To Khan Or Not To Khan...
Apparently, it takes the madness of the Star Trek "Villain Strain" to make me come out of hiding. Er... Hi! :) Real catchup posts for futureses aside, this one is for the consuming affliction of Star Trek Into Darkness, which means spoilers, speculation and incoherent splurging ahoy!
[After you, my dear!]
First off, this is going to be a mental note-ticking thing first and foremost, for my own need to brain dump thus preserving my sanity. Likely, this will be disorderly piles of info that may or may not amount to something. Just a forewarning! Also, for those who aren't familiar with me, I'm not a Trek expert, and make no claims to insider knowledge. All I've got is the teaser information being fed to us, the Star Trek resources online, and a brain that won't stop writhing in suspense. If you're all alright with that, dive in with me and let's see if we can pin down this feckin' Trekkin' villain!
We'll begin here, the movie synopsis:
“When the crew of the Enterprise is called back home, they find an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organization has detonated the fleet and everything it stands for, leaving our world in a state of crisis.
With a personal score to settle, Captain Kirk leads a manhunt to a war-zone world to capture a one man weapon of mass destruction.
As our heroes are propelled into an epic chess game of life and death, love will be challenged, friendships will be torn apart, and sacrifices must be made for the only family Kirk has left: his crew.”
Next, info given us about the new faces:
Carol Marcus (Alice Eve). Marcus, we all know as Kirk's old flame and mother of his son from ST2, and more importantly that she was an expert in molecular biology and developed the Genesis Project. In STID, she is "a doctor, has a PhD, and is a weapons specialist". Also, it has been hinted numerous times by the STID cast that Marcus' knowledge and expertise play an integral part in resolving their crisis.
Unknown character (Peter Weller). Well... we don't really know much here yet. Weller stated in a previous interview that his character is the CEO of a company, and that he "runs his own ship". (Weller did play a one-off role in the ST:ENT series.) Make of that what you will...
GATT5000 (Joseph Gatt). A cybernetic being??? An android??? Perhaps...
Multiple Klingons (actors' names as yet unknown). Twelve of them, apparently. They're gonna be decked out in ruthless looking Klingon apparel and, er - wearing masks? According to reports, two of these Klingons will be removing said masks, and we'll see Sagittal ridges adorned with piercings. Why?
John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch). The reason this post exists. The villain. Harrison is described as a "home grown terrorist", a "master at combat and psychological warfare", and "incredibly strong and intelligent". His motivations are sighted as being both "personal and political". Also, his actions are terrible, but he does them for the right reasons. (Cumberbatch has also stated of Harrison, he is a "warrior" and a man with a deep soul.)
The where and when.
Earth, Qo'nos (maybe some places in between), 2259.
The monologue from Harrison in the japanese teaser trailer:
"You think your world is safe? It is an illusion, a comforting lie told to protect you. Enjoy these final moments of peace. For I have returned to have my vengeance... So, shall we begin? Is there anything you would not do for your family?"
One of the things JJ Abrams has promised this film to be.
An homage to Trek lore.
My tentative conclusion.
All of this in evidence, I do not believe we are getting Khan as the villain. Yes, we're getting Marcus... yes, we're getting Klingons... yes, we're getting badassery on an epic scale... yes, we've got two hands opposite a piece of glass. I still believe our villain is not Khan. But, instead of going into why I don't think it's Khan, I'll rather get into who/what I think the villain may be. Because honestly, Khan may not be too far off the mark in relative terms.
Now, I've been following the media releases and leaks with a decent amount of interest for a while. I had been under the impression that the new super-secret villain would actually turn out to be Khan or Gary Mitchell or Garth, etc. But a friend messaged me on FB the day Ben's character's identity was released, asking if I knew who John Harrison was. All I could do was scratch my head and cruise the web. After running across the now-known Harrison from canon, I stumbled upon some unrelated yet interesting reference material that just blew me away.
Bear with me, yeah?
