Wouldn't the Klingons just kill all the Tribbles?

[enterprisecvn65]

So at the end of TTWT, Kirk wonders where all the Tribble have gone and Scotty says he "Gave them a good home" by beaming the to the Klingon ship before they went into warp.

Everyone seems happy with this solution and is laughing, except Spock of course, as the Entrprise flies away to another adventure.

Now Uhura was head over heels with the Tribbles. Chekov and McCoy both expressed how they liked them, Spock even had a brief moment where he seemed to show affection towards them. Kirk and Scotty didn't like the havoc they caused on the Enterprise, but didn't seem to not like the Tribbles as a species. As a matter of fact Kirk seemed mildly shocked when he thought Scotty had just beamed them out into space and Scotty replied with how inhuman that would be before telling where he sent them too.

Give the fact that the Klingons are not what you would call "kind" or "understanding" and have shown little hesitation to kill things they don't like, they were willing to kill who knows how many people by poisoning the wheat that very episode. Doesn't it stand to reason tha,t as soon as they realized the Tribbles were aboard the ship, that the captain would order every crew member to get a phaser, a bath'leth or those three pronged daggers and kill every last one of them? Hell the Klingons would probably have a contest to see who could kill the most and since the Tribbles make that high pitched squeal when they are near, it's not like the Klingons would have a hard time finding them.

Yet not one member of the Enterprise crew goes "Holy shit!!!! the Klingons are going to slaughter those things worse than Germany slaughtered Brazil in the 2014 World Cup!!!!!!"

You think Spock, who never hesitates to point out the logical as unpleasant as it may be, would respond to Scotty's statement of a good home by pointing out, given the Klingons easily resorting to violence and total hatred of Tribbles, that it was highly unlikely they would be in a good home and would all be dead within a matter of days at most.

Yet noone seem to think this way at all and that the Tribbles are going to be happy and content with their new owners.

 

[Kilana2]

First, I will call my first real tribble "Neymar". Soon, there are 1000 Neymars. Who can offer that?

Second: fight against the tribbles: there will be songs to be sung about it in the Klingon Empire. The epic battle against the tribbles.

The tribbles are hardly close to extinction. And the dislike between tribbles and klingons is mutual. One day an armada of tribbles may strike back against the Klingon Empire for being killed in cold blood aboard that klingon ship.

Third: the tribbles reappear in DS9. Quark may sell you a whole cargo bay of them.

 

[telerites]

I always thought the Klingons would see it as an act of war and retaliate. It could/should have started a Klingon-Federation war. But yeah, I suspect theyd kill those buggers first. Not a well thought out p!at by the crew.

 

[FormerLurker]

Worf said the Klingons eventually destroyed the Tribble homeworld. Not particularly honorable, to be sure, but Tribbles make them do dishonorable things.

 

[Poltargyst]

Totally agree. The Enterprise crew didn't have the balls to just kill them themselves, so they had the Klingons do it.

And as has been said, I'm sure Klingons still sing of the day the Federation attacked them by transporting Tribbles onto their ship and of the Great Tribble Slaughter they undertook to defend themselves.

Shame on you, David Garrold, shame shame shame.

 

[hux]

I think the assumption is that a lot of them will get into the nooks and crannies of the Kilngon ship and survive (causing a lot damage along the way) so ha ha ha ha, isn't that funny

Even so, yes you're right, the Kilingons probably will eventually slaughter them all (but not as bad as Brazil.....nobody could get slaughtered that bad again) so, in fact, not funny at all

 

[BillJ]

I agree the final solution is a touch disturbing. Just have to chalk it up to something being made in a different era.

 

[Kor]

In all fairness, certain light-hearted episodes like this one and "A Piece of the Action" weren't necessarily meant to be analyzed in such detail.

In-universe, I think Koloth and his crew might keep this under wraps to prevent any further humiliation and disgrace from having the whole sabotage operation botched.

Kor

 

[BillJ]

In all fairness, certain light-hearted episodes like this one and "A Piece of the Action" weren't necessarily meant to be analyzed in such detail.

In-universe, I think Koloth and his crew might keep this under wraps to prevent any further humiliation and disgrace from having the whole sabotage operation botched.

Kor

But they would still have to do something with the Tribbles, quiet or not. I have a feeling they just started beaming them into space.

 

[Ithekro]

This was from an era before Klingons were as well defined. This was I think the third time they appeared on Star Trek. Most of the traits being placed on them in relation to what they'd do to the Tribble is from much later on.

