Rightful Heir

TNG Season 6 Episode 23
Air Date: May 17th, 1993

Lt. Worf misses his bridge shift and when Cmdr. Riker realizes something is wrong he shows up in Worf's quarters to find him in a trance in front of a fire he made. Captain Picard confronts Worf who says he has felt empty ever since he found those Klingons in the Romulan camp. Picard tells Worf to take a leave but when he returns he has to get back to his duties and not let this effect his work again.

Worf goes to a planet that is rumored to be the location where Kahless will return. He starts his meditations and after a few weeks when he is ready to give up, Kahless appears. Of course everyone is skeptical that he is really Kahless but he shows knowledge that only Kahless would know and even passes a DNA test. But there are things that seem wrong. He doesn't remember details that he should and he loses in a fight with Chancellor Gowron, which shouldn't happen since he is the greatest Klingon warrior.

Worf learns that that Kahless is a clone, but with some advice from Lt. Cmdr. Data, he realizes that it doesn't matter. The Klingon empire needs someone to unite under, even if it is a clone of Kahless. He even convinces Gowron to declare him Emperor, a figure head for the Klingon Empire.

Quotes

"Have you lost your faith in Stovokor?" - Captain Picard
"To lose something, one must first possess it." - Lt. Worf

"Long ago, a storm was heading toward the city of Quin'lat. The people sought protection within the walls, all except one man who remained outside. I went to him and asked what he was doing. I am not afraid, he said. I will not hide my face behind stone and mortar. 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. Do not stand before the wind, Gowron." - Kahless

"I went to Boreth to find my faith. For a time, I thought I had, but my heart is empty again. I do not know what to believe." - Lt. Worf

"I once had what could be considered a crisis of the spirit." - Lt. Cmdr. Data
"You?" - Lt. Worf
"Yes. The Starfleet officers who first activated me on Omicron Theta told me I was an android, nothing more than a sophisticated machine with human form; however, I realized that if I was simply a machine, I could never be anything else. I could never grow beyond my programming. I found that difficult to accept, so I chose to believe that I was a person, that I had the potential to be more than a collection of circuits and subprocessors. It is a belief which I still hold." - Lt. Cmdr. Data
"How did you come to your decision?" - Lt. Worf
"I made, a leap of faith." - Lt. Cmdr. Data