I’ll admit I didn’t have a return to the Kingdom of Elysian on my Star Trek bingo card this year. It felt like a fait accompli when we left it.
However, since Carol Kane joined the crew after their encounter with Debra, the Boltzmann brain in the Jonisian Nebula, playing up The Princess Bride references relit my love for the concept.
The writers’ thorough exploration of character duality also made an excellent canvas for La’an to actualize her internal turmoil.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds “Once La’an A Time”
As a quick refresher, on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 1 Episode 9, “The Elysian Kingdom,” an alien consciousness transformed the Enterprise into a fantastical world from the Benny Russell book, The Kingdom of Elysian.
Fun fact: Benny Russell was a 1950s science fiction writer and also the Emissary, Captain Benjamin Sisko. Sisko used the Russell identity on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 6 Episode 13, “Far Beyond the Stars.”
Dr. M’Benga’s daughter, Rukiya, bonded with the consciousness, naming them Debra after her mother. Debra offered to take Rukiya’s consciousness and sustain it, letting her live a painless, eternal life of endless adventures and exploration.
The Kingdom of Elysian is Rukiya’s favorite book, one M’Benga would read it to her whenever she was out of the medbay’s transporter buffer.
Debra used the ship and its crew to recreate Elysian for Rukiya, who had her own ideas about how the story should play out.
At the same time, the time Debra held the crew enthralled gave M’Benga a chance to understand the depth of his daughter’s creativity, leading him to decide to let her go.
Something About La’an
When Debra released the Enterprise, everyone’s memory of the five-hour encounter was erased except for M’Benga’s.
So on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4 Episode 9, “Once La’an A Time,” when the Enterprise finds a fully actualized Elysian Kingdom on an improbably flat planet propelling itself through space, M’Benga’s got some ‘splainin’ to do.
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Get More of Our Coverage!Having just come from a diplomatic wedding event where La’an’s compulsive need for conflict caused an incident, M’Benga suggests this encounter will help address her current issues.
She’s skeptical, but soon she’s mistaken for her Elysian self, the loving and lovable Princess Thalia, by her romantic partner, Prince Dashing, a doppelganger for Jim Kirk.
The slow-mo hair blowing at the reveal was a nice touch.
La’an’s acceptance of her softer, more emotional side has been a long time coming. Perhaps her attraction to Spock has, in part, been an attraction to Vulcan detachment.
Her fear of her own abilities and natural instincts drove her to become even more closed off from her friends. In her opening log entry, she even refers to the need to protect her friends from her shadow self.
There is a side of me some are afraid of. But if I keep her away from my friends, she can protect them whether they realize it or not. — La’an, CSO personal log
A Comedy of Cowardly Errors
While La’an’s busy trying to rescue Spock, Pike, and Pelia from Uhura’s double, the evil Queen Neve, down in Elysian, the B plot gets a lot of air. Space, even.
Sir Roth and the wizard Pollux find themselves transported to the Enterprise and impersonate Pike and Spock, respectively, in the interests of taking control of the ship and using it to rule Elysian.
Anson Mount has really leaned into the comedic opportunities this season has afforded him. As the cowardly, corrupt Sir Roth, he oozes dishonesty and selfishness while also being easily distracted and unfocused. It’s a cartoonish hoot.
I have to believe the cast had a great time playing with their doppelganger personalities and reactions.
But the message woven through the narrative is that the pairs are two sides of the same coin. Like Prime and Mirrorverse versions, the “shadow” self is always the other.
Pike is an honest and responsible captain with integrity and wit. But Roth shows that he has the potential to be craven and petty and obsess over romantic dragon lore.
Defeating the Dragon
While Enterprise, the foretold Iron Dragon of prophecy, and Uhura’s Crimson Dragon do battle in the skies above Elysian, it’s actually La’an’s inner dragons fighting for balance that make the difference.
La’an accepting that Thalia’s emotionality and genuine affection have a place in her own personality is a huge breakthrough.
Trusting that she can love others and is worthy of their love is a destination she’s been seeking since we met her.
So while the means to that end was fantastical in the most inconceivable way, it was always going to take a maximum-miracle level to bring her two halves into sync.
Happily Ever After?
As much as I enjoyed and appreciated “Once La’an A Time,” a few loose ends kept me from awarding the episode a perfect score.
The planet is, in fact, a ship. Okay. So Rukiya and Debra created it and then just left it zipping around the galaxy willy-nilly?
Now that La’an’s internal conflict is resolved, do the Elysian residents resume their lives as characters in Russell’s book?
Pelia’s piloting the Elysian ship (and her sexy scone supplier) back to Starfleet. Will this be another Division 12 case? How exactly do they explain a planet full of Enterprise crew doppelgangers?
And didn’t they violate General Order 1 by beaming Roth and Pollux onto the ship?
All in all, like the many homages Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4 has treated us to, this fantasy romp served a purpose, providing La’an with a way to find her way back to herself.
What did you think, Fanatics? I recall some controversy over M’Benga’s choice to give Rukiya up to Debra’s care. Is the rudderless Impossible Planet ship vindication that Debra wasn’t a good childminder?
Did you like the Elysian take on Jim Kirk? The fact that Paul Wesley’s surname is the hero of The Princess Bride is really too precious.
Beam your takeaways down to our comments section and be sure to vote for your favorite Enterprise doppelganger!
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