Code of Honor (episode)

A mission of mercy is jeopardized when a planetary ruler decides he wants an Enterprise officer as his wife.

Summary
The USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) has traveled to Ligon II in search of a vaccine, found only on that planet, that is needed to cure a plague, Anchilles fever, on Styris IV, a Federation planet. Captain Picard has to negotiate with the Ligon leader Lutan for the vaccine. Picard, Troi and Riker go to the cargo bay to greet the Ligonians. Troi informs the others that the Ligonians are an extremely proud race of people with a highly-structured society.

The Ligonians beam over with a red carpet, which is rolled out before Lutan himself beams over. Picard greets him, and Lutan introduces his secondary Hagon. Picard then introduces his crew. Lutan is intrigued that a woman, Natasha Yar, is in charge of security. Hagon approaches Picard with a sample of the vaccine, and brushes Yar out of the way when she tries to take it from him. Yar then throws Hagon to the ground before inspecting the vaccine and giving it to Picard. Troi tells him not to apologize as they would see this as a sign of weakness. Picard invites the Ligonians to the observation lounge.

In the lounge, Picard presents Lutan with a 13th century statue of a horse from the Sung Dynasty. Lutan makes a speech praising Picard and saying he hopes their two peoples can become friends. He tells Picard that on Ligon, the women own all the land and wealth, but apart from that they are subservient to the men. He then asks to see the holodeck, and wants Yar to show it to him. She brings him and Hagon there and shows them an aikido training holoprogram. Lutan tells Yar that he is very impressed by her. They return to the cargo deck and prepare to leave. Lutan goes to shake Yar's hand, but then grabs her and beams her down to Ligon.

Picard orders a red alert and tries to contact Lutan, but he doesn't respond. He then orders a display blast of photon torpedoes 1,000 meters above the planet's surface. Troi advises the captain that she sensed greed and ambition from Lutan. Data comments that the Ligonians value patience and that perhaps they should wait and see if Lutan contacts them.

Later, Dr. Crusher visits the captain in his ready room and tells him that the vaccine can't be replicated – only the original will work. She also asks him to allow Wesley to come on to the bridge. Picard relents and goes out onto the bridge and asks him to sit at the operations officer station. Data is ready with his briefing on the Ligonians. He tells Picard that they live by a strict code of honor and that what Lutan has done is similar to what Native Americans called "counting coup". In this case, Lutan's abduction of Yar was a sign of his heroism. Since Yar was the security chief, she was the riskiest target to capture and thus carried the most prestige.

Lutan hails them and Troi advises Picard that he ask for Yar back. Although he's not happy about it, Picard agrees and asks Lutan to return Yar. Lutan invites them down to the planet. Riker is persuaded to allow Picard down to the planet, as a visiting leader becomes an honored guest and cannot be harmed.

Picard and Troi beam down and Lutan introduces them to Yareena, his "first one". Picard asks to see Yar, and when she is brought out she tells him that she's all right. Lutan says she will be returned at a banquet in their honor tonight. At the banquet, Picard makes a speech about Lutan and his honor and asks for Yar back. However, Lutan refuses, saying he wants Yar as his first one. This outrages both Picard and Yareena, who challenges Yar to a fight to the death. If she doesn't fight, Lutan won't give them the vaccine. Later Picard and Troi come to visit Yar in her room, where she admits that she finds Lutan attractive. She is confident that she can win, and Troi agrees, saying that the odds are in her favor.

Back on the Enterprise, a message is received from Starbase 14, saying that the plague has worsened and that millions could die without the vaccine.

Picard is not happy with Yar having to fight and he goes to reason with Lutan. He finds out that Lutan needs Yareena's money and land if he is to stay in power. If she dies, he gets her money, so he's in a win-win situation.

Data visits Geordi La Forge in his quarters and tries to tell him a joke, but Data still doesn't understand humor. Then they are ordered to beam down to the surface, where they meet Picard, who orders them to examine the weapons on display, as they won't know which is to be used until just before the fight. Yareena comes to see Yar at her request. Yar tries to talk her out of fighting but Yareena won't budge. She tells this to Picard, as Data and La Forge return with their report on the weapons, which are very sharp and poison tipped. Hagon arrives with the weapon to be used – a spiked metal ball on a glove, called a glavin.

