Object

Nelvana Three (Planet)

A barren Class‑M rock dropped into the Enterprise’s sensors as a dead, unremarkable world: scorched plains, no settlements, no emitters, no weapons. Starfleet scans return only geological noise and silence. Officers crowd displays, cross‑check readings and exchange disbelief as the planet’s emptiness becomes an active clue — a staged absence that unravels a trusted officer’s certainty and triggers a tactical confrontation.

3 appearances

Purpose

Serves as a decoy planetary site: a fabricated empty world used to mislead observers, stage a loyalty test, and draw naval forces into revealing intentions during a diplomatic/tactical probe.

Significance

Functions as the story’s pivotal clue and emotional fulcrum: its manufactured barrenness exposes a Romulan deception that shatters Admiral Jarok’s conviction, forces Picard to confront political manipulation, and precipitates the Romulan ambush that nearly ignites open war.

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

3 moments

S3E10 · The Defector

Jarok Unmasked: The Loyalty Test and the Romulan Ambush

Nelvana Three functioned as the baited locus: sensor sweeps show an unremarkable, lifeless planet whose emptiness collapses Jarok's testimony and catalyzes the central revelation that the alleged base never existed.

Before: Approached by the Enterprise on sensors as the destination of a probe's faint emissions.

After: Confirmed as an empty, uninhabited rock; the planet remains physically unchanged but narratively revealed as the stage of a Romulan deception.

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S3E10 · The Defector

Trap at Nelvana — Tomalak's Deception and the Klingon Counter

Nelvana Three functions as the revealed empty stage: sensors return a lifeless, unscarred rock, which collapses Jarok's story and exposes the deception. The planet's barrenness is the narrative pivot that turns intelligence into suspicion and humiliation into evidence.

Before: Sensor contact as a dull, unremarkable Class-M rock entering view; unexplained subspace emissions registered by a probe in orbit.

After: Remains physically unchanged but narratively exposed as an empty world; its apparent emptiness becomes proof of deception and the cause of military posturing.

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S3E10 · The Defector

Broken Loyalty: Jarok's Failed Sacrifice

Nelvana Three functions as the bait world: visually present as a dull, uninhabited rock the Enterprise orbits to verify Jarok's claim, only to reveal—through sensor sweeps—that it is empty and thus central to Picard's conclusion of deception.

Before: Appearing on sensors as a featureless Class-M rock and the destination for the probe's alert.

After: Remains unchanged and empty; its status as bait is confirmed by sensor data and Romulan denials.

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