The Alternative Factor & Dilithium Crystals

[Gojira]

I watched the episode the Alternative Factor last night and while it isn't the best episode it isn't as bad as I remembered. I really liked Kirk and Spock's discussion about multi-universe theory.

But in this episode the dilithium crystals become drained and Kirk orders them to be "re-amplified." Yet a big plot point in Star Trek IV is that the dilithium crystals become drained and Scotty says even in the 23rd century re-crystallization is not possible and Scotty gives them 24 hours before they lose all power and become visible.

Big continuity error! I never caught that one before.

Is there a difference between re-amplified and re-crystallized?

Also, where was Scotty in this episode? We see a Lt. Master's running the Engineering section?

 

[RandyS]

Not only all that, but the engine room was completely wrong.

Still, I love this episode. It's always been one of my favorites. I recently watched the remastered version, and I too noticed the recrystalization error. I just chalk it up to the fact that the writers were making stuff up as they went along. Makes the most sense that way.

 

[Gojira]

Since this episode establishes that dilithium crystals can be re-charged maybe Star Trek IV is the one that made the mistake.

Also, since other episodes do have the crew seeking new sources of dilithium maybe their ability to be re-charged is limited.

 

[DrCorby]

Since this episode establishes that dilithium crystals can be re-charged maybe Star Trek IV is the one that made the mistake.

Also, since other episodes do have the crew seeking new sources of dilithium maybe their ability to be re-charged is limited.

That part of Star Trek IV always bothered me. Scotty says they can't re-crystalize the dilithium crystals, but then turns around and does it anyway, while 300 years in the past and working with Klingon technology. Just seemed like a straw man problem, an excuse for visiting the 20th Century aircraft carrier Enterprise. (Which they didn't actually film aboard...)

 

[Potemkin_Prod]

The crystals in TVH were disintegrating; the ones in Alternative Factor needed amplifying. I never got the impression they were even close to being the same thing. Also, I don't really think of the amplification room as being the same thing we see in TSFS. It's a place where crystals go to be recharged. It should also be pointed out that those blocks probably contain the crystals and that they are opened for placement into the grid thing that we see in Elaan of Troyius.

 

[kkozoriz1]

The crystals may also serve a different purpose. The crystals in the engine room may be providing power directly to the engines while the ones in the energizer room may be power taps to run the rest of the ships systems.

 

[blssdwlf]

But in this episode the dilithium crystals become drained and Kirk orders them to be "re-amplified."

Is there a difference between re-amplified and re-crystallized?

Yes - well for one, in "The Alternative Factor" the crystals were drained and need energy put back in (re-amplified) and in ST4 the crystals were de-crystallizing as in breaking down/apart. There was no known way to undo the damage as far as Scotty knew. No continuity error, IMHO.

TOS and at least ST4 treated dilithium crystals as magic super capacitors/batteries and they were charged up/re-charged by the antimatter system. TNG altered their purpose and made them instead into a regulator for matter/antimatter reactions that did magic for the warp plasma.

 

[Potemkin_Prod]

TOS and at least ST4 treated dilithium crystals as magic super capacitors/batteries and they were charged up/re-charged by the antimatter system. TNG altered their purpose and made them instead into a regulator for matter/antimatter reactions that did magic for the warp plasma.

I always thought of them as "spark plugs" and "batteries" during TOS. I think that in TNG they decided that the energy from the M/AM reaction had to flow through the dilithium crystals. Technology changes, and I guess TPTB decided to get too specific for TNG...

 

[Timo]

I never thought that "Alternative Factor" showed us the engine room. Why would they build a whole new set if the purpose was to do that?

Rather, in the teaser something exceptional hits the dilithium crystals, and exceptional corrective measures are thus needed: blueskirt specialist Masters, whom we've never seen before, is the one to correctly analyze the problem, and the one tasked with the remedy. It should make sense that she would take the crystals out of Scotty's realm and move them to a special facility for the necessary "re-amplifying" or "energizing".

Note also that the ship's energy supply is not further endangered when the two Lazari steal the crystals and sabotage the energizer, not as per dialogue anyway. Instead, the ship stays low on energy as long as the crystals remain unenergized or otherwise unavailable - them sitting in that energizer thingamabob apparently doesn't do any good to the ship's power...

In TOS, we see two basic types of dilithium: these paddles of "Alternative Factor", and the various clumpy jewels of "Mudd's Women" or "Elaan of Troyius" or ST4. My hobbyhorse here is that dilithium back then was a rare commodity that furthermore could not be efficiently worked to desired shapes. Thus, a typical starship would use a carefully aligned array of microcrystals on a paddlelike holder; a starship in an emergency might use a raw lump if a suitable facet of the macrocrystal could be found.

