IDW's Nero #1 (Spoliers)

[ToddKent]

Looks like the writer's had a checklist of perceived plot holes from the film and are addressing them (i.e. Nero's motivations, not returning to Romulus, Nero's 20 year wait).

They also seemed to commit to bumpy-headed Klingons, although it looked like they were wearing the TOS Klingon outfits and I'm not sure (don't have it in front of me) but they either had short hair or shaved heads.

Also, a question: When Nero let some of his people take the shuttles/escape pods to leave, did he then destroy them? It was hard to tell from the art.

 

[Christopher]

Looks like the writer's had a checklist of perceived plot holes from the film and are addressing them (i.e. Nero's motivations, not returning to Romulus, Nero's 20 year wait).

Actually this is partly based on scenes that were actually shot for the film but cut out for reasons of pacing.

 

[Captain Randy Hall]

When Nero let some of his people take the shuttles/escape pods to leave, did he then destroy them? It was hard to tell from the art.

They are space toast just to let us know that Nero was one mean guy.

 

[ToddKent]

Actually this is partly based on scenes that were actually shot for the film but cut out for reasons of pacing.

I'm looking forward to seeing them on DVD (hopefully).

 

[Therin of Andor]

I'm not sure (don't have it in front of me) but they either had short hair or shaved heads.

Well, one was TOS's Kor in the IKS Klothos (TAS). Kor had some forehead bumps - although even in TOS he had a fairly craggy forehead! - and one Klingon resembled a ST:TMP Klingon, with the extended backbone/crest extending over a balding head.

 

[fleetcaptain]

Plus we did get an explanation that some Klingons still have their regular forehead and the others had human appearences. I think that was in Forge in Fire.

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

Don't you actually mean Time Will Tell?

 

[Christopher]

I'm not sure (don't have it in front of me) but they either had short hair or shaved heads.

Well, one was TOS's Kor in the IKS Klothos (TAS). Kor had some forehead bumps - although even in TOS he had a fairly craggy forehead! - and one Klingon resembled a ST:TMP Klingon, with the extended backbone/crest extending over a balding head.

I saw some preview pages from Nero #1, and I think they showed Kor confronting the Narada crew in 2233. I have a hard time believing he was already a captain 26 years before "Errand of Mercy" -- he didn't seem that old. Given that and the ridges, maybe this is a different Klingon named Kor.

Plus we did get an explanation that some Klingons still have their regular forehead and the others had human appearences. I think that was in Forge in Fire.

Don't you actually mean Time Will Tell?

Don't you actually mean Blood Will Tell? Other than that, you're both right. Forged in Fire and Blood Will Tell both build on the reality established in ENT: "Affliction"/"Divergence" that the virus that created the smooth-headed Klingons affected millions -- far from the entire Klingon species, but a sizeable minority. In fact, the novel and the comic miniseries take seemingly incompatible views of the issue; in the novel continuity, the smooth-headed quch'Ha are a minority excluded from power and subject to discrimination, used as cannon fodder in the fleet, whereas in the comic, the quch'Ha hold positions of influence and make up a fair portion of the High Council.

I think these can be reconciled if you assume they both represent the biases of their viewpoint characters. The truth could be somewhere in the middle, with some quch'Ha playing up their achievements and seeing their status in a positive light (like the viewpoint character in BWT), and others dwelling on the obstacles and injustices they face and seeing their status in a negative light (like the characters in FiF). The different time frames of the two works could also be a factor; the quch'Ha could've had a higher status around the time of TOS but lost most of it by the time of FiF.

 

[Therin of Andor]

I have a hard time believing he was already a captain 26 years before "Errand of Mercy" -- he didn't seem that old. Given that and the ridges, maybe this is a different Klingon named Kor.

Kor Jr inherited IKS Klothos from his Dad.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

I saw some preview pages from Nero #1, and I think they showed Kor confronting the Narada crew in 2233. I have a hard time believing he was already a captain 26 years before "Errand of Mercy" -- he didn't seem that old. Given that and the ridges, maybe this is a different Klingon named Kor.

