#gamesters of triskellion

[dogwithapog]

gamesters of triskellion is not one of the best og star trek episodes, but it is the only one where kirk wears an "obedience collar" so that gives it points

[spockeye-fierce]

Angelique Pettyjohn

Thrall Shahna from "The Gamesters of Triskellion"

[borgcast]

Borgcast OS 2.17- Iconic trash

Anne-Marie and Peter cover TOS S2's The Gamesters Of Triskelion.

[thekoshertribble]

MY Top 10 Most Despicable Characters from TOS

Let’s face it, not all TOS antagonists can be as badass as Khan or entertaining as Mudd. Some of them you’ll forget by the next episode but when you go back and watch them you say “oh it’s that asshole.”

So here’s my list (from worst to absolute worst) of somewhat forgettable yet awful villains from Star Trek the Original Series.

1. Captain Tracy 

Look, I get it: losing your entire crew to a mysterious disease and getting marooned on a post-apocalyptic parallel Earth probably sucks. However, none of that justifies going rogue and breaking the prime directive by giving out phasers like candy to the local villagers. Not to mention the weird obsession with a “fountain of youth” that turns out to be a dead end. Oh, and he killed a redshirt. 

2. Dr Adams  

Sure, why not let the Mad Scientist/Therapist run a Penal Colony full of vulnerable people? That seems smart, right? We’re not given any motive for this guy to tear people’s minds apart with the neural neutralizer, other than the fact it gives him some sick sense of pleasure. Luckily he gets a taste of his own medicine. 

3. Anan 7 

It’s hard to find someone who’s more dramatic than Kirk but Anan 7 might just take the title. As the leader of Eminiar 7, he is responsible for the continuation of war with Vendikar and the enforcement of “casualties” and mass suicides by use of disintegration machines. He almost destroys the Enterprise and attempts to impersonate Kirk to lure the crew down, and if not for Scotty’s ability to see through his bullshit he would have succeeded. He is a yet another leader who dislikes the system but, despite being in charge, has no intention of changing it out of fear of change. 

4. Gary Mitchell

I didn’t like this guy even before he turned to the dark side. He gives me the creeps, he’s rude to the female crew-members. And you have to wonder, was becoming evil an inevitable part of his transformation, or could he have chosen to use his powers for good? We don’t know for sure but I’m inclined to the latter. 

5. Henoch 

Possessed Spock’s body and acted like a total creep while he was using it. Almost killed his rival, who was possessing Kirk’s body, thus almost committing double murder. And Kirk has to literally kill Spock in order to expel him. (Luckily Sargon survived the murder attempt and brought Spock back.) 

6. Melakan

Space Nazi. Literal Space Nazi. 

7. Kodos the Executioner/Anton Karidian

Do I even need to explain this one? He slaughtered 4,000 people according to his own eugenic ideas. The only reason why I don’t rank this higher is because he dies in the episode at the hands of his own daughter. 

8. The Providers

Picture yourself as an alien. A really really old alien that has over eons of spacey-sci-if evolution, become a super advanced disembodied brain. What do you do? Explore the ancient mysteries of the cosmos like no other race has before? Invent a new philosophy or form of mathematics? Or you could just capture aliens, train them to fight over generations and make them fight in gladiatorial games and wager on the winner with your pals! The Providers were so bored and unoriginal they just came up with their own nasty space hybrid of Pokémon and the Hunger Games. The should’ve just gone to Vegas.

9. Ambassador Hodin

Uhura put it best, “he’s infuriating.” Hodin is the worst kind of politician.  He outsteps and doges every attempt Spock makes to find his missing captain. (He also manages to insult Scotty in the process.) Meanwhile, Hodin had Kirk abducted to an exact replica of the Enterprise, deserted with the exemption of a mysterious woman (Hodin’s daughter, Odona). This stupidly extravagant plan was to manipulate Kirk into staying with Odona on the planet, and using his blood to infect (and kill) her and millions of others in order to lower their overwhelming global population. When Kirk tries to suggest other better humane methods of population control (like birth control, etc) Hodin shoots it down because “life is sacred.” Yeah it’s sacred and you’ll kill your own daughter to prove it.

