10 Changes Star Trek Hoped You Wouldn't Notice

4. Romii

Star Trek Balance Of Terror
CBS Media Ventures

Balance of Terror introduced the Romulans to Star Trek, also serving as Mark Lenard's first appearance in the franchise, though of course, he would return many times as Spock's father, Sarek. Also introduced are the two planets that form the heart of the Romulan Star Empire - Romulus and Romii.

This is the only appearance of this named planet in the entire franchise. Romii seems to have simply been added to offer another world for the Federation to know about, though it is never elaborated on. It would be many years in fact before this second world would be discussed at all. Star Trek: Nemesis featured a revolution of the Remans, the indigenous race that existed on the then-renamed planet of Remus.

While this brings the Empire more in line with their human inspirations, it does beg the question as to whether the writers consider Romii to be a blip in the history of the franchise, or whether it was meant to be an altogether different world. As shown on-screen, there is an argument to say that it could have been labelled RomII, as in Rom2, simply to highlight a second Romulan world. All of this is fine, but it does feel like something that the writers were simply hoping would fade into the history of the show.

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Seán is the host and head writer/presenter for TrekCulture, as well as a writer/presenter on WhoCulture and WhatCulture Horror. He has authored two novels, dozens of short stories, and hundreds of articles for WhatCulture. He holds a Master of Arts in Creative Writing from University College Dublin. As part of his work with TrekCulture, Seán has been invited to participate in collaborations with Roddenberry Entertainment, as well as contributing to several Star Trek community projects. An avid fan of Star Trek, Doctor Who, and the horror genre at large, Seán's expertise has helped develop these channels to the successes they are today. As host of the Ups & Downs series on TrekCulture, Seán has become internationally recognised for his positive yet critically informed approach to reviewing every episode of modern Star Trek, ensuring he is one of the go-to voices in the Trek community. Favourite Quote to describe himself: "I'm serious about what I do, just not always about the way that I do it"