly moves to block their return. It sends a simple message: "No escape." In a meeting with Telford, Rush, and Wray, Young explains that the Nakai are holding the shuttle hostage in exchange for Destiny's help in dealing with the new cluster of drones. Rush believes that the aliens are just trying to buy time until they can repair their hyperdrive. Young suggests calling their bluff; the aliens are likely too damaged to want to fight, and will agree to any demands put to them. Rush adds that this is a chance to cure Chloe. The aliens surely possess the ability to reverse what they've done to her, and the alternative is to put Chloe off the ship at the first opportunity. TJ explains the plan to Chloe, noting that her options are rather limited. Chloe is reluctant to go given her past experience with the aliens. TJ apologizes for being unable to cure Chloe. Scott is likewise opposed to the idea, since there's no guarantee the aliens will hold up their end of the bargain, but is convinced that they have no other options. On the bridge, Rush signals the aliens, who agree to the plan. Telford believes that this might be what they intended all along, to take the knowledge of Destiny from Chloe's mind. He pulls Young aside to inform him that the seed ship has gone completely dark. He assumes the Ursini are playing possum, trying to make it appear as if their ship is dead to avoid attracting the drones. Young doesn't believe this would work for Destiny given its size. Telford argues that the Ursini have had more experience fighting the drones, but Young cynically counters that they were still wiped out. The inactive drone is loaded onto the Kino sled and taken out of the shuttle. Brody, Volker, and Eli begin working on it. Meanwhile, Wray talks with Rush about his uncharacteristically helpful attitude. To her, it appears as if he is willing to risk the ship to help Chloe. Rush denies this, but Wray doesn't seem to believe him. Scott personally takes Chloe to the Nakai mothership. Young sees them off. Just before they enter the shuttle, Chloe gives Young a kiss on the cheek. He wishes her luck. Scott pilots the shuttle into one of the mothership's hangers. Scott admits that he let her condition affect the way he sees her, but Chloe doesn't blame him for it. Though life on the ship has been hard, Scott's presence has made it better. She doesn't believe she'd have lasted as long without him. Scott believes otherwise, but she chides him not to contradict her during her moment. They both profess their love for each other. The rear hatch opens, revealing two Nakai. Chloe walks off with them. Brody, Volker, and Eli have managed to access the drone's programming, but thus far have been unable to isolate its command subroutine. Rush praises their work, much to their surprise. He then suggests that Brody and Vokler return to working on the shield relays, as he wants the best people working on it. Though reluctant at first, they agree. Once they're gone, Eli expresses surprise at Rush giving compliments. Rush admits that he was just trying to get rid of them, and expects that they'll make actual progress now. Scott tries to send a message to Destiny, but they don't respond. Not sure if he's being jammed, he continues anyway, explaining that the aliens took Chloe a few minutes ago. He doesn't intend to leave without her, and hopes she'll be okay. The aliens are busy operating on Chloe, preparing to stick some sort of large needle into her chest. The Control Ship drops out of hyperspace and launches its armada of drones. They'll reach Destiny in twelve minutes. The inactive drones belonging to the previous control ship do not come back online. This gives Eli an idea. Young wants to know if the drone signal can be jammed, but Rush has determined that the drones will simply adapt to any attempt to do so. He informs Young that they may have an alternative, which he'll inform Young of as soon as he knows what it is. With most of the scientists busy making repairs, the bridge is left in the control of Lt. Vanessa James, Telford, and Young. James is assigned to damage control, while Telford handles the weapons. On the Nakai mothership, the shuttle's hatch opens to reveal Chloe, who is unconscious and suspended in some sort of anti-gravity field. Once Scott has her supported, it disengages. The drones begin their attack on Destiny. Scott leaves the mothership and begins engaging the drones, insisting that his shielded shuttle is a lot better off than Destiny is when Young tries to recall him. The drones quickly realize that Destiny is vulnerable in its shielded areas. Eli, meanwhile, has discovered a friend-or-foe recognition subroutine in the drone's programming. The inactive drones could be reprogrammed to target the new drones. However, they will need to activate the drone to transmit the program. Young agrees, but dispatches a security team just in case. The Nakai mothership jumps to hyperspace, causing the drones that were attacking it to double back on Destiny. Young recalls Scott, since they are far too numerous to fight now. With the full force of the drones upon them, Destiny is taking heavy damage. Suddenly, the drones veer off, heading for the now-active seed ship. The Ursini are making a beeline for the Control Ship, despite lacking the firepower to do any damage. They transmit an apology to Destiny, and Telford realizes that they are making a suicide run. Though the seed ship is destroyed before it can get close, the brief reprieve is enough for Rush and Eli to upload the new recognition codes to the inactive drones, which turn on the new drones. Brody and Volker have finished bypassing the damaged shield relays, but the shields are only at five percent, well below what they've ever attempted an FTL jump at. With no other choice, however, they jump anyway. Despite a bumpy start, the jump holds. Greer suggests that Eli deactivate the drone now that they're safe, to which Eli readily agrees. TJ examines Chloe, seeing no signs of infection. Young still wants to keep her under observation for a few days, but is glad to have her back. Rush comes in at Chloe's request, and Young asks about the damage report he was repairing. Rush notes that it won't be pretty. Chloe thanks Rush for coming up with a way to cure her. She believes the aliens will be even more determined to take the ship now, which Rush doesn't deny. She passes him a small notebook, having attempted to work out some equations to test if she still could. Rush declares them to be perfect. Chloe believes that she should have been returned to normal, but Rush assumes that curing her did not remove the memories she gained while infected, which seems like a good thing. He believes everyone on the ship has a purpose. With all the coincidences that have conspired to aid them, he can no longer deny that fate may be at work. + +A meeting is held to discuss the condition of Destiny. Dr. Adam Brody and Dr. Dale Volker explain that all of Destiny's systems have accumulated significant damage, in addition to significantly reduced life support capability. Furthermore, they have no spare parts with which to repair it. Virtually every system is running at minimum safety levels, with no redundancies. At the moment, the ship is just barely able to continue. Colonel David Telford wants to know what their options are. Dr. Nicholas Rush argues that they need to simply carry on, since they can't do anything to solve the problem. Eli Wallace, however, believes he and Ginn were able to devise a means to dial Earth while Destiny is recharging inside a star. Rush vehemently opposes this plan, as Eli's plan fails to consider the conditions inside the star while dialing. He is also concerned that it could destroy the ship. Lt. Matthew Scott doesn't see how that's a problem, since they won't be aboard, but Rush asserts that it is for those who believe in the mission. Telford thinks that no one on the ship would want to stay, but Rush merely asks Colonel Everett Young if he still believes in the mission. Young's opinion hasn't changed, but he doesn't see how they can complete it in a ship that's on its last legs. Rush has a more optimistic approach, labeling Brody and Volker "defeatists", but Young insists that he has to look to the safety of the crew first. Rush walks out. Rush heads to the bridge, only to find MSgt. Ronald Greer there waiting for him. Greer informs him that he's been barred from the bridge or anywhere else the ship can be controlled from. In Young's quarters, Young informs Telford and Camile Wray that they will reach a star to recharge in 18 hours, where they will attempt to dial Earth. Young opens the door when Rush knocks, having anticipated that he would come upon finding that he couldn't get to the bridge. Young explains that he didn't want Rush to lock out the dialing program, though Rush insists it never occurred to him. Wray informs him that Eli is using the Long-range communication device to run his calculations by the scientists on Earth. Rush reiterates that his plan does not and cannot account for the unpredictable nature of conditions within a star, and establishing a connection could rip a hole in the fabric of space-time. Telford deems Rush to be crazy, but Young is willing to hear him out. Rush asks for a chance to speak to the crew, hoping to convince them of the importance of staying to complete Destiny's mission. He also asks that Young stand by him during this, to reinforce the importance of the request. Young agrees to both, much to the surprise of Telford. In the Control interface room, Dr. Bill Lee, inhabiting Eli's body, is admiring Eli's work, noting that a lot of smart people on Earth couldn't figure it out. Brody admits that Eli is one of the smartest people he's ever met, though he'd rather not tell Eli that. Eli returns to his body, having confirmed his work. He also overheard part of Brody's comment, which Brody unconvincingly tries to attribute to Einstein. Scott interrupts so they can inform Young. Destiny drops out of FTL near a star. Rush meets with Young in the gate room. Young asks if Rush can keep the ship running, specifically the minimum number of people he would need to do so. Rush believes 12 would be enough, including himself and Young. He shows Young a speech he has prepared, in case Young has anything he wants to add to it. Telford suddenly calls in from the bridge, requesting the presence of both Rush and Young. On the bridge, Volker explains that Destiny has detected a shuttle, which has altered course to intercept. Stranger still, Dr. Nicholas Rush is trying to signal Destiny from it. It's clearly not being faked, since Destiny's shuttle is docked and the signal is in real-time. They have yet to respond to his hails, so Rush decides to answer. The second Rush warns against dialing Earth, as the crew will die if they do. When Young points out that Rush is already on Destiny, the second Rush explains that he has traveled back in time approximately 12 hours, based on Destiny's arrival minutes before. To prove it, he cites the conversation that he and Rush, in the main timeline, had prior to entering the bridge. In the gate room, Scott muses over the fact that they're suddenly going home after they had just committed to the mission. He's excited to see his son. Chloe Armstrong mentions introducing Scott to her mother, which Scott claims makes him more nervous than going through the gate. Eli asks if they'll still hang out upon returning to Earth. Chloe says they will, and Scott thinks they should have a reunion every year. Eli's thoughts, however, were for more regular visits. Lt. Vanessa James notes that it would depend on if Eli is stationed on Earth. Eli is convinced that it will be, having never considered that Stargate Command would ask him to join upon returning. Lt. Tamara Johansen assures him that he would have a place with all of the SGC's top scientists, specifically naming Dr. Daniel Jackson, Colonel Samantha Carter, and Dr. Rodney McKay, the latter of whom James apparently dislikes. Young calls Scott over the radio, having him and Greer report to Shuttle Bay 2. The second Rush docks the shuttle as Scott, Greer, Telford, Young, and the first Rush arrive. Upon exiting the shuttle, Rush tries to attack Telford, blaming him for killing the crew. He then collapses. Young calls TJ to treat his injuries. Wray joins her. As TJ treats him for his injuries, Rush explains that he was burned after failing to stop an overload. The air eventually became so toxic that he had to abandon it. He speculates that Destiny must have passed near a solar flare during the dialing attempt, somehow sending the entire ship back in time. The first Rush seems amused by his double's presence, which the second Rush attributes to fascination. He doesn't think the first Rush would feel the same if he'd gone through the same events. Rush quips that he won't have to. Wray and Telford advocate trying again, hoping to learn from the second Rush's mistakes, only for him to angrily state that the only mistake was trying. TJ also points out that it will, relatively, be the same attempt if they try to go ahead. Rush jokes that it won't be entirely the same; if he and his double stay behind, continuing the cycle, they'd eventually have an entire crew. Young asks for an explanation of what went wrong, so the second Rush relates his version of events. He gave his speech asking the crew to stay on the ship, believing that it would be a waste to throw away something the Ancients spent a generation developing. Young asked for ten volunteers, not including himself and Rush. Greer stepped forward first, followed by Volker, TJ, Chloe, Scott, James, Varro, three Lucian Alliance members, two other SGC personnel, and finally Eli. Telford spoke up, countering that the crew has no obligation to finish Destiny's mission, nor should they be expected to given how advanced the Ancients were. As he saw it, the only end for Destiny would be the day it finally died. He considered taking everyone by force, an idea which Greer quietly discouraged. With no way to convince them, Telford organized those who were returning to Earth. Rush explains that they all died after that. Wray still advocates trying to learn from the mistakes of the first attempt, but Rush explains that Eli's program relies on precise timing; it would be the same attempt. He continues his story at Young's request. The connection was established and Telford went through first. Immediately after that, however, the connection destabilized and couldn't be shut down. Unable to fully stabilize the connection, the rest of the crew went through while Rush tried to keep the wormhole stable. Having run over the time Eli allotted, power began to build toward an overload. Young ordered everyone through, but Rush had to stay to make sure the wormhole remains active. Rush found himself alone. Once he worked up the nerve to use the communication device, he learned that Telford was the only person to get through safely. Young calls off the attempt to dial Earth, and orders the group to the bridge. The first Rush muses that he'll now have someone to hold a decent conversation with. As Destiny circles the star, the time-displaced Destiny comes into view. Eli blames himself for the deaths of the future Destiny crew, while Chloe believes that rescuing her is what led them to this situation in the first place. Brody, however, is more focused on the damage the second Destiny has sustained, which is confined to the engineering spaces. He runs for the bridge. On the bridge, the second Rush believes they should board the other Destiny. Telford sees the value in retrieving its food and supplies, but Brody, having just arrived, explains that Rush's point is to salvage spare parts. Young holds up his radio to point out that running was unnecessary. Young points out that Destiny is already heading away, while the second Destiny is falling toward the star. Rush explains that they can do a short FTL jump, then use the Stargate. Since Destiny has no fixed point of origin, it can dial any gate. Telford offers to lead the salvage team, and the second Rush wants to join, since he knows what systems were damaged. Young is hesitant given his injuries, but both Telford and the first Rush support the idea. Brody, Volker, and Dr. Lisa Park outline which parts they need to find and where to find them. Once the ship drops out of FTL, the gate is dialed. Eli declares the atmosphere to be safe. Upon reaching the second Destiny, both Rushes assess the conditions. The shields will fail in 40 minutes. The group is split into teams and begins salvage operations. In addition to spare parts, food, weapons, plants, medicine, and anything else useful is taken. Wray offers to contact Homeworld Command. As she leaves, Eli muses that they probably think the crew is dead. Young insists that it didn't happen, at least not to them, but Eli still blames himself, knowing that they would all be dead if it weren't for Rush being unexpectedly flung back in time. The second Destiny hull begins to rupture as it gets closer to the star. As the teams retreat to the gate, the second Rush comes upon a power relay for the weapons. If they salvage it, they can double Destiny's weapon capability. He begins disconnecting it, and Telford agrees that it's worth the risk. The first Rush decides to leave and come back with the proper tools, warning his double not to touch the damaged relay, which still has power running through it. Park leaves with him. Telford comes in behind them to check on the second Rush. Telford insinuates that Rush tried to sabotage the dialing attempt and made a mistake which killed the crew, which Rush adamantly denies. When Telford pokes Rush in the chest, continuing his accusations, Rush angrily shoves him off and blames Telford for their deaths. He realizes too late that he has just pushed Telford into the damaged relay. Telford is electrocuted to death, to Rush's horror. He flees the scene. The first Rush explains what his double is doing to Scott. Scott decides to follow Rush to retrieve him. Wray returns to the gate room, having had little time to debrief before the second Telford insisted on switching with someone, preferably himself, to learn what happened. Rush and Scott find Telford dead, while the second Rush is nowhere to be found. Scott reports this to Young. Rush believes he knows the whereabouts of his double and runs off. Young orders Scott to retreat, since the shields are about to fail. Rush finds his double at the interface chair. The second Rush tells him Telford's death was an accident, and insists that the story he told about his experiences was true. Knowing he can't go back to Destiny without them believing he purposefully murdered Telford, he intends to sit in the chair. The first Rush helps him, then abandons ship with Scott. The second Destiny is consumed by the star. On the first Destiny, Rush claims not to have found his double, though he admits that he probably did not stay simply to go down with the ship. Young believes that Rush must be happy that they collected spare parts to continue the mission, but Rush's mind seems to be elsewhere. + +Colonel David Telford uses the Long-range communication device to connect to Destiny, where