CBS Photo Archive/CBS/Getty ImagesLike 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.”Demore Barnes as Kor in Strange New Worlds. | Demore Barnes as Kor in 'Strange New Worlds.'Kor, the original Klingon, explained When Number One (Rebecca Romijn), M’Benga (Babs Olusanmokun), and Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding) are forced to take a shuttle to the planet Mat’aar, they discover a full-on Klingon occupation on the planet. M’Benga, a veteran of the Klingon War (from the Discovery era), tells Una he recognizes the military governor of the planet. “That’s Commander Kor...a direct descendant of Kahless the Unforgettable.”This establishes that this is the earliest version of Kor we’ve seen in canon, and also puts him in a very similar role he will have in “Errand of Mercy,” overseeing a planet that the Klingons have subjugated. Here, it’s the planet Mat’aar in 2262, and in TOS, in 2267, Kor will be in charge of the planet Organia. M’Benga’s line about Kor being a direct descendant of Kahless the Unforgettable is a reference to the Klingon messiah-type figure Kahless, who first appeared as an illusory figure in the TOS episode “The Savage Curtain,” but later became a huge part of Klingon canon in TNG and DS9. This connects SNW to Discovery, since it was stated many times that Kol (Kenneth Mitchell) from Discovery Season 1 was part of the House of Kor. Why doesn’t Kor have the smooth-headed TOS look?John Colicos as Kor in 1967. | CBS Photo Archive/CBS/Getty ImagesThe ultimate Klingon retcon — the notion that Klingons had smooth heads in The Original Series, but later had the famous bumpy heads from The Motion Picture — is still a detail that can give a Star Trek fan a headache. While most fans prefer just not to think about it too hard, the in-universe explanation comes from the prequel series Enterprise, in an episode called “Affliction,” in which we learn that a genetic mutation within the Klingon Empire led to huge portions of the population losing their warrior ridges. Presumably, this means that Kor, Koloth, and Kang all got some kind of medical treatment to get their ridges back in the DS9 era, when they appeared in the episode “Blood Oath.” That said, this 2262 Kor clearly has his ridges, which suggests that by 2267 he will contract the “Affliction” virus, or that maybe we should stop worrying about Klingon heads so much.In the 1996 Deep Space Nine episode “Trials and Tribble-ations” Worf simply addresses the canon issue by saying: “We do not discuss it with outsiders.” Maybe that’s the best explanation there is, and whatever is going on with Kor is his own private business. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds streams on Paramount+.Phasers on Stun!: How the Making — and Remaking — of Star Trek Changed the WorldAmazon -