Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

"At the end of the universe lies the beginning of vengeance."

Admiral James T. Kirk faces his greatest challenge yet. Suffering through doubts about his place in the galaxy, he is thrust into action once more against his most bitter foe – Khan Noonien Singh, who has escaped his exile on Ceti Alpha V and now seeks revenge on Kirk. With a powerful new device in the wrong hands and a no-win scenario in play, the cost of victory for the starship Enterprise may prove too high.

Act One

 * "Captain's log, stardate 8130.3. Starship Enterprise on training mission to Gamma Hydra. Section 14, coordinates 22-87-4. Approaching Neutral Zone, all systems normal and functioning."

A female Vulcan sits in the command chair on the bridge of the Enterprise. While the senior crew work at their consoles, the officer, Saavik, makes a log entry, then orders Commander Sulu, manning the helm, to project a course to avoid entering the Neutral Zone.

Suddenly, Uhura receives a distress call from the Kobayashi Maru, which has struck a gravitic mine near Altair VI... inside the Neutral Zone. Despite warnings from both Sulu and Spock, Saavik orders the ship to enter the Zone in order to beam the survivors aboard. Upon entering the Zone, the Enterprise is confronted with three Klingon battle cruisers, which open fire. The Enterprise is heavily damaged; many of the bridge officers are killed. Saavik has no alternative but to order the surviving crew to abandon ship.

Then the filtered voice of Admiral Kirk is heard. The bridge viewscreen slides aside, revealing a lighted room beyond. The Enterprise is a stage and the Kobayashi Maru was a test – one Saavik does not believe to have been a fair test of her command abilities. Kirk explains that the no-win scenario is a situation every commander may face and that how one faces death is equally important as how one faces life. Saavik seems ruffled at the advice, but Kirk offers that now she has something new to think about. As Kirk begins to leave, Dr. McCoy asks him if it would not be easier to just put an experienced crew back aboard the Enterprise. "Galloping around the cosmos is a game for the young, doctor," Kirk says while on his way out. Uhura wonders aloud what the admiral meant by that.

Outside the simulator room, Spock awaits Kirk's opinion of the cadets' performance. Kirk notes that the trainees wreaked havoc with the simulator room and Spock alike. Spock notes that this is a common occurrence with the Kobayashi Maru test and then recalls Kirk's own experience, noting that the admiral took the test three times and that his final solution was somewhat "unique." "It had the virtue of never having been tried," Kirk says. He then thanks Spock for his birthday present, an antique copy of A Tale of Two Cities.

Kirk then retreats to his apartment, to be greeted by Leonard McCoy, who presents him with a bottle of finely-aged Romulan ale, vintage 2283. For a present, the doctor hands him something in a case – reading glasses. "Oh, Bones, this is... charming," Kirk says. McCoy notes that for patients of Kirk's age, he usually prescribes Retinax V, which Kirk is allergic to. Noticing Kirk is acting stranger than usual, especially after giving him the glasses, McCoy questions whether Kirk really wants to carry on the duties of an admiral or to be "hopping galaxies" in a starship. Kirk confesses it to him, and the two share a drink sitting by the apartment's fireplace. McCoy admonishes Kirk to get his command back (in stark contrast to his previous assessment of Kirk's command fitness) before he gets too old.
 * "Starship log, stardate 8130.4. Log entry by First Officer Pavel Chekov. Starship Reliant on orbital approach to Ceti Alpha VI in connection with Project Genesis. We are continuing our search for a lifeless planet that will satisfy the requirements of a test site for the Genesis experiments. So far, no success."

Meanwhile, Commander Chekov is aboard the USS Reliant, which orbits Ceti Alpha VI in connection with Project Genesis, searching for a lifeless planet to satisfy the requirements of a test site for the Genesis experiment. Although Ceti Alpha VI should be incapable of supporting life, Chekov detects a minor energy flux reading on one dynoscanner. They report this to Carol Marcus at Regula I, a space station orbiting a planetoid. They believe it is something they can transplant, since it may only be a particle of preanimate matter. Marcus is unsure and tells them that there "can't be so much as a microbe or the show's off." Chekov and his commanding officer, Captain Terrell, then beam down to the surface to investigate in environmental suits. Upon arrival, they fight their way through clouds of dust until they discover and enter what appears to be a crashed derelict vessel.