Now, I believe we are to assume that canon events running up to Star Trek '09 are intact. So, all of the events that took place in the Enterprise series will hold. In the fourth season, in general tie with the original series episode Space Seed and with The Wrath of Khan, we got a three episode arc (Borderland/Cold Station 12/The Augments) revolving around another group of human augments, stolen from storage as frozen embryos by Arik Soong and raised as his own children. Soong was captured and sentenced to prison for the theft, leaving his children to survive on their own. A decade later (2154?), the children now grown - in a ship stolen from the Klingons - rescued Soong. Assuming control of family affairs, Soong went after the remaining eugenics embryos, but in the end failed to save them when the Klingon vessel was destroyed along with most of Soong's children.
Irrelevant? Perhaps.
However, later in that season we get the two-parter Affliction/Divergence, in which it is learned that Klingons found trace remnants of augmented genetic material among the debris of their destroyed vessel. Wanting to develop their own eugenics warriors, they studied it and replicated it. The whole experiment failed, resulting in horrible deaths, particularly after a test subject was dosed while being sick with a virus. The virus mutated and quickly spread, infecting millions of Klingons. In hopes of stopping it, the Klingons initially resorted to destroying an entire colony (N'Vak). But before they could do the same to a second colony (Qu'Vat), a way to stabilize the augmented virus was created and used. Still, the virus left countless Klingons disfigured (it dissolved the Sagittal ridges), their personalities altered (they developed human characteristics because of the human DNA). There started a fear that the victims of the virus and their genetically altered descendents would become outcasts, shunned by the empire, that they would lose everything.
Still irrelevant? Well... let's look this over a bit.
Hinted at in various interviews was the idea that we are dealing with two separate interpretations of morality and ethical conduct. The two worlds that seem to be getting the biggest talk time so far are Earth and Qo'nos. So we may be able to assume that these are the two different interpretations, human/Starfleet and Klingon. Also, in the nine minute preview, the red planet scene played out as a light-hearted but heavy-minded reminder of the Prime Directive. Why push that at the onset? Because I think it will be a factor in the events of the rest of the film.
How?
Well, in ST:Insurrection, it was a bad thing for the Federation to have become involved in a "blood feud"... I don't pretend to know anything about Prime Directive protocols, but I'll take it that the same thing may be applied now. If, we're dealing with Klingons/augmented Klingons.
This brings me around to the masked Klingons. It's... no. Completely a no. Klingons being such a proud and honor-bound warrior race, they would not hide their faces. Unless, perhaps, they have something to be shamed by. Remember, in Divergence there was significant concern of the Klingon augments being ostricized by their world, dishonored because of their new unfortunate traits. Even a few generations on, they may not have their ridges fully formed, their inherent warrior traits not yet fully restored. We are told that the two Klingons who will be removing their masks will have, what appear to be, smaller ridges adorned with piercings. Why piercings? Maybe to accentuate the appearance of the ridges, make them look larger than they are. Can we speculate that these masked Klingons are descendants of the augmented bloodlines? Slowly gaining back the purity of their race, but maybe they are still not fully accepted by the rest of society, made to hide in order to serve the empire, and are still looked upon with disdain.
Are you the 1701? ...the hell does this mean?
Brief shot during the full length trailer of a large darkened bay, with dozens of coffin-like tubes visible containing human or humanoid figures. The heads don't look completely human. Wish we could get an enhanced view of the tube in the lower left, where you can make out a face.
Abrams' most recent details on Harrison (Empire Mag): He was within Starfleet and has now turned against the organization and is hellbent on revenge. He's responsible for a violent horrific attack in London and then one in the States. He believes he and others were wronged and is focused on destruction. He's an incredibly brilliant strategist who is aware of various truths that Kirk is not privy to.
