Star Trek: 10 Greatest Captain Kirk Speeches

6. Neat And Painless

Star Trek A Taste Of Armageddon
CBS Media Ventures

A Taste Of Armageddon is another of those episodes that forces the audience to pay close attention to the contemporary world around them. Here, the war that Eminiar VII is engaged in could stand in for so many wars in Earth's history, fought between others, ordered by those in power to their deaths. 

Kirk speaks to Anan 7, imploring the latter to see the futility of this endless conflict that has been quietly raging for years. If he is unable to reach the man by appealing to logic, then the next approach is to emotion.

You've made it neat and painless...so neat and painless, you've had no reason to stop it.

If war is hell, then that is an aspect that should never be forgotten. The people of Eminiar VII had managed to sanetise their war so much that it had stopped feeling like a tragedy, simply becoming a way of life for the people. What, then, was the point of an endless war? What, then, was to be gained from arbitrary destruction and death, without any gain, or cause? 

Which, of course, is the whole point of the episode. 

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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"