The Emissary (TNG episode)
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| Star Trek: TNG episode | |
| "The Emissary" | |
 "Ambassador K'Ehleyr is on an urgent mission in "The Emissary". |
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| Episode no. | |
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| Airdate | |
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| Year | 2365 |
| Episode chronology | |
| Previous | "Manhunt" |
| Next | "Peak Performance" |
"The Emissary" is an episode from the second season of Star Trek: The Next Generation. It is not to be confused with "Emissary", the premiere episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
[edit] Plot
The USS Enterprise-D receives an urgent confidential message from Starfleet Command. The crew is informed of a Klingon battlecruiser called the T'Ong. The T'Ong was launched from the Klingon homeworld seventy years ago, during the Klingon war, to attack a Federation outpost. Ever since the launch, its crew have been in suspended animation, to awaken only upon reaching the target.
Thus, the crew of the T'Ong are unaware of the peace between the Federation and the Klingons, and will attack the outpost on sight, killing everyone aboard it. To prevent this, Starfleet Command has ordered the Enterprise-D to take a special Federation envoy aboard to help in negotiations with the Klingons.
The envoy turns out to be Lieutenant Worf's former girlfriend, K'Ehleyr. Instantly upon seeing each other, Worf and K'Ehleyr get into heated emotional conflicts, only barely managing to concentrate on the job at hand. During a holodeck scenario, Worf goes as far as to take the Klingon vow of marriage, by shouting "tlhIngan jIH" (Klingon for "I am a Klingon"), but K'Ehleyr refuses to take the vow for her side.
Captain Jean-Luc Picard wants a peaceful solution to the Klingon war problem, but K'Ehleyr fears that the Klingons won't listen and will have to be destroyed. When the Enterprise-D encounters the T'Ong, the crew have awakened from their suspension, and instantly fire on the Federation ship.
However, Worf engineers a cunning plan. While Picard and Riker conceal themselves, Worf and K'Ehleyr, clad in full traditional Klingon command uniforms, appear as captain and first officer of the Enterprise-D, informing Captain K'Temoc of the T'Ong that the war is over and ordering them to surrender. After a moment's hesitation, K'Temoc agrees, and K'Ehleyr beams onboard to escort them back to the Klingon homeworld.
Before departing for the T'Ong, K'Ehleyr admits to Worf that she was indeed tempted to take the marriage vow with him...and implies that their paths will likely cross again.
[edit] Continuity
This episode is the first appearance of K'Ehleyr, who is half-Klingon, half-human. In the fourth-season episode "Reunion", K'Ehleyr returns with Alexander, her son with Worf. K'Ehleyr would die in that episode, but Alexander would go on to be a recurring character in TNG and DS9.
| Preceded by: "Manhunt" |
Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes | Followed by: "Peak Performance" |
