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"The Conscience of the King" is a memorable drama about a traveling Shakespearean troupe led by one Anton Karidian (Arnold Moss), who may or may not be the same man as Kodos the Executioner, former governor of a Federation planet who oversaw the mass murder of thousands of people rather than watch them starve to death during a food shortage. (Shortly after the deaths, Federation supply ships arrived and Kodos disappeared, right around the time that Karidian arrived as a classical actor touring the planets.) A nice twist: among victims of Kodos's wrongheaded mercy killings were relatives of Captain Kirk (William Shatner), adding a personal note to the mystery of Karidian/Kodos. Well-written (by Barry Trivers) and sensitively directed by a not-well-known but very interesting Hollywood filmmaker, Gerd Oswald.
--Tom Keogh
From the Back Cover
After Kirk beams up actor Anton Karidian, deadly accidents occur aboard the starship. Could Karidian be Kodos the Executioner?
TREK TRIVIA
Barbara Anderson (Lenore Karidian) went on to star with Raymond Burr in the hit TV series Ironside.
This episode marked the first appearance of the Observation Deck, which was not seen again until Star Trek V: The Final Frontier...more than twenty years later!