Recap / Star Trek: Strange New Worlds S1E10 "A Quality of Mercy"

The Enterprise and the Cayuga, under the command of Captain Batel, are helping upgrade Federation outposts along the Romulan Neutral Zone. As You Know, the Romulans have been in a state of cold war with the Federation for about a century, and Cmdr. Hansen Al-Salah operates Outpost 4 to keep an eye out for Romulan aggression. His son, Maat, busts into the discussion, as he's always had dreams of joining Starfleet. This causes Pike to have a Freak Out: "Maat Al-Salah" is one of the eight names of cadets he memorized from the training accident... and not one of the six who survive it. Retreating to his quarters, Pike begins to draft an e-mail warning Maat of his fate, but is interrupted by the last person he expected: Rear Adm. Christopher Pike, wearing the "monster maroon jacket" first seen in 2278. Adm. Pike explains that this e-mail is a Butterfly of Doom that "is going to wreck the future". The Klingons at Boreth allowed (Adm.) Pike to come back and Set Right What Once Went Wrong, and he has brought a Time Crystal so that (Capt.) Pike can see first-hand what happens In Spite of a Nail.

Pike finds himself in 2266, helping two officers get Married at Sea. His Number Two, Spock, summons him to the bridge: outposts along the Romulan Neutral Zone have been attacked. After getting the lay of the land — Lt. Uhura at comms, Ortegas and Jenna Mitchell still at the helm (but in opposite seats) — Pike invites Spock into private conference and immediately lays out the situation. Spock explains that the training accident happened six months ago, with no fatalities, and deduces that if Pike needs to find out how his presence causes history to go wrong, then he needs to let it go wrong. All Pike should do is whatever he would've normally done under the circumstances. And the circumstances are familiar: the outposts are being destroyed by an unknown vessel that has an Invisibility Cloak and a new form of Photoprotoneutron Torpedo with limited range but devastating Power Levels. Al-Salah, before his outpost gets shot out of the sky, sends over a visual confirmation, showing a familiar (to the audience, at least) disc-shaped hull with two wings and outboard nacelles: a Romulan Bird-of-Prey. Uhura intercepts a transmission that allows the Federation to see what Romulans look like for the first time. Pike has found himself in an Alternate Timeline Whole-Plot Reference, shot for shot and sometimes even line for line, of TOS: "Balance of Terror".

Pike, ever prudent, calls for reinforcements. He gets them in the form of the USS Farragut, on which La'an is serving under an up-and-coming captain: one James T. Kirk (Paul Wesley). Using Spock's sensor readings, they are able to track the Romulan ship as it heads straight back to the Neutral Zone. Pike assembles his senior staff to discuss their options. M'Benga is not in favor of aggressive action; literally everyone else, from Spock to Ortegas to Captain Kirk, disagrees. (Una does not provide an opinion because she's not here. This will be important later.) It's Kirk who comes up with a third option: the Romulans' course will take them straight through the tail of a comet, which should allow the Starfleet ships to get a better bead on it; Pike plans to shoot to disable.

The comet encounter doesn't go well; the Romulans catch on to the plan and cripple the Farragut with a plasma torpedo to the saucer. Pike fights a delaying action and beams the Farragut crew to safety; the Enterprise and the Romulan ship trade some damage, but nothing conclusive. This time it's Pike who takes a new option: he offers a two-hour cease-fire. Romulans and the Federation have fought each other for over a century, but there's no reason he and the Romulan commander have to follow suit. The Romulan commander has to practically fight down a mutiny to accept it; the Romulan way is to Back Stab, and Pike has clearly just painted a target on his back. However, the two ships stand down. Kirk requests to borrow a shuttlecraft, intending to grab some reinforcements (or, at least, make the Romulans think reinforcements are coming; they don't have any idea how far away the rest of Starfleet is), and Spock personally supervises the repairs to the ship's phaser array (with the help of a Voice-Only Cameo from an engineer with a familiar Scottish accent).

When the two hours are up, Pike hails the Romulan ship again, asking if continued hostilities are needed. The answer comes in the form of a Romulan armada led by a Praetor, who immediately takes control of the situation and demands the Enterprise's unconditional surrender. (Over on the Bird-of-Prey, the Romulan commander stares in astonishment at his subordinate, who called for the fleet against orders.) The Cavalry comes in the form of... Kirk, who has an armada of automated mining vessels. Pike, bolstered by his new fleet of, "uh, Delta-class attack ships," asks if the Romulans truly want war — especially since Starfleet, using Al-Salah's recordings, can prove the Romulans fired first. The Praetor, displeased, orders the Bird-of-Prey forward for a round of "You Have Failed Me," and has her own fleet blow the ship out of the sky. The Romulan commander chooses to Face Death with Dignity: "You and I are of a kind," he says to Pike. "In a different reality, I could have called you friend."

Then the Romulans attack anyway, as Pike reached out to the Romulan commander in sympathy instead of pulling a Why Don't Ya Just Shoot Him? — a weakness the Romulans can exploit. Kirk deploys his mining fleet to screen the Enterprise's retreat, but a plasma torpedo still gets through, causing hull breaches and damaging the weapons array. Its biggest victim: Spock, wounded beyond recognition, uncertain of surviving. This, Adm. Pike explains (back in the Framing Device), is who will pay the price: the person at the heart of TNG: "Unification pt I" and "Unification pt II," the person who borrowed a starship and some red matter during the set-up to the 2009 pre-boot and tried to save people who hated his guts, the person who succeeded (as of the far future seen in DSC: "Unification pt III") in bringing the Romulans and Vulcans back together: Spock, son of Sarek. "Save This Person, Save the World," Admiral Pike explains. It's not even that, in his Bad Future, the Romulans are winning (though they are) — it's that the only person who can end the war was instead its first casualty.

