''By Any Other Name'' questions

[Warped9]

What do you suppose happened to Rojan, Kelinda, Tomar, Hanar, and Drea after Kirk and crew returned them to that planet?

The way the episode ended, it left itself open to the possibility that we would see the Kelvans again, after they colonized the planet and started a new life.

Their "perfect" human bodies had no immunity whereupon they picked up a local bug on the planet and they all died. Too bad, so sad.

Then the Kelvan Empire never hears back from their scouts dispatched to that little neighbouring galaxy and figure it must be some really badass place to kill off Kelvans and so they decide they ain't never goin' there.

 

[Ranger3]

What do you suppose happened to Rojan, Kelinda, Tomar, Hanar, and Drea after Kirk and crew returned them to that planet?

The way the episode ended, it left itself open to the possibility that we would see the Kelvans again, after they colonized the planet and started a new life.

Their "perfect" human bodies had no immunity whereupon they picked up a local bug on the planet and they all died. Too bad, so sad.

Then the Kelvan Empire never hears back from their scouts dispatched to that little neighbouring galaxy and figure it must be some really badass place to kill off Kelvans and so they decide they ain't never goin' there.

Despite the humor in your answer, that would make for an interesting episode. Of course, that would only be the sub-plot of the story. The main plot would have to deal with a bigger threat, yet still concerning the Kelvans in some way.

 

[Warped9]

What do you suppose happened to Rojan, Kelinda, Tomar, Hanar, and Drea after Kirk and crew returned them to that planet?

The way the episode ended, it left itself open to the possibility that we would see the Kelvans again, after they colonized the planet and started a new life.

Their "perfect" human bodies had no immunity whereupon they picked up a local bug on the planet and they all died. Too bad, so sad.

Then the Kelvan Empire never hears back from their scouts dispatched to that little neighbouring galaxy and figure it must be some really badass place to kill off Kelvans and so they decide they ain't never goin' there.

Despite the humor in your answer, that would make for an interesting episode. Of course, that would only be the sub-plot of the story. The main plot would have to deal with a bigger threat, yet still concerning the Kelvans in some way.

Well...the Kelvans could get desperate enough that they decide to go for the Milky Way despite their trepidation. We don't know if Rojan and Hanar and Kelinda and the rest are the only ones sent to our galaxy or if they we're the only survivors to make the trip and get through the barrier. Rojan did say they made through in a life craft.

What that tells me is that while the Kelvans do have some advanced technology they don't appear to be as good shipbuilders as the Federation because the Enterprise has hit the galactic barrier three times (once in WNMHGB and twice in BAON---they had to get back into the galaxy) and survived quite nicely.

Despite some technology the Kelvans appear to be full of bluster not much different from Klingons and Romulans or the Ga-ould in Stargate.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

The two really big questions about this episode are:

1) What happened to the miraculous improvements to the ship's engines a week later? No evidence whatever that the Kelvans have a prime directive or anything that would motivate them to take the improvements back, nor that any problems were being caused by them.

2) Why is Montgomery Scott not in alcoholic rehab? The man is a menace.

 

[Timo]

For all we know, the modifications made by the Kelvans were limited to their hooking up a power source of Kelvan manufacture to the existing warp drive (the thingamabob at Engineering that is protected by the forcefield). Remove the power source, and the ship reverts back to her dull old self.

The Kelvans wouldn't need a "motivation" to take back what is theirs. And Starfleet wouldn't have much hope working out the secrets of the Kelvan power source if the Kelvans took it with them. Or even if they didn't, for that matter, since whatever the shortcomings of Kelvan tech, this intergalactic power thing would appear to be well in advance of the best efforts of UFP science.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

All of that is unsatisfactory speculation out of whole cloth. The story as presented is really one of the most massive continuity failures in Trek history.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I don't see the big deal. The Kelvans probably just removed all of the modifications they made - their own Prime Directive, as it were.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

If one can buy that at face value, there's no reason for ever discussing the alleged plausibility of Star Trek. Things are just not going to go down well between the (never-to-be-mentioned-again) Kelvan colonists and the Federation.

Let's assume that they all eventually died in detention at the Feds' version of Guantanamo Bay after disabling their improvements.

 

[Timo]

The story as presented is really one of the most massive continuity failures in Trek history.

In what way does it differ from the TOS average? Star Trek isn't really plausible on any level, or even particularly successful as entertainment (except perhaps in the economical sense, on a modest level). It's a phenomenon instead, and one largely built on the times it dared be spectacular. We fondly remember "Spock's Brain" and "Wrath of Khan" as defining elements in the campiness that is Trek, despite both being massive collections of implausible science fiction concepts and haphazard dramatic structures. "BAON" features those in moderate amounts only...

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Ranger3]

The two really big questions about this episode are:

1) What happened to the miraculous improvements to the ship's engines a week later? No evidence whatever that the Kelvans have a prime directive or anything that would motivate them to take the improvements back, nor that any problems were being caused by them.

2) Why is Montgomery Scott not in alcoholic rehab? The man is a menace.

I've been curious about that, myself. For all we know, this may be the technology that led to the development of the transwarp drive in Star Trek III - The Search For Spock.

