Summary
- A theory Wil Wheaton poses is that Kirk’s connection to La’an in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds influenced his decision to exile Khan in Star Trek: The Original Series.
- La’an’s feelings for two versions of Kirk, as well as her connection to Khan, adds complexity to the story and characters.
- Kirk’s history with La’an suggests that his treatment of Khan in “Space Seed” may have been influenced by their friendship, leading to a merciful act of giving Khan his own planet.
Star Trek‘s Wil Wheaton posits a fascinating theory about how Lt. James T. Kirk’s (Paul Wesley) friendship with Lt. La’an Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong) in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is a retcon that could now explain how Captain Kirk (William Shatner) treated Khan Noonien-Singh (Ricardo Montalban) in Star Trek: The Original Series. La’an confessed her feelings for Kirk in Strange New Worlds‘ musical episode, “Subspace Rhapsody,” but James couldn’t reciprocate due to his relationship with Carol Marcus, who is pregnant. Khan would endanger Carol and her son, David Marcus (Merritt Butrick) decades later in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
In The Ready Room, Wil Wheaton told his guest, Strange New Worlds‘ Christina Chong, his fascinating theory about Kirk and La’an and how it ties into Captain Kirk’s decision to place Khan in exile at the end of Star Trek: The Original Series’ “Space Seed,” which Christina was “on board” with. Read Wil’s quote and watch the video below:
I rewatched The Original Series “Space Seed” and I remember making a joke to my wife and the end of the episode that Kirk is like, “Well, I mean, listen, [Khan] is a eugenicist and killed, like, untold numbers of people, but listen, I’m gonna drop him off on Ceti Alpha V and it’s gonna be totally fine. This is absolutely not gonna come back and be a problem for us in the ’80s.” And I was watching [Strange New Worlds’ musical], I thought, “Wait a minute, could it possibly be that Kirk’s connection to La’an affects his decision to give her ancestor that opportunity at some kind of redemption in exile?”
Kirk & La’an In Strange New Worlds Adds New Dimensions To Star Trek: The Original Series
La’an Noonien-Singh’s feelings for two different versions of James T. Kirk is one of the most compelling wrinkles Strange New Worlds has added to Star Trek canon. La’an fell for and subsequently lost an alternate timeline version of Captain Kirk when they time-traveled to 21st-century Toronto, and she met the young Khan (Desmond Sivan) in Strange New Worlds season 2, episode 3, “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow.” La’an then sought out the Prime Timeline’s Lt. James T. Kirk, who she also has feelings for even though he’s not the James she originally knew. But while Prime Kirk also feels an attraction to La’an, he can’t act on them because he’s about to be a father, and he’s currently in a relationship with Carol Marcus.
Strange New Worlds‘ Kirk and La’an retcon reverberates into Star Trek: The Original Series and adds new layers to Captain Kirk meeting Khan in 2266. By that point, Kirk has not only befriended La’an but he also sang and danced with the whole crew of the USS Enterprise in Strange New Worlds’ musical. Now that Kirk has a history with La’an Noonien-Singh, it does add new layers to every way Kirk treated Khan in Star Trek: The Original Series, “Space Seed,” including James’ decision to give Khan his own planet to conquer instead of turning the bio-engineered despot in to Starfleet. Perhaps Captain Kirk did this act of mercy out of respect for his friendship with La’an Noonien-Singh in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2 streams Thursdays on Paramount+.
Source: The Ready Room