Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country was the final voyage of Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) USS Enterprise, and it marked the 25th anniversary of Star Trek: The Original Series in 1991. Directed by Nicholas Meyer, written by Meyer and Denny Martin Flynn from a story by Leonard Nimoy, Lawrence Konner, and Mark Rosenthal, Star Trek VI saw Kirk and the USS Enterprise-A uncover a conspiracy to prevent peace between the Klingon Empire and the United Federation of Planets.

After Captain Spock (Leonard Nimoy) rescued Captain Kirk and Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy (DeForest Kelley) from the Klingon prison planet Rura Penthe, they continued their investigation of how the Starship Enterprise could have fired a pH๏τon torpedo at the Klingon flagship, Kronos One. Kirk was framed for ᴀssᴀssinating Klingon High Chancellor Gorkon (David Warner), but the conspiracy was still afoot and aimed to stop peace talks at Camp Khitomer near the Romulan border.

Star Trek VI‘s conspiracy against peace between the Federation and Klingons was a far-reaching cooperative between a handful of dissidents within the Alpha Quadrant’s galactic powers, each dreading how an end to hostilities could destabilize the galaxy. Captain Kirk also had help from Captain Hikaru Sulu (George Takei) of the USS Excelsior. Together, the Enterprise and Excelsior brought Star Trek VI‘s conspirators to the light of day.

Star Trek VI’s Conspiracy To Stop Klingon & Federation Peace Explained

“If There Is To Be A Brave New World, Our Generation Will Have The Hardest Time Living In It”

The Klingon Empire was forced to pursue peace talks with the United Federation of Planets when the Klingon moon, Praxis, exploded in 2293. The loss of Praxis, the Klingons’ chief source of fuel and energy, meant they “could no longer afford” their fifty years of hostility towards the Federation. Serving as Federation Special Liaison, Captain Spock negotiated peace terms with Chancellor Gorkon and offered to host the Klingons aboard the USS Enterprise-A, to Captain Kirk’s chagrin.

However, the conspiracy to stop galactic peace was well underway. Masterminded by the Shakespeare-spouting Klingon General Chang (Christopher Plummer), the conspirators included the Romulan Ambᴀssador Nanclus (Darryl Henriques), Starfleet Colonel West (Rene Auberjonois), Starfleet Admiral Cartwright (Brock Peters), and Lieutenant Valeris (Kim Cattrall), Spock’s Vulcan protege who was stationed aboard the Starship Enterprise.

Captain Kirk was specifically handpicked by General Chang to take the fall as Chancellor Gorkon’s ᴀssᴀssin. Kirk and McCoy were then to be murdered on Rura Penthe, far from the prying eyes of the Federation. Meanwhile, the conspirators planned to murder the Federation President (Kurtwood Smith) and, possibly, Gorkon’s daughter, the new Chancellor Azetbur (Rosanna DeSoto), at the Khitomer Conference, guaranteeing war between the Klingons and Federation.

How Captain Kirk’s Enterprise Stopped The Klingon Federation Conspiracy

Spock & KIrk Deduced The Conspirator Aboard The Enterprise

While Captain Kirk and Dr. McCoy were imprisoned on Rura Penthe, Captain Spock’s investigation concluded the Starship Enterprise could not have fired on Kronos One, but a cloaked Klingon Bird-of-Prey did. Spock also deduced Gorkon’s true ᴀssᴀssins were still aboard the Enterprise, although they were later found murdered. Once rescued, Captain Kirk put the piece Spock was missing together that Lt. Valeris is a conspirator, and they sprung a trap that caught the insidious Vulcan.

In Star Trek VI‘s most controversial moment, Spock invaded Valeris’ psyche with a Vulcan mind meld to glean her co-conspirators and learn the ᴀssᴀssination plot at Camp Khitomer. When the USS Enterprise warped to the Romulan border, General Chang in his cloaked Bird-of-Prey was waiting for them. Spock and Lt. Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) found a way to track the Klingon starship’s ion gas trail, and their special ‘doctored’ torpedo found its mark. The Starships Enterprise and Excelsior then teamed up to destroy General Chang’s Bird-of-Prey.

