Rogue Planet ( episode ) Archer has visions of a mysterious humanoid woman on a rogue planet where it is eternally nighttime . Summary . Teaser . Captain Jonathan Archer is uncomfortable posing for pictures for Starfleet Headquarters , when the discovers a rogue planet that has broken out of its orbit . They decide to lay in a course to take a closer look . Act One . Scanning the planet , T ' Pol discovers that this planet supports a diverse animal population despite being a rogue , because of hot gas es venting from its interior , forming oases where most lifeform s are concentrated . Even though there is no evidence of humanoid life , they are nonetheless able to pick up a power signature from the equator indicating a starship landed on the surface . When attempts to hail go unanswered , they decide to send a landing party consisting of Archer , T ' Pol , Malcolm Reed , and Hoshi Sato . Making their way through the thick , dense , and dark jungle , Archer points out that this place reminds him of the rain forest in New Zealand where he earned his Wilderness merit badge as an Eagle Scout . Reed mentions that he was also an Eagle Scout , with twenty - eight badges , two more than Archer earned . As they put on their night vision sensors and penetrate deeper into the jungle , they locate evidence of alien passage and a campsite , which appears to be deserted . As they split up to investigate , T ' Pol and Reed are attacked and struck down by a group of aliens . However , when the aliens realize that the two are not a threat , they release them and bring them back to the campsite , where Archer has already met their leader , Damrus . The Eska , as their species is called , explain that there are dangerous animals in the forest and that they have never seen humanoid s on the rogue planet before . They explain that even though this planet , which they call Dakala , is no one ' s territory , it is special for them . It turns out that their people have come to this planet for nine generations to kill the indigenous species in a ritual hunt . They use sensing cloak s , which prevents the wildlife from spotting them . Hunting wild animals is part of their tradition . Noticing T ' Pol ' s apparent disgust with the hunting practices of the Eska , Archer diplomatically comments that even though hunting living things went out of style on Earth over a hundred years ago , they nonetheless appreciate the hospitality of the Eska . Reed points out that the gear they carry seems quite elaborate for taking down a few game animals . But one of the Eska warns to not underestimate the game on " this " planet . Curious about their endeavor , Reed is begrudgingly allowed to join them on their hunt to observe the powerful alien camouflage and sensing technology at work . Down on the planet , Reed and Tucker decide to turn in earlier to be ready for the hunt , while Archer decides to sit up for a while to enjoy the natural beauty of the alien oasis , sleeping by the campfire . A few hours later , he awakes to a woman ' s voice calling his name from the foliage outside the camp . He cannot make out where it is coming from , but he is drawn to it , and goes to investigate . He wanders through the night jungle with a flashlight , looking for the voice that was calling him , wondering whether he just imagined it . At first he cannot find anything , but suddenly he sees a woman from afar , standing in the woods , surrounded by some kind of a ethereal light . He is barely able to make out her shape when she vanishes again . Act Two . Confused , Archer tells the rest of the hunting party what happened , explaining that the woman he saw was young , had long blonde hair , and was wearing some kind of a nightgown . She knew his name and who he was and , what ' s more , he thinks that he actually knows her and has seen her before , but he cannot recall specifically . The Eska point out that on this planet it ' s always night and that one is surrounded by things one cannot see ; he wouldn ' t be the first person who looked into the jungle and thought they saw something that wasn ' t there . Archer insists that she was real , but Damrus mocks him , asking him what the chances are that he ' d encounter a half - naked woman who he knows dozens of light year s from his homeworld . He jokes that if he is lucky , maybe she ' ll visit him in his dream s . Even the " Enterprise " crew thinks that what he saw was nothing but a figment of his imagination . The next " day " , while Reed gets ready to join the hunt , Archer , T ' Pol , and Tucker gear up to explore some of the nearby steam vents and mineral springs . The hunters ask Archer if he slept well , joking again about the beautiful woman ( Archer never actually said she was beautiful ; the hunters merely assumed ) he claims to have seen yesterday . Archer ' s team is exploring one of the steam vents Damrus talked about , but Archer is still distracted thinking about the woman he saw last night . Tucker notices Archer ' s disquiet and asks him about the woman again . Archer insists that he wasn ' t hallucinating , yet he is also doubting himself for having walked into an alien jungle , chasing a woman who couldn ' t possibly have been there . He is frustrated that he cannot explain what happened to him when he heard her voice . While continuing with their exploration of the steam vents , Archer spots the mysterious woman again , following her deep into the jungle . This time she talks to him , telling him that she needs him to understand , for he is different . He says that he knows her and wonders how that is possible . The woman replies that if he didn ' t know her , he wouldn ' t have come . Archer asks why she needs him but she appears frightened , shaking and before she can explain , she is scared away by T ' Pol and Tucker , who have come to look for Archer . She mumbles something about being harmed and disappears again . This time , however , Archer does not tell them what he saw . During the hunt , Damrus and one of his men , Burzaan , split up to pursue what they call a " Wraith " , while Reed and one of the other hunters take another path into the jungle . However , during the hunt , Burzaan is badly injured , requiring medical assistance . Act Three . Archer offers to take Burzaan to the ship so he can be treated by Doctor Phlox . Somewhat reluctantly , Damrus agrees , suggesting that they all leave because it is just too dangerous . However , Archer is not ready to leave yet and decides to stay on the planet with Tucker and T ' Pol . While Burzaan is being treated on the ship by Phlox , Archer tells T ' Pol about his second encounter with the woman and how she asked for his help . T ' Pol is still not convinced that there " is " a woman , yet offers to accompany him to find her . She further suggests it would not be safe for Archer to wander around alone , especially in view of the fact that an experienced hunter had just been seriously injured . But Archer insists on going alone , believing the mystery woman would not reveal herself if someone else was around . Back on the ship , after having treated Burzaan , Dr . Phlox explains that the ular residues he found in Burzaan ' s wound are in a state of chromosomal flux and thus mutating – almost as if they are trying to change into something else but can ' t quite figure out what . Hoping to see the mysterious woman again , Archer starts wandering off into the jungle by himself . She finally appears and Archer learns that she is a telepathic shapeshifter , and that she and her kind are in fact the " animals " being hunted by the Eska for sport . When Archer asks why he feels that he knows her , the woman replies that he in fact " does " know her and that her kind chose to contact him because he is different . Act Four . Archer returns to the camp where everyone is toast ing to the hunt tomorrow . While they are sitting around the campfire , Archer asks why the Eska come to this planet to hunt if they also hunt on their own planet . He points out that it seems like an awfully long trip to make just to hunt typical game . Damrus explains that the prey here is different because it is something that gets inside their minds and senses their thoughts . He explains that the Wraiths are shapeshifters who can look like anything – even people one knows . T ' Pol points out that they sound like intelligent , sentient beings , but Damrus denies that , claiming that their shapeshifting is not a sign of intelligence or sentience but a mere instinctual response . Archer wonders how they catch them , and Damrus explains that when the beings are afraid , they emit a chemical signature which their modified sensors can detect , especially the younger creatures . Outraged , Archer ( now on board the " Enterprise " ) informs the crew that the Wraiths have requested his help to survive . Reed points out that the Eska are well armed and know the terrain well . T ' Pol states that she finds this as distasteful as Archer , but that she is not sure how to stop them . Moreover , she believes that they have no right to stop them from doing what they have been doing for generations anyway . Archer , however , refuses to accept this , believing that hunting wild boar is one thing , but killing a sentient being is quite another . T ' Pol goes on to point out yet another , more pressing dilemma : even if they manage to stop them " this " time , the Eska species will simply return later and continue to hunt as they have been doing for generations . However , Dr . Phlox believes he can find a way to mask the chemical signature that the Wraiths emit when frightened , protecting them from the hunters ' scans . They might not be able to stop the Eska from hunting there , but they can level the playing field at least . When discussing the matter with Tucker , Archer tells him about a Yeats poem called " The Song of the Wandering Aengus " that his mother used to read to him , about a man who catches a fish that turns into a beautiful woman with " apple blossoms in her hair " . She calls his name and then vanishes and the man spends the rest of his life searching for her ; for this " glimmering girl " was his vision of perfection that he could never quite find . Archer realizes the woman he saw down on the planet is " her " : the way he always pictured the woman in Yeats ' poem when it was read to him as a child . She isn ' t someone that he ever knew , she is someone he imagined as a child ; the elusive woman from the poem . Tucker wonders why the shapeshifter slipped into his mind and picked an image he had almost forgotten , pointing out that maybe that poem is on his mind more than he realizes . On the planet , the hunters are chasing a Wraith who takes the form of a tree when it is cornered . The hunters catch up but are unable to detect it with their equipment . Hoping to evoke fear in the Wraith , resulting in its giving itself away , the hunters begin randomly firing their weapons . Then suddenly the Wraith attacks one of the hunters but only knocks him down . When they think that their equipment must be malfunctioning because they were unable to detect a frightened Wraith so close , they return to camp , where Archer and Tucker , noticing their rattled state , approach them to offer assistance . Damrus finds it strange that they never failed in a hunt before " Enterprise " arrived , to which Archer smugly admits to being " bad luck " – but doesn ' t explain the issue further . Archer has a final encounter with the thankful Wraith woman , who was given the masking agent . He says that he knows who she is and thanks her for reminding him . She tells him to never stop seeking what seems unattainable , and to never forget her , that woman in the poem . Then she takes on her true , somewhat snake - like form , and vanishes into the darkness of the rogue planet . Memorable quotes . " " Captain Archer in command . " " " " Give it a rest , Trip . " " " " Maybe they wanna be left alone . A single ship on a dark planet . Maybe they ' re on their honeymoon . " " " " I used to say I could land a shuttlepod with my eyes closed . " " " " Well , the proof ' s in the pudding , captain . " " " " Why don ' t you let me play captain for a while , Malcolm . " " " " How many merit badges ? " " " " Twenty - eight . You ? " " " " Twenty - six . " " " " Oh . That ' s not bad , sir . " " " " We spot any more creatures like that and we ' ll earn our exobiology badges . " " " " Actually . . . I already have " that " one . " " " " I promise I won ' t kill anything , sir . " " " " I wonder if you would be so determined to find this apparition if it were a scantily - clad man . " " " " What are the chances you ' d encounter a half - naked woman , who you think you know , dozens of light years from your home world ? " " " " She may just be something I envisioned a long time ago but I ' ll be damned if I ' m gonna let anyone shoot her . " " " " Strange . . . but we never failed in the hunt before " you " arrived . " " " " I guess we must be bad luck . " " " " Never stop seeking what seems unobtainable . Goodbye , Jonathan . Don ' t forget me . " " " " . . . I won ' t . " " Links and references . References . Amazon ; artist ; bioscience ; bioluminescence ; bore worm ; Boy Scout ; camera ; captain ' s chair ; chin ; chromosome ; Dakala ; Dakala bug ; Deneva Prime ; drayjin ; drink dispenser ; Eagle Scout ; Earth ; English language ; entomologist ; Eska ; exobiology ; fire wolf ; game animal ; geothermal energy ; honeymoon ; hunting ; Ipswich ; Jupiter Station ; kilometer ; logic ; masking agent ; merit badge ; migration ; mineral spring ; nest ; New Zealand ; nightgown ; Oakland ; painting ; poetry ; poker ; psychotropic ; pudding ; rain forest ; recruit ; reptile ; rogue planet ; Safari ; sensing cloak s ; shapeshifter ; situation room ; " " ; stanchion ; status display ; Starfleet Command ; telepathy ; toast ; trespassing ; Vulcan High Command ; wild boar ; ; wolf ; wraith ; Yellowstone National Park