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Recap / Star Trek S1 E13 "The Conscience of the King"

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Original air date: December 8, 1966

The episode opens with a performance of Macbeth on Planet Q attended by Kirk and an old acquaintance of his, Doctor Thomas Leighton. Throughout the play, Leighton urges Kirk to pay attention to Anton Karidian, the actor playing Macbeth: Leighton is sure that he is actually Kodos The Executioner. (No, not THAT Kodos - though that is where they got the name.)

After the play, Kirk is pretty angry with Leighton since the latter claimed he had some sort of new food concentrate to end a famine, causing the former to divert the Enterprise three lightyears off course. Leighton claims he and Kirk are two of the nine people alive that can expose Kodos and is insistent that Karidian is him, since Leighton cannot forget the voice of the man who horrifically disfigured him. Kirk will have none of it, claiming Kodos is dead, and leaves, wondering what the hell he's supposed to write in his report.

The story of Kodos is revealed gradually over the course of the episode: 20 years ago, Kodos was the governor of the Tarsus IV colony, in which Kirk and Leighton resided. When a fungal infection destroyed most of the colony's food supply, the colony's 8,000 residents faced starvation. Kodos responded to the crisis by having half the colonists executed, using his personal eugenics theories to select who would live and die. Eventually supply ships arrived much earlier than predicted, making all those deaths utterly pointless. All that was found of Kodos was a body burned beyond recognition, and he was declared dead.

Kirk decides to go over a photo record of Kodos, and notes his similarity to Karidian. He also finds that there are no records of Anton Karidian older than 20 years, the same time as Kodos' "death". Intrigued, he decides to stay on the planet a while longer and attend a party Leighton is giving hoping to trap Karidian.

At the party, he finds that Karidian isn't attending but his daughter Lenore is. Kirk turns on his usual charm and they go for a walk, during which they stumble upon Leighton's dead body. Kirk is now determined to get to the bottom of this: he calls in a favor with the captain of the ship Karidian's troupe was meant to take off world to make it leave with no prior notice, stranding them there. Lenore then asks Kirk to give them a lift, just as he planned . Kirk accepts, in return for a "special performance".

Kirk then uses the ship's computer to look up the identities of everyone who met Kodos in person other than himself. One eyewitness is Lt. Kevin Riley. Riley appeared in " The Naked Time ", played by the same actor. Despite having been recently promoted, he orders that Riley be reassigned to his former position, presumably to protect him. He also gets closer to Lenore, though whether it's to get more information on her father or it's just Kirk being Kirk is up for the viewer to decide.

Meanwhile, Spock is getting suspicious about Kirk's recent behavior and decides to investigate. He manages to figure out the Karidian/Kodos situation thanks to the ship's computer and reports his findings to McCoy . Spock also discovers that of the 9 people who could identify Kodos, only Kirk and Riley are still alive. Worse, all the others died in mysterious circumstances... and always in relative proximity to Karidian's theater troupe.

Speaking of Riley, he's not taking his reassignment well. While distracted by Uhura playing him a love song on comms at his request, a gloved hand sprays an industrial lubricant in his drink, poisoning him. Luckily Uhura hears his cries, and he's transported to Sickbay in time to save him. Spock urges McCoy to save Riley, since if he dies, then Kirk is certainly next.

Riley survives, and Spock and McCoy finally decide to confront Kirk. Kirk doesn't like "meddling in his personal affairs" but as Spock points out, this affects the functioning of the ship and thus is their concern. However, he does agree that all the evidence points to Karidian being Kodos. McCoy then starts questioning Kirk's motives:

Spock : Even in this corner of the galaxy, Captain, two plus two equals four. Almost certainly an attempt will be made to kill you. Why do you invite death? Kirk : I'm not. I'm interested in justice. McCoy : Are you? Are you sure it's not vengeance? Kirk : [dejected] No, I'm not sure. I wish I was. I've done things I've never done before. I've placed my command in jeopardy. From here on I've got to determine whether or not Karidian is Kodos. Spock : He is. Kirk : You sound certain. I wish I could be. Before I accuse a man of that, I've got to be. I saw him once, twenty years ago. Men change. Memory changes. Look at him now, he's an actor. He can change his appearance. No. Logic is not enough. I've got to feel my way, make absolutely sure. McCoy : What if you decide he is Kodos? What then? Do you play God, carry his head through the corridors in triumph? That won't bring back the dead, Jim. Kirk : No, but they may rest easier.

This dramatic exchange is interrupted by the loud hum of an overloading phaser, which would blow up the entire deck. After finding and disposing of the phaser, Kirk finally decides to directly confront Karidian. Karisian is evasive when asked if he is Kodos, so Kirk makes him read Kodos' often repeated execution order. Karidian recites the order barely glancing at the paper, as if recalling the words from memory. Nevertheless, he is still evasive, though he mentions that "Kodos" might be considered a great hero if the supply ships hadn't come. He asks Kirk why doesn't he kill him now if he's so sure he's Kodos, to which he replies it would change nothing. Karidian mentions how tired he is of life and that he no longer treasures it, not even his own. He ends the conversation with this:

Karidian : Did you get everything you wanted, Captain Kirk? Kirk : If I had gotten everything I wanted, you might not walk out of this room alive.

Lenore then enters and asks Was It All a Lie? . Kirk says it was initially, but not anymore. Lenore calls him merciless and storms off.

Meanwhile, Riley overhears McCoy talking about how Karidian is suspected of being Kodos. Since Kodos murdered Riley's family, he hatches a plan for revenge.

Spock tells Kirk that Karidian's voice is a match, but Kirk isn't convinced, since it's not an exact match and there's a man's life at stake. They then receive news that Riley has gotten out of sickbay and stolen a phaser. They head towards the ship's theater where the "special performance" of Hamlet by Karidian's troupe is taking place.

Kirk finds Riley getting ready to shoot Karidian from backstage, but talks him into dropping the phaser. Karidian and Lenore arrive backstage and the former finally comes clean and explains to Lenore that this is a result of the "part he played long ago" that he never told her about that has resurfaced. At this Lenore decides to drop the bombshell: she knew all along that Karidian was Kodos and she was the one who killed all the witnesses, including Leighton and the attempt on Riley, all to protect her father. She grabs a phaser and points it towards Kirk. Karidian, completely horrified at what his daughter has become, takes the shot meant for Kirk. Lenore breaks down in tears and is led away.

Later on in the bridge, McCoy mentions how Lenore will be taken care of. Apparently she has gone completely insane and thinks her father is still alive, giving performances to cheering crowds. When McCoy asks if Kirk really cared for her, he refuses to answer and the episode ends.

The Conscience of the Tropes:

• Lenore breaks down in tears after having accidentally shot and killed her own father before she is taken away.
• Kodos himself to a degree, despite his ruthless calculation , executions of the four thousand colonists, and evading justice, having done so in order to save the other half of the colonists instead of everyone starving to death, until it proved to be All for Nothing . He demonstrates a Heel Realization through the episode, and in the end he takes a phaser blast intended for Kirk, perhaps in an act of Redemption Equals Death .
• The massacre that got Kodos the moniker 'The Executioner' happened when the colony he governed lost most of its food supply. The remaining food wasn't enough to hold until ships bringing food relief were expected to come, so he killed half of the 8,000 colonists according to personal eugenics theories, making a hard decision (or using it as an excuse) so that at least some colonists would survive. And then the relief ships arrived early, meaning nobody had to die at all.
• Lenore trying to ensure her father doesn't get identified by witnesses who saw him only leads to him getting noticed, and when she tries to prevent his arrest she accidentally shoots him when he took a shot aimed at Kirk .
• Ax-Crazy : In the midst of a Villainous Breakdown when confronted by Kirk, Lenore responds to his insistence that she'd never get off the Enterprise by proclaiming, with a mad glint in her eye, that the ship would become "a floating tomb, drifting through space, with the soul of the great Karidian giving performances at every star he touches".
• Bait-and-Switch : Kirk is convinced that Karidian / Kodos is responsible for the murders and attempted murders. Both men are shocked at learning that it was really Lenore.
• Beard of Evil : Kodos the Executioner had one. He shaved it when he changed his name to Anton Karidian.
• Berserk Button : This is one of the first episodes to introduce the Federation's hatred of eugenics. It would become much more clear in Space Seed .
• Bewildering Punishment : How Reilly views his reassignment to Engineering.
• Catch the Conscience : The reason the quote from Hamlet was used.
• The Chains of Commanding : "The chain of command is often a noose."

