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Hail Mary! Star Trek: Discovery ’s Klingon Prisoner Talks About Her Season 1 Finale Fate

Mary chieffo plays a starfleet captive who finds herself the last hope for peace for a civilization that is not her own..

TAGGED AS: CBS , CBS All Access , Star Trek

Mary Chieffo, who plays Klingon L’Rell in Star Trek: Discovery , talks about her role in the season 1 finale, “ Will You Take My Hand ,” that aired on Sunday night.

SPOILER ALERT: THIS ARTICLE REVIEWS PLOT DETAILS OF STAR TREK: DISCOVERY . TURN BACK NOW IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN EPISODE “WILL YOU TAKE MY HAND.”

ALEX KURTZMAN | MARY CHIEFFO | JEFF RUSSO

After spending nearly half of the season in a prison cell, Chieffo’s L’Rell was set free in the season 1 finale and given the power to destroy her home planet in order to bring her fractured people to heel. We spoke to Chieffo about that moment and what it been like acting under the Klingon prosthetics and makeup.

Debbie Day for Rotten Tomatoes: L’Rell’s status has just blown up. How long did you know that was going to be in the cards for the character?

Mary Chieffo: It was definitely something that was found over time. It was not something that when I got the role they were like, “Oh, and then you’re going to become the leader of the Klingon empire.” I was like, “Oh, OK.” It’s such a tribute to Aaron [Harberts] and Gretchen [Berg] and the entire writers’ room and team and all of our EPs. Because what really ended up happening was they saw who L’Rell was becoming, particularly in episode 4, and they knew that they wanted her to be the one who came up with the plan for the Voq-Tyler situation. But once they really saw that there was stuff going on, just chemistry-wise and what not, they really ended up developing her arc more and more.

Once I was captured and on the Discovery , we just continued to find things. I wasn’t in the writers’ room as they continued to discuss and develop. It was certainly a humbling experience, for me, once this was the decision that was made. To me, I believe in the arc so much. I’m proud of it because you see a woman who is in this patriarchal society, who has learned how to survive by living in the shadows, working from the sidelines, and a lot of her behavior seems duplicitous or manipulative because that’s just how she knows how to get by, and she’s always been the fuel behind these male Klingons. But as we see, T’Kuvma gets killed, Kol gets killed, and Voq, as a consequence of all this craziness, ends up being lost as well.

I really appreciated that they saw that this is happening and realized that in a certain way she’s been the one who has been the strongest and has been the smartest, even though she doesn’t realize that about herself. She is the Klingon that we do want to invest in. I think what Burnham realizes is she is the last believer of this larger message of unification. L’Rell also comes to realize on her own terms that the way in which T’Kuvma believed that the Klingon should be unified, which was in war against the Federation, is not working. That’s what she really comes to terms with in 14 and 15, is that we’re out of control and they need someone. And Sarek says that without a concrete leader that they’re just scattered all over the place. To me, I’m humbled as an actor to get to have that journey, and then just as an audience member I’m really proud of how much of a nuance sort of feminist story it has become in that way.

RT: Are we seeing L’Rell softening her stance a little bit? Are we seeing the beginnings of cooperation maybe? 

Chieffo: Yeah, I would say that … Jayne Brook talked about this a bit after episode 8: Just a sense of the diplomatic relations that we will eventually see happen in Undiscovered Country . There is potential, the seeds are planted here for true collaboration. I think L’Rell’s journey, she really didn’t have much exposure to humans at all in the same way the Federation hadn’t been interacting with Klingons directly for over 100 years, around 100 years. She, in her journey, particularly in her relationship with Cornwell, and then just having to come to terms with the fact that this plan, that she believed that the Klingon spirit would just inevitably triumph over the human one. The fact that the human spirit was stronger than she believed it would be. The fact that Burnham ends up treating her with respect, and giving her this opportunity to become a leader. She’s a very, very smart woman, and how could she ignore the evidence that is presented to her, that there is something to this Federation, there is something to these humans? That’s been really, really fun to play.

I’m still a Klingon, and I still adhere to our culture and our beliefs, but at the same time, when you get to know more about my history, in four, about how my mother was from House Mo’Kai and my father was House T’Kuvma, that I’ve already spent my entire life learning how to compromise. But that’s something that’s innate in me, in my sensibility. I think, in the same way it takes Burnham the arc of this season to begin to accept the Klingons, whereas she was able to really have empathy for the tardigrade. She’s a xenoanthropologist. She’s able to see, oh, well when the tardigrade’s provoked, then it may became more hostile. But in the same way that she has that journey, she has that in her, but it takes her all 15 episodes to start to have that with the Klingons. For L’Rell, she’s been able to do that within her own world, within her own culture, but it takes the arc of the entire season and her experiences within to really allow her to begin to see that maybe there is room for compromise outside of the Klingon empire.

RT: Can you tell me a little bit about the subtext of when Burnham hands L’Rell the bomb? It’s kind of a “W-T-F” moment.

Chieffo: Yeah, yeah. I’m like, “You’re giving me what now?” Yeah, yeah. Exactly. I do not expect this. I mean my last interaction was Georgiou beating the crap out of me. I’m like, “This is not going well.” But I really think that, as I’ve been saying, L’Rell still may lean towards not wanting to trust humans because that’s been her entire existence, but it’s just another moment where she’s like, “OK, I guess this woman has empathy for me, or she’s smart.”

The big thing with L’Rell, I should actually say, is that — yeah, that’s part of why she ends up befriending, for a lack of a better term, Cornwell — is when she sees another person, whether they’re another Klingon or another human or whatnot, when she sees that they are smart, that they have some sort of larger plan, I think she respects that. I think that as a Klingon, respect is extremely important to L’Rell, and part of why she gives Cornwell the information she does in 14 is because she knows that she’s not going to take that information lightly.

So I think it’s very much a moment for L’Rell to realize that the humans are continuing to surprise her. I basically am agreeing with you, that it is a surprising moment. But I think, also, certainly something that Sonequa and I played with, was energetically. It’s not a big wordy scene. I think it’s fun that we don’t have a classic sort of love triangle sort of duking it out. Like, “Well, you did this, and how dare you.” It’s very much like, no, we have a larger issue at hand, which is hopefully the end of a war. So a lot of is unspoken, and I think that was certainly what Sonequa and I wanted to play with, was that we didn’t have to say, “Oh, you’re the one. You’re the reason that … Oh, OK.” No, it’s like there are larger issues at hand here.

RT: Going back to you getting beaten up, is that all you or is there a stunt Klingon happening there?

Chieffo: We have our great stunt coordinating team. Yeah, we have stunt doubles. But certainly when we filmed it, Jayne, Michelle [Yeoh], and I did all of our takes. They edit it together so well. They’ll always do wide, medium, close with one or two takes with the stunt people as well. But for the most part, particularly for me because of my prosthetics, my double uses a mask, which is not as nuanced, and is like glued on. Mine is multiple parts and all that sort of stuff. So, usually, they end up using most of my stuff because you can see who it is. You can tell if it’s a mask or not.

I love doing all those stunts, and obviously Michelle’s quite good at it herself. That was such an amazing learning experience watching how she, as we learned the choreography. Then on the day when we were filming, she gets camera angles and which kicks looks best for whatever moment, or what will actually be the best to get me against the wall or whatnot. She’s just such an incredible legend in that way. She was laughing at me, because I kept on saying, “Oh, it’s such an honor. It’s such an honor to be beaten up by you.” Yeah, I love stunts. I love getting that adrenaline going. It’s a very specific experience when you’re covered in prosthetics, but I’ll take it.

