Jammer's Review
Star Trek: The Next Generation
"Rightful Heir"
Air date: 5/17/1993
Teleplay by Ronald D. Moore
Story by James E. Brooks
Directed by Winrich Kolbe
Review by Jamahl Epsicokhan
Suffering a personal spiritual crisis that causes Worf to be late for work one day (an offense which Picard finds to be transgressive to a bizarre degree — maybe only slightly less severe than killing Duras in "Reunion"), Worf requests a leave of absence to go be with other Klingons and immerse himself in his spiritual side, something he has found gnawing at him ever since his experience with the young Klingons in "Birthright, Part II." He goes to a colony on Boreth, where Klingons are awaiting the return of the ancient warrior Kahless, who has been prophesized to return. While sitting in a trance after several days or weeks or however long it takes for a Klingon's head to clear, Worf witnesses Kahless materialize before him, in the flesh. Later, Worf engages the outspoken Kahless (Kevin Conway) in a bat'leth fight. Because he's annoyed. Or maybe because it's fun.
And we've just barely gotten started. "Rightful Heir" is nothing if not ambitious in its storytelling, even if it threatens to ascend into the stratosphere of the absurd. The story at first seems like it's going to be another slog through ponderous Klingon mumbo-jumbo much the way the juiceless "Birthright, Part II" was, but Ron Moore shows here why he earned his reputation as the Klingon Guy; "Rightful Heir" has plenty of Klingon Claptrap, yes, but it also gains steam after the first couple acts with the much-needed juice, political shenanigans, and earnest dialogue. What starts as an out-of-left-field crisis of Worf's spirituality becomes, by the end, a battle for the hearts and minds of the Klingon Empire (albeit one told via microcosm on a few sets on the Enterprise).
The literal return of Kahless manages to pose the question of resurrection and prophecy in sci-fi allegory terms: If, say, Christ claimed to return from the dead after millenniums and was not accompanied by a hell of a convincing show of sound and fury, who would actually believe it to be true? Okay, maybe don't answer that, but I tend to think (hope?) most sane people — even believers — would be extremely skeptical. (I personally find the notion of belief in literal resurrection, religious or otherwise, to be silly on the level of believing in magic, but, hey, that's just me. I guess that would put me on Team Gowron for this story's sake — if not for all the political corruption, of course.)
The crucial element of success here is the story's suggestion of sprawling consequences for the Klingon Empire, as Kahless' return implies the dawn of a new era of leadership — but one that Gowron is not simply going to step aside and cede. Gowron engages Kahless in a bat'leth battle, and Kahless loses, which goes against the prophecy of Kahless' greatness. Worf (and, by storytelling microcosm, many others) begins to lose his faith, suspecting that political manipulators Koroth (Alan Oppenheimer) and Torin (Norman Snow) may be manipulating the entire situation for their own political power play — which it turns out they are, because they actually created Kahless as a clone from the long-dead real man's preserved DNA. (While the Klingons are allowed to believe in the supernatural, the supernatural itself does not actually exist here, this being Star Trek.) This actually proves to be an interesting story twist; it's a prophecy come to life because of science. But how much resonance does Kahless hold for the empire? Enough to divide it, it would seem.
Worf's proposed solution to this complicated quagmire is one of compromises that considers the importance of symbols like Kahless alongside the pragmatism of the political realities. (And I liked the way Worf's conversation with Data, of all unlikely people, ended up helping Worf come to his decision.) If you like Klingon politics, you will probably like "Rightful Heir," which is ultimately as intriguing as it is borderline ridiculous. And it's got the juice.
Footnote: Ron Moore also seemed to be trying out lines for later use here: Worf's "And if you do not tell me what you have done, then I will kill you right here!" sounds a lot like his line to Picard in "First Contact," which I still love for its gloriously theatric delivery: "If you were any other man, I would KILL you where you stand!"
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8 comments on this review
Just sayin'.
Overall I thought this was one too many visits to the Klingon well by Moore and TNG.
I thought it was a snoozer up there with Birthright II. Only worthy of 1.5 stars.
But I've had a crush on Worf since he grew his hair long. I think I share with many other women the desire to find out if he really would be too much to handle (remember when he discussed that with Guinan? Yummy!)--so Worf on center stage is just fine by me!
I share your skepticism about the return of a "savior" Jammer, and have often pondered what would be convincing evidence of a deity. I heard one comedian suggest putting a million dollars in his bank account--I guess that would work for me, too!
We also have the "sprawling society" trope. Look, the interconnected and continuity bejewelled societies of (especially) DS9 are fun. It's fun to keep track of who's who and who is loyal to whom and to see familiar faces interacted with the main cast. No arguments from me. But in the end, the profundity of the society is no more or less valid than any other alien-of-the-week. The allegorical elements of the societies either work or they don't but it depends not one bit on whether that allegorised society is a one-stop planet or a decades-old fictional culture like the Klingons.
I am reminded of just about the only interesting thing Ezri Dax ever said, that the Klingon culture is doomed to collapse in hypocrisy. Worf's (the show's) solution, rather than to attempt to use this betrayal by religious leaders as a means to begin to purge Klingon culture of its poisonous tendencies, is to validate their idiocy AND use it to gain political control. What an unbelievable bastard! And I'm drowning in the irony of this coming from a man who was claiming to be under a genuine spiritual direst. I'm not saying I don't believe that the allegory is effective or true-to-life. On the contrary, I think corrupt governments use religion at every opportunity to manipulate and seize more power, but Worf's rôle in this has to be completely ignored if we are to see him as an heroic figure hereafter.
I'd give it 2 stars.
In "The Savage Curtain", Kahless plays like most Klingons in TOS -- as a real bastard (who has weird voice-mimicking abilities?). It would have made more sense for TNG to simply invent a new Klingon Christ figure.
Strangely, Trek continuity was generally at its worst in TNG as compared with DS9 and VOY (though not Enterprise, which is an entirely different discussion). And yet, the creators brought back the Kahless name here (and earlier in TNG, with incorrect pronunciation). Total misfire, if you ask me.
The episode otherwise is pretty good. It's really the last glimpse of Worf as we've known him (the creators take the character in weird places in season 7) until he appears on DS9.
However, I did think that it's odd that Kahless or the emperor doesn't get mentioned again until "The Way of the Warrior" and is never seen again.
Weird episode, I WANT to hate it, but for some reason it is very watchable.......I think Jammer is right, it bates you into thinking it is another boring spiritual quest, and swithces to a real fun political drama. And yes, this is the last time until DS9 Worf acts pretty much in character.
So, is this Kahless ever mentioned again in Star Trek?
Good review Jammer. I used to love this one but after re-watching I think 2.5-3 stars is about right.
Minor point: I always thought Worf (a Starfleet lieutenant) has far too much influence here. It's clearly just for the sake of the plot but stands out like dog's b@lls.
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