Or maybe the writer of the epiosde didn't think "cuproglobin" would make any sense to the casual viewer...
Did the Romulans use Remans during the Earth-Romulan Wars?
- Thread starter Cadet49
- Start date
Or maybe the writer of the epiosde didn't think "cuproglobin" would make any sense to the casual viewer...
I can't understand why the Romulans would want to hide the fact that they were related to the Vulcans, once the war had started. It would have been a great was to build a wedge of distrust between Vulcan and Earth that might have shattered their alliance - I would think all of the Romulans would have been taking off their helmets, pointing at their pointy ears!
Is there any explanation in the ENT books to explain why the Roms don't do this? Why are they wanting to hide their identity so much?
Is there any explanation in the ENT books to explain why the Roms don't do this? Why are they wanting to hide their identity so much?
On screen, the idea of Romulans keeping their identity hidden is actually rather well founded. Diane Duane never really attempted to come up with an explanation to that "Balance of Terror" oddity, or even mention it much, and the S&S "Vulcan's Noun" books avoided the issue as well. But TNG did a great job in painting the Romulans as schemers who want to operate from the shadows and to cast blame on others; DS9 followed suit, and it was easy for ENT to come up with plotlines that reinforced that view.
In the 2150s, Romulans aren't really a known quantity, and aren't listed among the "usual suspects". It's only logical for them to remain hidden even when engaged in open war - and ENT shows them attempting such a thing with their remotely controlled chameleon ships. It's not all that different from Earth nations of yore using privateers to weaken their enemies when open war would have been undesirable.
Whether the novels want to portray the war as "CoPs vs. Unknown Pirates" or not, I don't know - the books aren't hitting the shelves here yet... But that would be a valid way to wage war.
OTOH, hiding your face from the enemy is common in guerrilla war, too. Often this is done so that the enemy wouldn't learn who your noncombatant loved ones are, and can't get at them even though they are living in territory shared by you and your enemy, in a war where borders or lines of combat don't exist or aren't clear-cut. Perhaps Romulans in fact want to protect Vulcans, to keep them out of the conflict? Romulan efforts are (at least formally) aimed at reunification with Vulcan, after all, not outright conquest or destruction of that society. Exposing the Romulan identity might in fact force the Vulcan hand, make Vulcan take an active role in the war - while keeping up at least the pretense that Vulcans don't know who the enemy is would give Vulcan an excuse to stay out of this random fight Earth had picked.
Timo Saloniemi
In the 2150s, Romulans aren't really a known quantity, and aren't listed among the "usual suspects". It's only logical for them to remain hidden even when engaged in open war - and ENT shows them attempting such a thing with their remotely controlled chameleon ships. It's not all that different from Earth nations of yore using privateers to weaken their enemies when open war would have been undesirable.
Whether the novels want to portray the war as "CoPs vs. Unknown Pirates" or not, I don't know - the books aren't hitting the shelves here yet... But that would be a valid way to wage war.
OTOH, hiding your face from the enemy is common in guerrilla war, too. Often this is done so that the enemy wouldn't learn who your noncombatant loved ones are, and can't get at them even though they are living in territory shared by you and your enemy, in a war where borders or lines of combat don't exist or aren't clear-cut. Perhaps Romulans in fact want to protect Vulcans, to keep them out of the conflict? Romulan efforts are (at least formally) aimed at reunification with Vulcan, after all, not outright conquest or destruction of that society. Exposing the Romulan identity might in fact force the Vulcan hand, make Vulcan take an active role in the war - while keeping up at least the pretense that Vulcans don't know who the enemy is would give Vulcan an excuse to stay out of this random fight Earth had picked.
Timo Saloniemi
Similar threads
