WARNING: Contains SPOILERS for Star Trek: Prodigy season 2, episode 13, “A Tribble Called Quest”
Summary
Star Trek: Prodigyhas revealed that Chancellor Martok (J.G. Hertzler) has declared war between the Klingon Empire and the Tribbles in the years afterStar Trek: Deep Space Nineended.DS9reintroduced the Tribbles to the 24th century in season 5, episode 6, “Trials and Tribble-ations”, when the usually gruff Constable Odo (Rene Auberjonois) became attached to one of the cute fluffy creatures. As DS9’s Tribble infestation at the end of “Trials and Tribble-ations” was a throwaway joke, it does raise the question of how exactly the Federation dealt with the Tribbles being reintroduced to the ecosystem.
With their voracious appetites and rapid breeding, Tribbles can ravage planets and devastate their fragile ecosystems.Star Trek: Prodigy’s season 2 premiere, “Into the Breach, Part I” revealed that science genius and xeno-anthropologist Rok-Tahk (Rylee Alazraqui) theorized how tostop Tribbles from breedingto prevent future ecological disasters. Rok’s theories finally get a practical application inProdigyseason 2, episode 13, “A Tribble Called Quest”, which will surely win her the respect of legendaryStar Trek: Deep Space NinecharacterChancellor Martok.
Star Trek: DS9 Had More TOS Tribbles Crossovers Than You Think
Star Trek: DS9’s Tribbles crossover was groundbreaking but it wasn’t the first time that elements from the TOS episode featured in Deep Space Nine.
Star Trek: Prodigy Reveals DS9’s Martok Is Leading A Klingon Tribble Hunt
Seeking Bosonite to power their proto-drive, the crew of the USS Protostar visit an M-class planet that’s rich in the mineral. Beaming down to the planet’s surface, Captain Chakotay (Robert Beltran) and his young warrant officers discover that it’s been ravaged by giant Tribbles. The inflated fluff balls are the result of a scientific miscalculation by a Klingon geneticist, Dr. K’Ruvang (Jorge Gutiérrez), who, rather than halt their reproduction, mutates them into giant Tribbles. K’Ruvang reveals that he’d been sent to the planet by Chancellor Martok to defeat the Klingon Empire’s “ancient blood enemy,the Tribbles”.
K’Ruvang’s genetic mistake is a callback to a similar issue experienced by Cyrano Jones, who also tried to stop the Tribbles multiplying inStar Trek: The Animated Series, season 1, episode 5, “More Tribbles, More Troubles”.
Odo brought the Tribbles back on the cusp of the escalation of theFederation’s war against the Dominion, meaning that Martok and the Klingon Empire had more pressing matters to deal with. With the Dominion defeated, and Martok installed as Chancellor of the Klingon Empire, he turned his attention to handling the Tribbles. It’s interesting that Martok has taken a less finite approach to the Tribble problem, tasking Dr. K’Ruvang with altering their biology to make them less of an ecological threat. This is a more progressive outlook than his 23rd century predecessors, who led the Klingon Empire’s first great Tribble hunt.
“Trials and Tribble-ations”
Star Trek: Prodigy, season 2, episode 13
The Klingon Empire’s First Tribble Hunt Explained
Star Trek: Deep Space Nineseason 5, episode 6, “Trials and Tribble-ations” revealed that the Klingon Empire sought to exterminate the entire Tribble species in the 23rd century.The Great Tribble Hunt was led by Koloth (William Campbell), who had been publicly embarrassed by Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) in “The Trouble with Tribbles”. The Klingon Empire’s hatred of Tribbles has been a source of great amusement for multipleStar Trekcharacters. Dal R’El (Brett Gray), Captain William T. Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and Constable Odo have all joked about the fierce warriors being “blood enemies” of a species of cute furballs.
“Tell me, do they still sing songs of the Great Tribble Hunt?”
- Constable Odo
While the idea ofStar Trek’s greatest Klingonsgoing to war with the Tribbles is incongruous and hilarious, they may have had a point. One only needs to look at the devastation wrought on the M-class planet inStar Trek: Prodigyto see what happens when Tribbles are left to their own devices. Now that Rok and Dr.K’Ruvang have fixed the issue with their rampant reproduction, the Tribbles no longer pose a threat to the Klingon Empire or the wider 24th century in the years sinceStar Trek: Deep Space Nineintroduced the furballs to the Federation ecosystem.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Cast
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, also known as DS9, is the fourth series in the long-running Sci-Fi franchise, Star Trek. DS9 was created by Rick Berman and Michael Piller, and stars Avery Brooks, René Auberjonois, Terry Farrell, and Cirroc Lofton. This particular series follows a group of individuals in a space station near a planet called Bajor.
Star Trek: Prodigy
Star Trek: Prodigy is the first TV series in the Star Trek franchise marketed toward children, and one of the few animated series in the franchise. The story follows a group of young aliens who find a stolen Starfleet ship and use it to escape from the Tars Lamora prison colony where they are all held captive. Working together with the help of a holographic Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew), the new crew of the USS Protostar must find their way back to the Alpha Quadrant to warn the Federation of the deadly threat that is pursuing them.
