The Serpent's Lair

Plot
In the first episode, Within the Serpent's Grasp, SG-1 gate to an address provided for them by Daniel Jackson. Jackson had learned the address was the point of origin of a Goa'uld attack on Earth in the alternate reality he briefly visited in an earlier episode ("There But For the Grace of God"). After gating to the address they discover they are not on a planet, but a ship which is preparing to travel to Earth to invade it. The team splits up; Carter and Jackson begin to plant C-4 explosives around the ship to destroy it, while O'Neill and Teal'c are captured, but later escape.

At the beginning of this episode, Carter is prepared to detonate the C-4 and thereby end the invasion attempt, sacrificing SG-1 in the process. But as they prepare another Goa'uld mothership slides into view. Teal'c identifies it as Apophis' ship, and notes that it has defense shields and will not be sufficiently damaged by the destruction of this one. Destroying the ship they are on would no longer guarantee that the invasion would be stopped. Jaffa break into the room and throw a shock grenade, disabling and capturing SG-1.

On Earth, Hammond wants to know why they haven't gone to full alert. Colonel Samuels, coordinating with the Pentagon, informs him that Area 51 has created two "Goa'uld-busters", missiles with stealth Mark 12-A warheads enhanced with the Stargate element, Naquadah. Curiously, the Goa'uld ships have delayed entering orbit, giving the United States the necessary time to prepare.

Bra'tac, believed to be part of Klorel's loyal Jaffa and put in command of killing SG-1, informs them that he engineered the Goa'uld's delay by placing Klorel in a sarcophagus. He knew Apophis would wait until Klorel arose, hopefully giving Earth's warships time to attack. He originally planned to lead his fighter wing (Teal'c makes four) against Apophis in Klorel's name, leading father and son to attack each other's ships in the heat of battle. However, being aware of the humans onboard, they will now bond against their common enemy. O'Neill thinks they need a new plan.

Hammond evacuates people through the Stargate, the best in their fields of expertise to preserve humankind at an off-world Alpha Site. Samuels' missiles are easily repelled by the defense shields, but Klorel almost didn't raise them, as Skaara continues to fight his symbiote for control.

Samuels unknowingly repeats the embittered General O'Neill's orders in the alternate reality ("There But For the Grace of God") as recommendations to Hammond: Waiting to send people on the Alpha/Genesis list to the Alpha/Beta Site as they defend Earth, and sending a bomb to Chulak. Hammond scoffs at his recommendations, and Samuels' request to join an Alpha team.

Bra'tac and SG-1 fight their way to Klorel's command center without raising an alarm, Bra'tac quietly dispatching Jaffa guards. On the bridge, Klorel is captured and Bra'tac directs the ship closer to Apophis', but one of the guards seriously wounds Daniel. Daniel orders his friend Jack to leave him. "You're just gonna blow up with the other ship anyway! What difference does it make? Go! Just go! I'll stay and watch your back."

The rest ring over to Apophis' ship. With Klorel as a temporary hostage, Bra'tac destroys Apophis' steering console. O'Neill then drops two Fragmentation grenades into the core of the ship, destroying the shield generators so both ships will be destroyed when the C-4 explodes. Bra'tac is impressed and prepares to die. O'Neill overrides that plan, and directs the team to the glider bays. Overcoming the guards in the glider bay, two gliders, with one human and rebel Jaffa each, launch.

Apophis and Klorel, unable to control either ship, escape through the rings and Stargate.

Daniel wakes up in a sarcophagus, having crawled into one to heal his injuries. With seconds to go, he dials the Alpha Site, hoping the coordinates are the same in this reality. Both ships collide and explode. "Sir, sir, we've got reports from all over the country. A huge fireball in the night sky!"



The gliders have escaped but are heavily damaged from the proximity. They share a quiet moment, reflecting on the beauty of Earth. And the shuttle Endeavour, which Hammond had prepped for launch to rescue SG-1 on the very small chance that the flash of light witnessed on one of the Goa'uld ships (from the first shock grenade) was SG-1 sabotaging the ship. When Daniel arrives and confirms SG-1 was in those ships, Hammond had the shuttle launched.

SG-1 returns to the SGC to applause and to Daniel Jackson, who gets at least two hugs and one affectionate "Space monkey" from O'Neill.