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Tyree (planet)

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Tyree could refer to:

• Tyree , a native on the planet Neural
• Tyree (planet) , a Federation planet
• Tyree Nebula

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Star Trek Re-Watch: “A Private Little War”

Season 2, Episode 19 Production episode: 2×16 Original air date: February 2, 1968 Star date: 4211.4

Mission Summary

Kirk, Spock, and McCoy are conducting a scientific survey on the planet Neural, home to peaceful, pre-industrial natives. Kirk lived with them thirteen years ago on his first planetary survey, and describes the planet and its people as a veritable Garden of Eden (aside from the “ape-like carnivores” that are mentioned off-hand). As McCoy and the others collect interesting plant life, they see a group of dark-haired natives approaching on a nearby outcrop—but these men have flintlock rifles, not bows and arrows. That’s not right! They’re setting up an ambush for a group of white-haired natives (with bows and arrows), one of whom Kirk recognizes as his friend Tyree. Kirk draws his phaser but Spock reminds him that the Prime Directive forbids them from displaying such technology, so he throws a rock at the aggressors, successfully revealing his own position. Whoopsie.

They chase the three men, and Spock is shot by one of them, bleeding green blood. McCoy is able to signal to the Enterprise and Kirk orders Scotty to beam them out of there. Just as they arrive, Uhura tells the captain that a Klingon vessel has entered orbit around the planet. They can remain out of sight, but it might mean eventually breaking orbit around Neural. Spock is led away to Sickbay, and McCoy doesn’t know if he’ll make it.

Kirk thinks the Klingons are responsible for the rifles, but the rest of the bridge crew seem skeptical—they could have developed the technology on their own (albeit very quickly), and there’s no evidence that the Klingons were involved. If they had been, why not give them lasers, or phasers, or more advanced technology? Kirk snaps at them before quickly apologizing, and admits he’s worried about Spock.

Doctor M’Benga is assigned to watch over Spock, and Kirk and McCoy beam back down to the planet (this time in native costume) to suss out whether or not the Klingons are responsible for the flintlock rifles. If they are, they’ve broken the peace treaty, and that might begin an interstellar war.

They make their way to Tyree’s encampment, but suddenly a terrible costume emerges from the brush! What looks like an ill-conceived white ape children’s party costume (who would want one? EXACTLY) has been modded with a tail, a top horn, and spines all down the back. The “ape-like carnivore” pounces on Kirk, biting him. After a brief scuffle McCoy is able to vaporize it with his phaser, but it’s too late—Kirk has absorbed the poison, and the Enterprise has broken orbit and cannot be contacted. Without an antidote Kirk will die, and before Kirk passes out he tells McCoy: “Tyree. Some of his men. Cure.”

Luckily, some of Tyree’s men show up, and agree to take Kirk back to the village. McCoy wraps the feverish Kirk in animal furs and awaits Tyree’s arrival.

Tyree is delayed thanks to his wife, Nona, a “kahn-ut-tu” witch-woman in leather bellbottoms and a feathered bra top. He explains that she put a spell on him, and Nona seems pleased he’s realized this—she details the numerous other spells she has put on him in order to entrap him as a husband. Lady Macbeth here then tries to persuade him to get the “fire sticks” and rule the world, but Tyree just wants peace. She rubs some kind of plant over him, and in an agonizingly long scene we watch Tyree, her “huge, angry man,” become aroused and go nuts over her. Ughhhh. Their little Skinemax show is interrupted by a tribesman who tells Tyree that Kirk is there, and that he’s been bitten by the mogatu. Tyree is too dazed and confused by the “stimulant” to react, but Nona returns with the tribesman to the village.

She finds the cave and spots McCoy using his phaser to heat up rocks. Intrigued by this powerful weapon, she doesn’t go in, and waits for her husband to return. Tyree eventually makes it back to the village and begs Nona to save his old friend, but she refuses unless Tyree tells her the truth about Kirk. Not wishing for his friend to die, he tells her the truth off-screen, and she goes in to save Kirk.

Back on the Enterprise, Spock is fighting for his life, and Nurse Chapel is by his side, holding his hand. M’Benga enters and tells her that when Spock awakes, she should do whatever he tells her to do, no matter how odd. File that away for now.

Nona, meanwhile, puts a “mahko root,” which looks more like a piece of fossilized poo, on Kirk’s wound. She then slices open her hand and bleeds into the root, before writhing sexually and chanting over Kirk. When this scene is THANK THE GODS over, Kirk comes to, and Nona smiles mischievously. She says that Kirk is “hers” and that he can refuse her nothing now. Because you know what Star Trek needed more of? Slut-witches.

But it’s not even close to being over! When Kirk recovers, he speaks to Tyree about the weapons situation. Tyree says the rifles appeared about a year ago, but he’s sure they make them themselves because he’s seen it in their village. Kirk asks to be taken to the village and Tyree agrees, but Nona bursts into the meeting and demands the phaser technology. Tyree is embarrassed to have revealed Kirk’s secret origin but Nona says it was “the price for saving your life.” She wants the weapons to make Tyree the most powerful man on the planet, but Tyree says again that he will not kill. In any case, Kirk refuses:

KIRK: We once were as you are, Spears, arrows. There came a time when our weapons grew faster than our wisdom, and we almost destroyed ourselves. We learned from this to make a rule during all our travels, Never to cause the same to happen to other worlds. Just as a man must grow in his own way and in his own time. NONA: Some men never grow.

Ouch! Later that night, Kirk, McCoy, and Tyree sneak into the dark-haired people’s encampment. They take out a guard and find the forge area where the weapons are made. They easily spot technology too advanced to be native to Neural. The Klingons have obviously interfered, and as Kirk and McCoy catalog the various violations present in the room they hear voices approaching. They both hide as a Klingon and a dark-haired native named Apella enter. The Klingon is telling Apella that one day he will be a governor of the Klingon empire. Unfortunately, because you can’t take McCoy anywhere , his tricorder beeps and alerts the Klingon. A scuffle ensues and Apella and the Klingon are quickly dispatched by our heroes. Two more men enter but Kirk and McCoy take care of them, too, before grabbing Tyree and fleeing into the woods.

On Enterprise Spock has awoken, and tells Nurse Chapel to hit him. What? And you thought Star Trek wasn’t kinky enough! She does as she’s told, because he needs the pain to focus (or something…). Mr. Scott enters and drags her away. M’Benga breaks it up, though, and takes over her role slapping Spock around until he comes to, completely healed. If you thought this interlude was weird and unnecessary, well, you’re going to miss it in the next few scenes.

Kirk has taken it upon himself to show Tyree’s people how to make their own firearms, something McCoy is none too happy about:

MCCOY: Do I have to say it? It’s not bad enough there’s one serpent in Eden teaching one side about gun powder. You want to make sure they all know about it! KIRK: Exactly. Each side receives the same knowledge and the same type of firearm.

McCoy again expresses his opposition to this, but Kirk explains that there’s nothing else they can do. They refuse to give them superior weapons, but it would be wrong of them to leave Tyree’s people defenseless against this technology. He then invokes the “20th-century brush wars on the Asian continent” (Vietnam) and uses that as a model , saying that a balance of power must be achieved, no matter the cost.

MCCOY: And if the Klingons give their side even more? KIRK: Then we arm our side with exactly that much more. A balance of power. The trickiest, most difficult, dirtiest game of them all, but the only one that preserves both sides.

