NationMaster - Encyclopedia: A Taste of Armageddon (TOS episode)

"A Taste of Armageddon" is a first season episode of Star Trek: The Original Series. First broadcast on February 23, 1967 and repeated July 20, 1967, episode #23 was written by Robert Hamner and Gene L. Coon, and directed by Joseph Pevney. February 23 is the 54th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Screenwriters, scenarists or script writers, are authors who write the screenplays from which movies and television programs are made. ... Gene L. Coon (7 January 1924-8 July 1973) was an American screenwriter and television producer. ... A television director is usually responsible for directing the actors and other taped aspects of a television production. ... Joseph Pevney (born September 15, 1911, New York City) is a prolific film and television director, with a directing career that spanned over 80 productions from 1950 to 1984. ... Majel Barret Majel Barrett-Roddenberry (born Majel Lee Hudec on February 23, 1932 in Columbus, Ohio) is an American actress and widow of television director/producer/writer Gene Roddenberry. ... Barbara Babcock (born February 27, 1937 in Pasadena, California) is an American actress. ... Gene Lyons is a well-known political columnist and co-author of The Hunting of the President, a documentary book, with a supporing film, that describes the massive campaign waged against President Clinton leading eventually to the presidents impeachment and subsequent exoneration. ... Frank da Vinci is a stuntman and stand-in who appeared on Star Trek: The Original Series. ... Eddie Paskey-is an actor who is primarily known for playing the uncredited Lieutenant Leslie in the original Star Trek. ... Space Seed is a first-season episode of Star Trek: The Original Series, that was first broadcast on February 16, 1967 and repeated on August 24, 1967. ... Stardate is the dating convention used in the fictional Star Trek universe. ... A year is the time between two recurrences of an event related to the orbit of the Earth around the Sun. ... This Side Of Paradise is a first-season episode of Star Trek: The Original Series. ... The starship Enterprise as it appeared on Star Trek Star Trek is a culturally significant science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry in the 1960s. ... February 23 is the 54th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... July 20 is the 201st day (202nd in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 164 days remaining. ... 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Gene L. Coon (7 January 1924-8 July 1973) was an American screenwriter and television producer. ... Joseph Pevney (born September 15, 1911, New York City) is a prolific film and television director, with a directing career that spanned over 80 productions from 1950 to 1984. ...

Quick Overview: The crew of the Enterprise visits a planet whose people fight a strange war with a neighboring enemy. The early Earth starship Enterprise (NX-01) The original Federation starship Enterprise (NCC-1701) The second Federation starship Enterprise (NCC-1701-A) The third Federation starship Enterprise (NCC-1701-B) The fourth Federation starship Enterprise (NCC-1701-C) The fifth Federation starship Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) The sixth Federation starship...

On stardate 3192.1, the starship USS Enterprise, under the command of Captain James T. Kirk, is en route to Eminiar VII, to open diplomatic relations with the inhabitants there. On board is Ambassador Robert Fox who has been sent to lead the talks and to establish diplomatic relations with Eminiar VII and its sister planet, Vendikar. Stardate is the dating convention used in the fictional Star Trek universe. ... This article is about the vehicle for interstellar travel. ... James Tiberius Kirk, played by William Shatner, was captain of two starships Enterprise (NCC-1701 and NCC-1701-A) in the fictional Star Trek universe. ... In the Star Trek science fiction universe, Eminiar VII was the principal planet of star cluster NGC 321. ...

Little is known about either world's people except that they have had intrasystem space travel for a few centuries, and when the cultures were first contacted, it was learned there was a longstanding war between them. Soon afterward, the Federation contact ship mysteriously disappeared and was reported lost.

Nearing the Eminiar world, the Enterprise receives a priority signal not to approach the planet under any circumstances. Ambassador Fox orders Kirk to ignore the warning and investigate further. Kirk sends a landing party, which includes himself, Mr. Spock, and three other personnel, down to meet with Eminiar leaders. They are contacted by representatives, Mea 3 and Anan 7, who sternly remind Kirk and his landing team they should not have come because the city has just been hit by a Vendikar fusion bomb which has killed half a million people. Curiously, everything in the city seems intact and there is no visible evidence or sensor readings of such an attack ever occurring. Spock, commonly called Mr. ... Fusion typically refers to the merging of two or more entities into a single one: In physics and technology nuclear fusion is the combination of two atomic nuclei into a single nucleus, usually the isotopes of hydrogen, Deuterium and Tritium. ...

The landing party soon discovers that the entire war between the two planets is completely simulated by computers which launch wargame attacks and counterattacks, then calculate damage and select the dead. When a citizen is reported as "killed", they must submit themselves for termination by stepping inside a disintegration booth. Anan 7 informs Kirk that the simulated attacks and following executions is the agreed system of war decided by both sides in a treaty with Vendikar. A conventional war was deemed too destructive to the environments and societies of both planets. Wargaming can be one of number of ways of exploring the effects of warfare without actual combat. ... Suicide Booth on Futurama A suicide booth is a fictional machine in some science-fiction. ...

