EPISODE: "Chosen Realm" PROD#: ENT064 TRAN#: 3.12 RATING: PG-V AIRDATE: wed-14-jan-2004-20:00 EPDATE: [not stated; approx. 4 days] OFFICIAL: startrek.com/startrek/view/series/ENT/episode/3394.html FROM: Phillip Thorne, thorne@underbase.org POST-TO: rec.arts.startrek.current, .reviews, .tech, rec.arts.sf.tv REVIEW#: 55.1 FORMAT#: 5.0 URL: underbase.org/dept/trek/ent312_chosen_realm.txt I. INTRODUCTION This document focuses on the technical aspects of a current episode; it is intended to support discussion, and to later serve as a reference; it accordingly contains PLOT SPOILERS, so CONTINUE AT YOUR OWN RISK. Whenever possible, it indicates who did/claimed/knew what, because characters can lie or be mistaken. Spellings of technobabble and alien nouns are obtained from TV closed-captioning ("CC") -- which is imperfect: it may not match spoken dialogue, or the website, or be consistent within or between eps. In the Synopsis, I may condense or reorder scenes. If you have corrections or clarifications, please contact me, and I'll (eventually) make corrections. Abbreviations commonly used: -(m/f/?) name belongs to mel/fem/unclear, (os) on [viewer] screen, (vo) voiceover, -(?) quote is uncertain, -(sp?) spelling is unclear; VDB Vulcan database, VHC Vulcan High Command, XDB Xindi database; series: TOS TAS TNG DS9 VGR ENT. Although CC uses "Launch Bay," "Sick Bay," and "shuttle pod," I often condense those terms to single words. "Star Trek" and all related indicia are copyrights of Paramount Pictures, while this overview is (c)2004 Phillip Thorne. Feel free to use this document as a reference, but please give credit where due. II. TERMINOLOGY TECHNICAL: Sphere, cloaking barrier, anomalies, organic explosives TECHNICAL/ENTERPRISE: Bridge, [Sickbay], [Officer's Mess], [Ready Room], [Mess], C-Deck, XB (exabyte?), COM MODE HB88, EPS manifolds, D-Deck Section J-15, [Armory], [Brig] LOCATIONS, POLITIES and ORGANIZATIONS: Triannon CULTURAL: Pri'Nam, the Makers, Chosen Realm, the Makers' Breath, Janaran tea III. ANALYSIS 1. What we get... A new humanoid species, a new ship design, a solid parable. 2. What we don't get... Specific dates, names for most of the Triannons. 3. The shirtless files... None. 4. Arcs... The Spheres. 5. Links... Reference to airlock torture (302-"Anomaly") and prior visits to Spheres (302-"Anomaly" and 306-"Exile"). 6. ENT travels the 6.3 Ly from the Sphere to Triannon at max warp in only 3 days. D'Jamat's group had been hanging around the Sphere for around seven months, and had been away from their homeworld for about a year (the all-out war occurred some time after they left on their pilgrammage). 7. The Triannons are near-human, with a bit of nose-ridge. D'Jamat's sect have red markings on the right side of the face; the single Heretic we see has grey on the left. The red marking consists of a long vertical line with arrowheads, with zero one or two (space for three) shorter vertical strokes alongside. Rank markings? Indava has none, Yarrick one, and D'Jamat two. 8. Triannon ships are gold in color, and fire yellow beams. They're vertical in orientation, with a quarter-circle "keel" comprising most of the ship, topped with a shallow ellipsoidal hull, and flanked by two cylindrical engine-pods. There's a pair of small fins at the ventral extreme of the keel, and one vertical fin on each pod. 9. When D'Jamat deletes the Sphere data, the screen reads "19.3 XB". X-for-exabytes? "Exa" is the SI prefix for 10^18 (giga, tera, peta, exa), so that's a billion times the capacity of a typical home hard-drive today. Apparently computing hasn't started using "kiloquads," whatever those may be (specific to duotronic or isolinear hardware, perhaps). IV. NITS 1. How did ENT overlook D'Jamat's ship if it had been in the vicinity of the Sphere for seven months? Wouldn't he have insisted on saying "hi!"? 2. Why is it so very tiny? A bit cramped for 23 people for one year. You'd expect people who don't care much for science to be forced to build *big* ships. (Maybe they bought it from someone else.) 3. A crew-woman encounters the C-Deck Bomber, but *does nothing* - - try to stop him, use the intercom, run away. Why not? 4. How does D'Jamat so easily operate ENT's computers (Command Center, Archer's logs). Are they Just That Simple, or do other races besides humans have an instinctive feel for these things? 