Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Khan Episode 7 – “I Am Marla”Star Trek: Khan confirms the death of a Star Trek: The Original Series character, and reveals the tragic circumstances that Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalnban) spoke about in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
Star Trek: Khan Episode 7 depicts the previously unknown events on Ceti Alpha V shortly after the neighboring Ceti Alpha VI exploded, plunging Khan’s (Naveen Andrews) adopted world into inevitable global catastrophe.
Psychic aliens called Elboreans crash-landed on Ceti Alpha V and forged an uneasy alliance with Khan, promising a chance at survival by building a spaceship that could lead to the rescue of Khan’s people and the Elboreans.
However, Khan also struggles with the betrayal of Ivan (Maury Sterling), his loyal follower who killed one of the Elboreans in Khan’s name. Ivan represents Khan’s worst instincts as the genetically engineered warlord struggles to trust the leader of the Elboreans, Delmonda (Olli Haaskivi).
Meanwhile, Khan is also a newlywed with Lieutenant Marla McGivers (Wrenn Schmidt), who is also pregnant with a daughter they named Kali, after the Hindu goddess.
Marla led some of Khan’s reinforcements to what she believed to be the safety of the underground sulfur caves of Ceti Alpha V when tragedy struck. Star Trek: Khan episode 7.
Star Trek: Khan reveals how Marla McGivers died
In Star Trek II: The Wrath of KhanCommander Pavel Chekov (Walter Koenig) and Captain Clark Terrell (Paul Winfield) found Khan and his followers on Ceti Alpha V, which Starfleet officers mistakenly believed to be Ceti Alpha VI.
Khan told the USS Reliant command team that his “beloved wife” died from the deadly Ceti eels. Of course, Khan was talking about Lt. Marla McGivers, who joined the genetically engineered warlord’s exile on Ceti Alpha V.
A pregnant Marla was relaxing in the sulfur caves of Ceti Alpha V when she was infected by a Ceti eel.
Star Trek: Khan episode 7 reveals that Khan was neither lying nor exaggerating: a pregnant Marla was relaxing in the sulfur caves of Ceti Alpha V when she was infected by a Ceti eel. It wasn’t long before the eel burrowed into Marla’s ear canal and wrapped itself around her cerebral cortex,
Neither Khan’s medical technology given to them by Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) of the USS Enterprise nor the psychic abilities of the Elboreans were able to save Marla’s life. But they could keep Marla alive long enough for their daughter, Kali, to be born.
What Marla’s Death Means for Khan on Star Trek
In Star Trek: Khan episode 7, Ivan accused Khan of being “different” since his arrival on Ceti Alpha V. This is indeed the case thanks to Marla. Khan’s beloved wife could call upon his better instincts and temper his ruthless instincts.
Khan mourns Marla at the end of Star Trek: Khan episode 7 is truly heartbreaking. Never was Khan as distraught and vulnerable as he was when he lost his new wife. This is also a major turning point for Khan, who will begin to blame Captain Kirk entirely for his tragedies.
With only two episodes of Star Trek: Khan On the left, the distraught augmented conqueror can wallow in his grief and rage, worsening an untenable situation on Ceti Alpha V.
However, Star Trek: Khan also introduced a new, reestablished X-factor: Khan and Marla’s newborn daughter, Kali. What happens to Kali, who was born in 2267 and is never mentioned in Star Trek II? Star Trek: Khan may have already revealed the answer.
Star Trek Theory About Khan’s Daughter Is Now More Likely
Star Trek: KhanThe most popular fan theory is that Dr. Rosalind Lear (Sonya Cassidy) is the adult Kali, who is investigating the truth about her mother’s death on Ceti Alpha V and that of her father, Khan, in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
Although Ensign Tuvok (Tim Russ) has yet to indicate whether he suspects Dr. Lear’s true identity, Rosalind being the adult Kali makes sense. It is possible that Kali could have left Ceti Alpha V with the Elboreans while Khan remained on the dying planet.
Star Trek: Khan also has another detail to develop: what caused the Ceti Alpha VI to explode?
Additionally, Dr. Lear confessed to Tuvok that she had received historical audio recordings on Ceti Alpha V from Delmonda and had written her graduate thesis on the United Federation of Planets’ ban on genetic engineering. Kali can be partially augmented if she is indeed Khan’s daughter.
If Dr. Rosalind Lear is secretly the daughter of Kali, Khan and Marla McGivers. Kali would be around 25 years old in 2293. Lear as Kali would also explain her animosity towards Captain Kirk, and she would share Khan’s responsibility towards Kirk for everything that happened to his parents.
The theory that Dr. Rosalind Lear is Khan and Marla McGivers’ recovered daughter Kali makes sense. Even though the final two episodes of Star Trek: Khan reveal this to be true, there are still more twists and turns and tragedies to come for Khan Noonien Singh after Star Trek: The Original Series.
- Release date
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1966 – 00/00/1969
- Showrunner
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Gene Roddenberry
- Directors
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Marc Daniels, Joseph Pevney, Ralph Senensky, Vincent McEveety, Herb Wallerstein, Jud Taylor, Marvin J. Chomsky, David Alexander, Gerd Oswald, Herschel Daugherty, James Goldstone, Robert Butler, Anton Leader, Gene Nelson, Harvey Hart, Herbert Kenwith, James Komack, John Erman, John Newland, Joseph Sargent, Lawrence Dobkin, Leo Penn, Michael O’Herlihy, Murray Golden
- Writers
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DC Fontana, Jerome Bixby, Arthur Heinemann, David Gerrold, Jerry Sohl, Oliver Crawford, Robert Bloch, David P. Harmon, Don Ingalls, Paul Schneider, Shimon Wincelberg, Steven W. Carabatsos, Theodore Sturgeon, Jean Lisette Aroeste, Art Wallace, Adrian Spies, Barry Trivers, Don Mankiewicz, Edward J. Lakso, Fredric Brown, George Clayton Johnson, George F. Slavin, Gilbert Ralston, Harlan Ellison