• Cold Equation : Kodos the Executioner/Anton Karidian used this as his excuse to execute half the colonists of the Tarsus IV colony when a fungus destroyed most of their food supply. It's worth noting that the only reason it counts as this trope was because he was wrong about one of his assumptions: it turned out that the Federation did manage to get relief supplies to the colony in time. Had he turned out to be right...
• Contrived Coincidence : The fact that 2 out of the remaining 9 witnesses in all the galaxy who can positively identify Kodos (and as is later shown in the episode, the last 2 who haven't been murdered ) just so happen to be assigned to the Enterprise .
• Cope by Pretending : After she accidentally kills her father, Lenore's already dubious sanity shatters completely, and she clings to the delusion that he's still alive performing to cheering audiences.
• Cute and Psycho : Lenore Karidian catches Kirk's eye even before he seriously starts suspecting her father of being Kodos, and she comes across as a bright-eyed, innocent young woman. Beneath that, however, she's revealed to be deeply disturbed, considering her father's past crimes to be nothing compared to the possibility of him being punished for them, even proclaiming that she'd murder an entire world if it meant keeping him free.
• Cry into Chest : Thomas Leighton's widow, Martha, briefly clings to Kirk as she weeps.
• Daddy's Little Villain : Lenore becomes this. Karidian is distraught once he realizes his daughter is killing people for him, having thought that she was the one part of him which remained untainted by his past.
• Dark and Troubled Past : Kirk, Leighton and Riley are all haunted by the events on Tarsus IV — and so is Karidian.
• Dark Messiah : Kodos took control of his colony during a famine, killing off half the population to save the rest. He never really apologizes for it, either; had the food supply ships not chosen that inconvenient time to appear, Kodos might be hailed as "a great hero!" The carnage was needless but the conspirators didn't know that at the time. To save face (and coincidentally his skin), he faked his death and went underground.
• Death Ray : One of the few times that a phaser kills someone without vaporizing the body.
• Despair Event Horizon : Lenore's confession drives Karidian over the edge into anguished guilt. Karidian: Oh, my child—my child...*sobs* you've left me NOTHING !!!
• Diegetic Soundtrack Usage : The theme song is performed by the lounge band at Tom Leighton's party. This is the first time the theme has been played as "source music".
• Does This Remind You of Anything? : Kodos culled people based on his eugenics theories, and has lived under an assumed name to escape the punishment for his crimes decades later. The comparisons to the Nazis (especially in the '60s when knowledge of the many fugitives living underground became prominent after the capture of Adolf Eichmann) are probably intended.
• Drinking on Duty : Spock struggles to get Bones to focus on the topic at hand due to the latter hitting the sauce pretty hard during a quiet time in Sickbay. Possibly also a case of Values Dissonance , since by present-day standards a doctor drinking in a medical facility, even if off-shift, would be seen as pretty egregious. invoked
• McCoy casually mentions that Vulcans were a conquered species, though not when or by whom. This is the only mention of any conquest of Vulcan; future episodes and series would firmly establish that Vulcans have been a more advanced species than most for centuries. Furthermore, Spock states outright that Vulcan has not been conquered within its collective memory in "The Immunity Syndrome".
• Kirk refers to Riley as a lieutenant in the "Star Service", as opposed to Starfleet.
• Uh-Oh! Riley just heard Bones talking to his computer! Why did they phase out the keyboard again? Though twentieth-century doctors often dictated their notes to save time, it is shocking that by the 2260s they haven't come up with something better.
• Karidian is implied to have overheard Kirk trying to talk Riley down backstage, leading to his distraught conversation with Lenore once Act 1 finishes.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones : Karidian clearly loves his daughter, and is horrified to find out she's been killing innocent witnesses on his behalf - he didn't want his crimes to affect her. Lenore herself adores her father to a disturbing extent , murdering seven people (with plans to murder two more) to make sure he could never face punishment for the crimes in his past.
• While Kodos' actions were brutal and based on his own eugenics theories, Spock notes that the victims of the massacre at least died painlessly.
• Karidian is horrified and disgusted to learn that Lenore has been murdering witnesses to his past crimes; he hates the idea of being further stained with innocent blood, and even more so that Lenore stained herself with it.
• Evil Malthusian : Kodos, Governor of Tarsus, also known as Kodos the Executioner. He killed half the population of the planet when a famine was threatening starvation, little knowing that relief ships were en route. James Kirk was one of a handful of people who saw Kodos in person and could identify him.
• Evil Parents Want Good Kids : Karidian hid his past as Kodos from his daughter Lenore so that she would grow up untainted by his crimes. Alas, she found out on her own and followed in his footsteps, much to Karidian's horror and disgust.
• Evil Redhead : Kodos when he was younger. As Karidian, his hair has grayed and his personality is much more mellow.
• Explosive Overclocking : A phaser rigged to overload is placed in Kirk's quarters. He and Spock tear the room apart to find it, because if it blows it'll take out half the deck.
• Eye Scream : During the play, just after Leighton hisses to Kirk that Karidian is Kodos we hear Karidian-as-Macbeth lament: "Pluck out my eyes!". When Leighton reveals that the left side of his face has been destroyed, we see that that does indeed include his eye.
• Face-Revealing Turn : We are introduced to Thomas Leighton. We only see the right side of his face for five minutes, until he says that he survived a massacre by Kodos the Executioner, at which point we see that the left side of his face is covered by a patch .
• Faking the Dead : Kodos the Executioner was presumed dead on Tarsus IV, but all that was found was a body burned beyond recognition, and the episode reveals that Kodos did survive and flee justice.
• Fake-Out Opening : A bloody dagger? In a sci-fi show? Turns out they're just watching a production of Macbeth .
• Lenore gives a hint of her true intentions when she compares herself to Cleopatra VII and Kirk to Julius Caesar . Before long, she does reveal that she is indeed "green in judgment, cold in blood."
• Kirk himself does a particularly cold seduction of Lenore in this one, as he manipulates her in order to get closer to her father. It's used as an example of him going too far, and both Lenore and Spock call him out on it, although Spock is more justified than Lenore, given what she already did and what she does later on.
• Future Food Is Artificial : Riley is served a lunch that looks composed of Jolly Ranchers. Yeah, that's a color found in nature. He might've liked it better if Lenore hadn't spritzed 409 into his chocolate milk.
• Genocide Survivor : Kirk is stated to be a survivor of a genocide on the planet Tarsus IV, where the Governor ordered thousands of citizens killed to ensure the rest could survive, using eugenics to decide who lived and died.
• The Guards Must Be Crazy : Despite two very recent murder attempts aboard the ship, security fails to keep an eye on one of the victims or a storage locker; Riley manages to slip out of Sickbay without McCoy even noticing, he breaks into a weapons locker and gets a phaser without being caught, and he very nearly murders Karidian despite Kirk alerting security to both his actions and his intended destination.
• Grey-and-Grey Morality : Kodos killed 4,000 people but maintains I Did What I Had to Do , and is deeply sorry that his daughter got caught up in all this. Kirk is traumatised from the massacre, but uses Lenore (at least at first) and is called out for being a Knight in Sour Armor . It was this episode that inspired later deconstructions in Trek.
• Hand of Death : The opening shot of the episode. Goodbye, King Duncan.
• Heel Realization : Karidian had one of these a long time before the episode began. Look at the abject horror on his face as he rereads the words he spoke as he sentenced thousands to death. Or, even before that, his cryptic, wistful reply to Kirk: Kirk: You're an actor now. What were you twenty years ago? Karidian: Younger, Captain. Much younger.
• Hidden First Act Parallel : The production of Macbeth that Kirk and his friend, Leighton, watch at the beginning of the episode, parallels the events of the episode; witnesses who know what Kodos looks like have mysteriously died or disappeared under unusual circumstances, much like Macbeth and Lady Macbeth murdered others to keep their power on the throne. Leighton is found dead, Lt. Riley is almost poisoned, and Kirk is almost killed by an overloading phaser. Later, when Kirk tries to stop Riley from getting his revenge, it's revealed that Lenore was the murderer, and that she had gone insane, trying to protect her father from being caught, paralleling Lady Macbeth's descent into madness.
• I Did What I Had to Do : Kodos never apologizes for his actions, arguing that he'd be seen as a hero had the rescue ships not arrived early.
• Incestuous Casting : In-universe, Anton Karidian plays Macbeth and his daughter Lenore plays Lady Macbeth.
• Irony : While Karidian, in character as King Hamlet, gives a speech entreating his son to avenge his murder, Kirk is backstage, convincing Lt. Riley not to murder Karidian to avenge his father.
• Karma Houdini Warranty : Kodos faked his death and fled justice, becoming Anton Karidian, but he never managed to outrun karma; his beloved daughter dove headlong into madness to protect him from possibly facing judgement, murdering seven people and further staining her father with innocent blood before accidentally killing him. Even before all this, Karidian lived with the weight of what he'd done, to say nothing of the fact that his actions were All for Nothing ; by the time he finally dies, he's a shell of a man who finds no joy in life outside of his daughter, and even that, he loses when he realizes what she's done.
• Kick the Dog : Just to make sure we don't think the massacre was a Shoot the Dog situation that went horribly wrong, they mention that Kodos used his own theories on eugenics to select who got spared and executed, instead of a fairer/more pragmatic method such as a lottery.
• Knight in Sour Armor : Perhaps Lenore's accusation "There's a stain of cruelty on your shining armor, Captain." isn't far from the truth.
• For once, it's not Kirk, who is (understandably) a bit subdued in this episode, but Karidian, who easily matches Kirk's normal standard of ham . It's most blatant when he's onstage, but it comes out at other times as well.
• Lenore too, when she reveals how insane she truly is .
• Laughing Mad : Lenore loses her marbles after the phaser hits the wrong man. Actually, a bit before that. But once Karidian dies, she checks out for good.
• Leave No Witnesses : The motive behind the recent murders. It almost leads to a variation of Nice Job Breaking It, Herod , as Riley is ignorant of the danger until he's poisoned, thus allowing him to find out who's on board and trying to kill him.
• Literary Allusion Title : It's part of a line from Hamlet , where the title character plans to see if Claudius really did kill his brother by watching his reaction as he sees the murder scene reenacted in a play within a play. Hamlet : "I'll have grounds More relative than this—the play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the King."
• Love Makes You Evil : Lenore's devotion to her father has made her unapologetically willing to murder anyone who could possibly reveal the truth about her father's identity. She is completely dismissive of their lives having any value whatsoever, since they are "dangerous" in that they could identify him. To protect him, she has been systematically murdering each of the surviving witnesses no matter where they were.
• Mad Artist : The Karidian Company. The script hints that "Anton" gravitated toward acting to get away from the "ghosts" and assume new identities. ("I play many parts.) His daughter is a few fries short of a Happy Meal herself. Lenore (of the ship) It will become a floating tomb, drifting through space with the soul of the great Karidian giving performances at every star he touches.
• Mathematician's Answer : Kirk: Are you Kodos? I asked you a question. Karidian: Do you believe that I am? Kirk: I do. Karidian: Then I am Kodos, if it pleases you to believe so.
• Missing Mom : There's no mention in the episode of Lenore's mother, what happened to her, or whether she also knew that Karidian was in fact Kodos.
• Moral Luck : Karidian's opinion of the Tarsus IV situation. Yes, the genocide was a horrible act, but the only reason that it went down in history as a monstrous one is because the Federation got lucky and was able to send relief ships earlier than anticipated; had Kodos not committed the massacre and the relief ships been on the expected schedule, far more than just half of the colony would've faced slow and miserable deaths from starvation.
• Moral Myopia : Lenore challenges Kirk's right to judge Kodos for committing the massacre of 4,000 people — an event Kirk himself actually lived through and witnessed. Lenore herself had not even been born yet at the time of the massacre, and is thus judging the entire matter based solely on her love for her father, with no concern for the thousands that were executed or for the surviving witnesses she herself has been murdering in order to protect his secret identity. The only thing that gets her to show any remorse whatsoever is when she accidentally takes her father's life.
• More Hero than Thou : When they discover that an overloading phaser has been hidden in Kirk's quarters, Spock and the captain briefly have an argument over who should escape from the room and who should take the risk of staying to find it.
• My God, What Have I Done? : Lenore is horrified when she accidentally kills her father while aiming for Kirk, her shock and remorse shattering her already fragile mental state.
• Names to Run Away from Really Fast : Kodos the Executioner.
• The Needs of the Many : Kodos' rationalization for all the people he killed. It turned out to be a Senseless Sacrifice .
• Never Found the Body : Well, there was a body, but it was never positively identified as Kodos.
• Not Me This Time : Anton Karidian is Kodos, but he isn't the killer. His daughter Leonore was doing it on his behalf, much to his horror.
• Not So Stoic : When Spock discovers what Kirk is trying to hide, namely that he survived an infamous mass-killing as a kid, and that the man responsible may be aboard Enterprise , he becomes extremely animated, much to Bones's amusement.
• Parents in Distress : Lenore sees herself as just protecting her father.
• Peaceful in Death : Leighton's wife sadly notes that in death he finally found the peace that had eluded him his entire troubled life.
• Planet Baron : Kodos, while initially a legitimate governor, was temporarily dictator of the world Kirk grew up on after declaring Martial law due to a famine and executing a large chunk of its population to save the others.
• Please Wake Up : After Lenore's attempt to kill Kirk instead kills her father when he blocks the shot , her mind snaps and she starts begging him to wake up. According to Bones' final report, she clings to the delusion that he's still alive.
• Power is Sexy : Lenore thinks so. Lenore: And this ship. All this power. Surging and throbbing , yet under control. Are you like that, Captain?
• Reasonable Authority Figure : Although Kirk does use his influence to manipulate the acting troupe onto the ship, he refuses to move against Karidian until he has ironclad evidence that he is Kodos—unlike Riley, who grabs a phaser and nearly kills the old man on suspicion.
• Reassigned to Antarctica : Riley believes being demoted back to Engineering is this, when in reality Kirk wanted to protect him from the murderer.
• Red Alert : When the overloading phaser is discovered in his cabin, Kirk, for the only time in the series, orders Double Red Alert. Justified, in that the expected explosion was only seconds away.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni : Spock and Bones, per usual. This time, Spock is Red, certain that Karidian is Kodos and urging action, while Bones is Blue, arguing that they don't know for certain and Kirk could be making a terrible mistake.
• Retired Monster : Kodos the Executioner, a notorious tyrant who had murdered thousands in a massacre decades before the date of the episode. The true villain of the episode, however, is his daughter, who tries to kill every remaining witness of the crime - this includes Kirk - to prevent her father from being arrested for it; Kodos dies when she tries to kill Kirk, taking a phaser blast meant for him , making him a somewhat tragic figure as his past crimes not only catch up to haunt him but to destroy the one thing in his life he had hoped to keep pure and untainted.
• Revealing Cover-Up : Leighton's claims regarding Kodos might have gone unheeded had Lenore not murdered him, and then tried to kill both Reilly and Kirk. The other murders only cast further suspicions on her father.
• Revenge : Kirk spends the episode torn over the possibility of taking revenge against Karidian for his actions as Kodos, while Riley is driven to nearly murder the man to avenge his father. Ultimately, Kirk, choosing not to give in to his own rage, talks Riley out of killing Karidian and sends him on his way.
• Shoot the Shaggy Dog : The culling of 4,000 people was to prevent the population from starving, but the relief supplies came early.
• Shout-Out to Shakespeare : Two of his plays are partially acted. References are made to Julius Caesar , Antony and Cleopatra and As You Like It , while the title comes from Hamlet . This marks the first mention of Shakespeare in the franchise, and the first episode title to quote a Shakespeare work, marking the beginning of a very long association of Star Trek with the works of the Bard.
• Shut Up, Kirk! : Karidian appreciates neither Kirk's claims that he is Kodos the Executioner, nor Kirk's eagerness to judge Kodos's actions with the benefit of hindsight: Karidian : If you're so sure that I'm Kodos, why not kill me now? Let bloody vengeance take its final course! And see what difference it makes to this universe of yours.
• Skewed Priorities : While Kirk is trying to arrest her and her father, Lenore just insists that the play has to go on, refusing to allow little things like her father's crimes against humanity or her own string of murders to interfere with "the great Karidian" giving one last performance.
• Stepford Smiler : Lenore speaks of her evil deeds with a chipper smile on her face. Pity things ended when they did. She would've made a good Ophelia.
• Stock Footage : One of the Enterprise fly-by sequences is from the second pilot, Where No Man Has Gone Before .
• Stupid Evil : Lenore's murders were done because her victims could all potentially identify Anton Karidian as Kodos... but all this ends up doing is making people wonder why the witnesses to Kodos's crimes keep dying when a certain innocuous acting troupe is there. Had she done nothing, no one would have reason to suspect that Karidian was anyone more than some random civilian who bore a passing resemblance to Kodos. Given that she's insane, one can forgive her this.
• Survivor's Guilt : A deleted scene would have Kirk reveal to Spock and Bones that the only reason why he escaped execution was because he met Kodos' eugenicist standards. Even in the finished episode you can sense hints of Kirk's guilt.
• Taking the Bullet : Lenore fires her stolen phaser at Kirk. Kodos jumps in front of him and takes the blast.
• The Teetotaler : Spock boasts how Vulcans never drank alcohol (what he says exactly is that Vulcans lack a weakness to alcohol). Bones doesn't see it as much of a bragging point.
• Title Drop : Lenore (raving) There's no time to sleep. The play. The play. The play's the thing, wherein we'll catch the conscience of the king.
• Two-Faced : Leighton is missing half his face, along with an eye. Ironically he is one of a few eye witnesses who can identify his attacker by sight.
• Unlimited Wardrobe : Lenore ties with Edith and Khan for the most costume and hair changes (six). Unlike the Depression-era "slum angel" and the refugee fleeing from Earth on a sleeper ship, she at least has a very good excuse (she's an actress).
• Villainous Breakdown : Lenore after revealing she had killed seven of the nine witnesses who knew her father as Kodos the Executioner ran out to the stage with a phaser, trying to kill Kirk, one of the witnesses. The mad glint in her eyes told us that she lost her mind. And when she accidentally killed her father, she broke down into tears and later on, she insistently believed that her father was still alive and still performing.
• Villainous BSoD : Lenore suffers two - one when she confesses to her crimes, ranting that she had eliminated all the "ghosts" of his past, and again after she shoots her father by accident. She sits over his body, crying that he needs to wake up because it's time to perform.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist : Kodos led a revolution and killed half the colonists on Tarsus IV so that the other half would be able to eat—if the relief ships hadn't arrived, it might have gone down in history as a grim-but-necessary action. The fact that he used his own ideas of eugenics to determine who lived and who died tarnishes this, however.
• What the Hell, Hero? : Bones tries to save Kirk from becoming He Who Fights Monsters with "Do you play God? Carry his head through the corridors in triumph? That won't bring back the dead, Jim!" Kodos also gives his daughter a rhetoric "What have you done?" when he realizes that she's been killing people to protect him.
• Whole-Plot Reference : In addition to the title, this episode shares many plot elements with Hamlet : a leader's troubled conscience, his crimes being exposed during a play, and a daughter going insane (or more so, in Lenore's case) after the accidental killing of her father. Lenore recites the lines leading up to and including these over her father's body.
• You Killed My Father : Kirk has to talk Riley out of shooting Kodos, who had killed Riley's parents. In an odd juxtaposition, this happens while Kodos is playing the Ghost of Hamlet's Father, who is telling his son to avenge him (incidentally, in many productions of Hamlet , the actor who plays the Ghost also plays Claudius. That would explain why Lenore could insist that he still has a role in the play to finish).
• You Owe Me : Kirk calls in a favor to a passenger ship captain, telling him to skip picking up Karidian's acting troupe so that they have to hitch a ride on the Enterprise .
• Star Trek S1 E12 "The Menagerie, Part II"
• Recap/Star Trek: The Original Series
• Star Trek S1 E14 "Balance of Terror"