RT: How is the makeup treating you? And did you get any tips from Doug Jones ?

Chieffo: Yes. Doug Jones. Oh my goodness. Thank God for that man, on so many levels. When I first met him at the table reading for the pilot, I told him it was my first time doing prosthetics. He was like, “Oh, precious.” He’s such a sweet, loving man, but he made it very clear from the get-go that he was available. He easily could have been like, “Well, good luck, kid.” But instead, anytime that we were in the makeup trailer at the same time, he would always check in. Then, down the line as we were getting more settled, we got coffee and just kind of chatted about things and his experience. He’s had so many different experiences and lengths of time when it comes to being in that chair. Everything from … I know Hellboy was like seven hours. He was saying a certain camera test was 11 hours just to get in the makeup before actually even filming anything. He’s just been an incredible support in that way.

Then it was such a thrill to then work with him. In 12, we were so excited, and they were very wordy scenes, so we really got together and drilled beforehand. My instincts about how to navigate the prosthetics very much ended up being what he said his process is, which is: It’s not about just being the creature externally. It’s so much about, as you would with any part, whether you’re covered in any makeup at all, is, what is their heart? What is their soul? What are their motivations? But then you do have this extra layer of, when you do see your face and it’s not yourself, or the back of your head is much larger, then it’s this combination of all this kind of organic actor work.

Mask work was really something that I gravitated towards in college, so it was really fun to be able to use that in movement work. I’ve always really enjoyed that. It’s been a beautiful kind of culmination of so many of the different skills that I developed in school, that I knew I would love to be able to incorporate, and to have the opportunity to do it on such an extreme level has been wonderful. But it’s challenging. Doug’s the first person to acknowledge that you don’t get to goof around on set in the same way that everybody else does. I’m a very joyous person and I like to laugh a lot, and because of my mouth I really shouldn’t be opening my mouth that largely, unless I have to in the scene. James MacKinnon, who’s our prosthetic department head, who’s wonderful — luckily, they are such a great team, it makes those two hours in the morning fly by — but he’s always like, “Don’t laugh. Don’t laugh now.” It’s being in the trenches and powering through. Yeah, huge learning experience, for sure.

RT: Are you glad to be outside of the prison cell now?

Chieffo: It has been really fun to get to just watch and enjoy. Certainly, when I would get the scripts and see all the characters’ continued journeys, I would get so excited. So then to see that next level of it manifesting and all the finished visual effects. Yes, because I love L’Rell so much, it’s fun to see her come alive. Because she’s different from me on a lot of levels, I’m able to kind of view her in a way that’s a little different from just watching yourself on screen. Because she is so alien, I’m able to kind of appreciate her in a way that I’ve never been able to look at a character before. Which I’m still kind of processing exactly what that means or what that is, but definitely been fun, yes, to be on the other side and kind of enjoy it in a different way.

RT: Over the course of the entire season, do you have a favorite moment for performance?

Chieffo: I will say that there have been so many beautiful, delicious moments. I will say, actually, in 15, this speech was particularly moving. Because when they said, even, L’Rell’s going to kind of start to become the leader, they didn’t say, “And then there’s going to be this incredible speech that you have to deliver to the High Council.” So when I got that script, and I got those pages, I was just so moved. It’s Shakespearean. She is saying, “We are proud. We are honorable.” It’s a journey of this woman owning herself. Then on a technical level, Rea Nolan, who is our dialect coach, who’s been there from the beginning, from episode one onward, we developed such a beautiful relationship, and she believes in the character, and we’ve just had so many hours of drilling the Klingon lines, and we developed such an amazing system.

That to then, in this final moment of thinking, “OK, we have this whole year, and here we are with this speech.” We just drilled it, and it was really intense memorization process, but at the end of the day, it was all in service of this larger story. All the nervousness I felt — I’m on like a rotating platform, and in a green screen, there’s so many different factors — I should’ve had a nervous breakdown. But I realize that that was how L’Rell felt, too. It was this kind of amazing moment of my heart and her heart coming together and trying to tell a larger story and really, really just own myself, and L’Rell own herself.

RT: Where are they?

Chieffo: It’s the High Council, which is where the 24 Houses come together … The idea is, that L’Rell had this detonator, and she’s like, “You have to listen to me or I will explode our planet. I have a plan.” So she’s able to get there through the threat of force, which is part of Burnham’s brilliance, is to not to actually explode the planet, but to have the potential of it. So it’s me appealing to the court, essentially. Because there’s no way that I’m going to be able to just suddenly rule everybody or try and be that person unless I get some sort of approval. I love the nuance of they kind of scoff and laugh, and then I’m like, “No, no, no. You have to listen, because I can kill us all.”

RT: I was thinking that it’s going to be hard for her to get out the building.

Chieffo: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I say that, and then I’m like, “OK. Thanks, you guys. I’ll see you later. I’m just going to —” [ laughs ]

Star Trek: Discovery season 1 is available to stream on CBS All Access.

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Mary Chieffo says playing L’Rell in Star Trek: Discovery is 'extreme' and 'empowering'

Credit: CBS

The Klingons in Star Trek: Discovery are not woke. And nobody knows this better than Mary Chieffo , the actress who plays L’Rell, High Chancellor of the Klingon Empire. In the latest episode, “Point of Light,” L’Rell has to make major sacrifices to appease the patriarchal and hypocritical forces within the Empire. And as Chieffo explains, what L’Rell deals with allows for Star Trek to not only go full-on Shakespearean, but also comment on real-life sexism in an extreme way.

**SPOILER WARNING! Spoilers ahead for Star Trek: Discovery Season 2, Episode 3, “Point of Light”**

“Of course, Starfleet is the ideal that we’ve moved past sexism,” Chieffo tells SYFY WIRE . “But the Klingon Empire is this great way to explore a lot of themes that are very prevalent today. What I keep coming back to is that sci-fi is our modern mythology. And the Klingons, in particular, are very Greek, very Shakespearean. And so, painfully, L’Rell has to embody those archetypes for our story.”

In “Point of Light” we learn that L’Rell had a secret baby with Voq, prior to his transformation into the human/Klingon hybrid Ash Tyler in Season 1. But the baby, and her human-ish lover, Tyler, become a big liability for L’Rell in this episode. Basically, the male-dominant Klingon Empire won’t take her seriously as a leader if she is caring for a small child and has a human-looking lover at the same time. At the end of the episode, a scheme is devised (with a little help from Michelle Yeoh and Section 31) to fake the death of both Tyler and the baby, essentially securing L’Rell’s position of power, but at great cost. As proof of her devotion to the Empire, L’Rell holds up the heads of Tyler and her child, in a scene that feels very Shakespearean, but also a little Game of Thrones , too.

“I talked a lot with Olatunde [Osunsanmi], our amazing director for this episode. And he talked about my relationship between those two heads. I have to view Tyler as this traitor. But with the baby, it’s almost this invocation,” Chieffo elaborates. “I mean, even though I know the baby isn’t actually dead, I still have to kill it for myself, it is still letting go of the child as something I was going to have. And I think we very much see that in 2019: A woman is particularly scrutinized and has to negate herself.”

L'Rell (Mary Chieffo) faces some sexist Klingons in "Point of Light." (CBS All Access.)

