Michael Kenmore, a new lieutenant, awakes in the infirmary and doesn't remember a thing. The other expedition members are very concerned about his well-being as he seems different.

The hive ship approaching Atlantis is Michael's. He wants a trade: the retrovirus for not revealing the secret of Atlantis and insights on Wraith technology.

Fallen into the Wraith trap, McKay initially resigns to fatal captivity in a cocoon, but Ronon keeps struggling to attempt escaping, or at least taking some Wraith down with them. Sheppard managed to hide his glider on the very hive ship, seeking a way out, surprised to get radio contact with Michael, who seeks revenge after the ingrate queen has him semi-restrained as 'too human' suspect. While they try to sabotage the hive and maybe escape, the Daedalus and Orion race just in time to fight the two hive ships before they may attack earth. Weir is summoned to SGC for a pointless grilling by the International Oversight Advisory, finding them bureaucrats unable to risk a decision beyond questioning what was already done. So she returns, never mind the career risk compared to a Wraith culling. Sheppard manages to reach the Daedalus and his party comes up with a daring plan to overpower the hive with the weaponized retrovirus, despite bombarded damage compromising even their life-support systems.

Sheppard and the others are now in control of the one remaining hive ship with most of the Wraith transformed into human form, courtesy of the retrovirus. They do learn something interesting about female Wraiths, however. After they return to Atlantis, the question becomes one of what to do with the Wraiths who are again human, especially Michael who has proved to be quite helpful. Elizabeth Weir meanwhile is surprised to hear that she is to return to Atlantis as the expedition leader. She will be accompanied however by Richard Woolsey who is to review her leadership and make recommendations to the International Oversight Advisory on whether she should be allowed to continue.

After losing contact with the new Taranin (the people rescued by the Atlantis team when a super volcano threatened to destroy their planet) settlement, Sheppard's team leaves to investigate. Finding the town deserted, they move to investigate an extensive subterranean tunnel system. What they find there holds dark tidings for the entire Pegasus Galaxy.

A plague of sorts is spreading across the Pegasus galaxy and Dr. Keller estimates that hundreds of thousands will die if they don't don't find a way to stop it. Her research shows however that the disease's origin is with the Hoff, who had been working on a way to kill the Wraith. Sheppard and the others think they know who might be spreading the virus and why. Teyla meanwhile believes she is receiving messages from Kanaan, the father of her child. She's getting his messages while sleeping and most think she's just dreaming. She follows the clues he gives her but she is taken prisoner by an old enemy who has very specific plans for her. In their search for Teyla however, Sheppard and McKay find someone completely unexpected.

Slowly, everyone on Atlantis comes to terms with the sudden re-appearance of Dr. Carson Beckett who, he claims, has been Michael's prisoner for some two years. He tells them what he was doing in Michael's laboratory and they set off to find the kidnapped Teyla. Dr. Keller figures out just how he's come to there at all. Sheppard meanwhile has been using all of his contacts to try and locate Teyla but they come across someone from the past. Teyla in turn has found some of the Athosians alive but they are few in number as a result of Michael's experiments. Michael explains to her just what it is he wants from her as well as his own plans for the future.

After yet another fruitless search for the missing Teyla, Sheppard returns to Atlantis, only to find it deserted. Worse yet, the city isn't just abnormally hot, but the entire ocean has completely dried up, leaving a sandy desert! Sheppard then finds a hologram of an aged Dr. McKay, telling him that a solar flare had sent him 48,000 years into the future. Once he learns the demise of Atlantis and everyone on it, and worse yet that the sun in the solar system is dying and he won't survive there much longer, he and the holographic McKay must find a way to send Sheppard home and potentially change all of this.

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.

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.

When the power is shut down and most of the inhabitants are locked out of key controls, it is apparent that Atlantis has been taken over by an off-world group, soon identified as Michael and his hybrids. He is after Teyla's newborn child who is key in his quest to gain control of the Pegasus galaxy. While Sheppard and McKay try to get their hands on a jumper to launch an attack, Ronon and others who were taken prisoner by Michael during his initial invasion launch reprisals of their own. When Teyla manages to get away and hide, Michael gives her a simple choice: surrender herself and her child to him or he will use the city's self-destruct mechanism to kill everyone.

