Did Chang expect the Kronos One to survive in combat?

[Aldo]

I just always assumed Chang was on the BOP when it fired on Kronos 1. When he messages the Enterprise and curses Kirk, I always thought even that was from the BOP, that they were just faking the static of the transmission.

The reason I thought this (and as a few others have mentioned to) is Gorkon saying "Find Chang!"

 

[Hartzilla2007]

I just always assumed Chang was on the BOP when it fired on Kronos 1. When he messages the Enterprise and curses Kirk, I always thought even that was from the BOP, that they were just faking the static of the transmission.

The reason I thought this (and as a few others have mentioned to) is Gorkon saying "Find Chang!"

I think he was on the Kronos 1, all Gorkon's line suggests is that he thinks Chang is behind what is going on and the only reason given for Chang to leave the ship is that belief that Kirk might destroy Kronos 1.

This belief kind of falls apart seeing as Kirk would have to be a total moron to destroy the ship thats accusing him of launching an unprovoked attack on them as it make him look guilty as hell.

So they probably though he would disable the ship and/or retreat wherein the Starfleet conspirators could get rid of the evidence (I believe the main reason Spock didn't return to a starbase)

Then you have the Klingons on one side who could see this as instead of a possibly rouge Starfleet captain attacking them, the federation betraying them and the fedeation thinking hardline Klingons killed Gorkon and tried to frame them.

Which would be the perfect atmosphere for starting a war.

 

[Aldo]

I just always assumed Chang was on the BOP when it fired on Kronos 1. When he messages the Enterprise and curses Kirk, I always thought even that was from the BOP, that they were just faking the static of the transmission.

The reason I thought this (and as a few others have mentioned to) is Gorkon saying "Find Chang!"

I think he was on the Kronos 1, all Gorkon's line suggests is that he thinks Chang is behind what is going on and the only reason given for Chang to leave the ship is that belief that Kirk might destroy Kronos 1.

That was my belief behind the whole situation. I have always thought that Chang (and the rest of the conspirators) expected Kirk do defend himself once provoked by Kronos 1 and return fire, thus destroying the ship.

The more I think on it though, and after reading this thread it does make sense that Chang would be on board Kronos 1, since there would be too much evidence pointing towards him if they were able to conclude that he was not on board when the ship was fired upon.

 

[SpHeRe31459]

The more I think on it though, and after reading this thread it does make sense that Chang would be on board Kronos 1, since there would be too much evidence pointing towards him if they were able to conclude that he was not on board when the ship was fired upon.

Right, and has been pointed out, Chang would consider it an honorable death -- to die in combat, so I don't think he'd have a problem with being on Kronos 1. He does seem to be a "true believer" in the conspiracy, so his death would serve a purpose.

As some one said up-thread, this discussion is excellent, I've enjoyed lurking, reading it for that past few days

 

[austen_pierce]

This makes a LOT of sense. But the on screen evidence (Chang's secret command into his communicator in the Enterprise transporter room and Gorkon's "Find Chang!")

What secret command?

He was ordering Kronos 1 to beam Gorkon's party back over.

Or are you really saying Chang gave out secret orders in full view of everyone with the intention of not beaming back to Kronos 1 at a point where Gorkon will know he's not back on the ship since he's not on the transporter pad with everyone when they get back.

Who energized the transporter? I thought it was Enterprise (blue beam instead of klingon orange), so I still think Chang was up to something sneaky with that command. Chang also does not speak the same 'beam me up' commands spoken by Kruge in TSFS. That and his absence from K1 during the entire attack sequence....

 

[Aldo]

What would be the point of him not being on Kronos 1 though? Sure we have the scene of Gorkon saying "Find Chang!" But perhaps that's not necessarily an indicator that Chang is not on board, but merely the filmmakers throwing in a clue that he's part of the conspiracy.

 

[SpHeRe31459]

That and his absence from K1 during the entire attack sequence....

We don't know if he's there or not. All we really see of the K1 is the stateroom where Gorkon and his advisors are, plus a bit of hallway where the assassins walk from the transporter room to the stateroom.

Chang could have been on the bridge for all we know, or in his quarters waiting for the strike to be over and then he could rush in and pretend to be surprised and outraged, etc.


The "Find Chang" exclamation is also pretty simple to explain, they've just been attacked and Chang is his military chief of staff, he should be there with his chancellor protecting him and planning the next move. It doesn't necessarily mean Chang is not on-board, it means that Chang should now be physically present with Gorkon. Which either way you interpret Chang's presence (or lack thereof) on K1, it is still a hint that Chang may be part of the conspiracy, because he should be by Gorkon's side.

 

[Shat Happens]

I don't like the everything-must-be-clearly-explained tone of VI. I take the "find Chang" line as simply denoting chaos following the surprise attack.

After watching the entire movie and knowing what was really going on, the impression was that Gorkon already didn't trust Chang at that point.

offtopic, the novelization has Korrd (from the previous movie) there too, IIRC. That's cool.

Back to the original question, the Klingon ship appears to be capable of safely destroy the Enterprise (even if taking some hits), only Kirk didnt give Chang the excuse he needed. Chang then improvised on his plan, but the assassination at least went as planned. (IMHO, of course)