Shockwave ( episode ) After apparently causing the destruction of an alien colony , the " Enterprise " is called back to Earth . Archer learns via Daniels that the Suliban are trying to sabotage " Enterprise " s mission . ( " Season finale " ) Summary . Teaser . The is on its way to meet with the colonists of Paraagan II . The crew talk about it in the mess hall . is amazed to hear that the colony has a matriarchical society . T ' Pol notes that recently the male s have made great strides , though . Jonathan Archer is interested to note that the colony has been growing very rapidly since the initial thirty miners arrived there twenty years ago . The population is now about 3 , 600 . Since the mining operations release large amounts of tetrazine into the atmosphere , the from " Enterprise " has to follow a strict protocol to prevent igniting it with its propulsion system . Lieutenant Malcolm Reed pilots the shuttle down accordingly to the protocol , however , something goes wrong and the atmosphere suddenly explodes , causing a massive shock wave that pushes the shuttle back into space . Act One . The explosion causes a disaster as the entire colony appears to be wiped out , killing all the colonists . Devastated and angry , Archer starts an investigation immediately . Doctor Phlox tends to an unconscious Tucker who has a concussion as Archer tries to get information from the group . Reed swears he didn ' t make a mistake during the landing and the Paraagan protocols were correct . Hoshi Sato has done full sensor scans of the planet , confirming total loss of the colony . T ' Pol encourages keeping a clear head and to conduct a thorough investigation . Later , on the bridge , Archer enters to get progress , still clearly frustrated and taking a bit of it out on the crew . T ' Pol is still processing the logs . Tucker reports that the tetrazine levels were even lower than the protocol , which eliminates that as the source of the problem . The flash point was at the plasma duct , but even the logs confirm Reed ' s belief that the duct was closed . He orders the logs re - checked as he finally decides to contact Admiral Maxwell Forrest . Forrest tells Archer to continue investigating while he talks to the Command Council . He also advises Archer to figure out how to help the crew deal with this , as they will be looking to him . Archer can ' t help but keep to himself , prompting T ' Pol to go to Phlox to ask him to make sure Archer is still fit for command , as his despair could keep him from effectively running the ship . Phlox understands her point of view , but reminds her it would be bad if he did " not " let himself feel . Forrest calls back to the " Enterprise " as Archer dwells on the colony ' s personnel list in his quarters and as Reed finds an unfortunate atmospheric analysis showing traces of borocarbon s , which also implies the shuttle caused the explosion . Reed is in disbelief as Archer enters the bridge , calling T ' Pol and Tucker to the ready room . He reveals that , at the suggestion of Vulcan Ambassador Soval , " Enterprise " s mission has been officially canceled and T ' Pol and Phlox will leave the ship via a Vulcan ship . Act Two . The news reaches the whole crew . Sato and Travis Mayweather talk about what they ' ll do next . Mayweather ' s concerned the entire crew ' s reputation has been tainted , but Sato is determined to speak her mind – in any language required . Tucker helps Phlox pack for awhile , but soon remarks that Soval will probably get a medal for finally cancelling the mission . Phlox is disappointed in the shortened mission , but is confident there will be more opportunities out there . Tucker doesn ' t share in his optimism . Meanwhile , Reed has found an unusual EM signal on the ventral hull of the shuttle and T ' Pol gives the information to Archer . Still depressed , Archer doesn ' t think it ' s significant enough to bring to Starfleet . Even if all logs seem to indicate that the shuttlepod did nothing wrong , and a strange reading discovered by Reed seems to suggest that there is more than there appears to be , Archer remains despondent . Sensing his sulking , T ' Pol suggests that Archer has a responsibility to dispute both the Vulcan High Command ' s recommendation to end the mission and Starfleet ' s acceptance of it by noting all of Archer ' s " good " decisions . Further , she is willing to argue to the Vulcans on his behalf . Archer is grateful , noting this is likely the first time a Vulcan has tried to cheer up a Human . When Archer goes to bed , he shuts off the lights and calls for Porthos . He doesn ' t come , so he turns the lights back on , however , he ' s no longer on the " Enterprise " , but in an apartment . He slowly realizes he was transported back ten months in the past to the day before Klaang was brought to Starfleet Medical . This is exactly the same past and he can remember everything that happened all those months ago . He , however , is still the same man he was on the " Enterprise " and quickly establishes the last ten months were not a dream . Soon , appears , who he encountered earlier . He explains that the explosion on Paraagan II wasn ' t supposed to happen , and , since it resulted in the cancelling of the " Enterprise " s mission , it means someone is tampering with the timeline , in violation of the Temporal Accord s . To prevent other Temporal Cold War factions from knowing it , Daniels brought Archer ten months earlier so they could talk . He gives Archer a plan of action . Back in the present , Archer tells his senior staff what happened and what they are to do next ( without mentioning Daniels ) . Reed confirms the strange EM readings were , in fact , from a cloak ed device whose purpose was to ignite the atmosphere while putting the blame on the shuttlepod ' s engines . Archer orders Tucker to start working on quantum beacon s , promising some specifications later . Archer also orders communications to be " on the fritz " and the armory on full alert as the course is set back for Paraagan II . The crew stands briefly confused as Archer dismisses them . He happily mentions to Tucker on his way out that it wasn ' t their fault . Act Three . Archer explains a very detailed set of quantum engineering principles to Tucker , who admits it ' s beyond anything he ' s done . Archer reveals he learned it from Daniels , who is apparently alive . Later , he orders Sato and T ' Pol to figure out how to interface with the device they found on the shuttle , explaining that they ' ll be getting some Suliban data disk s to access . T ' Pol asks if Daniels can be trusted , but Archer says his story has checked out so far . Then , he goes with Reed to Daniels ' quarters to retrieve the specifications of a Suliban cloaked ship in a database still in his ( now isolated ) quarters . When the " Enterprise " reaches the planet , Archer orders Mayweather to head for a binary system , knowing where to look , with a tip from Daniels saying where to find the ship . Now the plan is set in motion . Using a steady course , they launch the beacons and detect the ship , which doesn ' t know yet that they ' ve been detected . Archer orders Reed to stand ready with weapons and , just as the ship charges their weapons , fires in a precise manner to isolate the part of the ship they need . The hit is successful , and an assault team of Archer , Tucker and T ' Pol board the ship , easily making progress through the ship after stunning a few Suliban . They find the disks and , with another blast from Reed to knock out more Suliban on their tail , they make it back to the shuttle . The docking clamp s jam , forcing Tucker to punch it as another couple Suliban bang on the shuttle ' s hatch , and are consequently thrown into space . Act Four . Fortunately , T ' Pol and Sato were able to create the interface to the data disks and reveal the truth : the Suliban ship was able to get extremely close to the " Enterprise " as it orbited Paraagan II . Cycling through the images , T ' Pol shows that a docked with the shuttlepod for two minutes as it attached their device . Archer happily contacts Admiral Forrest to give the good news . He tells Archer to find the Vulcan ship as soon as possible to relay the information . Meanwhile , Silik reports the incident to the Humanoid Figure . Realizing they weren ' t acting alone , the Figure orders Silik to capture Archer but not to delay " Enterprise " . Silik wants the data disks , but the Figure dismisses that , saying not to fail him again . T ' Pol is , however , still skeptical about the time travel explanation for all this as the Vulcan Science Directorate has concluded that time travel is impossible . But trouble comes again , as the " Enterprise " begins experiencing warp field problems and soon detects Suliban cell ships surrounding them . Silik hails them , saying that he wants the captain . Archer says he can ' t trust him to leave the ship alone , but Silik gives his word . He decides to leave , putting T ' Pol in command and asking the crew to follow her . Even though he is willing to sacrifice himself to protect his crew , Archer never makes it to the shuttle , as he is time - transported again . Silik , apparently , was not aware of this , and contacts T ' Pol to express his " disappointment " that Archer didn ' t leave . The crew quickly realize he ' s not on the ship , and that the Suliban ships are targeting the warp core . Archer finds himself in a destroyed hallway . He makes his way to a window , revealing he is in a building before encountering a frightened Daniels . He explains that he transported the captain to the 31st century on orders to protect him , however , the information must have been wrong . The ruins were his base of operation , destroyed long ago . Stunned , Daniels explains there is no time portal left intact , trapping Archer and himself in this future . TO BE CONTINUED . . . Memorable quotes . " " There has to be someone down there . " " " " Sir , I tried to explain there ' s " nothing " left . No buildings , no trees , no people . " " " " That ' s impossible . There were 3 , 600 colonists . " " " " Get me Admiral Forrest . This is not gonna be fun . " " " " Ahh , to be Vulcan . . . " " " " Tell him he ' s crazy ! Tell him that ' s guilt talking , not Jonathan Archer ! " " " " I can ' t believe you letting them do this to us . You ' ve waited all your life to command this ship ! " " " " Anyone tries to badmouth Captain Archer in front of me is gonna get an earful . . . in any language they want . " " " " You know , this has gotta be the first time a Vulcan has ever attempted to cheer up a human . " " " " Commander Tucker told me you were dead . . . that Silik killed you . " " " " He did , in a manner of speaking . We need to talk , captain . " " " " Can ' t you ever give a straight answer ? " " " " Depends on the question . " " " " I thought you were supposed to protect the timeline , not screw with it . " " " " It ' s already been . . . ' screwed with ' , captain . " " " " With all due respect sir . . . This is a level of quantum engineering that ' s beyond anything I ever learned . How the hell do you know this ? " " " " Remember Crewman Daniels ? " " " " Yeah . I saw him get vaporized by our friend Silik . " " " " Well for a cloud of vapor , he ' s one wealth of information . I just spent two hours with him . " " " " Remember , no cheese . " " " " I thought he was smarter than this . He could ' ve saved all your lives . What a waste . " " " " If bringing me here caused this , then send me back . I ' ll take my chances with Silik . " " " " You don ' t understand . All our equipment , the time portals , they ' ve been destroyed . Everything ' s been destroyed . There ' s no way to send you back . " "