Star Trek: The Next Generation — 6x23 — Rightful Heir

Aired 1993-05-17

SpaceOpera.com rating:7

Average reader rating:5.82

Synopsis

Worf finds his faith sorely tested when he meets Kahless.

Remarkable scenes

Khaless' return.
Worf: "Questions are the beginning of wisdom. The mark of a true warrior."
Gowron's appearance.
Gowron's hatred of the "idea" of Khaless' return.
Khaless: "Long ago a storm was heading to the city of Qin'Latt. The people sought protection within the walls, all except one man who remained outside. I went to him what he was doing. 'I am not afraid!' he said. 'I will not hide my face behind stone and water. I will stand before the wind and make it respect me.' I honored his choice and went inside. The next day, the storm came and the man was killed. The wind does not respect a fool."
Worf squeezing the truth out of the priests.
Data describing his "leap of faith."
Worf's emperor solution.

Review

This episode features good continuity with TNG: Birthright regarding the reason for Worf's loss of faith. I very much enjoyed Worf's doubt about his faith in Khaless. The return of Khaless is analogous to the prophetic return of Jesus Christ in the current day Christian faith, at least in terms of the effect it has on people. I liked the controversy over whether or not Khaless was real. Once again, Gowron puts on one of his brilliant and rare performances. Defeating Khaless, he forces Worf to squeeze the truth out of the priests. Once the truth is revealed, the episode gets even more interesting. The truth about the cloned Khaless is revealed to the people and Khaless becomes the first emperor of the Klingon Empire in 300 years. Not because he's truly Khaless, but because despite how he was created, he represents the true spirit of the empire. A most honorable solution for a most honorable race.

6 reader comments

I LOVE IT when they show the shift changes, and imply that data just mans the ship at night since he doesnt need sleep. That was cool when riker and the first shift people came to relieve him
I have always disliked Star Trek's extremely blatant disrespect for religion. Every so often they make an episode like this that is poorly disguised, and is a slap in the face of organized religion, reducing it to the "opiate of the masses" concept. But then again, I'm glad that the writers are not straying from Roddenberry's beliefs, even if I do disagree with them.
All in all, an okay episode.
Problem: There's no way in hell that blood on a hundreds of years old dagger still retains its nucleic acid conformity. The base pairs would have disassociated long before. Sorry, nice try, but you can't fool a biochemistry major.
by Pete Miller | 05/21/2006 at 11:54 pm

Rightful Heir is a better than average episode. We get to see a spiritual location of the Klingon Empire, although the outside shots of the monastery look fake. We get to learn more about Khaless, a figure mentioned for several more years on TNG and DS9. The plot moves at a nice pace and Gowron is excellent, as always.
Good episode - 7
by Orion Pimpdaddy | 06/04/2006 at 2:01 am

I have never respected Gowron nor disrespected Worf as much as this in any prior episode. Worf is far too quick to believe in spiritualistic nonsense. I cannot believe the writers made Worf appear "skeptical" in the eyes of other Klingons, because he was obviously quite ready to believe.
Even though he represents the spirit of the Empire, I do not believe it is an honorable solution: they all believe in a lie. How is that honorable?
A memorable episode, but disappointing in its philosophy. I'd give it a 6/10.
by JTL | 07/29/2008 at 2:12 am

In contrast to other reviewers, I find this episode to be highly respectful towards religion. It is not a parody of Christianity. It represents a realistic view of religion.
If you don't think TNG plays it "straight" with the beliefs of Worf and the Klingon race, then I don't know how any episode could do justice to religion and the effect it has on people.
You must realize that this episode says nothing about whether the Klingon religion is "false" or "true". That answer is just not given. We only know that many people believe that Khaless will once return.
The people won't believe in a lie, because the people are being told the whole truth. Every Klingon will know that their new emperor is a clone of Khaless, but also the rightful heir. There is nothing a lie about that. It's just the way the prophecy turned out.
Whether they choose to believe he is the real messiah, well, that's up to them. Just like with Jesus. The Jewish are also still waiting for the real messiah.
I can't think of this episode other than very very good. It doesn't try to answer the question whether "God" exists, which really isn't that important. It just takes a look at the human (well, Klingon) side of religion.
I am an atheist, but still I think Jesus would be proud of this episode. If only he could be cloned…
by Remco | 08/13/2008 at 1:34 am

Gowron is the shit. I love his adamant denial that this is the real Kahless, and I love his bow at the end when he realizes its best for the empire. Top notch stuff. Can you imagine the kind of shit-storm that would ensue if Catholic Church cloned Jesus from the shroud of Turin?
by JRPoole | 09/29/2008 at 9:42 pm

What's the only thing worse than a Klingon? Two Klingon's "talking" for 40 minutes.
by Jamie Robert Ward | 06/25/2010 at 1:22 pm