he is met by Colonel Everett Young and Dr. Nicholas Rush. He wants an explanation of what went wrong. Rush explains how the attempt to dial Earth sent Destiny back in time, and that Telford is the only survivor of that timeline. When Telford asks about his double, Young tells him that he died in an accident aboard the other Destiny. Telford is quick to accept their story since he has more pressing matters to discuss. Senator Michaels, the new head of the Offworld Spending Committee, is coming to Destiny to investigate Rush's "signal from God". Rush protests the name, which he didn't coin, but Telford explains that others on Earth have started using it. Young meets with Camile Wray to explain the situation. Michaels is coming to assess the worth of investing in a new Icarus project to dial Destiny. Wray notes that it doesn't really help them as far as getting home is concerned, though Young sees the value in having a supply line. Wray offers to switch with Michaels so she can talk to the International Oversight Advisory. Young adds that they'll need a male volunteer to switch with Dr. Andrew Covel, who is coming as a scientific advisor. Wray suggests that Young have MSgt. Ronald Greer switch with Covel. Young notes that Greer has always turned it down before, but Wray urges him to make it an order, citing his instability prior to the mission as a good reason for some off-time. In the comm lab, Greer quickly realizes that Wray is responsible for having him use the stones, claiming he doesn't need to rest. Wray sarcastically notes that he's the "perfect soldier" and suggests they just get on with it. At Homeworld Command, Greer and Wray are confronted by an armed guard who demands that they identify themselves. Once they do, Telford comes in and explains that they're on a heightened terror alert due to a possible Lucian Alliance attack. In the Mess hall, Dr. Dale Volker, Dr. Adam Brody, and Eli Wallace discuss Covel, who is apparently the new head of research at Stargate Command. Rush knows Covel, having worked with him at Cornell prior to joining the Stargate Program. Young radios Rush, informing him that Michaels and Covel have arrived. Rush tells Young he's coming, but is in no hurry to leave. After an awkward pause, they ask Rush what Covel is like. He describes Covel as a man fond of keeping secrets, and Volker comments that they "know the type". Young leads Michaels and Covel on a tour through the ship. Covel is impressed by the age of the design. Michaels, however, is more concerned with the most recent attempt to dial Earth, wanting to know if they've given up on trying to dial from within a star. Rush, coming in from an adjacent hall, stops to listen in without being seen. Young deflects Michaels' question, as he's not the one to ask about the viability of dialing Earth. She notes that it is his responsibility to get everyone home, which Young counters by asserting that he wants to be able to do it safely. Michaels and Covel seem to suspect that Rush may have sabotaged the attempt, even though Young defends him. Rush interrupts at this point. Michaels changes the subject, wanting to see Chloe Armstrong, who she's known for a long time. Rush takes them to the bridge, where Chloe is currently working. A soldier is sweeping the building with a Geiger counter. Telford explains that the Alliance has managed to plant Naquadria bombs at a couple of their offworld bases, and might try the same here. Greer offers to help, letting his distrust of Telford slip through, but is curtly dismissed. On Destiny, Michaels' group meets Chloe on the bridge. Chloe is happy to see Michaels. When questioned about her work, Chloe explains that she has been going over the ship's FTL logs, trying to figure out how to streamline their manual jumps. Michaels is surprised by her aptitude in the subject, which Chloe passes off as a result of her change. Michaels wants to speak with Chloe privately, so they head to her quarters. Covel and Rush remain on the bridge. Covel congratulates Rush on his work, being suitably impressed with all he's seen. On Earth, Greer decides to leave, but is stopped by Wray, who tries to convince him to make the most of his time on Earth. Greer is more focused on the Lucian Alliance threat, believing they did nothing to prevent it. Wray counters that the intelligence the prisoners gave up is valuable, but Greer isn't sure they didn't just lie so they could stay on board. As he sees it, they wasted their resources and risked their safety keeping the prisoners. Before their argument can any further, however, an air strike siren sounds throughout the building. Greer immediately drags Wray into a nearby room, where the ceiling collapses on top of them. Michaels and Chloe discuss life on Destiny, which Michaels is amazed Chloe has managed to put up with for an entire year. Chloe notes that they do go to planets through the Stargate. Michaels brings up Chloe's mother, who she says is holding up. She apologizes for Chloe not having been brought home sooner since, aside from Eli, everyone else agreed to this kind of risk while Chloe was never part of the program. She never felt that such a life was for Chloe. Homeworld Command is evacuated. Wray comes to and starts looking for Greer. Once he wakes up, they find that his knee has been twisted by the falling debris. The ceiling collapses in the corridor outside, showing further instability in the building's structure. She fashions a splint for Greer and the two begin looking for an exit. Covel listens to the signal with Rush. He is willing to admit there's a pattern to it, but seems reluctant to confirm Rush's findings for those on Earth. Rush notes that Covel could have taken the position at Icarus before Rush, but turned it down. Covel admits that he thought it nonsense, but now that it's been proven true, there are people that would either try to bend it to their own aims or bury it and those connected to it. Rush cynically notes that Covel just isn't willing to pick a side without knowing which would come out on top. Covel points out that Rush, as always, isn't making things easy. As Greer and Wray search for an exit, they come across another soldier, Airman Evans. Nearby, they find a radio on the body of another soldier. Greer also has Wray take his gun, just in case. Wray radios Telford, who explains that a cloaked Tel'tak was detected and crashed into the building, near the comm lab. Since they haven't gone back to their own bodies, the device must still be active. Telford adds that the ship was likely carrying a naquadria bomb. Michaels' next stop is the infirmary, where Lt. Tamara Johansen and Varro are having a friendly conversation. Young introduces the senator. Scott introduces Varro, and TJ tells her how he's been aiding her. Michaels wishes to speak to TJ alone, so the others leave. She suspects that TJ has had a hard time tending to the crew with inadequate training. TJ has a positive outlook, since with the Ancient database unlocked she is starting to learn about the advanced medical technology on Destiny. Michaels believes that the presence of an actual doctor would help greatly, though TJ doubts there would be many volunteers for a one-way trip. Greer, Wray, and Evans continue searching for an exit from the damaged building, only to find the nearest one blocked by debris. She radios the situation to Telford. He informs them that the bomb squad is having trouble getting through the wreckage, and the heavier equipment needed to get through will not be available in time. Since they are near the crash site of the cargo ship, Wray suggests that they could find and disarm the bomb with assistance over the radio, seeing as how they have no way to escape the building anyway. Covel stops by the Control interface room to meet Eli, who he says is known as the "boy wonder" to the scientists on Earth. Eli wonders if this makes Rush Batman, but Covel apparently doesn't get the reference. Covel wants to know their thoughts on the ship and the signal. At Homeworld Command, Wray's group is still making their way to the cargo ship. Wray notices Greer's pain from his injury and offers to stop, noting that she's having trouble breathing. Evans explains that the dust from the debris has gotten in her lungs. Greer insists on continuing forward, much to her dismay. This sparks an argument between the two. Greer claims to not like people like Wray, who talk without ever acting. Wray, however, believes Greer's real problem is an unwillingness to face his own problems, an area which Wray is trained to deal with. Evans eventually manages to silence them after he hears a consistent ticking sound. Wray realizes this is the Geiger counter the soldier was using earlier. She finds an arm sticking out of the rubble, but is horrified upon finding that the arm isn't connected to the soldier anymore. Greer calms her down while Evans digs the Geiger counter out. He passes it to Wray, being unable to make sense of it himself. It is registering deadly levels of radiation, meaning they are as good as dead. Young meets with Michaels and Covel on the Observation deck. Though they have yet to finish their assessment, Michaels has some concerns. The first Icarus project took six months to set up, not including the time to find a suitable planet and get approval in the first place. Covel doesn't believe Destiny will last that long, and blames the crew for putting it in its current state. Brody radios to inform Young that the ship is about to drop out of FTL, so he warns them to prepare for the momentary signal interruption. Wray believes that she and Greer are responsible for dooming their host bodies to die, but Greer denies this; they couldn't have known about the radiation, so heading for the bomb was the right call. Evans believes that they might have a chance of survival if they leave the building, claiming that Wray isn't qualified to declare them dead since she isn't a scientist. This comment seems to catch her attention for a moment, but Wray just counters that she's been around scientists long enough to know better. Evans covertly grabs a pen from a nearby desk. Destiny dropping out of FTL interrupts the signal, returning Michaels and Covel to their bodies. They are surprised by the conditions at Homeworld Command. Covel asks for the Geiger counter from Michaels. Meanwhile, Wray tries to tell Young about the Lucian Alliance attack and the radiation. The signal is restored before she can finish, though Greer is sure that Michaels and Covel will fill in the gaps, having seen the destruction for themselves. Young tries to disconnect the link manually for a full report, but the link remains active even with the base shut down. Evans uses the distraction to take Wray hostage, demanding that Greer give up the gun and that they find another exit. Wray orders Greer to shoot, telling him that Evans is actually a Lucian Alliance member. She grabs his hand to keep him from stabbing her, allowing Greer to shoot him in the shoulder. Once Wray is clear, he shoots again to kill him. When Greer asks how she knew, she explains that she never told Evans she was a scientist, and he'd have no way of knowing just by her name unless he had read her file. She reveals a clan tattoo on his back to confirm it. She believes he was the pilot and only occupant of the cargo ship, presumably having intended to land the ship under cloak then walk off, leaving the bomb to detonate on a timer. They continue their search, eventually locating the ship. On Destiny, Rush and Covel try to diagnose the problem with the stones. It seems that the command signal is being affected by the radiation on the other end, preventing the stones on Earth from receiving the command signal to disconnect. Covel offers to help boost that portion of the signal. Varro is brought in by TJ, having heard about the attack from her. He offers his knowledge of how to disarm the bomb. Greer and Wray enter the ship. The radiation is coming from a large box in the middle of the room. On the top is glowing, purple/white barrier. Wray radios Telford for assistance, but their proximity to the bomb is blocking the signal. Varro goes over the basic design of the bomb. While disarming it is relatively simple, the bomb case has a holographic shell which makes it impossible to see inside, necessitating that it be disarmed by touch alone. Young doesn't trust Varro, even though TJ does, and Scott notes that they have no way to deliver the message anyway. Eli suggests that if disarming the bomb is simple, a momentary interruption would be enough time to pass the instructions to Wray and Greer. Brody protests, as they have not passed the three-hour mark for a safe jump. Eli believes that the engines can handle one such jump, but any further attempts would surely result in irreparable damage. Varro believes he can pass the message in that time. Wray examines the bomb, having no way to know when or even if it will go off. She begins examining the holographic shell, then decides to check out the bomb itself. She admits to having no idea what she plans to do after that. Chloe finds Michaels in the mess hall, since she needs to be brought to the comm lab so Varro can tell Wray and Greer how to disarm the bomb. Michaels isn't confident in Varro, and chastises herself over coming to Destiny in the first place when the Alliance was the more immediate concern. Chloe tries to convince her of the importance of Destiny's mission, relating how, in the alternate timeline, she volunteered to stay on Destiny. Michaels doesn't believe Chloe would do such a thing. Chloe explains that her father died to save everyone else, and she believes that his sacrifice was for a greater purpose. Wray blindly feels the bomb just to get an idea of what they're dealing with. Destiny jumps to FTL, interrupting the connection, and Varro tries to explain how to disarm the bomb. Unfortunately, the connection is restored before he can finish. They begin to carry out his instructions, but find themselves stuck without the full message. Rush has finally devised a way to terminate the communication link, and reveals that he could have done so earlier had Covel not sabotaged his work. Covel admits to it, having seen the radiation levels on the geiger counter during the first disconnect and panicked. Rush confronts him on the fact that he'll die anyway if their bodies die on Earth, but Covel believes that Dr. Amanda Perry, the last victim of such a death, was simply too physically frail to survive. Young is appalled by Covel's willingness to essentially steal someone else's body, though Covel counters that Wray and Greer only took the risk since they aren't using their own bodies to begin with, and doesn't see why he should have to die for that. Michaels, however, sees this as an opportunity to disarm the bomb. She can learn the procedure from Varro and do it herself. Covel protests, but Young isn't giving him the option. Greer is desperate to keep trying, but Wray convinces him that any tampering with the bomb will probably detonate it. By leaving it be, they give the military more time to evacuate civilians. Greer and Wray decide to wait it out. She apologizes for never having gotten along with him, noting their difference of opinion in action verses discussion. Now in a situation where they have nothing to do but talk, Greer suggests they do so. They both get a laugh out of the fact that Wray can't think of anything to say. Michaels and Covel prepare to return to their bodies. Michaels asks Young to tell Chloe that she's proud of her. Rush disconnects the base, returning them to their bodies. Michaels prepares to disarm the bomb. Wray finds Greer on the observation deck. He asks about Earth, and she tells him that they haven't managed to make a connection since returning to their own bodies. Greer notes that Wray has a friend in Washington D.C.; Wray explains that Sharon Walker is more than just a friend, and wishes she had another chance to speak with her. Greer admits that he would have liked to speak with his mother, as they weren't on the best of terms after he joined the military. Wray assures him that, being his mother, she already knows what he wanted to tell her. + +It has been six days since the Lucian Alliance attack on Homeworld Command. Despite having someone using the Long-range communication device at all times, there has thus far been no word from Earth. In the Communication lab, Chloe Armstrong comes in to take her shift on the device, relieving Dr. Dale Volker. Volker seems dizzy upon standing up, but passes it off as his leg being asleep. Dr. Nicholas Rush and Eli Wallace are playing chess on the Observation deck. Rush checkmates Eli, then recommends that Eli put more effort into the next game as he sets up the pieces. Eli is worried about the people on Earth, since they have no way of knowing if the Lucian Alliance bomb was defused. Rush just tells Eli to play again, since it will keep his mind off it. In the Control interface room, Volker and Dr. Adam Brody argue over the theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey, which Volker refers to by its proper name of "Also sprach Zarathustra". Brody wonders why Volker bothered using the proper name when it's famous in context. Volker just says that it was the thing that made him want to be an astrophysicist, which is what Brody asked. Brody gets him to admit that he heard it from the movie. Volker becomes dizzy again, but before they can discuss it, Chloe seems to be taken over by the communication device. In the comm lab, Colonel Everett Young addresses Chloe to find out who has contacted them. To his surprise, it is Ginn. Joined by Rush and Eli, Young listens as Ginn explains what she remembers. She is not aware of having died, her last memory being her interview at Homeworld Command in Dr. Amanda Perry's body. When she realizes that she is not in her own body, Young explains that Simeon killed her, which also killed Perry. Rush theorizes that her consciousness may have somehow been separated from her body due to the link being severed improperly. In the infirmary, Lt. Tamara Johansen is examining various Ancient medical devices. With Destiny's database now fully accessible, she can finally figure out what they do. Volker comes in, hoping to get something to help him sleep. As she prepares something, he collapses. Young, Rush, Lt. Matthew Scott, and Eli discuss Ginn's unexpected return. Rush theorizes that Ginn's murder caused the link between her and Perry to terminate improperly, causing her consciousness to become "dislodged", which Eli compares to an errant radio signal. Scott wonders why Chloe was affected when no one else does, which Rush attributes to her falling asleep during her shift, which relaxed her consciousness enough for Ginn to make a connection. Young seems unconvinced, and Rush quickly points out that it's just conjecture. Scott is more concerned with where Chloe's mind is while Ginn is using her body. Lt. Vanessa James tests one of the stones to see if she'll connect to Earth, but nothing happens. Wherever Chloe is, it isn't Earth. TJ examines Volker. He admits that he's been feeling ill for nearly a month. She diagnoses him with high blood pressure, so he explains that he was