Whom Gods Destroy (TOS episode)

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Star Trek: TOS episode
"Whom Gods Destroy"
Marta (left) and Garth of Izar in Whom Gods Destroy.
Episode no.	69
Prod. code	071
Airdate	January 3, 1969
Writer(s)	Lee Erwin story by Lee Erwin Jerry Sohl
Director	Herb Wallerstein
Guest star(s)	Keye Luke Steve Ihnat Yvonne Craig Gary Downey Dick Geary Frank da Vinci William Blackburn Roger Holloway
Year	2268
Stardate	5718.3
Episode chronology
Previous	"Elaan of Troyius"
Next	"Let That Be Your Last Battlefield"

Whom Gods Destroy is a third season episode of Star Trek: The Original Series. It is episode #69, production #71, and was broadcast on January 3, 1969. It was written by Lee Erwin, based on a story by Lee Erwin and Jerry Sohl, and directed by Herb Wallerstein.

Overview: Kirk faces off with an insane starship captain determined to control the universe.

[edit] Plot

On stardate 5718.3, the starship USS Enterprise arrives at the planet Elba II, an inhospitable world known for its very poisonous atmosphere and underground asylum for the criminally insane. The Enterprise brings with her a shipment of experimental medicine that may be a potential cure for mental insanity.

Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock beam down to the facility with the shipment of drugs and meet with the facility director, Donald Cory, who oversees the treatment of 15 of the most dangerous mental patients in Federation custody. Along the way, one of the inmates, Marta, a loopy Orion female, warns Kirk and Spock that their host, Dr. Cory, is not who they think he is.

They soon discover the real Cory is imprisoned in a cell, put there by the impostor, who is none other than Garth of Izar, a famous starship captain and one of Kirk's personal heroes. Garth's crew had mutinied against him when he had gone insane; the result of terrible injuries he endured on a tragic rescue mission. Garth also has a unique ability to shapeshift, taking whatever guise he wishes. This ability was taught to him by a race of shapeshifters on the planet Antos; which was also the planet Garth tried to attack before his crew went against his orders and took him into custody.

Garth locks Kirk and Spock up with Cory as he reveals his plans of stealing the Enterprise and taking over the Federation. He shapeshifts to appear as Kirk and then commands Mr. Scott on the Enterprise to beam him up. Kirk however, has a secret pass phrase with Scotty, who would mention "queen to queen's level three", in reference to a 3D Chess move, where Kirk would reply "queen to king's level one". When Garth is unable to give the correct response, Scotty refuses to transport him aboard. Garth then activates a force field that prevents Scotty from attempting a rescue.

Garth later invites Kirk and Spock to a dinner where they hear Marta recite some Shakespearian poetry that she claims she wrote herself. She then performs a strange "exotic dance" that Spock compares to a dance performed by Vulcan schoolchildren. In the meantime, Garth boasts about his incredible career as a starship captain, bragging that he has charted more planets and catalogued more star systems than any other man in history. He then tries to leisurely fish for Kirk's pass phrase, but Kirk doesn't fall for it.

Angered, Garth threatens to torture Dr. Cory until Kirk divulges the code. Kirk still refuses even after Garth carries out his threats. Cory is strapped to a medical chair and prodded with painful jolts. Garth then puts Kirk himself in the chair, and tortures him further. Marta comes in and decides at a new approach for extracting the information. Garth leaves the room and Marta begins to make out with the exhausted Captain. When he refuses her advances, she gets angry and tries to attack him with a knife. She is surprised and nerve-pinched by Mr. Spock, who enters and frees the captain.

The two make a run for it, reaching the control room and deactivating the shield. Kirk however, has a feeling that it is going "too easy" and thinks he is being duped. When Kirk makes contact with the Enterprise, Kirk tells Spock to give the pass phrase instead. Spock can't give the code and reveals that he is the shapeshifted Garth. Scotty informs Kirk that a security team will beam down to his location, and a struggle over the force field ensues. Garth subsequently wins and reactivates the shield before the team can beam down.

Garth rounds his fellow inmates and declares himself "Master of the Universe". He celebrates his victory by testing a new explosive he made which is strapped to Marta. He ejects Marta into the poisonous atmosphere outside the dome where she struggles to breathe. Garth puts her out of her misery by detonating the explosive. Garth then orders his men to fetch Spock. Spock, however, fakes unconsciousness in his cell and nerve-pinches the guards after they arrive to take him. Spock acquires a phaser and makes his way to the control room...only to find two identical Captain Kirks.

Spock attempts to distinguish between the two by asking "what maneuver was used against the Romulans near Tau Ceti?" One Kirk replies "the Cochrane Deceleration", but the other points out that it is a classic battle maneuver any good captain would know. The two Kirks begin to fight, but eventually one tells Spock to stun them both to ensure the safety of the Enterprise. Knowing that only the real Kirk would make a demand like that, Spock stuns the other and he's revealed to be Garth. With the matter resolved and Garth back in custody, control of the station is given back to Dr. Cory. The experimental drugs are administered to Garth and the other inmates who begin a long road to hopeful recovery.

[edit] Trivia

• The title of this episode is from the Roman proverb, "Whom the gods would destroy, they first make insane" (Quem deus vult perdere, dementat prius).

• Keye Luke, who played Dr. Cory in this episode is more known for playing Eldest Son in the Charlie Chan movies of the 1930s and 1940s.

• Leonard Nimoy disliked this episode, complaining that Spock was not allowed to use his intelligence to identify the impostor. For instance, he could have easily asked highly personal trick questions that only his best friend would know how to answer properly, or at least could have stunned both, anticipating that Garth needed to be conscious to maintain Kirk's form. The scenario comes from a classic situation most often attributed to the biblical King Solomon who had to decide between two women to whom a baby truly belonged. After running out of questions that he could ask them, he declared that he would offer the baby to both of them by cutting it in half. One of the women immediately responded that "the other woman could have the baby." Solomon decided, correctly, that only the woman who said this could be the true mother.

• This is the only time in the Original Series where Spock used a "double" nerve pinch, stunning two people simultaneously, one with each hand.

• In the United Kingdom, the BBC skipped this episode in all runs of the series though to the early 1990s, due to its content. It was finally shown for the first time on 19th January 1994.

[edit] External links

• Whom Gods Destroy at StarTrek.com
• Whom Gods Destroy article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki.

Last produced: "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield"	Star Trek: TOS episodes Season 3	Next produced: "The Mark of Gideon"
Last transmitted: "Elaan of Troyius"		Next transmitted: "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield"