E² (Enterprise episode)

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"E²" is the title of an episode from the third season of the television series Star Trek: Enterprise. It was the seventy-third episode of the series, and it first aired on 5 May 2004.

1 Plot summary
2 Trivia
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Plot summary

Jonathan Archer meets Karyn Archer.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Enterprise encounters a future version of itself that, due to a temporal phenomenon, had been sent back over 100 years into the past. This Enterprise was originally identical to the "real" Enterprise, with the same crew, but it retrogressed in time after entering an unstable subspace corridor. For decades, it existed in the Expanse and never contacted Starfleet. (This explains why the Reptilian Xindi questioned Archer about other Starfleet ships in the Expanse in the episode "Azati Prime"). Finally, in "E²", it catches up with the current Enterprise to warn its past self about the wormhole. The only crewmember that survived all those decades was T'Pol, who in "E²" has the privilege of meeting a less aged version of herself. All of the other inhabitants of the ship are descendants of the original crew. Lorian, its commander, for example, is the son of Charles Tucker and T'Pol.

In this episode, Archer and Lorian, two Enterprise captains from different times, share the same mission: to save Earth from the Xindi. It is ironic, therefore, that the two crews end up in battle against one another, despite their common mission. The circumstances in which this battle occur are a result of a disagreement over which method of propulsion Archer should use to transport his ship to a certain set of coordinates. Lorian believes that the wormhole must be avoided altogether, while Archer believes that his ship can pass through it without a repeat of the temporal disruption that sent the NX-01 into the past because of modifications suggested by the elder T'Pol.

Meanwhile, the younger T'Pol encounters her older self and learns that in the alternate future caused by the wormhole she and Trip are destined to be together. She also is told that the brain damage suffered from her Trellium-D addiction (see "Damage") is permanent. When Young T'Pol expresses confusion over what she should do regarding Tucker assuming the timeline is restored, her elder self says simply, "Follow your heart."

Later, in order to prevent Archer from using his warp drive, and thus his using his preferred method of propulsion, Lorian steals a vital part of the warp drive (ironically echoing a similar act of theft Archer was forced to undertake with an alien vessel in "Damage"). In the end, the crews are able to reconcile their differences and decide on going the wormhole route. Lorian assists by attacking some enemy ships guarding the wormhole. Archer's Enterprise successfully passes through towards its rendezvous with Degra, but Lorian's ship does not follow. A final exchange between Archer and T'Pol provides two possible explanations: either the ship was destroyed, or it ceased to exist because Enterprise made it though the wormhole without being sent into the past; yet, T'Pol is confused. If the second Enterprise no longer exists and never existed, why do they remember the ship and her crew?

Preceded by:
The Forgotten

Star Trek: Enterprise episodes

Followed by:
The Council

[edit] Trivia

This episode established the name of the second Warp 5 starship, the Columbia (NX-02), which had been first shown under construction in an earlier episode, "The Expanse", but had not yet been named at that point. This vessel was named in honor of the Space Shuttle Columbia which had been destroyed a year before this episode was first broadcast. Columbia would be seen again in the fourth season episode, "Home," launched in "Affliction", and seen in combat in " Divergence".
The episode has been criticized by some who felt the basic premise bore too close a similarity to the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Children of Time", although there are substantial differences between the two episodes.
Lorian is named for the Elvish forest Lórien in The Fellowship of the Ring novel.
The flashback sequences of the Enterprise when it emerged in the year 2037 were shot in black and white. This is the first and only time that flashback sequences in any of the Star Trek series have been filmed in black and white as opposed to color.
This episode boasts the shortest title in any Star Trek series, beating out "Q2" by half a character width. The longest title is the Star Trek: The Original Series episode "For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky".