Lifeline (3) - Recap

Sheppard checks in on McKay and Zelenka, who are trying to fix the hyperdrive. McKay is worried it might not work, while Sheppard is concerned about their plan to steal a ZPM from the Replicators. Rodney has a suggestion: they get Dr. Weir to help them. He figures they can use her nanites to hack the Replicator systems, and can shut down her nanites if the Replicators try to hack back. However, that will kill her. Sheppard orders them to start the mission, and Weir tells John to kill her if he needs to.

Sheppard tells Reyna to stay behind and lead the rest of the team as they search for a place to make planetfall with Atlantis. He also orders her to abandon them in twelve hours if they don’t come back from their mission.

McKay and Zelenka complete repairs and Sheppard takes the team of Weir, Ronon, and McKay out in the modified Puddle Jumper to make a hyperdrive jump to the Replicator homeworld.

Sam and Dr. Lee arrive on a planet to meet with the Apollo then beam up to meet with Colonel Ellis. Ellis is skeptical of Sam’s plan to locate Atlantis but agrees to go ahead with it.

Sheppard’s team arrives at the Replicator homeworld but Rodney tells them that the engines have burned out and he’ll need the stolen ZPM to refuel. Rodney then connects Weir to the computer system and she finds them an entry approach. Sheppard and Ronon go in, keeping in radio contact with Weir on the ship. They get to the storage chamber and snag a ZPM, but when they return Rodney reveals that he’s discovered a base programming command for the Replicators to activate the Wraith. Apparently the Ancients deactivated it but Rodney thinks he can reactivate it, gaining themselves an ally against the Wraith. However, it will take too long to wait until the Replicators merge their programming and spread the activation code. Rodney suggests they bury the code in the Replicator core computer, but it’s heavily guarded. He and Weir warn that they wont’ have another chance and Sheppard reluctantly agrees.

Rodney uses the ship’s cloak to protect them against detection and potentially destroy the Replicators, and Sheppard insists that he stay on the ship with Weir. Rodney says it isn’t that simple and he’ll have to go with them, and Weir explains he has to stay behind to activate her kill-switch.

After 11 jumps, the Apollo still hasn’t found Atlantis and has at least 39 more jumps until they get to Atlantis’ original location.

Sheppard’s team lands atop the computer core building and Sheppard and Ronon go in with the device Rodney built that they could plug in to load the command. They’re unaware that Oberoth and his people have detected the cloaking device. Ronon and Sheppard make their way through the building within the shield, and a Replicator team that finds them is destroyed when they hit the shield. Sheppard plugs in the device but nothing happens. The Replicators keep marching into the field, and Weir figures out they’re doing it so they can adapt to the field quicker. Each one gets further and further through the field until finally they manage to penetrate it unharmed.

Oberoth heads for the core room along with the other Replicators, and Weir goes after Sheppard and Ronon. Sheppard considers hitting the kill switch… then gives the order to Rodney. He does so but nothing happens. Rodney isn’t sure if Weir is doing it or the Replicators are interfering. John and Ronon continue with the mission.

In the hallway near the core room, Weir touches Oberoth and meets him on the mental plane. She now has direct access to the Replicator Collective and takes control, freezing the Replicators just as they attack John and Ronon. Rodney warns that Elizabeth is more likely to be overcome. Oberoth tells her the same thing even as John and Ronon finish their mission and head back for the ship.

Oberoth takes back control and the Replicators capture the others. He then confronts them and tells them that Weir is comatose and is being “repaired,” but he needs the location of Atlantis from them. Oberoth inserts his hand into John’s mind to extract the information only to discover that it’s a virtual scenario created by Weir, who is still in command. The team has successfully escaped.. although she admits she won’t. Oberoth struggles to overcome her control and does so just as John and Ronon find her. She tells them to leave as Oberoth frees the Collective and captures her.

The others get back to the Puddle Jumper and they make a run for it without the cloak. Rodney tries to hook up the ZPM as the Replicators fire on them and a ship moves to intercept them. However, the Apollo arrives just in time and opens fire. Sam tells them that they’ve found Atlantis and then tracked them to the Replicator planet. They leave, but not before determining they can’t locate Weir’s signal.

Back on Atlantis, they find an inhabitable planet that Weir didn’t know about, then put the ZPM on-line. Arriving at the planet, Sheppard brings them down and they make it with power still remaining in the ZPM.

Later, Ronon and Teyla pack away the things in Weir’s quarters while wondering who will replace it. Even Ronon concedes her replacement will have tough shoes to fill. Sam and Rodney reestablish contact with Earth. And Zelenka determines that the Replicators are launching an attack on a Wraith planet: Rodney’s plan worked.

That night, Sam and Sheppard consider the two (visible) moons in the sky, and John assert that if she’s still alive, he’ll find her.

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