5. Why were ENT's files on the Spheres so easily deleted? Did D'Jamat demand command codes from Archer? (Or did he merely delete 19.3 XB of scratch files? Are there backups? Can T'Pol reconstruct the most important details from memory or, say, nav logs and sensor-aiming files?) 6. Why does D'Jamat destroy his own ship? 7. Why does he only order torpedoes, never phase cannons? It's not because he's unfamiliar with beam weapons -- the four Heretic ships have them (yellow). 8. When Archer xtalks Phlox, the screen is seen three times. On #1 and #3, his lines are blue, while Phlox's are yellow; but on #2, the colors are reversed. 9. Archer knocks out Lyaal, scans him, and Phlox synthesizes the counteragent -- all in the time it takes Lyaal to be reported missing and the search to be organized. That's quick. Or are the Triannons getting complacent, and report only every three hours? V. THIRD-PARTY COMMENTS [...] VI. EPISODE SYNOPSIS TEASER: Tucker and Mayweather finish scanning a Sphere, finding it identical to "the other two" to the smallest features. They depart, and their exit from its "cloaking barrier" is observed by three aliens (TRIANNONS) on a viewscreen -- who then set their sights on _Enterprise_. ACT 1: In the Command Center, T'Pol tells Archer that this new data will permit better mapping of the anomalies, and to calculate the exact number of Spheres. The Triannons entice ENT, having entangled themselves in a "cluster of anomalies." ENT docks with their small ship, and its 23 crew are taken aboard. Phlox examines some in Sickbay, but (he tells Archer) for religious reasons they object to deep medical probes. One shows signs (a warped face) of having weathered anomalies. The doctor introduces the captain to their leader "PRI'NAM (a religious title) D'JAMAT," who explains their "pilgrammage to the twelfth Sphere." In the Officer's Mess, D'Jamat explains that they've been away from their homeworld ("Triannon," 6.3 Ly away in the "Muratas star cluster") for over(?) a year. He claims to be unfamiliar with the Xindi, or other races; their main interest in space travel is to venerate the Spheres in the "Chosen(?) Realm," and to contact their "Makers" through prayer and meditation. The anomalies are considered "the Makers' breath." They hold that thousands of Spheres exist, but T'Pol is adamant that they number only 59. "Doubt is the basis of all scientific progress." A female (INDAVA, Yarrick's wife) hesitantly enters Sickbay. Phlox invites her to share some "Janaran tea." D'Jamat, his #2 "YARRICK," and #3, plot in the Mess. The arrival of ENT was providence. Archer discusses their beliefs with T'Pol in his ready room: that the Makers created the Spheres 1000 years ago, to reshape the Chosen Realm into a paradise for their return. D'Jamat arrives, and presents them with a fait accompli: his people are across the ship, filled with "organic explosives." He holds up a communicator... In a "C-Deck" corridor, a man drops to his knees. Chanting in their language, he pulls the disc-shaped device from his right lapel, and plunges a needle into his left forearm. His veins turn dark. An ENT crew-woman (brun bluestripe) watches impassively. He blows up. ACT 2: The Triannons take weapons from the Armory, and escort ENT's crew to their quarters. Phlox insists on staying in sickbay to treat three injured -- one with severe burns, two from rapid decompression. In Engineering, Archer impresses on Tucker the importance of their mission: do nothing to imperil the ship! In his quarters, D'Jamat expresses his regret that it had to be this way. "You just murdered one of my people." T'Pol and Mayweather are left on the bridge. D'Jamat orders his ship released, then torpedoed. Set course for Triannon, "highest warp." In the Command Center, D'Jamat explains things to Archer: for "the last century" his people have been fighting "a violent group of heretics," and ENT will finish them. It'll take 3 days to return to Triannon. "Your species is obsessed with numbers." For their desecrations (landing on one Sphere and entering another), he should destroy ENT and execute its crew -- but because he likes Archer, he'll temper the punishment: choose a single crew member to die. Then, with a single keypress, he erases ENT's data on the Spheres. "Total volume deleted: 19.3 XB. S Com system updated," the screen reads. Yarrick delivers a repair-updates PADD to Archer's quarters, and the captain tries to use his doubts about D'Jamat's leadership, alluding to his pregnant wife's visit to Phlox. Yarrick confronts