The array could be easily knocked out of alignment, though. A special energizer machine would be needed to realign the microcrystals, then, restoring functionality (which I argue is the same in TOS and TNG - regulation of annihilation, or of the process where annihilation energies translate into warp energies). In the TNG era, entire crystals could easily be realigned (a process referenced a couple of times there), and big crystals would indeed be favored because they could now be more easily obtained and they'd be more robust.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[blssdwlf]

Note also that the ship's energy supply is not further endangered when the two Lazari steal the crystals and sabotage the energizer, not as per dialogue anyway. Instead, the ship stays low on energy as long as the crystals remain unenergized or otherwise unavailable - them sitting in that energizer thingamabob apparently doesn't do any good to the ship's power...

Well if you ignore the dialogue, you could make the TOS dilithium crystals work within the confines of TNG However the ship's energy supply doesn't come into immediate play simply because the Enterprise still had her impulse power and battery reserves. We've seen the ship with battle damage to the energiser and that means the loss of warp propulsion and further powering of the phasers but she still can stay operational.

"The Alternative Factor" - 20

MASTERS: Whatever that phenomenon was, it drained almost all of our crystals completely. It could mean trouble.
KIRK: You have a talent for understatement, Lieutenant. Without full crystal power, our orbit will begin to decay in ten hours. Re-amplify immediately.
...
KIRK: Out of the question. Those crystals are the very heart of the power of my ship.
...
Captain's log, stardate 3088.7. We are no closer to finding an answer to the strange phenomenon than we were at the beginning. Not only have two of my crewmen been attacked, two of our dilithium crystals are missing, and without them the Enterprise cannot operate at full power. They must be found.

Note: Interestingly, not antimatter power exactly but "crystal power". This would suggest that the dilithium crystals on the Enterprise are like super capacitors or batteries that are charged up/amplified by presumably the matter/antimatter reactor. It is the dilithium energy that makes the warp propulsion go. The energisers not only provide power to the ship's systems but also act as a recharging mechanism as well. Full power means all four crystals (charged up.)

LAZARUS: That's very bad, Captain. If he comes through at a time of his own choosing. But I think if we hurry and you will help me, he can yet still be stopped. There's little time left. He meant to come through. When you accidentally passed through, it drained his crystals. It'll take him about ten minutes to re-energise with the equipment aboard his ship. That should give us enough time.

Note: Lazarus uses the crystals also as a super capacitor/battery.
​

"The Paradise Syndrome" - 58

SPOCK: All engines stop. Hold position here.
SCOTT: All engines stop, sir.
SPOCK: Prepare to activate deflectors.
SULU: Aye, sir.
CHEKOV: Power dropping, sir.
SPOCK: Engineering, maintain full power. Full power.
SCOTT: Dilithium crystal circuit's failing, sir. We'll have to replace it.

Note: Scotty has ejected one of the crystals which explains why the ship isn't at full power.

SPOCK: Not now.
CHEKOV: Zero. Deflection point now, sir.
SPOCK: Activate deflectors.
CHEKOV: Power dropping, sir.
SPOCK: Degree of deflection, Mister Sulu.
SULU: Not enough, Mister Spock. It's only point zero zero one three degrees.
SPOCK: Recircuit power to engines. Maximum speed heading three seven mark zero one zero.

Note: Evidence that the warp engines get a power feed from presumably the dilithium circuits/energisers.
​

"The Day of the Dove" - 66

SCOTT: The ship's dilithium crystals are deteriorating. We can't stop the process.
KIRK: Time factor?
SCOTT: In twelve minutes, we'll be totally without engine power.
...
SCOTT: There's no change, Captain. The dilithium crystals are discharging.

Note: Further evidence even late in the series that the crystals store power.
​

 

[Timo]

I still argue that "Alternative Factor" merely discusses the fact that with the dilithium paddles removed from the power system, the ship has power issues - but nothing dictates that the paddles create the power.

We could have "full crystal power" where the mains work with the crystals inside. And then we could have "crystal-free power" where the mains work without the crystals, and generate much less power. The terminology would be similar to having "afterburner power" -the power doesn't come from the afterburner as such, but is boosted by the application of an afterburner.

I don't see any indication in the dialogue to the energizer providing power for the ship. To the contrary, loss of the energizer to sabotage does nothing visible to the ship's power reserves or her ability to operate transporters or energy beams or whatnot.

Also, the crazier Lazarus re-energizes "with equipment aboard his ship", not with Kirk's dilithium crystals or his own... He's probably energizing the crystals, just like Kirk was doing earlier on, rather than using the crystals to energize something else.

