Summary
- DS9's Chancellor Martok leads the Klingon Empire in a war against Tribbles, aiming to alter their biology for ecological balance.
- Star Trek: Prodigy introduces a solution to Tribble infestations - stopping their rampant breeding thanks to xeno-anthropologist Rok-Tahk's theories.
- Martok's approach to the Tribble problem in Prodigy's episode 'A Tribble Called Quest' is a progressive shift from past Klingon Empire hunts.
Star Trek: Prodigy has revealed that Chancellor Martok (J.G. Hertzler) has declared war between the Klingon Empire and the Tribbles in the years after Star Trek: Deep Space Nine ended. DS9 reintroduced the Tribbles to the 24th century in season 5, episode 6, "Trials and Tribble-ations", when the usually gruff Constable Odo (Rene Auberjonois) became attached to one of the cute fluffy creatures. As DS9's Tribble infestation at the end of "Trials and Tribble-ations" was a throwaway joke, it does raise the question of how exactly the Federation dealt with the Tribbles being reintroduced to the ecosystem.
With their voracious appetites and rapid breeding, Tribbles can ravage planets and devastate their fragile ecosystems. Star Trek: Prodigy's season 2 premiere, "Into the Breach, Part I" revealed that science genius and xeno-anthropologist Rok-Tahk (Rylee Alazraqui) theorized how to stop Tribbles from breeding to prevent future ecological disasters. Rok's theories finally get a practical application in Prodigy season 2, episode 13, "A Tribble Called Quest", which will surely win her the respect of legendary Star Trek: Deep Space Nine character Chancellor Martok.
Star Trek: Prodigy Reveals DS9’s Martok Is Leading A Klingon Tribble Hunt
Seeking Bosonite to power their proto-drive, the crew of the USS Protostar visit an M-class planet that's rich in the mineral. Beaming down to the planet's surface, Captain Chakotay (Robert Beltran) and his young warrant officers discover that it's been ravaged by giant Tribbles. The inflated fluff balls are the result of a scientific miscalculation by a Klingon geneticist, Dr. K'Ruvang (Jorge Gutiérrez), who, rather than halt their reproduction, mutates them into giant Tribbles. K'Ruvang reveals that he'd been sent to the planet by Chancellor Martok to defeat the Klingon Empire's "ancient blood enemy, the Tribbles".
K'Ruvang's genetic mistake is a callback to a similar issue experienced by Cyrano Jones, who also tried to stop the Tribbles multiplying in Star Trek: The Animated Series , season 1, episode 5, "More Tribbles, More Troubles".
Odo brought the Tribbles back on the cusp of the escalation of the Federation's war against the Dominion, meaning that Martok and the Klingon Empire had more pressing matters to deal with. With the Dominion defeated, and Martok installed as Chancellor of the Klingon Empire, he turned his attention to handling the Tribbles. It's interesting that Martok has taken a less finite approach to the Tribble problem, tasking Dr. K'Ruvang with altering their biology to make them less of an ecological threat. This is a more progressive outlook than his 23rd century predecessors, who led the Klingon Empire's first great Tribble hunt.
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Every Star Trek Tribble Episode |
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"The Trouble With Tribbles" |
Star Trek: The Original Series, season 2, episode 15 |
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"More Tribbles, More Troubles" |
Star Trek: The Animated Series, season 1, episode 5 |
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"Trials and Tribble-ations" |
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, season 5, episode 6 |
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"A Tribble Called Quest" |
Star Trek: Prodigy, season 2, episode 13 |
The Klingon Empire’s First Tribble Hunt Explained
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 5, episode 6, "Trials and Tribble-ations" revealed that the Klingon Empire sought to exterminate the entire Tribble species in the 23rd century. The Great Tribble Hunt was led by Koloth (William Campbell), who had been publicly embarrassed by Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) in "The Trouble with Tribbles". The Klingon Empire's hatred of Tribbles has been a source of great amusement for multiple Star Trek characters. Dal R'El (Brett Gray), Captain William T. Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and Constable Odo have all joked about the fierce warriors being "blood enemies" of a species of cute furballs.
"Tell me, do they still sing songs of the Great Tribble Hunt?"
- Constable Odo
While the idea of Star Trek's greatest Klingons going to war with the Tribbles is incongruous and hilarious, they may have had a point. One only needs to look at the devastation wrought on the M-class planet in Star Trek: Prodigy to see what happens when Tribbles are left to their own devices. Now that Rok and Dr. K'Ruvang have fixed the issue with their rampant reproduction, the Tribbles no longer pose a threat to the Klingon Empire or the wider 24th century in the years since Star Trek: Deep Space Nine introduced the furballs to the Federation ecosystem.
