Stardate: 3045.6

Original airdate: 1/19/1967

Writer: Gene L. Coon

Director: Joseph Pevney

Guest stars:

Carole Shelyne          The Metron
Jerry Ayers             O'Herlihy (part of the landing party, killed first)
Grant Woods             Kelowitz (part of the landing party)
Tom Troupe              Lt. Harold, survivor of the attack on Cestus 3)
James Farley            Lang (part of the landing party, 2nd killed)
Sean Kenney             DePaul, navigator

   Commodor Travers, of Cestus 3, famous for his hospitality and chef prepared food, dead before the Enterprise got there. The Gorn's faked his transmission

Crew Appearances:
Kirk, Spock, McCoy
Sulu
Uhura
Scott
 

Story

When a Federation starbase is destroyed, the Enterprise sets off in pursuit of the attackers. En-route they enter an uncharted sector of space where Kirk, and the commander of the other vessel, the lizard-like Gorn, are transported to a planet's surface where they are forced to carry out their barbarism against each other in a battle to the death, while the loser's ship and all those aboard being destroyed. What follows is a savage struggle, with Kirk's ultimate humanity sparing both him and the Enterprise.

Gorn: lizard like creatures, cold blooded, stronger and more powerful physically than humans but slower and less witty, with space flight capabilities

Metrons: Humanoid but superior in capabilities and civilized notions.

Cestus 3: isolated outpost, destroyed by the Gorn becasue they were encroaching onto Gorn space as invaders.

Factoids:
Disrupters: weapon that is more powerful than phasers used by the Gorn

Kirk believes that invasion is the reason the mystery ship and its occupants attacked the outpost. Spock disagrees and does not desire to engage the ship in battle or have to destroy it. Oddly enough, the Gorn thinks the same thing about human occupation of their planet, invasion.

Stars mentioned by Sulu: Sirius, Canopus, and Arcanus (?)

Kirk finds the ingrediants on the planet to make a crude canon:
Sulphur, coal, potassium nitrate for gun powder, and diamonds for the projectiles, a conveniently placed hollowed out tree trunk, and some rope (off of the rope tree over yonder, no doubt:-) Also  speculation has it  that Kirk downloaded instructions for bomb making off of the internet when he was a teenager.

Quotes:

"Doctor, you are a sensualist." Spock.
"You bet your pointed ears I am." McCoy.
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"We are the Metrons"