Let That Be Your Last Battlefield

ST episode
name = Let That Be Your Last Battlefield


Bele's powers seize control of the "Enterprise"
series = TOS
ep_num = 70
prod_num = 070
remas._num = 54
date = January 10, 1969
writer = Oliver Crawford
story by
Gene L. Coon (as Lee Cronin)
director = Jud Taylor
guest = Lou Antonio
Frank Gorshin
Frank da Vinci
William Blackburn
Roger Holloway
stardate = 5730.2
year = 2268
prev = Whom Gods Destroy
next = The Mark of Gideon

"Let That Be Your Last Battlefield" is a third season episode of "". It is episode #70, production #70, first broadcast January 10, 1969, and repeated August 12, 1969. It was written by Oliver Crawford, based on a story by Lee Cronin and directed by Jud Taylor. This episode guest-stars Frank Gorshin, best known for his role as The Riddler in the "Batman" live-action television series. Gorshin received an Emmy nomination for his portrayal of Bele.

Overview: The "Enterprise" picks up the last two survivors of a war-torn planet who are still committed to destroying each other aboard the ship.

Plot

On stardate 5730.2, the "Enterprise" is on a mission to help decontaminate the polluted atmosphere of the planet Ariannus when sensors track a Federation shuttlecraft reported stolen from Starbase 4. The craft is disabled and brought aboard along with its strange alien pilot who is found injured and taken to sickbay. The man later awakens and identifies himself as Lokai — a political refugee from the planet Cheron who requests asylum. Lokai's most striking feature is that his skin is half black and half white, the two halves split perfectly down the center of his body. His unique physiology is explained by Mr. Spock as possibly being "one of a kind".

Shortly thereafter, sensors detect another spacecraft in fast pursuit of the "Enterprise". Curiously, the craft remains invisible to all but sensors and sets itself on a direct collision course with the ship. Moments later, Spock reports the invisible craft has disintegrated and deposited an "alien presence" aboard the ship. Kirk turns to see the alien pilot who has beamed himself directly to the bridge. The second alien identifies himself as Bele (pronounced "Beale"), obviously of the same race as Lokai, however, the sides of Bele's black and white skin are reversed. The difference is pointed out by Bele to a perplexed Captain Kirk who asks what is the difference between them, to which he replies, "Isn't it obvious? Lokai is white on the right side. All his people are white on the right side."

Bele explains he is a police commissioner from Cheron and on a mission to retrieve political traitors. His current quarry is Lokai who he has been chasing for what Bele claims to be 50,000 Earth years. Bele then instructs Captain Kirk to take him to see his "prisoner". Bele is taken to Lokai, but Lokai reacts fearfully to Bele's presence and strongly demands he be taken away. The two aliens begin arguing about slavery and racial segregation, and almost come to blows.

Kirk decides to ignore their heated arguments and returns to the bridge. Bele soon follows and demands that Kirk change course to Cheron. Kirk refuses, informing him that the Bele's mission is no concern of his and that he has more urgent matters to attend to. He allows Bele and Lokai to remain aboard and tells them he will drop them off at Starbase 4 once the mission is complete "and let them sort it out."

Soon Lokai comes to the bridge and demands Kirk kill Bele and grant him asylum. Kirk refuses and calls security to escort the two off to the brig. The two aliens however, each generate a powerful field which resists both phaser blasts and the guards' physical attempts to subdue them.

Tired of Kirk's commands, Bele invokes a strange power which takes control of the ship and steers it toward Cheron. With no way to return control, Kirk threatens to destroy the "Enterprise".

Bele believes Kirk is bluffing until Kirk activates the ship's auto-destruct sequence with voice code approval of his first officer Mr. Spock and chief engineer Mr. Scott. Bele nervously watches as the countdown nears zero then finally relents control at the last seconds. Kirk cancels auto-destruct and changes course back to Ariannus.

Kirk informs Lokai and Bele that they are to be treated as guests, provided they do not further interfere with the operation of the ship.