Kirk is then informed that during the last Vendikar attack the Enterprise was destroyed by a tri-cobalt satellite and the entire ship's crew must be terminated within 24 hours. Although, the landing team is exempted from execution, they are arrested and held hostage until all Enterprise crew members report to the planet for execution. Mea 3 has also been reported as a casualty.

In an attempt to lure the Enterprise crew down, Anan 7 simulates Captain Kirk's voice and orders the crew to come down to celebrate the newly established diplomatic relations with the Eminiar people. Mr. Scott doesn't buy it and decides to have the Captain's voice analyzed. When the computer determines it's a fake, he realizes the landing party, and by extension the entire ship, must be in danger. Montgomery Scott, nicknamed Scotty, is a fictional character in the Star Trek universe. ...

When Mr. Scott refuses the order, Anan orders the Enterprise to be destroyed, but the ship's shields easily repel the attack. Ambassador Fox declares that the attack was just a misunderstanding when he talks with Anan 7. Anan 7 lies and declares a sensor malfunctioned and it appeared the Enterprise was about to attack. Anan 7 apologizes and extends a warm invitation for the Ambassador to beam down and talk. Ambassador Fox accepts the invitation and orders Scotty to lower the shields.

To Fox's indignation, Scott, with Dr. McCoy's support, refuses the command, considering the planet's government has obviously captured the landing party, sent a fake message to lure them down, and had just fired on the ship. After threatening to bring Scott up on insubordination charges, Fox and his aide beam down, but are quickly taken into custody and sent to be terminated. Insubordination is the act of a subordinate deliberately disobeying a lawful order. ...

Meanwhile, Spock and Kirk manage to break out of their holding cell by overpowering a guard and stealing his weapon. Along the way out, they stop Mea 3 from reporting to die, destroying a disintegration chamber and disabling the operator. Kirk is then recaptured by Anan 7 while trying to locate the party's phasers. The Star Trek fictional universe contains a very large number of weapons. ...

Spock and the others disguise themselves as Eminians and rescue Ambassador Fox, destroying another disintegration booth in the process. A chastened Fox accepts that he was dangerously mistaken about the situation and volunteers to fight with the others.

With Captain Kirk in his presence, Anan 7 demands that Kirk order his ship's crew to beam down and accept their fate as determined by the wargame computers. Kirk instead orders Mr. Scott to follow General Order 24, a full attack on the planet within two hours if he is not released. Kirk informs Anan the Enterprise is more than capable of destroying everything on the planet. Anan still refuses, however Spock arrives and Kirk manages to overpower the guards during the distraction.

Kirk and Spock make their way to the wargame computers, and once there, Kirk destroys the entire system while Anan looks on in terror. He exclaims that the planet is doomed, with the treaty broken, the Vendikar will fire their conventional weapons again. Vendikar had in fact been in contact already to complain about Anan 7's government being slow to meet their treaty obligations created by Kirk's interference. Now, an immediate retaliation with real weaponry is imminent.

Kirk encourages Anan 7 to instead call a ceasefire and the two planets, with the Federation's assistance, can learn to coexist in peace. A desperate Anan agrees and Ambassador Fox immediately offers to lead the negotiations. As the Enterprise breaks orbit, Fox reports that the peace negotiations were going relatively well.

Trivia

This episode is often seen as an oblique reference to the Vietnam War, when body counts of enemy and friendly dead were a part of the evening television news on a daily basis. Combatants Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) United States of America South Korea Thailand Australia New Zealand the Philippines Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) National Liberation Front (Viet Cong) Commanders Strength ~1,200,000 (1968) ~420,000 (1968) Casualties South Vietnamese dead: 1,250,000+ US dead: 58,226 US...

External link

Category: Star Trek: The Original Series episodes Memory Alpha is a collaborative project launched in November 2003 by Harry Doddema and Dan Carlson. ... Star Trek collectively refers to a science-fiction franchise spanning six unique television series, 726 episodes and ten motion pictures in addition to hundreds of novels, video games, fan stories and other works of fiction all set within the same fictional universe created by Gene Roddenberry in the mid-1960s. ... Look up Wiki in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Wikibooks has more about this subject: Wiki Science A wiki (IPA: <wee-kee> or <wick-ey>) is a type of website that allow users to easily add and edit content and is especially suited for collaborative writing. ... The Return of the Archons is a first season episode of Star Trek: The Original Series. ... Space Seed is a first-season episode of Star Trek: The Original Series, that was first broadcast on February 16, 1967 and repeated on August 24, 1967. ... Space Seed is a first-season episode of Star Trek: The Original Series, that was first broadcast on February 16, 1967 and repeated on August 24, 1967. ... This Side Of Paradise is a first-season episode of Star Trek: The Original Series. ...