The Conscience of the King

The USS Enterprise is called to Planet Q by Dr. Thomas Leighton, a friend of Captain Kirk, ostensibly to investigate a possible new synthetic food source. Leighton's true motivation is to alert Kirk of his suspicion that Anton Karidian, the leader of a Shakespearean acting troupe currently on the planet performing Macbeth, is in fact Kodos the Executioner, former governor of the Earth colony of Tarsus IV. Due to a famine caused by fungal infestation and with no relief coming from off-planet, Kodos invoked martial law and ordered the execution of half the 8,000 colonists, ostensibly to prevent more important citizens from starving to death. Relief came unexpectedly from Starfleet days later, too late to prevent the massacre. Both Leighton and Kirk were eyewitnesses to the events on Tarsus IV. Kirk insists Kodos died during relief operations, but his body was not identified. He reconsiders after researching Karidian's background. Hoping to meet Karidian at a party at Leighton's home, Kirk meets his daughter, Lenore. During a walk outside, the two find Leighton dead.

Kirk arranges for the Enterprise to ferry the acting troupe to its next destination. He transfers Lt. Kevin Riley to Engineering after learning 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's and Riley's connection to it, and that seven of the nine eyewitnesses who could identify Kodos have died, in each case when Karidian's troupe was nearby.

Riley is poisoned, and a phaser set on overload is left in Kirk's quarters; Kirk manages to jettison it out into space before it explodes. Kirk confronts Karidian with his suspicions. Karidian does not admit to being Kodos, but argues in defense of Kodos' actions, and when asked to read a transcript of Kodos' execution order, does so with barely a glance at the paper. A computer analysis of his voice results in a near-perfect match with Kodos, but Kirk still hesitates to accuse Karidian.

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 troupe is performing Hamlet, and goes 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, and Lenore tries to reassure him by revealing that she has been killing the witnesses to his crimes. 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 goes insane and begs her father to wake up and continue his performance. Later, on the bridge, McCoy reports on her psychiatric condition; she believes her father is still alive and giving performances to cheering crowds.

The episode featured the final appearance (in production order) of Grace Lee Whitney (Yeoman Janice Rand). Whitney had already been notified that she was fired from the series a week before filming on this episode began. Her brief walk-on scene—in which she gives a dirty look to her rival blonde, Lenore Karidian, arriving on the bridge—was her last scene in Star Trek before her return 13 years later in Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

This episode was the second and final appearance of Lieutenant Kevin Riley, played by Bruce Hyde, who first appeared in "The Naked Time".https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0404953/ {{User-generated source|date=May 2022}}

All first-season core Star Trek regular background players appear in this episode: Eddie Paskey (Lt. Lesley), Frank da Vinci (Lt. Brent), William Blackburn (Lt. Hadley), Ron Veto (Harrison), and Jeanne Malone (Enterprise yeoman).

The ship's theater is a redress of the engineering set. Set pieces of the ship's gymnasium (first seen in the episode "Charlie X") are hanging on the walls, and the ceiling is visible in some of the shooting angles.

In 2013, Wired ranked this episode one of the top 10 episodes of the original television series.{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.com/2013/05/underrated-star-trek-episodes/|title=10 of the Most Underrated Episodes of the Original Star Trek Series|author=WIRED Staff|date=2013-05-15|magazine=Wired|access-date=2019-07-09|issn=1059-1028}}

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."{{Cite news |last=Handlen |first=Zack |title="Conscience Of The King" / "Balance Of Terror"|publisher=The A.V. Club|date=February 27, 2009 |url=https://www.avclub.com/star-trek-conscience-of-the-king-balance-of-terro-1798205767|access-date=September 5, 2009}} Keith DeCandido, writing for Tor.com, commended the acting of Moss, Shatner, and Anderson, but felt the episode had aged poorly in regard to being able to identify Karidian as Kodos only via an unreliable voice comparison. He gave the episode a rating of 7.{{Cite magazine |last=DeCandido |first=Keith R.A. |author-link=Keith DeCandido |title=Star Trek The Original Series Rewatch: "The Conscience of the King" |magazine=Tor.com |date=June 2, 2015 |url=https://www.tor.com/2015/06/02/star-trek-the-original-series-rewatch-the-conscience-of-the-king/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220612151116/https://www.tor.com/2015/06/02/star-trek-the-original-series-rewatch-the-conscience-of-the-king/ |archive-date=June 12, 2022 |access-date=July 8, 2022 |url-status=live}} 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".{{Cite news |last=Epsicokhan |first=Jamahl |title=[TOS] Jammer's Review: "Conscience Of The King" |website=Jammer's Reviews |url=http://www.jammersreviews.com/st-tos/s1/conscience.php/ |access-date=November 10, 2017}}

Michelle Erica Green of Trek Today also praised Moss' and Anderson's performances, but criticized the episode's script.{{cite web |url= http://www.trektoday.com/reviews/tos/conscience_of_the_king.shtml |author= Green, Michelle Erica |title= The Conscience of the King |publisher= Trek Today |date= August 19, 2005 |access-date= September 4, 2012}} Later Star Trek writer Ronald D. Moore considers the episode "deeply underrated" and one of the series' best.{{cite tweet |author-link=Ronald D. Moore |user=rondmoore |number=776931130230530048 |date=September 17, 2016 |access-date=November 10, 2017 |title=I maintain Conscience of the King is deeply underrated TOS episode and one of the series' best. }}

Kodos the Executioner would be the inspiration behind the name of Kodos the alien, a recurring character on The Simpsons.{{cite video | people=Reiss, Mike|year=2003|title=The Simpsons season 3 DVD commentary for the episode 'Treehouse of Horror'| medium=DVD|publisher=20th Century Fox}}

This episode is referenced in the HBO Max mini series Station Eleven episode "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Aren't Dead", where the episode is playing on television.{{fact|date=July 2025}}

{{reflist}}

{{portal|1960s|Science fiction|Television}}

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

{{clear}}

{{wikiquote|Star Trek: The Original Series#The Conscience of the King|"The Conscience of the King"}}

• {{StarTrek.com|conscience-of-the-king-the|"The Conscience of the King"}}
• {{IMDb episode|0394903}}
• {{Memory Alpha|The Conscience of the King|"The Conscience of the King"}}
• [http://trekmovie.com/2007/09/23/conscience-of-the-king-remastered-screenshots-and-video/#more-1050 "The Conscience of the King"] Screenshots before and after remastering
• [http://www.chakoteya.net/StarTrek/13.htm Star Trek transcript - The Conscience of the King]

{{Star Trek: The Original Series episodes|1}}

{{Hamlet}}

{{Macbeth}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Conscience of the King, The}}

Category:Star Trek: The Original Series season 1 episodes

Category:1966 American television episodes

Category:Television shows based on Hamlet

Category:Fiction about patricide

Category:Television episodes directed by Gerd Oswald