Whom Gods Destroy

This article is about an episode of Star Trek. There is a separate article about the Elseworlds comic by Chris Claremont.

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

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

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 however, 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 school children. 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 takes them to a room and 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 "to 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 to the jeers of his fellow inmates. Garth then orders his men to fetch Spock. Spock however, fakes that he is unconscious in his cell and nerve pinches the guard when he comes in to take him. Spock acquires a phaser and makes his way to the control room only to find two identical Captain Kirks.

Spock tries 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 kill them both to insure the safety of the Enterprise. Knowing that only Kirk 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.

Trivia

• Leonard Nimoy disliked this episode, complaining that Spock was not allowed to show his intelligence to identify the imposter. 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 concentrate to keep his form

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