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The Omega Glory (TOS episode)
Encyclopedia
"The Omega Glory" is a second season episode of Star Trek: The Original Series
, first broadcast March 1, 1968 and repeated July 26, 1968. It is episode #52, production #54, written by Gene Roddenberry
, and directed by Vincent McEveety
. The story was one of three outlines submitted for selection as the second pilot of Star Trek: the others being "Mudd's Women" and "Where No Man Has Gone Before
".
Overview: Captain Kirk must find the cure to a deadly disease and prevent a meaningless war.
finding the USS Exeter in orbit around the planet Omega IV. Captain Kirk forms a boarding party with Mr. Spock, Dr. McCoy, and Lt. Galloway
, and beams over to find the other ship deserted, save for scattered crew uniforms with a crystalline substance scattered in and around them — the total chemicals in the human body when all water is removed. The team learns from the ship's logs that the Exeter's landing party contracted a strange disease on the planet and spread it back to the ship. The logs warn that they have now been exposed and will die unless they go down to the planet; returning to their own ship would only expose their own ship's crew to the disease.
Kirk's party beams to the last coordinates of the Exeter's landing party and find themselves in what resembles a Tibet
an village where two fur-clad prisoners, a man and woman, are being prepared for a beheading by warriors of Asian
appearance. Leading the warriors is the Exeter's Captain Ron Tracey (played by Morgan Woodward) who stands down the execution and greets Kirk. Tracey explains he was stranded when his crew succumbed to a disease, and only remaining on the planet confers immunity. He assures the landing party they will be safe, but only if they stay on the planet. Tracey then explains the prisoners are from a group of savage barbarian
s called the "Yangs" who wage war with the villagers called the "Kohms".
Soon, the Yangs attack the village and Galloway is injured. McCoy takes him into a hut for treatment while Spock investigates a pile of Yang bodies. He finds drained phaser
power packs, clear evidence that Tracey helped in a previous battle in a blatant violation of the Prime Directive
. Kirk tries to contact the Enterprise, but Tracey suddenly interrupts him and forcibly takes his communicator. When Galloway tries to defend Kirk, Tracey disintegrates him. He defends his actions, saying the planet offers valuable medical benefits — not only are the people immune to the disease, but they also have incredibly long life spans. He presents a villager who claims to be 462 years old with a father who is over a thousand.
Tracey orders McCoy to get to work on solving the secrets of their longevity and has Kirk and Spock taken away. The two are placed in a crude jail with Spock in one cell and Kirk thrown in one with the two Yang prisoners. The Yangs savagely attack him until Spock manages to nerve pinch
the female into submission and the male stops in concern. When Kirk plots an escape, he mentions the word "freedom" to Spock, and the Yang male suddenly objects to an "enemy" uttering a "Yang worship word". Kirk convinces the Yang to help loosen the bars of the cell window. Once an opening is created, the Yang knocks Kirk out and takes the woman with him out the window. When Kirk recovers, he and Spock make their own escape.
Reuniting with McCoy, Spock works at modifying some medical equipment into a makeshift communicator. McCoy believes the natives' immunity to disease and longevity was simply the result of natural evolution
; the inhabitants developed disease-resistant, hardy physiologies as a result of a cataclysmic war. As such, there is no isolated agent to find and any infected visitor naturally acquires an immunity in a short period of time on the planet.
Suddenly, a maddened Tracey bursts in and destroys the communicator with his phaser. He demands that Kirk order down a supply of phasers from the Enterprise to help fight off another wave of Yang forces. McCoy and Kirk try to explain that there is no Fountain of Youth
, adding that the natives live such long lives because it's natural for them to. Kirk declares that Tracey's interference with the war between the natives has been for nothing. Tracey's mind snaps at this invalidation of all his efforts. He forces Kirk outside and demands that he order down the weapons. Kirk calls Lt. Sulu
; however, Sulu insists on finding out the captain's situation before complying with the order, asking Kirk if he should have a security team beam down. Kirk refuses to explain why the arms are needed and tells Sulu the security team is not needed. Once again, Kirk tries to wrestle Tracey's phaser away, but fails. He escapes Tracey, momentarily, but is captured. Tracey is about to disintegrate Kirk, but he discovers his phaser is out of power.