Abrams on Harrison for GyaO! interview: "His name is John Harrison and he is sort of an... average guy who works in an organization called Starfleet," Abrams added, "and he turns against the group because he has got this backstory and this kind of amazing secret agenda. After two very violent attacks, one in London and one in the US, our characters have to go after this guy and apprehend him. And it is a far more complicated and difficult thing then they ever anticipated. 'Into Darkness' is very much about how intense it gets and really what they are up against."
Pine's most recent details on Harrison (Empire Mag): He is Kirk's shadow of death, his Achilles' heel. He is a big mirror reflecting all of Kirk's insecurities back at him. He is just as intelligent and logical as Spock, but is also one very bad motherfucker.
The markings on Harrison's sleeves... can they be identified?
Similarities between Harrison's clothing and that of the Klingons? Both appear to consist of something like thick, brown tweed and black leather.
Now, information given from the cast interviews reveals that Harrison starts off to us as a member of Starfleet, but that he turns against them, carrying out two major attacks and then fleeing. In Harrison's monologue, he speaks of safety being an illusion, and of claiming vengeance. This leads us to think that he is referring to Earth, to Starfleet. What if he isn't?
What if he is actually addressing the Klingon world and the empire?
What I think may be the case? Harrison is Klingon. Possibly a second generation Klingon from the augment lines. Maybe even a close relative of Antaak, the Klingon doctor and mutagenic researcher who worked on the original Klingon eugenics tests, and who became a willing victim of the augment virus in order to discover a cure. Either way, being a descendant of an augment, he could pass for a human. But why would he want to? What would motivate him to travel to earth, assume a false identity and become a member of Starfleet? Because it's a part of his "amazing secret agenda".
Imagine Harrison before. Part of an ousted and shamed, secondary society of the Klingon world. Stripped of their honor, their titles, their possessions, and severed from existence in the eyes of the empire. Unaffected Klingons neither acknowledge them or speak of them. It would be a wounding form of segregation to a people with deep traditions and family pride, Klingon ways. How would this affect Harrison and others like him? This would be a reasonable source for his need for vengeance. This could be both his personal and political motivations. To get back at the empire, teach them a lesson, and reclaim his honor and the honor of millions of others. So he plots to do just that.
Harrison recognizes the power of Starfleet, their growing and strengthening presence in space. And he sees them as his means to get what he wants. The Klingon empire is fractured in its numbers, though they carry on with the same sense of supremacy and desires for conquest. But Harrison believes the empire in its current state would not stand a chance against an opponent like Starfleet, and he devises a way to prove this.
So he journeys to earth and infiltrates the human population, becomes a part of their society and then a part of Starfleet. And when he feels he's gained enough knowledge of this 'superpower', he erupts, committing the attacks that draw attention to him, becomes a symbol of terrorism, inciting the potential for war, and does it all in the name of the Klingon Empire. This pushes the Starfleet to act against the empire.
Now, Harrison has put the Klingons into a head-on conflict that they may not be prepared for, because they are a divided race and their numbers are not enough to combat this threat. His whole purpose is to use this as a way to strongarm the Klingon council into accepting the augments back into their society, back into their ranks, to get back their honor. And he also manipulates Starfleet somehow into... maybe becoming a grudging supporter of his cause? I don't know... Where else would the manipulation and psychological play come into this? And the Prime Directive, as well?
In some canon sources, it is somewhere within the decade that will follow the Into Darkness movie time period that we see Klingons with more human features serving openly in Klingon ranks and in the Klingon empire, in the OS series. These were the make-up and effects of the time for TOS, but the producers and writers of later series sought to bridge the changes in Klingon appearance and attitudes, hence the Enterprise 'Augments' story arc including Klingons, as well as a response from Worf regarding a question about the differences in a DS9 episode, "We do not speak of it to outsiders". So, it would make perfect sense for this movie to add to the Klingon character lore, to be a representation of that critical turning point in their history.
Of course, chances are... I'm probably way off in left field with all of this. But, it'd be cool if John Harrison was the martyr Klingon that brought unity back to his people.
