Day 79: DS9, The Sword of Kahless

Show: Star Trek; Deep Space Nine

Episode Particulars: S4EP8, “The Sword of Kahless”

 Summary: Kor returns to DS9, where he lets Worf and Dax in on his latest adventure; some Vulcans unearthed a cave system that may hold the legendary Sword of Kahless, a Bat’leth owned by one of the great Klingon warriors and that is prophesized to help unite the Klingon Empire. Dax and Worf eagerly accompany him on the search, and they manage to find it relatively easily. The problems arise after they get the sword. Firstly, Toral Duras (Rick Pasqualone) has also learned about the sword and wants it for his own, blocking off access to the transporters and forcing Dax, Kor, and Worf to try to escape through the caves. But secondly, being so close to a mythic weapon has given both Kor and Worf delusions of grandeur, and they rapidly become suspicious of each other. If Dax isn’t able to keep them at bay, one of them may wind up using it on the other.

Standalone Thoughts: This isn’t a bad episode, though I think it wears thin after awhile. Having Kor and Worf both covet the sword for personal reasons is understandable, but it’s taken to such an extreme that you would be forgiven for thinking that there was some sort of curse or technobabble reason for them to be so obsessed with it. It just feels like too much after a point, and pulls me out of the story. The film buff in me admires the parallels to The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, but the part that’s actively engaged in the story is left cold.

I’m also less than impressed with Dax’s role in the episode. She’s not completely useless, and therefore is necessary to the story, but it also kind of feels like she’s mostly there to do whatever the plot requires. Solve technobabble problems? Check. Help out in the fights? Check. Serve as a sounding board so Worf can explain his motivations? Check. Generally be a neutral third party? Check. You probably could have replaced her with any of the other characters and it wouldn’t have made much of a difference. Sure, she makes the most sense because of her science background and her connection to Kor, but she’s basically a third wheel here. I’m not sure how to fix the problem (except to make her also want the sword), but I feel like they could have done something.

Also, while this is a petty thing to get hung up about, the forcefield that protects the room where the sword is really bothers me. When our heroes first find it, they say that the Vulcans who originally found the caves weren’t able to get into it. One minute of technobabble later, and Dax and Worf are able to crack it. You’re telling me that Vulcans, the most logical beings in the Alpha Quadrant, weren’t able to figure out how to do that? I suppose you could argue that they didn’t have the necessary equipment to deal with it, but it still seems flimsy. I feel the same way about the fact that Toral and the other pursuers were able to circumvent the forcefield after Worf knocked over one of the devices and trapped them on the opposite side—you can give a compelling argument for how they got out of it, but what we’re actually shown makes it difficult to fully accept that. Like I said, it’s petty, but the fact that I’m this hung up over it should tell you something about the episode, and it’s not something good.

How it Relates to the Whole: While there was some slight potential left open at the end of the episode, I don’t believe this relates to anything in the future. It does have some connections to the past, what with bringing back Kor, using a Lethean (the alien from “Distant Voices”) to help fuel some of the conflict, and including one of the members of House Duras, a recurring enemy in TNG. So while I appreciate the bits of continuity, it’s still mostly a standalone.

Other: *Speaking of the Lethean, we were told in “Distant Voices” that their mind attacks are generally fatal. That doesn’t exactly jibe with what we see in this episode, since the Lethean attacked a drunken Kor who wasn’t expecting the attack. About the only way I can square that circle is to assume that the Lethean used a milder attack, since he wanted to extract the information about the sword’s location and it would be suspicious if Kor was found dead. It’s definitely a plausible reason, but at first glance, it can be a strange discrepancy.

*I kind of like the fact that Sisko discusses letting Dax and Worf go out to find the sword while he’s shaving his head. It’s an acknowledgement that in-universe, the hairstyles and facial hair we see on the characters aren’t just perfectly maintained all the time. It just adds a touch of realism to proceedings.

*The scene where the three actually find the sword is really well done. The music is appropriate, and all the characters have just the right amount of awe and respect for it. Plus, I like that Worf lets Kor be the first to touch it, understanding that he has seniority, more experience, and was the one that tracked it down. No matter what happens in the rest of the episode, that scene is nicely heartwarming.

*Worf’s speech where he explains to Dax why he deserves the sword sounds very much like something you’d find in the Bible, from iconic figures appearing in dreams to the thought that he’s being tested in order to be proved worthy. There’s no problem with the writers taking inspiration from there, it’s just really obvious, and worth pointing out.

*One of the last lines of the episode sounds uncannily similar to the way Tolkien describes the One Ring. Again, I wonder if the writers were taking some inspiration. It would certainly explain Kor and Worf’s behavior to an extent.

Best Line/Exchange: I’m mostly picking this bit for out-of-universe reasons;

Kor: I am on a quest. A quest for the most revered icon in Klingon history.

Dax: Kor…

Kor: An icon that predates the Klingon Empire, an icon more sacred than the Torch of G’boj…

Dax (trying to interrupt): Kor…

Kor (talking over her): …more revered than Sabak’s armor, and more coveted than the Emperor’s crown.

Worf (awed): The Sword of Kahless.

(Kor smiles and makes a sigh of satisfaction. Dax glares at him)

Dax: You told me not to tell anybody.

Kor: He guessed.

The bit at the end is amusing, of course, but the use of the word “quest” and the overlong description singing its praises is exactly the sort of thing you’d hear in a fantasy story, from fairy tales to descriptions of items in video games. It’s kind of unusual to hear that sort of thing in Star Trek, though if anyone was going to do it, it probably would be the Klingons. Still, it’s uncommon, and therefore stands out.

After the Fact Update: While there’s no mention if Treasure of the Sierra Madre was an inspiration for this episode, showrunner René Echevarria reveals that a lot of people assumed the sword had a technobabble reason for making Worf and Kor act like they did, when that wasn’t their intent at all. Writer Hans Beimler said that “The idea is that the sword itself doesn’t have any magic, it’s the concept of the sword that has the power.” I get what they were going for, but as I said in my review, it’s not surprising a lot of people assumed there was technobabble involved.