Star Trek and History (12 page)

This is another key quality of the trickster in mythology: Anansi, Loki, and Coyote are all constantly (and literally) changing. None of them has a predictable mode of behavior, and each of them will take on a different disposition depending on his ultimate goal in each particular story. They are mercurial (a word that references another merry trickster, Mercury), and just when you think you've mapped out their moves, they decide to change the song they had you dancing to. No wonder Q has no real name. Names imply identity, and they often seem to define a person and his or her limitations. They can also be used to trace his or her life in some way (surnames refer to long-dead ancestors, for instance). But this cosmic rogue who constantly plagues Picard (and others) is simply Q of the Q. He has a friend named Q and an enemy named Q, and in one story he encounters a criminal he wishes to cage, also named Q.

Q's next several stories are of a different nature entirely. In one, he is punished by his race and turned into a human being, leading to a very interesting lesson in humanity from Lt. Data, the android who longs to be like his mortal comrades. In another story, he forces the
Enterprise
senior officers to live out an adventure from Robin Hood, seemingly out of amusement and as a way of helping Picard with romance. He then appears on
Deep Space Nine
in a comedic episode clearly meant to display how Commander Sisko deals with Q very differently from how Picard ever did or would. Although later tie-in novels and stories have attempted to give a greater context to these actions and adventures (sometimes with great creativity), the fact is that by this point in the series' history, Q was seen as more of a plot device than a character. He was there to shake things up and to give us an offbeat story that wouldn't normally happen in the
Star Trek
universe. He was also there to remind us that despite their incredible technology, despite being able to travel in time, to move faster than light, to heal most diseases, and to create food out of thin air, the crew of the
Enterprise
and all members of the Federation were still mortal and should never be mistaken for gods.

But then came a very interesting episode indeed:
Next Generation
's “Tapestry.” Years before, Picard (still a young man) had picked a fight with the wrong people in the wrong bar and had been stabbed through the heart. Now, decades later, his artificial heart is failing him and he seems to be on the brink of death. Q appears, claiming that he is, in fact, God and that Picard has passed on to the other side. But rather than simply gloat or do his usual tests to see if Picard can use his mind over his instinct, Q gives the captain a unique opportunity. In a flash, Picard is a young man again and has a chance to prevent the event that forced him to have his artificial heart.

However, Picard learns that doing so results in a life of which he is merely another nameless crewman often seen in the background of
Star Trek
episodes, a person who does his job but never learns that life is precious, never learns to take risks, never standing out or overcoming incredible challenges. Such a life where Picard knows his potential and has never fulfilled it is, quite simply, a living hell, an existence without passion or purpose. Realizing he would not and should not change the mistakes of his past, Picard wakes up alive and in the original life he knew. As he recovers, he is uncertain if Q truly visited him and allowed him to see another possible life or if he had merely dreamed the entire thing while he was undergoing a life-saving operation.

Once again, Q acts as a guide, but this time it is on an entirely different level. The previous tests had been to see what Picard (or Riker or others) would do when presented with new, strange situations. In “Tapestry,” Q essentially gives Picard not a test but a gift, the knowledge that he has lived a good and fulfilling life and would not have been happy had he played it safe in the past. Imagine the confidence that would bring to us if we could see such proof with our own eyes—if we could see that something we regard as a stupid mistake had actually helped guide us into becoming a better person.

Q's final appearance on
Next Generation
was once again as a trickster-judge on a grand, cosmic level, testing humanity with Picard as its representative. In fact, Q reveals that the trial that had begun at “Encounter at Farpoint” had never ended. Once again, Picard has to unravel a mystery around him, and once again he has to open his mind to strange new ideas that he might not have contemplated before. Just as he had done after the Borg encounter, Q drops his previously condescending and arrogant attitude and speaks to Picard as if he is an old, cynical teacher who had found a promising, if occasionally stubborn, pupil. But Q promises to come back again. After all, as he is happy to point out,
the trial never ends
(
TNG
, “All Good Things . . .”).

Q appears in a few episodes of
Voyager
and seems to return to his temporary role of “cosmic interloper,” annoying the people he encounters rather than truly helping them. But his major appearances on
Next Generation
, as mentioned previously, are what truly set the standard for the character, and the theme of his strange and sometimes sinister guidance has continued in various tie-in works. One notable example is the novel
Star Trek: The Next Generation: Q&A
by Keith R. A. DeCandido, which looks at Q's encounters with the
Enterprise
from the Continuum's point of view.
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Focusing on Q's
Next Generation
appearances, it's very interesting how he seems to be cast in the mold of the tricksters of old. Some compare him to Loki, but while Loki began as a trickster who occasionally embarrassed or took advantage of others, he became more and more corrupt and finally became a god of evil, directly responsible for the downfall of those he had once called friends and family. Q's true inspiration seems to come from Coyote.

In Native American folklore, Coyote has an interesting existence. He is a lazy trickster, reviled by the other creatures. When the Spirit Chief gives all the animals a chance to ask for a new name, Coyote intends to be the first in line so he may ask to be renamed Eagle or Bear. But his excitement keeps him awake most of the night, and he winds up sleeping late into the day. All of the other names are taken now, except for “Coyote,” because none of the animals want that name, since Coyote is known as a trickster who boasts too often of his cleverness and wisdom, and even his name is looked down on by the others.

Realizing he is locked into his reputation and role, Coyote is heartbroken. Touched by his sadness, the Spirit Chief tells Coyote that he will use his cleverness in new ways. Coyote will not only be a trickster with words; he will be able to alter his shape. He will use his manipulative ways to destroy the monsters of the world that prey on other animals and, in doing so, will make the land safe for men and women who will rise later. He will be their father in his own way, and should anything happen to him, Coyote's brother Fox will be given the power to revive him from death.

