The Gamesters of Triskelion (TOS episode)
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| Star Trek: TOS episode | |
| "The Gamesters of Triskelion" | |
 Tamoon (far left) and Shahna (right) escort Chekov and Kirk to the arena, The Gamesters of Triskelion. |
|
| Episode no. | 45 |
|---|---|
| Prod. code | 046 |
| Airdate | January 5, 1968 |
| Writer(s) | Margaret Armen |
| Director | Gene Nelson |
| Guest star(s) | Dick Crockett Victoria George Mickey Morton Angelique Pettyjohn Jane Ross (actress) Joseph Ruskin Steve Sandor Roger Holloway Frank da Vinci Bart LaRue Eddie Paskey William Blackburn Walker Edmiston Robert Johnson Paul Baxley |
| Year | 2268 |
| Stardate | 3211.7 |
| Episode chronology | |
| Previous | "The Trouble With Tribbles" |
| Next | "A Piece of the Action" |
"The Gamesters of Triskelion" is a second season episode of Star Trek: The Original Series, first broadcast January 5, 1968 and repeated May 3, 1968. It is episode #45, production #46, written by Margaret Armen, and directed by Gene Nelson.
Overview: Captain Kirk and his companions are sent to fight as gladiators for the gambling entertainment of three disembodied beings.
[edit] Plot
On stardate 3211.7, the Enterprise is on a routine inspection of an unmanned station at Gamma II. Kirk, Lt. Uhura and Mr. Chekov step into the ship's transporter to beam down, but suddenly, they vanish before the transporter can be activated. The three appear on their backs in a fenced-in arena on an unknown planet. When they come to their feet, they find are surrounded by three humanoids of various species who attack them. The team tries to fire their phasers, but they are rendered useless.
The humanoid combatants pound them to the ground, but then a man appears, dressed in a black cloak, who ends the battle and congratulates Kirk's party on their performance. The being identifies himself as Galt, Master Thrall of Triskelion, and that he works for the "Providers", unseen masters who wager Quatloos among themselves on the arena games. He informs the party that they will spend the rest of their lives as gladiators, having been chosen to fight for the master's entertainment. The team is fitted with metal collars that deliver severe pain if they disobey instructions, and they are then led to their holding cells.
Meanwhile the Enterprise scans for the whereabouts of the abducted crewmembers. Scans show no sign of them and the crew begins a search of all habitable planets in the system.
Back on Triskelion, Kirk and his team make plans for escape, but find Galt's power unbreakable. Any attempt to disobey results in a painful punishment brought on by their collars which they are unable to remove. The three are then introduced to their drill thralls who will service them and prepare them for gladiatorial combat. Chekov gets Tamoon, an androgynous being with tiger-like features and a pleasant deep voice, who is immediately attracted to him. Uhura gets Lars, a handsome and somewhat arrogant bronze-skinned man, and Kirk gets Shahna, a beautiful and shy woman with green hair who is exotically dressed in a silver outfit. Shahna is tough with Kirk at first but seems to have growing compassion for the Captain.
Shahna explains that the drill thralls will train them and once they are ready for competition they will be "vended" to one of the Providers. Galt informs Kirk's group that they now belong to Provider One, and he does not tolerate failure or disobedience.
During training, Kirk finds time alone with Shahna, and he questions her about the Providers, however she is unwilling to answer. He tries to soften her up by telling her about the other planets he has visited and about the concepts of freedom. It seems to work, but when she responds she is shocked with pain from her collar. Galt suddenly appears and orders them back to their cells, while Kirk explains that he should have been punished, not her.
Back on the Enterprise Mr. Spock, Dr. McCoy, and Mr. Scott try to find their Captain and missing crew. Over protests, Spock decides to follow a strange ion trail he suggests might have been produced by the transport beam that abducted the party. They follow the trail to the nearby M-24 Alpha system and resume their scans.
Back in Kirk's cell, Shahna expresses that she feels warmly about Kirk's earlier attempt at saving her, taking the blame for her punishment. Kirk takes advantage of her passionate embrace, catches her off guard, and knocks her unconscious. He then bolts from the cell and frees Chekov and Uhura. The three make a run for it but are stopped when Galt appears and activates their pain collars, driving them to the floor in agony.
The Enterprise enters orbit around Triskelion, and Spock locates the missing team on the surface. Spock and McCoy attempt to beam down, but the ship is taken over by power beam activated by the Providers. Realizing his ship and crew are at stake, and that the Providers are "all-hearing and all-seeing" Kirk announces that he will make a wager that they can't refuse. He requests to meet with them in person, and he is suddenly transported below ground to a chamber filled with odd machinery. He finds a domed table in the center of the room and inside are three disembodied brains that glow from within.
The brains speak and identify themselves as the Providers, ancient beings of pure intellect that pass their time gambling between one another over inferior beings. They demand to hear Kirk's wager. He tells the brains he and his team can defeat the drill thralls. If they win, the brains must free the Enterprise and let the team, including all thralls, go. They must end their death games and use their knowledge to teach the thralls how to start a free society. If he loses, he promises a lifetime of entertainment in further competitions with the entire ship's crew.
The Providers express their desire to see Kirk dead, since he has been so troublesome, and they delightedly accept the bet only if Kirk takes on the thralls, alone. With no choice, Kirk agrees and the brains send him back to the arena. The combat begins and the Enterprise crew gets to watch the battle on the bridge viewscreen. Kirk manages to kill two of the thralls, and injures a third, but the Providers halt the game, and replace the injured warrior with Shahna. Both are reluctant to fight each other. Kirk is tired but manages to overpower Shahna and she surrenders. Kirk insists the fight is over and the Providers accept the outcome and allow Kirk and the others to go free.
Kirk lingers behind for a final kiss from Shahna and explains to her, that there will be no more games, and the Providers will help them start a free civilization.
[edit] Trivia
- Angelique Pettyjohn would later star in adult films under the name Heaven St. John, and later billed simply under her first name. She built a successful secondary career in convention apperances during the 1980's, and until her physique made it visually impractical would actually appear on convention Q&A panels and costume contests wearing the actual "Shahna" costume, and wielding one of the trident spears.
- This episode is notable for its absence of Sulu. Actor George Takei was away filming The Green Berets with actor John Wayne, and due to scheduling constraints Wayne was unable to temporarily release Takei for the three days it would have required to film his scenes for this episode. Takei has stated repeatedly in interviews and at conventions that this was the only regret he had about his participation in the film, as after reading the script for the episode he knew this would have been his moment in the spotlight. The scenes for Sulu were switched to Chekov, and naturally muted down with regards to the martial arts that Sulu would have demonstrated had he been one of the captured.
- The planet's name, Triskelion, is actually the word for an heraldic emblem with three-fold rotational symmetry, of which the planet's own emblem is an example.
- Although not stated in the episode, according to notes in earlier drafts of the script, the one-eyed thrall, "Kloot", was supposed to be part-Klingon.
- The environment chamber for the Providers was recycled from Lazarus' ship in "The Alternative Factor", while the machinery in the distant background of the chamber is the same background matte used for the subterranian Janus VI colony in "The Devil in the Dark".
[edit] External links
- The Gamesters of Triskelion at StarTrek.com
- The Gamesters of Triskelion article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki.
| Last produced: "A Private Little War" |
Star Trek: TOS episodes Season 2 |
Next produced: "Obsession" |
| Last transmitted: "The Trouble With Tribbles" |
Next transmitted: "A Piece of the Action" |
