The interior of the High Council Chamber in 2151
L'Rell addresses and unifies the great Klingon Houses, 2257
The caverns of the High Council Chambers, 2257
The Klingon High Council Chamber was a location in the First City on the Klingon homeworld, Qo'noS, where the Klingon High Council met. It was built directly over one of seven chimneys of a volcanic system spread across the planet (ENT: "Broken Bow"; DIS: "Will You Take My Hand?")
On a raised platform at one side of the room was a long table at which four individuals could be seated. This faced a spacious standing area on the other side of the table, roughly in the center of the room, and an enormous wooden door at the room's opposite side, over which a wall-mounted bat'leth was displayed. Adjacent to the open-floor part of the room was a huge sensory apparatus which had a large screen and could be used to analyze and magnify blood samples that were placed on a sensor pad in front of the screen. Fire pits were at various places inside the room, providing illumination, and the door opened onto an outer chamber.
After the NX-class starship Enterprise arrived in orbit of Qo'noS in 2151, Captain Jonathan Archer – commanding officer of Enterprise – and several members of his crew visited the Klingon High Council Chamber. The newcomers were there to return Klaang to the Klingon Empire, which they proceeded to do. (ENT: "Broken Bow")
Later that year, Sub-Commander T'Pol, Enterprise's science officer, reminded Captain Vorok that Archer had visited the Chamber. The fact that the Human captain had returned Klaang meant that Vorok's House was no longer feuding with another Klingon House. (ENT: "Unexpected")
Background information[]
The term "High Council Chamber" for this location comes from the episode "Unexpected". Although the area does not receive an on-screen name in "Broken Bow", it was called the "Klingon High Council Chamber" in the script for that installment. [1] The name was also used for the area in Star Trek: Discovery, such as in storyboards for DIS: "Point of Light". [2]
The "Broken Bow" script described the chamber's exterior as having "gothic towers," detailing the episode's initial view of Qo'noS. The script proceeded by stating, "The ancient room is constructed of stone and wood beams; huge torches create eerie shadows." The teleplay also mentioned "great stone steps" leading between the chamber floor and the dais, though no steps are indicated between the two different levels in the actual episode, and noted that the sensory apparatus "seems far more high-tech than anything else in the chamber." [3]
The large wooden door of the Chamber was later re-used as the door to the Vulcan monastery at P'Jem in the first season episode "The Andorian Incident". ("The Andorian Incident", text commentary, ENT Season 1 DVD special feature)
The exact relation between the Klingon High Council Chamber and the Great Hall, also presented as the location the High Council meets and in the same city, is unclear.