The Conscience of the King ( episode ) An actor traveling aboard the " Enterprise " may be a former governor who ordered a mass murder twenty years earlier . Summary . Teaser . The is diverted three light year s off of its scheduled course to Planet Q , lured by word of a new synthetic food which promises to ease chronic shortages on Cygnia Minor . But what Doctor Thomas Leighton actually wants to show his childhood friend Kirk is merely a traveling Shakespearean actor , Anton Karidian . Leighton believes Karidian to actually be Kodos the Executioner . Act One . Kodos is notorious because he seized control of the doomed Earth Colony Tarsus IV in 2246 and ordered the execution of half its population of 8 , 000 . Of the 4 , 000 survivors , only nine , including the young Kirk and Leighton , ever saw the face of the revolutionary governor . Though convinced Kodos is long dead , Kirk does enough research to pique his curiosity about Leighton ' s claim . He returns to the planet in hopes of meeting Karidian in person . At a cocktail party held at the Leightons ' home , Kirk meets Karidian ' s attractive daughter Lenore , and the two hit it off . They leave the party to stroll in Planet Q ' s desert , and come upon the body of their host Thomas Leighton . Leighton ' s death makes Kirk take his dead friend ' s suspicions more seriously . After promising Leighton ' s distraught wife Martha that he will find out why her husband was killed , Kirk calls in a favor : he asks Jon Daily , commanding officer of the " Astral Queen " , to leave Planet Q orbit ahead of schedule and without notice . This strands the Karidian Players , who now have no choice but to ask for passage aboard the " Enterprise " . Act Two . Researching , Kirk reviews the list of the nine eyewitnesses , and discovers that Lieutenant Kevin Riley , a member of the " Enterprise " crew , is one of them . Despite the fact that Riley recently was promoted from engineering to communications , Kirk orders Spock to send Riley back down to engineering with the apparent intention of protecting him . When Spock asks why , pointing out that such action may be regarded by Riley as a demotion , Kirk refuses to explain . Spock becomes concerned about the captain ' s behavior and confides in Dr . McCoy , while Kirk proceeds to get more involved with Lenore . Spock does his own research and learns enough to raise his own suspicions , including the disturbing fact that of the nine eyewitnesses who could positively identify Kodos , seven are now dead . And whenever one died , the Karidian Players were somewhere nearby . Only Kirk and Lieutenant Riley remain alive . With a tray of food at his side Riley broods while alone in engineering and calls up the rec room pleading for company . Lieutenant Larry Matson turns over the intercom to Uhura , who serenades him by playing a Vulcan harp and singing " Beyond Antares " . While Riley is distracted by her performance , someone sneaks into the room and emerges from the shadows to squirt something into his glass of milk . His spirits brightened , Riley reaches for his drink and takes a long gulp . Uhura finishes her song and Riley begins choking . Fortunately , Uhura ' s party realizes the situation and sends help in time to save him . As Riley lies in critical condition on a bio - bed , Spock realizes that if he dies , Kirk will be the next target . Act Three . In McCoy ' s lab report on Riley ' s condition , he finds that the lieutenant had an appreciable amount of tetra - lubisol in his system , a milky lubricant used aboard the " Enterprise " . Spock is now certain that Riley was poisoned and with a reluctant McCoy confront Kirk in his quarters . Spock is now certain Karidian and Kodos are the same man , but Kirk remains unsure and has to make certain of it . McCoy asks Kirk what he will do " if " Kodos and Karidian are one and the same , inquiring if he will carry his head through the ship ' s corridor s in triumph , noting that will not bring back any of the dead colonists . Kirk agrees but notes that " they may rest easier . " Later , a similar discussion Kirk and Spock have is interrupted by the hum of an overloading phaser . Somewhere in Kirk ' s quarters is a potential explosive that can take out the entire deck . While Spock orders ship ' s personnel to clear the area , Kirk finds the overloading phaser in his quarters ' red alert indicator and disposes of it seconds before it explodes . Kirk is finally driven to confront Karidian , asking him point blank whether he is Kodos . Karidian gives him evasive answers , and after twenty years of playing parts that , of all things , he is tired . He does perform a short speech for the purposes of voice comparison with a piece of voice film in the " Enterprise " s database . This was apparently the speech made by Kodos condemning thousands of innocent people to death . Kirk mentions how Karidian barely looked at the text , hinting that it was already familiar to the actor , but Karidian simply states that he learns his parts quickly . Meanwhile , in sickbay , the recovering Lieutenant Riley overhears McCoy ' s log entry , learning that Karidian is suspected of being Kodos , the man who murder ed Riley ' s family . Act Four . The voiceprint comparison is close , very close , but Kirk argues that when a man ' s life is at stake , very close isn ' t good enough . The Karidian Players begin a presentation of " Hamlet " . Riley , with a stolen phaser , sneaks backstage . Kirk manages to talk him out of killing Karidian , who overhears their " sotto voce " conversation . Riley , with great reluctance , heads back to sickbay . Kirk is still backstage when Karidian and his daughter Lenore discuss what he overheard during an act break . Trying to shield her from his past , Karidian attempts to pass off his distress as hearing the " voice