The Daedalus arrives and the two hive ships are destroyed. Atlantis seems saved, then Zelenka detects 12 more ships. Ford seems changed after a fall in the water.

After an attempt to retrieve McKay and Lt. Laura Cadman from the memory banks of a Wraith dart, Cadman gets stuck in McKay's mind.

John Sheppard is kidnapped by the Genii and is in the company of a Wraith.

The IOA is conducting interviews back on Earth to ensure that any personnel serving on Atlantis (in particular, aliens) are suitable for their roles. The episode opens up with a pregnant Teyla having been interviewed and reporting back to Atlantis. Ronon is next. Col. Carter is unsure about Ronon's ability to handle the IOA's interview and therefore asks Teal'c to come to Atlantis in a coaching capacity for Ronon. After a rocky start to their relationship, Ronon and Teal'c return to Earth, via the series of Stargates and a Midway Station, that McKay had previously designed. The Midway Station between the Milky Way and Pegasus galaxies serves primarily as a place for those traveling between the galaxies to serve a 24 hour quarantine. While Teal'c and Ronon are serving their quarantine in the extremely cramped Midway Station, it is boarded by the Wraith, via the Stargate, with the intention to travel to Stargate Command on Earth. They achieve this objective, but only with Teal'c and Ronon in tow. What ensues is a battle between the Wraith and the duo of Teal'c and Ronon, for control of Stargate Command.

Sheppard and his team are lured to a planet and are soon put on trial for crimes against the people of the Pegasus galaxy. In flashbacks, the three judge tribunal recounts the indictment against them including the re-awakening of the Wraith and the various missions where at least a few, if not more, innocent bystanders were killed. Sheppard does his best to argue that on balance, fewer were killed by their presence than would have been the case if they had never been there. A least one of the judges is clearly determined to find them guilty while a second seems far more sympathetic. It's left to Richard Woolsey, who has now joined them, to plead the rest of their case. A lawyer by profession, Richard clearly knows how the game is played and focuses on that third judge.