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Sarek (TNG episode)
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"Sarek" is the title of an episode from the third season of Star Trek: The Next Generation. The episode features Sarek, the famous Vulcan Ambassador (first seen in the classic Star Trek episode Journey to Babel).
Plot
Sarek has come as part of a diplomatic mission to establish relations between the United Federation of Planets and the Legarans, his last mission before retiring.
Sarek quickly retires to his room, and one of Sarek's aides explains to Captain Picard that Sarek tires easily, because of his advanced age, and so requests the official welcoming ceremonies be dispensed with.
Deciding to continue with a classical concert that had been planned, Picard extends an invitation to Sarek's wife, Perrin.
Discussion
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Encyclopedia
"Sarek" is the title of an episode from the third season of Star Trek: The Next Generation. The episode features Sarek, the famous Vulcan Ambassador (first seen in the classic Star Trek episode Journey to Babel).
Plot
Sarek has come as part of a diplomatic mission to establish relations between the United Federation of Planets and the Legarans, his last mission before retiring.
Sarek quickly retires to his room, and one of Sarek's aides explains to Captain Picard that Sarek tires easily, because of his advanced age, and so requests the official welcoming ceremonies be dispensed with.
Deciding to continue with a classical concert that had been planned, Picard extends an invitation to Sarek's wife, Perrin. When Picard leaves the ambassadorial quarters, Perrin enters Sarek's room to find the Vulcan annoyed by an inability to meditate. His annoyance is quite out of character for Sarek, and indeed any Vulcan.
That evening, Sarek, his wife and his aides attend a Mozart concert. Picard is shocked when he notices Ambassador Sarek crying - a particular piece of the music has moved him to tears (incidentally, the piece played was actually the Andante in D-minor movement of Brahms' "Sextet #1 in B-Flat Major", though only four characters are shown performing the piece).
Ever since Sarek came aboard the Enterprise, sporadic bursts of anger have been occurring amongst the crew. Wesley and Geordi start arguing with each other, Dr. Crusher slaps Wesley for no reason, and a fistfight breaks out in Ten-Forward.
Troi and Crusher are able to formulate a theory that Sarek himself may be the cause of the disturbances. They postulate that Ambassador Sarek may be suffering from Bendii syndrome, a rare condition among Vulcans, characterized by a gradual erosion of emotional control. A kind of side effect is broadcast empathy; Sarek's long-suppressed emotions are transmitted to other people, who mistake his anger and grief for their own. One of Sarek's aides, Sakkath, admits that he has been using his telepathic abilities to shore up Sarek's emotional control, with only partial success.
Since Sarek's condition could jeopardize the treaty negotiations, Picard decides the time has come to confront Sarek with the findings. Picard informs Riker of his reluctance to do so, something Riker is not pleased about. Picard responds angrily to Riker's protests, both men start yelling at each other, but stop when they realize that Sarek had just influenced them as well.
When Picard tells the Ambassador what the crew suspects, Sarek is so upset that he has an outburst of anger, which confirms that he really does have the condition.
In order to preserve the important conference, Picard suggests that he and Sarek engage in a Vulcan mind-meld, and establish a telepathic link. Sarek agrees, and the melding of minds begins. While Sarek, drawing from Picard's emotional control leaves to begin the negotiations, Picard in the meantime suffers through a whirlwind of the Ambassador's emotions unleashed in his mind.
At the end of the episode, Sarek leaves, and it is a melancholy parting. His mission has been a success, but his emotional control is continuing to erode.
Music
The music played by the string quartet is a part of the String Quartet No.19 in C-Minor by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The second part in that scene fades into the 2nd movement of the "String Sextet No.1" by Johannes Brahms
External links
- book by Peter S. Beagle, from Conlan Press
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