One episode of Star Trek: The Animated Series is so great, it stands among the best Trek episodes ever!
Fans of Star Trek may know all the live-action shows but often overlook The Animated Series. It came after The Original Series gained its massive following, and an animated show was a good revival. It helped that almost the entire cast reprised their roles.
The series had its highs and lows, but there is one episode, however, that is so amazing it ranks among the greatest Treks of all time. That would be only the second episode of the series “Yesteryear” written by Star Trek veteran D.C. Fontana.
The episode brought back the Guardian of Forever, the time portal used in the classic Original Series episode “The City on the Edge of Forever.” Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock used it for research, but when they emerged, no one, including Dr. McCoy, knew who Spock was. An Andorian named Thelin was now first officer on the USS Enterprise, and records showed that Ambassador Sarek's only son died at the age of seven while undergoing a Vulcan rite called the Kahs-wan ordeal.
Spock did remember taking part in this and meeting a distant cousin named Selek. Kirk and Spock decided the latter should go back and correct the damage. That led to Spock being forced to make a choice that would determine his own future. (Continued...)