Harmony (episode)

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Atlantis Season 4
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Season 3				Season 5

"Harmony" is the fourteenth episode of the fourth season of Stargate Atlantis.

Contents 1 Synopsis 2 Plot 2.1 References 3 Notable quotes 4 Background notes 4.1 Production 5 Sources

[edit] Synopsis

Rodney McKay and John Sheppard are on a familiar planet for trade, where their royal family ask them to escort a young princess, Harmony through the forest to some ruins, where she will become Queen. However, on the way, they discover that a Genii contingent is tracking Harmony down, by the orders of one of Harmony's own sisters.

[edit] Plot

Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard and Doctor Rodney McKay meet with Flora and Mardola, the royalty on a planet the Atlantis Expedition trade with since their first year of operation, where they also warned them of a Wraith culling. The two sisters are very greatful to their kidness and toasts them for it. The sisters then says they need the men's help, they have another sister that needs their assistance. When they step out for a second, the team aree expecting a sister as beautiful as Flora and Mardola, but they are stunned, when they are met by the third sister, who is actually thirteen years old, named Harmony.

Flora and Mardola explain that their mother, who was Queen, recently passed away. They perfromed a ceremony, and later determined that Harmony is to become the next Queen. There is a rite of passage Harmony must go on to the Ruins of Larris, to become Queen. Originally, the next of kin would travel alone, but since Harmony is 13, the other sisters fear her safety, and need Sheppard and McKay's help, since it is against the law for one of the planet's people to help, there is no rule saying that people from other worlds are allowed to help. They appeal to Sheppard and McKay based on maintaining their alliance, and they reluctantly agree.

McKay and Sheppard take Harmony into the woods, while she wonders why Sheppard's put up with Rodney's impertinence, and when wondering who is leader, she knew Sheppard was when he says he is. On the way, Sheppard follows the map, when he notices that a wooden bridge over a ravine has since collapsed, and no longer exits. He tells McKay to stay with Harmony, while he looks for another way across the river. While he leaves, Harmony takes a power bar from his pack, against McKay's wishes, meaning it is clear that Harmony is on the spoiled side. When McKay tells her to take it back, she hands him the empty wrapper. When Sheppard returns, he thinks McKay took his food, despite him saying Harmony took it. McKay then barks at Harmony to tell the truth, when she bursts into fake tears (though Sheppard doesn't know they're fake), making Sheppard taking her side, who agrees on letting her navigate through the map when they return to the path.

After more navigating, they all hear a strange noise. Harmony tells them that it is the sound of the "beast", which is assigned to attack anybody, or anything that is a threat to the throne. After some further walking, McKay and Harmony notices that Sheppard has disappeared. Harmony wonders why McKay isn't taken, since she thinks the beast is behind this. This is proven to be wrong, when McKay is surrounded by a group of three Genii, who don't seem to recognise him, since he helped them with their nuclear weapons programme. They tell him that all they need is Harmony, and they'll spare him. McKay considers it for a second, but then Sheppard takes them all down. He merely just took cover, when his "spidey senses" sensed them coming, so he hid to ambush them.

They wonder what the Genii are doing here. Harmony reveals that her people used to trade with the Genii, but after they kept cheating them several times, her mother banished them. Sheppard leaves McKay with Harmony again, to find out how many more Genii are out there. During that time, McKay and Harmony continue their arguments, flared by Harmony's want to have McKay killed for annoying her. Sheppard returns to then, and tells them that there are Genii everywhere. They decide to hide out until nightfall, where they would then return back to village. However, Harmony disagrees, since she wants to make it to the ruins, otherwise, the luner cycle will finish, and after that time, she will forfit the throne. Sheppard however, has to insist on returning, since it isn't safe to continue.

In the palace at night, the Genii leader, Toran sneaks into the palace, and meets up with Mardola, one of Harmony's sisters. They both have a secret meeting. It is revealed that Mardola has ordered the hit on Harmony, and would become Queen herself. Toran blames her for the death of three of his men. But Mardola simply states that having Sheppard and McKay around was unfortunate, and agrees on paying the Genii three times as much as she originally intended to give them. Toran gives her a Genii communicator to contact him. She also tells Toran to keep the fact that she ordered the hit on Harmony a secret, as if anyone finds out, it would be bad for both of them.

Meanwhile, McKay comes up to Sheppard, and suggests that they stun Harmony to take her back. Sheppard doesn't want that to happen, and decide now would be the time to head back, since the cover of night will make them unnoticed. However as they find Harmony, they notice she has disappeared. They proceed to search for her in the woods, but can't find her. McKay then feels hungry, when Sheppard admits that they could use Ronon Dex to track her down. That said, they smell a fire and food. McKay is able to track the origin of the fire and finds Harmony.

