Trollheart

Well, the first two episodes so far. Maybe I should think about doing an index. Need more clones!

__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Trollheart

Although I won't be covering it here, the Animated Series had some very strange episodes. Anyone watching it notice that there was some crazy alien at the helm? Anyway, this one I found the weirdest of all, and it kind of ties in with my "Of Gods and Men" journal. On a planet somewhere in the galaxy Kirk and Co come across the god Quetzlcoatl, deity of the Mayans. Seriously.

Oddly, though part two is available part one is not, and even odder, it seems to have been uploaded by one of the original writers, so you would think he would have wanted the whole episode available. Anyhoo, here is what I could find of it. Worth watching.

__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Trollheart

Borg

Class: Mechanoid, gatherers of data
Home planet: None, but they reside in Borgspace at Unimatrix Zero
Values: The acquisition of information and data, biological, technological.
Important Borg: Seven of Nine, Borg Queen, Hugh, Locutus of Borg
Feature in: TNG, VOY

Obviously taken from the word “cyborg”, the Borg are a hive mind entity, which is to say they are all interconnected to the one master brain, and none of them operate independent of that. Borg have no free will, no emotions, no personality. They are recruited from the ranks of other races by being “assimilated”, which involves their being injected by Borg drones with a compound that turns their skin pale, and introduces what are known as Borg nanoprobes into the system, creating a conduit which hooks the new Borg up to the collective. Limbs are enhanced with interface devices, usually on the arms and face, which allow the new Borg to receive commands and retrieve data, and keep in contact with, and be controlled by, at all times, the hive mind.

The Borg (they are always treated as being a singular entity, even if there are many of them attacking or present) value the accumulation of data more than anything; in fact, it is the only thing they value. They are not conquerors, except in the sense that to assimilate and take over a planet affords them the opportunity to make more drones and thus increase their power. They add whatever distinctive differences an alien race has to their own, absorbing the knowledge of their technology, and so always continually evolving. They have no interest in war or territorial disputes, except when attacked, and believe in no gods. When a Borg is killed or incapacitated, it is removed from the hive mind like a broken connection, and vanishes. Like a part that is no longer needed or has become unusable, drones are discarded without a thought. They originated in the Delta Quadrant of the galaxy, and were first encountered by NCC-1701D, soon afterwards finding Earth and a whole new target. They easily crushed the greatest fleet ever assembled by humanity, and with the help of Captain Picard as Locutus of Borg, wrote the name of Wolf 359 forever in blood into the history books.

It was later discovered that the Borg all serve one Queen, and that they travel through hyperspace in a method different to that used by most races, something called transwarp conduits which emerge in Borgspace. Their ships are flying cubes and are extremely tough, repairing themselves if not completely destroyed. They do not know the meaning of the word surrender, and will pursue an enemy to its absolute limit, never giving up. They learn and adapt quickly, so new weapons used against them are only effective for a very short period. They have powerful weapons themselves, capable of destroying huge swathes of a planet’s surface. They are not part of any alliance and will attack both sides in a battle, as long as it is to their advantage. They do not understand concepts such as honour, courage or fear, all of which they believe to be irrelevant. They are pure, unthinking machines, directed by their Queen towards one unalterable goal: improvement and perfection of their race.

__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Trollheart

Name: Harry Kim
Race: Human
Born: Earth
Assignment: Ensign aboard USS Voyager (his first posting)
Marital status: Single
Family: John and Mary (seriously?) (Parents)
Important episodes: Caretaker, Non sequitur, Eye of the needle, Prime factors, Heroes and demons, Emanations, Deadlock, The Chute, Alter ego, Favourite son, Demon, The Disease, Fair Haven, Timeless, Nightingale, Prophecy, Endgame.

The eternal n00b, the constant rookie, Harry Kim began his active Starfleet career serving aboard Voyager but he had expected the tour of duty to be short, and is flabberghasted when he realises that he, along with the rest of the crew, are now stuck seventy thousand light years from home and that, in all probability, he will never get back to his old life again. He provides one half of a “buddy” relationship with the more outgoing and experienced Tom Paris, who essentially takes him under his wing and tries to teach him about life, though Paris himself is less interested really in his duties aboard ship than in what women he can score, an attitude which provides a perfect foil for Kim, the ensign always ready to please, always wanting to prove himself, always trying to do the right thing.

