Summary[]
Chaos rules on Ventax II, as the head of state, Acost Jared, is about to hand over his planet to a woman called Ardra. According to an old legend, Ardra, the resident version of the devil, promised the Ventaxians one thousand years of peace, in exchange for their enslavement at the end of those one thousand years. Now Ardra has apparently returned to demand the fulfillment of the old treaty, and she scares the Ventaxians with her magic, such as earthquakes.
Ardra even claims ownership of the Enterprise, based on a clause that everything in orbit belongs to the planet. Data finds a precedent in Ventaxian history of a dispute with a Klingon that was resolved by arbitration. Picard now demands an arbitration, in the course of which he strives to disprove Ardra's claim, as well as her supernatural powers. Geordi finally locates her cloaked ship and enables Picard to tap into its power systems, giving him the same power she had.
Errors and Explanations[]
The Nitpicker's Guide
Next Generation Trekkers
Volume 2[]
Changed Premesis[]
- In Day of the Dove, Kang claims the Klingons have no devil, but in this episode, Ardra changes into Fek'lhr, a being she groups with other races' versions of the devil. Ardra was confused, as Fek'lhr is actually the guardian of Gre'thor, the hereafter where dishonoured Klingons go after they die, which isn't the same thing.
Internet Movie Database[]
Plot holes[]
- It seems unlikely Ventaxian law would allow for someone to contract with another in a way in which it would allow for a claim to property of a third party. The Ventaxians did not own the Enterprise, and could not give it away. Even Picard could not give the ship away, because he didn't own it. That's not the point - Ardra claimed ownership of the Enterprise simply because it was in orbit of Ventax.
Nit Central[]
- Anonymous on Friday, December 31, 1999 - 1:13 pm: Can we spell Prime Directive. It was an internal Ventaxian matter. Chris Booton (Cbooton) on Tuesday, January 11, 2000 - 10:22 am: I think that there were Federation hostages on the planet when she arrived. She ordered them released and the people holding them complied. At this point Picard tried to leave but Ardra would not let them saying she now owned the Enterprise. This is why Picard had to neogitiate. It's true that if she left the Enterprise alone that they would have left and she would have ended up with full control over the planet.
- About Ardra's powers, she "was" using standard technology, how did she disable the internal comunication system and door for Picards quarters? The rest of the ship was obviously unaffected, otherwise someone would have noticed. She may have added some unique modoifications.
- fred on Sunday, May 12, 2002 - 1:46 pm: The Ventaxians made a deal with the devil to stop wars, clean up the environment, etc.? Why didn't they make a deal with God to do that? All that nice peace-and-environment stuff sounds like something God would approve of, not the devil. LUIGI NOVI on Sunday, May 12, 2002 - 2:12 pm: They made a deal with Ardra because Ardra was the one who appeared to them and offered them that deal. I think the reason Jared continues to believe the Ardra was responsible was intended as a metaphor for the way religious fanatics/Biblical literalists today answer questions about how the Bible can be literally true in spite of all the scientific evidence that it cannot be: They simply say "God makes it possible," or "God works in mysterious ways," or "God made so that it looks that way." Jared probably believes that Ardra "made" it possible for the people to do what they did to clean up their act.
- Rene on Wednesday, October 16, 2002 - 1:48 pm: What exactly did convince Picard that Ardra was a fraud when she first showed up? Anonymous on Wednesday, October 16, 2002 - 3:30 pm: He read the scpipt. Rene on Wednesday, October 16, 2002 - 3:34 pm: Mostly likely. :)
But seriously though, he bet his soul on the fact she was a fraud. That was risky given he had NOTHING to go on. Especially in the Trek Universe, that has beings like Q, Trelane's race, Apollo and the other Greek gods,...so why was he so sure that Ardra wasn't real. Seniram Gut instinct? - Neon on Friday, March 07, 2003 - 2:27 am: One thing I noticed while watching this ep tonight...at the beginning of the ep where Picard & Co. are in the Conference Room discussing the hostage situation, Picard says that he wants Worf, Geordi, Data, and himself to beam down, and then he asks Troi to "come as well". Once they beam down, there's only Worf, Data, Picard, and Troi - what happened to Geordi? Darth Sarcasm on Friday, March 07, 2003 - 11:50 am: I have not seen the episode in a while. But according to the copy of the script in my TNG Companion CD-ROM, Picard only asks Data and Worf (and later Troi) to accompany him to the surface.
The Next Generation Season 4 |
The Best of Both Worlds Part 2 I Family I Brothers I Suddenly Human I Remember Me I Legacy I Reunion I Future Imperfect I Final Mission I The Loss I Data's Day I The Wounded I Devil's Due I Clues I First Contact I Galaxy's Child I Night Terrors I Identity Crisis I The Nth Degree I Qpid I The Drumhead I Half a Life I The Host I The Mind's Eye I In Theory I Redemption Part 1 |