Klingon Civil War The Klingon Civil War was a conflict fought from late 2367 to early 2368 over the right to choose the next Chancellor of the Klingon High Council and " de facto " leader of the Klingon Empire . The war was fought between forces loyal to Gowron , the legally appointed candidate , and the supporters of the House of Duras , led by Lursa and B ' Etor . The war was a decisive victory for Gowron , but it was achieved only through indirect assistance from the United Federation of Planets in exposing covert Romulan assistance to the forces of the Duras family . Prelude . The conflict had its roots in the reign of K ' mpec , the longest - lived chancellor of the Empire . Although K ' mpec ruled with an iron fist and managed to keep peace within the Empire , his influence began to wane as he grew older , and two opposing factions began to develop . The first faction , led by Gowron , favored the continuing alliance with the Federation , while the second faction , led by Duras , sought to establish a more independent and aggressive policy for the Empire . Duras had support from a large majority of the High Council , while Gowron ' s support came largely from political outsiders and military personnel . Tensions came to a head in early 2367 with the sudden revelation that K ' mpec was dying . He had been slowly poisoned by Veridium Six that had been introduced into his bloodwine . Because the killer had not shown his face to his victim , Klingon tradition considered the act to be without honor . Recognizing the corruption that had taken hold in the Empire , K ' mpec decided that he could not trust any Klingon with the task of choosing the next leader of the Empire . Therefore , he took the unheard - of action of selecting Jean - Luc Picard , a Human Starfleet officer , as the Arbiter of Succession . Picard initially refused K ' mpec ' s request , stating that a Starfleet officer had no business choosing the next leader of the Klingon Empire . K ' mpec responded by saying that all he was doing was asking Picard to determine which one of the two challengers killed him , which would eliminate that person from contending for the leadership of the Council . K ' mpec further argued that a Klingon civil war would inevitably involve neighboring powers – the Tholian Assembly , the Ferengi Alliance , and ultimately the Romulan Star Empire and the Federation itself . K ' mpec pointed out that whoever had so dishonorably killed him – either Gowron or Duras – could not be allowed to rule the Empire . Concerned by the prospect of a massive interstellar war , Picard agreed to arbitrate the dispute . The process of selecting a new leader for the Empire was almost immediately disrupted when a bomb exploded in the middle of the " Sonchi " ceremony confirming K ' mpec ' s death . One retainer each from Gowron ' s and Duras ' delegations was killed in the blast . Picard , wary of K ' mpec ' s warnings concerning the dishonorable actions of either Duras or Gowron , chose to proceed carefully . He revived the ancient ritual of the " ja ' chuq " , in which each contender tried to prove his worthiness to lead the Council , which delayed the final decision long enough to allow the " Enterprise " crew to investigate the bombing . What the " Enterprise " officers found was disturbing : the bomb had used a molecular decay detonator , a type of device used only by the Romulan s . Given the past history between the House of Duras and the Romulans – Duras had previously been involved in a cover - up of his father Ja ' rod ' s culpability for the Khitomer Massacre some twenty years before , which was officially blamed on Worf ' s father Mogh , for which Worf chose to accept dishonor to keep the Empire from splitting up , Duras ' house having grown politically powerful – there was now evidence pointing towards one of the contenders . ( ) The proceedings were abruptly ended by a fight between Duras and Worf . Duras had killed K ' Ehleyr , the Federation ambassador to the Klingon Empire , for investigating into the matter of the Khitomer Massacre and uncovering Duras ' father ' s complicity . Worf , as K ' ehleyr ' s mate , claimed the right of vengeance against Duras , and killed Duras in honorable combat . Although Worf was officially " persona non grata " within the Empire , the High Council considered the matter closed . With Duras killed and his faction discredited , the way was cleared for Gowron to assume leadership of the Council . ( ) Although Duras died in disgrace , his family did not inherit that disgrace . The corruption of Duras had spread to much of the rest of the High Council , who stood ready to support the House of Duras despite the traditional dishonor of its now - dead leader . Lursa and B ' Etor , the sisters of Duras , assumed the leadership of the House , and began gathering support to overpower Gowron . They also secured the allegiance of three prominent fleet commanders , swelling their ranks for a possible military challenge to Gowron ' s leadership . Gowron requested that Picard , as the Arbiter of Succession , ensure his installation as Chancellor . Picard would not step outside the boundaries of Klingon law , and refused Gowron ' s request for assistance . He would only assure Gowron that he would respond to any challenges according to Klingon law . The sisters ' power play , when it came , took an unexpected form : they introduced to the Council Toral , a young , previously unknown illegitimate son and heir to Duras . Toral challenged Gowron for the leadership of the Council , and the Council , controlled almost entirely by supporters of the Duras family , backed his challenge . Picard was thus put in an extremely untenable position – if he accepted Toral ' s challenge , Gowron would quickly be killed and Toral installed as leader , but if he rejected Toral ' s challenge , Picard ' s supposed " Federation meddling " would be used as a rallying cry for the forces of Duras to wrest control from Gowron by force . Ultimately , Picard chose to reject Toral ' s claim , arguing that Toral had claimed no honor for himself , having fought no battles for the Empire . Incensed , Lursa and B ' Etor protested Picard ' s dictating of Klingon affairs , and led most of the High Council in walking out of the Great Hall . Gowron was left with few allies and practically no support . ( ) War . The war finally broke out with a brazen attack on Gowron ' s flagship , the . Not expecting an attack so quickly , Gowron was taken by surprise and his ship was nearly destroyed before the attackers were driven off by Captain Kurn and the . Kurn , an outspoken opponent of both Gowron and Duras , had been persuaded to support Gowron by his elder brother , Worf . Kurn brought the support of three full fleet squadrons with him , which gave Gowron a fighting chance to resist his enemies . Emboldened by this support , Gowron chose to go through with his installation as Chancellor of the Klingon Empire . As his first act as Chancellor , Gowron reversed the discommendation that had been issued against Worf and the House of Mogh , restoring the honor of Wrof and Kurn . Faced with a choice to return to duty aboard the " Enterprise " or fight alongside his brother in support of Gowron , Worf chose to resign his commission to fight under Kurn aboard the " Hegh ' ta " . As the official leader of the Empire , Gowron requested that the Federation send support in fighting the Duras family ' s forces under the terms of the Treaty of Alliance . Jean - Luc Picard , acting as representative for the Federation , refused to commit Federation resources , fearing that direct intervention would likely to lead to Romulan intervention as well , calling the conflict " by definition an internal Klingon matter . " Although the majority of the Klingon fleet had not yet chosen sides in the conflict , Gowron was seriously outnumbered by the Duras ' forces , who controlled at least seven squadrons and had amassed a large fleet near Beta Thoridar . Over the next two weeks , Gowron ' s forces suffered three major defeats , most notably at the Battle of Mempa . Although the Battle of Mempa was a major defeat for Gowron , it was also a notable battle because it could have resulted in a complete rout . General Martok first became a revered figure in the Klingon military for his heroic leadership on that day . Additionally , Captain Kurn used a brilliant and unorthodox maneuver of ordering the " Hegh ' ta " to use a solar flare to destroy two pursuing warships . ( ; ) In the Federation , many eyes were closely watching the reports coming from the battlefields . Although the Prime Directive dictated that the Federation remain neutral in the war , Captain Picard correctly pointed out that if other powers – such as the Romulans – were involved in the conflict , then it would very much be a Federation concern . Picard argued that the unbroken string of Duras victories indicated that they were receiving outside support . Indeed , Picard pointed out that the Romulans had been trying to destabilize the Federation - Klingon alliance for the past twenty years , and it was almost unthinkable that they would remain uninvolved at such a crucial crossroads in the affairs of the Empire . In a proposal to Fleet Admiral Shanthi , Picard suggested that Starfleet blockade the Klingon - Romulan border and prevent any ships from sending any further , still - hypothetical , support to the Duras family . Using a new technique called a tachyon detection grid , even cloaked ships would be detectable to Starfleet sensor s . Shanthi and the Federation Council authorized Picard ' s plan , and the led a 23 - ship fleet into Klingon territory to deploy the tachyon net . This action drew immediate protest from the Romulan side of the border , as Commander Sela demanded that the Federation fleet withdraw or be considered hostile and a potential invasion force . In order to provoke the Romulans into attempting to run the blockade , Picard suggested that Gowron launch a full - scale assault on the Duras ' forces in the hopes of forcing the Duras to call for help from their secret allies . The Romulans took the bait , and despite an attempt to evade detection , that was defeated thanks to the initiative of Lt . Commander Data in command of the , the Romulan ships were exposed . With their connection to the Duras family exposed , Sela ordered her ships to retreat back to Romulan territory rather than risk a fight with both the Klingons and the Federation . Klingon support fell away from the Duras family as knowledge of their collaboration with the Romulans spread , and Gowron ' s offensive led to a complete victory . In the final days of the war , Lursa and B ' Etor fled their base on Qo ' noS as it was stormed by Gowron ' s forces , abandoning Toral to fend for himself . He ended up being convicted of treason by the High Council . In the days following the war Gowron handed the fate of Toral over to Worf . Worf opted to spare Toral ' s life , as he ' d been little more than a pawn of his aunts , a decision he ' d later regret . ( ; ) Aftermath . Following his victory , Gowron proceeded to establish strict control over the Empire . He appointed an entirely new High Council membership , including Kurn and several other key allies . Although Gowron ' s position was threatened by the appearance of a clone of Kahless the Unforgettable in 2369 , Gowron was generally treated as the uncontested leader of the Empire until 2375 . ( ; ) Although Lursa and B ' Etor fled , their political influence wasn ' t entirely eliminated . Over the next several years , they attempted to regain their former status by making an effort to raise funds with which to hire mercenary armies , or trying to obtain weapons with which to blackmail the High Council . Commander Benjamin Sisko mentioned the civil war to Odo when Lursa and B ' Etor arrived on Deep Space 9 in 2369 . Lursa and B ' Etor were finally killed in 2371 , when their Bird - of - Prey was destroyed by the " Enterprise " - D in orbit of Veridian III . Toral also made an attempt to regain power in 2372 by seizing the Sword of Kahless , but he was thwarted by Worf , Kor , and Jadzia Dax . ( ; ; )