Does anyone think Una's true Illyrian/alien appearance will be shown in season 2?
- Thread starter Kristine
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Who says she has one? The show established that Illyrians engineer themselves into a variety of forms, to explain the difference in appearance with the Enterprise Illyrians. The ones shown on a screen graphic looked human aside from some slight modifications. They aren't shapeshifters; it's just that different ones are engineered with different traits from other Illyrians. So her true form is the one we've been seeing all along.
Btw, something that only just now occurred to me…
In the first episode the crew is temporarily undergoing genetic modifications to rescue her.
Quite ironic.
In the first episode the crew is temporarily undergoing genetic modifications to rescue her.
Quite ironic.
Why assume she has a "true" form? STAR TREK, particularly the TOS era during which SNW is set, was full of alien races who looked indistinguishable from Earthlings. Humanoid aliens don't always have latex bumps on their faces. 
Could be Ilyrians look just like humans. They just have better-tailored genes.
Could be Ilyrians look just like humans. They just have better-tailored genes.
Darn the Preservers.
I don't think Una's people are supposed to be the same guys as the aliens from ENT. First of all, the ENT aliens were never even called 'Illyrians.' That was just from the script. Second, the episode they appeared in had nothing whatsoever to do with genetic modification. They just had a part on their ship that Archer stole. Third, they don't resemble the Illyrians as seen in SNW. I would say that this is a case of 'Terellian/Terrelian/Tyrellyan/etc.' syndrome, if not for the fact that they weren't even named in the episode.
Some of the pictures @Christopher just mentioned, show Illyrians with slight webbed digits and forehead ridges similar to the ENT Illyrians. So there's no real reason why they can't be the same race from SNW. The pics don't prove they're the same, but they do allow for it.
As for Una, I see no reason to assume she's in disguise. Some Illyrians just look more human than others, that's all.
As for Una, I see no reason to assume she's in disguise. Some Illyrians just look more human than others, that's all.
The currently ongoing tie-in comic written by Kirsten Beyer has them as the same species.
And one of the artists on the show purposely put that ridged Illyrian on the screen as a connection to Enterprise.
Spock even has a great line where he says the Illyrians might not react positively to a ship named Enterprise
And one of the artists on the show purposely put that ridged Illyrian on the screen as a connection to Enterprise.
I imagine they got over it somehow. In fact, in my headcanon, after the Xindi crisis ended Archer located the Illyrian ship from "Damage" - which probably hadn't gotten very far - and returned their warp reactor to them.
I'm sure that the Illyrians would have eventually understood that Earth's survival was at stake and that Archer took no pleasure in stealing their reactor so they probably didn't complain much.
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Well, yes and no. It started out that way, since I doubt ENT's writers intended their Illyrians with two Ls to be from the planet Ilyria with one L mentioned as Number One's home planet in D.C. Fontana's Vulcan's Glory (which Fontana may have meant to be the Ilyria VI mentioned in TAS: "Mudd's Passion"). However, we know from behind-the-scenes comments that SNW's creators do intend them to be the same Illyria, hence the spelling change to match the ENT version, and the viewscreen graphic that Tuskin38 mentioned.
As for your second point, just because a species is genetically modified doesn't require every story about them to focus on their genetic modification. Denobulans were genetically modified, but it hardly ever came up in Phlox episodes.
I'm sure Una's quick enough on the uptake that she could fool any scanners.
And, whenever possible, she could avoid being scanned in the first place, due to her high rank.
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Same way a Klingon became an ambassadors aid.
I still think of her as human because that's what she really was supposed to be in the cage.
Also in "The Cage," Spock was supposed to be emotional, Pike was supposed to have a problem with women on the bridge, and the ship was supposed to turn transparent when it went into "time warp." Ideas evolve.
And Pike believing Number One was an "Earth woman" in "The Cage" is entirely consistent with Una pretending to be an Earth human until she was found out several years after "The Cage." Something doesn't have to be true just because a character believes it is. (Granted, you'd think the Talosians could've read Number One's deception in her mind, but maybe she was so mentally disciplined that she was able to fool even them.)
I'm not saying it was a wrong decision. I'm just saying it still seems like she was written as a human. Probably because after near 60 years we were never told she wasn't so we all assumed she was human. Doesn't really matter. I'm just ruminating. I would have preferred to keep her name and true heritage going until the 2nd or 3rd season.
She is in SNW as well unless it's important for the plot.
I did like her hairstyle better in Discovery. The current one looks painful. The one in discovery looked closer to the cage.
Considering Star Trek producers have made species look changes throughout the franchise's run on a whim or based on casting - for example TNG season 4's episode The Host, had the Trill race looking very different from how Terry Farrell ultimately looked as a Trill on the pilot episode of Deep Space Nine just a year or so later - not to mention dropping the aspect that Rrills couldn't use Transporters, because the transporter effect would kill the symbiot.
There's also the fact that Una specifically wanted to join Star Fleet knowing the Federation's stance on her race, and genetic manipulation in general; and given that they are able to genetically manipulate themselves, it would make sense that she would go out of her way to make sure she looked as human as possible. Also, given the whole genetic manipulation angle, who's to say the species has one distinct look at this point?
There's also the fact that Una specifically wanted to join Star Fleet knowing the Federation's stance on her race, and genetic manipulation in general; and given that they are able to genetically manipulate themselves, it would make sense that she would go out of her way to make sure she looked as human as possible. Also, given the whole genetic manipulation angle, who's to say the species has one distinct look at this point?
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