Harmony has hidden in a cave, caught a Loden bird and starts the fire to cook it. Sheppard quickly takes out the fire, and warns Harmony that she is in trouble. They have to turn back to the settlement, despite Harmony telling them that the ruins aren't that far away. As they plan to leave again, they hear the beast approaching. They decide to wait it out and then turn back. Later they chat and Harmony says that since she is going to be Queen, she is going to need a King, and suggests that Sheppard become her king. However, he defers. They then hear the beast again and screams and weapons fire coming from the Genii. Sheppard goes to investigate, and again leaves McKay with Harmony. Harmony wants McKay to teach her about love, since she thinks that she's in love with John. McKay advises her that Sheppard won't be interested in her, and she would have to find her own King. They manage to at least speak civilly to each other.

Meanwhile, Sheppard finds two Genii bodies, who have been attacked violently by the beast, and turned into "Swiss cheese". He then hides from other Genii soldiers, who find their dead comrades. When they leave, Sheppard discovers that the Genii now have a shoot-to-kill order on the three of them. When he overhears the communication, Sheppard returns back to the cave to go back. Harmony disagrees, since they're close to the ruins, and insists the beast will avoid the ruins. Sheppard finally agrees and decide to leave as soon as possible.

As dawn sets, the trio arrive near the nearby ruins and takes cover, where they find two Genii soldiers fiddling with some controls on the ruins. McKay uses this opportunity to stun them. However, he takes too long to aim, that Sheppard snatches it and quickly stuns them both. When they arrive in the ruins, they notice that the structure is very reminiscent to Ancient architecture. McKay discovers that the "ruins" is actually a testing place for constructing Mini-drones. McKay explains that the noise of the beast, is just the noise of the drones. Also, the drones haven't attacked the trio, because they all have the ATA gene. Unfortunately, the Genii has fiddled with the control crystals, meaning the drones can't activate. Harmony's pendant can't activate, meanwing Harmony thinks that she failed.

McKay says he can repair the crystals given time while Harmony insists she can do it if she focuses. Toran then radios the Genii prisoners, and Sheppard tries to bluff through a conversation that he is Heiron and everything is fine. However, as the two Genii cry for help. Sheppard stuns them again, as Toran announces that back up is on its way. Preparing a Genii attack, Sheppard takes cover with Harmony, while McKay works on re-activating the device. However, just as he is completed, the Genii starts firing on them.

In the process, Harmony runs towards McKay. He runs to her and trips, dropping her to the ground too. They run to Sheppard's cover spot. Toran admits that one of her sisters ordered the hit, when she says her sisters would take them down. McKay isn't sure if the device is working. Sheppard then plans to activate the device. He tells McKay to lay down cover fire, while he snatches Harmony's pendant, since anyone with the Ancient gene can activate the drone system. He makes a run for it and activates the system, and the drones mobilize and kill Toran, as the others run away. Harmony is duly impressed by McKay, and declares him a hero, because he shielded her from the Genii with his own body, to which McKay responds he just fell. She also starts to denounce Sheppard for taking her pendant. She then places her pendant over the device and is pleased to learn she would be Queen.

They return to the palace and search Mardola's quarters, since they searched Flora's quarters and finds nothing. They find the communicator. Mardola explains that Harmony is too young to become Queen, to which Harmony says that by the time she will be released from jail, she will be too old to remember, and arrests her. McKay and Sheppard later attend the coronation, where Harmony congratulates McKay and Sheppard for their work in protect her. She then unveils a portrayed her best painters painted. The painting turns out to be a heroic Harmony in the middle, with a brave McKay firing his P-90 in front of her, and Sheppard cowaring behind her.

[edit] References

Ancient; Ancient Technology Activation gene; Bounty hunter; Ronon Dex; Genii; Genii communicator; Genii pistol; Genii semi-automatic machine gun; Larris; Loden bird; Nolar Lumsbrik; Mini-drone; P-90 submachine gun; Pegasus; Power bar; Ladon Radim; Ruins of Larris; Spiderman; Swiss cheese; Wraith; Wraith handblaster

[edit] Notable quotes

Sheppard talks in a deep voice to Toran over the radio
Sheppard: Heiron here.
Toran: What's your status?
Sheppard: Good.
Toran: Elaborate.
Sheppard: Real good.
Heiron and Genii: Help us! (Sheppard stuns them)
Toran: Heiron!
Sheppard: (in his normal voice) Kinda busy, gotta go.

[edit] Background notes

• Ronon Dex, Teyla Emmagan and Samantha Carter do not appear in this episode.
• Additionally neither the city of Atlantis, nor a Stargate appear in this episode.

[edit] Production

• Joseph Mallozzi stated in his blog that there was a mistake in this episode and that this planet was the one where the Ancients first developed mini-drones not the actual Drone Weapons.
• Jodelle Ferland appeared in the episode "Flesh and Blood" of Stargate SG-1's 10th season as a young Adria.
• Crystal Lowe appeared in the episode "Emancipation" of Stargate SG-1's first season.

[edit] Sources

• Harmony, on GateWorld.net, retrieved 19 August 2007