• Welcome! The TrekBBS is the number one place to chat about Star Trek with like-minded fans.
    If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Whatever Happened to Diane Carey?

Well, it was early days weirdness in regards to the Dominion. The Search Part 1 shows a Jem'Hadar personally attacking Odo, while later DS9 establishes the Jem'Hadar should instantly recognize him as a Founder and revere him. Granted, a few weeks later in The Abandoned we have a Jem'Hadar who doesn't realize what Odo is until he witnesses him shapeshifting which could explain the actions of the one we see in The Search, though it's certainly inconsistent with how they are later portrayed. And that's before we get into the Vorta's telekinetic abilities that disappeared after their first appearance.

Eh, whatever. Star Trek is never known for its consistency.

You're right. But beyond that issue, it's still stupid to let Ben & Co keep the memories about what happened in the simulated reality ;)
 
We can always assume that the only reason Eris had that ability was to give credence to her undercover identity as a prisoner. :shrug:
So only Vorta who are doing undercover work as prisoners are allowed telekinetic abilities as opposed to the ones who have postings on the frontlines in a war?
 
So only Vorta who are doing undercover work as prisoners are allowed telekinetic abilities as opposed to the ones who have postings on the frontlines in a war?

Most Vorta have no need of such abilities. That's what the Jem'Hadar are for.

Besides, telekenesis would be of little use in ship-to-ship combat anyway.
 
Most Vorta have no need of such abilities. That's what the Jem'Hadar are for.

Besides, telekenesis would be of little use in ship-to-ship combat anyway.

But it would be really useful for scaring representatives from (soon to be) subject species into following their orders ;)
 
Most Vorta have no need of such abilities. That's what the Jem'Hadar are for.

Besides, telekenesis would be of little use in ship-to-ship combat anyway.
Maybe, but what about Vorta like Keevan who are on a ship which crashes on a planet with enemy combatants on it? Sure could come in handy, particularly if there wasn't enough ketracel white to go around and the possibility of Jem'Hadar going through the throws of withdrawal were a possibility.
 
Eris had telekenesis because she needed to look sympathetic, like a poor, helpless, oppressed prisoner. Giving her a superhero power that was actively being blocked - assuming it ever actually WAS being blocked - added to that effect.

Once Eris busted out of prison and revealed her true identity, there was no further use for these mental abilities, and indeed the Founders probably had them removed as soon as possible.

Because Vorta who had supernatural abilities would have an advantage over others - might even attempt to seize power for themselves - and the Founders couldn't allow that.
 
Eris had telekenesis because she needed to look sympathetic, like a poor, helpless, oppressed prisoner. Giving her a superhero power that was actively being blocked - assuming it ever actually WAS being blocked - added to that effect.

Once Eris busted out of prison and revealed her true identity, there was no further use for these mental abilities, and indeed the Founders probably had them removed as soon as possible.

Because Vorta who had supernatural abilities would have an advantage over others - might even attempt to seize power for themselves - and the Founders couldn't allow that.

Doesn't make sense if all Vorta had the same powers and the Founders could easily use the same strategy as with the Jem' Hadar by their programming and controlling them externally.
 
Well, it was early days weirdness in regards to the Dominion. The Search Part 1 shows a Jem'Hadar personally attacking Odo, while later DS9 establishes the Jem'Hadar should instantly recognize him as a Founder and revere him. Granted, a few weeks later in The Abandoned we have a Jem'Hadar who doesn't realize what Odo is until he witnesses him shapeshifting which could explain the actions of the one we see in The Search, though it's certainly inconsistent with how they are later portrayed. And that's before we get into the Vorta's telekinetic abilities that disappeared after their first appearance.

Eh, whatever. Star Trek is never known for its consistency.

It’s repeatedly said that the Founders are better at shapeshifting than Odo is, which is part of why his face seems half-formed. So the other Founders choosing the faces they do is an affectation they make to put him at ease with them - which would mean that, to the Jem’Hadar who first encounter him, he wouldn’t be immediately recognizable as a Founder, because that’s not the face they necessarily would use.

