The story explained Lt. Worf's background for the first time in the series, including the story of Romulan betrayal at Khitomer which saw the death of his parents. While his foster parents were first mentioned in this episode, they were not seen until the fourth season episode "" and his stepbrother didn't appear on the show until the seventh season episode "". Michael Dorn was pleased with the outcome of this episode as he felt it showed the producers that the fans were just as interested in his character as the others in the main cast. He felt that it could have been taken further and wanted there to be an epic battle at the end of the episode. The Klingon battlecruiser seen in "Heart of Glory" was footage re-used from "", while the freighter was a general model which would come to be reused throughout "The Next Generation" and other "Star Trek" television series.