Star Trek: TOS episode
"The Squire of Gothos"
Trelane toys with his captives. The Squire of Gothos.
Episode no.	17
Prod. code	018
Airdate	January 12, 1967
Writer(s)	Paul Schneider
Director	Don McDougall
Guest star(s)	William Campbell Richard Carlyle Venita Wolf Michael Barrier Eddie Paskey Barbara Babcock Bartell LaRue
Year	2266
Stardate	2124.5
Episode chronology
Previous	"The Galileo Seven"
Next	"Arena"

"The Squire of Gothos" is an episode of Star Trek: The Original Series. It was first broadcast by NBC on January 12, 1967 and repeated on June 22, 1967. It is episode #17, production #18, and was written by Paul Schneider, and directed by Don McDougall. Image from Star Trek: The Original Series episode The Squire of Gothos © 1966 Paramount Picture, produced by Gene Roddenberry. ... January 12 is the 12th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (the link is to a full 1967 calendar). ... Screenwriters, scenarists or script writers, are authors who write the screenplays from which movies and television programs are made. ... Paul Schneider wrote two episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series: Balance of Terror and The Squire of Gothos. He is also credited as a writer on Star Trek: The Animated Series. ... A television director is usually responsible for directing the actors and other taped aspects of a television production. ... Don McDougall (born November 5, 1948) is a guitarist who joined The Guess Who in 1972, replacing Greg Leskiw who moved on to a solo career. ... William Campbell in Blood Bath (1966) William Campbell (born October 30, 1926 in Newark, New Jersey) is an American actor. ... American actor, best known for appearances 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. ... Barbara Babcock (born February 27, 1937 in Pasadena, California) is an American actress. ... This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article. ... The Galileo Seven is an episode of Star Trek: The Original Series. ... Arena is an 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. ... NBC (a former acronym for National Broadcasting Company) is an American television network headquartered in the GE Building in New York Citys Rockefeller Center. ... January 12 is the 12th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (the link is to a full 1967 calendar). ... June 22 is the 173rd day of the year (174th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (the link is to a full 1967 calendar). ... Paul Schneider wrote two episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series: Balance of Terror and The Squire of Gothos. He is also credited as a writer on Star Trek: The Animated Series. ... Don McDougall (born November 5, 1948) is a guitarist who joined The Guess Who in 1972, replacing Greg Leskiw who moved on to a solo career. ...

Overview: A powerful being torments the crew of the Enterprise. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Plot

On stardate 2124.5, the starship USS Enterprise, under the command of Captain James T. Kirk, is on an 8-day supply mission to Colony Beta VI located in Quadrant 904. Along the journey, the ship encounters a rogue planet drifting through space. Without the time to really stop and investigate it, Kirk orders the planet to be recorded for a future exploration mission and to continue with their original heading. Suddenly, Kirk and Lt. Sulu are teleported from the bridge. This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article. ... One of the fictional ships called the Starship Enterprise from Star Trek, one of the most famous fictional starships. ... James Tiberius Kirk, played by William Shatner, is the main character in the original Star Trek television series and the films based on it. ... A rogue planet is a planet that either has an extremely elongated orbit around its star so that it is not on the same orbital plane as the other planets in the system, or it is an interstellar planet, a planet that drifts freely through space and doesnt orbit... Hikaru Sulu is a fictional character, played by George Takei, in the original Star Trek series. ...

Spock believes that the two must have been taken to the mysterious planet below even though sensor readings indicate the planet's atmosphere is lethal to most forms of life. The Enterprise then receives a strange message on a viewscreen, in blackletter writing, "Greetings and Felicitations!" followed by "Hip hip hoorah. Tallyho!" Spock orders Dr. McCoy, along with Lt. DeSalle and geophysicist Karl Jaeger, to form a landing party and conduct a search. Spock, commonly called Mr. ... Blackletter in a Latin Bible of AD 1407, on display in Malmesbury Abbey, Wiltshire, England. ... Dr. Leonard H. McCoy Leonard Horatio McCoy, M.D., nicknamed Bones, is a fictional character in the fictional Star Trek universe, played by the late DeForest Kelley (January 20, 1920 - June 11, 1999). ...

