The Atlantis team decides to attack the numerous ships of the Replicators, with the help of uneasy alliances.

Combat engineers from Atlantis work against the clock to rescue four of their colleagues who are now trapped in the rubble of Michael's medical compound. With Michael en route, they quickly locate McKay and Major Lorne but Sheppard and Ronon are far deeper and their rescue is not assured. When Michael's ship arrives, they decide to try to rescue Teyla who is in labor and close to giving birth. When it's all over, Col. Carter is recalled to Earth for a performance review but Richard Woolsey has some bad news for her.

Dr. Daniel Jackson comes to Atlantis in search of a lost Atlantian room. The discovery reveals a new race. Daniel and McKay are kidnapped by the new race and are forced to finish a device which may kill the Wraith. Todd feels betrayed and takes the Daedalus.

The new race that stole the device, not to mention Rodney and Daniel, turns out to be an old one meaning very old and well known to the human race. With an ancient grudge to settle, they force Rodney to activate the device against the Wraith with a side effect that could kill millions throughout the galaxy. That makes the Wraith mad so they abscond with the Daedalus to retaliate. Once again we lowly humans have to take control of a messy situation to keep the master races from wreaking havoc in the galaxy.

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.

A hive ship turbo-charged with a ZPM has received the Wraith's message from a alternate universe containing the location of Earth. The ship is now heading for Earth.