One could also assume that your average Jem’Hadar would probably never encounter a Founder in person, given the size and scope of the Dominion and how rarely they interact with solids, both by choice and by circumstance in the Gamma Quadrant. The camera was on the leadership, not the rank and file, and with the Jem’Hadar having relatively short lifespans, they might only rarely, if at all, expect to encounter a Founder in person.
 
It’s repeatedly said that the Founders are better at shapeshifting than Odo is, which is part of why his face seems half-formed. So the other Founders choosing the faces they do is an affectation they make to put him at ease with them - which would mean that, to the Jem’Hadar who first encounter him, he wouldn’t be immediately recognizable as a Founder, because that’s not the face they necessarily would use.

One could also assume that your average Jem’Hadar would probably never encounter a Founder in person, given the size and scope of the Dominion and how rarely they interact with solids, both by choice and by circumstance in the Gamma Quadrant. The camera was on the leadership, not the rank and file, and with the Jem’Hadar having relatively short lifespans, they might only rarely, if at all, expect to encounter a Founder in person.

Excellently reasoned.
 
It may say something about the quality of DC's novelization of "Broken Bow" that, unlike with her Piper and April novels, I've completely forgotten everything beyond the most basic plot of the episode (and looking at the MA article on the episode, I've forgotten most of that as well).

Then again, I recently had "reading again it for the first time" experiences with some pretty damn good ST novels, so maybe it doesn't say anything.
 
Last edited:
It’s repeatedly said that the Founders are better at shapeshifting than Odo is, which is part of why his face seems half-formed. So the other Founders choosing the faces they do is an affectation they make to put him at ease with them - which would mean that, to the Jem’Hadar who first encounter him, he wouldn’t be immediately recognizable as a Founder, because that’s not the face they necessarily would use.
The explanation might work in context of just the third season, but again is something the later seasons seemed to forget/ignore, given the Female Founder is always going around "Odo faced" even when Odo is not around at all.
 
The explanation might work in context of just the third season, but again is something the later seasons seemed to forget/ignore, given the Female Founder is always going around "Odo faced" even when Odo is not around at all.

Well, why not? It's a way to adopt a humanoid form that's still connected to their identity as a species, because it's the unique form Odo developed for himself (or it was unique until the others adopted it). So it's a useful form to adopt when they want to operate in humanoid spaces but act openly as themselves rather than stay disguised. And using it reflects their solidarity (pardon the expression) with Odo, their desire to reconnect with him.
 
I suspect that Eris was telekinetic because the Dominion was conducting experiments with kironide. That's my personal theory, anyway. But, yes, the Founders wouldn't want any of their subject races to become too powerful that way.
 
If I may tweak the thread subject line slightly: "What happened to Diane Carey in the middle of 'Dreadnought!'?" I reached Chapter Seven of this book, not loving every part of it (Piper is too impulsive and her motivations too muddled for me to have much interest in her fate) but certainly enjoying aspects of it. (The first-person perspective of a non-main cast member as to the main cast is done quite well, and struck me as the great way to explore the Kirk character, a man of action and interaction, who arguably becomes more interesting when his interior life remains somewhat nebulous). But then I hit Chapter Seven, which begins with a unbelievably juvenile catechism between Piper and Sarda about the evils of socialism, in which the headstrong, intellectual Sarda is suddenly reduced to an idiot who doesn't know the most basic facts about Earth history and has no opinions of his own save those that are being spoonfed to him by Piper, and Piper wakes up from a traumatic phaser blast with a fully-formed thesis about cyclical attempts at despotic world government through the centuries (no hint of this understanding and perspective having been heretofore given in the book). Did someone else write this part? Did Diane Carey lose a bet to Leonard Peikoff? I know Carey is some kind of Libertarian (and I don't care; why shouldn't there be a variety of political philosophies still extant in the 23rd century?) but this part reads like having been written by someone who hadn't even read the first part of the book, much less written it. I don't think I've ever had this sort of experience reading a book (ST or otherwise), going from largely enjoying a book to thinking it is utter, irredeemable crap in the course of less than five pages.
 
If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Sign up / Register


Back
Top