Mary Chieffo isn’t someone who is lost in her character per se, but she is aware of the power of what her character can do. Not only in an episode like “Point of Light,” but in the canon of Star Trek in general. Since the new aesthetic for the Klingons was established in Season 1, Star Trek: Discovery has taken a lot of heat from certain kinds of Trek fans. And those fans often demand answers as to why the Klingons look different than they did before. The biggest debate lately has been all about Klingon hair . They didn’t have it in Season 1, and now, in Season 2, they’re growing it out. This is explained, quickly, as a sign that the Klingons are at peace.

“It’s a time of peace and everyone’s letting their hair down, Tyler’s grown his beard. It shows the passage of time,” Chieffo says. “But, on an aesthetic, more archetypal level, it’s the image of L’Rell not only letting her hair down but embracing her femininity as well. Gersha Phillips' [costume designer on Discovery] costumes are inspired by classical Klingon stuff, with our own kind of riff. But it’s partially inspired by what I like to wear as Mary. Usually I don’t have a prosthetic chest I have to deal with! But I do like a good low-cut dress. I really appreciate that we get to explore that aesthetic juxtaposition.”

For those who follow Chieffo on social media , the actress is very active in responding to fans, even when those fans ask nitpicky questions about the designs of the Klingon makeup. For Trekkies of the 21st century, this seems normal, but in the past, Trek actors weren’t on social media explaining the motivations of their characters. When The Next Generation was on in the ‘90s, Michael Dorn didn’t get Twitter messages from angry fans asking him about Klingon hair. But Mary Chieffo does, and she replies to all of it.

“When I know I’m going to have to answer to stuff, I hunker down and do my research,” Chieffo says of her vigilance to talk about Klingons on Twitter. “When I first got the part, I went and watched every Klingon-centric episode in every iteration.I wanted to know what we were inspired by, what we were riffing off of, what we were departing from. And I did that so I could answer my own questions and not just be like, ‘It was a choice by production.’ I wanted to own it.”

Credit: David Needleman/CBS

Chieffo also decided early on to own the idea that she would not be recognizable as herself in the role, and to treat it as a blessing and curse she shares with co-star Doug Jones. But, despite the isolated nature of the Klingon makeup, Chieffo feels she’s in a unique place in which her art is being discussed ahead of her status as an actress.

“If we’re doing our job right, you’re not thinking about the fact there’s an actor in there,” Chieffo says. “L’Rell is a little bit more ... human ... for lack of a better term, this season. In aesthetic at least. But last year, I felt that she was such a creature that people saw her as a creature. It was harder for people to make that connection between the actor and the character. But as an artist, I’m thrilled! It does create an interesting challenge. But, on the feminist, female side of things, the fact that so often women [actors] struggle with the idea that they don’t fit a certain standard and so they don’t get cast in stuff. For me, if people are commenting on my performance, they’re not actually commenting fully how I look as Mary. They’re commenting on the character I created. That’s been very empowering and exciting. People are having to speak about my craft as opposed to my aesthetic.”

Star Trek: Discovery Season 2 airs on Thursday nights at 8:30 p.m. ET on CBS All Access.

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Mary Chieffo

Series: Discovery

Character(s): L’Rell

Mary Elizabeth Chieffo is an American actress known for portraying the Klingon L’Rell on the television series Star Trek: Discovery.

Chieffo watched previous series with Klingon episodes and commented: “[The series that] that keeps coming up when we’re talking about serialized Star Trek is Deep Space Nine, because those last three seasons really do start to have a new, serialized quality. Of course, I have a soft spot for Odo. Then, I think about the great female Klingons on the show, and one of my favorites, Grilka, comes in”.

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What Is Up With the Klingons in ‘Star Trek: Discovery’?

The Klingons have been a staple of the Star Trek universe since the original series. A fierce warrior race that has often been in conflict with the Federation, they will be key antagonists in  Star Trek: Discovery . But, what we’ve seen of the Klingons has us a little confused .

Why Do They Look Different?

The Klingons have been redesigned during the course of the Star Trek franchise. But, the Klingons in  Star Trek: Discovery look radically different than any Klingons we’ve seen before. Their skin color is more purple than brown. Most appear to be bald (even Klingon women) whereas in the previous Trek TV series many had long hair. They also are wearing ornate armor that doesn’t seem to reference any time period in Klingon history that fans are familiar with.

It turns out that’s on purpose. The creators of  Star Trek: Discovery wanted to redesign the Klingons. There had to be a narrative reason to do so. That’s why these new Klingons are utilizing ancient Klingon technology. Their families might even be isolated from regular Klingon life.

That’s where the leaders of this Klingon faction come into play.

The Leaders

This group of Klingons is lead by T’Kuvma. T’Kuvma is a proud but zealous Klingon warrior. He follows an ancient and puritanical way of Klingon life. He believes he is the reincarnation of Kahless , the founder the Klingon Empire . The Klingons view him as a near-deity. It seems that T’Kuvma is leading a radical splinter group that the other Klingon houses are wary of.

T’Kuvma is joined by his second-in-command, Kol. Kol is from the House of Kor . Kor was one of the first Klingons introduced in the original series. It sounds like this will link up to the Klingon race that we’re familiar with.

There is also L’Rell, T’Kuvma’s battle deck commander. Klingon culture is a patriarchal society and L’Rell is an ambitious female Klingon. It’s likely that her assertive personality will clash with T’Kuvma and Kol.

T’Kuvma’s ship is unlike any in the Klingon Empire. It’s 200 years old and is partially constructed out of Klingon sarcophagi. This is an interesting twist because Klingons normally do not preserve their dead. Once a Klingon has died, their body is considered trash.

T’Kuvma’s ship will give us a peek into ancient Klingon ways of life. Along with the bizarre ship, we’ve also seen a new kind of Klingon suit called “torchbearer.” It seems to be a space suit. Exactly how often we’ll see the torchbearer suit is unknown.

Exploring Strange, New Worlds

There is a lot that’s shocking about what we’ve seen of the Klingons in  Star Trek: Discovery . It might seem jarring to fans, but Star Trek is a franchise that has always challenged expectations. Hopefully, this new take on the classic alien race will boldly go where no Star Trek series has gone before.

Star Trek Discovery premieres on CBS and CBS All Access September 24 in the U.S. and on Netflix in the U.K. the following day.

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#Trekformations Turns Mary Chieffo into L'Rell

Get a taste of the SFX magic that goes into creating this iconic Klingon look.

SFX Make up artists transform actress Mary Chieffo into Head of the Klingon High Council, L'Rell on Star Trek: Discovery .

Star Trek: Discovery streams exclusively on CBS All Access in the United States and is distributed concurrently by CBS Studios International on Netflix in 188 countries and in Canada, airs on Bell Media’s CTV Sci-Fi Channel and streams on Crave.

L'Rell was a 23rd century Klingon warrior , a follower of T'Kuvma . She later led the Klingon Empire as head of the Klingon High Council , a position she first used to end the Federation-Klingon War of the mid- 2250s .

