“Chosen Realm” is episode twelve of season three of Star Trek: Enterprise.
Trip and Travis are leaving one of the spheres after surveying it in a shuttlepod. As the emerge from the cloaking barrier, they are being watched by another ship. Enterprise is brought on screen and the leader wants to know what weapons it carries. They may have found what they are looking for.
T’Pol and Captain Archer in the command centre; T’Pol says they can map the anomalies more accurately now and calculate the exact number of spheres. She doesn’t have any theories as to their purpose yet. Reed contacts the captain from the bridge; there’s a vessel transmitting a distress signal.
On the bridge, the captain is told that the vessel is trapped in a cluster of anomalies. It’s hailed; they have lost their engines and life support is failing. Reed says the ship has minimal weapons. T’Pol plots a course to the ship through the anomalies and, when docked, the captain tells Reed to take full security precautions and ensure none of the people are armed.
The captain arrives in sickbay; Phlox is unable to perform detailed bioscans as they have an aversion to any kind of invasive medical care for religious reasons. Aside from a few having encountered anomalies in the past, they appear fine. The leader is referred to as Pri’Nam, a religious designation.
Pri’Nam D’Jamat tells the captain they were on a pilgrimage to the 12th sphere. It’s taken a year to make the journey. The captain tells him that Trip believes he can fix their ship and offers to share information on the spheres, inviting D’Jamat to dinner with him and T’Pol.
At dinner, D’Jamat says their world is Trianna, a few light years away. Have they heard of it? The captain says not; they are newcomers to the Expanse. D’Jamat says they call it the Chosen Realm. When asked, he says they are unfamiliar with the Xindi; they place little emphasis on meeting other lifeforms, but space travel brings them closer to the Spheres. They are here to venerate the Spheres, the will of the Makers made manifest. The Makers created the Spheres and they have felt their presence. Spatial anomaly damage, the Makers’ Breath. Allowing ordinary men a glimpse of the divine. D’Jamat says there are thousands of Spheres; T’Pol tells him 59. The captain stops their argument over science and religion.
In sickbay, one of the Triannon wants to speak to Phlox about a delicate matter.
In the mess hall, two are telling D’Jamat that everything is in place for his signal. One, Yarrick, is uncertain this is the right thing to do. D’Jamat tells him that Enterprise desecrated a Sphere. This will be their salvation and that of the crew, and a way to end the bloodshed.
T’Pol and the captain are talking in his ready room when D’Jamat arrives. When T’Pol leaves, D’Jamat tells the captain that he and his crew are going to take part in a glorious mission. His people are scattered around the vessel, implanted with organic explosives. They will blow themselves up on a word. And one does, blowing out a section of hull. Two are next to the warp reactor. Turn over Enterprise or it will be destroyed. The captain has no choice. Course is set for Trianna.
The captain is escorted to the command centre. D’Jamat explains that his homeworld has been battling with a violent group of heretics for a century. Enterprise will give him the chance to end that war. D’Jamat’s faith calls him to put Archer and his crew to death, and destroy Enterprise, for desecrating a Sphere. But he cannot ignore that the captain put himself at risk to save them. So, he will only require one member of the crew to die. And he erases the data collected on the Spheres.
Enterprise is host to a bunch of religious nutjobs – though not all are convinced – who want to use it to wipe out their enemies. And their definition of heresy is pretty stupid, when it’s revealed.