History Recap / StarTrekTheNextGenerationS1E3CodeOfHonor

Lutan's spurned wife Yareena challenges Yar to a duel to the death for the right to her husband. This was Lutan's plan all along, as he hopes Yar can kill his wife in the ritual duel so that he can be free of her and while maintaining control of her fortune. Yar is confident that she can defeat Yareena, but is told that the weapons they will use in their duel will be poisoned, so one false move will spell death.

Yar and Yareena fight. Yar managed to stab Yareena with her poisoned weapon, and Yareena instantly dies. The ''Enterprise'' promptly transports both Yar and Yareena back to sick bay, where Yareena is revived. Once she recovers, Yareena learns about Lutan's treachery and divorces him, granting the kingship to Lutan's aide-de-camp, with whom she has been secretly having an affair. Order is restored on Ligon III, Yar is back home, and the Federation receives their much-needed vaccine.

Lt. Yar is abducted by the leader of a people who abide by a strict code of honor, which requires her participation in a fight to the death.

-->'''Website/SFDebris:''' [[SarcasmMode I think you might be onto something there,]] [[PrecisionFStrike Lieutenant Commander No Shit!]]

* ExactWords: The fight was "to the death." Not necessarily to the permadeath. Yay for Crusher, she class-upped to Necromancer.

* JustEatGilligan: Picard doesn't want to use the power of the ''Enterprise'' to threaten Lutan into returning Tasha because he feels that he would be violating the Prime Directive by forcing his way of life onto another culture. However, as Website/SFDebris pointed out, Picard could have diplomatically pointed out to Lutan that if his first act on the interplanetary stage was to kidnap a high ranking member of the Starfleet's flagship and deny them a desperately needed vaccine, then all future politics with the Federation would become impossible and Ligon III would be denied all the protections and advantages the Federation offers.

* {{Mondegreen}}: "Surrounded by such friendship, I feel no need for my ''guards''." As SF Debris pointed out, it sounds like Lutan is saying "I feel no need for my ''gods''."
-->'''SF Debris:''' Lutan, you're not auditioning to replace [[https://youtu.be/AXmc7DG4uu8 Geoffrey Holder for the 7Up commercials]].

* ShuttingUpNow: Data starts to go on a technobabble tangent about Ligonian transporters, before getting a glare from Picard and noting how that is not actually important at this time.

** Before that, Data tries to explain the concept of “counting coup,” noting that the phrase is derived from “an obscure language known as French.” Picard expresses his offense to the notion of his culture being obscure, and Riker has to tell Data to knock it off.

** Before that, Data tries to explain the concept of “counting coup,” noting that the phrase is derived from “an obscure language known as French.” Picard expresses his offense to his culture being obscure, and Riker has to tell Data to knock it off.

* InformedAbility: Lutan goes on and on about honor, but he kidnaps a foreign dignitary, holds her hostage, wants to force her into marriage, and the only reason the other side puts up with his crap is because he's got something the other side wants that can save millions of lives, and they're at least nominally not the kind to engage in plunder on an inhabited planet even though the ''Enterprise'' ''alone'' may be more powerful than his entire civilization. He's little more than a bully and only gets by because the other side has honor, and not a warrior code kind of honor. If he tried to pull this crap with the Romulans, Cardassians, or Klingons, he'd either be assassinated and replaced with someone more pliable, or they would conquer him and chop his head off with a bat'leth after making him watch his planet get carpet-bombed from orbit. As SF Debris explains in [[http://sfdebris.com/videos/startrek/yt_worfandklingonhonor.php Worf & Klingon Honor]], it's a different form of honor, external reputation instead of an internal code. Sort of like the difference between normal Klingons and Worf. For instance, Data compares the kidnapping to [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counting_coup counting coup]]; it's ''supposed'' to be a ballsy act against a superior opponent to prove his courage. The forced marriage is a bluff (after the fight Yar turns him down with no fuss), it's just that his current wife is so incapable of believing anyone wouldn't agree to marrying him that she falls for it.

* BlackDudeDiesFirst: The first on-screen death in the series -- the crew of the USS ''Tsiokovsky'' had managed to kill themselves in the previous episode, but it happened off-screen -- is a random Ligonian extra who gets hit in the gut with Yareena's poisoned glove after it flies off her hand.

* DesignatedGirlFight: Tasha has to fight Yareena to the death for the amusement of their hosts. Yareena gets better.

[[caption-width-right:350:[[UnfortunateImplications Yeahhhhhhhhhhh this one's not exactly]] [[OldShame one of the TNG cast's proudest moments]]. And yet, somehow, it's only the [[Recap/StarTrekS3E3TheParadiseSyndrome second]] most racist episode of ''Star Trek'' ever.]]

--> '''Lutan:''' THEN YOU SHALL HAVE ''NO'' TREATY! ''NO'' VACCINE! AND ''NO'' LIEUTENANT YAR!

* PatrickStewartSpeech: Lampshaded.

'''Troi:''' You're the Captain, sir. You're entitled.\\
'''Picard:''' Hmm, I'm not entitled to ramble on about something everyone knows. Carry on.

