Spoilers Star Trek: Khan 1x07 - "I Am Marla"

[Yistaan]

So since Trek's world is mostly identical to our world except for the existence of Star Trek as a franchise and the various differences shown whenever Trek time travels to the 20th/21st centuries, that means that Khan, who now lived in the 21st century thanks to SNW's timeline changes, may have watched Netflix's Witcher which involved mind controlling worms entering people's ears.

 

[NCC-73515]

Was that song from before 1996, or from the Enterprise database?
Good stuff, also the ambient sound of bubbling water, and Khan's sobs at the end, though that seemed out of character based on how he was in Space Seed and WoK. But I guess it's meant to show how impactful it was, if it even makes that kinda guy break down sobbing.
The KHAAAAAN! scream was a nice (if obvious) easteregg

 

[Christopher]

Was that song from before 1996, or from the Enterprise database?

Per the revised timeline, Khan is still a young boy in the 2020s, so the Eugenics Wars are still a couple of decades away.

Khan's sobs at the end, though that seemed out of character based on how he was in Space Seed and WoK.

On the contrary, given how vengeful he was toward Kirk in TWOK, it's entirely consistent for him to have an extreme emotional reaction to losing Marla. And breaking down crying when your spouse dies is the most normal thing in the world. Who wouldn't do that, no matter how stoic or tough they might seem the rest of the time?

 

[Zarm]

Yeah, I have been critical of Khan's sensitivity in the early episodes, but this was an instance where it felt completely justified with the character we know. Perhaps it is the last time he ever will, the breaking of him and the forging of his vengeance... but if ever anything would move Khan to tears, it would be this.

 

[NCC-73515]

I would have expected more room-smashing rage instead. But it could be a sign that he's only firm and harsh on the outside, and has that hidden sensitive inner core he hides from everyone.

 

[Christopher]

I would have expected more room-smashing rage instead. But it could be a sign that he's only firm and harsh on the outside, and has that hidden sensitive inner core he hides from everyone.

It's a sign that he's a human being with a normal range of emotion rather than a simplistically written caricature who acts the same in every situation. Consider the context. Who would he get angry at there? The Ceti eels? He's watching his wife sacrifice herself so their child can live. He's saying goodbye to her, suddenly, unexpectedly. Not to mention that he was in an infirmary whose machines were keeping Marla and the baby alive, so "room-smashing" would be profoundly inadvisable.

 

[NCC-73515]

Consider him in TOS and in WoK
Also, isn't that possibility included in what I wrote?
When Odo smashed his room, who was he angry at?
And besides all that, I am, like everyone else, writing my impressions, interpretations, thoughts on the episode.
Why try to change those?

 

[Christopher]

Consider him in TOS and in WoK

Exactly my point -- this is a very different situation than either of those, so it shouldn't be surprising that Khan is acting differently. Well-written characters are not stereotypes that always react in a single way. You can't know a person's entire range of possibilities from only two encounters with them. We can all be very different people in different contexts.

When Odo smashed his room, who was he angry at?

Odo's room didn't contain life support equipment necessary for keeping his wife and baby alive. It's quite possible, even likely, that Khan tore up his own quarters in rage right after this episode, or went out into the woods and tore up some trees, but there's no reason to expect it to happen right there at that moment in the infirmary when he's saying goodbye. What you'd expect of any human being in that situation is to break down crying, with the rage coming later. Grief is a multifaceted thing.

And besides all that, I am, like everyone else, writing my impressions, interpretations, thoughts on the episode.
Why try to change those?

I'm just offering an alternative point of view. This is a discussion board, after all, and there'd be nothing to discuss if everyone had the same perspective.

 

[David Mack]

Wow. That one hurt. Well done to all involved.

@David Mack --- there was one bit of dialogue that I couldn't quite get at the 29:00 mark, "I owe you my life many times over. Baghdad, the Ren desert (at least that's what the subtitles say), the jungles of Ceti Alpha 5..."

According to the final broadcast version of the script, it is “Ryn desert,” which overlaps the border of northern Kazakhstan and southern Russia.

There's also a credit that I'm interested in-- "Additional writing by Mac Rogers". Background characters?

Mac Rogers is (was?) a producer with Realm, the company that did the actual audio production of Khan. Rogers was not involved in the writing of our drafts of Khan.

I’m not privy to the details of Mac’s contract with regard to credit. What I do know is that he co-wrote with Nicholas Meyer the story revision and scripts for nine episodes, when it was still titled Ceti Alpha. That version was the last one before Kirsten and I came aboard.

Kirsten and I were asked to incorporate some elements from those earlier drafts into our version. Because we can’t know for certain what was Nick’s and what was Mac’s, I think the “additional writing by” credit might have been put forward as a catch-all (but that’s just a guess, so take it with a grain of salt).

 

[Turtletrekker]

According to the final broadcast version of the script, it is “Ryn desert,” which overlaps the border of northern Kazakhstan and southern Russia.

Thank you for this. Ever since the show began dropping locations of Eugenics Wars battles in various episodes, I have been trying to get a grasp on the map of the Middle East and Central Asia (and North Africa as per Enterprise and Archer's great-granddad) of just how expansive Khan's 40-nation empire was. Even just with off-hand throw-away references, you're painting quite a picture in that regard.