Lokai is later shown in a rec room attempting to sway several off-duty Starfleet crewmen to the perceived justness of his cause, including a skeptical Sulu and Chekov. In the corridor outside the rec room, a curious Spock hears Lokai's oratory through the partially-open door, but decides not to intervene.

Meanwhile, Bele meets with Kirk and Spock, where it is quickly revealed that Bele believes his black and white coloration to be superior to Lokai's, even though Kirk sees no difference in the two and refuses to agree in Bele's convictions of racial superiority.

Once the Ariannus mission is completed, Bele takes control of the "Enterprise" again, but this time he deactivates the auto-destruct in the process and sends the ship to Cheron. Once there, the two aliens find the planet's population completely wiped out by a global war fueled by insane racial hatred. Both Lokai and Bele stare silently at the destruction on the monitor and realize they are the only ones left of their race (or, as they see it, "their" races).

Instead of calling a truce, the two beings begin to blame each other for the destruction of the planet and a physical brawl ensues. As the two aliens fight, their innate powers radiate, cloaking them with an energy aura that threatens to damage the ship. With no other choice, Kirk sadly allows the two aliens to chase each other down to their obliterated world to decide their own fates, consumed by their now self-perpetuating mutual hate.

Cheron

It is established that Cheron is the planet from which Bele and Lokai hail - Cheron is also the name of the planet at which the Romulan forces suffered a crushing military defeat at the hands of Earth, marking the end of the Romulan War. TOS episode "Balance of Terror" describes the war as between Earth and the Romulans and confirms the formation of the Neutral Zone. The "" episode "The Defector" has Admiral Jarok, who is defecting to the Federation, mentioning that the "Battle of Cheron" has not been forgotten by the Romulans have associated the battle as leading to the formation of the Neutral zone. Cheron is referenced again in "Star Trek Generations" as being the battle that ended the war.

It is not believed this is the same Cheron however, as the "Enterprise" crew doesn't appear to be familiar with the planet or the race from it. An alternate theory is that the race had lived on the planet 50,000 years previously and the global war had obliterated all trace of their existence.

40th Anniversary remastering

This episode was remastered in 2006 and aired January 12, 2008 as part of the remastered "Original Series". It was preceded a week earlier by the remastered "Who Mourns for Adonais?" and followed a week later by the remastered "The Enemy Within". 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 "Enterprise" capture of the Starbase 4 shuttle has been reanimated in CGI. The shuttle now says "Starbase 4" on its hull.
* The planet Ariannus has been recreated in CGI. The planet's "clean up of the environment" has been recreated. A device has been added to the bottom of the "Enterprise" which is used in the clean up.
* The planet Cheron was recreated in CGI. The planet now appears as a scarred world destroyed by cataclysm.
* Several of the scenes depicting Bele and Lokai running through the ship's corridors have been shortened.

Notes

* There is some evidence that this script evolved from Gene Coon's unfilmed first season script "A Portrait in Black and White".Fact|date=June 2008 That particular script also dealt with racial issues, and would have featured Uhura and McCoy trapped on a planet where white people were slaves and black people were the mastersFact|date=June 2008. According to David Gerrold, Herbert F. Solow, and the recollections of Gene Coon's widow, Jackie Coon-Fernandez,Fact|date=June 2008 the "Trek" production staff worked and reworked the script for nearly three years before it reached its final form.

* In the movie "", Kirk, Scotty, and acting science officer Chekov activate the "Enterprise's" self destruct sequence to keep the ship from falling into enemy hands. The codes the officers used are identical to the ones used in this episode (although here, Kirk gives one additional line, to abort the destruct sequence, which was not done in the film).

* There is a scene in a blooper reel, in which Frank Gorshin announces that he is Bele, pronouncing it as "Belly." He pauses, apparently realizing how ridiculous it sounds, and corrects himself.

External links

* [http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/series/TOS/episode/68800.html "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield"] at StarTrek.com
* [http://trekmovie.com/2008/01/22/let-that-be-your-last-battlefield-remastered-screenshots/#more-1478 Review of the remastered "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield" at Trekmovie.com]