of a part that he played long ago " . But he is horrified when Lenore lovingly reveals that she knows all about his past deeds , and has already killed seven of the nine people who could identify him . Lenore goes on to tell him , innocently , that she will dispose of the remaining two after the performance . Karidian is horrified that there is still more blood on " his " hands , but she proclaims that " they had to be silenced " , and says , all with a smile on her face , that she buried those ghosts for him , and she has " saved " him . Karidian is devastated that all his attempts to prevent his past crimes from tainting his daughter have failed , and left him with nothing but a long legacy of murder . Kirk appears from his hiding place to confront them . Lenore rebukes Kirk for interrupting her father before his appearance on stage . Kirk says she has killed seven innocent people , and she declares to Kirk that those people weren ' t innocent , they were " dangerous " , and that she would have killed a world to protect her father . Kirk summons security to take them into custody ; Lenore snatches security officer Harrison ' s weapon and runs on stage . Her eyes show she ' s quite insane ( reminiscent of Lady Macbeth and / or Ophelia ) . Karidian / Kodos , desperate there should be no more blood on his hands , steps between her and Kirk as she fires ; the shot is fatal . Twenty years after earning the name , Kodos the Executioner is dead . The death of her beloved father at her own hands sends Lenore over the edge . By the time Kirk leads her away , her tears have given way to laughter . Sometime later , after the performers have been dropped off at Benecia , McCoy promises Lenore will get the best of care , and that the last report of her is that she believes her father is still alive . . . performing to cheering audiences . McCoy suggests that Kirk did care for Lenore , which Kirk does not respond to , instead giving the order for Lieutenant Leslie to break orbit and go to warp . He does give McCoy a knowing look , which is all the answer the doctor needs . Memorable quotes . " " The chain of command is often a noose . " " " " My father ' s race was spared the dubious benefits of alcohol . " " " " Now I know why they were conquered . " " " " And this ship . All this power . Surging and throbbing , yet under control . Are you like that , captain ? " " " " Worlds may change , galaxies disintegrate , but a woman always remains a woman . " " " " The Caesar of the stars and the Cleopatra to worship him . " " " " Even in this corner of the galaxy , Captain , two plus two equals four . Almost certainly an attempt will be made to kill you . Why do you invite death ? " " " " Do you play God ? Carry his head through the corridors in triumph ? That won ' t bring back the dead , Jim ! " " " " No . But they may rest easier . " " " " What were you twenty years ago ? " " " " Younger , captain . Much younger . " " " " I find your use of the word mercy strangely inappropriate , Captain . Here you stand , the perfect symbol of our technical society . Mechanized , electronicized , and not very Human . You ' ve done away with Humanity , the striving of man to achieve greatness through his own resources . " " " " We ' ve armed man with tools . The striving for greatness continues . " " " " Blood thins . The body fails . One is finally grateful for a failing memory . " " " " There ' s a stain of cruelty on your shining armor , captain . " " " " You are like your ship – powerful , and not Human . There is no mercy in you . " " " " If he " is " Kodos . . . then I ' ve shown him more mercy than he deserves . " " " " Who are YOU to say what harm was done ? " " " " Who do I have to " be ? " " " In the long history of medicine , no doctor has ever caught the first few minutes of a play . " " " " All the ghosts are " dead . " I ' ve " buried " them . There ' s no more blood on your hands . " " " Oh , my child – my child . . . " " ( voice becomes an anguished sob ) " " " You ' ve left me " NOTHING ! ! ! " " " The play is " over . " It ' s been over for twenty years . " " " " Caesar , beware the Ides of March . " " " " The curtain rises ! It rises ! There ' s no time to sleep ! " " Links and references . References . 2246 ; 2247 ; 2257 ; act ; actor ; alcohol ; ; Arcturian ; " Astral Queen " ; background check ; Benecia ; Benecia Colony , " Beyond Antares " ; book ; Caesar ; chain ; chain of command ; Cleopatra ; cocktail party ; communications section ; communicator ; couch ; curtain ; Cygnia Minor ; ; doctor ; dossier ; double red alert ; Duncan ; ; Earth ; Earth Forces ; empirical research ; engineering ; engineering room ; eugenics ; famine ; flight deck ; food concentrate / synthetic food ; fungus ; Galactic Cultural Exchange Project ; ; God ; Good Samaritan ; governor ; " Hamlet " ; ; Ides of March ; Juliet ; Karidian Company of Players ; king ; Kodos ; lab report ; Lady Macbeth ; library computer ; list ; logic ; " Macbeth " ; ; martial law ; medical log ; medicine ; milk ; Milky Way Galaxy ; ; murder ; ; observation deck ; Ophelia ; orbit station ; pain ; patio ; patrol ; phaser ; philosophy ; Planet Q ; quadrant ; quarterly physical ; rec room ; Riley ' s parents ; Sarek ; Saurian brandy ; schedule ; scientist ; scrambler ; second - in - command ; security two alert ; ; shuttlecraft ; soldier ; soul ; space regulations ; sponsor ; spray bottle ; stage ; " Star Light , Star Bright " ; Star Service ; suicide ; sulphur ous ; supply ship ; Tarsus IV ; tetra - lubisol ; theater ; tool ; town ; tray ; voice film ; voice test ; Vulcan ; Vulcan lute ; weapons locker ; welcoming committee Unreferenced material . the Academy ; ; Kirk ' s father ; Marcellus ; midshipman ; nightmare s ; perfume ; plastic ; rebellion ; sandwich es ; snow ; star - video ; trump card ; Venus ian ; voice track ;