Spoilers Star Trek: Discovery 1x03 - "Context is for Kings"
- Thread starter Commander Richard
- Start date
I think the beacon is mobile. How else can it be explained that after centuries of being in that spot, no asteroid damage? At least, there didn't appear to be any.
Regarding the Shenzhou, I have a theory as to its ultimate fate. A lot of the Starfleet ships in that armada looked very similar to designs from the FASA Federation Ship Recognition manual. One of the stories has a Starfleet ship captured by Klingons, refitted a bit, and used to lure other ships in a trap, giving Klingons more ships and resources for their use. It was primarily used in the Triangle, if memory serves me, on ships from other powers who woukd be unaware of the status of that Starfleet ship.
Maybe they borrowed more than some starship designs from that manual? There are a few good stories in there...
Regarding the Shenzhou, I have a theory as to its ultimate fate. A lot of the Starfleet ships in that armada looked very similar to designs from the FASA Federation Ship Recognition manual. One of the stories has a Starfleet ship captured by Klingons, refitted a bit, and used to lure other ships in a trap, giving Klingons more ships and resources for their use. It was primarily used in the Triangle, if memory serves me, on ships from other powers who woukd be unaware of the status of that Starfleet ship.
Maybe they borrowed more than some starship designs from that manual? There are a few good stories in there...
I'm not going to review every page in this thread, but does anybody have an idea why the crew aboard Discovery's sister ship were all melty? I saw a whole bunch of sparklies and reforming life forms and it made me think of the Genesis effect.
"Helical torque" from the spiralling effect of the conduit they travelled in. It twisted portions of the hull, burned out nearly all power relays on the ship, and severely mangled the crew.
The Starfleet crew where twisted and distorted, Stamets "friend" had his ribcage split and poking out every which way. The Klingons were are torn apart by brute force by "kitty".
Sudden stop from going a billion miles per second, and the inertial dampeners fail.
They had a bad shroom trip.
Context is for Kings was certainly a major improvement over the first two episodes, though I wouldn't say it's gone so far as to make me a fan of the show yet. But it's kept my interest enough to keep watching (not that I was ever going to NOT watch a Trek series, though, so that's a low bar). I'd give this episode a "B."
The dialogue was much better, feeling somewhat more organic and less like a series of prepared speeches either spoken in a whisper or shouted at each other. There were even a couple of times that I laughed, like Stamet's sarcastic comments and the Klingon shushing them before getting killed. The mysterious tone of the episode was welcome and kept the tension ratcheted up.
I got a very VOY: Equinox vibe from this episode with a touch of the protomolecule stuff from The Expanse, like the fungi in the spore drive are a sapient hive mind being exploited for their extraordinary propulsion properties at the cost of their lives, and they are fighting back by causing the incident on the USS Glenn and somehow creating giant size versions of microscopic creatures like the tardigrade that attacked the crew, and the rest of the creatures in Lorca's creepy menagerie.
Unfortunately, I also got a very nuBSG (more specifically the Pegasus) vibe from this episode, and while I loved that show, seeing it applied to the actions of the Federation, even in time of war, is kind of disconcerting. I'm not sure how I feel about it. Yes, DS9 delved into some of the same territory during the Dominion War, but it was usually through the buffer of Section 31 or individuals taking action rather than the entire Federation itself. Life sentences to hard labor on mining colonies where prisoners are allowed to frequently assault each other and dozens of them die in industrial accidents makes the Federation seem no better than the Klingons with Rura Penthe. And that's before we got on the ship where the security officers allow you to assault prisoners in custody (even if it was a test to see how Burnham would react). I don't mind a little bit of dark and gritty, but this seems to really want to wallow in it.
Few of the new characters are particularly likeable, though I do like Tilly, and Stamets may grow on me in an assholish but amusing Dr. House kind of way. Lorca seems determined to be dark and mysterious, though, I did like when he revealed the drive system to Burnham. I don't know if he's going to turn out evil or willing to shove ethics aside to win the war or simply a misunderstood red herring, but he is interesting.
I wonder if the fungi drive might have some protomatter mixed in with it to give it a kickstart. It was already known to be unstable and dangerous in David Marcus' time, meaning someone had to test it out before, and it also resulted in microbes rapidly growing to incredible size on Spock's sunglass case torpedo coffin on the Genesis Planet.
I thought the Discovery herself looked great in the actual show, much better than the static images suggested. The interiors are good as well, though a little dark and gloomy. Just 'cause it's wartime doesn't mean you need mood lighting.
The best part of this episode though was the almost complete lack of Conehead Klingons and their stupid captions and their slowly enunciated profound declarations. Fuck, that was tedious.
