Now that you know about the people and factions of the Pegasus Galaxy, let’s examine the show’s past seasons to see how these pieces fit together!

SEASON ONE

In the show’s first season, the Atlantis expedition arrived through the Stargate in the Pegasus Galaxy, having found an 8-symbol gate address in Antarctica (“Rising”). Many knew that this could be a one-way trip, and indeed Atlantis was cut off from Earth all season long. The problem was power — though they managed to bring the city up from the bottom of the ocean and charge some systems using naquadah generators brought from Earth, Atlantis needs the vastly more powerful Ancient devices, Zero Point Modules (Z.P.M.s), to run at full strength.

The city has a Stargate inside the central command tower, numerous buildings and piers with laboratories and residential quarters, and can generate a shield to protect the entire city. It even has a star drive, allowing the entire city to fly through space — as it did when the Ancients brought it from Earth millions of years ago, and again when our team had to move the city to a new homeworld to avoid the Replicators one year ago (“First Strike,” “Lifeline”).

The team made friends, including Teyla and the Athosians, and enemies — such as the Genii (“Underground”), and of course the Wraith. And they defended the Ancient city from its enemies more than once (“The Storm,” “The Eye,” “The Siege”).

Near the end of the first season, the team was able to make contact with Earth. They transmitted a short data burst through the gate explaining their status and the impending Wraith attack (“Letters From Pegasus”). Earth sent a battleship, the Daedalus, equipped with a Z.P.M. that had been discovered on Earth. The Wraith attack was repelled in the Season Two premiere, and the Wraith were tricked into thinking that Atlantis had been destroyed.

NEXT: Season Two