Star Trek The Original Series
Episode: The Return of the Archons
Season 1, Episode 21

O'Neil, we've got to keep going.
Come on. Get up.
It's no use. They're everywhere.
Captain gave us an order.
We've got to find some clue.
It's no use, Mr. Sulu.
Look. There's one of them.
There's another one.
Scouting party to Enterprise--
Come in.
What is it, Mr. Sulu?
Captain, beam us up quick.
Emergency.
Transporter room,
Lock onto Sulu and O'Neil.
Beam up immediately.
We've got to run for it.
We can't just stand here.
Stand tight. They'll beam us up.
Run. You know what they're capable of.
O'Neil!
[Zap]
Sulu, what is it?
Where's Lieutenant O'Neil?
What?
Who?
Lieutenant O'Neil-- where is he?
You...
you're not of the body.
Dr. McCoy.
Dr. McCoy, transporter room, quickly.
You, you did it.
They knew we were Archons.
These are the clothes they wear,
not these.
Sulu, take it easy.
Landru.
Landru.
Sit down.
What happened?
They're wonderful.
They're the sweetest...
friendliest people in the universe.
It's paradise, my friend.
Paradise.
Lieutenant O'Neil, where is he?
Paradise.
Paradise.
Space-- the final frontier.
These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise.
Its five-year mission--
to explore strange new worlds...
to seek out new life and new civilizations...
to boldly go where no man has gone before.
Captain 's Log.
Stardate 3156.2--
While orbiting planet Beta 3
trying to find some trace
of the starship Archon
that disappeared here a hundred years ago,
a search party consisting of two Enterprise officers
were sent to the planet below.
Mr. Sulu has returned,
but in a highly agitated mental state.
His condition requires I beam down
with an additional search detail.
Materialization completed. Kirk out.
Odd.
The expression on that man's face,
the mindlessness,
fake in contentment.
Like Sulu.
If everybody on this planet is like him...
Let's go.
Joy to you, friends.
Joy to you.
You be strangers.
Come for the festival, eh?
Yes.
Got a place to sleep it off yet?
Go around to Reger's house.
He's got rooms...
but you'll have to hurry.
It's almost the red hour.
This, uh, festival,
it starts at 6:00?
Tula, these folks come for the festival.
Your daddy can put them up, can't he?
You're from the valley?
We've, uh, Just arrived.
My father will be glad to put you up, though.
It's right over there.
[Clock Bell Tolls]
Aah!
Tula, calm!
[Shouting]
Let's get out of here.
Sorry to break in like this.
We didn't expect that kind ofa welcome.
Welcome? You are strangers?
Yes, that's right.
We're...from the valley.
You came for the festival?
Yes.
How come you here?
Are you Reger?
Yes.
You have a daughter named Tula.
Well, you better do something.
She's outside.
I know.
It's festival.
It's the will of Landru.
Reger, these are young men.
They are not old enough to be excused.
They're visitors.
Well, have they no Lawgivers in the valley?
Why be they not at the festival?
We heard that you might have rooms for us.
There. You see, Hacom?
They've come looking for a place to rest afterwards.
The red hour has already struck.
Hacom, these be strangers.
The valley has different ways.
Do you say that Landru is not everywhere?
No, of course not.
It's simply they may have different ways.
They've come looking for shelter.
Can I turn them away?
Come, please.
But the girl, out there?
She is in festival,
as you should be.
Come, please. Hurry.
The Lawgivers should know.
Surely, Hacom, they already know.
Are they not infallible?
You mock them!
You mock the Lawgivers.
That the strangers are not of the body,
you will see.
But, Hacom...
You can return here at the close of the festival.
It's quiet. You'll have need of rest.
We have no plans to attend the festival, sir.
[Crowd Shouting]
The hour is struck.
You can hear.
I'd like to hear more about this festival...
and Landru.
Landru?
You ask...
Well, you're strange.
You scorn festival?
Are you...
Are you...
What about Landru?
Festival!
Festival!
Landru.
My guess is we have until morning.
Let's put the time to good use.
Doctor, do atmospheric readings
to determine whether there's anything in the air
to account for all this.
Mr. Lindstrom, correlate all that you've seen
with any other sociological parallels, if any.
