Stargate Atlantis/Recap/S04/E14 Harmony

"Harmony: Tell me something, Doctor. The place where you sleep at night, is it guarded? McKay: I know what you're trying to do, and it's not gonna work, OK? And I'm not scared of you. You're just a kid, a bratty little kid. I couldn't care less that you're going to be queen. In fact, nothing could impress me less! So, why don't you just cool it with the backseat act, and go back to ignoring me! Harmony: Surely, they can't guard you all the time?"

- McKay meets his match

Visiting with princesses Flora and Mardola on a planet they have friendly relations with, Sheppard and McKay are conscripted into a Live Action Escort Mission protecting their third and even more beautiful sister, Harmony, chosen to be the next queen. The only trouble is that Princess Harmony is 13 (but looks more like 9) and a royal brat - literally. Our heroes have to escort her on a day long hike through the forest to some ancient ruins and back, so that she can perform the ritual that will allow her to accede to the throne.

Young Harmony develops an instant (and mutual) dislike of McKay, and an equally instant (but far less mutual) crush on Sheppard. Hilarity Ensues. The otherwise simple mission is complicated by the sudden appearence of Genii troops, who demand that Harmony be handed over to them. Tempting as it is, the three elude them and continue heading towards the ruins, while the Genii are stalked and killed by a mysterious entity known only as the Beast, which, according to Harmony, protects the royal house.

The ruins turn out to be the control station of an Ancient testing ground, where mini drones were developed. The drones are activated by the pendant of queenship that Harmony carries (and, of course, having the ATA gene). They are the "Beast" that has been attacking the Genii. Unfortunately, the Genii have gotten there first and have been mucking with things, and the control station no longer works. McKay shuffles control crystals while Sheppard keeps a lookout and Harmony tries vainly to get her pendant to glow and complete the ritual. McKay does manage to get the machine working, but the Genii show up and start shooting everything, and he has to drag Harmony to safety. Pinned down, and figuring that anyone with the ATA gene can control the drones, Sheppard grabs the pendants, activates the machine, and drives off the rest of the Genii.

Harmony, naturally, is unimpressed, calls him a usurper (for stealing the pendant), and decides to shower her praise and affection on a stunned McKay instead. She completes the ritual and they return to the palace, where it turns out that Mardola hired the Genii to take care of them so she could be queen instead. She is arrested, Harmony is crowned Queen, and the adventure is commemorated in a painting that should really be seen rather than described.

Tropes:
"Harmony: You're a doctor, right? McKay: Yes, yes, I mean, I'm not a medical doctor. Harmony: So, you're a liar?"
 * Everything's Better with Princesses
 * Hey, It's That Guy!: Alessa has come a long way since wiping out those cultists.
 * Little Miss Snarker
 * Live Action Escort Mission
 * Magical Girl Queenliness Test: a variant
 * Not That Kind of Doctor


 * Royal Brat: The eponymous Harmony.
 * You Look Familiar: Mardola was Nya from the SG-1 episode "Emancipation" and Harmony was seven-year-old Adria from the episode "Flesh and Blood."