WNMHGB Question

[Vger23]

Is it possible that the powers Gary Mitchell inherited were somehow linked to an alien intelligence or life force of some sort, and not just “absolute power corrupting absolutely?”

There are a couple of examples in the episode that seem to imply that Mitchell isn’t completely in command of his own actions. Two instances that really stand out:

• In sickbay, he says to Kirk “I don’t understand it all yet....but if I keep growing, getting stronger...” It almost implies he is being influenced to find a particular kind of world to “use.”

• After he fights against the force field on Delta Vega, the glow in his eyes vanishes, and he says “Jim!?” In sort of a stunned voice, like he was only peripherally aware of what he was just doing.

Any thoughts or opinions on this?

 

[Timo]

Well,"I don't understand it all yet" is just an expression for "Soon I will understand everything"...

That is, "I already know I'm headed for omniscience, omnipotence, and general omniness, and it's a sort of ticklish feeling, and... Why the hell am I describing this to you? Never mind, you'll see soon enough."!

Going omni is also likely to take your focus off things like fisticuffs-to-the-death with your former best friend, or other stuff you do with your left hand while minding bigger things. But I guess everything is possible - and colorful glowing things do tend to be life but not as we know it, Jim.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[ZapBrannigan]

• After he fights against the force field on Delta Vega, the glow in his eyes vanishes, and he says “Jim!?” In sort of a stunned voice, like he was only peripherally aware of what he was just doing.
Any thoughts or opinions on this?

It definitely means the power he was channeling distorted his mind in a way that was beyond his control. He gradually became some kind of puppet, and was totally gone by the time of the final battle.

I think Kirk could have been more explicit about this in the tag, instead of just saying "He didn't ask for what happened to him." A line of exposition maybe, if it wouldn't sound too corny and on-the-head. Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea would have laid it out in the closing dialogue very expressly, and maybe Star Trek was going for more subtlety than that. Maybe it's a good thing.

 

[Timo]

Being incapable of coping with newfound powers (cool new drug, muscular car, semi-automatic rifle) is different from being guided by those powers towards a specific goal, though. And while there may be a specific goal inherent in getting the semi-auto from Santa, this is only because the semi-auto is a tool of narrow purpose: Gary's powers were not narrowly applicable to mass murder or anything else specific, and did not place limitations on what he might do.

Gary might not have been in control. But there's little reason to think anybody or anything else was, either.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Spock .]

I don't think that anything was guiding Mitchell. I think that when he said "Jim", it was more of a plea for help than a sudden realization of what he was doing. After all, his powers returned almost immediately after that moment, and he still seemed to be aware of what he was doing. If anything, it might have been a moment of clarity as he realized the horrendous impact his plans would have on humanity.

 

[Scott Kellogg]

I didn't see anything to indicate he was under any influence but his own Id.
The entire point of the episode was that absolute power completely unbridled will corrupt anyone.

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."
-- Abraham Lincoln.

 

[Scott Kellogg]

Just thinking out loud:
I vaguely recall there was an episode of TNG (probably 1st season, when they were redoing episodes from TOS to try to virtue signal how much better they were than the old cast) where Q gave god powers to Riker.

One could argue that Riker was one of TNG's "Perfect" human beings that Picard spoke of, because he voluntarily reversed his godhood, but one could also say that, he never really went full Gary Mitchell because he knew Q gave him his powers and he knew Q could take them away.

You can't go full egomaniac when you know someone is standing over your shoulder watching and waiting for you to make the slightest mistake.

 

[The Old Mixer]

I don't think that he was being influenced by an outside entity. I do think that, while he had the powers, he was "under the influence"...not in his normal human state of mind. The moment of lucidity when his powers briefly conked out was him snapping back to that normal human frame of reference, and reacting to what he'd been doing.

 

[Ssosmcin]

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea would have laid it out in the closing dialogue very expressly.

From the third season episode "The Mummy":
Nelson: "Some things are better left unexplained, huh?"

 

[Grant]

No he was not.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

I vaguely recall that CLB had something to say about that in The Higher Frontier.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

I vaguely recall that CLB had something to say about that in The Higher Frontier.

Could we have a tiny hint as to what you're talking about? I don't see any help here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Frontier
or here:
https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wik...frontier&scope=internal&navigationSearch=true

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

Could we have a tiny hint as to what you're talking about? I don't see any help here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Frontier
or here:
https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wik...frontier&scope=internal&navigationSearch=true

It's a Trek Lit book written by board member @Christopher.

 

[Maurice]

Augh. I hate it when people write out initials instead of names. Unless we are talking super common ones like JFK, MLK, and RFK please write out the name.

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

Augh. I hate it when people write out initials instead of names. Unless we are talking super common ones like JFK, MLK, and RFK please write out the name.

Can we use RTR for me? Cause I'm super common... or is that just plain common?

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

In TrekLit circles, "CLB" (Christopher L. Bennett), "ADF" (Alan Dean Foster) are pretty commonly used and well understood. As is "KMFB" (Kirsten Beyer's apparently self-chosen initialism).

And as to Mr. Riddle, well, in model railroading circles, you'd simply be "Ready To Run."

 

[Vger23]

In TrekLit circles, "CLB" (Christopher L. Bennett), "ADF" (Alan Dean Foster) are pretty commonly used and well understood. As is "KMFB" (Kirsten Beyer's apparently self-chosen initialism).

And as to Mr. Riddle, well, in model railroading circles, you'd simply be "Ready To Run."

Whatever you do, don’t inconvenience people with abbreviations. It’s a very touchy subject for some, apparently.

 

[T'Bonz]

In TrekLit circles, "CLB" (Christopher L. Bennett), "ADF" (Alan Dean Foster) are pretty commonly used and well understood. As is "KMFB" (Kirsten Beyer's apparently self-chosen initialism).

And as to Mr. Riddle, well, in model railroading circles, you'd simply be "Ready To Run."

Well, we're not in TrekLit now, are we?

 

[Timo]

...Who is RFK?

TSS

 

[Transaction Declined]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_F._Kennedy