Mr. Spock...
you and I have some serious thinking to do.
When we leave here tomorrow morning,
I want to have a plan of action.
[Bell Tolls]
Spock...Spock, Lindstrom.
Doc.
[Screaming]
No. Now it's over.
No, no, it's all over now.
It's all over now, Tula.
That's all right. Quiet.
Excuse me.
It's all right.
It's all over.
He'll give her a shot.
It'll calm her down. Trust us.
You didn't even try to bring her back.
What kind of father are you?
It's Landru's will.
What about Landru? Who is he?
It is true then.
You did not attend the festival last night.
No.
Then you're not of the body.
You couldn't be.
She's asleep.
Are you...
Are you Archons?
What if we are?
It was said more would follow.
If you are indeed--
We must hide them.
Quickly--the Lawgivers.
We can take care of ourselves.
Landru will know. He will come.
He's the one.
He mocked the Lawgivers. I heard him.
No, Hacom. It was a jest.
The others, they were here,
but they scorned the festival.
I saw it.
Tamar, stand clear.
I hear...
and obey the voice of Landru.
You attacked the body.
You have heard the word and disobeyed.
You will be absorbed.
What do you mean, absorbed?
There. You see? Not of the body.
You will be absorbed.
The good is all.
Landru is gentle.
You will come.
We're not going anywhere.
It is the law.
You must come.
I said we're not going anywhere.
Evidently they're not prepared to deal with out right disobedience.
How did you know?
Everything we've seen here so far
seems to indicate some sort of compulsive,
involuntary stimulus to action.
Your analysis seems logical.
It is clear that you simply did not understand.
I will rephrase.
You are ordered to accompany us
to the absorption chambers.
Why did you kill that man?
Out of order.
You will obey.
It is the word of Landru.
You tell Landru
that we'll come in our own time
and that we'll speak to him.
You cannot.
It is Landru.
Landru.
Fascinating. This is merely a hollow tube, Captain.
No mechanism.
They're communing. Come with me.
Where to?
To a place I know. you'll be safe,
But we must hurry. Landru will come.
Quite a festival they had.
Peace.
What do you make of all this?
Totally illogical.
Yesterday without apparent cause or reason,
they wrought total havoc,
yet today, now--
Now they're back to normal.
Morning, friends.
Good morning, Bilar.
Your daughter-- that's the man.
It wasn't Bilar. It was Landru.
Let's hurry. We haven't much time.
It's too late. Look.
What is it?
Landru-- he's summoning the body.
Telepathy, Captain.
Phasers on stun.
Which way, Reger?
Perhaps through there,
but Landru--
We'll handle Landru,
Just get us out of this.
I don't want to hurt them. Warn them back.
They're in the body. It's Landru.
Phasers on stun, wide field. Fire.
Fire.
Security.
Captain.
Lieutenant O'Neil. He's one of our men.
Not anymore. He's been absorbed.
Bring him along.
When he wakes, Landru will find us through him.
Leave him there. He's our enemy. He's been absorbed.
We've got O'Neil. Let's beam out.
We don't know what's happened to the Archons.
Which way? Bring him along.
Put him over there.
A lighting panel.
Amazing in this culture.
Comes from a time before Landru.
Before Landru? How long ago was that?
Nobody knows positively.
Some say as long ago as 6,000 years.
It took an advanced technology
to construct a device like this--
Inconsistent with this environment...
But not inconsistent with what we've seen. Security.
Those staffs, hollow tubes--
Antennae, some sort of broadcast power.
What is it, Mr. Spock?
Mostly strong power generations, Captain.
Near here, but radiating in all directions.
He'll be coming around soon.
He must not. He's been absorbed.
Absorbed?
The body absorbs its enemies.
It only kills when it has to.
When the first Archons came,
they were free, out of control,
opposing the will of Landru.
Many were killed, many more were absorbed.
Landru will find us through him,
and if the others come--
What others?
Those like you and me, who resist Landru.
An underground.
How are you organized?
In threes--
myself,
Tamar, who's dead now,
and one other.
Who?
I don't know.
Tamar was my contact.
Give me a decision, Captain. He's coming out of it.
He must not regain consciousness.
He'll destroy us all. He's of the body.
Give him a shot.
Keep him asleep.
Reger...
