Where are the Klingons?

[Airmandan]

I'm surprised we haven't seen any signs of them so far in this new century. We've seen a pretty diverse spread so far of various alien species but none of Klingons. Is the show trying to figure out how to tie their design aspects from the first 2 seasons to a more TNG aspect?

 

[DEWLine]

The maps in Vance's office say they're around c. 3189 and that they have a "zone" of influence/jurisdiction...

 

[Timo]

...What we absolutely need now is seeing that the Klingons look completely different again. After all, that's the one constant about the species. Their genetic engineers just can't leave well enough alone, certainly not for nine centuries!

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Dukhat]

They should have them back to looking like humans with oily skin and Fu Manchus.

 

[Nerys Myk]

We'll see them when we see them.

 

[Christopher]

Is the show trying to figure out how to tie their design aspects from the first 2 seasons to a more TNG aspect?

I don't think there will necessarily be any attempt to reconcile DSC makeup with other shows' makeup. Today's new episode, "Unification III," showed us TNG-style Romulans with ridged foreheads, even though Picard previously reverted the Romulan makeup to a smooth-browed look. And yet the episode tied directly into Picard continuity by featuring the Qowat Milat. Also, the Andorians seen in PIC have a more TOS-style makeup than ENT or DSC Andorians. So I think they're content to let each show's art and makeup staff take its own approach to alien prosthetics rather than standardizing them.

 

[Nerys Myk]

I assumed they went with ridges to show the characters were Romulans.

 

[KennyB]

They will show up when the plot requires them to..........

 

[Agony_Boothb]

They're around uranus

 

[The Wormhole]

Fans during seasons 1 and 2: "Oh, I am so sick of the Klingons. They are not the be all and end all of the Star Trek universe. Give the other aliens representation or introduce someone new, FFS"
Fans during season 3: "Where is my General Martok? Where is my Honor song? Where is my bat'leth duel? Where have all the Klingons gone?"

 

[Paul755]

Fans during seasons 1 and 2: "Oh, I am so sick of the Klingons. They are not the be all and end all of the Star Trek universe. Give the other aliens representation or introduce someone new, FFS"
Fans during season 3: "Where is my General Martok? Where is my Honor song? Where is my bat'leth duel? Where have all the Klingons gone?"

to be fair, Martok would instantly make Discovery a better show.

 

[The Wormhole]

Well, yeah. Martok makes everything better.

 

[Christopher]

I assumed they went with ridges to show the characters were Romulans.

Yes, but that's part of the point -- they made their design choice based on the needs of the story they were telling (one where it was useful to have an immediate visual distinction between Vulcans and Romulans) rather than seeking to conform to what other current series have done. Which means that if and when Klingons do appear again, the makers of DSC may very well stick with their own makeup design for the species rather than replacing it with some other show's design. In much the same way that the later TOS movies stuck with Richard Snell's Klingon design (with more rounded foreheads, smooth noses, and much subtler ridges on the women) rather than changing to the contemporary Michael Westmore design (with more pronounced foreheads, ridged noses, and no sexual dimorphism).

EDIT: And before anyone calls me out on it, I've just been reminded on another board that PIC actually had both kinds of Romulan, with the ridged ones explained as "Northerners." Still, I think the PIC design for ridged Romulans was subtler than the one seen here.

 

[CorporalClegg]

Who cares?

 

[Nerys Myk]

Still, I think the PIC design for ridged Romulans was subtler than the one seen here.

I found the redhead and bald guy's ridges to be about par with the one seen in Picard.

 

[Reverend]

I'm sure they'll show up eventually. What would be fun though is if they switch it up for this topsy-turvy future and have it so the Klingons (or some faction of them) have abandoned the warrior ways and gone full pacifist. Maybe even a chunk of the Empire split off and joined the Federation at some point.

One of the more interesting things ENT did was touch on the notion that the warrior caste and the cult of Kahless hadn't always been so dominant and that at one point they had a diverse and vibrant culture. It's be interesting if they could be so again.

 

[Christopher]

I found the redhead and bald guy's ridges to be about par with the one seen in Picard.

The redhead was a "Romulo-Vulcan" hybrid, so her forehead was meant to be about halfway between.

 

[Nerys Myk]

The redhead was a "Romulo-Vulcan" hybrid, so her forehead was meant to be about halfway between.

Missed that.

 

[Imaus]

Imagine if the Klingons are like Mandalore in TCW now? A bunch of subdued, isolationist pacifists. The KDF is a proper DF, it'll mess you up, sure, but they ain't a shoot-first type people now.

Maybe the Fed Tech allows the Klingon state to be self-sufficient (maybe star-lifting/mining is now common in the 'resource poor' demense of the old Empire?).

Maybe there's a more rabid branch out and about, even piratical, but I would like to see a evolved Klingon state, they can't expand forever, and might go to the ENT era values of seeking/gaining honor by being proficient and notable in whatever they do - Law, Science, Art, Warfare, Love, Religion, Exploring, Construction, Commerce...?

 

[Christopher]

Oh, I would love to see far-future Klingons as pacifists, or similarly transformed from what we knew. A culture can change a great deal in a thousand years, and so far we haven't seen much evidence of that. Sure, Andorians are bad guys now, but they were always pretty edgy, and their Orion partners seem unchanged. Trill are the same as ever, just more isolationist. Ditto for Earth. Vulcans and Romulans are reunited, but still distinct, and the changes in Vulcan culture are subtle. It'd be a nice change at this point to see at least one culture radically transformed.

Besides, we were told in ENT: "Judgment" that the warrior caste had only taken over within Kolos's lifetime, maybe within a century or so before the 2150s. So it wasn't that long before that Klingon culture was different, less dominated by the warrior mentality. That means it could plausibly change back to something like that, or go even further in the other direction.