Date: 06 Dec 2011 22:08 Title: The Cost of Silence
Worf's honour, his true honour, always did set him apart. From his fellow Klingons on many ways - not all of them but a great many who were not truly honourable. I think part of the fascination for Klingons is the sense of promise as to what they could be, brave and noble warriors fighting for honour and so one would presume for honourbale things. Worf epitomises that very sense but as he discovered on so many occassions other Klingons did not match that ideal. So the promise, the potential, for what the Klingons could be is always contrasted with their failings and chest beating, club the loser roar of the victor honour that makes a false sham of the Code of Kahless. And to me it can often create fascinating situations for Worf. He is much like a gong ringing in the silence for how much he stands out to other Klingons. He makes a stand and voices his opinion, taking down Gowron and crowning Martok. It would never have worked Worf as Emperor. Maybe in time. Maybe in the future. But like Worf one would hope that Martok might be a better choice for the Empire. A very interesting piece.
[Report This]Date: 04 Dec 2011 18:25 Title: The Cost of Silence
fascinating insight into Worf and his relationship to the events that happened after his arrival on the station. Worf was my favourite TNG character and it's good to see him done well here.
Author's Response: Glad you enjoyed, and as I said before, I was pleased that DS9 Worf was not a total rehashing of TNG Worf.
Date: 04 Dec 2011 04:10 Title: The Cost of Silence
You did an awesome job nailing down the many failures of Klingon character that we saw on the show. Indeed, Worf's silence out of his need to find somewhere to fit in is his greatest character weakness, and you do a great job of reminding the reader that sins of omission are just as sinful as sins of commission.
That failing aside, though, I think Worf has much higher ideals than the average Klingon. Comparing him to what the Klingons have become is like comparing a warrior-poet samurai to a Viking. I have often compared Worf's ideals to bushidō, as opposed to the Viking/Anglo-Saxon "code" (which is really just formalized chest-beating) that modern Klingons follow. Ezri's comments really call attention to that disparity.
You leave an uncomfortable question, though. While Worf is right that great men do not seek power, and I suspect he is more conversant in the real ways of Kahless than almost all of those Klingons in the room, can Martok really be trusted and respected if he is not willing to do a complete overhaul of Klingon policy and culture? How does Worf really know a new day will dawn with his people?
I suspect, though, that such a question is intentional on your part. It is very unsettling and in keeping with the themes you developed throughout the story.
Oh...and as a fan of the Cardassians, I very much appreciated your willingness to call out the invasion of Cardassia as an act of total dishonor. Really, how different are the Klingons from what they claim the Cardassians to be, except that they have a feudal state and the Cardassians have a police state?
Author's Response: Hmmm. I hadn't thought of that, but Worf can't know for certain that Martok will usher in a era. He backed Gowron, but then Gowron was established in "Unification" to be rewriting Klingon history by discounting the role the Feds plays in his rise to power. As near as I can tell, the real Martok was a far different person than his evil Changeling twin. And glad you noticed Worf's opposition to the Season 4 invasion of Cardassia, especially after his remarks in "The Wounded". I'm sure he'd be just as quick to condemn the Klingon Empire's efforts to annex what's left of the Romulan Star Empire after the destruction of Romulus as depicted in the Abrams-verse film and possibly alluded to in the TNG finale.
Date: 01 Dec 2011 04:30 Title: The Cost of Silence
That was an interesting study, showing Worf's way of coming to the point where he decided to get rid of Gowron, which undoubtedly was quite a drastic move, even if needed from the war and the empire's point of view.
You tried to present everything in details, which certainly was for the benefit of readers who know little to nothing of the events from the retrospections, but for those who know those episodes (and have watched some of them multiple times ;)) it feels a bit redundant. Maybe concentrating on Worf's feelings and having less dialogue from past episodes would be a good solution--giving all necessary information to those who need it, but not repeating what the others already heard and know.
But generally I liked this story. It shows that Worf can analyse and draw conclusions from his past decisions and the decisions others made for him and his family. Everything in his life had some influence on what he decided to do, so the killing is not detached--it the result.
Author's Response: To each his own I guess. It's as much about one instance of making the tough choices knowing of the negative consequences when he could have remained silent ("...Warrior"), one instance where he challenged an injustice but later recanted ("Sins..."), and an instance where did stay silent ("Heart of Glory"), as it is the buildup to choosing to act against Gowron. Ezri reassured him what needed to be done and there was no turning back in that situation.
Date: 29 Nov 2011 23:52 Title: The Cost of Silence
This isn't really a review, but I would like to point out to you jespah that if you haven't seen TNG or DS9, this story won't hold as much significance. If you have seen both series a couple of times, no further explanation is necessary on Enterprise1981's part.
Plus this is not a happy ending of sorts, it is more uplifting and inspirational. Worf killing Gowron, and then giving up such power and offering it freely to Martok... Truly awe-inspring!
Date: 29 Nov 2011 22:58 Title: The Cost of Silence
There is a lot of background to this story, and I fear you are left with a great deal of explaining to do, as you fill in the backstory. It is not easy, when all we have are words at our disposal - as opposed to visuals - to relate what I like to call our story so far.
To your credit, you clearly lay it all out in the story, and do not ask the reader to chase old transcripts, stories or videos.
The movement from silent cover-up to eventual vindication is the heart of the piece, even as Worf declines the honor and passes it over to Martok (probably a far healthier move for Worf, all around). For Worf to do that moves it past naked vengeancce to, inevitably, doing what's best for hte Empire. And he convincingly traverses those changes.
Given the title, the (somewhat) happy ending is a bit unexpected. Frankly, I was expecting a Watergate-style comeuppance although I suppose such a thing is not canon.
Author's Response: I thought the title appropriate with Worf weighting benefits of taking action versus the costs of doing nothing. It goes back to other instances where Worf was in that position and even to when he actually did fail to speak up. I never understood how Worf could continue to treat those renegades as guests even after they revealed who they really were (perhaps just carelessness on the part of the writers as was often apparent in Season 1 of TNG).
[Report This]Date: 29 Nov 2011 21:16 Title: The Cost of Silence
An interesting introspective and build-up to Worf challenging Gowron. What was clever was how you tied in scenes from several episodes and used them to develop the story. There was a hefty amount of politics in that episode, and I liked it, nice one!
Author's Response: Glad you enjoyed it. Everyone has differing opinions about adding Worf to the DS9 ensemble, but the writers did well to portray him as a more conflicted individual, not just used for comic relief as he often was in the first two seasons of TNG. Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy his humorous one-liners, but I was pleased that DS9-Worf and TNG-Worf were completely the same. The same could be said of O'Brien, whom I also wrote about for one of these monthly challenges with various tie-ins of both TNG and DS9.