• 1 Early life
• 2.1 Serving House T'Kuvma
• 2.2 Serving House Kor
• 2.3 Starfleet captivity
• 3 Leadership of the Empire
• 4.1 Appearances
• 4.2 References
• 4.3 Background information
• 4.4 Apocrypha
• 4.5 External links

Early life [ ]

L'Rell's father was a blood kinsman of T'Kuvma, while her mother , a sister of Ujilli , belonged to the House of Mo'Kai . ( DIS : " The Butcher's Knife Cares Not for the Lamb's Cry ", " Point of Light ")

When she came of age, her mother presented her with a knife and demanded she cut her own heart in half if she would not choose to belong to one House or the other, due to the heavy feuds between the Klingon Houses during this time period. Instead, L'Rell chose to build a bridge, embracing T'Kuvma's philosophy that the Klingon Houses should not be divided by bitter blood feuds but work together as one united Klingon people. ( DIS : " The Butcher's Knife Cares Not for the Lamb's Cry ")

Military career [ ]

Serving house t'kuvma [ ].

L'Rell before the Battle of the Binary Stars

In 2256 , L'Rell reported to T'Kuvma that their flagship 's long-range sensors had detected Starfleet reinforcements en route, prompting T'Kuvma to order Voq to light the Beacon of Kahless . ( DIS : " The Vulcan Hello ") Following the Klingons' victory in the ensuing Battle of the Binary Stars , L'Rell and Voq proclaimed T'Kuvma as T'Kuvma "the Unforgettable" to the Klingon High Council . After the Council leaders returned to Qo'noS , she informed T'Kuvma that all surviving Federation starships had gone into hiding and posed no threat. ( DIS : " Battle at the Binary Stars ")

L'Rell was one of T'Kuvma's closest followers for many years, and did not object when he chose Voq as his right hand and heir. After T'Kuvma was killed shortly thereafter at the Battle of the Binary Stars, she faithfully followed Voq as the new leader of House T'Kuvma. When he asked her about this several months later, she said that she trusted T'Kuvma's judgement, as he saw a devotion and sense of purpose in Voq that so many of the other Klingons from powerful Great Houses lacked. Moreover, she did not look forward to the compromises and restrictions that would accompany such a position of political leadership: as she explained, she preferred the greater freedom of action which would come as Voq's greatest champion , enforcer, and defender – without having to worry about political entanglements.

When Kol transported aboard the Sarcophagus and convinced most of its crew to mutiny and abandon Voq, L'Rell appeared to go along with Kol's plans. Kol ordered her to kill Voq immediately, however, L'Rell convinced Kol to exile Voq to the wreck of the USS Shenzhou . L'Rell then transported aboard the Shenzhou herself and revealed she was still loyal to Voq. ( DIS : " The Butcher's Knife Cares Not for the Lamb's Cry ")

L'Rell secretly supervised the choH'a' procedure which transformed Voq into a replica of the Human Ash Tyler . Before the procedure was performed, she became pregnant by Voq; when she discovered this, she had the fetus removed and gestated ex utero . ( DIS : " Despite Yourself ", " Point of Light ")

Serving House Kor [ ]

L'Rell in agony after being scarred by Lorca

Soon after, L'Rell was the captain of a D7-class battle cruiser . This ship served as a prison ship. Among her many duties, she was an interrogator and torturer. Her prisoners included Harry Mudd and Ash Tyler . According to Tyler, L'Rell had taken an "interest" in him; something which Tyler forced himself to utilize in order to stay alive, leading her to rape him. A month after leaving Voq aboard the Shenzhou , L'Rell captured Gabriel Lorca , captain of the USS Discovery and interrogated him. She suffered burns from a phaser blast to the left side of her face during Lorca and Tyler's escape attempt. ( DIS : " Choose Your Pain ")

After recovering from her injuries, which left extensive scarring , L'Rell returned to the Sarcophagus , ostensibly to interrogate Admiral Katrina Cornwell . L'Rell attempted to ingratiate herself with Kol, arguing that her talents would be useful to his house . However, L'Rell later confided in Cornwell that she intended to defect to the Federation and asked Cornwell to help her get aboard the USS Discovery . L'Rell and Cornwell staged a fight in front of Kol's men, to win the general's trust.

On board the Sarcophagus , L'Rell hid Cornwell in a side room, but discovered to her horror that the room was filled with corpses – including her friends Grafk , Torath and Silrek . The outraged L'Rell vowed to kill Kol and avenge her comrades. L'Rell then feigned pledging fealty to Kol, but Kol saw through the deception and ordered her to be taken away for punishment. ( DIS : " Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum ")

L'Rell and Cornwell test each other's mettle

L'Rell was placed in the same side room as Cornwell, and was present when Tyler and Michael Burnham infiltrated the Sarcophagus on a mission to penetrate the ship's cloak . As Tyler and Cornwell were beamed back to the Discovery together, she grabbed hold of her former prisoner and was brought along with the two Starfleet officers just before the Sarcophagus was destroyed. L'Rell was then taken prisoner herself, and placed in Discovery 's brig , where Tyler – still traumatized by the events on the Sarcophagus – visited her cell and demanded to know what she did to him. L'Rell told him not to worry, that she would never let "them" hurt him, and then noting, "Soon." ( DIS : " Into the Forest I Go ")

Starfleet captivity [ ]

L'Rell confronted by Tyler in Discovery 's brig

With the intensity of his memories of being Voq increasing, Tyler went to demand answers from L'Rell of what she had done to him. L'Rell began to repeat the same Klingon prayer regarding Kahless that Voq had recited with T'Kuvma when he died. Voq's personality began to emerge, and he began to recite the prayer with L'Rell. However the prayer did not work as expected as the Tyler personality regained control a few minutes later. At that point he pushed L'Rell back in to her cell and left the brig. ( DIS : " Despite Yourself ")

After the Voq personality had been fully awakened the Tyler and Voq personalities warred for control. First officer Saru went to L'Rell to ask what had been done, and to request L'Rell's assistance in helping Tyler, who was dying due to the war being waged inside his body. When Tyler was beamed in to her cell, she finally agreed to help Tyler. In sickbay L'Rell removed Voq's brain patterns from Tyler's brain. Realizing that her old friend was gone, L'Rell performed the Klingon death ritual for Voq. ( DIS : " Vaulting Ambition ")

L'Rell declares her ascendance to the role of Chancellor

Once Discovery had returned to the home universe, the mirror universe version of Philippa Georgiou went to interrogate L'Rell. L'Rell was shocked to see Georgiou as T'Kuvma had killed her and the crew of the Sarcophagus had consumed Georgiou's body. When L'Rell refused to divulge the best locations on Qo'noS for a Starfleet landing party to infiltrate the planet, Georgiou began to torture L'Rell for information until Michael Burnham was able to get Georgiou to stop. ( DIS : " Will You Take My Hand? ")

Leadership of the Empire [ ]

L'Rell as Chancellor of the Klingon High Command

After Michael Burnham convinced the mirror universe counterpart of Philippa Georgiou to give up control of the hydro bomb she had planted deep within a volcano on Qo'noS , Burnham gave the detonator to L'Rell. Burnham and Tyler convinced L'Rell to use the detonator to force the Klingon High Council to accept her as the new leader of the Empire. In a speech to the Council, L'Rell gave them a choice to accept her leadership of the Empire and end the war against the Federation or she would detonate the hydro bomb, destroying Qo'noS. Acceding to her demands, Klingon forces broke off their attack on Sector 001 and returned to Klingon space, bringing the war to an end. ( DIS : " Will You Take My Hand? ")

Some weeks later, L'Rell, now holding the title of High Chancellor , was contacted by Sarek . L'Rell assured Sarek that the Klingons had nothing to do with the seven red bursts that had mysteriously appeared across the galaxy. ( DIS : " Brother ")

