Stardate: 1943.7
Original Air Date: June 9, 2022
Writers: Robin Wasserman and Bill Wolkoff
Director: Andi Armaganian
“Let the tree that grows from the roots of sacrifice lift us where suffering cannot reach.”
The Enterprise has arrived at the Majalan System, a minor star system located at the edge of Federation space. Captain Pike last visited this area nearly ten years ago while on a rescue mission which nearly saw him killed by a pulsar. The current mission is a routine cartographic survey, and Pike expects it to be a lot quieter than his last voyage to this system.
In the lift to the bridge, Pike bumps into Uhura. She is sore after combat training, and is on rotation with Lt. Noonien Singh. Pike informs her of the first rule of security: “A Rigelian tiger pounces with no warning.” Uhura is then chastised by La’an for having taken a break while on security. Ortegas notes the second rule of security, “there are no breaks in security because threats never take breaks.”
Suddenly, a distress call comes in from a non-Federation shuttle, a small combat cruiser which is under attack. With their life support systems failing, the small embattled crew are beamed aboard the Enterprise, comprising a man, woman, and child from the nearby planet of Majalis. One of them is named Alora –she knows Pike from the last time Pike visited Majalis ten years ago during which time he rescued her from another shuttle (Alora addresses him as “Lt. Pike” rather than Captain Pike). She is aggressively coy and openly flirtatious with Pike. The other two are Elder Gamal and a young boy known as the “First Servant.”
Alora explains that the First Servant is a sacred figure on Majalis. He is chosen at birth to embody the Majalis motto: “Science, Service, Sacrifice.” He foreswears his family because everyone on Majalis is considered his broader family. Alora, Gamal, and the First Servant were traveling from a nearby moon with an ancient retreat for the First Servant’s studies. Gamal and Alora were returning the child to Majalis when they were unexpectedly attacked by a strange foreign ship, perhaps a group hoping to ransom the child. Who are they? The closest inhabitable planet is populated by descendants of a long-abandoned alien colony, but it has co-existed alongside Majalis peacefully for centuries. In two days, Alora is set to oversee a sacred ceremony for the “ascension” of the First Servant but Una/Number One knows that an investigation is needed is this situation. When informed of Starfleet protocols, Alora is resistant to an investigation by Starfleet, but if the situation warrants it, she requests to join the search with or without the approval of Starfleet.
Meanwhile in sickbay, the First Servant’s extraordinary biology is discussed by Gamal, Dr. M’Benga, and Nurse Chapel. The First Servant possesses remarkable sub-atomic capabilities, his “quantum-bio implants” are able to rebuild his biological functions using quantum mechanics. This revolutionary medicine leads Dr. M’Benga to explore options for his daughter who remains trapped in the transporter buffer, but alas politics seems to prevent it.
During the investigation, Uhura and La’an explore the crashed enemy ship and Alora finds a damaged “oath coin.” Linnarean guards on their planet are given oath coins when they swear to protect the First Servant –it is the highest military honor on Majalis. Their custom forbids defacing the coins. Perhaps a guard has betrayed his oath? Do we trust Alora in this story? She acknowledges her own life is in danger, as is the First Servant’s, and since the people on Majalis are extremely private and will not accept any alarmism, especially one coming from an armed Starfleet escort. Thus, Pike offers to personally join Alora on Majalis merely as a “friend.” Here on this peaceful, ornate, disease-free, idyllic planet, Alora asks her guards to present their coins and renew their vows to protect the First Servant. One guard named Kier displays a damaged coin and attempts to flee while claiming he was merely fulfilling his oath to protect the First Servant –but he is then killed by Alora in a confrontation.
In spite of the renewed romance between Pike and Alora, the great mystery of Majalis begins to unravel. It turns out that the nearby colony known as Prospect 7 is actually a colony of Majalis people who have apparently rejected the ways of Majalis proper. And in spite of Elder Gamal’s efforts to protect his son –including a failed attempt to sabotage the Enterprise’s transporter in order to beam away—the First Servant arrives on Majalis for his “ascension” ceremony. When Pike attends the ceremony, he is horrified to learn that the role of the First Servant is to serve as a child sacrifice in order to protect and preserve the peaceful way of life on Majalis. The ancient founders of Majalis allowed for their city to be constructed on elevated, levitating platforms in the sky in order to avoid the harsh, volcanic planetary surface below –the surface of Majalis is filled with acid lakes and lava flows (this image is a nod to the season three TOS episode “The Cloud Minders”). Pike is restrained when he spots the corpse of the previous First Servant, as the new child is hooked up to a vast machinery of interconnected wires (he will be killed if unhooked). The machine requires a neural network of a child in order to function, but in return, the machine condemns the child to a slow and painful death.
When an exasperated Pike pleads with Alora to stop this madness, she justifies the religious customs of Majalis –they have simply accepted a trade-off of one child who suffers for the sake of the whole community. She notes that the child always “ascends” willingly. She alludes to Spock’s famous maxim: “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.” She also points out that the Federation likely “sacrifices” some of its own children as well, such as by keeping some in poverty and squalor so that others can enjoy a more plentiful bounty. In defeat, Pike returns to the Enterprise and they depart while he contemplates this gruesome adventure. The episode ends as he gazes out the window at the planet Majalis below.
My Thoughts on “Lift Us Where Suffering Cannot Reach”
In one of the more disturbing Star Trek episodes, an idyllic planet with a dark secret brings Pike into contact with an old fling, and the episode notably concludes on a morally ambiguous, unresolved note as a child is ritualistically sacrificed but there is nothing Pike can do about it. I rather appreciated this return to a popular TNG formula in this episode, wherein the Enterprise visits an ethically questionable society, only to merely observe the culture without solving their problems. It offers us a glimpse of a “strange new world” with all its complexity and nuance. It would have been easy to paint Majalis as a backwards culture filled with ridiculous religious zealots, but this episode refuses to condemn a child-sacrificing civilization, instead forcing us to interrogate what we find truly reprehensible about their practice. I found this episode to be another terrific installment for SNW, albeit a surprisingly macabre story in contrast to the previous sunny episode “Spock Amok.”
Star Trek Trivia:
- This episode features another reminder that Dr. M’Benga’s daughter who is held inside the transporter buffer.
- The people of Majalis have a saying: “Let the tree that grows from the roots of sacrifice lift us where sacrifice cannot reach.” Hence, where the episode title comes from.
- The script for this episode was loosely based on an unproduced script for TOS by Gene Roddenberry.
- Spock finds a “neural dampener” on the crashed ship in this episode. Will this ever appear again in Trek?
- The nearby planet “Prospect 7” is an L-Class planet.
- Mugatan Breathing Stones are referenced by La’an.
- Some have speculated whether or not the name of the planet Majalis is a reference to Majal Barrett.
- Many fans have pointed out the similarities between “Lift Us Where Suffering Cannot Reach” and Ursula K. LeGuin’s short story “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas.”
- By my count, four of the lessons of security are mentioned in this episode to Uhura:
- #1: “A Rigelian tiger pounces with no warning.”
- #2: “There are no breaks in security because threats never take breaks.”
- #3: “Let your tricorder do the investigation.”
- #7: “Leave no stones unturned.”
Lesson #2 is certainly a good one.
This episode ranks among those that show how bluntly depressing some areas of even Star Trek’s optimistic universe can be. It took a brave chance yet not without its traditionally important Star Trek message. Thank you for your review and trivia.