[TNG] ST:TNC - Rightful Heir

[Phil Kernick]

Episode: 249
Title: Rightful Heir
Stardate: 46852.2
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Wakey, wakey, rise and shine. It's time for another happy day at Camp
Enterprise. Instructor Riker is here. Instructor Data is here.
Instructor Worf... is not here. Oh where, oh where can our little Worf
be? In his quarters and not responding to a polite wake up call.
"Something's wrong" cries Laughing Boy, "he's never late!" To cope
with any possible emergency, he grabs a couple of security goons and
rushes down to see him. Oh no, has Worf become a hippy? His quarters
are filled with smoke and candles, and he's chanting maniacally!

Picard comes to see him. Captain Conciliatory to the rescue... or
maybe not. He gives Worf the harshest dressing down we've ever seen.
"You have crossed that line" he yells. It's explanation time... A
simple thing really, Worf feels spiritually empty. He was trying to
summon a vision of Kahless as he has lost his faith in the hereafter.
"Why didn't you say so?" beams Picard, "You are now on leave, go
explore your spirituality!" Blarrgh! I knew that assertive attitude
couldn't last.

Welcome to Borath, religious centre for the Klingon race. Please be
sure to visit the extensive lava caves, and don't miss out on our
impressive displays of smoke, fire and chanting...

Despite ten days of chanting, fasting, and breathing smoke, Worf still
hasn't had a genuine vision, while several others have! It must be
like looking at the MagicEyeTM pictures - either you can do it or you
can't. Despondent and ready to quit, the clerics tell him to open his
heart to Kahless. I've heard that somewhere before. Now try again, and
this time with spirit... He did it! Yay! But wait, you want more, you
got it - it's not just a vision, it's real! "I am Kahless and I have
returned."

But is he real, or just a Klingon Jim Baker asking for millions or the
Lord will call him back? He knows the sacred legends of how the
batlekh was forged - a story passed down orally from cleric to cleric,
and he certainly looks like Kahless, but looks can be deceiving. Worf
is unconvinced. His tricorder shows that Kahless really is a Klingon,
and not a shapeshifter or a holograph, and he really wants to
believe...

Quick someone call a taxi, this deity needs to get back to the
homeworld as fast as he can! Couldn't he just spirit himself back
there in a particularly supernatural fashion? Perhaps not, and in any
case the Enterprise is nearby with nothing to do. Having only one
Klingon leader onboard would be boring though, so Gowron drops in for
a cup of tea... and a lynching of the imposter!

He's also brought a secret weapon - a sacred dagger soaked in the real
Kahless' blood! Rather than stick it in the supposed imposter and
recoat the blade, he has Dr Crusher do a genetic comparison of the
blood stain and Kahless. The results are in - they are identical! How
can this be? Gowron insists that it is just a ploy for the Guardians
to seize power, and he asks Worf for his support. Too late - Brother
Worf has been born again!

Kahless shuns Gowron, and tells him not to stand in the way. Angered,
and in true Klingon fashion Gowron pulls out a knife and challenges
"the greatest warrior of them all". You put your left foot in, you put
your left foot out, you pull your dagger out and you smash him in the
snout... Gowron wins! Only Worf stops him from sinking the blade.

Worf is now un-born again, and this time he's mad too. "You should
die" he screams at Kahless, "and if you don't explain I will kill you
right here!" I like Klingons, they have such a simple philosophy. The
truth is finally revealed - it is Kahless, technically. The guardians
cloned him from a sample of the original, and then imprinted specific
memories. Not a bad trick. This just seems to confuse Kahless.

Gowron is victorious! He plans to kill Kahless and the clerics for
heresy, but once again Worf stops him. While he can kill the body, he
can't kill the idea of Kahless' return, and that could still plunge
the empire into civil war. Worf the diplomat proposes an alternate
solution - install Kahless as the Klingon emperor. That way he will be
the spiritual leader, and the real power will remain with Gowron and
the council. "It is acceptable" says Kahless, as Gowron finally kneels
before him.

Roll credits...
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Despite being largely character development for Worf, I actually liked
it. The saga of Klingon politics has been one of the few ongoing plot
lines, and again has been done well. It adds some structure to that
which otherwise could be considered largely unconnected fluff...
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This review is Copyright © 1995, Phil Kernick.
Permission is granted for anyone to electronically distribute it -
details available on request.

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