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Memory Alpha Review:


From the back cover

    An ancient schism

    A legendary exodus

    An empire born of strife

    They are the hidden enemy, the foe who is both unknown and unknowable. They are by turns hostile and peaceful, aggressive and guarded. They are a poeple given to violent passions, a culture for whom glory is life. They are the Romulans.

    A vast region of space, the Romulan Star Empire encompasses sectors in both the Alpha and Beta Quadrants. The Empire's long, storied, and often brutal history remains largely hidden from most outsiders. Life within the Empire is governed by the Way of D'era, a harsh and militaristic philosophy that pre-dates the time of the Empire's founding and guides the Empire in its expansion though the galaxy. It is a way of honor, a way of cunning, a way of Empire.

    The Way of D'era: The Romulan Star Empire, gives players and narrators alike a detailed overview of this vast interstellar empire. Within its three books you will find comprehensive discussions of everything from Imperial history and politics to Romulan religion and culture. Other sections include treatments on the Romulan economy and mercantile relations, the Imperial and senatorial fleets, worlds and client states, Romulan technology and vessels, and important personalities of the Star Empire. New ships and new templates abound. From the Tal Shiar to the homeworlds of Romulus and Remus, all the way back to the schism on ancient Vulcan -- The Way of D'era: The Romulan Star Empire has it all for fans of the most secretive race in the Star Trek universe. Make no mistake -- you're not in the Federation any more... Are you prepared to follow the Way of D'era?

    Book I: The Romulans includes:

        * Detailed treatments on Romulan history and politics.
        * An overview of the Imperial government, with information on the Senate, the Praetor, and the Continuing Committee.
        * Extensive sections on the Romulan Star Navy, including its organization, its various branches, and its role in Romulan society.
        * An in-depth look at Romulan space, from the core worlds to the Empty Frontier to the disputed territories along the rimward border with the Taurhai Unity.
        * New ships, technology, alien species, creatures, worlds, and more!

    Book II: Romulan Characters includes:

        * A brand new system for creating Romulan characters, including Glory, a trait reserved for Romulans alone.
        * New skills, traits, templates, and overlays -- everything you need to create unique and vibrant Romulan characters and crew.
        * Detailed information on designing and running Romulan series, using Romulan characters within the bounds of the Star Empire -- this book essentially gives you an entire Romulan roleplaying game!

    Book III: Romulan Adventures includes:

        * The Gentara Incident: On the Romulan protectorate of Gentara, the natives chafe at the yoke of Romulan dominion and secretly plot rebellion. Can you stop the revolt, and uncover the web of intrigue that lies just below the surface?
        * Duty or Conscience: A simple investigation on a small mining colony leads a Crew of Starfleet officers to uncover a violation of the Prime Directive. Your reaction could determine the fate of relations with the Romulan Empire.

        

The Way of D'era is a boxset of sourcebooks for the Last Unicorn Games Star Trek RPG.

Book 1 - The Romulans

    * Introduction
    * The Romulans
    * The Conscience of the Empire
    * The Raptor's Talon
    * The Defenders of D'era
    * The Tools of Conquest
    * Birds of Prey
    * The Romulan Domain
    * Worlds of the Empire
          o Romulus
          o Remus

Book 2 - Romulan Characters

    * Character Creation
    * Romulan Traits
    * Scions of the Empire
    * Romulan Series

Book 3 - Romulan Adventures

    * The Gentara Incident
    * Duty or Conscience
The "Romulan commander" from Balance of Terror was played by actor Mark Lenard. This character is often credited with being the first Romulan seen on Star Trek, even though technically Decius was seen first, albeit with a helmet covering up his ears. Lenard's character was the first Romulan fully seen with Vulcan-type ears. Lenard's performance as the Romulan commander impressed the producers, and he was on the short-list of possible replacements for Leonard Nimoy to play Spock. He was again cast to play Sarek, Spock's father in TOS: "Journey to Babel".
In William Shatner's novel The Return, the commander's House, one of the oldest and most esteemed on Romulus, fell into disgrace after this failure, and it was his granddaughter who was responsible for Kirk's resurrection with the intention to kill him and restore the family's standing. In the Myriad Universes short novel A Less Perfect Union (set in an alternate timeline in which Terra Prime's attack on Starfleet succeeded, Earth went into isolation, and the Federation was never formed), the commander impersonated Sarek in order to disrupt a 2264 diplomatic conference – as he looked so much like Sarek, no disguise was necessary to pull it off, and he openly wonders if the two shared common ancestry from before the Vulcan-Romulan split.
The Star Trek Customizable Card Game gives his name as Keras, which is "Sarek" spelled backwards.
From Wikipedia:

"Balance of Terror", written by Paul Schneider and directed by Vincent McEveety, is a first-season episode of the original Star Trek series that first aired on December 15, 1966. The episode is a science-fiction version of a submarine film; writer Paul Schneider drew on the films Run Silent, Run Deep and The Enemy Below, casting the Enterprise as a surface vessel and the Romulan vessel as a submarine.[1]

This episode introduces the Romulans. Additionally, Mark Lenard, playing the Romulan commander, makes his first Star Trek appearance. Lenard later played Spock's Vulcan father, Sarek, in several episodes and movies, and appears as the Klingon commander in Star Trek: The Motion Picture. These roles made Lenard the first actor to play characters of three prominent Star Trek races.

