How sharper than a serpent 's tooth - wikipedia How sharper than a serpent 's tooth This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. ( Learn how and when to remove these template messages ) This article consists almost entirely of a plot summary. It should be expanded to provide more balanced coverage that includes real - world context. Please edit the article to focus on discussing the work rather than merely reiterating the plot. ( July 2013 ) This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. ( January 2013 ) `` How Sharper Than a Serpent 's Tooth '' Star Trek : The Animated Series episode Episode no. Season 2 Episode 5 Directed by Bill Reed Written by Russell Bates David Wise Production code 22022 Original air date October 5, 1974 ( 1974 - 10 - 05 ) Episode chronology ← Previous `` Albatross '' Next → `` The Counter-Clock Incident '' List of Star Trek : The Animated Series episodes `` How Sharper Than a Serpent 's Tooth '' is the fifth episode of the second season of the American animated science fiction television series Star Trek : The Animated Series, the 21st episode overall. It first aired in the NBC Saturday morning lineup on October 5, 1974, and was written by Russell Bates and David Wise. The title comes from Act 1, Scene 4 of William Shakespeare 's King Lear : `` How sharper than a serpent 's tooth it is to have a thankless child ! '' In this episode, the Enterprise must contend with alien entity that demands it be worshiped as a god. The animated series won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Children 's Series for this episode. Contents 1 Plot 2 Notes 3 References 4 See also 5 External links Plot On stardate 6063.4, following a signal from a mysterious probe, the Federation starship Enterprise is immobilized by an alien whose ship resembles a winged serpent. The alien claims to be Kukulkan, god of the ancient Maya and Aztec peoples of Earth. He says that he is actually a very long - lived, benevolent entity who wants the humans to worship him, as the Mayas and Aztecs did. Upon resistance by the crew, he proclaims them `` thankless ''. Kukulkan transports Captain Kirk, Chief Medical Officer Dr. McCoy, Chief Engineer Scott and Ensign Walking Bear to his ship. By using technology similar to a holodeck, Kukulkan makes them believe they are standing in the middle of an ancient city. Kukulkan warns them that he will only appear before them once they 've solved the riddle of the city. The city combines the architectures of many ancient Earth cultures : Egyptian, Aztec, Chinese, etc. Kirk concludes that Kukulkan had visited many of the peoples on Earth, but each only took a portion of what he taught them. So none of them ever fulfilled the complete instructions to signal his return. By chance, Kirk scales a huge pyramid in the center of the city. There, he concludes that the sun will activate Kukulkan 's signalling device. He orders Bones and Scotty to turn huge serpent - headed statues toward the pyramid. In doing so, the now focused sunlight ignites the signalling device. Kukulkan responds, `` Behold, my design is complete. See me now with your own eyes ! '' Kukulkan does appear and turns out to be an alien winged serpent. The city disappears, only to make the group realize that they were never really there. They now realize that the collection of animals they see before them in small glass `` cages '' was exactly how they experienced the city. The animals are unaware of being on Kukulkan 's ship, much as the group thought they were actually in an ancient city. Kukulkan demands that the humans worship him, just as the ancients on Earth did. He grows angry when Kirk explains that mankind has `` grown up '' and no longer needs to worship him. In the meantime, Science Officer Spock has figured out a way to free the Enterprise from Kukulkan 's beam and breaks free. This, too, angers Kukulkan who exclaims that he will `` smash '' the Enterprise. To buy Spock some time, Kirk and Bones decide to break loose a Capellan Power Cat from one of Kukulkan 's glass cages. The distraction works, as the Enterprise is able to use its phasers to disable Kukulkan 's ship. With the Power Cat threatening Kukulkan, Kirk leaps at the animal and is able to sedate it with a hypo. Kirk again attempts to reason with Kukulkan, conceding that while the alien did help humanity when it needed it, they no longer need his guidance. The alien reluctantly agrees, and departs. Notes Jump up ^ This story was expanded into a novelette by science - fiction author Alan Dean Foster as part of the collection, Star Trek Log Six ( 1976 ) ( ISBN 0 - 345 - 24655 - 1 ). References Jump up ^ Shakespeare, William. `` King Lear 1.4 ( Modern, Folio ) '' -- via Internet Shakespeare Editions. See also `` Who Mourns for Adonais ? '' -- An Original Series episode about an alien that had long ago visited Earth and now demands worship as a god by the Enterprise crew. Star Trek V : The Final Frontier -- A motion picture in which the Enterprise encounters a being asserting himself to be the God of Abraham ( among others ). External links `` How Sharper Than a Serpent 's Tooth '' on IMDb `` How Sharper Than a Serpent 's Tooth '' at TV.com `` How Sharper Than a Serpent 's Tooth '' at Memory Alpha ( a Star Trek wiki ) `` How Sharper Than a Serpent 's Tooth '' at StarTrek.com `` How Sharper Than a Serpent 's Tooth '' at Curt Danhauser 's Guide to the Animated Star Trek `` How Sharper Than a Serpent 's Tooth '' Full episode for viewing at StarTrek.com Star Trek : The Animated Series List of episodes Characters Christine Chapel James T. Kirk M'Ress Leonard McCoy Scotty Spock Hikaru Sulu Uhura Season 1 `` Beyond the Farthest Star '' `` Yesteryear '' `` One of Our Planets is Missing '' `` The Lorelei Signal '' `` More Tribbles, More Troubles '' `` The Survivor '' `` The Infinite Vulcan '' `` The Magicks of Megas - tu '' `` Once Upon a Planet '' `` Mudd 's Passion '' `` The Terratin Incident '' `` The Time Trap '' `` The Ambergris Element '' `` The Slaver Weapon '' `` The Eye of the Beholder '' `` The Jihad '' Season 2 `` The Pirates of Orion '' `` Bem '' `` The Practical Joker '' `` Albatross '' `` How Sharper Than a Serpent 's Tooth '' `` The Counter-Clock Incident '' Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=How_Sharper_Than_a_Serpent%27s_Tooth&oldid=819331955 '' Categories : 1974 American television episodes Star Trek : The Animated Series episodes Ancient astronauts in fiction Alien zoos in fiction Hidden categories : Articles to be expanded from July 2013 All articles to be expanded Articles lacking in - text citations from January 2013 All articles lacking in - text citations Articles with multiple maintenance issues Use mdy dates from January 2013 Pages using infobox television episode with incorrectly formatted episode list Talk Contents About Wikipedia Čeština Edit links This page was last edited on 8 January 2018, at 20 : 05. 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Question: how sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child
Answer: Act 1, Scene 4 of William Shakespeare's King Lear