Line #4 Recap/StarTrekEnterpriseS03E18AzatiPrime


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Azati_Prime_643_4474.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:300: No ResetButton this time.]]
3
4	''Enterprise'' has reached Azati Prime, where they find numerous Xindi starships and satellites. This confirms that they appear to have arrived at the weapon's construction site. Archer instructs the crew to hide behind a planetoid, when they detect a convoy led by Degra's ship. There, Degra toasts the imminent launching of the Xindi weapon, then the Xindi Council meet up with him. When T'Pol shares that the detection grid can't be disabled by disabling one of its thousands of satellites, Archer decides to use the Xindi-Insectoid assault shuttle, despite Travis's concerns related to their inexperience.
5
6	While Trip and Travis learn about the shuttle's controls, Hoshi attempts to learn the Xindi-Insectoid language so that she can read the information on the shuttle. Travis eventually succeeds at flying it and they find the weapon being completed underwater. Meanwhile, the moon that the ''Enterprise'' is hiding behind rotates to reveal a station, which Archer orders the destruction of lest it reveal them.
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8	Trip and Travis come back with information on the weapon, and they find out that they can destroy it with photonic torpedoes, but that it'd kill the destroyer. Archer decides to do it, but finds himself on another ship with Daniels, who tells him that it's now the 26th century and the ship is the ''Enterprise-J''.
9
10	Daniels reveals that in the future, the Federation will prevent the Sphere-Builders from taking over the entire Milky Way galaxy. He also reveals that the Sphere-Builders are trans-dimensional aliens, who are manipulating the Xindi into believing that humans should be annihilated. He begs Archer not to sacrifice himself, since he's going to be crucial in forming the Federation, and it wouldn't work anyway since the Xindi would build more weapons. Archer doesn't believe it and demands to be sent back, and Daniels does send him back, but has him keep an heirloom from a Xindi member of Starfleet.
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12	Archer arrives back on the ''Enterprise'' and gives the heirloom to T'Pol. She wants to study it, but he decides to go through with his plan. She is displeased with this, since she feels Daniels's claims have merit (now believing in time travel after the events of "Carpenter Street") and also simply doesn't want Archer to die, but Archer still decides to go through with it.
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14	Meanwhile, on Degra's ship, Dolim wants to bring more ships in after Earth is destroyed to get rid of any "residual resistance", but Degra worries that all this effort may cost them a ship. Dolim insists, then goes to investigate something he'd heard about the lunar base being out of contact, leaving Degra behind to angst over their actions.
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16	Archer bids everyone goodbye and leaves Porthos with Phlox, then arrives at the construction site. However, the weapon is gone, and Archer is captured and interrogated by Dolim and his lackeys. At first, Archer just sasses them and doesn't answer the questions, but then he agrees to answer in Degra's presence. He has Dolim tell Degra a personal detail about his child.
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18	Back on ''Enterprise'', T'Pol is having trouble keeping her stoicism going, so she goes to brood in Archer's ready room. Trip tries to talk to her, but she dismisses him, then the crew determines that it's been too long without an explosion, so Archer must have been caught. Trip and Malcolm consider rushing in and destroying the weapon themselves, while T'Pol considers negotiating with the Xindi, but all of them are dubious about each other's ideas.
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20	Archer tells Degra all the personal info he knows about him, then shows him the heirloom: an initiation medal of a Xindi who joined the Federation. Archer tells Degra that if humans are destroyed, the Xindi will be too. Degra verifies that the relic is from the future, then talks to Mallora and Jannar about ending the mission, but they think it's too late. The two Xindi-Primate councilors go to see Archer and demand more evidence, but he doesn't have any. However, he encourages them to pay attention to their doubts.
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22	Dolim returns and, despite Degra's protests, takes Archer away for further interrogation. Four Xindi vessels open fire on the ''Enterprise'' and cause severe damage to the ship, making it seem as though all is lost.
23	----
24	!! Tropes in this episode include:
25
26	* ActorAllusion: Degra informs his fellows of what he was told about the Reptilians' actions in Detroit in the past. Mallora sarcastically asks if [[Creator/ScottBakula Archer]] is [[Series/QuantumLeap a time traveler]].
27	* TheAtoner: Archer volunteers for the suicide mission so that he doesn't have to order someone else to die.
28	-->'''Travis:''' You're the least expendable man on ''Enterprise''. Why are you doing this?\
29	'''Archer:''' An hour ago, I gave the command to kill three Xindi in cold blood. A month ago, I had Phlox create a living being in order to use some of its tissue, then I watched him put it to death.\
30	'''Travis:''' Sounds like you're saying this is some sort of penance.\
31	'''Archer:''' I'm saying I won't order anyone else to die.
32	* ArtisticLicenseBiology: While being interrogated, Archer refers to mammals as the dominant "species" on Earth. Given the situation, this can be seen as an in-universe slip of the tongue.
