Line #23 Recap/StarTrekS3E13ElaanOfTroyius


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/elaan_of_troyius.png]]
2	[[caption-width-right:300:No, this isn't a Music/KatyPerry video. That's Elaan, being her [[RoyalBrat dignified self]].]]
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4	'''Original air date:''' December 20, 1968
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6	The planets Elas and Troyius are both Federation members, but have been at war with each other for centuries. With those darn Klingons encroaching the territory, [[EnemyMine peace becomes imperative.]] How to solve this problem? Why, with a bit of AltarDiplomacy, of course! The ''Enterprise'' is assigned to transport Elaan, Dohlman (basically Princess) of Elas, to Troyius where she will marry the planet's leader. Petri, the Troyian ambassador, is there to help Elaan make a peaceful transition and learn the proper social graces. Easier said than done.
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8	Elaan, to put it bluntly, is a bitch on wheels. Words are said, knives are thrown. Petri just manages to survive being stabbed in the back by his charge. While in sickbay, he reveals to Nurse Chapel that Elasian women have tears that make men fall in love with them when the men touch them. They really should've told Kirk. It seems that when she was griping about how no one liked her (gee, wonder why!), she started to cry, he tried to wipe her tears, and we get a SexyDiscretionShot....
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10	Can Kirk give up the woman he loves for peace?
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12	This is the only episode of any ''Franchise/StarTrek'' series written and directed by one person (John Meredyth Lucas).
13	----
14	!!Elaan of Tropius:
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16	* AltarDiplomacy: Elaan's marriage to the Troyian leader was arranged to bring peace between two planets standing on the brink of mutual annihilation. She is... unenthusiastic.
17	* ArrangedMarriage: For the sake of [[TheNeedsOfTheMany interplanetary peace]]. Elaan is understandably unenthousiastic about it, and while Kirk also becomes reluctant to accept it after she uses her power on him, he nonetheless views it as part of her [[TheChainsOfCommanding duties as ruler]].
18	* BetterToDieThanBeKilled: Kryton phasers himself to death rather than let Kirk and company find out exactly what he's done to the ship. He sabotaged the warp drive so it would blow up as soon as it was engaged.
19	* BrainlessBeauty: Nobody has informed Elaan that a "light-year" is a measure of distance, not time. Probably for fear of getting a knife in the back.
20	* CasualDangerDialogue: After he barely avoids catching a knife in his back like Petri did, Kirk calmly tells Elaan, "Tomorrow's lesson will be on courtesy."
21	* ChekhovsGun: The necklace that Elaan rejects (along with everything else) has the dilithium crystals that end up saving the day.
22	* CoolStarship: The Klingon [=D7=] cruiser debuts in this episode, influencing the designs for future Klingon starships, and was inserted into the remastered versions of earlier Klingon-centric episodes.
23	* DefrostingIceQueen: Elaan is a JerkAss who starts to realize her behavior isn't winning any friends. After a little SlapSlapKiss, she starts to fall in love with Kirk. Too bad she's engaged to someone else....
24	* DiplomaticImpunity: Elaan bullies and demeans everyone on the ''Enterprise'' and stabs Ambassador Petri, nearly killing him. The fact that she's Head of State of a strategically critical planet is the only reason Kirk doesn't throw her in the brig or out an airlock.
25	* DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale: No one seems disturbed by the fact that men are incapable of saying no to Elasian women when they've been touched by their tears. While Kirk looks deeply uncomfortable every time she touches him, and Bones and Spock are angry on his behalf, Fred Freiberger called the episode a "love story".
26	* DownerEnding: While Kirk's love for the Enterprise remains strong, Elaan is forced to marry someone she doesn't want, and Kirk heavily implies that the trauma of what she did will stay with him forever.
