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[HOUSE DIVIDED] Speculation on the future of the Klingon Empire
ultimatenewbie
Member Posts: 269 Arc User
I have recently returned from a 5-year hiatus, and have played the three House Divided arc story missions.
In summary, I thought there were quite a few shortcomings in the narrative that I went through more detail here.
However, to generate some discussion, I thought I would re-post my thoughts about where the Klingon story might be going, given there has only been three episodes in the last six months (this seems unusually slow to me - or has the release timetable changed since I've been gone?). Still, If the developers have outlined their expectations for the future of this arc then I've not seen it (would be happy for a redirect though!).
So, without any further ado:
Where to from here for the Klingon Empire - theorycrafting obviously
Anyway, the key thing here is that the end of these Klingon missions is that neither J'mpok nor J'Ula are worthy of being Chancellor/Emperor, and it remains clear that Martok does not want to be so again. I think the most obvious direction this is taking is that it is setting the pathway for the Klingon Empire to join the Federation.
I think it can be argued (and probably long has been) that the Klingons have long been an allegory for countries the United States has traditionally feared - and Japan and the Soviet Union/Russia in particular, on the basis that honour and family are central to Japanese culture, and the very heavy focus on military spending and the corruption arising from a small clique of unaccountable leaders are akin to the Soviet Union and politburo (see Praxis/ST VI Undiscovered Country coming out right after the fall of the Soviet Union).
On this basis, perhaps the direction the developers of STO are taking this is that the 'old ways' of the Klingon Empire being organised around great houses and those great houses coming together in a high council with a chancellor elected from amongst them is over - with the Federation as its traditional enemy/rival. It is inferred (maybe its in canon that I dont know) is that the current system is long-held, but was not always the case (given there was an Emperor Kahless at some point). As such, given there is noone left fit to lead in the current system, this could be the instigator for radical change and to overhaul the entire system.
It is similarly possible to argue that J'Ula's positioning for the old ways is the last gasp of radical conservatives that often indicates that radical change is about to occur - just as Japan's opening and modernisation was strongly resisted by the Samurai and traditionalists/conservatives, or perhaps the Soviet Union's collapse and transition to capitalism (though this fits less well). Usually change of this magnitude is forced upon countries/powers because they've just lost a major war, but in STO this damage could be all self-inflicted by the Klingon Empire. Still, even with the case of Japan, much of its culture was retained despite losing a major war - and this could be reflected in changes to the Klingon culture that endure (as we see Klingons as part of the Federation in various far-future episodes in the game, and also possibly in canon).
So, as an aside with a far lesser degree of confidence, this could also be an opportunity for some happy-clappy Picard-based developments of freedom for all, votes for all Klingons (not just the warrior caste, and not just noble houses), the end of feudalism and abolishing castes in the Klingon Empire. It also raises a lot of questions about Klingon-conquered planets - do they join the Federation too, do they get a choice, etc. What about the Gorn, Nausicans, Orions, Ferasi etc. STO could mine this bottomless pit of implementation difficulties for a few more story arcs. Rationale? Just as Future Proof and New Frontier arcs are about the Federation returning to exploring after major wars, the next Klingon arc could be about diplomacy and rebuilding (a bit like Picard's attempts with Romulus post-Hobus). Still, I am not convinced that the ST:Picard line is particularly valuable, but it is an opportunity to tie in such stuff if they wanted to. But again - please developers - give us options to nudge the outcome so that the player's decisions can be seen to matter (even if they are only at the margins like whether conquored planets are admitted separately so you dont need to break the storyline when talking about Klingons joining the Federation).
In a year or two when all that's done, STO can then look at going through a similar process with the Cardassians, Romulans and finally the logistical nightmare that would be the Dominion joining (as they would now have a template based on the Klingons).
And you could even have a couple of episodes of putting down some insurrections here and there, just to keep random battles going.
Thoughts?
In summary, I thought there were quite a few shortcomings in the narrative that I went through more detail here.
However, to generate some discussion, I thought I would re-post my thoughts about where the Klingon story might be going, given there has only been three episodes in the last six months (this seems unusually slow to me - or has the release timetable changed since I've been gone?). Still, If the developers have outlined their expectations for the future of this arc then I've not seen it (would be happy for a redirect though!).
So, without any further ado:
Where to from here for the Klingon Empire - theorycrafting obviously
Anyway, the key thing here is that the end of these Klingon missions is that neither J'mpok nor J'Ula are worthy of being Chancellor/Emperor, and it remains clear that Martok does not want to be so again. I think the most obvious direction this is taking is that it is setting the pathway for the Klingon Empire to join the Federation.
I think it can be argued (and probably long has been) that the Klingons have long been an allegory for countries the United States has traditionally feared - and Japan and the Soviet Union/Russia in particular, on the basis that honour and family are central to Japanese culture, and the very heavy focus on military spending and the corruption arising from a small clique of unaccountable leaders are akin to the Soviet Union and politburo (see Praxis/ST VI Undiscovered Country coming out right after the fall of the Soviet Union).
On this basis, perhaps the direction the developers of STO are taking this is that the 'old ways' of the Klingon Empire being organised around great houses and those great houses coming together in a high council with a chancellor elected from amongst them is over - with the Federation as its traditional enemy/rival. It is inferred (maybe its in canon that I dont know) is that the current system is long-held, but was not always the case (given there was an Emperor Kahless at some point). As such, given there is noone left fit to lead in the current system, this could be the instigator for radical change and to overhaul the entire system.
