So what's up with the Klingons anyway?
We went from this...
to this...
and now this...
All supposedly the same alien species. What gives?
The obvious reason is, to paraphrase Dr. McCoy, "I know engineers. They love to change things." And that's the truth. People behind the Star Trek shows and movies have been tinkering with the Klingon design for decades now.
As fun as that might be if you're a Hollywood makeup guy, it produces headaches for those of us interested in the Star Trek franchise's internal consistency. These look like three different alien races, but they're not.
So, do I dare try to reconcile why these three forms of Klingon exist? Of course. That's why I'm writing this.
For simplicity's sake, I'm going to call the TMP/TNG/ENT Klingons "Type 1," the TOS Klingons "Type 2," and the DIS Klingons "Type 3." Why I'm going in that order instead of using real world chronology will become clear later.
Let's establish three things first. One, the change from the Type 1 Klingon (which appears in the earliest chronological series of Star Trek, ENT) to the later Type 2 form has been explained in the canon. In the ENT season 4 episodes "Affliction" and "Divergence," we discover the Klingons have been tampering with human augment DNA and have inadvertently created a virus which threatens the whole of the Klingon people. The virus is cured, but the species is changed. Gone are their head ridges, at least for the time being.
Two, those ENT episodes establish something about the Klingons that we often forget. They are a scientifically astute race, particularly in the areas of genetic manipulation. We're so used to thinking of Klingons as "space orcs," the noble savage barbarians of the Star Trek universe, that we forget just how smart they really are.
Three, the comedic DS9 episode "Trials and Tribble-ations" has Worf, the Type 1 Klingon security officer from DS9, travel back in time with others to the TOS period. There, he encounters Type 2 Klingons and is embarrassed by them. Hence, this sequence of dialogue.
So here's what I think has happened over the course of Klingon history.
The original Klingon species (Type 1) tampers with its DNA in an effort to make a superbeing (there's a sci-fi trope, if there ever was one.) This backfires and they end up with a significantly altered genome (Type 2). Never a people to leave well enough alone, the Klingons spend a good portion of the 100 years between ENT and DIS tampering with their DNA further.
That brings us to Star Trek Discovery and the Type 3 Klingon. These new type 3 Klingons are seen as the "cure" for the humiliating human-like Type 2 Klingons. They've lost their hair, but have gained their ridges back. They regard themselves as superior, as close to the original species (i.e. Type 1) that their science can achieve at that time.
Type 2 Klingons are seen as lower class citizens and held in contempt. Likewise, the humans are blamed for the existence of Type 2 and they are seen as proof of human efforts to utterly subvert the Klingon people.
As DIS begins, we are witness to a gathering of Type 3 Klingons, who spend an inordinate amount of time bitching about humans and about how they need to remain pure. This seems to be their manifesto. Hence, the following...
Well, if you've been watching DIS, you know how this goes. The Federation and the Klingons go to war. All hell is unleashed across the quadrant.
(Side note: Our actual first encounter as the audience with a Type 3 Klingon is in "Star Trek Into Darkness", which is a Kelvin Universe story. Probably not coincidentally, the timeline between that film and DIS has them contemporaries of one another. It then makes sense that the Kelvin Klingons of that time are Type 3.)
Eventually, this war ends and while we don't yet know the specifics of it (since DIS is still running), we can guess that the end results are pretty devastating to the Klingons. Those second class Type 2 Klingons now outnumber the Type 3s, who have been decimated by the war with the Federation. Klingons being Klingons, someone launches a coup and the Type 2s emerge on top. They take over. They become the face of the Klingon Empire, a face we then see numerous times in TOS.
But the story doesn't end there. Those wacky Klingon scientists are still working at this whole genetic problem and sometime after TOS, but before TMP (which is only about 3 years in canon) they find the cure. It's released for distribution and all (or at least most) Type 2 and Type 3 Klingons revert to being Type 1 again. (General Chang in TUC is an interesting case. He could be a unchanged Type 3, given he's the only bald Klingon we encounter post-TMP.)
What do you think?
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Addendum. In case you got a bit lost with my alphabet soup...
TOS - the original series. Kirk, Spock, etc. Released in the 60s.
ENT - Enterprise. Archer, Trip, etc. Released in the early 00s.
TNG - The Next Generation. Picard, Riker, etc. Released in the late 80s.
DS9 - Deep Space 9. Sisko, Kira, etc. Released in the early 90s.
TMP - The Motion Picture. First Star Trek theatrical film. Released in 1979.
TUC - The Undiscovered Country. Last Star Trek theatrical film featuring the original cast. Releaed in 1991.
DIS - Star Trek Discovery. Being made right now (2018)
The Type 3s could simply represent racial diversity within the Empire, with Type 1s belonging to houses we haven't encountered in DIS. (Mohg is the only Type 1 house I recall from TNG/DS9 and if they've dropped that name on DIS, I haven't noticed.)
ReplyDeleteHaving not seen the Enterprise episodes in question, my own theory riffed on something I think I remember from an RPG or maybe Starfleet Battles--that the Type 2s were engineered to fight humans. Or perhaps Type 2s are failed species reassignments pressed into duty.
I think I like your version better. It meshes nicely with the K'less revival that DIS opens with. The diversity among houses could be the result of each house's genetic engineers coming up with slightly different fixes.