I want some answers.
This underground--
If Landru's so powerful,
how do you survive?
I don't know, Captain.
Some of us escaped the directives.
Not many, but a few.
It was that way when the first Archons came.
The Archons, tell me about them.
They had invaded the body,
but they resisted the will of Landru.
You see, Landru had pulled them down from the skies.
Pulled them down from the skies? A starship?
Mr. Spock, those power readings you took, are they...
Powerful enough to destroy a starship? Affirmative.
Kirk to Enterprise, come in.
Captain, we're under attack.
There are heat beams of some kind
coming up from the planet's surface.
Our shields are holding,
but they're taking all our power.
If we try to move,
we'll lose our shields
and burn up like a cinder.
Orbit condition.
Checking.
We're going down, Captain.
Unless we can get those beams off us
so we can use our engines,
we're due to hit atmosphere in 12 hours.
Keep your shield up.
Do everything you can to maintain orbit.
We'll try and locate the beam's source
and stop it here.
Impossible to breakaway.
The emergency bypass circuits
haven't been effective.
[Static]
[Spock] Captain.
What is it?
Sensor beams, very strong.
We're being probed in this direction.
Landru.
Block them out.
Too strong, Captain. Can't be blocked.
[Probing]
Ooh...
I am Landru.
Projection, Captain.
Unreal.
But beautiful, Mr. Spock, with no apparatus at this end.
You have come as destroyers.
You bring an infection.
You are holding my ship.
I demand that you release it.
You have come to a world without hate,
without fear,
without conflict...
no war...
no disease...
no crime...
none of the ancient evils.
Landru seeks tranquillity...
peace for all...
the universal good.
We mean you no harm.
Ours is a mission of peace and good will.
The good must transcend the evil.
It shall be done.
So it has been since the beginning.
He doesn't hear you, Captain.
Maybe he'll hear this.
Put that away.
Landru... Listen to me.
You will be absorbed.
Your individuality will merge
into the unity of good,
and in your submergence into the common being of the body,
you will find contentment
and fulfillment.
You will experience...
the absolute good.
Ohh...
[High Pitched Noise]
Captain 's log.
Stardate 3157.4--
The Enterprise,
still under attack by some sort of heat rays
from the surface of Beta 3,
is now being commanded by Engineering Officer Scott.
The shore party has been taken
by the creature called Landru.
Mr. Spock.
Wake up.
Mr. Leslie.
Dr. McCoy?
He was gone when I woke up,
along with the other guard
and Mr. O'Neil.
I should say they've been here and been removed.
Where is here?
Evidently a maximum-security establishment.
Are you armed?
All our phasers are gone.
I checked.
That's locked.
Ohh.
Oh, does my headache.
The natural result of being subjected to a hypersonic.
Oh. Is that what it was?
Sound waves.
Stronger, they might have killed.
They merely rendered us unconscious.
Enough analysis.
Let's think ofa way to get out of here.
What about the Lawgivers' inability
to cope with the unexpected?
You shouldn't depend on that happening again, Captain.
In a society as well organized
as this one seems to be,
I cannot conceive of such an oversight going uncorrected.
Interesting, however--
their reaction to your defiance
was remarkably similar
to the reaction of a computer
when fed insufficient or contradictory data.
Are you suggesting that the Lawgivers are mere computers,
that... they aren't human?
Quite human, Captain.
It's simply that all the facts are not yet in.
There are gaps.
[Door Opens]
Doc. How--
Hello, friend.
We were told to wait here.
Doc.
Can I help you, friend?
Don't you know me?
We all know one another
in Landru.
Like Sulu.
Think, man.
The Enterprise.
The ship.
Remember?
You speak very strangely, friend.
Are you from away?
You do remember!
Ask Landru.
He remembers.
He knows, and he watches.
You are strange.
Are you not of the body?
Come.
No.
Then you will die.
You've been corrected, Captain.
You'd better go.
All right.
Work on Bones.
See if you can't--
Come.
Dr. McCoy, what will happen to him?
He goes to joy,
peace,
and tranquillity.
He goes to meet Landru.
Happiness is to all of us
blessed by Landru.
I am Marplon.
It is your hour.
Happy communing.
With thanks.
Happy communing.
Well?
Impossible.
