Changes: Reunion (episode)

Revision as of 16:59, 2 January 2007

Ambassador K'Ehleyr arrives on the Enterprise with Alexander, Worf's son.

Summary

To facilitate the succession of the new ruler of the Klingon Empire, K'mpec travels with Ambassador K'Ehleyr to assign Captain Picard as the Arbiter of Succession, who must decide, among two candidates, who will rule the Empire next. The two candidates are Gowron, a relative neophyte in political affairs, and Duras, who once before attempted to defame Lt. Worf's family honor by accusing his father, Mogh, of collaborating with Romulans. There is more to this proceeding than meets the eye, as K'mpec wants Picard to determine, of these two men, which one has poisoned him.

If that were not enough to put the ship on edge, K'Ehleyr has brought her and Worf's son, Alexander with her, which causes Worf quite a bit of distress as he does not know how to care for him as he should be. Worf finds Alexander in school playing very roughly with the other children, and they have a discussion about why there are no other Klingons on the ship. Alexander claims that he has no wish to become a warrior.

K'Ehleyr knows Worf would have insisted that he take the oath of marriage with her if he knew about Alexander, so she hid Alexander's existence from Worf. Worf has always wanted to marry K'Ehleyr, but cannot acknowledge that Alexander is his son, as to do so would confer the dishonor Worf bears upon his discommendation onto Alexander and his children, should he have any. They have a brief discussion about this, before Riker calls them both to the bridge.

Duras and Gowron have arrived in their warships Vorn and Buruk. Duras speaks first and expresses his disbelief and disapproval of K'mpec's choice of Picard as Arbiter. Picard ignores this slight, and announces that the Sonchi ceremony, which consists of poking K'mpec's corpse with painstiks to confirm that he is truly dead, will take place in one hour. Duras bristles at the appearance of Worf on the Bridge and warns Picard to keep Worf far from the proceedings, but the statement was only intended to rattle Worf, and it succeeded. Picard arranges to notify Gowron of the schedule, and calls Worf into his ready room.

Picard says that he sympathizes with Worf in his discomfort, and Worf expresses gratitude. Worf puts forth his opinion right away that Duras should not lead the Council, as he is a traitor for what his father, Ja'rod, did. Picard has a human sensibility about this, however, as he says he cannot blame the child for what the father has done. He will not forget Duras's true crime, which was laying the blame for the betrayal at Worf's father's feet. Worf did choose to accept the consequences, however. Picard reveals to Worf that K'mpec asked Picard to investigate who killed him. Worf knows little of Gowron, but claims that Duras's heart is not Klingon.

At the Sonchi ceremony aboard K'mpec's ship, K'ehleyr introduces Picard to Gowron, and assures Picard it will only take as long as it takes to prove that K'mpec is really dead; it's only a tradition. Duras enters with two cowering bodyguards, one carrying his painstik for him. He sneers at Gowron and then glares at Picard and K'Ehleyr, who is standing with her painstik at ceremonial attention as she hands it off to Picard. Picard grasps it with both hands and moves to the front of K'mpec's body. "Qab jIH nagil," each participant says as he drives his painstik into K'mpec, some with more vehemence than others (Picard does so very lightly and tastefully; Gowron twists and lingers a bit longer, grinning as he hands off to his bodyguard; Duras says the ceremonial phrase with relish as he drives hardest of all), and finally K'Ehleyr steps in front of the corpse and says, "Sonchi."

Duras urges Picard to complete the Rite of Succession as it is obvious he and Gowron are the two challengers, but Picard insists he will proceed according to Klingon law. Gowron questions him; Picard ignores it and states they will reconvene on the Enterprise-D; Duras shouts that he must finish it here; suddenly, a bright flash illuminates the command deck of the Klingon ship; a bomb has exploded!

