#Romulan Origins

[biblioflyer]

Zhat Vash and the Romulan Diaspora, Picard s1e2 Rewatch.

The timeline of the Romulan separation from Vulcan becomes even more murky and shrouded in legend and propaganda. Continuity complaints abound but "canon violation" often really just means "I don't like this, it is silly and dumb."

This is part of a series of essays reevaluating Star Trek Picard and interrogating the widely held fandom criticism that Picard made the Federation into a Dystopia.

This is the episode where we learn the name Zhat Vash in an info dump by Laris and Zhabon. Intriguingly and perhaps problematically they are described as having been active for thousands upon thousands of years. 

This doesn’t line up very neatly with the hazy info we have on Romulan history. The exodus of Vulcans who rejected Surak’s teachings was only supposed to have taken place circa 470 CE when “those who marched beneath the Raptor’s wings” lost a struggle for domination of Vulcan society and left for the stars. 

However, if the people who would become the Debrune and the Romulans could leave Vulcan in the first place and feasibly make an interstellar journey, that implies that Vulcan had had at least rudimentary interstellar travel prior which does not preclude a group of explorers who would become Zhat Vash stumbling across the Admonition and bringing its anti-Synth warning back with them.

Scrutiny of Memory Alpha to refresh my memory of what has been canonically established about Romulan and Vulcan history also brought up an interesting detail: Vulcans may not actually be from Vulcan. 

In a TOS episode Spock actually speculates that a powerful telepathic species they encounter may actually have been ancestors of the Vulcans. Thus there is another possible vector for Zhat Vash to have been introduced into Vulcan and Romulan societies in that Zhat Vash may actually predate both civilizations.

At the risk of deviating into fan theory territory, I do have to wonder if this all adds extra texture to the Romulan / Vulcan split wherein Zhat Vash may have played a role in heightening tensions between the two over concerns that a rejection of emotion and the embrace of pure reason would lead the Vulcans to ultimately dismiss concerns over artificial intelligence as illogical products of anxiety over AI being hostile, uncontrollable, or a moral hazard of some sort. 

It's also possible that tales of Zhat Vash have grown across multiple retellings and they were only founded after the schism. 

I take a stance that we ought to be open to the idea that not all exposition is created equally and not all narrators are reliable. Zhabon and Laris may be our Herodotus in this scene: they’re relating what they were told, and believe up to a point, but we the audience ought not to assume their rumors about a cult operating inside or alongside the Tal’Shiar are completely accurate in every little detail.

It's worth reminding ourselves that even Picard himself does not seem to be a wholly reliable narrator either! In just the first two episodes, he repeatedly demonstrates lack of self awareness and other errors in judgment or lack of knowledge. Thus I think we ought to entertain the idea that even characters who are providing detailed exposition are stating what they believe but not necessarily providing 100% definitive facts about the setting.

At any rate, we find out that Commodore Oh, who has an ambiguous role in ensuring security from clandestine Romulan assassins operating on Earth, is herself a member of Zhat Vash. From what I can recall, even in private Oh does not “break character” which suggests to me that while it's assumed she’s Romulan, it's possible she is culturally Vulcan at least in her decision to abstain from overt displays of emotion. 

Seeing as she’s not the first deep cover Romulan impersonating a Vulcan who presumably would have to pass as Vulcan to other Vulcans, I find myself wondering if some Romulans actually did go on to develop an ascetic tradition that mirrors Surak’s teachings but is either dogmatically different enough from Surak’s tradition to be tolerated by other Romulans or is merely tolerated for its usefulness in grooming deep cover agents.

Thematically, I find that I’m kind of over the trope of secret societies with seemingly omnipotent capabilities to hide and manipulate their host civilization. The X-Files is my own personal touchstone for this trope becoming popular and the longer the show ran, the more the trope became its own problem because the more you tug on the strings of that storyline, the more answers you have to cough up as to how they do what they do and why, and the explanations often become a bit hard to believe, if not contradictory. 

Zhat Vash hiding inside of the Tal’Shiar, creating a situation where you have nesting dolls of memetically ultra effective, conspiratorial organizations just takes this to another level. 

Having said that, the trope is subverted a bit in that while Zhat Vash is feared, they’re clearly not as good as they’re mythologized as being. First off Laris and Zhabon are able to pretty accurately lay out their agenda based on scraps of hearsay. Just off of memory, while Zhat Vash’s motives will be expanded upon as the season progresses, Laris and Zhabon already have at least the broad outline completely dead on.

This represents a level of operational security that falls well below Section 31 who had managed to erase almost all evidence of their having existed sometime after the events of Discovery’s second season and most people who seemed to have had personal knowledge of Section 31 kept it quiet enough that not even the likes of Captain Picard ever apparently heard so much as a scrap of a rumor. 

