Often shown in highlight reels and quoted in discussions about Star Trek’s more forward thinking messages, Let This Be Your Last Battlefield is at it’s simplest, a story of the ridiculousness of segregation. En route to a vital mission of mercy, Kirk and his crew end up in the middle of a political minefield.
Interrupted in the mission by a stolen Federation shuttle carrying an injured alien, Lokai from the planet Cheron, they’re soon further interrupted by Commissioner Bele, an official representing Cheron who announces Lokai as a political traitor and demanding custody. One asylum request later, Kirk’s stuck between the two trying to find the right course of action knowing he has orders to follow beyond the situation.
The separation between Belle and Lokai is a simple context. And also a strangely charged one looking at it from a 2026 perspective. Throughout the episode, each character gives their case to Kirk in order to win their debate. Their planet has been divided for centuries, A bizarre amount of centuries, but still….
Bele’s argument is that Lokai comes from a race of savage brutes who must be controlled. Lokai’s stance is fighting for a long, long overdue equality. When the episode was written, the racial divide in the United States was at a boiling point and the simplicity of the make up choice – jet black and pearly white – may seem heavy handed and no mistake. Especially with costuming choices being so basic that both characters have the same clothes, but one has ‘bling’ to show their superiority as the ruling class.
Whats fascinating about it all is how the reaction is framed. While there’s a certain assumption in how each side is presented – Lokai on the lower decks and Bele with the officers – Spock and Kirk are somewhat baffled by it all. “It is obvious to the most simple-minded that Lokai is of an inferior breed.” Bele would tell Kirk, while explaining that while Charon’s are white on one side and black on the other, Lokai was the wrong way round. All of his people are white on the right side. Which apparently, is the wrong side.
Kirk staring in confusion at a people who are white on one side, black on the other, split right down the middle, seeing each other as different is a bizarre scenario. This, the captain on TV in the 1960’s with his leading crew being an alien, an African on comms, a Japanese helmsman and a Russian navigator, baffled by the delineation between black and white. It said a lot. And that these two sides of the same coin were continuously fighting to the death just on a subtle – or to the audience, far from subtle – difference being framed as an unrecognisable conflict you couldn’t understand was what helped make Star Trek stand out on using the alien to speak about reality.
It’s over the top. It’s obvious. It’s absurd. Thats exactly the point. And one day, maybe the message will be heard….
About the author
Resistance Is Optional: Choose Your Adventure!
Our trials of bringing the fleet together have been hit and miss with scheduling and dates being a bit slim. So we're opening the floor to the fleet to pick the next date and theme! You can make your selection below on what works best for you ahead of our next fleet event! The final outcome will be shared at Europa on Facebook and in Fleet Alert in the Officers Hub as soon as we have a comfortable number of notes. For more information or to get direct updates on non-Discord online events, you can the subscribe to Twitch channel, visit twitch.tv/sfcq2. Google Meets events are hosted by our google account - you can add sfcquad2@gmail.com to your whitelist to ensure direct notification. Info and invite confirmations may also come from jt@sfcq2.com directly.
Sixty Year Mission…
It's been a really weird year already for the world of Star Trek fans. We started 2026 with a new venture into a strange new future with Starfleet Academy. Then just as the show had won people over, we found out it's the latest in a long list of recent productions to get a cancellation order, is a bit of a weird way to start the 60th anniversary of a legendary franchise. The past few years we've kind of spoiled. Growing up it was exciting to have Deep Space Nine run alongside the Next Generation. In modern times we had multiple shows going at once with Discovery's launch spawning a new world of story telling from revisiting Picard in his post-Starfleet years, to animated comedy with Lower Decks, to finally telling the story of Captain Pike and even a peek […]
[Retro Review] Let This Be Your Last Battlefield
Often shown in highlight reels and quoted in discussions about Star Trek's more forward thinking messages, Let This Be Your Last Battlefield is at it's simplest, a story of the ridiculousness of segregation. En route to a vital mission of mercy, Kirk and his crew end up in the middle of a political minefield. Interrupted in the mission by a stolen Federation shuttle carrying an injured alien, Lokai from the planet Cheron, they're soon further interrupted by Commissioner Bele, an official representing Cheron who announces Lokai as a political traitor and demanding custody. One asylum request later, Kirk's stuck between the two trying to find the right course of action knowing he has orders to follow beyond the situation. The separation between Belle and Lokai is a simple context. And also a strangely charged one looking at it from a […]
[Treknology] The Holodeck
An immersive experience in itself, the Holodeck is one of the many creature comforts that help bring comfort and entertainment within the life of a starship years from home that not only acts in creating a live action gaming environment, but as a useful tool for educational simulations, experiments and the occasional Hirogen nightmare! The holodeck is a complex device. Essentially a simulated environment generator, the holodeck is usually a vast room that used a combination of forcefields, matter replication and visually manipulative holographic systems to create an immersive environment that one or multiple people can use to not only see and hear, but physically interact with. Able to replicate anything from historical settings to an entirely original landscape, the holodeck ios Knightmare in ultra high resolution without a headset or guide, but a physical interaction with a created world […]
A Fistful of Sisko