Michael Kenmore, a new lieutenant, awakes in the infirmary and doesn't remember a thing. The other expedition members are very concerned about his well-being as he seems different.

Fallen into the Wraith trap, McKay initially resigns to fatal captivity in a cocoon, but Ronon keeps struggling to attempt escaping, or at least taking some Wraith down with them. Sheppard managed to hide his glider on the very hive ship, seeking a way out, surprised to get radio contact with Michael, who seeks revenge after the ingrate queen has him semi-restrained as 'too human' suspect. While they try to sabotage the hive and maybe escape, the Daedalus and Orion race just in time to fight the two hive ships before they may attack earth. Weir is summoned to SGC for a pointless grilling by the International Oversight Advisory, finding them bureaucrats unable to risk a decision beyond questioning what was already done. So she returns, never mind the career risk compared to a Wraith culling. Sheppard manages to reach the Daedalus and his party comes up with a daring plan to overpower the hive with the weaponized retrovirus, despite bombarded damage compromising even their life-support systems.

After losing contact with the new Taranin (the people rescued by the Atlantis team when a super volcano threatened to destroy their planet) settlement, Sheppard's team leaves to investigate. Finding the town deserted, they move to investigate an extensive subterranean tunnel system. What they find there holds dark tidings for the entire Pegasus Galaxy.

Sheppard and the others are now in control of the one remaining hive ship with most of the Wraith transformed into human form, courtesy of the retrovirus. They do learn something interesting about female Wraiths, however. After they return to Atlantis, the question becomes one of what to do with the Wraiths who are again human, especially Michael who has proved to be quite helpful. Elizabeth Weir meanwhile is surprised to hear that she is to return to Atlantis as the expedition leader. She will be accompanied however by Richard Woolsey who is to review her leadership and make recommendations to the International Oversight Advisory on whether she should be allowed to continue.

When the power is shut down and most of the inhabitants are locked out of key controls, it is apparent that Atlantis has been taken over by an off-world group, soon identified as Michael and his hybrids. He is after Teyla's newborn child who is key in his quest to gain control of the Pegasus galaxy. While Sheppard and McKay try to get their hands on a jumper to launch an attack, Ronon and others who were taken prisoner by Michael during his initial invasion launch reprisals of their own. When Teyla manages to get away and hide, Michael gives her a simple choice: surrender herself and her child to him or he will use the city's self-destruct mechanism to kill everyone.

The hive ship approaching Atlantis is Michael's. He wants a trade: the retrovirus for not revealing the secret of Atlantis and insights on Wraith technology.

A plague of sorts is spreading across the Pegasus galaxy and Dr. Keller estimates that hundreds of thousands will die if they don't don't find a way to stop it. Her research shows however that the disease's origin is with the Hoff, who had been working on a way to kill the Wraith. Sheppard and the others think they know who might be spreading the virus and why. Teyla meanwhile believes she is receiving messages from Kanaan, the father of her child. She's getting his messages while sleeping and most think she's just dreaming. She follows the clues he gives her but she is taken prisoner by an old enemy who has very specific plans for her. In their search for Teyla however, Sheppard and McKay find someone completely unexpected.

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.

Slowly, everyone on Atlantis comes to terms with the sudden re-appearance of Dr. Carson Beckett who, he claims, has been Michael's prisoner for some two years. He tells them what he was doing in Michael's laboratory and they set off to find the kidnapped Teyla. Dr. Keller figures out just how he's come to there at all. Sheppard meanwhile has been using all of his contacts to try and locate Teyla but they come across someone from the past. Teyla in turn has found some of the Athosians alive but they are few in number as a result of Michael's experiments. Michael explains to her just what it is he wants from her as well as his own plans for the future.