Chekov soon discovers that the derelict is the shelter for the crew of the SS Botany Bay, a ship he remembers all too well. Panicking, he rushes a confused Terrell toward the exit, only to find a group of cloaked figures waiting outside. Taken captive, their leader reveals himself as none other than Khan Noonien Singh, and it further turns out that the planet they are investigating is in fact Ceti Alpha V, which was devastated by the explosion of the sixth planet six months after Khan and his followers were exiled to the planet by Kirk fifteen years earlier. In order to not only find out why the two are there, but also Kirk's whereabouts, Khan forces juvenile Ceti eels into their ears, rendering them subservient to his every command. Khan and his Augment followers commandeer the Reliant, and Khan's second-in-command, Joachim, while pledging his loyalty and that of his comrades, tries to convince Khan that by escaping the planet, he has now evened the score with Kirk. Khan is not content to merely be even with Kirk, however, and reveals his intention to take revenge on the admiral.

Under the command of now-Captain Spock, the Enterprise is being used to train Starfleet Academy cadets, and Kirk, McCoy, Uhura, and Sulu come aboard to assist in a short training cruise. But Khan lures Kirk to the research station Regula I by having Chekov inform Dr. Carol Marcus, the head of the Genesis project, that Kirk has ordered them to take possession of the Genesis Device. A furious Dr. Marcus attempts to contact Kirk (who turns out to have been formerly her lover) to confirm the order, but the signal is jammed by Khan, with only bits and pieces of the message going through and Carol not getting Kirk's responses denying that he gave such orders. Kirk, after consulting with Starfleet Command, converses with Captain Spock in his quarters, who encourages Kirk to assume command. Kirk protests, insisting that it is okay for Spock to retain command during the mission (perhaps remembering what happened when he usurped the command of another captain of the Enterprise), but Spock assures Kirk that, by contrast, he has no ego to be bruised by Kirk taking over for him, and further asserts that it was a mistake for Kirk to accept promotion, as commanding a starship is Kirk's first, best destiny. Kirk agrees and assumes command, ordering Enterprise to set a course for Regula I. "So much for the little training cruise...", Sulu notes as the Enterprise enters warp speed.

While en route to the space lab, Kirk shows Spock and McCoy a briefing video on Project Genesis, the ultimate goal of which is revealed to be the creation of a torpedo-like Genesis Device, which could be fired at a lifeless planetary body and would transform it into a habitable world. McCoy is alarmed at the implications of this, since if a Genesis Device were used on an already inhabited world the terraforming process would obliterate all life on the planet in mere seconds. "As a matter of cosmic history, it has always been easier to destroy than to create," Spock mentions, although McCoy points out that the Genesis Device makes it possible to do both simultaneously, leading to a potential armageddon. Their discussion is interrupted by Saavik, who informs them that another starship is on an intercept course. A Federation starship named Reliant.

Enterprise finds the Reliant waiting for them. Despite Reliant failing to answer his hails, Kirk is reluctant to raise shields – as, Saavik reminds him, regulations prescribe. The two ships edge closer, and Kirk orders yellow alert after finding the situation to be "damn peculiar" but still doesn't raise shields because the Reliant claims they can't use their communications system due to their chambers coil emissions. Spock quickly discerns that this isn't true, as Khan orders the shields on Reliant raised, then locks phasers. This is detected by Spock, and Kirk finally orders shields up but it's too late as Reliant opens fire, knowing exactly where its most vulnerable points are, disabling the Enterprise 's main energizer and warp core, leaving only the battery to power the ship, and fatally injuring several cadets. Engines are down, shields inoperative, and there is only enough power for a few phaser shots, which isn't enough against Reliant 's shields. Reliant then fires a photon torpedo from its aft launcher at the Enterprise which causes the crippled vessel's bridge to erupt in flames.

