Star Trek: Khan – The Tragic Truth About Augment Women’s Infertility

Warning: SPOILERS For Star Trek: Khan Episode 1 – “Paradise”

Star Trek: Khan reveals a tragic truth about the genetically-enhanced followers of Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalbán), first introduced in Star Trek: The Original Series. A new audio drama series, Khan depicts the story of former tyrant Khan Noonien Singh (Naveen Andrews) and his followers after their exile to Ceti Alpha V.

Star Trek: Khan episode 1, “Paradise,” reveals what happened after Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) left Khan on Ceti Alpha V. The story is told through audio recordings recovered by Dr. Rosalind Lear (Sonya Cassidy), with some help from Captain Sulu (George Takei) and Ensign Tuvok (Tim Russ).

Captain Kirk stranded Khan after the augment tried to take over the Starship Enterprise in Star Trek: The Original Series season 1, episode 22, “Space Seed.” When Ceti Alpha V suffered a disaster that left it inhospitable, Khan sought revenge against Kirk, as seen in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Star Trek: Khan bridges that gap, offering insight into Khan and his people and revealing the tragedies of their pasts.

Star Trek: Khan Reveals Augment Women Could Not Have Children

In “Paradise,” Khan and his followers settle in on Ceti Alpha V, which at this point has all the lush foliage, temperate weather, and water sources they need to thrive. Having aided Khan in his initial plot to take over the Enterprise, historian Lt. Marla McGivers (Wrenn Schmidt) winds up stranded, too, and makes it her mission to document Khan’s life story.

As McGivers aids Ursula (Mercy Malick), the doctor among Khan’s followers, in identifying Starfleet medicine, she learns that the augment’s creators intentionally made the women infertile. The creators wanted complete control to “decide when more augments would be born and with what characteristics.” The male augments, on the other hand, were not rendered infertile and regularly fathered children with human women.

This revelation adds another layer of tragedy to the augments, particularly the women, and highlights “the moral and ethical depravity of [their] creators.” The creators of the augments did not view their creations as people, but rather as experimental weapons to be used and discarded.

Khan’s followers hope to find a solution to their infertility problem, but Khan ensured a backup plan by bringing Marla McGivers with him to Ceti Alpha V. McGivers is understandably upset about potentially being used as Khan’s “brood mare,” an accusation he doesn’t confirm or deny. All of this adds fascinating layers to Khan and his augments, as Khan still goes on about building an empire despite having no clear plan for the future.

Khan’s Augment Followers Were Always Doomed In Star Trek II

It remains to be seen whether Khan’s followers will find a way to overcome their infertility problems in Star Trek: Khan, but the whole endeavor will become a moot point in a few years anyway. In Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Khan sets out for revenge against Kirk, ultimately dooming himself and his people.

In Wrath of Khan’s climactic space battle, Kirk outmaneuvers Khan, but then Khan activates the Genesis device, causing a massive explosion. Although Spock (Leonard Nimoy) ensures the Enterprise escapes in time, he sacrifices his life in the process (but will soon return, thanks in part to the Genesis device). Khan and all of his followers are killed in the blast.

While there were augment women among Khan’s followers in Wrath of Khan, the movie revealed nothing about them. There were augmented children among Khan’s people when they were on Ceti Alpha V, but no children were seen in Wrath of Khan. This could mean the women’s efforts to restore their fertility were unsuccessful, but either way, Star Trek: Khan has already given more depth to the augments first introduced in Star Trek: The Original Series.

New episodes of Star Trek: Khan premiere every Monday on every major podcast outlet and on Star Trek’s official YouTube channel.

Release Date

1966 – 1969-00-00

Showrunner

Gene Roddenberry

Directors

Marc Daniels, Joseph Pevney, Ralph Senensky, Vincent McEveety, Herb Wallerstein, Jud Taylor, Marvin J. Chomsky, David Alexander, Gerd Oswald, Herschel Daugherty, James Goldstone, Robert Butler, Anton Leader, Gene Nelson, Harvey Hart, Herbert Kenwith, James Komack, John Erman, John Newland, Joseph Sargent, Lawrence Dobkin, Leo Penn, Michael O’Herlihy, Murray Golden

Writers

D.C. Fontana, Jerome Bixby, Arthur Heinemann, David Gerrold, Jerry Sohl, Oliver Crawford, Robert Bloch, David P. Harmon, Don Ingalls, Paul Schneider, Shimon Wincelberg, Steven W. Carabatsos, Theodore Sturgeon, Jean Lisette Aroeste, Art Wallace, Adrian Spies, Barry Trivers, Don Mankiewicz, Edward J. Lakso, Fredric Brown, George Clayton Johnson, George F. Slavin, Gilbert Ralston, Harlan Ellison