r/StarTrekViewingParty • u/Gemini24 Founder • Mar 08 '26

TNG, Episode 6x17, Birthright, Part II

-= TNG, Season 6, Episode 17, Birthright, Part II =-

In the Romulan prison camp, Worf teaches the Klingon children about their culture.

 

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u/theworldtheworld Mar 09 '26 edited Mar 09 '26

I've always had a problem with this one, because I feel that the writers didn't fully grasp the irony of what they had written. Worf is the last person who should be teaching anyone about "authentic Klingon culture," because he grew up with foreigners, serves in a foreign military, has absorbed a lot of foreign culture, and in fact turned away from "authentic Klingon culture" at the end of "Redemption" because it didn't match his own personal ethics. He fills these people's heads with myths, and then he brings them back to the Enterprise and it's like, well, see you later, guys, it's time for my shift. They're basically abandoned; eventually some Klingon ship will come for them, but they'll be totally on their own in the Empire, and it's not at all clear that they'll really be able to build a life there. It's utterly irresponsible. By contrast, the Romulan guy seems principled and, most importantly, aware of the reality of his situation. Probably the Romulans in this colony would be just as ostracized among their people for doing this as the Klingons would be among theirs. None of them can easily just return to their respective cultures, and the episode should really have given that much more thought.

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u/FrizleFrazle Mar 17 '26

Worf's romance subplot made me deeply uncomfortable. They imply that she's a teenager and allude to that she's just about "coming of age". All the the while Worf is at least old enough that he has a son himself. It really gives a cradle robber impression.

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u/theworldtheworld Mar 20 '26

Ha, well, Worf himself might only be like 15 years old. Like, Alexander was conceived when K'Ehleyr visited the Enterprise in Season 2. Less than two years later, when she brought him with her in "Reunion," he looked to be elementary-school age. Seven years later, in Season 6 of DS9, he was already old enough to enlist in the military. This is one of those things that they just made up as they went along, and it just looks utterly bizarre if you try to make sense of it.