Azati Prime (episode)

The crew discovers the Xindi weapon and plans to launch a suicide mission to destroy it with Archer at the helm. But, when Archer is captured, he must convince Degra that humanity is no threat to him. Meanwhile, the Xindi launch a heavy attack on Enterprise that leaves the ship defenseless and near destruction.

Summary
The enters the Azati Prime system at the same time as Degra's ship. While Degra toasts the fact that the Xindi superweapon will soon be completed, Enterprise positions itself behind a planetoid. The inner planets of the system are protected by a detection grid, so Trip Tucker and Travis Mayweather take the Xindi-Insectoid shuttlecraft in for a closer look. They find the weapon under water on the planet Azati Prime, nearing completion. While away, Captain Jonathan Archer orders the destruction of a lunar base they fear will reveal their position.

After Tucker and Mayweather return with information about the weapon's position, Captain Archer says that he will take the shuttle back in and destroy the superweapon with photonic torpedoes. The crew tries to talk him out of it, especially T'Pol, and even Daniels pays a visit to convince Archer to try a diplomatic solution, taking Archer to the future to see the Battle of Procyon V on board the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-J). During this visit, Crewman Daniels reveals to Captain Archer that in the future, the Federation will be responsible for the success in averting a galaxy-wide takeover by the Sphere Builders. He manages to convince Archer to take with him a relic from the future.

After giving his farewell speech and asking Phlox to look after Porthos, Archer arrives at the construction site on Azati Prime. He discovers the weapon has been moved and is captured by Commander Dolim and his security forces, and interrogated. Archer manages to convince Dolim to let him talk to Degra, to whom he shows the relic: an initiation medal of a Xindi who has joined the Federation. Archer is beginning to convince Degra, Jannar, and the other Xindi-Primate councilor when Dolim returns, growing impatient. Archer is to be taken away for further interrogation.

Meanwhile, four Xindi vessels descend on Enterprise and open fire after investigating the destruction of the aforementioned lunar base. Hull plating quickly goes off-line, as does the intercom system. As the Xindi inflict major internal and external damage to the ship, coolant leaks in engineering force Tucker's crew to evacuate. As the Xindi continue their onslaught, a major hull breach in the primary hull blows several crewmembers out into space. Facing their imminent destruction, all the crew can do is prepare for the worst as Enterprise drifts defenselessly in space...

Memorable quotes
"Patience is for the dead!"
 * - Commander Dolim

"I think I found reverse."

"Great, but unless we plan to fly in ass-first, we'd better figure out how to make it go forward."
 * - Mayweather and Tucker, while learning to fly the Xindi-Insectoid shuttle

"Their flight path is somewhat erratic."
 * - T'Pol, to Archer, describing the path of the Xindi shuttle with Mayweather and Tucker at the controls

"I thought you were the skeptical one when it came to time travel."

"Our recent visit to Detroit has tempered my skepticism."
 * - Archer and T'Pol, discussing Daniels' advice regarding the Xindi

"Good. You're starting to think like an Insectoid."

"I'll take that as a compliment."
 * - Mayweather and Archer, as the captain learns to fly the Xindi shuttle

"I'm going to ask all of you to think back to the day when this ship was first launched. We were explorers then. When all this is over, when Earth is safe, I want you to get back to that job. There are four hundred billion stars in our galaxy – we've only explored a tiny fraction. You have a lot of work to do. Of all the captains who will sit in this chair, I can't imagine any of them being more proud than I am right now."
 * - Captain Archer, in a farewell speech to his command staff

"No matter what happens to the Xindi weapon, the Captain isn't coming back."
 * - Tucker, to T'Pol

"Dismissed."

"Dismissed?"

"Get out!"
 * - T'Pol and Tucker, as she orders him to leave her ready room, distraught over the Captain's impending sacrifice.

"I'll bet you didn't know this, but at one time most of my world was ruled by reptiles."

"I wasn't aware of that."

"A comet hit around 65 million years ago – caused a mass extinction. Most of the reptiles died out. Mammals became the dominant species."

"How unfortunate."

"Still, the reptiles might've come out on top if it hadn't been for a slight disadvantage."

"And what was that?"

"They had brains the size of a walnut. That's very small. Apparently, it is a constant in the universe."
 * - Archer and Commander Dolim

"You don't want to know my specialty."

"Let me guess, stinkin' up the room!"
 * - Dolim and Archer

"You want me to kill you."

"Just making conversation."
 * - Dolim and Archer

"Listen to me, you son of a bitch! It wasn't any easier for me to swallow this than it is for you, but you better understand something: if you destroy Earth you won't just be eliminating my species, you'll be eliminating your own."
 * - Archer, to Degra

"Let me speak to this council of yours – present my case."

"Some members of the council would sooner execute you than listen."

"Then help me change their minds."

"You haven't changed ours."

"I made an impression, or you wouldn't still be here."
 * - Captain Archer, Degra, and the Xindi-Primate Councilor

"Everybody out!"
 * - Tucker, to his engineering staff, as he gives the order to evacuate

Background Information

 * Three crewmen are shown being blown into space through a hull breach; they are later mentioned among those missing in the following episode.
 * This episode relies to a large extent on information obtained by Archer in.
 * We see the 11th starship to be called Enterprise with the NCC-1701 registry, though we don't learn what class of ship she is. The count doesn't include the OV-101, XCV 330, or the NX-01.
 * Many of the ships in the Battle of Procyon V are reused studio models from throughout the various series. Among those that can be clearly identified are, , and  starships, as well as the Vissian starship and Devore warship standing in for the Sphere Builders.
 * Some of the damage done to appears to be reused from previous episodes, including hull damage from  and  as well as the significantly damaged port hull from.
 * This episode marks the last time Enterprise is seen free of severe damage until the fourth season episode.
 * The drinking glasses, used by Degra in this episode, were sold off on the It's A Wrap! sale and auction on eBay. They were previously used in several episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine in Quark's and are from Victoria and Richard MacKenzie-Childs LTD.

Video and DVD release

 * As part of the ENT Season 3 DVD collection

Starring

 * Scott Bakula as Captain Jonathan Archer
 * John Billingsley as Doctor Phlox
 * Jolene Blalock as Subcommander T'Pol
 * Dominic Keating as Lieutenant Malcolm Reed
 * Anthony Montgomery as Ensign Travis Mayweather
 * Linda Park as Ensign Hoshi Sato
 * Connor Trinneer as Commander Charles "Trip" Tucker III

Guest stars

 * Matt Winston as Daniels
 * Randy Oglesby as Degra
 * Scott MacDonald as Dolim
 * Tucker Smallwood as Xindi-Primate councilor
 * Rick Worthy as Jannar

Co-star

 * Christopher Goodman as Thalen

Uncredited co-stars

 * Geneviere Anderson as operations division ensign
 * Vince Deadrick, Jr. as an engineer on fire
 * Henry Farnam as command division crewman
 * Scott L. Treger as a Xindi-Reptilian
 * Breezy or Windy as Porthos