On September 16, 2006, "Balance of Terror" became the first digitally remastered Star Trek episode, featuring enhanced and new visual effects, to be broadcast.


  Plot

The starship USS Enterprise under the command of Captain James T. Kirk is inspecting a line of manned Federation outposts, only to find they are being destroyed by an unknown enemy. The latest to fall is Outpost 4 near the Romulan neutral zone. Lieutenant Commander Spock explains that the neutral zone came into being following the Earth-Romulan War treaty a century earlier. (The map of the neutral zone displayed Romulus as well as a second planet called Romii, despite Kirk's spoken reference to Romulus and Remus). Due to the lack of use of visual communications, the two races have never seen each other and only communicated over subspace radio. Kirk fears the Romulans are preparing for another war.

Kirk discovers that the attacker is a lone Romulan Bird of Prey equipped with a cloaking device. The cloak is not perfect; the Enterprise can track the ship, which is returning home to report on weaknesses in the Federation's defenses. The Enterprise taps into the Romulans' internal security camera, revealing that the Romulans appear identical to Vulcans. Lieutenant Stiles, who had family fight and die in the Earth-Romulan War, begins to suspect the Vulcan Spock of treason.

During a briefing over the Romulan ship's capabilities, Stiles suggests the Enterprise attack the Romulan vessel before it can reach the Neutral Zone. Spock agrees with Stiles' suggestion, believing the Romulans are likely an offshoot of the Vulcans from their age of savage warfare- before the philosophy of logic took hold. Spock reasons that if the Romulans retained Vulcan's pre-logic martial philosophy, they would surely infer weakness in the lack of response from the Federation and launch a full scale war.

A cat-and-mouse game ensues with each ship having its strengths and weaknesses. The Enterprise is faster and more maneuverable, while the Romulan ship has the cloaking device and an arsenal of immensely destructive plasma torpedoes, but their range is limited and firing them requires so much power that the ship must decloak temporarily. The two commanders are soon locked in a battle of wits; at one point the Romulan commander refers to Kirk as a "sorcerer" who can read his thoughts.

In the final act the Romulans, almost beaten, dump a nuclear weapon along with other debris in hope that the Enterprise will get near enough to the weapon to be destroyed. However, Kirk suspects a trap and orders a point-blank phaser shot that detonates the bomb. The Enterprise is badly shaken by the blast; Kirk decides to use this to his advantage, ordering operations to work at minimal power to exaggerate the apparent damage. Although the Romulan ship's fuel is running low, a member of the crew with connections to the Romulan praetor convinces his commander to finish off a seemingly helpless Enterprise. When the Romulan ship decloaks to launch a torpedo, Kirk tries to spring his trap, but an equipment failure leaves the phasers off-line and Mr. Stiles incapacitated. Spock rescues Stiles and fires the phasers in time for the Enterprise to disable the Romulan ship.

Kirk hails the crippled vessel and at last communicates directly with his counterpart, offering to beam aboard the survivors. The Romulan commander declines, saying that it is "not our way" to accept such assistance. The commander expresses regret that he and Kirk live in the way that they do, pointing out that "In a different reality, I could have called you friend". Then, with "one more duty to perform," the commander triggers his ship's self-destruct, preventing its crew and technology from falling into Federation hands.
[edit] 40th Anniversary remastering

This episode was digitally remastered in 2006 for high definition television and first aired September 16, 2006 to mark the 40th anniversary of Star Trek's premiere. It was followed next by "Miri" which some network affiliate stations chose to air directly afterward. Aside from remastered video and audio and the newly created all-CGI animation of the USS Enterprise that are standard among the revisions, specific changes to this episode include:

    * CGI refinements of the Bird of Prey, showing individual hull plates.
    * Phaser bursts and plasma torpedoes have been reworked, and light from the weapons reflects against the Enterprise's hull.
    * The comet has been updated, making it look more realistic.

  Reception

Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club gave the episode an 'A' rating, describing the episode as "one of TOS's strongest, introducing us to a new alien race, as well as providing us with a very important piece of Trek mythology" and noting that "watching Kirk out-maneuver his enemy, even to the point of earning that enemy's respect, is very cool".

  Continuity

IDW Publishing published a prequel, Star Trek Alien Spotlight: Romulans and a sequel Star Trek Romulans: The Hollow Crown.