McCoy points out another uncomfortable truth: Tyree’s pacifism means he will be one of the first to die. Kirk decides to appeal to Nona, and try and persuade him to a life of violence, to save him.

And you know where this is going…

Kirk goes to Nona’s bathing pool and finds her changing.

KIRK: Nona. Pardon me. NONA: You are here because I wished you here. KIRK: Oh? I thought it was my idea. NONA: Yes. They always believe they come of free will. Tyree thought the same when I cast my first spell on him.

She then uses the same plant she used on Tyree to seduce Kirk. Unaware, Tyree is hiding in the background, watching all of his. He aims his new rifle at Kirk. The captain resists Nona at first, but his mind becomes muddled by the drug and eventually he succumbs, kissing her. Tyree presses his finger against the trigger, but cannot bring himself to commit an act of violence. He throws the gun down in disgust and runs away, just in time for a mogatu to emerge from the woods. It attacks Nona, but Kirk is still drugged by the plant. It takes an awkwardly-choreographed mogatu fight before he’s able to draw his phaser and kill the mogatu.

Nona then hits Kirk on the head and steals his phaser. She runs away, and eventually comes upon a group of four dark-haired people. She shows them the phaser and promises that this device is more powerful than anything they’ve ever dreamed, and it is a gift to Apella, a man strong enough to actually use it (and not a peacenik like her loser husband). The men don’t believer her and instead all grab her, sexually assaulting her. The scene goes on for many uncomfortable seconds before Kirk and the others show up. The dark-haired men believe it was a trap, and they stab Nona.

A fight ensues between the two sides, and after some man-wrestling Tyree’s people are victorious. But Tyree has changed. Kirk has to stop him from smashing one man’s head with a rock, and he turns angrily to Kirk:

TYREE: I want more of these, Kirk. Many more! Yutan, two of those who killed my wife have escaped. Track them down. I will kill them.

McCoy tells Kirk that he finally got what he wanted, and Kirk responds that it’s not what he wanted—it’s “what had to be.”

He hails the ship and tells Scotty to replicate a hundred flintlock rifles.

SCOTT: I didn’t get that exactly, Captain. A hundred what? KIRK: A hundred serpents. Serpents for the Garden of Eden. We’re very tired, Mister Spock. Beam us up home.

This episode is an atrocity. What on earth was Gene Roddenberry thinking? Forget the mogatu, this was by far the most sexist and obscenely offensive episode we’ve seen so far. Nona the slut-witch uses sex for power over men, a violent, aggressive wolf in the fold of peaceful sheep. She embodies every awful stereotype imaginable about women’s sexuality and spirituality. In the end, she is subdued by an attempted gang-bang and murdered. Star Trek and I are not speaking right now. It needs to sit in the corner and think about what it’s done.

But let’s put the slut-witches aside for a moment and talk about the heart of the episode. “A Private Little War” is obviously intended as a Vietnam war allegory. Like in “City on the Edge of Forever,” pacifism is indicted as naïve and dangerous idea, one that will, in the end, get Tyree and all his people killed. His desire for peace is considered juvenile, and Nona constantly emasculates him to demonstrate how ill-fitted he is to be a true leader. Kirk implicitly agrees and explicitly evokes the Vietnam war as the model he’s trying to replicate here, emphasizing that what he’s doing is just because it assures a balance of power.

History, of course, has taught us a different lesson about Vietnam. Saigon didn’t fall until 1975, over seven years later, and I suppose there’s no way that Gene Roddenberry could have known. By then four to six million people (or more) had died, Vietnam was devastated by defoliants and a staggering loss of life, and any illusions about stopping the spread of communism were shattered as Cambodia and Laos fell under the red banner. I couldn’t possibly expound here in a few paragraphs (or books) why the war was lost, but it should be fair to say that one reason was because the USA’s tactics and strategies failed. Knowing this now, it’s interesting to see Kirk believe that his own strategy will be successful. To watch this episode unfold with the knowledge of how this hypothetical eventually played out is an uncomfortable and heartbreaking experience.

But it doesn’t make any sense here. Kirk is starting a civil war. He dooms the entire planet to centuries of warfare, rape, and bloodshed, for what? Why doesn’t he sit the two tribes down and have them come to some kind of agreement? Tyree’s people don’t want war, and it’s possible the other tribe might not want it if they knew what kind of people the Klingons were, and what they did to their conquered worlds. That kind of solution may seem naïve in the real world, but a show as optimistic as Star Trek should have taken the plunge. Some would say Star Trek was bold to discuss the topic at all; I wish it had been so bold as to dare to imagine that peace was possible.

Torie’s Rating: Warp Factor 1

Eugene Myers: Ugh. I had a bad feeling when they found the tracks for yet another “ape-like” creature in the teaser. Just about the only thing I remembered about this episode was the mugato, memorable only because it’s possibly the most ridiculous costume ever seen on the series. That sort of sets the tone though, because the rest of the episode is alternately ridiculous and offensive.

I’m hard pressed to find anything redeeming about “A Private Little War.” Once again the Garden of Eden motif is trotted out and the metaphor is strained and beaten to death from the teaser to the last lines of dialogue. I think that today most show runners would say “We’ve already done the Garden of Eden, what else have you got?” But on Star Trek it must have been more like “Hey, we haven’t had a Garden of Eden episode in a while.” Comparisons to paradise and Eden are just too easy to draw, and it’s disappointing that writers weren’t more imaginative when they had centuries of literature and culture to at their disposal. At least they didn’t blame it all on the actions of a woman this time.

Similarly, the growing conflict between the hill people and the villagers is drawn just as simplistically—the enemies all have silly black hair, while the “good guys,” Kirk’s friends who don’t have guns, all have silly white hair. No surprise then when Nona, Tyree’s dark-haired kahn-ut-tu wife turns out to be unabashedly evil. The question of whether Klingons are interfering in the development of these people could have been interesting, but it almost seems incidental. They barely turn up at the end, and then they’re all but forgotten. Wouldn’t the Klingon ship try to stop Enterprise from leaving, or otherwise attempt to prevent them from helping Tyree’s people? Are there any consequences to their clear violation of the Organian Peace Treaty? Why do Kirk and McCoy call the evidence against them “People’s Exhibits” when they’re in the 23rd Century, and anyway this would be a case of the Federation vs. the Klingon Empire? How can Enterprise ’s sensors pick up the Klingon ship from the other side of Neural, but the Klingons don’t know they’re there?

Kirk seems less concerned in the end with proving that the Klingons are involved and more interested in resolving the small-scale arms race by evening the playing field. This is a bad plan. For one, the Klingons seem to be teaching the black-haired villagers how to manufacture flintlocks, so just giving Tyree’s people a hundred guns isn’t going to help anything. There’s also the glaring fact that the weapons aren’t the problem. Before the Klingons turned up, both the hill people and the villagers had bows and arrows but lived together peacefully; it was only when the Klingons convinced one group of people that they could rule the planet that the fighting began. The unequal balance of power worsened the situation, but giving them the same weapons won’t end the arms race—each side will continue to improve the technology and gain the upper hand, all the way up to the atom bomb. The better solution would be to expose the Klingons’ motives and bring the two warring groups to peace talks. Has Kirk really forgotten how he resolved the power struggle in “A Piece of the Action”? He was adamant against giving away phasers then, but now he’s fine with handing over guns?