33	* BerserkButton: Archer's mockery of reptiles during the interrogation gets to Dolim. He comes this close to strangling the captain.
34	* CallBack:
35	** T'Pol is [[SkepticNoLonger a lot less skeptical about time travel]] after [[Recap/StarTrekEnterpriseS03E11CarpenterStreet having gone back in time with Archer]]. Degra later cites that episode when telling Mallora and Jannar what Archer told him.
36	** Dolim's GeneralRipper desire to eradicate all of humanity explains and closely parallels the BadFuture seen earlier in the season in "[[Recap/StarTrekEnterpriseS03E08Twilight Twilight]]". ''Enterprise'''s crippling CurbStompBattle also parallels how the ship got severely damaged in the alternate timeline, also under T'Pol's command, slowing the crew down to the point that they were unable to stop the launch of the Xindi's superweapon.
37	** Archer is able to get to Degra by relaying information he learned during [[Recap/StarTrekEnterpriseS03E14Stratagem their supposed prison break]].
38	* CallForward: Daniels talks to Archer about TheFederation. In addition, the ships they use at Procyon V include the ''Dauntless'', the ''Prometheus'', and the ''Nova''-class, all from ''Series/StarTrekVoyager''.
39	* CaptainCrash, or rather Commander Crash: Trip accidentally bangs the Xindi shuttle into ''Enterprise''.
40	--> '''Trip:''' Sorry!\
41	'''Archer:''' No problem. I'll send you the bill.
42	* {{Cliffhanger}}: ''Enterprise'' tumbles through space, leaking air in a hundred places, with the Xindi still firing... FadeToBlack.
43	* CoolStarship: The U.S.S. ''Enterprise''-J, seen fighting the Sphere Builders in the 26th century.
44	* CurbStompBattle: Holy ''crap''. Four Xindi warships reduce ''Enterprise'' to a floating wreck, at the cost of ''[[CurbStompCushion one]]'' Reptilian ship.
45	* DarkestHour: Archer is captured, while ''Enterprise'' takes a vicious pounding.
46	* DeadpanSnarker: T'Pol has some, mixed with GallowsHumor, as she goes to take a shuttlepod and work out a diplomatic solution with the Xindi.
47	-->'''Trip:''' What happens if you fail? Are we supposed to just keep sending people in until there's no one left?\
48	'''T'Pol:''' That's hardly a viable option. We only have one more shuttlepod.
49	* DespairEventHorizon: The camera zooms in close to T'Pol's face as she watches ''Enterprise'' slowly disintegrate around her, knowing there's absolutely nothing left she can do to save her ship.
50	* DisconnectedByDeath: The Xindi are alerted to ''Enterprise'''s presence in the system because they destroyed a lunar outpost. Once it rotates back into communications range, they fail to report and so Dolim sends a patrol, which finds the ship.
51	* FalseFlagOperation: Trip and Travis use the stolen Xindi-Insectoid shuttle to fly close enough to the weapon to learn how to destroy it.
52	* FinalBattle: Daniels takes Archer to witness one in the 26th Century, when the Federation defeated the Sphere Builders and drove them back into their transdimensional realm.
53	* FinalSpeech[=/=]PreSacrificeFinalGoodbye: Archer delivers one on the bridge before leaving to destroy the weapon.
54	-->"I've always been much better at avoiding farewells than giving them, so I'm not even going to try, but I'm going to ask all of you to think back to the day when this ship was first launched. We were explorers then. When all this is over, when Earth is safe, I want you to get back to that job. There are four hundred billion stars in our galaxy. We've only explored a tiny fraction. You have a lot of work to do. Of all the Captains who will sit in this chair, I can't imagine any of them being more proud than I am right now."
55	* {{Foreshadowing}}: When Jannar questions how the Reptilians traveled through time, Degra suggests "she" was responsible. We'll meet this individual in the next episode.
56	* GeneralRipper: Dolim truly begins to display this, as he tells his intentions to hunt down and eradicate "every refugee caravan, every colony, every last outpost they have."
57	* GetOut: T'Pol when Trip tells her that she should be on the bridge instead of moping in the ready room.
58	--> '''T'Pol:''' Dismissed.\
59	'''Trip:''' Dismissed?\
60	'''T'Pol:''' Get out.
61	* HadTheSillyThingInReverse: While learning how to fly the Xindi shuttle, Travis hits a control that makes it go backwards into the wall of the launch bay.
62	--> '''Travis:''' I think I found reverse.\
63	'''Trip:''' Great, but unless we plan to fly in ass-first, we'd better figure out how to make it go forward.
64	* HeelFaceTurn: Degra starts to have his doubts about the cause after meeting Archer again.
65	-->'''Mallora:''' We can't forget who the real enemy is!
66	-->'''Degra:''' We may not know who the real enemy is.
67	* HonorBeforeReason: Travis volunteers for the suicide mission on the grounds that he's already flown the Insectoid ship. Trip also volunteers on the grounds that he's a senior officer. Archer ends up doing them both one better.