taking blood medication prior to boarding Destiny, having run out not long after. He never told her because he thought she couldn't do anything and felt fine regardless. TJ points out that hypertension is often symptomless and is quite dangerous. TJ decides to analyze his blood work, though Volker thinks he can just sleep it off. She later visits him in his quarters, informing him that his kidneys are failing from end-stage renal failure. Since both kidneys are affected by the disease, the next stage on Earth would be dialysis. Since none of the Ancient medical devices can fill that function, the only option available is a transplant. Eli catches up with Ginn, telling him about how Rush killed Simeon. He relates how he wanted to go, too, and protests her assessment that he would have gotten hurt if he tried. She kisses him, but he backs away since she's in Chloe's body. She wonders if she can be put back in her body, but Eli informs her that they buried her on the next planet they stopped at after her death. Ginn is concerned about where she'll end up if she leaves Chloe's body, so Eli tries to reassure her by pointing out that they don't know where Chloe went. Ginn tells him how she's been trying to remember more about what happened, only to start gasping for air as if being strangled. Eli calls for help, but she recovers moments later. Ginn is brought to the infirmary, but TJ can find nothing wrong with her. Rush speculates that, since Ginn was strangled to death, she experienced a relapse of sorts. Scott believes that it would be best to deactivate the stones. Rush and Eli argue against this, citing the need to study the phenomenon. Young agrees with them, hoping the episode was a one-time event. As they leave, TJ stops Young to inform him of Volker's need for a kidney transplant. Young questions whether such surgery can be performed without a trained doctor on hand, but TJ believes the Ancient database may have information in that regard. Before that, however, TJ will need to find a compatible donor among the crew. With no immediate family, the odds of that happening are low. Young tells her to take it one step at a time, starting with finding a donor so they'll know if surgery is even an option. Scott and MSgt. Ronald Greer come to the infirmary at TJ's request. There are 18 people on the ship with a compatible blood type, Scott and Greer among them. She needs to take blood samples from them. Greer is quick to go first, citing the fact that Marines always go first. Scott asks about the chances of finding a compatible donor, which TJ tries to spin optimistically with little success. Scott assures her that she's capable of doing the job, but TJ doesn't seem convinced. Eli visits Ginn to inform her of his and Rush's progress, or lack thereof. She explains that something doesn't feel right about being connected to Chloe, a feeling she can only describe as "wrong". Eli assures her that they will find a solution. Rush visits Young in his quarters to discuss Volker's surgery, stressing the dangers of it. Young asks if Rush is a possible donor, checking his motives. Rush isn't, so he allows him to continue. Rush points out that a transplant puts two lives in danger, but Young refuses to do nothing. Over the radio, Eli calls for help. Ginn is having a second choking episode, and Chloe's mind surfaces just before she loses consciousness. Ginn wakes up in the infirmary, where Eli informs her that she had another choking episode. Rush asks Ginn where she went when she switched with Chloe, but Ginn has no memory of the event. Scott has confirmed with Cpl. Barnes that the stones were not disconnected, which leads Rush to believe that Chloe's mind is simply being suppressed by Ginn's. Scott again suggests disconnecting the stones for Chloe's safety, and Rush and Eli again protest. Young insists that they will be disconnected upon the next choking episode, which is how long Rush and Eli have to find a way to get Ginn's mind out of Chloe safely. As Eli, Scott, and Ginn return to her quarters, Ginn agrees with the order to disconnect the stones if she has another choking episode. When Eli insists that they'll find a solution before then, Chloe resurfaces. Eli and Scott quickly bring her up to speed, and Eli asks if she can sense Ginn within her. Before she can answer, Ginn comes back. As before, she can't remember the switch. Furthermore, she feels weaker than she did. Scott pulls Eli aside for an explanation. Eli speculates that Ginn's mind is slowly decaying. Even without disconnecting the stones, Ginn will be gone soon. Dr. Lisa Park, Brody, and Volker are helping TJ comb through the Ancient database. They've supplied TJ with a translation program so she can understand the text. Brody finds a ligature device which cauterizes as it cuts. Volker locates a database entry on organ rejection, which is 176 pages long. Park notes that there are other post-op concerns, such as infection, high-blood pressure, and erectile dysfunction. The last one causes Park, Brody, and TJ to burst out laughing, though Volker is considerably less amused. Rush and Eli run diagnostics on the communication device. Rush isn't confident it's even working properly. Young is curious about their plan for Ginn. Eli explains that they are attempting to intercept Ginn's signal and download it into the ship's computer. This will preserve her consciousness until they can find a way to download her into another body. TJ's tests reveal two compatible donors: Greer and Dr. Morrison. Morrison is worried about the risks, but Greer volunteers on the spot. Young assures him that he can take some time to consider it, but Greer has made up his mind. The first step is to extract some bone marrow from Greer, which will be used to prevent Volker's body from rejecting the kidney. Greer declines any medicine for the procedure. Volker thanks him for volunteering, but Greer passes it off, since he believes Volker would do the same. As TJ prepares to extract some bone marrow, Greer jokingly screames in pain the moment the needle touches him. James gives him a light smack on the head for messing with them. Getting serious, Greer manages to resist the pain as she inserts the needle. Scott comes to visit Eli and Ginn, wondering about the status of their plan to remove Ginn from Chloe. Eli doesn't have any good news about downloading her mind from the stones, but Rush is still working on it. Chloe resurfaces, and Eli explains that they've been switching more frequently. She feels tired, which Scott believes is a sign both her and Ginn are being affected. Eli explains their plan to remove Ginn, and Chloe insists on giving them chance to do so for Ginn's sake. Ginn returns, so Scott pulls Eli aside once more. He's worried about the continued risk to Chloe, but Eli is set on saving Ginn. Unexpectedly, Amanda Perry takes over Chloe's body. Rush is happy to see her, having wondered if she might manifest like Ginn did. On the bridge, Eli explains to Young that Perry was likely in Chloe the entire time. Regardless, Chloe's mind is becoming more dominant, which means both Ginn and Perry don't have much time. Perry's consciousness is also weaker than the other two, which is why she only surfaced recently. Rush suggests using the interface chair to download their minds from Chloe, similar to how Dr. Jeremy Franklin's mind was uploaded after he disappeared during his second use the chair. Rush admits to having spoken to Franklin, and explains that he deactivated the neural link following the incident where the ship projected a battle scenario into Young's mind. Young points out that Rush's ideas always seem to lead to the chair. Scott notes that it was of no help when Chloe was being transformed by the Nakai pathogen, but Rush counters that this situation is one he understands. Scott is worried about the risks, but Rush insists that there is little chance of Chloe being harmed. Scott insists that Chloe, Ginn, and Perry must make the choice for themselves. In the infirmary, Greer and Volker are waiting for the surgery to begin. TJ excuses herself after preparing the tools. Volker admits that he's never liked hospitals or doctors. Greer comments that they aren't in a hospital, nor is TJ a doctor, so he be fine. It's less reassuring than Volker would have liked. Regardless, even in this situation, Volker is glad to be on Destiny, a sentiment which Greer echoes. Volker relates how he used to sit in his backyard at night, watching the stars through his telescope. Scott informs Chloe of Rush's plan. Chloe readily agreeing, more concerned with the continued existence of Ginn and Perry than her own safety. TJ is on the observation deck, nervous about performing major surgery. Young comes in looking for her. He notes that both Greer and Volker are willing to take the risk. He says he won't order her to do the surgery, since she knows it must be done and only she can do it. Rush speaks to Perry about the procedure, explaining that he hopes one day to remove her mind from the computer and put it in a new body. Perry has dreamed of such a thing ever since the accident that crippled her. When TJ returns to the infirmary, Greer and Volker are absent. Brody and Park failed to notice their exit. Greer has brought Volker to the Destiny garden, his attempt to give Volker a "backyard" to watch the starts from. He assures Volker that they will come out of this. TJ radios Greer, looking for both him and Volker. Greer just tells her they went for a walk to get some fresh air. As TJ begins the surgery, Brody plays "Also sprach Zarathustra" to help Volker relax. Realizing that the song isn't very relaxing, he tries to turn the player off, only to end up playing "Dragostea Din tei" instead. Unable to shut it off, he pulls out the batteries. TJ starts on Greer. Eli meets with Ginn to discuss the procedure. She is much more apprehensive about it than Chloe and Perry, unsure as to what existing as a computer program would be like. The idea of suddenly being switched off scares her, though Eli insists that the only thing they could disable is her ability to communicate. He assures her that it's merely a temporary solution, until they find a way to give her a new body. Even so, he believes that just being able to see her real face and hear her real voice would be enough for them. Before Ginn can respond, she begins choking again. TJ is in the process of removing Greer's kidney. Young radios in to check on her progress, informing her that they intend to remove Ginn and Perry from Chloe immediately following Ginn's latest choking episode. TJ can't leave to assist, so they go on without her. TJ successfully removes Greer's kidney, while Rush begins the transfer. Doing so causes Ginn to relive the moment of her death, and with the transfer in progress they cannot disconnect her. Power fluctuates all over the ship, shutting down the database and bringing TJ's surgery to a halt. Destiny eventually compensates, though database access and several other systems are still down. Young orders Chloe to be removed from the chair, despite Rush not being sure if the transfer succeeded. Chloe is unconscious upon removal, but wakes up in her room with no apparent side effects. Without database access, TJ is at a loss as to how to proceed. Perry appears to TJ, though no one else in the room can see her. Perry now has access to the medical database and can talk her through the operation. TJ tells the others that she'll explain what's happening later. Rush, meanwhile, notes that two new programs have appeared in the system, one of which is accessing the database. With Perry's help, TJ completes the surgery successfully. Perry disappears before TJ can thank her. TJ explains to Young that she'll begin the stem cell treatments to prevent Volker from rejecting the kidney, but for now everything has gone smoothly. Greer is confident Volker won't reject it. Young praises her work. Young is radioed by Barnes, who asks him to come to the communication lab. Colonel David Telford has made a connection. It had taken them this long to restore functionality to their device. He confirms that the bomb was disarmed. In the infirmary, Brody asks if Volker has gone to the bathroom, since the kidneys are responsible for waste processing. Volker confirms that he has. TJ recommends that Volker take a walk around the infirmary to help speed his healing. Brody makes an excuse to leave, so Park offers to help Volker around. TJ examines Greer's suture, which seems to be infected, though Greer believes he's fine. TJ just intends to change the dressing. On the bridge, Perry appears to Rush. She thanks him for saving her. She describes her new state of being as "freeing". Later, Ginn appears to Eli. He was initially worried since she hadn't appeared as quickly as Perry did. Though she cannot touch him, the fact that they can see each other is enough. She reaches out to touch him, but her hand just passes through his cheek. + +In a meeting at Homeworld Command, Richard Woolsey is trying to bargain with Ambassador Ovirda of Langara for use of their Stargate facility as a lifeline for Destiny since their facility has already been set up to draw energy from the planet's Naquadria core. Ovirda is understandably reluctant to authorize such a venture as the two previous attempts to dial Destiny destroyed the planets used to do so. Colonel David Telford points out that there were outside factors that contributed to the destabilization of each planet, but he counters that the Langaran scientists have determined Rush's solution to be inherently dangerous. Woolsey, however, tells him of a new solution, which Dr. Rodney McKay is brought in to explain Dr. Nicholas Rush and Dr. Amanda Perry are playing chess in his quarters. Rush is losing, and jokingly complains that he couldn't beat her when she was a flesh and blood person, much less now. She insists that she's still a person, so Rush amends his statement, describing her as something more. Perry still isn't convinced, but Rush gets her to admit that in addition to their chess game she is monitoring the sensors and analyzing the pattern in the Cosmic microwave background radiation. She accepts his point, but still wishes she were flesh and blood, a sentiment Rush echoes. Perry seems distracted for a moment, then reveals she has a way to realize that dream. Before McKay can even begin explaining his new solution, Ovirda stops him. He is not willing to dial Destiny if there's even the slightest chance it could end in disaster, but he says that he will agree only if their scientists can confirm McKay's findings. Telford warns them that the Lucian Alliance knows of their planet and its ability to dial Destiny, and would not be so cautious or diplomatic if they decided to use it to reach Destiny. Ovirda believes this is a problem Earth should help defend them against, and doesn't believe they should be required to put their planet at risk in exchange. He remains steadfast in his decision to have Langaran scientists confirm the data. Woolsey understands their position, believing that in their shoes Earth would do the same. Telford, however, is convinced that they must have already made a deal with the Alliance, and claims to have proof to that effect. Telford brings him and McKay to meet with Colonel Everett Young, who is using the Long-range communication device. Young shows Woolsey and McKay evidence of talks between the Alliance and Langara, collected using listening satellites orbiting the planet. The contents are encrypted, but the volume seems to suggest an ongoing negotiation. Lt. General Jack O'Neill has informed the International Oversight Advisory and President Henry Hayes of these findings. Young is concerned that the Alliance could attack Destiny again if they've made a deal with Langara. Furthermore, without McKay's new solution, they could destroy the planet in the attempt. Woolsey is skeptical of their motives. O'Neill has signed off on a "proof of concept" mission to Langara. The first order of business is to bring McKay to Destiny. McKay uses the communication device, but is switched with Dr. Adam Brody instead of Rush. Young, having returned with McKay, questions Lt. Vanessa James about the change. She simply explains that Rush sent Brody in his place, assuming Young wouldn't care. Young doesn't, but is still annoyed that he wasn't informed. He explains to McKay that he was supposed to switch with Rush so Rush could check his findings on Earth, while Eli Wallace reviews it on Destiny. James takes McKay to see Eli while Young goes looking for Rush. She has to draw McKay's attention away from her breasts, then escorts him out. Young runs into Chloe Armstrong, who has found Rush sitting in the interface chair. Lt. Tamara Johansen has examined him, but her only conclusion that he seems to be dreaming. Young, familiar with the chain of events that usually follows the device, has already guessed removing him isn't an option. Young just asks them to figure out what he's doing. Rush is currently in an immersive simulation program, similar to the one which generated the battle scenario in Young's mind. Perry has adapted it into a simulation they can share, one which allows them to have a physical relationship. Rush deduces that she must have programmed some kind of condition so the scenario could play out, but she insists that the conditions are simple enough to allow him to come and go at will. Young finds MSgt. Ronald Greer wandering the halls despite the fact that he should still be resting from the surgery. Greer insists that he just needs some exercise. Dr. Lisa Park comes by, having been looking for him ever since he snuck out. Young orders Greer to return to the infirmary, since he's no good to him dead. Eli and McKay are busy arguing over an equation scribbled on the walls. Young comes in, assuming they have some issue over McKay's new dialing solution. They clarify that they have already gotten past that, and Eli admits that he wished he had thought of it. Eli's confirmation is good enough for Young to sign off on the plan. McKay tries to explain where Rush went wrong, but Young only concern is that it works, not why. With Eli's confirmation, he wants to return to Earth. McKay protests having to leave so soon, but Young assures him that he can always come back later, maybe even in person if they can connect to Destiny. As they leave, McKay insists that he'll continue his argument with Eli later, which Eli is all too happy to do. On Earth, McKay is worried that Brody may have eaten something with citrus while using his body. Woolsey is still against any mission to Langara, instead suggesting that they make a larger offer to counter whatever the Alliance might have offered. Telford explains that the Alliance may move on Langara within a few days regardless of the situation, and that Langara would rather side with Earth given the chance. Young adds that the goal of their mission is to give them some incentive by proving the ninth chevron can be dialed safely. Secondary to this would be determining if Langara has already decided to side with the Alliance. Woolsey refuses to take part in any military action against the Langarans, but Young has a different idea: they'll give them a peace offering. Young