Errand of Mercy (episode)
From Memory Alpha, the free Star Trek reference.
| This article is written from the Real World point of view |
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| This article is written from the Real World point of view |
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| "Errand of Mercy" | ||
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| TOS, Episode 1x27 Production number: 6149-27 First aired: 23 March 1967 Remastered version aired: 12 May 2007 | ||
| ← | 28th of 80 produced in TOS | → |
| ← | 26th of 80 released in TOS | → |
| ← | 30th of 80 released in TOS Remastered | → |
| ← | 26th of 726 released in all | → |
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| Written By Gene L. Coon Directed By John Newland | ||
| 3198.4 (2267) | ||
Kirk and Spock try to protect the planet Organia from the Klingons, but the natives don't want the Federation's help.
Contents |
Summary
Acting under coded orders, Captain Kirk takes the USS Enterprise to the peaceful planet Organia. Negotiations with the Klingon Empire are on the verge of collapse, and Organia is the only Class M planet in the disputed area. Whichever power controls the world will have an advantage in the conflict that is yet to come.
En route, the Enterprise comes under surprise attack, and manages to dispatch the attacker, moments before an all-points relay comes from Starfleet command – Code One alert – war. Kirk's mission is unchanged, but with open hostility, now more difficult.
Assuming orbit, Kirk prepares to visit the planet, leaving Lieutenant Sulu in charge, with specific instructions what to do in the event the Klingon fleet appears. Beaming down, Kirk and Spock arrive in the midst of a primitive, agrarian society – whose people seem curiously unconcerned about visitors materializing within their midst. They are greeted by Ayelborne. Kirk asks to speak to someone in authority, and Ayelborne tells him "we don't have anyone in authority" – but tells them he is chairman of the Council of Elders, and asks if he might do.
Kirk, addressing the Council, is confounded. They claim they have no need of protection, no need of defenses. They simply will not believe that the Klingons will subjugate their world and enslave their people, destroying their culture and way of life. Then Spock returns with the results of his cultural survey: there has been no advancement, no progress on this world for as far back as his tricorder can measure. And then the Klingon fleet arrives – a fact councilor Trefayne seems aware of before even Spock can confirm it with his tricorder.
The Enterprise is forced to leave, stranding Kirk and Spock amidst a Klingon occupation army, led by Kor. The Organians provide clothing, but take their Federation visitors' weapons. Kirk is now Baroner, a leading citizen, while Spock is a merchant dealing in kevas and trillium. Kor, disgusted by the constant smiling he sees around him, selects the one unsmiling man he has found to be his liaison to the civil population – Kirk. Meanwhile, Spock is taken to be examined – as a Vulcan, he might be a spy.
The examination, performed with the mind-sifter, does not pierce Spock's pretense, and he is released. Kirk has been instructed in his duties as liaison, and both men are released to go about their business. Together, they scheme to teach the Organians how they might resist. To do so, they destroy an ammo dump – and discover the Organians are appalled by the act of destruction. Kirk, thinking they're afraid, scorns their desire to avoid violence; they reply that he simply doesn't understand them. Unfortunately, his impassioned speech is overheard by Kor, who has the Council chamber under surveillance.
Ayelborne, learning Kor plans to interrogate Kirk with the mind-sifter, reveals Kirk's identity. Betrayed, Kirk and Spock are imprisoned and threatened. But Ayelborne remains placid, assuring Kirk that no harm will come of it. Kirk and Kor discuss ideology; Kor seems happy that the universe is full of people who don't like the Klingons. He feels that survival must be earned, and relishes the challenge of earning it. Kirk is given just twelve hours to answer questions; after that, he will be subjected to the mind sifter and – what's left of him – will be killed.
With six hours left, the cell door opens and – Ayelborne steps inside, offering them safety. Somehow, he has invaded the Klingon sanctuary without attracting the attention of the guards there.
Kor is furious, and rounds up hostages to be killed: two hundred hostages immediately, and two hundred more at intervals until the Starfleet officers are returned. Kirk is horrified, and plans to take action to ensure no more deaths occur. After they leave the council, its members have a strange conversation. Despite the horror of it, they will take action to prevent the Klingons and Starfleet men from harming each other. As Kirk and Spock begin their assault on Kor's stronghold, the Organians begin to do ... what?
Kirk and Spock burst in on Kor, and learn the Federation fleet is en route – the destiny of the galaxy will be decided for the next thousand years, very soon. Klingon guards burst in, and just as a fight begins, no one can hold their weapons. Or strike each other. Even Kor's attempt at an improvised weapon fails. All weapons, all bodies, both fleets – are too hot to handle.
