Good episode. A continuing of the slow build on Worf's character and Klingon culture. They'd finally found a direction to go with it and it's always made me so happy.
It was also filled with surprises... well it would've been a better surprise if it hadn't been in the trailer. A Klingon ship intercepts them with Ambassador K'Ehleyr on it who needs to beam aboard to discuss an urgent matter. Worf is sent to greet her in the transporter room, his shame at doing so reminds the audience of where he stands in the Empire. And surprise, surprise, K'Ehleyr beams over with a child which is obviously Worf's. Now, in official documentation, Alexander was a result of their brief moment of passion in The Emissary making him only a year old, but he's a little big and more articulate than most one-year-olds, so we're just going to say it's a species thing... Klingons must grow faster in their first months. It's a soap opera maneuver but it's not an eye rolling offense because he's more than just a love child that Worf wasn't aware of. His presence also adds another complication to Worf's discommendation since this dishonor would pass on for several generations. He won't explain what all happened to K'Ehleyr, who doesn't really care about such things and it only doubles the tension of seeing his son for the first time.
K'Ehleyr informs Picard that the Empire is on the brink of civil war. The Chancellor, K'mpec is near death and wants to see Picard. I have to think that Picard left such an impression of a person devoted to honor and duty that he would be seen as trustworthy to the longest ruling leader of a race that holds those ideals in a worshipful status. Picard agrees to meet with K'mpec and discovers that he's dying from being slowly poisoned over a period of months. He wants Picard to be the Arbitar of Succession for the next Chancellor which Picard refuses at first until he learns that one of the candidates is Duras. K'mpec also wants Picard to fill this role as a way of investigating who of the two candidates for Chancellor has been poisoning him since this is a dishonorable way to kill a Klingon.
Worf finally takes a moment to deal with his new domestic situation. He's disappointed that Alexander doesn't want to become a warrior due to K'Ehleyr's half human influence but it doesn't really matter. Even though she's ready to marry Worf now and even initiates the oath this time, he sadly feels he can't go through with it this time because his dishonor would fall to Alexander as well. But he is willing to be a male influence for him and starts to teach him how to use a bat'leth. This, incidentally, is the first time that a bat'leth is ever seen, mentioned, or named. It seems almost unbelievable when you think of how synonymous hit has become with the image of a Klingon warrior. It's little, almost accidental, things like this that made TNG the trail blazer for character and cultural development in Star Trek.
Meanwhile the contenders for the Chancellorship arrive for the official
ceremony confirming K'mpec's death. I love this scene and I wish I could've found picture, but with a title like Runion, most of what came up were cast party pictures. Everyone zaps
him with a pain stick to make sure he's really dead. This is one of the
points of Klingon culture that fascinates people. We love the inherent barbarism which is mingled with honor and glory. During the ceremony a bomb goes off which only adds to the list of things that Picard must investigate. He wants more time but the modern Rite of Succession is very brief. So K'Ehleyr advises him to initiate the ja'chuq, a longer ceremony in which the candidates list their qualifications by victories in battle and such.
This angers both Gowran and Duras of course but they comply because they have no choice. During the proceedings it's discovered that the bomb used a Romulan detonator, meaning that one of the parties is conspiring with Romulans. It's a great moment for fans since we already know that Duras' father had conspired with Romulans at Khitomer and the power of his family within the Empire is why Worf decided to bear discommendation for this crime in Sins Of The Father. We all saw what a coward Duras was and had to endure the fact that he "won" in that episode. So now we see the "rematch" so to speak.
I'm pretty sure it was obvious to the audience that Duras was the guilty party but not in that boring, predictable way.Both Gowran and Duras each took turns to try to bribe or threaten K'Ehleyr to garner her endorsement, which would seem to be typical of Klingon behavior so it makes the audience really want to see Duras unmasked as being in bed with the Romulans.
I just want to take a minute to say I loved Gowran. He was a little guy compared with all these other actors that play Klinons but he was so expressive and had such a memorable look in that makeup that he stood out and was always enjoyable to watch. I always have thought he's great. and it's a shame he ended up having to be killed as well in DS9.
Anyway, several climaxes start to weave together very quickly. K'Ehleyr wants to know what Worf's discommendation is all about since he's not forthcoming with the details. Crusher finds out that even though the bomb killed aides from both contending parties, that the detonator itself was embedded in the skin of one of Duras' people. The dishonor just keeps piling up and nobody is surprised... we cheer for the fact that Duras will lose his bid for Chancellor - serves him right! But then, in a heartbreaking twist, Duras also discovers K'Ehleyr's inquiries into Worf's discommendation. She now knows that his father was the real traitor at Khitomer, so he kills her. She has only time to put Alexander's hand into Worf's hand before she dies which is a uniquley gentle way of confirming to the character of Alexander that Worf is most likely his father. This episode was handled so well with the writing and getting so much accomplished in this "soapy" subplot with as little dialogue as possible and more reinforcement of Klingon culture.
And even though Worf loses the love of his life and we lose one of the best characters ever created in two episodes, we get more than we bargained for with Duras' punishment. Worf claims the rite of vengeance and kills him on his own ship in front of his own crew. Riker and others try to stop him but they're too late. More Klingon culture - the matter is closed! Duras is eliminated from the Rite of Succession which would've gone to Gowron anyway due to the evidence Dr. Crusher produced and he also dies by Worf's hand with no repercussions to the main character. Picard is a little dissatisfied with his behavior since he's a crewman of the Enterprise, not a Klingon vessel... and I have to comment that that was a strikingly conservative view to take since Star Trek was on the cutting edge of the multicultural movement that's lead to liberal America being respectful of the barbarism practiced in Muslim countries today. But, even so, this barbaric honor code is okay and even really cool in fiction as long as it's the bad guys on the receiving end of such justice.
Worf claims Alexander and sends him to Earth for his own parents to raise in order to keep him away from the burden of the dishonor he bears which is smart not only for the characters but also because the writers barely knew what to do with Wesley much less another small child on board. However, Alexander would eventually be used more effectively in the future.
Four and a half stars. Why take the extra half off? Honestly, cuz I hate it that they took out K'Ehleyr. She was one of the best characters they ever created even though they didn't know at the time how popular she would always continue to be. Other than that, no complaints. This was a wonderfully done episode.
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