Blood Oath (episode)

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"Blood Oath"
DS9, Episode 2x19 Production number: 40512-439 First aired: 27 March 1994
←	38th of 173 produced in DS9	→
←	38th of 173 released in DS9	→
	{{{nNthReleasedInSeries_Remastered}}}th of 173 released in DS9 Remastered
←	317th of 727 released in all	→

Written By Peter Allan Fields Directed By Winrich Kolbe
Unknown (2370)
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For the Klingon custom, please see blood oath.

Three old Klingon warriors reunite on Deep Space 9, seeking Curzon Dax, with whom they entered into a blood oath to one day exact revenge on an enemy for killing one of the warrior's sons. Finding Jadzia as worthy a warrior as they felt Curzon to be, she joins the Klingons in completing their vendetta.

[edit] Summary

Koloth

Quark complains to Odo that a drunken Klingon named Kor is ruining his holosuite and Odo takes the man to a holding cell. Koloth, one of Kor's friends, comes to release him; however, when he sees Kor is still quite drunk, he tells Odo to keep him. Dax overhears Odo telling Kira about the incident and has Kor released. She reveals to him and to Koloth that she was Curzon Dax, or at least the symbiont inside her was. Kor and Koloth realize that another friend, Kang has set this meeting up on purpose.

Kang informs the other three that he has found "the Albino," a man whom all four swore a blood oath to kill. However, while Kor embraces Jadzia immediately and Koloth slowly accepts her, Kang is skeptical of her involvement in the mission. He cites that Trill hosts have no obligation to honor past commitments and tells her that she is released from Curzon's oath. Confiding in Kira, Dax nonetheless feels obligated to fulfill it.

Dax talks to Kor, who is as joyful as ever. His response to her desire to participate is, "Oh, of course you should come! The splendor of fighting and killing, a bloodbath in the cause of vengeance; who wouldn't want to come!" After a bat'leth duel with Dax, Koloth tells her that her presence will do honor to their cause. Kang remains adamant but Dax presses the matter. After all, Curzon was the godfather of Kang's son whom the Albino killed, and he cannot deny her right to vengeance. Finally, begrudgingly, Kang agrees to allow her to come but does not approve.

Sisko beats Dax to the punch and comes to her quarters to tell her she may not have a leave of absence to kill the Albino. He does not understand the concept of murder in the name of vengeance. When Dax begs him not to make her disobey a direct order, he does not directly give her permission to go but does not stop her either.

On the way to the Albino's hideaway, the Klingons and Jadzia discuss the logistics of their surprise assault. Koloth and Kor march out of the room triumphantly, but Dax stays to confront Kang. While the others may be blinded by their loyalty to Kang, she is able to see that the plan is doomed and demands to know why Kang wants to commit suicide. Finally, Kang reveals that when he first learned the Albino's location, he visited the system to see if it was true and was contacted by the Albino. The Albino offered Kang a "glorious" battle against forty of the Albino's best warriors and Kang accepted, believing that if he could not kill the Albino, he could die trying.

Kor

Claiming Klingons embrace death far too easily, Dax helps Kang and the others come up with a new strategy. By using a tetryon field to disable energy weapons, they force the Albino's warriors to fight using traditional methods and storm the compound. Koloth dies during the attack and the Albino manages to mortally wound Kang, but Dax pins the Albino so he is at her mercy. He dares her to kill him believing she will not; she does not, instead allowing Kang the honor. "It is a good day to die," Kang utters before dying.

Dax returns to the station and resumes her post while casting a nervous glance at both Kira and Sisko who return it pensively.

[edit] Memorable Quotes

"The Korvat colony. First day of negotiations, I walked out on you, right in the middle of that long-winded speech of yours. You should have seen the look on your face. Nobody had ever had the kajunpak't to show their back to the great Kang before Curzon did."
"I almost killed Curzon that day."

- Dax and Kang

"How did you get in here?"
"I am Koloth."
"That doesn't answer my question."
"Yes it does."

- Odo and Koloth, in Odo's office

"Security reassignments, Major. Sorry it took so long; it's been a Klingon afternoon."

- Odo

"Wait here."
"Where are you going?"
"I'm going to find out if he's inside."
"And how do you intend to do that?"
"I'll ask somebody!"

- Koloth offering a simple solution, and Kor wondering if he's gone mad

"Look upon your executioners, killer of children!"

- Kang

[edit] Background

[edit] Origin

Peter Allan Fields' original story, entitled "The Beast", did not feature Kang, Kor, and Koloth. They were to be new characters, but Robert Hewitt Wolfe, a big fan of The Original Series, suggested using the three most popular Klingons from that series. Fields based "The Beast" on Akira Kurosawa's 1954 film Seven Samurai and John Sturges' 1960 remake of that film, The Magnificent Seven. He modeled Koloth after James Coburn's character of Britt and Kang after Yul Brynner. Kor was based on William Shakespeare's character of Falstaff, who appeared in Henry IV, Part II. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion)

[edit] Augment virus?