10. Claudius Marcus.

Asshole Extraordinaire. The true villain of Bread and Circuses embodies every aspect of Roman life and values nostalgic historians would prefer to forget: slavery, racism, sexism, elitism, all wrapped into an ancient institution completely intolerant of change or outside ideas. Claudius Marcus is a crafty politician type whose weapon of choice is manipulation of words and law, but is not afraid of quite literally stabbing a colleague in the back. He knows the Federation Prime Directive just as well as any officer and argues it to force Kirk and his crew to abandon ship and remain on the planet. (So they couldn’t leave and report it’s existence to the Federation.) instead of threatening Kirk personally he forces Kirk to watch both of his friends fight to the death in a televised bastardization of gladiatorial games. And before Kirk’s later execution, he offers his slave Drusilla to Kirk the night before, so he could “have his last hours as a man.” Ick.

[startwreck]

The X-Files + Star Trek references

[thekoshertribble]

Share a coke with you Drill Thrall

[ichayalovesyou]

The Gamesters of Triskellion (Spirk Counter)

Original Post Here

# of Times Kirk says Mr. Spock: 1

# of Times Kirk says Spock: 3

# of Times Spock says Captain: 4

# of Times Spock says Jim: 0

Average Mentions

Kirk mentions Spock: 11.42 times an episode

Spock mentions Kirk: 13.28 times an episode

Spock mentions Kirk 1.86 times more than Kirk mentions Spock (20 episode streak)

Total Mentions

Kirk mentions Spock: 320

Spock mentions Kirk: 372

Episode Ranking (by mentions, past 10 in the Read More)

Devil in The Dark (80)

Errand of Mercy (42)

Tomorrow Is Yesterday (40)

The Enemy Within (39)

The Arena (36)

The Alternative Factor (35)

Return of The Archons (34)

Shore Leave (32)

The Squire of Gothos (28)

Balance of Terror (26)

11. Catspaw (25)

12. A Taste of Armageddon (24)

13. The Naked Time (22)

14. Charlie X (22)

15. The Conscience of A King (20)

16. The Menagerie, Part I (19)

17. What Are Little Girls Made Of? (19)

18. Space Seed (19)

19. Miri (18)

20. Dagger of The Mind (17)

21. The Corbomite Maneuver (14)

22. Court Martial (14)

23. The Menagerie, Part II (14)

24. Mudd’s Women (11)

25. The Man Trap (11)

26. The Gamesters of Triskellion (7)

27. The Galileo 7 (6)

28. Where No Man Has Gone Before (5)

[gilmores-glorious-blog]

damn chekov your drill thrall looks gnc af

[lacefuneral]

gamesters of triskellion is genuinely such a horrible episode. i forgot how terrible it is. however, kirk looks good in the harness. that is the ONLY good aspect of this episode

[kinetic-elaboration]

June 25: 2x24 The Ultimate Computer

Belated notes on my watch of The Ultimate Computer yesterday.

Kirk’s definitely in Captain Mode today. You can tell when he’s on edge and suspicious and serious.

Yet another old Kirk friend. Does he know everyone in Starfleet?

War games lol. But it’s “not the military.”

Spock is super into this computer.

A-7 Computer Expert Certification.

The crew’s not needed? Wow, okay, this is going to end badly.

“This gadget.” How do you really feel, Kirk?

And there’s Spock literally making faces behind the Commodore’s back. He is soooo that type. He’s like “Jim, are you hearing this? Can you believe this guy?”

I’m insulted on Kirk’s behalf right now. Replacing people with machines so blithely is offensive.

Of course Bones doesn’t like it.

Oh yeah triumvirate walking scene. I love them. it takes so little for me to think ‘what badasses.’ S2 is really stepping up this dynamic in particular.

