ST:TNG Season Four, Episode Twenty-Six "Redemption"

ST:TNG Season Four, Episode Twenty-Six "Redemption"
Production Order: 26
Air Order: 26
Stardate: 44995.3
Original Air Date: June 17, 1991

Picard's Log 44995.3: "Going to Qo'nos, to do the swearing-in ceremony for Gowron, who is about to become the new leader of the High Council of Klingons. Gonna suggest to Worf that he get his frickin' honor back."

Worf is practicing with his bat'leth in his quarters when Picard comes in. Worf is surprised, and says he can change back into his uniform, but Picard says it's fine: he's here as Worf's cha'DIch, not his captain.
"We're gonna be on the homeworld tomorrow, and I think you should take your honor back. Tell the council what complete assholes the House of Duras are."
Worf hesitates. "Nah, it's not the time."
"Why the hell not?" demands Picard.
Maybe he's tired of these discriminatory-ass Klingons refusing to work with Worf whenever they come on board. I know I am.
"People keep telling me that patience often gets shit done," Worf explains.
"Yeah, humans be like that," Picard says. "It's a good thing to practice. But seriously, that's not the Klingon way. Get your honor back. You're covering for humanoid shit-stains."
Worf considers it. "This does kind of suck."
Riker calls Picard. "Hey. A Klingon cruiser just showed up, the Bortas. They say they're an escort."
"We're not supposed to have an escort," frowns Worf.

Picard goes to the bridge, where the Bortas has called.
It's Gowron.
"Sup, buddy?" asks Picard.
"I need to talk to you," says Gowron. "I need your help preventing a Klingon civil war."

Dramatic music! Opening credits break!

Now in the Obs Lounge, Gowron lays that shit down: Duras' family is making waves, and they have a lot of friends.
"Bullshit," says Picard. "He died in disgrace, and his family should be disgraced, too."
Because seriously, if Worf has to carry that crappy luggage around, Duras' family should as well. Not holding the Duras family to the same standards is garbage.
Gowron agrees. "Honor will soon have no meaning. Right now, Duras' sisters are heading up the family. Lursa and B'Etor. They suck too."
"They want to take his place on the council?"
"No, women can't serve on the council," says Gowron. "But they have something cooking. They have three fleet commanders as their allies, and people are afraid of them."
"This blows, but how do you want me to help?" asks Picard.
"K'mpec picked you as arbiter of succession, because other Klingons were not trustworthy. You need to see it through to the end, support me as leader of the High Council."
"Yeah, no," says Picard. "Like, I was asked to do one job. It was messy, but I did it. I'm not getting involved in this. Not my circus, not my targs."
"Dude, what if they try to kick me out? You picked me!"
"I can only do what Klingon law says I can," Picard replies.
"Fuck me," says Gowron.

Gowron is leaving, and Picard asks Worf to escort him to the transporter room. Surprisingly, Gowron doesn't bitch about how he wants someone else to do it.
Picard tells Riker that Duras' family is making waves again, so they should be on the lookout for Romulan interference.
"Ugh, bullshit," groans Riker.

Once they get to the transporter room, Worf dismisses the Gold working there.
"I wanna ask you for a favor," he tells Gowron.
"I don't talk to people with no honor," sniffs Gowron.
Ah, G. I had such hopes for you, and here you are, breaking Wheaton's Law.
Worf proceeds to tell him the whole story, which Gowron believes, because why would he not? Duras' father was an asshole that begat more assholes. Gowron is then shocked to find out that the council knows about this and encouraged Worf to take the fall, but he shouldn't be, because politics is the same in pretty much every corner of the galaxy.
"Now that you know, can you fix this?" Worf asks. "It would be great if people could stop treating me like shit."
"You killed Duras, which was pretty fucking awesome. But I can't do anything about your discommendation. A lot of the people on the council are loyal to Duras, and I need their support to become Head of the Council. I can't do the thing. Suck it up, and deal with your discommendation like a Klingon."
So far in this episode, we have learned that being a Klingon is:
- being honorable;
- demanding that your honor be restored;
- accepting your dishonor for the good of the Empire.
 Worf, the Klingon raised by humans, who is trying to relearn what it means to be a Klingon, is getting nothing but conflicting advice.

Later, Worf goes to the phaser range to do some target practice, which is probably pretty therapeutic when you've been told that you're just going to have to continue to let people shit on you, despite not deserving it.
Guinan enters, and asks if she can practice with him.
"I practice at level 14," he says, possibly hoping to put her off.
"Yeah, I can come down to that level," she says easily.
They start the program, and Guinan immediately starts getting her shots in, hitting each one. She tells him conversationally that she has a bet with Picard that she can get him to laugh before he makes Lt-commander. He tries to tell her that Klingons don't laugh, and she corrects him: Klingons do, but he doesn't. They argue. She gets every shot in the meantime. He misses several.
She asks about Alexander, and he admits that his kid is struggling to adjust to life on Earth.
"Yeah, some day he'll want to learn about what it means to be Klingon, like you are now."
And she disappears just as she came.

Picard is having a snack in the ready room when Worf comes in.
"I request a leave of absence," says Worf formerly.
"Granted," says Picard. "Qapla'."

Quietly concerned music, commercial break!

Worf's Personal Log 44996.1: "Found the ship captained by my brother, Kurn. Gonna meet with him."

Worf meets with Kurn on Kurn's ship, and Kurn drops a bomb on him: no one likes Gowron. No one wants Duras' family in charge, either, but Kurn and his friends all believe that if Gowron becomes Head of the Council that the Duras family will take him down, and the Empire will get stuck with those assholes, anyway. Kurn wants to get rid of the old council and replace the current members. He's friends with four other squadron leaders, who will all follow him. Then he can restore the name of the House of Mogh.
Worf considers this. "No, Gowron completed the rite of succession. We need to back him."
"The fuck?" demands Kurn. "You asked him to fix this discommendation thing, and he refused! You still want to support this guy?"
"We're not getting our honor back by being dishonorable," Worf argues. "I'm the elder brother. I speak for the House of Mogh. Here's the thing: we're gonna trade for our honor. We won't stand with Gowron until the wolves have circled. Then we'll swoop in and back him, but only if he restores our family name."
Kurn's hands are kind of tied. He doesn't want to back Gowron, but Worf is the elder brother, so he has to go along with what Worf says. He says he will need to travel to another sector, to convince his allies to go with Worf's plan.

Picard's Log 44996.8: "Back in the hall of the High Council, doing the arbiter thing."

Picard, as arbiter, tells the council that Gowron has completed the rite of succession, and he should be Head of the Council. Gowron accepts, and Picard is about to place the ceremonial robe on him, when some tween interrupts, claiming to challenge Gowron.
"Who tf are you?" asks Gowron.
"Toral, son of Duras."

Gowron snorts with derision. "Duras didn't have a son."
And now, introducing my two favorite Klingons: Lursa and B'Etor, sisters of Duras. They are sooo thrilled to introduce the Council to their newly-found nephew. Oh, and also to challenge Gowron for the High seat. Toral is champing at the bit for the chance to fight someone (he looks about 14, and has chickenhawk-fighting-Foghorn-Leghorn energy), but his aunts tell him to cool his jets.
K'Tal, the guy running the show until the new Head can take over, announces that Picard will look into Toral's claim. The council gathering breaks up.
"Fuck me," sighs Picard.

