Skip to main content

star trek - How did Tasha Yar know that she needed to make a hologram?


In the 23rd episode of Season 1 ("Skin of Evil"), Tasha Yar is



killed.




At the end of the episode, the main crew of the Enterprise attends a ceremony where a hologram of her addresses each attendee. It looks like this, to jog your memory:


enter image description here


Also, totally the Windows XP wallpaper, right?


Anyway, why did Tasha Yar record this message? She



died



suddenly and had no reason to expect this was going to happen.


Is this something people do in the Star Trek universe, much like people have wills?


Side question: Since the message addresses individuals, how did Tasha know who would be attending?




Answer



There are really two angles to consider on this:



  1. Tasha led a very hard life. She spoke at length through the series about what it was like to grow up. How she had to avoid what are delightfully called "Rape Gangs" as she matured. Not happy times. See this entry about her sister for more on that.

  2. Computers do a lot for people in ST without bothering to tell you.


What these come together to produce is this: Tasha, as part of her psyche, recorded messages to all the people she cared about. She probably updated them often. She isn't shown having any kind of a night-life, her quarters are decorated in a spartan fashion. She left a lot of people, like her sister, behind. Death would have been a constant part of her mindset.


Combine this, with the computer knowing who is present and not bothering to show messages to people who weren't, and you have your answer. Additionally, the Holodeck would be able to weave messages that are out of order into a sensible structure. It just filled in any gaps with probable expressions.


Probably, the computer unlocked and sent the other messages to those relevant people as well. Again, you just don't see it happen.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.

What is Tolkien trying to say in this letter?

In a draft of a letter, later recorded as #246, Tolkien makes a strange statement. I am interested in the first few sentences of the letter, but I will include the remainder for the sake of context. In the 'Mirror of Galadriel', 1381, it appears that Galadriel conceived of herself as capable of wielding the Ring and supplanting the Dark Lord. If so, so also were the other guardians of the Three, especially Elrond . But this is another matter. It was part of the essential deceit of the Ring to fill minds with imaginations of supreme power . But this the Great had well considered and had rejected, as is seen in Elrond's words at the Council. Galadriel's rejection of the temptation was founded upon previous thought and resolve. In any case Elrond or Galadriel would have proceeded in the policy now adopted by Sauron: they would have built up an empire with great and absolutely subservient generals and armies and engines of war, until they could challenge Sauron and destroy ...

harry potter - What is the difference between Diffindo and Sectumsempra?

In the Harry Potter books, Diffindo is called the 'Severing Charm' and it’s most commonly used to cut ropes and the like. However, in the last book Hermione uses it on Ron but misses, creating a 'slash in his jeans' and his knee gets cut, causing him to 'roar in pain'. We've only seen Sectumsempra used once on screen when Harry directly uses it on Malfoy in the sixth book, but there it's mentioned that he is 'waving his wand wildly'. Wouldn't Diffindo, if used in such a fashion also cause a similar effect? Similarly, if it was able to cut Ron, it would also be able to, say, chop off an ear (George's)? In that case, how are these two spells different, except for Sectumsempra seemingly used exclusively to hurt humans? Answer While Diffindo and Sectumsempra both can be countered by other spells, Diffindo is far more easily countered. Reparo, a relatively common spell, can completely reverse its effect when used once. “He pulled the old cop...

harry potter - How could Expelliarmus beat Avada Kedavra?

I want to be very careful about how I ask this question – I am not asking How did Voldemort die? [CLOSED] Below the text is the relevant passages from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows if anyone wants to review them (I'm sorry for the amount of text). How did Expelliarmus beat Avada Kedavra and kill Voldemort? I feel the reason Harry's Expelliarmus overpowered Voldemort's Avada Kedavra curse has to do with who was master of the Elder Wand and how the Elder Wand works. I've always had trouble understanding fully how the Elder Wand works, though. How much did the fact that Voldemort never truly won or mastered the Elder Wand factor into how Expelliarmus reacted to Avada Kedavra and caused Avada Kedavra to rebound and kill Voldemort? An answer based in book canon would be especially welcome, but any canon source really is fine. Harry heard the high voice shriek as he, too, yelled his best hope to the heavens, pointing Draco’s wand: ‘ Avada Kedavra !’ ‘ Expelliarmus !...