A Taste of Armageddon

DVD, Star Trek S1 (A Taste of Armageddon)

On the face of it, Ambassador Fox is a haughty, unhelpful bureaucrat, whose ability as a diplomat is called into question by the way he so poorly interacts with Kirk and his crew. And on the face of it, the system of bloodless war, obedience, and self-sacrifice for the sake of duty to their fellow citizens on Eminiar VII is laudable and logical. And while we're at it the United Federation of Planets (as it is actually called in the episode, exciting after so many different names for the organisations behind the Enterprise's mission this season), on the face of it, appears to be a bullying, territorial force that arrives with ultimatums, ignores local custom and laws, and runs roughshod over the people's wishes. If you didn't know the Federation from countless episodes (seven hundred and four, not counting the growing number from 'Discovery's current weekly release schedule), and this happened to be your first exposure to the world of Trek, you might well assume first impressions to be accurate: leaving aside Fox and his dictatorial attitude for the moment, Kirk makes no excuse to hide from his 'barbaric' nature, the need to fight. He threatens the Eminians with General Order 24 (which I assumed at first was merely a Corbomite manoeuvre to scare them), the capability of his ship to wipe clean the surface of the planet (what power this Constitution-class vessel holds!), and goes out of his way to disrupt the ordered lives (and deaths), of this alien culture, forced by the orders of Fox, working under the orders of the Federation.

The 23rd Century was a much more bitter, bloodier time than the 24th, you'd think, when Starfleet was open to backing up its growing influence with a hard closed fist, but even in the 24th Century it didn't back down to a fight, as the Dominion, Klingons and Cardassians could attest. The attitude of Anan 7, leader of his people's High Council, is that it is his race's instinct to fight, which is his explanation of why they are at war, still, after hundreds of years. They feel there is no alternative because of their nature, but Kirk says that acting on instinct alone isn't enough: instinct can be fought. In other words 'we' (or 'they'), aren't mere animals guided by simplistic impulse, but rational, thinking beings. The status quo has been so long accepted that the Eminians don't want any change, reluctantly accepting the casualties as unavoidable for their society to survive and thrive despite the killer instinct. Just an aside: I wonder if the story would have had more power if we'd had the Enterprise visit Vendikar, too, the opponent in the war, only to discover that its people had been wiped out by a plague, and only the computer simulations on both planets kept a nonexistent war from ending? No, probably not, as they needed to find peace with the opposition and if it had been wiped out there would be nothing further for them to do, but it would have been a massive irony on the futility of war if that had been the case.

The message is a good one: unthinking obedience to a regime or an ideal, not fighting the instincts we have as if that were the acceptable norm, rather than a by-product of environment (or sin), leads to an insidious captivity in unreality, a bit like 'The Matrix,' except these people knowingly accept and understand their situation. The reality of blood, violence and all the horrors of war were avoided for the very reason they were too terrible to comprehend in a civilised society, so instead they had civilised war, turning it into a calm, coldblooded acceptance of death, the chosen 'casualties' marched off into a disintegration machine like some kind of voluntary holocaust, all the more disturbing for the people's compliance. But Kirk's point was that the messiness and ugliness of killing and death should never have been lost because it's loss led to a mild-mannered belief in the necessity of the people to die - otherwise, it was thought, the weapons would annihilate both worlds and all the people, when they didn't realise that the horror of it should be the very catalyst to end war. It seems obvious. At the same time, if it were truly so that the fusion bombs would have rained down on both sides, completely ending both civilisations, wouldn't that have been just as bad, with no survivors to learn from the mistakes? But the very concept of such real devastation on two comfortable societies was enough to set themselves towards resolving the system they found themselves in, thanks to Kirk's intervention.

It is creepy that a state would become so comfortable with clean, safe death that they would continue war indefinitely from generation to generation, and that real pain and anguish is what horrifies Anan 7, while the euthanising of his people is perfectly acceptable. Those not selected to die in the death chamber were living on the deaths of so many others, at the expense of those who had been, which is another horrifying side to the society: Mea 3 just accepts her number's up. Literally, because, as if to emphasise the state control, they have names, but also numbers - I wonder if there was some cloning going on in that society or whether it was just an aesthetic, or perhaps something adopted to make it easier for the computer to pinpoint which person had suffered in the latest attack: if John Smith's name came up there'd need to be a way of differentiating which John Smith had 'died' otherwise all the John Smiths would be turning up for the state-ordered execution! It also makes me wonder… If you managed to live outside of established society so that your name was not known to the computer, then you'd be free. Could there be a black market underground of people's names being wiped off the database for a price, or were all the people so dedicated to the duty of taking the hit for their fellow men that to run and hide, or attempt or escape the war games, would be looked on as the worst dishonour and crime? Even so there must have been those that didn't accept it as we only see the top tier of the civilisation, those in power, so it would have been of benefit to examine the society in more detail, if we could.

For once it's not Kirk that initiates the action, it's the stereotypical (for the series), superior, Ambassador Fox, who strides imperiously onto the Bridge and orders the Enterprise to visit the planet, despite firm warning from the Eminians not to come, as well as the warning from history that Starfleet's own USS Valiant was destroyed fifty years earlier. Fox presents a very unpleasant gentleman, forcing his orders on the unwilling Kirk as he does, but realistically, if you examine the episode, if it weren't for his insistence, the war between worlds would have continued unabated as it had for generations, needing only the interventionist attitude of our Captain to show the possibility of ending it. Fox is not a very impressive figure: he's just another in a line of ambassadors and bureaucrats whose sole purpose is to be a thorn in Kirk's side and question his authority to his face, on his own Bridge, in front of his own crew! He wears an austere beige suit (with a beige version of the 'Voyager' trousers and boots!), and his worn face and tired eyes, coupled with the large round collar brought to my mind the Antedeans from 'TNG'! Naturally we're going to be on the side of our characters, and especially against an unfriendly, unappealing person with no redeeming features, but if the series wasn't really known for character arcs, this character certainly gets one.

Firstly, he's following Federation orders, however angrily he enforces them, and secondly, although he was wrong to order Scotty to risk the ship's safety by taking down the 'screens,' it is his job as a diplomat to trust those he's sent to, otherwise he wouldn't make a very good ambassador! And finally, once he's seen the lying nature of the Eminians, and experienced firsthand what they're capable of (his own aide is killed when they beam down on Fox' orders), he doesn't cry foul, but goes along with the more experienced when it comes to combat. And finally, once the dust has settled and Kirk has won out, he offers his services as mediator to both sides in the conflict when there was no guarantee that a people who have allowed war to become an unquestioned backdrop to their lives, will be able to find peace, so he shows that he takes his role very seriously, which is a good reason why he would react so stiffly and lord his greater authority over those beneath him on the ship. Even then I wouldn't say he really lorded it over them, he was strict and adhered to the procedure and military-like command structure of which he was the highest authority in the area, and when Kirk or Scotty impeded him he was justifiably angry. My point is that unlike some civilian authorities or those that have had power over Kirk and crew, he was legitimately interested in making a difference and fulfilling the mission he'd been given, and as mentioned before, it was an uncertain one due to the loss of the Valiant.

It's wonderful to hear news of an earlier ship to add to the growing history the series was developing, something the franchise has always done well in giving a sense of wider perspective beyond the confines of the specific sets and locales we see, but I wouldn't want to ever serve on one with that name, as all in that line have problems! In 'Where No Man Has Gone Before' we heard of the SS Valiant, a pre-Federation vessel, one of the absolute earliest to go out and explore, was lost by being swept out of the Galaxy through The Great Barrier. Then we have the USS Valiant, counted a casualty in this computerised war, and destroyed fifty years ago, and then another ship to bear the name (though the USS Defiant of 'DS9' was almost given it, except they felt it would be too confusing for people to have Voyager and Valiant, two 'V' names at the same time on TV!), the USS Valiant during the Dominion War ended up captained by a crew of cadets who took on more than they were capable of defeating when they went up against a Dominion battleship to prove themselves and ended up, yes, destroyed. The only Valiant we've heard of to survive was one in 'Star Trek Nemesis,' but since we never actually saw it, and it didn't engage the Remans, who knows what happened to it?