It is similarly possible to argue that J'Ula's positioning for the old ways is the last gasp of radical conservatives that often indicates that radical change is about to occur - just as Japan's opening and modernisation was strongly resisted by the Samurai and traditionalists/conservatives, or perhaps the Soviet Union's collapse and transition to capitalism (though this fits less well). Usually change of this magnitude is forced upon countries/powers because they've just lost a major war, but in STO this damage could be all self-inflicted by the Klingon Empire. Still, even with the case of Japan, much of its culture was retained despite losing a major war - and this could be reflected in changes to the Klingon culture that endure (as we see Klingons as part of the Federation in various far-future episodes in the game, and also possibly in canon).
So, as an aside with a far lesser degree of confidence, this could also be an opportunity for some happy-clappy Picard-based developments of freedom for all, votes for all Klingons (not just the warrior caste, and not just noble houses), the end of feudalism and abolishing castes in the Klingon Empire. It also raises a lot of questions about Klingon-conquered planets - do they join the Federation too, do they get a choice, etc. What about the Gorn, Nausicans, Orions, Ferasi etc. STO could mine this bottomless pit of implementation difficulties for a few more story arcs. Rationale? Just as Future Proof and New Frontier arcs are about the Federation returning to exploring after major wars, the next Klingon arc could be about diplomacy and rebuilding (a bit like Picard's attempts with Romulus post-Hobus). Still, I am not convinced that the ST:Picard line is particularly valuable, but it is an opportunity to tie in such stuff if they wanted to. But again - please developers - give us options to nudge the outcome so that the player's decisions can be seen to matter (even if they are only at the margins like whether conquored planets are admitted separately so you dont need to break the storyline when talking about Klingons joining the Federation).
In a year or two when all that's done, STO can then look at going through a similar process with the Cardassians, Romulans and finally the logistical nightmare that would be the Dominion joining (as they would now have a template based on the Klingons).
And you could even have a couple of episodes of putting down some insurrections here and there, just to keep random battles going.
Thoughts?
Post edited by baddmoonrizin on
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This discussion has been closed.
Comments
I dunno, I dont mind it - particularly if it was a bit more like a reverse-takeover.
I think the Federation allows the Klingons enough space to maintain their culture in all the key ways:
Still, there are also arguments about why you'd want them close but separate, including because you can use them as shock troops to do the things you cant do like stand toe to toe with the Jem Hadar, or commit what you would consider atrocities and war crimes against a common enemy, etc. But such an arrangement would still mean no voice for conquered peoples, or rights for low-caste peoples, etc.
The klingons were always going to join the federation eventually. IN game its already been done, we know that by the 26th century the Klingons and romulans are federation members. (I think it makes sense logically, and Gene Roddenberry ALWAYS intended for them to eventually join the federation)
Never made a lick of sense to me, not to mention it actually means less variety in the end. As for Roddenberry, bah; the man was a crackpot. Star Trek succeeded in spite of him.
so what you're saying is that Gene was more like the Borg?
The Klingons are going to join the federation as seen in the temporal arc and in the availability of the Titan to all factions.
Only question remaining is which steps are going to be taken in mean time.
Personally i think it would be entertaining if J'mpok entered into an alliance with the True Way remnants to create the Klingon-Cardassians Alliance.
People cared enough to comment on it and that's good enough, it's a really good tread BTW, I don't think anyone knew how to keep the conversion going.
J'mpok could be an interesting recurring villain, he's cunning but he hides it very well, unlike J'Ula who happens to Sela 2.0, J'mpok could be Klingon Hakeev.
> Hakeev was more over the top then even Sela was. If anything, J'ula is Hakeev 2.0, and J'mpok is Sela 2.0
Indeed if you ran thru the romulan starting experience or the related romulan specific missions you always track Hakeev thru teeth marks he left from chewing the scenery so much. 🙂
Furthermore, I'm quite certain that was the whole intent of the arc from the start of it.
It all relates back to the deal with the SAG to get cast members to do voiceovers. They can do it now, and figure it draws players. I certainly wouldn't mind seeing Martok being the one leading the Empire going forward.
J'ula even said it it in one of the earlier episodes of the arc, that Martok was the rightful chancellor and J'mpok had stolen the position dishonorably. She knows they'll never accept her in the position, but Martok? Especially on finding out EVERYONE would support it, including the Federation and the Romulans.
> so what you're saying is that Gene was more like the Borg?
To a degree yeah, though he was more "everyone must have 100% same values as I do" then hivemind but still.
> rattler2 gets it perfectly right.
>
> Furthermore, I'm quite certain that was the whole intent of the arc from the start of it.
>
> It all relates back to the deal with the SAG to get cast members to do voiceovers. They can do it now, and figure it draws players. I certainly wouldn't mind seeing Martok being the one leading the Empire going forward.
>
> J'ula even said it it in one of the earlier episodes of the arc, that Martok was the rightful chancellor and J'mpok had stolen the position dishonorably. She knows they'll never accept her in the position, but Martok? Especially on finding out EVERYONE would support it, including the Federation and the Romulans.
The question is could Cryptic afford to have Martok in that role, actors won't work for free after all.
That said and assuming rhey can afford it, I suspect we'll return more or less to the status quo prior to J'Ula's involvement in the story just with Martok as chancellor, as that demands the least smount of work while still making sense.
Since while Martok has enough friends in UFP to not antagonize them for lolz, he's enough of patriot that Klingon Empire will remain independent.
Thanks, I appreciate it!
Bravo, love it.
They certainly can afford him enough to do a lot more lines in the current story arc, can't see a few mission giving/cutscene lines being more expensive than that.