Throughout the series Kim remains as an ensign, while others, including Paris, are promoted. He does not however voice any protest about this, but one must assume he wonders why the captain does not see fit to reward his service, as he proves himself a capable officer time and again. He seems to be the one who’s always getting captured or abducted by aliens --- it happens several times in the series, in fact, it happened in the pilot episode --- and seldom has any love interest in his life. Like Riker, he plays an instrument, clarinet, though we don’t see him play it too often thank god. Paris’s loose cannon attitude often annoys him, and he tries to reverse the roles, attempting to teach Tom responsibility and duty.

Kim is killed in season two’s “Deadlock”, but a typical Voyager write-around has him replaced by an alternate version who then joins the crew and is accepted as “their” Kim. Should have left him dead. I must admit, I cheered when he was sucked out to space, but my cheers did not last long unfortunately. When Seven of Nine joins the crew he is initially suspicious of her --- not surprisingly: who would trust a Borg? --- but comes to be one of her friends and helps her with her attempts to understand humanity and regain her own, sometimes vicariously. He will however always be hated and despised by me, for creating, with Paris the “quaint” Irish village used in both the episode that bears its name, "Fair Haven” (expect to see that in the “When it rains” section!) and its sequel “Spirit folk”.

It is he though who discovers a micro-wormhole that could allow the Voyager crew to get back to their own quadrant, and creates the transwarp drive which allows them to attempt the journey in “Timeless”, resulting in the death of all but he and Chakotay, who make it home. Years later he manages to reset the timeline and those events never come to pass. In an alternative future (yeah, another one: what of it?) he is finally promoted to captain and has his own ship, however that timeline is also erased and so really he remains an ensign right to the end of the series.

__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Trollheart

This is Captain James T. Kirk. I can’t take your call right now. Please listen carefully to the following options and select the one that best describes your call:


If you are stuck in a stagnant society and wish to be liberated by the Federation, press one!

If you are a space babe wishing to learn about kissing, press two!

If you are a space babe wishing to learn about kissing, press three!

If you are a space babe wishing to learn about kissing, press four!

If you need a robot, machine or computer talked to death, press five!

If you require a crash course on how to get around the Prime Directive, press six!

If you are The Gorn looking for a rematch, press seven!

If you would like a long-winded diatribe on why man cannot be kept captive but must struggle for every inch, press eight!

If you are a space babe wishing to learn about kissing, press nine!

If you need help dealing with an evil/alternate/ version of yourself, press ten!

__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Trollheart

Title: The Enterprise incident
Series: TOS
Season: Three
Writer(s): DC Fontana
Main character(s): Spock, Kirk
Plot: In an attempt to steal the new cloaking device and adapt it for Federation use, Kirk and Spock allow themselves to be captured by a Romulan commander. Spock, to whom she is attracted, appears to betray his captain and is allowed stay onboard as her consort, while Kirk is believed to be killed by his first officer.

This was one of those episodes where they hit all the right notes: although Shatner tries to steal the show it's very much a Spock episode, one of few, and indeed one of the only ones where we get any insight into his carefully-concealed emotions. The idea of Spock having a love affair --- in fact, of faking one to gain the advantage Kirk needs and give him time to steal the device --- is so alien to the series that it really hits home. We also get to see Spock “kill” Kirk, learn that the Vulcan does in fact have a first name, and experience a sexy Romulan commander who is ultimately betrayed by Spock. This is also one of the first times that the goody-goody Federation openly (well, covertly, but you know what I mean: it's authorised) engage in espionage against a race with whom they are not currently at war, and the episode has everything: sex, betrayal, death, cloak and dagger and Kirk in pointy ears!