Back at their place, Lursa and B'Etor meet with Romulan General Movar and Shadowy Commander. The Duras sisters tell their Rom friends that Picard is going to consider Toral's claim on the seat.
"We should just kill Picard!" says an over-enthusiastic Toral.
B'Etor backhands him. "Dumbshit, you want the Federation coming after us?"
"When the time is right, we'll deal with the Federation, and Picard," says the Shadowy Commander.

Dramatic music! Commercial break!

Worf talks to Kurn, who tells him that three squadron leaders will follow the House of Mogh, and one will not. Their "enemies" have seven squadrons, so the two sides are evenly matched. But most squadron leaders are swing voters at this point.
Worf is pretty sure they can pull the trigger on this plan soon. Kurn says he will meet Worf on Qo'nos.

Worf goes to the bridge of the E, where he asks Data for info on the Khitomer Massacre. Data, Research Librarian Extraordinaire, lists off all of the info they have access to here on the ship, but recommends that he contact starbase 24 for better records.
Picard catches them doing this, and pulls Worf aside to the ready room.
"Dude: this is a conflict of interest. You can't use your position as a Starfleet officer to bring about political change on your home planet."
"But those records prove my father's innocence!" Worf argues.
Picard pauses. "Okay, look - I'm gonna compromise here, and open those records to anyone that wants them, including Duras' family. We both know what info is there, and that it works in your favor to do so, but don't ask me for anything else, cool?"
Worf thanks him and leaves.
Riker pages Picard. "You've got mail."

Picard goes to meet with the Duras sisters. B'Etor immediately starts flirting with him, to the point that Lursa has to reign her in. They offer him tea ("Earl Grey, hot?"), clearly having done their homework. They start laying it on thick - their brother Duras was a dumbass, and deserved to die, and they don't want to be Picard's enemy, yadda yadda yadda.
Lursa asks if Picard has made up his mind about Toral, who has "the support of the people."
"And now we have to see if he has the support of the law," says Picard. "But here's what I see: if Toral's challenge is valid, you'll take over the council, and Gowron will turn up mysteriously murdered. If I reject Toral's claim, you'll accuse me of acting on behalf of the Federation, and use that to rally your supporters to start a war and overthrow Gowron."
"There's a third option," says Lursa smoothly. "You reject Toral, we win in a war against Gowron, and the alliance with the Federation will come to an end. And we don't want that."
"We want to be friends," purrs B'Etor.
"How Romulan of you," says Picard evenly. "I'm giving my answer at noon tomorrow. Thanks for the tea."
Which is Picard for Fuck You. He leaves.
Lursa and B'Etor exchange glances, because how much does Picard know?

 

High noon. The council has gathered again to hear Picard's answer, which he gives with Vulcan logic and Klingon law: Toral is Duras' son, but he is still a kid, and he has not fought for his people, or slain any enemies. Like, maybe he will someday, but as of now, he hasn't. Duras is dead, and his claim died with him. Gowron is still the guy for the job.
And Gowron is itching to put that robe on.
But now Toral jumps forward to monologue and plead his case to a council that is mostly in his corner. "Who is in charge here? The Federation, or the Klingons? Follow me!"
"Following you is a rejection of Klingon law!" protests Gowron.
But most of the council steps behind the House of Duras.
"WTF?" yells Gowron.
The council breaks up, the majority following the House of Duras out of the hall.
"Fuck me," says Gowron.

Worf goes to Gowron's ship to play his hand.
"Looks like you need some help," smiles Worf.
"Dude, you're some honorless Starfleet officer - what kind of help could you offer?"
"Bitch, I got four squadrons."
Suddenly, Gowron is interested. "How the hell did you get four squadrons?"
"They follow Kurn, my brother. His true identity was hidden to protect him."
"Okay, but... Kurn doesn't like me."
"I'm the head of the family. You know what I want in return."
But Gowron doesn't think four squadrons are worth restoring honor to the House of Mogh. He wants Federation support (still).
"Not gonna happen," says Worf. "You know they can't interfere."
Gowron decides that it's time for some manipulation, and demands to know if Worf is a weak little human, or a Klingon that hears the cry of battle.

But there's no time to answer. Gowron's ship, the Bortas, is under fire. They rush to the bridge, where crewmembers busily report damage. They were just sitting there in space, not expecting to take fire, so shields were not up, and damage has been done to the warp drive.

From the bridge of the E, Data reports that another ship is now firing on the Bortas.

Gowron's ship is kind of dead in the water, no engines and no weapons. Gowron puts out the call to friendly ships for aid.

Data now reports that the Bortas has shields down on the port side, that life support is failing.
"General distress call from them," notes Riker.
"Craaaap," says Picard. "We need to move away from here."
"That's Gowron's ship," Riker reminds him. "He's the legit leader, right? We should help him."
"Can't do it." says Picard firmly. "We can't get involved in a Klingon civil war."
"Worf''s over there?"
But Picard moves the E away.

Gowron gives the order to fire on the other ship, but Worf advises them to wait.
"They'll see us lock our weapons on them, and fire on us again. But if we wait until they drop their shields to beam over, we can fire on them then and destroy their ship."
Which they do. And the ship blows up, because Worf is fucking smart. Unfortunately, by the time they target and fire on the second ship, their shields have gone up. Ship #2 fires on the Bortas, and they take more damage. The Bortas' shields are failing.
But what's this?
A third ship, firing on ship #2!

Ship #2 turns tail and cloaks under the hail of fire.
It's Kurn, y'all! He's taken the Elder Brother thing to heart, and tells Gowron that he and his buddies are there to follow him. Gowron invites Kurn & Friends to the Great Hall, and then tells Worf to invite Picard and his friends as well. He's gonna get himself installed as leader once and for all.

Picard's Log 44998.3: "Gonna do the last part of my role as Arbiter of Succession."

Picard walks up to the dais in the Great Hall, and puts The Cape of Leadering the Klingons on Gowron. Then Worf steps forward.
"You have both fought as warriors," Gowron tells Worf, and he pops out a Klingon blade.
Is this a mugging?
Naw, it's that blade-grabbing thing.
"You were wronged, and I'm returning your honor," and he says it in such a way that you know the Council is gonna be whispering around the water cooler later. Cuz so many of them spineless bitches knew the truth and said nothing.
Worf pulls his hand away, leaving the contents of a watery blood pack on the blade.

Dramatic music ! Commercial break!

Gowron requests a meeting in the Obs Lounge. Picard, Riker and Worf are there.
"Lursa and B'Etor are amassing forces," Gowron announces. "Formally requesting assistance from the Federation against the enemies of the Empire."
Does... does Gowron not understand how the treaty works?
"This is still an internal affair," Riker reminds him.
"Yeah, but I'm leader now," Gowron argues. "I'm declaring them enemies of the Klingons. Go get 'em."
His attitude is reading as someone pointing out a spider to a reluctant cat. Like, he expects the Federation to crush the Duras sisters simply because he motioned in their direction.
"Come on, Gowron," says Picard, "you know we can't get involved."
"You're arbiter. You're already involved."
"No, I'm done. I put the cape thing on you, and I clocked out."
Now it's Worf's turn: "The Duras family is corrupt. We know they've conspired with Romulans before, and if they gain power and form an alliance with the Roms, it will shift the balance of power in this quadrant. We have to back Gowron, for the good of the Federation."

