Rigel VII

Rigel VII

Rigel VII was the seventh planet in the Rigel planetary system. The system, located within the Kandari sector, was in the Alpha Quadrant. (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, production art; TNG: "The Neutral Zone" display graphic) This inhabited world had an atmosphere capable of supporting humanoid life-forms. The planet had one moon. It was the homeworld for a pre-warp capable humanoid species, the Kalar. The Vega colony was located near this planet. (TOS: "The Cage", "The Menagerie, Part I")

In 2254, a landing party from the starship USS Enterprise, led by Captain Christopher Pike, visited Rigel VII. While inside an apparently abandoned fortress, Pike and crew were attacked by the native Kalar warriors. Three crew members, including Pike's personal yeoman, were killed. Seven more were injured (including Spock, Navigator Tyler and a ship's geologist); some of these were so severely wounded that they required treatment at the Vega colony. Pike later regretted his decision to enter the fortress, stating that "the swords and the armor" should have alerted him to the possibility of a trap. (TOS: "The Cage", "The Menagerie, Part I", "The Menagerie, Part II")

There was a song called "Moon over Rigel VII," apparently inspired by a large, natural satellite orbiting the planet. Captain Kirk proposed singing it around a campfire while taking shore leave at Yosemite National Park on Earth with Captain Spock and Doctor McCoy in 2287. (Star Trek V: The Final Frontier)

During the 2360s, Kobliad fugitive Rao Vantika used a subspace shunt to access and purge everything in the active memory of computer systems on Rigel VII. He later attempted the same on Deep Space 9 in 2369. (DS9: "The Passenger")

A view of the surface of Rigel VII was depicted on several viewscreens on Deep Space 9's Promenade and replimat, (DS9: "The Muse") advertising a visit to the "spectacular castles of Rigel VII". (DS9: "What You Leave Behind")

Star-chart alpha-beta quadrant.jpg

The location of Rigel in "The Explored Galaxy" wall chart

The Rigel system in relation to Pollux IV, Jouret IV, Vega, and Organia

The Kalar

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Appendices

Background information

In the episode "Conspiracy", a mission order for the USS Aleo named the sector in which Andor and Rigel were located; however, the name was illegible. The location of Andor/Andoria in the Alpha Quadrant was depicted on a tactical map in "Tears of the Prophets".

Behind the Scenes

In the story outline for "The Cage" (as reprinted in The Making of Star Trek, pp. 47-65), this planet's name was given as Endrex II. (The Making of Star Trek, p. 51) Analysis of the script for "The Cage" indicates that the planet's name was then changed to Rigel 113. Before it finally became Rigel VII, Harvey P. Lynn – a physicist from the RAND Corporation who served as an unofficial adviser on both "The Cage" and, later, the first season of Star Trek: The Original Series – suggested to Gene Roddenberry that he consider changing Rigel 113 to Vega 113, due to Rigel being "mighty far away." (The Making of Star Trek, p. 95)

In the second revised final draft script of "The Cage", it is notated that the Rigel fortress "suggests a medieval civilization, but carrying strange symbols and odd décor which suggests things quite alien from Earth." The script similarly describes the fortress' courtyard; "The feeling here is as outside, a feudal-level civilization but with its weapons and architecture somewhat different from Earth."

In "The Cage" and "The Menagerie, Part II", the surface of Rigel VII, including the exterior of the Rigel fortress, was depicted with a matte painting that was created by Albert Whitlock. The Rigel fortress' exterior also involved live-action footage that was filmed on the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer backlot and the fortress' interior was a set. ("The Menagerie, Part II" text commentary, TOS Season 1 DVD) The matte painting used to depict Rigel VII was re-used, unaltered, for Holberg 917G in the original version of TOS: "Requiem for Methuselah" (though it was replaced by a new CG matte painting for that episode's remastered version).

"The Explored Galaxy"

"The Explored Galaxy" was a Federation star chart of the Alpha Quadrant. The Tholian Assembly and Romulus/Remus were identified in dialog as being located in this quadrant. (DS9: "The Search, Part I", "Call to Arms") This star chart was also seen in several Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episodes set in the 24th century, from the year 2364 to 2370. These were: TNG: "Conspiracy", "The Measure Of A Man", "The Emissary", "The Mind's Eye", "The Game" and DS9: "In the Hands of the Prophets", "Cardassians".

Star Trek: Star Charts

Rigel VII was a quarantined planet. This planet was a M-class world. The planet was not unified under a uniglobal government and was non-aligned. Its status was pending the development of warp drive. The dominant species was the Kalar. There was a conjectural count of 725,000 Kalar in 2370. First contact with this world was made by the USS Enterprise in 2254. (Pgs. 36, 54, 59, 60)

Apocrypha

In the short story version of "The Cage" (titled "The Menagerie" and published in Star Trek 4), this planet's name was Rigel VIII.

According to the comics series Star Trek: Early Voyages, the building was named the Zemtar fortress, and the Kalar warriors attacked because of their reluctance to see their homeworld join the peaceful Federation. None of these facts were derived from any actual production information, however; they were instead devised solely for the non-canon comic.

In Decipher's Star Trek Roleplaying Game, the green Orion race was from Rigel VII.

External link

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