The two fight over a nearby axe when Yang warriors suddenly arrive and take everyone back to their village, which appears as ruins of an ancient building. Their leader, Cloud William, turns out to be the prisoner who was in the cell with Kirk. Cloud curiously produces a very old American Flag
and removes ancient manuscripts from a box where he begins to recite words — a poorly pronounced version of the Pledge of Allegiance
. When Kirk completes the pledge, the Yangs are shocked. McCoy questions how they know the pledge, and Spock surmises that the cultures may have developed along very similar lines to Earth
. Kirk speculates that the Kohms were originally "Communists" and Yangs originally "Yankee
s". Apparently, the Omegans had a Cold War
much like the one between the United States
and the Soviet Union
, but unlike Earth, their war heated up and a conflict was fought many centuries ago. Even Spock found the parallel between the two worlds to be "almost too close."
The Yangs decide that Kirk and his companions will be executed, but Tracey tries to save himself by claiming that Kirk and the others are evil. Tracey tries to convince Cloud that Kirk and his party were cast out of Heaven
, by building upon Kirk's Prime Directive
-influenced vague description of his place of origin as "up there", and by drawing attention to the similarity between Spock's appearance and an image of Satan
contained in one of the Yang's documents. To further bolster his claim against the Enterprise crew, Tracey informs Cloud that Spock "has no heart," knowing that the Yang chief is unaware of Vulcan physiology and doesn't realize the Vulcan's heart is not located in the same position as it is in humans and Omegans. Despite McCoy's and Kirk's attempts to convince Cloud that the Vulcan is no devil, but just physiologically different, Cloud is not fully convinced and asks Kirk to complete the "sacred words" starting with 'E Plebneesta' from an ancient document he produced. Unfortunately, Kirk cannot quite decipher the words, despite their familiarity, and suggests instead that he and Tracey duel to the death — stating good always triumphs over evil. As Kirk and Tracey begin to fight, Spock notices a communicator near Cloud's female companion, and makes a mental suggestion which causes her to pick it up and activate it. (Neither she nor Spock speak into the communicator, but the implication is that she activated its emergency-alert signal.) Soon, just as Kirk subdues Tracey, Sulu and a security detail beam down to investigate the situation. Kirk spares Tracey's life and has him taken into custody to face Federation charges.
The Yangs now bow to Kirk as a deity
, but he orders them to stand and face him. He looks over the ancient, crumbling document, which appears to be a distorted version of the American Constitution. Kirk finishes the sacred speech (the Preamble to the United States Constitution
) and rebukes the Yangs for allowing the document to degrade to mere shibboleth
. He declares that the words were not just for the Yangs, but for Kohms, as well, declaring that they "must apply to everyone or they mean nothing." Cloud doesn't fully understand, but swears to Kirk that the "holy words" will be obeyed. Kirk smiles at Cloud, convinced that the Yangs, along with the Kohms, will now rebuild their ruined world. Before departing, Kirk stops to take one last proud look at Old Glory
.
Star Trek: The Original Series
Star Trek is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry, produced by Desilu Productions . Star Trek was telecast on NBC from September 8, 1966, through June 3, 1969...
, first broadcast March 1, 1968 and repeated July 26, 1968. It is episode #52, production #54, written by Gene Roddenberry
Gene Roddenberry
Eugene Wesley "Gene" Roddenberry was an American television screenwriter, producer and futurist, best known for creating the American science fiction series Star Trek. Born in El Paso, Texas, Roddenberry grew up in Los Angeles, California where his father worked as a police officer...
, and directed by Vincent McEveety
Vincent McEveety
Vincent Michael McEveety is an American director and producer.- Career :TelevisionVince McEveety has directed numerous Emmy Award winning television series, including The Untouchables, Gunsmoke, six Star Trek , Magnum, P.I., How the...
. The story was one of three outlines submitted for selection as the second pilot of Star Trek: the others being "Mudd's Women" and "Where No Man Has Gone Before
Where No Man Has Gone Before (TOS episode)
"Where No Man Has Gone Before" is the second pilot episode of the television series Star Trek: The Original Series. It was produced in 1965 after the first pilot, "The Cage", had been rejected by NBC. The episode was eventually broadcast third in sequence on September 22, 1966, and was re-aired on...