 Picard sighs. "Dude, you know we can't. We have a strict non-interference policy, and we have to stick by it, no matter what our personal feelings are on the matter."
Worf and Gowron turn to leave the Obs Lounge, disappointed. Or you know, whatever the Klingon version of disappointment is.
"Hey, I gotta recall you from leave," Picard tells Worf. "We gotta go."
Worf pauses. "Can I take extended leave?"
"No, that's supes inappropriate," says Picard. "A Starfleet officer, hanging out on Klingon ship during a civil war, doesn't look good."
Worf pauses, then resigns his commission.

Worf, now dressed in a Klingon military uniform that looks like it doesn't breathe as well as the Starfleet one, is packing his things in his quarters.
Picard swings by. "Hey, I hear you were offered a position on the Bortas."
"Yeah, as weapons officer."
"That's awesome. You have a lot of skill and experience in that subject, I'm sure you'll be really valuable in that position."
Picard clearly bears him no ill will. Probably because he might choose the same outcome if the roles were reversed. Worf had a crappy choice to make, but just because he didn't choose the one that would have benefited Picard, isn't a good reason for the captain to be salty.
But...
"Are you sure this is the right choice?"
"I've been around humans my whole life," Worf admits. "I was loved and raised by them, and I fought beside them. But I'm Klingon."
"You are," Picard agrees. "But I always thought you carried with you the best of humanity. The best of both humans and Klingons in one person. And I'm proud to have called you one of my officers."
Worf is not one of those "hug it out" guys, but he's clearly not feeling great about leaving.
They take the lift down to the transporter room deck. The doors open.

Jae sighting!

"Attention on deck," calls Picard.
Who let these fucking ninjas and their fucking onions in here?

This show hates me.

When he gets into the transporter room, he doesn't say anything. He just looks at them, as though quickly memorizing this moment, and his friends' faces. Then he steps onto the transporter pad.
Worf: "Permission to leave the ship, sir."
Picard: "Permission granted."
Picard: "Qapla'."
Worf:
Worf: "Goodbye."
He transports to the Bortas, and Riker dismisses everyone.

 Down on Qo'nos, a messenger enters some quarters being occupied by the Duras family and their skeevy Romulan friends.
One Rom reads out the padd: "Picard is not helping Gowron."
"It's because Picard is a coward -!" Toral begins shouting, because he's like 12, and just enthusiastic about calling everyone cowards and running into battle without looking twice. He's a tiny Leeroy Jenkins.
"Don't discount Picard," says Shadowy Commander. "He's a human, and humans have a way of showing up when you least expect them."
And she steps out of the shadows.

HELLA DRAMATIC MUSIC! END CREDITS!

*******

Y'all, I love this episode.
I love Klingon politics for the pomp and circumstance and their weird ceremonial things, and the crazy in-fighting, all of which are available here in abundance. (And truth be told, I probably love it most of all because it's fictitious, and I can enjoy that drama without having to ask, "is someone I know going to be harmed because these assholes can't pass proper legislation?" It's safe to watch.) I love that we have an already-contentious passing of the baton from earlier, and that the drama hasn't stopped simply because Picard picked a new guy to take over. I love that Picard was dragged into this because K'mpec couldn't trust another Klingon to pick his successor. I love that the shitty legacy of Duras lives on beyond his death, and that members of the council are still covering for that family to hold the Empire together. It'll all blow up soon, but in the meantime, let's make popcorn and wonder which of those assholes on the council still think covering that up is okay. I love that we have continuations of earlier story arcs, and I love that we are opening new arcs with the Duras family, with Sela and the Romulans, and with an upcoming Klingon civil war. I also really love that Picard is stuck smack in the middle of this shit: he didn't ask to be arbiter, took the job reluctantly, and just when he thought it would be coming to a close, Lursa and B'Etor threw him back into the fray with their sketchy claim. (And it is sketchy - you don't get to take over an office simply because your father was running for it when he died.) Now Picard is stuck in the weird position of knowing that if the Duras family takes over, they will ditch the treaty with the Federation, and form one with the Romulans. A civil war will start, and from it will stem a larger war that includes the Federation and its allies, but for right now, there is nothing he can do without interfering. That's good drama.

The rules and regulations of this stuff are a bit murky, though. We have Worf pulling the Elder Brother thing on Kurn in secret, and while Kurn seems to be his own guy, he's pretty quick to leave his adopted family behind and go along with what Worf says, switching alliances simply because Worf told him to do it. I am into the fact that a hesitant Kurn then has to convince his allies to switch sides with him, and that not everyone joined up - that seems pretty realistic. How exactly did he convince them, though? He was pretty anti-Gowron, then suddenly he was pro-Gowron? Was he telling his friends that he was actually House of Mogh, and that Worf had demanded that he switch in order to get them back into a place of honor? That's a long, complicated story, and we don't know how "out" Kurn is about his heritage. It gets to remain a mystery.
Worf's coup was pretty clever as well. He waited until just the right moment, and offered his help in exchange for Gowron's.
The thing about women not being able to serve on the council is something that's all over the place here. Earlier in this season, Gowron himself offers K'Ehleyr a seat on the council in exchange for her support. She turns him down, but how was he able to offer it in the first place? Was he willing to break the rules for her? In truth, it's just a continuity problem. The writers of this episode needed for there to be a reason why Lursa and B'Etor could not just take over the council themselves, but later on, we'll see examples both of women serving on the council, and not being allowed to do so. It's fine that they would switch it here for the sake of story, but if you're going to make something the new normal and it contradicts earlier canon, you need to explain it somehow, and then quit going back and forth.
While we're at it, who is this chick? Is she a council member? Security?

                        

The character growth for Worf was particularly fantastic for this episode as well. We get to see him applying human mores and ideas to Klingon situations and blend them together nicely with strictly Klingon moves. The fact that he's spent almost all of his time around humans makes him a man without a country, and when he's able to get his honor back by fighting alongside the new chancellor, he is shown as being accepted by Klingon society. Will he be accepted universally? Probably not. We gotta solve The Problem with the Duras Family first, and even then, there will probably always be a few people that bought that whole "Mogh sold us out" bullshit as true, and they'll hate Worf until their dying day for it. While he's obviously glad to have his honor restored by the Empire at large, he doesn't seem to give much of a shit for people who are going to stubbornly cling to the lies they were told about him. He proves to Gowron that he's a competent weapons officer, and cool-headed in battle, and it gains him new respect with the chancellor. Point in his favor, even if Gowron is not well-liked.
A side-note here: I was interested in how one's house is named, and did some digging. It turns out that it is up to the house members themselves to keep or change the name. It may be named after the most recent senior member (The House of Mogh, The House of Duras), it may be changed to reflect who is currently leading that house, or it may keep a name to honor someone that has passed long before. If you're interested, you might check out Memory Alpha on the subject.

And a weird question that I have often pondered when watching this series: does the word "humanity" work in this series when used as a virtue? They often talk about a character's humanity (meaning love, kindness, and/or social intelligence), but apply it to a character that is not human. Picard refers to Worf's humanity here, and it can be taken as literal, as Worf was raised by humans; but Kirk also uses it when speaking of Spock, who was a half-human, raised by one human and one Vulcan on a Vulcan planet. Do we need another term to refer to a collective set of traits that the human species values? Does it work to say that an alien species, or an alien character has "great humanity" when they are not human? Being that we currently have no contact with alien species, it is not necessary to have it now, but will it be in the future, should we come into contact with beings from other planets? I suppose it all ties back to the idea that this is a show made by humans, about other humans, and how they interact with non-humans. The show is human-centric, and that term is as well, so it makes sense that we should use it now, but will there come a time later when it will be inadequate?


