Captain Kirk's most famous one-on-one victory looks even more impressive thanks to Enterprise captain fashions a makeshift cannon to bring down his opponent.
Despite partaking in one of Star Trek's most iconic episodes, the Gorn have barely featured in the franchise since, only making sporadic appearances - many of which are brief cameos. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds episode 4 ("Memento Mori") makes amends by bringing Captain Christopher Pike ship-to-ship with the troublesome reptilians. Set years before Kirk's showdown, a squad of Gorn ships prey upon the Enterprise after attacking a colony Pike's crew was transporting supplies to. One fierce game of fish-and-lizard later, the Enterprise crew's ingenuity allows them to escape... very much scathed.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds reveals plenty of new Gorn tidbits, and all of them make James T. Kirk defeating a Gorn captain while totally unarmed look like a more astounding achievement than it already did. "Memento Mori" presents the Gorn hegemony as some kind of mythical boogeymen - a force so great, victims can only choose between running and dying. La'an Noonien Singh acts like the Gorn's arrival is a death knell for the entire Enterprise, while a large colony is wiped out effortlessly by their tongue-clicking oppressors. The Gorn's bite is actually even worse than their bark. Without showing their faces, the cold-blooded villains spring a successful trap using advanced technology, then hunt Starfleet's flagship like it's barely an inconvenience. That the Enterprise's "victory" merely involves blowing up the smaller ships before running away speaks volumes about how formidable Star Trek's Gorn truly are. Surviving alone is reason to celebrate.
"Memento Mori" proves the Gorn are both technologically and strategically sound, but La'an's backstory confirms these natural hunters are just as deadly at close-quarters too. A situation completely unfamiliar to Kirk was right in the Gorn captain's arena, and whereas Star Trek: The Original Series portrayed Kirk's opponent in a more animalistic light, Strange New Worlds better demonstrates their vast intelligence. Given everything Star Trek: Strange New Worlds tells us about their capabilities and habits, Captain Kirk's chances fighting against one of the hegemony's finest warriors were beyond remote. No amount of science knowledge, tactical brilliance and flying dropkicks should've bridged the gap between man and Gorn. Only a truly extraordinary individual - a Star Trek protagonist, no less - might've dared hope to achieve what James T. Kirk managed in "Arena.".
More impressive is how Kirk might have taught the Gorn how to play nice. After besting his enemy in "Arena," the exhausted Enterprise captain refuses to kill, telling the Metrons that the Federation and hegemony can talk out their differences. Star Trek never showed these peace talks onscreen, so the Gorn might've just given Starfleet a long green middle finger and flown away, but if Kirk's efforts were successful, getting the Gorn to cooperate is even bigger than defeating one. The creatures depicted in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds are so bloody-minded they'd sooner die than show perceived weakness, so if an encounter with the Shat made them see sense and open lines of communication, Kirk really did explore strange new worlds.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds continues Thursday on AMC.