Did Mitchell and Dehner survive?

That's how I interpret it too. Certainly Mitchell was powerful enough to make the instruments stop functioning.

As far as the boulder killing him, I just assume that he was not yet fully recovered from Dehner attacking him. yes, his powers were coming back but maybe he wasn't completely up to full strength yet and was still weakened enough to be crushed to death under a big heavy rock

 

Mitchell was not suicidal--the megalomania caused by the barrier also made his basic emotions rob him of the ability to think his way toward a conclusion with Kirk, instead of wanting to exercise that aforementioned blood lust/rage. He had every desire to live, but killing Kirk was all he could think of in that moment, instead of self-preservation (e.g., spinning around and making the rock vanish / disappear, etc..

 

I'd want to know what the space barrier did to my officers. I'd also want to confirm they were both dead. (No offense, Gary.) Kirk may have left Mitchell's body in the grave. But he wouldn't leave Dehner's body on the surface to rot. When crewmen died by the Salt Vampire and in Obsession, McCoy performed autopsies in both episodes. I hope Dr. Piper was just as thorough.

 

The Enterprise obviously had extra shielding for the next time it crossed the barrier in By Any Other Name or we'd have had Godlike cubes rolling about the ship or power hungry Kelvans, oh wait we already had them!!!
JB

 

Heh, good point - perhaps we only ever met the silvery-eyed variant of the Kelvan species?

The Barrier picks and chooses on whom it transforms. On both the Valiant and the Enterprise, only a few were converted to gods. A few were outright killed, but we don't know if this was a botched-up godhead conversion or mere "normal" death-by-space-adventure. The ones converted had esper abilities, but we don't really know if those truly were a factor in getting converted or just in avoiding getting killed. Spock may have been extra protected, or extra vulnerable, or merely lucky. Ditto for Miranda Jones.

Or then it's all in the eyes, and the double-lidded Spock and the blind Jones had it made...

Timo Saloniemi

 

I'd watch that sitcom.....

 

And downstairs is their lonely and disgruntled landlord, Trelane.

 

When Mitchell lost his powers in the episode and his eyes changed back to normal he looked like he was calling to Jim for help because he couldn't stop himself from being evil!
JB

 

Trelane is the annoying neighbor. Q is the landlord.

 

Played by Norman Fell!

 

And Don Knotts as Q?

 

Actually, James Kirk died in this episode. His dying brain was unable to take the trauma of an untimely demise. Therefore, it created an alternate fiction for itself in which Kirk holds a long successful Starfleet career. This is essentially why Kirk so easily conquers foes and manipulates situations in subsequent episodes. All future events are a manifestation of a dying ego comforting itself. In actuality, the happenings of TOS take place in a few micro-seconds before Kirk's death.

 

Yeah, we need a dislike button.

 

It was meant to sound silly. Sorry.

 

Given the <ahem>, "imaginative" theories people proffer on this board, I thought you were being serious

 

I did wink.

 

Not too different from the idea that everything after "The Cage" is an illusion in Spock's mind.

 

I always assumed he hadn't regained full power and was at the point he had to be aware and spend some time thinking to become 'protected'. Remember that even though her eyes were 'silver' again, Elizabeth Dehner STILL died (probably as a result of the 'lightning' exchange between her and Mitchel) - so yeah, BOTH were injured by the other; and that was enough for a Boulder (which pretty much completely pulped Gary Mitchel) to kill him.

 

I wouldn't say completely. I do have an extensive hat collection though.

 

^ Mitchell did survive and he's posting on Trek BBS!!!!