Star Trek Finally Reveals The Details Of One Grisly Off-Screen Tragedy
"I know what he blames me for."
When the USS Enterprise dropped off Khan (Ricardo Montalban) and his genetically engineered followers at the end of the 1967 Star Trek episode “Space Seed,” the only person who was actually from the 23rd century was also conspicuously absent when Khan returned for his famous wrath 15 years later. The Starfleet historian Marla McGivers (Madlyn Rhue) was left behind on Ceti Alpha V in 2267, and based on the backstory in of The Wrath, she had perished well before the Reliant rediscovered Khan.
But how did Marla meet her fate? It’s a question Trek fans have had for 43 years, and has previously been tackled in a novel by Greg Cox titled To Reign In Hell: The Exile of Khan Noonien Singh (2005), as well as 2010 comic book series Ruling in Hell from IDW, written by Scott and David Tipton. And now, in episode 7 of the podcast audio series, Star Trek: Khan, a third take on how this all went down has been revealed. And this time, it seems that what we’re getting is the real-deal canon.
Spoilers ahead for Star Trek: Khan.
“I Am Marla” Reveals Marla’s Horrible Fate
Marla and Khan in "Space Seed"
In The Wrath of Khan, when describing the insidious Ceti eel, Khan says the creature had slain “Twenty of my people. Including my beloved wife.” This wife can be none other than Marla McGivers, who fell in love with Khan in “Space Seed” despite the fact that the was scheming to take over the Enterprise. Later in The Wrath, we learn that Khan blames Kirk, indirectly, for Marla being slain by the parasitical creatures. But in the new Khan episode “I Am Marla” we learn that this was pretty much an accident.
Unlike in the IDW comic book miniseries, in which one of Khan’s rivals infected Marla on purpose, the new canon reveals that Marla (Wrenn Schmidt), pregnant with her and Khan’s child, is taking a rest in a natural hot spring on Ceti Alpha V. But underneath the waters of the hot spring are Ceti eels. In previous episodes, Khan and his followers believed they had beaten back these creatures, but this one finds its way into Marla’s ear, which means that her brain will, essentially, be destroyed. The tragic thing here is that Marla’s body can be kept alive to deliver her and Khan’s baby, but that she won’t make it.
Khan’s Impact on the Star Trek Timeline
Could one of these background charaters secretly be Khan’s daughter? We don’t know! (Yet.)
The implications of the larger story of Star Trek are huge. Marla’s fate is now doubly tragic. Not only does she pass away because of the Ceti eel, which we knew, but now there’s a child, a daughter of her and Khan’s which presumably will play into the rest of the story.
Although deleted scenes from The Wrath of Khan would have included children and at least one baby, in terms of visual canon, there is no character in The Wrath who is specifically identified as Khan’s daughter. Then again, are one of the background female characters in The Wrath possibly, retroactively, a daughter of Khan?
There are just two episodes left in Star Trek: Khan, and because of the twist with Marla’s fate, we can expect a few more canon tweaks before the end, and, retroactively, before The Wrath.