The lexeme "Kor" seems to show up a lot in Klingon words of some significance (Sto-vo-kor, K'roth ch'kor (the trefoil)), so if it has a similar core (excuse me...) meaning each time maybe it is a common name too. That said, "qor" also appears to be a verb meaning "scavenge", so...unfortunate connotations even if the name and verb aren't related. On the other hand, perhaps "Sto-vo-kor" means something along the lines of "Place where one scavenges" (picks up after death?)? Maybe the connotations of scavenge aren't so negative .

 

[Christopher]

Kor Jr inherited IKS Klothos from his Dad.

Couldn't be his dad, since he's canonically Kor, son of Rynar (according to "Once More Unto the Breach"). His uncle?

 

[EJA]

Yeah, I've been puzzling over the whole thing with Kor having ridges too. I thought maybe he could have had fake ridges grafted onto his head at this time, and he later got rid of them, but I'm not too sure. And yeah, I doubt he would have already been a captain at this time.

Kor Jr inherited IKS Klothos from his Dad.

Couldn't be his dad, since he's canonically Kor, son of Rynar (according to "Once More Unto the Breach"). His uncle?

But if Kor's uncle had ridges, wouldn't Kor have them too? Maybe he was a friend of Rynar's, and Rynar named his son after him? Seems for logical to me.

And then there's the matter of where the Klingons got those cloaking devices.

 

[Christopher]

^Probably right about the uncle thing. Maybe the Klothos is just a coincidence. Or maybe Kor, son of Rynar was named after the great Kor, son of Whoever who commanded the original Klothos, and so he strove to attain command of the next ship of that name.

 

[EJA]

^One idea I've had: He could be the original Kor's uncle, if he and Rynar were both HemDucH and Rynar married a QuchHa' woman. That could account for Kor, son of Rynar, lacking his father's cranial ridges.

 

[8of5]

The reconciliation I'd been thinking is that this is a young Kor, who for a time had cosmetic surgery to give him ridges but for some reason later had them removed, or that he had some sort of medical treatment to restore his ridges, but it didn't last.

And then there's the matter of where the Klingons got those cloaking devices.

Not too much of a stretch for the Klingons to be using some sort of primitive cloaking device. Enterprise established several races using them in the 22nd century. Obviously it's a pre-Balance of Terror-type cloak, which was some sort of revolution in the technology.

 

[Christopher]

^It's simpler just to assume that Kor isn't a unique name. There's more than one James in Starfleet, so why can't there be more than one Kor in the Klingon fleet?

 

[Therin of Andor]

so why can't there be more than one Kor in the Klingon fleet?

Corps of Kors.

 

[8of5]

^It's simpler just to assume that Kor isn't a unique name. There's more than one James in Starfleet, so why can't there be more than one Kor in the Klingon fleet?

No reason at all, but the fact he commands the Klothos seems like a very clear indication that they are the same Kor. Sure it could be a different Kor, but then why namedrop one of the best known Klingons just happening to be commanding the same ship if that is the intent?

 

[ProwlAlpha]

So another James cant command a future Enterprise for fear of fans confusing the two.

 

[Christopher]

No reason at all, but the fact he commands the Klothos seems like a very clear indication that they are the same Kor. Sure it could be a different Kor, but then why namedrop one of the best known Klingons just happening to be commanding the same ship if that is the intent?

I don't dispute that the authors' intent was for it to be the same Kor; I just don't think that's plausible. It seems unlikely for that Kor to make an appearance as a captain a full 34 years before "Errand of Mercy," let alone to have ridges. Remember, in "Blood Oath," Odo estimated that Kor was over 100, while he pegged Koloth at over 150. While he was estimating, he's a keen observer of humanoids, so it seems reasonable to expect that his estimates weren't hugely off. Now, that was in 2370, 103 years after "Errand," so he had to be a few decades off. But for Kor to have been a ship captain in 2233, he'd probably have been born no later than 2200, which would've made him 170 or more in "Blood Oath," which seems inconsistent.

So while the authors' intent was clearly to give a cameo to the Kor we know and love, it just doesn't hold up to scrutiny. So I'm offering an alternative interpretation that fits the facts better.

For that matter, given the difference of decades, how do you know it's the same Klothos?