When The Bough Breaks story
A planet formerly existing only in legend uncloaks and requests help from the Enterprise . Planet's inhabitants are sterile and want to adopt children from the Enterprise —by force, if necessary.
31 total · 3 choice · 8 major · 20 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| atrophied civilization | choice | The Aldeans had over the ages become dumbed down because their central computer did all the work. |
| great need vs. human rights | choice | We must ponder whether the aliens were justified in taking other people's children in order to save their own race. |
| slaves to technology | choice | The Aldeans were completely and utterly reliant on their central computer system. |
| bird in a gilded cage | major | Wesley, Harry Bernard Jr., and other kidnapped children had everything they could want except the freedom to reunite with their human parents. |
| child's point of view | major | The experiences of Wesley, Harry Bernard Jr. and the kidnapped children were central and contrasted with that of adults. |
| coping with being separated from one's family | major | Wesley, Harry Bernard Jr., and other kidnapped children had everything they could want except the freedom to reunite with their human parents. |
| desperation | major | Aldeans were desperate to procreate, by hook or by crook. |
| educating a child | major | The Aldean parents went about cultivating the talents of the kidnapped children. |
| facing life in captivity | major | Wesley, Harry Bernard Jr. and the other kidnapped children viewed the prospect of growing up on Aldea with some trepidation. |
| mass infertility | major | The sterile Aldeans kidnapped the Enterprise children in a desperate attempt to perpetuate their kind. |