The title is a play on the TNG episode âThe Inner Lightâ, where Picard is hit by a beam from a Kataan probe that makes him live out a lifetime of memories in the space of less than an hour. A similar probe last appeared in LD: âIn the Cradle of Vexilonâ.
The scientists are studying the venomous tremble lizards of Persioff IX. Persioff IX could be a reference to veteran actor Nehemiah Persoff, who played Palor Toff in TNG: âThe Most Toysâ. The design of the anti-venom suits are similar to TOS-style EV suits, seen in TOS: âThe Tholian Webâ.
The list of ex-Starfleet Officers to be escorted include Seven of Nine, Beverly Crusher, Thomas Riker and Nick Locarno. At this point in their lives, Seven of Nine is with the Fenris Rangers (PIC: âStardust City Ragâ), Beverly Crusher has just left Starfleet after becoming pregnant with Picardâs son (PIC: âSeventeen Secondsâ), Thomas Riker was last seen being sentenced to a Cardassian work camp (DS9: âDefiantâ), and Nick Locarno was last seen expelled from Starfleet Academy (TNG: âThe First Dutyâ). Space prevents me from going into beta canon sources for Riker and Lorcano, or the latterâs resemblance to Tom Paris.
The shuttle the team takes to Sherbal V is the Death Valley. As with the other Cerritos shuttles, she is named after the Californian National Park.
The Klingon Bird of Prey, based on an eyeballing of its relative size to the shuttle, is a Bârel-class scout, the same class as the Bounty from ST III and ST IV.
It may just be my imagination, but New Axtonâs planetary force field which allows only ships in through a protected portal reminds me of the shield around Scariff in Rogue One: a Star Wars Story. The shuttle bringing Freeman, Rutherford and Shax to the surface has a profile and colors resembling a Tatooine landspeeder, and the staff handling planetary landings were in uniforms resembling Imperial ones and speak in pseudo-British accents (not to mention the control room looks like your standard Empire air traffic control). We had vague Star Wars references last episode, too.
Starfleet shuttles are equipped with a short-range transporter. We first saw one being used in TNG: âThe Best of Both Worlds, Part IIâ, when rescuing Picard from a Borg cube. The standard range for a shipboard transporter is 40,000km (TNG Technical Manual), but one presumes the smaller shuttle transporters have a shorter range.
From the pink blood, the masked figure that had his foot caught in the trap is Klingon. He later turns out to be Maâah, captain of the IKS CheâTaâ. We saw his rise from Lower Decker to commander in LD: âwej Dujâ and his ship was âdestroyedâ by the mystery ship in LD: âTwovixâ.
Among the aliens coming out from the moon shuttle are a Gorn female and a Caitian. In TOS: âThe Corbomite Maneurverâ, McCoy quips, âWhat am I, a doctor or a moon shuttle conductor?â
The New Axton bar named Mudds refers to notorious conman Harcourt Fenton âHarryâ Mudd, chronologically last seen selling love potions in TAS: âMuddâs Passionâ. The patron that falls off the stool is a Galardonian (LD: âSecond Contactâ). The bouncer says âjippers are half price for tripeds todayâ - a jipper was one of Muddâs preferred drinks (ST: âThe Escape Artistâ).
TâLyn was indeed at the Battle of System 7743.8 (âwej Dujâ), on the VCF Shâval which came to the Cerritosâ rescue (we last saw the Shâval in LD: âFor a Few Badgeys Moreâ). Also at that battle was the CheâTaâ. She did mention an encounter with a Klingon and Pakled ship to Mariner in LD: âEmpathological Fallaciesâ, but Mariner may not have connected that with the Cerritos.
Boimlerâs dream about Crusher refers to TNG: âDataâs Dayâ where she teaches Data to tap dance.
A dkâ tahg is a Klingon dagger, first seen in ST III but officially named TNG: âBirthright, Part IIâ.
The âperfect friendâ that Mariner modeled herself after was Bajoran ENS Sito Jaxa, who was part of Nick Lorcanoâs Nova Squadron (âThe First Dutyâ). Sito was subsequently killed in 2370 during a covert operation to return a double agent to Cardassia Prime (TNG: âLower Decksâ).