* SchizoTech: Ligon II looks centuries less advanced than current day, but they have transporters.

* JustEatGilligan: Picard doesn't want to use the power of the ''Enterprise'' to threaten Lutan into returning Tasha because he feels that he would be violating the Prime Directive by forcing his way of life onto another culture. However, as Website/SFDebris pointed out, Picard could have diplomatically pointed out to Lutan that if his first act on the interplanetary stage was kidnap a high ranking member of the Starfleet's flagship and deny them a desperately needed vaccine, then all future politics with the Federation would become impossible and Ligon III would be denied all the protections and advantages the Federation offers.

* InformedAbility: Lutan goes on and on about honor, but he kidnaps a foreign dignitary, holds her hostage, wants to force her into marriage, and the only reason the other side puts up with his crap is because he's got something the other side wants that can save millions of lives, and they're at least nominally not the kind to engage in plunder on an inhabited planet even though the ''Enterprise'' ''alone'' may be more powerful than his entire civilization. He's little more than a bully and only gets by because the other side has honor, and not a warrior code kind of honor. If he tried to pull this crap with the Romulans, Cardassians, or Klingons, he'd either be assassinated and replaced with someone more pliable, or they would conquer him and chop his head off with a bat'leth after making him watch his planet get carpet-bombed from orbit. It's a different form of honor, external reputation instead of an internal code. Sort of like the difference between normal Klingons and Worf. For instance, Data compares the kidnapping to [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counting_coup counting coup]]; it's ''supposed'' to be a ballsy act against a superior opponent to prove his courage. The forced marriage is a bluff (after the fight Yar turns him down with no fuss), it's just that his current wife is so incapable of believing anyone wouldn't agree to marrying him that she falls for it.

* InformedAbility: Lutan goes on and on about honor, but he kidnaps a foreign dignitary, holds her hostage, wants to force her into marriage, and the only reason the other side puts up with his crap is because he's got something the other side wants that can save millions of lives, and they're at least nominally not the kind to engage in plunder on an inhabited planet even though the ''Enterprise'' ''alone'' may be more powerful than his entire civilization. He's little more than a bully and only gets by because the other side has honor, and not a warrior code kind of honor. If he tried to pull this crap with the Romulans, Cardassians, or Klingons, he's either be assassinated and replaced with someone more pliable, or they would conquer him and chop his head off with a bat'leth after making him watch his planet get carpet-bombed from orbit. It's a different form of honor, external reputation instead of an internal code. Sort of like the difference between normal Klingons and Worf. For instance, Data compares the kidnapping to [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counting_coup counting coup]]; it's ''supposed'' to be a ballsy act against a superior opponent to prove his courage. The forced marriage is a bluff (after the fight Yar turns him down with no fuss), it's just that his current wife is so incapable of believing anyone wouldn't agree to marrying him that she falls for it.

* PunctuatedForEmphasis: Lutan's announcement that Picard shall have ''no'' treaty! ''No'' vaccine! And ''no Lt. Yar!''

-> '''Lutan:''' THEN YOU SHALL HAVE ''NO'' TREATY! ''NO'' VACCINE! AND ''NO'' LIEUTENANT YAR!

-> '''Lutan:''' "THEN YOU SHALL HAVE ''NO'' TREATY! ''NO'' VACCINE! AND ''NO'' LIEUTENANT YAR!"

* JerkAss: Lutan by far.

-->'''SF Debris:''' Lutan, you're not auditioning to replace Geoffrey Holder for the 7Up commercials.

* AbsenteeActor: Worf doesn't appear. While this was simply because Creator/MichaelDorn was unavailable--he also didn't appear in "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS1E10Haven Haven]]," the next episode in the filming order--fans like to joke that this is because he would have instantly deflated Lutan's pretensions to honor and killed the story.

* InformedAbility: Lutan goes on and on about honor, but he kidnaps a foreign dignitary, holds her hostage, wants to force her into marriage, and the only reason the other side puts up with his crap is because he's got something the other side wants that can save millions of lives, and they're at least nominally not the kind to engage in plunder on an inhabited planet even though the ''Enterprise'' ''alone'' may be more powerful than his entire civilization. He's little more than a bully and only gets by because the other side has honor, and not a warrior code kind of honor. If he tried to pull this crap with the Romulans, Cardassians, or Klingons, he's either be assassinated and replaced with someone more pliable, or they would conquer him and chop his head off with a bat'leth. It's a different form of honor, external reputation instead of an internal code. Sort of like the difference between normal Klingons and Worf. For instance, Data compares the kidnapping to [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counting_coup counting coup]]; it's ''supposed'' to be a ballsy act against a superior opponent to prove his courage. The forced marriage is a bluff (after the fight Yar turns him down with no fuss), it's just that his current wife is so incapable of believing anyone wouldn't agree to marrying him that she falls for it.

* AccidentalInnuendo: Almost certainly accidental, but after the Ligonians express an interest about how the holodeck can be used for training purposes, Picard says this line that is veritably ''dripping'' with innuendo:
-->'''Picard:''' And for other things too. Commander Riker, perhaps you and Counselor Troi can demonstrate.