Indava in the corridor. D'Jamat calls Archer to the ready room for his decision. Argue about methods. Alludes to "an incident with an airlock." "The Holy Regiments." Archer has chosen himself... ACT 3: ...D'Jamat is shocked, urges Archer to reconsider (he'll hand the ship back once he's done, and the crew will need their captain), but respects the decision. Archer describes a device used to dispose of hazardous materials, but also considered a "humane" form of execution. Watched by D'Jamat and Yarrick, T'Pol beams Archer away. In Sickbay, Phlox receives a text message ("COM MODE HB88") from Archer, who's hiding in a closet somewhere. He clobbers a guard ("LYAAL") in the corridor, then takes tricorder scans of the organic explosivers. D'Jamat is informed by #3 of Lyaal's disappearance, but just as they prepare to use internal sensors, main power is disrupted (Archer is pulling cables). In Engineering, Tucker pleads ignorance; but the Triannon guard reads damage to "EPS manifolds on Deck D, Section J-15." He and Yarrick go -- Archer stuns the extra. On the Bridge, Mayweather reports the approach of a convoy of four ships. T'Pol refuses to operate the weapons. Archer and Yarrick plot. The doctrinal dispute: D'Jamat's sect believes the Realm was created in nine days; the Heretics, in ten. Archer needs to "reroute the environmental controls" to Sickbay so Phlox can release an airborne counteragent (it neutralizes one of the "enzymes" in the organic explosive); this has to be done from the Bridge, so he shows Yarrick how. ACT 4: Archer frees Reed; they head to the Armory and later, the MACOs. Combat. One Heretic ship is destroyed, another disabled; the other two peel off. D'Jamat puts a phase-pistol to Mayweather's head when he doesn't set a pursuit course. While the others are distracted, Yarrick reroutes environmental. Phlox attaches a canister of blue liquid to a valve inside a panel; it drains. In the Armory, Archer and Reed stun one Triannon; the other surrenders, ready to activate his explosives. When they fail, he tries to run, but gets stunned on the stairs. Firefights ensue in Engineering (Archer) and the corridors (Reed). The two Heretic ships return, just as Archer reroutes command to Engineering. He lets them pound ENT. Reed retakes the Bridge, attacking from the Ready Room and back doors. Archer arrives, contacts the Heretic commander, and arranges a ceasefire. Archer visits D'Jamat in the Brig, announcing arrival in Triannon orbit. One crew member dead, six wounded. The cleric is unrepentant. "There is only one truth!" "You want truth? I'll show you some truth." Both shuttlepods launch, and land on the planet -- in the midst of a devastated city. Archer explains to his shocked audience: this happened eight months ago. Both sides were decimated, no major cities remain, millions are dead. "Your faith was going to bring peace? Here it is." VII. SFX SHOTS A Sphere. Shuttlepod flies over its surface. Shuttlepod zooms up and away, and enters cloaking barrier. OS: exits barrier. OS: ENT. OS ENT approaches ship. Ship docked to ENT's port hatch. Again. Explosion breaches hull on C-Deck port, slightly forward of midline, below a set of three windows. Release D'Jamat's ship, fire torps aft. ENT at warp. ENT at warp. OS: four ships. ENT moves toward the convoy. Ships fire yellow beams, ENT two torps. One ship destroyed. Knock off the starboard engine pod of a second ship. OS: two ships. ENT at warp. Both shuttles launch (new POV, horizontal aft). Devastated cityscape. VIII. PRODUCTION REGULAR CAST: Scott Bakula as Cpt. Jonathan Archer Connor Trinneer as LtCdr. Charles Tucker III Jolene Blalock as Sub-commander T'Pol Dominic Keating as Lt. Malcolm Reed Anthony Montgomery as Ens. Travis Mayweather Linda Park as Ens. Hoshi Sato [no lines] John Billingsley as Dr. Phlox [x Porthos] GUEST CAST: Conor O'Farrell as D'Jamat Vince Grant as Yarrick Lindsey Stoddart as Indava [not named] Tayler Sheridan as Jareb [not named] David Youse as Nalbis [not named] Gregory Wagrowski as Ceris [not named] Matt Huhn as Triannon [Heretic commander?] Kim Fitzgerald as Crewman [the one who dies?] CREATIVE STAFF: Directed by Roxann Dawson Written by Manny Coto NEXT WEEK: In "Proving Ground," Shran arrives with Andorian reinforcements (http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/series/ENT/episode/3480 .html). Then in "Strategem," Archer tests his interrogation skills on Degra, designer of the Weapon.