Kir'Shara

"Kir'Shara" is the ninth episode of the fourth season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: Enterprise. It was writer Michael Sussman's third episode of the season, while it was director David Livingston's second. The episode was the third in a three-part story arc, following on from the episodes "The Forge" and "Awakening". The title "Kir'Shara" refers to a Vulcan religious relic, and the three part Vulcan story arc explored themes relating to the Protestant Reformation resulting in comparisons to books such as The Da Vinci Code and The Celestine Prophecy, while the Kir'Shara itself was compared to the Nag Hammadi library.

Set in the 22nd century, the series follows the adventures of the first Starfleet starship Enterprise, registration NX-01. In this episode, Enterprise attempts to avert a war, and is caught in a crossfire between Vulcan and Andorian starships. Meanwhile. Captain Archer, Commander T'Pol and T'Pau aim to take the Kir'Shara to the Vulcan capital, and use it to reveal Administrator V'Las' plot to the rest of the Vulcan High Command.

In addition to the guest stars returning from the previous arc episodes, or the episode "Home", Jeffrey Combs returned as Shran. The episode was shot across seven days using mostly standing sets, with only an Andorian brig built specifically for this episode. "Kir'Shara" also saw the return of the Vulcan lirpa, a weapon which had been first introduced in the Star Trek: The Original Series episode "Amok Time". The episode originally aired on December 3, 2004 on UPN. It received a Nielsen rating of 2.1/4 percent, which equalled the highest ratings seen during the fourth season. It was warmly received by critics who praised Combs' performance and noted that this episode was an indication of the improving quality of the series. However, there was mixed opinion regarding the ending of the episode.