Starship Nomadic, Northern Ireland STARSHIP NOMADICA NORTHERN IRELAND STAR TREK FAN GROUP
TOS · SEASON 33×19

Requiem for Methuselah

NOMADIC PICK · GREAT DISCUSSION EPISODEImmortality, art and love.
FIRST SHOWN (US)
14 February 1969
ON
NBC
STARDATE
5843.7
DIRECTED BY
Murray Golden
PRODUCTION NO.
76

WRITTEN BYWritten by Jerome Bixby

IN BRIEF

SPOILER-FREE

Searching for a cure to a deadly fever, Kirk, Spock and McCoy meet a wealthy recluse on a lonely planet, a man whose home is full of masterpieces that should not exist.

SYNOPSIS

SPOILERS
Red alert: the full plot, ending included. Haven't watched yet?REVEAL SYNOPSISHIDE SYNOPSIS

An outbreak of Rigellian fever is sweeping the Enterprise, and only the mineral ryetalyn can cure it. Kirk, Spock and McCoy beam down to the planet Holberg 917G to find some and meet its owner, the reclusive Flint, who lives with his young ward Rayna. His collection includes unknown works by Leonardo da Vinci and an unpublished waltz by Brahms. Spock comes to realise the truth: Flint is an immortal human, born in 3834 BC, who has lived many lives, including those of Leonardo and Brahms. Kirk falls deeply in love with Rayna, and Flint, who has been using him to awaken her emotions, grows jealous. Rayna is an android Flint built as a companion for eternity. When Kirk and Flint fight over her, she cannot bear choosing between them and dies. McCoy learns that Flint has lost his immortality away from Earth. Later Spock eases Kirk's grief by helping him forget.

DID YOU KNOW?

  1. 01Rayna's surname Kapec honours Karel Čapek, whose 1920 play “R.U.R.” introduced the word robot.
  2. 02Its repeat on 2 September 1969 was NBC's final official broadcast of Star Trek, before syndication began that month.
  3. 03Jerome Bixby later wrote the film “The Man from Earth” (2007), which also explores an ageless man.
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