While Kirk is trying to hold the heavily damaged Enterprise and her injured crew together, Uhura notes that Reliant is signaling, wishing to discuss terms of their surrender. Kirk, taken aback for a moment along with the bridge crew, orders Uhura to put Reliant 's commander on screen. Kirk is shocked to see Khan in command of the Reliant. Khan arrogantly announces his plans to destroy the Enterprise, to which Kirk pleads with Khan to take him as prisoner and spare his crew. Khan agrees, but also demands all information and material on the Genesis device. Kirk pretends to comply, but actually transmits a signal using Reliant 's prefix code (1-6-3-0-9) that causes Reliant to lower her shields. Despite Khan's intelligence – he knew exactly where to hit the Enterprise for maximum damage -- he is still relatively inexperienced with a starship. When he realizes what Kirk is doing he is unable to immediately find the controls to override the command lowering the shields. With the few shots auxiliary power can give him, Sulu is able to fire at the Reliant, damaging photon control and the warp drive (which also disables her phasers). And enraged Khan is reluctant to withdraw, but Joachim reminds him that Enterprise, with its disabled power systems, can't escape. Both ships limp away for repairs and the match ends in a stalemate.

Act Two
Kirk, furious at himself for being lulled into a false sense of security, surveys the wounded in sickbay and attends Midshipman 1st Class Peter Preston on his deathbed alongside a grieving Scott. With impulse power restored, the Enterprisearrives at Regula I. Kirk and McCoy form a landing party, and Saavik reminds Kirk of General Order 15 barring him from beaming into a dangerous situation without armed escort. Kirk disputes the existence of such a regulation, but then relents and invites Saavik to join the landing party. Kirk leaves Spock in command of the Enterprise, but not before the latter admonishes the former to be careful (to which McCoy replies that they all will be careful).

Aboard the station, they find the personnel murdered and discover Chekov and Terrell semi-conscious inside a storage compartment. When the two officers come to they claim they overcame the effects of the Ceti eels and reveal that the crew of the Reliant are marooned on Ceti Alpha V. Terrell calls Khan completely mad and that the genetically engineered superman blames Kirk for the death of his wife. Continuing their investigation, the Enterprise crew finds that the station's records of the Genesis Device have been erased. Exploring the station leads them to a transporter that has recently been activated. Checking the coordinates, Kirk realizes they beamed into the Regula asteroid. Kirk asks for a damage report from Enterprise. Spock reports that "by the book, hours would seem like days" and that transporters will be available in two days. Kirk orders Spock to leave orbit if they don't hear from them within one hour. Uhura protests that they will not leave them behind, but Kirk retorts that if they don't hear anything, there won't be anybody to leave behind.

They follow the transporter coordinates and materialize inside a cavern. The Genesis Device is there, but before Kirk can move, he is attacked by his son, David Marcus, who accuses Kirk of trying to steal Genesis. Carol, David's mother, tries to defuse the situation, but before she can elaborate, the team is threatened by Chekov and Terrell, who it turns out are still under Khan's control. David brashly tries to rush the two, but Saavik tackles him to the ground just as Terrell fires on him, misses, and vaporizes the third scientist, Jedda, instead. Khan orders Terrell to kill Kirk. However, Terrell resists Khan and the eel causes him extreme pain. To escape it, he turns his phaser on himself and is vaporized. Chekov collapses and the Ceti eel slips out of his ear before being vaporized by Kirk. Khan, shocked to find Kirk alive and well, beams the Genesis Device up to the Reliant before vowing to leave the admiral and his party marooned inside Regula forever, causing Kirk to scream at Khan in blind rage.

Kirk avoids Carol and David's questions about Khan by asking for food. Carol and David show Kirk, McCoy, and Saavik the Genesis cave, which was created by a smaller Genesis Device: deep within Regula there is a stable ecosystem that was created in just one day. In the cave, Saavik asks Kirk, who casually eats an apple, about his performance on the Kobayashi Maru scenario. McCoy tells her that Kirk is the only one to beat the no-win scenario, and Kirk admits he reprogrammed the simulation. David chuckles and says he cheated, and Kirk qualifies that he "changed the conditions of the test." Kirk then promptly contacts Enterprise, and Spock says they should prepare for transport. Kirk smiles at a dumbfounded Saavik and asserts that he doesn't like to lose. Saavik asks for clarification while beaming back aboard, and Kirk reminds her of Regulation 46A: Spock made his report using an improvised code to deceive Khan; instead of immediate repairs taking two days, they only took two hours. "You lied," Saavik tells her mentor. "I exaggerated," Spock replies.

