Skip to main content

star trek - Why would Admiral Marcus need Khan's help?


In Star Trek Into Darkness, Admiral Marcus puts Khan to work for him, on projects designed to enhance the military capability of Starfleet.


For instance, Khan is a principal consultant on the construction the USS Vengeance and is intimately familiar with its design.


Why does Marcus need Khan's assistance, and how is Khan even able to give this assistance?



Khan may have a superior, generically-engineered intellect, but he is not a starship designer, he's not a phaser specialist, he's not a warp field mechanic, and so on. He is a man from the 20th Century. A cunning man, for certain. Able to outwit an opponent? Often (but not always). But I don't see how he can be so essential to Marcus' plans, which rely very much on the development of technologies fit for the 23rd Century. I realize that Khan was a quick study in TOS "Space Seed". But still.


Why would Marcus need Khan's work on Vengeance? Surely, starship designers of the time would simply listen to Marcus' requests and then follow orders to build a bigger, faster, more powerful, and more menacing ship.


I can understand if Marcus would want Khan's advice on how to manipulate the situation with the Klingons, using his experience as a one-time fairly successful despot on Earth. But starship design? Even if Khan were able to provide input, surely there are already experts working for Starfleet and Section 31 in the 23rd Century that have the know-how to realize Marcus' vision when it comes to Starfleet hardware.


Khan doesn't really have a monopoly on "savagery" (Marcus has enough of his own), and all Marcus needs are personnel and engineers that can follow orders, and making a menacing starship does not really require an evil genius. So of what actual use is Khan to Marcus, and how is it that Khan is able to provide such technical services?



Answer



The explanation given in the movie, which may or may not satisfy you, is basically this:


Modern day Starfleet engineers are simply not capable of thinking about war the way Khan is.


It's not Khan's technical prowess that Marcus wants, although his "superior intellect" means that he would likely come up to speed very quickly with the rest of the engineering team.


What Marcus wants is someone who things like a brutal, savage war-monger. Even though, as you say, Marcus has plenty of savagery in his own personality, he -- and everyone around him -- was born and raised in a time when war was a distant memory on Earth. Now, they are being thrust back into war within a single generation. Remember, the event that "changed timelines" and put Starfleet onto a more aggressive path than TOS happened at the same time James T. Kirk was born.


So, Marcus and his team of engineers certainly have the technical prowess to produce any kind of weapon they can imagine. The problem is they can't imagine them. He wants Khan to look at what the current state of technology is and conceive of things that are three or four iterations beyond what they have now, but are still technically possible, so that Starfleet will be able to gain the advantage over the others races it finds itself at war with.



Comments

Post a Comment

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.
Post a Comment
Read more

game of thrones - Is Syrio Forel dead?

In the episode 'The Pointy End' (Season 1 Episode 8) when Arya runs from the Lannister guards you hear the sound of a sword being dropped (around 4:56): [embedded content] After that neither Syrio or Ser Meryn Trant is never mentioned or seen in the show again, except when Arya mentions to the Hound that Ser Meryn Trant killed Syrio. Is there any mention in the books that Syrio actually dies?
Post a Comment
Read more

tolkiens legendarium - Difference between elves and dwarves blacksmithing in the Lord of the Rings

Both the elves and the dwarves were famous for their metal work in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but what is the difference between what they made, and which one had the better skill of making amours and swords? Answer James Christopher's answer sums up the second part of your question well, but as to the difference in what they made, a little more detail is needed. Once the Elves learned to forge with steel, the shape of the sword changed, now being able to take on the form of a great broadsword or a light and agile curved sword. Additionally, they took great pride in decorating their swords. As we see in the Lord of the Rings , some swords like Sting had magical properties such as glowing blue when orcs are near. As far as the use of Mithril, lotr.wikia has two contradictory passages: Thus, Elven blades became renowned as great weapons, capable of performing deeds beyond the skill of their handlers and were even more glorious when the use of Mithril was allowed to the Elves. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

How do Pokemon trainers collect their winnings?

According to Bulbapedia , Prize money is the money that a Trainer pays out at the end of a battle. So we know that the money comes directly from the trainer that just lost, and not some third-party committee or sponsor. But how is this done? It can be easy seeing the random trainers who challenge you along the way wanting to wager and then, after admitting defeat, sticking to their word and handing over their hard-earned pokebucks. Then there are the likes of Team Rocket and Giovanni, who also give money once they lose. This doesn't seem like something people in a criminal organization would willingly do. From this it appears that trainers have no say in whether or not they cough up the dough after losing, but I can't find anything on how exactly the funds are transferred from loser to winner. So how do Pokemon trainers receive their winnings?
Post a Comment
Read more