Beaming into the Khitomer Conference, Captain Kirk and Sulu’s crews were just in the nick of time to stop the planned ᴀssᴀssination, with Scotty (James Doohan) killing the gunman, Colonel West. Kirk then delivered one of his finest speeches, having learned not to fear peace from his own introspection when he was on Rura Penthe. With the conspirators exposed and arrested, the peace conference went forward as planned, and Captain Kirk and the Enterprise “once again saved civilization as we know it.”

Star Trek VI’s Ending Synched The Original Series With The Next Generation

In The 24th Century, The Klingons & Federation Are Allies

Peace between the Klingons and the Federation as the story of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country was the brainchild of executive producer Leonard Nimoy, who was inspired by the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. However, Star Trek VI brokering glasnost also lays the foundation for Star Trek: The Next Generation within Star Trek‘s timeline. At the start of TNG in 2364, the Klingons and Federation had been allies for decades. Star Trek VI fittingly gives the credit for peace to Captain Kirk’s Enterprise in 2293.

In Star Trek: The Next Generation, Lieutenant Worf (Michael Dorn) is a Klingon serving in Starfleet on the flagship of the Federation, no less. Star Trek VI ingeniously cast Dorn to play his ancestor, a Klingon attorney named Colonel Worf, who was Captain Kirk and Dr. McCoy’s attorney at their show trial. Starfleet Officers and Klingons serving on each other’s ships became a common sight in TNG’s era going forward, and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country laid that crucial foundation.

Star Trek VI Was The Final Voyage Of Kirk’s Enterprise Crew

“Second Star To The Right, And Straight On Til Morning”

After the critical and box office misfire of William Shatner’s Star Trek V: The Final Frontier in 1989, producer Harve Bennett intended to reboot the Star Trek movies. Dubbed Star Trek: The Beginning (or Star Trek: The Academy Years), Bennett’s reboot would have shown how Kirk and Spock met at Starfleet Academy. However, Paramount Studios decided one more movie with Star Trek: The Original Series‘ cast was a better way to celebrate Star Trek‘s 25th anniversary in 1991.

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country feels like an ending, and a grand one. It shifts Captain Kirk’s crew into the next phase of their lives – Captain Sulu has already moved on to become master of the USS Excelsior – but the Enterprise gang shows they still have their old magic. At the end of Star Trek VI, the USS Enterprise-A journeys home “to be decommissioned,” but Spock’s defiant, “Go to hell,” promises Kirk’s Starship Enterprise will never truly end as long as audiences remember them and revisit their adventures.

What Happened To Kirk & His Enterprise Crew After Star Trek VI

Captain Kirk & HIs Starship Enterprise Crew Had Separate Destinies

Released in 1994 as the first film centering on the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek Generations revealed that Captain Kirk’s USS Enterprise-A was indeed decommissioned in 2293 to make way for the USS Enterprise-B, which launched later that year. Kirk, Scotty, and Commander Pavel Chekov (Walter Koenig) were aboard in Chekov’s final canonical Star Trek appearance. Kirk would famously be sent to the Nexus and emerge in 2371 alongside Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart). Captain Kirk heroically sacrifices his life to save the planet Veridian III.

In Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s series premiere, “Encounter at Farpoint,” an elderly Admiral Leonard McCoy visits the USS Enterprise-D. A few years later, Captain Picard and Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner) meet Ambᴀssador Spock on Romulus as he attempts to unify Vulcans and Romulans. Scotty then ingeniously preserves himself via a transporter to board the 24th-century Starship Enterprise. Unfortunately, TNG provides no update on what happened to Uhura or Sulu after Star Trek VI.

J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek (2009) revealed that Ambᴀssador Spock failed to stop the Romulan supernova of 2387, and the Vulcan was sent back in time to an alternate 23rd-century timeline created by the Romulan villain Nero (Eric Bana). Ambᴀssador Spock never returned to Star Trek‘s Prime Timeline and pᴀssed away in 2293 as seen in 2016’s Star Trek Beyond. While Captain Kirk’s Enterprise crew spent the remainder of their lives apart, but it’s always a joy to watch them grandly save the galaxy one final time in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.