A Taste of Armageddon

"A Taste of Armageddon" is an episode of the first-season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek. It was first broadcast on February 23, 1967, and repeated July 20, 1967. It was written by Robert Hamner and Gene L. Coon, and directed by Joseph Pevney.

In the episode, the crew of the USS Enterprise visits a planet whose people fight a computer-simulated war against a neighboring planet. Although the war is fought via computer simulation, the citizens of each planet have to submit to real executions inside "disintegration booths" to meet the casualty counts of the simulated attacks. The crew of the Enterprise is caught in the middle and are told to submit themselves voluntarily for execution after being "killed" in an "enemy attack".

Plot

The Federation starship USS Enterprise travels to Eminiar VII, bringing Ambassador Robert Fox (Gene Lyons) to establish diplomatic relations. Little is known about Eminiar VII, beyond the fact that they have been at war with a neighboring planet, Vendikar.

Nearing Eminiar VII, the Enterprise receives a message from the planet warning them not to approach, but the naive Ambassador Fox orders Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) to proceed. Kirk, First Officer Spock (Leonard Nimoy), and additional security personnel beam down to the planet, where they are met by representatives Mea 3 (Barbara Babcock) and Anan 7 (David Opatoshu). During a supposed attack by Vendikar, the landing party learns that the war is conducted as a computer simulation, and that the Enterprise has been "destroyed" in the attack. The crew are expected to report to Eminiar's disintegration chambers, and Kirk's party is held hostage to ensure their compliance.

Anan 7 attempts to lure the Enterprise crew down to the planet by faking a message from Kirk, but is easily foiled by the ship's computer which determines that the message was not in Kirk's actual voice. The landing party escapes confinement, and Kirk destroys a disintegration chamber. Anan resorts to an attack on the Enterprise with "disruptors". Ambassador Fox, believing Anan's story of a malfunction, beams down to the planet and is quickly taken captive and ordered to a disintegration chamber. The landing party, led by Spock, rescues Fox, who agrees to cooperate.

Kirk, meanwhile, is captured and taken to the Eminian council chamber, where he succeeds in disarming the guards, gaining the upper hand. Spock arrives and destroys the war-simulation computers. Kirk argues that, by taking away the horrors of war, the two societies have little reason to end it. He convinces Anan 7 to call a ceasefire and begin peace negotiations.

As the Enterprise prepares to leave orbit, Kirk argues to Spock that his choice was rational: the people of Eminiar VII had enjoyed order and stability for so long that they would do anything to avoid an actual war.

Reception

Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club gave the episode a 'B+' rating. He described the story as "one of Trek's classic allegorically powerful, common sense implausible scenarios." Handlen criticised a premise that had "a few too many holes to sustain its attempts at profundity" but praised the story's ambition.^[1]

See also

• "Dulcie and Decorum" (short story by Damon Knight which originated the trope of computers fighting virtual wars)
• Eminiar VII

References

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to: "A Taste of Armageddon"

• "A Taste of Armageddon" at StarTrek.com
• "A Taste of Armageddon" on IMDb
• "A Taste of Armageddon" at TV.com

• "A Taste of Armageddon" at Memory Alpha (a Star Trek wiki)
• "A Taste of Armageddon" Review of the remastered version at TrekMovie.com