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Kodos was the governor of Tarsus IV , a Human colony, in 2247 . That year, a fungus devastated the colony's food supply. Kodos declared martial law and seized emergency powers for himself. A follower of eugenics , Kodos decreed that half the colony's population—four thousand people—would be put to death, freeing their food rations for the remaining half of the population. Shortly after the executions were carried out, relief supplies arrived, and Kodos—now known as Kodos the Executioner—was declared dead when a charred corpse was found at his last known location. [1]

Kodos ( 2247 ) ( TOS 13 )

Kodos, however, had faked his death. Taking the name Anton Karidian, he forged a new identity for himself, and within a year, had a child, Lenore . The newly-created Anton Karidian made his way through the stars, living an itinerant lifestyle as a traveling Shakespearean actor, and eventually founding the Karidian Company of Players , a traveling theatrical troupe. Unlike many actors, Karidian eschewed the limelight and the attention of his fans, fearing that his identity could be compromised. [1]

In 2267 , however, the house of cards that his lies were built upon collapsed. During a performance at Planet Q , Karidian was recognized by Dr. Thomas Leighton , a survivor of Tarsus IV and an eyewitness to the massacre. Leighton called upon an old friend—fellow Tarsus IV survivor and eyewitness James T. Kirk , now captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701 —in the hopes of bringing the former Kodos to justice. Kirk was skeptical until Leighton was murdered. Soon, evidence began to mount: from the circumstantial, like the physical similarity between Kodos and Karidian, to the string of suspicious circumstances surrounding the man. By the time of Leighton's death on Stardate 2817.6 , all but two of the nine eyewitnesses to the massacre had been murdered, and the Karidian Company of Players was nearby in every case. [1]

Kirk arranged for the Company to come aboard the Enterprise, and during the trip to Benecia Colony , Karidian finally confessed to his true identity after attempts were made on the final two eyewitnesses: Kirk and Lieutenant Kevin Riley . Karidian was not the murderer, however; Lenore had discovered her father's true identity as well, and had taken to murdering all of the eyewitnesses who could identify her father. Horrified, Karidian surrendered to Kirk, but when Lenore tried to kill the captain with a stolen phaser , she accidentally killed her father instead. [1]

Notes and References

• ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Roddenberry, Gene ( Executive Producer ). "The Conscience of the King." Star Trek , Season 1, Episode 13 (Production 13). Directed by Gerd Oswald . Written by Barry Trivers . Desilu Productions , 8 December 1966 .
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TOS: S1 – E13: The Conscience of the King

STARDATE: 2817.6

You may have read that the closest thing to Shakespeare in this modern era is Star Trek. I have read that many times, and since I am familiar with Patrick Stewart’s history on the stage, I assumed that those who compared Trek to the bard were referencing that. But they were not. The episode that made the secure connection between the two “franchises” is “The Conscience of the King.”

Arnold Moss as Karidian / Kodos | Courtesy of CBS / Paramount

We join Captain James Kirk as he is watching a performance of Macbeth with an old colleague. During the show, Dr. Thomas Leighton leaned to Kirk and told the captain that he was confident that the actor portraying Macbeth was a long-dead war criminal, known as Kodos the Executioner.

It turns out that Leighton told Kirk that the Enterprise needed to come to check out his development of new synthetic food, which could potentially end famine on Signia Minor, a nearby colony. This, unfortunately, was a ruse to the get Kirk and the ship to investigate the possibility that Kodos the Executioner was still alive.

