E²

ST episode
name =E²


Jonathan Archer meets Karyn Archer.
series =Enterprise
ep_num =73
prod_num =321
date =May 5, 2004
year =2154
writer =Michael Sussman
director =Roxann Dawson
guest =
prev =The Forgotten
next =The Council

"E²" is the title of an episode from the third season of the television series "". It was the seventy-third episode of the series, and it first aired on 5 May, 2004.

Plot summary

"Enterprise" encounters a future version of itself that, due to a temporal phenomenon, had been sent back 117 years into the past. This "Enterprise" was originally identical to the "real" "Enterprise", with the same crew, but it retrogressed in time after entering an unstable subspace corridor. For decades, it existed in the Expanse and never contacted Starfleet. (Explaining why the Reptilian Xindi questioned Archer about other Starfleet ships in the Expanse in the episode "Azati Prime"). Finally, in "E²", it catches up with the current "Enterprise" to warn its past self about the wormhole. The only crewmember that survived all those decades was T'Pol, who in "E²" has the privilege of meeting a less aged version of herself. All of the other inhabitants of the ship are descendants of the original crew (some of whom have interbred with friendly aliens they encountered along the way). For example, Lorian (David Andrews), the captain, is the son of Charles Tucker and T'Pol. As such it has become a generational ship.

Archer and Lorian disagree over which method of propulsion Archer should use to transport his ship to a certain set of coordinates. Lorian believes that the wormhole must be avoided altogether, while Archer believes that his ship can pass through it without a repeat of the temporal disruption that sent the NX-01 into the past because of modifications suggested by the elder T'Pol.

Meanwhile, the younger T'Pol encounters her older self and learns that in the alternate future caused by the wormhole she and Trip are destined to be together. She also is told that the brain damage suffered from her Trellium-D addiction (see "Damage") is permanent. When Young T'Pol expresses confusion over what she should do regarding Tucker assuming the timeline is restored, her elder self says simply, "Follow your heart."

Later, in order to prevent Archer from using his warp drive, and thus his using his preferred method of propulsion, Lorian steals a vital part of the warp drive (ironically echoing a similar act of theft Archer was forced to undertake with an alien vessel in "Damage"). In the end, the crews are able to reconcile their differences and decide on going through the wormhole. Lorian assists by attacking some enemy ships guarding the wormhole. Archer's "Enterprise" successfully passes through towards its rendezvous with Degra, but Lorian's ship does not follow. A final exchange between Archer and T'Pol provides two possible explanations: either the ship was destroyed, or it ceased to exist because "Enterprise" made it through the wormhole without being sent into the past. Yet T'Pol is confused as to how the present day "Enterprise" remembers the "Enterprise" from the past if the ship never existed.

eries continuity

This episode established the name of the second Warp 5 starship, the "Columbia (NX-02)", which had been first shown under construction in an earlier episode, "The Expanse", but had not yet been named at that point.

References

# [http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/series/ENT/episode/4536.html Episode information from STARTREK.COM]
# "Star Trek: Enterprise" episode 073: "E²"

External links