After one last talk with Captain Kirk, Pike returns from the future. Spock approaches him: he, like Una, noticed Pike's reaction to the boy's name, and has surmised that he figures into Pike's pre-destination. He also manages to intuit why Pike is going to go through with it anyhow, and thanks Pike for saving him. Pike, confirmed in his course, returns to the bridge... only to be summoned to the transporter room.

It's Captain Batel. She has direct orders from Starfleet to arrest Cmdr. Una Chin-Riley for violating the Federation's "No Transhumanism Allowed" ban.

"This isn't over," Pike promises, as the season ends.

---

Tropes:.

• Adapted Out:
  • The hot-headed Lieutenant Stiles does not appear; his belligerence and hatred for the Romulans are given to Ortegas (but without the family backstory).
  • Despite being prominent secondary characters in "Balance of Terror", the Romulan centurion and Decius do not appear in the episode's version of those events, though the unnamed subcommander largely takes over Decius' role.
• Alas, Poor Villain: When the Romulan commander is destroyed by his own armada, everyone on the bridge of Enterprise mourns his death — even Ortegas, who seems to hate Romulans the most.
• Alternate Self: Admiral Pike says he exists as a result of Captain Pike avoiding the accident in which Pike was grievously crippled. Instead, the Admiral is still serving and fighting with the Federation against the Romulans, but the galaxy is on a decidedly Bad Future timeline that could have been avoided if Pike hadn't attempted to fight fate.
• Alternate Timeline: Pike uses a time crystal to experience a timeline where he isn't crippled and retains command of the Enterprise. It does not work out great.
• Arbitrary Skepticism: Spock is hesitant to believe that Pike has traveled forward in time using a time crystal, despite having witnessed his own adopted sister and the U.S.S. Discovery doing just that. A quick mind-meld solves that problem.
• Armor-Piercing Response: After being rescued, Kirk gets into an argument with Pike about the latter's insistence on pulling his punches in the fight against the Romulans. Pike lands a gentle, but pointed riposte reminding him that he just lost his ship. Kirk concedes the point, but his understandably pained reaction makes it clear how it felt.
  Pike: If you're saying you're more willing to take risks than I am, I don't disagree. And let me remind you that you're saying that on my ship after yours has been destroyed.
  Kirk: (Beat) Fair.
• Art Evolution:
  • Romulans in this episode sport forehead crests similar to their design in the TNG-era episodes along with their Vulcan features, although more subdued. Those crests were not apparent in any works beforehand, which made Romulans entirely indistinguishable from Vulcans. Star Trek: Picard previously established that both variations of Romulans exist, being simply different ethnic groups of the same race.
  • The Romulan ship interior is now green and black, matching the more common Romulan aesthetic since TNG, as opposed to the almost pastel colors of the original.
  • The original plasma torpedo was portrayed as an amorphous reddish cloud fired straight at the camera due to the limited VFX options of the era. This episode reimagines it as a crackling ball of energy projected from the front of the Bird-Of-Prey before firing; with the upgraded VFX, it really looks like it could one-shot a starship.
  • The cloaking ability of the Bird-Of-Prey in the "Balance of Terror" episode was informed through dialogue, otherwise the ship was either in sight or it wasn't. Later works would depict a cloaking ship as a waving effect before becoming transparent with a slight distortion field afterward, while much later would show the waving effect with a bit more refinement where different sections shimmer away at different times. In this episode the cloaking effect is depicted as a harsh line of energy that washes over the ship, when cloaking or decloaking for a moment it appears that half the ship is just missing.
• An Arm and a Leg: Spock loses a leg when he's caught in an explosion during the battle, though that's hardly the worst of his injuries.
• Attack Pattern Alpha: Kirk orders the Farragut to use "Attack Pattern Tiberius-4" against the Romulans.
• Back for the Finale: Captain Batel appears for the first time since leaving Pike's bed in the series premiere.
• Backup Bluff: Kirk arrives with a "fleet" of automated cargo and mining ships. As he points out to Pike, the Romulans don't really know what Federation starships look like and thus may believe this is an armada, with Pike playing into it. It doesn't work because, armada or no, the Romulans want a war with the Federation and have no intent of backing down.
• Bad Boss: The Romulan Praetor is... not a nice lady.
• Bad Future: In the alternate timeline, the Romulan-Federation war is reignited thanks to Pike attempting to negotiate with the Romulans, who see the gesture as an act of weakness and determine that the Federation is likewise weak. The war is seemingly ongoing even into the Wrath of Khan era. Spock is critically injured in the battle and, according to Nurse Chapel, will be permanently disabled and disfigured if he survives, killing the best chance of peace with the Romulans.
• Body Horror: Spock loses a limb and is horribly burned by an explosion from battle damage.
• Butterfly of Doom: Pike learns from his future self that changing his destined future leads to him being in command of the Enterprise during the events of the TOS episode "Balance of Terror". Despite handling the situation as best he could the specific choices made lead to a decades long resurgent war between the Federation and Romulans, and with Spock graphically maimed his role in the much later reunification of Vulcans and Romulans shown in TNG and DSC never even gets started. Future Pike mentions he used the time crystal to explore a number of possible outcomes, but there is a "Prime" timeline where his training accident is best for everyone.
  • The differing outcome in this episode can also be attributed to smaller changes that might escape notice in a first viewing:
    • By introducing the Farragut into the equation, you now have two ships trying to shadow the Warbird, which could have complicated their attempts to stay hidden as sensor echoes.