The dialogue was much better, feeling somewhat more organic and less like a series of prepared speeches either spoken in a whisper or shouted at each other. There were even a couple of times that I laughed, like Stamet's sarcastic comments and the Klingon shushing them before getting killed. The mysterious tone of the episode was welcome and kept the tension ratcheted up.
I got a very VOY: Equinox vibe from this episode with a touch of the protomolecule stuff from The Expanse, like the fungi in the spore drive are a sapient hive mind being exploited for their extraordinary propulsion properties at the cost of their lives, and they are fighting back by causing the incident on the USS Glenn and somehow creating giant size versions of microscopic creatures like the tardigrade that attacked the crew, and the rest of the creatures in Lorca's creepy menagerie.
Unfortunately, I also got a very nuBSG (more specifically the Pegasus) vibe from this episode, and while I loved that show, seeing it applied to the actions of the Federation, even in time of war, is kind of disconcerting. I'm not sure how I feel about it. Yes, DS9 delved into some of the same territory during the Dominion War, but it was usually through the buffer of Section 31 or individuals taking action rather than the entire Federation itself. Life sentences to hard labor on mining colonies where prisoners are allowed to frequently assault each other and dozens of them die in industrial accidents makes the Federation seem no better than the Klingons with Rura Penthe. And that's before we got on the ship where the security officers allow you to assault prisoners in custody (even if it was a test to see how Burnham would react). I don't mind a little bit of dark and gritty, but this seems to really want to wallow in it.
Few of the new characters are particularly likeable, though I do like Tilly, and Stamets may grow on me in an assholish but amusing Dr. House kind of way. Lorca seems determined to be dark and mysterious, though, I did like when he revealed the drive system to Burnham. I don't know if he's going to turn out evil or willing to shove ethics aside to win the war or simply a misunderstood red herring, but he is interesting.
I wonder if the fungi drive might have some protomatter mixed in with it to give it a kickstart. It was already known to be unstable and dangerous in David Marcus' time, meaning someone had to test it out before, and it also resulted in microbes rapidly growing to incredible size on Spock's sunglass case torpedo coffin on the Genesis Planet.
I thought the Discovery herself looked great in the actual show, much better than the static images suggested. The interiors are good as well, though a little dark and gloomy. Just 'cause it's wartime doesn't mean you need mood lighting.
The best part of this episode though was the almost complete lack of Conehead Klingons and their stupid captions and their slowly enunciated profound declarations. Fuck, that was tedious.
Yeah. This is absolutely my biggest worry about this show.
If I were to guess about all this advanced tech we're seeing, I suspect it is, for the most part, experimental in some stages. TOS did have a site-to-site transport once in "Day of the Dove" so it's not violation of canon completely, although I recall that it was considered a somewhat dangerous undertaking. If Enterprise had already been built by the time that Discovery was around, and since Discovery is a "science vessel" and not a deep space exploratory vessel like Enterprise was, it stands to reason that they would have some newer and cooler toys than older ships of the line. Everyone thinks that Discovery is supposed to look older than the Enterprise, but I think it's backwards - I think Discovery is newer and intentionally experimenting with innovative designs and concepts; Enterprise has been in service for a few years already and maybe even benefits later from Discovery's tech when she goes to refit for TMP. Yes, this might take place prior to TOS, but I think the ship design lineages may be offset in the opposite direction.Site to site transport is the only honest-to-God 'too advanced tech' violation I've seen so far (introduced to save the Captain a short walk, love it). Holograms must realistically have been available in TOS given our current level of tech, so we can safely retcon that without too much trouble. Shroom drive is going to have a Fatal Flaw (tm) we probably got hints of on the Glenn.
Sudden stop from going a billion miles per second, and the inertial dampeners fail.
Or as I like to call,
SPLAT!
More like ripped open from the inside out, or some with their skin pulled and stretched around their body Cenobite style.
These spores really hate organic matter when they're aggitated.
I think a sudden stop with inertial dampeners failing would be a splat,
what happened on that ship doesn't look like that at all.
what happened on that ship doesn't look like a momentum thing.
I was thinking the same. The communication with Strall saying they were going to attempt something in the range of 900 (whatever it was called). Then on the boarding party mission to the Glenn, they found some pieces that were attached to the console and in the cube that Tilly called "hacks".
I finally got the opportunity to watch the episode last night. There’s not much I can add to what’s already been said, and I haven’t read every page of this thread, but here are my thoughts.
