So, in planet Genesis orbit, Kirk made the last klingon prisoner. Promised to kill him later, but lied. Then the Klingon ship lands on Vulcan, only the heroes are seen disembarking and they go straight to Mt. Seleya. 3 months later (Star Trek IV) the Bird of Prey is still in the same parking space. What was made of Maltz? (Saw a thread with this title on imdb. Alot of funny answers. Figured to ask same question here. Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088170/board/nest/210561669 )
Anyone have a theory? a one-line fanfic? I think it's obvious Kirk turned him to the Klingon Embassy on Vulcan (if there is one). But coming to think of it they kept the vessel which is strange. The Feredration and Klingon were not in a declared war at that time. Also Kirk and crew had to ride the captured vessel home, Starfleet showed no interest? But poor Maltz. He never was so much agressive as Kruge or Torg. He could very weel have been forgotten in some locker untill a Vulcan tech with the funny hat found him starving.
Surely Kirk knew that if he turned Maltz over to the Klingons, Maltz's life would be forfeit. Maltz would either be executed or commit ritual suicide because of his loss of honor. The latter probably happened anyway.
^^^ We do know, however, that it's possible for a disgraced warrior to regain his honor (death isn't always an option). If Maltz was able to participate in a victorious battle for the Empire at some point, then his honor would have been restored, IMO. With enough victorious battles, Maltz could even have eventually ended up captain of his own bird-of-prey, perhaps even becoming famous as one of the few Klingons to face the demon Kirk directly and live to tell the tale.
While Klingons like to speak of their "ancient" culture and Kahless and whatnot, it doesn't seem as if the Klingon culture of TOS or ENT would really be too similar to the Klingon culture of TNG. Probably customs and mores go in and out of fashion as leaders change, and/or as the fortunes of war change - and empty rhetoric about honor is spoken more loudly when the Empire is in a rut, suffering under a humiliating alliance with the do-good Feds. A triumphant Empire might not be uptight about honor, and might welcome Maltz with open arms if he has good intel on Genesis and the latest UFP torture techniques... Timo Saloniemi
I like the sound of this. I've always wondered if the 24th century era Klingons play up their cultural "traditions" a bit more for the sake of retaining something of their heritage. Not to say that Klingons really are all honor bound, but that they tend to exaggerate those traditions for the benefit of everybody else. They're presenting the 24th century with a kind of 'Disneyland version' of Qo'noS, rather than the real deal.
The intro to the Klingon Dictionary says that Maltz provided much of the information in it. In a way, this may have helped him regain his honor. If the Federation can speak the Klingon language directly, it makes it easier to fight against (or even with) them. Thus Maltz was, indirectly, helping the Klingon Empire by doing that.
I really got fed up with the TNG era Klingons. They really are a one-note race, now, like the Borg and the Romulans. At least the Cardassians were better treated on DS9. I mean, I like the honour thing but, the TNG Klingons are nothing like their TOS counterparts, culture-wise. I'm all for making them distinct, but they took it too far, imo.
Agreed. All Klingons are honourable, except that none are(and most of the main ones we see are deceitful, backstair dealing, stab you in the back snakes).....except Worf and even then he was about as annoying as Ned Stark and at least Stark had the decency to pay for his obsession with his own sense of loyalty - God what I would have given to see Worf executed - HATED that whiny prick!!! They were presented en masse as hulking biker thugs who enjoyed head-butting and brawling. Honour? Fuck off.
The novelization of ST IV claims he suicided in his Vulcan detention cell. Pocket Books' first edition of "The Klingon Dictionary" claims he worked on the translations with Marc Okrand. My fanfilm "Free Maltz" claims that Saavik set him free and he escaped as a stowaway on the Bounty when it went to save the whales. http://therinofandor.blogspot.com.au/2008/08/free-maltz-as-i-mentioned-recently-ive.html Pocket Books' "Genesis Wave" original duology of novels teams him with an elderly Carol Marcus to stop the rampant wave in the 24th century.