The production staff toyed with the idea of having the three Klingons appear as they did in TOS, but decided against it. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion)
When Michael Ansara asked why the Klingons now looked different, he was told "Klingons live to be very, very old and that's a natural physical metamorphosis". (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion) The Star Trek: Enterprise episodes "Affliction" and "Divergence" ultimately explained why Kang, Koloth, and Kor have ridges here.

[edit] Sets

Jim Martin sketch of Albino's courtyard

The interior of the Albino's fortress was built on Paramount Stage 18. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion) The fortress set was actually built on Stage 18 for the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Masks" as Masaka's temple. TNG's Stage 16 was taken up by the Barkonian village set constructed for "Thine Own Self". (Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion)
The Albino's fortress was a house in Pasadena designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for Mr. and Mrs. George M. Millard. A model of it, which was blown up to show the destruction of the Compound, was built on Paramount's Van Ness parking lot. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion)
When Kor pulls open the holosuite door at the beginning of the episode, the "whoosh" sound of The Original Series doors is heard.

[edit] Music

To set the mood for the fight sequence, director Winrich Kolbe had Richard Wagner's Götterdämmerung played on-set. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion)
The music of this episode is very memorable for Dennis McCarthy; "We just went for it, and what I remember about the episode is the force of the music." (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion)

[edit] Cast and characters

This episode "reunites" three Klingons from The Original Series: Kor (TOS: "Errand of Mercy"), Koloth (TOS: "The Trouble with Tribbles"), and Kang (TOS: "Day of the Dove").
Before the episode entered production, Junie Lowry-Johnson and Ron Surma checked to see if Michael Ansara, John Colicos, and William Campbell were still acting. They found the first two easily, but had difficulty finding Campbell. He was actually doing Star Trek cruise conventions at the time. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion)
On the return of the TOS actors, Michael Okuda commented "At first, you almost didn't recognize them because they were in heavy Klingon makeup. But as soon as Michael Ansara opened his mouth, there was a powerful sense of déjà vu. Having the three original Klingons on the show was magical for everyone. (Where No One Has Gone Before)
This episode marks the deaths of Koloth (William Campbell) and Kang (Michael Ansara), although, Kang later appeared in VOY: "Flashback". Incidentally, Kor (John Colicos) is the only one of the three Klingons to survive the events of this episode. However, as of 2008, Colicos is the only one of the three actors who is deceased.
William Campbell said this episode was his most difficult acting job, and one he would have liked to do again. (Deep Space Nine Chronicles)
Terry Farrell is a big fan of this episode because she feels that it reveals a great deal of depth to Dax. Farrell feels that each of the three Klingons require a different approach from her, and that the character is capable of switching gears like that is something she is quite proud of; "With Kor, I had to convince him that he was a hero, and that in my eyes he would always be a hero, so that was philosophical. With Koloth, I had to prove that I was strong enough to go to battle with him, so that was physical. And with Kang, I had to prove to him that my desire and need to be a part of this blood oath was strong enough that I could not imagine staying behind, that I was mentally strong and capable enough. So I had to exhibit the honor, the physical strength, and the mental perseverance to go with them." (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion)
John Colicos reprises his role as Kor in season four's "The Sword of Kahless" and season seven's "Once More Unto the Breach".
The late Christopher Collins previously played another Markalian, Durg in "The Passenger".
Michael Ansara appears in DS9 again, as Jeyal in "The Muse".
Colm Meaney (Miles O'Brien), Siddig El Fadil (Julian Bashir) and Cirroc Lofton (Jake Sisko) do not appear in this episode.

[edit] Continuity

Klach D'Kel Brakt, referred to in this episode, is later revealed in ENT: "The Augments" to be the Klingon name for the "Briar Patch" seen in Star Trek: Insurrection.
Kor's line "That's what you get for making a deal with the devil, Kang!" is rather odd, given that Kang said in "Day of the Dove" that Klingons do not have a devil. This could be due to cultural changes in Klingon society, possibly from Federation influence in the meantime, thus implying he meant it as a figure of speech. It is possible that the Klingons once had a devil in their mythology but he was slain like the other Klingon gods. In this case Kang would have meant that the Klingons did not currently have a devil, or he could have been indirectly referring to Fek'lhr, the closest thing Klingons still have to the devil in human theism.

[edit] Apocrypha

Andy Mangels and Michael A. Martin's Star Trek: Excelsior novel Forged in Fire is a prequel of sorts to this episode, giving more insight as to the background of the Albino (whose name, we learn, is Qagh) and Curzon's relationship with the Klingons.

[edit] Video and DVD releases

UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 20, 22 August 1994.
As part of the UK VHS collection Star Trek - Crossovers Set: 6 November 1995
As part of the DS9 Season 2 DVD collection.

[edit] Links and references

[edit] External links

Blood Oath (episode) at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
Blood Oath (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) at Wikipedia

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