“Through the Valley of Shadows” added an new wrinkle to the Klingon monastery on Boreth, one which Worf may or may not be aware of.
Spoilers for “Through the Valley of Shadows” follow. Stop waiting and watch it. Now. Go.
“What the hell is a Klingon monastery doing with time crystals?”
That was my immediate reaction after watching “Through the Valley of Shadows” last week. I mean, fans are all up in arms about Michael Burnham and spore drives and all that nonsense, but the Klingons have time crystals? Really? No one thinks it’s a bit odd we never heard that before?
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But yes, apparently on Boreth there is a secret sect of monks who guard the time crystals that are native to the planet. In “Through the Valley of Shadows” Captain Pike came in contact with one and decided against trying to change his own tragic fate for the greater good of the galaxy.
It was an outstanding episode that shows Pike for the hero he truly is. But I just kept thinking to myself “How come we’ve never seen these things before in Star Trek?” These are the Klingons we’re talking about, not Vulcans or Andorians.
Worf even paid a visit to Boreth during Star Trek: The Next Generation and the subject never came up. In “”Rightful Heir” he went to monastery on a spiritual quest and time crystals weren’t even mentioned. Why was that?
You would think the Department of Temporal Investigations would at least want to look into it.
Well, Bo Yeon Kim and Erika Lippoldt, who wrote “Through the Valley of Shadows” provided a few answers in a recent interview with SyFy Wire. And while they don’t resolve all the inconsistencies, they do make some sense.
As for why it has never come up again about the fact that there are time crystals on Boreth, the pair mention they can’t go into too much detail until the Star Trek: Discovery season finale airs, but they can say this:
"“Boreth has always been carefully established as a sacred place for the Klingons — and that’s not something we wanted to muck up. Instead, we wanted to EXPAND on existing canon and the functionality of Boreth by introducing a hidden sect of monks who have dedicated their lives to guarding the time crystals. We loved the notion that this otherwise fierce warrior race has learned not to mess with something as dangerous and volatile as time.”"
And as for why Worf never came across any time crystals lying around, it comes down to the fact it wasn’t any of his business.
"“Worf would not have been granted access to the part of Boreth’s monastery that housed the crystals because that’s not why Worf was there.”"
It’s a safe bet that the time crystal will play a pivotal role in whatever fate awaits the crew of Discovery in the season finale. Hopefully then we’ll get some more answers about why the fact the Klingons have freakin’ time crystals never comes up again. Ever.