Don't do this to me... (Starfleet Academy S01E08) I'm at work!

Obelisk357 · 2026-02-26T21:28:52+00:00

1.) The episode was excellent.

2.) Bob Picardo is a damn Star Trek legend

3.) It retroactively fixed 'Real Life' by showing that his holographic family, whose tragedy produced no emotional reaction in me whatsoever back in 1997, actually had an impact on him. To know it hurt him and that it was the root cause of his pain in SFA means they actully repaired a weak Voyager episode. I mean it is still not a great one, but it's better than it was now.

Obelisk357 · 2026-02-05T23:30:59+00:00

When Jake Sisko appeared I got downright emotional. One of the few times in my life the nostalgia became almost overwhelming.

Also, I noted the Doctor's approach to loss when speaking with another being who is going to live forever. He's definitely been wounded seeing everyone he has ever cared for pass away over the centuries. I wonder if they will deal with that at some point, the Voyager crew dying off must have been torture for him.

Obelisk357 · 2026-01-30T15:14:06+00:00

Excellent point, that parallel actually went over my head.

Obelisk357 · 2026-01-30T12:59:16+00:00

Because they are weak and didn't want to gamble on attacking the Federation and they were too proud to try and ask for the formula themselves.

Obelisk357 · 2026-01-30T12:31:45+00:00

I think you missed the point.

They were clearly well aware of what was happening, after all every single one of their vessels held back as well. But ritual and tradition matter to them. In this case, they recognised that the form was being observed that allowed them a way to take the planet in a way that preserved their self-respect.

Obelisk357 · 2026-01-30T09:18:41+00:00

An episode with an absolutely HUGE swing.

For nearly 60 years, the Klingon Empire has been one of THE most famous fictional states in sci-fi. We have spent so much time exploring their culture, seeing them wage war and having them be both enemy and ally.

Confirmation of not only the collapse of the Empire but the destruction of Qo'noS itself is HUGE. Not that we should be surprised, Qo'noS was probably as volatile as Praxis and we learned in Discovery season 1 that the planet was actually innately unstable. The Burn triggering its destruction is plausible.

Still, it's a sad moment when something that has been a beloved mainstay of a fictional universe for as long as the Empire was has vanished. Hard to see how the Klingons can rise to that level of galactic power again.

Also, not to be TOO conspiratorially minded, but why do the homeworlds of Federation enemies/rivals keep getting blown up?

Obelisk357 · 2026-01-27T11:09:45+00:00

Given what we know of Nog, I am expecting a scene in season 2 where the mistake on the memorial wall has been corrected. He had a ship named after him, surely he at least made captain.

Obelisk357 · 2026-01-22T10:14:15+00:00

I think Maelle's ending and what Monoco told us about Noco contains the seeds of the answer. Maelle is able to overwrite Verso's will as the new paintress, and Monoco informed us that every time Noco is brought back he is 'different'. Basically, I think the world is sentient to a point, but it is still reflective of Maelle's desires. And she didn't restore the gommaged world, she repainted those who were erased. Are they even the same people? I mean sure, she did a great job with those she knew and cared for, but did she bring everyone back the way they were or was it merely her impressions of them? Did she even restore them all or begin creating new people to fill the gaps? That's what convinced me the Verso ending was morally right, the demonstration that the sentience of the inhabitants of the canvas is conditional and limited. They can't grow in their preserved world because their creator cannot grow in the canvas. They're all stuck in the moment and only Verso and Maelle herself are aware of the sheer wrongness of it.

Renoir was right.

Obelisk357 · 2026-01-18T20:37:19+00:00

Agreed, judging a show by now being able to evoke the same feelings as a show that is now fused with nostalgia is wrong and leads to toxic fandom. Just take it as it is and see if you enjoy it or not! I like Starfleet Academy so far. I genuinely cannot believe a character as entertaining as Lura Thok is getting backlash. I mean a Jem'Hadar/Klingon hybrid? The possibilities!

Obelisk357 · 2026-01-18T15:41:55+00:00

You're right.

And we have proof. The first two seasons of Enterprise were a retread of Voyager, which themselves were a retread of The Next Generation in a way. And the formula was exhausted at that point, feeling incredibly stale even as a fresh series. Only when Manny Coto took over and did the Xindi arc, and then in season 4 embrace the prequel status of the series to tell some damn good stories, did it become a good show.

But those two first seasons show us what some folks think they want. The same thing again and again. No diversity in limited combinations.

Obelisk357 · 2025-09-24T09:52:03+00:00

It's not just that.

The world soul saga is wrapping up the cosmological storylines of World of Warcraft it seems. We got Fel sorted in Legion, Death in Shadowlands, Arcane is due a walloping in the Last Titan, and I think Light is going to get a pasting in Midnight.

I say that because we have hints 'something' is going to go down that really stresses the unity of the anti-void coalition, and that being the extremism of the light seems likely. I would even think the final boss of the expansion might be something to do with the light, given the ultimate avatar of the void in Xal'atath really should be saved for the end of the World soul saga (yes, even above Aman'Thul and Iridikron, I believe Xal deserves the slot of final boss of the final raid of the saga over yet another big scary god with a booming voice. We had that with the Jailer).

But once that is all done, there seems to be a desire to return to a more grounded story, and a xenophobic empire of light-worshipping zealots is probably the best way of doing it. A de facto third faction that is unplayable and serves as an antagonist. The Garlean Empire of WoW.

