Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 5, Episode 4 - "A Farewell To Farms"Mary Chieffo, who played Star Trek: Discovery's best Klingon, is back in Star Trek: Lower Decks. In its fifth and final season on Paramount+, Star Trek: Lower Decks gives the USS Cerritos a new mission: investigating a series of interdimensional fissures that lead to alternate Star Trek timelines. Lt. Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) and Lt. Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid) scanned one such fissure in Klingon space that led to Mariner visiting her old friend, Ma'ah (Jon Curry). on the Klingon homeworld Q'onoS.
Star Trek: Discovery season 1 controversially rebooted the Klingons into the series' main antagonists. Even more alien in design and behavior, the Klingons declared war on the United Federation of Planets. The Klingon War of 2256-2257 became a bloody conflict that defined Star Trek: Discovery season 1, with ramifications carrying over into Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. However, the revamped Klingons were widely disliked by fans, and Star Trek has since distanced itself from Discovery's rebooted warriors from Qo'noS.
Star Trek: Discovery’s Mary Chieffo Voices A New Klingon On Lower Decks
Introducing K'Elarra
Mary Chieffo portrayed L'Rell on Star Trek: Discovery, and she's back as a new Klingon named K'Elarra in Star Trek: Lower Decks season 5, episode 4, "A Farewell To Farms." K'Elarra appears in a Klingon bar when Ma'ah and his brother, Malor (Sam Witwer), drop by. K'Elarra makes romantic overtures toward Ma'ah, a former Klingon Captain who returned to his farm on Qo'noS in disgrace. When Mariner and Boimler arrive, K'Elarra is outraged that Ma'ah has human Starfleet friends.
Mary Chieffo's distinctive voice is unmistakable as K'Elarra, and she seems to have a lot more fun bantering with Ma'ah in her brief scene in Star Trek: Lower Decks than Mary had portraying L'Rell in Star Trek: Discovery. Certainly, being able to voice a Klingon is much easier than wearing L'Rell's all-encompassing and painful Klingon prosthetics. As K'Elarra, Chieffo finally gets to play a more traditional Klingon than she did in Star Trek: Discovery, cementing Mary as the most prominent female actress to play Klingons in modern Star Trek.
What Happened To L'Rell On Star Trek: Discovery
L'Rell Was Last Seen In Star Trek: Discovery Season 2
Star Trek: Discovery season 1 told a slow-burn story about L'Rell rising to become Chancellor of the Klingon Empire. L'Rell was introduced as a follower of T'Kuvma (Chris Obi), the self-styled Klingon Messiah. Left for dead along with her lover, Voq (Shazad Latif), L'Rell cunningly worked her way into a position of power and influence among the Klingons. L'Rell eventually allied herself with Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) to save Qo'noS from a hydrogen bomb that could have destroyed the planet. L'Rell ended the war by rising up to become Chancellor.
Voq was surgically altered to resemble Starfleet Lt. Ash Tyler, and Tyler retained his human form to become commander of Section 31 in Star Trek: Discovery season 2.
In Star Trek: Discovery season 2, L'Rell fended off threats to her power as Chancellor among the Klingons. L'Rell and Ash Tyler hid their son, Tenavik (Kenneth Mitchell) on Boreth, where Tenavik grew to become a monk who showed Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) his tragic destiny thanks to a Klingon time crystal. L'Rell's last appearance was leading the Klingons to defeat Section 31's genocidal A.I., Control, as the USS Discovery permanently jumped to the 32nd century at the end of Star Trek: Discovery season 2.
Why L’Rell & Discovery’s Klingons Vanished From Star Trek
Discovery's Klingons May Not Be Seen Again
Star Trek: Discovery relocating to the 32nd century in season 3 not only opened up a new era of Star Trek to explore, but it also allowed Discovery to permanently distance itself from its Klingons. Discovery endured countless complaints from fans about how its Klingons violated canon in seasons 1 and 2. The unpopular Klingons have since been dropped from Star Trek and haven't been seen since the end of Discovery season 2.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2 even retconned Star Trek: Discovery's Klingon War so that the Klingons Starfleet fought resembled the popular versions from Star Trek: The Next Generation's era. Mary Chieffo explained that Star Trek: Discovery's Klingons were a different sect of the warrior race, and that Klingons were multicultural. Even if Star Trek: Discovery's Klingons don't return, Mary Chieffo remains a popular Star Trek actor who is welcomed back as a traditional, classic Klingon in Star Trek: Lower Decks.
