The Conscience of the King story
While visiting an old friend, Kirk suspects a Shakespearean actor may actually be the murderous former governor of Tarsus IV where Kirk grew up. Kirk invites the acting troupe aboard the Enterprise in order to investigate, but soon assassination attempts are made on Kirk and another crewman who was an eyewitness to the murders.
33 total · 2 choice · 9 major · 22 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| eugenics | choice | Kodos selected half the population to die on eugenic principles |
| the desire for vengeance | choice | Kirk :: Kirk and others to Kodos |
| acting | major | Karidian was a traveling Shakespeare actor who turned out to be Kodos the executioner. The final confrontation took place during a presentation of Hamlet. |
| choosing who dies and who lives | major | Kodos the Executioner :: Kodos killed half the population |
| confronting an old ghost | major | Kodos the Executioner :: Kodos |
| guilt and evidence | major | what was enough to prove Anton Karidian was really Kodos |
| murder | major | Kodos was systematically killing off witnesses to his genocidal crime. |
| remorse | major | Kodos the Executioner :: Kodos |
| statute of limitations | major | Captain Kirk took it upon himself to reopen a case against Kodos the Executioner that the authorities had closed the book on some years prior. |
| the ethics of valuing human lives | major | Kodos the Executioner :: Kodos killed half the population |