and Eli come to check on Rush, who TJ has now diagnosed as being in a coma. Young and Scott need to go on a mission, so he leaves TJ in charge with orders to keep the gate under guard. He also mentions Greer's escape to her, which she immediately protests as dangerous. Eli asks if anyone has a hint as to why he's using the chair. Young speculates that Rush did it to avoid being proven wrong by McKay, but Eli believes that Rush would forsake his ego if it meant getting supplies from Earth. Young merely tells Eli to find a way to get Rush up so he can knock him down later for the trouble. TJ visits Greer in the infirmary. He has developed a second infection and is running a fever. He resolves to fight harder, though TJ claims that it doesn't work that way. Dr. Dale Volker, on the other hand, is fine, even though she thought him more likely to have complications from the surgery. Greer is glad he's the one suffering and not Volker, since he believes he's strong enough to fight it off. She orders him to get some sleep and stop walking around. Brody has joined Eli and Chloe in examining Rush, but is just as stumped. Seeing Rush's low brain activity, Eli has an epiphany. Going through the logs, they discover that Rush's mind has been uploaded into the ship. In the simulation, Rush finds the lack of people strange, and wonders if Perry feels the same. She explains that, at times, she is oblivious to the people on the ship, while at other times she reads through parts of the database in fractions of a second. She prefers being in the simulation with Rush, as her non-corporeal existence is lonely. He assures her that she'll never be lonely again. In fact, were the program not isolated from the ship's systems, he'd stay even longer. At the moment, however, he needs to get back since Young is probably mad at him and he has work to do. She asks him to keep the program a secret for now. Perry leads him to the interface chair in the simulation, which should return him to the real world. She hopes he'll come back soon, though he points out she can still appear to him on the outside. He sits in the chair, but it doesn't send him back. On Langara, Woolsey comes through the gate unannounced, claiming to have some Ancient relics as gifts for Chief Administrator Halpren and Ambassador Ovirda. The captain of the guard insists on examining the relics, not realizing that the items are two long-range communication stones. By touching one stone, his body is inhabited by Lt. Matthew Scott. Scott takes on the guise of the captain and allows Woolsey to visit the administrator. Woolsey tricks him into touching the stone, allowing Young to take over his body. On Destiny, James assures the captain and Halpren that they will not be harmed and should be returned to their bodies soon. Having successfully infiltrated the facility, they prepare to receive the incoming teams from Earth. Perry is worried about Rush's inability to return, but Rush assures her that there's no reason to panic yet. She fruitlessly tries to correct the problem, but Rush points out the simulation is self-contained and thus can't be used to affect any change. He encourages her to leave so she can correct the problem from the outside, assuring her that he'll be fine. On the outside, Eli is calling for Ginn to no effect. When Brody wonders why he's calling for her, Eli admits that he had a similar idea, and believes that Ginn might have passed it on to Perry. Chloe is confused as to why Rush would upload his consciousness, so Eli reluctantly explains that it would allow for a physical relationship. Ginn refused the idea because it would be too dangerous to attempt to upload a human consciousness and then download it again. When he attempted to press the issue, it upset her and she left. He hasn't seen her since. Young briefs the Langaran personnel on their plan to dial the ninth chevron, assuring them that there is no risk involved. Scott rallies the troops, making sure they don't impede the incoming SG teams. One soldier is confused about their sudden willingness to help, given Halpren's previous reluctance, but Scott just claims it was posturing so they could get a better deal from Earth in exchange for their cooperation. In the simulation, Perry returns, apologizing for her absence. Rush has been busy trying to find any differences between the simulation and the real world, but has had no luck. She believes she has corrected the error that prevented Rush from leaving, blaming it on subconscious disapproval from Ginn. Young greets Telford and McKay as they come through the gate with the SG teams. McKay is initially confused, but Woolsey wordlessly indicates that Young is controlling Halpren. As McKay gets to work, Young orders guards to be put on every entrance, even if the SG teams must be used to supplement the Langaran guards. Rush once again attempts to leave the simulation, this time successfully. He is immediately annoyed by Brody, who loudly confirms that Rush has returned. Eli points out the danger of what Rush did, but all Rush cares about is getting something to eat, offering to explain himself to Eli there. Once there, Eli doubts Rush's story that Ginn would hold him there on purpose. Rush passes it off as unimportant since he's out. Eli wants more details about the simulation, but Rush will only describe it as a personal experience. Concerned that they won't be able to maintain the ruse for very long, Young asks McKay for a deadline. Despite much posturing, he believes that he can do it in an hour. Young offhandedly mentions that "Sheppard [was] right," and doesn't clarify his meaning despite McKay's annoyance. Woolsey believes that, in the meantime, they should investigate the suspicion of Langara making a deal with the Alliance. Their conversation is overhead by the soldier who questioned Scott earlier. As McKay continues his work, the Langaran scientists are skeptical of his ability to control the system from a simple handheld computer. McKay rudely dismisses the concern by claiming that, technologically, he might as well be from the future. Telford steps in to smooth out the difficulties, commenting on the parallel between genius and lack of social skills. Telford approaches him to join the team that will travel to Destiny, believing he would be an asset that could restore the ship to its former glory. McKay is reluctant due to the fact that there wouldn't be any foreseeable way home. He also calls attention to Telford referring to himself as if he would be in charge, when Young is the one running the mission. Telford is quick to correct himself. Perry appears to Rush as he's going over his notes, checking up on him. As they talk, she unexpectedly vanishes. In reality, Rush is still in the simulation. The ship suddenly jolts out of FTL, much rougher than it should. Ginn appears to Eli, explaining that she initiated an emergency shut down and is confident there will be no damage. She initiated the shut down as a distraction so she could warn Eli that Rush has no way to leave the simulation. She would have done so sooner, but Perry was preventing her from doing so. Perry is trying to correct the problem herself, but Ginn knows she won't be able to. Eli will have to do it from the outside. Eli isn't sure what she means, but she is cut off before she can explain. Perry appears to Rush in the simulation once more, claiming that she had to avert a potential overload in one of the FTL units. She asks if he can talk, but Rush needs to work. She kisses him on the cheek before leaving, which seems to unsettle Rush. On Langara, Woolsey returns from having examined the administrator's files. He has discovered that Langara was approached by the Alliance on multiple occasions, and steadfastly refused each time, to preserve their relationship with Earth. Woolsey sees this as justification for his warnings of caution, but Telford believes they were justified given the intelligence they had to go on. Furthermore, he sees no reason not to continue. Matters are further complicated when Young receives a call from Ovirda, who is on his way to the facility. In the simulation, Rush heads to the Control interface room, now convinced that he hasn't left at all. He dials back the shields so Destiny will tear itself apart in FTL. This, he believes, will end the simulation by taking it outside the established parameters. Perry tries to convince him that he'll kill the crew, but betrays her ruse by making physical contact. The simulated Destiny explodes. As McKay makes his final preparations to dial Destiny, Young confronts Telford, believing they should call off the mission. Telford is of the opinion that they can always ask for forgiveness once they prove it works, though Young isn't sure they can get that far before being caught. McKay starts up the dialing sequence as Scott reports a sizable force is gathering outside the building. Young orders the Langaran personnel to leave. Woolsey echoes Young's desire to end the mission, but Telford insists that they only need to hold the gate long enough to prove it is safe, after which they can surrender peacefully. Ovirda's forces converge on the gate, and Young orders everyone to hold fire. Telford is still set on finishing the dialing sequence, but Ovirda warns that his men will open fire if it is not stopped by the time the eighth chevron locks. Young tries to placate him, but Ovirda already knows Young is not who he is pretending to be. Young consults with McKay, who believes that the connection would have been successful. However, he advises that they should go no further; the mission has already failed, and it can only get worse if they proceed. Young orders him to discontinue dialing, and his group surrenders to the Langarans. Eli has figured out how to remove Rush, though he seems reluctant to do so. Rush wakes up inside the simulation, which is still going. Perry admits that she's been keeping him there, hoping to correct the problem while the crew kept him alive. It doesn't matter now, though, because Eli knows knows how to end it from the outside. She reveals that her simulation was based on a simple assumption that proved to be incorrect: that she and Rush loved each other. She loves him, but the opposite must not be true, or else he could leave. He vehemently asserts that he does love her, and begs her not to believe a simple program over his own feelings. She explains that Eli is deleting the memory space where she and Ginn are being kept, so they don't have much time. Rush implores her to resist, but she cannot. She asks him not to blame himself for her death, as if she had not died they would never have had this opportunity. Rush reasserts that he loves her, but she just says goodbye before vanishing. Young and Scott return to Destiny. Young explains that Earth has now agreed to protect Langara from the Alliance, while the Langarans have removed the Stargate from the facility, ending any hopes of dialing Destiny. Noticing that they have moved to the bridge, James explains that she took their guests on a tour in the hopes of garnering some sympathy. Given their performance on Langara, he believes James made the best decision of any of them. Rush wakes up in the infirmary, having been unconscious for two days after being disconnected. Eli is there, waiting by the bed. Rush angrily demands an explanation, so Eli reveals that he transferred both Perry and Ginn into a quarantined section of the ship's memory, totally isolating them from both the ship's systems and the neural interface. He did so to save Rush, but clearly isn't happy about it. Eli leaves, ignoring Rush's further calls. TJ stops Rush from trying to press the issue, as he still needs to rest. Greer tells him to listen to her. + +On an alien planet, MSgt. Ronald Greer, Lt. Matthew Scott, Dr. Lisa Park, and Lt. Vanessa James observe some "Space Deer" through a Kino. Park admires their beauty, while Greer's thoughts drift toward their potential as edible meat. Park is surprised he would want to, revealing that she's a vegetarian, which Greer has trouble believing. Scott and James echo Greer's desire for some meat, but Park objects, citing that the creatures may be intelligent. Scott is doubtful, having witnessed one eat its own vomit. Lt. Tamara Johansen calls for some help at the camp they've set up. Greer agrees not to shoot one if it can provide a good reason not to, but doesn't seem to think it will. He takes Scott with him for the hunt. James just laughs, while Park isn't happy about it. Greer and Scott close in on a pair, but Greer hesitates despite having a clean shot. Scott offers to take the shot, but Greer declines. When he tries to aim again, they scatter. They decide to pursue, but a large roar erupts from the forest. Scott deploys his Kino to find the source, but a beast bursts from the brush, knocking the Kino aside. Within moments, it tackles Scott, sending him flying. Though Greer has time to shoot, he hesitates once again. The beast knocks Greer aside and darts past him. On Destiny, Young reviews the footage with Greer, Scott, and Lt. Vanessa James. It went for the camp as soon as it got past Greer. Numerous people were injured, and they couldn't locate TJ and Cpl. Reynolds. Scott asks for permission to retrieve them, but Young denies it. Scott argues that they may still be alive, so Young explains that he intends to go personally while Scott remains on the ship as the senior officer. Eli Wallace is busy going through the boxes in storage. The one he opens appears to have spare parts. Dr. Adam Brody comes in to get him, as Dr. Nicholas Rush wishes to explore some of the unexplored sections. Eli is annoyed that they aren't actually doing much exploring, just opening the rooms and moving on. Brody explains that Rush is just being cautious. Eli questions the idea of Rush being in charge, but Brody knows he won't say this to Rush's face. They meet Rush at a locked door, and sure enough Eli doesn't have the nerve to speak his mind. Brody changes the subject to the door, which Rush explains is one of the last in the section. Eli assumes it will just be more boxes, but it turns out to be a row of Stasis pods. As Young's team gears up, James calls attention to the fact that TJ and Reynolds might be dead. Scott notes that they never found any bodies, but James counters that the beast could have dragged them away. There's also the fact that they don't respond to radio calls, though Scott claims that their radios could be lost or damaged, or they simply aren't conscious. James merely states that their hope should be tempered by the willingness to accept the mission may be a lost cause. Young agrees with her, then sends the team to the gate to wait for him. Left alone with Greer, he asks about Greer's failure to shoot the beast. Greer isn't sure, so Young warns him that he'll need to work out the problem quickly if it was more than a moment of indecision. Brody finds additional rows of stasis pods in the adjoining halls. Rush assumes the pods were meant for lengthy intergalactic travel periods. Both Eli and Rush are fascinated by the discovery, but Rush unexpectedly decides to ignore it for the time being. He intends to check the ship's database for information on the pods first, given recent events. On the planet, the team is having little luck tracking the creature. Young suggests they double back to pick up the trail, but Greer wants to press forward, assuming they'll find it again. Young has James and Cpl. Marsden search the area to get rid of them for a moment, then advises Greer not to let his guilt from failing to stop the beast the first time affect his judgment. He thinks that Greer may have needed more time to recuperate following the surgery, but Greer insists that he's fine. He tells Greer to get his head on straight, then calls James and Marsden back so they can continue searching. In the Mess hall, Varro approaches Scott for an update on the situation. Scott admits that they've lost the trail. Varro offers to help track the beast. Scott believes that Young and his team can handle it, but Varro politely rebukes that idea, citing the lifelong experience of himself and the other Alliance members in hunting game. Scott seems hesitant, so Varro adds that, no matter what the outcome, Scott will want to know that he did everything in his power to rescue his lost people. Chloe Armstrong has taken up the duty of treating the injured in TJ's absence. Park relates how the attack happened so fast that she didn't even see what hit her. Dr. Dale Volker comes in to visit. Dr. Morrison asks if he came to check on them. Volker clearly only came to see Park, but tries to humor Morrison. Morrison complains of a broken ankle, while Park has a cracked rib. Volker inquires about treating such an injury, but Chloe, speaking from experience, explains that it will heal itself in a month. Volker asks if there's anything he can do, so Morrison cuts in, asking Volker to remove his sock, since his foot is swelling. Chloe steps in to placate him so Volker can continue his visit uninterrupted. Park appreciates the visit. Reynolds wakes TJ up in the beast's lair, which is inside a cave on a mountain. Reynolds explains that it dragged them there from the camp. Their weapons are gone, and TJ lost her radio. Reynolds has his, but it's damaged. TJ sets her sights on escaping, but Reynolds' leg is broken, preventing him from walking. Reynolds tries to be optimistic about their survival, since he believes the beast would have killed them if it wanted to. TJ surveys the cave and finds a pile of bones, realizing that the beast merely intends to eat them later. Greer isn't happy about the Alliance team participating in the rescue, but Young is willing to put up with it if it means they have a better chance of rescuing TJ and Reynolds. Varro and the others show up, having taken a detour to examine the camp. Young thanks him for the assistance, but Varro merely claims that they need to work together. He confirms that TJ and Reynolds were taken alive, presumably to be eaten later, and urges haste in rescuing them. Eli complains to Brody about Rush's approach to the stasis pods. Brody believes that Rush's caution stems from having his mind trapped in the ship's computer. Fed up with waiting, Eli decides to check out the stasis pods himself, asking Brody not to tell Rush. Brody decides to follow him instead of moving on. In the cave, TJ decides to check out the outside of the cave, calming Reynolds when he starts to panic at her leaving. From the outside, she sees the beast guarding the entrance from the foot of the mountain. Reynolds suspects that TJ may leave him behind, but she assures him that they'll escape together. She pulls apart the radio to start repairing it. Chloe finds Volker in the Control interface room, offering to get him something from the mess hall. He declines and asks about the search, but Chloe hasn't heard anything since Varro's team left. She steers the conversation toward Volker's feelings for Park, having picked up on it during their conversation in the infirmary. Volker tries, unconvincingly, to claim it's platonic. After an awkward silence, Volker reminds Chloe of her destination to break the tension. As Eli and Brody examine one of the pods, Eli