The Paradise Syndrome (Episode)

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The Paradise Syndrome

"The Paradise Syndrome" (TOS 58)

Series	Star Trek
Season	3
Episode	3
Production Number	58
Release Date	4 Oct 1968
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Stardate 4842.6: Kirk loses his memory and begins a life in a native village.

Beaming down to a beautiful, Earth-like planet threatened by collision with a massive asteroid, Kirk, Spock, and McCoy discover a village of peaceful, tribal Humans apparently descended from Earth's Native Americans. Near their village is a huge obelisk, covered in unknown writing. As Kirk explores the structure, he falls through a trap door and is exposed to a strange ray that renders him unconscious. Spock and McCoy fail to find him, and are forced to return to the Enterprise in order to attempt to divert the asteroid. Kirk awakens, suffering from partial amnesia, and is discovered by the tribe, who revere him as a god. The Enterprise fails to sufficiently divert the asteroid with high-powered phaser fire, and damages its engines in the process: the ship is forced to fly back to the planet at sublight speed, a journey that will take two months. During this time, Kirk falls in love with, and marries, the priestess Miramanee. Meanwhile, Spock deciphers the writing on the obelisk, which his tricorder had recorded, and learns that an ancient race, known as the Preservers, "seeded" the planet with transplanted Humans and provided an asteroid deflector to protect the settlement, housed within the obelisk. Kirk, now called Kirok, is named the new Medicine Chief, but he has no idea how to activate the obelisk, a secret that died with his predecessor, and Spock and McCoy beam down just as Kirk and Miramanee are being stoned by the frightened tribe for their failure to activate the obelisk. With Spock's aid, the obelisk is activated, the asteroid is deflected, and Kirk's memory is restored, but the pregnant Miramanee dies along with Kirk's unborn child.