Yet another gate expedition takes the team to another Lantean city, though this one is merely one part of a planet which has raised the art of city-building to a grand scale. Dr. Weir immediately tries to open negotiations for additional ZPMs to power Atlantis, but those negotiations break down quickly with the Oberoth, the city’s leader, who is fixated on destroying the Wraith at a time and place of his own choosing – to the exclusion of all else, and regardless of who else dies in the meantime. Weir and the rest of her team notice that the other residents of the city don’t seem to share Oberoth’s sentiments, and then the visitors from Atlantis are locked up. During an escape attempt, they learn the horrible truth – the inhabitants of the grand city aren’t Ancients, and aren’t even humans. They’re Replicators, similar to the fast-spreading artificial life forms that SG-1 and the Goa’uld defeated with the Ancient weapon at Dakara. These Replicators were created by the Ancients to fight the Wraith and then tried to destroy when they became too aggressive. Some of the Replicators want to discard their aggressive programming, but can’t do that without someone reprogramming them. But even if McKay can manage such a feat, Oberoth may have evolved beyond anyone’s ability to control him…and Atlantis may now be the target of a new enemy.
story by Robert C. Cooper and Carl Binder
teleplay by Carl Binder
directed by Andy Mikita
music by Joel GoldsmithGuest Cast: David Odgen Stiers (Oberoth), John O’Callaghan (Niam), David Nykl (Dr. Zelenka), Hellena Taylor (Council Member #1), Kerry Sandomirsky (Council Member #2), Chuck Campbell (Technician)
Notes: The nanovirus that nearly wiped out the Atlantis expedition was cured in the season episode Hot Zone. The Replicators that persistently battled SG-1 first appeared in Nemesis at the end of the third season of that series, though human-form Replicators didn’t appear until the sixth season episode Unnatural Selection.
LogBook entry by Earl Green