K'Ehleyr reports to Worf on the explosion, and tosses off the casualties very lightly; Worf claims it is his duty to be concerned about K'Ehleyr, but K'Ehleyr knows different, and she says she thought about telling Worf about Alexander even though they'd have to take "the oath"; she remembers that Worf says that when K'Ehleyr left, he would never be complete without her. She realizes now that the feeling is mutual, and with an endearing smirk says that Worf is a part of her. Worf steels himself and walks slowly toward K'Ehleyr; he takes her hair in his rough hand as he glowers at her and says, "jIH dok!" K'Ehleyr replies with the same gesture, and "maj dok..." They look like they're about to kiss, but Worf backs down and says he does not wish either K'Ehleyr or Alexander to suffer his humiliation. Worf further states he cannot take the oath with K'Ehleyr, nor can he claim her son. There are still great feelings there, but he is not willing to acknowledge them. K'Ehleyr suggests that Worf be Alexander's friend, if not his father. Worf smiles and nods.

Picard is briefing K'Ehleyr in his ready room; Dr. Crusher is still studying the remains of the men who were killed; he needs more time. Duras and Gowron are set to arrive any minute, but Picard seeks a way to stretch out the proceedings in order that Dr. Crusher might complete her work. K'Ehleyr suggests that in the old form of the Rite of Succession, there was a ceremonial collection of honors and accomplishments known as the ja'chuq, which would take hours, if not days, to perform correctly under modern rules and for such decorated men as Duras and Gowron. Picard will go with that. As K'Ehleyr is leaving, it suddenly occurs to her to ask Picard about Worf's discommendation; as Picard was the defender at the hearing, so to speak, he would know the most, naturally. Picard says, no dice; he will not discuss it even with Worf's mate. K'ehleyr expected as much; she would have to do some digging of her own.

Duras is impatient to set a new Council leader (preferably himself) so he can kill Gowron; Duras calls Gowron a nasty name, to which Gowron responds that Duras will die... slowly. Duras insinuates that Gowron was the one who planted the bomb; both of them stand up and prepare to get it on, but Picard silences them with a "mev yap! (Enough!)" He orders them to sit, which they do, Gowron still grinning smugly. Picard is all business as he outlines what will happen over the next few days; the ja'chuq. Duras claims the ja'chuq is outmoded, but Picard has decided, and instructs Duras and Gowron to perform the collation of their battles and accomplishments.

In Worf's quarters, Alexander asks about the bat'leth, which is the traditional sword of the Klingons. Alexander tries to swing it around, but Worf suggests he hold it as an extension of his body, demonstrating with a few positions. In the Conference Lounge, K'Ehleyr is approached by Gowron and asked to speed the ja'chuq, which K'Ehleyr explores only for the potential of revealing more about Gowron. Gowron offers her a seat on the Council, and mentions opportunities that may show themselves... only, K'Ehleyr notes, if Gowron is elected. She compares Gowron's posturing to that of a Ferengi, and is obviously disgusted by it. Gowron issues a rather thinly veiled threat about K'mpec's stubbornness being similar to K'Ehleyr's... she responds with the truth; that K'mpec was old and weak and she is most definitely not. Gowron chuckles as he leaves her... What is she doing there?

Data and Geordi La Forge, in Engineering, report to Riker about their analysis of the bomb debris; the explosive was a triceron derivative, and a very small one. The detonator, molecular decay, was of the type used by only one race... Romulans.

Picard, in the observation lounge, ponders with the senior staff as to how Romulans could plant a bomb on a Klingon ship; Worf and K'Ehleyr suggest an inside man, and it couldn't be more obvious whom they're suspecting. But the others must mull the possibility that Gowron may be in on it instead... K'Ehleyr brings up the fact that he came to her alone and tried to bribe her; it's not a Romulan thing but they both have evidence against them. At Picard's request, Worf will be at the next meeting with the two candidates; Picard hopes they might slip up and reveal a sensitive item of interest.

K'Ehleyr begins her independent research into the last mission to Qo'noS, which saw Worf's discommendation; we don't know why she wants this information; maybe it is just personal. She is only into the ship's records now, but sooner or later, someone will notice her snooping.