 

[Kor]

^ Though we know from "Errand of Mercy" that Klingons "have a reputation for ruthlessness", and they are willing to kill without mercy.

If they rounded up hundreds of (apparent) primitive villagers to slaughter (though we found out later that nobody actually died), then the Klingons certainly wouldn't have any qualms about killing a bunch of shrieking furballs.

Kor

 

[BillJ]

This was from an era before Klingons were as well defined. This was I think the third time they appeared on Star Trek. Most of the traits being placed on them in relation to what they'd do to the Tribble is from much later on.

But if the Klingons see them as vermin, what makes you think they would treat them any differently than we do roaches, mice or rats?

 

[enterprisecvn65]

Worf said the Klingons eventually destroyed the Tribble homeworld. Not particularly honorable, to be sure, but Tribbles make them do dishonorable things.

I actually think Koloth's original intent when he reunited with Kang and Kor was to return to his ship and finish his business with the Tribbles and mark the end of a long and glorious struggle for the empire, but they got sidetracked.

I guess the more important issue is if the Borg assimilated the Tribbles planet would that make the Borg cute and appealing to humans so much that'd they be glad to be such a part of an adorable race of conquerors?

 

[Poltargyst]

It's not a real Star Trek ending. In a REAL Star Trek ending, McCoy discovers food that he can give the Tribbles to make them sterile and stop reproducing. Then, the crew seek and find a hospitable planet (maybe the Tribble homeworld) and deposit the Tribbles there where they can live happily for the rest of their lives.

 

[Lance]

Given the Tribbles are an analogy of the 'Rabbit problem', it's not unreasonable to expect that the Klingons would do exactly what humans did: take any measure necessary to cull the ecological menace.

I agree that Scotty beaming them over to the Klingon ship, lighthearted though its played, should have started a major diplomatic incident. It'd be like if Australia had just sent all the rabbits to Indonesia and said "Not our problem anymore, deal with it yourselves". There'd be hell to pay.

 

[enterprisecvn65]

Given the Tribbles are an analogy of the 'Rabbit problem', it's not unreasonable to expect that the Klingons would do exactly what humans did: take any measure necessary to cull the ecological menace.

I agree that Scotty beaming them over to the Klingon ship, lighthearted though its played, should have started a major diplomatic incident. It'd be like if Australia had just sent all the rabbits to Indonesia and said "Not our problem anymore, deal with it yourselves". There'd be hell to pay.

Well given the fact that a Klingon plot to kill, at the least, tens of thousands of people with poisoned wheat had just been foiled, I don't think the Klingons would really have a leg to stand on diplomatically if they got pissed and wanted to make Scotty giving them the Tribbles into some big issue.

And I really don't have a problem with the Klingons killing the little buggers.....My issue is noone on the Enterprise, who all seemed to be concerned for the welfare of the Tribbles of varying degrees, seems to have even had the slightest thought cross their mind that the Klingons were going to wipe them out and they all acted like this was some wonderful solution that would be great for the furballs. Like I said not even Spock, who never hesitated to point out the unpleasant, seemed to grasp the logic of what the outcome would be.

 

[Push The Button]

From Memory Alpha:

Regarding the fact that the episode "The Trouble with Tribbles" concludes with many tribbles having been beamed aboard a Klingon ship, David Gerrold supposed about the Klingons, "I'll bet that they didn't let any thoughts of inhumanity trouble them....."

 

[Ithekro]

That the the tribbles would trouble the Klingons was far more worth the lives of the rapidly breeding Tribbles to the crew of the Enterprise (who has left 17+ years worth of Tribbles back on Station K7). Clearing the D7 might be a problem depending on if the Klingons can function properly with all those noisy Tribbles going off, and not breaking their ship while cleaing them out.

Recall, Enterprise does this trick twice to the Klingons. The second time the tribbles were much, much larger.

 

[FormerLurker]

Until they shot them. Then they became a bunch of little ones again.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

I agree that Scotty beaming them over to the Klingon ship, lighthearted though its played, should have started a major diplomatic incident... There'd be hell to pay.

There would absolutely be hell toupée.

It was never explained what Cyrano Jones was supposed to do with "each and every tribble" after he picked them up. And of course the Klingons will beam the tribbles into space.

It was just a function of the era: the animal rights movement hadn't gotten bold yet, and the need to exterminate vermin (or ermine, as in Spock's imaginary violin) was taken for granted.