Code of Honor ( episode ) A mission of mercy is jeopardized when a planetary ruler decides he wants an " Enterprise " officer as his wife . Summary . Teaser . The has traveled to Ligon II for a vaccine , found only on that planet , that is needed to cure a plague , Anchilles fever , on Styris IV , a Federation planet . Captain Picard has to negotiate with the Ligonian leader Lutan for the vaccine . Picard , Troi and Riker meet up with Natasha Yar in cargo bay 1 to greet the Ligonian s . Riker and Troi inform Picard that the Ligonians are a closely humanoid race with similarities to Human culture , as well as an extremely proud race of people with a highly - structured society . The Ligonians beam over with a red carpet , which is rolled out before Lutan himself beams over . Picard greets him , and Lutan introduces his secondary Hagon . Picard then introduces his crew . Immediately , Lutan is intrigued that a woman , Yar , is in charge of security on the " Enterprise " . Hagon approaches Picard with a sample of the vaccine , and brushes Yar out of the way when she tries to take it from him . Yar then throws Hagon to the ground before inspecting the vaccine and giving it to Picard . Troi recommends not to apologize for the incident as they would see this as a sign of weakness . Picard thanks Lutan and invites them to stay for entertainment . Lutan agrees , however , once the Enterprise crew leaves , he tells Hagon that Yar may be " just what he needs . " Act One . In the observation lounge , Picard presents Lutan with a 13th century statue of a horse from China ' s Sung Dynasty . Lutan makes a speech praising Picard and saying he hopes their two peoples can become friends . He tells Picard that on Ligon , the women own all the land and wealth , but apart from that they are subservient to the men . He then asks to see the holodeck , and specifically requests Yar to show it to him . She brings him and Hagon there and shows them an aikido training holoprogram . Lutan tells Yar that he is very impressed by her . They return to the cargo bay and prepare to leave . Lutan goes to shake Yar ' s hand , but then grabs her and forcefully beams her down to Ligon . Picard immediately orders a red alert . Act Two . Picard tries to contact Lutan through Ligon ' s orbital control station , but he doesn ' t respond . He then orders a display blast of photon torpedo es 1 , 000 meters above the planet ' s surface . Unfortunately , they cannot trace the location of the transporter beam . Troi advises the captain that she sensed avarice and ambition from Lutan , but general attraction and curiosity from the rest of the Ligonians . Data comments that the Ligonians value patience and that perhaps they should wait and see if Lutan contacts them . A day later , Dr . Crusher visits the captain in his ready room and tells him that the vaccine can ' t be replicated – only the original will work . She also asks him to allow her son Wesley to come on to the bridge . Picard relents and goes out onto the bridge and asks him to come out from the bridge ' s turbolift and to sit at the operations officer station . Data is ready with his briefing on the Ligonians . He tells Picard that they live by a strict code of honor and that what Lutan has done is similar to what Native American s called " counting coup " . In this case , Lutan ' s abduction of Yar was a sign of his heroism . Since Yar was the security chief , she was the riskiest target to capture and thus carried the most prestige . Lutan hails them and Troi and Riker advise Picard that he ask for Yar back . Although he ' s not happy about it , Picard agrees and asks Lutan to return Yar . Lutan invites them down to the planet . Act Three . Riker is persuaded to allow Picard down to the planet , as a visiting leader becomes an honored guest and cannot be harmed . Riker jokingly warns Picard that if he gets hurt , he will put the captain on report . Picard and Troi beam down to a building Lutan calls his Centerplace . He arrives with Hagon and his " first one " Yareena . Lutan offers any courtesy Picard desires , and so Picard insists to see Yar . When she is brought out she tells him that she ' s all right . The culture difference in the incident is acknowledged , and Lutan says she will be returned at a banquet in their honor tonight . At the banquet , Picard makes a speech about Lutan and his honor and asks for Yar back . However , Lutan refuses , saying he wants Yar as his first one . This outrages both Picard and Yareena , who challenges Yar ' s right of supersedence with a fight to the death . When Picard objects , Lutan exclaims he won ' t give them the vaccine or enter a treaty . Riker is alerted and maintains sensor sweeps of the compound . A message is received from Starbase 14 , saying that the plague has worsened and that millions could die without the vaccine . Picard and Troi come to visit Yar in a room prepared for her , where she admits that she finds Lutan attractive . She is confident that she can win , and Troi agrees , saying that the odds are in her favor . Picard decides to reason with Lutan . He finds out that Lutan needs Yareena ' s money and land if he is to stay in power . If she dies , he gets her money , so he ' s in a win - win situation . Picard says he will order Yar to fight , and they toast . Act Four . On the " Enterprise " , Data visits La Forge in his quarters while he shaves with a razor and tries to tell him a joke , but Data still doesn ' t understand humor . Then they are ordered to beam down to the surface , where they meet Picard . He orders them to examine the weapons on display , as they won ' t know which is to be used until just before the fight . On the Enterprise , investigation of the area continues in order to be ready to transport Yar out in case of trouble . Yareena comes to see Yar at her request . Yar tries to talk her