The Changeling (TOS episode)

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Star Trek: TOS episode
"The Changeling"
Kirk speaks with Nomad in The Changeling.
Episode no.	32
Prod. code	037
Airdate	September 29, 1967
Writer(s)	John Meredyth Lucas
Director	Marc Daniels
Guest star(s)	Blaisdell Makee Arnold Lessing Vic Perrin Eddie Paskey William Blackburn (actor) Meade Martin Roger Holloway Frank da Vinci Jay Jones
Year	2267
Stardate	3451.9
Episode chronology
Previous	"Who Mourns for Adonais?"
Next	"Mirror, Mirror"

"The Changeling" is a season two episode of Star Trek: The Original Series, first broadcast on September 29, 1967 and repeated May 17, 1968. It is episode #32, production #37 and was written by John Meredyth Lucas, and directed by Marc Daniels.

Overview: The crew of the Enterprise deals with an indestructible planet-destroying robot.

[edit] Plot

On stardate 3451.9, the starship USS Enterprise, under the command of Captain James T. Kirk, investigates a distress call from the Malurian star system. Upon arrival, Mr. Spock reports that all life in the system has been destroyed and Malur, a world with a recorded population of 4 billion, is now devoid of life. There isn't even contact from the Federation science team that was on the planet.

Suddenly, the Enterprise's shields activate when a meter-long cylindrical object attacks the ship with energy bolts equivalent to the strength of 90 photon torpedoes. Kirk orders a return fire, but the ship's weapon energy is simply absorbed by the object. Kirk then transmits a hail and the object stops firing. Curiously, the object responds and requests in-person communication with the Captain, and allows itself to be beamed aboard the ship.

Once on board, the object identifies itself as a space probe named Nomad, and oddly refers to Captain Kirk as "the Creator". Checking historical records, Mr. Spock finds information that the Nomad space probe was launched from Earth during the early 21st Century; its mission was to explore the galaxy, just like the Enterprise.

Nomad mistakenly believes that Captain Kirk is actually Dr. Jackson Roykirk, the original scientist who created it. Nomad however, corrects Mr. Spock by saying that his mission is to "find and sterilize imperfection". Since Nomad's definition of imperfect includes all living things, the remorseless machine is a virtual exterminator, going from world to world and killing everything. Repulsed by the machine's words, Kirk decides to go along with the mistake of identity, and tells Nomad not to "sterilize" anything further, which for now, it obeys.

Kirk leaves Nomad to be watched by Lt. Singh, however Nomad leaves to investigate singing he overhears on the intercom and discovers the source: Lt. Uhura. Nomad asks Uhura about this strange form of communication. When Uhura responds she's singing music, Nomad asks her to "think about music" while it probes her mind, but instead erases her memory. Spock rebukes Nomad for harming Uhura; Nomad retorts that she is a "mass of conflicting impulses". When Mr. Scott tries to intervene, Nomad simply kills him. Kirk is very disgusted over what has just happened, but Nomad offers to "repair the Scott unit", claiming that it was only acting in self-defense. Nomad returns Scotty to life, and Kirk then orders Nomad to repair Uhura, which it claims it cannot do since it has erased her "knowledge banks". Nurse Chapel looks her over. Spock suggests that if there's no damage to her brain she can be re-educated. There are sufficient tapes in the computer library to do this, and Chapel is assigned to work with Uhura.

Nomad is then escorted to a holding area where Spock attempts to study it further. Spock is not able to learn full details from his scans, and therefore resorts to a mind meld with the machine. (Just how Spock is able to mind meld with a machine is uncertain). Spock discovers that Nomad collided with an alien probe called Tan-Ru, designed to obtain and sterilize soil samples from other planets. The collision severely damaged both probes, and during the accident the programming of both machines somehow combined. Nomad confused Tan-Ru's mission directives, interpreting them to mean "sterilize imperfections". Spock is disturbed by the experience of the 'machine-to-Vulcan' mind meld, so much so that Kirk is forced to pull him away when he starts to exhibit the coldness of Nomad's logic.

Kirk now realizes Nomad is a device completely without conscience that is capable of wiping out entire solar systems in the blink of an eye, and there seems to be no way to stop it. All Kirk can do is wait and once again confines Nomad to the holding area. Nomad however has other plans, and it waltzes right through the security field, killing two guards who attempt to stop it. Nomad then makes its way to the engine room where it improves the efficiency of the ship's engines 57% by increasing the matter-antimatter reaction rate. Kirk orders Nomad to reverse the changes, as the Enterprise cannot handle the stress.

Kirk confronts Nomad, telling it that its sterilization of biological units is illogical, since the creator is a biological unit. Kirk tries to get the probe to return to the holding cell, but it kills the two security guards sent to escort it. Nomad then heads to sickbay and examines Kirk's medical files. Nurse Chapel is attacked when she tries to stop him. Nomad then decides to shut down all life support systems throughout the ship to destroy the imperfect units that "infest" the Enterprise.

Kirk again confronts Nomad and questions its logic of destroying imperfect beings. Kirk tells Nomad that Nomad itself has made a mistake, something only an imperfect being can do. He tells Nomad that he is not Jackson Roykirk, and that Nomad is in error. Realizing his own imperfections, Nomad is caught in a logic loop, and begins to execute its primary function on itself. The machine begins self-destruction, glowing and sparking energy. At the last moment Kirk has Nomad rushed to the transporter room and beamed into space. Seconds after transport an explosion is detected near the Enterprise and Nomad is no more.

[edit] Trivia

• This episode has several parallels to the plot of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, leading some fans to dub the movie Where Nomad Had Gone Before.

• The title of the episode is referenced in the story James Kirk tells to Spock about a Changeling left in the place of a human baby. Though the Changeling took on the role of the human child, it neither resembled the child, nor was it prone to behave as the human child would have.

• This episode is the first in airdate order in which the dialogue uses metric units of measure instead of customary units, when Spock reports that Nomad is 500 kg in mass and 1 m tall.

• The Photo of Jackson Roykirk, the creator of Nomad displayed onscreen was actually Star Trek director Marc Daniels.

• There have been several theories about the connection between Nomad, Tan-Ru, and the Borg. Nomad's overwhelming speed, shields and power, its assimilation of information, and its mechanical obsession with eliminating imperfection are hallmarks of the Borg themselves. That Nomad only gained these traits after merging with Tan-Ru, suggests that Tan-Ru gave Nomad the capabilities it has. This has also lead to speculation that Tan-Ru may have been of Borg origin, or at least related to the Borg.

• A Malurian (one of the species which Nomad exterminates at the beginning of this episode) appears in the Star Trek: Enterprise episode "Civilization". Also, the character of "Jack" (from "Carbon Creek", another Enterprise episode) may be a teenage version of Jackson Roykirk.

• This episode is parodied in one the host segments of the MST3K episode "Laserblast", where the crew encounter a Nomad like probe named "Monad", apparently with the same directives, which they dispose of merely by throwing it out of an airlock.

[edit] External links

• The Changeling at StarTrek.com
• The Changeling article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki.

Last produced: "Wolf in the Fold"	Star Trek: TOS episodes Season 2	Next produced: "The Apple"
Last transmitted: "Who Mourns for Adonais?"		Next transmitted: "Mirror, Mirror"