"Errand of Mercy" is an episode of Star Trek: The Original Series, first broadcast on March 16, 1967. It is episode #26, written by Gene L. Coon and directed by John Newland . It was the first episode to feature the Klingons.

Quick Overview: In a state of war with the Klingons, Kirk and Spock attempt to sway the incomprehensively placid population of a planet to their side.

On stardate 3198.4, relations between the United Federation of Planets and the Klingon Empire have reached boiling point, and recent negotiations have broken down. The USS Enterprise has been sent to the world of Organia , a non-aligned planet near the Klingon border, in fear that the Klingons will annex it.

Upon approach the Enterprise is attacked by and destroys a Klingon vessel. It is soon discovered that war has officially started. Captain James T. Kirk and his landing party warn the Organians of the Klingons, but they are not concerned. The Klingon fleet then invades, forcing withdrawal of Enterprise leaving Kirk and Mr. Spock on the surface.

The Klingons easily seize control of the planet with Kor being the governor. The Organians disguise Kirk and Spock, but refuse to do more to resist the occupation. The two start guerilla operations of their own against the occupation force over the objections of the Organians.

When the Klingons confront the Organian ruling council and threaten to torture Kirk and Spock as suspected insurgents, the Organians confess their true identities and allow them to be arrested. After preliminary interrogations, the pair are held in a dungeon, but are freed by the Organians, and hid in the council chamber.

While Kirk and Spock try to reason out the natives' incomprehensibly contradictory actions; Kor retaliates for the apparent aided escape by ordering mass execution of Organians. However, the Organians still neither budge from protecting the officers nor accepting the occupation. Both the Federation and Klingon officers become profoundly frustrated.

As the enemy fleets converge on the system, threatening to turn it into a war-zone, Kirk and Spock decide to make a suicidal raid on the Klingon occupational headquarters in hopes of rousing the population into resistance. They prove surprisingly successful in entry and capturing Kor, only to learn the hard way that they were allowed to do so by the Klingons to capture them easily. Kirk and Spock prepare to make a last stand while the fleets are about to engage.

At that point, the Organians reveal their cards, and they instantly and totally incapacitate the fighting abilities of both sides. Furthermore, they disclose that they are not humanoids with primitive technology as they may appear, but are highly advanced and extremely powerful energy beings, beyond even the Klingons and the Federation, who were never physically inconvienced by either side.

They force the opposing sides to make a truce, which would later be known as the Organian Peace Treaty. Both sides protest, but the Organians predict that the two political bodies will get along far better in the future than they even imagined.

Back on the Enterprise, Kirk admits his embarrassment at his own indignation of the conclusion of the war.

Trivia

In the Star Trek continuity, the Organians' prophecy proved accurate with the Federation and Klingon Empire becoming close allies by the 24th Century.

Politically, this episode is a clearly a relic of its time. Its clear anti-war message reflects the public's feeling about the Vietnam War.

John Colicos was set to reprise his role as Kor in the third-season episode "Day of the Dove," but was unable to find the time, so the role of Kang was created instead and played by Michael Ansara .

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