Any connection between Battle of Axanar and Battle of Donatu V?

[Captain Robert April]

It also occurs to me that Garth basically would have had to have been naked and barefoot through the majority of the episode, remember whenever Garth changed his appearance, his clothing and footwear also changed. I figure those were not his clothes, that was Garth's skin. When you saw Garth in his flowing robes, yep that was him adopting baggy skin.

It might be less problematic to consider that a portion of Garth's abilities were illusionary, along the lines of Talosian telepathic powers (otherwise, why would he still be fully clothed after Spock stuns him?).

 

[Timo]

Wouldn't a mental illusion be the one to go away when Garth is stunned, whereas a more physical transformation might linger?

Garth's shapeshifting doesn't feature the "it must be mind tricks" aspect of the Salt Vampire's: Garth looks the same to everybody, as far as we can tell. Garth's clothing is part of his transformation, be it physical or a mind trick. Indeed, even Garth's jewelry plays along: at one point, he drops a major stone from a ring, but soon thereafter this jewelry is again part of his attire. It's unlikely he picked it up, and more likely he illusioned it in again after noticing it went missing.

If we take this little continuity gaffe at face value, then, we could deduce that Garth uses his powers to create a physical body complete with physical clothing and physical jewelry, all of them detachable if need be - and that said physical things will continue to exist even if they become detached or if Garth goes unconscious, and will only be further transformed if Garth actively wants them to.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Nerys Myk]

Garth is an Earth name. It's of Scandinavian origin, and means "Keeper of the Garden". If he looks human and has a human name, there's a good chance he's human. ("Spock" is, of course, of Earth origin as well, but this just means that there's a Vulcan name that coincides with an earth name; of course, it could be a family name that Amanda chose, as well.)

Just because he's Garth "of Izar", doesn't mean that he's not human. Zephram Cochrane was called "Zephram Cochrane of Alpha Centauri", but he's human. (I know that there was speculation for a long time that he was a native of Apha Centauri, but, c'mon... Zephram and Cochrane are BOTH Earth names!)

At any rate, we don't know what Izar is, except for a place name associated with Captain Garth.

There's no shortage of Aliens with human sounding names in Star Trek:

Sargon
Nerys
Balok
Landru
Sylvia
Hengist

To name but a few.

Having an Earth name alone doesn't make Garth human, but he looks human, has an Earth name (as do many people from Earth), was a Starship Captain at a time when human male starship captains were prominent, he was apparently familiar with Earth culture, and was never revealed to be an alien. I'm simply saying that the evidence, while inconclusive doesn't rule out that he's a human of earth descent; calling him "Garth of Izar" is ambiguous enough to support conflicting interpretations, so it isn't definitive proof of extraterrestrial origin.

And I think it's very annoying that there are so many aliens out there in Star Trek eisodes and novels with human names (especially McKenzie Calhoun).

TOS was full of aliens who looked exactly like humans. My point is Garth's name and appearance aren't enough to rule out him being an alien/non-human in the context of Star Trek and especially TOS.

Not sure we saw enough Captains to get a read on how many were male and human. We could probably count the Captains we've seen on one hand. ( and have to include Commodores to get to five.)

"McKenzie Calhoun" isn't his actual name. He's real mane is M'k'n'zy.

 

[Captain Robert April]

Wouldn't a mental illusion be the one to go away when Garth is stunned, whereas a more physical transformation might linger?

Exactly my point. When Garth is stunned, he reverts back to his own self, fur coat, medals, and all.

Garth's shapeshifting doesn't feature the "it must be mind tricks" aspect of the Salt Vampire's: Garth looks the same to everybody, as far as we can tell.

The salt vampire picked up on the viewer's own thoughts and concepts and sent it right back. Like I said, this is more like the Talosian version, an open broadcast "THIS IS WHAT I LOOK LIKE AND HOW I'M DRESSED" with every living thing with a functioning cerebral cortex getting the picture, so that even if somebody was sneaking up on Garth from behind, so that Garth isn't even aware of him, this person would still be seeing Garth as he wished to be seen at a given moment. In other words, if the window to that control room was open and somebody was looking in from outside, unbeknownst to either Kirk, Spock, or Garth, he wouldn't see Kirk, Spock, and Garth, he'd see Spock and two Kirks.

 

[ghoyle1]

"McKenzie Calhoun" isn't his actual name. He's real mane is M'k'n'zy.

I know. But his true name just happens to be pronounced just like the Earth name McKenzie Calhoun? I give Star Trek a lot of leeway, but that makes me cringe every time I read his name. What's the point of doing that, anyway?

 

[Timo]

Exactly my point. When Garth is stunned, he reverts back to his own self, fur coat, medals, and all.

Ah. That settles it, then. (Although it eliminates the nice explanation on that continuity gaffe with the falling and reappearing jewel on Garth's ring.)