The landing party beams down and finds the area to be a lush and breathable environment, contradicting Jager's original scans that the world was barren and couldn't support life. They also come to what appears to be a medieval castle constructed in the middle of nowhere. They soon find Captain Kirk and Lt. Sulu, along with a brash and impetuous being who identifies himself as "General Trelane". McCoy's medical tricorder does not get any readings from Trelane and, according to the scanner, nothing is there. Trelane invites everyone to stay as his guests on his world he calls Gothos and discuss his favorite subject: the military history of Earth. The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times. ... William Campbell as Trelane in The Squire of Gothos Trelane is a fictional character who appears in the Star Trek: The Original Series episode The Squire of Gothos. He was played by William Campbell. ... Tricorders (TNG era) In the Star Trek universe, the tricorder is a handheld device used for scanning an area, interpreting and displaying data from scans to the user, and recording information to isolinear chips. ... Gothos is a fictional planet that appears in the Star Trek: The Original Series episode The Squire of Gothos. ... Adjectives: Terrestrial, Terran, Telluric, Tellurian, Earthly Atmosphere Surface pressure: 101. ...

Spock, meanwhile, manages to locate the landing party and beams everyone, except Trelane, back to the ship by locking onto every detectable lifeform in the area. Unwilling to let his guests leave, Trelane makes an appearance on the Enterprise's bridge. He then brings the entire bridge crew back down to the planet. This time he includes Spock, Uhura, and Yeoman Teresa Ross. Lieutenant Uhura is a character from the fictional Star Trek universe and was played by Nichelle Nichols on Star Trek: The Original Series and the first six Star Trek movies. ...

Kirk's patience with Trelane begins to wear thin and, while Trelane dances with Yeoman Ross after changing her uniform into a flowing formal ball gown, Kirk and Spock notice that their host never strays far from a particular wall mirror. They surmise that the mirror may be the source of his powers. To test this theory, Kirk provokes Trelane into a duel and, during the fight, destroys the mirror and damages the strange machinery inside. It is discovered that Trelane uses these machines to manipulate matter for his amusement. The bridge crew manages to beam back to the Enterprise but, as the ship warps away, Gothos keeps appearing in its path. The Enterprise stops and Kirk beams back to Gothos to confront Trelane. Trelane tells Kirk he must face a trial for "treason". Trelane condemns Kirk to death by hanging, but Kirk, playing off of Trelane's childish whims, has a better idea. Traitor redirects here. ... Hanging is the suspension of a person by a ligature, usually a cord wrapped around the neck, causing death. ...

In order to have his ship released, Kirk offers himself as the prey for a royal hunt. Trelane gleefully accepts and the hunt begins. Just as Trelane is about to kill Kirk, two energy beings appear and put a stop to his fun. It is revealed that Trelane is the "child" of the two beings. After apologizing to Kirk for their child's misbehavior, the beings disappear along with the whining Trelane, and Kirk is allowed to return to the ship.

