The return of the Archons was a very interesting episode. It basically surmised about how captain Kirk and Spark rescues a planet from subjugation by a computer. The entire society is telepathically ruled by the computer in its attempt to create a ‘better’ world. While I can grant that this is idea is not unique the story retells an important quality of sentient beings; the desire for freedom.
The part of the episode that attracts me the most is when people like Merplon and Reger go out of their way to help the party from the enterprise. Both Merplon and Reger are alien to the crew of the Enterprise and could fit right in with their people. Yet they choose to fight against the authority of the computer Landru. If one chooses to analyze their motives it is apparent that they have little to profit and much to lose from failure. So the only possible motive they can have is an ideal that they vigorously believe and would die to preserve.
The flip side of this picture of bravery is a mass of people who choose to passively submit to an immoral authority. This can probably be understood as a form of herd mentality. The difficulty most societies and its members find is where to draw a line between conforming and retaining the individuality of people. The extremes of both independence and conformation are equally dangerous. Stable civilizations with time learn to evolve a relationship between these two traits that changes constantly with time.
This can be an example of technology gone terribly wrong. This episode makes us consider whether technology is really all that good
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