68	* HumansAreSpecial: Daniels argues that the Federation will never exist without humanity.
69	* IllTakeThatAsACompliment: When Archer is learning how to fly the Insectoid shuttle.
70	--> '''Travis:''' Good. You're starting to think like an Insectoid.\
71	'''Archer:''' I'll take that as a compliment.
72	* ItsALongStory: Archer's response when Degra asks him how [[Recap/StarTrekEnterpriseS03E14Stratagem they know each other]].
73	* ItsAllMyFault: The look on Archer's face when he learns that the Xindi are pummeling ''Enterprise''.
74	* JackBauerInterrogationTechnique: Dolim subjects Archer to this. Archer responds by [[IShallTauntYou taunting him]] about turtle soup and reptiles having walnut-sized brains.
75	* LampshadeHanging: Daniels points out what had been ignored throughout this arc: if the crew manages to destroy the weapon without making peace, the Xindi will simply build another one.
76	* ManOnFire: One poor schmuck in engineering. Trip hoses him down with a fire extinguisher.
77	* NewEraSpeech: Degra toasts to this with his engineers.
78	-->"It may seem odd to celebrate the completion of a weapon, particularly one designed to destroy an entire planet, but recall the words of Enarchis written some fifty years into the Great Diaspora. 'Without a world of our own we are but children lost in the wilderness.' One day we'll emerge from this wilderness, and our work here will ensure that we'll never be lost again. To a new era for all Xindi."
79	* NotSoStoic: The normally stone-faced T'Pol does things like cry and shout due to her preemptive grief about Archer.
80	* OhCrap:
81	** Archer, when he reaches the construction site and sees that the weapon has been moved...and some Xindi fighters are closing on him...
82	** T'Pol and Trip, when Malcolm contacts them over the comm:
83	--->"There's no need to go to the Xindi. It appears they're coming to us."
84	** Dolim has one when Archer reveals he knows who Degra is.
85	** Archer again, when Dolim smugly informs him that ''Enterprise'' is under attack.
86	* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: T'Pol has a few examples this week: blurting out an emotional "I don't want you to die!" to Archer, shedding a tear in private, and SuddenlyShouting at Trip (something the engineer can't help but notice).
87	* OperatorIncompatibility: When walking Archer through the controls of the Insectoid ship, Travis notes how hard they are to operate, and Archer suggests that they're probably made for a pilot with compound eyes.
88	* RaceAgainstTheClock: Based on Trip and Travis's recon mission, the weapon is almost ready to be launched, which is why Archer feels there's no time for diplomacy.
89	* TheReveal: The Xindi are actually pawns of the beings who built the Spheres. The Sphere Builders have technology to see the future and know the Federation will foil their attempt to take over the galaxy, so they conspired to have the Xindi destroy Earth.
90	* RedShirt: Three are seen being [[ThrownOutTheAirlock blown out into space]] when ''Enterprise'' suffers a hull breach. The next episode reveals that eighteen crew members were killed.
91	* RunningAwayToCry: After Archer leaves ''Enterprise'' on his SuicideMission, T'Pol retreats to the ready room right before the tears start flowing.
92	* ShutUpKirk: Dolim responds to Archer's mockery with, "We know ''exactly'' where your ship is!"
93	* SpaceIsNoisy: Averted when Archer destroys the Xindi listening post. There's no sound from the torpedo firing to the base exploding, reinforcing the solemn tone.
94	* SuicideMission: The mission to destroy the weapon--by flying into it and blowing it up--is entirely this. Trip and Travis argue over who's [[MoreExpendableThanYou more expendable]], until Archer volunteers himself.
95	* TragicVillain: Degra admits to Jannar that he regularly tells himself IDidWhatIHadToDo, but he can't stop thinking about how many innocents and children will die as a result of actions meant to preserve their own race.
96	* TragicStillbirth: Degra was to have a third child (who he intended to name Trenia), but his wife got sick and suffered a miscarriage. He also says being a parent means he can't shake how his actions will kill countless children.
97	* TrashTheSet: The bridge, engineering, and every other part of the ship take a heavy beating. And remain so for the rest of the season.
98	* WhamEpisode: This episode reveals why the Sphere Builders are pressing the Xindi to attack humanity, sees Degra begin his HeelFaceTurn, and has the NX-01 blasted into a smoldering ruin.
99	* WideEyedIdealist: Daniels suggests the more standard approach to solving problems in this franchise: diplomacy.
100	* YouHaveGotToBeKiddingMe: Trip and Malcolm's response to T'Pol's idea to negotiate with the Xindi.
101	* YouHaveToBelieveMe:
102	** Daniels says this when trying to convince Archer that sacrificing himself is a terrible mistake. Naturally, Archer doesn't listen.
103	** Archer later resorts to this when he speaks with Degra, who's highly skeptical but Archer slowly gets through to him.

Context Recap / StarTrekEnterpriseS03E18AzatiPrime