Earth's embassy on Vulcan is bombed, and the ensuing investigation puts Archer and T'Pol on the trail of a Vulcan religious faction hiding in a treacherous desert.

Robert Foxworth (Administrator V'Las)
Vaughn Armstrong (Admiral Maxwell Forrest)
Gary Graham (Ambassador Soval)
Michael Reilly Burke (Koss)
Michael Nouri (Arev/Syran)

Larc Spies (Chief Investigator Stel)
Rafael Boza (Corporal Askwith)

• Part 1 of 3.
  
• Admiral Forrest dies saving Ambassador Soval. 43 people died in total (12 Vulcans and 31 Humans).
  
• This episode introduces Administrator V'Las, the leader of the Vulcan High Command.
  
• The evidence points to the Syrannites, a small group of Vulcans who follow a "corrupted" form of Surak's teachings. DNA from a known Syrannite named T'Pau is found, but Phlox discovers that it was planted.
  
• Soval becomes an ally to the crew, and begins working with the crew to discover what happened. He mind melds with the comatose guard and discovers that Stel planted the bomb in the Embassy.
  
• Koss delivers an IDIC pendant to T'Pol, and informs her that her mother T'Les is a Syrannite and that she has disappeared. The pendant gives them directions to find her.
  
• Askwith, the United Earth Embassy security desk officer, has a rank of colonel even though he wears a Starfleet uniform. (The actor that portrays him, Rafael Boza, was uncredited.)