If you’re a Star Trek fan, you’re probably always on the hunt for easter eggs and references to the franchise out in the wild. And there are plenty: Star Trek has been dominating pop culture ever since it began back in the ’60s with William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, and DeForest Kelley as the original iconic trio.
One place you probably hadn’t thought to look, though, is the 2011 videogame The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim. Skyrim is one of the best RPG games ever made as you traverse Tamriel’s Northern province of Skyrim as the Dragonborn 200 years after the Oblivion Crisis. One of the best fantasy games, it’s known for its expansive open world setting, packed with every flavor of NPC.
One of these NPCs is named Temba Wide-Arm. Temba is a Nord woman who lives in Ivarstead (the village in The Rift from where you can climb the Seven Thousand Steps to High Hrothgar) who has a fierce dislike for bears; she’ll reward you if you get revenge on her behalf and bring her 10 of their pelts.
If you’re anything like me, you’ve probably passed her by countless times without realizing that her name is a reference to one of the best Star Trek The Next Generation episodes. Take a second to think, and you’ll catch on: it’s a reference to Darmok.
Darmok is an early episode in season 5 of TNG, in which Captain Picard is trapped on a planet with an alien captain who only speaks in metaphors taken from his species’ long history and mythology. The best known example is ‘Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra,’ and another is ‘Temba, his arms wide.’
This expression was used to convey openness and generosity, which Temba Wide-Arm doesn’t necessarily embody with her hatred of bears. On the other hand, she does give you an enchanted war axe if you complete her quest, which is worth a decent amount of gold (that is, if you don’t just disenchant it first).
That’s where the reference ends, really, though Temba does become a candidate for marriage – if you like the idea of being wedded to a walking-talking Star Trek reference.
For more on Skyrim, check out PCGamesN’s guides to the best Skyrim mods and the best games like Skyrim on PC.
Or, learn more about Star Trek with our guide to the upcoming Star Trek Strange New Worlds season 2 release date, and check out our hopes for Star Trek Legacy. Alternatively, take a look at our picks for which Star Trek captains would survive a zombie apocalypse.