And Spock is comfortable enough around Bones to be sassy around him

Oh no, the computer is already glitching, and there is no backup and no plan B.... Bones is completely right in his assessment. This is essentially a Titanic situation: way too much hubris involved. Nothing can go wrong so nothing will go wrong so we’ve planned for nothing going wrong!

McCoy has BFF Clearance. He can go wherever he wants.

“It’s the M-5? What happened to Ms 1-4?” Channel #5.

Ahhhh little gratuitous touch to Spock’s arm. They’re In Love.

“There are certain things men must do to remain men.”

“The right computer finally came along.” Damn Bones.

Jim’s suspicions about the computer coming right after that line make it look like he’s jealous that Spock likes it so much.

He’s getting a “red alert right here.” Computers don’t have that kind of intuition.

Jim’s so thoughtful and self-aware. He really cares both about his instincts and about interrogating those instincts for bias and unreasonableness. This is giving me real S1 vibes: the quiet, intelligent, idealized hero Captain at the fore.

This whole scene is perfect, eminently quotable, and sounds exactly like something that could have been written about automation in 2021. You’re okay with it when it’s happening to someone else but then the computer comes for YOUR job....

Uh-h, M-5 is turning off all the lights...

Space merchant marines... good to know.

HOW are the Captain and CMO “non-essential personnel”? The first sign that M-5 is illogical. They should bring some doctor on the landing party mission given that uh humans are going on it and might get injured.

Anyway I can’t wait for Kirk to destroy this bitch and save the day.

Lol it turned off the lights on Bones in sickbay.

Damn, now it’s trying to take Uhura’s job too!

Chekov is so bored.

Spock wants to serve under one man and one man ONLY. Loyalty to one man... sounds like a wedding vow... and Kirk looks so soft...

So, if Spock has to describe to McCoy what that (unnecessary bitchy and catty) “Captain Dunsel” remark means, by saying that it’s a phrase that “midshipmen use at Starfleet Academy,” is this to imply Bones didn’t go to Starfleet Academy?

He’s never felt so at odds with the ship.... a lover’s quarrel...she’s cheating on him with another man...

Jim Kirk, certified Poetry Nerd. He’s such a romantic.

So glad Bones got him a drink so he can return to the bridge and a possible emergency with just a little bit of a buzz going.

Spock in the chair...

Huh, an automated ship with no crew. Interesting concept.

Oh no M-5! She’s got control of the ship and she won’t let go!

Kirk’s face when Enterprise attacks.. the betrayal... his beautiful lady used for mindless destruction.

“Only a robot” ship--! Bones is insulted.

Kirk orders the computer turned off but we’re only halfway through the ep so...

....And the computer is sentient now.

That was the shortest Captain’s Log ever. “The computer has taken over the ship the end.”

Scotty’s like, “...Well what if we just unplug it?”

Okay so now they only have 19 crew.

Spock and Bones are on point today. “Don’t say it’s fascinating.” / “I won’t. But it is... interesting.” This bitch knows exactly what he’s doing.

The computer isn’t a child, guys!

We need powerful computers “so men don’t have to die in space”--like uh that man your computer literally just killed?

I don’t get Daystrom’s logic at all. He talks as if people, like, needed to do work in space, to survive or something. We don’t need to. We want to! We want to go out and meet cool aliens! This guy is no fun.

What is the thing “greater” than fact finding in space that the robots are going to free us to do? Like what is more impressive than SPACE? I don’t even get that.

Time to mix up fake sci fi world-building references with real references! The Nobel and Zee-Magnee Prizes. Sitar of Vulcan.

A theory emerges... the computer acts illogically...Daystrom won’t let Spock near it... I know this isn’t where this is going, but it kind of sounds like they’re implying it’s a scam, lol. He sold an idea he didn’t have so it’s like.. not a real computer.

Spock’s little protege, Chekov.

“We have been pursuing a wild goose.” Aw, bb’s trying so hard to be colloquial. (Also he 100% learned that phrase from McCoy in The Gamesters of Triskellion and now he’s trying it out on Kirk...when McCoy isn’t around.)

“Not to offend you by using the h-word, but... could it be... human?”