Also this is a rant for another time, but I absolutely, positively despise Section 31. Absolutely nothing Star Trek Picard does corrupts the Federation thematically more than Section 31. It reeks of a refusal by the inventors of the organization to accept the core premise of the setting that a civilization that devotes itself to fairness both in equity and equality could ever endure or prosper.

Returning to Zhat Vash, as individuals Oh, Narek, and Narissa are far from perfect superspies. I remember Narissa in particular being a real problem for Oh and Narek who are far more cautious and plotting than the impulsive and rather sadistic Narissa. 

Given my biases against conspiracy within a conspiracy storylines, I do look forward to trying to rejudge Zhat Vash and whether I think it holds together better than the Syndicate of the X-Files. For now I don’t exactly hate it, but I don’t love it.

#star trek #star trek picard #Picard Maps and Legends #Picard s1e2 #conspiracy theories #Secret Societies #Zhat Vash #Romulan Origins #Vulcan Origins #Narissa #Narek #Commodore Oh #Section 31

[abiscuit]

I love Star Trek, I love how every time a federation ship goes into the romulan neutral zone there is also immediately a romulan ship. Like girl, what were YOU doing in the neutral zone?

#is this anything? #it’s probably been done before but it came to me like a vision #Star Trek #star trek the original series #tos #star trek strange new worlds #star trek the next generation #star trek tng #romulans star trek #romulan #tng

[chernobog13]

Yeah, I can see this ad running in the pages of a 23rd Century mens' magazine.

#Star Trek #Star Trek: The Original Series #The Enterprise Incident #Mr. Spock #Leonard Nimoy #Romulan Commander #Joanne Linville #Romulan Ale

[miss-americanbi]

making something your roman empire?? nah. i’m out here making things my romulan empire.

#for example #spirk is my romulan empire #not a day goes by #where i don’t think of them #star trek #star trek the original series #star trek tos #star trek movies #star trek alternate original series #star trek aos #star trek reboot #james t kirk #s’chn t’gai spock #spirk #k/s #jim x spock #americanbi’s posts

[ashesoriley]

#star trek #star trek deep space 9 #deep space nine #star trek the original series #star trek the next generation #the next generation #borg #klingon #cardassian #romulans #bajoran #star trek trill #ferengi #star trek changeling #star trek q #vulcan #polls #poll

[sporkandpringles]

my problems with discovery's spore drive have nothing to do with the wacky mushroom science. Like this is Star Trek™ not some bonefide diamond on the Moh's Scale of Sci-Fi hardness like The Martian. I know to expect the writers playing a bit fast and loose with physics and how the real world works. I'm here for that wackniess, actually. Love me some technobabble about mycelial spores or tetryon particles or whatever! the thing that doesn't work for me is the way the spore drive acts narratively, and how the technology was introduced within the timeline of the series. Like it's just obvious that the writers aren't willing to let anyone else but Discovery have access to the spore drive. They twisted up the Glenn in season one, so Discovery is the only ship with a spore drive. They hemmed and hawed about genetic modification in season 2 so no one else got a spore drive. They purged records of the spore drive's existence from history and claimed that no one else had tried to make anything like it in 900 years despite a massive dilithium shortage and canonical search for other methods of propulsion in season 3. And then at the very end, just when you think, oh hey maybe the entire population of Kwejian will make for a nice crop of new spore drive pilots, the writers fucking blow up their whole planet just so they don't have to let anyone else have the spore drive. And to be fair, they can't really let anyone else have it, or else Discovery loses it's right to be "the only one we can turn to in a crisis". And that's really all it has going for it. So, I get it! Still hate it, though. And, even moreso than all the silly narrative contrivances that are used to nerf transporter technology so that the plot can still happen, this bothers me. Because sure, all the ion storms and interference can get a bit stupid. We all make fun of star trek for inventing a technology that could immediately yoink our blorbos away from their problems, only to turn around and force it to not work when it's needed most. But at least there isn't just one ship that has the ability to use the transporter at all. That would be ridiculous. Everyone would want their own transporter. And yet, that's the situation we have in Discovery. Only one ship can travel across the galaxy in the blink of an eye. The show writers keep contriving to keep it that way. And given how useful instantaneous travel is, the fact that it hasn't been replicated once, by any species in the galaxy, not just the Federation, in 900 years is just stretching the limits of my willing suspension of disbelief.