Data beams back to the Enterprise to let Riker know what the captain is planning. Meanwhile down on the surface, Picard, Troi, La Forge and Yar enter the arena. The fight starts and Yar dodges and parries Yareena's attacks. Then Yareena's glove hits an electrified pole and the glove flies off and hits a spectator. The spikes cut him and he is dead in seconds. The fight resumes and eventually Yar bests Yareena and dives on her. They are both beamed up to the Enterprise.

Lutan is happy with the outcome and allows medical teams to beam down to get the vaccine. Then Picard orders the away team to be beamed up, along with Lutan and Hagon. They are brought to the observation lounge, where Yareena is alive, resuscitated by Dr. Crusher. Since Yareena technically died, her marriage to Lutan is over, but she still has her wealth so she selects Hagon as her new first one. He now has all Yareena's wealth and power. She asks Lutan to be her second one and he accepts. With the vaccine secured, the Enterprise heads for Styris IV.

Log Entries

 * Captain's log, USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D), 2364
 * First officer's log, USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D)
 * Ship's log, USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D)

Memorable Quotes
"He's on the turbolift. You'll remember you ordered him to stay off of the bridge."
 * - Beverly Crusher to Picard about Wesley

"Then you shall have no treaty, no vaccine and no Lieutenant Yar!"
 * - Lutan

"A code of honor protects one, Captain, like a magic cloak."
 * - Lutan, to Picard

"This is my first one, Yareena."

"Lutan is a fortunate man."
 * - Lutan, introducing Yareena to Picard

"May I speak to you about my son, Wesley?"

"What? Oh, yes... (grumbling) all right."
 * - Beverly Crusher and Jean-Luc Picard

"Surrounded by such friendship, I feel no need for my guards!"
 * - Lutan, to Picard in the Enterprise-D's conference lounge

"You can create people... without a soul?"
 * - Lutan, on the holographic simulation of an Aikido fighter

"Ah, I see. You too understand the proper value of women!"
 * - Picard, to Lutan

"Your skill impresses me. I like you."
 * - Lutan, to Tasha Yar

"You speak of a code of honor. What you are saying now, according to our customs is called an act of war!"

"This is not an act of war, but of love!"
 * - Picard and Lutan, after Lutan finds he cannot part with Tasha Yar

"Are you making demands, Captain?!"
 * - Lutan

"(To Wesley Crusher) Why don't you sit at Ops, next to Lieutenant La Forge?"

"Sir?"

"Sir?"

"Is the whole ship deaf? Sit down over there, young man! Temporarily!"
 * - Picard, Wesley Crusher and Geordi La Forge

"Out of my way, woman!"
 * - Hagon, to Tasha Yar

"Lutan is such... such a basic male image and having him say he wants you..."

"Well, yes of course, it made me feel good when he... Troi, I'm your friend and you tricked me!"
 * - Deanna Troi and Tasha Yar

"We're all being manipulated, Lieutenant. Myself most of all."
 * - Picard, to Tasha Yar

"''Includling" the kiddlies! Now, see that's funny!''"
 * - La Forge, to Data after his tongue slipped while telling an old and unfunny joke

"For example, what Lutan did is similar to what certain American Indians once did, called 'counting coup'. That is from an obscure language known as French. Counting coup..."

"Mr. Data, the French language for centuries on Earth represented civilization!"
 * - Data and Picard

"By our standard, the customs here - their code of honor - is the same kind of pompous, strutting charade that endangered our own species a few centuries ago. We evolved out of it because no one tried to impose their own set of... I'm sorry, this is becoming a speech."

"You're the captain, sir, you're entitled."

"Hmm. I'm not entitled to ramble on about something everyone knows. Carry on."


 * - Troi and Picard, during an impromptu lecture to Data on the Prime Directive.

"Move!"
 * - Riker, ordering Dr. Crusher to treat Yareena before she and Yar have finished materializing on the transporter pad

"She is not dead!"
 * - Lutan, seeing Yareena alive and well in the Enterprise-D's conference lounge

"These I understand."
 * - Yar, examining the combat weapons

"As you can see, Captain, you may excel in technology, but not in civilized behavior."
 * - Hagon

"What? Wesley?"

"Yeah. Wesley had been manning that station for me. I forgot."

"Well, thanks again for manning one of our bridge stations, Wesley. We'll see that you get another chance."