Notes

• Years later, when Star Trek: The Next Generation introduced The Q, a being/race with similar powers to Trelane (only more powerful), and a similar love of costumes and causing mischief for other life-forms, fans immediately began speculating that Trelane might have been a member of the Q Continuum. One novel by Peter David, Q-Squared featured Trelane and suggested that he was, indeed, a Q. To many this seems implausible, as the behavior of Trelane's "parents" is not in line with the behavior of any known Q. Also, Trelane relies on machines for at least a few of his powers, nor is he as omniscient as the (known) Q beings. As novels are not considered canon and no episode or film has ever established Trelane's background, the notion of him possibly being a Q remains in the realm of fanon.
• The plot of the episode seems to have been inspired by the comic book magazine Fantastic Four #24. In this issue, Infant Terrible, an omnipotent and hysterical alien child, is causing major trouble in New York City and almost destroys the world by attracting the sun. Mister Fantastic calls upon Infant Terrible's parents just in time to bring him back home.
• This theme of powerful beings who turn out to be children and taken back by their parents has been reused many of times, especially in children's shows. Examples:
  • Garfield and Friends animated series: an omnipotent, wishing-well alien is taken away by his parents after refusing to bring back Mondays for Garfield, the latter discovers the world is actually worse without them.
  • Sitting Ducks animated series: a duck-shaped alien comes visit Bill and causes ruckus at his home. He gets taken back by his parents at the end of the episode.
  • Space Goofs animated series: a bunch of aliens establish themselves in the main characters' (who are also extra-terrestrials) house and cause trouble. They get taken back by their parents at the end of the episode.
  • In a Mickey Mouse comic: Mickey and Goofy meet a tiny obnoxious green alien who causes trouble at their town. He gets taken back by his parents at the end of the story and gets spanked.
  • In the Futurama episode Where No Fan Has Gone Before, the crew meets the cast of Star Trek:TOS and are manipulated by a being who ends up being a child (though 34), parodying the episode itself.
  • In the film Explorers three children through the help of visions, build their own spacecraft which takes them to visit aliens, which turn out to be children.
• Barbara Babcock, who starred in two Trek episodes; "A Taste of Armageddon", and "Plato's Stepchildren", was the voice of Trelane's mother at the end of this episode. She was also the voice of Isis the cat and the Beta 5 computer in "Assignment: Earth" and the voice of Zetar inThe Lights of Zetar. James Doohan has long been credited with providing the voice of Trelane's father, but even a cursory listen proves it is obviously that of Bart La Rue.
• The name of the waltz that Uhura plays on the harpsichord is "Rosen aus dem Süden" ("Roses from the South", in English). Presumably the piece was chosen by Uhura rather than Trelane, as it was composed in 1880 and Trelane's knowledge of Earth appears to stop at the Napoleonic Era.
• While romancing Yeoman Ross, Trelane quotes from Christopher Marlowe's The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus.
• One of the props seen in Trelane's home is the Salt Creature from the first season episode "The Man Trap", suggesting that the Salt Creatures were another predatory species that Trelane had "studied".
• It is suggested that the name "Squire Trelane" may have been inspired by the character "Squire Trelawney" in Robert Louis Stevenson's novel Treasure Island. The similarity appears to extend only to the name.
• In the episode, Trelane says to Kirk, of Uhura: "Ah, a Nubian prize. Taken on one of your raids of conquest, no doubt." During filming, William Campbell blew the line with the embarrassing blooper, "Ah, a Nubian slave!" According to Campbell, Nichelle Nichols responded, "I'll kick you in the ankle!"
• Trelane's sentence upon Kirk — "You will hang by the neck until dead, dead, dead." — is often attributed to "Hanging Judge" Isaac Parker, though historians and Parker biographers agree he never uttered these words when handing down a death sentence.
• William Campbell also portrayed the Klingon captain Koloth in the episode The Trouble with Tribbles.
• The initial search party for Kirk and Sulu, consists of McCoy, DeSalle and Jaeger. No security guards accompany them even though they are transporting into a situation where they do not know who they will encounter.
• When the search party first enters Trelane's Castle a "salt creature" statue is seen.
• This is one of many TOS episodes with a dystheistic theme, where a supernatural or otherwise powerful being seeks to control and enslave living beings, but where Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise fight back to stop this from happening (e.g., Who Mourns for Adonais?, Return of the Archons, Day of the Dove).