One interesting thing about this episode is the introduction of Dr. M’Benga, a specialist in Vulcan physiology. Unfortunately, he only makes McCoy look less competent, and the insights we have into Spock’s biology are kind of goofy. Spock ordering Chapel to hit him (“Blast you! Strike me!”) is not his finest moment. I did like the green bloodstains on Spock’s tunic after he gets shot though. I was surprised that McCoy didn’t investigate the curative properties of Nona’s novelty poo, since it’s unclear if it was the mahko root alone that healed Kirk from the mugato wound or whether her witch doctor gyrations had anything to do with it. Her black magic may have helped Kirk, but it made me feel a little sick.

In the end, this episode only serves as a reminder that we’re creeping ever closer to the third season…

Eugene’s Rating: Warp Factor 1

Best Line: M’BENGA (To Nurse Chapel, re: Spock): He knows we’re here and what we’re saying, but he can’t afford to take his mind from the tissue he’s fighting to heal. I suppose he even knows you were holding his hand.

Syndication Edits: None, it seems.

Trivia: The creature was actually called a “gumato,” but DeForest Kelley couldn’t say it right so they changed it.

TNG’s “ Too Short A Season ” was apparently supposed to be a sequel to this episode, with Kirk returning to the planet and attempting to heal the wounds of civil war.

Other Notes: Jud Crucis is a pseudonym for Don Ingalls, the original writer of the episode. (This is the man who brought you “ The Alternative Factor .”) The original draft of the script had many more overt references to the Vietnam war, calling Apella “a Ho-Chi-Minh type” and he had all the natives dressed like “Mongolians.” He did not like Roddenberry’s re-write and Jud Crucis is a play on “Jesus Crucified.”

Previous Episode: Season 2, Episode 18 – “ The Immunity Syndrome .”

Next Episode: Season 2, Episode 20 – “ Return to Tomorrow .” US residents can watch it for free at the CBS website .

This post originally appeared on Tor.com .

About Torie Atkinson & Eugene Myers

Not a favorite of mine. Advocating war seems out of step for TOS.

BTW: did anyone else notice that the Mugato footprints were actually those left by the white rabbit in “Shore Leave”? The six foot bunny would probably have been just as scary as the Mugato.

Had to go before I could finish my comment, to whit:

I also have a problem with the whole Klingon plot. What are they hoping to gain with this convoluted power play? There is no indication in the story that there is anything that the Klingons would usually find valuable ( dilithium, topaline, ovaltine…whatever the usual Macguffin is ).

Why go to all this trouble with such a slow-moving plan? As we saw in “Errand Of Mercy”, subtlety is not a hallmark of Klingon plots. Why didn’t they just send in an occupying army as they did on Organia? Considering the blase way Kor went about it, that would be S.O.P. for the Empire. I suppose you could argue that the Organian Peace Treaty might have something to do with it, but considering how rarely the Organians intercede after their introduction, it hardly seems likely. Though, if it does, you would think that Ayelborne and his friends would hardly find this game of brinksmanship sporting and put a stop to it ( or do they only care when it involves their world?

Sorry, I love this one. I’ve been waiting to find it again, after having its lines echo in my head for 25-30 years (“Serpents. Serpents for the Garden of Eden”). The theme of loss of innocence, evoking all the pains and no-win scenarios inherent to growing up were irresistible to me as a young teen, and are damn near irresistible now. Different strokes and all that, but I don’t understand why you keep saying that Kirk was so gung-ho about the prospect of arming the villagers. He’s clearly destroyed about it, and of course chooses against that very course of action at the end of the episode–which is the only unhappy ending in TOS thus far save “The City on the Edge of Forever.” Certainly it is unfair to accuse the writers of failing to understand the folly of this course of action. Besides the producers’ well-documented horror about what was happening in Viet Nam, they have Bones continually point out the madness and inevitable tragic end to this course, even as Kirk hopes against hope to find a way out, something to left to save of what used to be so precious to him.

No doubt there is a process available to lodge a complaint against the Kingon Empire for its activities on the planet. No doubt Kirk went on to exercise it. Can’t put the genie back in the bottle. Can’t get back what was lost.

I can only think that the writer had Spock unconscious in Sickbay for most of this episode because he knew that Spock would never permit Kirk to behave so foolishly. When you have to write your smart character out of the episode or your plot falls apart, you know that you have failed!

I agree with Kevin about the ending: at the last minute, Kirk sees the futility of the situation and decides against arming the hill people after all. After he sees how violent his formerly peace-loving friend Tyree has become (Kirk has to restrain him after he bashes an opponent’s head in with a rock), he starts to have second thoughts. The episode ends with Kirk saying, “We’re very tired, Mister Spock. Beam us up home.” Next we see the Enterprise leaving orbit.

I’m not sure why so many people seem to assume that Kirk arms the hill people at the end of the episode; if he does, you need to imagine that it takes place between the last spoken line and the final shot, which is only a few seconds of screen time.

By the way, there is an excellent series of articles over at Star Trek Fact Check that goes through the history of how this episode was written.

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Published Feb 1, 2018

GUEST BLOG: "A Private Little War" at 50

The second season’s “ A Private Little War ” was the 48th broadcast episode of Star Trek: The Original Series and its story came from Don Ingalls -- writing under the pseudonym of Jud Crucis (a name that Ingalls used as a stand-in for “Jesus Crucified” when he didn’t like the final product) -- and a teleplay by Gene Roddenberry. “A Private Little War” was a serious episode when it was produced in 1967 (airing in 1968) and, today, it’s an oft-referenced one in any discussion about how TOS used science fiction as a cloak to comment on the then-current events. In the case of this episode, Ingalls and Roddenberry wanted to make a statement on various aspects of the Vietnam War that was raging controversially at the time.

Since today is the 50th anniversary of the first broadcast of “A Private Little War,” we thought we’d take a look at three things which we think made it unique, namely, the guns, the girl and the Gumato (OK, the horned creature was actually called a Mugato—which was changed from the scripted Gumato right before filming began—but why ruin a nice alliteration?).

Above: “A Private Little War” was first broadcast on February 2, 1968. The TV Guide with the episode’s listing had a cover that featured Elizabeth Montgomery from Bewitched in an episode where she's also playing her sister Serena. Coincidentally, Montgomery was often listed in the credits using the pseudonym “Pandora Spocks” – a play on the phrase Pandora’s Box – when she played that part.

One of the major plot points in this episode concerned the imbalance of power caused by the guns – the flintlocks, specifically – manufactured by the Klingons and given to the Villagers. Interestingly, the weapons used in the episode weren’t flintlocks at all.

Above: The village patrolmen, played by Roy Sickner, Paul Baxley (behind the slate), and Bob Orrison (from left to right), carry “flintlock” muskets supplied by the Klingons. In the real world, these weapons weren’t flintlocks, but modified Trapdoor Springfield rifles. They were used instead of flintlocks because they allowed a type of blank to be fired.

The Gypsy Girl - Nona

Nona, a Kahn-ut-tu woman of the Hillpeople of the planet Neural, was Tyree’s wife (with Tyree being played by Michael Witney, shown at the top of this page). The story and script modeled the Kahn-ut-tu’s (and, to some extent, the Hillpeople and Villagers) after the Romani gypsies with regards to interests and abilities, e.g., the use of medicinal plants and herbs for healing, having strong and driven personalities, etc. In fact, the final draft script makes specific reference to Nona being gypsy-like and with intelligence. However, generally, she’s an essentially static character and a foil to Tyree.