27	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: This was the first episode to feature the official Klingon trefoil logo; [[https://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/inconsistencies/emblems/klingon-new-elaanoftroyius.jpg however, it's shown pointed horizontally towards the right]] rather than [[https://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/inconsistencies/emblems/klingon-logo0.png pointed upward]].
28	* EmergencyRefuelling: A traitor destroys the Enterprise's dilithium crystal converter assembly, rendering the ship without warp power or weapons. Scotty manages to use some dilithium crystals that Elaan wears as a necklace to replace the lost crystals.
29	* EvilCannotComprehendGood: Elaan can't understand why Kirk chooses duty over her or why he will not pursue the Klingons with intent to kill.
30	* FeetFirstIntroduction: The first thing we see of Elaan is her glittery gladiator sandals. [[MaleGaze Then the camera pans up.]]
31	* GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe: Elaan, although she's honey-colored rather than green.%%Petri's skin color could be described as teal, but skin color isn't actually what the trope is about.
32	* HighClassGloves: In her first few scenes, starting with her arrival aboard the Enterprise, Elaan, an Elasian princess, wears a pair of silver shoulder-length gloves as part of her outfit.
33	* {{Hypocrite}}: At least part of Elaan's grievance is that she is forced into an ArrangedMarriage, but she still has no problem using her Elasian hypnotic powers to evoke a situation of QuestionableConsent with Kirk.
34	* IronicName: The ArrangedMarriage between '''princess Elaan''' from planet '''Elas'''[[note]]which sounds like "Hellas," an ancient name for Greece[[/note]] and the ruler of planet '''Troyius''' is supposed '''to stop''' a war between their respective worlds. UsefulNotes/TheTrojanWar {{inverted}} InSpace
35	* JabbaTableManners: Elaan considers herself above even simple dining etiquette.
36	* KinkySpanking: Kirk threatens Elaan with spanking. She seems to find the idea intriguing.
37	* KlingonScientistsGetNoRespect: Elaan contemptuously dismisses engineering as a "menial" occupation, much to Scotty's irritation.
38	* LovedINotHonorMore: Kirk reminds Elaan [[PunctuatedForEmphasis of! their! duty!]] to maintain the stability of a star system while staring reeeeeeeeeeeeally far down her "outfit" of [[TheissTitillationTheory two diaphanous orange wisps]].
39	* LovePotion: The tears of an Elasian woman. We're never told if the Troyian prince she's to marry was captivated by them -- it seems unlikely -- or if he's just doing it out of duty as she is.
40	* NeckSnap: How Kryton kills the poor {{Redshirt}} who catches him in Engineering.
41	* NiceGuy: Kirk tells Scotty to be this, despite the Elaysians' bad attitudes. He comes dangerously close to disobeying.
42	* NoBloodForPhlebotinum: Those darn Klingons want Elaan's necklace! Not because EverythingsSparklyWithJewelry! Everything's More Powerful With Dilithium Crystals!
43	* NotRareOverThere: The ship's dilithium crystals crack in the middle of a battle. Unfortunately, there are none left... until they realize that Elaan's necklace has a bunch of them. She surrenders it gladly, bemused that they would want them, considering that on her planet they are WorthlessYellowRocks.
44	* NoSell: Not ''entirely'', as Kirk ''is'' affected by Elaan's tears. However he nonetheless remains functional during the critical battle despite Elaan's presence on the bridge[[note]]in previous scenes, the love-struck Kirk can barely hold himself together[[/note]], and is ultimately able to let her go. When [=McCoy=] finally finds an antidote for the tears in the final scene, Spock points out it's completely unnecessary: Kirk's love for ''Enterprise'' was more potent.
45	* ProudWarriorRace: The Elasians, of the sort that clearly sees no need for the social graces.
46	* PurpleIsPowerful: The first outfit we see Elaan in is glitzy purple. She may not be very [[GracefulLadiesLikePurple graceful]], but no one can deny that she has power and likes to wield it.
