The Conscience of the King

The USS Enterprise is called to Planet Q by Dr. Thomas Leighton, a friend of Captain Kirk's, ostensibly to investigate a possible new synthetic food source. Leighton's true motivation, however, is his suspicion that Anton Karidian, the leader of a Shakespearean acting troupe currently on the planet, is in fact Kodos "the Executioner," former governor of the Earth colony of Tarsus IV. Kodos seized power when the food supply of the colony was nearly destroyed and the people faced starvation. He ordered that half the population be put to death to solve the food crisis, to which both Leighton and Kirk were eyewitnesses. A supply ship arrived earlier than scheduled, but too late to prevent the massacre. Kodos was pursued. A burned body was found and the case closed. Kirk insists Kodos cannot still be alive, and declines Leighton's request that he meet Karidian and his troupe at a party at Leighton's home. However, upon returning to the ship he researches Kodos and Karidian and finds considerable circumstantial evidence supporting Leighton's suspicion: there is no record of Karidian's existence prior to Kodos's disappearance, and photos confirm a close physical resemblance. Kirk goes to the party. Karidian does not appear, but Kirk meets his daughter Lenore, also a member of the troupe, and they hit it off. During a walk outside the two discover Leighton dead.

Kirk arranges for the Enterprise to ferry the acting troupe to its next destination. He transfers Lt. Kevin Riley to Engineering, after discovering that he too was a witness to the Tarsus IV massacre. These actions arouse the curiosity of First Officer Spock, who, after an investigation of his own, learns the history of the massacre, Kirk and Riley's connection to it, and that seven of nine witnesses to the massacre have died, in each case when Karidian's acting troupe was somewhere nearby. He discusses the matter with Dr. McCoy.

Riley is poisoned, and a phaser is set on overload and left in Kirk's quarters. Kirk confronts Karidian with his suspicions. Karidian does not admit to being Kodos, but argues in defense of Kodos' actions and when prompted to read the ordering of the massacre, does so with barely a glance at the transcript. A computer analysis of his voice results in a near-perfect match with Kodos, but Kirk still hesitates to accuse Karidian.

Lt. Riley, recovering in sickbay, overhears Dr. McCoy's log entry and learns that Karidian is suspected of being Kodos. Riley heads for the ship's theater where the Karidian troupe is performing Hamlet, and sneaks backstage, phaser in hand, to exact revenge for the death of his family. Kirk discovers him before he can act and persuades him to surrender the weapon. Karidian, overhearing, is disturbed. Lenore tries to assuage him by revealing that she has been killing off all the witnesses to his crimes. This devastates Karidian, who is tormented by guilt over his actions as governor. Kirk, overhearing this conversation, moves to arrest them both. Lenore snatches a phaser from a security guard and aims at Kirk. Karidian jumps into the line of fire, is hit, and dies. Lenore breaks down and begs her father to wake up and continue his performance. Later, on the bridge, McCoy reports that she'll get the best of care. Having gone completely insane, she thinks her father is still alive and giving performances to cheering crowds.

In 2013, Wired ranked this episode one of the top ten episodes of the original television series.[2]

Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club gave the episode an 'A-' rating, noting strong performances from the actors including a "great Spock/McCoy dynamic" and "some very credible acting from Shatner."[3] Keith DeCandido, writing for Tor.com, commended the acting of Moss, Shatner, and Anderson, but felt that the episode had aged poorly in regards to only being able to identify Karidian as Kodos via an unreliable voice comparison. He gave the episode a rating of 7.[4] Jamahl Epsicokhan of Jammer's Reviews rated the episode 2.5 stars out of 4 and similarly praised the performances of Moss and Anderson, but criticized the ending, calling it "inappropriate".[5]

Michelle Erica Green of Trek Today also praised Moss and Anderson's performances, but criticized the episode's script.[6] Later Star Trek writer Ronald D. Moore considers the episode to be "deeply underrated" and one of the series' best.[7]

• 1966 in television
• List of Star Trek: The Original Series episodes
• Shakespeare and Star Trek

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