Where were the klingons?

[JoeFromEarth]

In "The Best of Both Worlds" the admiral says that the klingons are sending some warships. I never saw those warships, and I didn't see klingon ships destroyed at Wolf 359. So...

Where were the klingons?

 

[Harvey]

Rationalization #1: The Klingons didn't make it in time.

Rationalization #2: The Klingons did make it, but were destroyed, and we just couldn't tell from all the various wreckage in the background.

Rationalization #3: Whoops.

 

[Timo]

Really, we only saw a tiny fraction of the 40 Starfleet starships that were assured to be there. And I don't mean (just) tiny fragments - I mean the fragments never added up to 40 ships. More like a dozen at best.

So quite possibly the battlefield featured a lot of shipwrecks that never floated into the camera view. There might have been up to a hundred Federation ships (since it is never confirmed how many took part in the battle, merely that exactly 39 perished), dozens of Klingon vessels, and perhaps a few Romulans or Tholians thrown in the mix.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Lor'Vela]

Although this could be unrelated to the Wolf 359 battle, on VOY's "Unity", Chakotay had this vision of several Klingon ships attacking a Borg Cube. At least the shots showing Federation ships attacking the Borg came from the Wolf 359 battle.

I can't imagine the Klingons not to help one of their allies, nor would they break their word. Either the Klingon ships were destroyed in battle and we never saw them, or they arrived too late.

 

[docrice]

I always have a rational explanation for these kinds of inconsistencies: ain't got 'nuff money 'n the budget.

BTW, anyone else notice that the shot of the Enterprise passing through the field of wrecked ships in Best of Both Worlds is the same as the surplus depot in Unification?

 

[Timo]

...Except in "Unification", there indeed is a Klingon ship there!

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Praetor]

If Worf's strategy facing defeat at the hands of the Borg in "First Contact" is any indicator of Klingon anti-Borg tactics, I think we know why we didn't see them.

And, I have always wondered where that battle cruiser in "Unification" came from. IRL, perhaps this was a stock shot filmed for the debris field in "BoBW II" that never made it to screen in the original ep?

For that matter, why did the Federation Surplus Depot have a Klingon battle cruiser anyway?

 

[Timo]

TPTB would have plenty of footage on the battle cruiser to choose from - both from TMP and "Emissary"... I'm not sure where the shot came from, though. Could be an all-new one. Or could be something they did in connection with the work on ST6, which involved the battle cruiser model (but the TNG shot doesn't yet feature the modifications made to turn the model into Kronos One).

As for why such a ship would be found at Qualor II, let's remember that the depot was supposedly near the Romulan Neutral Zone. That ship is probably a Romulan war prize, not a Klingon ship!

Timo Saloniemi