Like many things about the lore of Star Trek, the infamous Klingons haven’t always been 100 percent consistent. Although we think of the Klingons as a warrior race obsessed with honor and sporting various ridges and bumps on their foreheads, the first Klingons weren’t seen until the 26th installment of Star Trek: The Original Series in the 1967 episode “Errand of Mercy.” And for all intents and purposes, the only Klingon who truly mattered in that episode was the military governor of the planet Organia, Kor, as played by the late John Colicos. Kor would later go on to appear in Deep Space Nine, where he would regain his warrior ridges, but now, for the first time, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has presented a version of Kor before the events of “Errand of Mercy.”
Here’s why the appearance of Kor, as now played by Demore Barnes, is a very deep-cut Trek Easter Egg, but also a reference that bridges Discovery, SNW, and TOS. Spoilers ahead for SNW Season 4, Episode 4, “A Case of Chiaroscuro.”
