If you thought that the Klingons had a look that was off base in ‘Star Trek: Discovery‘ then you’ll be in for a surprise as they’ll have another new one in the second season. That’s right, folks, not only will the Klingons have a new look but it seems like they’ll have found some time to grow hair for the sophomore outing of the show.
Way back in ‘Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’ they addressed in “Trials and Tribble-ations” that Klingons from the past looked different and Worf was quick to state that “we don’t discuss it with outsiders.” At the time, Julian Bashir suspected that viral mutation was the cause and now we might be seeing more of that play out on the small screen.
Glenn Hetrick, who is the makeup designer on the show, held a panel at Star Trek Las Vegas and discussed his work on the series. He mentioned that a new look was in the works for the Klingons:
“As we move into Season Two, it has been while since we have been with our characters. It has been a while since we have seen our Klingon friends. So, everything keeps evolving. The story has evolved. And I can guarantee you this; you are going to be blown away that they have a completely new look, yet again, going into Season Two.”
Now, this doesn’t indicate that it’ll be the manipulation which Bashir noted in ‘Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’ though I wouldn’t at all be surprised if it is called out in the series.
That doesn’t explain the addition of hair in the upcoming season. When talking about his inspiration for the look that we’ve seen so far, Hetrick mentions:
“If you really think about Season One, and the Klingon storyline, we had this incredibly ritualistic season with them. It was really about unification, and igniting the beacon, the Light of Kahless, and bringing him back… so we integrated that very much and thought a lot about that.”
This directly calls to “Rightful Heir” which is a ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ episode where a clone of Kahless was being tested to unify the Empire:
“He did it by cutting off his hair, and dipping it into a volcano and forging the first bat’leth and tempering in the ocean of Qo’noS… There is this whole thing with hair and ritual and unification that was very much in the forefront of our mind when we designing.”
With a unified Empire, we might just see the Klingon race letting their hair grow out once again. It isn’t just hair though that will give us a new look at Klingons but a unified Empire comprised of different houses:
“In Season Two, you are going to see much different designs. You are going to see different houses you haven’t seen before. One of the most important things to us was that at this point in canon, as we head towards the current version of unification, the houses really each grow up on different planets. It is an Empire; it is not just Qo’noS… We have seen six of the great houses in close up in Season One. As we move forward into the next season, I promise that we will continue exploring and unpacking and unfolding that infinitely interesting story of what the Klingon culture looks like on a wider level.”
With different houses and possible genetic manipulation in the mix, there could be a variety of reasons that we’re getting a new look at Klingons, or at least a fresh look at a different aspect of Klingon culture during the era of ‘Star Trek: Discovery.’
Are you excited that the Klingons will look different in ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ or annoyed that there will be another change? Do you feel that this will be due to different houses being represented on the series or from genetic engineering? Share your thoughts below!
Source: Trek Movie