L'Rell takes on the role of "Mother"

While the USS Discovery investigated the red bursts, L'Rell turned her attention to cementing her rule and promoting unity. To this end, she unveiled the D7 class starship and her plans to have all Klingon Houses adopt it as the backbone of their fleets. Her plans were momentarily derailed when the High Council pushed back against her leadership, in particular the omnipresence of her torchbearer, Ash Tyler . Throughout her rule, L'Rell had been hiding, both from Tyler and the Empire, that she and Voq had had a son. Tyler eventually found out and convinced L'Rell to accept the child and be a family, only for Kol-Sha to kidnap the child to use against her. Kol'Sha's coup was stopped by the intervention of Philippa Georgiou. On Georgiou's advice, L'Rell banished Tyler and arranged for her son to become a monk on Boreth . Pretending that it was Tyler who planned the coup and that it was Kol'Sha who defended her, L'Rell called again for Klingon unity, this time claiming a title more fierce than that of Chancellor: " Mother ". ( DIS : " Point of Light ")

Later that year, Tyler requested L'Rell's aid to arrange the Discovery 's safe passage to Boreth as a part of their red burst investigation. L'Rell rendezvoused with the Discovery aboard a D7-class battle cruisier, emphasizing to Captain Pike that Boreth was a sacred planet and forbidden to outsiders, but was eventually persuaded. Tyler initially volunteered to go down to Boreth, but L'Rell considered this 'too risky', as he could reveal L'Rell's deception regarding the true status of Tyler and their child, prompting Captain Pike to go in his place. Following Captain Pike's retrieval of a time crystal from the planet's surface, L'Rell returned to Qo'noS to resume her duties as chancellor. ( DIS : " Through the Valley of Shadows ")

During the Battle near Xahea , L'Rell aided the Discovery and the USS Enterprise by leading a Klingon armada from a Klingon cleave ship with Tyler at her side, helping ensure Control 's eventual defeat. ( DIS : " Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2 ")

Appendices [ ]

Appearances [ ].

• " The Vulcan Hello " ( Season 1 )
• " Battle at the Binary Stars "
• " The Butcher's Knife Cares Not for the Lamb's Cry "
• " Choose Your Pain "
• " Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum "
• " Into the Forest I Go "
• " Despite Yourself "
• " Vaulting Ambition "
• " The War Without, The War Within "
• " Will You Take My Hand? "
• " Point of Light " ( Season 2 )
• " Through the Valley of Shadows "
• " Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2 "

References [ ]

• " Brother " ( Season 2 )
• " Saints of Imperfection "

Background information [ ]

L'Rell in a second season promotional image

L'Rell is played by Mary Chieffo .

Chieffo was inspired by previous Klingon women like Grilka and B'Elanna Torres . [1]

L'Rell appeared in an extended scene from " Battle at the Binary Stars ", in which she was present as T'Kuvma turned towards her with a flaming bat'leth in his hand, said something to her, and then walked past her, carrying the bat'leth with him.

Chieffo tweeted an image of her as L'Rell in advance of the second season premiere, showing her with hair. [2]

Apocrypha [ ]

Mary Chieffo voices L'Rell in the "House Reborn" update to Star Trek Online , released for the game's 11th anniversary in January 2021. Tenavik and the Followers of Kahless on Boreth have cloned L'Rell (similarly to how they cloned Kahless the Unforgettable ) to replace the self-declared Emperor J'mpok as leader of a once-again fractured Empire. Although her body is restored, Tenavik discovers her soul has not returned, and has somehow made its way to Gre'thor . When she meets the player characters, accompanied by General Martok and Matriarch J'Ula of the House of Mo'Kai , L'Rell explains that she exchanged her soul with that of her fallen love, Voq, so that he could go on to Sto-vo-kor . The spirit of Gowron offers himself in L'Rell's place, to allow her to return to life. Tenavik gives his mother her old D7 battlecruiser , the I.K.S. K't'inga , to engage the Fek'Ihri hordes in orbit of Boreth.

In the "House United" story, L'Rell joins with Martok, J'Ula, and the player character in rallying forces against J'mpok, securing the allegiance of several resistant Houses, as well as the Gorn and the Orions (both marginalized under J'mpok's rule). This culminates in the last battle for Qo'noS, where a wounded Martok turns the Sword of Kahless over to L'Rell to finish the fight. Defeated in single combat by J'Ula, J'mpok threatens to detonate the hydro bomb set by the mirror Philippa Georgiou (just as L'Rell herself had done to secure her claim to the Chancellorship in " Will You Take My Hand? "), but L'Rell cuts off his hand with the Sword before J'Ula finally kills him. With J'mpok dead, J'Ula declines the leadership, and thus L'Rell is declared the new Chancellor with J'Ula as her Torchbearer .

External links [ ]

• L'Rell at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• 2 Daniels (Crewman)
• 3 Rules of Acquisition

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I’m Glad Voyager’s Tom And B’Elanna Are No Longer Star Trek's Only Successful Romance

I don't care if modern star trek breaks established canon, star trek's returning captain can finally explain the enterprise's missing era.

The Star Trek franchise's most popular aliens are arguably the Klingons, but the mythos around them can be confusing because of all the changes they have gone through over the years. Klingons have been a staple Star Trek alien ever since Star Trek: The Original Series , with their history, culture, and politics explored extensively in both the Star Trek television shows and movies. It would be hard to imagine the franchise with Klingons and the storylines they have provided.

Klingons are a warrior race who prize honor and skill in combat above everything else. They are a very tradition-bound species, with a rich history and complex ideology that revolves mostly around the mythology of their greatest historical warrior, Kahless. A Klingon's greatest honor is to die in battle, and the militaristic aspects of their culture are highly valued. Klingon culture is the antithesis of The United Federation of Planets in many ways, which made the Klingon Empire a major antagonist for Starfleet initially. As any fan will know, however, the two did manage to find common ground and become allies eventually.

Related: Star Trek Brings Back The Real Klingons Discovery Ignored

Klingons have become such a well-established species in Star Trek that it is easy to forget how different they were when they were first introduced. The species has been through many different versions and redesigns over the years, starting in TOS and going up through even the more recent Star Trek shows. Including the version first introduced in TOS , there have been five distinct varieties of Klingons over the years, making for a complicated history of Klingon development within the franchise.

Star Trek: The Original Series

Klingons were first introduced in Star Trek: The Original Series , in the season 1 episode "Errand of Mercy." The episode revolves around Captain Kirk and the crew of the USS Enterprise on a mission to the planet Organia in order to protect its inhabitants from a Klingon attack. However, it is eventually revealed that the Organians are actually quite advanced beings who don't need any protection and are simply trying to put an end to the conflict between Starfleet and the Klingon Empire. They force Kirk and the Klingon commander Kor to reconcile and predict that in the future the Federation and the Klingons will work together.

Executive producer and writer Gene L. Coon was responsible for the creation of the Klingons and based them and their culture off of both Soviet Russia and Communist China. In keeping with TOS's  style of contemporary social commentary, the Klingon conflict with the Federation was supposed to represent the United States and Soviet conflict during the Cold War. This did result in some questionable makeup choices for the Klingons, with their appearance reflecting an orientalist attitude and their makeup verging on what audiences today would likely call "brownface."