    • Pike and Kirk don't realize as quickly as in TOS that the Romulan commander is a cagey opponent who figured out he was being stalked, and evaded getting caught in the comet. Their few extra seconds of confusion gave the Warbird more of a chance to strike back, and having two ships provided more targets for attack.
    • Enterprise takes damage to her weapon systems way earlier in the chase than in TOS (the latter occurred in the last act, after point-blank detonation of a nuclear charge the Warbird left behind in debris). As a result, they cannot press the attack, forcing Pike to take the diplomatic route anyways.
• Call-Back:
  • Kirk tells Pike that his father was the executive officer of the U.S.S. Kelvin, explicitly linking the Kelvin timeline and its films to the Prime universe at a point before the timeline schism.
  • Kirk commands the U.S.S. Farragut, which TOS fans will remember as a ship that Kirk served on as an officer prior to the Enterprise. In the alternate timeline, with Pike never leaving the Enterprise, Kirk becomes the captain of the Farragut, replacing his own former commander, Captain Garrovick.
  • This isn't the first time we've seen a standoff escalated by mutual reinforcements leading into a war. The same thing happened in the second episode of Star Trek: Discovery. The Romulans in this episode are testing the Federation for weakness and attack when Pike seems to confirm their suspicions, compared to Kirk in the original timeline stopping the Romulans because he was far more willing to meet hostility with hostility. In Discovery, meanwhile, the Klingons came looking for a fight and likely wouldn't have backed down for any reason, despite Burnham similarly advocating firing on the Klingons as a show of strength. That said, the Klingons, like the Romulans, perceived the Federation as weak because the Federation's first instinct is to offer an olive branch, a fact T'Kuvma before lampshades right before attacking.
  • Future Pike says that in all possible timelines, the person with the best chance of brokering peace with the Romulans is Spock. We previously saw his opening attempts at this in the Next Generation "Unification" two-parter and the 2009 reboot, as well as the culmination of his efforts in season 3 of Star Trek: Discovery.
• Call-Forward:
  • Pike's diplomatic approach is actually right in the long run, but he's several decades too early for it to work yet. Much like the Klingons in the late 23rd century, the Romulans will be much more willing to negotiate diplomatically by the time the mid-24th century comes around, and by the 32nd century the Vulcans and Romulans will have reunited entirely.
  • TOS' "The Menagerie", the only episodes Pike appears in, have been criticized for Spock acting wildly out-of-character to perform The Mutiny and bring Pike back to Talos IV. This season, and particularly this episode, go a long way towards explaining why Spock was willing to do it: Pike explains in vague terms to Spock that fighting his fate inevitably ends up to Spock's detriment, so Pike's concession to the inevitable leaves Spock with a not-fully-understood sense of debt for his life.
  • Kirk mentions his father serving as First Officer aboard the Kelvin, calling to mind the alternate universe that Spock will eventually find himself traveling to.
• Canon Marches On: "Obsession" established Kirk previously having served on the USS Farragut under a Captain Garrovick, but didn't describe the ship. Expanded Universe works such as Star Trek: Debt of Honor depicted her as a Constitution-class like the Enterprise, but this episode depicts her as an unnamed class of ship with a similar design to the California-class from Star Trek: Lower Decks.
• The Cavalry: Two cavalries arrive — one Romulan, summoned by a subordinate on the bird-of-prey; the other Federation, led by Kirk. The latter is a bluff comprised of unmanned, unarmed drone ships, but it's the thought that counts.
• Chekhov's Gun: In the beginning of the episode, Enterprise is supervising the delivery of automated mining drones to Outpost Four. Kirk later uses these to pretend he's brought backup.
• Cliffhanger: At the end of the episode, Captain Batel returns with orders to arrest Una for her violation of the Federation's anti-genetic-engineering laws. Though Una accepts her fate and goes quietly, an angry Pike tells her and Batel that the matter is far from settled.
• Commander Contrarian:
  • This is partially Kirk's role in the episode, as the junior captain. That said in a difference from how the trope is usually played, here it exists to basically remind the viewer (or inform viewers who may not remember/have seen a 56 years old episode) of how Kirk handled things in "Balance Of Terror" so they can contrast Pike's decisions to those of Kirk.
  • A more straight example is the Romulan subcommander. Unlike Kirk, who respects and supports Pike despite disagreeing on strategy, the Romulan subcommander undermines his commander by going over his head to summon the Praetor and her forces.
• Continuity Nod:
  • Kirk's profile acknowledges that he was witness to the massacre on Tarsus IV, and his prior assignment to the U.S.S. Republic. The altered timeline also shows him commanding the USS Farragut, as a prior episode had established he served as a bridge officer on that ship earlier.
  • In "Balance of Terror", it's mentioned the Federation Neutral Zone outposts are built atop asteroids, but none of them are ever seen on screen. Here Outpost 4 is seen, and it matches the description from that episode.
  • When Julian Bashir is outed as an augment, Miles O'Brien comments on how Starfleet hasn't dealt with a case like it in a hundred years. This could very well be what O'Brien is talking about.
• Costume Evolution:
  • Future Pike is shown in a uniform similar to the "monster maroon" bomber jackets used for most of the TOS movies. At first glance it is nearly identical, but there is texturing on the shoulders and arms similar to the show's "current day" uniforms, along with different types of insignias. While it is possible it is a modified version of the original uniforms that were simply never seen, given he is from an Alternate Timeline such differences can be overlooked.^note Costume designer Bernadette Croft had Shatner's uniform from the TOS films to use as a base, creating a modern replica with updates to match the current canon. Paramount released a video detailing both it and Uhura's "swoop" dress uniform used in the finale.
