Heart of Glory (episode)

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"Heart of Glory"
TNG, Episode 1x20 Production number: 40271-120 First aired: 21 March 1988
←	19th of 176 produced in TNG	→
←	19th of 176 released in TNG	→
	{{{nNthReleasedInSeries_Remastered}}}th of 176 released in TNG Remastered
←	124th of 726 released in all	→
Teleplay By Maurice Hurley Story By Maurice Hurley and Herbert Wright & D.C. Fontana Directed By Rob Bowman
41503.7 (2364)
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Worf faces a test of loyalties when three fugitive Klingons come on board the Enterprise-D.

Contents 1 Summary 2 Background Information 2.1 Production 2.2 Continuity 2.3 Production history 2.4 Video and DVD releases 3 Links and references 3.1 Starring 3.2 Also starring 3.3 Guest stars 3.4 Featuring 3.5 Uncredited co-stars 3.6 Stunt double 3.7 References 3.8 Log entries

[edit] Summary

Starfleet Command sends a communication to the USS Enterprise-D about a disturbance in the Neutral Zone, a battle. There are no Federation vessels in the area, and Riker suggests that the Ferengi are involved. Data says it is not the Ferengi, but could be the Romulans. On arriving at the location of the battle, they find a vessel adrift without power. It is identified as the Talarian freighter Batris. Worf detects lifesigns, so Picard orders Riker to take an away team over. He brings Data and La Forge with him, giving La Forge a chance to test out his visual acuity transmitter. The device transmits what his VISOR sees, but only has a range of a few kilometers.

The away team beams over, and finds the ship in ruins. La Forge switches on the transmitter, and the viewscreen shows an image of flashing colors and indistinct shapes. Picard is intrigued by the images, and asks La Forge how he is able to filter out all the extra information. La Forge compares it to listening to an individual conversation in a noisy room; mentally "filtering out" information that isn't wanted. Picard also has trouble identifying Riker and Data. They move off down the corridor, dodging falling beams amid smoke and gas. La Forge spots a fissure in the bulkhead, and reckons they only have five minutes until the hull breaches. The bridge loses the transmission from the VISOR.

They locate the survivors on the far side of the engine core. Data goes across on his own, to minimize the risk to the others. He returns, telling them that the door to the compartment is jammed. The others run over, and Data pulls open the door. Inside are three Klingons, one badly injured. They all make their way out of the engineering section, and Yar tries to get a lock on them. She has difficulty, and fails the first time, but then manages to beam them out just as the ship explodes.

The survivors are brought to sickbay, and Picard and Worf go to meet them. Dr. Crusher says the injured Klingon is in critical condition. The others introduce themselves as Commander Korris and Lieutenant Konmel. They say they were being transported on the freighter when a Ferengi cruiser attacked them. Worf says the weapons were Klingon. They agree, but reiterate that the ship was Ferengi. They took control at the captain's request, and pretended to surrender, but when the Ferengi dropped their shields they destroyed the cruiser with merculite rockets. Worf shows them to their quarters, but Picard is suspicious as to why they were on the freighter in the first place.

In the Klingons' quarters, they get something to eat. Worf tells them he is the only Klingon in Starfleet, and they mock him, telling he has become soft and docile living with Humans. Then they reassure him, telling him they are only trying to anger him to see if it is still possible. Then the captain calls from sickbay, where the third Klingon, Kunivas, is dying. They go to sickbay, and Korris opens Kunivas' eyes and looks into them. Then all three howl at the ceiling. They leave again, Korris telling Crusher that the body is now only an empty shell.

Worf asks them what really happened, and they ask Worf how he came to be where he is. He tells them that he was at Khitomer as a child when it was attacked by the Romulans. He was buried under some rubble, but survived to be rescued by a Starfleet officer, who brought him home with him. He was raised as his son at Gault colony, and when they were old enough, he and his foster brother went to the Academy. His brother returned, he stayed. Korris and Konmel tell him that he was shunned and misunderstood all his life, and even now he is driven by something inside, even though there are no other Klingons around. He says those feelings are still there, but he is able to control them. They say that is the mark of a warrior. Korris says that the peace is like a living death to them, so they commandeered a freighter, in search of somewhere they could live as warriors. The ship they destroyed was a Klingon cruiser, and they claim that Klingons have been corrupted by peace.

Korris then asks to be shown around the ship. On the bridge, Data detects a vessel approaching. He comments that this was the first time outsiders have witnessed the Klingon death ritual. The howling is a warning to the afterlife that a Klingon warrior is about to arrive. The approaching ship is in visual range – it is a Klingon cruiser. Picard hails and Commander K'Nera answers. Picard tells him they rescued three Klingons. K'Nera asks if that is all that is left of the T'Acog. Picard tells him that they were on the freighter and K'Nera replies that they are criminals who have stolen a freighter and destroyed a cruiser. He wants them delivered to him when he arrives.

Picard sends a security team led by Yar to arrest the fugitives. They are in a corridor with Worf when the team arrives. Worf asks what's going on. The Klingons appeal to Worf for help, saying he is one of them. Then, a door opens and a small girl runs into the corridor. Korris picks her up, and after a moment hands her to Worf. Yar's team arrests them and brings them to the brig. Yar says she was afraid she was going to have a hostage situation, but Worf replies that Klingons don't take hostages, it is a cowardly thing to do.