- Fun Facts:

- The Redemption arc was originally meant to be the cliffhanger for the end of season three, but was set aside for "The Best of Both Worlds."
- This is the 100th episode of TNG.
- The costumes worn by the Duras sisters were labeled as "Klingon kleavage" by fans, and like Ricardo Montalban in Wrath of Khan, that shit's real.
- This is the first appearance of the Duras sisters, but won't be the last: as well as appearing in TNG, they also return in DS9, and a Star Trek film.
- This is also the first appearance of Sela, though she'll show up a few times in TNG.
- Troi, Crusher and La Forge only appear once in this episode, in Worf's farewell scene, and do not have any lines.
- Guinan actually did make Worf laugh once, in "Yesterdays Enterprise."
- K'Tal is described as "a man who has been on the council longer than anyone else and will probably still be here when the others are all gone." He does not back either Gowron, or the Duras family, but serves the Empire.






Red deaths: 0
To date: 0
Gold deaths: 0
To date: 1

Blue deaths: 0
To date: 1
Unnamed color crew deaths: 0
To date: 11,000

Obnoxious Wes moments: 0
To date: 1

Legitimate Wes moments when he should have told someone to go fuck themselves: 0
To date: 0

Sassy Geordi moments: 0
To date: 9

Sassy Wes Moments: 0
To date: 0

Sassy Worf Moment: 0
To date: 5

Sassy Riker Moments: 0
To date: 7

Sassy Picard Moments: 0
To date: 15

Sassy NPC Moments: 0
To date: 1
Sassy Data Moments: 0
To date: 2
Sassy O'Brien Moments: 0
To date: 0
Sassy Crusher Moments: 0
To date: 3
Sassy Troi Moments: 0
To date: 7
Sassy Guest Star Moments: 0
To date: 5

Number of times that it is mentioned that Data is an android: 0
To date: 33

Number of times that Troi reacts to someone else's feelings: 0
To date: 19

Number of times that Geordi "looks at something" with his VISOR: 0
To date: 10
Number of times when Data gives too much info and has to be told to shut up: 0
To date: 2
Picard Maneuvers: 0
To date: 22
Tea, Earl Grey: 1
To date: 12

Bratty

Son of Isis

of the

House of Bratty

A Good Boi, a Complete Asshole, and an

Honorable Warrior

April 2, 1999 - March 2, 2020

ST:TNG Season Four, Episode Seven "Reunion"

ST:TNG Season Four, Episode Seven "Reunion"
Production Order: 7
Air Order: 7
Stardate: 44246.3
Original Air Date: November 5, 1990

So I didn't mean to disappear like that.
My cat rescue activities usually take up several hours of my week, but our busy season is summer, not only because we're inundated with kittens, but also because we've found that there are many, many festivals during the summer where we can pimp out kittens to the public for donation money. (No, not like that, y'all. We have a people-sized cage and you can climb in for a buck to play with kittens for two minutes.)
Then...
"Please," I begged my roommates. "Let's not move during Pride season. I have kitten stuff to do, and it's time consuming."
"Don't worry," I was assured. "We will not move house during Pride season."
Yep, we moved during Pride season.
Also, our friend fell and broke her leg in three places. And then her heinous bitch of a roommate took the opportunity to kick her out. So we had to move our friend as well.
I have six more cat events between now and the beginning of September. And a pet-sitting gig. And a weekend that includes two weddings, one of them out of town. And I'm officiating the other one in an inflatable t-rex costume. And I'm making the bride's shoes.

Somehow, my time management skills include complete denial that I can do all of the things and still pull a weekly blog post out of my ass. If you've been reading this blog long enough, you know that that's complete bullshit. I once decided that I could work 80 hours a week and still blog - WTF?

So that's why this post has been sitting 80% done in my blogger, waiting for the remaining screencaptures and write-up, and why my posts may be spotty for July and August. I do feel bad because I know many of you are probably dicking around at work on Monday mornings and wondering where the hell your terrible Star Trek blog has gone. It's still here. It's just that I've accidentally sealed it in a box marked "sort" and tossed it into the back of a truck.

*******

Picard's Log 44246.3: "Gonna go check out this vague thing in another star system. It has no bearing on the episode, so I won't bore you with the details. They just needed us to be in the middle of something not terribly important so they could interrupt with something more pressing."

There's a full minute or so of pretending that some anomalous readings are the thing that we're here for, then we get to the real point of this episode:

And then, even better:

Fuck yeah, it's K'Ehleyr!
"Wazzup, Picard?"
She notices Worf behind him at Tactical and greets him as well. The purr when she says Worf's name is gone, but the ever-present Suzie Plakson smirk is there.
"So, I need to talk to you ASAP. Can I come over?"
"Sure," says Picard.
The screen turns off, and Picard tells Worf to go get K'Ehleyr from the transporter room.
"Oh, man. Can somebody else go?" asks Worf.
"Why?" demands Picard.
"Um, I have been dishonored by the Empire. My being there might offend the Ambassador."
Worf, you fucking liar.
It's actually made all the funnier when you consider that K'Ehleyr doesn't give two fucks about Klingon traditions and honor. Flimsiest excuse ever.
Fortunately, not only does Picard see right through this, but he calls Worf on his shitty excuse: he can't go run and hide every time a Klingon vessel decloaks. He's still a crew member and he still has shit to do.
"Uhhhh, withdraw my request."
"Yeah, you better."

Worf goes to the transporter room, and the chief there (not O'Brien this time) tells him that two people are ready to beam over. Worf doesn't recall that K'Ehleyr was bringing someone else, but shrugs it off.
So he says "energize," and K'Ehleyr beams over... with a bitty Klingon in tow.

Dramatic music! Opening credits break!

K'Ehleyr drops her kid (Alexander) in the Enterprise's school, and makes a note that he hasn't spent a lot of time with other kids. She isn't quite as sassy when talking about him. Motherhood'll do that to you, I guess.
She and Worf get in the lift and the sass returns. "Not even a bite on the cheek for old times'sake?"
He's all stiff and formal again.
"I've been discommendated. Maybe you heard?"
"Yeah, I heard. So what? Do I have to do some dumb ritual or something before I can talk to you?"
K'Ehleyr, you're my favorite. I'm naming my next girl cat after you.
They get snippy, and she remarks that he looks like he wants to ask her something.
"Do I have to ask?" he demands.
"Yes."
Heads up: he doesn't.
The lift doors open and he gets out.
"Should I tell Alexander that he has no father?" she calls after him.
He pauses, then continues walking away from her.

Ooh, check out this cool shot of K'Ehleyr reflected in the Obs Lounge table. If I were rich, I would commission someone to make me that fucking Obs Lounge table.

So we're in the Obs Lounge, and K'Ehleyr is telling everyone why she's on board the E again. Seems K'mpec, the current council chancellor and guy who was too fat for the likes of Worf's nanny, is dying. Two factions have been at each other's throats for a while, and only K'mpec has been able to keep the peace. With him dying, a civil war may break out, and then everyone else will get dragged into it... the Tholians, the Ferengi, the Roms, the Federation. K'mpec is on the cruiser that K'Ehleyr came in, and wants to talk to Picard alone.