I will likely add more to this as we get closer to the premier, and when/if we get any new insights into the Harrison character and others (who the hell is Peter Weller playing?). The tv spot for the Super Bowl is fast approaching, after all!
Until then, let me know where your thoughts are at, yeah?
[After you, my dear!]
First off, this is going to be a mental note-ticking thing first and foremost, for my own need to brain dump thus preserving my sanity. Likely, this will be disorderly piles of info that may or may not amount to something. Just a forewarning! Also, for those who aren't familiar with me, I'm not a Trek expert, and make no claims to insider knowledge. All I've got is the teaser information being fed to us, the Star Trek resources online, and a brain that won't stop writhing in suspense. If you're all alright with that, dive in with me and let's see if we can pin down this feckin' Trekkin' villain!
We'll begin here, the movie synopsis:
“When the crew of the Enterprise is called back home, they find an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organization has detonated the fleet and everything it stands for, leaving our world in a state of crisis.
With a personal score to settle, Captain Kirk leads a manhunt to a war-zone world to capture a one man weapon of mass destruction.
As our heroes are propelled into an epic chess game of life and death, love will be challenged, friendships will be torn apart, and sacrifices must be made for the only family Kirk has left: his crew.”
Next, info given us about the new faces:
Carol Marcus (Alice Eve). Marcus, we all know as Kirk's old flame and mother of his son from ST2, and more importantly that she was an expert in molecular biology and developed the Genesis Project. In STID, she is "a doctor, has a PhD, and is a weapons specialist". Also, it has been hinted numerous times by the STID cast that Marcus' knowledge and expertise play an integral part in resolving their crisis.
Unknown character (Peter Weller). Well... we don't really know much here yet. Weller stated in a previous interview that his character is the CEO of a company, and that he "runs his own ship". (Weller did play a one-off role in the ST:ENT series.) Make of that what you will...
GATT5000 (Joseph Gatt). A cybernetic being??? An android??? Perhaps...
Multiple Klingons (actors' names as yet unknown). Twelve of them, apparently. They're gonna be decked out in ruthless looking Klingon apparel and, er - wearing masks? According to reports, two of these Klingons will be removing said masks, and we'll see Sagittal ridges adorned with piercings. Why?
John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch). The reason this post exists. The villain. Harrison is described as a "home grown terrorist", a "master at combat and psychological warfare", and "incredibly strong and intelligent". His motivations are sighted as being both "personal and political". Also, his actions are terrible, but he does them for the right reasons. (Cumberbatch has also stated of Harrison, he is a "warrior" and a man with a deep soul.)
The where and when.
Earth, Qo'nos (maybe some places in between), 2259.
The monologue from Harrison in the japanese teaser trailer:
"You think your world is safe? It is an illusion, a comforting lie told to protect you. Enjoy these final moments of peace. For I have returned to have my vengeance... So, shall we begin? Is there anything you would not do for your family?"
One of the things JJ Abrams has promised this film to be.
An homage to Trek lore.
My tentative conclusion.
All of this in evidence, I do not believe we are getting Khan as the villain. Yes, we're getting Marcus... yes, we're getting Klingons... yes, we're getting badassery on an epic scale... yes, we've got two hands opposite a piece of glass. I still believe our villain is not Khan. But, instead of going into why I don't think it's Khan, I'll rather get into who/what I think the villain may be. Because honestly, Khan may not be too far off the mark in relative terms.
Now, I've been following the media releases and leaks with a decent amount of interest for a while. I had been under the impression that the new super-secret villain would actually turn out to be Khan or Gary Mitchell or Garth, etc. But a friend messaged me on FB the day Ben's character's identity was released, asking if I knew who John Harrison was. All I could do was scratch my head and cruise the web. After running across the now-known Harrison from canon, I stumbled upon some unrelated yet interesting reference material that just blew me away.
Bear with me, yeah?
