Uploaded November 2021 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
Season 1 Episode 17
Episode: "When the Bough Breaks"
The planet Aldea once thought to be something of a myth, referencing a society so technologically advanced, its people had the freedom to commit wholeheartedly to artistic pursuits and the enrichment of their own culture. The myth was perpetuated by the fact that nobody knew where planet Aldea was even located since it was believed to be cloaked (and shielded) so as to dissuade those that would threaten the population. Until now, with the Enterprise tracking some artificial signals ending up in the Epsilon Mynos system at which point planet Aldea decloaks and the myth is brought to an end. Members of the Aldean hierarchy, Radue and Rashella establish contact with the Enterprise to request help from the Federation. Children! - The Aldean's want children because they are unable to have children of their own and they figured that a handful of children in exchange for some starcharts of unexplored space is the way to go. Naturally our heroes disagree; so the Aldeans take the children anyway.
Wesley Crusher is one of the abducted children but since he's the oldest of the group, a planetwide computer complex called Custodian has nominated him as the group's leader to better help its members transition to their new lifestyle.
Because Wesley has the curious mind, his first question to his Aldean chaperone, Duana is "What is the Custodian?" - to which she claims is the means by which her society has freed itself from all burden. Now I've come to appreciate that all challenges both natural and invented will seek their solution through the savvy, the positive, the conscientious application of technology; In and of itself technology can do just that however rather than maximising returns, lessening burden and maximising spare time for the human race, technology's existence within the capitalist paradigm has resulted in numerous paradoxes that displaces workers, resists employment, consolidates the available wage earning potential to decreasing percentages of the potential labour force and erodes the consumption cycle because fewer workers employed leads to fewer workers earning money leads to fewer consumers being able to afford the products being sold leads to smaller profits achieved by companies that have replaced the bulk of their workforce with machines.
Season 1 Episode 17
Episode: "When the Bough Breaks"
The planet Aldea once thought to be something of a myth, referencing a society so technologically advanced, its people had the freedom to commit wholeheartedly to artistic pursuits and the enrichment of their own culture. The myth was perpetuated by the fact that nobody knew where planet Aldea was even located since it was believed to be cloaked (and shielded) so as to dissuade those that would threaten the population. Until now, with the Enterprise tracking some artificial signals ending up in the Epsilon Mynos system at which point planet Aldea decloaks and the myth is brought to an end. Members of the Aldean hierarchy, Radue and Rashella establish contact with the Enterprise to request help from the Federation. Children! - The Aldean's want children because they are unable to have children of their own and they figured that a handful of children in exchange for some starcharts of unexplored space is the way to go. Naturally our heroes disagree; so the Aldeans take the children anyway.
Wesley Crusher is one of the abducted children but since he's the oldest of the group, a planetwide computer complex called Custodian has nominated him as the group's leader to better help its members transition to their new lifestyle.
Because Wesley has the curious mind, his first question to his Aldean chaperone, Duana is "What is the Custodian?" - to which she claims is the means by which her society has freed itself from all burden. Now I've come to appreciate that all challenges both natural and invented will seek their solution through the savvy, the positive, the conscientious application of technology; In and of itself technology can do just that however rather than maximising returns, lessening burden and maximising spare time for the human race, technology's existence within the capitalist paradigm has resulted in numerous paradoxes that displaces workers, resists employment, consolidates the available wage earning potential to decreasing percentages of the potential labour force and erodes the consumption cycle because fewer workers employed leads to fewer workers earning money leads to fewer consumers being able to afford the products being sold leads to smaller profits achieved by companies that have replaced the bulk of their workforce with machines.