Additionally, because of their inspiration, TOS's Klingons were nothing like the Klingons fans would come to know and love in subsequent shows. The biggest difference was their lack of forehead ridges, but they were also duplicitous, ruthless, and much more Fascistic, with no trace of the honor-obsessed warrior culture that would come later. Klingons would go on to appear several other times throughout The Original Series , most notably in the classic episode "The Trouble with Tribbles."

Related: Star Trek: The Klingons' Greatest Enemy Were The Tribbles, Not Starfleet

Klingons featured in 3 out of the 6 Original Series movies. While only Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country had a plot that revolved almost entirely around the Klingons, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock featured them as a major player, and they made a brief cameo appearance at the beginning of  Star Trek: The Motion Picture . The TOS film series further explored the Klingon culture and especially their relationship with Starfleet, culminating in The Undiscovered Country  in which peace was finally brokered between the Federation and the Klingon Empire. This peace would set up the Klingons' return as Federation allies in later series.

Perhaps the most important thing that the TOS films did however was to give the Klingons a complete redesign. A bigger budget and vastly improved makeup techniques allowed for the creative team to make the Klingons look more alien, providing them at last with the iconic ridged foreheads. The facial hair and complexion from The Original Series were kept, but other changes were made as well, mostly to the uniform style and bizarrely the feet, which now sported a spike if the Klingon boots depicted in Star Trek 6  were any indication. The films also saw the creation of the Klingon language and the beginnings of establishing a more traditional Klingon culture. Ultimately, the TOS movies laid the groundwork for the development of the "classic" Klingons later on.

Star Trek: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, And Voyager

The next three series in the Star Trek franchise greatly expanded on the Klingons, establishing their history, politics, and culture to a degree not previously seen. This began with the inclusion of a Klingon main character on Star Trek: The Next Generation . The character of Worf, who was the first Klingon to enter Starfleet, provided a lens through which to view Klingons as sympathetic. Worf introduced fans to the intricacies of Klingon culture and politics, becoming the quintessential example of the honor-obsessed Klingon warrior. Worf also went on to become a series regular on  Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , and along with characters like Chancellor Gowron and General Martok, explored how the Klingon-Federation alliance held up against the threat of the Dominion War.

Star Trek: Voyager also featured a Klingon character, B'Elanna Torres, who provided a new perspective on the species through her Klingon-Human hybrid parentage. B'Elanna's struggles with both her human and Klingon sides were the crux of many of her character arcs, and her struggles to accept the Klingon half of her provided some fascinating character development. Even though Voyager was set in the Delta Quadrant, far away from Klingon space, B'Elanna's presence on the crew also led to a number of good Klingon-related storylines, most notably "Barge of the Dead" which gave fans an in-depth glimpse into the Klingon mythology around heaven and hell.

Related: Star Trek: What Happened To Worf's Son, Alexander Rozhenko

Throughout all of this world-building, Star Trek  never addressed the differences between the now well-established Klingons and what they had originally been on TOS . Despite this, fans became increasingly obsessed with Klingon culture, even creating a Klingon dictionary and learn the language. TNG , DS9 , and Voyager  took a species that had started out as a one-dimensional enemy and shaped them into a fascinating species with limitless possibilities. This not only kept fans interested up ended up making the Star Trek universe a more complex and rich place.

Star Trek: Enterprise

Star Trek: Enterprise was the first series to offer an in-universe explanation for the differences of the Klingons from The Original Series . The Klingons in Enterprise  started out looking similar to the now well-established Klingons, with long hair, full beards, and forehead ridges. Their culture and relationship with the Federation were both much different of course because of  Enterprise's prequel status. Producers Rick Berman and Micahel Piller were interested in the opportunity to present a more primitive version of the Klingons and took full advantage of it, even introducing the idea of a caste system in Klingon society.

Additionally, Enterprise also sought to finally answer the question of why the TOS Klingons had no forehead ridges. They did this by introducing a storyline about a virus that almost wiped out the Klingon population. The Augment virus, as it was known, was accidentally developed by Klingon scientists when they tried to use genetically modified human DNA to create a Klingon-Human hybrid with super strength and stamina. DNA incompatibility ultimately led to death for those who were infected, but before that, one symptom of the virus was the loss of the Klingon's characteristic forehead ridges. A cure was developed by Doctor Phlox and the Klingon scientist Antaak that stopped the spread of the virus, but any physical changes that had happened before the cure was administered were permanent. This led to many Klingons who had been infected not possessing ridges.

The concept of the Augment virus as a way to explain the original Klingons was met with mixed reviews. Some fans accepted the explanation, while others found it dubious or were uninterested in any explanation in the first place. Indeed, Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry himself stated before his passing that he didn't think there needed to be an in-universe explanation for the lack of forehead ridges in TOS . Still, the story of the Augment virus provided Star Trek: Enterprise with a couple of engaging episodes, and added another interesting layer to Klingon history.

Related: Star Trek: Why Enterprise Was Cancelled

• Star Trek: Discovery

Star Trek: Discovery kicked off a new era of Star Trek shows in 2017, and Discovery's 1st season heavily featured the Klingons. However, the species underwent another dramatic redesign like they had in the TOS movies. The new design made the Klingons look even more alien, taking away their hair and giving them a larger head and more pronounced forehead ridges that extended up the entirety of their scalp. Discovery's Klingons also wore more elaborate armor and seemed more primitive and much more religiously devout.

Since Discovery  seasons 1 and 2 were set about 10 years before  The Original Series , some differences in the Klingons' behavior would have made sense, but their new appearance was striking and was met with heavy criticism by fans. Discovery's creative team didn't offer many explanations for the changes, although they did attempt to rectify some of them in season 2, giving the Klingons back their hair and toning down their amour a bit. Various theories and vague explanations for the change have been floating around ever since Discovery's 1st season. These include the idea of further genetic manipulation within the species or the theory that Discovery's Klingons were part of an older more traditional sect. Fans have continued to take issues with Star Trek: Discovery's  depiction of the Klingons , although sentiment has mellowed somewhat now that they are no longer a major player in the show.

With Discovery season 3 making a time jump 930 years into the future, however, some fans have been speculating that season 4 might bring back the "classic" Klingons that fans know and love. Season 3 provided opportunities to see the fates of several classic Star Trek species, such as the Vulcans, Romulans, and Trill. It is reasonable to assume that season 4 might continue the idea of revisiting old species in the far future, and because of Discovery's already established Klingon connection, they would certainly be the next logical step. It is also possible that 2nd season of Star Trek: Picard will include the Klingons since Picard is the only Star Trek show to date that has not shown them at all. Whatever is in store for the Klingons in the future of Star Trek , fans will surely continue to enjoy their expanding mythos and inclusion in the canon.

More: Star Trek Can Fix Its Klingon Problem In Discovery Season 4

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STLV17: Actors Discuss Different Klingon Houses In ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ + First Image of Kol Revealed

| August 2, 2017 | By: Anthony Pascale 40 comments so far

The actors panel at Star Trek Las Vegas featured members of the cast who were not at San Diego Comic-Con. On stage were Mary Chieffo (Klingon commander L’Rell), Kenneth Mitchell (Klingon commander Kol), Sam Vartholomeos (U.S.S. Shenzhou Junior Officer Connor), and Wilson Cruz (U.S.S. Chief Medical Officer Hugh Culber).