Rating:

Title: In the pale moonlight
Series: DS9
Season: Six
Writer(s): Peter Allan Fields and Michael Taylor
Main character(s): Sisko, Garak
Plot: The Federation is losing the war against the Dominion and reluctantly turns to their old enemies the Romulans to help them by joining the war. Fabricating evidence that the Changelings are planning to conquer Romulus, Garak gives Sisko a data rod which is in turn handed to a prominent Romulan senator. He however recognises it as fake, but on the way back to Romulus his ship is destroyed, thanks to a bomb put there by Garak. Soon afterwards, the Romulans join the war.

If DS9 ever reached a peak in mature writing, this was it. Sisko, ever the man to play by the rules and quote Starfleet regulations, is forced by circumstances into betraying everything he holds dear, into conspiring with the Cardassian Garak, whom he has never trusted but knows can get the job done. When it all goes pear-shaped and Sisko fears that their duplicity will in fact force the Romulans into an alliance with the Dominion, he discovers that the “ace in the hole” Garak has been holding is to ensure the senator's ship explodes. Once the data rod is recovered from the wreckage, its authenticity will not be questioned in the light of the “accident”, clearly an assassination, and the objective will have been achieved. A clearer case of one man facing Spock's remorseless logic of the “needs of the many” could not be made. A stupendous, brave, dark and utterly entrancing episode, one of the very finest in all the franchise.

Rating:

Title: Phage
Series: VOY
Season: One
Writer(s): Timothy de Haas, Brannon Braga, Skye Dent
Main character(s): Neelix
Plot: When Neelix's lungs are somehow stolen (hooray!) Voyager pursues the thieves, only to uncover a massive organ harvesting operation and a race of people suffering from a generational plague which consumes their flesh.

Not in fairness a brilliant episode, although the sheer joy of seeing Neelix lying close to death, unable to breathe and then later being told by the Doctor that he will have to remain motionless for the rest of his life (YES!) is worthy of its inclusion by itself. But what is striking about this episode is the double standard portrayed within the writing. Initially we see a race of aliens who are callously harvesting organs from any lifeform who has what they need, then later we learn they are doing this because of a disease which afflicts them and necessitates constant replacement of their organs. Janeway makes an interesting decision at the end, allowing the alien who has taken Neelix's lungs to retain them, unwilling to kill him for one of her crewmembers. Later on, when she toughened up, she would not be expected to do this. But then again, it was only Neelix, after all!

Rating:

Title: Sins of the father
Series: TNG
Season: Three
Writer(s): Ronald D. Moore, Drew Deighan, W. Reed Moran
Main character(s): Worf, Picard
Plot: Worf's father has been named by the Empire as a traitor, and the son of Mogh must travel to the homeworld to answer this charge. What he uncovers turns out to be a nest of vipers, a web of betrayal and a code of silence that will lead to death being pronounced upon his own head.

A great Worf episode, which tells us much more about Klingon culture and introduces us to a Klingon who will become, for a time, Worf's nemesis, as later will his sisters. It is in fact the father of Duras who is proven finally to be the traitor but in a totally shock ending Worf must shoulder the blame and be shunned by all Klingons. The unexpected conclusion comes as something of a hammerblow: just as you think, this is Trek: all charges dropped and home in time for Earl Grey --- hot! --- well no. The twist is painful and hard to take, and will have severe repercussions for Worf and his family for another season, and as mentioned the Duras sisters will become a thorn in the Federation's side with the death of their brother. There's also some action-man stuff for Picard, and we learn that Worf has a brother. Great stuff and the final scene, as Picard and Worf stride from the chamber of the High Council, with every Klingon back --- even his own brother's --- turned away from him, is both chilling and stunning.

Rating:

Title: Mirror, mirror
Series: TOS
Season: Two
Writer(s): Jerome Bixby
Main character(s): Spock, Kirk
Plot: A transporter accident opens a rift in space/time and Kirk and his intrepid landing party find themselves on the ISS Enterprise, in a harsh, brutal alternate universe where force is the watchword and there is no such thing as compromise or compassion. Here, Kirk meets this universe's counterpart of Spock and tries to show him how he can change this world for the better.