Another fabulous shot

Picard hops next door to the cruiser, and K'mpec dismisses the guy who brought Picard in, so they are totally alone. K'mpec is breathing heavily, and Picard offers him the use of the E's sick bay, but K'mpec waves him off.
"Nah, it's too late. For months, someone has been poisoning me, and there isn't a cure. They put it in my wine." And then he takes a swig from his wine. Maybe this wine isn't poisoned. Maybe he no longer has any fucks to give if it is.

"Why am I here?" asks Picard.
"You're gonna mediate after I die. Help them pick a new guy to take my place."

"Say fucking what?"
"Yeah, I can't trust anybody on the council, and I need an outsider here."
Picard tries to argue that a Federation officer getting involved in Empire business is inappropriate, but K'mpec says that this isn't any different than the other times that Picard has mediated in the affairs of other worlds.
It... it kind of is though, K'mpec. In those cases, the differing sides agreed to mediation, and then selected the Federation, and Picard was probably selected, either specifically or from a pool of officers that could do the job. You're asking him to step in and do it for you, and while you have the right while you're alive, nothing says that they have to accept him once you're dead. And they're gonna be hella pissed.
Picard says no.
"Lol, if you refuse, the Empire will get all up in arms with the Federation. Also, I already told the two factions of the plan. They're on their way now."
"You asshole! I don't want to be involved in this!"

"Well, fuck," sighs Picard. "I don't want to choose the next leader of the Klingon Empire."
"Nah, you won't be. You just choose the challengers."
"But you said only two challengers are coming? There's nothing for me to do."
"Sure there is. Find out who has been poisoning me. Gowron... or Duras."

"You remember Duras, right? That nasty little motherfucker whose father caused the Khitomer Massacre, and who got Worf discommendated to cover that shit up? He's one of the challengers."
"Yeah, I remember he tried to have me killed, too."
"I went along with his bullshit for the good of the Empire," laments K'mpec. "Fat lot of good that did us. Find the poisoner, Picard. A man who kills an enemy without showing his face is without honor."

Dramatic music! Commercial break!

Picard's Log, supplemental: "K'mpec is dead. He ruled the Klingon Empire longer than anyone else."

At the school, a bunch of kids are stacking blocks on a table. They all tumble over and Alexander growls at them.
"What the hell?" demand the other kids. "Now we have to start over."
Worf pulls him aside. "Dude, don't attack other kids. There's no honor in that."
"I would have won," protests Alexander.
Worf points at the door. "Just fucking go."
Out in the corridor, Alexander asks Worf where all of the other Klingons are on the ship.
Worf pauses, wondering how complicated he should get. "It's just us."
"Why?"
"Because the Federation and Empire are friends, but I'm the only one who signed up for Starfleet."
"Why?"
"Warriors don't ask so many questions."
"I don't want to be a warrior."

Alexander runs into K'Ehleyr's quarters and she scoops him into a big hug. They're pretty cute together. I buy their relationship, and she seems like a good mother. But typical mom, she has no idea that her kid is an asshole at school.
"You're back early!" she says playfully.
He throws Worf under the bus. "HE made me leave!"
She tells him to go play in his room for a while, and he runs off.

Of course Worf is pissed about the the whole "I don't want to be a warrior" comment, and he says that Alexander doesn't know their ways, but really, what was he expecting? K'Ehleyr doesn't give two shits about The Klingon Way. Which she then reminds him.
"Why do you care?" she demands. "You won't even claim him."
Annnnd, here we go.
"Why didn't you tell me?" he thunders.
"Come on, Worf. You know why. You would have insisted we take the oath and be proper Klingons."
"You should have told me," he repeats.
"Targ's out of the bag now," she says softly.
"Look, I can't acknowledge him as my son. My dishonor would end up being transferred to him, and also his kids. I can't do that to him."
"Yeah, about that: why the hell did you accept discommendation?"
He explains the whole Mogh-Khitomer thing, but stops short of telling her about that dick Duras and the secret he and Picard are keeping.
"But you challenged that shit! Why did you give up?"
The argument is brought to a halt when Riker pages them to the bridge.
So I guess they just leave Alexander alone in K'Ehleyr's quarters?

Duras' and Gowron's ships have arrived, and Duras hails the E.
"Why the fuck are you involved?" Duras demands of Picard. "This was a stupid move by K'mpec."
"We're gonna do the Sonchi ceremony in one hour on K'mpec's ship," replies Picard.
"One hour? Why the delay?"
Sassy Picard Moment: "There's no delay. That's the time I've chosen."
Unspoken: So fuck off, Duras.
The lift opens, and K'Ehleyr and Worf enter. Duras sees him and calls Worf a petaQ ("weirdo") and tells him to stay away from the ceremony. No one on the bridge acknowledges this, and Picard warns him about being on K'mpec's ship in one hour.
Then Picard asks Communications to talk to Gowron's ship about the ceremony.

He then tells K'Ehleyr to meet him in the transporter room in an hour, and calls Worf into the ready room.
Once the doors have closed behind them, Picard tells Worf that the next few days are going to suck for him.
"Yeah, I know," says Worf. "I have duties to perform, yada yada."
"No, I just meant that I get it. This will suck for you. I sympathize." He sits down. "K'Ehleyr is going to walk me through the Rites of Succession."
Worf asks for permission to speak freely. "Duras is a fucking traitor. He can't lead the council."
Picard looks like he wants to agree, but he's trying to keep it neutral. "He has a legal claim." A pause. "So Klingon tradition says that the son has to accept the actions of the father, and I don't agree. Betraying the Empire was his father's crime. But Duras' crime was throwing your father under the bus, and that's something I won't forget. But you should not forget that you accepted that discommendation."
"Yeah, to keep the Empire from falling apart!"
"My problem now is whether or not he killed K'mpec."
Worf is startled. "Huh?"
"K'mpec was poisoned."
Now Worf is pissed. "Klingons don't use poison. There's no honor in killing someone that way."
"Yeah, K'mpec thought one of the two challengers did the poisoning."
Worf pauses. "I don't know a lot about Gowron. Just that he complained to the council a lot. I bet it was fucking Duras."

Next door on K'mpec's ship, the group is gathering for the Sonchi ceremony. Sonchi means "he is dead" and involves poking the dead guy with Klingon painstiks and challenging him to a duel. The thought behind it is that A) when you're poked with a painstik, it's so freaking painful that there's no way you won't react; and B) that no Klingon will resist a challenge.
K'mpec has been sat in a chair, with Picard and K'Ehleyr standing behind him.

K'Ehleyr mutters to Picard which one Gowron is. Gowron has crazy eyes. Pretty sure he'd cut you in a dark alley just for funsies.

Duras the Dick comes in with his guys.
"This is going to suck," whispers Picard.
"We only have to prove that K'mpec is dead, then this part will be over." She hands him the painstik.
Picard pokes the dead guy with the stick, which glows, and mumbles "Qab jiH ngil" (face me if you dare). Obviously, K'mpec is dead and does nothing. Picard is disgusted by the ritual, but tries to hide it.
Then Gowron repeats it, then Duras. Both Gowron and Duras poke K'mpec harder and more forcefully than is necessary.
K'Ehleyr steps forward. "Sonchi."