Is Q the Coyote of the
Star Trek
universe? He is hated and reviled, yet nearly all of his tricks cause his “victims” to learn some essential lesson about themselves. He brings monsters such as the Borg to Picard's attention, allowing the Federation to arm itself for the future. He even took care of a dangerous asteroid. When he became a mortal being and later decided to sacrifice himself to save others, another Q rescued him from certain death, just as Fox had been willing and able to do for Coyote.

The parallels are interesting. And speaking of parallels, now that a new timeline has been created in the 2009
Star Trek
movie, a question arises: might we see a new interpretation of the cosmic trickster throw down his challenges to a young Captain James T. Kirk? There are myriad realities, but from all the evidence we've seen, it seems the one constant may be Q. Only time will tell.

Who is Q? What is his role, truly? Ultimately, we must all come to our own conclusions. No matter what answer we come up with, Q will probably tell us we're wrong anyway.

Notes

1.
Gail Robinson and Douglas Arthur Hill,
Coyote the Trickster: Legends of the North American Indians
(New York: Chatto and Windus, 1975).

2.
Philip M. Sherlock,
Anansi the Spider Man
(Oxford: Macmillan Caribbean, 1983).

3.
Heather O'Donoghue,
From Asgard to Valhalla: The Remarkable History of the Norse Myths
(London: I. B. Tauris, 2009).

4.
Jack Kirby,
Eternals
1, no. 1 (Marvel Comics, 1976).

5.
Isaac Asimov,
I, Robot
(New York: Spectra, 1991).

6.
Keith R. A. DeCandido,
Star Trek: The Next Generation: Q & A
(New York: Simon and Schuster, 2007).

Kirk:
Unbelievable. Do you recognize those uniforms?

Spock:
Mid-twentieth-century Earth. The nation-state called Nazi Germany.

—TOS,
“Patterns of Force”

“You! What planet is this?”

—McCoy, to a homeless person upon appearing in 1930s Chicago,
TOS,
“The City on the Edge of Forever”

Lori Maguire

K lingons have been one of the most important alien races in
Star Trek
, appearing in all of the series and in many films. Extremely popular with the fans, Klingons have a language that has been created for them, and Klingon role-playing groups exist.
1
Beginning as outright enemies of the Federation, they became, in later series, troubling allies, returning to enemy status briefly in
Deep Space Nine
and at greater length in the prequel series
Enterprise.
An entire continually revised history has been developed for the Klingon Empire, and this history did not just appear from nothing. It is based on something, and, undeniably, many elements of Federation relations with the Klingons derive from real-life tensions in the United States and its relations with the world.

In the original series, the Klingons bear a clear resemblance to the Soviets. As producer Gene Coon admitted, “We have always played them very much like the Russians.”
2
Certainly the Klingons have a highly militarized culture and a repressive government—both traits feature prominently in popular American perceptions of the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Equally certainly, the Klingons are opposed to the Federation and its values. Furthermore, the Federation/Klingon rivalry also resembles the competition for allies, notably in the developing world, between the superpowers. Federation policy often looks a lot like the American policy of “containment”—that is, the U.S. Cold War policy of trying to prevent the spread of communism through various economic, diplomatic, and military methods.

The original
Star Trek
series lasted from 1966 to 1969—a period of exceptional stress in American (and world) history both domestically (the civil rights movement, the counterculture, mass protests) and in foreign policy (the Vietnam War, the Cultural Revolution in China, Prague Spring). Almost inevitably the series reflects these events and the anxieties they provoked. One scholar called it “a distinctly American parable of international politics and domestic social issues of the 1960s.”
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However, while it is tempting to see the Federation/Klingon opposition as a simple allegory of Cold War tensions, the series is a bit more nuanced than that. Of the seven episodes of the original series in which the Klingons appear, five of them concern Federation/Klingon expansionist rivalries with
both
sides seeking to control planets containing either vital natural resources or located in important strategic positions. While in all of them the Federation is clearly morally superior—it is, after all, a voluntary association of sovereign planets while the Klingons have an empire—its imperialistic tendencies are often shown to be nearly as strong as those of the Klingons.

The Klingons first appear in the episode “Errand of Mercy,” with war beginning between the two civilizations.
4
The
Enterprise
is then ordered to Organia—the only habitable planet in an area claimed by both sides. Its residents seem to have a primitive but peaceful agrarian culture and possess absolutely no desire to ally with either side. Kirk tries to convince them of the superiority of the Federation and promises all sorts of assistance:

In addition to military aid, we can send you special technicians. We can show you how to feed a thousand people where one was fed before. We can help you build schools, educate the young in the latest technological and scientific skills. Your public facilities are almost nonexistent. We can help you remake your world. End disease, hunger, hardship. All we ask in return is that you let us help you. (
TOS
, “Errand of Mercy”)
5

The resemblance to some of the rhetoric of the time is striking. Demonization of communism was common in American culture, as was the idealistic presentation of America's aims. The height of this idealism was probably the creation of the Peace Corps, and President John F. Kennedy's description of the new organization could have inspired Kirk: “For every young American who participates in the Peace Corps—who works in a foreign land—will know that he or she is sharing in the great common task of bringing to man that decent way of life which is the foundation of freedom and a condition of peace.”
6
But Kennedy's vision was also close, in many ways, to “the white man's burden”: the paternalistic vision of nineteenth-century imperialism. Rudyard Kipling, in the poem from which the phrase comes, describes the mission of colonizers as to “Fill full the mouth of Famine, / And bid the sickness cease.”
7