Oh, Harry is so fucked.
Voyager encounters a group of Klingons who have been searching for a hundred years for their savior, or kuvah'magh. Their captain, Kohlar, believes that it's B'Elanna Torres' unborn child, but not everyone is convinced. To keep the growing schism from endangering Voyager, a reluctant B'Elanna has to help Kohlar to convince them otherwise.
Tropes:
- Abhorrent Admirer: One of the Klingon women takes a liking to Harry Kim. He really doesn't reciprocate.
- Action Prologue: Voyager under attack by Kohlar's battlecruiser. Fortunately, our heroes only need two phaser shots to disable it.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: B'Elanna had told Tom she had felt uncomfortable being the only Klingon on Voyager, but now that there are over two hundred onboard who are worshiping her and her unborn child, she feels like a prisoner. B'Elanna even says the trope word for word when Tom points this out.
- Boldly Coming: Harry Kim attracts the affections of a Klingon woman. When he makes it clear that he's not interested, Neelix takes her off his hands. They then proceed to trash Tuvok's quarters with their lovemaking.
- Burning the Ships: The Klingons destroy their own ship when they find Voyager, as they were instructed to "cast off the old ways" upon finding the kuvah'magh.
- The Chosen One: B'Elanna's unborn child is declared to be the kuvah'magh. Kohlar, the one who made this declaration, later reveals that he's not entirely certain if this is true, but it does allow him to put an end to his people's ordeal.
- Commander Contrarian: T'Greth opposes and argues with Kohlar at every turn—until the end, when he's forced to admit that B'Elanna's child is the kuvah'magh.
- Continuity Nod:
- When Harry tells the Doctor about the horny Klingon woman, Doc immediately gives Harry medical approval to have relations with an alien. That — along with the Captain's permission — is exactly what he failed to seek in a previous case.
- The antique batleth given to B'Elanna is similar in design to The Sword of Kahless. Also B'Elanna does some exaggerated bragging about her heroic deeds just like Kor did in that episode.
- Cool Versus Awesome: The one time that Voyager ever battles a Klingon ship, and it's a classic Original Series-era battlecruiser. Ends up a Curb-Stomp Battle due to Voyager being almost a full century more advanced, easily able to penetrate the Klingon ship's cloak and disable it in a scant few shots.
- Cordon Bleugh Chef:
- Averted as far as the Klingons are concerned, since they love Neelix's cooking. Today is a good day to dine.
- But Played Straight for the Voyager crew when confronted with some Klingon cuisine.Neelix: Captain! You must try the gagh!
Janeway: I'll pass, thank you.
- Cut Himself Shaving: Harry walks into Sickbay with a bleeding cheek and claims that he did this before admitting that he was jumped by a horny Klingon woman.
- Destructo-Nookie: Neelix and a female Klingon wreck Tuvok's quarters when they were having sex together. The Vulcan is clearly struggling to maintain his species' signature Emotion Suppression and not murder Neelix in a blind rage when he finds out.
- Double Standard Rape: Female on Male: A female Klingon sexually harasses and assaults Harry Kim. When Harry asks the Doctor for help, the Doc tells him that his choices are to mate with her or kill her, and the entire thing is treated as a big joke.
- Duel to the Death: T'Greth challenges Tom to one so he can prove that he is an honorable warrior. Janeway and Kohlar get it downgraded to "knock the opponent down three times."
- From a Certain Point of View: The prophecies can be interpreted to mean anything you want them to mean, as B'Elanna points out.
- Generation Ship: Kohlar's ship took the long way to reach the same area as Voyager. The journey began under Kohlar's great-grandfather, so some four generations have passed since they first set out.
- Half-Breed Discrimination: T'Greth is furious that the mother of the kuvah'magh is a Half-Human Hybrid, and even more so that the father is human, meaning that their baby is less than half Klingon. Ironically, this more-than-half-humanness ends up providing a cure for the nehret.T'Greth: The prophecy wouldn't lead us to a mongrel child!
- Ham-to-Ham Combat: Kohlar and T'Greth go several rounds whenever they argue over the prophecy.
- Hold Your Hippogriffs: When T'Greth wakes up in Sickbay.T'Greth: Why am I not in Sto-Vo-Kor?
Doctor: Because you're healthy as a targ* . - If I Wanted You Dead...: After disabling his ship, Janeway tries to explain to Kohlar that the Klingons and Federation now have a peace treaty. He isn't convinced, but she adds that his ship is no match for hers, convincing him to at least hear her out.
- Is That a Threat?:Kohlar: It is possible that the sacred scrolls were scrawled by a madman in a cave. Or perhaps they really were divinely inspired. Either way, they've guided us for over a century. If my people start to believe that the sacred scrolls have led them astray, there may be violence.
Janeway: Is that a threat?
Kohlar: Merely a fact. You're doing everything you can to get your people home, Captain. That's all I'm doing for mine. - Mandatory Line: Seven gets approximately two lines in this episode: one in response to orders from the bridge during the opening battle, and another to let let us know that the Klingons' new planet has two ideal colonization sites.