Above:  Nona was played by actress Nancy Kovack, who was a guest star in many episodic television shows of the time, including Batman, The Invaders, I Dream of Jeannie and… Bewitched . In the publicity snipe that accompanied the photo of Kovack, written by Paramount Television for the NBC Network, Nona’s motivation was described as seeking to become the queen of Neural.

The Mugato was the poisonous, carnivorous ape-like creature that tried to kill Kirk... twice! Actually, two Mugato’s were seen in “A Private Little War” -- mates of each other according to the shooting script -- and both were created and played by Janos Prohaska. Prohaska was a creature fixture in TOS because he also played a humanoid bird and an anthropoid ape in “ The Cage ,” the Horta in “ The Devil in the Dark ” and Yarnek in “ The Savage Curtain .”

Above: Janos Prohaska shown in his studio working on one of his creations, perhaps the Mugato (left, courtesy of TV Guide ) and being slated for his performance as the Mugato in “A Private Little War” (right). Incidentally, the Mugato costume was reportedly a modification of Prohaska’s white gorilla suit – “Snowpuff” – that appeared on other television shows, including The Lucy Show and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea .

And with that, it’s a wrap. We hope you’ve enjoyed our grand gander at the guns, girl and Gumato (and our addled attempt at alliteration).

Until next time.

Biographical Information

David Tilotta is a professor at North Carolina State University and can be contacted at [email protected]. Curt McAloney—an accomplished graphic artist—resides in Minnesota and can be reached at [email protected]. Together, Curt and David work on startrekhistory.com . Their upcoming book, Star Trek: Lost Scenes (due out in August 2018 from Titan Books), will be filled with hundreds of carefully curated, never-before-seen color photos that they use to chronicle the making of the original series, reassemble deleted scenes left on the cutting-room floor, and showcase bloopers from the first pilot through the last episode.

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http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/StarTrekS2E19APrivateLittleWar

Star Trek S2 E19 "A Private Little War" » Recap

Original air date: February 2, 1968

Kirk, Bones and Spock beam down to a peaceful, idyllic planet where some years previous Kirk had befriended a native called Tyree (Michael Witney). Kirk intervenes when he sees a group (including Tyree) about to be ambushed by a rival group armed with flintlocks. Which is odd, because this society is supposed to still be in the Bronze Age. In the ensuing melee, Spock gets shot and has to be taken back aboard the Enterprise .

While Spock convalesces, Kirk and Bones beam back down to investigate this ongoing war. It seems those darn Klingons are at it again! They convinced one faction of natives that they could be more powerful than the others. All they needed was better weapons. As if dealing with them wasn't bad enough, there are these critters called the mugato to contend with. Kirk gets poisoned by one. Fortunately, Bones is able to get him to Tyree's tribe, where his wife Nona (Nancy Kovack) is able to heal Kirk.

Private Little Tropes:

• All There in the Script : Krell's name is never mentioned but is shown in the script.
• Attack on the Heart : Spock is shot through the center mass by revolutionaries on planet Neural. He only survived because his Vulcan heart is located where the Human liver is.
• Attempted Rape : Four villagers try to gang-rape Nona, who...well, kinda fights back (for a loose definition of "fights"). Once Kirk, McCoy , and Tyree show up, however, the villagers simply kill her.
• The Bro Code : Even Kirk must live by it! At least, he tries to.
• Captain's Log : Used in every episode, but at one point, the narration switches to the medical log with Bones narrating since Kirk is indisposed.
• Censor Decoy : There was a scene where Nona showed some skin getting out of the water. A flash of bare breast was there to distract the censors. Sorry boys! It didn't distract the editors for the remastered editions! Another possible example is Spock's gunshot wound. A wound that gory usually wouldn't get past the censors of the time. But, as Spock was given green blood , the censors overlooked it.
• Crazy Jealous Guy : Tyree almost shoots Kirk when he sees Nona and a drugged Kirk making out.
• Early in the episode, Kirk identifies Mugato tracks. Not long after, he gets attacked by a Mugato.
• This leads to another one: after McCoy kills the mugato, Tyree tells him its mate will be nearby. Guess what shows up near the end.
• The love herb that Nona uses on Tyree early in the episode makes an encore appearance, being used on Kirk.
• Cruel to Be Kind : Spock needs to be put in pain to be brought out of his trance. Scotty pulls Chapel away from Spock, thinking she's gone mad, slapping her patient around. Then M'Benga steps in to apply the necessary striking until Spock stops him, saying the pain is sufficient.
• Description Cut : Kirk describes the planet's inhabitants as simple and peaceful—right before seeing villagers with flintlocks stalking the hill people.
• Doctor Obvious : At the end, when Kirk calls the Enterprise and a fully-recovered Spock answers. Bones: Spock, you're alive? Spock: An illogical question, Doctor, since obviously you are hearing my voice.
• Does This Remind You of Anything? : The episode is an allegory of the then-ongoing Vietnam War .
• Downer Ending : A vengeful Tyree demands that Kirk supply him with enough weapons to go to war, and Kirk sadly and reluctantly complies to offset the advantage the Klingons gave the other side. The episode ends with the two factions going into all out war and arms race with Kirk ordering up several hundred "serpents for the Garden of Eden", as Kirk poetically refers to the flintlock rifles.
• Famous, Famous, Fictional : At one point it's noted that if the Klingons weren't taking things slowly they might have equipped their patsies with breech-loading rifles or machine guns or "old-style hand lasers".
• Fascinating Eyebrow : Bones does this far more than usual during the healing ritual. Then again, with Spock out of action, someone has to pick up the eyebrow slack.
• Femme Fatale : Nona will do anything and anyone to get what she wants.
• Firearms Are Revolutionary : Kirk is surprised to find that a planet's people who only had bows and arrows the last time he saw them suddenly have guns. Some of his crew argue that they could've discovered them naturally, but it turns out the Klingons introduced the new tech as part of a plan to take over the planet. Paradise has been destroyed, and all Kirk can do is give them more guns to try to equalize the balance of power.
• Bones shows a lot of concern and care for the wounded Spock and only agrees to leave him with a doctor who has worked extensively with Vulcans. At the end of the episode, they're back to snarking each other.
• Also, when Kirk tells Scotty to take the conn so that he can go to Sickbay and check on Spock.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold : Tyree and his hunter-gatherer buddies are blond good guys, while the villagers who kill them are evil brunets. Nona also has dark hair, and has no qualms about betraying Tyree.
• Vulcans have a version of this, which saves Spock's life. With their Mind over Matter powers, Vulcans can go into a healing trance which would focus all their mental and physical resources on repairing injuries (in this case, a bullet wound). Apparently it is a little-known ability, since Nurse Chapel seems clueless about what is happening.
• Hit Me, Dammit! : Spock tells Chapel to hit him to bring him out of his trance. She gives him a tap that wouldn't hurt a baby. He demands that she hit him harder. She finally nerves herself up to do it, only for Scotty to walk in and stop her . Doctor M'Benga then takes over until Spock finishes pulling himself together.
• It's Personal : This is more than a random little planet for Kirk, having spent quite some time in the past familiarizing himself with it, and becoming close friends with the tribal leader Tyree. If the Klingons spoiling this "Garden of Eden" was not enough to make it personal, the first encounter with the imported weaponry results in Spock getting shot and nearly killed.
• Kissing Under the Influence : Nona uses a certain plant as an aphrodisiac to make men fall in love with her and do what she wants. Tyree is a sucker for it. Kirk finds it rather difficult to resist.
• Klingon Scientists Get No Respect : "Research is not the Klingon way."
• Lady Macbeth : Nona is constantly pushing Tyree to try to gain more power and destroy their enemies.
• Layman's Terms : A Klingon explains that "rifled barrel" means the weapon will shoot further and more accurately.
• Love Makes You Stupid : Tyree doesn't even try to resist Nona's charms. Not even when he sees her using them on Kirk behind his back. Not to mention seeing Nona seducing Kirk using the same aphrodisiac that she actually told him about before, and getting jealous of his drugged friend.
• Low Culture, High Tech : The people of this planet are cave dwellers and early sedentary villagers, now armed with flintlock guns.
• The Main Characters Do Everything : Averted in this episode, as Spock's trauma care is being handled by Dr. M'Benga, and Kirk reminds Dr. McCoy of that fact when he orders the doctor to join him in the investigation planetside.
• Men Are the Expendable Gender : Subverted— Nona, the Femme Fatale , is stabbed to death at the climax of the episode.
• Nubile Savage : Nona, of the furry bra and leather pants variety. Her clothes look suspiciously new and clean, and she has makeup as well. (Cosmetics go back to prehistoric times, so this isn't too unrealistic.)
• Organ Dodge : It's a good thing Vulcans have their liver where a human would have their heart.
• Our Monsters Are Weird : The mugato looks like a cross between Godzilla and Snowflake the Albino Gorilla. Oh, and it has a poisonous bite.
• Palm Bloodletting : Part of Nona's healing ritual. When the ritual is finished, the wound is gone.
• Patrick Stewart Speech : Eat yer heart out, Picard! Kirk beat you to it, pointing out how humanity was once like Tyree's people, and in time they too could emerge as a peace-loving intelligent society.
• Proxy War : The Klingons supplying increasingly advanced firearms to one tribe of a primitive planet, to install them as a puppet leader of that world. Another tribe, one that Kirk had met years before, begins to demand similar weapons by the end, and Kirk begins arranging a Federation-aligned alliance of tribes to oppose the Klingon-controlled ones. He even references the brush wars of the 20th century as he does so.
• Pummeling the Corpse : The previously violence-averse Tyree snaps when he sees his wife stabbed to death. In the ensuing climactic battle, Tyree rushes and quickly overpowers the man who stabbed his wife, and caves in his head with a large rock. Tyree's mind, clouded with Unstoppable Rage , does not register that his opponent is dead, so he spends the rest of the battle bashing the corpse's shattered head . Even after the battle ends, Tyree continues to bash the unresisting corpse until Kirk stops him.
• Schizo Tech : Discussed by the main characters, along with Technology Levels , to the point of Conversational Troping . Upon first discovering that the villagers have flintlock rifles, but not knowing they were provided by Klingon arms-dealers, the crew considers whether the people of this planet might progress differently than the people of Earth. Later, upon their discovery of Klingon intervention, Uhura wonders aloud why the Klingons didn't just give the villagers more advanced weapons like phasers or "old-style hand lasers." The rationale is that the Klingons could teach the villagers how to make their own flintlocks, with the added benefit of making it less obvious that the technology had been supplied by outsiders. See Technology Uplift below.

• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right! : Kirk was advised to stay out of this private little war, but he didn't like the idea of Klingons instigating a war and making things uneven.
• Stock Footage : Clips of the White Rabbit's footprints from " Shore Leave " were used for the mugato prints.
• Technology Uplift : The Klingons drip-feeding weapons technology to one local group, with the intention that they'll take over the planet as Klingon vassals.
• Thou Shalt Not Kill : Tyree's moral code. Until his wife is killed.
• Too Clever by Half : Nona uses all her guile to get her hot little hands on a phaser. However, she doesn't know how to use it and is killed by a stab from a simple knife.
• Training the Peaceful Villagers : When Kirk and Bones discover that the Klingons have been doing this, Kirk decides to train the other side to maintain the balance.
• Bones gives this speech to Kirk when Kirk tells Tyree he will give him weapons to defend himself against his enemies. However, Bones doesn't have any better ideas.
• Nona chews Kirk and Tyree out for not wanting to obliterate the villagers.
• Witch Doctor : Nona uses herb lore and a bit of mysticism to heal Kirk.
• Star Trek S2 E18 "The Immunity Syndrome"
• Recap/Star Trek: The Original Series
• Star Trek S2 E20 "Return to Tomorrow"

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Midnite Reviews

Detailed analysis of classic sci-fi movies and tv shows, star trek episode 48: a private little war.

Technical Specs

Director: Marc Daniels

Writer: Gene Roddenberry

Cast: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, Nancy Kovack, Michael Witney, James Doohan, Nichelle Nichols, Ned Romero, Majel Barrett, Walter Koenig, Booker Bradshaw, Arthur Bernard, Janos Prohaska, Paul Baxley, and Gary Pillar

Composer: Gerald Fried

Air Date: 2/2/1968

Stardate: 4211.4

Production #: 60345

Also, the character of Nona makes for an unnecessary addition to an already cluttered narrative, especially when considering that a scientific explanation behind her witchcraft is never provided. At one point, Spock is critically injured after being struck with a projectile from one of the Klingons’ flintlocks; however, this subplot also feels superfluous given that no emotional weight is added to the uncertainty of Spock’s fate.

Concluding Comments

Overall Quality: 7/10

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Star Trek (TV Series)

A private little war (1968).

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Memory Beta, non-canon Star Trek Wiki

A friendly reminder regarding spoilers ! At present the expanded Trek universe is in a period of major upheaval with the continuations of Discovery and Prodigy , the advent of new eras in gaming with the Star Trek Adventures RPG , Star Trek: Infinite and Star Trek Online , as well as other post-57th Anniversary publications such as the ongoing IDW Star Trek comic and spin-off Star Trek: Defiant . Therefore, please be courteous to other users who may not be aware of current developments by using the {{ spoiler }}, {{ spoilers }} OR {{ majorspoiler }} tags when adding new information from sources less than six months old (even if it is minor info). Also, please do not include details in the summary bar when editing pages and do not anticipate making additions relating to sources not yet in release. THANK YOU

• Memory Beta articles sourced from comics
• Memory Beta articles sourced from short stories
• Neural natives
• 23rd century births
• Political leaders
• 1 Biography
• 2 Alternate timeline
• 3.1 Appearances
• 3.2 References
• 3.3 External links

Biography [ ]

As a young man in 2254 , Tyree was befriended by Starfleet Lieutenant James T. Kirk during the human 's first planetary survey mission. Tyree was aware Kirk came from another planet and had seen how a phaser works. ( TOS episode & novelization : A Private Little War )

After their first day together, while the survey team members slept, Tyree stood lookout for them. Kirk recalled that evening decades later in 2293 . ( TOS novel : Shadows on the Sun )

As a symbol of their friendship, Tyree gave Kirk a stone figurine of two carved human heads. Leonard McCoy recognized it when he spotted it in Kirk's apartment in San Francisco in 2284 . ( TOS - Crucible novel : Provenance of Shadows )

From his time with Tyree, Kirk learned to appreciate craftsmanship and the amount of hard work needed in pre-technological societies. ( TOS - Errand of Vengeance novel : River of Blood )

In 2257 , Tyree attended the birth of brother Salree 's son Nyran and personally gave him the forehead mark of their people. ( TOS novel : Serpents in the Garden )

Between this time and 2267 , Tyree rose to become leader of his tribe and had taken a wife, Nona , a kahn-ut-tu medicine woman.