  • The Romulan costumes are also overhauled. Keeping the basic cut but featuring a darker colors and more metallic accents to indicate the relative rank of each wearers. The helmets of the Romulan soldiers are revised, ditching the nose guard.
• Decomposite Character: The original "Balance of Terror" episode had a one-episode crewman Lieutenant Stiles voice his opinions to Kirk and revealed a family history in the Romulan War. This episode uses Ortegas to emulate some of his commentary on the bridge, while his advice in the conference room is actually reflected by Kirk himself.
• Depending on the Writer: Pike's characterization during "Lift Us Where Suffering Cannot Reach" is of a man indignant over victimization; he walks away from Majalis because it is Powered by a Forsaken Child, even though that child shows through his actions some understanding of and consent to what he will experience. The Pike of that episode did not believe that Utopia Justifies the Means. The Pike of this episode does: he consigns two non-consenting cadets to death, and himself to a Fate Worse than Death, to save Spock, whose actions will not only ensure a lasting peace between the Romulans and Vulcans, but prevent another war with the Federation. While one could certainly make arguments that the scenarios are different — the Majalans only cared about their quality of life with a majority refusing to see or even try other options while Pike is saving millions of lives from a bloody war— and therefore more worthy of sacrifice, it's still a shift in Pike's priorities.
• Dies Differently in Adaptation: While it is an Alternate Timeline, the Romulan Commander originally self-destructed his Bird of Prey when Kirk managed to cripple it. In this episode, a Romulan fleet has time to converge and after initially presenting a ship-version of a Duel to the Death, the Romulan fleet instead destroys the Bird of Prey themselves with the Praetor claiming he botched the point of their mission.
• Disaster Dominoes: Future Pike explicitly refers to the letter Pike is about to write as the first domino in a chain that will have disastrous consequences down the line. Indeed, the fact that Pike is writing the letter seven years before the accident implies that Pike's decision starts having unintended consequences far earlier in the timeline than the accident it seeks to prevent. This is proven by the fact that Pike remains captain of the Enterprise as of the events of "Balance of Terror", as the Original Series had established that Pike had been promoted to Fleet Captain well before that and Kirk was already in command of the Enterprise by the time of the accident.
• Do Well, But Not Perfect: Future Pike sends his present-day self to a point several years later as a demonstration of how things go wrong because of the choice he was about to make. Present Pike is disoriented by the seven year time shift, but concludes that the lesson he is about to learn has to be handled like he normally would and not with the anticipation of needing to do something different in this battle. As this is an Alternate Timeline version of the events of "Balance of Terror", the audience is clued in on the fact Kirk is supposed to be commanding the Enterprise in this engagement.
• Dramatic Irony:
  • After meeting James Kirk and listening to his brother describe him as a Military Maverick, Pike expresses his fears that Kirk might be too brash and start a war with the Romulans. Anyone who has seen "Balance of Terror" knows that Kirk's actions are what prevent a war in the original timeline. The war that erupts in this Alternate Timeline is, in fact, because Pike isn't brash enough, and the Romulans perceive the Federation to be weak as a reflection of his character.
  • An offscreen Scotty tells Spock that he's "...not a bloody miracle worker!" Prime Scotty actually deliberately cultivated a reputation as a miracle worker, mostly through padding his estimates.
• Early-Bird Cameo:
  • Paul Wesley was announced as playing James. T. Kirk during Season 2. By way of a peek into an Alternate Timeline, he appears as a major character in the Season 1 finale.
  • In the Bad Future, with Hemmer long gone, the Enterprise now has a chief engineer with a Scottish accent, heavily implied to be Scotty himself. The character himself doesn't appear, save for an arm poking out from behind a wall.
• Earth-Shattering Kaboom: The Romulan ship fires a plasma torpedo which causes Outpost Four to explode.
• Excessive Steam Syndrome: In this version, the Romulan bridge has a lot of steam, making it seem more like a World War II-era German U-boat.
• Extra-Long Episode: Runs just over an hour, a bit longer than previous episodes. Makes sense, given it’s the Season Finale.
• The Extremist Was Right: Kirk may seem like a Commander Contrarian with his more confrontational attitude contrasting with Pike's more urbane and conciliatory approach, but as the contrasted ending of "Balance of Terror" shows in the Prime timeline, Kirk was completely correct. The Romulan Star Empire at the time was in an ideological state where the only political language they would abide by is force, and Kirk's willingness to speak it is why open war didn't break out that day in the Prime timeline.
• Face Death with Dignity: The Romulan commander and his crew accept their fates calmly as they are killed by the Praetor for being caught.
• Fascinating Eyebrow: Spock raises one when the Romulans are revealed to look like Vulcans. It even makes a pinging sound.
• Finishing Each Other's Sentences: When Admiral Pike shows up in Captain Pike's cabin.
  Captain Pike: Is this some kind of—
  Admiral Pike: Joke? No.
  Captain Pike: How am I supposed to believe—
  Admiral Pike: That I'm really you?
  Captain Pike: You ever gonna let me get a word in edgewise?
  Admiral Pike: I knew you were going to say that. Does that help?
• First-Name Basis: Spock twice addresses Captain Pike as "Chris".
  • The first time is in the alternate future after his mind-meld shows him Pike's destiny.
    Spock: You...carry the weight of a terrible future, Chris.
  • The second time is when Pike returns to the present and Spock deduces what Pike's sacrifice truly means.
    Pike: Spock, you are... You are very important to me.
    Spock: As are you to me, Captain. Chris.