Part of the horror of the episode is that the Eminians are not technologically backward - it's said they've had spaceflight for centuries (though not specified as warp flight), and their enemy, Vendikar, in the same system, was originally settled by the Eminians! So shortsighted were they, that they never even left their own solar system, presumably the desire for the destruction of their neighbours was so strong it held all their interest right there. But they've developed fusion bombs which would devastate the planets if used, though this isn't the most important fact of their arsenal so much as their method of delivery: Transporter technology. It makes sense that if you had the capability to materialise a bomb in the midst of your enemies, you would. It's only in theory that they'd have done this, but in a throwaway line it suggests the depths to which the Transporter could be used. I wish such an idea had been explored further - obviously Starfleet wouldn't countenance such action, but despite its terrible implications you have to wonder why we don't see other, less honourable races use such tactics. The 24th Century Transporter was shown to disarm people, or render weapons ineffective, so we can posit that anything beaming into a location would also be dealt with, making it a waste of time even to try. The Eminians also had tricobalt explosives, worth mentioning as it became a staple of Trek, used in a number of episodes and series'. They also have the ability to mimic voices, as Anan 7 does when sending a message in Kirk's voice, though the superior technology of the Enterprise distinguishes it as a fake (similar to the voiceprint checking in 'The Conscience of The King').

The Enterprise's limitations are brought into focus when Scotty, whom Kirk leaves in command when he and Spock beam down, says they can't lower the screens or they'll be destroyed by the enemy disruptors, and they can't fire full Phasers with them up, either, though they can loose off some Photon Torpedoes if necessary (perhaps because Phasers are energy, like the screens, whereas Photons are physical, mechanical items?). The greater question remains as to how Fox was able to beam down under these conditions, but he certainly does it and the Enterprise isn't blown up, unless they were able to move out of range of the weapons, but still be in Transporter range… One part of the Enterprise functions very well indeed: Mr. Spock. Again showing his Vulcan cool factor by demonstrating a previously unseen variation of the mind meld by planting a suggestion or distraction in a guard's mind through the wall of their cell! I thought Vulcans were touch-telepaths, but it seems they do have a longer range than that (look out for one of the Redshirts tripping as he and his fellow security guard drag the Eminian towards camera!). Spock also calls himself a 'Vulcanian' again, which still sounds odd and shows that even this late in the season they hadn't one hundred percent tied down the lore, even if they'd got the Federation right. Spock also shows gall by walking up to another guard at the disintegration chamber and distracting him with the old 'you have a multi-legged creature crawling up your shoulder' ruse, going to flick it off, but instead performing a nerve pinch, thereby cementing his coolness forever!

For a people that abhor violence the Eminians certainly know how to use it, as Kirk finds out in his various scuffles with the nicely be-hatted guards. But despite the adventuresome nature of the story, and even its good message of fighting the urges of instinct, and even now spotting the arc for Ambassador Fox, I've never thought that much of the episode, nor put it among the better examples of the season. Though watching it so intently with a view to writing about it, not to mention the joy of returning to these characters after a few months break, I did enjoy it more than I expected, it remains a bit of a generic instalment in the season. The Eminians, were they darker-hued, could almost have been Klingons, having the same sash over black uniformity and facial hair that the most famous Trek race would display in their approaching debut. And the history of the Eminians, colonising a nearby planet, then becoming bitter enemies with their own people, is the same story shared by Vulcans and Romulans. The impassive nature of war on the planet was as dramatic as a game of 'Battleships,' and Kirk is able to talk down the leader and destroy the computer, when usually the computer is the leader, and the example of bureaucracy in the extreme, while chilling, is mostly distant - we get to know Mea 3 (Barbara Babcock, one of several roles she had on the series, though usually voice only), a little, but there isn't that much tension over whether she'll live or die, we're not drawn to care what happens to her. And lastly, while the characters are generally used quite well (especially Scotty standing up to Fox' bullying, though there's no sign of Sulu, Sean Kenney replacing him, back as DePaul from 'Arena,' as well as the injured Captain Pike in 'The Menagerie'), the message of fighting your baser instincts is confused a little by Kirk's admission that he had a hunch the Eminians would end the war rather than fight a real, messy one. I suppose you need to know the difference between the right instinct and the wrong, and that's what makes Kirk a great man.

**