Line #84 Recap/StarTrekS2E3TheChangeling


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tos_thechangelinghd0639.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:Hey, that doesn't look like [[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant one of]] [[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine the Founders.]]]]
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4	'''Original air date:''' September 29, 1967
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6	The episode starts off as most episodes start off: with the ''Enterprise'' on its way to a planet for Kirk to screw around with. Only, this time … there's no planet. The entire system they were assigned to go to has had [[ApocalypseHow all of its organic life forms vaporized]], leading the crew to wonder just what the hell is going on. The answer comes in the form of a tiny vehicle firing massive amounts of plasma energy at the ship, resulting in a weak retaliation and the most ludicrous exchanges known to mankind:
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8	->'''Spock:''' Our shields absorbed (the) energy equivalent to ''90 of our photon torpedoes''. The energy used in repulsing this first attack reduced our shielding power ''20%''.\
9	''(Kirk orders a single photon torpedoes launched, [[NoSell It does nothing]].)''\
10	'''Spock:''' No effect. The target absorbed (the) full energy of our torpedo.\
11	'''Kirk:''' ''[incredulous]'' '''Absorbed''' it? ... What could've absorbed that much energy, and ''survived??''
12
13	Um … yeah. The ''Enterprise'' can absorb ''450 torpedo hits'', but Kirk is '''stunned''' when the other vehicle absorbed the detonation of ''one'' torpedo.[[note]]Either they assumed it was a spaceborne GlassCannon, or that something as small as two meters in length shouldn't be able to withstand that kind of attack.[[/note]]
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15	Anyway, Kirk orders a hail to the probe, which inexplicably stops its attacks. After some exchanges of TranslatorMicrobes, the probe, called "Nomad", ceases hostilities, referring to Kirk as "[[ThankTheMaker The Creator]]" in the process. It's brought aboard, against the concerns of [[OnlySaneMan Scotty]], and is let loose on the ship. [[TemptingFate This can't possibly go wrong, can it?]] I mean, it's not possibly like it's able or willing to KillAllHumans and -- oh, wait, it's shown to have the power to annihilate an entire planet's worth of organics, and tells the crew that its mission is to "sterilize all imperfect biological organisms". Right then, moving on …
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17	The big three converge over what exactly Nomad is and what it's doing; it seems like the probe ''wasn't'', in fact, able or willing to cause TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, in the first place, and its creator -- Jackson Roykirk -- programmed it for simple deep space exploration. By its own admission, Nomad clearly had an incident with what it calls "The Other", which altered its structure and programming, causing it to become [[{{WesternAnimation/Futurama}} Bender's]] non-alcoholic and more abusive ancestor and mistaking Kirk for its builder. Unfortunately, by the time they realize this, Nomad has already been lured to the bridge by the siren's song of Uhura, which confuses it and causes it to wipe her memory when it can't discern the logic of "music". And it kills Scotty, too, when he tries to interfere, but the machine [[DeathIsCheap fixes him right up]] afterwards, so it's no big deal. Of course, with Uhura's brain now wiped, we get a hilarious re-education subplot involving her trying to read "The dog has a ball".[[note]]Unfortunately, the broadcast version of the remastered episode has severely truncated the scene where Uhura is re-learning how to read.[[/note]]
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19	With time running out, and information on what happened to Nomad still scanty, Spock somehow manages to mind-meld with the thing. It turns out "The Other" is a probe called "Tan-Ru", sent by an alien society to collect and sterilize soil samples as a prelude to colonization, and they combined during a self-repair attempt into the current Nomad. How that gave it the ability to nuke a world is left to the imagination, and there is no time to speculate, as Nomad has shut down the life support systems of the ship, threatening everyone on board. After confronting the killer probe and confirming that its death orders have no loophole, Kirk does what he does best: confuse a computer to death, by dropping the LogicBomb that Nomad isn't perfect as it mistook him for its long-dead creator. This melts down two computers -- Nomad itself, and Spock's brain, as Kirk was never one for flawless logic, but luckily they're able to beam the probe off the ship before it blows itself up.
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21	The FanNickname for this episode is "The One with Nomad". The story for this episode was the basis for that of ''Film/StarTrekTheMotionPicture'', resulting in one of that film's (many) derogatory nicknames being ''[[{{Pun}} Where Nomad Has Gone Before]]''.
