Entertainment
The Klingons Are All In Hell Now, And Paramount Just Sent Them There
By Joshua Tyler
| Published
The fourth episode of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy dropped a bombshell revelation: The Klingon homeworld has been destroyed in an accident, and nearly all the Klingons are dead. Fans of the series and the Klingons in particular will know this means that not only are the Klingons dead, they’ve also been sent to hell.
Klingons Believe In A Very Specific Afterlife
As established over decades of developing this alien race, particularly through the eyes of Worf (who has been in more Star Trek episodes than any other character), the Klingons have a very specific set of beliefs around the concept of death. For Klingons, death is a test, not an ending. What matters isn’t that you die, but how.
Klingons who die well end up in their afterlife, a place called Sto-Vo-Kor. Only those who die with honor, ideally as warriors, are welcomed into the great hall to fight, feast, and sing with Kahless (a name Starfleet Academy pronounces like it’s being said by a strangled fish) and the honored dead.
A Klingon who dies in some other way goes to Gre’thor. Gre’thor is the Klingon underworld, ruled by Fek’lhr, a demonic figure who punishes the dishonored. It is a place of eternal suffering, where cowardice, betrayal, or an unworthy death is paid for forever.
In other words, if you don’t die as a warrior, you go to Klingon hell. You know what’s not dying as a warrior? Dying in a stupid accident where your planet blows up.
An Accidental Death Is The Most Horrible Thing You Can Do To A Klingon
The worst thing that could ever happen to the Klingons, worse than anything you could ever possibly imagine, is the entire race being wiped out by an accident. And that’s what Star Trek: Starfleet Academy just did to nearly every single Klingon in existence.
For Klingons, it’s a fate so horrific that had they known about it in advance, the entire race would have likely mass-suicided rather than allow their descendants to face this insulting and terrible dishonor. That’s not hyperbole; in situations like this, Klingons usually do the Hegh’bat ritual, which is basically assisted suicide.
In Klingon belief, intent matters more than the act itself. Rituals like Hegh’bat are considered honorable deaths when the warrior’s continued existence would bring dishonor. And creating descendants who will dishonor the entire Klingon race definitely qualifies. Worf, Martok, Kor, and every other Klingon who has ever lived would have definitely taken the Hegh’bat to avoid this fate for their race.
Klingons Aren’t The Only Ones In Hell
None of the writers of shows like Star Trek: Deep Space Nine or Star Trek: Enterprise would have ever done something like this to the Klingons. They wouldn’t have done it because they understood the complex lore behind the race of aliens they’d created. Further, they’d know that details like this are the main reason the Klingons are so uniquely beloved and also sometimes hated, among all of the many Trek creations.
The writers (assuming it’s not just ChatGPT) of Starfleet Academy not only don’t care about these things, they don’t know them. Which means the Klingons aren’t the only ones in hell now, so is every Star Trek fan who’s been watching and loving the franchise for more than five minutes.
How Star Trek Fans Can Give Klingons The Honorable Death They Deserve
While watching “Vox in Excelso”, the Starfleet Academy episode where the Klingons are sent to eternal torment off-camera, I made a decision in their memory. I will do what they were not allowed to do, and end my lifelong Star Trek relationship, with honor.
Halfway through the episode, I exited Starfleet Academy on my Paramount+ app, deleted it from my television, and unsubscribed from the network. You can do the same. Do it for Worf. For Martok. For Kor. For Koloth. For Kang. For crazy-eyed Gowron. For Dax. For Grilka and the House of Quark!
It’s better to die as a warrior than live as a slop eater.