I just love this episode! What a clever idea. Building on the already-explored theme of an “evil Kirk” in the laughable “The enemy within”, this time we see a whole universe of evil Trek counterparts, with Sulu a sadist who enjoys enforcing discipline on the ship and vies for Kirk's job, McCoy finding a sickbay he describes as more like a torture chamber, and Spock with a beard! The idea that we're all one step away from chaos and brutality is well portrayed here, as everyone in the “Mirror universe” does what they have to to survive, while back on the “real” Enterprise “bad” Kirk and his crew are dumbfounded by the changes they see: “Where's my personal guard?” roars “bad” Kirk. The Mirror universe, and the events that unfold in this episode, would be revisited in later episodes of Deep Space 9.

Rating:

__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Trollheart

Name: Cardassia Prime
Alignment: non-Federation, hostile
Home to: Cardassian race
Capital City: Cardassia City
Orbital star: Cardassia, Class K

Once a lush, verdant and arable planet, Cardassia suffered a natural catastrophe which devastated its surface and turned forests and hills into desert. The planet has little in the way of minerals and so a great famine descended, worsened by the military seizing power and ploughing all the planet’s finances into their war with the Federation. Cardassians are notoriously devious and mistrustful, and an air of paranoia cloaks everything they do. This can be seen (or could be, prior to the almost destruction of the planet and the elimination of its populace at the end of the Dominion War) in the huge viewscreens that frown down from many buildings, as the feared Obsidian Order makes no secret about its ubiquitous surveillance of its people. Orwellian is the word that springs to mind, and the people live in fear and dread of the knock on the door in the dead of night.

Despite the unremitting grey sameness of much of the architecture and the barren expanse that proliferates outside the walls of the cities, there is much beauty to be found on Cardassia, such as the Mekor Wilderness, where the rocks form into sublime shapes and there are subterranean caverns. The State Intelligence uses this area as a place to train its recruits, and maintains an institute there. Unwary travellers though may fall prey to the Honge, a huge flying pterodactyl-like creature, or even the Mekarian sawtooth, a carnivorous plant native to the region. There is also one rainforest remaining on the planet, and its location in Morfan Province makes it a popular destination for Cardassian holidaymakers.

__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Trollheart

Commander Jadzia Dax, played by Terry Farrell

Dax is a trill, a symbiotic life form that can live a very long time --- hundreds, maybe thousands of years --- and is transplanted from host body to host body as each wears out or dies. Jadzia is the latest host, and in keeping with trill tradition she takes the alien’s surname, becoming Jadzia Dax, most often referred to as Dax. She serves aboard the space station Deep Space 9 under Commander (later Captain) Ben Sisko, whom she knows from her days of being implanted in the host body of the previous donor, a warrior named Curzon. Because of his long relationship with Curzon, and out of respect to the trill, Sisko often refers to Jadzia as “old man”, which is a little confusing. Initially, Jadzia is pestered by Doctor Julian Bashir, who falls in love with her, but eventually she falls for Worf, the Klingon security chief of DS9, and marries him.

Again, somewhat like Uhura and unlike most of the TNG females, Dax is treated almost like a man (given that she has the trill inside her and that all previous hosts were male, this is not that surprising) and acts quite the tomboy. She rarely seems to indulge in feminine trappings or be interested in feminine things, other than her romantic interests. She plays games of skill and chance at Quark’s with the abandon and acceptance of any other man, and she can fight and protect herself as well as any of them. She frequently leads missions, holding the rank originally of Lieutenant and then later Lieutenant Commander, and having her special relationship with Sisko gives her access to the station’s commander she might otherwise not have.

Dax is killed in the finale of the sixth season by Gul Dukat, but though Jadzia dies the symbiont is saved and later transplanted into another host body, who carries it through the final season to the conclusion of the show. After her heroics and sacrifice, Worf believes his late wife has earned her place in Sto’vo’kor, the Klingon heaven, somewhat equivalent to Valhalla, even though she herself is not of Klingon blood.