22	----
23	!!The Tropeling:
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25	* AIIsACrapshoot: Nomad, a deep-space probe, clearly had an incident with what it calls "The Other", quickly revealed to be an alien probe named Tan-Ru, which altered its structure and programming, causing it to [[InstantAIJustAddWater become self-aware]]. Part of its new programming includes the sterilization of life as a prelude to alien colonization, corrupted from Tan-Ru's original mission.
26	--> '''Spock:''' ''(mind-melding into a MachineMonotone)'' [[IAmTheNoun I am Nomad.]] I am performing my … function. Deep emptiness … it approaches … collision … damage … blackness. … I am the Other. I am ''Tan-Ru'' … ''Tan-Ru'' … Nomad … ''Tan-Ru'' … error. Flaw. Imperfection. Must … sterilize.\
27	''({{beat}})''\
28	[[AC:Rebirth … [[FusionDance we are complete]] … much power … ''gan ta nu ik-ta Tan-Ru'' … [[ThankTheMaker the Creator]] … instructs … search out … identify … [[KillerRobot sterilize imperfections.]] … We are Nomad … we are Nomad … we are complete. We are instructed … our purpose is clear … [[KillAllHumans sterilize imperfections … sterilize imperfections]] … [[MadnessMantra Nomad — sterilize — sterilize — NOMAD — STERILIZE —]]]]
29	* AMillionIsAStatistic: A planetary population of four billion, sterilized by Nomad, isn't mentioned again in the episode.
30	* AlienArtsAreAppreciated: Nomad overhears Uhura singing to herself, and curiously approaches her about this unique form of "communication". The probe ultimately [[SubvertedTrope can't understand the idea of music]] and decides that it is frivolous.
31	* BackFromTheDead: Scotty.
32	* BlatantLies:
33	** Nomad claims that its mission is non-hostile, [[MoralMyopia after having killed the inhabitants of four worlds]].
34	** Spock claims that Kirk was just testing Nomad's memory banks, because he realised that Nomad's assumption that Kirk was The Creator was the only thing stopping it from 'purging' the 'biological infestation' on ''Enterprise''.
35	* BlueAndOrangeMorality: Nomad is simply a computer carrying out (the garbled remnants of) its programming and that of Tan-Ru.
36	* BreadEggsBreadedEggs: Nomad and Tan-Ru's programming is a rare dramatic example. Nomad's orders: Seek out new life forms. Tan-Ru's orders: Collect soil samples and sterilize them. [[FusionDance Final result]]: Seek out and sterilize imperfect life forms.
37	* ContinuityNod: The song Uhura sings is "Beyond Antares", which she'd sung in full back in [[Recap/StarTrekS1E13TheConscienceOfTheKing "The Conscience of the King"]].
38	* CooldownHug: Kirk gives Spock one after a MindMeld goes bad.
39	* CreatorCameo: Marc Daniels, the director of the episode, appears as the photo of Jackson Roykirk (at 17 minutes and 48 seconds into the episode, to be precise).
40	* DeathIsCheap: Scotty is killed by Nomad, then revived by it in a matter of minutes no worse for wear.
41	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The ''Enterprise'' is stated as passing warp 10 and then warp 15. Later series would establish warp 10 as the absolute maximum way to quantify speed and as [[LudicrousSpeed infinite speed]]. This has led to fanon that in between TOS & TNG, the method of calculating warp speed was changed.
42	* EasyAmnesia: Nomad claims he's completely erased Uhura's mind, yet she is nearly "re-educated" by the end of the episode. It implies that Nomad didn't actually erase Uhura's memories, but simply blocked her access to them, another strike against the machine's supposed "perfection".
43	* EurekaMoment: In the final confrontation with Nomad, Kirk, after confirming several times that Nomad will "sterilize" anything that is imperfect or in error without exception, decides to convince the probe that it itself is imperfect, [[LogicBomb and by its own logic should be eliminated]].
44	* ExactWords: Kirk asks Nomad if he destroyed the system where they found him. He answers truthfully, "Not the 'system', but the [[InsistentTerminology biological infestation]]."
45	* FusionDance: Spock's mind-meld with Nomad reveals that, after their collision long ago, Nomad and Tan-Ru underwent one of these as they merged and self-repaired. The "new" Nomad kept the Earth probe's name, the alien probe's power and hardware, and a blend of each other's programming (settling on "search out … identify … [[KillerRobot sterilize imperfections]]").
