The Return of the Archons ( episode ) The " Enterprise " discovers a planet where the population act like zombies and obey the will of their unseen ruler , Landru . Summary . Teaser . Lieutenant s Sulu and O ' Neil are undercover and dispatched to the surface of the planet Beta III to learn what became of the " " , which disappeared there one hundred years earlier . Recognized as outsiders , they draw the attention of the lawgiver s . Pursued , the officers call for beam - out , but O ' Neil flees before they are to be beamed up , only Sulu is retrieved , and upon materializing in the ' s transporter room , he is in a strange mental state , stating to Captain Kirk that the planet below is " " paradise , my friend . Paradise . . . " " Act One . Captain Kirk beams down with a larger landing party to investigate . Spock , Dr . McCoy , sociologist , and two guards , Leslie and Galloway , form the balance of the landing party . Immediately upon being beamed down , Spock notices a strangeness in the people they encounter ; a kind of contented mindlessness expression on their faces . Then , at six o ' clock , the red hour strikes – the beginning of the Festival , a period of debauchery and lawlessness . Fleeing , the landing party bursts in on Reger , Hacom , and . They had been told by Bilar and Tula , two passersby , that Reger could rent them rooms for after Festival . Their questions seem to terrify Reger . They are given rooms and retreat from the mayhem outside , trying their best to get a few hours ' sleep . The Festival ends the next morning , at six in the morning . Reger , learning the landing party did not attend Festival , concludes they are not of the Body , and asks an astonishing question : " " Are you s ? " " The conversation is interrupted by the arrival of Hacom and lawgivers , the robed servants of the mysterious Landru . The lawgivers command the landing party to accompany them to the absorption chamber s , to be absorbed into " the body . " Act Two . Kirk , acting on a hunch , defies them – and causes confusion . He ' d correctly concluded this society is built around obedience , and might not be ready for any disobedience . Taking advantage of their confusion , Reger guides the crew to a place he knows , where they will be safe . But on the way , Landru employs a form of mass telepathy to command an attack , which is easily repelled by the landing parties ' phaser fire . Among the attackers is . . . the missing Lieutenant O ' Neil . Reger warns against bringing him along , but Kirk cannot bring himself to abandon a member of his crew . He orders Leslie and Galloway to take the still - unconscious O ' Neil with them over the strenuous objections of Reger . Through his tricorder , Spock discovers a source of immense power , radiating from a point near the landing party ' s location . Reger tells Kirk about the arrival of the first Archons : many were killed , many more were absorbed . And then he drops the bombshell , mentioning casually that Landru pulled the Archons from the sky . . . Kirk contacts the " Enterprise " , and learns that heat beam s are focused on the ship . Scotty , in command of the " Enterprise " , reports that her shields are able to deflect them , but nearly all ship ' s power is diverted to this purpose . Communications are poor , escape is impossible , and the orbit is decaying . If Kirk can ' t put a stop to the beams , the ship will be destroyed in less than twelve hours . Worse , contacting the ship enables Landru to discover and stun the landing party with an intense sound . Act Three . They awaken in a cave - like cell , but McCoy , Galloway , and O ' Neil are missing . Kirk begins to think of ways to get out of their cell . He asks Spock about the lawgiver ' s inability to cope with the unexpected . Spock , noting that in a society as well organized as Beta III ' s appears to be , he cannot see how an oversight like that can go on uncorrected . He does find one thing interesting ; the lawgiver ' s reaction to Kirk ' s defiance was similar to a computer ' s when fed insufficient data . Kirk disputes that the lawgivers are computers , not Human . Spock replies that they are quite Human , it is just that there are facts missing currently as to why they behave like computers . Soon after , McCoy and Galloway return – and they have been absorbed , with McCoy speaking similarly to the way Sulu had on the " Enterprise " . Evidently , this is the fate that awaits the entire landing party . Lawgivers appear , demanding Kirk accompany them , and this time , Kirk ' s refusal results in an immediate death threat . Spock was correct ; the orderly society has now corrected a flaw . Kirk is taken to a futuristic room : the absorption chamber . There , a priest named Marplon will oversee Kirk ' s forcible induction into the Body . Spock attempts a Vulcan mind meld with McCoy but is unsuccessful . Lawgivers summon Spock , who is taken to the same place , and there encounters Kirk , now mindlessly happy . Act Four . Spock learns that Marplon was Tamar ' s contact and is part of the same underground to which Reger belongs . Marplon intervened to prevent both Kirk and Spock from being absorbed , and returns their phasers to Spock . Spock , acting as instructed , makes his way back to the cell , pretending to be as mindlessly happy as Beta III ' s inhabitants . Discussing Landru and his society , Kirk and Spock reach the same conclusion : the society has no spirit , no spark ; Landru ' s orders are being issued by a computer . Kirk decides the plug must be pulled . Spock is concerned this would violate the Prime Directive , but Kirk opines that the directive applies to living , growing cultures , of which this is not . When Reger and Marplon join them , Kirk demands more information : the location of Landru . Reger reveals that Beta III was at war , and was in danger of destroying itself . Landru , one of the leaders , took the people back to a simpler time . And , Marplon claims , Landru is still alive . Marplon takes Kirk and Spock , disguised as lawgivers , to a chamber , the Hall of Audiences , where Landru appears to his acolytes – or , at least , a projection of him does . There , Landru regretfully informs them that their interference is causing great harm , and that they , and all who knew of them , must be killed , to cleanse the memory of the Body . Blasting through the wall , Kirk reveals the truth : an ancient machine , built and programmed by the real Landru 6 , 000 years earlier before he died . This machine , now calling itself Landru , was entrusted with the care of the Body , the society of Beta III . To that end , it has enslaved all members of that society , and those who visit , in a thralldom of happiness that is stagnant and without creativity . Kirk and Spock discuss this with Landru , asking it difficult questions it has evidently never had to answer , questions about whether its approach to creating the good is really creating evil . Ultimately , they convince it that it is the evil , and that it must destroy the evil – and it does , exploding in a burst of pyrotechnics . Kirk leaves a team of specialists , including Lindstrom , to help restore the planet ' s culture " to a Human form " . Memorable quotes . " " Are you Archons ? " " " Landru seeks tranquility . Peace for all . The universal good . " " " " Come . " " " " No . " " " " Then you will die . " " " " This is a soulless society , captain . It has no spirit , no spark . All is indeed peace and tranquility – the peace of the factory ; the tranquility of the machine ; all parts working in unison . " " " " Mister Spock , the plug must be pulled . " " " " Captain , our Prime Directive of non - interference . " " " " That refers to a living , growing culture . . . do you think this one is ? " " " " I cannot answer your questions now . Landru . . . he will hear ! " " " " Isn ' t that somewhat old - fashioned ? " " " " Snap out of it . Start acting like men ! " " " " He ' s still alive . He ' s here , now . He sees , he hears . We have destroyed ourselves ! Please . . . no more . " " " " You said you wanted freedom . It ' s time you learned that freedom is never a gift . It has to be earned . " " " " Without freedom of choice , there is no creativity . Without creativity , there is no life . " " " " You are the evil ! The evil must be destroyed ! " " " " If I were you , I ' d start looking for another job . " " " " I prefer the concrete , the graspable , the provable . " " " " You ' d make a splendid computer , Mister Spock . " " " " How often mankind has wished for a world as peaceful and secure as the one Landru provided . " " " " Yes . And we never got it . Just lucky , I guess . " " Links and references . References . 6 , 000 years before ; 2167 ; absorption ; antenna ; " " ; s ; Archon crew ; Beta III ; Beta III native s ; Body , the ; " Bones " ; C - 111 system ; crime ; emergency bypass circuit ; factory ; Festival ; freedom of choice ; Hall of Audiences ; headache ; heat ray s ; hypersonic pulse ; lawgiver ; lighting panel ; logic ; lovers ' quarrel ; metaphysics ; Prime Directive ; prophecy ; red hour ; sociology ; Stone Age ; telepathy ; The Valley ; Vulcan neck pinch ; war