The Cage (Star Trek: The Original Series) - "The Menagerie"

"The Menagerie"

Of the 63-minute pilot, some 52 minutes were used in the two-part "Menagerie" episode, although the final surface scene was altered slightly and used as the Talosians' final message to Captain Kirk. Pike, now able to enjoy the illusion of being healthy and independently-mobile again, accompanies Vina up to the entrance to the Talosian habitat. What had been the Keeper's final words to Pike become the final words to Kirk, slightly altered: "Captain Pike has an illusion, and you have reality. May you find your way as pleasant." The voiceover, however, is placed over the threatening scene earlier when the Keeper communicates, with a smug nod, "We may soon begin the experiment."

According to "The Menagerie," Starfleet placed the planet under strict quarantine as a result of the Enterprise's first encounter with Talos IV, the violation of which was the only crime that still carried the death penalty. Not only that, but when Spock violates the ban, Kirk (as his commanding officer) also becomes eligible to be executed. It is never clearly explained why such a harsh sentence was warranted, although the Keeper tells Pike that if humans and Talosians were to maintain contact, "Your race would eventually discover our power of illusion and destroy itself, too." At the end of "The Menagerie," Starfleet allows an exemption for Kirk and Spock, but it has yet to be established in Star Trek canon whether the death penalty for breaking the Talos IV quarantine was ever repealed.