46	* GoneHorriblyRight: Nomad upgrades the ''Enterprise''[='=]s engines, causing it to reach [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness warp 10 and then warp 15]]. However, the ship starts to break down because it is not designed to travel that fast, and so Kirk demands the upgrades reversed.
47	* HatesBeingTouched: Nomad. Trying to touch it is not a good idea. Whether or not this is because it interprets any contact as an attack is not known. It will, however, allow itself to be touched (e.g. by Spock) if Kirk orders it to do so, because it believes that Kirk is its Creator.
48	* ImStandingRightHere: Bones is clearly offended when Nomad says that he "functions erratically".
49	* ItIsDehumanizing: Nomad refers to everyone, human or Vulcan, as a "unit".
50	* ItRunsOnNonsensoleum: How Nomad packs so much power into a couple-metres-long probe is never really explained.
51	* JewishMother: Invoked by Kirk, with tongue firmly in cheek, mock-mourning the probe that thought Kirk had created it: "You saw what it did to Scotty. What a doctor it would have made. [beat] My son, the doctor."
52	* JustTestingYou: After Kirk asks Nomad why Nomad refers to him as "The Creator", Spock quickly interrupts, telling Nomad that "The Creator was just testing your memory banks".
53	* LittleNo:
54	--> '''Spock:''' My congratulations, Captain. A dazzling display of logic.\
55	'''Kirk:''' You didn't think I had it in me, did you, Spock?\
56	'''Spock:''' [[BrutalHonesty No, sir.]]
57	* LogicBomb:
58	** In the climax, Kirk convinces Nomad that [[HoistByTheirOwnPetard it is itself imperfect]] by revealing that its creator, Jackson Roykirk, is dead and that Nomad mistook Kirk for him. Then he says that Nomad made ''another'' error by not discovering the first error, and then committed a ''third'' error by not sterilizing itself after the first two. This sends Nomad into a VillainousBreakdown that leads to its self-destruction.
59	** Also subverted earlier in the episode. Nomad came to see that Kirk (who it still thought was its Creator) also qualified as an "imperfect" being. When Kirk asked it how an imperfect being could have created a perfect machine, Nomad simply concluded that it had no idea.
60	* MachineMonotone: Spock slowly takes on this speech pattern as he mind-melds with Nomad, and even as he backs away from the probe, showing the gradual MindRape inflicted by the probe's powerful artificial intelligence.
61	* MadnessMantra:
62	** Spock says "… Nomad … sterilize …" over and over again after a mind meld gone wrong with the probe NOMAD.
63	** Nomad, after Kirk gives it a LogicBomb, causing the probe to repeatedly shout "error", "analyze", "examine", "faulty" and so on in a progressively higher and more distorted tone until it self-destructs.
64	* MechanicalAbomination: Once a simple exploration device, Nomad now wields both the power to raze worlds and a vast, warped intelligence that drives it to kill.
65	* MistakenIdentity: Nomad thinks Kirk is his creator, Dr. Jackson Roykirk.
66	* OhCrap: When Kirk, angry over Nomad referring to the {{redshirt}}s he "sterilized" as "biological units", answers, "I'm a biological unit and I created you!" This confuses Nomad, and Kirk realizes that he was foolish to say it, as it now leaves everyone open to "sterilization".
67	* OnlyMostlyDead: Scotty, but he gets better thanks to Nomad's intervention.
68	* OnlySaneMan: Scotty is the only crew member who objects to bringing a planet-sterilizing superweapon aboard the ship. [=McCoy=], to an extent, is also all kinds of apprehensive.
69	* PintsizedPowerhouse: Nomad, five hundred kilograms and a metre or two long, can knock out the ''Enterprise'' shields with just three blasts.
70	* PlotArmor:
71	** Scotty is zapped by Nomad but revived, whereas every other RedShirt it attacks is completely vaporized.
72	** Nurse Chapel somehow survives trying to stop Nomad from accessing Kirk's medical records as well, being only stunned. It happened off screen, so we don't know exactly how threatening she was to Nomad.
73	** Kirk also reveals at one point that he is a "biological unit" and thus imperfect, but his status as the Creator in Nomad's mind means Nomad never seriously tries to "sterilize" him.
74	* PokeInTheThirdEye: The mind-meld with the probe's artificial mind goes seriously wrong, to the point that Spock is sent into a [[HeroicBSOD near-catatonic state]] as Nomad takes control of the meld. Kirk, who Nomad fortunately respects as its "Creator", has to order Nomad to let go of Spock and drag the Vulcan out into the corridor to recover.
