How Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth (TAS episode)
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| Star Trek: The Animated Series episode | |
| "How Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth" | |
 The alien Kukulkan |
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| Episode no. | 021 |
|---|---|
| Prod. code | 021 |
| Airdate | October 5, 1974 |
| Writer(s) | Russell Bates David Wise |
| Director | Bill Reed |
| Guest star(s) | none |
| Year | 2270 |
| Stardate | 6063.4 |
| Episode chronology | |
| Previous | "Albatross" |
| Next | "The Counter-Clock Incident" |
How Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth is an episode of Star Trek: The Animated Series.
Contents |
[edit] Plot outline
Following a signal from a mysterious probe, the U.S.S. Enterprise is immobilized by an alien whose ship resembles a winged serpent. The alien claims to be Kukulkan, god of the ancient Mayan and Aztec peoples of Earth. He says that he is actually a very long-lived, benevolent entity who wants the humans to worship him, as the Mayans and Aztecs did.
Kukulkan transports Captain Kirk, Doctor McCoy, Scotty, and Ensign Walking Bear to his ship, where they are brought to an ancient city. Kukulkan tells them that they must solve the puzzle of the city or the Enterprise will be destroyed.
[edit] Additional information
Like many Star Trek stories, this episode has a Shakespearean connection. The title comes from King Lear, Act 1, Scene 4:
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- How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is
- To have a thankless child!
Kukulkan thinks of Earthlings as his children. When the Enterprise's personnel refuse to worship him as their Earth ancestors did, he considers them to be thankless.
The concept of a mythical god as a real being who expects humans to worship him was previously used in the original series episode "Who Mourns for Adonais?"
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- How Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki.
| Star Trek television series and feature films | ||
| Television series The Original Series · The Animated Series · The Next Generation · Deep Space Nine · Voyager · Enterprise |
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| TOS-Era Feature films The Motion Picture · The Wrath of Khan · The Search for Spock · The Voyage Home · The Final Frontier · The Undiscovered Country |
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| TNG-Era Feature films Generations · First Contact · Insurrection · Nemesis |
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| Unknown-Era Feature films XI |
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