Gowron announces the conclusion of his part of the ja'chuq with a hearty "jIH DOQ... batlh!" and bows to Picard. Picard informs Gowron and Duras that there will be a recess while the petitions of both are reviewed; Gowron at least seems to accept this and stands up, perhaps to return to his ship, but Picard wants to discuss the findings of the bomb investigation. Gowron's was woefully incomplete, as was Duras's, so Picard calls in Worf to reveal the Enterprise's results. As expected his presence rattles both Duras and Gowron; with great relish at his effect on them, Worf reads out the results as reported by La Forge and Data. At the mention of the molecular-decay detonator, Duras jumps up and claims he needs to verify that, and Gowron says he will do the same, with a glare of absolute death at Duras. To assist the proceedings, Picard orders Worf to forward the test results to both the Vorn and Buruk and to the High Council as well.

K'Ehleyr's investigations proceed into ever more dangerous territory as she hacks into the Klingon Imperial information network, using her own information to login and requesting High Council access. When she hits a block on her search about Khitomer, she goes to Duras' records to try to find a clue.

One of Duras's aides shows Duras a message from Qo'noS about K'Ehleyr's attempts to get more information about him and his connection to Khitomer, and Duras decides to confront K'Ehleyr about it. While the aide distracts the guard, Duras slips off to K'Ehleyr's quarters. A brief, heated discussion follows; it seems that the evidence about the Khitomer massacre was altered to show Mogh, Worf's father, as the traitor, when it was really Ja'rod. Duras is not happy at all that K'Ehleyr has discovered this.

Dr. Crusher talks with Riker in Sickbay about the bomb; one of the men who died was with Gowron, the other with Duras. The bomb was very hard to locate, but Dr. Crusher figured it out; it was implanted in the forearm of the man who was with Duras.

Alexander and Worf stroll through the corridor outside K'Ehleyr's quarters and enter only to find pink blood everywhere and K'Ehleyr herself sprawled on an ottoman. Worf signals a medical emergency and cradles K'Ehleyr; with her last words she fingers Duras as the one who gutted her. She last expresses concern for Alexander, joins their hands in hers, then dies. Worf howls as part of the death ritual; Alexander almost runs right out the door and into the opposite bulkhead but stops short. Worf eases K'Ehleyr to the floor as he beckons to Alexander. Worf asks Alexander if he has ever seen death. Alexander shakes his head in the negative; Worf points to K'ehleyr's body and says to look, and always remember. Dr. Crusher and a male nurse come in and scan K'Ehleyr's body; Dr. Crusher begins to ask when Worf found K'Ehleyr, but he is already out the door, having instructed Alexander to stay with Crusher.

In his quarters, Worf removes his baldric sash and communicator and takes his bat'leth down from the wall; he's on a mission.

It doesn't take an autopsy to reveal what killed K'ehleyr; "multiple stab wounds to the chest and abdomen" indeed. Crusher reveals that Worf took off right after Crusher arrived; Riker tries paging him with the communicator, even asks the computer, and learns that Worf beamed onto the Vorn a short time ago.

Worf, with cold fury in his gait and eyes, stalks through the light onto the bridge of the Vorn; one of Duras's crew announces that Worf has claimed the right of vengeance. Duras repeats the crossed-arms/back-turning that he did back in the council chamber a year ago. Worf furiously bursts out that K'Ehleyr was his mate. Duras didn't know that, nor does he care much, only that he must answer this challenge even if it's from a P'tak like this. He draws his sword, straight-edged, from the bulkhead and takes a fighting stance.

Riker and Data march toward the Transporter discussing what to do if Worf resists, and they set their phasers on maximum stun.