#sporkandpringles original #gripes #star trek discovery #the spore drive #I think it's a cool concept #but the timing is weird #and even if we say 'oh the Federation didn't use it for moral reasons' like... #...do you think that would stop the Orions? the Romulans? literally anyone else who isn't the Federation? #I don't think so #'oh it was top secret' #so is no one studying the mycelial network? #are there no other mushroom scientists? stamets is the only one? #we know that's not true another one was on the Glenn #if different societies are expected to independently invent warp drive then why not also the spore drive?

[star-trek-fandom-confessions]

#530

"This is such a stupid thing to be pedantic about but I feel like how long and pointy Vulcan and Romulan ears are hasn’t stayed consistent throughout the years. Spock’s ears in TOS were the perfect length and pointedness (even in the TOS movies they weren’t the same)"

#confession 530 #star-trek-fandom-confessions #star trek #vulcans #romulans #spock #the original series

[chrismarilein]

#star trek #romulan star empire #musi #band #choir #romulans #cunning #star trek fanart #star trek ds9 #romulans star trek #star trek tng #romulan warbird #musicians #live performance #star trek picard #star trek tos #spoof #romulan #romulan senat #romulan commander #star trek the original series #tos

[uttaberries]

romulan magician who works with a thasian who ALSO works at a resort on Risa

having so much adding more and more to this and thanks for the name suggestions! I'll make a masterpost soon (name suggestions are open for this guy too)

#star trek #star trek ocs #star trek oc #ocs #star trek fanart #sci fi #oc #original character #startrek #cardassia #cardassian #cardassians #romulans #romulan

[alphamecha-mkii]

Romulan Bird-of-Prey Naval Chart by Mark Farinas

#Star Trek #Star Trek: The Original Series #Romulan #Romulan Star Empire #Bird of Prey #Sci-Fi #Mecha #Spaceship #Mark Farinas

[thats-a-real-mood]

Was anyone gonna tell me that we could have had a Vulcan Empire in star trek had things gone differently in the tos universe or was it just supposed to figure that out myself??

#vulcan empire #romulan star empire #star trek #star trek the original series #s'chn t'gai spock #spock #we COULDVE HAD VULCAN EMPIRES??? #tHE IMPLICATIONS OF SPACE TRAVEL WHILE WE STILL WAR LIKE

[stra-tek]

One thing Strange New Worlds has done is confirmed that the Romulan Commander from "Balance of Terror" (and now "A Quality of Mercy") would consider anyone a friend in a different reality.

" In a different reality... I could consider you a friend."

"Sir this is a Wendy's."

#star trek #strange new worlds #snw #romulan #romulan commander #the original series #balance of terror #tos

[grimtrespasser]

I’d like to publicly apologize for my Star Wars phase, I’m a Trekkie now, have this Vulcan/Romulan hybrid OC <3

#star trek #star trek oc #original character #vulcan #romulan #so so normal about my trans autistic vulcan/romulan trek oc #love making some specific ass guy #giving him his own character tag #lieutenant commander elieth #pronounced ee-ly-eth #he has mommy issues <3 #and identify issues #he’s posing as a full Vulcan and is full of just sO much stress and paranoia #I’ve started using a new doodle brush and it’s really working for me #so expect more of this

[chernobog13]

Romulan Bird-Of-Prey Cutaway.

Cutaway diagram by Matt Cushman. Blueprints by Gary Kerr and Petri Blomqvist.

#Star Trek #Star Trek: The Original Series #Romulan Bird-Of-Prey #starships #Romulans #cutaway diagram #Matt Cushman #Gary Kerr #Petri Blomqvist

[raisinchallah]

u kno kinda funny to me how many people are so obsessed with star trek ship design when tbh all of them like across the board kinda suck and are boring star trek ship design peaked at the klingon battle cruiser in the motion picture its been downhill since then deep space nine which is clearly not a ship and is a space station being beautiful and sexy is an exception and not counted

#i like the original enterprise for its simplicity i feel like every redesign adding more detail #takes away its main interesting feature which is how it stands out as a simple #stark white against the starry bg and the very clean lines which isnt really maintained #as a design feature continuing #the enterprise d model is very impressive but tbh kinda unbalanced its fine but not really it... #most other ship designs are either too boring and all the sAme (most starfleet ships) and then the various alien ships #are for the most part unbelievably ugly the green romulan warbirds are like a design crime #weird the cardassian ships never looked that memorable when all the cardassian design stuff on ds9 is soo immaculately thought out and sexy

[thali-lemmonpie]

Mommy? Sorry. Mommy? Sorry. Mom--

#star trek tos #my art #star trek #TOS #Romulan Commander #god I wish I were Spock in that episode #Bi awakening thats what the episode is #the enterprise incident #star trek: the original series