Forgive an old chronologistâs ramblings: Sitoâs fall from grace happened in 2368, and she had to retake her classes from the past year. Since she was on the Enterprise-D in the middle of 2370, the latest she could have graduated was in 2369. Marinerâs account that Sito graduated ahead of her means Mariner would have graduated at the earliest in 2370. A four-year course means she entered the Academy in 2367 - entering at age 17 (Wesley took the entrance exam at 16) makes her born in 2350, making her 31 as of 2381.
The Dominion War lasted from 2373 to 2375. If the above timeline is correct, Mariner would have served in it, especially since she served a stint on Deep Space 9 (LD: âWeâll Always Have Tom Parisâ, âHear All, Trust Nothingâ).
toDuj means courage or bravery in Klingon. Itâs also the name of a Klingon fighter class in Star Trek Online. biHnuch doesnât mean âidiotâ but cowards - plural. The word nuch means coward and the biH means âtheyâ, so Marinerâs usage of âa biHnuchâis grammatically incorrect.
Iâm unable to understand what Maâah says before he hands the pip over to Mariner.
The alien at the table that Mariner, Shax and Rutherford approaches appears to be a Balok puppet (âThe Corbormite Maneuverâ), which was often seen in the seriesâ closing credits. The countdown that the âpuppetâ makes was also done in the TOS episode towards the Enterpriseâs impending destruction. However⊠oops. In the non-canon novel The Face of the Unknown by Christopher L. Bennett, it was established the the Balok puppet was based on the features of the larger, more intimidating Dassik species, with which Balokâs species (the Linnik) were in conflict with.
The bounty hunterâs language is similar to the sounds made by the Breen from DS9.
Tendi, is of course, the Mistress of the Winter Constellations (âWeâll Always Have Tom Parisâ) raised to be the Prime of her house, the Tip of the Moonlit Blade (LD: âSomething Borrowed, Something Greenâ).
More Star Wars references, specifically Return of the Jedi. The monitoring station is practically identical to the Imperial bunker on the forest moon of Endor. Attacking the Bird of Prey armed only with primitive weapons is reminiscent of the Ewoks attacking Imperial vehicles armed with similar stone-tipped spears. Sherbal V also looks like the forest moon.
Freemanâs plan for Billups to be disguised as a bounty hunter refers to Leiaâs gambit to infiltrate Jabbaâs Palace. We should have known, since the bounty hunter ship has a vaguely Hysperian color scheme (LD: âWhere Pleasant Fountains Lieâ). The place where they search for Locarno even looks like Jabbaâs Palace.
Of course, it stands to reason that if Mariner knew Sito, sheâd know Locarno as well (the Kolvoord Starburst - the maneuver that got him drummed out of the Academy - is on his jacket as well as on the Bird of Prey).
But if Mariner knew him at the Academy, thatâs the clincher for her age. âThe First Dutyâ takes place in 2368 as noted before, but Lorcano was graduating that year, which is why he was hell-bent on the Starburst stunt. If thatâs so, then the latest time Mariner would have known Locarno is the 2367-2368 academic year, which means her latest entry into the Academy is 2367. Backtracking, her birthday is in 2350 at the latest. So coming at it from two angles - Sito and Locarno - comes up with the same minimum age: 31.
The shuttle bringing Freeman, Rutherford and Shax to the surface has a profile and colors resembling a Tatooine landspeeder, and the staff handling planetary landings were uniforms resembling Imperial ones and speak in pseudo-British accents.
Also, the background music when that shuttle landed sounded like it came straight from a Star Wars movie.
I know no one is reading this anymore, but Waâah helping Marriner with her issues is clearly a callout to the way the community has responded to that line in TNG âNo one would suggest that a Klingon would make a good counselorâ and the memes that have been created with Klingons being GREAT counselors! Incredibly straight forward, obsessed with defeating any obstacles in their way, there is no more honorable combat than against oneâs own challenges.
@Lydia_K @khaosworks Paging @coachgowron
The title is a play on the TNG episode âThe Inner Lightâ
But why? I donât see a storyline connection/similarly between this episode and âThe Inner Lightâ.
I think the episode is just about Marinerâs inner fight about being in Starfleet, and the similarity in title is just coincidental.
Itâs definitely not coincidental, considering that âThe Inner Lightâ is one of the most famous episodes of the series. Itâs a pun, a play on words in relation to the TNG episode title. It doesnât have to have a thematic connection for it to be a title.