Did Khan target Harewood's daughter?

[DonIago]

Apologies if this has come up before!

So we know that Khan and Harewood work out a deal wherein Khan heals Harewood's daughter using his blood in exchange for Harewood bombing the S31 facility.

A few days ago I started to wonder whether Khan made Harewood's daughter sick to begin with. It's certainly in keeping with his character, and it seems more likely that Khan would set the situation up from the outset than that there would be an S31 person who conveniently had a sick daughter that Khan was in a unique position to help.

Thoughts?

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

That's definitely in character for Khan, yeah.

His constant carping about his "crew" and "beloved wife" notwithstanding, I'm standing by my position that Khan, as an Augment, is without human compassion, and thus deliberately making a child sick so he could blackmail her father later is definitely something Khan would do.

 

[DonIago]

I don't really see his feelings for his crew as being pertinent; they're augments. Harewood's family is "inferior" and thus inconsequential.

Kind of makes me wonder how much differently TWoK might have played out if Marla had survived, though.

 

[LeadHead]

This question defies resolution with me.

Is Khan capable of causing the illness and creating the situation? Without a doubt.

Could it have happened just as easily without Khan's involvement? Of Course.

Would Khan try to avoid taking the risk of potentially revealing his whereabouts or plans by being the cause? Yes.

Could Khan successfully evade suspicion long enough to poison the daughter? Yes.

Is Khan capable of poisoning a mans daughter and then looking her father in the eye and sending him to his death? Totally.

Short of a canonical explanation, there is no way to be sure.

 

[Green Shirt]

Kind of makes me wonder how much differently TWoK might have played out if Marla had survived, though.

Khan probably would've just kicked Kirk in the nuts and been satisfied.

 

[The Wormhole]

While I suppose it could work as a means of showing how calculating Khan can be, I personally doubt it. More than likely he reviewed whatever info he could about the personnel assigned to the Kelvin Library in search of a weak link he could exploit, someone who could be manipulated into doing his bidding. An officer with a terminally ill child turned up and bingo, plan can go ahead.

 

[DonIago]

I can definitely see it playing out that way...but I can also see it playing out that rather than find a weak link (either because he couldn't or couldn't be bothered) he opted to create one.

 

[ManOnTheWave]

Singh causing Harewood's daughter's illness strikes me as a little too convoluted. If for no other reason than a man whose daughter only recently fell ill might not have lost hope yet. No, Harewood's daughter likely would have been battling Illness for some time. The man was desperate. Enough to do anything.

 

[DonIago]

It seems less convoluted than Khan stumbling upon him...

How long was Khan thawed out for? He may have had months to plan this.

 

[Ithekro]

Couldn't have been much more than a year since they didn't find Botany Bay until after Vulcan was destroyed.

 

[The Wormhole]

And he probably spent most of that time designing and overseeing the construction of the Vengeance.

 

[drt]

While part of me likes the Machiavellian aspect of Khan also making the girl sick, I didn't get the impression from the film that was the case.

 

[DonIago]

I doubt the filmmakers intended it either; if it even occurred to them I could see them concluding that making the girl sick would push Khan even further into the land of irredeemable characters than he already was and discarding the concept in the process.

 

[Mudd]

Kind of makes me wonder how much differently TWoK might have played out if Marla had survived, though.

Khan probably would've just kicked Kirk in the nuts and been satisfied.

 

[Shaka Zulu]

I don't really see his feelings for his crew as being pertinent; they're augments. Harewood's family is "inferior" and thus inconsequential.

Kind of makes me wonder how much differently TWoK might have played out if Marla had survived, though.

According to the comic book story prequel Khan: Ruling in Hell, Marla was detested by one faction led by another Augment, and had the Ceti eel placed in her ear, then was ordered to kill Khan. It failed, she died, and Khan dealt with the other faction's leader.

Basically, it wouldn't have mattered if Ceti Alpha VI had not exploded, Augments would act like Augments, would resent Khan and want to jockey for power, and would have seized the weaker person that Khan loved and used her against him; as Captain Archer said to Arik Soong,

'Don't you see? It didn't matter if you were there or not-they were built to be this way. None of that would have mattered. It's in their nature. "Superior ability breeds superior ambition". One of their creators wrote that. He was murdered by an Augment.'

How long was Khan thawed out for? He may have had months to plan this.

Khan must have been thawed out for about two years, and must also have been working with Starfleet for just as long.

 

[Set Harth]

The timeframe doesn't permit Khan to have been thawed out for two years.

 

[Shaka Zulu]

^Okay, a year then.

 

[M'Sharak]

Kirk's escape pod lands on Delta Vega on "Stardate 2258.42... four uh, four, whatever... " and Harewood is first approached by "John Harrison" on Stardate 2259.55 - a little over one year later.

 

[DonIago]

Since we know basically nothing about what was ailing Harewood's daughter, I don't think we can make an assumption one way or another with regards to whether Khan had enough time to make her sick.

 

[UFO]

Since we know basically nothing about what was ailing Harewood's daughter, I don't think we can make an assumption one way or another with regards to whether Khan had enough time to make her sick.

Ah, but that's the beauty of it. If Khan did make her sick, we can assume it was something that would have been effective in the time frame available to him.