out of fighting but Yareena is determined to fight for Lutan , unconvinced that Yar is only fighting for the vaccine , and not out of love for Lutan . Clearly , the honor is to fight even if death is likely . Yar reports this to Picard , as Data and La Forge return with their report on the weapons , which are very sharp , light and poison tipped . Hagon arrives with the weapon to be used – a spiked metal ball on a glove , called a " glavin " . As Yar examines the weapons , the group overhears Yareena practicing in the arena . Act Five . Data beams back to the " Enterprise " to inform Riker on what the captain is planning . Meanwhile , down on the surface , Picard , Troi , La Forge and Yar enter the arena . The fight starts and Yar dodges and parries Yareena ' s attacks . Then Yareena ' s glove hits an electrified pole and the glove flies off and hits a spectator . The spikes cut him and he is dead in seconds . The fight resumes and eventually Yar bests Yareena , hitting her with her weapon , and dives on her . They are both beamed up to the " Enterprise " where Dr . Crusher attempts to counteract the poison . Lutan is initially upset , however , Picard convinces him he has seen the final blow , concluding the fight . Hagon reminds him he has Yareena ' s money and land . Happy with the outcome , he allows medical teams from the " Enterprise " to beam down to get the vaccine . Quickly , though , Picard orders the away team to be beamed up , along with Lutan and Hagon . They are brought to the observation lounge , where Yareena is alive , resuscitated by Dr . Crusher . Since Yareena technically died , her marriage to Lutan is over , but she still has her wealth . Upset with Lutan , and as she heard Hagon call out to her during the fight , she selects Hagon as her new first one . He now has all Yareena ' s wealth and power . She asks Lutan to be her second one and he accepts . With the vaccine secured , the " Enterprise " leaves for Styris IV . Memorable quotes . " " He ' s on the turbolift . You ' ll remember you ordered him to stay off of the bridge . " " " " Then you shall have no treaty , no vaccine and no Lieutenant Yar ! " " " " A code of honor protects one , captain , like a magic cloak . " " " " This is my first one , Yareena . " " " " Lutan is a " fortunate " man . " " " " May I speak to you about my son , Wesley ? " " " " What ? Oh , yes . . . " ( grumbling ) " all right . " " " " Most interesting . Could this be Human joke number 663 ? " " " " Negative , Data . That ' s a captain ' s " order . " " " Surrounded by such friendship , I feel no need for my guards ! " " " " You can create people . . . without a soul ? " " " " Ah , I see . You too understand the proper value of women ! " " " " Your skill impresses me . I like you . " " " " You speak of a code of honor . What you are saying now , according to our customs is called an act of war ! " " " " This is not an act of war , but of love ! " " " " Are you making demands , captain ? ! " " " " ( To Wesley Crusher ) Why don ' t you sit at Ops , next to Lieutenant La Forge ? " " " " Sir ? " " " " Sir ? " " " " Is the whole ship deaf ? Sit down over there , young man ! Temporarily ! " " " " Out of my way , woman ! " " " " Lutan is such . . . such a basic male image and having him say he wants you . . . " " " " Well , yes of course , it made me feel good when he . . . Troi , I ' m your friend and you tricked me ! " " " " We ' re all being manipulated , lieutenant . Myself most of all . " " " " Includling " the kiddlies ! Now , see that ' s funny ! " " " " For example , what Lutan did is similar to what certain American Indians once did , called ' counting coup ' . That is from an obscure language known as French . Counting coup . . . " " " " Mr . Data , the French language for centuries on Earth represented civilization ! " " " " By our standard , the customs here - their code of honor - is the same kind of pompous , strutting charade that endangered our own species a few centuries ago . We evolved out of it because no one tried to impose their own set of . . . I ' m sorry , this is becoming a speech . " " " " You ' re the captain , sir , you ' re entitled . " " " " Hmm . I ' m not entitled to ramble on about something everyone knows . Carry on . " " " " Move ! " " " " She is " not " dead ! " " " " These I understand . " " " " As you can see , captain , you may excel in technology , but not in civilized behavior . " " " " What ? Wesley ? " " " " Yeah . Wesley had been manning that station for me . I forgot . " " " " Well , thanks again for manning one of our bridge stations , Wesley . We ' ll see that you get another chance . " " " " Yes , sir . " " " " Damn . Where are the calluses we doctors are supposed to grow over our feelings ? " " " " Perhaps the good ones never get them . " " Links and references . References . 13th century ; 2164 ; aikido ; " Aikido 1 " ; alkaloid poison ; American Indian ; Anchilles fever ; away team ; axe ; ; blood ; bridge ; bronze ; Cargo Bay 1 ; carpet ; China ; Chinese dragon ; " Constellation " - class model ; counting coup ; crossbow ; Earth ; exercise mat ; French language ; First One ; " Galaxy " - class decks ; glavin ; gong ; headband ; Heglenian shift ; holodeck ; honor ; horse ; Human history ; humor ; infection rate ; joke ; kidney ; Ligon orbital control station ; Ligon II ; Ligonian ; Livingston ; maid ; medical tricorder ; necklace ; Neptune ; number one ; observation lounge ; Olympics ; painting ; personality profile ; photon torpedo ; plague ; poison ; prime directive ; razor ; ready room ; rectangle ; red alert ; red carpet ; scar ; sculpture ; Second One ; shaving ; SS 433 ; standard orbit ; Starbase 14 ; Starfleet Academy ; starship operations ; statue ; Styris IV ; Sung Dynasty ; supersedence ; tricorder ; Triton ; turbolift ; unnamed plants ; vaccine ; viewscreen ; VISOR ; weapon ; wristwatch