He's under extremely powerful control.
Are we just going to stand here?
Little else we can do...
unless you can think of a way
to get through that door.
Well, this is simply ridiculous--
a bunch of stone-age characters
running around in robes.
And apparently commanding powers
far beyond our comprehension.
Not simple.
Not ridiculous.
Very, very dangerous.
You...
come.
Joy to you, friend.
Peace and contentment will fill you.
You will know the peace of Landru.
Have no fear, friend. The effect is harmless.
My name is Marplon.
I was too late to save your first two friends.
They have been absorbed.
Beware of them.
What about the captain?
He is unharmed, unchanged.
I am the third man in Reger's triad.
We have been awaiting your return.
We are not Archons, Marplon.
Whatever you may call yourselves,
you are in fulfillment of prophecy.
We ask your help.
Where is Reger?
He will join us.
He is immune to absorption.
Hurry.
We have not much time.
Who is Landru?
I cannot answer your questions now.
Landru, he will hear.
Here are your weapons.
You may need them.
Behave as you saw your captain behave.
It is done.
Joy be with you.
Peace and contentment.
Captain--
Peace and tranquillity to you.
Are you all right?
Quite all right.
Be careful of Dr. McCoy.
I understand.
Landru.
I am formulating a theory, Captain.
And?
Not here.
The doctor.
You speak in strange whispers.
This is not the way of Landru.
Joy be yours--
and tranquillity, my friend.
And peace and harmony.
Are you of the body?
The body is one.
Blessed be the body
and health to all of its parts.
My friends...
What is your theory, Mr. Spock?
This is a soulless society, Captain.
It has no spirit, no spark.
All is peace and tranquillity--
the peace of the factory, the tranquillity of the machine,
all parts working in unison.
And when something unexplained happens...
Their routine is disrupted?
Until new orders are received.
The question is,
who gives those orders?
Landru.
There is no Landru, Captain,
not in the human sense.
You're thinking the same thing I am.
Mr. Spock,
the plug must be pulled.
Sir?
Landru must die.
Captain, our prime directive of noninterference.
That refers to a living, growing culture.
Do you think this one is?
Joy to you all, friends.
It is the gift of Landru.
I brought your signaling devices.
You may need them.
What we really need is more information about Landru.
You said you wanted us to help you.
Prophecy says--
Never mind what the prophecy says.
If you want to be liberated from Landru,
we'll need your help.
Captain.
You're not of the body!
Peace...
You're not!
to you, friend.
Lawgivers!
Peace.
Lawgivers!
Traitor! Traitors!
Traitors!
[Kirk] I don't want to hurt you.
Traitors!
[Kirk] Aw, Doc...
Spock.
Isn't that somewhat old-fashioned?
The robes.
Where is Landru?
No. No.
Where do we find him?
We do not see him.
We hear him
in the Hall of Audiences.
In this building?
Yes.
You're going to take us there.
No.
Spock, call the Enterprise.
No.
Snap out of it!
Start acting like men.
Spock to Enterprise. status report.
Mr. Spock, I've been trying to reach you.
Report, Scott.
The orbit's still decaying.
Give it six hours, more or less.
Those heat beams are still on us.
If you don't cut them off, we'll cook.
Scotty, stand by.
We're doing the best we can.
How's Mr. Sulu?
He's peaceful enough, but he worries me.
Put a guard on him.
On Sulu?
That's an order.
Watch him.
Captain out.
Captain.
All right.
About Landru.
Well, there was war,
convulsions.
The world was destroying itself.
Landru was our leader.
He saw the truth.
He changed the world.
He took us back,
back to a simple time,
a time of peace and tranquillity.
What happened to him?
He's still alive.
He is here now.
He sees. He hears.
We have destroyed ourselves.
Please...
go on.
You said you wanted freedom.
It's time you learned that freedom is never a gift.
It has to be earned.
Come on.
We're going to find Landru.
No! No! I was wrong!
I submit!
I bear myself to the will of Landru!
It's too late for that.
No! No! Give us help!
Help me!
All right,
it's up to you.
Take us to Landru.
This is the Hall of Audiences.
Open it.
But this is Landru.
Open it.
Landru speaks here.
Landru!
Landru!
We are the Archons!
We are the Archons!