expresses his annoyance at Rush being their De facto leader. Brody points out that Rush was the lead scientist on the Icarus project, which Eli counters by noting that he ended up solving the problem needed to dial the ninth chevron. Brody sarcastically thanks him for the effort. Brody wonders if Eli wants to take over, but Eli explains that he merely wants the science team to have more freedom in their work. Concurrently, Rush is running a diagnostic on one of the pods from the bridge. The pod Eli and Brody are working on is highlighted. Brody, who is working on the pod from the inside, finds himself trapped when it suddenly activates. Eli is unable to shut it off before it puts Brody into stasis. It is night on the planet. Varro asks about Young's hunting experience, and Young readily admits that the closest he's come is fishing. Varro relates how his father would take him and his brother hunting, teaching them to respect wildlife. He believes it was one of the most important lessons he learned. Greer has no such appreciation for the beast they're hunting, but Varro counters that it attacks to eat or out of fear, not out of malice. As they move forward, the tracks suddenly stop. Before they can figure out why, the beast attacks. It manages to take down nearly the entire team in the chaos. Greer is quick to regain his footing and chases it, but Varro stops him, aware that it is trying to divide them up so they'll be easier to kill. Four members of the Alliance team are dead. James has a dislocated shoulder, which Greer helps put back into place. James confronts Greer about his hesitation in the Kino footage, knowing that while normal people may hesitate, Greer would not. He admits that, during his surgery, there was a moment where he thought he had died, waking up to an endless darkness. The thought of seeing it again has been consuming him. James assures him that it was just an effect of the drugs, confident that while she can't know for sure what death is like, it isn't what he described. Varro stitches up a severe cut on Young's chest. He insists that Young return to Destiny, as in his current state his presence would do more harm than good, and promises to bring TJ back. Varro's remaining teammate says that they need to get moving, and that the bodies can be buried later. Young passes Varro a pistol, then reiterates his promise. Rush calls Eli from the bridge, since he and Brody are supposed to be running diagnostics in the control interface room. He pulls up the diagram of the stasis pods on his monitor as they speak. Eli is still working on freeing Brody, but has had no luck, so he claims to be in the mess hall with Brody and assures him they'll be done soon. Rush just smiles. Thea team on the planet now consists of Varro, his teammate Tasia, Greer, and Marsden, James having left with Young. It is daytime once more. Varro stops at a clearing, explaining to Greer that they intend to set an ambush for the beast before it can attack them again. TJ has built a small fire in the cave. She checks her watch, telling Reynolds that Destiny will jump in six hours. Reynolds doesn't believe the crew would abandon them, but TJ knows they would if they thought they were dead. Hence, she needs to get the radio working. Volker brings Park some food from the mess hall. She's asleep, and he hesitates to wake her. She wakes up a few moments later, asking if he was watching her sleep. He awkwardly explains that he wasn't, then offers her the food. Rush comes in to retrieve some equations Park was working on. Volker protests making her work while injured, but Park explains that she asked for it so she'd have something to do. Rush reminds Volker of his shift on the bridge. Volker wants to finish his visit, which Rush is happy to let him do. Varro places mines in the clearing. Greer suspects that their efforts are going to waste, and the beast is escaping while they wait for it. Varro explains that the beast is trying to protect its lair, so it has to stay close to keep the team from finding it. Greer accepts that logic, but warns Varro that he might not make it back to the ship if he's wrong. Varro affirms his desire to rescue TJ and Reynolds, though Greer knows it's more personal than Varro is letting on. He doesn't believe Varro has a chance with TJ, but Varro brusquely states that any such decision would be TJ's. Tasia radios to warn him of the beast moving toward them. Greer goads it into attacking them, and it runs right into the mines. Tasia and Marsden emerge from the brush to confirm the kill. Tasia suggests they get moving before it gets dark again. Suddenly, Marsden and Tasia are dragged away; there are more beasts out there. Varro and Greer continue to follow the beasts' trail. These beasts are smaller, presumably the larger one's young. The trail is easy to follow, which Varro attributes to the beasts attempting to lead them into a trap. He knows that the presence of additional beasts does not bode well for the rescue of TJ and Reynolds. Greer tries to insinuate the Varro wants to give up, but Varro intends to see it through. Regardless, they are close enough to the nest that turning back would be impossible anyway. Reynolds dreads the thought of being eaten alive, and wants TJ to kill him should that outcome be certain. TJ angrily talks some sense into him, telling him that his only options are to help her survive, or live with the shame of having her rescue him and herself. She manages to repair the radio, and starts signaling. Meanwhile, Varro compares Greer to another man he knew, one who also had no fear. He believes that such an attitude is a detriment, and that fear is necessary to protect oneself and others. They receive TJ's signal. She explains their situation and gives Greer their relative position. Volker shows up on the bridge, having finished his visit with Park. Rush has noticed his relationship with her, too, which Volker again dismisses as platonic. Rush confirms this, which Volker takes as a belief that such a relationship could never happen. He extrapolates on this, noting that Volker is the type to be the trusted friend, rather than the romantic interest. He believes that such a situation benefits the pursuit of science, but Volker seems unsettled by his words. Eli brings Chloe in to examine the pod. She protests, since she still has work in the infirmary. Upon seeing Brody, she assumes Eli did something to trap him, though Eli claims it was Brody's fault. Chloe wants to contact Rush, but Eli doesn't want to, at least not until he has no other choice. It is his hope that she may see something he's overlooked. Varro and Greer reach the mountain where the beast has made its lair. Varro offers to scout out the area, but Greer denies that plan. Varro says nothing in response, so Greer encourages him to speak his mind. Varro doesn't believe Greer is up to the task, and that they don't have time for Greer to work out his issues. Greer insists on going, and gives Varro a brick of C-4 to create a diversion. The second adult beast returns to its lair. It observes TJ and Reynolds, as well as the fire TJ has made. The C-4 detonates, causing the young beasts to pursue Varro. The adult beast isn't drawn away. Greer comes in, ready to shoot, but TJ stops him. The beast seems to recognize that they're intelligent from the fire, which is why it hasn't killed them. Greer has them move away, then lowers his gun to show he's not hostile. The beast sniffs him, then backs off, allowing him to leave. On the bridge, Rush shuts off Brody's stasis pod, apparently satisfied with the data he's collected. He tells Brody that he ran a diagnostic on one of the pods, and that the results were informative. Chloe and Eli are surprised by the inexplicable deactivation of the pod. Greer, TJ, and Reynolds meet up with Varro outside, who managed to escape the young beasts unharmed without killing any of them. As they head back to the gate, they come across one of the space deer. On Destiny, TJ meets with Varro to congratulate him on being given free reign of the ship. Greer put in a good word for him with Young, though Varro is sure he'll deny it if questioned. She apologizes for the loss of his team, but assures him he has a place among the crew. He tries to kiss her, but a knock on the door interrupts him. Young enters, having come to get Varro to help prepare the meat from the space deer. As they leave, he checks with TJ to make sure she is alright. On the bridge, Rush has completed a round of diagnostics and announces that they can move on to examining the stasis pods. Eli and Brody urge caution, though they don't admit why. Rush agrees with them, smiling as he walks out. Volker heads for the infirmary with a small handful of flowers, only to find Greer intimately checking up on Park. He gives up on the attempt. Meanwhile, the meat from the space deer is served to the ecstatic crew. + +Destiny's CO2 scrubbers are running low on lime, and are at only 20% efficiency. Lt. Tamara Johansen reports to Colonel Everett Young that a couple of people sleeping on the fourth floor have reported headaches and nausea, which Young assumes to be a result of the scrubbers. He tells TJ about the lime problem. The ship drops out of FTL. Young radios for an update. Dr. Dale Volker notes that two gates are in range, but only one is active. The active one looks promising, so Young prepares a team. Eli Wallace wanders into the mess hall, where Chloe Armstrong and Camile Wray are talking. He tells them that the team has found supplies they can use. Chloe wonders if they found any more purple fruit, which they apparently came across a while ago. Eli is confused, as the fruit tasted horrible, but both imply some sort of alternative use for it. As Eli tries to get an answer out of them, Chloe calls his attention to some movement in the distance. Unexpectedly, six Berzerker drones descend upon the ship. Young, Lt. Matthew Scott, and MSgt. Ronald Greer arrive on the bridge, the latter two taking over navigation and weapons, respectively. Dr. Lisa Park notes that there must be a Control Ship nearby, which will have more. Meanwhile, Eli meets up with Dr. Nicholas Rush in the Control interface room. He is routing power to shields and weapons. Greer manages to take out the drones, but Park states that they will not be able to fight off an entire armada, and they cannot jump for another two hours. Scott detects the Control Ship, which is closing in. Young orders Scott to push the engines to maximum, but this doesn't give them enough speed to outpace the Control Ship. Furthermore, they will not be able to sustain acceleration for the full two hours. Young meets with Rush in the control interface, curious as to how the drones have followed them. Rush isn't sure. Young suggests the inactive drone as the cause, and though Eli insists it to be dormant, he orders it jettisoned just in case. Park radios in to inform him that the engines have shut down to prevent an burnout. The Control Ship has slowed, too, but will still catch them in less than an hour, while FTL will not be available for another hour and nine minutes. The drone is jettisoned out of the third, unused docking bay. A shot from the turrets destroys it. Eli pessimistically states that it will do no good if the drones destroy them, assuming the drone was sending some kind of signal in the first place. Rush stares at him critically, so he apologizes for "panicking out loud." The Control Ship moves into range with five minutes left on the clock. It launches its drones, which begin their assault. Rush diverts all remaining power to the shields, allowing Destiny to jump with minimal apparent damage. Eli joins Scott, Greer, and Chloe in the mess hall. Chloe asks about the repairs, and Eli laments the fact that they only have two repair robots. Scott thinks they should be lucky to have that many, while Eli finds their mere survival to be lucky, aware that they cannot survive another attack like that. Scott hopes the drones will not be able to track them again. Destiny comes across a viable planet and is preparing to stop. Young is hesitant to leave FTL, but Dr. Adam Brody points out that they need lime for life support. Young would like the ship to be repaired further, but Rush assures him that the critical issues have been dealt with. While he cannot guarantee that they will be safe, they will have trouble breathing if they ignore the lime. Young agrees to investigate. No drones are detected when they drop out. Scott leads a small team through the Stargate. Greer spots movement in the bushes, and two humans, Jason and Ellie, emerge shortly thereafter. Scott orders them to freeze. He is surprised when they respond in English, while they are surprised that they used the Stargate. They recognize Scott and Greer, proclaiming them to be their ancestors. Young holds a meeting with Rush, TJ, Eli, Chloe, and Wray. Jason and Ellie claim to have descended from Destiny's crew, who founded a civilization 2,000 years ago. TJ wonders how this could have happened, and Eli realizes that it must have been the duplicate crew created when they attempted to dial Earth from within a star. Since there was no Destiny to receive them that far back, they went to a nearby gate instead. Eli marvels at the fact that an entire civilization descended from them, seeing little appreciable difference in the fact that their duplicates are the ones responsible. He is curious to know how they developed, and wants to speak to them. Young confirms with Rush that the drones are nowhere in sight. Rush reminds Eli of their need for lime. Young allows Chloe, Eli, Scott, Greer, and Wray to go. The team meets with Jason and Ellie at the gate. They are amazed at the crew's presence, considering they all died a long time ago. Eli assures them that there's a good reason they're alive, and Elli makes mention of a testament which foretold Destiny's arrival. Eli assumes he wrote this. They offer to take the team to their settlement. Wray is surprised when they radio ahead, a much more sophisticated technology than she would have expected. They explain that their civilization was founded on Novus, another planet. This settlement is one of several on various worlds, looking for viable colony sites. They have been unable to dial Novus for a long time, decades at least, and cannot dial anywhere else. Jason introduces them to Yaozu, their leader. Camile notes that "Yaozu" was her father's name. He shows them inside one of the tents for tea, introducing them to Landon, Abigale and Betty. Betty compliments Greer on his appearance, which he is flattered by. Yaozu reiterates that they never thought Destiny would come. Eli would like to see their written history, but Wray encourages him to take it slow. Yaozu begins by reciting a Chinese greeting, which Wray translates as "May all things go according to the wishes of those who hear it." As concurrently explained by various members of the crew, the colony only numbers about 100 people, but Novus has millions and advanced technology. The colony teams were sent out due to a natural disaster on their homeworld, but Novus has been out of contact for 30 years. In addition to the natural disaster, political tensions were rising between the two dominant countries: Tenera and Futura. The Tenerans, from who this colony is descended, followed the writings in the testament, written by some of the crew. Tenera loosely translates as "Land of Young". The Futurans, in turn, worshiped Rush, having come to believe he was still on Destiny and would rescue them. Volker thinks the name is stupid, though Brody disagrees. Eli reveals that Brody was the one to invent it. He has a copy of Kino footage recorded during the founding of Novus, explaining that the Kinos are analogous to the Dead Sea Scrolls on Earth. Rush's only concern is the supplies, and Park expresses disbelief that Brody would found an entire country on the idea that Rush would save him. Volker continues to mock the name he picked. Scott and James help organize the supplies being brought in from the colony while Wray gives Yaozu, Betty, James, and Ellie a tour. They come to the bridge, where Rush, Park and Volker are currently working. Rush is quick to leave. James and Ellie are scared by Rush, so Yaozu explains how the Tenerans have demonized Rush into a soul-stealing monster. Wray assures them that Rush is not so bad. When they mention how Rush is seen as God-like to the Futurans, she adds that they won't mention it to him. Eli plays the Kino footage he was given by the Tenerans. He watches with Chloe and TJ. The first entry is Eli showing off the site where Novus will be founded. The name is a shortened form of Novus Mundus, "New World" in Ancient, which Volker suggested. Wray leads her group back to the gate room. They exchange thanks for the help they have given each other. Yaozu has something more to ask. He would like Destiny to transport the colony back to Novus. They are unable to sustain themselves without support from Novus, and thus need a way back home. Eli urges Young to take the colony on board, since, regardless of their relationship to the crew, they are human. Wray notes that the colony has done everything to help Destiny despite their own desperate situation. Young isn't convinced they could transport that many people, but Eli believes it would be possible. The trip would take a week and it would drain most of their lime reserves, leaving them right back where they started, but they'd make it. Rush argues against the idea, since they have no guarantees that Novus would possess the needed resources, or even be habitable after all this time. He asks about the cause of the problems on Novus, which is suspected to be a rogue black hole. The entire solar system could be torn apart, though such a process could be hundreds of years off. Rush adds that they don't know how the drones followed them, so they can't risk a drain on resources. Young decides against taking the colony, but will stop by Novus to repair the gate if possible. Another Kino video shows TJ giving birth, the first child born on Novus. Young is apparently the father. The next video is Eli in front of a group of cabins. It has been ten years since they arrived. Eli has had a child by this point, although with who is not stated. While he believes that their time on the planet has been worthwhile, he wishes his mother could see it. The next video is set far enough ahead that Young is now an old man. Young speaks of a group wishing to break off, presumably the start of the two countries that would eventually form. He admits that he may not have been the best leader, but as a group they will survive and prosper as long as they work together. Young has joined TJ and Chloe in viewing the videos. Eli hopes that this will sway his decision regarding the colonists, but it doesn't. He would like to help, but doesn't see how they can do it safely. Eli, Wray, Scott, and Greer return to the planet to inform Yaozu of the decision. Eli expresses hope that they'll be able to get the Novus gate working. An explosion sounds in the distance, and a drone darts overhead. Knowing what is coming, Scott ushers the colonists to the gate. Drones are also attacking Destiny. Young wants Scott to be