"Arena" Line-by-Line

Spock: Perhaps nothing, Doctor. (Kirk tastes the mineral and spits it out) Perhaps everything.

 

The bridge crew watch as enlightenment dawns and Kirk goes off in search of his other mineral discoveries.

GORN: Earthling! Captain!

 

Kirk [on viewscreen]: Who is this, the Metron?

 

Gorn: (over comm) This is your opponent, Earthling. I have heard every word you have said.

 

Kirk [on viewscreen]: Alright. What do you want?

 

Gorn Captain: (over comm on screen) I'm weary of the chase. Wait for me. I shall be quick and merciful.

 

Kirk: Like you were on Cestus III?

 

Gorn [OC]: You were intruding! You established an outpost in our space.

 

Kirk: (on screen) You butchered helpless human beings!

 

GORN [OC]: We destroyed invaders, as I shall destroy you!

 

McCoy: Can that be true? Was Cestus 3 an intrusion into their space?

 

Spock: It may well be possible, Doctor. We know very little about that section of the galaxy.

 

McCoy: Then we could be in the wrong.

 

Spock: Perhaps. That is something best decided by diplomats.

 

McCoy: The Gorn might simply have been trying to defend themselves.

 

Spock: Yes.

(They watch as Kirk returns to the bamboo clump and picks out a short, wide stem.)

Spock: Fascinating. Good. Good. (Kirk cuts vines to length against a rock) He knows, Doctor. He has reasoned it out.

(Potassium nitrate gets shoveled into the bamboo)

Spock: Yes. Yes.

 

McCoy: What is it, Spock?

 

Spock: An invention, Doctor. First potassium nitrate, and now if he can find some sulfur and a charcoal deposit or ordinary coal.

 

(Kirk is at the outcrop of sharp diamonds, and putting them into the bamboo too.)

McCoy: What's he doing?

 

SPOCK: Diamonds. The hardest known substance. Impelled by sufficient force, they would make formidable projectiles.