__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Trollheart

While it's certainly up there in the top three of the Trek movies, and I do like the theme, I just kind of find this one a little less Trekky (is that a word? It is now!) than other movies that came before it. And after it. I mean, I dig what the guy is trying to do, with the fanfare at the start then diverting off into a totally different sort of theme, but it just does not say Star Trek to me. Mind you, some of the others don't either, but this just sounds like it could be the theme for Titanic or something. Also, it's nowhere near as ominous and dark as the soundtrack to a movie like this should be. This was one of the first --- the first, really --- dark and bleak Star Trek movies, and though it had its funny and lighter moments, generally it dealt with one man's obsession and his attempts to come to terms with that before it tore him apart. This music .... does not communicate that inner struggle to me.

Which is why it's only at number


This needed a big, booming, droning, snarling anthem, something you could get your teeth into; something that, frankly, scared the shit out of you. Maybe not quite a horror theme as such, but something dark, heavy, oppressive. This is way too light and does not convey anything about how the movie actually pans out. Jerry Goldsmith, a veteran of Trek themes, apparently used a “pastoral, friendly theme to represent the hope of humanity's first contact”. Bollocks. I wanted big, crunching, scary, growling Borg music. Up yours Jerry! Fail.

__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Trollheart

#2: Revenge is a dish best served ... hot?

“Reunion”, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Season four, episode seven.
This is K'Eylar.

She is Worf's mate, and has brought onboard the Enterprise the son he did not know he had, though during the course of the episode she turns down his offer of marriage, much to his consternation and dismay. Meanwhile, K'mpec, High Chancellor of the Empire, is dying and two council members are vying for his seat. As K'mpec, impressed with his performance as Worf's second in “Sins of the father”, has chosen Picard as the arbiter of succession, the Klingons rendezvous with the Enterprise, that the choice may be made.

That choice is between Gowron and Duras. Worf knows Duras of course, as it is his father who sold out his own people at Khitomer to the Romulans, and he who framed Worf for the traitorous act, condemning him to Discommendation, meaning that Worf is looked on as a pariah in Klingon society. Nobody will even speak to him or look at him. Worf has much to hate Duras for.

During the rite of arbitration a bomb goes off, and is determined to be of Romulan origin. It is also found to have been on one of Duras's men. Researching into this, and by extension the circumstances under which Worf was tried as a traitor, K'Eylar uncovers the truth but then runs afoul of Duras.

Not about to allow his shame to be made public, much less his chances of becoming chancellor ruined, Duras kills K'Eylar.

When Worf finds her dying, and she tells him who killed her, he confronts his enemy on board his ship, demanding the Klingon "Rite of Vengeance".

Duras snarls that a traitor such as Worf has no right of vengeance, but Worf then says four words that change everything in Klingon law: “K'Eylar was my mate.” You can immediately see the words “Oh fuck!” in the expression that suddenly flits across the traitor's face.

He knows he is for it now. With no other choice, he engages Worf in combat but like most cowards he is a bad fighter, and at the end, tries to use what G'Kar called “enlightened self-interest” to save his life, telling Worf that if he kills him, there will be no way to prove that Worf is after all not a traitor. His efforts fail though: Worf is in a cold blood rage and kills Duras.

Understanding why he did what he did, but unable to condone it as acceptable behaviour for a Starfleet officer, Picard reprimands Worf and tells him if he cannot obey Starfleet rules he should resign. Worf chooses to remain aboard the Enterprise, but with a black mark against him.

This episode is quite pivotal in many ways. It wraps up the events of “Sins of the father” by allowing Worf to take revenge on the man who blackened his name, but it does not clear him, as he remarks to Picard: “Many of the council members shared in that lie. They will not be so willing to come forward now.”

By killing Duras, even if it is as a by-product of his revenge and not intended to benefit the other party in the contest, Worf has made a lifelong friend and ally of Gorwon, who now assumes the seat unchallenged. Worf has proven that, like most of us I think, when it comes to love all bets are off and rules be damned. This will not be the last time he puts his heart and his honour above his duty to Starfleet.

The other major thing to come out of this episode of course is that Worf is suddenly, and unexpectedly a father. He is not prepared for this, and it will create many bumps in the road ahead for him, but lead to a liaison with Deanna Troi and a better understanding of what it is to be a parent, and how hard it must have been for his own foster parents, bringing him up.

With Duras dead, you would think that would be the end of it. You would be wrong...

__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018