9 Genuinely Subtle Ways Movies Planned For The Sequel In Advance

9. Spock's Mind Meld With Bones - Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan

Star Trek The Wrath of Khan
Paramount

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan memorably climaxes with Spock (Leonard Nimoy) sacrificing himself to in order to save the Enterprise from the villainous Khan (Ricardo Montalbán).

But before he can enter the engine room, Leonard McCoy (DeForest Kelley) tries to stop him, causing Spock to give McCoy a Vulcan nerve pinch and then perform a mind meld, where he mysteriously tells McCoy to "remember."

This pays off in the sequel, the Nimoy-directed Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, where it's revealed that Spock's spirit (or "katra") is housed within McCoy's mind, setting the crew of the Enterprise on a journey to reunite Spock's spirit with his body.

Though The Wrath of Khan otherwise implied a certain finality with Spock's death, the single trigger word implanted into McCoy's brain was the primer for Spock's joyous resurrection in the sequel.

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