Sci-fi is a way to dealing with contemporary problems by using allegory. For many Americans, no greater series accomplished this than the various Star Trek series. The one constant, from NCC-1701 to NCC-74656, was the presence of the most proud of proud warrior races, the powerful Klingon Empire.
The Klingon Empire — Star Trek
The first appearance of a Klingon warriors was the episode Errand of Mercy. On a mission to a neutral planet to prevent the increasingly hostile Klingons from using it as a forward base, Kirk and crew come into conflict with the Klingon leader Kor. Trying to warn the planet's population about the dangers of the Klingon Empire, Kirk attempts to sway the planet’s elders into warning on what the Klingons are capable of.
- “Gentlemen, I have seen what the Klingons do to planets like yours. They are organized into vast slave labor camps! No freedoms, whatsoever. Your goods will be confiscated, hostages taken, killed, your leaders confined. You’d be far better off on a penal planet, infinitely better off.”
To the audiences of 1960s America, it was little mental struggle to make a connection from the Klingon Empire to the imposing and massive Soviet Union, lording over Eastern Europe and spreading communism through South America and Southeast Asia. The allegory becomes even more heavy when Klingon leader Kor states that violation of the new Klingon laws, even the smallest ones, will result in death for the local population. They outright force a disguised Kirk to act as their mouthpiece, and even have a means of finding the truth via a “mind sifter” to determine who he is, and even after interrogating Spock consider the Vulcan an “enemy alien”. Kor even espouses one of the common communist philosophies.
- “Do you know why we are so strong? Because we are a unit. Each of us is part of a greater whole, always under surveillance. Even a commander like myself, always under surveillance captain.”
Over the course of the original series, the Klingons continue to be the stand-in for the Soviets, with both the Federation and Empire engaged in a running struggle between their two ideologies. Even in neutral locations the Klingons and Federation come to blows, such as the favorite episode The Trouble with Tribbles where the Klingons press all of Scotty’s buttons in the right way to get the engineer to swing. To the Federation it is a needless struggle, but to the Klingons it is a glorious test, a battle to find the superior beings.
By the era of Capt. Jean-Luc Picard, the Klingon Empire had changed. The lynchpin of the Klingon economy was crippled after the destruction of the moon of Praxis. After the annihilation of Klingon colonists on Khitomer and rescue of the only survivors by the Federation, the Khitomer Accords soon brought the first peaceful relations between the Empire and Federation. Though still prickly towards the Federation, the ice had thawed.
The greatest sign of this was the presence of the Klingon Starfleet officer Worf, son of Mogh. Raised by human parents after the death of his family on Khitomer, Worf presented both a mixture of the Klingon warrior culture and the advancements of the Federation. He proudly wore the mark of his house, while still following the orders of his superiors to the best of his abilities.
Mirroring the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Klingon high council soon finds itself in crisis. The old rulers have lost control, or have actively been acting to sabotage the Federation and Empire by selling themselves out as agents. The mighty fleet had become the Klingon Defense Force, and while still an empire was ruled by a chancellor. Civil war soon erupted over succession, and as Klingon fought Klingon the territories were circled by vultures like the Romulans and Cardassians. Even at the end of the civil war, the Klingons were still willing to strike and fight against their enemies. The Great Houses continually sniped at each other, leading to a constant redirection of hostility outwards to prevent further civil wars. Where there was once a mighty empire, what remained was a shadow of former glories.
Eventually, the mightly Klingon Empire was no longer a great threat. Riven by internal conflicts and now allies with the Federation, the Klingon “menace” was soon overshadowed by others. Compared to the isolationist Romulans, the expansionist Cardassians, the mechanical Borg, and the zealotry of the Dominion, the great warriors of the Klingon Empire soon became not enemy, but memory.
Reality: As mentioned, the Klingons were the Soviet Union IN SPACE! Their military expansionism, their harsh rule over non-Klingons, and their hatred of traitors all allowed the American people to watch their enemies through a looking glass. Yet simultaneously, the conflicts between the Klingon and Federation were considered needless and harmful to anyone involved. Following the internal divisions of the Empire, their weakness was not enough to destroy them, and in time they found new leadership capable of stabilizing their government and providing for their people.
Unfortunately for us, the fall of the Soviets has not led to a Federation-Klingon treaty. Instead of coming back from their government’s dissolution having faced their darkest faces, they have come under the thumb of men who would be more alike to the Romulans or Cardassians. Rulers who would kill their own subjects to preserve their own power. Men who, as the Klingons would state with anger, are “Without honor.”
I personally haven’t seen what happened to the Empire with Star Trek: Discovery yet, but I can only presume that the Klingon Empire is once more an allegory for modern threats, allowing the American public to once more learn how to wrangle with their enemies via proxy.
Next week, we’ll talk about a villain who changed from mad genius to maddeningly ingenious.