Kirk’s really mad at Daystrom now.

The Commodore really set up that dramatic turn to camera there.

Poor Kirk. His ship is being used for evil.

“They can’t destroy the ship, what would happen to the computer?!” Yes, the computer. And the other 19 people and himself but mostly the computer. Daystrom really has lost it.

I love the actor who plays him, though.

“You are great. I am great.” Nothing weird happening here.

Spirk attack! (Spork it out.)

Spock’s way too sure Commodore Wesley is about to die. “He was decent, it’s a shame the ship I’m on is gonna kill him.”

And now another round of Kirk versus the computer and Kirk’s logic wins.

M-5 should argue that it did not commit murder, it committed homicide in self-defense. But then Daystrom didn’t program it with a lawyer’s brain.

It’s uh just gonna leave? Not turn the lights back on?

Kirk is so smart! I know I say this all the time, but it’s true! He knew what to do to save the ship because he knew Bob Wesley. He had formed connections, he had experience and knowledge that doesn’t come from logic. He is not replaceable!

McCoy’s like “Spock, fight me. Debate me Spock. Fight me. I’ll be fun.”

Spock HAS answered the computers versus humans question--he likes humans. He wants to be surrounded by humans.

That was really good! One of the better S2 episodes. Great Kirk, great triumvirate--as a trio and all three sides of the triangle--great sci fi concept, great guest star, great social commentary--still 100% relevant today.

i definitely have to think more about the ‘human computer’ concept. I liked that they specifically went out of their way to explain why the computer was human, how that was part of its design, and then tied that into its creator, his background, his belief system, and his insecurities. I feel like most ‘sentient computer’ or ‘advanced AI’ narratives just assume a computer that’s powerful enough will eventually be alive, which is not something I believe. The scariness of advanced AI to me is the incredible power it has to act quickly, but in a complete black-box way: you can’t literally see the logic string of its thought processes, and nor can you figure them out easily or completely using the creators’ intentions or logic because the machine has ‘learned’ since its inception, and its learning processes are not human. There is a real alienness to them that I find scary. And I do think this ep captured that nuance in M-5: it has the speed and abilities of a super computer, the “human” qualities of its creator for well-explained reasons, and the unpredictability of a mechanism that is NEITHER human nor human-controlled tool. And of course the ep’s ultimate thesis--that humans cannot be completely automated or replaced, and that we should not want to automate or replace humans--is comforting and of a morality I can and want to agree with.

This was also one of those eps that made me curious about the differences in AOS and TOS Kirk--in other words, an ep that relied on his history with Starfleet and his experience, on the reality that he’s a 34 year old man with 15+years of experience in the Fleet. Time, experience, connections, these aren’t things you can replace no matter how smart you are, and I feel like it would have been interesting to see AOS!Kirk deal with some situation that is trickier for him because he’s a Captain with a startlingly small amount of institutional experience. It’s not just about being young or generally inexperienced, in other words--it’s about NOT knowing every Captain, Admiral, and Commodore in the service, it’s about NOT having friends across the galaxy because he just hasn’t had time to make them. Even in deep space, that matters. And I think it’s something that I appreciate more as an adult myself, with actual real world experience of the importance of connections and experience and time, especially in sort of insular or smaller work communities.

Anyway, next is Bread and Circuses! Another great ep for the triumvirate. I can’t believe we’re almost through S2!!

[thegreaterlink]

I mean, when you start at the top the only way left is down.

With that being said, I'll always remember "Wrongs Darker Than Death or Night" from DS9 and "The Gamesters of Triskellion" from TOS.

in honour of today's Strange New World episode being named "Lift Us Where Suffering Cannot Reach", what's your favourite long-and-ridiculously-pompous Star trek episode name ?

Mine's probably For The World Is Hollow And I've Touched The Sky lmao

[10moonymhrivertam]

“The closest that was ever said [to “beam me up, Scotty”] was ‘Scotty, beam us up’ in Gamesters of Triskellion and -”

“Reid, Reid, Reid - give it a rest”

DEREK LET THE MAN SPEAK

[thebreakfastgenie]

Ok please tell me I’m not the only one who thinks The Gamesters of Triskellion is horrifying.

