Handlung

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.

Once again the self-destruct button has been activated and people all over the city seem to be falling at the hands of the Wraith, colonel Everett, Teyla and now also Ford, who falls into the water. Sheppard is the only hope, he's on a suicide mission to nuke one of the two remaining hive ships. Just about to launch the bomb, he gets a message that he needs to decloak. The Daedalus has arrived and the ship is equipped with powerful equipment from the Asgard, including beaming technology. Its commander, Colonel Steven Caldwell, beams Sheppard aboard before the nuke goes off. By beaming a nuke into the last remaining hive ship, Atlantis seems saved. Then Zelenka detects 12 more hive ships on their way. Meanwhile Ford has been found. He should be dead, but Beckett finds out he received an overdose of Wraith enzyme. He's now addicted to it and seems remarkably strong.—Arnoud Tiele (imdb@tiele.nl)

While the self-destruct timer runs and everybody hurries to evacuate, as the Wraith seem to overrun Atlantis, with a second wave beamed in, the sudden arrival of the Daedalus, commanded by Colonel Steven Caldwell, means the fight goes on. Sheppard is instructed to abort his suicide bombing run, as an Asgard enables destroying the second Wraith mother ship by beaming a nuclear bomb, but the Wraiths are able to sabotage this technology. Atlantis, having braved the first waves Wraith, with casualties including Ford who fell in the ocean while a dying Wraith started eating him, think they are safe until discovering many more hive ships are on their way to Atlantis. Ford's life was saved by the injected enzyme to keep the 'human food' fresh long-term, but it also affected his mind, turning him paranoid or hostile. The Daedalus having brought a new ZPM, McKay rushes to re-power the shield, and elaborate Sheppard's idea to stop the Wraith assaults by faking total destruction with a well-timed nuclear explosion and cloaking Atlantis. Ford escapes by stargate, apparently undetected, Teyla seemingly having conveyed the message Atlantis resigned to auto-destruct.—KGF Vissers

As the Wraith invasion continues and Sheppard proceeds with his suicide mission, the Daedalus arrive with an extra ZPM to power Atlantis' shields. The Wraith however are in control of that part of the city where the ZPM needs to be installed. When the attack is repelled, they soon realize the fight is far from over: Rodney detects a dozen Wraith ships in hyper-space and on their way to Atlantis. He also comes up with a scheme to fool the Wraith into thinking Atlantis has been destroyed. Lt. Ford has survived his fall into the water but was kept alive by a Wraith enzyme and is now acting abnormally.—garykmcd

The Earth ship Daedalus arrives in the nick of time to defend Atlantis from the Wraith onslaught, but it may not be enough when the team discovers that an even larger armada is on the way. Lieutenant Ford is found but is not the way he once was.