75	* POVCam: We get a couple of them from Nomad. Once when he follows a leery Bones to sickbay, and once when he walks off with some disgruntled guards.
76	* ReactionShot: When Kirk drops the LogicBomb, the camera briefly cuts to Nomad; it doesn't visibly react, but one can easily imagine that it's thinking "WTF?" after the WhamLine.
77	* RedShirt: One of the highest body counts in the series, as Nomad vaporizes four security guards when he breaks confinement and kills (or at least incapacitates) two others.
78	* RoboSpeak: This is how Nomad talks.
79	* RuleOfThree: How Kirk triggers Nomad's VillainousBreakdown:
80	** Nomad mistook James T. '''''Kirk''''' for Jackson Roy'''''kirk''''', his creator. Strike one.
81	** Nomad did not immediately discover his mistake and imperfection. Strike two.
82	** Nomad did not correct by sterilization. '''''Strike THREE and yer' OUT!'''''
83	* ScreenShake: And it's a doozy, with the entire bridge crew hurled back and forth as Nomad's opening shot hits the shields.
84	* SignificantNameOverlap: It's downplayed, but James T. Kirk and Jackson Roykirk have some naming similarities, such as their first initials and the last (or all) four letters of their surnames. This is enough for Nomad, with its garbled programming, to mistake ''Kirk'' for ''Roykirk'' as its "Creator", and eventually lead to its own self-destruction after the mistake is clearly identified.
85	* SnapBack: Uhura is back to normal by the next episode, despite last being seen being taught to read again and only being able to speak Swahili. An earlier draft of the script had Nomad explaining that it had not purged her brain completely -- her memories and experiences were intact, but her ability to express ''language'' was wiped. This line was probably cut for time. They probably taught her Swahili first because it was her original language. (By the way, she first says ''Sikumbuka'' -- "I can't remember" -- then ''ina mbwa ni tufe,'' "the dog has a ball.") The Creator/JamesBlish novelization still has this version.
86	* SpeaksInBinary: Nomad while in space. It later changes to [[StarfishLanguage a mathematical message]] requesting language equivalence.
87	* ThisCannotBe: Kirk when told the entire population of the system has been destroyed, then when told that Nomad just absorbed the energy of a detonating photon torpedo with no damage.
88	* TitleDrop: When Kirk discusses with Spock the old notion of a [[ChangelingTale changeling]] -- a creature left in place of a baby by the FairFolk.
89	* TooDumbToLive: You would think that after the deaths of the first couple of {{redshirt}}s, the others would quit firing on the damn thing. But they don't.
90	* TouchedByVorlons: Nomad's destructive abilities were enhanced after the impact with an alien probe.
91	* UnexplainedRecovery: Scott was tempting fate, wearing that red shirt in every episode. He got better, but at least four other {{Redshirt}}s weren't so lucky.
92	* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Neither Jackson Roykirk nor the aliens that created Tan-Ru had any idea that their respective probes would become damaged, then merge with each other with the garbled remnants of their respective programmings also melding in such a way as to create an OmnicidalManiac capable of wiping out billions of people and lifeforms, [[NightmareFuel as well as any other hapless civilizations who Nomad happened to stumble upon]].
93	* VillainousBreakdown: Kirk's LogicBomb to Nomad leaves the probe shaking and erratically shouting "Error", "Analyze", "Must sterilize" and variations thereof in a rising and distorted voice, as it builds up to self-destruct.
94	* WeaponOfMassDestruction: Nomad counts as one, after its fusion with Tan-Ru.
95	* WeComeInPeaceShootToKill: Kirk assures Nomad that they mean no harm, moments after firing a photon torpedo at it. And then Nomad, in a major RefugeInAudacity moment, states that its own mission is non-hostile, moments after pummeling the ''Enterprise'' with powerful energy bolts.
96	* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: Inverted. Nomad wants to kill anything that's too human. Spock is spared because he is so much more "orderly" than the human crew members. Spock seems almost flattered to be described as such.
97	* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Aw, he's just a little lost robot doing what he thinks he was programmed to do!
98	* WritersCannotDoMath: The range to Nomad when it is firing at ''Enterprise'' is given as 90,000 km, and the plasma bolts are travelling at Warp 15. They shouldn't be taking several seconds to impact, they should be covering that distance in a tiny fraction of a second.

Context Recap / StarTrekS2E3TheChangeling