Elaan of Troyius

ST episode
name = Elaan of Troyius


Elaan casts a spell on Kirk
series = TOS
ep_num = 68
prod_num = 057
remas._num = 63
date = December 20, 1968
writer = John Meredyth Lucas
director = John Meredyth Lucas
guest = France Nuyen Jay Robinson Tony Young (actor) Lee Duncan Victor Brandt K.L. Smith Dick Durock Charles Beck Eddie Paskey Frank da Vinci William Blackburn (actor) Roger Holloway
stardate = 4372.5
year = 2268
prev = The Empath
next = Whom Gods Destroy

"Elaan of Troyius" is a third-season episode of "", and was broadcast December 20, 1968. It is episode #68, production #57, and was written and directed by John Meredyth Lucas.

Overview: Captain Kirk hosts a spoiled princess, who must bring peace to a star system at war.

Plot

On stardate 4372.5, the starship USS "Enterprise" arrives at the planet Troyius, the outermost world in the Tellun System, to pick up Petri, a green-skinned, white haired Troyian ambassador. He is then taken to Elas, the innermost planet to pick up the Dohlman, Elaan - a beautiful but very demanding young woman who is a member of a royal family. Though powerful herself, it is unclear who the "real" power is on Elas. What is clear is that the ruler or rulers of Elas have made the decision to marry Elaan to a royal family member from Troyius in an effort to secure peace between the warring planets.

Both planets are in a border area between the Federation and the Klingon Empire and are at war with each other. It is hoped that the marriage of the Troyian and Elasian leaders will bring peace to the system and sway their leanings toward the Federation, over the Klingon Empire. It is obvious that Elaan is reluctant to be her enemy's bride, cursing that the arrangement was decided on by the Council of Elas in cooperation with the Troyian leader. Petri's job is to try to civilize Elaan, who is spoiled and arrogant, to the posh and noble ways of the Troyians.

Not long after Elaan's arrival, a Klingon vessel is detected entering the Tellun system and avoids all communication hails from the "Enterprise". Captain Kirk is then summoned to Elaan's quarters where he finds Ambassador Petri has been stabbed by Elaan. The ambassador is rushed to sickbay where he refuses to have any more dealings with the girl and threatens to advise his leader not to marry her. The job of straightening her out now falls to Kirk.

While in sickbay, Nurse Chapel asks why Elasian women are so prized in spite of their savagery. Petri explains that if the tears of an Elasian female touch a man's skin, they will be enraptured to her forever. (It is not clear whether this is in fact the case for the Troyian leader.) Elaan does not take kindly to being "civilized" and also tries to stab Kirk. He manages to overpower her and she begins to cry saying she is worried by the fact that nobody likes her. Kirk embraces her and tries to comfort her, but then he is overcome by the biochemistry of her tears.

Meanwhile, one of the engineering crew is killed by Kryton, an Elasian bodyguard, who is secretly working for the Klingons. Kryton sabotages some of the "Enterprise's" systems and tries to contact the Klingon ship. He is captured, but commits suicide before he can be interrogated. Elaan explains that Kryton was from a noble family and had loved her. The arranged marriage had infuriated him and he sold out to the Klingons, probably hoping to disrupt the alliance so that he could marry Elaan.

Elaan tries to use her new power over Kirk to do her bidding. She suggests that he destroy the Troyian planet, but his ethics and willpower are still stronger than her influence. He orders Dr. McCoy to work on an antidote to counteract the power of her tears. Elaan is impressed by Kirk's resolve and begins to treat him as a loving equal, obeying him when he asks her to go to sickbay (the safest part of the ship). Meanwhile, Mr. Scott discovers Kryton's sabotage and takes the ship off main power. He reports Kryton had damaged the dilithium crystals making it impossible to go to warp or use weapons.

Scotty and Mr. Spock work feverishly to repair the damage as the Klingon ship takes up an attack position. There is little they can do about the threat without dilithium crystals. Kirk, still under the influence of Elaan's tears, manages to pull himself together and bluff the Klingons into thinking the "Enterprise" is fully operational.

In sickbay, the Troyian ambassador once again approaches Elaan with the royal gifts — a wedding dress and a necklace of large, roughly cut gemstones, saying that they symbolize hope for peace. Elaan accepts and subsequently appears on the bridge wearing the gifts. Spock detects strange energy readings from her necklace. Elaan is puzzled because to her the jewels are common stones — the necklace is of little monetary value on her world. Spock discovers the "common stones" are crude dilithium crystals, which explains why the Klingons are so interested in controlling the system. The stones are quickly delivered to Scotty in Engineering where he utilizes the crystals in the ship's antimatter reactor. Power returns to the "Enterprise" just before the Klingons attack and the enemy ship is successfully driven off. Elaan is once again puzzled by Kirk's decision to just cripple the enemy ship and not destroy it. She asks, "Aren't you going to finish them off?" To which he replies, "No".

A much changed Elaan is delivered safely to Troyius. Before she departs, Elaan gives Kirk her knife as a memento of their encounter, explaining Troyian women do not wear such things. Later, McCoy appears on the bridge to report that he's found the antidote, but finds that it's not needed after all, because Kirk was even more in love with commanding the "Enterprise".

40th Anniversary remastering

This episode was remastered in 2006 and aired March 29, 2008 as part of the remastered "Original Series". It was preceded a week earlier by the remastered "Is There in Truth No Beauty?" and followed a week later by the remastered "The Enterprise Incident". 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 Elas and Troyius have been given more realistic appearances.
* The battle between the Klingon ship and the "Enterprise" has been revised with more dramatic camera angles and animation of the ships.

Notes

* This episode marks, in production order, the first time a Klingon vessel is seen on-screen (barring a brief glimpse in "A Private Little War"). However, the model was also used to represent Romulan vessels in "The "Enterprise" Incident" (after a technological exchange between the two empires), which in final transmission order was broadcast before this episode.

* The title, 'Elaan of Troyius' is a clear reference to the legendary beauty Helen of Troy.

* France Nuyen and William Shatner had worked together in a stage production of "The World of Suzie Wong".

* This episode was originally scripted to debut the ship's new recreation room set, and the scenes were actually filmed. However, they were cut from the final airing broadcast, but numerous frames of the scenes have surfaced in recent years [http://www.startrekhistory.com/restoration/lost.html] . These frames have been verified as being authentic, and had the scenes aired we would have learned not only that Spock took second place on his Vulcan Lyre in an "all-Vulcan music competition", but that his father, Sarek, took first. Also, Uhura asks Spock if he could teach her how to play the Vulcan Lyre, to which Spock agrees but expresses his doubts as to Uhura - or any human's - ability to master the Lyre's mathematically-intensive operating concepts.

* The music written for this episode, particularly the love themes between Kirk and Elaan, would be frequently heard throughout the rest of the third season.

* Costume designer William Theiss designed Elaan's costumes in this episode; guest star France Nuyen wears four different costume changes, tying Barbara Anderson (Lenore) in "The Conscience of the King." Kryton's armor was constructed out of red and orange plastic place mats.

External links

* [http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/series/TOS/episode/68774.html "Elaan of Troyius"] at StarTrek.com
* [http://trekmovie.com/2008/03/31/elaan-of-troyius-remastered-review-video/#more-1808 Review of the remastered "Elann of Troyius" at Trekmovie.com]