Act Three
After assessing the situation, it is determined the Enterprise could not outrun or outgun the far less damaged Reliant. Kirk decides to take the fight to the nearby Mutara Nebula, whose ionized gases would disrupt both ships' sensors and shields. Spotting the Enterprise fleeing, Khan orders Reliant to pursue, but Joachim is reluctant, so Khan acquiesces.

Back on the Enterprise, Spock notes with his sensors that Reliant is reducing speed and seems to be backing off its pursuit. To ensure that Khan will follow him, Kirk has Uhura contact Reliant and proceeds to taunt his nemesis, saying "We tried it once your way, Khan. Are you game for a rematch? Khan ... I'm laughing at the superior intellect." Mocked and enraged, Khan orders full impulse power above Joachim's protests and recklessly heads into full pursuit. "I'll say this for him – he's consistent," Kirk remarks about his nemesis. Then, the Battle of the Mutara Nebula commences. Both ships are quite hampered by the conditions, but this is a good thing for Kirk, since both ships are reduced to an equal level of non-functioning systems, whereas in open space Enterprise would have been the more disabled vessel.

A game of cat-and-mouse follows. Computer-targeting does not function, so both crews must rely on manual firing commands by eyeballing the opposing ships on their static-filled viewscreen. Sulu, more experienced, narrowly misses Reliant due to turbulence, but both fail to land a hit.

As they maneuver half-blind around the nebula, suddenly the static on the Enterprise screen clears enough to reveal that the ships are about to collide. They veer apart and narrowly miss colliding, and at such point-blank range even manual firing is enough for each vessel to inflict key hits on the other. The Reliant manages to destroy the port torpedo tube of the Enterprise, which then returns fire and damages the Reliant bridge deck, causing an explosion that kills several of the bridge crew including Khan's most trusted lieutenant, Joachim, whom Khan vows to avenge. Main power on the Enterprise goes out again and the warp drive chamber in engineering floods with radiation, forcing Scott to take the mains off-line just before he and most of his crew pass out.

Kirk is nevertheless able to beat Khan because of his superior starship combat experience. A shaken, but physically recovered, Chekov enters the bridge offering his assistance, which Kirk accepts and orders him to man the weapons control station. Kirk, still struggling with a strategy to trap Khan, listens to Spock, who suggests that Khan's battle plan to that point "suggest two-dimensional thinking". Kirk, inspired by Spock's comment, orders the ship to drop vertically. Khan isn't prepared for Enterprise to drop "down" its Z-axis as he passes overhead and then rise "up" directly behind him. Reliant 's torpedo pod is destroyed by a torpedo, and a phaser blast and torpedo hit explode off its port nacelle. Reliant is crippled and drifts away, trailing plasma. Most of Khan's crew is killed in the process, and Khan himself is left crippled and barely alive.

In a last-ditch effort to destroy Kirk, Khan activates the Genesis Device, which will reorganize all matter in the nebula – including the Enterprise. With the mains offline, the Enterprise cannot escape the large explosion that the device will trigger. Unnoticed, Spock exits the bridge while Kirk orders a withdrawal at "best possible speed". On Reliant 's bridge, Khan quotes Moby Dick using his last breaths: "No... no, you can't get away. From hell's heart, I stab at thee. For hate's sake, I spit my last breath at thee."

Spock arrives in the engine room, only to be blocked by Dr. McCoy from entering the lethally irradiated dilithium reactor room. After first feigning compliance, an apologetic Spock nerve pinches McCoy and mind melds with the doctor, simply saying "Remember..." He then dons Scott's radiation suit gloves, enters the chamber, and endures the life threatening radiation while repairing the main reactor. McCoy and Scott yell at Spock to get out immediately, but he continues to work, ignoring their pleas.