brought back, but Scott has already dialed in, asking to bring the colonists. Young reluctantly agrees. Unfortunately, the drones shoot a section out of the Stargate, disabling it before the evacuation can finish. Scott, Greer, Wray, Eli, and the majority of the colonists are trapped. Young is forced to retreat, leaving them behind. On the planet, Eli states the obvious about their situation. Wray believes they might come back, but both Eli and Scott know they won't return as long as they suspect the drones are still there, unaware that the drones have since retreated. When Jason asks about the drones, the team explains their purpose to him. Greer is confused as to how the drones knew to attack the planet as well as Destiny, and Eli realizes that they must have found a way to track the active Stargates Destiny uses. Wray calls attention to the colonists' additional settlements, which would have similar technology. Jason and Ellie leave to warn them, but Greer knows that it's too late. On Destiny, Rush has made a similar deduction about the Stargates. Rush recommends switching to shuttle use until they get far enough away that the drones likely won't be able to detect further gate activation. Park is worried about the team on the planet, but Rush points out that going back would risk the ship and its crew. Young agrees, and passes this decision on to Yaozu, who made it though. Scott finds Eli working on the damaged gate. The gate will never be functional again, but its subspace transmitter could be used to contact Destiny to send a message. Scott is worried that the signal will attract the drones, but Eli is relatively sure that it is weak enough not to provoke them but strong enough to reach Destiny. For now all he can do is it on and off, but this gives Scott an idea. On Destiny, Brody berates Volker's name for Novus, "Novus Mundus", though Volker is quick to point out Brody's own poor name choice. Young comes in with Park. Brody and Volker have been watching the colony's gate activate and deactivate seemingly at random. Young recognizes the pattern : it is morse code. He calls Rush and Chloe to the bridge. Eli wakes up on the planet. Wray is worried that they won't be going back to Destiny, but Eli isn't ready to give up. Scott runs up to tell Eli that his plan worked. As confirmation, Destiny's shuttles fly overhead. Young has radioed in, and intends to move the colonists. In the Mess hall, Eli moves through the crowd to join, Scott, TJ, Chloe, and Park. Their journey is almost over, and Eli is glad they'll be able to offload the passengers. Scott has enjoyed the time, though Park notes Rush is quite upset that they've used up all the lime they collected in taking them home. Some of the colonists have expressed a desire to stay, a request Eli wonders if Young will grant. TJ is concerned that the planet won't be there, but Eli is sure that it will be some time before the planet is destroyed. Chloe is concerned that the political situation might have resulted in war, and both sides had nuclear weapons. Eli is confident that they would have worked out their differences, but the others aren't so sure. Young comes in to retrieve Scott. The will reach Novus soon and he is to take a shuttle down. Eli asks to join him, and Young allows it. Jason, Ellie, Yaozu, Greer, and Wray have joined the shuttle mission. As they approach Novus, Scott can detect no radio signals. Passing through the atmosphere, Scott hits a layer of dust and ash, and the surface temperature is low. Listening from the bridge, Park believes this to evidence of a nuclear winter. Passing through the cloud cover, the shuttle teams sees an intact but apparently abandoned city. There is no radiation, no detectable power signatures, and no signs of life. Rush clarifies Park's assessment to a volcanic winter, likely the result of a super volcano. Scott makes a lower pass, but there is no sign that anyone has lived there for a long time. + +A flashback shows the alternate Colonel Everett Young on his deathbed. Chloe Armstrong is by his side, and he initially mistakes her for Lt. Tamara Johansen. He asks for his son, Steven, who shows up a few moments later. He says that his sister, Sara, will be there shortly. Young turns to Chloe and apologizes The shuttle lands on Novus near a statue of Young. Ash is falling from the sky. After doing a short recon of the city center, Lt. Matthew Scott contacts Destiny to inform them that the planet is abandoned and breathing is difficult with the ash. Young doesn't want them to stay if it's dangerous, but Scott explains that Yaozu led them to the entrance of an underground bunker where the inhabitants might have taken refuge. However, its thick blast doors have proven impossible to open, even with the shuttle's weapons. Dr. Adam Brody suggests using Destiny's main weapon at a low-power setting. Dr. Dale Volker believes they might destroy the bunker, but Eli Wallace and Dr. Nicholas Rush believe it to be worth the risk. The shot successfully penetrates the door, and Yaozu leads them in. Having been there as a child, he is able to lead them to the Teneran archives. A Kino recording shows the initial arrival of the alternate Destiny crew after they went through the Stargate. They ended up on a planet in the middle of a sandstorm. While they try to figure out what went wrong, Lt. Matthew Scott organizes teams to search for shelter. They notice Colonel David Telford did not arrive with them. Young sees Eli has an active Kino, and orders him to dial another planet. Chloe asks him if he can dial Destiny, but its address is not on the list. Young finally gets tired of the Kino and grabs it. Camile Wray is watching the recording with Yaozu, still in disbelief that she is viewing a 2,000-year-old recording. Nearby, Eli manages to establish a communication link between the bunker and Destiny. Scott informs Young of their discovery. Rush asks if there's anything worth salvaging. Eli notes the vast historical archives, but Rush's concerns are for more immediate problems like life support. Scott mentions food stores that could be recovered, so Young sends the other shuttle down with another team to start gathering supplies. He sends Rush with them to find supplies for life support. Chloe, Brody, Volker, and Dr. Lisa Park also join the team. Another Kino recording shows the alternate crew having taken shelter in a cave on the windy planet. People are beginning to pass out from the thin atmosphere. Eli Wallace has found four addresses they can dial. Chloe is worried about exploring blind, but Eli explains that they have six Kinos to perform recon with, as he was not the only one to take them from the ship. Young orders him to start dialing. Rush's team arrives in the archive room. Eli explains that the archive spans another five levels going up. Above that is food storage, living quarters, technology, and other valuable supplies. Scott and MSgt. Ronald Greer are already exploring those sections. Rush goes to join them, ignoring Eli's statement that they have things in hand. The next recording shows Scott and MSgt. Ronald Greer arriving on Novus, declaring it safe for the crew. Brody notes that the archive is immense. Yaozu quotes a saying from the alternate Eli: "It is easier to know where you are going when you know where you have been." Brody notes that they can just take it back to Destiny. Park doesn't believe they can physically remove the drives, but both Eli and Brody have come to the conclusion they can simply upload it to Destiny wirelessly. Yaozu seems reluctant to let Brody do it, so Eli takes over, noting that Brody was the founder of Futura. Park and Volker begin to make fun of the name again, but Brody just tells them to let it go. Wray watches a recording of the crew gathering their supplies. They have very little, but Dr. Adam Brody believes it can be stretched until Dr. Nicholas Rush rescues them. Wray believes Destiny was destroyed, while Eli expresses concern that their attempt to dial Earth from within a star may have sent them to another time period. Young notes that the may be stuck on the planet for a long time, so the first order of business is establishing shelter and finding food. Rush finds, Varro and a number of soldiers in the food storage area. Greer calls him over to show him a package of beef jerky, amazed that knowledge of it would survive 2,000 years. Scott finds Chloe at one of the archive terminals, explaining Eli's plan to upload the data to Destiny. Chloe tells him about all the books she's found in the archive, such as numerous textbooks authored by Eli. Scott notes the irony of the college dropout writing them. Chloe has been reading the diary of her alternate self. Chloe reads her first diary entry aloud, which was written two weeks after their arrival on Novus. In a flashback, Eli, Scott, Camile Wray, Chloe, and Brody are arguing over the location for their shelter. Brody rejects Eli's proposed site, which is a flood plain that will wash out as soon as it rains. Their current location, by comparison, has all the supplies necessary to build decent homes. Wray doesn't see how they can build homes without tools, but Brody explains that a nearby spring has iron deposits which can be used to make basic tools. Eli still believes they should look for another location, so Brody counters that it was his plan to dial Earth that stranded them in the first place. Young breaks up the argument before it can escalate. The site has already been chosen, and they aren't going to move. Scott recommends building a fence to keep out the local predators. Young agrees with the idea. Chloe finishes reading, expressing amazement at the progress made from such simple beginnings. Scott believes their children did well. Chloe wants to read on, but is interrupted by an earthquake. Once it passes, Brody notices a large crack running up the wall, urging haste in finishing the upload. Greer checks on Rush, who is fine. Greer notes that he hates earthquakes, while this is the first one Rush has experienced. Scott radios Greer to check on him, then informs him that additional teams are coming to gather supplies faster. Chloe reads another entry. In a flashback, Wray is planting a garden. The crew has managed to construct some simple furnishings for their camp. Park runs in, looking for TJ. This point in time is concurrent with Dr. Dale Volker's kidney failure in the main timeline, only the alternate TJ lacks the supplies to save him. Volker dies without treatment, the first death on Novus. Chloe is reading this to Volker, who can't bring himself to comment. Park comes in to tell him that the shuttle is ready to take him back to Destiny. Volker leaves without a word. Wray is taking care of Yaozu, who suffered a minor head injury in the earthquake. He insists he's fine, but TJ, having recently arrived, forces him to have it checked first. In a flashback, TJ is stitching a wound in Young's arm. She claims he isn't getting enough rest. He counters that no one is, but TJ believes the others are just following his lead. Young turns his attention to Tj's curious possession of stitching for his wound, which she explains is actually animal tendon and a makeshift needle Brody made. Varro comes over to check on Young. TJ says that people should be more careful with the recent construction. After an awkward silence, Varro says he'll keep it in mind and walks off. TJ finishes the stitching and tells Young to watch for infection. He falters as he tries to stand up, though he claims he's fine. TJ tries to convince him that no one blames him for their current situation and that they have to make the most of it, rather than beating himself up over what's past. She kisses him. Over the communication link, Eli explains the fate of the Novans to Young. The Stargate was buried by a volcanic eruption decades ago. Many had already evacuated by then, but some remained. The two countries, realizing that they stood a better chance by working together, reconciled and built massive starships to cross the void between Novus and a nearby colony world. The world is ten days travel by FTL but hundreds of years by their more primitive propulsion. Another flashback shows Scott talking with Lt. Vanessa James about his upcoming wedding to Chloe. He is concerned their previous relationship might lead to the wedding being sabotaged, but she is wholly supportive of their union. He thinks she might not want to come, but James doesn't intend to miss the first wedding on Novus. Wray is also making pie. Chloe reads aloud from her diary as the wedding ceremony is shown. Young presides over it. Greer is the best man, while TJ, pregnant with Young's child, is the bridesmaid. Varro and James make a connection during the wedding. A Kino recording of Eli plays. He explains that people are starting to pair off. He notes the recent wedding as well as Varro and James forming a relationship. TJ gave birth recently. Her first child is her son Steven Young, named after her father. Eli notes that he has yet to find someone. Neither has Brody. Eli calls Volker on Destiny to prepare for the upload. Once Volker is ready, the transfer begins. Park calls Eli over, having discovered that one of the Novan starships is still on the planet, as they could not finish it before it became necessary to launch. Park is not sure how close it was to being finished. Another Kino recording shows Eli tracking Chloe's pregnancy. She's six months along. Eli notes that Scott is trying to get a house built before the baby is born. Eli is sure he'll be a great father, while Chloe is sure Eli will be a great uncle. Eli smiles at the recording once it ends, but is broken out of his appreciation by Park, who has confirmed the Novans' theory of a rogue black hole threatening their solar system. It is in the system now, causing the planet to destabilize. A fault line has already formed under the city and is rapidly getting worse. They will have to leave soon. Brody notes that the database upload could take days. Eli clarifies that it will take 37 hours with his compression algorithm. Brody hopes that is enough time. In a flashback, Chloe is giving birth while Scott tries unsuccessfully to keep her calm until Eli shows up with TJ. Eli and TJ come in a few moments. TJ takes over, giving Scott the job of cutting the umbilical cord. The scene suddenly switches to TJ giving birth (presumably her daughter Sara Young) with Young by her side, to James with Varro, and finally to Dr. Lisa Park with Greer. Park names her son Dale Greer. Another Kino video of Eli gives further information on the developing relationships of the crew. He relates the various births in the flashbacks. He is outside the house where James is currently giving birth, apparently having done so after Park. Eli is still single, a fact which obviously bothers him. Cpl. Barnes comes out, telling Eli that James gave birth to a girl and both of them are fine. She seems exhausted, which Eli picks up on. They stare at each other briefly, then the video switches to Barnes giving birth to Eli's child. Watching the recording with Chloe, Eli is surprised at the pairing. Chloe suggests that it might be worth pursuing. In the supply room, Rush has apparently found something of interest. He unpacks a box of some sort of greyish material, taking the wrapper to look it up in the inventory. Another earthquake causes the stacks of crates in the room to tip over, narrowly missing him. Greer comes in to make sure he's alright. Scott informs Young that the latest earthquake was a 6.2, and it will only get worse. The fault line is getting wider, consuming the city. Young doesn't want them staying too long, but Scott believes they can keep track of it fairly accurately. In a flashback, Chloe, TJ, and Wray are discussing the latter's most recent date. Wray admits that the woman she dated is easily the most compatible with her, but already found her soulmate and doesn't need another. TJ runs off to stop her son from eating something dangerous. She stops in time, but holds her hand as if it's injured. Chloe notices, but TJ dismisses it. The main timeline TJ is reading this from her diary, obviously concerned by it. Scott calls Young again to inform him of the ship still on the planet. If functional, it could transport the entire group of colonists. Young agrees to let them check it out. Eli asks for an update on the upload. Volker explains that they've already received 900 exabytes, but that is a drop in the bucket. Rush arrives by elevator to get Scott to bring him pack to Destiny, which dozens of crates stacked behind him. Scott intends to visit the ship factory, so Rush merely states that he can head for Destiny after that. Another flashback shows TJ cleaning her clothes by the river. She seems to be having trouble keeping a steady pace. The scene switches to the main timeline TJ watching a recording of her alternate self. Chloe, reading from her diary on an adjacent monitor, comes over. The recording reveals that TJ has ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease). Varro comes in after hearing about it. Wray has also joined up with TJ by then. He tries to convince her that it won't happen in this timeline, but TJ explains that it's a hereditary disease; it's not a question of if but when. He asks about treatment, but TJ knows there's no cure. Young shows up to console TJ, having come down to the planet. Varro, Chloe, and Wray leave them to talk. Young has Volker running a search through the Ancient database for a possible cure. TJ explains that the symptoms began presenting themselves five years after she arrived on the planet, and she died a few years after that. A flashback shows TJ's disease progressing over the years. As time passes, she can barely manage to hold silverware straight, eventually losing most of her motor control and dying not long after. Scott pilots the shuttle over the factory, only to discover that it has been consumed by a massive river of lava. He calls the bunker to speak to Young, revealing what he's found. Rush recommends that they leave immediately. Young orders Scott back to Destiny so he can offload his passengers and come back for more. Scott is worried that they can't sustain the colonists on Destiny, but Rush assures him that it will be fine. Young notes that they have no choice but to evacuate. A third of the Teneran archive has been transferred. Young wants to cut it short, and though Eli argues against it, and earthquake serves to underline Young's point. As they prepare to leave, Yaozu approaches TJ, telling her that his people developed a cure to ALS nearly 200 years ago, which should be in the archives. On Destiny, Rush is busy cutting off circular pieces of the gray material he found. Volker radios him, having not been informed that he came back. Rush is dismissive, not seeing the need to inform Volker of his movements. Volker asks for help in searching the database for information on ALS. Though it obviously bothers Rush, he sees his current work as a more pressing need and insists that he'll help later. Various Kino videos show the crew in their old age. Chloe and Scott are going to be grandparents, their son Alan and his wife Claire having recently conceived their first child. The video switches to