• Flashback with the Other Darrin: Flash-forward in this case. This episode revisits the events of the TOS episode "Balance of Terror", with all the characters now played by a new cast of actors.
• Fling a Light into the Future: The end message of the episode landed on the fact that Pike may have a scary fate ahead of him but that is his destiny and trying to change it may be at the cost of someone else or something worse. While in the 2266 time period he takes a moment to get to know Captain Kirk, with the implication that the best choice he can make is to mentor the next generation of Starfleet officers so they will take care of things after he is incapacitated.
• Foreshadowing:
  • Over dinner, Pike and Batel discuss rumors that the Romulans are developing new weapons. One of those weapons will destroy the Farragut in the alternate future.
  • La'an reminds Pike that Una has been in a prison colony for seven years. As this is roughly how far he jumps into the future, it hints that she'll be facing that fate very soon.
• Forever War: The Romulan commander tries (and clearly fails) to explain the downside of endless war to his subcommander.
  Commander: You don't remember a time without war. But I do. Who wins an endless war with the Federation?
  Subcommander: We will, Commander.
  Commander: An endless war, by definition, can never be won.
• Freeze-Frame Bonus: After returning to the present, Pike views Kirk's profile which lists his accolades as established in "Court Martial": Palm Leaf of Axanar Peace Mission, Grankite Order of Tactics: Class of Excellence and Preantares Ribbon of Commendation Second Class, which will be First Class by 2266.
• Gender Flip:
  • While the entire Romulan crew was male in "Balance of Terror", one of the bridge officers is female in this episode.
  • The Praetor was said to be a "him" in "Balance of Terror". The Praetor is female in this episode.
• Going Down with the Ship: Downplayed, as Kirk is with the last group rescued from the crippled Farragut.
• Hyperspeed Escape: Enterprise barely escapes the Big Badass Battle Sequence thanks to one of Kirk's reinforcements taking a plasma torpedo that might've destroyed her; in doing so, she barely avoids being hit by another one.
• Hypocrite: The Praetor arrives with a Romulan armada that's ready to attack the Enterprise and declare war on The Federation — and then when Kirk shows up with a fleet of his own, she calls it "an act of unparalleled aggression".
• Idealist vs. Pragmatist: The idealism of Pike (who believes in negotiating peace with the Romulans) and M'Benga (who simply doesn't want to see bloodshed) is contrasted with the pragmatism of Kirk and Spock advocating an attack against the Romulan bird-of-prey as a demonstration of Starfleet strength. Sadly, Pike's idealistic approach encourages the Romulans to declare war on the Federation, seeing them as weak; the outcome of the original episode that this is based on, where war does not break out, demonstrates that the pragmatic approach is the correct one.
• Ignored Expert:
  • Spock, about as close to an expert on the Romulans as the ship could be said to have due to his familiarity with the martial history of pre-Surak Vulcans, is emphatic that the Romulans will perceive diplomatic overtures as weakness and respond accordingly. Pike, however, has to try in spite of that, and his actions ultimately reignite the Federation-Romulan war.
    Spock: If the Romulans are an offshoot of my Vulcan blood, which I believe, then attack is indeed the only option. Vulcan, like Earth, had its aggressive colonizing period. Savage, even by human standards. If the Romulans retain this martial philosophy, then weakness is something we dare not show.
  • Pike is hesitant to fire on the Romulan Bird-of-Prey for fear it will result in open war, while Kirk is certain that a firm reprisal of force for the attacks on their outposts would send a stronger message not to mess with the Federation. Pike chooses his own instincts and successfully negotiates a cease fire with the Bird-of-Prey, which is seen as a sign of weakness and the delay only gives the Romulans opportunity and motive to start open hostilities. The underlying message is that Kirk's more aggressive stance (which is what he goes with as the Enterprise captain in the Prime timeline) was the right call all along.
• I'm a Doctor, Not a Placeholder: The Scottish engineer tells Spock, "I'm an engineer, not a miracle worker".
• In Spite of a Nail: The episode is a take on the events of "Balance of Terror", if Pike were commanding the Enterprise instead of Kirk. Nevertheless, Kirk shows up anyway as the captain of the Farragut (the ship Kirk served on prior to the Enterprise), even though Kirk never got any backup when he was commanding the Enterprise. As it turns out, Pike's more cautious, by-the-book approach proves disastrous, giving the Romulans the impression that the Federation is weak and jumpstarting a bloody war between both sides, as opposed to the original timeline of events where Kirk's more aggressive approach sets him up as a Worthy Opponent in the Romulan captain's eyes and causes the Romulans to reconsider their aggression. And that's without mentioning the untimely death of Spock, someone who saves the Federation countless times in the true prime timeline and who later paves the way for the eventual reunification of the Vulcan and Romulan peoples as detailed in TNG and Discovery.
• Internal Homage: Several lines of dialogues, and specific shots are recreated from the original "Balance of Terror", even if the context is different. Examples include how Pike circles the bridge when he learns of the attack on Outpost 4, tracing the same steps Kirk does when he learned the same, as well as the reactions of the entire crew when they see the Romulan ship, mirroring a similar editing of the original episode.
• Internal Reveal: The bridge crew of Enterprise learn what fans have known since the first season of TOS — that the Romulans and Vulcans are "two tribes of the same species".
• Invisibility with Drawbacks: This episode retains the bit from "Balance of Terror" about how the Romulan Invisibility Cloak interferes with their own systems, including sensors.
  Spock: He has changed heading, at a very leisurely maneuver. They may not be aware of us.
  Pike: How can that be true?
