S05.E21: Soldiers of the Empire

[John Potts]

Quote

Dax and Worf accompany Martok on his first command since being held by the Dominion. But the ship they are given hasn't seen victory in months and the crew is near mutinous.

Or "How General Martok got his Groove Back." A fairly interesting look at what Klingon society is like from the inside, with its ritualised challenge structure. Also, binge watching the episodes, you realise how soon this is after General Martok's imprisonment by the Dominion so it's understandable that he is suspicious of every seemingly easy target and so unwilling to take any risks in battle - and to quote von Clausewitz, "He who cannot risk, cannot win." It's not surprising the crew has no faith in him, when he seems to have lost faith in himself.

Given the crew was grousing at having to cover Worf's job while he was away, you do have to wonder how much more were complaining when they learnt they'll have to cover Jadzia's job as well. And you do have to wonder exactly what Sisko/Starfleet would say if Worf's challenge had gone awry and he'd accidentally killed Martok (I know he was throwing the fight, but they were battling with real weapons and accidents happen) - given tensions between the Federation and the Klingons, it seems unlikely they'd accept a "Whoops! My bad!" from Worf as an explanation, however ritualised the challenge was.

[readster]

Yeah, I also loved how we got such a deeper look into Klingon culture in this episode. They weren't all stared for battle or wanting gigantic glory. They were people trying to make their way in life and they were at war. Plus, it was a nice start for Martok to begin his journey to what I thought was a very satisfying conclusion when we got to the last episode. As this episode started which lead to my favorite line by him by the end of the series: "I am not a politician, funny how life turns out."

[iMonrey]

I just don't find the Klingon-centered episodes particularly engaging. But I do find it interesting that once in awhile we run across a Klingon who's far less uptight than Worf is. Tavana (the female on the crew) actually seemed to have a sense of humor, as do some of the others that pop up from time to time. Which means Worf is just a stick in the mud because that's his personality, not necessarily because he's a Klingon.

Also, when Worf first joined DS9, he was officially appointed as some sort of Federation liaison.  He's not supposed to be the head of security, that's Odo's job. But it seems like the writers frequently forget what his official capacity on the space station was supposed to be.

[The Crazed Spruce]

9 hours ago, iMonrey said:

But I do find it interesting that once in awhile we run across a Klingon who's far less uptight than Worf is. Tavana (the female on the crew) actually seemed to have a sense of humor, as do some of the others that pop up from time to time. Which means Worf is just a stick in the mud because that's his personality, not necessarily because he's a Klingon.

The guy who runs SF Debris has a great explanation for that. You see, he was raised on Earth, and has spent his life trying to live up to what he saw as the image of the ideal Klingon warrior. But since he lived apart from that society, his education was incomplete. He has the knowledge of the culture, but not the flavour. It's kinda like learning French from books and tapes, rather than by growing up just outside of Paris.

[Maverick]

 Worf all but says this in Let He Who Is Without Sin when he and Dax have a heart-to-heart about why Worf acts like he has a pain stick up his ass all the time. 

[rmontro]

On 7/5/2017 at 1:08 PM, iMonrey said:

I just don't find the Klingon-centered episodes particularly engaging. But I do find it interesting that once in awhile we run across a Klingon who's far less uptight than Worf is. Tavana (the female on the crew) actually seemed to have a sense of humor, as do some of the others that pop up from time to time. Which means Worf is just a stick in the mud because that's his personality, not necessarily because he's a Klingon.

Jadzia makes a statement that not all Klingons are the same, that they have personalities that are as highly individualized as anyone else, that some are strong and some are weak, etc.  That's an interesting statement, but with all due respect to her, we haven't really been shown that.  Most Klingons we've seen on the Trek series have fallen into a certain mold, or you might even say stereotype.

I expected this episode to have a lot of action, but instead it was all about the interpersonal relationships within the ship.  And it made for a much better episode than I was expecting.  This would be a good example of the difference between Star Trek and Star Wars.  The only ship to ship battle in the story takes place offscreen.