A vicious fight is on on the bridge of the Vorn. Worf smacks Duras with an open fist when he gets too close, and they clash with their swords, and Duras claims he is the only one who can prove Worf's innocence. If Worf kills Duras, he will be a traitor forever. Worf is not dissuaded, and butts Duras on the chin with the flat edge of his bat'leth, knocking him over. Riker and Data burst in, but too late; with a flourish Worf runs Duras through with the business end of his bat'leth. Breathing hard, Worf just stands there, sensing that a rebuke is coming, if not from Riker, from his Captain.

Indeed, one comes. Worf reminds Picard that he acted under Klingon law, but Picard tells Worf that while the Klingons do indeed consider the matter closed, when people sign on to Starfleet, they agree to abide by the laws of the Federation, including the one against murder, and if they can't abide by them then they should resign. Worf doesn't wish to resign, and Picard notes that Worf has been an exemplary officer to this point, and Picard is extremely disappointed in Worf. Picard notes the rebuke on Worf's service record, but sympathizes with Worf about K'Ehleyr's death. He asks Worf if it is time to come out with what really happened at Khitomer, being that Worf only accepted discommendation to allow the Council to save face while Duras was alive; now that their family has no more power on the High Council, Gowron might be willing to accept him back into Klingon society. Not yet, says Worf, but the day will come when he will tell all.

Alexander and Worf talk briefly about their loss, and Worf finally admits that he is Alexander's father. The two hug, and the Enterprise moves on through infinity.

Background Information

This episode marks the first appearances of Gowron (Robert O'Reilly) and Alexander Rozhenko (Jon Steuer) on the series and the deaths of K'Ehleyr (Suzie Plakson), Duras (Patrick Massett) and Chancellor K'mpec (Charles Cooper).

This is the only episode in which Alexander Rozhenko is played by Jon Steuer. In all subsequent episodes of the series, he was played by Brian Bonsall. James Sloyan played a future version of him in "Firstborn" and Marc Worden played him in DS9: "Sons and Daughters" and "You Are Cordially Invited...".

This episode also marks the first appearance of the Vor'cha-class attack cruiser, the first Klingon vessel designed for any of the spin-off series. Earlier episodes had reused footage or models of the K't'inga-class battle cruiser or the Klingon bird-of-prey built for the movies.

In 1999, Ronald D. Moore would write "Tacking Into the Wind", the episode in which Worf kills Gowron and makes Martok Chancellor.

Discrepancies

When Gowron meets with Ambassador K'Ehleyr in the Enterprise Observation Lounge to ask her to quicken the ja'chuq, he offers her "a seat on the council.". In TNG: "Redemption, Part I" however, he tells Picard, that women may not serve on the Klingon High Council.

Links and References

Unnamed Klingons

References

2367; Arbiter of Succession; bat'leth; Buruk, IKS; class-1 probe; Ferengi; Gamma Arigulon system; House of Duras; ja'chuq; Klingon Bird-of-Prey; Klingon Empire; Klingon Imperial information net; LaSalle, USS; molecular decay detonator; Pah doQ cha; Painstik; Rite of Succession; Romulan; Rozhenko, Helena; Rozhenko, Sergey; sonchi ceremony; Starbase 73; stasis unit; Tholians; Treaty of Alliance; triceron; veridium Six; Vor'cha-class; Vorn, IKS; Yan.

Previous episode:
Legacy

Star Trek: The Next Generation
Season 4

Next episode:
Future Imperfect

@@ Line 101: / Line 101: @@
 *In [[1999 productions|1999]], [[Ronald D. Moore]] would write "[[Tacking Into the Wind]]", the episode in which [[Worf]] kills Gowron and makes [[Martok]] [[Klingon Chancellor|Chancellor]].
+==Discrepancies==
 * When [[Gowron]] meets with Ambassador [[K'Ehleyr]] in the ''Enterprise'' Observation Lounge to ask her to quicken the [[ja'chuq]], he offers her "''a seat on the council.''". In [[TNG]]: "[[Redemption|Redemption, Part I]]" however, he tells [[Jean-Luc Picard|Picard]], that women may not serve on the Klingon High Council.