The Enterprise pursues a Ferengi ship and meets a powerful guardian.
The Enterprise pursues a Ferengi vessel that has stolen an energy converter, and both ships become locked in the grip of a mysterious force near Delphi Ardu. Riker leads an away team to the surface and meets a powerful guardian left behind by the vanished Tkon Empire. The guardian tests the humans before deciding whether to release the ships.
This was the first on-screen appearance of the Ferengi, who had been introduced as a major new threat for the Federation to face. They appear here as grasping, deceitful traders rather than the fearsome foes the producers first imagined. The episode includes a famous scene in which Riker and the guardian match wits, and shows the Federation is not the only force to reckon with.