Chosen Realm (episode)

Template:Realworld

The Enterprise is hijacked by a group of religious extremists who worship the mysterious spheres in the Expanse.

Summary

Enterprise comes to the aid of a Triannon vessel that has been disabled by spatial anomalies in the vicinity of a Delphic Expanse sphere. The Triannons are a group of religious pilgrims led by Pri'Nam D'Jamat that venerate the spheres and their Makers. They believe that the Delphic Expanse is the "Chosen Realm" of the Makers, and that the anomalies ("the Makers' Breath") are reshaping it into a paradise for the faithful.

D'Jamat seizes control of the ship through organic explosives implanted in the bodies of all of his followers. His plan is to take Enterprise back to Triannon and end a religious war that has consumed his people for a century by using the Enterprise's firepower to destroy their enemies, the "heretics". D'Jamat also wiped out the ship's database deleting 19.3 XB of information on the spheres and demands they select a crewmember to die for the act of desecrating them. Captain Archer chooses himself; impressed by this sacrifice, D'Jamat grants his request for the quick, painless death offered by the use of a special disintegration device, and the Triannons are tricked into thinking Archer was killed, when in reality he was simply teleported to another part of the ship.

Beamed into the starboard catwalk, Archer begins fighting back against the Triannons; he assists Phlox in developing a gaseous agent to nullify the organic explosives. Archer and Lieutenant Malcolm Reed free the MACOs and take back the ship, partially with the help of a Triannon couple who no longer believe what D'Jamat preaches (Yarrick and Indava). Before Archer can seize the ship, however, D'Jamat destroys two of the four ships in a convoy of the enemy sect.

Triannon surface — The devastated surface of the planet Triannon

Archer and T’Pol return D’Jamat and several others to Triannon, where Archer reveals that the war is already over. They stand looking out over the charred remains of a city. Archer explained that the conflict decimated their planet 8 months before. There were millions of deaths on both sides and no major cities left. Archer notes that D’Jamat thought his faith was going to bring peace through violence, but in reality that mindset resulted in a different kind of peace: the mutual destruction of both sides.

This episode or film summary is incompleteThis episode summary has been identified as lacking essential detail, and as such needs attention. Feel free to edit this page to assist with this expansion.

Note: Please obey copyright policy; do not copy material from other sources without permission.

Memorable quotes

"You wanted to kill someone? Kill me."

- Archer, to D'Jamat

"My people have certain...customs regarding death. There's a device on board - we use it to dispose hazardous materials...but, on rare occasions, when the situation arises, we've also used it for executions...It's considered humane."

- Archer, tricking D'Jamat into "executing" him by transporter

"This won't end here."

- Archer's "last words" to D'Jamat, on the transporter pad

"What's wrong?"
"We've just begun this mission, and already, three people are dead."
"And that bothers you..."
"Shouldn't it?!...These people are not our enemy!"
"They are non-believers...that makes them our enemy!"

- D'Jamat and Yarrick

"When you question me, you question the Makers...and there's a word for that: heresy...When you begin to sympathize with the enemy, you risk becoming the enemy."

- D'Jamat, to Yarrick

"As long as people like D'Jamat dictate what's true and what isn't... all you'll ever have is war."

- Archer, to Yarrick

"These people you're fighting... what makes them heretics?"
"We believe the Makers created the Chosen Realm in nine days. They believe it took ten."
"For that, you've been at war for over a century?!"

- Archer and Yarrick

"There'll be an extra helping of snow beetles for you tonight, young lady."

- Phlox, to his pet Pyrithian bat, after the animal distracts the Triannon guard long enough for the doctor to sedate him

"Go ahead, try to blow yourself up. I'll wait."

- Captain Archer, after informing D'Jamat the organic bombs carried by his followers had been neutralized

"All that matters is the sacred truth."
"You want truth? I'll show you some truth."

- D'Jamat and Archer, just before the Triannon are shuttled to the surface of the planet

"Both sides have been decimated. There are no major cities left. Millions... are dead. Your faith was going to bring peace? Here it is."

- Captain Archer, to D'Jamat, as they witness the devastation on Triannon (the last line of the episode)

Background information

Production history

Final draft script: 20 October 2003 [1]
Filmed: 21 October 2003 – 29 October 2003 [2]
Premiere airdate: 14 January 2004 [3]

Story

Episode writer Manny Coto explained the story, " It's a very rigid theology and Enterprise has broken several taboos and must pay for it. The episode dramatises where the intractability of religious extremism ultimately leads. Fundamentalists of all stripes - it's a rigid belief that's not based on empirical evidence, that's what I'm attacking." " [4]

Production

Shooting Chosen Realm — Taking a break from shooting this episode, Marvin V. Rush and Roxann Dawson discuss the installment

Filming for this episode ran simultaneously with the previous one, "Carpenter Street", for two days. The interior sets of the Triannon vessels were the only newly constructed sets for this episode. [5]

Props and costumes

A number of props and costumes from this episode was later sold off on the It's A Wrap! sale and auction on eBay. Among the items are Triannon computer interface panels, [6] [7] [8] a Triannon communicator, [9] [10] several Triannon broaches, [11], and the costumes worn by Lindsey Stoddart, [12] [13] Gregory Wagrowski, [14] [15] and David Youse. [16]
The costume worn by Gregory Wagrowski as Ceris was previously worn by Alexander Slanger in the second season episode "The Breach". [17]

Cast and characters

This episode brought back Conor O'Farrell and Gregory Wagrowski. O'Farrell previously appeared in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Little Green Men" and in the Enterprise first season episode "Rogue Planet" while Wagrowski played Solok in the Deep Space Nine episode "Take Me Out to the Holosuite".
"Chosen Realm" was the second writing credit for Manny Coto.
This was the seventh of ten directing credits for Roxann Dawson on Enterprise.

Continuity

The Triannon are also referenced in the third season episode "Harbinger".
This episode shares several elements with the original series episode "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield".
D'Jamat talks to Archer about the time where he had to torture a prisoner in the airlock. He refers to Orgoth, whom Archer interrogated in "Anomaly".
After Archer's "execution", he contacts Phlox with the phrase "Don't feed him cheese" to recognize him, from his advice in "A Night in Sickbay".
This episode marks the final appearance of the Pyrithian bat.

Deleted scene

Actress Kim Fitzgerald received credit for playing a "Crewman" in the end credits of the episode. However, she did not appear in the final episode.
A scene in the situation room including dialog between T'Pol and D'Jamat was cut from the episode but is featured on the ENT Season 3 DVD and ENT Season 3 Blu-ray releases. The scene features Conor O'Farrell, Jolene Blalock, David Youse, Tayler Sheridan, and a background actor.

Links and references

Starring

Scott Bakula as Captain Jonathan Archer
John Billingsley as Doctor Phlox
Jolene Blalock as Subcommander T'Pol
Dominic Keating as Lieutenant Malcolm Reed
Anthony Montgomery as Ensign Travis Mayweather
Linda Park as Ensign Hoshi Sato
Connor Trinneer as Commander Charles "Trip" Tucker III

Guest stars

External links

"Chosen Realm"
"Chosen Realm" at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
"Chosen Realm" at Wikipedia
Template:IMDb-link

Previous episode:
"Carpenter Street"

Star Trek: Enterprise
Season 3

Next episode:
"Proving Ground"

Chosen Realm (episode)

Contents