"Yes, sir."
 * - Picard, Riker and Wesley

Production history

 * First story:
 * Revised final draft script:
 * Filmed: –
 * Premiere airdate:
 * UK premiere (BBC2):

Story and script

 * Katharyn Powers is also responsible for the very similar Stargate SG-1 Season One episode "Emancipation". Both episodes feature a female officer being abducted and later participating in a fight to the death.
 * An original story concept by Powers and Baron called the Ligonians Tellisians, a reptilian species with a culture similar to the Japanese samurai and a warrior caste called the Kadim. (Creating the Next Generation: The Conception and Creation of a Phenomenon, p.39) This story concept also named the planet Ligon II Tellis and Lutan was the captain of a Tellisian ship. He met the Enterprise-D crew on a shore leave planet where ritual fightings were held and kidnapped Tasha on this planet where she had a fight with Lutan's son. The concept also featured a reference to James T. Kirk who once fought against Lutan's grandfather. Yareena's uncle, the king, was poisoned by Lutan and the away team of the Enterprise-D was imprisoned. In this prison they met the Tellisian Hinun, a nephew of Lutan who assisted in their escape. (Creating the Next Generation: The Conception and Creation of a Phenomenon, p. 76-78)

Production

 * In this episode, the entire humanoid population of the planet is portrayed by African-American performers. In the teleplay, however, only Lutan's guards were specifically written as being African.
 * Glenn R. Wilder served as stunt coordinator for this episode. He was among the group of "one time" hired coordinators, prior to Dennis Madalone's employment on the series. Wilder also coordinated two years later.
 * This was the only Star Trek episode directed by Russ Mayberry. He left the production during filming and was replaced by first assistant director Les Landau.

Music

 * The score for this episode was composed by Fred Steiner, who had written numerous scores for TOS and was the only composer to write for both series. The score was recorded on at Paramount Stage M.  The complete episode score appears on Disc Three of the Star Trek: The Next Generation Collection, Volume One collection.

Cast and characters

 * Michael Dorn (Worf) does not appear in this episode. This is his first non-appearance. The only other TNG episode in which he does not appear is.
 * This episode and the pilot are the only two TNG episodes in which a male stunt performer doubled for an actress. In this episode an unknown stunt performer doubled Karole Selmon's fight scenes.

Sets and props

 * Doctor Crusher is seen wearing an antiquated wrist-watch when Yareena is beamed to the ship.
 * The ivory-like sticks the Ligonians use to show approval or to applaud are later seen again in, where an illusionary Tilonian inmate plays with them.
 * Characteristic white lamps, consisting of several tubes in different shapes are seen on Ligon II for the first time. They later re-appear on many planets, like on Angel I, Risa, Cardassia and the first Founders' homeworld.
 * One of the lamps, a spherical type was recycled from the 1983 film , and later reused on Angel I in and on the first Founders' homeworld in . Another one was recycled from, where it appeared in the San Francisco bar. Another type of these lamps also appeared on Babylon 5.
 * In this episode, the floor of the holodeck is not yet covered by the familiar pattern of yellow stripes on black background; instead, the floor is covered by grey carpet.
 * Special care was taken to include a Ligonian logo into many set pieces. The hexagonal shape consisting of three diagonal stripes and a small circle is seen on walls, doors, the vaccine box and the weapon boxes. The hexagonal shape is also echoed in the shape of doors, windows and the weapon wall in the large open courtyard.
 * The blue razor prop that La Forge used to shave was later seen, again as a razor, in - which, coincidentally, was directed by actor LeVar Burton.
 * The Ligonian glavin appears in later episodes such as and, slightly repainted, in Worf's quarters as a Klingon hand-weapon.
 * The Ligonian gongs were later re-used in the Temple of Akadar in.

Special and visual effects

 * According to Robert Legato, 80 visual effects shots were used in this episode. ("Departmental Briefing Year Five" ("Visual Effects"), TNG Season 5 DVD special feature)

Continuity

 * This episode is similar to and, as, in each episode, a member of the series' main cast (and the Enterprise's senior staff) is forced into fighting in ceremonial combat. Both this episode and  before it (in which Spock is forced to fight Captain Kirk) feature two characters (Lieutenant Yar and Spock) who both later died but returned in some form in their respective series (Tasha Yar dies in  but returns in  and ; Spock dies in  before being resurrected in ).

