Writer:	Jerome Bixby, Jerome Bixby, D.C. Fontana
Director:	Marc Daniels
Star:	DeForest Kelley (Dr. Leonard Horatio "Bones" McCoy),  William Shatner (Captain James Tiberius Kirk),  Leonard Nimoy (Mr. Spock)
Recurring Role:	William Blackburn (Navigator (uncredited)),  James Doohan (Lt. Cmdr. Montgomery "Scotty" Scott),  Eddie Paskey (Lt. Leslie (uncredited)),  Walter Koenig (Ensign Pavel Chekov),  Majel Barrett (Nurse Christine Chapel),  Nichelle Nichols (Lt. Nyota Uhura)
Guest Star:	Julie Cobb (Yeoman Leslie Thompson),  Carl Byrd (Lt. Shea),  Lezlie Dalton (Drea),  Robert Fortier (Tomar),  Stewart Moss (Hanar),  Barbara Bouchet (Kelinda),  Warren Stevens (Rojan)

Rojan is played by Warren Stevens, who co-starred as "Doc" in the 1956 movie, Forbidden Planet. Creator Gene Roddenberry has been quoted as saying Star Trek was heavily inspired by that movie, often regarded as the first serious, big budget, high concept science fiction movie. (edit) Desilu No: 5149-50. (edit)

Scotty: (kissing his empty bottle of liquor) We did it, you and me. Put him right under the table. (edit) Rojan: We do not colonize. We conquer. We rule. There is no other way for us. (edit) Kirk: Being human does have certain advantages -- being able to appreciate the beauty of a flower, of a woman. (edit) Kirk: (while fighting with Rojan) You thought I was taking your woman away from you. You're jealous! You tried to kill me with your bare hands. Would a Kelvan do that? Would he have to? You're reacting with the emotions of a human. You are a human!
Rojan: No, I cannot be! (shoves Kirk to the door as Spock and McCoy enter and catch him)
Kirk: I'm stimulating him. (McCoy pushes him back into the fight) (edit) Spock: Humans are very peculiar. I often find them unfathomable, but an interesting psychological study. (edit)

The planet from this episode and the previous one ("Patterns of Force") look exactly the same from orbit. (edit) In the wide shots of Kirk and Rojan fighting, the faces of the stunt doubles can be seen. (edit) Trivia: There are some nice nods to previous events. Rojan mentions the energy barrier at the edge of the galaxy and Kirk nods that they've encountered it -- as they did in "Where No Man Has Gone Before." Later, Kirk reminds Spock of his use of telepathy to confuse a guard in "A Taste of Armageddon." (edit) Rojan states that they can't send a message to Andromeda because no transmission can penetrate the energy barrier. So why not just go past the barrier and then transmit? But they never do this. (edit) Spock states, once on board the ship, that they cannot destroy the central projector because it is constructed out of material they cannot breach. So why not just use the transporter to beam it out into space? As a matter of fact, why not just transport the whole lot of Kelvins out into oblivion? (edit)

Title
References a line from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Speaking about Romeo, the man she loves but who bears the name of her family's enemy, Juliet says "a rose by any other name would smell as sweet", in other words even he were not called Romeo he would still be the man she loves. (edit)