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Episode Studies by Clayton Barr

enik1138
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Star Trek: Mirrored (Part 1) "Mirrored" Part 1
Star Trek #15
IDW
Writer: Mike Johnson
Inspired by the original teleplay "Mirror, Mirror" by Jerome Bixby
Artist: Erfan Fajar
Cover by Tim Bradstreet
November 2012

 

In the Kelvin timeline, things take a very different turn in the mirror universe.

 

Read the full story summary of this issue at Memory Beta

 

Notes from the Star Trek Chronology

 

Page 4 (set in the mirror universe) has Captain Spock stating stardate 2258.56. This would seem to set the story in between "The Truth About Tribbles" and "The Redshirt's Tale". However, I've chosen to leave it in publication order since the bookends of McCoy and Scotty's conversation about mirror universes could be taking place at any time.

 

Didja Know?

 

This story is inspired by, but not an adaptation of, the original series episode "Mirror, Mirror".

 

Didja Notice?

 

The cover of this issue has a partially obscured sword-through-Earth logo of the Terran Empire seen in the original series Star Trek episode "Mirror, Mirror", the ST-Enterprise episodes "In a Mirror, Darkly" Parts 1 and 2, and the ST-DS9 episode "Crossover". This version also includes words that may be Latin for "Terran Empire", but they're partially obscured and don't look quite right.

 

The cover also depicts Spock wearing insignia pins of the Terran Empire on his collar.

 

Both the mainstream and mirror universe depictions of the Enterprise in this issue are, inaccurately, of the refurbished Enterprise of the original movie series, not the one seen in the Kelvin timeline of the current Star Trek movie franchise. The depiction is the same in "Mirrored" Part 2.

 

On page 2, McCoy and Scotty are discussing the idea of travelling between alternate timelines. McCoy says that Scotty makes it sound like a drive from Tupelo to the Gulf. He is referring to Tupelo, Mississippi and the Gulf of Mexico, a trip of about 320 miles. The Gemini Agent implies that McCoy is from Mississippi.

 

On page 3, Scotty says, "Damn it, Bones, I'm an engineer, not a poet." Obviously, this is a play on McCoy's habit of saying, "Damn it, I'm a doctor, not a..." Possibly, Scotty has noticed this tendency in the good doctor and is poking a bit of fun at him during their friendly argument.

 

While discussing the possibility of alternate timeline versions of themselves dropping by for a visit, notice that McCoy's thought representations of alternate Scotty and himself look like the actors who played them in the original Star Trek TV series, James Doohan as Scotty and DeForest Kelley as Dr. McCoy!

 

On pages 4-7, we get our first glimpses of Qo'nos, the Klingon homeworld, in the mirror universe.

 

In the mirror universe, Captain Spock briefly interrogates and then executes Chancellor Gorkon of the Klingon Empire. Gorkon appeared in the original timeline in the 1991 movie Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country.

 

On page 6, Gorkon whispers, "Heghlu'meH QaQ jajvam," which Spock translates as "Today is a good day to die." According to Marc Okrand's book Klingon for the Galactic Traveler (1997), the phrase is more accurately, "It is a good day to die."

 

In this version of the mirror universe, Spock is the captain of the Enterprise and Kirk the first officer. Of course, it was the opposite in the original episode "Mirror, Mirror".

 

Lt. Sulu reports to Spock that Praxis is now under the Terran Empire's control. Praxis is a moon of Qo'nos and the primary source of energy production for the homeworld. In the original timeline, Praxis exploded in 2293 at the beginning of Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country.

 

Commander Kirk travels to Rura Penthe to exact revenge on the still incarcerated Nero. In the main timeline, Nero and his crew and ship, the Narada, were captured by the Klingons and held on the prison asteroid Rura Penthe for 25 years, as depicted in "Never Bet Against the Romulan".

 

In the mirror universe, Scotty brings Commander Kirk a bladed instrument he found in Nero's quarters aboard the Narada. It is the Debrune teral'n, an ancient bladed weapon that is the greatest symbol of the Romulan Empire. Nero took it from the Romulan Praetor in "Countdown" Part 3.

 

On page 15, the struts supporting the warp nacelles of the I.S.S. Enterprise have an odd, jointed look to them that isn't seen in later depictions.

 

On page 16 (and later), notice that mirror-Chekov has a semi-mohawk going on!

 

On page 17, Chekov says, "Dosvedanya!" to Captain Spock. This is Russian for "goodbye".

 

On page 19, panel 4, the saucer section of the I.S.S. Enterprise is mistakenly labeled as NCC-1701-D instead of NCC-1701. (The D-designation belongs to the Next Generation era Galaxy-class Enterprise.)

 

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