Reception

 * As noted in the TNG Companion, Tracy Tormé was embarrassed by what he called a "1940s tribal Africa" view of Africans in the episode.
 * Jonathan Frakes referred to the episode as a "racist piece of shit" . At a 2007 science fiction convention in Toronto, Canada, he told the audience, "The worst and most embarrassing and one that even Gene would have been embarrassed by was that horrible racist episode from the first season... Code of Honor, oh my God in heaven!"
 * In a 2012 interview with TrekMovie.com, Brent Spiner recalled, "It ["Code of Honor"] was just a racist episode. Maybe not intentionally but it felt that way and looked that way. It was the third episode so it was fortuitous that we did our worst that early on and it never got quite that bad again."
 * According to Wil Wheaton, 'if the cast wasn't arbitrarily decided to be African-American,' the idea of the episode being racist or non-racist wouldn't have been an issue.
 * Star Trek: Voyager actor Garrett Wang said this episode "stinks" to which LeVar Burton agreed, adding "without question", at a Star Trek panel at DragonCon 2010.
 * A mission report for this episode by Patrick Daniel O'Neill was featured in The Official Star Trek: The Next Generation Magazine, Vol. 2, pp. 52-57.
 * At the 2013 Toronto Comic Con's "An Evening With the Cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation", Michael Dorn referred to this episode as "the worst episode of Star Trek ever filmed" to agreement from the rest of the cast and the crowd.

Apocrypha

 * The novel Dark Mirror establishes that in the mirror universe, when the ISS Enterprise-D arrived at Ligonia and the Ligonians tried to make the Enterprise-D crew follow their rituals, they simply sterilized the planet's southern continent which forced the Ligonians into cooperating with the Empire's demands.

Video and DVD releases

 * Original UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 2, catalogue number VHR 2264,.
 * US LaserDisc (Pioneer): catalogue number LV40270-103,.
 * UK re-release (three-episode tapes, Paramount Home Entertainment): Volume 1.2, catalogue number VHR 4643,.
 * On both UK VHS releases, the title of the episode was given as "Code of Honour" on the video sleeve.


 * As part of the TNG Season 1 DVD collection.
 * As part of the TNG Season 1 Blu-ray collection.

Starring

 * Patrick Stewart as Captain Jean-Luc Picard
 * Jonathan Frakes as Commander William T. Riker

Also starring

 * LeVar Burton as Lt. Geordi La Forge
 * Denise Crosby as Lt. Tasha Yar
 * Gates McFadden as Doctor Beverly Crusher
 * Marina Sirtis as Counselor Deanna Troi
 * Brent Spiner as Lt. Commander Data
 * Wil Wheaton as Wesley Crusher

Guest stars

 * Jessie Lawrence Ferguson as Lutan
 * Karole Selmon as Yareena
 * James Louis Watkins as Hagon

Co-Star

 * Michael Rider as Transporter Chief

Uncredited co-stars

 * James G. Becker as Youngblood
 * Darrell Burris as an operations division officer
 * Dexter Clay as a security officer
 * Jeffrey Deacon as a command division officer
 * Nora Leonhardt as a science division ensign
 * Tim McCormack as Bennett
 * Lorine Mendell as Diana Giddings
 * Richard Sarstedt as a command division officer
 * Unknown performers as
 * Aikido fighter
 * Ligonian juggler
 * Ligonian spectators
 * Ligonian victim
 * Operations division officer
 * Six Ligonian guards
 * Two Ligonian servants
 * Yareena's maid

Stunt doubles

 * Cheryl Wheeler Duncan as stunt double for Denise Crosby
 * Unknown stunt performers as
 * Stunt double for Karole Selmon
 * Stunt double for James Louis Watkins

Stand-ins

 * James G. Becker - stand-in for Jonathan Frakes
 * Darrell Burris - stand-in for LeVar Burton
 * Jeffrey Deacon - stand-in for Patrick Stewart
 * Susan Duchow - stand-in for Denise Crosby
 * Nora Leonhardt - stand-in for Marina Sirtis
 * Tim McCormack - stand-in for Brent Spiner
 * Lorine Mendell - stand-in for Gates McFadden
 * Guy Vardaman - stand-in for Wil Wheaton

External link


Code of Honor Der Ehrenkodex Code of Honor Code of Honor Codice d'onore (episodio) ja:TNG:愛なき惑星 Code of Honor Code of Honor Кодекс чести (эпизод)