Stardate: 3372.7
Original airdate: 9/15/1967
Writer: Theodore Sturgeon
Director: Joseph Pevney

Guest stars:

Arlene Martel           T'Pring, Spock's consort, betrothed by vulcan ceremony when they were 7 years old.
Celia Lovsky            T'Pau, elder Vulcan official at the wedding
Lawrence Montaigne      Stonn, boyfriend of T'Pring
Byron Morrow            Admiral Komack of Star Fleet Command

Crew Appearances:
Kirk, Spock, McCoy
Nurse Chapel
Uhura
Chekov
Sulu
No Scotty

Mentions:
Earth- example of the salmon
Giant Eel Birds of Regulus 1 as examples of animals that return to one place to spawn or die trying.

Aldebaran shell mouth: not described but appearantly closed lipped

Altair 6: destination of the Enterprise when Spock first requests leave on Vulcan. Inauguration of a new president after a long interplanetary conflict.

Vulcan:
how do Vulcans choose their mates? shrouded in ritual and custom from antiquity

Pon Far: the time of mating

Kunit Kaliphie: marriage or challenge

Plak Tau: The blood fever

Plomik soup: unknown ingredients but Chapel makes some for Spock

Story:

It's Spock's time of pon farr - the Vulcan mating cycle. McCoy informs Kirk that Spock will die unless they divert to Vulcan, his home planet, immediately! There, T'Pring, Spock's arranged bride, chooses the rite of combat, forcing Spock to fight to the death for her. Kirk and McCoy are invited to attend Spock for the ceremony, but she selects Kirk as her champion, instead of Stonn. McCoy shoots Kirk with a neural paralyzer to knock him out and simulate death while fighting Spock to the death,  so they can escape unharmed.

Quotes:
"He'll die, Jim." McCoy
___________
"He's finished. He's dead." McCoy
__________
Now, Spock you can't tell me that when you saw the captian alive you had and emotional display that would have brought the house down." McCoy.
_____________
"After a time you will find that having a thing is not so pleasing as wanting."