1. Stamets does come across as an ass at the beginning, but I’m wondering if it’s a defense mechanism. It’s clear he resents his work on the spores being co-opted by Starfleet (I wonder if his lieutenant’s rank is a field commission, since he seems like he has the civilian contempt for Starfleet that’s persisted throughout the various Trek series). Stamets’ work means a lot to him, and he clearly hates that he now has to share that work toward ends that he doesn’t like. At least, he seems able to put it aside for a little while to do his work aboard the Glenn.
2. I don’t find Cadet Tilly so annoying as a lot of people seem to, since she at least possesses a degree of self-awareness. She, too, is capable of asserting herself in a difficult situation, as when she addresses the line Klingon before he’s killed. I think we’re going to see her grow throughout the series, as her biggest flaw seems to be her lack of experience.
3. The giant tardigrade is awesome. We see so many two-armed, two-legged aliens on Star Trek, it’s about time they show us there’s more to this universe than the usual humanoid aliens that tend to bleed together. There really should be all sort of life forms running around out there, and we should be seeing more of them.
3. The spore drive is interesting and I’m willing to go with it, even if Stamets’ explanation of them ventures perilously close to midichlorian territory. When I first heard about the spores, my first thought was that it seemed like something you’d find in Doctor Who rather than Star Trek, but it’s hardly the first time Trek has featured biological technology, so I’m willing to see where they take it.
4. Lorca is dangerous, but charismatic. He’s not afraid to flex his muscles or assert his authority. He’s been tasked by Starfleet and the Federation to end the war, and he’s going to be what he deems necessary to achieve that objective.
Incidentally, Lorca, Stamets, and even Tilly are rapidly emerging as more interesting characters than Burnham. For a show that’s trying to get off the beaten path of previous Trek series, the old “breakout character who’s more compelling than the lead” trope is still in play.
5. Discovery is surprisingly devoid of any trace of nostalgia. That’s a good thing, frankly. A new Star Trek shouldn’t be content with simply rehashing past glories, but should be modern and different, trying to do new things they haven’t really done before or explored to the fullest extent. Each new episode plays out as a chapter in a larger story, so the events of each one have a bigger impact than in previous iterations.
1. Stamets does come across as an ass at the beginning, but I’m wondering if it’s a defense mechanism. It’s clear he resents his work on the spores being co-opted by Starfleet (I wonder if his lieutenant’s rank is a field commission, since he seems like he has the civilian contempt for Starfleet that’s persisted throughout the various Trek series). Stamets’ work means a lot to him, and he clearly hates that he now has to share that work toward ends that he doesn’t like. At least, he seems able to put it aside for a little while to do his work aboard the Glenn.
2. I don’t find Cadet Tilly so annoying as a lot of people seem to, since she at least possesses a degree of self-awareness. She, too, is capable of asserting herself in a difficult situation, as when she addresses the line Klingon before he’s killed. I think we’re going to see her grow throughout the series, as her biggest flaw seems to be her lack of experience.
3. The giant tardigrade is awesome. We see so many two-armed, two-legged aliens on Star Trek, it’s about time they show us there’s more to this universe than the usual humanoid aliens that tend to bleed together. There really should be all sort of life forms running around out there, and we should be seeing more of them.
3. The spore drive is interesting and I’m willing to go with it, even if Stamets’ explanation of them ventures perilously close to midichlorian territory. When I first heard about the spores, my first thought was that it seemed like something you’d find in Doctor Who rather than Star Trek, but it’s hardly the first time Trek has featured biological technology, so I’m willing to see where they take it.
4. Lorca is dangerous, but charismatic. He’s not afraid to flex his muscles or assert his authority. He’s been tasked by Starfleet and the Federation to end the war, and he’s going to be what he deems necessary to achieve that objective.
Incidentally, Lorca, Stamets, and even Tilly are rapidly emerging as more interesting characters than Burnham. For a show that’s trying to get off the beaten path of previous Trek series, the old “breakout character who’s more compelling than the lead” trope is still in play.
5. Discovery is surprisingly devoid of any trace of nostalgia. That’s a good thing, frankly. A new Star Trek shouldn’t be content with simply rehashing past glories, but should be modern and different, trying to do new things they haven’t really done before or explored to the fullest extent. Each new episode plays out as a chapter in a larger story, so the events of each one have a bigger impact than in previous iterations.
I prefer the technical term: "Wall Salsa".
Love that film, one of the ones that I wouldn't be mad about a remake.
I don't know how many of my fellow Trek fans are also anime fans, but it hit me earlier this week that what happened to Straal and the Glenn crew reminded me of something that happened in the second season of the anime Attack on Titan when
a character named Conny finds a half-formed Titan where his house used to be.
G
Gonzo
Guest
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