You’ve got:

Slavery storyline (involving Uhura)

Uhura nearly being sexually assaulted while enslaved

Some colonialist white savior bullshit from Kirk although lbr I expect that from the Federation

Kirk initiating kissing with a woman he had to explain the concept of romantic love to like five minutes earlier because she’s been a slave her entire life and has no concept of normal anything

Haha a chubby not super conventionally attractive woman who has been painted yellow to accent the “ugliness” hopes she and Chekhov will be selected for each other you know what’s horrifying about the situation? Not slaves being assigned their sexual partners no it’s that she’s “ugly”

Kirk’s big triumph in the end? Winning a bet which forces the slave owners to free the slaves and “train” them to have their own society he leaves the former slaves in the hands of their former owners including his love interest who specifically asked to come along

Like there are small parts of this episode that are ok or even funny or good but the plot is horrifying?? Right??

[beauty-grace-outer-space]

So I have a query, picard says that they are in a post currency world. But then what's a quatloo? was it Vulcan currecy? Please help :)

“A quatloo was a monetary unit on the planet Triskelion which was used by the planet's Providers to bet on thrall competitions. ( TOS: "The Gamesters of Triskelion").”

Since Triskellion isn’t a Federation planet, this makes sense, I guess.

[hcfm]

the american dream: watching your boss die on live TV

[ichayalovesyou]

Why Bones & Spock NEED Each Other (Grief)

So over my tenure in this fandom I’ve seen some one sided stuff about Bones being mean to Spock, and vice versa and I’m like

Thing is y’all: You’re both right, but you’re also both wrong!

Bones is mean to Spock you’re right! But you know what? That’s a good thing!

Spock is mean to Bones because of course he is! And guess what? That’s also a good thing!

They both need it, and they can only get it (safely) from each other! What they have is (in a weird way) healthy! But it’s only healthy for these two specifically because they understand each other so well!

Prime examples? Somebody has died or gone missing (usually Jim)!

Let’s talk about how Spock & Bones grieve!

Let’s address how each character (generally) moves through the 5 stages of grief

Bones: Anger, Denial, Depression, Bargaining, Acceptance

Spock: Bargaining, Denial, Depression, Anger, Acceptance

They are each individually perfectly equipped to handle each other’s grief (or refusal to grieve)!

Bones initial reaction to death is usually Anger, he blames himself and anyone in proximity. Quickly followed by a weird form of denial, in which he doesn’t deny someone is dead, but he denies that other people think the person is gone and that they felt it when it happened because he’s dunked so hard under his own grief his usually high empathy has switched off.

Now, Bones is highly familiar with grief as a medical professional (and having lost his father). He establishes how important and deeply believes in that process in And The Children Shall Lead.

I think Bones is acutely aware of how he grieves, and is equally aware that throwing these feelings out at just anybody could really hurt them.

But Spock isn’t just anybody, he’s a (half) Vulcan, it’s like shouting at a brick wall, Bones knows Spock can take it. I also believe Spock understands that this state is temporary, which is why he handles it with such grace.

What happens when Bones isn’t able to go off at (not truly “on”) Spock is that Bones keeps that anger to himself and gets bordering-on-suicidal (Depression phase of grief). It happens in Miri (self injection), For The World is Hollow & I Have Touched The Sky (trying to stay behind), and The Empath (the whole freakin episode). Jim is good for comfort, but Spock is good for a slap in the face reality check.

They both know that. It’s why they’re still friends despite how much shit they throw at each other

Not only that, but Bones (almost) ALWAYS apologizes, from their worst fights I can rattle off:

“They were wrong, and I was wrong I’m sorry” (Paradise Syndrome)

“Pawns huh? Well if it makes any difference, this pawn is extremely sorry.” (Day of The Dove)

“Spock I- I’m sorry, it does hurt doesn’t it?” (The Tholian Web)

And that’s not including implied/non-verbal apologies.

