The Gamesters of Triskelion

ST episode
name = The Gamesters of Triskelion


Tamoon (far left) and Shahna (right) escort Chekov and Kirk to the arena
series = TOS
ep_num = 45
prod_num = 046
remas._num = 46
date = January 5, 1968
writer = Margaret Armen
director = Gene Nelson
guest = Dick Crockett
Victoria George
Mickey Morton
Angelique Pettyjohn
Jane Ross
Joseph Ruskin
Steve Sandor
Roger Holloway
Frank da Vinci
Bart LaRue
Eddie Paskey
William Blackburn
Walker Edmiston
Robert Johnson
Paul Baxley
stardate = 3211.7
year = 2268
prev = The Trouble With Tribbles
next = A Piece of the Action

"The Gamesters of Triskelion" is a second season episode of "", first broadcast January 5, 1968 and repeated May 3, 1968. It is episode #45, production #46, written by Margaret Armen, and directed by Gene Nelson.

Overview: Captain Kirk and his companions are sent to fight as gladiators for the gambling entertainment of three disembodied beings.

Plot

On stardate 3211.7, the "Enterprise" is on a routine inspection of an unmanned station at Gamma II. Captain Kirk, Lt. Uhura and Mr. Chekov step into the ship's transporter to beam down, but they vanish before the transporter can be activated. The three appear on their backs in a fenced-in arena on an unknown planet. When they come to their feet, they find they are surrounded by four humanoids of various species who attack them. The team fires their phasers, but the phasers are useless.

The humanoid combatants attack the Enterprise crewmembers and pin them to the ground, but then a black-cloaked man appears, ends the battle and congratulates Kirk's party on their performance. The being identifies himself as Galt, Master Thrall of Triskelion, and that he works for the "Providers", unseen masters who wager "Quatloos" among themselves on the arena games. He informs the party that they will spend the rest of their lives as gladiators, having been chosen to fight for the master's entertainment. The team is fitted with metal collars that deliver severe pain if they disobey instructions, and they are then led to their holding cells.

Meanwhile the "Enterprise" scans for the abducted crewmembers. Sensors show no sign of them and the crew begins a search of all habitable planets in the system.

Back on Triskelion, Kirk and his team make plans for escape, but find Galt's power unbreakable. Any attempt to disobey results in a painful punishment brought on by their collars which they are unable to remove. The three are then introduced to their drill thralls who will service them and prepare them for gladiatorial combat. Chekov gets Tamoon, an androgynous being with tiger-like features and a deep voice, who is immediately attracted to him. Uhura gets Lars, a handsome and somewhat arrogant bronze-skinned man, and Kirk gets Shahna, a beautiful and shy woman with green hair who is exotically dressed in a silver outfit. Shahna is tough with Kirk at first but seems to have growing compassion for the Captain.

Shahna explains that the drill thralls will train them and once they are ready for competition they will be "vended" to one of the Providers. Galt informs Kirk's group that they now belong to Provider One, and he does not tolerate failure or disobedience.

During training, Kirk finds time alone with Shahna, and he questions her about the Providers, however she is unwilling to answer. He tries to soften her up by telling her about the other planets he has visited and about the concepts of freedom. It seems to work, but when she responds she is shocked with pain from her collar. Galt appears and orders them back to their cells, while Kirk explains that he should have been punished, not her.

Back on the "Enterprise" Mr. Spock, Dr. McCoy, and Mr. Scott try to find their Captain and missing crew. Over protests, Spock decides to follow a strange ion trail he suggests might have been produced by the transport beam that abducted the party. They follow the trail to the nearby M-24 Alpha system and resume their scans.

Back in Kirk's cell, Shahna expresses that she feels warmly about Kirk's earlier attempt at saving her, taking the blame for her punishment. Kirk takes advantage of her passionate embrace, catches her off guard, and knocks her unconscious. He then bolts from the cell and frees Chekov and Uhura. The three make a run for it but are stopped when Galt appears and activates their pain collars, driving them to the floor in agony.