The warp engines come online just in time, and Enterprise streaks away into warp just as the Genesis Device explodes, killing Khan. The Mutara Nebula condenses around the explosion, creating the Genesis Planet. Kirk contacts engineering to congratulate Scott, who he believes was the one to restore engine power, but he is surprised to hear McCoy's voice gravely reply that Kirk needs to come down. Kirk looks over and notices the empty chair at the science station. A look of horror washes over Kirk's face as he rushes down to engineering to find Spock on the other side of the reactor room's wall. McCoy and Scott restrain him from rushing in and flooding the engine room with radiation, with Scott saying that Spock is already dead. Devastated, Kirk calls out for Spock and follows as the Vulcan, blinded by the radiation, staggers to the side of the transparent wall, finally resting against it.

Spock attempts with difficulty to explain to Kirk his reasoning: "Don't grieve, admiral. It is logical. The needs of the many outweigh ..." to which Kirk replies, "the needs of the few," and Spock nods. "Or the one ..." Spock states that he himself never took the Kobayashi Maru simulation "until now," and asked Kirk, "What do you think of my solution?"

Kirk, stricken with grief, can't reply. "I have been and always shall be your friend. Live long and prosper." He holds out his hand, in the traditional Vulcan salute, and Kirk presses his hand up to the glass as well, watching helplessly as Spock slumps to the floor, and expires. It takes all of his resolve to keep his composure as he sees his closest friend die in front of him. This time, there is no going back.

Spock's funeral is held later, on the torpedo deck. Kirk says a few words in Spock's honor, concluding with a befitting statement: "Of all the souls I have encountered in my travels, his was the most... Human." As Scott plays "Amazing Grace" on bagpipes, Spock's body is launched in a torpedo casing into the atmosphere of the newborn Genesis Planet.

Afterward, Kirk is in his quarters and tries to read from the book Spock gave him but discovers that one of the lenses of his reading glasses was broken during the final battle with Reliant. Exasperated, he tosses them on the table as David enters. Kirk tries to be dismissive, but David confronts him, telling Kirk that he (Kirk) never really faced death. When Kirk admits that he hasn't, David points out that Kirk earlier told Saavik that how people face death is as important as how they face life. Kirk says those were just words, but David thinks they were good words, from which good ideas come. He then tells Kirk he is proud to be Kirk's son. The two of them hug, awkwardly at first but then with genuine warmth.
 * "Captain's log, stardate 8141.6. Starship Enterprise on course for Ceti Alpha V to pick up the crew of the USS Reliant. All is well. And yet I can't help wondering about the friend I leave behind. There are always... possibilities, Spock said. And if Genesis is, indeed, life from death, I must return to this place again."

Later, on the bridge, Dr. McCoy, Carol Marcus, and Kirk stare at the Genesis Planet on the main viewscreen as the Enterprise departs for Ceti Alpha V to pick up the surviving crew of the Reliant. McCoy notes that as long as they remember Spock, he won't truly be gone.

Kirk softly quotes the last lines of A Tale of Two Cities; something Spock was trying to tell him on his birthday. Upon McCoy's inquiry as to how Kirk feels, he answers: "Young. I feel young."

A view of jungle flora is seen on the Genesis Planet, with a brief pause to show the torpedo casing containing Spock's body which has landed on the planet, as Spock's voice provides the final words:

''Space... the final frontier. These are the continuing voyages of the starship Enterprise. Her ongoing mission: to explore strange new worlds... to seek out new lifeforms, and new civilizations... to boldly go where no man has gone... before. ''

Memorable quotes
"Any suggestions, admiral?" "Prayer, Mister Saavik. The Klingons don't take prisoners."
 * - Saavik and Kirk, after the Kobayashi Maru exercise

"Physician, heal thyself." "Is that all ya gotta say? What about my performance?" "I'm not a drama critic."
 * - Kirk and McCoy

"How we deal with death is at least as important as how we deal with life, wouldn't you say?"
 * - Kirk, to Saavik

