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"The Squire of Gothos" is an episode of Star Trek: The Original Series, first broadcast on January 12, 1967. It is episode #30 and was written by Paul Schneider, and directed by Don McDougall.
Quick Overview: A powerful being torments the crew of the Enterprise.
Trelane just wants to "play" in "The Squire of Gothos"
While 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 (a planet that doesn't orbit a star) 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.
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 "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.
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 locate 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 off Trelane, and 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.
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.
Kirk's patience with Trelane begins to wear thin, and while Trelane dances with Yeoman Ross, Kirk and Spock notice that their host never strays to far away from a certain mirror on the wall. They surmise that the mirror may be the source of his powers. To test his 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 manage 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 have it out with 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.
In order to have his ship released, Kirk offers himself as the prey for a royal hunt. Trelane gleefully accepts, and the hunt begins. But just as Trelane is about to kill Kirk, two energy beings appear and put a stop his fun. It is discovered the Trelane is the "child" of the two beings, and 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.
Trivia
- Years later, when Star Trek: The Next Generation introduced The Q, a being/race with similar powers to Trelane (only more powerful), 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. However 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.
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