Episode of the Week: Maybourne And The Puddle Jumper

OCTOBER IS PUDDLE JUMPER MONTH!

SG-1 comes to the aid of a world about to be invaded by the Goa’uld, only to discover that the local king is Earth’s Harry Maybourne.

Our rewatch of favorite moments in Stargate history continues! Each month we’ll pick a theme, and feature a key episode every week. Join us by watching the episode this week, and then head to GateWorld Forum (or posting below) to talk about it!

Gate Ship One …

• The Jumper (named by John Sheppard) is technology developed by the Ancients in the Pegasus Galaxy — a ship designed to fit through a Stargate.
• The ships are security-locked so they cannot be stolen by the enemy (or a local out for a joy ride): the pilot must have the Ancient gene for the controls to respond.
• Puddle Jumpers also allowed the Lanteans to construct Stargates located in space.
• The versatile little ships have a rear compartment for storage or extra passengers, and is equipped with small drone weapons.
• There’s even one instance of a Jumper being discovered in the Milky Way Galaxy, evidently by a Lantean scientist who had resettled from Atlantis.

“It’s Good To Be King” Facts:

• The first season of Stargate Atlantis made possible plenty of crossover opportunities between the two shows, which filmed next door to each other at The Bridge Studios in Vancouver. This episode brought a rare sight to SG-1: technology from the Pegasus Galaxy, in the form of Atlantis‘s signature Puddle Jumper vessel.

  How did it get there? It seems that one of the Lanteans who fled Atlantis 10,000 years ago (“Before I Sleep”) must have built and used the ship on Maybourne’s planet. It might have even been Janus himself.

• Fan favorite Harry Maybourne (played by actor Tom McBeath) appeared in a total of 11 episodes over the course of the series, starting out as an antagonist within the U.S. military back in SG-1‘s first season. This swan song is Maybourne’s final episode.
• The original story for “It’s Good To Be King,” conceived by producer and director Peter DeLuise, was to bring back actor Michael Welch as a teenage Jack O’Neill (following up on the episode “Fragile Balance”) and putting him on screen with Maybourne. But Welch was busy with his new show Joan of Arcadia, and the story was reworked into what we saw.
• The discovery of the time-traveling Puddle Jumper on Maybourne’s planet set up the timey-wimey season finale, “Moebius” — in which SG-1 used the ship to travel back to Ancient Egypt. Presumably Earth is still in possession of the ship after the events of that episode … but it was never mentioned again.

“It’s Good To Be King” on GateWorld:

• Episode Guide
• Episode Review
• Episode Transcript
• Photo Gallery
• Screencap Gallery
• Discussion Forum

• SG-1 Season Eight Podcast
• Interview with Tom McBeath (2004)
• Interview with Christopher Judge (2004)

Download “It’s Good To Be King” now from Amazon or iTunes!

Rewatch “It’s Good To Be King” this week! Then post your comments below, or head over to the “It’s Good To Be King” discussion thread and see what people were saying back in the day. What are your favorite moments?

Every month we’re featuring a new theme from Stargate’s 17 seasons. Watch the weekly episode with us join in the fun!