The prisoners are in the brig when the Klingon ship arrives. K'Nera tells Picard that they will be tried and executed for their crimes. Worf appeals to him, saying their words have stirred something inside him, and asking him to allow them to die an honorable death on a remote planet. K'Nera says he feels the same, but he must follow orders. In the brig, Korris and Konmel assemble a phaser from their belts and other parts of their uniform. They disable the force field and kill a guard. The second guard hits Konmel three times before he dies, but then Korris kills him too. He runs, and Yar arrives on the scene. She informs the captain what has happened. Korris gets to engineering and climbs onto the second level around the core. He points his phaser at the dilithium crystal chamber and says he will only talk to Worf.

Worf and Picard go down to engineering. Yar wants to wait him out, but Worf says he will blow the core, destroying them all. Worf goes up to talk to Korris. He wants Worf to separate the ship and come with him in the stardrive section. Worf says that won't happen. He pulls out his phaser and points it at Korris. He can't believe what is happening and appeals again to Worf. Worf tells him he is looking for battles in the wrong place, the true test of a warrior being within himself. He hasn't mentioned duty, honor or loyalty, the things a true warrior must have. Korris says he has become weak like the humans, and goes to shoot Worf. Worf phasers him first, and he falls down to the ground level. Worf returns down, and performs the death ritual for Korris.

He and Picard return to the bridge and tell K'Nera that the fugitives are all dead. Worf tells him that they died well. He invites Worf to join his ship when he is finished aboard the Enterprise. Worf says he would be honored. K'Nera leaves, and Worf assures Captain Picard he doesn't want to leave the Enterprise, he was just being polite. Picard replies that the bridge wouldn’t be the same without him.

[edit] Background Information

[edit] Production

• Marina Sirtis (Deanna Troi) and Wil Wheaton (Wesley Crusher) do not appear in this episode.

• This was Vaughn Armstrong's first appearance on Star Trek, playing Captain Korris. He later played an unequaled twelve other roles in various Star Trek series. Armstrong's appearance in this episode was also the only time in his entire Trek career where he worked directly for Gene Roddenberry.

[edit] Continuity

• La Forge's VISOR is tied into the Enterprise's viewscreen during the away mission, allowing the bridge crew to see what he saw. This was the first and only time this procedure was used in the series, although Dr. Tolian Soran later used it against the Enterprise in Star Trek Generations (although in this episode, the image on the screen uses all the various spectrum images that Geordi presumably saw, while in the film, the image appeared the same as normal human vision. Possibly normal lighting was added later, and Dr. Soran programmed the transmitter to transmit this image only).

• This episode marks the first time that we see a Klingon death ritual. It is also the first time in the series we see Klingons in their full body armor.

• The Klingon battle cruiser is stock footage from Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

• This episode alludes to the fact that some Klingons are not happy about being at peace with the Federation. The back wall of K'Nera's bridge featured both the Federation and Klingon emblems, indicating the alliance.

• This is the only episode in which a fully functional phaser is built using parts hidden on one's uniform. Therefore, it is unknown whether the phaser is a custom weapon or whether phaser parts are built into every Klingon uniform.

• While in the engine room, Korris says the following: "I would rather die here than let the traitors of Kling pick the meat from my bones." The writer of that line intended for Kling to be the name of the Klingon homeworld, but was later officially changed to Qo'noS in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, since it was decided that Kling sounded a bit odd. The Star Trek Encyclopedia lists Kling as the name of the First City, but it isn't considered canon since that reference was never in any episode.

[edit] Production history

• Final draft script: 7 January 1988
• Revised final draft script: 13 January 1988
• Premiere airdate: 21 March 1988

[edit] Video and DVD releases

• Original UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 10, 4 March 1991.
• UK re-release (three-episode tapes, Paramount Home Entertainment): Volume 1.7, 7 September 1998.
• As part of the TNG Season 1 DVD collection.

[edit] Links and references

[edit] Starring

• Patrick Stewart as Captain Jean-Luc Picard
• Jonathan Frakes as Commander William Riker

[edit] Also starring

• LeVar Burton as Lt. Geordi La Forge
• Denise Crosby as Lt. Tasha Yar
• Michael Dorn as Lt. Worf
• Gates McFadden as Doctor Beverly Crusher
• Brent Spiner as Lt. Commander Data

[edit] Guest stars

• Vaughn Armstrong as Korris
• Charles H. Hyman as Konmel
• David Froman as K'Nera

[edit] Featuring

• Robert Bauer as Kunivas
• Brad Zerbst as a Nurse
• Dennis Madalone as Ramos

[edit] Uncredited co-stars

• James G. Becker as Youngblood
• Dexter Clay as a security officer
• Jeffrey Deacon as a command division officer
• Susan Duchow as an operations division officer
• John Escobar as a security officer
• David Eum as Wright
• Tim McCormack as Bennett
• Lorine Mendell as Diana Giddings
• Guy Vardaman as Darien Wallace

[edit] Stunt double

• Dennis Madalone as stunt double for Vaughn Armstrong

[edit] References

adrenaline; Age of Inclusion; android; away team; Batris; bulkhead; cloaking device; deuterium; dilithium crystal chamber; Ferengi; Ferengi cruiser; freighter; Gault colony; Halee system; humans; hypospray; Khitomer; Kling; Klingons; Klingon cruiser; Klingon death ritual; Klingon Defense Force; Klingonese; life-support; M-Zed-5; Merculite rocket; metal fatigue; Quadrant 9; Rozhenko, Nikolai; saucer separation; sector; security team; Security Three; spectrograph; Starbase 84; subspace frequency; T'Acog, IKS; Talarians; Talarian freighter; tour of duty; Transporter Room 3; Romulans; Romulan Neutral Zone; VISOR; visual acuity transmitter; warp core; warp drive

[edit] Log entries

• Captain's log, USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D), 2364

Previous episode: "Coming of Age"

Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 1

Next episode: "The Arsenal of Freedom"