Scotty was just following Kirk's orders in the episode. Besides, I doubt that incident would qualify him for a trip to an alcoholic rehab center. If any man is a menace it was Geordi LaForge. That fool didn't even jettison the Enterprise-D's warp core in Generations.

 

[Silvercrest]

The two really big questions about this episode are:

1) What happened to the miraculous improvements to the ship's engines a week later? No evidence whatever that the Kelvans have a prime directive or anything that would motivate them to take the improvements back, nor that any problems were being caused by them.

2) Why is Montgomery Scott not in alcoholic rehab? The man is a menace.

I've been curious about that, myself. For all we know, this may be the technology that led to the development of the transwarp drive in Star Trek III - The Search For Spock.

And the altered warp scale in TNG.

 

[Ranger3]

If one can buy that at face value, there's no reason for ever discussing the alleged plausibility of Star Trek. Things are just not going to go down well between the (never-to-be-mentioned-again) Kelvan colonists and the Federation.

Let's assume that they all eventually died in detention at the Feds' version of Guantanamo Bay after disabling their improvements.

Too abrupt of an ending, despite the interesting allegory to Guantanamo Bay.

Kirk and Spock told Rojan that the Federation would welcome any Kelvan survivors as friends(as per the Federation proposal sent by a robot ship to Kelva). Given the current dilemma that Rojan described, concerning the Andromeda Galaxy, I don't think the Kelvans would be willing to come in force. Especially since they would have to adapt the same way that Rojan and his scouting party did, when they first arrived.

Either way, By Any Other Name left the door opened for a return of the Kelvan Colonists. That is a loose thread that should be explored and tied up.

 

[Warped9]

If one can buy that at face value, there's no reason for ever discussing the alleged plausibility of Star Trek. Things are just not going to go down well between the (never-to-be-mentioned-again) Kelvan colonists and the Federation.

Let's assume that they all eventually died in detention at the Feds' version of Guantanamo Bay after disabling their improvements.

Too abrupt of an ending, despite the interesting allegory to Guantanamo Bay.

Kirk and Spock told Rojan that the Federation would welcome any Kelvan survivors as friends(as per the Federation proposal sent by a robot ship to Kelva). Given the current dilemma that Rojan described, concerning the Andromeda Galaxy, I don't think the Kelvans would be willing to come in force. Especially since they would have to adapt the same way that Rojan and his scouting party did, when they first arrived.

Either way, By Any Other Name left the door opened for a return of the Kelvan Colonists. That is a loose thread that should be explored and tied up.

I don't see that at all. I think those running the Kelvan Empire wouldn't be willing to accept such a gesture on the part of the Federation. I think it's more likely that they would stay more true to their conquering ways and try to invade the Milky Way much as Rogan and company just took it upon themselves to hijack the Enterprise. This could have been TOS' version of the Borg story wise. But the Kelvans would be a long way from home base and with no real supply line while the Federation would be operating on their home turf.

 

[Ranger3]

If one can buy that at face value, there's no reason for ever discussing the alleged plausibility of Star Trek. Things are just not going to go down well between the (never-to-be-mentioned-again) Kelvan colonists and the Federation.

Let's assume that they all eventually died in detention at the Feds' version of Guantanamo Bay after disabling their improvements.

Too abrupt of an ending, despite the interesting allegory to Guantanamo Bay.

Kirk and Spock told Rojan that the Federation would welcome any Kelvan survivors as friends(as per the Federation proposal sent by a robot ship to Kelva). Given the current dilemma that Rojan described, concerning the Andromeda Galaxy, I don't think the Kelvans would be willing to come in force. Especially since they would have to adapt the same way that Rojan and his scouting party did, when they first arrived.

Either way, By Any Other Name left the door opened for a return of the Kelvan Colonists. That is a loose thread that should be explored and tied up.

I don't see that at all. I think those running the Kelvan Empire wouldn't be willing to accept such a gesture on the part of the Federation. I think it's more likely that they would stay more true to their conquering ways and try to invade the Milky Way much as Rogan and company just took it upon themselves to hijack the Enterprise. This could have been TOS' version of the Borg story wise. But the Kelvans would be a long way from home base and with no real supply line while the Federation would be operating on their home turf.

It's possible. However, if the evidence of Rojan and the scouting party adapting to humanoid form, and the end results of that adaption there of, were put into that robot ship with the Federation proposal, it's possible that some within the Kelvan Empire would be willing to accept the Federation's hand of friendship.

In a sense, it would be almost like the events that endangered the Klingon Empire after the Praxis disaster in Star Trek VI - The Undiscovered Country.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I recommend the SNW story "Gone Native" as an excellent answer to the Kelvan question.

 

[Warped9]

Rojan and company adopted human form to utilize the Enterprise, but there's no reason other Kelvans would adopt human form if using their own ships. A select few might be adapted to human form to facilitate communication, but this isn't a given considering how many quite different non-humanoid lifeforms the Federation has communicated with.

It's also possible that an "immense being with a hundred limbs or tentacles" cannot easily exist in an Earth equivalent environment and thus another reason to adapt to humanoid form. But then again if you have your own ships and your own artificially created environment that you shouldn't need to change form.