History Recap / StarTrekStrangeNewWorldsS2E08UnderTheCloakOfWar

-->'''M'Benga:''' ''I'' am the Butcher of J'Gal.

Back on the moon of J'gal, Chapel catches M'Benga with a ''d'k tahg'' dagger on his belt and realizes he plans to pick up where the Black Ops team -- all dead now -- left off. He gives her a vial of Protocol 12 and tells her to save herself if needed. In the present, M'Benga is looking at that very ''d'k tahg'' dagger in Sickbay when Rah comes in, begging for a second chance. M'Benga points out that Rah did indeed give the order to slaughter anyone who wasn't a Klingon soldier, and Rah admits he did, claiming to be TheAtoner for those actions. (That said, he has never -- not once, in the whole episode -- expressed that any of his actions were wrong.) M'Benga then reveals that Rah was lying: Ruh'lis, not Kiff, was the one who put up the best fight. Gen. Dak'Rah was assailed by a OneManArmy named Joseph M'Benga, and his three lieutenants [[HoldTheLine Held The Line]] while Dak'Rah fled like a DirtyCoward. And M'Benga has had to live with the knowledge that [[InvokedTrope he has become]] the Butcher of J'gal. He lambasts Rah for sanctifying himself using the blood on M'Benga's hands, for wearing M'Benga's crimes as a badge of honor. Rah protests that the Federation, that the galaxy, needs symbols and hope. Chapel comes in to see the two scuffling on the other side of the frosted glass that partitions M'Benga's office from the rest of Sickbay. By the time she's made it over, Rah is on the floor, the ''d'k tahg'' dagger in his heart.

-->'''M'Benga:''' I looked for you. And now here you are, [[{{OpportunisticBastard}} using the blood on my hands to make yourself a saint.]]

Back on the moon of J'gal, Chapel catches M'Benga with a ''d'k tahg'' dagger on his belt and realizes he plans to pick up where the Black Ops team -- all dead now -- left off. He gives her a vial of Protocol 12 and tells her to save herself if needed. In the present, M'Benga is looking at that very ''d'k tahg'' dagger in Sickbay when Rah comes in, begging for a second chance. M'Benga points out that Rah did indeed give the order to slaughter anyone who wasn't a Klingon soldier, and Rah admits he did, claiming to be TheAtoner for those actions. (That said, he has never -- not once, in the whole episode -- expressed that any of his actions were wrong.) M'Benga then reveals that Rah was lying: Ruh'lis, not Kiff, was the one who put up the best fight. Gen. Dak'Rah was assailed by a OneManArmy named Joseph M'Benga, and his three lieutenants [[HoldTheLine Held The Line]] while Dak'Rah fled like a DirtyCoward. And M'Benga has had to live with the knowledge that [[InvokedTrope he has become]] a CompleteMonster, that ''he'' is the Butcher of J'gal. He lambasts Rah for sanctifying himself using the blood on M'Benga's hands, for wearing M'Benga's crimes as a badge of honor. Rah protests that the Federation, that the galaxy, needs symbols and hope. Chapel comes in to see the two scuffling on the other side of the frosted glass that partitions M'Benga's office from the rest of Sickbay. By the time she's made it over, Rah is on the floor, the ''d'k tahg'' dagger in his heart.

The episode is interspersed with {{flashback}}s to the Klingon War. On what is implied to be her first assignment, Nurse Christine Chapel is landed at a Federation field hospital on the moon of J'gal and, despite being new, is immediately assigned as Head Nurse. There she meets Joseph M'Benga, MD, who like any field medic has developed new tricks for getting the job done: the hospital lacks an internal organ regenerator, so when Ens. Alvarado arrives needing treatment, M'Benga stores him as a HumanPopsicle in the transporter's pattern buffer -- allowing them to not only save more people, but ''beam in'' more people who need saving. As the episode progresses, it becomes clear that M'Benga's "CombatMedic" tendencies lean way more towards "Combat" than were previously implied: a Starfleet black ops leader approaches him, claiming he needs the best... and naturally sought out M'Benga, who holds the record for confirmed hand-to-hand kills. The black-ops guy also wants some "Protocol 12" -- the green SuperSerum from [[Recap/StarTrekStrangeNewWorldsS2E1TheBrokenCircle the top of the season]] -- but M'Benga protests he isn't making it anymore. Nonetheless, the black op proceeds: a DecapitationStrike against Gen. Dak'Rah, with as many willing Starfleet bodies as possible thrown at the nearby colony of Athos as [[WeHaveReserves a distraction]]. When the casualties from that attack come back, M'Benga realizes he can't stay an ActualPacifist any longer.

-->'''M'Benga:''' I looked for you. And now here you are, [[{{OpportunisticBastardl}} using the blood on my hands to make yourself a saint.]]

-->'''M'Benga:''' I looked for you. And now here you are, [[Slimeball using the blood on my hands to make yourself a saint.]]

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Una isn't happy that Ortegas is being so openly disdainful of Dak'Rah and the Klingon Empire, but she enforces no disciplinary action against her because she understands that Ortegas's time in the war wasn't easy. When an opportunity comes to get Dak'Rah off the ship early, she persuades Pike to take it because she knows how badly the ambassador's presence is affecting crew morale.

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Una isn't happy that Ortegas is being so openly disdainful of Dak'Rah and the Klingon Empire, but she enforces no disciplinary action against her because she understands that Ortegas's time in the war wasn't easy. When an opportunity comes to get Dak'Rah off the ship early, she persuades Pike to take it because she knows how badly crew moral is with Dak'Rah onboard.