Star Trek: Khan episode 2 “Scheherazade” was a bit lighter in the storytelling, but further delved into the psychology of Khan in his exile and set up a new threat!
Caution: This article contains SPOILERS for Star Trek: Khan
In contrast to the opening of the series, the episode has only a brief appearance at the start from Lear as she delves more into Marla’s past logs, now up to entry #29. It’s three weeks after Khan found Marla trying to contact the Enterprise and destroyed her communicator (clearly not knowing he’d need it one day), and things remain tense between them.
Marla is pulled into taking part in a hunting trip, which lets us get more of a feel for the other Augments. It’s mentioned that everyone believes that Hugo either killed himself or fell off the cliff, not knowing that Ivan killed him for planning to betray Khan. There’s some good chemistry between Khan and his people, with the young bookish Richter and girlfriend Sylvanna getting along well.
Naveen Andrews continues to captivate as Khan, a man who actually cracks jokes but also maintains his sense of honor, such as refusing to use chemical warfare on Earth. Marla matches him well as she admits she joined Khan because she felt out of place on the Enterprise, with Khan surprised Kirk didn’t even know her, while Khan knows every one of his followers well.
The high point is a talk around the campfire, where Marla invokes the title character of the woman who told tales to save her life. She presses Khan on his exploits, as “history is written by the winners and is rarely fair to the vanquished.”
Naturally, Khan takes exception to history painting him as defeated, Andrews channeling Ricardo Montalban's temper with “What if their lies flatter me better than your truth?” and hates opening up. Marla retorts that she briefly turned on him because she couldn’t watch Khan kill her crewmates.
It’s interrupted by an attack by a boar creature that takes the life of Khan’s good friend Joaquin, has Richter running off and Sylvanna bitten by something she calls a Ceti eel. The episode ends with Khan heading to meet that board in combat, declaring, “This planet shall take no more of my people.”
Again, the fact that the audience knows better is what gives this tale its strength. There are hints of Khan cracking a bit losing Joaquin and this may be the first step in his slow slide into madness. It’s the Khan-Marla discussions that make this series shine so well and why each installment offers a fascinating look at a classic Trek foe.
Star Trek: Khan drops new episodes Mondays on YouTube and other podcast formats.