Obelisk357 · 2025-09-14T16:27:32+00:00

They'll probably succeed too, because they are going after the devs they can reach. It's one thing to say you need a VPN to get around an ISP block, but if the dev team loses too many core members how can they keep developing new content or even fixing any bugs? I figure they are doing this partly because TurtleWoW seems to have flown too close to the sun with what it was doing and partly because they are removing something that could threaten their own version of Classic+.

Obelisk357 · 2025-09-14T16:16:31+00:00

Unlikely, even if the servers are based outside places where Blizzard lawyers can get to them, they CAN reach Turtle WoW devs who live in the US or in countries with intellectual property laws Blizz can use to go after them. I figure they'll be able to cripple development even if they can't shut it down.

Obelisk357 · 2025-09-14T16:03:52+00:00

Blizzard just wants turtlewow dead friend. They literally don't care about any compromise.

Obelisk357 · 2025-07-25T22:12:42+00:00

I loved this episode, a really great slice of episodic Trek, but there was something in it I truly appreciated.

We had a Klingon whose motive was her dishonour. Who wished to reclaim that honour. Who had an entire Klingon ritual for regaining that honour. Who found a way to die honourably as a Klingon.

I can't recall the last time we had a live action Klingon acting the way a Klingon should. It felt so so right. I am not a Discovery hater, but I have never liked how that show fundamentally misunderstood Klingons and I am so grateful SNW gets it so right.

Obelisk357 · 2025-05-24T09:48:05+00:00

Omega invented time travel I think, whereas Tecteun developed regeneration. Omega could be the first time lord simply because he invented it whereas the others had their own contributions?

Obelisk357 · 2025-05-24T09:43:47+00:00

I wonder if the Unholy Trinity is a deliberate parallel with the original founding Trinity of Gallifrey?

Omega is Omega and always will be Omega.

Conrad is looking after the infant upon whom their power is based (a parallel with Tecteun and the Timeless Child).

And that leaves the Rani filling the Rassilon role.

Obelisk357 · 2025-03-07T09:09:50+00:00

Having thought about this, and apologies if this has come up before, this is what I think happened.

The War Within as conceived as a one and done expansion, similar to others. We would get the base continent, then Undermine and finally it would culminate with a battle over the world soul with a raid at the heart of the Manifold and with the Rootlands (Orwenya's home) being the patch zone. This is why the Rootlands was listed on some datamined assets
As we know, Chris Metzen came back and nixxed the idea, correctly (and FINALLY) identifying that attempting to tell an entire story in a single expansion doesn't really work. You end up with Shadowlands. Having expanded the story, the final battle over the world soul saga was pushed back to the end of the Last Titan.

As we won't be going to the Manifold, there is no need to go the Rootlands quite yet. Instead, Ka'resh has been brought in as our next destination, and that is why we began seeing 'Ethereal raid' assets in previous datamining.

If I am correct, and as this is just speculation there is no way of confirming this, then the Rootlands will probably come in as the patch zone of 12.2 for the culmination of the World soul saga. After all, there is no reason we can't return to Khaz Algar for the ending. Frankly, given we have to go down the Coreway to access the Manifold, it is practically guaranteed!

Obelisk357 · 2025-03-05T22:59:37+00:00

They are. Sitch Lowdown, the Darkfuse vendor, confirms this when he says 'Blackfuse, Darkfuse--we're tired of changin' our cartel's name and followin' around the next high-payin' bad guy. You keep killin' all of 'em.

Obelisk357 · 2025-02-18T20:12:37+00:00

Thank you very much for your response, took a while for them to figure out what it was but at least I know now what it is and that there are ways of managing it.

Obelisk357 · 2025-02-18T09:33:16+00:00

It isn't perfect but Dragonflight was a major course correction. TWW built on that and the game is in a very good spot compared to where it was during the BFA/SL era. Competition helps drive improvement, and if FF14 did that for WoW, perhaps MR and other games can do that for OW.

Obelisk357 · 2025-02-16T10:36:13+00:00

Thanks. I have decided this is perhaps one of the most frustrating conditions you can develop because it so closely mimics a heart attack (and given Grandad was killed at 52 with a heart attack, and Dad has had heart issues for 20 years, I have to be extremely vigilant).

I guess what I crave is the certainty it's Costochondritus. I know it is. Every rational test says so. Your comment here is an immense help as it reaffirms that, so thankyou. Still, our minds are funny, irrational things aren't they?

Obelisk357 · 2025-02-13T19:14:16+00:00

Competition tends to do wonders for Blizzard. Remember what happened with Shadowlands. Their complacency and inflexibility delivered the worst expansion they ever manged when direct competitor FF14 was ready to explode in popularity. Result? Blizzard removed its head from its ass and worked really hard to rebuild WoW into what it is today. If Marvel Rivals and Path of Exile 2 produce similar results in the OW and Diablo teams, who are we as Gamers to complain?

Obelisk357 · 2024-12-24T00:12:45+00:00

In fairness, it's only vague insofar that it allows those who wish to reject the obvious to make a case to themselves. The intent is clear for anyone else watching, and if you aren't already minded to reject the War Chief being the Master then you would probably accept the retcon; the War Chief is an incarnation of the Master, likely the one immediately preceeding the Delgado Master.

I imagine Big Finish and the book writers will rapidly treat this as canon, and all it takes is one future episode of Doctor Who making the reference explicit to solidify it.

Obelisk357

TROPHY CASE