".
Overview: Captain Kirk must find the cure to a deadly disease and prevent a meaningless war.
Plot
The episode begins with the USS EnterpriseStarship Enterprise
The Enterprise or USS Enterprise is the name of several fictional starships, some of which are the focal point for various television series and films in the Star Trek franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. It is considered a name of legacy in the fleet...
finding the USS Exeter in orbit around the planet Omega IV. Captain Kirk forms a boarding party with Mr. Spock, Dr. McCoy, and Lt. Galloway
Redshirt (character)
A "redshirt" is a stock character in fiction who dies soon after being introduced. The term originates with fans of Star Trek , from the red shirts worn by Starfleet security officers who frequently die during episodes.-Star Trek:...
, and beams over to find the other ship deserted, save for scattered crew uniforms with a crystalline substance scattered in and around them — the total chemicals in the human body when all water is removed. The team learns from the ship's logs that the Exeter's landing party contracted a strange disease on the planet and spread it back to the ship. The logs warn that they have now been exposed and will die unless they go down to the planet; returning to their own ship would only expose their own ship's crew to the disease.
Kirk's party beams to the last coordinates of the Exeter's landing party and find themselves in what resembles a Tibet
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
an village where two fur-clad prisoners, a man and woman, are being prepared for a beheading by warriors of Asian
Asian people
Asian people or Asiatic people is a term with multiple meanings that refers to people who descend from a portion of Asia's population.- Central Asia :...
appearance. Leading the warriors is the Exeter's Captain Ron Tracey (played by Morgan Woodward) who stands down the execution and greets Kirk. Tracey explains he was stranded when his crew succumbed to a disease, and only remaining on the planet confers immunity. He assures the landing party they will be safe, but only if they stay on the planet. Tracey then explains the prisoners are from a group of savage barbarian
Barbarian
Barbarian and savage are terms used to refer to a person who is perceived to be uncivilized. The word is often used either in a general reference to a member of a nation or ethnos, typically a tribal society as seen by an urban civilization either viewed as inferior, or admired as a noble savage...
s called the "Yangs" who wage war with the villagers called the "Kohms".
Soon, the Yangs attack the village and Galloway is injured. McCoy takes him into a hut for treatment while Spock investigates a pile of Yang bodies. He finds drained phaser
Weapons of Star Trek
The Star Trek fictional universe contains a very large number of weapons. As with most science fiction franchises, the series focuses primarily on energy weapons...
power packs, clear evidence that Tracey helped in a previous battle in a blatant violation of the Prime Directive
Prime Directive
In the universe of Star Trek, the Prime Directive, Starfleet's General Order #1, is the most prominent guiding principle of the United Federation of Planets...
. Kirk tries to contact the Enterprise, but Tracey suddenly interrupts him and forcibly takes his communicator. When Galloway tries to defend Kirk, Tracey disintegrates him. He defends his actions, saying the planet offers valuable medical benefits — not only are the people immune to the disease, but they also have incredibly long life spans. He presents a villager who claims to be 462 years old with a father who is over a thousand.
Tracey orders McCoy to get to work on solving the secrets of their longevity and has Kirk and Spock taken away. The two are placed in a crude jail with Spock in one cell and Kirk thrown in one with the two Yang prisoners. The Yangs savagely attack him until Spock manages to nerve pinch
Vulcan nerve pinch
In the fictional Star Trek universe, the Vulcan nerve pinch is a technique used mainly by Vulcans to render unconsciousness by pinching a pressure point at the base of the victim’s neck...
the female into submission and the male stops in concern. When Kirk plots an escape, he mentions the word "freedom" to Spock, and the Yang male suddenly objects to an "enemy" uttering a "Yang worship word". Kirk convinces the Yang to help loosen the bars of the cell window. Once an opening is created, the Yang knocks Kirk out and takes the woman with him out the window. When Kirk recovers, he and Spock make their own escape.
