The Qowat Milat — hey, wait a minute…
- Thread starter FredH
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Possibly they had one sympathizer in high enough power to avoid such a fate.
Their actual influence over Romulan politics was probably overstated, but they could well have been protected and maintained in order to limit the power of other Romulan institutions.
The Qowat Milat were described as "the most feared enemies of the Tal Shiar."
Perhaps they were so feared that even the Tal Shiar didn't dare try to mess with them. Or maybe at some point, they did try, and failed at it. So they didn't try again.
As far as the Tal Shiar aligning with the interests of the Romulan government, the TS often seemed to act on their own without much accountability. There were probably plenty of people within the government who would have been glad to get rid of them if they could.
Kor
Perhaps they were so feared that even the Tal Shiar didn't dare try to mess with them. Or maybe at some point, they did try, and failed at it. So they didn't try again.
As far as the Tal Shiar aligning with the interests of the Romulan government, the TS often seemed to act on their own without much accountability. There were probably plenty of people within the government who would have been glad to get rid of them if they could.
Kor
Maybe they tried and it didn't go well. "Choose to live."
More likely they were blackmailed into inaction by the Madaff Ukkah.*
(*sounds best whenever Patrick Stewart says it.)
(*sounds best whenever Patrick Stewart says it.)
Romulans, despite being backstabby to the max, are ALSO very much about Law and Order.
The Tal Shiar could certainly make some individuals disappear, but going whole hog on a respected quasi-religious order? That's too much. I would think that by and large when the Tal Shiar are disappearing people, they doing so under legal authority to do so. That legal authority probably does not extend to "erasing people we don't like".
The Tal Shiar, while powerful, were likely fairly few in number. They needed the support of the military to truly be effective. Murdering all of the Qowat Milat would likely have been an extremely unpopular move and turned the military against the Tal Shiar.
We also have to factor in that it's just probably not worth it for the Tal Shiar. They already have almost total unchecked power, *AND* by and large the Tal Shiar has now been implied to be almost a front to the Zhat Vhash, so jeopardizing their position of power to stick it to some warrior nuns would be risking their thousand-year-long mission.
The Tal Shiar could certainly make some individuals disappear, but going whole hog on a respected quasi-religious order? That's too much. I would think that by and large when the Tal Shiar are disappearing people, they doing so under legal authority to do so. That legal authority probably does not extend to "erasing people we don't like".
The Tal Shiar, while powerful, were likely fairly few in number. They needed the support of the military to truly be effective. Murdering all of the Qowat Milat would likely have been an extremely unpopular move and turned the military against the Tal Shiar.
We also have to factor in that it's just probably not worth it for the Tal Shiar. They already have almost total unchecked power, *AND* by and large the Tal Shiar has now been implied to be almost a front to the Zhat Vhash, so jeopardizing their position of power to stick it to some warrior nuns would be risking their thousand-year-long mission.
The Tal Shiar already have a tense relationship with the Romulan military. Expending resources to hunt down another group would be a challenge. They would rather "make examples" of selected individuals to maintain law and order, than full on extermination. Again, look at the ship Troi was on. The captain's dad was removed from their home without a trace by the Tal Shiar, yet she still served the military. There is a tension that the society maintains.
Honestly it's mostly just down to societal differences. The Romulan public likely has no problem with a group like the Tal Shiar existing.
The Federation... not so much.
In the end though, I do truly think that for as "evil" as the Tal Shiar is, they probably do work within Romulan law. It's just that Romulan law gives them... broad authority to deal with things as they see fit. There definitely is a balancing act. If the Tal Shiar gets too brazen, they might piss off the military, or maybe worse, they might piss of an important Senator.
Or, you might piss off the people. Piss off enough of them, and bad things tend to happen.
I find it rather amusing that, in the wake of the destruction of Romulus, a faction known as the ‘Romulan Free State’ could have the backing of the Tal Shiar.
It’s probably like those old dictatorships that had the word ‘Democratic’ in the name, like the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), Democratic Kampuchea (Cambodia), hell even the present day Democratic Republic of North Korea.
So it would seem that the Romulan Free State is that way in name only, and it’s no more free than the old Empire was. The Tal Shiar would certainly see to that.
As for the Tal Shiar acting within the law? Romulan law is whatever the Tal Shiar says it is. They can do whatever they want and still claim to be acting within the law, because they ARE the law.
It’s probably like those old dictatorships that had the word ‘Democratic’ in the name, like the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), Democratic Kampuchea (Cambodia), hell even the present day Democratic Republic of North Korea.
So it would seem that the Romulan Free State is that way in name only, and it’s no more free than the old Empire was. The Tal Shiar would certainly see to that.
As for the Tal Shiar acting within the law? Romulan law is whatever the Tal Shiar says it is. They can do whatever they want and still claim to be acting within the law, because they ARE the law.
Exactly this. Indoctrination of a population starts with the name of their country. When you see things like "Free", "Democratic" and "Republic" in a name, it's most likely the exact opposite. If you have all three in the name (The Free Democratic Republic of Asscrackistan, for example), look for the mass graves and hidden concentration camps somewhere on satellite captures. Think Wadiya in Sasha Baron Cohen's "The Dictator". Great movie, BTW!
As for "United"... well... the jury's still out on that one, at present.
And yeah, I suspect the Qowat Milat are Nth-level bad-asses enough to scare the TS into minding their manners. Organizations like the one need the other to check and offset their agenda, or I suspect the Romulan Empire would have collapsed a long time before ENT. Their Vulcan-style logic combined with Romulan brutalism really worked in quite an interesting way and made perfect sense in the 32nd century unified world of the Ni'Var.
As for "United"... well... the jury's still out on that one, at present.
And yeah, I suspect the Qowat Milat are Nth-level bad-asses enough to scare the TS into minding their manners. Organizations like the one need the other to check and offset their agenda, or I suspect the Romulan Empire would have collapsed a long time before ENT. Their Vulcan-style logic combined with Romulan brutalism really worked in quite an interesting way and made perfect sense in the 32nd century unified world of the Ni'Var.
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Hey guys let's not be so harsh on the Romulan Free State. They allow a wider variety of hairstyles and should be applauded.
It's the Romulan Free(dom of hairstyles) State.
It's the Romulan Free(dom of hairstyles) State.
That was out of necessity though, since all the reputable Romulan barbers were on Romulus when the supernova hit. On the colonies that became the Romulan Free State, you had hairdressers which dared to experiment with something a little more bold than bog standard bowl cut.
One of the best things that came out of the Hobus supernova.
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