STAR TREK: THE ORIGINAL SERIES
Season 3, Episode 22

The Savage Curtain

Series: Original Series - (1966-1969)
Season: 3
Episode #: 22
Production #: 60043-77
Original Airdate: 03/07/1969

Writer(s): Arthur Heinemann and Gene Roddenberry
Director(s): Herschel Daugherty

Guest Stars
Lee Bergere as Abraham Lincoln
Barry Atwater as Surak
Phillip Pine as Colonel Philip Green
Arell Blanton as Chief Security Guard Lt. Dickerson
Carol Daniels DeMent as Zora
Robert Herron as Kahless the Unforgettable
Nathan Jung as Genghis Khan

Uncredited Guest Stars
William Blackburn as Lt. Hadley
Roger Holloway as Ensign Roger Lemli
Bart LaRue as the Voice of Yarnek
Janos Prohaska as Yarnek

Stardate: 5906.4

Synopsis

The U.S.S. Enterprise is scanned by a powerful energy source coming from the planet Excalbia. The starship had been sent to survey the planet, but it was thought to consist of nothing but a lavalike surface without inhabitants.

[ Complete Screencap Index ]

The image of Abraham Lincoln appears in space and requests to be beamed aboard, claiming to be the genuine Lincoln. Against McCoy's objections, Kirk and Spock beam the entity aboard. They accept his offer to visit Excalbia, where a rock-like creature named Yarnek appears. Yarnek declares that the Enterprise officers are to participate in a battle between good and evil. This is to teach the Excalbians about humanoid concepts. Fighting for the "good" are, Kirk, Spock, Lincoln and Surak, founder of the present Vulcan culture. On the "bad" side are, Genghis Khan, Colonel Green, Zora - a vicious killer, and Kahless, father of the Klingon Empire as it was now known.

When the Enterprise officers refuse to fight, Yarnek freezes the starship's engines, starting a breakdown of the matter/antimatter shielding. If Kirk doesn't win, the ship will explode in four hours. There is much plotting and counter-plotting, until only Kirk, Spock, Khan and Zora remain alive. After some philosophical discussion regarding "good" and "evil," Yarnek returns Kirk and Spock to the U.S.S. Enterprise and frees the ship.

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