Star Trek: The Animated Series S1E14 – The Slaver Weapon
Star Trek without William Shatner? It may be the norm now, yet back in the seventies it would have seemed unthinkable but that didn’t stop The Animated Series from delivering a Kirk-less adventure. Not only Kirk-less, but McCoy-less and Scotty-less too (although Doohan does play all of the antogonists). The Slaver Weapon swaps out the familiar ensemble of the Enterprise crew for a focused tale of survival, espionage, and ancient technology. Based on Larry Niven’s short story The Soft Weapon, this episode gives us Spock, Sulu, and Uhura as the trinity at the heart of the action.
The story begins as Spock, Sulu, and Uhura are transporting an ancient Slaver stasis box containing unknown relics of a long-extinct empire in a shuttlecraft. The box, which can only be opened in proximity to another Slaver artifact, suddenly activates, alerting the Kzinti—a militant, feline-like race with ambitions of restoring their standing in the galactic balance of power. The trio is captured by the Kzinti, who hope the contents of the stasis box will give them the technological edge to avenge their previous defeats.
It’s near unique in the annals of all Star Trek series as much for what’s absent as what’s featured. There’s no Enterprise, for a start, and the absence of two of the three main characters is notable too. The action starts in media res, perhaps the result of adapting a short story into a twenty-two minute format, likely because much of the setup had to be trimmed to fit the 22-minute runtime. By paring down the story and cast to the core, The Slaver Weapon becomes a tightly focused narrative about intelligence, teamwork, and survival. Spock’s logic is central to the crew’s attempts to outwit their captors, but Sulu and Uhura also get moments to shine. Sulu’s quick thinking and Uhura’s calm resolve play crucial roles, making this one of the rare episodes where the supporting cast takes centre stage.
Visually, the Kzinti are an intimidating presence, with their pink fur, sharp claws, and warrior ethos. This episode marks the Kzinti’s first and only appearance in Star Trek television until they were referenced again in Star Trek: Picard. Originally created by Larry Niven for his Known Space universe, their inclusion in The Animated Series represents a rare crossover of established literary sci-fi into Star Trek canon. The episode leans into the sci-fi pulpiness of Niven’s source material, with the Slaver weapon itself changing forms to reveal its potentially devastating versatility. A Swiss Army weapon, there’s fun to be had as the Kzinti clumsily try each setting in turn in the hope of stumbling on to the gamechanger they feel they need to regain their rightful status. There’s an implied rebuke of the concept of manifest destiny in the Kzinti’s incompetence and its perhaps no surprise that they’re also mysoginistic supremacists who take absurd pride in their preference for eating meat. I’m pretty sure if we ever saw their spacecraft in flight, it would somehow be rolling coal.
Ultimately, The Slaver Weapon is a bold and memorable episode that successfully merges Star Trek with Larry Niven’s distinct brand of speculative fiction. Its self-contained nature and unique focus make it stand out in The Animated Series as a clever, taut sci-fi thriller that proves Star Trek doesn’t always need its full ensemble to deliver a compelling adventure and in true Trek fashion, while Spock, Sulu, and Uhura’s resourcefulness keeps them alive, it’s the wisdom and foresight of the ancient Slaver race that ultimately saves the day.
