Archer's Piracy in 'Damage'

[Withers]

This comes up as Archer's "dark moment" that is in the vein of Sisko's behavior in In the Pale Moonlight and Janeway's behavior in Tuvix. For me this decision is different than either of the aforementioned two in one very specific regard;

Sisko and Janeway couldn't put the Genie back in the bottle. Once he'd brought the Romulans into the war there was no going back. Once Janeway had killed Tuvix he was dead and there was no going back. Archer, on the other hand, didn't do anything that couldn't then be remedied at a later date. Why couldn't he have explained to SFC that there was a ship out there, stranded 3 years from home, in need of a warp coil? Columbia could have gone or they could have sent an even faster Vulcan ship to help them out.

Given the circumstances (and the eventual outcome) I don't think anyone would have seriously disdained what Archer did; he had to do it- it saved everything. So, in this case, I don't see what he did as being on par with the others... until you bring the fact that nothing was done to help those people he stranded after the fact.

-Withers-​

 

[RegFan]

I would have loved a Season 4 episode where Archer is ordered to find and help that alien ship. He would have to deal with his guilt and the alien captain. Damage is one of my favorite Enterprise episodes, it's like Enterprise's In the Pale Moonlight.