The "Enterprise" enters orbit around Triskelion, and Spock locates the missing team on the surface. Spock and McCoy attempt to beam down, but the ship is taken over by a power beam activated by the Providers. Realizing his ship and crew are at stake, and that the Providers are "all-hearing and all-seeing" Kirk announces that he will make a wager that they can't refuse. He is suddenly transported below ground to a chamber filled with odd machinery. He finds a domed table in the center of the room and inside are three disembodied brains that glow from within.

The brains speak and identify themselves as the Providers, ancient beings of pure intellect that pass their time gambling between one another over inferior beings. They demand to hear Kirk's wager. He tells the brains he and his team can defeat the drill thralls. If they win, the brains must free the "Enterprise" and let the team, including all thralls, go. They must end their death games and use their knowledge to teach the thralls how to start a free society. If he loses, he promises a lifetime of entertainment in further competitions with the entire ship's crew.

The Providers express their desire to see Kirk dead, since he has been so troublesome, and they delightedly accept the bet only if Kirk takes on the thralls, alone. With no choice, Kirk agrees and the brains send him back to the arena. The combat begins and the "Enterprise" crew must watch the battle on the bridge viewscreen. Kirk manages to kill two of the thralls, and injures a third, but the Providers halt the game, and replace the injured warrior with Shahna. Both are reluctant to fight each other. Kirk is tired but manages to overpower Shahna and she surrenders. Kirk insists the fight is over and the Providers accept the outcome and allow Kirk and the others to go free.

Kirk lingers behind for a final kiss from Shahna and explains to her that there will be no more games, and the Providers will help them start a free civilization.

40th Anniversary remastering

This episode was remastered in 2006 and aired October 20, 2007 as part of the remastered "Original Series". It was preceded a week earlier by the remastered version of "Dagger of the Mind" and followed two weeks later by the remastered version of "Metamorphosis". Aside from remastered video and audio, and the all-CGI animation of the USS "Enterprise" that is standard among the revisions, specific changes to this episode also include:

*The planets Gamma II and Triskelion have been given new appearances. Gamma II appears covered with craters and has been given rings, and Triskelion has been given a dark gray appearance with large lakes on the surface.

Notes

* This episode is notable for its absence of Sulu. Actor George Takei was away filming "The Green Berets" with actor John Wayne, and due to scheduling constraints Wayne was unable to temporarily release Takei for the three days it would have required to film his scenes for this episode. Takei has stated repeatedly in interviews and at conventions that this was the only regret he had about his participation in the film, as after reading the script for the episode he knew this would have been his moment in the spotlight. The scenes for Sulu were switched to Chekov.
* The planet's name, Triskelion, is actually the word for an heraldic emblem with threefold rotational symmetry, of which the planet's own emblem is an example.
* Although not stated in the episode, according to notes in earlier drafts of the script, the one-eyed thrall, "Kloog", was supposed to be part-Klingon.
* The environment chamber for the Providers was recycled from Lazarus' ship in "The Alternative Factor", while the machinery in the distant background of the chamber is the same background matte used for the subterranean Janus VI colony in "The Devil in the Dark".
*This episode is directly parodied in the Simpsons episode "Deep Space Homer". As part of their astronaut training, Homer and Barney are forced to fight each other in an arena much like the Triskelion one, using similar pole weapons and nets, while the observing scientists bet on them in Quatloos.
*In the Futurama episode "Where No Fan Has Gone Before", Fry and Melllvar compete for Quatloos in a Star Trek trivia contest.

External links

* [http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/series/TOS/episode/68752.html "The Gamesters of Triskelion"] at StarTrek.com
* [http://trekmovie.com/2007/10/21/the-gamesters-of-triskelion-screenshots-video/#more-1136 Review of remastered "The Gamesters of Triskelion"]