It is the Organian intervention. They have put a stop to the violence. Instruments of violence are useless; the same condition holds on both fleets. Ayelborne, as he stands before Kirk and Kor, also stands on the homeworlds of the Federation and the Empire. Both sides must agree to cease hostilities, or their armed forces will be neutralized. The Organians are more than they seem – far more. After imposing their will, they demand the departure of their visitors. The discordant emotions are actually painful to the Organians. And then the Organians reveal their real nature: millions of years ago, they were humanoid. But they have evolved beyond the need for physical bodies. Everything – their bodies, the buildings, all of it were constructed to provide points of reference for visitors.
Log Entries
- "Captain's log, stardate 3198.4. We have reached Organia and established standard orbit. No signs of hostile activities in this area."
- "Captain's log, stardate 3201.7. Mr. Spock and I are trapped on the planet Organia, which is in the process of being occupied by the forces of the Klingon Empire. The Organians have provided us with native clothing in the hopes that we may be taken for Organians."
Memorable Quotes
"The trigger's been pulled... We have to get there before the hammer falls."
- - Kirk
"It is our way of life, captain."
"That's the first thing that will be lost... I'm sorry – I'm a soldier, not a diplomat; I can only tell you the truth."
- - Ayelborne and Kirk
"Well – have we a ram among the sheep? You object to us taking him?"
"He's done nothing; nothing at all."
"Coming from an Organian, yours is practically an act of rebellion. (To the council) So you welcome me; do you also welcome me, Baroner?"
"You're here; there's nothing I can do about it."
"Good, honest hatred – very refreshing."
- - Kor and "Baroner" (Kirk)
"I don't trust men who smile too much..."
- - Kor
"We Klingons have a reputation for ruthlessness; you will find that it is deserved. Should one Klingon soldier be killed, a thousand Organians will die. I will have order."
"Commander, I assure you; our people want nothing but peace. We will cause you no trouble."
"I am sure you will not."
- - Kor and Ayelborne
(About Spock)"What will happen to him?"
"You are concerned?"
"He is my friend."
"You have a poor choice of friends..." (Kirk strains to reach Spock) "You do not like to be pushed... very good. You may be a man I can deal with, Baroner."
- - Kirk and Kor
"Would you like to try our little 'truth-finder'?... It's a mind sifter -- or, mind ripper, depending on how much force is used. We can record every thought, every scrap of knowledge in a man's brain. Of course, when that much force is used, the mind is emptied... permanently, I'm afraid. What's left is more vegetable than human."
"And you're proud of this?"
"It is a tool."
- - Kor to Kirk, boasting of the mind scanner
"Bad enough to be a military governor, but to govern a planet of sheep! Very well, round up 200 more... The fools! Will I have to kill them all?"
- - Kor
"How little you understand us."
- - Ayelborne (repeated line)
"Always it is the brave ones who die, the soldiers! I hope you continue to savor the sweetness of your lives; you disgust me!"
- - Kor, after Ayelborne reveals Baroner to be Kirk
"I'm a soldier, not a diplomat. I can only tell you the truth!"
- - Kirk, to the Organian ruling council, which refuses to interfere in the conquest of the Organians by the Kingons
"Tell me about the dispersal of your Starfleet."
(smiles) "Go climb a tree."
"I could get what I want through our mind scanner, but there would be so very little of your mind left. A great waste, captain. This friend of yours, the Vulcan; he seems to have the ability to block our scanner. I believe I will find out why – I will have him dissected. Your friend, killed; you, a living vegetable. Not a pleasant prospect, is it? But it lies in store for you unless you tell me everything I want to know... Twelve hours, captain."
"It will take longer than that."
"Longer than that I will not wait. I respect you, captain, but this is war – a game we Klingons play to win."
- - Kor and Kirk
"Ah, there you are gentlemen; I trust you are in good health. Shall we go?
"Go?"
"Yes, your captors plan to do violence to you, and that we cannot permit."
- - Ayelborne, freeing Kirk and Spock
"Brave men."
"Yes, but so foolish! What will happen, Trefayne?"
"They will wait until nightfall."
"Then what?"
"Terrible, inconceivable – savage!"
(pause) "We will wait."
- - Ayelborne, Claymare and Trefayne as Kirk and Spock leave
"It has begun."
"It will be hard."