Now, I believe we are to assume that canon events running up to Star Trek '09 are intact. So, all of the events that took place in the Enterprise series will hold. In the fourth season, in general tie with the original series episode Space Seed and with The Wrath of Khan, we got a three episode arc (Borderland/Cold Station 12/The Augments) revolving around another group of human augments, stolen from storage as frozen embryos by Arik Soong and raised as his own children. Soong was captured and sentenced to prison for the theft, leaving his children to survive on their own. A decade later (2154?), the children now grown - in a ship stolen from the Klingons - rescued Soong. Assuming control of family affairs, Soong went after the remaining eugenics embryos, but in the end failed to save them when the Klingon vessel was destroyed along with most of Soong's children.
Irrelevant? Perhaps.
However, later in that season we get the two-parter Affliction/Divergence, in which it is learned that Klingons found trace remnants of augmented genetic material among the debris of their destroyed vessel. Wanting to develop their own eugenics warriors, they studied it and replicated it. The whole experiment failed, resulting in horrible deaths, particularly after a test subject was dosed while being sick with a virus. The virus mutated and quickly spread, infecting millions of Klingons. In hopes of stopping it, the Klingons initially resorted to destroying an entire colony (N'Vak). But before they could do the same to a second colony (Qu'Vat), a way to stabilize the augmented virus was created and used. Still, the virus left countless Klingons disfigured (it dissolved the Sagittal ridges), their personalities altered (they developed human characteristics because of the human DNA). There started a fear that the victims of the virus and their genetically altered descendents would become outcasts, shunned by the empire, that they would lose everything.
Still irrelevant? Well... let's look this over a bit.
Hinted at in various interviews was the idea that we are dealing with two separate interpretations of morality and ethical conduct. The two worlds that seem to be getting the biggest talk time so far are Earth and Qo'nos. So we may be able to assume that these are the two different interpretations, human/Starfleet and Klingon. Also, in the nine minute preview, the red planet scene played out as a light-hearted but heavy-minded reminder of the Prime Directive. Why push that at the onset? Because I think it will be a factor in the events of the rest of the film.
How?
Well, in ST:Insurrection, it was a bad thing for the Federation to have become involved in a "blood feud"... I don't pretend to know anything about Prime Directive protocols, but I'll take it that the same thing may be applied now. If, we're dealing with Klingons/augmented Klingons.
This brings me around to the masked Klingons. It's... no. Completely a no. Klingons being such a proud and honor-bound warrior race, they would not hide their faces. Unless, perhaps, they have something to be shamed by. Remember, in Divergence there was significant concern of the Klingon augments being ostricized by their world, dishonored because of their new unfortunate traits. Even a few generations on, they may not have their ridges fully formed, their inherent warrior traits not yet fully restored. We are told that the two Klingons who will be removing their masks will have, what appear to be, smaller ridges adorned with piercings. Why piercings? Maybe to accentuate the appearance of the ridges, make them look larger than they are. Can we speculate that these masked Klingons are descendants of the augmented bloodlines? Slowly gaining back the purity of their race, but maybe they are still not fully accepted by the rest of society, made to hide in order to serve the empire, and are still looked upon with disdain.
Are you the 1701? ...the hell does this mean?
Brief shot during the full length trailer of a large darkened bay, with dozens of coffin-like tubes visible containing human or humanoid figures. The heads don't look completely human. Wish we could get an enhanced view of the tube in the lower left, where you can make out a face.
Abrams' most recent details on Harrison (Empire Mag): He was within Starfleet and has now turned against the organization and is hellbent on revenge. He's responsible for a violent horrific attack in London and then one in the States. He believes he and others were wronged and is focused on destruction. He's an incredibly brilliant strategist who is aware of various truths that Kirk is not privy to.
Abrams on Harrison for GyaO! interview: "His name is John Harrison and he is sort of an... average guy who works in an organization called Starfleet," Abrams added, "and he turns against the group because he has got this backstory and this kind of amazing secret agenda. After two very violent attacks, one in London and one in the US, our characters have to go after this guy and apprehend him. And it is a far more complicated and difficult thing then they ever anticipated. 'Into Darkness' is very much about how intense it gets and really what they are up against."