Varro and James, who have three children and five grandchildren. The next is Wray, who tells about the constitution she helped draft. She also notes that they're forming a school, with Eli as the teacher. She praises his ability in this regard. Eli, who is behind the Kino, thanks her for the compliment. Park and Greer come up. They had four sons, three daughters, and fifteen grandchildren between them. Greer jokes that he's "tired". The final video is Brody, who is still single and has aged into a stereotypical grumpy old man complaining about the kids ruining his lawn. The video cuts him off mid-rant. Scott has returned from Destiny. He radios Young to inform him that Greer's team is bringing up the next batch of supplies. Young adds that Chloe, Wray, and Yaozu are on their way up. Scott is to take them along with Brody and Park while Young takes everyone else on the second shuttle. Young meets with Eli to discuss the archives. Since Eli has compressed the data to speed up the transfer, he cannot search through it until the transfer completes. With only a third of the archives uploaded, there's a one in three chance they have it already. Varro believes it's worth the risk to wait long if it means getting better odds, but another earthquake hits, knocking out main power. A flashback narrated by Chloe explains that Young has been elected to a second term as mayor. A small group, dissatisfied with his leadership, breaks off the main group, presumably the start of Brody's Futurans. The earthquake has disabled the elevator and destroyed the stairs. Young radios Scott to inform him that they'll be taking the emergency ladder. Eli is the first to go up. The fact that one of the rungs is already loose bothers him, but he goes up anyway. He is followed by TJ, then Varro, with Young taking up the rear. Scott has come from the shuttle with rope to hoist them up if necessary, refusing to leave until Young's group is safe. As they head up the ladder, one of the rungs breaks under TJ's weight. Varro is quick to grab her, swinging her to a nearby ledge. Varro's own rungs gives out moments later, and Young is not quick enough to grab him. He has Scott send the rope down, using it to secure TJ. Once she's up, Young secures Varro. He's alive, but badly injured. Young is the last to come up. Both shuttles manage to escape the planet with their full crew. The flashback of Young on his deathbed is revisited. He apologizes to Chloe for failing to get them home, but Chloe sees this planet as home. Young dies moments after hearing this. Rush installs the gray material into the CO2 scrubbers. It is a highly efficient filter which will last for years, and Rush brought back cases of it. Brody notes that they'll need it with the colonists on board, though Park adds that they'll be gone in ten days when they reach the other colony planet. Once they leave, Volker speculates that Rush's recent frustration is being caused by the idea that the crew could function and prosper in his absence. In the infirmary, TJ explains that Varro has multiple broken ribs, lacerations, and bruises. He's stable, but she can't be sure he'll pull through. Eli comes in to inform TJ that the portion of the archive they downloaded does not have the ALS cure. Likewise, the Ancient database is not much help since it doesn't use human terminology, though it could still have something. TJ thinks that the Novan starships might have a copy of the archives, but Eli explains that the starships won't reach the colony for hundreds of years, and they can't find them in empty space. He tries to assure her that the other medical data they found in the archives may help them develop a cure, and is confident they'll find a solution somehow. A final flashback shows the dedication of Eli Wallace Elementary School by his grandson Matthew Wallace, the principal. He tells about how Eli put his life into creating their system of education, and that he plans to uphold that legacy. He turns over the podium to Wray, the last surviving member of the expedition and current mayor, as well as author of their constitution. She recites the same words of greeting Yaozu gave when they first met in the main time. She gives a speech about how the crew thought they had failed their mission when they arrived, but now realizes that it's the journey that matters. An aerial shot of the town shows how it evolves over the generations, progressing from a simple town, to an early industrial city, then finally to an advanced metropolis. The final shot shows one of the Novan starships launching from the city. + +Eli Wallace is watching a Kino recording of his alternate self's grandson dedicating a school in his name. Dr. Nicholas Rush comes in, wanting to get a set of calculations Eli was working on. Eli hands his a piece of paper covered in writing, indicating the bottom-left corner. Rush expresses hope that Brody's paper-making project will bear fruit soon. He notes that Eli has viewed the dedication video multiple times, and Eli jokes that they don't have any television. Rush suggests he could be doing more important things, but Eli says he's adding it to his documentary, which he feels is important. When Rush asks why, Eli explains that the Novans are their descendants. Rush points out that he wasn't there, but Eli still feels the fact that they are human makes it important enough. He wishes that some of the Teneran colonists had remained on the ship. Rush notes that the Novans spread out over enough planets that they'll likely find another group, adding that Destiny is not a passenger ship. On the bridge, Dr. Dale Volker and Dr. Adam Brody are monitoring the ship as it performs an aero-braking maneuver through a gas giant to line up with the star in the system. Rush comes in, so they inform him of the situation. Brody is confused, since it's inefficient, but Rush assumes Destiny has a good reason. Volker complains that it takes too long, so Rush asks if he has anything better to do. Brody points out that the ship's power reserves are still at 40% well above what Destiny normally recharges at. Volker compares the ship to his grandfather, who would fill the gas tank of his car when it was still half full. Rush isn't amused by the comparison. Colonel Everett Young comes in to observe the maneuver, informing the crew to prepare. Upon coming out of the gas giant's atmosphere, Destiny is confronted by Control Ship and its Berzerker drones, which are positioned between it and the star. Brody speculates that the gas giant masked them from Destiny's sensors. The FTL engines will be ready to activate in a few minutes, about the same amount of time it will take the drones to reach them. Young orders Lt. Matthew Scott, who has just come in, to try and pilot around them. However, the drones just move to block Destiny. Young suggests jamming their signal, but Eli cannot do it that quickly. Young entertains the notion of plowing through them, since they need to refuel and the star will protect them, but Rush denies that course of action; they'd never survive the attempt, and shouldn't risk a fight when they don't have to. Accepting his logic, Young orders Scott to jump as soon as they are able. The drones reach them and begin the attack, but Destiny is able to jump mere seconds later. Safe from the drones, the bridge crew begins to speculate on how the drones found them. Volker thinks that they were waiting there for Destiny. Rush tries to suggest that it was merely luck, but Eli points out the odds of the drones stumbling upon their path in the vastness of space is extremely low. Rush notes that the only known means the drones have of tracking them is through the Stargates, urging everyone not to overreact as he walks out. Eli claims they shouldn't under react, either, and chases after Rush. Eli finds Rush in the Control interface room, charting nearby stars. Eli deduces that Rush was understating his concern, and points out that if the drones really knew they would be there, they have a serious problem. He is curious as to why Rush is charting the nearby stars, as Destiny will find one on its own, but Rush believes this is exactly why they can't let Destiny choose. He doesn't think they can track Destiny, but thinks that they may have learned to predict Destiny's course. If not for the gas giant buying them time in the last encounter, they would either have been destroyed or ruined the FTL drives while escaping. With no choice but to recharge, they need to use a star Destiny would not normally divert to. Destiny is waiting in empty space far from the target star. Camile Wray, MSgt. Ronald Greer, and Lt. Vanessa James have joined the bridge crew. There is nothing on the sensors yet, though the ship is too far out to reliably detect anything. Wray asks why they didn't just go straight to the star, so Eli explains that they're waiting for the minimum jump time to elapse so they can escape if need be. Wray doesn't get why the drones are so obsessed with destroying them. Eli notes that their motivation is simply to destroy all foreign technology, and they apparently lack any programming to give up. She bemoans the lack of seats, so Young offers her the captain's chair. Rush tells her not to press anything. Once the minimum time necessary for a jump expires, Eli expresses hope that they might be able to refuel, only to be cutoff mid-sentence when drone contacts begin coming up. Rush notes that they can't fight and are running low on power, so Young orders a retreat. Colonel David Telford is contacted using the Long-range communication device and informed of the situation. He expresses disbelief that the drones could have blockaded every available star, but Eli points out that the drones only need to be at the next one, as they don't have the power for any more attempts. Rush notes that Eli has an idea, albeit a crazy one. Since the drones have figured out what types of stars Destiny normally recharges from, they need to use one Destiny would never choose: a blue super giant. Volker objects to the plan, as the extreme temperatures would kill the entire crew. Rush explains that the crew will be evacuated, while a small team in Ancient environmental suits pilots the ship. Telford wonders why they can't just set the ship to autopilot, so Eli explains that someone must stay to prevent the ship from aborting the attempt. In addition, auto-navigation will shut down from the heat, meaning they will need to pilot the ship manually. Wray wonders who will stay. Telford wants to bring in qualified professionals from Earth, but Rush counters that the two most qualified individuals — himself and Eli — are already on the ship. Telford is surprised Rush would volunteer, so Rush points out that it's their lives at stake; Telford isn't even on the ship. Chloe Armstrong is concerned that there won't be a habitable planet in the system. Rush confirms that no planet in the system could hope to support life, but there should be Stargates in range. Though the Stargate will doubtless attract the drones, hopefully they will be able to recharge and leave before they actually arrive. Telford wants Earth to sign off on the plan, but Young bluntly informs him that they only called him so he'd know the situation. They have no choice but to act. The hydroponic garden is stripped clean prior to departure, as the heat from the star will immolate the entire crop. Scott isn't sure why that doesn't happen every time, so Dr. Lisa Park explains that the super giant radiates more electromagnetic radiation than the shields can attenuate over such a large surface. Brody is working on refrigerating the original lab so they can start over upon returning. Chloe is annoyed that they have to start over after having nearly grown enough to sustain the crew. Park wishes they had more time, but Scott notes that they only have 20 minutes before Destiny drops out of FTL, and ten minutes after that they need to leave. Volker and James are working on the bridge as the crew gets ready to leave. Unexpectedly, the bridge powers down, sealing itself just as Volker and James leave. She radios this to Young, who is busy collecting weapons with Greer and TJ. Greer notes that they're running low on bullets, but Young believes Brody can make more if need be. As they depart for the gate room, Park approaches Young, asking if she can stay to collect the last of the medicinal plants, citing her experience with the environment suits. He agrees, much to her surprise. Eli sees the crew off. Scott notes that Rush hasn't done the same, and adds that Park is also missing. Young explains that she elected to stay. Though Volker is worried, Greer assures him that she'll be fine, and couldn't be talked out of it anyway. When the ship drops out of FTL, Rush radios Young to inform him of the star's properties. He estimates that they will be able to dial back in seven hours. Eli has located one gate in range. Once the planet is dialed and a Kino is sent through, they discover a modern town, which Eli compares to Pittsburgh. He speculates that the world is one of several colonies that branched off from Novus. Its less-advanced appearance could be due to any number of factors. Brody notes that the planet is safe but uninhabited. Young orders Scott to lead the crew through the gate. Before leaving, Young praises Eli on his plan. On the planet, Young discusses whether or not to look for supplies, despite feeling that they'd be better off waiting. Lt. Tamara Johansen, Greer, and Wray all believe that there are worthwhile things they could find. Young points out that the people abandoned it for a reason, which Greer jokes is because it's "Pittsburgh". James protests, as she was born there. Wray believes it to be worth the risk. Young organizes small teams to search for supplies. Though Wray and James believe the entire group should participate, Young insists that the majority stay behind. Wray, Varro, and James are left to keep the main group safe. When asking if he should look for anything in particular, Wray says she'd kill for a new outfit. He says he'll keep it in mind. The search group splits off into two teams. On Destiny, Eli is helping Park collect the last of the medicinal plants. She sees the garden as their greatest accomplishment. Eli jokes that Brody's still is a bigger one. She relates how comes to the garden to watch the stars, as she did back on Earth. Eli points out that the stars are always changing from Destiny. Rush calls Eli, as they need to prepare for the refueling. Park remains behind to collect as many of the plants as she can. On the planet, Scott and Greer's team are walking down the streets. Chloe wonders how long they've been gone. Brody can't give an accurate guess, as nature can take over quickly, but assumes they've been gone for years. What confuses him is the absence of vehicles despite the roads being paved. Volker is busy looking in the windows, though Scott warns him not to bother if they don't have anything useful. Chloe notes that she plans to check any shoe stores if they find one, and Scott agrees that new boots would be useful. Greer suggests splitting up into two teams to search both sides of the street. Scott concurs, taking Chloe and Brody with him while Volker goes with Greer. Eli enters the control interface room, seeing that Rush has yet to don his environmental suit. Rush notes that they don't need them yet, which Eli notes makes him look ridiculous since he's the only one in the room wearing them. Rush passes Eli some calculations to check. Eli asks what's next, but Rush defers to Eli since it's his plan. Not understanding his intent, Eli persists in his questioning. Rush clarifies that he wants them to know their roles clearly. Eli doesn't get it, so he further explains that they need to decide who is going to be the pilot and co-pilot. Eli offers to take the main position. Park is still busy collecting plants. She tries to leave when an alarm sounds in the compartment, but the door seals shut before she can leave. She radios Rush to have him unseal it. Eli tries to override the lock, but Destiny won't let him. Greer's team is raiding canned food from a diner. Volker points out that all the labels have worn off, but Greer believes they can figure that out later. He sarcastically praises the potential botulism infection. Meanwhile, Dr. Morrison has found a newspaper clipping indicating that the civilization on the planet was attacked. At the same time, Young surveys the destroyed outer reaches of the city from the roof of a building. Despite this, he orders the teams to keep searching. Morrison reads further details from the paper, which describes an attack similar to the pattern of the drones. He begins to panic, but James tells him to stay calm and takes the paper. Varro readies a rocket launcher in case he needs to defend the group. As Greer's team keeps searching, he hears a noise in the distance. Scott hears it, too, and they take cover as it gets louder. A drone flies by them. Scott radios Young to inform him, requesting permission to engage it. He denies his request and orders radio silence, telling him to stay put. The drone returns, apparently having noticed their presence. Rush and Eli cannot get Destiny to let Park out. Eli advises her to don her helmet, as it will get much hotter very soon. Rush notes that they can't waste time trying to free Park. Eli protests that retrieving the plants was a good idea, though Rush counters that Park might pay the price for taking too long. TJ meets up with Young, having returned with the rest of their team. She assumes the hospital was in the destroyed section of the city. She found a pharmacy, but most of its supplies were already taken. Young sends her back to the gate with the rest of the team while he leaves to help Scott and Greer. The drone is still patrolling the area. It seems to notice Scott's team, so Greer throws a can to distract it. The drone fires at the sound and moves to investigate. Unable to override the door and release Park, Eli opts to physically pry it open. Rush stops him, as they need to oversee the charging process. He radios park to tell her that they can no longer afford to spend time trying to free her, and that her suit will protect her inside the dome. She protests, as she doesn't want to sacrifice the plants she saved, but Rush tells her to forget about them. He advises Park to immerse herself in the water collection pool to protect herself. Park isn't convinced, but Rush promises her that she'll survive. Eli clearly disapproves of the idea, but defers to Rush. Night has fallen on the planet, and the drone is still looking for Scott and Greer's teams. Volker speculates that the Stargate activation drew it in, then their radio signals gave it a specific target. Greer doesn't care about how it found them, only that they need to escape it. A second drone flies in, passing over the gate before joining the first. Morrison begins to panic once more, but James keeps the group calm. Brody believes that the drones never left the planet. Chloe wonders what they're going to do. The drones apparently overhear them, shining spotlights on the building. No longer able to wait, Greer advises Volker to run as soon as he starts shooting. Meanwhile, Morrison tries to dial the