TERMINATED

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

I watched our beloved movie for the ninth time last night. The last few times I've been a little puzzled by the medical monitor that Robau is hooked up to when he goes to the Narada, specifically the way it says TERMINATED when Robau is killed. Wouldn't a medical monitor say LIFE SIGNS FAILURE or something more medical? Terminated doesn't seem very medical, it could be about anything ceasing to function not just a body.

I know it looked good and dramatic and stuff, lol.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Captain Robau deserves only the coolest of computer-screen readout terminology.

You just wait until the next film, when Kirk's watching the progress of some hapless redshirt from the bridge, and it flashes up "HE'S DEAD, JIM".

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

Captain Robau deserves only the coolest of computer-screen readout terminology.

My God! You are right.

 

[Lor'Vela]

Despite the fact that Robau deserves nothing "cooler" than such a "cool" message, I agree with the OP. It's done for dramatic effect and nothing more. Deceased would have been a better term to use if you look at it in that regard.

 

[Gil T.Azell]

Then again perhaps the "Terminated" message is referring to the signal from the monitor not Captain Robau’s life signs.

 

[6079SmithW]

Yeah, it was done for dramatic effect because getting a trident slammed through your chest is pretty dramatic. Also, this may be a stretch, but maybe the medical monitoring equipment can distinguish between someone dying of disease or an injury (in which case it reads "Deceased") or someone being forcibly murdered (hence "Terminated").

 

[Joker]

I read it to mean the signal had been terminated, not his life.

 

[Gojira]

Also, since the scene showing the word Terminated only lasts a second or two they need a good dramatic one word phrase.

 

[6079SmithW]

I read it to mean the signal had been terminated, not his life.

But when "Terminated" appeared on the screen the EKG readout flatlined and the monotone heart failure noise occurred, indicating the captain had died.

 

[EnsignRicky]

In the original script, it was going to say: Hasta La Vista..... Baby!!

 

[Temis the Vorta]

In the original script, it was going to say: Hasta La Vista..... Baby!!

I thought it was "Jolan tru, Sucker."

 

[Joker]

I read it to mean the signal had been terminated, not his life.

But when "Terminated" appeared on the screen the EKG readout flatlined and the monotone heart failure noise occurred, indicating the captain had died.

Yeah, the thing suddenly flatlined because it wasn't receiving any data, because the signal had been terminated. Hence the big "TERMINATED" message that accompanied the flatline.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Actually I believed "TERMINATED" referred to the ultimate fate of all the Romulans who dared to cross The Robau.

 

[Timo]

I'd actually expect a medical device to choose "terminated" over any other single word to describe the ending of a life through murder. It's not "dramatic" as much as it is "clinical" - which makes it dramatic in some contexts where being clinical about murder is cool or chilling or whatnot.

A forensic device might choose "murdered" or perhaps "impaled", but would not have "terminated" at the top of its jargon vocabulary. A military device would likewise have its own vocabulary, perhaps choosing "fallen" or "down" or some other such euphemism because this profession would fear death far more than the forensic one, but perhaps valuing the "impaled" for its information about the tactical capabilities of the enemy. A communications device could choose "terminated", though.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

The machine doesn't know Robau was murdered. For all it knows a big metal spike could have fallen off the ceiling into his chest.

 

[Mr. Fergy]

Actually I believed "TERMINATED" referred to the ultimate fate of all the Romulans who dared to cross The Robau.

Agreed. That or "The Robau has been destroyed!"

 

[Joker]

I'd actually expect a medical device to choose "terminated" over any other single word...

A medical device doesn't use words and draw conclusions, it outputs readouts and information that's interpreted by doctors.

Unless the signal is terminated, which would obviously be reported via error message.

 

[JarodRussell]

It should have said:

MURDER DEATH KILL
MURDER DEATH KILL
MURDER DEATH KILL

"Look, I don't know who you are, but..." - "I am Spock" - "Bullshit." - "EEEEEEEEEH. James Kirk, you have been fined one credit for a violation of the verbal morality statute."

 

[Set Harth]

ROBAU UNAVAILABLE

 

[F. King Daniel]

PLEASE LEAVE A MESSAGE AFTER THE BEEP.