Sins of the Father

[TrekToday]

Plot Summary: As part of the same exchange program that sent Riker aboard the Pagh, a Klingon commander named Kurn comes aboard the Enterprise to serve as first officer, where he quickly earns a reputation as a tough disciplinarian. Privately, however, he reveals to Worf an entirely different motive for being on the ship: he wishes to inform Worf that he is Kurn's older brother, and to ask that Worf help defend their father, Mogh, against accusations that Mogh aided the Romulans in the attack on the Khitomer Outpost that killed their parents. Worf requests and receives Picard's permission to appear before the Klingon High Council to challenge the accusations, brought by a council member named Duras. K'mpec, the head of the council, asks Worf to end his challenge for the good of Klingon society. Meanwhile, Kurn, who has hidden his secret identity as a son of Mogh, is attacked and nearly killed by assassins hired by Duras. With Kurn in sickbay, Worf asks Picard to stand with him at the challenge, and Picard agrees, asking his crew to investigate the Khotomer massacre. Crusher and Riker discover that another survivor, Kahlest, is still alive, and Picard brings her to the council to testify. K'mpec calls them into private chambers, where Picard and Worf discover that the real traitor at Khitomer was Duras' father, but they are told by K'mpec that an attack on the Duras family could trigger a civil war. K'mpec did not know that Worf had a brother, nor did he expect a Starfleet officer to demand a Klingon challenge. To protect Kurn from execution as the son of a traitor, Worf agrees to accept discommendation and dismissal from Klingon society, but K'mpec, Duras, Kurn and Picard all know the truth, and Picard advises Worf that there will be another time to clear his father's name.

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To read the full reviews, please click here.

[Kail]

The first truely great Klingon episode.

[Augustus]

I agree, TNG at its best

[Unicron]

A lot of fans have disliked how the Klingons developed on TNG, and there is some validity to those complaints. But I feel TNG handled the modern Klingons a lot better than some of the later series, and there were fewer characters who were pigeonholed into only being warriors.

[Broccoli]

^^ I think the Klingons, like the Borg, became over-used in the TNG era that by the time we were in the later seasons of DS9 and, to an extent, Voyager, fans may have been getting tired of them.

These early episodes were great because they were still creating the Klingon culture. By the time we got to season 7 of DS9, the writing might still match up, but so much had been mapped out and re-treaded with the Klingons, that they were not nearly as interesting as a race as they had once been.

[Jack Bauer]

The chaDitch will be silent!



I love that line.

[Tharsis]

Hmm, the review says Worf was sent away by his family to be with humans. I thought he was found by humans, alone, after the desctruction of the outpost by the Romulans. In other words, Worf's family probably thought he was dead. Am I remembering his storyline correctly?

[Broccoli]

Tharsis wrote:

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Hmm, the review says Worf was sent away by his family to be with humans. I thought he was found by humans, alone, after the desctruction of the outpost by the Romulans. In other words, Worf's family probably thought he was dead. Am I remembering his storyline correctly?

Yeah, Worf was found by Starfleet and was subsequently adopted by humans. Still, I would imagine that Starfleet would have tried to find Worf's family to return him to. It's just one of those things you have to go with.

[Goliath]

I think her review misses an important point about Worf's character.

Worf isn't just Klingon to the core: he's more Klingon than Klingon; he takes Klingon tradition and Klingon honour more seriously than most Klingons who live in the Empire.

As the old saying goes: he's more Catholic than the Pope. Having grown up among humans, he takes Klingon values and traditions at face value, and strives to live up to an idealized image of Klingon-ness. And when he spends some time with other Klingons, he's often disappointed at the way they don't live up to his ideals.

I always thought this was one of the most realistic bits of characterization in all of Trek. In a sense, Worf is a convert to Klingon culture, and displays all the zeal for which converts are noted--as opposed to the slacker, more easy-going ways of people who have been raised that way.