Duras demands that they move forward with the Rites of Succession. He really wants to sit his butt in the big chair.
"Slow your roll," says Picard. "We're gonna proceed with laws and traditions."
"WTF do you know about Klingon law, human?" demands Gowron.
"Let's meet up on the E to do the next part," Picard starts to tell K'Ehleyr.
Duras yells that they need to do this here and now, but there's an explosion in the chamber. The guys that Duras and Gowron brought with them go flying.

Dramatic music! Commercial break!

K'Ehleyr is in her quarters staring out the window when Worf comes in.
"I haven't gotten your report on the explosion," he says.
"Um, two dead, one wounded. Have you come to see how I fared?"
"I'm head of security. It's my business."
"Uh-huh. So you're just officially worried about me?"
He goes all gruff. "You know how I feel."
But then they drop all pretense, and get honest: Worf admits that he would have insisted they take the oath... but not just because of tradition. She replies that she thought a lot about telling him about Alexander, but she wasn't ready.
"You said you were incomplete without me," she says. "And it took a while, but I realized that I was incomplete without you as well."
He steps forward and touches the side of her neck. "jIH dok (My blood)."
She touches his neck and replies, "Maj dok (our blood)."
This is actually the first part of the Oath, and I'm so excited, because I totes ship them. What should their ship name be? W'Ehleyr? K'Orf?

But then Worf steps off. "No, I can't. It means you guys would have to bear my dishonor, and that sucks."
Crap, that must be frustrating to K'Ehleyr. She doesn't want to do The Thing because Worf wants to do it out of a sense of tradition. Then he later says that he still wants to do The Thing, but mostly because he needs her. She is finally ready to do The Thing, but he pulls away and tells her that he can't, because of the honor thing that she hates so much.
"I don't give a shit what other Klingons think!" She really doesn't, bro.
"Yeah, but what about Alexander? He might want to live in the Empire someday, and I can't have him tainted, being in a family of traitors."
"Family of traitors? That's bullshit."
He sighs. "I can't take the oath with you, and I can't claim Alexander as my son."
She is disappointed. "If you can't be his father, at least be his friend."
He seems to agree.

K'Ehleyr meets with Picard in the ready room. He's concerned because they haven't finished investigating the bomb yet, and he needs to buy more time.
"They'll be here soon," says K'Ehleyr. "I don't think you can stall anymore."
"How long does the Rite of Succession take? Can we fluff it up?"
"Nope, the modern version is pretty much just a straight-forward meeting where you name two challengers."
"Modern? What's the traditional version?"
"It involves a long, drawn-out part called the ja'chuq. Each challenger lists the battles they've been in and the prizes they've won, in order to prove that they're fit to lead the council."
"Can we do that?"
"You're the arbiter. You can do whatever the fuck you'd like. Add a talent portion or a swimsuit competition if you want."
"Rad."
She gets up to leave, then turns back to him. "Hey, what do you know about Worf's discommendation?"
"Sorry, I'm not allowed to say."

Picard and K'Ehleyr go into the Obs Lounge, where Duras and Gowron are waiting with two Security Golds.
"Let's get this over with so I can kill Gowron," says Duras.
Gowron gives a creepy reply:

Yeesh, crazy eyes and snaggle-toothed.
"Whatever," sneers Duras. "You don't have the balls to face me. Why don't you plant another bomb?"
Gowron dives for him, but they're quickly separated by the Golds, and Picard yelling "mev yap!" (enough!). Picard knows many useful Klingon words.
Re-seated, Picard tells them that they're doing an old-school ja-chuq. They're both pretty pissed and Duras tells Picard that K'Ehleyr has been giving him shit advice, because the ja'chuq is "obsolete."
"I want to respect old traditions," says Picard firmly. "And I'm the arbiter, so you can suck it. If I say I want a battle resume to get the job, then you better fucking do it."

Alexander is in Worf's quarters. I guess they're being friends? He asks about the bat'leth, and Worf tells him that it has been in his family for ten generations.
Alexander asks to hold it.
No.
And Worf takes it off the wall, and hands the large weapon to the preschooler.
I... really?
Alexander holds it the wrong way, so Worf gives him a brief intro into bat'leth technique.
It's awesome that he's trying, but... could you have picked a less-dangerous activity, Worf?

K'Ehleyr is in the Obs Lounge by herself, reading a padd, when Gowron comes in. She points out that the next meeting isn't for three hours, and he tells her that he wants to meet with her alone.
"I am honored," she says sardonically.
"Why the fuck is Picard dragging out the ja'chuq? We don't do that anymore."
"He wants to be thorough."
"He relies on you for Klingon law advice, yes? You could speed it up."
"Why should I?" she asks.
He cuts to the chase. "You serve the Federation, but you could be serving the Empire more directly. There's more honor in that. What do you want? Command of a ship? A seat on the council?"
She gets his meaning. "And these things will only come to me if you come to power. Fuck off. You sound like a Ferengi."
Boy, does nobody understand K'Ehleyr? Girlfriend has to repeat herself fifty times every time she's on camera. She's not interested in power or glory or Klingon trappings. She wants Worf. And she's pretty straight-forward in her communication.
"Ugh, you are stubborn like K'mpec," he huffs. "It would be better for you if you cooperated."
"Are you seriously threatening me, Crazy Eyes?"
He laughs the laugh of the deranged and walks out.

Dramatic music!

Riker goes down to Engineering to get an update on the bomb. Geordi and Data have been working on it, and they tell him what it was made of, and that it was really tiny. Could have been hidden anywhere in the room.
"Also," says Geordi, "it had a molecular-decay detonator."
"Only one race uses that," says Data.
Riker cringes. "The Romulans."

Dramatic music! Commercial break!

Everybody meets up in the Obs Lounge to talk about the bomb.
"How the hell did the Romulans sneak a bomb on a Klingon cruiser?"
"Wouldn't be hard if they had Klingon help."
"The Roms and Klingons have been blood enemies for 75 years."
"Maybe Gowron or Duras is looking to form an alliance with the Romulans."
"A Romulan-Klingon alliance? That would suuuck. The power balance in this quadrant would shift in really bad ways."
Riker asks the end question: "Duras, or Gowron?"

"Gowron asked to talk to me alone," says K'Ehleyr. "Offered me a seat on the council if I sped up the ja'chuq."
Picard shakes his head. "No Romulan connection there."
"Threatened me that I would end up like K'mpec if I didn't cooperate," she finishes.
"Nah, I think it's Duras," interjects Worf.
"Why?" asks K'Ehleyr.
Picard chooses his words with care. "We've... had some experiences with Duras that have proven him untrustworthy."
This piques her interest. "Can you tell me more?"
"No," he says flatly.
Stonewalled again.

"Okay," says Picard. "We now have a security issue on our hands that involves the Klingon Empire, the Federation, and the Romulans. Worf, I want you to come to the next meeting."
"But... my discommendation... they'll be super pissed off."
"Yep," smiles Picard.

K'Ehleyr goes back to her quarters. "Hey Majel, I need the logs for the last time the E was at Qo'nos."
"Cool," says Majel. "I have 43 ships' logs, and ten personal ones."
"Did Worf make a personal log?" she asks.
"Yep. You can't have it, though. That's what personal means."
"Fine. Fuck it. Just give me the ships' logs."