In 2267, a Klingon agent began supplying primitive firearms to Villagers , a rival tribe. When his wife was killed by the Villagers, Tyree, though a man of peace, asked Kirk to supply his people with the same guns as his enemy had. ( TOS episode & Star Trek 10 novelization : A Private Little War )

Within two months, his tribe had managed to inflict heavily damage to the Villagers' homes, with portions in smoldering ruins. ( ST - Klingons - Blood Will Tell comic : " Issue 3 ")

In 2268 , McCoy brought up Tyree during a heated argument. Kirk had been trying to prevent him from discovering that there were two Spocks aboard the Enterprise , but he considered McCoy's comments "dirty pool". ( TOS - The New Voyages short story : " Ni Var ")

In 2268 , while regarding Tyree, Kirk still felt he'd done what was necessary. ( TOS novel : The Patrian Transgression )

But by 2269 , Kirk considered that his actions had been misguided and ultimately immoral. Despite his offering alternatives to Starfleet, the arm's race had been maintained, and he wondered if Tyree still lived. ( TOS novel : Allegiance in Exile )

In 2269 , Kirk recalled Tyree and unnatural technological leaps when he encountered Vancadia , a planet that appeared to make a one- century leap in force field technology , which similarly turned out to be a result of Klingon interference. ( TOS novel : Renegade )

In 2270 , during a diplomatic meeting, Kirk compared the weapons technology on Yusubi to those he'd given to Tyree, recalling how potent projectile weapons could be. ( TOS novel : No Time Like the Past )

By 2273 , Tyree had personally killed 20 people, marking each death with a tattooed line along his right arm. Tyree had expanded the Hill People encampment into the settlement of Freehold and united seven tribes, but was afraid that his people could be massacred at any time by the overwhelming forces of Governor Apella 's Klingon-allied city of Victory .

In 2273 , Rear Admiral Kirk returned to investigate continued Klingon activity on Neural. Tyree, Kirk and others were captured by Victory slavers and put to work in their leutrinium mine . A week later, hundreds of Freeholders came to rescue them, and fighting ensued. Kirk convinced Victory's Governor Apella to unite with Tyree and order the Klingon Empire off the planet. Tyree evacuated the mine's smelting plant, and then Kirk destroyed it with weapons from a Klingon freighter . Afterward, Tyree and Apella planned to rebuild the facility for the good of all Neuralese. ( TOS novel : Serpents in the Garden )

In 2273 , Kirk lamented the upheavals he'd brought to so many cultures, including arming Tyree and his people. ( TOS novel : Ex Machina )

Alternate timeline [ ]

In an alternate timeline in which John Frederick Paxton destroyed Starfleet Command and ended the talks for the Coalition of Planets in 2155 , Kirk met Tyree but did not befriend him. ( TOS - Myriad Universes novel : A Less Perfect Union )

Appendices [ ]

Appearances [ ].

• TOS episode & novelization : A Private Little War
• TOS novel : Serpents in the Garden
• TOS - Myriad Universes novel : A Less Perfect Union

References [ ]

• TOS novel : Shadows on the Sun
• TOS - Errand of Vengeance novel : River of Blood
• TOS novel : The Patrian Transgression
• TOS novel : Renegade
• TOS - Crucible novel : Provenance of Shadows
• TOS novel : Ex Machina
• TOS novel : Allegiance in Exile
• TOS novel : No Time Like the Past
• TOS - The New Voyages short story : " Ni Var "

External links [ ]

• Tyree article at Memory Alpha , the wiki for canon Star Trek .
• Tyree article at StarTrek.com .
• 1 Ferengi Rules of Acquisition
• 2 Odyssey class
• 3 Star Trek: Destiny

‘Star Trek: Discovery’s Wilson Cruz on Culber and Stamets’ Future — Are They Truly Happy?

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The Big Picture

• Star Trek: Discovery paved the way for LGBTQ+ representation in the Star Trek franchise.
• Wilson Cruz reflects on the importance of human connection and self-discovery portrayed in the series.
• Cruz reveals his satisfaction with Culber's character arc in Season 5 and is open to future appearances.

Though Star Trek: Discovery has come to an end after five seasons, the series will go down in history as the one that kicked off the latest era of the long-running franchise. When Discovery warped onto the scene in 2017, it also broke new ground by featuring one of the franchise's first gay couples to be a regular part of the series. Wilson Cruz and Anthony Rapp opened new doors for LGBTQ+ audiences, and even actors as Discovery 's earliest seasons inspired stars like Blu Del Barrio and June Laporte to reach for the stars too.

To celebrate the release of Discovery Season 5 on Blu-ray and DVD , I sat down with Cruz to take a look back at his time on the series. During our conversation, he spoke about how he hopes Discovery's legacy is rooted in connection, both with ourselves and those around us. He also explains why he was happy with where his character ended up in Season 5 despite having wanted to return for Season 6, and where he thinks Culber and Stamets (Rapp) are in the flash forward shown in the series finale. Lastly, Cruz reveals whether we can expect to see him pop up in any future episodes of Starfleet Academy . You can read our full conversation in the transcript below or watch it in the player above.

Star Trek: Discovery

Taking place almost a decade before Captain Kirk's Enterprise, the USS Discovery charts a course to uncover new worlds and life forms.

COLLIDER: With the show coming to an end and getting this gorgeous home release, looking back over the last eight years of working on Discovery , what do you hope the show's legacy is as part of this massive and probably eternal franchise?

WILSON CRUZ: That’s a big question, Samantha. The first thing that comes to mind is that while it's important to discover new planets and new species and new universes, and that someday we will, in the end, our connection to each other is still the most important thing about our lives. The way that we choose to connect with people who are different than we are , who may look different than we are, who may feel differently about any given subject, it's important to remember that we need each other . That’s one. Two: that, as human beings, our job is to know ourselves more deeply and better, and that's part of our work here on this planet, or whatever planet we're on. That it's okay, that it's not a selfish thing to want to know yourself , and that to connect with other people is the most important part of our lives. And I think the show really displayed that.

'Star Trek: Discovery' Season 5 Felt Like the End of a Chapter, Not the Whole Story

"i was excited to come back in season 6 and discover what that means.".

This season, you got to go on a really cool spiritual journey, and it allowed you to both relate to Michael more, and even at one point, you got to play a whole other character for a day. How do you feel about how Hugh's story ended, and the full-circle journey for him?

CRUZ: I'm really satisfied because I thought that Season 5 was gonna be the end of a chapter for him . He had been on this journey of self-acceptance, of self-realization, really, a reimagining of his world, of his life, no longer sitting in the background of his genius husband, but stepping into his own genius, but also trying to understand how all of this happened, to come to terms with the fact that he had died and come back to life and created this life and that there were questions that could never be answered about that that drove him nuts, that made him anxious. Like the fact that they're even 900 years into the future, that causes anxiety. You can't really explain that. For a scientist, that's hard to accept.