In the past few years, Star Trek has made several nods to it's past. But while The NExt Generation and Voyager had their continuations, Deep Space Nine continued to 'black sheep' of the family with it's history and name drops being few and far between. Until Academy when we had an entire episode based around the legend of Starfleet's most complex captains. Starting his show as a widower and single parent, Benjamin Sisko started his time in Star Trek as a reluctant hero turned religious icon who's become a prime figure in Bajoran history, the Federation-Dominion war and much more. If you missed his series, first of.... why?! And also, if you want a quick intro - here's our Sisko top five to see what the fuss is all about. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzBkvzPoofQ IN THE PALE MOONLIGHT Season 6, Episode 13 Lets […]
Starfleet Academy to end with with Season 2
Announced first by Variety, it's been announced that Starfleet Academy will end with Season 2. Having just launches in January with the first season finale receiving positive reactions, and it's second season now in post-production following the completion of filming, the announcement comes at an unsurprising time with Paramount undergoing new ownership under Skydance and more business shenanigans with further consolidation in the works with plans to absorb Warner Brothers into the mix. Set in the 32nd century and using Discovery's season 3 'Burn' storyline as a reset point, Starfleet Academy was focused on new original characters who had signed up to be the new stewards of Starfleet's future to rebuild the strength and vision of the Federation. Opening strong, Academy improved throughout it's first season and used it's setting to help strengthen the hopeful vision of the future and […]
Related
[Retro Review] The Trouble With Tribbles
Space adventures, time travelling madness and the occasional God was standard fare for the original series. But every now and then it dived into a mission of the mundane. Kirk's mission in The Trouble With Tribbles is as dull as it could be and he's hugely aware of it. The Klingon's have popped up again and the people of resupply station K7 want some help guarding a huge shipment of grain. As the Klingons ask for shore leave, they share the station with the Enterprise crew while Kirk tries to keep his cool... For decades now this is one of those episodes that jumped out and added one of the weirdest parts to the Star Trek lore. Tribbles. Introduced by trader Cyrano Jones, the inoffensive little balls of fur catch the attention of Uhura who buys one instantly and takes […]
[Retro Review] Balance of Terror.
Each era of Star Trek has captured a moment in time. The original series captured as unique a moment as any that feels both like ancient history and something that still resonates. It's cast and writers still felt the effects of the second world war, from actors like James Doohan who was famously injured in D-Day, to producer Robert Justman among the many on board the Enterprise who's lives were in part shaped by the historical event. At the same time, much as things are today, there was no end to conflict or instability in the world and even the race to the moon and seeing Apollo 11's flight suffered the dark cloud of the cold war between the United States and what was then the USSR. The background and setting behind the era was what could create episodes like […]
[Retro Review] Where No Man Has Gone Before….
During a search and rescue mission that takes the Enterprise through the Galactic Barrier, ships captain James 'R' Kirk has another problem. During the trip through the barrier, Kirks crewmate and long time friend Gary Mitchell takes a blast of weird energy that slowly transforms him into everyone's best friend, to a telekinetic megalomaniac proving that old parable about absolute power.... By this point, everyone knows the story of Star Trek's two pilots. The Cage was filmed, rejected and the show got a rare second chance. That second chance as Where No Man Has Gone Before. Same ship, different Captain and crew aside from a green blooded alien... This year marks the 60th anniversary of Star Trek, so it seems only fitting we should start, where the show began on screen with the pilot that saw the idea become a […]
[Retro Review] Endgame; Voyager Season 7 Finale
Voyager's first episode set the mission to get the lost ship back to Earth. In the serie's final episode, it would be somewhat of a let down if they just left the crew in the middle of nowhere. Even then the ending seemed like an obvious one and with it all being telegraphed 170 episodes before, the fun wasn't about if they got home, but how... Kicking off with a celebration, we skip to the end with a reunion celebrating the tenth anniversary of Voyagers return to Earth. Sixteen years after the previous episode, Voyager found it's way home. And now twenty six years into the future from our viewer perspective, we get a bit of a catch up with the former crew. Harry finally got promoted and is now a Captain. Paris and Torres have a daughter, Miral, who's […]
[Retro Review] Meld: Voyager Season 2, Episode 16
Solving a murder mystery is easy when the killer nonchalantly confirms the allegation. But when your lead investigator is a Vulcan who's live is based on logic, and your killer just casually murdered someone without a care in the world, you can't just walk away without understanding the lack of motive... I've always loved it when a show pulls back and just creates a bottle inside it's own sets. No space adventure, no travelling to other planets. Just the characters trapped inside the bulkheads with a problem to solve. There's a time for spectacle, and then there's a time for an episode like Meld when after a few dodgy episodes you just need to keep things simple and effective. Brad Dourif was also wondeful as Suder. But a calm, collected and quiet sociopath and Brad Dourif goes hand in hand. […]
[Retro Review] The Thaw: Voyager Season 2, Episode 23
On another distraction from flying in a straight line back to Earth, Voyager finds a world thats been wiped out by natural disaster. But there are survivors; a small group cryogenically frozen in a controlled system designed to wake them up when the coast was clear. Nineteen years later, they're trapped, asleep within the machine... Four years past their scheduled release date, there's been no breakdown, no malfunction. Yet five of the inhabitants are dead, the rest all very much alive and locked into a computer stimulation keeping them in a dream-world state. Bringing them on board the ship, Janeway is told that they can't just switch the machine off as it'll cause irreversible brain damage. But just like dialling into the Matrix, Voyager can plug into the redundant status chambers and hack their way in to talk to the […]
