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Balance of Terror
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Balance of Terror

This article is about an episode of Star Trek. See Balance of terror for the Cold War policy.

"Balance of Terror" was an early episode of the original series of . It was first shown on December 15, 1966, and introduced the first recurring foe: the Romulans. The captain of the Romulan ship was played by Mark Lenard, who would later play Sarek. Written by Paul Schneider, it has been described as a '1950s submarine movie in space' - specifically The Enemy Below (1957).

Warning: Plot details follow.

The Starship Enterprise is sent to pursue a ship that has destroyed Earth Outpost 4 near the Romulan Neutral Zone. It is feared that after a century of non-contact, the Romulans have built up their forces again. Captain Kirk arrives there and discovers a lone ship, that has an ability which surprises the entire crew, Mr. Spock included - it has a cloaking device.

The Enterprise finds that this is not perfect and manages to track the ship - it is returning home after what appears to have been a test of strength. The Enterprise taps into the Romulans' internal security cameras and makes another astonishing discovery: the Romulans are, in appearance, identical to the Vulcans, a member world of the United Federation of Planets. Mr. Spock denies all knowledge of this.

A mutual game of cat-and-mouse between the two ships ensues, with each ship having unique advantages over the other. The Romulan ship has far greater stealth than the Enterprise and is armed with plasma torpedoes of immense destructive power. However, Enterprise is much faster and more maneuverable than its opponent. The Romulan plasma torpedos prove much less effective against an evasive target than they were against stationary asteroid bases, and require so much power to fire that the ship must decloak to do so. While cloaked, however, Enterprise is unable to target the Romulan ship effectively itself.

As this conflict proceeds the episode depicts the activities of both the Enterprise crew and the Romulan ship's captain, revealing the Romulan to be a thoughtful and well-developed character. The battle becomes as much a personal battle of wits between the two captains as a battle between starships, with each attempting to understand the other's psychology.

The battle ends with Enterprise finally crippling the Romulan Bird of Prey by jerry-rigging a mine field using bombs taken from its self-destruct system. Kirk hails the Bird of Prey and at last communicates directly with his Romulan counterpart, offering to take on survivors. The Romulan captain responds that he has "one last duty to perform" and triggers his ship's self-destruct, preventing its crew and technology from falling into Federation hands.

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