Spoils of War

"Spoils of War" is the twelfth episode of the fourth season of Stargate: Atlantis.

Synopsis
The Atlantis expedition encounter a partially damaged Wraith Hive Ship after their successful battle against the Asurans. They are also able to retrieve valuable data to use against the Wraith, including a Wraith cloning facility, but in order to get the information, they are to use a impregnated Teyla Emmagan, despite the fact that Lt. Colonel John Sheppard pulled her off the team.

Previously on Stargate: Atlantis
In 2005, Teyla Emmagan discovered that she had some Wraith DNA in her system, and with this, was able to have the ability to sense the Wraith coming, and to take control of the Wraith temporarily, before her body would be taken over by the Wraith she is taking control of. Two years later she discovers that she is pregnant, and with this news, Sheppard pulled her off the team. Around the same time, the Atlantis expedition encountered the Asurans and planned to destroy them once and for all, by doing the exact opposite Anti-Replicator guns are meant to achieve, by attracting the bonds between nanites. The allied Tau'ri, Traveler and Wraith fleet held off the Asurans from escaping their homeworld long enough for all the Asuran nanites to be sucked into the planet, destroying it.

Plot
As the Asuran nanites are being sucked out of their ships to the planet, the Wraith commander and former Atlantis prisoner takes this as an opportunity to send a few Wraith Darts to the planet's surface. There, they quickly use their Wraith beaming device to pick up a certain cargo. When another Wraith crew member notices the nanite mass is sinking into the planet's surface, he urges the head Wraith that they should leave, as the planet could go critical any second. The commander refuses to leave until the Darts return. The Darts are able to return to the Hive Ship, which then narrowly escapes the destruction of Asuras. The commander then given their cargo, which is revealed to be three Zero Point Modules, which are vital components for the next step in his plans.

About one week later, Dr. Rodney McKay and Dr. Radek Zelenka are looking at the status of the Wraith after the Battle of Asuras. Now that there are too many Wraith for Humans in the galaxy, many Hive Ships have started dividing into factions, meaning the Wraith are now more than likely in a state of civil war. They also notice a Wraith tracker broadcasting, particularly the one that their temporary Wraith ally had used. But since they have no idea what the tracker is meant for, whether he is asking for help or just wants to ambush them, they decide to just keep an eye on it. Meanwhile, Ronon Dex sees Teyla Emmagan exercising excessively on an exercise bike. Teyla tells him that the exercise will be beneficial to her unborn child, and continues.

About another day later, the Wraith's tracker still has not moved, so Lt. Colonel John Sheppard finally plans to send a team to investigate. As they get ready, Teyla comes into the changing room and requests to join in the mission. However, Sheppard tells her that he hasn't relieved her of duty because she is pregnant, it is because she is likely the last of the Athosians and if she risks her life on missions, she may lose her child, and the sooner she realizes this, the better. Sheppard's and Major Evan Lorne's teams leave without her and sends a Puddle Jumper to investigate.

They discover that the Hive Ship has taken heavy damage, and when arriving, they notice that nobody's home, and a dead Wraith appears to have been fed upon. They are tracking the subspace tracker and soon find that the tracker is out in the open, the Wraith in possession of it, has disappeared. Later, Sheppard decides to give their Wraith friend a name, "Todd", after a pale student he once knew in college. McKay and Sheppard realize that they now have a new Hive Ship, despite the fact that 30% of the ships is too damaged. As McKay investigates what the ship was doing, Ronon accidentally touches some of the controls, and activates the co-ordinates to a top-secret Wraith outpost.

Sheppard returns to Atlantis and talks with Teyla in the mess hall, where he admits that he feels a little too harsh with her. Eager that she is going out on the field again, she quickly agrees on joining the mission to control the Hive Ship. On the way in the Jumper, Teyla says she wanted to tell him earlier about her pregnancy, but could not just stand back and stay and do nothing while her people are still missing. They arrive in the Hive, where McKay is able to get Hyperdrive back online, and informs Sheppard of his discovery of a top-secret outpost. Teyla takes the controls, and suddenly notices that controlling the ship is a lot easier than last time, most likely due to the combined minds of her and her child, since they both have the Wraith DNA. She is able to drive the ship without feeling weakened. She sets the co-ordinates to the outpost, and tells Sheppard that their past chance is to take them there to investigate the outpost. Sheppard reluctantly agrees and Teyla takes the ship into Hyperspace

Some time later, they reach the co-ordinates, where Teyla establishes a stable orbit around one of the planet's moons, out of reach from Wraith sensor range. McKay notices a guarding Hive Ship and an orbiting Spacegate, but only knows about it, since much about the planet is top-secret. Teyla then stumbles out of the controls, due to the fact that it is still slightly tiring, even with a stronger ability. She stays with Lorne's team, as Sheppard, Ronon and McKay take the Jumper and cloaks it to avoid detection and lands near the facility (similar to the weapons research facility, encountered by the team and the Satedans a few months ago). They enter it and explores, where they notice a Queen, who is hibernating in a chair filled with tendril-like cables.

