This has to be the best episode yet. So much happened so quickly that I couldn’t keep up and will need to watch it again.
The ZPM recently discovered in Egypt allows the SGC to establish a wormhole to the Pegasus Galaxy. And it's just in the nick of time, as the two remaining Wraith hive ships are approaching Atlantis.
The Atlantis team has sent the S.G.C. detailed specs on the city and the hive ships, and General O’Neill orders military enforcements to go through the gate to support the defense of the city. They are led by Colonel Matthew Everett, a 40-year-old Marine who carries a commanding presence along with orders from O’Neill that he assume command of Atlantis, much to the surprise of Dr. Weir and her team.
Colonel Everett orders Weir to deactivate the self-destruct mechanism that is now counting down to prevent the city from falling into Wraith hands. Her expedition personnel, who have since relocated to a Pegasus Alpha Site, are recalled. Major Sheppard is pessimistic that they can do anything to stop the hive ships, but Everett's plan is bold: Earth's new battle cruiser, the Daedalus, is en route. With the Z.P.M. boosting the ships engines, it should arrive within four days.
They bring shed loads of new equipment including Naquidah generators, and rail guns intended for the Prometheus, but which they will install on Atlantis instead. The team will also lay stealth mines in space in the path of the Wraith ships, and will use a generator to power the city's newly discovered chair room. Preparations begin, as McKay tries to get the chair working, new pilots are trained on Puddle Jumpers, and Teyla trains the Athosians who have joined the fight.
McKay soon must report that there are only a few dozen Ancient drone weapons left in the system controlled by the chair; nowhere near enough to stop two Wraith hive ships. And when the Wraith easily detects and destroys the land mines, using captured asteroids Everett is furious. But the assault on the city begins.
Wraith Darts begin making kamikaze runs on the city and the gunners open fire. Shepherd uses the few remaining drones to stop the first wave, and Teyla soon realizes that there are Wraith already in the city! The Dart pilots must have transported themselves to the ground before their ships crashed. The drone weapon is depleted, but perhaps the chair can at least be used to remote-pilot Puddle Jumpers on some kamikaze missions of their own.
Teams fan out to search for the Wraith; while Dr. Weir pursues the only lead they have on weapons powerful enough to stop the hive ships: the Genii's nuclear bombs. They agree to speak with her, but when she arrives she is tied up and blindfolded. Prenim, a Genii leader, tells her that he is pleased her people are about to be destroyed by the enemy. Somehow she does manage to return with two bombs, but they are incomplete and it takes even more valuable time for McKay to repair them.
Guest characters for this episode include Colonel Matthew Everett (who may be the promised new recurring character on the series), Major Ferrell, and Captain Radner (two Marines under Everett's command.)
As it ends we are unsure if Everett, Ford and Teyla have survived the attack. The Chair won’t load up, so Shepherd takes a bomb loaded Puddle Jumper out himself…
It looked to me as if Everett and Ford were certainly dead, but we’ll have to see. As for Shepherd, why can’t he just eject the bomb on top of a Hive ship and return, and detonate it from a safe distance?