  Spock: They had to decloak to fire. Their device may work both ways: it makes them invisible to our sensors, but requires a massive amount of energy. They are likely flying blind, without enough power to run their scanners.
  Kirk: So, we can't see them, but they can't see us.
• I Owe You My Life: Spock deduces that he owes Pike a debt of gratitude, though he doesn't know for what. He pays Pike back in "The Menagerie"
• It Has Been an Honor: Echoing a similar statement made in the original "Balance of Terror" episode, Pike and the Romulan Commander exchange tokens of respect as neither were interested in open war.
• It's All My Fault: Admiral Pike blames himself for reigniting the Romulan War, as it started with his efforts to dodge his fate. He also blames himself for Spock's death, which destroys the only chance to make peace.
• It's a Wonderful Plot: Inverted — instead of Pike learning how much worse the galaxy would be if he didn't exist, he sees the catastrophic consequences of saving himself from his Fate Worse than Death.
• Jurisdiction Friction: Captain Kirk arrives commanding the Farragut to assist the Enterprise in this timeline, and much of the episode features a low-level conflict between Kirk and Pike over how to handle the situation with the Romulans. It isn't taken to extremes, Kirk respects Pike's seniority and position commanding Starfleet's flagship, but especially after the Farragut is lost Kirk doesn't hesitate to voice his opinions on how to proceed and treats him as an equal who needs all options presented. Conversely, Pike isn't sure what to expect from Kirk as his own brother says he likes to improvise creative solutions but grows to be impressed with Kirk's resourcefulness and consistent involvement with all points of the conflict.
• Just Following Orders: Captain Batel is not happy about having to arrest Una, the first officer of her (at this point, quite possibly former) lover. However, Starfleet Command has given her the order to take Number One into custody, and she has no choice but to follow. Even if she did, it's not as if Starfleet would suddenly change their mind.
• Kneel Before Zod: The Praetor says it's customary to kneel in her presence. Pike politely declines.
• Leitmotif:
  • Kirk's arrival is accompanied by a soft rendition of the classic Star Trek: The Original Series theme by Alexander Courage.
  • The first appearance of the Romulan ship is heralded by Fred Steiner’s "Romulan Theme." It plays again when the Romulan commander appears onscreen, shocking everyone with The Reveal that Romulans look like Vulcans.
• Let's You and Him Fight: Subverted. While the episode provides an excellent opportunity to have Pike and Kirk go head-to-head, the Jurisdiction Friction never happens. Kirk, the junior captain, has no problem falling in behind Pike; and while the two have disagreements about their leadership style (and the script is, obviously, biased in Kirk's favor), their differences, in true Starfleet tradition, allow them to cover each other's weaknesses and present a more comprehensive defense. The worst that happens between them is Kirk's understandable anger at losing his ship, and Pike defuses that pretty quickly.
• Mandatory Line:
  • La'an is evacuated from the Farragut following its crippling and greets Pike with a hug, and then mentions that Una has been in prison for seven years. This is her only scene in the episode.
  • Chapel's only scene is standing vigil over Spock's mutilated body and explaining what happened to him.
  • M'Benga's only lines are during the senior staff conference. He is, at least, seen on camera later, consoling the groom from the wedding over his spouse's death.
• Man Hug: Jim and Sam Kirk share a bro hug when Jim beams aboard Enterprise.
• Married at Sea: Pike officiates the shipboard wedding of Robert Tomlinson and Angela Martine, much as Kirk did in "Balance of Terror", though Pike flubs it because the time crystal drops him smack in the middle of the ceremony and he has to figure out where (and when) he is. He certainly doesn't know their names!
• Murder Is the Best Solution: This was apparently the Klingons' first choice for stopping Pike from changing the future; Admiral Pike mentions that they were prepared to solve the problem with a bat'leth until he convinced them to loan him a time crystal instead.
• Mythology Gag:
  • Future Pike wears a variation of the uniform that debuted in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
  • Possibly unintentionally, but much like Lower Decks' second season finale "First First Contact", one of the main characters (Number One, rather than Captain Freeman) ends up suddenly arrested and facing a Starfleet court-martial in a Cliffhanger and Sequel Hook towards the next season of the series, though in this case Una is actually guilty of the crimes she's being accused of.
  • Future Pike talks of the various diverging timelines he explored and says there is an optimal "Prime" timeline that has to be followed. The J. J. Abrams films starting with Star Trek (2009) was labeled the "Kelvin" timeline after the Point of Divergence being an attack on the U.S.S. Kelvin in 2233 by time traveling Romulans, with the original timeline of all other movies and TV shows called the "Prime Timeline". James Kirk in this episode later gives a Continuity Nod that his father George Kirk served on the Kelvin.
  • Pike is a person with high ideals, but unfortunately he lives in a time that requires more pragmatism, and tragically, Pike has to die (metaphorically) to stop his idealism from derailing a future in which his ideals will thrive. This makes Pike very similar to Edith Keeler from "The City on the Edge of Forever".
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero:
  • Pike attempting to save his life and those of the cadets results in a Bad Future where the Federation-Romulan war is in full swing, costing millions of lives...and one of those lives is Spock, meaning that the best chance for peace is also dead
  • On that point specifically, Pike ends up starting the war by showing mercy to the Romulans attacking the Neutral Zone outposts. His offer of a temporary cease-fire buys time for the Romulan fleet to arrive in force, and his unwillingness to destroy the Bird-of-Prey when he has the chance demonstrates to the Romulans that the Federation is weak and thus can be defeated.
