Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Klingon Honor And Sto-Vo-Kor, Explained

Security alert! This article contains spoilers for season 3, episode 3 of "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds."

Klingons have gone through some interesting iterations over the years in the "Star Trek" franchise, but they have always been a deeply ritualistic people with a strong sense of duty. Almost nothing matters more to a Klingon than their honor, and that means they will sometimes make decisions that seem baffling to those from other cultures. In the season 3 "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" episode "Shuttle to Kenfori," Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) gets a firsthand lesson in Klingon cultural norms when a Klingon warrior tracks down Doctor M'Benga (Babs Olusanmokun) in order to demand a battle to the death. See, this Klingon warrior (Christine Horn) is the daughter of Dak'Rah, the Butcher of J'Gal (Robert Wisdom), who later became a Klingon ambassador, and M'Benga killed him in the season 2 episode "Under the Cloak of War." Since Nurse Chapel (Jess Bush) testified that it was self-defense, Pike chose not to pursue the matter any further. 

Because Dak'Rah shamed his family, it was up to his daughter to kill him and restore their family's honor, but M'Benga took that from her. Therefore, according to Klingon rules, she must battle M'Benga to restore her honor and the honor of House Ra'Ul. That's where things get really interesting, and Pike's lesson in Klingon cosmology really goes into session.

M'Benga agrees to the fight, but ends up defeating her and letting her live, which infuriates her even more. By being allowed to live while having been defeated, she is doubly without honor. So when it looks like she, M'Benga, and Pike are all about to be swarmed by space zombies, she chooses to draw the zombies in her direction so that Pike and M'Benga might escape. Pike asks M'Benga why she did that, and the doctor explains that the deed will restore her honor. "But no one will know," Pike points out, still a bit lost. M'Benga points out that she will know, and he will know, and he gives her a kind of blessing, saying "may Sto-vo-kor welcome you." 

Klingons believe in an afterlife, with at least two places their spirit can go after they've died on the mortal plane. Sto-vo-kor (or Suto'vo'qor in proper Klingon, though there are multiple "official" spellings) is the land of the most honored dead, very similar to Valhalla in Norse myths, where warriors go if they have died in battle or while doing a heroic deed. There's also Gre'thor, the Klingon equivalent of hell, where the dishonored dead are ferried across waters inhabited by a terrible monster before being trapped together in a miserable land for all of eternity. By sacrificing herself to help ensure that M'Benga and Pike get to safety, the Klingon warrior is also hoping to secure herself a place in Sto-vo-kor with the heroes of legend.

Klingons are a warrior culture above all, and they have to be willing to sacrifice themselves in battle and fight against overwhelming odds. The promise of Sto-vo-kor is a big part of what helps keep them so fearless in the face of battle (save for that time J.G. Hertzler's character General Martok totally lost his cool when potentially facing off with the Jem'hadar again on "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," but who can really blame him?). The Klingons are still much more of an antagonistic force in "Strange New Worlds" than they are in shows like "Star Trek: The Next Generation" or "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," which take place after the peace treaty between the Klingons and the Federation called the Khitomer Accords (signed in the movie "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country"). Despite being so feared and sometimes outright hated, it's great to see them get proper treatment.

Not only that, but this episode provides an excellent character moment for M'Benga, who truly reveals his violent side to Pike for the first time but also shows the deep respect he has come to have for his greatest enemies. M'Benga himself is the kind of man worthy of Sto-vo-kor, especially since killing lots of Klingons is in no way a deal-breaker. Not being a Klingon is okay, too, as Trill "Deep Space Nine" science officer Jadzia Dax (Terry Farrell) is allegedly among the great heroes, at least according to the legendary Klingon warrior Kor (John Colicos), so who knows? Maybe M'Benga will be greeted by Kah'less (the greatest Klingon hero of all) when he dies someday. There are worse possible existential fates for a Starfleet officer, that's for sure!