USS Enterprise (eventually) on Discovery?
- Thread starter EJD1984
- Start date
botched fusions...
Hmm. Romulan and Klingon ships have oftentimes been very green. The Enterprise, not so much. I always thought it looked off-white to grayish, with only the most subtle hint of green.
The change in the Klingons happened in 1979. DS9's "Trials and Tribble-ations" came out in 1996. I assure you, people cared about the change before then. Do you not remember the 1980s? The Internet wasn't a thing, obviously, but fans talked and debated about it in person, at conventions, in fanzines, in articles in Best of Trek, etc. Hypotheses were offered in novels like John M. Ford's Final Reflection, and in RPGs, and in comics.
It was the biggest, longest-standing elephant-in-the-room unanswered question in Trek canon. How could resolving it be "unnecessary"?
I'm not saying ENT's explanation was the best or most elegant possible approach... but at least it put an end to 26 years of speculation. The FASA Klingon module basically followed Ford's approach, if I recall correctly, which I always thought was the most elegant solution. Of course I always thought TNG should have modeled its Klingon culture in general on Ford's ideas rather than the RDM approach it actually followed... but that ship sailed long ago.
I'm guessing the FASA books implied these "fusions" were deliberate attempts at genetic engineering/modification by the Klingons themselves... in Discovery's case, it's more likely the result of the Klingons conquering a few Romulan planets, raping all of their women and then shipping the resulting offspring back to the homeworld as war spoils. That would explain why so many of the Klingons all have similar appearances; they're probably all close to the same age and just happen to be the generation that finds itself predominantly in charge right now. We know from Alexander's background that Klingons mature very quickly compared to humans, so T'Kuvma and Voq -- along with the rest of the Disco Klingons -- probably aren't more than 12 to 15 years old.
Which, now that I think about it (and considering the timeline involved) has certain rather disturbing implications for the origins of the TOS Klingons. What are the odds that Kang, Koloth and Kor recently had some very Klingon birthdays on some occupied Federation world?
Found this work by En Gingerboom on insta. They're also working a zine called Star Trek: Shenzhou that I highly recommend fans of TOS/TAS and DSC check out.
tumblr_p1qrqcm4px1txph59o1_1280 by Jason Soto, on Flickr
Love that the visual take is a more TOS look of the DSC uniform along with the addition of the dress alternate. Would be a great direction for Season 2 of DSC (just saying).
tumblr_p1qrqcm4px1txph59o1_1280 by Jason Soto, on FlickrLove that the visual take is a more TOS look of the DSC uniform along with the addition of the dress alternate. Would be a great direction for Season 2 of DSC (just saying).
Yeah but green is a thing for Romulans.
Really there's no need for condescension. My point is simple. DS9's episode sparked the debate (again) and the Enterprise producers felt like it needed some solution. Wrongly, in my opinion.
Because it's just as silly a "question" as "how did they reshape the Enterprise so completely?" The answer is "they made a new model", not "well, here's how it's possible in universe..."
Many pages back, someone asked for a comparison between the TOS Enterprise and the Discoprise. Did an image quickly. How do I insert an image from my laptop?
I'd recommend you start by going to imgur.com and uploading the picture there (you don't have to make an account to do this). Then you need to copy the image url (right click on the image and click copy image address). Click the insert image button here in Trekbbs and paste the address to your image. You should see the image in your post at this point, and you'll be ready to post it.
If this is not what was wanted I can make changes.
Not if the explanation is pseudo-scientific gibberish. Which "Divergence" basically was.
Something's not quite right. I can't see the image.
If this is not what was wanted I can make changes.
Sorry, it was visible for me. Next try.
Sure, I'll agree to that. However sometimes that doesn't hold. There's precious little in-world explanation that doesn't run into problems when it comes to the Klingon retcon. I think it'd have been best to leave that one alone. YMMV.
Anyway, I had a thought that might reconcile all of us into a beautiful harmony -- and who doesn't love harmony? -- and that's that the TOS Enterprise might have been a one-off for Starfleet. A ship class with its own look and feel that doesn't really look like any other that the Federation has ever had, or will ever have again. A special, one-of-a-kind class of ships for a new era. I'd buy that.
'Course, we did just get a retcon so it doesn't matter, but hey. I tried.
Well, like I said, I don't think ENT's explanation is the best possible explanation, Klingon-wise. But it's still an improvement over what we had before.
Because we needed an in-story explanation. Because why? Because the Sherlock Holmes stories were written by John Watson, and Arthur Conan Doyle was his literary agent. Anyone who says otherwise is a wet blanket.
(And, contra CrazyEddie above, the Augment story's pseudo-science really isn't half as gibberishy as a dozen other assorted Trek episodes I can think of without breaking a sweat).
Because we needed an in-story explanation. Because why? Because the Sherlock Holmes stories were written by John Watson, and Arthur Conan Doyle was his literary agent. Anyone who says otherwise is a wet blanket.
(And, contra CrazyEddie above, the Augment story's pseudo-science really isn't half as gibberishy as a dozen other assorted Trek episodes I can think of without breaking a sweat).
It was me, I wanted to compare with this angleSorry, it was visible for me. Next try.
But, that's the real point isn't it-personal preferences. Even GR considered abandoning the Klingons all together, and, in my opinion, that would have been for the best. That's my preference.
I personally would have preferred a different approach to DSC Klingon design, but it wasn't done-that ship has sailed.
The Augment virus is stupid and awkward. That it "finally answered a question" doesn't make it less so. Some things are best left as a mystery rather than insisiting upon an explanation for everything.
Part of me wishes we'd see those long Klingon disruptor rifles on TOS. Every sidearm that the Empire used in the series was a handheld pistol, an agonizer-type device or swords. Seeing a wider variety of Klingon weaponry would have been nice but given the budgetary limitations of the late '60s I'm not surprised that the producers just recycled the same pistols over and over again and even had other species like the Romulans use them.
The Romulan fusion was always just
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