• One-Hit Kill: One plasma torpedo from the Romulan Bird-of-Prey takes out Farragut even through her Deflector Shields. The only reason Enterprise isn't destroyed by another torpedo is because she's outside the weapon's optimal range.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: In the altered timeline, the previously wise-cracking Ortegas displays Lieutenant Stiles' belligerence towards the Romulans. She's so belligerent that she triggers an OOC moment in Pike, who yells at her to stand down.
  Ortegas: Captain. They are lying. Romulans can't be trusted. They shot Farragut right in front of us.
  Pike: Stand down, Erica.
  Ortegas: You can't let them get away with it!
  Pike: STAND DOWN!
  (Beat)
  Ortegas: Yes, sir.
• Preemptive Apology: Batel apologizes to Pike before arresting Una for lying about being an Ilyrian.
• Prisoner's Dilemma: Neither Pike nor the Romulan commander trust each other to cooperate, but abide by the ceasefire agreement anyway. It would have worked, had the Romulan subordinate not alerted the fleet behind his commander's back.
• Race Lift:
  • In "Balance of Terror", Commander Hansen is played by a white actor. Here he's played by an actor of Pakistani descent. His name is expanded to be Hansen Al-Salah to match his new ethnicity.
  • Similarly, Angela Martine was played by a white actress in "Balance of Terror", and by an Indian-Canadian actress in this episode.
  • The Bird-of-Prey's crew include some Black actors and actresses, whereas in "Balance of Terror" they were all played by white men.
• Rank Up:
  • In the altered timeline, the future version of La'an is a commander aboard the U.S.S. Farragut serving under Captain Kirk.
  • Captain Pike is also visited by a future version of himself, who appears to be a rear admiral in an updated version of the TOS films' red Starfleet uniforms.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni:
  • Kirk is the aggressive, hot-headed Red Oni; Pike is the restrained, diplomatic Blue Oni.
  • Similarly, the Blood Knight Romulan subcommander is the red to his war-weary commander's blue.
• Sadistic Choice:
  • Pike has previously accepted his fate with the justification that six lives will be saved if he does. Now, he's confronted by one of the two that don't. His attempt to save the future cadet is what kicks off the plot.
  • Pike realizes that the price of saving his own life is the loss of Spock's, and in the grand scheme of things the latter is infinitely more valuable. Making this choice even more sadistic is that Pike knows two of the cadets he's fated to be with in his accident die - including one who joined Starfleet out of admiration for Pike and the Enterprise.
• Save This Person, Save the World: Pike learns that Spock's survival is crucial to the Federation, as he begins the reunification of the Romulans and the Vulcans which leads to the Romulans joining the Federation centuries later.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: The Romulan commander tells his subordinate that he's old enough to not care what people think of him, and thus is far more receptive to Pike's outreach than the Romulans as a whole are. Unfortunately, his subordinate goes behind his back and calls in the fleet, leading to disaster.
• Seen It All: Pike lampshades that he's seen enough in Starfleet not to take it on faith that an older version of himself appearing in his quarters is who he claims to be.
• See the Invisible:
  • Spock devises a way to follow the Romulans despite their Invisibility Cloak.
    Spock: I may have a lead, sir. The ship in question appears to have a kind of cloaking device, but they still have a detectable gravitational presence.
    Kirk: So, can we track it, Commander...?
    Spock: Spock. Theoretically, yes. By detecting the microlensing of background stars, we can determine an approximate location.
    Kirk: Impressive, Mr. Spock.
  • Kirk then comes up with a plan to use a comet's tail to expose the Romulans. Unfortunately, the Romulans outmaneuver them and attack the Farragut.
• See the Whites of Their Eyes: Starship combat in this episode plays around with this trope. At several points the Enterprise is outside firing range of the Bird-Of-Prey when it attacks either an outpost or the Farragut, and at one point manages to clip the ship with an admitted lucky phaser burst. Visually it tries to portray the distance as further than typical engagements, but it is still ultimately within naked-eye visual range.
• Set Right What Once Went Wrong:
  • A future version of Pike, created by present-day Pike's successful attempt to avert his fate, is sent back by the Klingon monks on Boreth to stop Pike from doing so.
  • Subverted when Pike is sent to the future. Spock reasons that, given the nature of the visit, the point is to witness how things went wrong, rather than try for a better outcome. Pike thus behaves as he would normally, rather than second-guess his instincts.
    Pike: I need your help, Spock. I was sent forward to this moment in time for a reason. We have to figure out why.
    Spock: I would posit that in this present, you were never injured in the training accident, thus, you remained captain of the Enterprise, putting you in charge at a crucial moment in the ship's existence.
    Pike: A moment where the whole future hangs in the balance.
    Spock: All we can surmise is that, in the prime future, some other captain of the Enterprise must have commanded it differently. Thus, it is imperative you do not change what you would normally do on the ship.
    Pike: I thought we were trying to avoid a terrible future.
    Spock: We are trying to discover why this future is, in the estimation of your older self, worse.
    Pike: So the only way to discover the terrible future... is to live it.
• Shout-Out: The episode title, "A Quality of Mercy", is the same as a Twilight Zone episode that Leonard Nimoy (the original Spock) was in. And his character was even named Hansen (though that was probably coincidence).
• Significant Name Shift: When Pike and Spock affirm how important they are to each other, Spock calls Pike "Captain" before correcting to "Chris".
• Spared by the Adaptation: Robert Tomlinson, the groom of the couple Married at Sea, died in "Balance of Terror". He survives this version of the episode. Correspondingly, Angela Martine (the bride) gets a Death by Adaptation.
