The Seed - Recap

Teyla is walking around Atlantis keeping her son asleep with the movement and stops into thank Dr. Keller for her treatment of Kanaan using Beckett's retrovirus. Teyla wants to ask the soon-arriving Woolsey to let Kanaan and the other cured Hybrids stay in Atlantis. Keller is now busy working on a cure for Beckett so they can bring him out of stasis. Teyla has to leave when Torren wakes up and starts crying again.

The Daedalus</I> arrives in orbit above Atlantis and Woolsey beams down. He immediately gets to work and the crew are upset that he didn't bother to make a welcoming speech or even greet the staff.

Later, Dr. Keller dozes off while working at her computer. She wakes up to find her right hand covered in a sticky transparent goo. She quickly wipes it off but seems to have some kind of mental problem, and doesn't mention anything to her staff. She goes to her quarters to sleep for the night.

The next morning at the daily briefing, the team waits for Woolsey while figuring that the IOA wants to put a civilian in charge now that Carter has solved the immediate crises. Woolsey comes in and congratulates them on their success. The team has a report that Michael managed to escape but Woolsey doesn't want to commit resources to something that isn't an immediate progress. He then talks to Keller who is acting somewhat absent-minded, and she explains that she's working on the hybrids' rehabilitation and they're not showing any lasting side effects. Teyla asks if they can live in Atlantis but Woolsey doesn't want them there until it's confirmed that they're safe. Woolsey moves on to Beckett's situation, and tells Keller that she needs to either administer the cure that she's devised, or devote her time to her regular work.

Keller decides to try and revive Beckett despite the fact the serum is untested. They keep him in the infirmary until Keller confirms he's not suffering from any cell degradation and his condition is stable. She goes back to her quarters to rest and takes a pill to get to sleep. The next morning, Beckett is looking out over Atlantis when his friend Rodney arrives to tell him that Beckett is being sent back to Earth later that day via the Stargate. They're interrupted when Teyla calls Rodney for help: Keller has overslept and isn't answering any pages. Rodney gets the door open and they find an unconscious Keller covered in alien tendrils.

They take Keller to the infirmary where Beckett recognizes her condition as similar to something he saw in one of Michael's labs. The tendrils have inserted themselves into Keller's body and they can't remove them without causing her to go into shock. Woolsey is concerned that Beckett is in charge but Sheppard notes that they don't have anyone more experienced with Michael's projects. Woolsey tells Beckett that he's still in bad shape and he'll be going back to Earth within the hour. Beckett says that he's the only one who can help Keller and Woolsey reluctantly agrees, although he's not thrilled that he's breaking protocol.

Beckett identifies an alien pathogen in Keller's blood sample. He figures it infected her when she was in the remains of Michael's lab as part of the rescue team that went to rescue Rodney, Lorne, and the others. Rodney goes to see Keller and discovers that the alien tendrils have spread even further and are starting to cover the room as well. Keller starts to lose it, talking to herself. She finally explains about the substance on her hand and how something prevented her from reporting it. Beckett tests everyone else who went to Michael's lab and confirms that they've all been infected by the pathogen.

Woolsey puts all of the infected victims in quarantine despite the fact that they're not showing symptoms... yet. Beckett discovers that the biomass covering Keller is a polymer that will eventually solidify into a metallic shell similar to a Wraith cruiser. The material is spreading through the base and converting materials to increase its own growth. It's also absorbing electricity and Woolsey has the staff shut down the power to slow its growth. However, a quarantined Rodney warns Teyla that it's a mistake: the pathogen will seek out the ZPM power conduits. Teyla tells Beckett and Woolsey about Rodney's conclusion but they note that the pathogen first started by controlling Keller's mind, and it may be influencing Rodney as well. Since the pathogen doesn't show up on life-sign sensors, Woolsey has Teyla and Zelenka take a team of soldiers to track it visually. Beckett advises Woolsey that he's come up with a cure but it won't destroy the existing material.

Zelenka finds tendrils of the biopolymer attached to the power conduits. When he moves to investigate, they grab him and trip him to the floor. Teyla rescues him by shooting away the tendrils and they're forced to run. Beckett figures that the pathogen is intelligent and drawing on Keller's intelligence to defend itself. He's created a virus and figures that it will severe the pathogen from Keller's mind, but it's untested. It also has to be administered via injection. Woolsey considers using drones to kill Keller rather than risk any of his staff. Sheppard volunteers and they use him to test the virus. He goes into convulsions and they just barely manage to revive him. However, the virus has killed the pathogen. Ronon volunteers to go administer the virus to Keller and Beckett explains that the pathogen is less likely to attack an infected individual. Woolsey reluctantly agrees also he still wonders if Ronon will be forced to turn traitor.

Staff teleports Ronon as close as they can to the infirmary and he goes in on foot. Sheppard figures the plan won't work and grabs the virus while going to see Beckett and Woolsey. Ronon works his way through the increasing mass of biopolymer tendrils until he reaches a blockage. He has no choice but to shoot his way through, triggering the pathogen's defense mechanism. It grabs him with the tendrils and immobilizes him.

Sheppard gets to the control room and opens a channel to the isolation room. They try to talk to Keller but the pathogen "speaks" through her. It warns that it can easily kill Ronon. Sheppard has Beckett distract the Keller/pathogen entity while he takes a Jumper and crashes it through the infirmary wall. He injects Keller with the virus as the biopolymer tendrils grab him and one of them spears him through the chest. Keller revives consciousness and the virus destroys the pathogen, and the tendrils die with no guiding intelligence.

Later, Sheppard is in the infirmary when Keller comes to visit. Beckett has to go back to Earth so he can be hospitalized and properly treated. Woolsey explains to Sheppard that he made a number of decisions that didn't go by the book. Sheppard notes that if Woolsey had stuck to the book, Keller would be dead. Woolsey notes that IOA agrees and has kept him in charge. Woolsey wonders if he can do his job without the rules, and Sheppard tells him "Welcome to the Pegasus Galaxy."

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