In the Obs Lounge, Gowron completes his portion of the ja'chuq and sits down.
Which is fortunate, because I didn't want to sit through all that. I love me some intrigue and Klingon politics, but I don't want to hear about no glorious boring-ass battles.
"Okay, thanks," says Picard. "I recorded all of your stuff and your claims to the chancellorship. We're gonna take a recess while I go over it."
Gowron nods: acceptable.
"I'm sure you guys have been doing your own investigations into the explosion on K'mpec's ship," says Picard.
They say they have in that way that other group members say they've started on their portions of your group project, even though it's not due for another week. Which is to say, they haven't done shit and you're going to be forced to carry the project in order to not fail.
"We're done with our investigation," says Gowron. "We didn't find anything weird."   
"Interesting," says Picard. "We found something else."
He calls Worf in. Instantly, both Gowron and Duras are both up in arms.
"Shut the fuck up, and sit the fuck down," Picard barks.
"We won't move forward with this process unless he leaves," yells Duras.
"Oh, you want to withdraw your petition for chancellor?" asks Picard. "Because that's what I'm hearing."
Duras sits and scowls. Imagine being this asshole, insulting an innocent man to cover up the fact that your own father was a piece of shit. I mean, I guess it's not too hard, seeing as how he himself is a piece of shit.
"Worf is my chief of security, and I need him here for this part," Picard explains.
Worf turns to Duras. "Tell us what your investigation turned up."
"It was a bomb," sneers Duras.
"No shit, Sherlock."

Gowron admits that his team found the same thing: just a bomb.
"No, it was a Romulan bomb!" Worf yells.
"What the fuck?" yells Gowron.
"I'm going back to my ship to see if this is true," huffs Duras.
"Me too," says Gowron darkly, staring down Duras.
"Mr Worf, send our results to both ships, and the High Council," says Picard.
"Aye," replies Worf, who has clearly enjoyed yelling at Duras.

K'Ehleyr is still in her quarters looking for info on why Worf has been discommendated. She asks Majel to hook her up to the Klingon internet. Then she tries to use her diplomatic access to check out the council documents, but is told that they're sealed, and she can't get into them unless she has a higher clearance.
"What? Who sealed those?"
"Duras," says Majel.
"Oh, for fucks sake! Give me his biographical information!"

Duras goes back to the quarters he and his guy were assigned on the E. He starts barking off orders about how he needs to talk to someone on his own ship, and his guy tells him that Ambassador K'Ehleyr has been poking her nose into his documents, trying to get at something.
"Aw, hell nah," says Duras. "Distract the guard outside the door for me."
His guy goes out into the corridor and simply walks away.
The Gold takes off after him, yelling about how he needs an escort to leave his quarters.

Duras stomps down to K'Ehleyr's quarters.
"I heard you've been poking around where you shouldn't be," he growls.
"I've been looking into Khitomer," she growls back. "Funny that your father was at Khitomer, and you had all the records sealed. How the hell did you get Worf to take the fall?"
"Don't you insult my father!"
"STFU, traitor. You betrayed the Empire, just like dear old dad."

Dramatic music! Commercial break!

Riker goes to sick bay to talk to Crusher about the explosion, as she has the bodies of the two Klingons who were killed. She tells him that one guy was Duras' guy and the other was Gowron's guy. She says she was puzzled about the bomb's explosion pattern, until she looked at an arm of one of the dead men.
"The bomb was implanted in his arm," she says, showing him some medical scans.
"Yeah, the Klingons consider that an honorable way to die - suicide that takes out an enemy. Which guy was it?"
"Duras' guy."
Shocker.

Worf and Alexander are walking through the corridors, talking about bat'leths.
"Sometime, I'll take you to the holodeck, and show you all the stuff a bat'leth can do," says Worf.
God, you're not gonna take him in to that program where he was conceived, are you? Gross.
They go into K'Ehleyr's quarters -

Fuckfuckfuck
Worf calls for a medical team, and scoops up a heavily-bloodied K'Ehleyr. She's so weak, she can barely move.
"Gowron?" he demands.
"no..." Her voice is almost inaudible.
"Duras," growls Worf.
Instead, she whispers, "Alexander," in response.
She puts her son's hand on Worf's, then her own hand falls and she goes limp.
He screams her name... then again... then roars. Klingon death rite. Freaked out, Alexander runs away and stands facing the wall.

Worf steps back to Alexander and asks if he's ever seen death. The very young child shakes his head.
"Look at it," says Worf.
Man, that has to scar a kid, looking at his murdered mother.
Crusher and a Blue rush in and immediately start taking scans.
"Stay with the doctor," Worf tells Alexander.
He takes off while Crusher realizes that she is too late.

Worf goes back to his quarters and it takes him about two seconds to figure out what to do: he ditches his sash and his comm badge, and grabs his bat'leth.

K'Ehleyr's body is taken away under a silver sheet on an anti-grav gurney while Crusher tells Riker and Picard that she had too many stab wounds and internal injuries to get K'Ehleyr into stasis in time.
"Where is Worf?" asks Picard.
"Took off," shrugs Crusher.
"Majel, where is Worf?" asks Riker.
"Not here," says Majel.
"Where?" asks Picard.
"He transported over to Duras' ship," Majel replies.
"Fuck fuck fuck," says Riker. He takes off as well.

Worf, now on Duras' ship, steps into the room where that steaming pile of horseshit happens to be.
"What is that doing here?" Duras sneers.
One of Duras' guys, the one who probably let Worf in, tells Duras that Worf claims Right of Vengeance.
"What the fuck for?' Duras laughs.
"K'Ehleyr was my mate," Worf growls.
Duras' guys gasp. They didn't know. Is this juicy gossip? Or have they realized what Duras has not, that he is completely and utterly fucked?
Duras seems amused, and draws a sword.

Riker and Data stalk the corridor on the E, with a security Gold in tow.
"What's the plan if he won't come with us?" asks Data.
"He's coming back, whether he wants to or not," growls Riker. "Set your phasers for max stun."
They go into the transporter room.

Worf and Duras are mid-fight, and for the most part, it's pretty evenly matched.
But then this slimy motherfucker starts yapping.
No. Shut up and fight.
"I'm the only person who can prove your innocence, Worf. If you kill me, then the proof dies with me."

Bitch, Picard was in that chamber, too. And Kahlest seems smart enough to piece that shit together. Also, is Worf really supposed to believe that you'd throw your own lying ass under the bus for him?
"Like I give a flying fuck," says Worf.
He hits Duras in the chest with the butt of his bat'leth (which is actually in the middle), and Duras hits the floor.
Riker and Data rush in.
"Worf!" yells Riker.
But Worf doesn't miss a beat. The bat'leth comes down, and there's a satisfying slice-crunch sound as it gets embedded in Duras' chest.