We've come to speak!
We are the Archons.
We want to talk to you.
Landru!
He comes!
Despite my efforts to save you,
you have invaded the body,
and you are causing great harm.
We have no intention of causing harm.
Obliteration is necessary.
The infection is strong.
For the good of the body,
you must die.
It is...
a great sorrow.
We do not intend to die.
All who saw you,
all who know of your presence here
must be excised.
The memory of the body will be cleansed.
Listen to me.
Useless, Captain.
A projection.
Yes, Mr. Spock.
Let's have a look at the projector.
Of course.
It had to be.
Landru?
A machine.
This whole society is a machine's concept of perfection--
peace, harmony...
But no soul.
I am Landru. You have intruded.
Pull out its plug, Mr. Spock.
Your devices have been neutralized.
So it shall be with you.
I am Landru.
Landru died 6,000 years ago.
I am Landru.
I am he.
All that he was I am--
his experience, his knowledge.
But not his wisdom.
He may have programmed you,
but he could not have given you a soul.
You are a machine.
Your statement is irrelevant.
You will...
be...
obliterated.
The good of the body is the prime directive.
The good of the body, Captain. That's the key.
Yes.
What is the good?
I am Landru.
Landru is dead.
You are a machine.
A question has been asked. Answer it.
The good is the harmonious continuation
of the body.
The good is peace, tranquillity.
The good of the body is the directive.
Then I put it to you
that you have disobeyed the prime directive.
You are harmful to the body.
The body is.
It exists.
It is healthy.
The body is dying.
You...
are destroying it.
Do you ask a question?
What have you done
to do justice to the full potential
of every individual of the body?
Insufficient data.
Without freedom of choice,
there is no creativity.
Without creativity,
there is no life.
The body dies.
The fault is yours.
Are you aiding the body,
or are you destroying it?
I am notprogrammed
to answer that question.
Landru!
Guide us!
Landru!
Not necessary, Captain.
They have no guidance,
possibly for the first time in their lives.
Landru...
answer the question.
Peace, order, and tranquillity
are maintained.
The body lives,
but I reserve creativity to me.
Then the body dies.
Creativity is necessary for the health ofthe body.
This...
is...
impossible!
Is this truly Landru?
What's left of him
after he built and programmed this machine
6,000 years ago.
You must create the good.
That is the will of Landru,
nothing else.
But there is evil.
Then the evil must be destroyed.
That is the prime directive,
and you are the evil.
I think.
I live.
You are the evil.
The evil must be destroyed.
Fulfill the prime directive.
- You... - Landru, help me!
are the evil.
Fulfill the prime directive.
Help me! Help me! Help me! Help me!
Well, Marplon, you're on your own now.
I hope you're up to it.
You can get rid of those robes.
If I were you, I'd look for another job.
Kirk to Enterprise. come in.
Captain, are you all right?
What about the ship?
The heat rays have gone, Captain,
and Mr. Sulu's back to normal.
Relieving you.
Excellent, Scotty.
Stand by to beam up landing party.
Let's go see how the others are doing.
Marplon can finish up here.
Captain 's log.
Stardate 3158.7--
The Enterprise is preparing to leave Beta 3
in Starsystem C-111.
Sociologist Lindstrom
is remaining behind with a party of experts
who will restore the planet's culture
to a human form.
Marvelous.
What?
The late Landru, Captain.
A marvelous feat of engineering.
A computer capable of directing the lives
of millions of human beings.
But only a machine, Mr. Spock.
The original Landru programmed it with all his knowledge
but couldn't give it his wisdom,
his compassion, his understanding,
his soul, Mr. Spock.
Predictably metaphysical.
I prefer the concrete,
the graspable, the provable.
You would make a splendid computer, Mr. Spock.
That is very kind of you, Captain.
[Uhura] Captain,
Mr. Lindstrom from the surface.
Yes, Lindstrom.
Just wanted to say goodbye, Captain.
How's it going?
Couldn 't be better.
Already this morning, we've had six domestic quarrels
and two genuine knock-down drag-outs.
It may not be paradise, but it's certainly human.
Sounds most promising. Good luck.
How often mankind has wished for a world
as peaceful and secure
as the one Landru provided.
Yes. And we never got it.
Just lucky, I guess.