Maybourne: I guess congratulations are in order. You made General.
O'Neill: You made King.
Maybourne: Well...it's not a contest.
The team set out to bring Harry Maybourne back to Earth after learning that the planet he was exiled to is about to be attacked by the Goa'uld Ares, but discover that Maybourne now goes by "King Arkhan the First" and has no intention of leaving. His planet also yields several other interesting discoveries, including a pillar that seems to predict future events and a ship that can apparently travel through time, both left behind by the Ancients.
Last appearance of Colonel Harry Maybourne.
"It's Good To Be King" provides examples of the following tropes:
- Becoming the Mask: Maybourne admits that while he didn't start out that way, he has come to genuinely care for his "subjects" and doesn't want to abandon them.
- The Bus Came Back/Put on a Bus: Maybourne returns for the first time since season 6, but this is to be his last appearance on the show. Justified between Season Eight originally being the final Season and RDA leaving the series (and thus losing Maybourne's primary heroic Foil).
- Combat Pragmatist: During their fight, Trelak distracts Teal'c with a faceful of thrown dirt, then clobbers him with a nearby bench.
- Continuity Nod: O'Neill states that the last time he and Maybourne saw each other, Maybourne got them both stranded and then went crazy and tried to kill him.
- Continuity Overlap: With Stargate Atlantis Season One. While the Expedition is still cut off from the SGC at this point, SG-1 nonetheless has their first encounter with the then-recently introduced Puddle Jumpers (though of course only the audience understands the significance of what SG-1's discovered).
- Conveniently Timed Attack from Behind: Garan takes out one of Ares' Jaffa with a well-placed arrow as he's about to choke Daniel.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Goa'uld Ha'tak mothership vs Ancient gateship (shuttlecraft designed to go through a stargate — defensive weapons only, no shields). It's not the Ancient ship that gets curb stomped. Shows how powerful the Ancients were. See One-Hit Kill below.
- Didn't Think This Through: Maybourne is initially happy to sit back and let SG-1 save his planet from the incoming Goa'uld, as per the prophecy. But General O'Neill asks if the prophecy mentions that the king, specifically, survives the fight against the Goa'uld. Maybourne reluctantly admits it doesn't mention him at all, in a tone of voice that says he hadn't thought of that possibility at all.
- Don't Touch It, You Idiot!: Carter warns Daniel that it's probably not the best idea to start randomly poking around with the Ancient time travel device.
- Exotic Extended Marriage: Maybourne admits at the end of the episode that he can't leave the planet because he doesn't want to leave his wives, plural.
- Foreshadowing: The Ancients who fled Pegasus developed a Puddle Jumper with Time Travel technology. The origin of said technology would be revealed two weeks later over on the spinoff show.
- Frontline General: O'Neill goes through the gate for the first time since being promoted. Justified since he's the only one they know of who can fly the Ancient ship.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Teal'c kills the First Prime of Ares with his own blade.
- I Choose to Stay: O'Neill offers Maybourne the chance to return to Earth, but he elects to stay on the planet instead as he's built a life for himself there.
- I Gave My Word: Teal'c promises to see to it that Trelak dies quickly and sure enough, after meeting his demise at Teal'c's hands, his last words are that Teal'c is a man of his word.
- Idiot Ball: When Ares' Jaffa arrive and threaten the natives Maybourne pretends to go along with them to give SG-1 time to prepare. One of the natives is challenged and they openly defy Ares' First Prime and gets into a position where they are to be executed on the spot as an example to the rest. They then start to tell everyone about the prophesy, which leads to the Jaffa finding the ruins, which causes the Jaffa to go on alert and SG-1 to be discovered. All could have been avoided if they'd just kept their mouth shut.
- If I Had a Nickel...:Garan: Surrender your weapons, or die where you stand.O'Neill: Oh, if I had a nickel...
- In Harm's Way: O'Neill states that he misses going offworld after he, Daniel and Carter get into a tense standoff with crossbow-wielding villagers.
- In the Hood: Daniel and Teal'c disguise themselves under hooded robes when Ares' Jaffa arrive on the planet.
- The Good King: Maybourne has become this entirely by accident during his time on the planet, as his introducing various modern technologies to the natives has improved their lives in many ways.
- Large Ham: Maybourne, when he's in "Good King Arkhan" mode.
- One-Hit Kill: O'Neill does this to a Goa'uld Ha'tak mothership (the same class of ship that was a major threat to Earth in the first few seasons) with an Ancient ship that is basically a transport shuttle, and 2 drones. Really shows how powerful the Ancients were.
- Portmanteau:Maybourne: It's sort of a cross between a guava and a mango.Daniel: Sort of a "guango"?Maybourne: I like that! [climbs onto the table] People, from henceforth, Ojen fruit shall be called "guango"! So shall it be!
- Prophetic Fallacy: While the Ancient pillars predict the date the "oppressors of old" will return, and that "those of a distant world will come and restore peace to the land", it's not very clear on how they'll do it, to SG-1's frustration.
- Required Spinoff Crossover: A very loose one with Atlantis, as a Puddle Jumper makes an appearance on the parent show.
- Rousing Speech: Garan delivers one to all the other villagers to convince them that they should still accept Maybourne as their king even though he lied to them.
- Shout-Out:
- The title is a catchphrase from History of the World Part I.
- When Carter mentions that Maybourne's new home is a primitive world, Daniel quotes a line of the theme song from Gilligan's Island.
- In-Universe, Maybourne apparently renamed the local cemetery "The Grateful Dead Burial Ground".
- Superpowerful Genetics: O'Neill is able to fly the Ancient ship found on the planet due to his possessing the Ancient Technology Activation gene.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: O'Neill and Maybourne are no longer actively trying to kill each other and seem to have settled into this kind of dynamic after their long and colorful history.