Kirk met with Leighton, and his wife Martha, to try to understand what was going on. Leighton swore that the lead actor was Kodos, while Kirk maintained that the official record, which said Kodos perished in a fire nearly 20 years ago, was accurate.

Leighton swore that the voice of the actor, Anton Karidian, was Kodos, and he invited the entire company to his place for drinks after their evening performance. Oh, and Leighton, wore a Phantom of the Opera-style half-mask, to cover up some sort of injury that he received while Kodos was in charge.

Back on the Enterprise, Kirk used the ship’s computers to learn that Kodos and Anton Karidian. The computer told him that Kodos died 20 years ago, but there were no records of Karidian’s existence 20 years ago. Karidian’s daughter, Lenore, was born 19 years ago.

Spock asked how Kirk knew there would be passengers. Kirk said, “I’m the captain” and smirked.

After gathering these details, Kirk ordered that the Enterprise would remain in orbit. He beamed to the planet’s surface and went to Dr. Leighton’s party, where he met Lenore Karidian. Kirk told her that he wanted to meet her father, but she said to him that he did not meet people and that he was an “unusual person.”

Lenore told Kirk that they planned to go onto Benecia to put on two more shows. They have secured the vessel, the Astral Queen, to take them to Benecia. Kirk flattered Lenore and said that he’d like to see her again, but instead of waiting for another time, they decided to take a walk.

While on the walk, they found the dead body of Dr. Thomas Leighton. Kirk told Martha Leighton that he would find out what happened.

Kirk called Captain John Bailey of the Astral Queen not to pick up the actors. He told Bailey that the Enterprise would take them as his guests.

On the bridge, Spock told Kirk that the ship was ready to resume its mission. Kirk said that he thought they were due for a pickup. Spock asked what they were going to “pick up?” Uhura noted that “a Lenore Karidian” had just beamed aboard and was requesting to see the captain.

Lenore appeared on the bridge and told Kirk that they needed transportation. She said that they would trade the performance of their show for transport. He agreed.

Spock pointed out that the Benecia colony was eight years off course. Kirk angrily told him to follow orders.

Kirk went back to the computer and asked it for information on the living survivors of Kodos’ terror. It gave the list, which included himself, Leighton, and Kevin Riley ( yes that Riley ) who served under Kirk on the Enterprise. Kirk then transferred Riley back to Engineering, from Communications. Spock questioned the move, but Kirk told him only to execute it.

Suspicious, Spock went to McCoy to ask the doctor’s opinion of Kirk’s recent behavior. McCoy said that he did not, and he offered Spock a drink. Spock noted that Vulcans were not affected by alcohol.

Spock said that bringing the company on board was illogical. McCoy noted that Kirk might have made this arrangement because he liked Lenore. Spock said that he had considered that thought as well, but dismissed it. He then questioned Riley’s transfer as well. McCoy said a starship captain could transfer who he liked. Spock crossed his arms.

Meanwhile, Kirk walked with Lenore in a ship’s corridor. They spoke in niceties and flirted with each other. She asked him if the women on the ship were part of the machine of the vessel. He said that a woman was always a woman — then they kissed (duh).

Spock followed up on Kirk’s research with the ship’s computer. He asked the computer to give him details on any situation where Kirk, Riley, and Kodos were together. He found what he was looking for.

Spock then went to McCoy and told him about what Kodos did on Tarsus IV, while he served as its governor. When the food supply was contaminated, Kodos declared martial law and began to separate the 8,000 colonists into two groups. One group received whatever food was left, while the others starved. This was based on Kodos’ particular brand of eugenics.

Families were destroyed; parents and children separated. Spock then revealed that Anton Karidian’s records begin as soon as Kodos’ end. Nine eyewitnesses had seen Kodos from the time of the massacres, and only Kirk and Riley are the only two who are still alive. Spock also proved that when each of the other seven survivors died, the company was close by.

Barbara Anderson as Lenore with the legendary William Shatner. Too bad Lenore was a killer, because they made a nice couple. Courtesy of CBS / Paramount

Meanwhile, while Riley was working in engineering, he started whining about being lonely. He connected to the rec room, where he requested a song by Uhura. Wile she played and Riley listened, someone spiked Riley’s milk.

Riley took a sip and became violently ill. He was rushed to sickbay, where Dr. McCoy worked to save him. Tests indicated that he consumed “tetralubisol,” a milky substance that is used on ship as a lubricant. Spock told McCoy that someone is trying to kill Riley.

The two then went to Kirk’s cabin, who asked if Riley would survive. McCoy said that there was a good chance, but Spock said that the chances of Kirk’s survival was the same. Spock said that someone tried to kill Riley while McCoy said that it could have been an accident.

Spock admitted that he had been checking up behind Kirk and that he knew about the Kodos situation. Kirk said that he didn’t like anyone meddling in his private affairs. McCoy said that Spock was just doing his job. Kirk said that he needed to figure out if Karidian was Kodos.

Later, while Kirk and Spock were discussing the case in Kirk’s quarters, someone hid a phaser, set to overload. Kirk immediately called for a double red alert as he and Spock searched for the phaser. He eventually found it and threw it into a refuse shaft, where it exploded.

Kirk then marched to Karidian, who was brooding in his cabin. He laid down the circumstances of the near misses for him and Riley. He asked Karidian if he was Kodos. Karidian said that he had played many parts and that 20 years ago, he was just “much younger.”

The captain asked Karidian to read the words of Kodos into the computer, which would match his voice against Kodos’ voice. Karidian recited Kodos’ speech without looking at them.

Kirk noticed this, and asked Karidian if these were lines that he performed 20 years ago? Karidian said that Kodos might have gone down in history as a great hero. Kirk said that history does not see Kodos as a hero.

Bruce Hyde as Kevin Riley | Courtesy of CBS / Paramount

Karidian said that he no longer treasured life. He cried out and said that he was tired and that the past was a blank. From the shadows emerged the beautiful Lenore Karidian. She scolded Kirk for using her to get close to her father.

She said — “You are like your ship … powerful, not human … there is no mercy in you.”

Kirk said that if he was Kodos, then he has been shown more mercy than he deserves.

In the sickbay, McCoy spoke to the computer, stating for the record that Riley had recovered fully, but was being kept in the hospital so that he would not run into Anton Karidian, who the captain suspected to be Kodos the Executioner.

As McCoy uttered those words, Riley stood listening, and his countenance changed. He snuck out unnoticed.

In the ship’s theater, the Karidian Players began to perform, as Kirk and Spock looked at the computer’s comparison of Karidian’s versus Kodos’ voice. Then McCoy realized that Riley was gone. He called to Kirk, who was then contacted by security, who reported that someone had broken into a weapons locker on H Deck.

As the Karidian Players performed Hamlet, Riley skulked backstage with a phaser, intent on killing Karidian. Kirk found him and talked him into turning over the phaser and heading back to sickbay.

As the scene ended, Karidian went backstage and spoke to his daughter. He said that the voices of his past had come back. She told him that those times would never return because, after this performance, she would finish off the last two witnesses to Kodos’ terror.

Karidian was revolted. He said that she was the one thing in his life who he thought was pure and untainted by his past. Kirk walked up as they were arguing and she noticed him. She said that not even Kirk would stop her.

Kirk said that the show was over. Karidian told that he was just a soldier in a cause and that he did what needed to be done. He began to detail what when on while he was Kodos. Lenore said that she would have done anything to protect her father and that seven was just the start.

Lenore told Kirk that he could not deny her father his last performance. She grabbed a phaser from a guard nearby and pointed it toward Kirk. Karidian stepped in front of her aim as soon as she pulled the trigger. Kirk rushed over and disarmed her, as she collapsed over his unmoving body.

Later, McCoy told Kirk that Lenore would be given the best medical care. She had lost touch with reality and thought her father was still alive and performing. McCoy asked Kirk if he cared for Lenore. Kirk ordered the ship ahead, warp factor one.

TREK REPORT SUPPLEMENTAL:

Sigh… I found this one to be a huge letdown after the Menagerie, Part 2. But I guess not every episode can be life or death. “The Conscience of the King” was, in the end, a whodunit, where there was only one obvious killer. The twist was good, and the interaction of the Big 3 (Kirk, Spock and McCoy) was very well done, especially when they were debating who Kodos was, and if he might be Karidian.

RATING: 2.5 out of 5

Directed by: Gerd Oswald Written by: Barry Trivers Produced by: Gene L. Coon Executive Producer: Gene Roddenberry Associate Producer: Robert H. Justman Script Consultant: Steven W. Carabatsos Theme music by: Alexander Courage Music composed and conducted by: Mullendore Director of Photography: Jerry Finnerman Art Directors: Roland M. Brooks and Walter M. Jeffries

William Shatner as Kirk Leonard Nimoy as Spock

SPECIAL GUEST STAR

Arnold Moss as Karidian

ALSO STARRING

Barbara Anderson as Lenore

DeForest Kelley … as Dr. McCoy Grace Lee Whitney … as Yeoman Rand

Nichelle Nichols … as Uhura William Sargent … as Dr. Leighton Natalie Norwick … as Martha Leighton David-Troy … as Larry Matson Karl Bruck … as King Duncan Marc Adams … as Hamlet

Bruce Hyde … as Kevin Riley

Film Editor … Frank P. Keller, A.C.E. Assistant to the Producer … Edward K. Milkis Assistant Director … Gregg Peters Set Decorator … Marvin March Costumes created by … William Theiss

Post Production Executive … Bill Heath Music Editor … Robert H. Raff Sound Editor … Joseph G. Sorokin Sound Mixer … Jack F. Lilly Photographic Effects … Westheimer Company Script Supervisor … George A. Rutter Music Consultant … Wilbur Hatch Music Coordinator … Julian Davidson Special Effects … Jim Rugg Property Master … Jack Briggs Gaffer … George H. Merhoff Head Grip … George Rader Production Supervisor … Bernard A. Windin Makeup Artist … Fred B. Phillips, S.M.A. Hair Styles by … Virginia Darcy, C.H.S. Casting … Joseph D’Agosta Sound … Glen Glenn Sound Co.

A DesiLu Production in association with the Norway Company

Executive in Charge of Production … Herbert F. Solow

Star Trek: The Original Series

The Conscience of the King

Cast & crew.

Arnold Moss

Barbara Anderson

Grace Lee Whitney

Yeoman Janice Rand

Eddie Paskey

William Sargent

Dr. Leighton

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Governor Adrian Kodos (also known as Arnold Kodos or Kodos the Executioner ) was a 23rd century human man who was the leader of the Federation colony on the planet Tarsus IV in the 2240s decade , and is generally held responsible for the Tarsus IV Massacre .

