Rightful Heir is a fantastic episode

[Tomalak]

Well, the Dominion tried to get rid of Gowron. That means that he was good enough to be worth getting rid of.

That's not what happened. The Founders set up Odo so the Federation would assassinate Gowron in Tygokor, leading to all-out war with the real Changeling, Martok, likely in charge of the Empire. It has nothing to do with Gowron's competence, he was just a pawn. But the ease with which Changeling Martok manipulated him into declaring war on his loyal Federation allies doesnt exactly give confidence in his leadership or governing abilities. The way he later put the entire war in the balance for political gain over Martok underlines this.

He was a rather disastrous ruler.

Martok is unlikely to have done much better, because in the futures shown in both All Good Things and Endgame, the Klingons are again antagonistic to the Federation. Ok, they didn't necessarily turn out to be true, but it is indicative.

 

[locutus101]

That's not what happened. The Founders set up Odo so the Federation would assassinate Gowron in Tygokor, leading to all-out war with the real Changeling, Martok, likely in charge of the Empire. It has nothing to do with Gowron's competence, he was just a porn. But the ease with which Changeling Martok manipulated him into declaring war on his loyal Federation allies doesnt exactly give confidence in his leadership or governing abilities. The way he later put the entire war in the balance for political gain over Martok underlines this.

He was a rather disastrous ruler.

Martok is unlikely to have done much better, because in the futures shown in both All Good Things and Endgame, the Klingons are again antagonistic to the Federation. Ok, they didn't necessarily turn out to be true, but it is indicative.

Antagonistic maybe, at war definitely not. The former is almost a given, the latter is what really counts.

 

[Paradise City]

I wonder what sort of impact upon Gowron, the revelation that his top man Martok, was actually an evil doer goo-man and had been so for some years.

I was impressed in WOTW at the end, when Gowron heard Sisko's appeal and backed down despite changeling-Martok wanting to go all gung-ho on the Feds. That's good statesmanship from Gowron but in part due to the influence of the hawkish "Martok" he doesn't follow it through.

Then "Martok" turns out to be a wrong 'un and I often think this exposure had a similar effect on Gowron that Eddington's defection had on Sisko. But whereas Sisko went a bit wild, Gowron is driven deeper into paranoia and micromanaging things.

 

[James T Kirk]

This thread has further made me realize Gowron may be the coolest character ever. They should make a Gowron star trek series.