47	* PygmalionPlot: Captain Kirk must teach the Dohlman of Elaas civilized manners before her wedding to the ruler of the planet Troyius. He ends up falling in love with her because he touches her tears-- and the tears of Elasian women are a potent love potion.
48	* RealWomenDontWearDresses: One of the things fueling Elaan's hissy fit. Her whole attitude is closer to the way Elasian ''men'' have been described-- vicious and arrogant. Kirk implies that she has a military background, and presumably was socialized around a lot of men, when he says she must understand about giving and taking orders.
49	* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Kirk tells Elaan to can the whole RebelliousPrincess act. He's had it with her acting like a rude, petulant child. She responds by slapping him.
50	* RecycledInSpace: Helen of Troy IN SPACE (albeit with the twist that the marriage would ''prevent'' a war rather than start one). The first draft of the script is even less subtle, being titled "Helen of Troyius".
51	* RedShirt: When John Meredyth Lucas called Victor Brandt to play Watson, [[http://www.startrek.com/article/exclusive-with-star-treks-victor-brandt he said he had another death scene for him.]]
52	* ResistanceIsFutile: The Klingons only talk to the ''Enterprise'' to demand their unconditional surrender.
53	* RoyalBrat: Elaan, just, Elaan. To put it mildly, she's the WORST. Uhura gives her her quarters, but they're not good enough. She rudely refuses the gifts from the Troyian leader. She treats even a starship captain [[AllTakeAndNoGive like a lowly servant]]. (Until she falls in love with him, anyway.) She threatens people with knives when they disagree with her. [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking And her table manners are atrocious!]]
54	* ServileSnarker: Kirk is not intimidated by Elaan's vase-hurling bridezilla act. In fact, he seems to think it great amusement.
55	-->'''Elaan:''' Were you responding to my demand for better quarters?
56	-->'''Kirk:''' There are none better. I suggest you make do with these.
57	-->'''Elaan:''' You ''suggest''?!
58	-->'''Kirk:''' There are no more available, but if that's the only way you can get gratification, I'll arrange to have the whole room filled from floor to ceiling with breakable objects.
59	* SpaceClothes: Good Lord, ''what'' are Elaan's bodyguards ''wearing''?
60	* {{Tsundere}}: Elaan is a Type A. She’s a rude, demanding, and violent princess to everyone. However, after Kirk finally gets through to her, she breaks down and admits that she doesn’t know how to get people to like her. She also turns very affectionate to Kirk after he wipes away one of her tears and starts referring to him as her “love”.
61	* UnfinishedUntestedUsedAnyway: Scotty uses the crude dilithium crystals from Elaan's necklace to replace the damaged ones in the warp drive. They may be unpredictable, but they're all the ''Enterprise'' has. Naturally, they work.
62	* TheVamp: It's not clear if Elaan seduced Kirk accidentally or deliberately, but she tries to make him commit horrible things.
63	-->'''Elaan:''' It was no accident. I chose you, and you chose me. I have a plan. With this ship, [[EarthShatteringKaboom you could completely obliterate Troyius]]. Then there will be no need for the marriage. And in gratitude, [[WeCanRuleTogether my people will give you the complete rule of this system]].
64	-->'''Kirk:''' What kind of a mind could think of such a thing?
65	* WorthlessYellowRocks: The Federation has no idea why the Klingons are so interested in a planet inhabited by a low-tech race. When they happen to look at a necklace worn by Elaan, they discover the "common stones" it is made of happen to be dilithium crystals, which are the source of starship power and highly valuable to space-traveling races. Elaan tells Kirk that the necklace is supposed to bring luck. A line that was ultimately left out explains that the only reason this folk-art necklace is cherished and is appropriate for a royal wedding is its antiquity.
66	* WouldHitAGirl: Kirk slaps Elaan after she slaps him. She responds by throwing a knife at him. Elasians sure know how to do foreplay.

Context Recap / StarTrekS3E13ElaanOfTroyius