"The Jihad" is the sixteenth and final episode of the first season of the American animated

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

television series '' Star Trek''. It first aired in the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

Saturday morning lineup on January 12, 1974, and was written by Stephen Kandel who also wrote the earlier story "

Mudd's Passion "Mudd's Passion" is the tenth episode of the first season of the American animated science fiction television series '' Star Trek: The Animated Series''. It first aired in the NBC Saturday morning lineup on November 10, 1973, and was written ...

" and worked on the two ''

Original Series Original programming (also called originals or original programs, and subcategorized as "original series", "original movies", "original documentaries" and "original specials") is a term used for in-house television, film or web series productions ...

'' " Mudd" episodes.This story was expanded into a novelette by science-fiction author

Alan Dean Foster Alan Dean Foster (born November 18, 1946) is an American writer of fantasy and science fiction. He has written several book series, more than 20 standalone novels, and many novelizations of film scripts. Career ''Star Wars'' Foster was the ghost ...

as part of the collection,
Star Trek Log Five
' (1975). In this form, the story is named simply "Jihad", and M3 Green is phonetically rendered as "Em-Three-Green" while Laura became "Lara". (). Set in the 23rd century, this series follows the further adventures of the crew of the

Federation A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government ( federalism). In a federation, the self-govern ...

starship ''

Enterprise Enterprise (or the archaic spelling Enterprize) may refer to: Business and economics Brands and enterprises * Enterprise GP Holdings, an energy holding company * Enterprise plc, a UK civil engineering and maintenance company * Enterpris ...

''. In this episode,

Captain Kirk James Tiberius Kirk is a fictional character in the '' Star Trek'' media franchise. Originally played by Canadian actor William Shatner, Kirk first appeared in '' Star Trek'' serving aboard the starship USS ''Enterprise'' as captain. Kirk lea ...

(voiced by

William Shatner William Shatner (born March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor. In a career spanning seven decades, he is best known for his portrayal of James T. Kirk in the ''Star Trek'' franchise, from his 1965 debut as the captain of the starship ''Enterpris ...

) and his first officer, Spock (voiced by

Leonard Nimoy Leonard Simon Nimoy (; March 26, 1931 – February 27, 2015) was an American actor, famed for playing Spock in the '' Star Trek'' franchise for almost 50 years. This includes originating Spock in the original ''Star Trek'' series in 1966, th ...

), become involved in a secret quest to retrieve a stolen artifact and prevent a warrior race from attacking the galaxy.

Plot

On stardate 5683.1, the

starship ''

'' arrives at the Vedala asteroid, where

and First Officer Spock have been summoned to take part in the latest of several failed secret quests to learn about a stolen religious artifact, the "Soul of the Skorr", the theft of which could ignite a galactic

holy war A religious war or a war of religion, sometimes also known as a holy war ( la, sanctum bellum), is a war which is primarily caused or justified by differences in religion. In the modern period, there are frequent debates over the extent to wh ...

. Joining Kirk and Spock is a team of specialists called in to help recover the item, which has been hidden on a very unstable and dangerous planet. The focal point of the mission as the primary stakeholder is "Tchar", the hereditary prince of the Skorr. The muscle of the team is provided by "Sord", a reptilian with great strength. An insectoid named "M3 Green" is a master lockpick.Although the exact species of "M3 Green" is never mentioned during the episode, the '' Starfleet Corps of Engineers'' novels gives the name of the species as the "Nasat" (one of the Nasat characters in the novels is named "P8 Blue"). The team is rounded out by the huntress "Lara", a humanoid who is an accomplished tracker with an impeccable sense of direction. Kirk and Spock soon learn that one member of the party is a saboteur. It seems that Tchar has stolen the artifact himself in an effort to return his people to their warrior ways. When the mission is completed, Tchar is held captive as insane, although with good prospects of rehabilitation. The Vedala states that they will eventually forget that these events ever happened. Kirk and Spock return to the ''Enterprise'', where it seems that hardly any time at all has passed since their beam down to begin the mission.

Production

Science fiction author

David Gerrold David Gerrold (born Jerrold David Friedman; January 24, 1944)Reginald, R. (September 12, 2010)''Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature, Volume 2'' Borgo Press p. 911. Archived at Google Books. Retrieved June 23, 2013. is an American science fic ...

, who wrote or co-wrote a number of live-action ("

The Trouble with Tribbles "The Trouble with Tribbles" is the fifteenth episode of the second season of the American science fiction television series ''Star Trek''. Written by David Gerrold and directed by Joseph Pevney, it was first broadcast on December 29, 1967. In ...

") and animated ("

More Tribbles, More Troubles "More Tribbles, More Troubles" is the fifth episode of the first season of the animated American science fiction television series ''Star Trek''. It first aired in the NBC Saturday morning lineup on October 6, 1973, and was written by David G ...

", " Bem") ''Star Trek'' episodes, voices the character M3 Green for this episode. Actor

James Doohan James Montgomery Doohan (; March 3, 1920 – July 20, 2005) was a Canadian actor, author and soldier, best known for his role as Montgomery "Scotty" Scott in the television and film series '' Star Trek''. Doohan's characterization of the Scottis ...

voices Sord and Tchar, in addition to his usual role as Chief Engineer Scott. Although given the standard screen credit in the main title,

Nichelle Nichols Nichelle Nichols (, born Grace Dell Nichols; December 28, 1932 – July 30, 2022) was an American actress, singer, and dancer best known for her portrayal of Nyota Uhura in ''Star Trek'' and its film sequels. Nichols' portrayal of Uhura was g ...

(

Lt. Uhura Nyota Uhura () is a fictional character in the ''Star Trek'' franchise. In the original television series, the character was portrayed by Nichelle Nichols, who reprised the role for the first six ''Star Trek'' feature films. A younger Uhura is ...

) is not part of this episode. Since she was dealing with

pregnancy sickness Morning sickness, also called nausea and vomiting of pregnancy (NVP), is a Symptoms and discomforts of pregnancy, symptom of pregnancy that involves nausea or vomiting. Despite the name, nausea or vomiting can occur at any time during the day. T ...

Majel Barrett Majel Barrett-Roddenberry (; born Majel Leigh Hudec;
, ''

Filmation Filmation Associates was an American production company that produced animation and live-action programming for television from 1963 until 1989. Located in Reseda, California, the animation studio was founded in 1962. Filmation's founders and ...

mainstay

Jane Webb Jane Webb Karyl, (August 13, 1925 – March 30, 2010) best known as Jane Webb, was an American film, radio, and voice actress, best known for her work on Filmation's cartoons. Early years Webb's mother was Estelle Sigrid Webb, a Swedish immigran ...

stepped in to voice all the women characters.

Reception

Mark A. Altman and Ed Gross said the episode "most probably resembles Saturday morning fare — though with Trek's traditionally heady bent." They allowed that some of the banter between Kirk and the huntress Laura, who flirts with the captain in a

Brooklyn accent The sound system of New York City English is popularly known as a New York accent. The New York metropolitan accent is one of the most recognizable accents of the United States, largely due to its popular stereotypes and portrayal in radio, ...

, is amusing, and that the null gravity combat is clever. They concluded "The Jihad" to be a successful break from typical ''Trek'' episode.

Notes

References

External links

* * *
"The Jihad"
a

"The Jihad"
Full episode for viewing at StarTrek.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Jihad, The 1974 American television episodes Star Trek: The Animated Series episodes Television episodes directed by Hal Sutherland Television episodes written by Stephen Kandel