Catspaw ( episode ) The " Enterprise " crew finds witches , black cats , and haunted castles on a distant planet . Summary . Teaser . A landing party of Sulu , Scott , and Crewman on Pyris VII is overdue for a routine check - in , when Jackson finally answers the ' s urgent hail s . His disconcerting message : one to beam up . And , when Jackson is beamed aboard by Kyle , he materializes on the transporter pad and he immediately falls down to the floor , . But from his dead lips a sonorous voice tells Captain Kirk that his ship is cursed ; he must leave or all will die . Act One . With two crewmen missing and a mysterious death , Kirk doesn ' t plan to leave just yet . He organizes a second landing party : himself , Spock , and Doctor McCoy . They beam to the point from which Jackson was beamed up . There , Kirk intends to discover what happened to his missing men , and what killed Jackson . The planet is fogbound , something extremely unlikely given the environmental conditions , as there are no cloud formations or bodies of water on the planet . Proceeding towards a reading of nearby lifeform s , the landing party encounters three witch es ; the spectral hags again warn Kirk to leave . Winds and fog try to thwart the landing party , but they eventually discover a large castle – the source of the lifeform readings . Entering the castle , they find a black cat and identify all the iconography of old Earth tales . On the bridge of the " Enterprise " , Ensign Chekov reports to assistant chief engineer DeSalle that the landing party ' s lifeform readings are the only ones on the planet . As the landing party entered the castle , he then says they have simply stopped registering . DeSalle asks Chekov to check the scanning equipment for malfunctions but Chekov already has – the equipment is functioning perfectly . DeSalle then orders Chekov to recalibrate the scanners . The landing party explores the castle further and falls through the floor , plunging them down to a dungeon chamber , and unconsciousness . Act Two . Awakening , the landing party discovers they are chained . Scott and Sulu appear , and Kirk is at first relieved to see his missing men . Then he realizes they ' re marching to someone else ' s drum : alive , but unresponsive and no longer allies . The two enthralled men free Kirk , Spock , and McCoy , and herd them towards the door at phaser point ; a brief scuffle is halted when all the men are suddenly – elsewhere , in the presence of a strange robed man . This is Korob , decked out in wizard ' s finery , with robe , wand , and black cat . Spock ' s comment that mapping expeditions have not discovered lifeforms on Pyris VII wrings a small truth from Korob – that he is not native to this world . Korob first plies the crew with food and drink , then with fortunes in gemstone s . All to get them to leave , without asking more questions . But Kirk tells Korob he could manufacture such stones by the ton on his ship ; they ' re valueless , a fact that conflicts with whatever research Korob has done . Korob then reveals that the events were staged to test the landing party . He has learned they are loyal , brave , and incorruptible . Act Three . Seizing Sylvia ' s arm , Kirk removes the model from the flame , and the " Enterprise " from danger . When he suggests that landing parties will soon appear , Korob seals the model in a block – and above , the ship is suddenly surrounded by a force field unlike anything ever encountered , a field that doesn ' t come from anywhere , but just . . . is . On the " Enterprise " , Chekov cannot analyze it . DeSalle orders Chekov to attempt to puncture the force field . Kirk and Spock are returned to the dungeon , while McCoy remains with Sylvia , who intends to question him . Kirk and Spock spend some time speculating about Sylvia and Korob , and Kirk decides they must be stopped . Their questions and interest seems to him a little too sinister . McCoy eventually returns , though he has been taken control of by Sylvia . He , Sulu , and Scott take Kirk to Sylvia . Meanwhile , Sylvia and Korob argue . Sylvia likes her new sensations , and it ' s obvious that the interest goes further than their original plan . Wherever these aliens call home , they have nothing like them – and she intends to remain here . Korob reminds her they have a duty to the , a fact she considers unimportant in light of her new infatuation . Kirk is returned to Sylvia ' s presence , where he learns she is infatuated with him , as well . She reveals her plan : to dispose of Korob and join with Kirk . But Kirk is using her , gaining answers through manipulation . Among other things , he learns that the transmuter is the key to her power , a mechanism that facilitates the actualization of thought . But she discovers the deception , and has McCoy , Scott , and Sulu haul Kirk back to his cell . On the " Enterprise " , Chekov reports that they had an effect on the force field , identifying a small electrical field as a start . Korob finds Kirk and Spock ; he reveals he has released the " Enterprise " , and he releases them . He also reveals that he can no longer control Sylvia or her pawns , and that he considers her dangerously irrational . He is regretful , offering his opinion that their visit could have been a peaceful one . Time presses , and he cannot explain in detail ; instead , he urges the men out of their cell , where they again encounter the black cat – now grown to enormous size . Act Four . The men are forced to retreat back into their cell , where they attempt to escape through the ceiling . The cat forces the door of the cell , however , crushing Korob . Kirk now has an opportunity to retrieve the wand . Escaping through the ceiling , Kirk and Spock are confronted by their own enthralled crew , and a brief scuffle ends with Sylvia ' s pawns out of action , and the reappearance of the cat , as well as Sylvia . The wand Kirk has retrieved is the transmuter , and Sylvia wants it very badly . She transports Kirk away from Spock into the main hall and tells him to give her the transmuter . She informs him that she has a less powerful , and simpler mechanism ; that it ' s Korob ' s wand which holds the key to their power . Sylvia is reluctant to simply seize the device from Kirk , despite her contention that he does not know how to use it . Finally , she threatens Kirk with a phaser , demanding the wand . Kirk responds by shattering the wand , an act that undoes everything . . . almost everything . At the landing party ' s feet , two small aliens wither and fall . Deprived of their transmuter , Sylvia and Korob have resumed their real forms , and are as Sylvia described them : feathers in the wind , a life form that is totally alien to their universe . They quickly perish , and both landing parties return to the " Enterprise " . Memorable quotes . " " Captain Kirk ! Can you hear me ? There is a curse on your ship . Leave this place , or you will all . . . die ! " " " " Captain Kirk ! . . . Captain Kirk ! . . . Captain Kirk ! " " " " Go back ! . . . Go back ! . . . Go back ! " " " " Remember the curse ! " " " " Wind shall rise ! " " " " And fog descend ! " " " " So leave here , all , or meet your end ! " " " " Spock . Comment ? " " " " Very bad poetry , Captain . " " " " A more useful comment , Mister Spock . " " " " If we weren ' t missing two officers and a third one dead I ' d say someone was playing an elaborate trick or treat on us . " " " " Trick or treat , captain ? " " " " Yes , Mister Spock . You ' d be a natural . " " " " Mister Chekov , recalibrate your sensors . If you need help – " " " " I can do it , sir . I ' m not that green . " " " " Bones ? Doc ? " " " " Where did your race get this ridiculous predilection for resistance , hmm ? You examine any object . You . . . you question everything ! Is it not enough to accept what is ? " " " " You can ' t " think " a man to death . " " " " Maybe we can ' t break it , but I ' ll bet you credits to navy beans we can put a dent in it ! " " " " You are using me ! You hold me in your arms and there is no fire in your mind ! You ' re trying to deceive me ! It ' s here like words on a page ! You are using me ! " " " " And why not ? ! ! You ' ve been using me and my crew ! ! " " " " You will be swept away . You ! Your men ! Your ship ! ! Your worlds ! ! ! " " " " Captain , a little more alacrity , if you please . " " " " Everything ' s vanished . " " " " All of this , just an illusion . " " " " No illusion . Jackson is dead . " " Background information . Remastered information . " Catspaw " was the eighth episode of the remastered version of " The Original Series " to air , premiering in syndication on the weekend of . Aside from the standard remastering of the effects used for the , the most notable revised features include new effects shots of Pyris VII , as well as the castle on the surface , with the original shot of the castle entry completely retained as part of the full building . The transmuter effect was also touched up and most of the visible wires controlling the Ornithoid lifeform s were removed . Links and references . References . azimuth ; bear ; beef ; boar ; " Bones " ; blinking ; bribery ; castle ; cat ; cobweb ; credit ; demon ; diamond ; drug ; dungeon ; Earth ; emerald ; familiar ; feather ; fog ; force field ; ghost ; ghost story ; ; Halloween ; heat - dissipation unit ; hypnosis ; iron maiden ; logic ; mace ; magic wand ; mapping expedition ; martial arts ; meter ; Milky Way Galaxy ; mind probing ; model ; mumbo jumbo ; navy bean ; ogre ; ; onion ; parallel development ; peacock ; Pyris VII ; racial subconscious ; reactor ; ; saber - toothed tiger ; sapphire ; Satan ; skeleton ; sympathetic magic ; telekinesis ; telepathy ; transmuter ; trick or treat ; tricorder ; Vulcan neck pinch ; wavelength analysis ; wine ; witch ; wizard Unused references . solar day ; Starbase 9