Kol revealed – a different Discovery Klingon

Much of the panel was dedicated to talking about the Klingons, and included the first reveal of Kenneth Mitchell’s Kol. The actor explained how his character may be more like Klingons we are used to:

He is very complicated. He leans more towards some of the Klingons we are familiar with. He is very powerful. He does have a line I can paraphrase which does explain some of these things. He says “All I see is another attempt by humanity to rob us of our identity.”

And Mitchell later revealed that Kol is from the house of Kor and Mary joked “you might have heard of that.”

Kenneth Mitchell as Kol

Different houses – different Klingons

Mitchell got more specific about differences between the Klingon houses during the Q&A. A fan said he felt the Klingons on Discovery look too different from previous iterations and asked for reassurance that “we are not losing the Klingons we know and love.” Mitchell explained we have only seen some of the Klingons from Discovery :

The images that you have seen so far are one house led by T’Kumva. Today you just saw the first image of [Kol]. So even in the wardrobe it is starting to venture to the more traditional Klingons. More leather and a different set of armor. And the series itself is going to explore 24 different houses and the leaders among them. And you will find different complexities and different ideologies amongst those houses. And so what you have seen already in these images is mostly just from one house. You are going to start to explore further into the Klingons, and each of those houses has a different set of physical looks and variations as well as ideologies.

Mary Chieffo also provided some more detail on her character and her house  … or houses:

L’Rell is from two houses. She is House T’Kumva and House Mo’Kai [Editor’s note: The one canon reference to House Mo’Kai was in Voyager ‘s “The Killing Game Part 1”]. You get a great kind of interesting exploration of what it is to be of two different ideologies.

She also weighed in on the design of the Klingons. She used L’Rell as an example:

Obviously the hair was the biggest thing people noticed, or the lack thereof. And I will attest to the fact there is a reason my ridge goes back the way it does. There are sensors and pheromones…There is a whole reasoning behind it that is adhering to what has always been true in Klingon canon…So I deeply believe we are in line with what has come before but is also adding a new kind of nuance.

Mary Chieffo’s L’Rell is a member of two Klingon houses, T’Kumva and Mo’Kai.

Compassion for the Klingons

The war with the Klingons is the backdrop for the show, but Mary Chieffo noted how the Klingons are not portrayed simply as bad guys:

The compassion we are giving the Klingons – who you could say in this story are bad guys – but the way the writers so beautifully crafted this story we really get a window into who we are, our humanity or Klingonanity…It is not black and white. The world is not that simple. People on both sides do things that they regret and they do things that they are proud of. Both sides have a deep, deep capacity to love and to feel.

Speaking Klingon makes a difference

One big piece of news that came out of San Diego Comic-Con is that the Klingons will speak in Klingon with subtitles on Star Trek: Discovery . After demonstrating some Klingon speech, Mary announced that the person handling the translations is Robyn Stewart,  whom she described as the leading Klingon grammarian in North America. There is also a dialect coach who works with Robyn and is on set every day to work with the Klingon actors.

Kenneth gave some more detail on the process:

It’s an incredibly complex language. I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with [Klingon language inventor] Marc [Okrand]. But it is complicated for a reason so it feels alien. Because it is incredibly difficult and I don’t speak the language it takes a lot of muscle memory to memorized each separate syllable over and over and over. My kids think I am crazy walking around my house reading out these lines. But at the end of the day it is worth it. It adds such an amazing texture to the show and a real essence to help the audience learn about the culture.

Mary noted how using the Klingon language was a way to adhere and expand Trek history.

There been much so much discussion about adhering to canon and speaking the language. Sticking to the roots of this series is giving the Klingons a 3-dimensional quality. It makes sense that when we are speaking to each other we are speaking in our native tongue and really adding a fluidity and nuance. Robyn does these great back-translations so you get the meaning of each word. Marc Okrand wanted it to be as alien as possible, as opposite of English as you can make…we don’t take it lightly in taking the amount of time it takes to make sure each word is pronounced correctly.

Mary Chieffo and Kenneth Mitchell talk about speaking Klingon

The importance of Hugh and Paul’s relationship

Wilson Cruz was asked about the relationship between his character and Lt. Stamets (Anthony Rapp), and he noted why portraying Star Trek’s first gay couple on TV is important:

For anyone who doesn’t understand why this is such a big deal, it is because there is a kid out there who is going to turn on his TV sometime in September or October and he is going to be a young little boy or girl who is questioning their sexuality or orientation, and they are going to see two men love each other and be there for each other and support each other and be in awe of each other’s genius. And it isn’t going to an issue. It’s not something we are going to explain to you. It is just going to be what it is.

Wilson Cruz says portraying one half of Star Trek’s first gay couple on TV is a “big deal”

Their Star Trek histories

The actors started off talking about their experience with Star Trek. Mary said she started getting into Star Trek with the 2009 movie which lead her to review all the other movies and much of the other TV shows, noting:

I have really fallen in love with the franchise as a whole.

Sam said that when he was a kid, his dad got him into Star Trek, and he remembers really loving the whales in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home . He said he really got into the movies and now said it was an honor to be part of it.

Kenneth said he was familiar with Trek but didn’t really get into it until getting the job on Discovery . As he is playing a Klingon, he has been reviewing the Klingon-centric episodes, noting “Errand of Mercy” as a standout.

Kenneth Mitchell has been studying up on the Klingons from TOS

Probably the one with the oldest connection to Trek is Wilson Cruz who said his real introduction was with Star Trek: The Next Generation , calling himself “obsessed.” He also relayed this story from after he got hired on the show:

I wrote a little note to [showrunners] Aaron [Harberts] and Gretchen [Berg] and to the head of CBS casting saying “Thank you, because as a young Latino kid in Brooklyn and in the Inland Empire [near Los Angeles] in California, all I ever wanted to do is be on Broadway and be on Star Trek.”

Sam Vartholomeos got into Star Trek watching it with his dad

Stay tuned for more from Star Trek Las Vegas including more coverage of Wednesday Discovery panels and interviews with the actors.

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WHilst I like the detail of the different Houses of Klingons, with different idealogies – I wonder if we’ll ACTUALLY see previous physical incarnations of the Klingons milling around in the backdrop of some episodes ( or will they like be just implied )? I feel we probably won’t see them, but I would be pleasantly surprised if we did.

I’m of the opinion if you add hair to these Klingons, the redesign would look less drastic.

Yep, they kind of look like the TMP Klingons but without the hair.

Agreed – it would be enough to tie them to our familiar Klingons

I too hope we get see some different ones that help explain how they all fit into the Star Trek Universe. That even includes, for me anyways, Klignons with no ridges.

Any news coming out of STLV17 about Nick Meyer’s so-called “secret Trek project”? Too many youtube channels who SHOULD know better ( ‘What Culture’/Midnight’s Edge’ ) are running – and continue running – with the idea that it is a TV show ( separate to DSC ). I do not believe this for a second.

In my mind it’s either a comicbook or perhaps some sort of computer game.

This is going to be very interesting, while at the same time, rather intimidating. 24 Klingon houses… C’Mon…It was hard to keep track of 6-8 houses and hundreds of names on GOT… but 24?I really hope the traditional Klingons will be part of this, and in the end win that “Civil War” within the Klingon Empire to make way for the late 23rd / 24th century Klingon looks…

I don’t really expect them to delve into detail on all 24 houses. That would indeed get heard to follow. My guess is there will be a small number of “hero houses”, i.e. houses that get fleshed out. The rest will be “background houses”, i.e. you may say members but you won’t get too much detail.