"Prepare yourselves."
- - Trefayne, Claymare and Ayelborne as the intervention begins.
"As I stand here, I stand on the home planet of the Klingon Empire... and on the home planet of your Federation. Unless both sides agree to an immediate cessation of hostilities, all your armed forces – wherever they may be – will be immediately immobilized."
- - Ayelborne
"You are going to stop us? YOU?"
- - Kirk
"You should be the first to be on our side! Two hundred Organians killed!"
(smiling) "No one has been killed, captain."
"No one has died here... in uncounted thousands of years."
- - Kirk, Ayelborne and Claymare
"Well, Commander, I guess that takes care of the war. Obviously, the Organians aren't going to let us fight."
"A pity, Captain. It would have been glorious!"
- - Kirk and Kor, discussing the Organian intervention
"No one has the right to dictate to our Federation–"
"Or our empire!"
"How to handle its interstellar relations! We have the right–"
"To wage war? To kill millions of innocent people? To destroy life on a planetary scale? Is that what you're defending?"
(taken aback) "... Well, no one wants war... but there are proper channels. People have a right to settle their own affairs. Eventually..."
"Oh, eventually, you will have peace – but only after millions of innocent people have died. It is true that in the future, you and the Klingons will be come fast friends; you will work together."
"Never!"
- - Kirk, Kor, and Ayelborne
"We do not wish to seem inhospitable but, gentlemen, you must leave."
"Yes, please go. The mere presence of beings like yourselves is intensely painful to us."
"What do you mean, 'beings like yourselves'?"
"Millions of years ago, we were humanoid like yourselves. But now we have developed beyond the need of physical bodies. That which you see before you is mere appearance... for your sake."
- - Claymare, Ayelborne, and Kirk
"Captain, we can handle them; I have an army..."
- - Kor, unwittingly almost fulfilling Ayelborne's prophecy
"Fascinating,captain! Pure energy – pure thought! Totally non-corporeal; not life as we know it at all."
..."But is all this possible?"
"We have seen it with our own eyes; I would say the Organians are as far above us on the evolutionary scale... as we are above the amoeba."
- - Spock and Kor
"Well, there it is – war. We didn't want it, but we've got it."
"Curious how often you humans manage to obtain that which you do not want."
"I'm embarrassed, Mr. Spock. I was furious with the Organians for stopping a war I did not want."
- - Kirk and Spock, before and after arriving at Organia
Background Information
Story and Script
- This episode marks the first appearance of the Klingons.
- Ayelborne mentions that in the future, the Federation and the Klingons would be friends and work together, both of which become true.
- The episode title comes from The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens: "It is an errand of mercy which brings me here. Pray, let me discharge it."
- In the script, the Klingons were described simply as "Oriental, hard-faced."
- According to the script, the Organian village was to be modeled on old English villages, with thatched huts and muddy back alleys.
Cast
- DeForest Kelley (Dr. McCoy) and James Doohan (Scotty) do not appear in this episode. Along with "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" and "The Menagerie, Part II", this is one of only three episodes after the two pilots in which Kelley does not appear. This was also McCoy's last non-appearance in TOS.
- This was the first appearance of John Colicos as Kor. The character was also set to appear in "Day of the Dove" and "The Trouble with Tribbles", but Colicos was unavailable and other Klingon characters were written in. A script was written for Kor for the fourth season, but the show was canceled after the third season, and he never got his chance to appear again (Kor did appear in TAS: "The Time Trap", but was voiced by James Doohan). Colicos was also the person who gave the Klingons their dark-skinned, mustached look. He said he was going for the "Genghis Khan" look. He did eventually reprise his role in DS9: "Blood Oath", "The Sword of Kahless", and "Once More Unto the Breach".
- Despite his saying so at several conventions, Vic Lundin is not the first Klingon seen entering the Organian Chambers ahead of Kor. Although two Klingons enter before Kor, neither of them is played by Lundin.
Costumes
- The baldric that Kor wore was reused for Worf during TNG's first season. (The TNG Companion) When it was exhibited at the Smithsonian Institution as part of a Star Trek retrospective in the 1990s, the material could clearly be seen to be burlap sacking, painted gold.
- The same exhibit showed that the buckles of the Klingon belts were pieces of bubble pack, with the bubbles painted silver to resemble metal studs.
Sets and Props
- This is one of only two episodes that show an actual Klingon flip-top communicator, which is similar to, but smaller than, the Starfleet version (watch when Kor contacts his fleet). The other episode is "Elaan of Troyius". The communicator was recycled from the Eminian version from "A Taste of Armageddon".
