For the second time in the pre-TNG era Starfleet is using time travel to study the past, and as you would expect there are unintended consequences. This time they have returned to the guardian of forever which at least allows them to passively observer the past. But of course this isn't good enough for Kirk who has to go messing around in the past of Orion. I think the most interesting part to me was the scene of young Spock being hassled by his Vulcan peers and getting into a fight in pretty much the exact same way it took place in the recent reboot.
The episode opens with Kirk and Spock coming out of the guardian of forever after having spent time on early Orion learning about the development of its culture. There are also historians there who have been passively looking through the guardian to study the history of Orion. When they beam back to the Enterprise something is wrong, nobody recognizes Spock. Kirk it turns out has had an Andorian second in command for the last five years. Looking through historical databases they learn that in this timeline Spock died at the age of 7. Spock suddenly remembers that as a child he had a near death experience, but was saved by a cousin he never saw before or since who happened to look a lot like himself as an adult.
Spock goes back through the guardian to try and set things right. First he sees himself being harassed into a fight by Vulcan youths. Sarek approaches him and apologizes for having to see such an emotional display by a Vulcan. Spock explains that he is their cousin Selek here to visit the family shrine. Sarek invites him to stay with them in the mean time. It turns out young Spock is having a hard time deciding if he would rather follow the human path of his mother or the Vulcan path of his father. It is almost time for him to take a dangerous journey into the wilderness to prove he is a man so young Spock decides to test himself personally first by wandering into the desert.
Young Spock is followed by the family pet I-Chaya and more distantly by the adult Spock still pretending to be his cousin. Young Spock is attacked by a dangerous dragon like animal that adult Spock knocks out with a neck pinch. Unfortunately I-Chaya was injured by the poisonous claws of the other animal and young Spock must hurry back to town to get the healer to come save I-Chaya. When the healer arrives adult Spock explains that to be Vulcan is to realize that all things die and that it is how we die that matters. When the healer tells him that I-Chaya can not be saved young Spock decides it is best to not prolong suffering and lets I-Chaya die with dignity. Back home Sarek thanks adult Spock for his help and then Spock returns to the Enterprise as if nothing had happened.
Review: While not quite as broadly impactful as the last episode, this one manages to tell a personal tale of Spock's past without being overly cheesy. The voice actor for young Spock was a little annoying, but overall a good episode that added to the canon of Trek.
6 out of 10
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