As to how they’ll resolve the cliffhanger, it’s probably going to be Scotty’s Gorn transponder that will confuse the Gorn ships long enough for Enterprise to get in close and somehow beam the abductees back.
Or maybe Batel becomes their version of Locutus, to somehow communicate with them.
To be honest I’m still undecided whether I want the Gorn to stay this unstoppable force of horror, or to find a Trek-style form of coming to some sort of peace agreement. In that aspect I liked how Admiral April tried to keep Pike in check at the beginning of the episode.
I was concerned that any Trek-like resolution that the series’s tone demands would utterly undermine Arena. But I think we’re past that already so I’ll just accept it out the window and enjoy the ride. But I do wish they’d done this as a new species instead.
Well at that point it’s meant to be they can’t be reasoned with, war / fight to the death inevitable. Then at the end it’s revealed they were just defending their territory.
If we have a situation where understanding is reached, communication and mutual empathy then exactly what is Kirk fighting about and learning in Arena?
It already doesn’t totally work now the Gorn and their space are personally known about by most of the crew present in Arena, by Starfleet etc. but I can wave that off as being worth it for the story. But this would mean that the message of Arena is also damaged, not just continuity. Not sure how I feel about that but I’ll see how they handle it first.