" 'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.' Message, Spock?" "None that I am conscious of. Except, of course, happy birthday. Surely... the best of times."
 * - Kirk, reading from Spock 's gift to him, A Tale of Two Cities

"Galloping around the cosmos is a game for the young, doctor."
 * - Kirk, to McCoy

"Romulan ale. Why, Bones, you know this is illegal." "I only use it for medicinal purposes."
 * - Kirk and McCoy

"Now, you open this one." "I'm almost afraid to. What is it, Klingon aphrodisiacs?" "No, more antiques for your collection." "Why, Bones, this is...charming."
 * - McCoy and Kirk, regarding the gift of reading glasses

"Jim, I'm your doctor, and I'm your friend. Get back your command. Get it back before you turn into part of this collection. Before you really do grow old."
 * - McCoy, referring to Kirk's collection of antiques

"He's never what I expect, sir." "What surprises you, lieutenant?" "He's so... Human." "Nobody's perfect, Saavik."
 * - Saavik and Spock, speaking in Vulcan, on James T. Kirk

"Every time we have dealings with Starfleet, I get nervous. We are dealing with something that... could be perverted into a dreadful weapon. Remember that overgrown Boy Scout you used to hang around with? That's exactly the kind of man..." "Listen, kiddo, Jim Kirk was many things, but he was never a Boy Scout!"
 * - David and Carol

(to Captain Terrell) "I don't know you." (to Commander Chekov) "But you...I never forget a face, Mister...Chekov, isn't it? I never thought to see your face again." "Chekov, who is this man?" "A criminal, Captain! A product of late 20th century genetic engineering!"
 * - Khan, Terrell and Chekov

"You lie! On Ceti Alpha V, there was life! A fair chance–" "THIS IS CETI ALPHA V!!! Ceti Alpha VI exploded six months after we were left here. The shock shifted the orbit of this planet and everything was laid waste. Admiral Kirk never bothered to check on our progress. It was only the fact of my genetically engineered intellect that allowed us to survive. On Earth... two hundred years ago... I was a prince... with power over millions." "Captain Kirk was your host. You repaid his hospitality by trying to steal his ship and murder him!"
 * - Chekov and Khan

"This is completely improper, Commander Chekov! I have absolutely no intention of allowing Reliant or any other unauthorized personnel access to our work or materials!" "I'm sorry that you feel that way, Doctor. Admiral Kirk's orders are confirmed. Please prepare to deliver Genesis to us upon our arrival. Reliant out."
 * - Carol Marcus and Chekov

"Starfleet has kept the peace for over a hundred years. I cannot, and will not, subscribe to your interpretations of this event!"
 * - Carol, to David

"I am a Vulcan. I have no ego to bruise."
 * - Spock, on handing over the Enterprise to Kirk

"If I may be so bold... it was a mistake for you to accept promotion. Commanding a starship is your first, best destiny. Anything else is a waste of material."
 * - Spock, to Kirk

"Were I to invoke logic, logic clearly dictates that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few." "Or the one."
 * - Spock and Kirk

"You are my superior officer. You are also my friend. I have been and always shall be yours."
 * - Spock, to Kirk

"He tasks me. He tasks me and I shall have him! I'll chase him round the moons of Nibia and round the Antares maelstrom and round perdition's flames before I give him up!"
 * - Khan

"As a matter of cosmic history, it has always been easier to destroy than to create."
 * - Spock

"Not any more; now we can do both at the same time! According to myth, the Earth was created in six days. Now, watch out. Here comes Genesis! We'll do it for you in six minutes!"
 * - McCoy, in response to Spock's statement preceding

"Logic? My God, the man's talking about logic! We're talking about universal armageddon! You green-blooded, inhuman–"
 * - McCoy, just before being interrupted with a report about being intercepted by the Reliant

"Ah, Kirk... my 'old friend'. Do you know the Klingon proverb that tells us revenge is a dish that is best served cold? It is very cold... in space."
 * - Khan, before attacking the Enterprise

"Admiral, the commander of the Reliant is signaling. He wishes to discuss terms of our surrender."
 * - Uhura, to Kirk