But for him at the end to finally be moved by the fact that this incredible experience has happened and he can't explain it, but it all worked out was a revelation for him that he could finally trust in the universe again, even though he couldn't explain it. So, I was excited to come back in Season 6 and discover what that means now because, who is he now that he doesn't have that anxiety anymore, right? But it was a nice way to end his series because now it's just one full arc. So, I'm pretty satisfied with that.

In the finale, we get this beautiful flash-forward with Michael and Book and their happily ever after, and we do see the rest of the crew again in that vision scene that Michael has. Where do you think Hugh and Paul are at that point in their journey and their lives in the future?

CRUZ: I think they spend a lot more time at their vacation home in Puerto Rico. I think they spend a lot more time probably visiting their charges wherever they are. But I also think that they are probably helping Tilly over at the Starfleet Academy whenever she needs us. But I think they're happily married and excited about their retirement. [Laughs]

I love that. Speaking of Tilly, now that we know when Starfleet Academy is set, is there any chance that we'll see you guys pop up there in the future?

CRUZ: I don't know. They know that we're more than happy and willing to come back if asked. But we're wishing them every success. I'm speaking for Anthony [Rapp] and I. [Laughs]

Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 is now available on Blu-ray and DVD. You can stream the entire series on Paramount+.

Watch on Paramount+

Tyree could refer to:

• Tyree (humanoid) , one of the Hill People from TOS: "A Private Little War"
• Tyree (planet) , the planet where the Orb of the Emissary was found in DS9: "Shadows and Symbols"

There's a planet exactly where Star Trek said Vulcan should be

A strophysicists just found a planet orbiting the star HD 26965, 16 light years away from Earth. Finding exoplanets is always fun, and the fact that this one is in the star's habitable zone (where liquid water could exist on its surface) is a bonus. But that's not why people are particularly psyched about the announcement.

See, HD 26965 also goes by 40 Eridani A-the star orbited by Spock's homeworld in  Star Trek . That means  they found Vulcan.  Ok, fine, they found a real-world analog to a completely fictional world, but you can't blame  Star Trek  fans for being excited.

A star's backstory

The star was first suggested as a possible candidate for Vulcan's host in a 1968 collection of short stories by James Blish adapted from episodes of the iconic original series. It became canon decades later in a letter co-authored by  Star Trek  creator Gene Roddenberry published in  Sky and Telescope  in 1991.

From the letter: "This year we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the launch of two important enterprises. One is the HK Project at Mount Wilson Observatory, where astronomers have been monitoring surface magnetic activity on EDO solar-type stars to understand our own Sun's magnetic history. The other is the starship Enterprise on the television series "Star Trek." Surprisingly, the two have more in common than their silver anniversaries."

In 1966-at the same time  Star Trek  premiered-the HK project started looking at the light of distant stars, trying to get more information about how these flaming balls of charged gas worked. One of those stars was 40 Eridani A, a single star in a triple-star system.

They also looked at another star, Epsilon Eridani, which is frequently cited in science fiction as a distant alien homeworld. Thanks to a different, 1980  Star Trek  book, Epsilon Eridani was also in contention to be Vulcan's star. Here's where it gets really fun: Citing the work of the HK Project, Roddenberry and three Harvard astrophysicists wrote in their  Sky and Telescope  letter that 40 Eridani A was the better candidate for Vulcan's star since it was 4 billion years old (similar to Earth) while Epsilon Eridani was only 1 billion years old. A comparative infant, any planets around Epsilon Eridani wouldn't have had time to evolve complex and advanced life forms.

We get it, you nerd. What about the actual science?

The data published in a paper in the  Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society  is just as cool as the sci-fi. To find this planet, the researchers looked for small changes in the star's light that could indicate something was orbiting it.

Instead of looking for a dip in light as a planet moves between its star and a telescope (called a transit) these researchers watched the wavelengths of light coming off the star, looking for little shifts that would indicate how it's moving relative to Earth. That gives them a general idea of how often the planet orbits its star, and how big it is.

"The new planet is a ‘super-Earth' orbiting the star HD 26965, which is only 16 light years from Earth, making it the closest super-Earth orbiting another Sun-like star," lead author Jian Ge said in a statement. "The planet is roughly twice the size of Earth and orbits its star with a 42-day period just inside the star's optimal habitable zone."

But a super-Earth isn't necessarily Earth-like-the term refers to any planet with a mass higher than our home world's but significantly less than the ice giants Uranus and Neptune. The researchers don't yet know what kind of planet the real-life Vulcan is; it could be a big ol' version of the rocky Earth, but it could also be a gaseous planet something like a pint-sized Neptune.

Without more data, we won't know. But  luckily  we're about to get more data. NASA's TESS satellite will be looking toward that star later this year, and if the planet transits, we could get more information about its density or atmosphere.

If TESS does show that Vulcan is more like Earth than Neptune, that still doesn't mean a bunch of green-blooded, pointy-eared aliens with an extremely advanced and logical society are hanging out on the surface. That's incredibly unlikely. We'll be lucky if there's even microbial life for us to hunt down traces of. But we can still hope. Roddenberry was right about cell phones, tablets, and automatic sliding doors so  clearly  that means we've got 45 years left before we invent warp drive and make first contact. Make it so.

Written by: Mary Beth Griggs

This article was originally published on Popular Science

The post There's a planet exactly where Star Trek said Vulcan should be appeared first on Organically Human .

Screen Rant

Everything star wars has revealed about the history of the mandalorians.

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Star Wars: Every Upcoming Movie, TV Show, Game, Book, Comic, & More

All 12 mandalorian clans, houses & groups in star wars canon, genius star wars theory reveals rey's secret force power can tie two new movies together.

The Mandalorians have become one of the most significant cultures in the Star Wars franchise, with new stories revealing more about their history. Following Boba Fett's debut in The Empire Strikes Back , the original Star Wars Expanded Universe created a whole society of warriors who wore the same kind of armor, dating back thousands of years before the movies. While Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones retconned Boba Fett's backstory, it presented an opportunity to expand on Mandalorian society through his father, Jango Fett.

However, Mandalorian culture and history began to change with Star Wars: The Clone Wars , which presented a different version of Mandalore. Star Wars Rebels reincorporated some elements from Legends, while The Mandalorian and its spinoffs expanded even more on the Mandalorians in the Star Wars timeline . From the birth of Mandalorian society to the latest developments in the Star Wars movies and TV shows , 15 significant details have been revealed about the history of the Mandalorians.

Star Wars’ major releases across canon will be numerous in the next half-decade, from TV shows and films to books, novels, and video games.

15 The Darksaber Was Forged By Tarre Vizsla

The first mandalorian jedi.

As the longtime enemies of the Jedi Order, very few Mandalorians were taken to be trained at the Jedi Temple. Tarre Vizsla became the first, crafting a special lightsaber with a distinct black blade known as the Darksaber. When Vizsla died, the Darksaber was kept in the Jedi Temple until members of House Vizsla broke in and stole it during the fall of the Old Republic . They used the blade to crush their enemies and unite all of Mandalore for a time, making the Darksaber a symbol that could unite the various Mandalorian clans for generations.

14 There Was A War Between The Jedi & The Mandalorians

And the jedi won.