Caught you monologuing

So that's it. One challenger is dead, the other one wins by default. Worf basically did Gowron's job. Our next shot is of the Klingon cruisers flying away.
Picard has called Worf into the ready room.
"You murdered a dude in cold blood."
"I acted within the laws and traditions of Klingons."
"Yeah. They consider the matter closed. But I don't."
Picard is pretty pissed. When Picard gets pissed, he gets quiet. It's a little scary, and it's got a bit of "disappointed Mom" to it.
"Look," says Picard, "we have a lot of people on this ship who come from different cultures, and they all have different beliefs. But it's not okay to just run around killing people, and when you join Starfleet, those rules supersede the others. If they don't, then you should resign your commission. You gonna resign?"
Worf chews his tongue for a minute. "No."
 "Good. I'm sorry about K'Ehleyr. That really sucks."
Worf's tough-guy-in-the-military demeanor slips a little bit, and you know for one moment in time, he forgot about that part.
"I'm putting a mark on your record."
Worf accepts this silently.
I'm a little surprised. Murder is only worth a black mark on your service record? Alrighty then.
Worf turns to leave, but Picard calls him back.
"Hey. Don't you think we should tell everybody about you being innocent and all? You only accepted discommendation to cover up for that asshole, and he's dead now."
"No," answers Worf slowly. "Everybody else on the High Council bought into that shit. Someday, my brother and I will talk them around, but not today."

We cut to Worf's quarters, where he is talking to Alexander.
"My human parents are going to meet us at a starbase, and you'll live with them," he explains.
"How come I'm not staying with you?" asks Alexander.
"Because you deserve a home, and I can't give that to you."
Worf, you fucking wuss. Lots of people on the E provide homes to kids. You're just afraid to be a dad.
He admits that he misses K'Ehleyr, and guesses that Alexander does too.
Alexander asks if Worf is his father. Worf pauses and replies that he is. A tiny part of him seems pleased, and they hug it out.

This episode is so bittersweet for me.
Good stuff:
- Klingon politics. I loooves me some Klingon politics. I love the ceremony and rules and costumes. I love that they often involve Picard, who knows strangely a lot, even though he doesn't seem to be overly interested in studying Klingon law. (And he knows a lot of useful Klingon phrases? Like okay? I only know some swear words, and that's mostly so I could swear at work without getting into trouble. Picard knows a bunch of stuff, and not just swears.)
- Duras dies. Good riddance. Duras is an open-faced asshole sandwich with extra dick sauce. That guy deserved to die. If he had been the embarrassed son of a traitor and had begged Worf to take the fall to save the Empire, and then felt bad, okay. But he didn't. He knew Mogh was innocent and treated Worf like shit, and not just for the sake of appearances. THEN he proceeds to conspire with the Romulans to take over the Empire by poisoning K'mpec? Jump up your own ass and die, Duras. Still, an honorless Klingon is a pretty good villain.
Stuff that makes me sad:
- The death of K'Ehleyr. I fricking love K'Ehleyr. I ship her with Worf big-time and would have liked to see them take the oath so she could maybe join the crew. K'Ehleyr on a weekly basis? Yes, please. I like them together. Worf needs a companion who will tell him to STFU when he gets too full of himself, and she fit that role easily. But Michael Piller wrote that she had to die so that Worf would kill Duras, and sadly, I agree. Duras needed to die by Worf's hand, and seeing as how Worf willingly bent over for Duras for the good of the Empire, Duras then needed to do something super shitty and personal to set Worf off to the point where he would say, "fuck it all, you're gonna die." Being willing to take the oath with K'Ehleyr and then being denied that because of her death was just enough to push Worf over the edge. I'll say this, though: it's probably helpful that we only got two episodes of K'Ehleyr. If I'd gotten more attached to her over a umber of episodes, I probably would not have agreed that her death was a necessary cog in that machinery.
This is another one of those "ripple episodes" that I like. The events that take place in this episode have farther-reaching tendrils that will be called into play at a later date, and across multiple episodes. I really enjoy the little stand-alone episodes, but I also like the callbacks to the ones where certain motions were set in place. Gowron being made chancellor will come into play again. Worf having a son will come into play again. And Worf killing Duras will lead to the introduction of my favorite Klingons, the Duras sisters.
This is a great episode, I'm just sad about K'Ehleyr.


- Fun Facts:

- Though Alexander is only about a year old, canon explains his appearance as being growth acceleration from his Klingon genes. Apparently, Klingon children at about a year old mature at the rate of about four Terran years. (Yeah, pretty sure the writers really just wanted him to be old enough to have lines and remember K'Ehleyr's death, which they could not have gotten with an infant.)
- This is the first Star Trek episode written by Brannon Braga, and the first writing collaboration between Braga and Ronald D Moore.
- Michael Piller was the one who suggested that K'Ehleyr should die. In the original story, K'Ehleyr came back and revealed Alexander to Worf, but she was in a relationship with Duras. Piller suggested that Duras kill K'Ehleyr, in order for Worf to have a reason to take him down.
-Visual effects supervisor and martial-arts-knowing-guy Dan Curry designed the bat'leth and trained Michael Dorn in how to use it.
- This episode features the first appearances of Gowron, Alexander, and Ensign Jae (a TNG background character who would appear in 62 more episodes and three TNG films).

- Jae actor Tracee Lee Cocco will also appear in DS9 and Voyager episodes.
- This episode also features the final appearances of K'Ehleyr, K'mpec and Duras.

Promotional still of Worf, K'Ehleyr,
and Alexander

- In this episode, Alexander is played by Jon Steuer. However, he was found to be too shy to play the firey Alexander, and was replaced in later episodes by Brian Bonsall.
- This is the first appearance of the Vor'cha-class cruiser.

- This is also the first appearance of the bat'leth. Worf tells Alexander that it's been in his family for ten generations, and it's treated like a rare object, but it would later be established that the bat'leth is the most commonly-used weapon in the Empire. The sword that Duras uses will never be seen again.
- Gowron offers K'Ehleyr a seat on the High Council, but it would later be established that women cannot sit on the council. Ronald D Moore says that he needed the "no girls allowed" rule for a later plot point for a DS9 episode, but says that it fit nicely to differentiate the Klingons from the Federation and the Romulans, who both allow women on their councils. The Klingons are traditionally patriarchal, but by the time of TNG, a female warrior holds roughly the same positions as a male, and to disrespect one just because she was female would be looked upon unfavorably.
- Like Michael Dorn, Patrick Masset (Duras) mispronounces the Klingon word Ha'DibaH (animal) as ha'bidah.
- This episode was directed by Jonathan Frakes.

Red deaths: 0
To date: 0
Gold deaths: 0
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Blue deaths: 0
To date: 0
Unnamed color crew deaths: 0
To date: 11,000

Obnoxious Wes moments: 0
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Legitimate Wes moments when he should have told someone to go fuck themselves: 0
To date: 0

Sassy Geordi moments: 0
To date: 0

Sassy Wes Moments: 0
To date: 0

Sassy Worf Moment: 0
To date: 2

Sassy Riker Moments: 0
To date: 2

Sassy Picard Moments: 1
To date: 4

Sassy NPC Moments: 0
To date: 0
Sassy Data Moments: 0
To date: 1
Sassy O'Brien Moments: 0
To date: 0
Sassy Crusher Moments: 0
To date: 1
Sassy Troi Moments: 0
To date: 1
Sassy Guest Star Moments: 2
To date: 2

Number of times that it is mentioned that Data is an android: 0
To date: 7

Number of times that Troi reacts to someone else's feelings: 0
To date: 6

Number of times that Geordi "looks at something" with his VISOR: 0
To date: 0
Number of times when Data gives too much info and has to be told to shut up: 0
To date: 1
Picard Maneuvers: 2
To date: 10
Tea, Earl Grey: 0
To date: 2

Oliver