• 1 Biography
• 2.1 Appearances
• 2.2 References
• 2.3 External link

Biography [ ]

As Tarsus IV's governor, Kodos knew everyone on the colony and its council. Once he had dinner with the Kirks and gave a young James T. Kirk a cup and stick game. ( TOS - Year Five comic : " Issue 2 ")

In the year 2246 , Tarsus IV was used as a test-site by the Symmetrists for the Virogen plague . As a result, a deadly famine struck the colony, and there was not enough food for the 8,000 colonists. Kodos staged a Vote of no confidence against both the lawful governor Gisela Ribeiro and her council, then declared martial law, in which he ordered that 4,000 colonists be killed, so that there would be enough food for the rest of the colony to last until Starfleet aid arrived. The order was carried out, just prior to a relief task-force led by the USS Narbonne and USS Enterprise reached the colony. ( TOS episode & Star Trek 1 novelization : The Conscience of the King , DSC novel : Drastic Measures , TOS - Enterprise Logs short story : " Though Hell Should Bar the Way ", and TOS novels : Avenger , Academy: Collision Course ; ENT episode : " In a Mirror, Darkly "; Last Unicorn RPG module : All Our Yesterdays: The Time Travel Sourcebook ; TOS reference : The Autobiography of James T. Kirk )

Following the massacre Kodos and his followers fled New Anchorage . During a firefight between his followers and a Starfleet team led by Lieutenant Commander Gabriel Lorca at Kodos's camp a stray phaser shot hit a crate of banned thermite grenades . Kodo's followers Ian Galloway and Fiona Okafor died in the resulting explosion. Their bodies were recovered a short time later, burned beyond recognition. As Kodos had earlier switched his DNA records with those of Galloway's, DNA testing showed the male body as having belonged to Kodos. Kodos assumed Galloway's identity, and was able to slip off the planet the following year. ( DSC novel : Drastic Measures )

Kodos turned to the Symmetrists, who provided him with the identity of Anton Karidian . Kodos lived as Anton Karidian until 2266 , when he was exposed by Captain James T. Kirk , one of the few remaining survivors who could still identify him. ( TOS episode : " The Conscience of the King ", TOS novel : A Flag Full of Stars )

Appendices [ ]

Appearances [ ].

• TOS episode & Star Trek 1 novelization : The Conscience of the King
• DSC novel : Drastic Measures
• TOS - Odyssey novel : Avenger
• TOS novel : Academy: Collision Course

References [ ]

• ENT episode : " In a Mirror, Darkly "
• TOS - Year Five comic : " Issue 2 "
• TOS - Enterprise Logs short story : " Though Hell Should Bar the Way "
• TOS - My Brother's Keeper novel : Republic
• TOS novel : A Flag Full of Stars
• TOS novel : Foul Deeds Will Rise

External link [ ]

• Kodos article at Memory Alpha , the wiki for canon Star Trek .
• 1 Ferengi Rules of Acquisition
• 2 The Chase
• 3 ISS Enterprise (NCC-1701)

Star Trek: Enterprise's Hoshi Sato Has A Grim Connection To Captain Kirk

The 2001 series "Star Trek: Enterprise" takes place about a century before the events of the original "Star Trek," and a lot of the technologies Trekkies took for granted hadn't been invented yet. Transporters, for instance, weren't yet safe for human use. Starships didn't have shields and instead were equipped with specialized hull plating that needed to be polarized to deflect phase cannon blasts. Instead of tractor beams, the Enterprise had grappling hooks. And, because Earth hadn't yet encountered too many alien species, there wasn't yet a workable universal translator. 

That's where Ensign Hoshi Sato (Linda Park) came in. Ensign Sato was a language wunderkind whose ear for language and knack for syntax proved invaluable for making first contact with alien species. She was, however, only 22 years old when she joined the crew of the Enterprise and, like the rest of the crew, had no deep space experience. Ensign Sato was confident in her field of expertise but quite nervous in many other regards. As the series progressed, Ensign Sato became more assured. 

"Enterprise," of course, chronicled Sato's early career in detail, and she revealed a lot about her family, her professional ambitions, and her anxieties over the course of the show's four seasons. Her life was hardly obscure. Less well-known, however, is Hoshi Sato's life after the events of "Enterprise." Hoshi Sato was, according to briefly-glimpsed on-screen stats penned by Mike Sussman , born in 2129 in Kyoto. She would die in 2246 at the ripe old age of 117 on the planet Tarsus IV. 

Tarsus IV will ring a few bells in Trekkies' minds. As described in the original series episode "The Conscience of the King" (December 8, 1966), Trasus IV site of a notorious massacre. A massacre where a young James T. Kirk was present.

The Conscience of the King

In "The Conscience of the King," Captain Kirk ( William Shatner ) is asked by an old friend to investigate the past of a well-known Shakespearean actor named Anton Karidian (Arnold Moss). Kirk's friend suspects that Karidian is actually a vicious mass murderer named Kodos who had changed his name and who had been in hiding since a bleak incident many years before. Kodos, it is explained, was the governor of the Federation colony on Tarsus IV when a rare and fast-moving fungus struck the planet's food supply. Without any way to replenish their food, Kodos saw that his colonists were facing death by starvation in a matter of weeks. Kodos, in a fit of villainy, selected the "less desirable" half of his 8,000-person colony and had them all killed in a swift act of unthinkable violence. With only half of his constituents still alive, Kodos could make the remaining food supply last until supply ships came. The writers of "Avengers: Infinity War" certainly were familiar with "The Conscience of the King." 

Only nine survivors managed to witness the actual slaughter first-hand, one of them being the 13-year-old James T. Kirk. It has been argued in the past that witnessing the slaughter on Tarsus IV is what made Kirk so staunch and resolute a captain. It's certainly what distinguished him from his more jocund Kelvin-verse counterpart (Chris Pine) who wasn't raised on Tarsus IV. 

This wasn't established until a flash across the screen in the fourth-season "Enterprise" episode "In a Mirror Darkly" (April 22 and 29, 2002) when the "evil" parallel universe version of the Enterprise found our Hoshi's personnel file. And even then, only nerds with sharp TV signals might have been able to see it.

Hoshi's fate

In "In a Mirror Darkly," Hoshi's file read: 

"Tragically, Hoshi and her family were among the four thousand people who died on Tarsus Four in 2246 when a food shortage caused by an exotic fungus threatened the colony's population. Governor Kodos ordered the deaths of Sato and the others in order to save the rest of the colony. She was buried in Kyoto with her husband, Takashi Kimura." 

It seems that the elderly Hoshi Sato was killed by Kodos. A young Kirk witnessed it. 

The same fate was not shared by the "evil" Hoshi Sato from the Mirror Universe, however. The plot of "In a Mirror Darkly" saw the evil Enterprise crew, a team of conquerors and sadists, discovering a Kirk-era spacecraft called the U.S.S. Defiant that had phased into their dimension — and back in time — from the "Star Trek" episode "The Tholian Web." Captain Archer (Scott Bakula) took over the Defiant and intended to use its advanced weapons to take over the Terran Empire himself and install himself as the new Emperor. 

In a last-minute twist, however, the evil Hoshi Sato killed Archer and arrived at Earth in charge of the Defiant herself. She announced to the world that she, with her superior firepower, was now the Empress. 

In the main universe, Hoshi Sato lived a very long life before being killed tragically. In the Mirror Universe , she seems to have done okay for herself. 

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The Simpsons: Kodos and Kang Got Their Names From One of Sci-Fi's Most Important Series

Kodos and Kang have been a staple of The Simpsons' Treehouse of Horror special for over 30 years, and their names pay homage to an iconic sci-fi show.

Some of the most enjoyable things in life only come around once a year. For two of the most popular and iconic characters from The Simpsons , it’s at Halloween. The annual Treehouse of Horror  special has been a hallmark of the series for more than 30 years. And for almost as long, two aliens have been synonymous with the most wicked horrors that have befallen the town of Springfield, Kodos and Kang. However, their names pay homage to one of sci-fi's most beloved and important series -- Star Trek .

The slimy, drooling, glass-cased octopods from Reigel 7 (whose native tongue, Rigellian, happens to sound like English) made their triumphant debut in the first Treehouse of Horror  in 1990. It premiered early in the series' second season, and the characters immediately made an indelible impact on viewers. The aliens were more than just caricatures -- they were savage critics of some human's tendency for hypocrisy and feeble-mindedness.

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Created by writing partners Wallace Wolodarsky and Jay Kogen, the aliens were partially inspired by another pair of violent prone aliens, courtesy of Gene Roddenberry . Kang and Kodos were directly drawn from Star Trek 's Kang the Klingon and Kodos the Executioner, two memorable characters from  The Orginal Series that ran in the late 1960s. They were a pair of killers whose own ambitions weren’t that far from those of their cartoon counterparts. While iconic characters all around, The Simpsons, like Star Trek , only used them sparingly to help maintain their special status among other characters.

The galaxy’s most determined duo trying to conquer Earth and enslave humanity has appeared in every Treehouse of Horror episode. However, they didn’t always feature prominently. In fact, sometimes, they were afterthoughts crammed into the episodes for brief cameos. At one point, they weren’t going to appear in one of the Treehouse of Horror specials, but Executive Producer Al Jean stepped in, ensuring they made an appearance, albeit a brief one. From there, they became enshrined as essential ingredients for each Treehouse of Horror ,   never to be omitted. And they’ve been there ever since, with the only minor exception being when just Kang showed up in Treehouse XXI.

Initially, the ambiguously gendered duo was interchangeably male and female, with both Kang and Kodos being referred to as the other's sister, like in Treehouse of Horror VII . They were presumed siblings for decades. It just wasn’t important enough to The Simpsons ' creators and writers to clarify one way or the other. They were just fun characters until a time-traveling cross-over with another popular series put the issue to bed.

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In a blended episode featuring revived characters from Matt Groening’s canceled Futurama , much of the attention was on the other group traveling through space, Kang and Kodos. The Johnsons, the aliens' confirmed surname, were revealed to be in a relationship -- not siblings. As such, the Johnsons were a lesbian couple.

For over 50 years, the original Star Trek series has left its fingerprints across dozens of TV shows, movies and books. People who grew up in awe of The Orginal Series , and even Star Trek: The Next Generation , before finding careers in entertainment often cite the show as inspiration. From Seth MacFarlane to Steven Spielberg, Star Trek has shaped entertainment far beyond the deck of the starship Enterprise, and  The Simpsons  is no exception.

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Published Apr 22, 2024

The 10 Plagues of Star Trek: The Original Series

As Passover brought 10 plagues to test Pharaoh, so too did The Original Series test the crew of the Enterprise!