"Sir, you did it!" "I did nothing! Except get caught with my britches down. I must be getting senile. Mr. Saavik, you go right on quoting regulations. In the meantime, let's find out how badly we've been hurt."
 * - Sulu and Kirk, after the Enterprise has retaliated against Khan's attack

"He wants to kill me, for passing sentence on him fifteen years ago. And he doesn't care who stands between him and his vengeance."
 * - Kirk, on Khan's motive

"Go? Where are we going?" "Where they went." "Suppose they went nowhere?" "Then this'll be your big chance to get away from it all."
 * - McCoy and Kirk, before beaming into the Regula I cavern

"Where's Dr. Marcus?" "I'm Dr. Marcus!"
 * - Kirk and David 's first exchange, before Kirk realizes that he is his son

"Mother, he killed everybody we left behind!" "Of course he didn't. David, you're just making this harder." "I'm afraid it's even harder than you think, doctor. Please... don't move."
 * - David, Carol, and Terrell

"All is well, sir. You have the coordinates to beam up Genesis." "First things first, captain. Kill Admiral Kirk."
 * - Terrell and Khan

"Khan, you bloodsucker! You're gonna have to do your own dirty work now! Do you hear me? DO YOU?!" "Kirk! Kirk, you're still alive, my old friend." "Still – 'old friend'! You've managed to kill just about everyone else, but like a poor marksman, you keep missing the target!"
 * - Kirk, taunting Khan

"I've done far worse than kill you. I've hurt you. And I wish to go on... hurting you. I shall leave you as you left me... as you left her. Marooned for all eternity in the center of a dead planet... buried alive. Buried alive." "KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!! KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!"
 * - Khan and Kirk

"You had your world... and I had mine. And I wanted him in mine... not chasing through the universe with his father."
 * - Carol to Kirk, on David

"Actually, he's a lot like you. In many ways."
 * - Carol, comparing David to Kirk

"Impulse power restored." "Excellent. More than a match for poor Enterprise."
 * - Joachim and Khan, discussing the repairs to the Reliant

"Can I cook or can't I?"
 * - Carol, on the vegetation in the Genesis cave

"I don't believe in a no-win scenario."
 * - Kirk to Saavik, on why he "cheated" on the Kobayashi Maru test the third time he took it

"That young man – he's my son!" "Fascinating."
 * - Kirk and Spock, on David

"Admiral, what happens if Reliant fails to follow us into the nebula?" "I think we can guarantee she'll follow us, Mr. Saavik. Remind me to explain to you the concept of the Human ego." "Best speed, Scotty."
 * - Saavik, Spock, and Kirk

"Khan... I'm laughing at the "superior intellect"."
 * - Kirk, provoking Khan into following him into the nebula

"Full impulse power." "No, sir! You have Genesis! You can have whatever you–!" (grabs Joachim by the vest) "FULL POWER! Damn you!"
 * - Khan and Joachim, arguing over following Kirk into the nebula

"He's intelligent, but not experienced. His pattern indicates two-dimensional thinking."
 * - Spock, on the maneuvers that the Reliant has been executing with Khan in command

"Are you out of your Vulcan mind?!? No Human can tolerate the radiation that's in there!" "As you are so fond of observing, doctor, I am not Human." "You're not going in there!" "Perhaps you're right. What is Mr. Scott's condition?" "Well, I don't think that he —" (Spock renders McCoy unconscious with a Vulcan neck pinch) "I'm sorry, doctor; I have no time to discuss this logically. (Mind melds with McCoy) Remember."
 * - Spock and McCoy

"We're not gonna make it, are we?"
 * - Sulu, as the Genesis Device on the Reliant enters imminent detonation

"No... no, you can't get away. From hell's heart, I stab at thee. For hate's sake, I spit my last breath at thee."
 * - Khan 's last words before the explosion of the Reliant kills him

"Bless you, Scotty – GO, Sulu!"
 * - Kirk, when the Enterprise 's warp drive has been restored, saving the crew's lives at the last minute

"Jim, I think you'd... better get down here."
 * - McCoy, stricken, as Kirk realizes that Spock is missing