In Star Wars Rebels season 3, Kanan Jarrus confirmed that the Jedi won a war with Mandalore at an unknown time in galactic history. He said this in response to Sabine using specialized Mandalorian weapons against him while sparring, designed to counter Jedi Force abilities. This was one of many conflicts between the Jedi and the Mandalorians, and their final battle came at a great cost. Mandalore's surface was scorched in a great cataclysm , forcing the surviving Mandalorians to relocate inside domed cities.

13 The Various Houses & Clans

Mandalorians are constantly at war with each other.

Bo-Katan once said that Mandalore was always too strong to be conquered by external forces, but their division led to internal conflict. Several houses, clans, and other factions have been revealed in Star Wars canon:

• Old Mandalorians
• New Mandalorians
• Death Watch
• Children of the Watch
• Clan Mudhorn

Mandalorians wear the same beskar armor, but there are different factions across Star Wars canon. Here are all 12 Mandalorian clans, houses, & groups.

12 The Ancient Mandalorians Had Different Customs

Their code was more strict than modern mandalorians.

Din Djarin believed his clan represented the true Mandalorian way, but his worldview was challenged when he met Bo-Katan Kryze. She explained that he was a member of the Children of the Watch, a group that broke away from Mandalorian society to reestablish "the ancient way." Din Djarin was taught to strictly follow the Mandalorian creed, even if it meant never removing his helmet. This suggests that the ancient Mandalorians had different customs and rituals from most Mandalorian clans seen in the Star Wars TV shows.

11 Ancient Mandalorians Rode The Mythosaur

One is still alive on mandalore.

One of the first bits of lore dropped in The Mandalorian season 1 was the legend of the Mythosaur. Ancient Mandalorians were said to have tamed the great beast and ridden on its back into battle, but many believed it was just a story. However, The Mandalorian season 3 revealed that at least one Mythosaur was still alive in the waters beneath Mandalore .

10 There Are Over 1,000 Worlds In Mandalorian Space

The result of thousands of years of expansion.

When Mandalore appeared in Star Wars: The Clone Wars , it was shown as a single planet and a moon. In Star Wars Rebels , more Mandalorian clans had their own territories on other worlds. The Lucasfilm Story Group clarified that the Mandalore sector encompassed over 1,000 worlds, which makes sense for a culture that spent millennia conquering and expanding.

9 The Mandalorians Have Existed For 10,000 Years

As mentioned in the book of boba fett.

The Jedi Order and the Republic may have existed for 25,000 years, but the Mandalorians weren't around even half that long. The Armorer told Din Djarin in The Book of Boba Fett that Mandalorians had existed for 10,000 years, dating back to approximately 9991 BBY. While this makes the Mandalorians significantly younger than the Jedi, they are older than the Sith, who date back to approximately 5,000 BBY.

8 The Mandalorian Crusaders Allied With The Sith During The Old Republic Era

Similar to their history in the legends timeline.

The Mandalorians waged countless wars of expansion throughout their history, at one time aligning with the Sith. A fallen Jedi turned Sith named Ulic Qel-Droma led the Mandalorian Neo-Crusaders against the Jedi and the Republic from the Empress Teta system. This is similar to the Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi comic series, where Ulic eventually returned to the light while the Sith and the Mandalorians were defeated.

7 Mandalorian Expansion Stopped After The Sith's Defeat

Though civil wars would continue.

The fall of the Old Republic during the final Jedi-Sith War may have allowed the Mandalorians to steal the Darksaber, but it was also the end of their expansion. Mandalore turned from conquest to uniting the various clans and houses, eventually leading to infighting and civil wars. It was also noted that the Mandalorians remained surprisingly peaceful during the High Republic era, approximately 200 years before the Star Wars movies.

6 Royalty Recited The Mandalorian Tenets By The Living Waters

Even if they didn't follow all of them strictly.

Bo-Katan did not follow the ancient Mandalorian creed like Din Djarin, but it was an important part of her upbringing. As part of the royal family, she recited the Mandalorian tenets by the living waters in front of her people, a moment which made her father proud. It may have been more ceremonial, but it showed that tradition and honoring the past was still important in Mandalorian society.

Bo-Katan Kryze

The sister of Satine Kryze, Bo-Katan allied with extremist factions of Mandalore - unwittingly dividing her people, creating opportunities for the Separatists and Darth Maul. Bo-Katan spent much of her life seeking redemption, attempting to unite the Mandalorians against the Empire, but ultimately surrendered to Moff Gideon in an attempt to save her people from a genocidal Imperial attack. In The Mandalorian era, Bo-Katan has successfully reclaimed Mandalore and become the new Man'dalore - her people's chosen ruler.

5 The Rise Of The New Mandalorians

And the ensuing civil war.

While the New Mandalorians successfully took control and exiled the Old Mandalorians, terrorist groups like Death Watch sought to restore Mandalore's warrior culture.

Because the Mandalorians were a race of warriors for generations, no one could have predicted the sharp turn their society would take under the rule of Duchess Satine Kryze. After civil war killed most of her people, Satine came to hate violence and sought to reshape Mandalore as a pacifist society . This caused a divide between the Old Mandalorians, who adhered to Mandalore's warrior past, and Satine's New Mandalorians. While the New Mandalorians successfully took control and exiled the Old Mandalorians, terrorist groups like Death Watch sought to restore Mandalore's warrior culture.

4 Jango Fett Was A Mandalorian Foundling

A return to his origin in legends.

Star Wars has retconned Jango Fett's status as a Mandalorian several times in various stories. In the Star Wars Legends timeline, Jango was taken in by the True Mandalorians and raised as one of them, but became a bounty hunter when they were all killed. However, Star Wars: The Clone Wars had Prime Minister Almec claim that Jango was a common bounty hunter who somehow acquired Mandalorian armor. The Mandalorian season 2 returned to Jango's roots in Legends by revealing that he was a foundling and later fought in the Mandalorian Civil Wars.

3 Mandalore Led The Council Of Neutral Systems

Those who wanted to stay out of galactic wars.

During the Clone Wars, Mandalore's newfound pacifist ideals caused Duchess Satine to flatly refuse to join the Republic or the Confederacy. She became the leader of the Council of Neutral Systems, comprised of over 1,500 systems that also wished to stay out of the conflict. Unfortunately, this made Mandalore a target by those who wished to influence the other neutral systems by forcing Satine to pick a side.

2 The Empire Destroyed Mandalore

But it was reclaimed by those who remained.

The last time the Mandalorians were seen in Star Wars Rebels , they were united behind Bo-Katan and prepared to stand up to the Empire. The next time they appeared in The Mandalorian , they were scattered across the galaxy after the Empire decimated Mandalore. Later seasons and spinoffs expanded on this, referred to as the Great Purge of Mandalore and the Night of a Thousand Tears .

1 Death Watch Shattered Into Many Different Factions

The armorer says this in season 3.

Although Death Watch has been defeated by the end of the Clone Wars, its members scattered into different factions. The similarly named Children of the Watch resided on Concord Dawn, as Death Watch had, and also believed in restoring lost Mandalorian customs. Gar Saxon and his followers joined the Empire, while Bo-Katan and her allies formed the Night Owls. Some members of Death Watch remained, but for the most part, the movement died out, making way for the next chapter of Mandalorian history in the Star Wars timeline.