StarTrek.com

Considering Gene Roddenberry stated that there would be no religion in the future when he conceived of Star Trek , a lot of Judaism sure did manage to creep it's way in!

From Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner bonding on the set of The Original Series over their shared Jewish background, and Nimoy being inspired by his Orthodox upbringing when creating Vulcan culture , to later series with Jewish actors and parallels such as Worf's diasporic experience, and Marina Sirtis drawing on inspiration from an Israeli friend as she created Deanna Troi. It makes sense, then, to spend some time during Passover reflecting on the many aspects of Jewish influence seen on Star Trek .

So, of course, I’ve decided to give you the 10 Plagues of Passover as episodes from The Original Series . Let’s get into it.

1. Rivers of Blood, " Amok Time "

"Amok Time"

When Aaron turned the Nile into a river of blood, it shook the Pharaoh to his core, much like how the blood fever of Pon Farr shook up Spock's usual calm and logic. Hormonal imbalances are no joke, and this quickly descended from throwing soup and nearly ended with Captain Kirk's death on Vulcan!

Much as I hate to parallel the Pharaoh, the villain of the Passover story, with Spock, a hero and a pacifist, they are both powerful men brought low (and emotional) by blood.

2. Frogs, " And the Children Shall Lead "

"All the Children Shall Lead"

There is a debate in Judaism over whether the second plague was a swarm of frogs, or one giant frog that covered the land of Egypt. But if we go with the more traditional interpretation of a swarm, then the Star Trek equivalent swarm would be the children from "And The Children Shall Lead" who take over the Enterprise .

Not only are they a hive mind (very swarm-like behavior) controlled by an evil embodiment called Gorgon, but they also bring the majority of the bridge crew under their sway. Whichever frog interpretation you go with, Kirk was as deeply unhappy with this plague-parallel as the Egyptians were with their own froggy problem — and he was pretty hostile to the kids too!

3. Lice, " Operation — Annihilate! "

"Operation — Annihilate!"

Whilst it may not be as scary or strange as the other plagues, the plague of lice always makes me wince and want to scratch my scalp in sympathy.

The episode "Operation — Annihilate!" also makes me wince, as a meeting with behavior-altering parasites is not how I imagine Kirk wanted his family reunion to go. But while lice do alter behavior, making people far more irritable, I wonder if they could cause the collapse of civilizations as this Star Trek parasite did before the crew of the Enterprise stopped it?

4. Flies or Deadly Animals, "Wink of an Eye"

"Wink of an Eye"

Here we find ourselves with another heavily debated plague. Some scholars believe it was the buzzing of flies that punished the Egyptians, while others believe it was a hoard of deadly animals destroying everything in their path. Luckily, "Wink of an Eye" covers both!

It begins when a landing party on Scalos and Kirk hears a mysterious buzzing noise like a swarm of insects before one of their party goes missing. Kirk continues to hear this insect buzzing on the Enterprise . However, it turns out to be a group of people living at hyper-accelerated speed, causing mischief all over the ship as they try to put the Enterprise into a deep freeze. Moreover, when they try to hyper-accelerate the humans, they end up causing them to age and decay rapidly. Deadly creatures destroying everything in their path indeed!

5. Pestilence, " The Trouble with Tribbles "

"The Trouble with Tribbles"

The fifth plague was a pestilence that killed all the Egyptians livestock, and what better episode to compare this with than "The Trouble with Tribbles."

The tribbles not only eat all of the grain supplies, they also end up dying en masse because the grain has been poisoned by saboteurs. This makes them not only the pestilence, but also the dead livestock in the Passover parallels! It's said the Egyptians grieved when they looked upon the dead animals they worshipped like gods, and whilst I doubt the tribbles were worshipped, I'm sure the Klingon vessel they were eventually beamed onto did indeed grieve having this fluffy plague.

6. Boils, " Miri "

"Miri"

When painful boils appear on the people of Egypt, it was meant to have caused horror and agony. Well, the episode "Miri" caused so much horror, it was banned by the BBC in the 1970s and 1980s!

In this episode, the landing party, except for Spock, begin developing purple lesions on their bodies and are told by the children of the planet they will die horribly in a week. Even Spock can't return to the Enterprise , because they don’t know whether or not he'll infect the rest of the crew. The boils end up being painful physically and emotionally, as the crew seek to save themselves and the children who have trapped them.

7. Hail, " Mirror, Mirror "

"Mirror, Mirror"

The seventh plague was a hail-storm of unprecedented strength that damaged every living thing in its path — much like the wrath of the Mirrorverse that Kirk and company discover in the episode "Mirror, Mirror"!

When negotiating with the Halkan's for dilithium, the council says there is no guarantee the Federation will always be peaceful. A violent and unpredictable ion-storm proves they may have a point when it causes the transporter malfunction that takes our Enterprise crew to a parallel universe of unprecedented violence!

8. Locusts, " The Conscience of the King "

"The Conscience of the King"

On Moses' eighth attempt to sway the Pharaoh, a devastating plague of locusts is summoned. The bugs devour everything green that has escaped the hail and previous plagues. This brings to mind one of Kirk's most famous pieces of backstory — the Tarsus IV massacre.

In "The Conscience of the King," we discover that as a teenager, Kirk lived in the Tarsus IV colony when a food crisis allowed Governor Kodos to take control and order the deaths of half the population. While it might not have been locusts that destroyed the grain on Tarsus IV, this event certainly caused untold devastation.

9. Darkness, " The Tholian Web "

"The Tholian Web"

Space, the final frontier. In the context of Star Trek , it's hard to think of darkness as a plague when it is the mission and adventure of our voyagers to explore it. But darkness in the Passover story was terrifying, as for several days all of Egypt was enveloped in a thick and impenetrable veil of darkness which extinguished all lights kindled. Remind you of "The Tholian Web"?

On a rescue mission for their sister ship, the U.S.S. Defiant , the Enterprise enters a sector of unknown space and finds the Defiant adrift, its crew dead, and slowly phasing out of existence, before vanishing entirely and taking Kirk with it. This episode focuses on the more terrifying aspects of space and the unknown, and how the hardest thing to do can be just having to wait for the darkness to pass.

10. Death of the First Born, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

First-born children don't have the best track record for surviving in Star Trek ; we've already covered Sam Kirk's death in "Operation — Annihilate!" and Kodos' daughter Lenore Karidian meets a grim fate in "The Conscience of the King."

Moving on to the movies, we see Spock's older brother, Sybok, die in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier . But for this plague I had to go with Captain Kirk's own son David Marcus, who is killed by Klingons in The Search for Spock . As the Pharoah's own infant son's death broke his resolve to finally allow the Israelites to be free, David's death so soon after they met causes Kirk to become embittered and colors his own attitude towards Klingons as a species.

Yes, the plagues make up a significant part of the Passover story, the main theme of the holiday is triumph over adversity and freedom —a fundamental tenet of Star Trek . For all of the dangers and threats the Enterprise crew face, from physical to emotional, they always overcome them together. And much like the Israelites finally leaving Egypt to wander the desert in search of the Holy Land, it tells us that perseverance is key and the journey and exploration it entails can be as important as the final destination.

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This article was originally published on March 29, 2021.

Emily Zinkin (she/her) is a writer based in London, UK, who also runs Moishe House Clapham. She once cosplayed as Captain Kirk but realised she was the mirror version when she met another one. You can find her on Twitter at @EmilyZinkin

Screen Rant

I’m glad john colicos changed his mind about returning as star trek: ds9's klingon.

Star Trek: DS9 pulled off an impressive classic Klingon reunion in "Blood Oath", but TOS actor John Colicos almost turned it down due to the script.

• John Colicos almost didn't return as Kor in DS9, but thankfully changed his mind, leading to a classic Klingon reunion.
• The handling of Kor's character in "Blood Oath" caused Colicos to object, fearing a comic portrayal of the iconic Klingon.
• Colicos insisted on Kor surviving in DS9, ensuring the historic classic Klingon reunion felt complete and true to the original series.

Star Trek: The Original Series actor John Colicos nearly didn't return to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , but he thankfully changed his mind, leading to future appearances by the legendary Klingon, Kor. John Colicos holds the distinction of being the actor who originated the Klingons in Star Trek , appearing as the main antagonist in TOS season 1, episode 27, "Errand of Mercy". Kor made such an impression on the TOS cast and crew that Gene Roddenberry wanted to make him a recurring character. Unfortunately, scheduling commitments meant that Colicos was unable to reprise the role of Kor for "The Trouble with Tribbles" and "Day of the Dove" .

With John Colicos unavailable for future Star Trek: The Original Series episodes, the characters of Koloth (William Campbell) and Kang (Michael Ansara) were created for "The Trouble with Tribbles" and "Day of the Dove", respectively. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 2, episode 19, "Blood Oath" brought back all three TOS Klingons, teaming them with Lt. Jadzia Dax (Terry Farrell) . "Blood Oath" is a highly regarded episode of DS9 season 2, but it could have been very different if John Colicos had decided not to return as Klingon Dahar Master, Kor .

I Didn’t Know Where Roddenberry Got The Name Klingon In Star Trek Until Now

John colicos didn’t want to become a “buffoon” in star trek: ds9, "... you're making a travesty of what has become a cult figure".

When John Colicos received the script for "Blood Oath", he completely disagreed with the handling of the character of Kor . In the original script, Peter Allan Fields wrote Kor as a Klingon version of William Shakespeare's Falstaff character. A boastful knight and something of a drunk, Falstaff is largely a comic character in the three Shakespeare plays in which he appears. John Colicos objected to a similarly comic and bufoonish take on Kor , telling Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - The Official Poster Magazine issue 8 that he told DS9 producer Michael Piller:

"I don't really want to play this character, because it's totally contradictory to the original Kor. I have a huge following from the original one, and if he becomes just a buffoon, then I'd honestly rather not do it."

Michael Piller assuaged John Colicos' fears somewhat by telling him that Kor would become a hero by the end of "Blood Oath". The deal was finally sealed when it was decided that, out of the three TOS Klingons in DS9 , Kor would survive his Star Trek: Deep Space Nine appearance, living to tell the tales of Kang and Koloth's heroic deaths . Indeed, John Colicos was adamant that Kor should not die in "Blood Oath", telling Star Trek Monthly issue 55 that:

"I said I didn't want to be killed off, otherwise I'd have preferred just to be remembered as the initial Commander Kor that people saw in the original series..."

Star Trek: DS9’s Classic Klingon Reunion Wouldn’t Work Without John Colicos

Due to the prosthetic changes between Star Trek: The Original Series and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , it's not immediately apparent that it's the same Kor, Kang, and Koloth in "Blood Oath". However, it becomes clear very quickly that this is a historic classic Klingon reunion on DS9 , which is a big deal. A TOS Klingon reunion without John Colicos, the actor who originated the Klingons on Star Trek , would have felt incomplete .

