History Recap / StarTrekTheNextGenerationS5E8Unification2

Spock is promoting the idea of reunification of Romulus and Vulcan, but Picard is sceptical with good cause — Romulan Proconsul Neral is plotting with Sela to invade Vulcan with stolen Vulcan ships in the guise of a peace envoy.

!!Tropes featured:

* BondVillainStupidity / LockingMacGyverInTheStoreCupboard: Sela locks Captain Picard, Lt. Commander Data, and Ambassador Spock, the supreme examples of the SmartGuy, in a room with a computer terminal and holographic projectors. Not to mention that, as WebSite/SFDebris pointed out, even normal prisoners could have just waited for the Romulans to come back and then hit them with the furniture.

* FalseFlagOperation: The Romulans' plan to invade Vulcan involves using Vulcan ships that supposedly carry a peace envoy, in reality, thousands of Romulan soldiers. Until Spock ruins everything.

-->'''Spock:''' An inexorable evolution toward a Vulcan philosophy has already begun. Like the first Vulcans, these people are struggling to a new enlightenment and it may take decades or even centuries for them to reach it but they will reach it… and I must help.
* IdiotBall: It cannot be stated enough how monumentally stupid Sela was leaving those three alone.

* {{Irony}}: As Spock notes, Data was built with what most Vulcans spend all their lives seeking, and yet he wishes to become more human.

* MinorCrimeRevealsMajorPlot: Theft of Vulcan ship parts from a Federation scrapyard --> Romulan plot to conquer Vulcan.

* ProductionForeshadowing: This episode references ''Film/StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry'', which was still a month away.

* SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale: Sela's grand plan to invade Vulcan… with a grand total of at most 6,000 troops (Geordi says "2,000" at one point and sounds like he's referring to the whole force but might have meant that's how many each of the three ships carried). That's barely enough to invade a town or two, much less than a entire planet (granted, orbital superiority is a force multiplier, but that's dependent on the defenders not having ships of their own; there's also the possibility that the Romulans are ''significantly underestimating'' the Vulcans' capabilities, as they're known for being pacifists). She then lauds that they'd be nearly impossible to discharge since they had been "dug in" by the time Starfleet responds. WordOfGod has been criticized for this, but they've tried to defend this by saying that a "Trojan horse" had been the only plausible way Vulcan could be invaded.
** And as the rest of the episode shows, those ships were flanked by at least two more warships, so they weren't going in completely alone.
** SciFiWritersHave/NoSenseOfVelocity: Oh, and that invasion force is headed for Vulcan at...warp one. Shouldn't it take them a couple decades to get there at just the speed of light?

--> '''Spock:''' ''(to Picard)'' I was involved with "cowboy diplomacy," as you describe it, long before you were born.

* YouRemindMeOfX: Spock tells Picard that he reminds him of "another [[TheKirk Captain]] of the ''Enterprise'' I once knew."

-->'''Omag:''' "What is that dreadful noise?!! It sounds like a Bardakian pronghorn-moose!"

-->'''Data:''' Perhaps [[ComicallyMissingThePoint you would be happier in a different job]].

* InnocuouslyImportantEpisode: This episode helps provide Spock Prime's backstory in [[Film/StarTrek the 2009 reboot]].

* SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfVelocity: Oh, and that invasion force is headed for Vulcan at...warp one. Shouldn't it take them a couple decades to get there at just the speed of light?

* DressingAsTheEnemy: The Romulans' plan to invade Vulcan involves using Vulcan ships that supposedly carry a peace envoy—in reality, thousands of Romulan soldiers. Until Spock ruins everything.
* EtTuBrute: Spock's about as disappointed as a Vulcan can get, discovering that Pardek, a lifelong friend, has betrayed him.

* SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale: Sela's grand plan to invade Vulcan… with a grand total of 2000 troops. That's barely enough to invade a single town, much less than a entire planet (granted, orbital superiority is a force multiplier, but that's dependent on the defenders not having ships of their own; there's also the possibility that the Romulans are ''significantly underestimating'' the Vulcans' capabilities, as they're known for being pacifists). She then lauds that they'd be nearly impossible to discharge since they had been "dug in" by the time Starfleet responds. WordOfGod has been criticized for this, but they've tried to defend this by saying that a "Trojan horse" had been the only plausible way Vulcan could be invaded.

[floatboxright:Series: Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration\\
Episode: Season 4, Episode 24\\
Title: Unification Part 2\\
Previous: Unification Part 1\\
Next: A Matter of Time\\
Recapper: Tropers/{{Premonition45}}]

* FantasticRacism: Sela, to absolutely no-one's surprise, hates Vulcans.

Spock is promoting the idea of reunification of Romulus and Vulcan, but Picard is sceptical with good cause - Romulan Proconsul Neral is plotting with Sela to invade Vulcan with stolen Vulcan ships in the guise of a peace envoy.

* CallBack: Sela refers to Data as [[WorthyOpponent "the android I have come to respect in battle..."]], in reference to Data exposing her Romulan convoy during "Redemption: Part II".

* DressingAsTheEnemy: The Romulans' plan to invade Vulcan involves using Vulcan ships that supposedly carry a peace envoy--in reality, thousands of Romulan soldiers. Until Spock ruins everything.

* HiddenDepths: Sela says she enjoys writing, and doesn't get to do enough of it in her current job.

-->'''Spock:''' An inexorable evolution toward a Vulcan philosophy has already begun. Like the first Vulcans, these people are struggling to a new enlightenment and it may take decades or even centuries for them to reach it but they will reach it... and I must help.

* MortonsFork: Spock analyzes one to his advantage. Sela tells him to record a message to help the invasion or die. Spock responds that, given that she will kill him anyway once he's done, he refuses to do it. Sela, however, foresaw this possibility, and activates a holographic Spock which would deliver the message.

* SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale: Sela's grand plan to invade Vulcan...with a grand total of 2000 troops. That's barely enough to invade a single town much less than a entire planet (granted, orbital superiority is a force multiplier, but that's dependent on the defenders not having ships of their own; there's also the possibility that the Romulans are ''significantly underestimating'' the Vulcans' capabilities, as they're known for being pacifists). She then lauds that they'd be nearly impossible to discharge since they had been 'dug in' by the time Starfleet responds. WordOfGod has been criticized for this, but they've tried to defend this by saying that a "Trojan horse" had been the only plausible way Vulcan could be invaded.

** Years later, {{UsefulNotes/Russia}}, under UsefulNotes/VladimirPutin, invaded Crimea using this exact same tactic, [[HarsherInHindsight giving this an unfortunate reality subtext]].