gate, hoping to escape to one of the other viable planets rather than die on this one. James knocks him unconscious and aborts the sequence, but the brief power up is enough to draw one of the drones to the gate. She radios the development, and Scott responds to inform her of the incoming drone, urging radio silence. In doing so, however, the remaining drone pinpoints his location and fires. No one is harmed, and Greer and Scott open fire to buy their team time to escape. It returns fire, but cannot hit them. Young soon joins in, and the drone is disabled by their combined fire. Young has the team follow him. Greer notes a duffel bag that Young is carrying, but Young doesn't discuss it. Destiny begins its trip through the star. As they enter, Eli speculates that the reason Destiny refused to open the hydroponics lab is because the dome might shatter. Rush has already considered this, but still believes Park will survive. He urges Eli to focus on the task at hand rather than distract himself by worrying about a situation he cannot control. The second drone closes in on the gate as TJ's team makes their way back. James radios in this development, and is again admonished by Scott for breaking radio silence. She reveals this is intentional. The drone follows her, and is shot down by Varro. TJ's team returns at the same time. She praises the shot, then asks about injuries. The only person injured is Morrison; James broke his nose when she knocked him out. Eli isn't confident he can keep ahead of the necessary course corrections, but Rush has faith that he can. Park, meanwhile, takes refuge in the collection pool as the garden burns around her. Sure enough, Eli manages to pilot the ship through successfully. Unfortunately, the dome shatters during the trip. Though Park remains secured, she loses one of the bags full of plants. She screams in pain and shuts her eyes. Rush begins cooling the gate room, but stops when his monitor registers the breach. Eli runs to help when Rush informs him. Young takes his group back to the gate through an underground tunnel, the same method he used to reach Scott and Greer in the first place. Wray has finished reading the paper about the drone attack. The Stargate was moved to the rural city from the more advanced capital, and the vehicles were driven away from the area as a distraction so the rest of the population could evacuate. Young returns just after she finishes explaining. It will be thirty minutes before they can dial Destiny. Wray points out his duffel bag, so Young explains that it is the new outfit she asked for. He couldn't find any useful supplies, but stumbled upon a dry cleaners. Wray passes him the paper. When Eli reaches the hydroponics lab, he radios Park to make sure she's ok. She confirms that the compartment has vented into space. Now that they are clear of the star, Rush is able to override the lock. Eli pulls her in the door and seals it. Park is crying. Eli tries to assure her that she's fine, but she explains that she's been blinded. A different, louder rumble reverberates through the warehouse storing the gate. Unwilling to wait any longer, Young has James dial the gate. Rush has secured the gate room by this point. As the rest of the crew returns to Destiny, Young, Greer, Scott, and Varro watch as an entire Control Ship descends upon the warehouse, though not quickly enough to stop them. With the crew back, Rush informs TJ of Park's blindness, hoping it is temporary. He relates to Young how Eli calculated their course perfectly, calling him a genius, though he'd rather not tell Eli that. Young believes that Eli might have to do it again. Rush notes that the drones likely won't fall for the trick twice, and the type of star is extremely rare. On the plus side, at least they have a full power supply. Brody and Volker give a less-than-enthusiastic "yay" at the knowledge that they have a "full tank of gas." + +Lt. Tamara Johansen unwraps bandages from Dr. Lisa Park's eyes. Park is hopeful, having managed to see occasional flashes of light. Colonel Everett Young comes in, stopping at the door to watch. Park opens her eyes once the bandages are removed, but still can't see. TJ shines a light in her eyes to make sure. Park breaks down in tears, comforted by TJ and MSgt. Ronald Greer. Young leaves without a word. Camile Wray finds Young in the hall, hoping for a moment of his time. She notes that he looks terrible, and recommends he get some rest. Young is in fact about to do just that, but a radio call from Dr. Nicholas Rush interrupts that plan. Despite Wray's suggestion to ignore it, he comes to the Control interface room at Rush's request. In the control interface room, Eli Wallace explains that he and Rush have managed to isolate the subspace signals used by the Control Ships to communicate with each other. By plugging that data into Destiny's long-range sensors, they can track the Control Ships. Wray believes this to be good news, as it means they can avoid the drones and safe places to resupply. Eli, however, cannot deliver such good news. He displays a star map detailing the location of every gate, then overlays the location of the Control Ships. At maximum sensor range, the result seems clear: every single Stargate is guarded by a Control Ship. Young and Rush meet with Colonel David Telford at Homeworld Command. Telford is at first unconvinced that every gate could be guarded, then suggests going off the designated path to find viable worlds. Rush disregards the idea, as only a handful of solar systems would have planets capable of supporting life, and fewer still would have supplies they could actually use. There would be no guarantee they would ever find what they were looking for. They have about a month's worth of food and water. Young is hoping for a supply line from Earth, but Telford informs him that their talks with Langara are getting nowhere. Destiny is on its own. Chloe Armstrong comes into the infirmary to collect inventory reports. TJ feels that the infirmary is in good shape for the moment. Chloe asks about Park's condition, and TJ informs her that Park should have shown some sign of improvement by now. Chloe tries to console TJ on being unable to help without the right equipment, but TJ explains that Park's condition simply can't be treated. Her corneas were burned by ultraviolet radiation, and can't be fixed if they don't heal on their own. TJ gives the analogy "You play the hand you're dealt," which Chloe realizes does not refer only to Park. Chloe tries to assure TJ that they still might find a way to help both her and Park, but TJ is not convinced. On the bridge, Rush discusses the situation with Eli, Dr. Adam Brody, and Dr. Dale Volker. Since they cannot run or hide, Rush knows that their only option is to fight. Eli points out that there are a lot of drones, but Rush only intends to attack selected targets when they need to resupply. With their ability to track the Control Ships, they can come out of FTL right on top of one and destroy it before it can retaliate. The others are doubtful, because any chance the Control Ships have to retaliate will result in damage to Destiny that they may not be able to repair. Rush merely states that they'll have to find a way to minimize that damage, and has an idea on how to do so. In a meeting with Young, Rush outlines his plan with the help of Eli, Brody, and Volker. Destiny's shields change frequency constantly in the hope of matching enemy fire. The closer the frequency, the less damage Destiny takes. Because they've had the opportunity to study a Berzerker drone, they know the frequency range of their weapons and can adjust the shields to match. By limiting the frequency range, however, any other forms of attack will consequently do far more damage than normal. Rush remains confident it will work. Young joins Lt. Matthew Scott, Greer, Brody, and Volker on the bridge. Rush and Eli are in the control interface room. Greer has charged the main weapon, and Rush has limited the frequency range of the shields. Scott inquires about who calculated the FTL jump. Volker tells him that Chloe did it. Scott asks if they'll drop out close to the ship. Though the distances involved are astronomical, Volker believes in Chloe's ability to take them out in the right place. Unfortunately, they drop out of FTL too close, scraping the hull of the Control Ship and overshooting it. The Control Ship launches its drones, but they do almost no damage to the remodulated shields. Scott maneuvers the ship into position to fire. Greer manages to hit the Control Ship but doesn't cause enough damage to destroy it. The Control Ship begins evasive maneuvers, while its drones change tactics. Having realized their weapons are ineffective, the drones begin doing kamikaze runs. Unable to fight the drones off, Young orders Scott and Greer to focus on the Control Ship. Scott manages to get in line with it again, and Greer destroys it. The shuttles are dispatched to collect supplies. Eli complains that they cannot afford any more battles like the one the just survived. Rush agrees; they need a new plan. Once the shuttles return, Eli takes the ship back into FTL. Young tries to get some sleep again but is stopped by Eli, who has a new plan. Since they have no way to beat the drones, he suggests they ignore them. By putting the crew into Stasis pods, they can fly through the entire galaxy and to the next without needing to stop to resupply. Unfortunately, completing that journey will take Destiny three years, and their dwindling power supplies leave little margin of error. Rush argues against it, as even a slight miscalculation will leave them drifting for thousands of years instead of three. Young asks Eli how long it will take to prepare the pods. Eli believes he can do so in a day, so Young gives Rush that long to find an alternative. Young informs Wray of the plan. She is apprehensive about spending so long in the pods, but Young points out that they have no other options. Wray wants to give the crew one last chance to see their loved ones using the Long-range communication device. Young agrees, leaving her to arrange it. He warns her to make the visits quick, as the plan won't work if they take too long. Rush grows increasingly frustrated as he tries and fails to come up with a new plan. Chloe comes in to check on his progress, telling him that she believes Eli's plan will work. Rush believes it hinges on luck, but his real concern is the idea of going off the path again, as that is what caused their current trouble. Chloe doesn't see it that way, as they are merely skipping over part of it. This is in fact what bothers Rush. Destiny's mission isn't meant to have a final destination; rather, the mission is about collecting knowledge as it ventures outward. By skipping part of that journey, they may skip something important, defeating the purpose of the entire mission. He is sure there's a way to stop the drones, but he needs time to find it. Chloe counters that they don't have the time. Eli's plan ensures Destiny's survival, even if the crew doesn't ever wake up from stasis. Fighting an unwinnable battle would destroy Destiny, and then its mission would surely have been a waste. Brody puts the first group into stasis. TJ is there to monitor them. Varro is part of the first group, and promises to see TJ soon. Eli visits his mother on Earth. He explains that he'll be gone for the next three years, and assures her that smart people will be working to help them. He feels bad about leaving her alone, but she is happy he is getting to see such wonders. He feels as if he's abandoned her, but as she sees it, he is living his life. As long as he's happy with his life, she'll be fine. Brody and Volker are running diagnostics on the next section of stasis pods. Meanwhile, Young is getting ready to get some sleep, but a knock on his door interrupts him. Volker comes in, informing him that the last section of stasis pods are damaged. The meeting is continued on the bridge, once Rush joins them. Without the last section, they have eight fewer pods than crew members. They are unable to repair them with the supplies on board. The necessary material, Palladium hydride, could be found on one of the gated worlds, but like all gated planets a Control Ship is guarding it. Fighting the ship, even if they won, would drain too much power for the ship to manage a jump to the next galaxy. They have no other choice but to leave eight people outside. Worse still, life support cannot remain active if the plan is to work, so those who stay out will die. Park and Greer discuss the situation in her quarters. She tells him not to volunteer himself to stay outside, knowing he would if asked. Greer doesn't believe it will come to that, as he doesn't believe Young will sacrifice eight people. If they are going to die, they'll die together. Park, however, has an alternative. She tells Greer to take her to Young. Eli has joined the bridge crew, going over the sections that will need to be shut down. Greer brings in Park to explain her plan. By sending out an unmanned shuttle and rigging it to emit a signal mimicking a Stargate activation, they can draw the Control Ship off and gate to the planet while it's distracted. Volker adds that they can reconfigure the shields to absorb drone weapons fire like they did with Destiny, and pilot it remotely to avoid ramming attempts. Eli suggests that they simply ram the shuttle into the Control Ship with its engines set to overload since they'll lose the shuttle anyway. Young compliments Park on the idea. Destiny drops out of FTL and the shuttle is launched on autopilot. A team consisting of Scott, Greer, and Dr. Morrison prepares to gate to the planet to collect the needed resources. Once the signal is broadcast, the Control Ship takes the bait. The team is sent to the planet. The Control Ship arrives near the shuttle shortly thereafter, launching its drones. Rush pilots the shuttle by remote, avoiding the drones and setting a collision course for the Control Ship. Though the shuttle clips a drone approach, Rush is able to maintain his course. Eli sets the engines to overload. When the shuttle hits, the Control Ship is torn apart by the blast. The away team is collected and Destiny retreats. Wray visits Scott, who is next up to visit Earth. He is nervous about seeing his kid, who knows him only as a random guy who visits occasionally. He isn't sure the mother is a good parent, noting that he could have his son moved to another home if he asked Homeworld Command to do so. Wray urges him not to be too hasty. Scott asks about her own visit with Sharon Walker. Wray was unable to see her personally, as she was at a conference in Brussels. They spoke over the phone. She told Sharon to move on, as Wray's constant absence wasn't fair to her. Sharon mostly cried in response. Another group is put into stasis, Lt. Vanessa James and Cpl. Barnes among them. James hugs Eli goodbye before getting in. On Earth, Chloe visits her mother, hugging her goodbye. Park gets a chance to see again, looking out at a river. Scott stops by his son's home, but doesn't visit, merely watching his mother take him to school. The next group is put into stasis, this one including Brody, Volker, and Park. There are now only eight people still awake: Young, Wray, TJ, Rush, Eli, Greer, Scott, and Chloe. Young holds a final dinner, since the food will go to waste anyway. Wray is full, but Greer is content to keep eating. Scott asks Young to make a toast. Rather than dwell on what they've lost, he chooses to toast to what they've gained. Though they came to the ship unprepared, they have become a family. The camera focuses on each person as he describes the various roles: sons (Scott), daughters (Chloe), sisters (Wray), and the "slightly crazy uncle who, despite everything, still manages to come through for you in the end" (Rush). Everyone gets a laugh at the last comment. He adds that they are the smartest (Eli), bravest (Greer), and most compassionate (TJ) people he has ever had the honor to serve with. He toasts to family. The last group prepares to go into stasis. Scott wishes Chloe sweet dreams. Young notices that Greer seems slightly uncomfortable in the small pod, but Greer assures him that he's alright. Wray jokes that Young will finally get some sleep. Young tells TJ to go ahead rather than worry about them. The pods are sealed, leaving only Rush, Eli, and Young. Young visits Telford at Homeworld Command to say goodbye. He doesn't want to reopen old wounds by visiting Emily. Telford tries to apologize about any harm he did to Young's relationship with Emily, but Young assures him that their problems are his own fault, not Telford's. Telford promises Young that, though they may have a few gray hairs, they'll still be around when Young wakes up. Young comes back to find Eli and Rush arguing. They have found that one of the final three pods was damaged more than the others, which they have only just now discovered by running the final check. They are one pod short. Rush sends Eli to search the database for information on how to repair it, despite his protest that the manual for it is 1700 pages long. With Eli gone, he has a chance to speak to Young in private. Young finds Eli in the control interface room. Eli preempts any questions by noting that he has yet to find a solution. Young explains that Rush has calculated that one person could remain awake for two weeks without sacrificing their ability to reach the next galaxy. Rush has volunteered to do it, which surprises Eli. Rush believes he's the most qualified to fix the last pod, though Eli isn't so sure. Young, however, intends to be the one to stay outside, fully aware that he won't be able to fix the pod. He doesn't trust Rush not to push the deadline if he can't solve the problem. Eli offers himself, instead. He is tired of staying in Rush's shadow, declaring that he's smarter than Rush and that all three of them know it. He can fix the pod, while Young would surely die, and he can't let Young do that. Rush meets with Eli after hearing about their conversation. He knew Young would not let him be the one to stay out, though he did not expect Eli to volunteer. Eli realizes that he expected Young to stay out, though Rush counters that it was never his idea in the first place. Eli points out that Rush couldn't come up with a better one, which is why Rush believes they'll need Eli in the next galaxy. He is worried that Eli might lose the chance to realize his potential, but Eli believes his potential is wasted if he doesn't step forward when he's needed. He praises Eli on having come a long way from the "video game slacker" he was a year ago, while Eli claims Rush has been "pretty consistent". They both get a small laugh out of it. Rush is put into stasis first, saying his goodbyes to both Eli and Young, notably addressing Eli as "Mr. Wallace" rather than by his first name. Young checks one last time to make sure Eli wants to stay outside, which Eli is sure he does. Before going in, Young hugs Eli goodbye, telling him that he'll see him once they wake up. Once Young is in stasis, the ship begins powering down. Eli heads to the Observation deck, looking upon the ship as it travels through FTL. +