Michael Ansara later reprised the role of a younger Kang in Star Trek: Voyager season 3, episode 2, "Flashback".

If John Colicos had turned down the chance to return as Kor from Star Trek: The Original Series , then Peter Allan Fields would have to have created a new Klingon to join Kang and Koloth's quest. The story would still have made for a classic Klingon episode , but any Kor replacement would have felt like an impostor. It's lucky then that John Colicos was persuaded to reprise the role of Kor in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , where he clocked up two more appearances after "Blood Oath".

All episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine are available to stream on Paramount+.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

*Availability in US

Not available

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, also known as DS9, is the fourth series in the long-running Sci-Fi franchise, Star Trek. DS9 was created by Rick Berman and Michael Piller, and stars Avery Brooks, René Auberjonois, Terry Farrell, and Cirroc Lofton. This particular series follows a group of individuals in a space station near a planet called Bajor.

Star Trek: The Original Series

Star Trek: The Original Series follows the exploits of the crew of the USS Enterprise. On a five-year mission to explore uncharted space, Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) must trust his crew - Spock (Leonard Nimoy), Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy (Forest DeKelley), Montgomery "Scotty" Scott (James Doohan), Uhura (Nichelle Nichols), Chekov (Walter Koenig) and Sulu (George Takei) - with his life. Facing previously undiscovered life forms and civilizations and representing humanity among the stars on behalf of Starfleet and the United Federation of Planets, the Enterprise regularly comes up against impossible odds and diplomatic dilemmas.

Combadge Project Wants To Bring Trek Tech To Life

While there’s still something undeniably cool about the flip-open communicators used in the original Star Trek , the fact is, they don’t really look all that futuristic compared to modern mobile phones. But the upgraded “combadges” used in Star Trek: The Next Generation and its various large and small screen spin-offs — now that’s a tech we’re still trying to catch up to.

As it turns out, it might not be as far away as we thought. A company called Vocera actually put out a few models of WiFi “Communication Badges” in the early 2000s that were intended for hospital use, which these days can be had on eBay for as little as $25 USD. Unfortunately, they’re basically worthless without a proprietary back-end system. Or at least, that was the case before the Combadge project got involved .

Designed for folks who really want to start each conversation with a brisk tap on the chest, the primary project of Combadge is the Spin Doctor server , which is a drop-in replacement for the original software that controlled the Vocera badges. Or at least, that’s the goal. Right now not everything is working, but it’s at the point where you can connect multiple badges to a server, assign them users, and make calls between them.

It also features some early speech recognition capabilities, with transcriptions being generated for the voices picked up on each badge. Long-term, one of the goals is to be able to plug the output of this server into your home automation system. So you could tap your chest and ask the computer to turn on the front porch light, or as the documentation hopefully prophesies, start the coffee maker.

There hasn’t been much activity on the project in the last year or so, but perhaps that’s just because the right group of rabid nerds dedicated developers has yet to come onboard. Maybe the Hackaday community could lend a hand? After all, we know how much you like talking to your electronics . The hardware is cheap and the source is open, what more could you ask for?

16 thoughts on “ Combadge Project Wants To Bring Trek Tech To Life ”

“While there’s still something undeniably cool about the flip-open communicators used in the original Star Trek, the fact is, they don’t really look all that futuristic compared to modern mobile phones.”

I disagree :) . The modern phone has no blinking status lights, no obvious switches or dials… just a rectangular flat screen to look at… No flip cover for protection even. To slim. No battery ‘pack’ even for replacement batteries when you run out of power or just need a new battery…. Blah, a smart-phone has no class what-so-ever…. Not ‘modern’ looking at all! IMHO. :D

At least the device above has some buttons and such :) . Closer to what a ‘modern’ device should look like. LOL

Visually, the smartphone is as exciting as a pocket mirror.

There’s another classic communicator device

http://www.quantumleap-alsplace.com/imagingchamber/handlink.htm

One of the hospital systems near where I live already has these. That’s not to say I don’t think this project deserves attention. It’s either the Cleveland Clinic or University Hospitals; I forget which. The nurses would hit a button and ask it to call somebody, or they would ask where somebody is and it would tell them. probably uses a combination of what access point it’s connected to and maybe RFID sensors as well to determine location. It also had a privacy mode where it wouldn’t connect unless the recipient agreed to. and it had a different mode. I don’t know what it was called where it would connect them instantly similar to Star Trek

Proprietary server? Like a Blackberry? Like the U.S. Military uses Teams for phone service?

The communicators could communicate with a ship in orbit and they could be made to explode. Until cheap tristators from China become widely available I don’t see this going far.

I’m for, not against this, the thing about a walking baby is not how well it walks but that it walks at all. Thanks!

There was a much more primitive device to the one referenced in the TV miniseries Summer of Rockets.

It’s Transtator..

You can still buy those old Vocera Communication Badges on Ebay:

* Vocera B3000n Communication Badges Working (Worn Buttons) $39.99

https://www.ebay.com/itm/256224057500

Yes, that’s what the post says…

The original doesn’t have buttons..

if it work with tox or reticullum (or meshtastic) why not every badge is a mesh nodes similar airtag, for voice and data transfer. IF….

I was recently thinking that Humane badge thing would’ve been a neat comm badge if they hadn’t done all of the extra stuff with a mini projector and inaccurate AI results and such things that also made it really expensive with poor battery life.

I think I’ve seen these. If I remember right they also use them for patient monitoring.

We use Vocera at work at the hospital . They are absolutely horrible. To call someone you need to say their first and last name. Don’t know the name of the part time tech on other side of campus? Too bad. Try to call an emergency it will hear you wrong with total shit voice recognition and call Janie from accounting instead. Text pagers are literally more reliable and useful. So we still have those too. Healthcare tech is the WORST. :end_rant

I also use them at work (at a hospital) … they’re great when they actually recognize who you’re trying to contact. Admittedly there are too many times that they interpret what you say completely wrong.

They can be “trained” if there are people you contact regularly (e.g. charge nurses) and some folks do that and they work better that way.

Having worked with Vocera systems for several systems for many years, it is a horrible system.

However, the system is designed so that users add themselves to groups, so you make a call to the relevant group, rather than the persons name.

However, getting users (generally Doctors) to add themselves to the groups is a battle, even when we have the system set to automatically prompt to ask to add to multiple groups at login.

The tech isn’t cheap at ~£400 for a battery and B3000n badge. They recommend 2 batteries for a badge.(Batteries are propriety).

The chargers have a design flaw where the pins get damaged when batteries are inserted. Chargers are expensive as well.

The B3000n is no longer made and has been marked as EOL

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• View history

Kang was among the most influential leaders and feared diplomats in the Klingon Empire during the late 23rd and early 24th centuries . He was known in Federation history for his long friendships with Kor , Koloth , and Curzon Dax , and as an adversary of Starfleet Captain James T. Kirk .

As a product of 22nd century genetic engineering , Kang was descended from Klingons affected with the Klingon augment virus created in 2154 . ( ENT : " Divergence ") By the 2290s , Kang was outwardly cured of this affliction. ( VOY : " Flashback ")

Throughout his illustrious career , Kang played key roles in many legendary battles against the Federation , both on the battlefield and at the negotiation table . As a result of his prowess, Kang's status within the Empire was revered to the extent that he achieved the status of a Klingon Dahar Master . His glory further succeeded him, after his death in 2370 , when he earned his own statue among the Hall of Heroes on Qo'noS . ( DS9 : " Blood Oath ", " The Sword of Kahless ")

Kang wed his wife , Mara , prior to 2268 ; she later served as Kang's science officer aboard his battle cruiser during the late 2260s . By 2290 , Kang had his first son , whom he named Dax , in honor of his friend, the Federation ambassador to Qo'noS, Curzon Dax . ( TOS : " Day of the Dove "; DS9 : " Blood Oath ")

• 1.1 Conflicts with the Federation
• 1.2 Later career
• 2 The blood oath
• 3.1 Appearances
• 3.2.1 Pronunciation
• 3.2.2 Conception
• 3.2.3 Portrayals
• 3.2.4 Reception
• 3.2.5 Trivia
• 3.3 Apocrypha
• 3.4 External links

Military career [ ]

Much of Kang's early career is unknown. However, by the 2260s, he had achieved the rank of commander , and was assigned the command of his own D7-class battle cruiser. ( TOS : " Day of the Dove ")

Conflicts with the Federation [ ]

While responding to a distress call at Beta XII-A in 2268, Kang's battle cruiser sustained massive internal damage after the ship became disabled, resulting in the deaths of four hundred of his crew. As the ship drifted towards Beta XII-A, Kang beamed down to the planet to discover Captain Kirk on the surface. Kang accused Kirk of attacking his ship and took Kirk prisoner , while claiming the orbiting USS Enterprise for the Klingon Empire.

Kang convinced Kirk to beam the group up to the Enterprise , where he and the remaining thirty-seven survivors were transported aboard as prisoners. Kang's wrecked ship was destroyed by the Enterprise , because of the danger it posed by emitting a massive amount of hazardous radiation .

Aboard the Enterprise , intense fighting broke out between the two groups, as the ship mysteriously hurtled toward the galactic rim . The emergency bulkheads of the Enterprise , soon after, sealed themselves, trapping three hundred ninety-two members of the Enterprise crew below decks.