The title as it appeared in most episodes opening credits. ... This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article. ... Peter Allen David (often abbreviated PAD) (born September 23, 1956) is an American writer, best known for his work in comic books and Star Trek novels. ... A Star Trek novel by acclaimed author Peter David. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Fanon is a fact or ongoing situation related to a television program, book, movie, or video game that has been used so much by fan writers or among the fandom that it has been more or less established as having happened in the fictional world, but it has not actually... The Fantastic Four is a fictional American team of comic-book superheroes in the Marvel Comics universe. ... Infant Terrible is a Marvel comics character. ... Omnipotence (literally, all power) is power with no limits or inexhaustible, in other words, unlimited power. ... Nickname: Location in the state of New York Coordinates: Country United States State New York Boroughs The Bronx Brooklyn Manhattan Queens Staten Island Settled 1625 Government  - Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) Area  - City  468. ... The Sun (Latin: Sol) is the star at the center of the Solar System. ... Mister Fantastic (Reed Richards) is a fictional character, a Marvel Comics superhero and member of the Fantastic Four. ... Garfield and Friends is an American animated television series based on the popular comic strip Garfield by Jim Davis. ... This article contains a trivia section. ... Sitting Ducks is an iconic lithograph created by Michael Bedard in the late 1970s. ... Subfamilies Dendrocygninae Oxyurinae Anatinae Aythyinae Merginae Duck is the common name for a number of species in the Anatidae family of birds. ... Space Goofs (original title:Les Zinzins de lespace) is a French animated series that was first aired in 1997. ... Mickey Mouse is a comic animal cartoon character who has become an icon for The Walt Disney Company. ... It has been suggested that Goofy holler be merged into this article or section. ... Political cartoon from 1860 depicting Stephen A. Douglas receiving a traditional “over-the-knee” spanking from Columbia as Uncle Sam looks on approvingly. ... Futurama is an Emmy Award-winning animated sitcom created by Matt Groening (creator of The Simpsons) and David X. Cohen for the Fox network. ... Where No Fan Has Gone Before is the eleventh episode of the fourth season of the animated series Futurama. ... Explorers is a 1985 science fiction, fantasy film targeted at a family audience. ... Barbara Babcock (born February 27, 1937 in Pasadena, California) is an American actress. ... A Taste of Armageddon is a first season episode of Star Trek: The Original Series. ... Kirk and his officers are forced to perform as fools, in Platos Stepchildren. ... Assignment: Earth is a second season episode of Star Trek: The Original Series. ... The Lights of Zetar is a third season episode of Star Trek: The Original Series, first broadcast January 31, 1969 and repeated on August 26, 1969. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Harpsichord in the Flemish style A harpsichord is any of a family of European keyboard instruments, including the large instrument currently called a harpsichord, but also the smaller virginals, the muselar virginals and the spinet. ... Rosen aus dem Süden (Roses from the South) op. ... Year 1880 (MDCCCLXXX) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar). ... The Napoleonic Era is a period in the History of France and Europe. ... Christopher (Kit) Marlowe (baptised 26 February 1564 – 30 May 1593?) was an English dramatist, poet, and translator of the Elizabethan era. ... The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus is a play by Christopher Marlowe, based on the Faust story (Faustus is Latin for Faust), in which a man sells his soul to the devil for power and knowledge. ... The Man Trap was the first episode of Star Trek: The Original Series to air on NBC. It is episode #6, and was broadcast on Thursday, September 8, 1966 at 8:30pm. ... Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis (Balfour) Stevenson (November 13, 1850–December 3, 1894), was a Scottish novelist, poet, and travel writer, and a leading representative of Neo-romanticism in English literature. ... Treasure Island is an adventure novel by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson, narrating a tale of buccaneers and buried gold. First published as a book in 1883, it was originally serialised in the childrens magazine Young Folks between 1881-82 under the title The Sea Cook, or Treasure Island. ... For the Star Wars planet, see Nubia (Star Wars). ... A blooper usually describes a short sequence of a film or video production which contains a mistake made by a member of the cast or crew. ... Slave redirects here. ... Nichelle Nichols (born Grace Nichols on December 28, 1932) is an American singer, actress, and voice actress. ... Painting of Judge Isaac Parker, circa 1896. ... William Campbell in Blood Bath (1966) William Campbell (born October 30, 1926 in Newark, New Jersey) is an American actor. ... Koloth is a character from the fictional Star Trek universe. ... The Trouble with Tribbles is an episode of Star Trek: The Original Series, first broadcast on December 29, 1967 and repeated June 21, 1968. ... Dystheism is the belief that God does exist but is not wholly good, or that he might even be evil. ... Who Mourns for Adonais? is a second season episode of Star Trek: The Original Series. ... The Return of the Archons is a first season episode of Star Trek: The Original Series. ... Day of the Dove is a third season episode of Star Trek: The Original Series, first broadcast November 1, 1968 and repeated June 17, 1969. ...

External links

• The Squire of Gothos article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki.