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Why didn't they do the death howl for Gorkon in ST VI?

You know it's funny, in the 34 years since I've seen this movie, I never once wondered why they didn't, LOL! But it IS consistent that the Klingons who might've howled would have waited until the Earthers were out of the room.
 
If we removed everything that was stupid and annoying, we'd see far less Klingon episodes at all...
There would be far less trek because you'll always find someone who finds something stupid and annoying, even the good stuff :D
 
Scotty: "I bet that Klingon bitch killed her father."
Spock: "Her own father?"
Valeris: "It is an old story, sir."
Scotty: "Take my word. She did not shed one bloody death howl!"
 
You know it's funny, in the 34 years since I've seen this movie, I never once wondered why they didn't, LOL! But it IS consistent that the Klingons who might've howled would have waited until the Earthers were out of the room.
Especially if they never liked Earthers.
 
In the novelization, Gorkon wasn't a Warrior and was expecting to be assassinated by them and hinted to depths to Klingon Society that doesn't quite make sense with what we saw in TNG and DS9 (which is completely inconsistent with their portrayal in TOS where they don't have a shred of honor or Samurai motif - they're more like Space Mongols who are treacherous though certainly violent enough they don't care about personal honor and would poison planets and even Kang was willing to kill Kirk by turning off his life support rather than fight him). Nor is Kruge any different even if he was the modern makeup.

Klingon Academy went back and retconned Gorkon as a more typical TNG era Klingon.
 
I remember reading something -- which may or may not be true -- that in early drafts of the TSFS script, the villains were the Romulans. But, much as happened with Berman years later, it was decided that Klingons were the better known villain and so it was changed without really rewriting the script at all. Hence, why Klingons suddenly got the "honor code" thing and even why they suddenly acquired a ship called a Bird of Prey, which had previously only been the name of a Romulan ship.
 
You could even say that the lack of the death howl for Gorkon was out first subtle clue that Chang was himself not honorable.
Yeah, that seems about right.

Not only is Chang a dishonorable bastard in his own right, but I'm sure he has very little regard for humans, so both of those are equally likely reasons why he would never observe proper Klingon death rituals (when humans are present).

It is possible that some of Kronos One's crew did the death howl (offscreen). And I'm sure Azetbur did as well, in private. But Chang himself would not. You don't do the death howl for somebody you personally ordered killed, after all...

Because the Klingon death howl was stupid and annoying?
I disagree. IMHO, it's a fine tradition. It's a simple warning to the dead, that a Klingon warrior is about to arrive. I think it's awesome!
 
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Or different groups or factions of Klingons throughout history have had different funerary practices and beliefs. Like sometimes they practiced mummification, and other times they viewed the dead body as just an empty shell to be disposed of. Some do the howling, and others don't.

Kor
 
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