- Mate or Die: According to the Doctor, this is what happens when a Klingon wants to mate with someone: either you oblige, or you kill the interested party. Harry finds both prospects unappealing.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: In the end, B'Elanna's baby does fulfill all the prophecies: providing the means to cure the Klingons' illness ("stronger than disease") and heralding their arrival at a new homeland. Of course, there were deliberate efforts make sure those prophecies were 'fulfilled', and the Doctor has to be restrained from pointing out that he was actually the one to develop the cure from the baby's biology. Still, the fact that things worked out the way they did is enough of a coincidence to give even Tom and B'Elanna a moment's pause.
- Miles Gloriosus: B'Elanna gives some exaggerated boasts of her deeds according to Klingon tradition.
- No Challenge Equals No Satisfaction: Sorta. T'Greth isn't happy about fighting a duel in which nobody is supposed to die, but Kohlar disagrees.Kohlar: T'Greth, there is precedent for an honorable compromise. A non-lethal bout, fought with blunted bat'leths. The victory goes to the first warrior to knock his opponent to the ground three times.
T'Greth: A coward's rules!
Kohlar: Was the Emperor Mur'Eq a coward?! He was the one who instituted these rules to ensure that his warriors would kill their enemies and not each other! - No Guy Wants an Amazon: Harry catches the eye of a Klingon woman who's both larger and much more aggressive than he is, and spends much of the episode trying to avoid her. Luckily for him, Neelix is more than willing to replace Harry in her affections.
- No-Sell: A D7 battlecruiser was a formidable warship equal to the best starships the Federation had in service... in the 23rd century. By the middle-late 24th the ship is so woefully outclassed by the Intrepid-class Voyager (which fulfills much the same role as a scout for Starfleet that the Bird of Prey did for the Klingons of Kirk's day) that it takes only two shots to disable them once their Invisibility Cloak has been nullified.
- Odd Couple: To make room for the visiting Klingons, the Voyager crew double up in quarters, and Neelix and Tuvok get paired up. Neelix is excited; Tuvok isn't.Jim "Reviewboy" Wright
: You would think by now that Tuvok would know he's only asking for trouble by not getting his bunkmate requests in early. He could have made acceptable arrangements with Vorik, or even Seven of Nine, both of whom are equally fond of solitude and wouldn't have been a bother. But by opting out and letting others choose for him, he's just begging to be stuck with the Roommate from Hell. - Oh, Crap!: The look on poor Harry's face◊ when one of the Klingon women says she's chosen him as a mate.
- Ominous Klingon Chanting: By the council of the Klingon elders, anticipating the coming of the Kuvah'magh.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Kohlar is only interested in what's best for his crew. He genuinely doesn't seem to care whether the prophecy his ship has been chasing for four generations is true or not, he just wants to find a home for them. His reasonableness and willingness to negotiate a workable solution quickly wins Janeway over.Kohlar: We've travelled more than thirty thousand light-years in search of this savior, and in more than one hundred years we've found nothing except hardship and isolation. When I saw Lieutenant Torres, that she was with child, I didn't know if I was looking at the mother of the kuvah'magh or not. But I did know I was looking at an opportunity to end this wasteful journey.
Paris: Then you don't believe in the Prophecy?
Kohlar: What I believe is that my people have suffered enough. If they accept your child as the kuvah'magh you'll hold great influence over them. We can find a suitable planet. You can tell them it's their new home and they'll follow you there. - Remember the Dead: Kohlar re-introduces B'Elanna to a Klingon ritual of pleading to Kahless on behalf of the dead.Kohlar: The dead can't rest in Sto-vo-kor if the living don't honor their memory.
- See the Invisible: The Klingon warship is antiquated enough for Voyager to locate it through its cloak.
- Set Swords to "Stun": Tom and T'Greth fight their duel with blunted bat'leths, since Janeway won't let them kill each other with the real deal.
- Sharpshooter Fallacy: When Kohlar tries to fit B'Elanna's Back Story in with prophecy, she points out that you could do that for almost anyone if you're willing to interpret enough. The prophecy calls for noble blood, and Kohlar points out that almost everyone does if you go back far enough. It calls for someone born off-world, with a Dark and Troubled Past, but you could say that about a lot of Klingons. It calls for a great warrior who'd killed ten thousand enemies, and you can justify that, if you give her credit for enemies destroyed by Voyager as a whole. (As she herself admits, there was the time she torpedoed a Borg Diamond to smithereens.) It's worth noting that Kohlar agrees with her, but is more interested in building a narrative that he can sell to his people than in reaching a logical conclusion.
- Strike Me Down: T'Greth begs Tom for a Mercy Kill after he's been phaser-stunned while already dying of the nehret. Janeway won't let it happen, though.T'Greth: Grant me a warrior's death. I beg of you.
Janeway: Sorry. No mercy killings on my bridge. - This Is Gonna Suck: Tuvok is less than thrilled to learn that he and Neelix are bunking together."There must be some mistake."
- Tranquil Fury: Tuvok is really trying not to strangle Neelix after his quarters are destroyed."Just go, Mr. Neelix."
- Try Not to Die: B'Elanna goes against the traditional Klingon Badass Boast:"Today would be a very bad day to die."
- Villain of the Week: Naturally we have the requisite "Klingons try to take over the ship" crisis.
