"Kir'Shara" is the ninth episode of the fourth season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: Enterprise.
"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".
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.
Enterprise heads to Andoria after Ambassador Soval informs them that the Vulcans believe they have been developing Xindi weapon technology.
Meanwhile, at The Forge, Captain Archer, Commander T'Pol and T'Pau, having found the sacred Kir'Shara[a] (which the Syrrannites believe will usher a Vulcan enlightenment), endeavor to take it to the capital.
They present the Kir'Shara to the High Command and reveal that the embassy bombing was merely a pretext to weaken the pacifist Syrrannites prior to the Andorian strike.
Visibly angered, V'Las lunges for the Kir'Shara, but is stunned by High Minister Kuvak, who orders the fleet to stand down.
V'Las, relieved of his post, meets secretly with Talok, revealed to be a Romulan agent, who states that the reunification of their worlds is only a matter of time.
Most of the guest stars had appeared in the previous episode "Awakening", including Robert Foxworth as Administrator V'Las, Kara Zediker as T'Pau and John Rubinstein as Kuvak.
[2] "Kir'Shara" also saw the return of Jeffrey Combs as the Andorian Commander Shran for the sixth time as well as Gary Graham as Ambassador Soval, who has appeared as a recurring character in Enterprise since the pilot episode "Broken Bow".
[1] Re-appearing in "Kir'Shara" were the traditional Vulcan weapon, the lirpa, which was first introduced in The Original Series episode "Amok Time".
Additional stunt doubles were required for Archer, T'Pol, T'Pau and Talok while two puppeteers were needed for the Andorian antennae seen on screen.
After Enterprise leaves orbit, the Vulcans start bombarding the caves where the Syrrannites are located, killing T'Pol's mother, T'Les (Joanna Cassidy).
[4] This view was supported by the 2010 book Star Trek As Myth, which saw the original Vulcan religion prior to the Reformation arc seen from "The Forge" onwards as equating to the Catholic Church while the Syrannites were the Protestants.
[11] Herc, in his review for Ain't It Cool News, praised the reliability of Jeffrey Combs as Shran, but thought that there were no major surprises.
[14] In Matthew Kappell's 2010 book Star Trek as Myth: Essays on Symbol and Archetype at the Final Frontier, he said that he felt that the revelation that the previous Vulcan administration was working with the Romulans all along "suddenly makes sense of years of previously incomprehensible Vulcan policy" and linked to The Next Generation episode "Unification".
[16] The Digital Fix said this was the best episode of the fourth season, calling it a "well-paced, satisfying resolution" to the Vulcan storyline in the series.