Reuniting with McCoy, Spock works at modifying some medical equipment into a makeshift communicator. McCoy believes the natives' immunity to disease and longevity was simply the result of natural evolution
Evolution
Evolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.Life on Earth...
; the inhabitants developed disease-resistant, hardy physiologies as a result of a cataclysmic war. As such, there is no isolated agent to find and any infected visitor naturally acquires an immunity in a short period of time on the planet.
Suddenly, a maddened Tracey bursts in and destroys the communicator with his phaser. He demands that Kirk order down a supply of phasers from the Enterprise to help fight off another wave of Yang forces. McCoy and Kirk try to explain that there is no Fountain of Youth
Fountain of Youth
The Fountain of Youth is a legendary spring that reputedly restores the youth of anyone who drinks of its waters. Tales of such a fountain have been recounted across the world for thousands of years, appearing in writings by Herodotus, the Alexander romance, and the stories of Prester John...
, adding that the natives live such long lives because it's natural for them to. Kirk declares that Tracey's interference with the war between the natives has been for nothing. Tracey's mind snaps at this invalidation of all his efforts. He forces Kirk outside and demands that he order down the weapons. Kirk calls Lt. Sulu
Hikaru Sulu
Hikaru Sulu is a character in the Star Trek media franchise. First portrayed by George Takei in the original Star Trek series, Sulu also appears in the animated Star Trek series, the first six Star Trek movies, one episode of Star Trek: Voyager, and in numerous books, comics, and video games...
; however, Sulu insists on finding out the captain's situation before complying with the order, asking Kirk if he should have a security team beam down. Kirk refuses to explain why the arms are needed and tells Sulu the security team is not needed. Once again, Kirk tries to wrestle Tracey's phaser away, but fails. He escapes Tracey, momentarily, but is captured. Tracey is about to disintegrate Kirk, but he discovers his phaser is out of power.
The two fight over a nearby axe when Yang warriors suddenly arrive and take everyone back to their village, which appears as ruins of an ancient building. Their leader, Cloud William, turns out to be the prisoner who was in the cell with Kirk. Cloud curiously produces a very old American Flag
Flag of the United States
The national flag of the United States of America consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the canton bearing fifty small, white, five-pointed stars arranged in nine offset horizontal rows of six stars alternating with rows...
and removes ancient manuscripts from a box where he begins to recite words — a poorly pronounced version of the Pledge of Allegiance
Pledge of Allegiance
The Pledge of Allegiance of the United States is an expression of loyalty to the federal flag and the republic of the United States of America, originally composed by Christian Socialist Francis Bellamy in 1892 and formally adopted by Congress as the pledge in 1942...
. When Kirk completes the pledge, the Yangs are shocked. McCoy questions how they know the pledge, and Spock surmises that the cultures may have developed along very similar lines to Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
. Kirk speculates that the Kohms were originally "Communists" and Yangs originally "Yankee
Yankee
The term Yankee has several interrelated and often pejorative meanings, usually referring to people originating in the northeastern United States, or still more narrowly New England, where application of the term is largely restricted to descendants of the English settlers of the region.The...
s". Apparently, the Omegans had a Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
much like the one between the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, but unlike Earth, their war heated up and a conflict was fought many centuries ago. Even Spock found the parallel between the two worlds to be "almost too close."
The Yangs decide that Kirk and his companions will be executed, but Tracey tries to save himself by claiming that Kirk and the others are evil. Tracey tries to convince Cloud that Kirk and his party were cast out of Heaven
Heaven
Heaven, the Heavens or Seven Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or metaphysical term for the physical or transcendent place from which heavenly beings originate, are enthroned or inhabit...
, by building upon Kirk's Prime Directive
Prime Directive
In the universe of Star Trek, the Prime Directive, Starfleet's General Order #1, is the most prominent guiding principle of the United Federation of Planets...
