The Legacy of Lazarus " George Washington is alive and well – watch out Mr . Spock ! " Summary . Spock reports to Captain Kirk that the probe reported the planet as a Class M , but that it was uninhabited . This does not jibe with the current sensor readings that there is a civilization on the planet , including an enormous city . Kirk orders Spock , Sulu , Lt . Uhura , and Dr . McCoy to the transporter room to beam down to the planet . Montgomery Scott transports the landing party down , and they find themselves in the midst of a city . They begin to explore , and Kirk spots someone across the road , and discovers that it is George Washington , but is shocked because Washington has been dead for over 400 years and Spock ' s tricorder states that Washington is real . Washington invites them over for dinner and introduces his wife , Helen of Troy . He explains that they ' ve lived on the planet as long as they can remember , and they can do anything they want , except visit the silver spire at the center of town . Kirk tells Spock and Sulu to investigate the tower . When the two leave , Washington introduces the crew to Nero ( Emperor of Rome ) , Anton York ( 45th president of the United States of America ) , Abraham Lincoln , and mentions some of the others , including Alexander the Great , Napoleon , Cleopatra , Louis XIV , Florence Nightengale , and others . McCoy states that it must be heaven , but Kirk points out Hitler , and another member of the Nazi party . Kirk tries to contact Spock , but there is no answer . The crew head across town , and find Sulu with a large lump on his head , but there is no sign of Spock . Underground , Mr . Spock awakes to find himself tied to a chair . A man introduces himself as Alexander Lazarus , an Earth historian of , as Spock puts it , " " some minor repute . " " Lazarus tells Spock how he came to arrive on the planet after he was alienated from the scientific community on Earth and that he and his android s fled into space , eventually landing here . The silver spire is an antenna , and his computer was capable of recording the brain thoughts of all of the important and famous people in Earth ' s history . One day , the PSI - Clone short - circuited and one of the androids was caught in the energy burst . When Lazarus reached him , he discovered that the android had been transformed into Benjamin Franklin . Within a few months , the androids built a city around the spire , and Lazarus began imbuing them with the mind and memories of Earth ' s history . Unfortunately , now Lazarus is bored and wants something new . When he saw Spock , he decided to study Vulcan history , and all he needs is Spock ' s brain . Spock cannot understand how his brain would help Lazarus , and Lazarus explains that the PSI - Clone cannot understand Vulcan thoughts , and that to teach the computer to do this would destroy the brain . Just as Spock calls him mad , the alarm goes off . It appears that Sulu has discovered a hatch on the surface . Lazarus presses a button , and on the surface , the historical figures begin to attack the landing party . Down in the chamber below , Spock has freed himself from the manacles by using a simple mathematical progression and disarms Lazarus . Lazarus flees , and accidentally stumbles into the brain - drain device . Spock tries to free him but the door has been sealed . The device drains Lazarus , killing him . Spock notices that the computer is damaged and that it is going wild . He contacts Scotty aboard the " Enterprise " and tells him to beam the others out but that he has important records that must be saved . Scotty beams up the others , saving them from the fray . Kirk tells Spock that they are going to beam him up immediately . Scotty notes that Spock is too far beneath the surface , so turns the transporter up to full , double the normal output . The transporter will be hard pressed to handle the load for long . Just as he tries to transport Spock though , the sensors read that the cavern has been completely destroyed . Fortunately , they managed to save Spock , just as the planet explodes . The " Enterprise " races away at warp speed , managing to survive the explosion and shock waves . Spock was unable to save any of the records , and Kirk rues it , telling McCoy that " " our heritage is our inspiration . " " Memorable quotes . " " They ' re closing in for the Kill , Captain ! Have you any suggestions ? " " " " Everyone , stand your ground ! If this is going to be the end , we ' re going down fighting ! " " " " My apologies , Mr . Spock ! You were most definitely right ! " " " " Naturally , Captain ! Did you expect otherwise ? " " " " You know , Spock – sometimes you can be irritatingly human ! " " " " Really , Doctor – this is no time for insults ! " " " " You won ' t live long enough to " gloat " over your ingenuity , Spock ! " " " " The term " gloat " is not applicable , Lazarus ! Use your head ! You don ' t realize what you are doing ! " " " " Jim , they ' re wiping up the place . . ugh . . with us ! " " " " I know , Bones – but I just can ' t bring myself to " shoot " Abraham Lincoln ! " " " " All that information – lost forever ! After all , what is man without his heroes – his fables and legends ? Our heritage is our inspiration , Bones – to reach for things beyond what we can already touch – to dream a greater dream and mold it into a reality ! Without the thinkers , the planners , the leaders , the doers – without our history to catch us when we fall and set us on our feet again . . . what has man got left ? " "