"No! You'll flood the whole compartment!" "He'll die..." "Sir! He's dead already." "It's too late."
 * - McCoy, Kirk, and Scott on Spock

"I have been... and always shall be... your friend. Live long... and prosper." "No...!"
 * - The dying interchange between Spock and Kirk

"We are assembled here today to pay final respects to our honored dead. And yet it should be noted that in the midst of our sorrow, this death takes place in the shadow of a new life, the sunrise of a new world, a world that our beloved comrade gave his life to protect and nourish. He did not feel this sacrifice a vain or empty one. And we will not debate his profound wisdom at these proceedings. Of my friend, I can only say this: of all the souls I have encountered in my travels... his was the most... Human." "Honors, hup!"
 * - Kirk and Sulu, as Kirk, eulogizing Spock, loses his composure

"You knew enough to tell Saavik that how we face death is as least as important as how we face life." "Just words." "But good words. That's where ideas begin. Maybe you should listen to them. I was wrong about you... and I'm sorry." "Is that what you came here to say?" "Mainly. And also that I'm – proud... very proud... to be your son."
 * - David and Kirk

"He's really not dead... as long as we remember him."
 * - McCoy on Spock, in wording that proves ironically prophetic

"It is a far far better thing I do than I have ever done before... a far – better resting place I go to than I have ever known."
 * - Kirk to Carol Marcus, looking at the newborn Genesis planet following Spock's funeral

"You OK, Jim? How do you feel?" "Young. I feel young!"
 * - McCoy and Kirk, as they look at the Genesis planet

Casting
Because Ricardo Montalban had originated his role in "Space Seed" on the original program, director Nicholas Meyer was not involved with casting him, though he certainly had no complaints. "Khan is enough to tell you that this is a great actor", he said. Most of Kirk's crew were in place, but Meyer was intimately involved with casting several new roles. He explained that what he was looking for was actors where he could see what the characters were feeling, even when they were not talking.

"For Carol Marcus I wanted a woman who was beautiful and looked like she could think; a woman who was attractive enough that you could see why Kirk would fall for her, and at the same time somebody who could keep up with him", Meyer said. "[...] I loved Bibi Besch; I became very close with her, and I used her again in 'The Day After'. She's no longer alive and I bitterly regret it; she was a lovely Human being, and a lovely actor."
 * "Merritt Butrick is also tragically no longer alive", Meyer lamented. "[As David Marcus] he not only had to be Kirk's son, he had to be Carol's son, so on a physical level I think what I liked was that his hair was the same color as hers but it was curly like Bill's, so I thought, 'Well, that's plausible.'"

"Paul Winfield was an actor I had wanted to work with since I saw 'Sounder,'" Meyer noted, "and I thought, 'Wow, what a lovely actor'. There was no real reason for him to be the captain of the Reliant, other than my great desire to direct him in scenes! I knew he could do it, without any question." In The Next Generation, Winfield acted out a different role, that of the Tamarian captain Dathon, in "Darmok".

The biggest casting coup was giving a young Kirstie Alley the role of Saavik. "She said as a child she wanted to be Spock and that she was so in love with the role that she wore her ears to sleep. [...] She didn't have to find the role; she didn't have to work her way into it", Meyer pointed out. "She'd been living it somewhere in her head for years. There just wasn't a contest. I don't recall seeing another actor for that part who was as persuasive." In addition to her instinctive understanding of the role, Alley brought another, slightly more definable quality to her role. Meyer explained: "The thing about her is that she's beautiful, but she also had a slightly other-worldly quality. [...] She was also able to encompass that sort of flat unemotionality, but she's basically a comedian. What I didn't know was that that flatness, like Leonard's, frequently comes out of a kind of a deadpan. I realized that when I watched her doing it. Then, at the other end of it, there she was at Spock's funeral, weeping. I remember somebody came running up to me and said, 'Are you going to let her do that?' And I said, 'Yeah.' And they said, 'But Vulcans don't cry', and I said, 'Well, that's what makes this such an interesting Vulcan.'" In dialogue not retained in the final film, Saavik was described as being half-Romulan, which might have explained her tears.