• Static Role, Exchangeable Character: A rare non-videogame example. Ortegas inherits much of the dialogue and attitude of Lt. Stiles from "Balance of Terror", to the point where she comes across as uncharacteristically aggressive and hostile toward Spock (and unlike Stiles, without any explanation^note Stiles came from a military family who had lost several members to the war with the Romulans 100 years ago and thus felt a strong hatred of them).
• Sudden Downer Ending: Just as things seem to be looking up, Captain Batel arrives with orders to arrest Una for being an Illyrian.
• Theme Music Power-Up: The classic TOS theme plays twice when Kirk shows up to assist Pike. The first is when he arrives in the Farragut; the second is when he brings in the fleet of mining ships.
• Tranquil Fury: The Romulan commander is quietly pissed at his Number Two for disobeying a direct order and calling for reinforcements.
• Tragic Time Traveler: Christopher Pike's character arc up to now has largely dealt with him trying to come to terms with a vision of his future where he becomes crippled and horribly disfigured in an accident. In this episode, he experiments with trying to change this future, but is warned off by an Alternate Timeline version of himself who was in command of the Enterprise during his timeline's version of TOS: "Balance of Terror". Spock is critically injured and a Forever War starts between the Federation and the Romulan Star Empire, all because the less-aggressive Pike was in command of the mission and not Kirk. Pike grudgingly accepts that The Needs of the Many dictate that he accept his ultimate fate.
• Truce Trickery: This episode revisits the Romulan raids on Federation border outposts from "Balance of Terror" in defiance of the treaty, this time with Captain Pike in the Enterprise's command chair. He misjudges the Romulans' intentions and a full scale war breaks out.
• Trust Password: Future Pike tells present-day Pike about the dead pony with the silly name (Sir Neighs-a-Lot) they lost as kids, which he's never told anyone because of the silly name.
  Admiral Pike: Your first pony was named Sir Neighs-a-Lot. He broke his leg in a rainstorm. Your parents had to put him down, and you cried for a week. Ever tell anybody that?
  Captain Pike: It's hard when your tragic backstory starts with...
  Admiral Pike: A silly name.
• Unreliable Narrator: When asked, Sam Kirk describes his brother as a Military Maverick and rule-breaker. While James Kirk earned that reputation over time (by 2268 he was more flippant with the rules, and in 2286 he pulls a case of barratry to go search for Spock), the Captain Kirk of 2266 is actually quite by-the-book but likes Taking a Third Option, finding ways To Be Lawful AND Good At The Same Time. A Guile Hero is a far cry from the Cowboy Cop Sam presents his brother to be. Sam may perhaps be projecting the man he knows his brother to be onto the captain Kirk currently is; Jim may also have developed a more attention-seeking streak in this timeline given his lesser success.
• Unspoken Plan Guarantee: Kirk asks Pike for permission to borrow a shuttle. It's not revealed why until he returns with a fleet of automated mining ships — or, as Pike claims they are to the Romulans, a fleet of Delta-class attack ships.
• Violence Is Not an Option: Specifically averted; Pike's attempts to invoke this only make the crisis from "Balance of Terror" worse and the political situation degrades into outright warfare.
• Violence Really Is the Answer: This episode hammers home that meeting the Romulans with diplomacy (at least in the 23rd century) is an invitation for war, and that they can only be dealt with from a position of strength. Kirk lampshades it near the end, though politely. It also makes a Romulan, rather than Klingon, parallel to the "Vulcan Hello" from the eponymous premiere episode of Star Trek: Discovery — that when dealing with a culturally warlike and hostile species, it can be better to meet them with force to gain respect, rather than to invite attack by appearing weak and hesitant.
• War Is Hell:
  • Admiral Pike has a world-weary demeanor from his years fighting against the Romulans and seeing millions die. The fact that it's happening because of his attempt to change his fate doesn't help at all.
  • The war-wearied veteran Romulan Commander dismisses his young first officer's brashness in thinking that the Romulans can win an endless war by iterating that the very nature of an endless war means it cannot be won by either side. This is characterization retained from "Balance of Terror" where the same commander laments that should he return with proof of the Federation's weakness, the Praetor will use it as a pretext for war, causing millions of deaths on both sides. Guess what happens in this version of events?
• Wham Shot:
  • Pike is visited by a future version of himself dressed in a uniform that is modified from the ones first introduced in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. This is the first indication that Pike can change his fate, but the information provided by his future self suggests the cost of his own survival may not be what is best for everyone.
  • The episode recreates a scene from "Balance of Terror" where they catch a video transmission of the Romulans and are stunned to find they look identical to Vulcans, though on a meta level most viewers likely know what's coming in this iteration.
• Whole-Plot Reference: The episode is an alternate timeline take on "Balance of Terror", with many scenes re-created line-by-line, moment-by-moment.
• You Can't Fight Fate:
  • Inverted. Pike can Screw Destiny; the whole point of the episode is to convince him not to, as the results would be catastrophic for the Federation.
  • A minor one, but the couple that Pike marries at the start of the episode never turns out well. In "Balance of Terror", it's Robert Tomlinson, the groom, who dies as the sole casualty on the Enterprise. In this alternate timeline it's the bride, Angela Martine, who dies in the attack, this time as one of many casualties. (And, just to complete the trifecta, over in the Kelvinverse, both of them are strung up by Krall and have the life sucked out of them.)
• You Have Failed Me: The Romulan Praetor destroys the Bird-of-Prey for getting caught destroying the Neutral Zone outposts.
• You Have to Believe Me!: Subverted. When Pike in the future tells Spock what's going on with him, Spock first assumes that Pike is mentally compromised. Fortunately, Pike convinces Spock to mind-meld with him, and Spock discovers that Pike is telling the truth.

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