- Also recycled and reworked from "A Taste of Armageddon" are the sonic disruptor pistols, first used here by the Klingons and later by the Romulans.
- The boxes in the Klingon munitions dump were spray-painted corrugated cardboard containers.
- The main gate to the Organian village, where Ayelborne greets Kirk and Spock was previously the gate to the Rigel VII castle in "The Cage". The stairs on which Spock and Kirk phaser the Klingon guards are the same set where Christopher Pike battled the Kaylar in the original pilot. Portions of the Organian village set are also visible in "A Private Little War" and "The Omega Glory".
Effects
- The shot of Enterprise hit by magnetic pulses was a stock shot of energy bolts hitting the ship, the corresponding live-action sequences used a buzzing electric effects theme – that would be reused for the Klingon Bird-of-Prey firing effect in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. The shot of Enterprise firing was also a reuse, this time the white bolts shot out of the ship are said to be phasers, even though in other appearances the same effect represents photon torpedoes.
Other Information
- This is the last episode in which the term "Vulcanian" is used to refer to Vulcans.
- A dog can be heard barking in the background before Kirk and Spock phaser two Klingon guards.
- The Stargate SG-1 episode "The Nox", guest-starring Armin Shimerman, had a plot very close to this episode's. It featured the protagonists trying to protect a seemingly weak and primitive society from ruthless invaders, only to have these aliens refuse to take any sides by protecting both camps from each other. It similarly ends with the aliens revealing that they are much more powerful than they seem, and that they were in no real danger at any point.
- Spock's uttering of "pure energy" to describe the true nature of the Organians is used in the Information Society's song, "What's On Your Mind".
- A comic book published by IDW Comics in April 2007, "Against Their Nature", told this story from the Klingon point of view.
- The Bantam paperback Star Trek: The New Voyages included a story called "Mind Sifter" which described the horrific aftereffects of the Klingon torture instrument on Kirk.
Production Timeline
- First draft script: 3 January 1967
- Final draft script: 6 January 1967
- Revised final draft: 23 January 1967
- Filmed late January 1967
Remastered Information
 Organia gets a CG face lift |
Enterprise battles the D7s |
The remastered version of "Errand of Mercy" aired in many North American markets during the weekend of 12 May 2007. The episode was heavy in new effects, with unique CG shots of Organia from orbit, replacing the stock footage used to represent other planets including Alfa 177, M-113, and Gothos. The Klingon battle was significantly expanded, with shots of a fleet of D7-class battle cruisers bombarding the Enterprise with blue-colored weapons fire. The Organians themselves were also modified, with more refined computer graphics inserted into the episode that remained true to their original appearance. [1]
Video and DVD releases
- Original US Betamax release: 1985.
- UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 15, catalogue number VHR 2311, release date unknown.
- US VHS release: 15 April 1994.
- UK re-release (three-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 1.10, 13 January 1997.
- Original US DVD release (single-disc): Volume 14, 11 July 2000.
- As part of the TOS Season 1 DVD collection.
- As part of the Star Trek: Fan Collective - Klingon collection.
- As part of the TOS Season 1 HD-DVD collection.
Links and References
Starring
Guest Stars
- John Abbott as Ayelborne
- John Colicos as Kor
Featuring
- George Takei as Sulu
- Nichelle Nichols as Uhura
- Peter Brocco as Claymare
- Victor Lundin as a Lieutenant
- David Hillary Hughes as Trefayne
- Walt Davis as a Klingon Soldier
- George Sawaya as a Second Soldier
Uncredited Co-Stars
- Bobby Bass as a Klingon Guard
- Bill Blackburn as a Klingon Guard
- Gary Coombs as a Klingon Guard
- Frank da Vinci as Brent
- Eddie Paskey as Leslie
References
amoeba; antimatter pods; Armenia; arrested culture; Baroner; Belgium; Code One alert; Council of Elders; D7 class; kevas; Klingon Empire; Klingon attack ship; magnetic pulse weapon; mind-sifter; Organia; Organian; Organian Peace Treaty; quarterly physical; Richter scale of culture; sonic grenade; Starfleet Command; trillium; Unit XY-75847
External link
- Errand of Mercy at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
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| Previous remastered episode aired: "Tomorrow is Yesterday" | TOS Remastered | Next remastered episode aired: "Patterns of Force" |