The entire situation – including the phantom Beta XII-A colony , imaginary distress calls, and transmutation of the weapons aboard the Enterprise – were discovered to have been engineered by an unknown energy being that thrived on the belligerent emotions precipitated from the ingrained hatred between the Klingon Empire and Federation. Through the cooperation of Mara, Kirk was able to cooperate with Kang to drive the lifeform away by generating positive emotions. ( TOS : " Day of the Dove ")

Relations with the Federation continued to periodically flare up, throughout the latter half of the 23rd century. On one such occasion, Captain Kang, together with Captain Kor, led two divisions of warships in an ancient Earth cavalry-style attack on a Federation outpost at Caleb IV . During the attack, Kang and Kor successfully tricked their opponents by first launching a small initial attack, and then striking with the bulk of the forces when the Federation began repair efforts. ( DS9 : " Once More Unto the Breach ")

In 2289 , Kang represented the Klingon Empire in negotiations with the Federation, represented by Curzon Dax, on the Korvat colony . ( DS9 : " Blood Oath ")

Later career [ ]

Captain Kang (2293)

Kang, Koloth, and Kor, who originally set out with forty legions, together held the Korma Pass against T'nag's army in a glorious battle in a trinary star system . The three warriors forced the enemy to fight with the blinding light of three suns in their eyes. The battle ended with the mountainside covered with so many dead that there was not a square meter of ground to be seen. They together feasted on T'nag's heart , in celebration of their victory. ( DS9 : " The Sword of Kahless ", " Once More Unto the Breach ")

Face-off with the USS Excelsior

In 2293 , after having met at Beta XII-A, Kang once again encountered Captain Sulu , now in command of the USS Excelsior , in the Azure Nebula , as Sulu attempted a foray into Klingon space . After congratulating Sulu for his well-deserved captaincy, he threatened him to "not let it end prematurely". Sulu claimed to have gotten lost; Kang insisted he escort Excelsior to Federation space, but Sulu was determined to continue his unauthorized mission to rescue Kirk and Dr. Leonard McCoy from Rura Penthe . To evade Kang, Sulu ignited the volatile sirillium gas inside the nebula , which his ship had exited first, disabling Kang's battle cruiser and ensuring the Excelsior 's escape. ( VOY : " Flashback ")

Kang commanded many ships in his career. In 2372 , Kang's friend Kor had a dream about discovering the Sword of Kahless . In the dream, the statues of Kang and Koloth in the Hall of Heroes would turn to flesh and blood , as the trio presented the Sword to Emperor Kahless . Kang's ship then decloaked above, a swirl of song transported the trio into its embrace, and the ship streaked away into the golden light to the gates of Sto-vo-kor . ( DS9 : " The Sword of Kahless ")

During the late 2280s , a band of depredators, led by the Albino , began raiding Klingon colonies. Three Klingon warships , commanded by Kang, Koloth, and Kor, were sent out to stop him. Their mission was successful in capturing most of the depredators. However, the Albino was able to escape. In the Albino's last message to the Klingons, he promised to take his revenge on the firstborn of each of the three captains. Within a few years, the Albino kept his word and managed to infect the warriors' three innocent children with a genetic virus that eventually killed them. ( DS9 : " Blood Oath ")

The blood oath [ ]

In 2290 , Kor, Kang, Koloth, and Curzon Dax pledged a blood oath to avenge the deaths of their sons, the offense committed by the Albino. They nearly caught the Albino at Galdonterre , but one of their subspace messages was intercepted and he, once again, was able to escape.

In 2363 , after decades of searching, Kang discovered one of the Albino's discarded wives on Dayos IV . Kang fed and clothed her. He later told her the story of his murdered son and his quest for the Albino. Although she said nothing of the Albino's location, Kang suspected that she knew where he was.

In early 2370, Kang received an amulet , sent to him through the recently deceased former wife of the Albino. The amulet revealed to Kang the whereabouts of the Albino, who had a compound located on Secarus IV . Kang traveled to the Secarus system to confirm the revelation, only to be immediately contacted by the Albino, who, unexpectedly, invited the trio to a "fair fight" and one last glorious battle – forty of the Albino's best warriors against his four pursuers. Not expecting victory but willing to settle for an honorable death in battle, Kang accepted.

Three months later, the Klingons assembled at Deep Space 9 , where Dax 's then-current host, Lieutenant Jadzia Dax , was assigned. Kang informed the others of the Albino's location but not of what happened when he had gone there. Kang objected to Jadzia's inclusion, believing she was not bound by Curzon's blood oath. Though she convinced Kor and Koloth to support her, Kang continued to resist until he reluctantly relented. En route to Secarus, Dax pressed Kang on the matter until he finally admitted the truth to her and, eventually, the others. It was later discovered that the Albino had never had any intention of honoring his word and had laid a trap by planting a gravitic mine at the threshold of his compound. Dax suggested using the Albino's expectations to their advantage and plan a new strategy.

Using the element of surprise, they bombarded the compound with tetryon particles, rendering any energy-based weapons useless, and forcing the Albino and his sentries into face-to-face, hand-to-hand combat. Koloth was fatally wounded fighting the Albino's personal guard. Kang's bat'leth was shattered during a fierce battle with the Albino and Kang was mortally wounded. However, Kang managed to kill the Albino (held at bay by Dax), by stabbing him in the heart with a d'k tahg , before Kang died as well. Having fulfilled their blood oath, both Kang and Koloth died glorious and honorable deaths. ( DS9 : " Blood Oath ")

Appendices [ ]

Appearances [ ].

• TOS : " Day of the Dove "
• DS9 : " Blood Oath "
• VOY : " Flashback "

Background information [ ]

Pronunciation [ ].

According to the script for "Blood Oath", his name was pronounced as "KANG". [1]

Conception [ ]

The role of Kang, as written for " Day of the Dove ", was actually first intended to be a reappearance of Kor. Once it was determined that Kor actor John Colicos couldn't play the part (much to his frustration), the character's name was changed and a suitable actor was sought. ( The Star Trek Interview Book , p. 147; Starlog #164 [ page number? • edit ] )

Portrayals [ ]

Joseph Campanella was nearly accepted for the part of Kang but was rejected out of fears that he wouldn't be able to draw "enough fire." ( The Star Trek Interview Book , p. 147; Starlog #164 [ page number? • edit ] ) Next, Michael Ansara was considered to play Kang. Ansara was attracted by the nobility embodied in the role, finding Kang "a magnificent character to play!" He later said, " Immediately, just from reading the script, I knew how special the role was and how rare it was to find a character like this in either television or film. " Ansara was also interested in playing Kang because the character reminded him of several of his previous roles, two of which had many of the same qualities as Kang. Ansara was finally cast as Kang and found that appearing as the Klingon in "Day of the Dove" was "a pleasure to do." ( Starlog #138, p. 32) The actor tried to avoid turning Kang into a villainous caricature by not thinking of him as evil, just a misunderstood, passionate leader. " When I did that first Star Trek episode, " Ansara reflected, " I played Kang as a dynamic character [....] I never thought of Kang as a bad guy – he was doing what he thought was right. " ( Star Trek Magazine  issue 116 , pp. 39 & 40)

Michael Ansara portrayed Kang in all of his appearances. Though Ansara would have been willing to return as Kang on Star Trek: The Original Series , that opportunity never presented itself, as the series was canceled shortly after "Day of the Dove" was first broadcast. The performer was disappointed not to be asked back for the subsequent Star Trek films featuring the TOS cast, commenting, " I must admit, I missed seeing myself up there on the big screen as Kang. " ( Starlog #138, p. 32)

Kang was originally intended to be commemorated, by Robert Hewitt Wolfe , in the naming of a poem called " The Fall of Kang " from the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode " Second Sight ". In retrospect, Wolfe recalled, " I thought, 'It's been eighty years and he was a real cool guy; he probably went out in a blaze of glory.' " The fact Kang reappeared in DS9 : " Blood Oath " later caused the DS9 writing staff to suggest several alternatives to explain how the Kang referenced in the poem was a different person to Michael Ansara's Kang. ( Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion  (p. 104))

Peter Allan Fields , writer of "Blood Oath", based Kang's persona in that episode on Yul Brynner 's character of Chris Adams from The Magnificent Seven . When required to reprise the role of Kang in "Blood Oath", Michael Ansara turned out to be an easy find for Deep Space Nine 's casting personnel, though he was surprised to be asked back to Star Trek . ( Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion  (pp. 131 & 132)) He was once again thrilled to portray the Klingon, thinking it "still was a good role." ( Star Trek: Communicator  issue 104 , p. 18) On the other hand, Ansara discovered that reviving the role for DS9 "was strange, really strange." Despite the fact that Kang had clearly undergone some physical changes, Ansara still played him as the same character. " I gave him the same kind of voice and personality, " the performer explained. " I felt the same way about the character – Kang is a very powerful outer space being. " Additionally, owing to the amount of makeup involved, Ansara thought that playing the Klingon again was challenging. " It was a long, hard day every day, " the actor critiqued. ( Star Trek Magazine  issue 116 , p. 40) Director Winrich Kolbe decided that Kang's death was to take place at the top of a flight of stairs, but Fields was disappointed that a close-up shot of Kang dying was not used. ( Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion  (pp. 131 & 132))

Even though Kang had appeared in both "Day of the Dove" and "Blood Oath" by the time his involvement in "Flashback" was devised, that episode's script mentioned only his appearance in "Blood Oath". The scripted scene description for when Kang first appears in "Flashback" stipulated that Kang was to look younger than he had in the DS9 episode.

Reception [ ]

Some production staffers very much enjoyed Michael Ansara's performances as Kang. Jerome Bixby , who initially conceived Kang, was highly pleased with Ansara's first portrayal of the character in "Day of the Dove", exclaiming, " Ansara's great in it! " and further remarking, " [He] just ate up the part. " ( Starlog #164; The Star Trek Interview Book , p. 147) Bixby was also interested in being paid a royalty for the reuse of Kang in DS9, commenting, " In the long run that may be more damaging to them because they used the same character. Kang will probably mean some bucks for me. " ( Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages , p. 74) Fellow Klingon-playing actor Mark Lenard , who featured as a Klingon captain in Star Trek: The Motion Picture , characterized Ansara as "a great Klingon." ( Starlog #138, p. 35) Ansara himself considered Kang to be "one of the best characters I've ever played." ( Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion  (p. 131))

Fan response to Kang was extreme. In a 1989 interview, Michael Ansara mused, " What's amazing is that even today, I still get recognized for that part. It is pleasurable and always positive, but surprising. I played that character almost 20 years ago, but people still remember. " ( Starlog #138, p. 32) The actor once speculated that people responded to Kang because he was a natural leader and because Ansara played him not as a simple bad guy but as an individual who believed in what he was doing. ( Star Trek Magazine  issue 116 , pp. 39 & 41)

In Marc Okrand 's tlhIngan Hol language, Kang's name is properly rendered as qeng . ( The Klingon Dictionary 2nd ed., p. 58)

Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons , named his recurring alien characters Kang and Kodos , after Kang the Klingon and Kodos , a character in TOS : " The Conscience of the King ".

"Rage of the Red Lanterns", a 2017 episode of the animated series Justice League Action , contains an homage to Kang. The character of Atrocitus, voiced by Michael Dorn , echoes Kang when he utters the line, " But for today, only a fool fights in a burning house. " That animated episode also featured Armin Shimerman .

Apocrypha [ ]

• Kang is a major character in the novel Pawns and Symbols , in which it is implied that he is not only a prominent starship commander, but also of noble lineage and the heir apparent to the Imperial throne.
• Kang appears in the My Brother's Keeper series, where he is called Kang, son of K'naiah.
• Kang's mirror universe counterpart ( β ) appeared in the novel The Sorrows of Empire and the novella " The Worst of Both Worlds ".

External links [ ]

• Kang at StarTrek.com
• Kang, son of K'naiah at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• Kang at Wikipedia
• 3 ISS Enterprise (NCC-1701)