That doesn't match what we hear of the Antosian gift, though. Did the Antosians only teach Garth how to pretend that he still had all his limbs? If they taught him how to phsyically regrow them, how could this ability be perverted into the telepathic shapeshifting we witness? Or were the cure and the shapeshifting actually unrelated, except by virtue of both being Antosian techniques?

Timo Saloniemi

 

[blssdwlf]

I figure there are two parts: body regeneration and shapeshifting to a different form. When he is conscious, he is maintaining his cells in a specific form (shape-shifting) but since he sees himself in a specific way he would default down to his own bodily created clothing. Or think of it as his clothes being an extra layer of skin that he can force to shapeshift but if he gets knocked out, defaults back to his first form

 

[Timo]

...OTOH, when Garth is stunned with a phaser, doesn't he retain his recently added crown? Would his self-image already have adapted to this addition? (I have no problem believing it would!)

Timo Saloniemi

 

[ghoyle1]

It's magic.

 

[Nerys Myk]

"McKenzie Calhoun" isn't his actual name. He's real mane is M'k'n'zy.

I know. But his true name just happens to be pronounced just like the Earth name McKenzie Calhoun? I give Star Trek a lot of leeway, but that makes me cringe every time I read his name. What's the point of doing that, anyway?

Homophones happen.

 

[PsychoPere]

"McKenzie Calhoun" isn't his actual name. He's real mane is M'k'n'zy.

I know. But his true name just happens to be pronounced just like the Earth name McKenzie Calhoun? I give Star Trek a lot of leeway, but that makes me cringe every time I read his name. What's the point of doing that, anyway?

Actually, the New Frontier series makes it clear that M'k'n'zy is not pronounced like Mackenzie. "Mackenzie" was merely the closest pronunciation in English, and was forced on him by Starfleet Academy registration. For example of English-speaking humans unable to correctly pronounce M'k'n'zy, look at this copy of the collection of the first four NF novels.

 

[Captain Robert April]

^Real answer, Peter David has a terminal case of the cutes, and sometimes he just can't restrain himself.

 

[ghoyle1]

"McKenzie Calhoun" isn't his actual name. He's real mane is M'k'n'zy.

I know. But his true name just happens to be pronounced just like the Earth name McKenzie Calhoun? I give Star Trek a lot of leeway, but that makes me cringe every time I read his name. What's the point of doing that, anyway?

Homophones happen.

True enough, but that's way too much of a coincidence for me. That sounds like a name from the American South, IMO. And what's the point of anglicizing the spelling unless the author wants the readers to think he's from Earth, or from human stock? I read about him in some crossover stories, and was very confused when I learned he was some kind of barbarian prince.

 

[Nerys Myk]

McKenzie Calhoun. Sounds like a Scot to me.

As CRA pointed out Peter David has little restraint. Which is why I dont read books by Peter David.

Though Trek in general uses names and culture as a shorthand to the viewer.

Elaan of Troyius. Elas. Any one with a passing familiarity with Greece (Hellas) and Greek history/mythology knows whats going on there. Though one has to wonder if Padua and Verona might have been better names for the planets.

In "Patterns of Force" the oppressed group is from the planet Zeon. (Zion).

I think the writers often assumed some sort of classical education from their viewers. Perhaps that is something that has gone out of fashion in the face of fanswith "realistic" expectations and little patience for homage and allegory.

 

[ghoyle1]

McKenzie Calhoun. Sounds like a Scot to me.

As CRA pointed out Peter David has little restraint. Which is why I dont read books by Peter David.

Though Trek in general uses names and culture as a shorthand to the viewer.

Elaan of Troyius. Elas. Any one with a passing familiarity with Greece (Hellas) and Greek history/mythology knows whats going on there. Though one has to wonder if Padua and Verona might have been better names for the planets.

In "Patterns of Force" the oppressed group is from the planet Zeon. (Zion).

I think the writers often assumed some sort of classical education from their viewers. Perhaps that is something that has gone out of fashion in the face of fanswith "realistic" expectations and little patience for homage and allegory.

At least with Alaan of Troyius and the Zeons, they made an effort (however slight). That's an old, old sci-fi trick. I agree about Peter David; I loved his original comic book works, but the prose leaves me cold.

 

[T'Girl]

"McKenzie Calhoun" isn't his actual name. He's real mane is M'k'n'zy.

Fleet Captain Gu'harr'Th of EyeSarr

.

 

[Nerys Myk]

"McKenzie Calhoun" isn't his actual name. He's real mane is M'k'n'zy.

Fleet Captain Gu'harr'Th of EyeSarr

.

Need more apostrophes and odd capitalization on the planets name. eeH'zArr. And more double letters dont hurt either.

 

[kkozoriz1]

^Real answer, Peter David has a terminal case of the cutes, and sometimes he just can't restrain himself.

Sometimes??

 

[Captain Robert April]

I was trying to be charitable.