Gimme That Star Trek presents its annual Alien Spotlight, discussing the Jem'Hadar and the notion of free will for this clone race. Siskoid and Ryan Blake read between the lines to get to the heart of the Dominion's fierce warriors!
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Credits:
"Star Trek Theme" by Alexander Courage, with the Irredeemable Shagg on vocals. End theme: "Deep Space Nine Theme" by Dennis McCarthy.
Bonus clips from: Star Trek Deep Space Nine's "To the Death", starring Clarence Williams III and Scott Haven.
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I wonder if the Jem’Hadar suffer from Stormtrooper Syndrome. Like their white clad counterparts from that other star-based franchise, they are supposed to be highly effective soldiers, but don’t look particularly competent when they face off against the DS9 crew. I suppose the idea is to show off the capabilities of our heroes, but a side effect is that it makes the Jem’Hadar look less of a threat.
I also found your comparison of the Jem’Hadar to the Vorta interesting. I once read a book on Jungian typology that used pop culture examples to illustrate different concepts. The author suggested that the Founders deliberately left Introverted Judgement (i.e., Jung’s Introverted Thinking and Feeling functions) out of the Vorta’s genetic makeup. Among other things, this means that the Vorta would lack a subjective value system. (This would also explain why the Vorta can’t appreciate art or carry a tune). The Jem’Hadar do not seem to suffer from such a deficiency, as your example of Ikat’ika refusing to kill Worf demonstrates. That Jem’Hadar followed their subjective values in the face of external social pressure from their superior to execute our favorite Klingon. For anyone who is interested in such things, the book is “Personality Type: An Owner’s Manual” by Lenore Thomson.
Thanks for another incredible episode.
Really enjoyed this episode. Regarding the post-show books, many of them, especially the early ones, are really good. The Jem Hadar character Taran’tar (forgive my spelling from memory) becomes pretty interesting interacting with the starfleet crew. He does not get them! Anyway thanks for the thought provoking episode. I had not given much thought before to the implications of the “aware” Jem Hadar. So thanks for that nightmare….