Was altering Kurn's memory "Kahlessian"?

Discussion in 'Star Trek: Deep Space Nine' started by indolover, Feb 9, 2013.

  1. Timo

    Timo Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Julian Bashir is a secret agent whenever he gets the opportunity. Outside the holodeck, he's a part-time doctor at best, and quite at home with assassination missions, open combat and other daredevil activities. We know for an often promoted fact that he doesn't feel he should refrain from killing people, in the right circumstances: he's as much a baby killer by training and oath as, say, Sisko or Yar or Giotto is, in addition to being a doctor.

    Timo Saloniemi
     
  2. TiberiusMaximus

    TiberiusMaximus Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

    Firing a phaser is different than performing surgery. I personally think he would see the difference and object to combining the two. Kurn isn't an enemy soldier.
     
  3. Timo

    Timo Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Hardly, if the surgery is conducted by a phaser.

    Technicalities should rightly be ignored here. Even today, assassinations can be conducted with medical equipment; it's not a question of technology at all.

    Whether Bashir is acting in the role of Kurn's doctor, Worf's friend or Starfleet soldier and law enforcer here, we don't really know, due to the profound ambiguity of the physical setting. But does that matter? We already have all the bases covered:

    - We know that doctors in the UFP are not opposed to euthanasia in general, even if McCoy feels bad about jumping the gun with his dad.
    - We know that Bashir is all for queer Klingon customs and mores when buddying up with Worf, even if only in order to impress Dax.
    - We know that Starfleet officers, the only established soldiers and law enforces of the Federation, can and will kill people outside situations of declared war or self-defense.

    Timo Saloniemi
     
  4. Mr. Laser Beam

    Mr. Laser Beam Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    IMHO, Bashir acted within the bounds of the Hippocratic Oath. Assuming he took the phrase "do no harm" to mean "preserve the patient's life", then what he did certainly qualified as that, because if he didn't wipe Kurn's memory, Kurn would have died. So the act of wiping said memory preserved Kurn's life, therefore, no harm was done (according to human medical ethics).

    As for Worf killing Kurn: I maintain that they should have gone to Bajor, then they could have legally carried out the ritual. On DS9, it wouldn't work, because while the station is owned by the Bajorans, it's run by the Federation, so it's considered Federation territory. Bajor, at that time, was not a Federation member, and I doubt they would have interfered (heck, for all we know, Bajoran law might contain a similar honor code!), so if Worf had killed Kurn on Bajor, the Federation could not do anything about it.

    Actually, what would really be interesting is if we later found out that the wiping of Kurn's memory was actually done with Kurn's own consent. Maybe Kurn chickened out and didn't want to die, so at the last minute he allowed Bashir to do this procedure, knowing that he would never remember it (and thus not consider his life to be without honor).
     
  5. Pavonis

    Pavonis Commodore Commodore

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    Kurn, chickening out? That's harder to believe than Bashir as an assassin!
     
  6. Anwar

    Anwar Admiral Admiral

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    What they could've done was, once Worf was part of the House of Martok, was go after Kurn and try to find out if his memories could be restored.
     
  7. Pavonis

    Pavonis Commodore Commodore

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    Or, if they had killed Kurn, they could've gone back in time and "unkilled" him. No - Kurn was dead, even if his body wasn't. Why try to undo what had happened?
     
  8. Jeyl

    Jeyl Commodore Commodore

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    Because that's what Worf does about his Honor throughout most of his existence in the franchise. He tries to undo what had happened.
     
  9. Jerikka Dawn

    Jerikka Dawn Captain Captain

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    I just think this episode made Worf look like an idiot, and the ending had to compensate for it. I just don't think it would have gone down this way at all. It would have been pretty much this:

    Worf: Yeah listen man, I'm down for this ritual, but Riker got in my shit back on the Big E for burning incense in my quarters. This Sisko guy is way more strict. Let's go somewhere where we can do this without ramifications, or better yet --- let's get a month leave, we'll bring Jadzia along, go settle some old blood feuds, see how you feel after a few weeks, then if you still wanna do it, we'll take care of it before I head back to DS9. Hell, you might even die in battle!

    That would have been a great episode.
     
  10. Pavonis

    Pavonis Commodore Commodore

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    Uh, no he doesn't.

    When Worf was discommendated by K'Mpec, he didn't do anything to regain his honor. He got it back because he supported Gowron, who gave it back to him. Then Gowron stripped his honor again, and Worf didn't fight it. He joined the House of Martok, but the House of Mogh was ended. I suppose Worf's personal honor was restored by joining an honorable House, but really the point is that the House of Mogh was dead. Why try to bring back Kurn, then? He was as dead as his House.
     
  11. Anwar

    Anwar Admiral Admiral

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    Why not just ask him to join the House of Martok with him, then?
     
  12. Worf'sParmach

    Worf'sParmach Commander Red Shirt

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    I have a feeling Martok would not have liked what Worf did to Kurn at all.
     
  13. Pavonis

    Pavonis Commodore Commodore

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    Kurn was long gone ("Sons of Mogh" - fourth season) by the time the real Martok showed up ("In Purgatory's Shadow" - fifth season), and Worf himself didn't join the House of Martok until "Soldiers of the Empire", also in the fifth season.
     
  14. Durek

    Durek Commander Red Shirt

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    In the novel "A Burning House, all of it came out, and Martok was not happy that he wasn't told by Worf what he did with Kurn, but he still remained a part of his house. Kurn regained his memories, and he chose to keep his new identity, and no longer considered Worf his brother.