Pine's most recent details on Harrison (Empire Mag): He is Kirk's shadow of death, his Achilles' heel. He is a big mirror reflecting all of Kirk's insecurities back at him. He is just as intelligent and logical as Spock, but is also one very bad motherfucker.
The markings on Harrison's sleeves... can they be identified?
Similarities between Harrison's clothing and that of the Klingons? Both appear to consist of something like thick, brown tweed and black leather.
Now, information given from the cast interviews reveals that Harrison starts off to us as a member of Starfleet, but that he turns against them, carrying out two major attacks and then fleeing. In Harrison's monologue, he speaks of safety being an illusion, and of claiming vengeance. This leads us to think that he is referring to Earth, to Starfleet. What if he isn't?
What if he is actually addressing the Klingon world and the empire?
What I think may be the case? Harrison is Klingon. Possibly a second generation Klingon from the augment lines. Maybe even a close relative of Antaak, the Klingon doctor and mutagenic researcher who worked on the original Klingon eugenics tests, and who became a willing victim of the augment virus in order to discover a cure. Either way, being a descendant of an augment, he could pass for a human. But why would he want to? What would motivate him to travel to earth, assume a false identity and become a member of Starfleet? Because it's a part of his "amazing secret agenda".
Imagine Harrison before. Part of an ousted and shamed, secondary society of the Klingon world. Stripped of their honor, their titles, their possessions, and severed from existence in the eyes of the empire. Unaffected Klingons neither acknowledge them or speak of them. It would be a wounding form of segregation to a people with deep traditions and family pride, Klingon ways. How would this affect Harrison and others like him? This would be a reasonable source for his need for vengeance. This could be both his personal and political motivations. To get back at the empire, teach them a lesson, and reclaim his honor and the honor of millions of others. So he plots to do just that.
Harrison recognizes the power of Starfleet, their growing and strengthening presence in space. And he sees them as his means to get what he wants. The Klingon empire is fractured in its numbers, though they carry on with the same sense of supremacy and desires for conquest. But Harrison believes the empire in its current state would not stand a chance against an opponent like Starfleet, and he devises a way to prove this.
So he journeys to earth and infiltrates the human population, becomes a part of their society and then a part of Starfleet. And when he feels he's gained enough knowledge of this 'superpower', he erupts, committing the attacks that draw attention to him, becomes a symbol of terrorism, inciting the potential for war, and does it all in the name of the Klingon Empire. This pushes the Starfleet to act against the empire.
Now, Harrison has put the Klingons into a head-on conflict that they may not be prepared for, because they are a divided race and their numbers are not enough to combat this threat. His whole purpose is to use this as a way to strongarm the Klingon council into accepting the augments back into their society, back into their ranks, to get back their honor. And he also manipulates Starfleet somehow into... maybe becoming a grudging supporter of his cause? I don't know... Where else would the manipulation and psychological play come into this? And the Prime Directive, as well?
In some canon sources, it is somewhere within the decade that will follow the Into Darkness movie time period that we see Klingons with more human features serving openly in Klingon ranks and in the Klingon empire, in the OS series. These were the make-up and effects of the time for TOS, but the producers and writers of later series sought to bridge the changes in Klingon appearance and attitudes, hence the Enterprise 'Augments' story arc including Klingons, as well as a response from Worf regarding a question about the differences in a DS9 episode, "We do not speak of it to outsiders". So, it would make perfect sense for this movie to add to the Klingon character lore, to be a representation of that critical turning point in their history.
Of course, chances are... I'm probably way off in left field with all of this. But, it'd be cool if John Harrison was the martyr Klingon that brought unity back to his people.
I will likely add more to this as we get closer to the premier, and when/if we get any new insights into the Harrison character and others (who the hell is Peter Weller playing?). The tv spot for the Super Bowl is fast approaching, after all!
Until then, let me know where your thoughts are at, yeah?