-influenced vague description of his place of origin as "up there", and by drawing attention to the similarity between Spock's appearance and an image of Satan
Satan
Satan , "the opposer", is the title of various entities, both human and divine, who challenge the faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible...
contained in one of the Yang's documents. To further bolster his claim against the Enterprise crew, Tracey informs Cloud that Spock "has no heart," knowing that the Yang chief is unaware of Vulcan physiology and doesn't realize the Vulcan's heart is not located in the same position as it is in humans and Omegans. Despite McCoy's and Kirk's attempts to convince Cloud that the Vulcan is no devil, but just physiologically different, Cloud is not fully convinced and asks Kirk to complete the "sacred words" starting with 'E Plebneesta' from an ancient document he produced. Unfortunately, Kirk cannot quite decipher the words, despite their familiarity, and suggests instead that he and Tracey duel to the death — stating good always triumphs over evil. As Kirk and Tracey begin to fight, Spock notices a communicator near Cloud's female companion, and makes a mental suggestion which causes her to pick it up and activate it. (Neither she nor Spock speak into the communicator, but the implication is that she activated its emergency-alert signal.) Soon, just as Kirk subdues Tracey, Sulu and a security detail beam down to investigate the situation. Kirk spares Tracey's life and has him taken into custody to face Federation charges.
The Yangs now bow to Kirk as a deity
Deity
A deity is a recognized preternatural or supernatural immortal being, who may be thought of as holy, divine, or sacred, held in high regard, and respected by believers....
, but he orders them to stand and face him. He looks over the ancient, crumbling document, which appears to be a distorted version of the American Constitution. Kirk finishes the sacred speech (the Preamble to the United States Constitution
Preamble to the United States Constitution
The Preamble to the United States Constitution is a brief introductory statement of the Constitution's fundamental purposes and guiding principles...
) and rebukes the Yangs for allowing the document to degrade to mere shibboleth
Shibboleth
A shibboleth is a custom, principle, or belief distinguishing a particular class or group of people, especially a long-standing one regarded as outmoded or no longer important...
. He declares that the words were not just for the Yangs, but for Kohms, as well, declaring that they "must apply to everyone or they mean nothing." Cloud doesn't fully understand, but swears to Kirk that the "holy words" will be obeyed. Kirk smiles at Cloud, convinced that the Yangs, along with the Kohms, will now rebuild their ruined world. Before departing, Kirk stops to take one last proud look at Old Glory
Old Glory
Old Glory is a common nickname for the flag of the United States, bestowed by William Driver, an early nineteenth century American sea captain....
.
Analysis
According to author/UCLA assistant professor Daniel Leonard Bernardi in his book, Star Trek and History: Race-ing Toward a White Future: “Like the Federation, the Comms have full command of the English language (although they speak with a homogenized “Asian” accent). The beginning of the episode thus shows that those with white skin can be uncivilized savages and those with yellow skin can be civilized and rational[...]This would be counter to the hegemonic representation of Asians in the United States media; that diverse collective of peoples are consistently constructed in film and television as a menacing “yellow horde.” Bernardi goes on to say: "“The Omega Glory” is not, however, a counter-hegemonic episode. In fact, the episode not only reveals an unwillingness to be critical of the hegemony of racist representations, but also systematically participates in the stereotyping of Asians. As the story progresses, the Yangs are constructed as noble savages; their cause to annihilate the Comms is established as justified. The Comms, on the other hand, are constructed as brutal and oppressive; their drive to suppress the Yangs is established as totalitarian. This more hegemonic articulation of race is made evident when Kirk and Spock realize the extent to which the Yangs and Comms parallel Earth's civilizations. In this light, the Yangs are no longer savages, but noble warriors fighting for a just and honorable cause. They want to regain the land they lost in a war with the Asiatics.”40th Anniversary remastering
This episode was re-mastered in 2006 and was first aired June 30, 2007 as part of the remastered 40th Anniversary original series. This episode was broadcast again on July 7, 2008 and on July 4, 2009. It was preceded two weeks earlier by the remastered version of "Plato's Stepchildren" and was followed a week later by the remastered version of "Return to Tomorrow". Aside from remastered video and audio, and the all-CGI animation of the Enterprise that is standard among the revisions, specific changes to this episode also include:- The planet Omega IV has been given more realistic Earth-like detail.
- A new opening shot of USS Exeter and Enterprise in orbit together where the Exeter has been replaced by a CGI model identical to the Enterprise but with its own nomenclature, including the vessel name and the registry number "NCC-1672".