@DIGINON — I disagree. I’m not into Klingons like some fans, but I can only imagine that this will open up a whole new immersion into the franchise for them. Even if the series doesn’t provide intricate details of each house over the course of what could be a long run with multiple spinoffs like during the Berman era, it will give the fans a rich world in which to expand on in official and fan fiction. It can only make the Klingons more fascinating. Regular fans don’t need to follow all of that as you suggest. But the point is — it’s there.

I wonder if the show will focus on a few while the rest of the 24 houses will be fleshed out in the books and comics that are supposed to accompany the series? The IDW Star Trek comics do something similar. They had a story for example, in the comics, about how they got the ship they used to go from the Enterprise to Kronos in the movie Star Trek Into Darkness. If u wanted to know how they got that ship u read the comics. If you didn’t want to know it didn’t hurt the story. It just wasn’t as in-depth as it could be.

“he is going to be a young little boy or girl who is questioning their sexuality or orientation, and they are going to see two men love each other”

Always good to have it laid out so honestly.

There’more to that quote you know. As he explains, the show will have these things and it won’t be treated as a big deal. It is very similar and similarly important to how people like Whoopie Goldberg and Mae Jemison were able to grow up watching Uhura on screen, living life in the future.

I dunno, American TV shows have been pretty much dripping with homosexuality since at least the late 90s. It’s not like a young sexually disoriented kid nowadays needs Star Trek in order to help them orient themselves (even if they somehow managed to avoid all the diversity edutrination in the school).

Kind of like how American TV shows have been pretty much “dripping” with heterosexuality since at least the last 1940s.

“turn on his TV sometime in September or October”

I thought this was streaming show.

I watch CBS All Access on my TV, and a lot of people watch Netflix on their TV

These streaming services are TV now. That’s why CBS is trying to launch this service. Not long in the future, streaming will be the primary way TV is watched.

For a lot of people that future is already here. I can count the broadcast TV shows I watch on two hands with fingers left over. Pretty soon I think I’ll be down to one hand. Streaming shows, OTOH, are a list longer than my arm. There’s just so much more diversity and adult-oriented stories that interest me without condescending to me that are available on premium networks like HBO and streaming services like Hulu, Netflix, et al.

I think broadcast TV will be around for another couple of decades, if for nothing else than live events and sports. Its days are definitely numbered, though.

I love the idea of seeing different houses and ethnicities of Klingons, reflective of the range of folk here on our own increasingly messed up homeworld . Just curious about the recently releases photos of Mary Chieffo and Ken Mitchell’s characters who both appear purple. I know some people will point out that Klingons have magenta-purplish blood and I’ve no issue with a range of skin tones on the Klingons – in fact I think that helps flesh out their species – but it feels like possibly the biggest departure in the new look. Or maybe the tone just a effect of the lighting setup?

It could definitely be the lighting. Then again, they may feature Klingons with different skin tones, just like there are different skin tones on Earth.

Could be a combination of things. Rewatched the first teaser and the howling Klingons all appear to have slightly different skin tones to one another.

Also, for TV and movies make up appears one way to the naked eye or on a still photo, but is that way because it appears differently under set lighting and the cinematographer’s set up and directions.

Well, we’ll find out soon enough. 😊

@Karl — remember the original TOS Command uniforms were lime green, not gold. And in many episodes after the remaster this is readily apparent. So there’s that. But this appears to be a candid shot, or a PR photo using different lighting from the series. They need to stop that, because the most recent pictures of Klingons I’m seeing from this series of photos looks horrible. I mean cheap-bad, not as good as TNG makeup.

I never realised that about the old uniform colour @curiouscadet – I must go check out those episodes again on netflix. I’d disagree with the make up job looking cheap, but it certainly looks far more encapsulating of the actors’ faces than TNG era. Hopefully in motion with the right lighting and cinematography it’ll look good.

Is that a starfleet badge on Kol´s left chest? I can even see 4 small rank pins…

I’m starting to think T’Kumva will not live very long past the premiere.

So now the klingons are Blue too? jeebus. Why do they screw around with the looks so often? like I get the transition from TOS to TMP/TNG/DS9/VOY because of budgetary reasons and then Season 4 explained in-show why they looked like they did in TOS … But for close to 40 years they’ve looked one way and the mythology we’ve seen and heard on the shows NEVER gave this look.

Yet, the Vulcans dont get any changes – ever

Were there black Vulcans before Tuvok? I had no idea.

There was an Asian Vulcan in Star Trek III (and though it was after Tuvok, Betty Matsushita played T’Pau in VOY). But even the Vulcans have changed looks, somewhat. In TOS and the TOS movies, it was much more typical to see a variety of hairstyles on women Vulcans. In the Berman-era, women Vulcans were far more likely to have the bowl cut. And in the Berman-era, there was a subtle difference to the makeup skin tone, when compared to the TOS/TOS movies look. Vulcans played by white actors tended to be made up with an olive complexion, rather than the very slightly green, or no, tint in TOS/TOS movies, and in the JJ movies, where more non-whites played Vulcans and Romulans.

@Eric — the bowl cut has to go. It’s one thing to see a popular hairstyle, but on every single bloody Vulcan, AND their distant cousins the Romulans!? Ridiculous.

Agreed! It looks totally unnatural. I remember seeing an audition or test tape of Quinto on the Star Trek 09 BluRay with his hair brushed forward but not quite in that static bowl haircut and it looked far more natural. (God knows what the production teams budget for hairspray is!)

Let’s not forget that the Romulans got a pretty decent makeover between TOS and TNG. On TOS, they where almost indistinguishable from Vulcans, but by TOS they had the prominent forehead ridges themselves.

The makeup on the Tellarites evolved as well, from 60’s primitive to 2000’s modern.

So we have had some species evolve… none as drastically as the Klingons, but evolution just the same.

Just imagine 24 Klingon houses fighting for the Tritanium Throne (which was forged from ten thousand bat’leths, no less). This is gonna be huge.

actually gotta lol at this

All of this deep exploration into the Klingons doesn’t interest me in the least.

” And the series itself is going to explore 24 different houses and the leaders among them.”

Sheesh. I’d much rather see 24 different alien worlds and the new life and new civilizations on each of them. They better be some SERIOUSLY interesting Klingons.

If they do their job well and each Klingon house is distinctive, introducing a new house will be like seeing a new alien world with a new civilization.

If we’re getting the House of Kor, I want at least an appearance by Curzon Dax!

So for canon sake has it always been explained that’s how many main houses were in the Klingon empire? I can only remember few of them. I’m just curious. Would love to see Worf’s house show up!

BTW, love the look of Kol. That looks like one guy you don’t want to mess with. ;)

“…Mary announced that the person handling the translations is Robyn Stewart, whom she described as the leading Klingon grammarian in North America.”

That lost a word from the actual announcement. She was described as the number-one *female* Klingon grammarian in North America. Which I think is weirdly specific.

High council members shown in episode 1-2 look exactly like these klingons , “quote : The Empire is very big. They don’t all grow up on Qo’noS. They don’t all live on the same planets and certainly those different planets would have different environments. So how would the cultures have evolved differently?” We tried to come up with cultural axioms for each house so each looks different and they bear a cultural patina like our cultures do here on Earth.” which is BS since episode 1-2 showed the high council being exactly like the rest