Note: Evidence that the warp engines get a power feed from presumably the dilithium circuits/energisers.

No evidence connecting "dilithium circuits" with "energizers" there.

Also, nothing to contradict the TNG view of how dilithium would work there.

Note: Further evidence even late in the series that the crystals store power.

Makes no sense. If dilithium deteriorates and takes the power with it, how do our heroes ever regain it?

No, it seems more like lack of dilithium makes the ship incapable of channeling its power to things like engines. If dilithium is somehow restored or replaced, the power (which was being stored somewhere else) is still there and can finally be unleashed.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[blssdwlf]

I still argue that "Alternative Factor" merely discusses the fact that with the dilithium paddles removed from the power system, the ship has power issues - but nothing dictates that the paddles create the power.

Not that the crystals "create the power" in the sense of a M/AM reactor annihilating fuel and releasing raw energy but that they store up power as super battery or buffer.

We could have "full crystal power" where the mains work with the crystals inside. And then we could have "crystal-free power" where the mains work without the crystals, and generate much less power.

Keep in mind that "crystal-free power" is when the mains are bypassed as mentioned as possible in "Mudd's Women" and done in "The Wrath of Khan". It's not much more than running on impulse power.

I don't see any indication in the dialogue to the energizer providing power for the ship. To the contrary, loss of the energizer to sabotage does nothing visible to the ship's power reserves or her ability to operate transporters or energy beams or whatnot.

Loss of the energiser primarily affects the availability of warp because that's where the dilithium crystals are (as seen in "The Doomsday Machine") and they are used to power the warp engines ("Elaan of Troyius"). Remember the ship can operate on impulse engines and batteries to power their transporters or whatnot.

Also, the crazier Lazarus re-energizes "with equipment aboard his ship", not with Kirk's dilithium crystals or his own... He's probably energizing the crystals, just like Kirk was doing earlier on, rather than using the crystals to energize something else.

I'm not sure which one you're talking about. In the dialogue it was the crystals that were charged up and Kirk discharged them by accident necessitating one of the Lazari to spend another 20 minutes to recharge them. That works pretty much the same way as suggested on the Enterprise. M/AM Reactor charges (amplifies) the dilithium crystals to be distributed for use by the energisers. If the energiser is out or dilithium crystals destroyed then they have impulse and battery power.

Note: Evidence that the warp engines get a power feed from presumably the dilithium circuits/energisers.

No evidence connecting "dilithium circuits" with "energizers" there.

I'm starting to think you just want to ignore "The Alternative Factor" entirely

Let's see, the dilithium crystals are plugged into the energiser in "The Alternative Factor". By the time we see them in the episode the dialogue indicates that they have already been "re-amplified" so it lessens the argument that the energiser is only a re-charging machine. We know from the dialogue that the crystals provide power but must be charged up as they are spent and that the energisers provide power and the phrase can be used interchangeably.

Also, nothing to contradict the TNG view of how dilithium would work there.

Sure there is. In TNG, the crystals are used to regulate the M/AM reaction and don't store energy (as least not that I recall.) In TOS, the crystals store the M/AM energy for later or immediate use.

Or another way to put it, in TNG there is not a way to rig a bypass around the dilithium crystals because they are needed for the reaction. In TOS you could rig a bypass because the crystals are not part of the M/AM reaction and do their work further down the chain in the energisers.

Note: Further evidence even late in the series that the crystals store power.

Makes no sense. If dilithium deteriorates and takes the power with it, how do our heroes ever regain it?

"Day of the Dove" had the pinwheel alien artificially deteriorating the crystals AND artificially making the ship's walls impervious to phasers AND artificially restoring everyone's health as they are killed/injured. When the alien leaves, the question is what gets undone and what is left in it's changed state?

Presumably when the alien left, what is left of the crystals would stop deteriorating and they would use what's left to limp at a low warp to a nearby base - otherwise it'd be a longer trip going back on impulse.

As to normal operations then just look to "The Alternative Factor". The crystals are re-charged/amped as they are discharging.

I'd even go further by arguing that the crystals in TOS store much more power than what the M/AM reactor alone could generate.

Timo, I don't think that you can make this TOS tech fit nicely in TNG without some serious changes on one side or the other. The best argument I think would be that there are multiple continuities. In the TNG continuity there was a Kirk and Enterprise-nil that had a dilithium-mediated M/AM reactor and in the TOS continuity there was a Kirk and Enterprise-nil that had a M/AM reactor that powers up the dilithium crystals. Some of the TOS stories probably didn't happen in the TNG continuity and vice-versa.