Warlord
Stardate: 50348.1
Original Airdates: Nov 20, 1996
By Chakoteya
The Story
Neelix is on the holodeck, enjoying having his feet massaged
by a young Talaxian woman. He has recreated the Paxau resort,
a very exclusive place and is showing his programme off to Harry
and Tom. However, Neelix’s idea of relaxation and diversion
is not the same as theirs, and they quickly make some small changes
– different drinks, Caribbean music, a Championship Ladies
Volleyball team for company – before being called to the
bridge. Neelix approves of the modifications.
Voyager has come across a vessel in distress, and they rescue
it’s three occupants before it explodes. The EMH is able
to treat two of them but the third dies as his physiology is incompatible
with Federation medicine. It turns out he was the husband of the
surviving woman, and she is of course totally distraught, so Kes
spends a lot of time with her and her companion to help her through.
The woman is called Nori, and she is related to the Autarch of
Ilari. The man is Adin, a physician. Janeway sets course for the
planet, only two days journey away. Kes spends so much time with
the pair that she forgets about her holodeck lunch date with Neelix,
and has to be reminded. Once there, she just picks at her food
and complains of a head ache. Then when she tells Neelix that
she’ll be spending all her time with Nori and Adin, he suggests
that they take care of them together and she snaps at him that
he cannot stand her to make friends of her own and not spend most
of her time with him. He denies this, saying it’s not a
duty. Kes says it feels like it is now, because she didn’t
realise before that a relationship could be any different. Then
she drops the bombshell. She wants them to spend time apart.
‘Captains log, stardate 50348.1. We've entered orbit around
Ilari and sent a message to the Autarch inviting him to visit
the ship. Instead, he'll be sending an official representative.’
Captain Janeway, Nori and Adin gather in the transporter room
to meet this representative. Nori is not pleased that the Autarch
himself is not coming aboard. Then Kes comes in, the transporter
is energised, and when the man appears on the platform she kills
him with a phaser before turning it on Ensign Martin at the control
panel. Adin knocks out Janeway as Tuvok’s board registers
the phaser fire. Kes then beams a shuttlecraft into space, the
three transport to it and escape.
At Tieran’s encampment, Resh is concerned about the way
his leader is now a little girl, so Kes/Tieran gives him a demonstration
of the Ocama’s telekinetic powers. He gives his allegiance.
‘Captain's log, stardate 50351.4. We're holding a meeting
with Demmas, the Autarch's eldest son and heir, in an effort to
understand the recent hostile activity.’
Demmas, the son of the Autarch, gives the Voyager senior staff
the background on Tieran. He was a leader from 200 years ago who
found away to move his consciousness into successive host bodies
in order to stay ‘alive’ and reclaim Ilari for himself.
Janeway wants to find a way to get Tieran out of Kes safely, but
Demmas only wants to ensure that this rebel faction is stopped
in it’s tracks – by force.
Paris finds the shuttle, and evidence that four people have beamed
into the Imperial Hall. There is a gun fight in which Tieran kills
the Autarch himself then takes the talisman of power for himself.
Ameron, the younger son, is taken prisoner. Once back in control,
Tieran orders everything restored to how it was in his first reign,
but is caught up short by a flower in a vase. He picks it and
hands it to Nori, who tells him of her concerns about her status
as his wife. Ameron is brought in for a personal interrogation,
and after initial defiance, is persuaded that he could have power
by siding with the new regime.
‘Captain's log, supplemental. Demmas has decided to remain
on board Voyager for the time being, but continues to monitor
the worsening situation on Ilari.’
Demmas is concerned about the possibility of civil war between
the two factions, and he also knows about Ameron’s defection
to the other side. Janeway believes that there are always alternatives
to war, and they visit sickbay to find out how Tieran moves from
body to body. It is done by a cortical implant sending the pattern
along fibres to the palm and into whoever is in direct contact
at the time. The EMH has put together a device to drive Tieran’s
consciousness out of its host safely. Demmas reluctantly agrees
to a single person’s infiltration into the Imperial Hall
to try and rescue Kes before going ahead with a full scale assault.
Meanwhile, Tieran is arguing with his doctor, Adin, about the
wisdom of staying in an alien body which is not completely compatible.
Kes is fighting his presence and causing headaches, and also making
him reluctant to sleep, but Tieran considers that a small price
to pay for access to her mental abilities. He’s staying
put and that is final. At the council meeting Kesh reports the
status of Demmas’s fleet but Tieran is not willing to strike
on rumours. Then he senses the presence of someone from Kes’s
previous life in the chamber. He goes around the guards to find
Tuvok. The device is attached for a few moments only, and has
no effect. Tieran decides that the tactical officer is a useful
prisoner, and he is taken away.
In the cell, Tieran conducts the interrogation himself, using
Kes’s telepathy to probe his mind and disrupt his mental
control. He suggests that Tuvok desires Kes and gets too close.
Tuvok initiates a mind meld and for a few moments is able to communicate
with Kes herself, who promises that she is fighting Tieran, before
contact is broken.
