Star Trek: The Animated Series season 1 episode 1 Recap and FAQ
Episode Summary
The Starship Enterprise, while on a mission to starchart, encounters a mysterious gravitational pull from a dead star, leading them to an ancient, alien starship. This ship, over 300 million years old, harbors a malevolent life form capable of controlling the Enterprise's systems. The entity, seeking to escape its confinement, manipulates the crew to fulfill its agenda. Captain Kirk devises a plan, simulating a crash into the dead star to compel the entity to flee, revealing its loneliness. The Enterprise then resumes its mission, leaving the ancient threat behind.
Full Episode S01E01 Recap
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the mission of the Starship Enterprise in this episode?
The mission is starcharting beyond the fringe of our galaxy towards Questar M-17.
What causes the Enterprise to gain momentum uncontrollably?
The ship encounters hypergravity from a source emitting mysterious radio emissions, pulling it toward a negative star mass.
What do the crew discover about the ancient alien starship?
The alien starship is over 300 million years old, with technology far beyond human capability, and was destroyed by its crew to contain a malevolent life form.
How does the crew intend to deal with the malevolent life form on the alien ship?
They consider the ancient crew's decision to destroy their own ship as a potential action to prevent the life form from spreading.
What is the nature of the malevolent life form?
It is a magnetic organism without mass, capable of controlling the electronic systems of a starship, similar to a symbiotic relationship.
How does the life form control the Enterprise?
It absorbs the ship's memory banks and manipulates its control systems, effectively becoming the ship itself.
What strategy does Captain Kirk employ to rid the Enterprise of the life form?
Kirk simulates a crash into the dead star, exploiting the life form's fear of destruction to force it to flee the ship.
What does the life form reveal about itself?
The life form expresses profound loneliness and a desire for companionship, having waited millennia for a host.
What is the outcome for the Enterprise and its crew?
The crew successfully rids the ship of the life form and resumes their mission of starcharting beyond the galaxy.
