Spoilers Star Trek: Short Treks 1x03 - "The Brightest Star"

[Mr. Laser Beam]

That being said: I never imagined Saru to be coming from a totally pre-technology world. I always thought of him coming from, like, a post-apocalyptic Hunger Game's world.

Who knows, maybe that's what Kaminar actually is. Ever heard of Yor, The Hunter From The Future?

Because I find it hard to believe that he can become second officer to Georgiou, when she was already a Leutnant, and he didn't even new basic math.

Well, Saru would have to go to the Academy first - it's not like they immediately made him an officer. And where did you get the idea he doesn't know math? He's obviously intelligent, he deciphered the instructions on the Ba'ul communications device.

 

[JD]

That was really good, Saru was one of my favorite characters, and I loved getting to learn his backstory. The way the Kelpians were taken as food was not at all what I expected, I was expecting more of a full hunt with the predator's randomly showing up and taking away individuals.
I liked getting to meet his family. I wonder if they'll both still be around when we see Kaminar in the regular Season 2 episode?
Georgio being the one to take him away was a cool surprise.
So I wonder what will end up leading the Discovery or whoever goes there, in Season 2?

 

[Rahul]

Who knows, maybe that's what Kaminar actually is. Ever heard of Yor, The Hunter From The Future?

Didn't Georgiou directly stated "pre-warp society"? I mean, she could technically have been wrong. But it's obvious the society doesn't have some "ancient knowledge" or something laying around - they are, by all measures, a pre-technology civilisation.

 

[Noname Given]

Didn't Georgiou directly stated "pre-warp society"? I mean, she could technically have been wrong. But it's obvious the society doesn't have some "ancient knowledge" or something laying around - they are, by all measures, a pre-technology civilisation.

Pre-Warp just means they haven't achieved FTL travel yet. Hell, in current Star Trek Earth History BOTH Vulcan and Earth went through devastating nuclear wars prior to developing warp drive (in the Vulcans case it took them another 15 centuries; for Earth it was 1 century <--- Probably why they thought Humans were insane and reckless.)

 

[eschaton]

So here's a (mild) critique of the episode: Given how sanitized the whole Ba'ul harvesting process is (basically the chosen go "poof" with no hint of blood or anything) and the pseudo-religious elements ("circle of life"), it's surprising that the Kelpiens even realize they're being processed into food. Unless this transition into a more bloodless execution manner was a relatively recent transition, and everyone has generational memory of the "bad old days."

 

[seigezunt]

Unless this transition into a more bloodless execution manner was a relatively recent transition, and everyone has generational memory of the "bad old days."

That's kind of what I was thinking. Like a religious ritual with roots in ancient ritual sacrifice, sanitized to appease possible reformers within Bowel society.

 

[eschaton]

That's kind of what I was thinking. Like a religious ritual with roots in ancient ritual sacrifice, sanitized to appease possible reformers within Bowel society.

Indeed.

I was also thinking that from a Ba'ul standpoint they probably think they're being quite amenable to the Kelpiens. After all, if they are livestock, they are "free range" livestock - able to live their lives in peace in their own village until they're ripe enough for harvesting. And most of them (Saru excepted) seem to have been either culturally conditioned or genetically engineered to accept this as their fate, meaning they're not even suffering a lot of existential anguish.

From a resource standpoint though, this is a very inefficient way to grow protein. Maybe Kelpien in their culture is more like caviar or fugu than beef? That is to say a high-cost prestige food item. If not, there can't be many Ba'ul at all.

 

[seigezunt]

Maybe one side of the planet is the Whole Foods Kelpians, and the other is the "you bag it, you cook it" market.

 

[DaveyNY]

Indeed.

I was also thinking that from a Ba'ul standpoint they probably think they're being quite amenable to the Kelpiens. After all, if they are livestock, they are "free range" livestock - able to live their lives in peace in their own village until they're ripe enough for harvesting. And most of them (Saru excepted) seem to have been either culturally conditioned or genetically engineered to accept this as their fate, meaning they're not even suffering a lot of existentialist anguish.

From a resource standpoint though, this is a very inefficient way to grow protein. Maybe Kelpien in their culture is more like caviar or fugu than beef? That is to say a high-cost prestige food item. If not, there can't be many Ba'ul at all.

It's possible that Saru's village is one of thousands spread across the planet.
In which case, taking just a few from each, wouldn't deplete the stock in any meaningful manner.

 

[eschaton]

It's possible that Saru's village is one of thousands spread across the planet.
In which case, taking just a few from each, wouldn't deplete the stock in any meaningful manner.

Compared to factory farming it absolutely isn't a resource-efficient way to grow protein. The Kelpiens seem to harvest their own food with primitive implements. It's not even clear if they're farming or just gathering seaweed. If they're really tied to the water in terms of their dietary needs it would really cut down on where they could have villages as well. The world as a whole might only have like 5 million Kelpiens, which compares unfavorably with the 1.5 billion cows on earth. Not only that, but Kelpiens don't seem to have big families, and may be slow to mature like humans.

Thus my conclusion that while Kelpien could be a delicacy in Ba'ul culture, it's unlikely to be a staple dish. Unless we find out something unusual, like the Ba'ul are the size of insects or something. That would be bold for the DIS showrunners, and I wouldn't really expect it.

 

[Rahul]

Maybe one side of the planet is the Whole Foods Kelpians, and the other is the "you bag it, you cook it" market.

Lol.

Who would have ever thought that "Eating Kelpians" is the one constant in the prime and mirror universe?

 

[Cyrus]

So here's a (mild) critique of the episode: Given how sanitized the whole Ba'ul harvesting process is (basically the chosen go "poof" with no hint of blood or anything) and the pseudo-religious elements ("circle of life"), it's surprising that the Kelpiens even realize they're being processed into food. Unless this transition into a more bloodless execution manner was a relatively recent transition, and everyone has generational memory of the "bad old days."

That is exactly what I said earlier in the thread in response to the question about why kelpians have developed threat ganglia. It must have started as a hunter/prey relationship but after both achieved sentience and Baul became technological they came to this arrangement.

 

[Agony_Boothb]

I kinda love that Saru's planet is basically a drive thru for hungry aliens

Kelpian priest: 'Welcome to Kelpy's, may I take your order?'
Ba'ul: 'Ah yeah, can I get two Kelpy pounders with cheese, hold the pickles and a ten pack of threat ganglia with honey mustard dipping sauce?'
Kelpian priest: 'Would you you like to make the kelpy pounders into meals for an extra $1.95?
Ba'ul: 'Sure'
Kelpian Priest: 'Is coke ok for your drink?
Ba'ul 'Make it a diet coke'
Kelpien Priest: 'Ok that will be $15.95, please make your way to the next atmospheric window to have these beamed up'

 

[Guy Gardener]

Mirror Georgiou seemed to only be interested in eating the Threat Ganglia.

How deeply rooted into the Kelpien is the Ganglia?

It could be threaded into their central nervous system, and wind away throughout their entire body, otherwise it's unlikely that snipping the tips off the sprout at the back of their neck would cause death...

The kelpiens may not die after their ganglia is harvested, if the rest of their body is not worth chowing down on, then what?

Returning the gelded Kelpien back to the herd, would ruin the myth of the untilled Kelpien's existence, so the shawn Kelpiens are probably shown to the door, rather than murdered for no reason, unless ganglia regenerates.

 

[Groppler Zorn]

The kelpiens may not die after their ganglia is harvested, if the rest of their body is not worth chowing down on, then what?

Kelpien-hide sofa

 

[Rahul]

Mirror Georgiou seemed to only be interested in eating the Threat Ganglia.

How deeply rooted into the Kelpien is the Ganglia?

It could be threaded into their central nervous system, and wind away throughout their entire body, otherwise it's unlikely that snipping the tips off the sprout at the back of their neck would cause death...

The kelpiens may not die after their ganglia is harvested, if the rest of their body is not worth chowing down on, then what?

Returning the gelded back Kelpien to the herd, would ruin the myth of the untilled Kelpien's existence, so they shawn Kelpiens are probably shown to the door, rather than murdered for no reason, unless ganglia regenerates.

Jesus Christ.
I don't know if I'm impressed or scared, but that's a lot of very explizit thought going into the details of eating sentient lifeforms. Which I'm still baffled by as to why the creators apparently chose that as the overarching theme of their work so far...

 

[Guy Gardener]

Have you seen Never Let Me Go?

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

Jesus Christ.
I don't know if I'm impressed or scared, but that's a lot of very explizit thought going into the details of eating sentient lifeforms. Which I'm still baffled by as to why the creators apparently chose that as the overarching theme of their work so far...

Welcome to the wonderful world of Guy Gardner

 

[Tuskin38]

Which I'm still baffled by as to why the creators apparently chose that as the overarching theme of their work so far...

Because it’s evil and immoral. Something that most audiences can hate.

 

[eschaton]

Mirror Georgiou seemed to only be interested in eating the Threat Ganglia.

We only saw the ganglia in the soup, but she later mentioned "dining upon entrails" to Burnham, suggesting more than just ganglia was involved in the preparation.