They soon realize that the Queen is actually secreting genetic material into pods, which is used to create a new-born Wraith warrior. They witness the birthing the process of a Wraith from a distance. They see a Commander pulling one out and gives him a mask, before taking him away. The team investigates and discovers that there are several chambers going down several miles underground, and discovers it is a Wraith cloning facility, and they should not let it remain operational. C-4 would do insufficient damage to the facility, so they plan to use their Hive Ship to bombard it from orbit. However, another Hive is guarding, meaning they won't even come close. They have to plan something else.

Meanwhile, the Queen finishes secreting her genetic material. The Commander congratulates her on a job well done. However, the work drains her, and must feed. She orders the Commander to send the prisoner, "Todd", since has now outlived his usefulness. As the Wraith is about to take "Todd" out of holding, they are all killed by Ronon's Particle magnum. The team asks him questions, or he'll join the two dead Wraith. "Todd" tells them that he needed ZPMs to power the facility, which explains why the Wraith have grown in numbers; 10,000 years ago, the Ancients sent the ship into deeper Wraith territory, where the Wraith were able to take over them and steal the ZPMs from the ships to power the facility. Now that the ZPMs have ran out of power, "Todd" stole three more from Asuras and planned to use them to create an army to wipe out the other Wraith, but was later betrayed and sent to the facility as a prisoner.

McKay now knows that if they take away the ZPMs, the facility will be out of power, meaning it will be useless, since the Queen needs the ZPMs to send her genetic material. However, on the way, the Wraith alarm sounds, meaning the Wraith have discovered the missing "Todd". The team are then surrounded by Wraith, and attempt to shoot their way through. However, the team gets stunned, and "Todd" escapes in a Dart to the team's Hive Ship.

Meanwhile, Lorne sits with Teyla and congratulates her on her pregnancy, stating his sister has two children, and later tells her that she is going to be a great mother. Soon, they receive a communication from a Dart, with "Todd" inside. He tells them that the team has been captured and they must leave soon, since the other Hive will soon notice the Dart has gone to theirs. However, they refuse to leave until the team is rescued. Teyla has an idea.

The team awakens in the cell, but are soon taken to see the Queen. She uses her mind powers to gather information from Sheppard, but finds it hard, since she never encountered a mind so strong before. She threatens to feed on one of the others to gather the information she needs. When Sheppard is still uncooperative, she goes to feed on McKay, but is stopped for some reason. She then orders the team to be taken back to the cell. Using her gift of Wraith telepathy, Teyla takes control of the Queen, and with the child's mind, is able to control her more easily than last time. During the mental battle, Teyla gets the Queen to stand and taken to retrieve her team's weapons and takes the Queen to the cell and releases the team. However, meanwhile, the Queen is able to discover Teyla's help, and starts attacking the baby and tries to kill it. As Sheppard's team escapes, Sheppard urges Teyla to let go. However, when she can't, Sheppard shoots and kills the Queen, which releases Teyla's mind and allows her to recover from the strain.

The team tries to have McKay overload the ZPMs, but can't find them, so the think of another plan. Meanwhile, the other Hive tracks Atlantis' Hive and starts attacking. Despite "Todd's" wishes to leave, he is forced to shoot back, but since their Hive is weakened, their weapons are not very effective. Sheppard's team manages to shoot their way out and makes it back to the Jumper, to their Hive. Sheppard informs Lorne of his new plans. The ship is evacuated, but not before Teyla sets a new course.

Back in the facility, the Commander hears news from the other Hive; Atlantis' Hive is heading straight for the facility. They can do nothing, but wait for the Hive Ship to crash into the facility, destroying it. The team is able to return to Atlantis through the planet's Stargate.

Back on Atlantis, Sheppard reveals that "Todd" has gone his separate ways again, taking a Dart and disappearing. Teyla talks with Sheppard, and tells him that with the baby's mind, she is able to determine that her baby is a boy. Teyla then tells him about her harrowing experience with the Wraith Queen. Before, she was adamant about risking her life for the team whenever they were in danger. However, the mission had made her realize just how much danger she had put her baby in, and now understands why Sheppard has been so worried about her putting herself in harm's way.

Notable Quotes
Sheppard: How big is this place? McKay: Don't worry, I got an excellent sense of direction. Sheppard: Didn't you say you got lost in a garden maze once? McKay: (defensively) I was ten! Plus I was running from a bee.

McKay is about to be fed on by the Wraith Queen Queen: Him! McKay: Oh great. My whole life I was never chosen first, and now fate decides to restore the balance.

After McKay's hopeful thoughts about Todd saving the team Sheppard: Something tells me we are on our own this time (Wraith approaches) Ronon: Something tells me it's not gonna matter.

Wraith: Commander, we just received an urgent message from the hive. The enemy, they're headed this way. (The Wraith Commander turns to him horrified. Outside, the hive ship crashes into the facility, destroying both.  Sheppard's team and Lorne's team are in a Puddle Jumper nearby.) McKay: Well that ought to do it.

Goofs

 * When Lt. Colonel John Sheppard shoots the Wraith Queen, Joe Flanigan is obviously not using a firing prop pistol, but is using either a flashpaper mockup or a rubber prop and the muzzle flashes were added in post-production. The slide never cycles nor do any empty cases eject as he fires. This was probably done for safety reasons given how close Andee Frizzell (or her stand-in) was standing in the shot.