A Small Talent for War
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| “A Small Talent for War” | |||||||
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| The Twilight Zone episode | |||||||
| Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 15, Segment 2 |
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| Written by | Alan Brennert Carter Scholz |
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| Directed by | Claudia Weill | ||||||
| Guest stars | John Glover : Alien Ambassador Peter Michael Goetz : American Diplomat Stefan Gierasch : Russian Diplomat Fran Bennett : UN Chairman Jose Santana : U.S. Aide Gillian Eaton : British Delegate Richard Brestoff : British Aide |
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| Original airdate | January 24, 1986 | ||||||
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| List of Twilight Zone episodes | |||||||
"A Small Talent for War" is the second segment of the fifteenth episode from the television series The New Twilight Zone.
[edit] Synopsis
John Glover plays the role of an emissary from an alien race that claims to have genetically engineered humanity. He directly challenges the United Nations to prove humanity's worth, displeased over their "small talent for war". He then tells them that mankind has failed to produce the potential that the aliens nurtured in them thousands of years ago, and as a result all life on earth will be destroyed in 24 hours. With the survival of humanity at stake, the UN hurriedly establishes an accord for lasting global peace and presents it to the emissary.
However, the emissary was in fact seeking a greater talent for war, as the aliens routinely breed warriors to fight for them across the galaxy. Humanity's "small talent" for war (crude weapons, petty bickering over borders) is not significant enough to be of any use to them, and worst of all, the ultimate goal of humanity is peace. As the ambassador calls down a fleet of spaceships to destroy the Earth, he praises the humans for their "delightful sense of the absurd", and his parting comment repeats the dying words attributed to several English-language actors: "Dying is easy, comedy is hard".