Bones needs Spock to help him grieve because otherwise he’s gonna take an emotional nosedive toward attempted Martyrdom. Spock’s stoicism punctured by occasional genuiness helps Bones move to the Bargaining stage (making peace with Spock and everything that’s happened) and later Acceptance.

The inverse of this is also true so let’s address how Bones uses his belligerent nature to jump start Spock’s healthy grieving process!

Bones grieving style (and his confrontational nature in general) is uniquely suited to make Spock honor his Human side, his emotions in the matter. Because we know a softer touch (like Jim’s) while more comfortable for Spock, seldom cracks open that wall of emotional repression unless Jim’s in danger.

Bones doesn’t give a shit, and that ultimately a good thing! Both he and Spock constantly need to be directly shoved against their default reactions to interpret things in a balanced way, which is why they’re perfect for each other.

Without Bones, Spock would never let himself grieve, ever. We also know that, more deeply than Spock, Bones understands grief and how to move through it, he’s familiar with loss (which is why I think he’s so quick to accept someone is dead whenever it happens, it’s the reaction of someone whose had to lose a lot of people and is more comfortable grieving than hoping). There’s a lot of evidence for this in Gamesters of Triskellion & Return To Tomorrow.

He also honors Spock’s human half a lot more than Spock does, it’s one of the fundamental power sources for Bones & Spock’s “the racism’s mutual” banter. And it is mutual, I feel like people forget how often Spock compares modern humans to the worst examples of their/his ancestors and treats them as inferior out of internalized hatred and the general xenophobic attitudes of Vulcan culture. Bones of course responds in kind, usually in cockamamy insults, he’s not as well versed in Vulcan history as Spock is in Human. Although I admit Bones does start it a lot, I think arguing accounts as a love language for him lmao.

So when Bones sees Spock trying to stunt and stifle his grieving process, especially since Bones knows he’s at least partly human and it is affecting Spock’s judgement, it hits literally ALL of Bones nerves.

Bones uses reverse psychology to get Spock to admit he is human and he has feelings ALL THE TIME especially where Jim is concerned. Bread & Circuses, The Immunity Syndrome, The Tholian Web & Requiem for Methuselah!

Spock will absolutely refuse to grieve or at least move on from the self-destructive bargaining/denial loop he gets trapped in unless Bones smacks him around a little. Just like how Bones will get self-destructive unless Spock recenters him via logic.

Again, I think on a subconscious level they both know that, and it’s why they never take each other’s smack downs to heart.

An excellent example, Chekov’s “death” in Spectre of The Gun:

Spock isn’t grieving, but everyone else is, Spock was close to Pavel but isn’t letting himself feel it, which could later backfire. Bones is currently grieving, but there’s no time to grieve because they’re all gonna die in 20 minutes if they don’t find a solution to their dilemma.

Transcript & Breakdown:

Bones: You talk about another man’s [Jim’s] feelings? What do you feel Spock?!

Are you grieving? He was like son to you you’re not acknowledging it, again.

Spock: My feelings are not subject for discussion Doctor.

No, and I’m not going to, leave me alone.

Bones: Because there are are no feelings to discuss!

Well I’m grieving! And I’m gonna reverse psychology your Vulcan ass until you start your grieving process so that I can move on!

Scotty: Mr. Spock Chekov is dead! I say it now and I can hardly believe it, but you worked closely with him! That deserves some memorial!

Bones: Spock will have no truck with grief Scotty, it’s human.

Alright, that first comment didn’t work, maybe “insulting” him will get that thick head of his to acknowledge his feelings.

Jim: Bones! Scotty!

Spock: It’s quite alright Captain, they forget I am half human.

Fine, yes I am grieving for Pavel in my own way. Are you satisfied Dr. McCoy?

Bones: [looks surprised and thoughtful, satisfied with Spock’s answer]

Wow, you said you were human without any disgust this time... huh... good job.

Scotty:[looks ashamed]

The 5 o’clock duel bell rings.