‘Captain's log stardate 50361.7. Lieutenant Tuvok hasn't
reported for our scheduled rendezvous and we've been unable to
contact him. We're now considering other more forceful options.’
Up in the briefing room, plans are being laid for a second raid
when Tieran contacts them to prove that their plan has failed.
He has no quarrel with Voyager, however and tells them to leave
orbit in thirty seconds. They do so, so he keeps his word and
does not order his ships to pursue, even though Demmas is aboard.
Alone in the chamber, he falls asleep, and has to face Kes in
his mind. She promises to force him out, but he offers her a partnership
instead, a mental marriage. She refuses and he tries to bluff
her that he can defeat her. Kes knows better, time is on her side
as he slides into mental instability brought on by the headaches.
Adin uses a stimulant to wake Tieran and despite earlier orders,
again says that he should move to another body. Angry, he makes
Adin collapse, blood streaming from his eyes and then kills him.
In the council chamber, at a feast, Tieran announces his marriage
to Ameron, while assuring Nori that it is political only, and
that he wants the three of them to be very close friends. Resh
reports that Voyager and Demmas’s fleet are approaching.
He wants Tieran to go to the bomb shelter, but Tieran refuses
and continues with the feast. Then he checks up on his charitable
works, the library’s will be built soon, and he wants to
ensure every citizen has a garden. Kes is breaking through. As
the bombardment starts, Tieran is convinced that Tuvok is in the
chamber again.
He is wrong. Paris is freeing Tuvok from his cell before heading
up to the chamber, taking out two guards on the way. Tom says
that the Vulcan must teach him that neck pinch one day. In the
main chamber, Janeway, Chakotay and Neelix are leading the assault.
Nori tries to get Tieran to safety but is killed. Neelix gets
to him and uses the device to remove him from Kes. Back in control
of herself, she knows that Tieran has jumped to another host and
puts the device on Ameron herself. With nowhere to go, her kidnapper
finally dies.
Tuvok is trying to help Kes cope with the experience by a series
of meditative exercises, but they are not helping her to lose
the feelings of guilt over what happened when Tieran was in control
of her body. Could she have fought harder? Tuvok reassures her
that she was victorious. However, the experience has made her
a different person, her relationships have been changed and where
her life leads now is up to her.
Review:
This is a tour-de-force for the previously ‘too sweet
and caring for words’ Kes. Here is a young woman of considerable
strength and determination fighting for all she is worth to protect
those she cares for. It is also a great showcase for Jennifer
Lien. She gives us two completely distinct characterisations in
the one show, and ends with a slightly altered Kes, one who has
had her mental powers abused in the name of power and has to learn
to live with the reality of her abilities. Tuvok’s closing
speeches are very wise and profound. Something to live by for
all of us.
On the lighter side, it looks like the dark, enclosed Marseilles
bar of the first two series is being replaced by a bright sunny
outdoors resort, including fantasy holographic companions for
the crew to relax with. This could be a metaphor for the crew’s
overall attitude to their situation, a big change from the gloom
of being so far from home with the Kazon and Vidiians constantly
taking pot-shots at them, to an acceptance of their situation
and an optimism which enables them to turn Voyager into a proper
home.
Takeovers of characters with mental abilities are nothing new
in Trek. Sometimes I wonder why races want to have telepathy or
other such gifts when it leaves them so wide open to abuse by
the bad guys. It does give the actor in question a chance to play
something other than their regular role, however, and Kes was
rapidly turning into a clone of the Intendant from Mirror Universe
Deep Space 9 in her leather suit and bisexual attitudes towards
both Nori, male Tieran’s wife, and Ameron, potential consort
for the female Tiernan.
This show cannot fail to have big consequences for at least one
pairing on the show. I do not believe that Neelix will ever get
his sweeting back from this. There were too many truths spoken
over lunch, even though she was already possessed at the time,
and in her session with Tuvok, Kes admitted that her relationships
were all changed. No one will ever regard her in quite the same
way, knowing that she can kill with her mind if they ever get
her angry enough. The secondary pairing of Tuvok and Paris has
echoes of Kirk and Spock, including some familiar sounding dialogue.
I look forward to more development in this area.
Grade: 7/10
Cast:
Kate Mulgrew as Kathryn Janeway
Robert Beltran as Chakotay
Roxanne Biggs-Dawson as B'Elanna Torres
Jennifer Lien as Kes
Robert Duncan McNeill as Tom Paris
Ethan Phillips as Neelix
Robert Picardo as The Doctor
Tim Russ as Tuvok
Garrett Wang as Harry Kim
Guest Cast:
Charles Emmett as Resh
Galyn Gorg as Nori
Brad Greenquist as Demmas
Leigh J. McCloskey as Tieran
Karl Wiedergott as Ameron
Anthony Crivello as Adin
Creative Staff:
Director: David Livingston
Teleplay By: Lisa Klink
Story By: Andrew Shepard Price & Mark
Gaberman
