One can argue that the time period of Khan handling the Reliant was longer than the Enterprise takeover (which seemed to have been a day). Chances are some days passed between the Enterprise leaving spacedock and the elevator scene with Saavik (leading to the message from Carol).
Khan was also a genius. He memorized the tech library banks, but his superior thinking allowed him to go further in understanding the technology and how to use it. Remember he is able to cut off the air in the bridge and causing the engines to reach self-destruction without any help from any crew member. Just as sometimes the second time around proves to be easier and quicker (especially if you are a genius), then Khan handling the Reliant proved likewise. However, it still wasn't perfect, as Khan lacked the experience to use a starship's capabilities the way a seasoned professional like Kirk did ("I knew something about this ship that he didn't.").
As for his leaving the crew alive, yes, at that point Khan did need some help, but I believe he also characteristically wanted to control them, having power over them. And chances are he would have quickly got the gist of things and replace the crew with his equally superior minions. After the debacle, Khan probably decided to handle things with his own group, using ceti-eels when necessary (The WofK novelization has Khan take the engineering crew with him, enslaving them with ceti-eels).
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Ohio9
10 years ago
I suppose that makes some sense. I would just think that a 23rd century starship wouldn't be so perfectly user friendly that people could totally master the controls of it without any aid other then reading written material (even with the ability to instantly memorize everything). Not only that, but we're talking about people who are not even from the time period, meaning they wouldn't even know of the existence of many features at first, since they didn't exist 300 years earlier.
Imagine if some humans in our time had the ability to instantly memorize everything they read. Even if they had that ability, and the benefit of superior genetically engineered intellect, would they be able to become qualified astronauts and master the controls of a space shuttle without any special training or experience? I think not, especially if they had just came from the 19th century.
I didn't know about him using the ceti-eels to manipulate the Reliant's crew to train his own. I suppose that would make the situation more logical.
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Humphrey_Fish
10 years ago
I'd be expecting computer controls to only be more user friendly with time and development(over the long-haul, that is; obviously in the short term, UI's can go from working fine to totally screwed due to developer and executive idiocy and stubbornness).
Quien es mas Sherlock?
Hombre de Hierro
O
Doctor Extraño
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Samclyde2
9 years ago
Let's be honest, it really is a plot hole. Think back to The Ultimate Computer, when Kirk said he couldn't run a starship with just 20 crewman.
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angmc43
9 years ago
And yet, thanks to Scotty's engineering talents, he could pilot one with 5 (although not entirely with success; the shields).
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Ohio9
9 years ago
Still don't you find it a little unconvincing that anyone, even a genetically enhanced genius, could so quickly master technology that is 300 years more advanced then the time period they came from?
Imagine someone from the 1700s being able to master the controls of a modern nuclear powered aircraft carrier in a matter of days. Even if they were a genetically enhanced genius with the ability to memorize written material instantly, I'd still think it would take a long time to master so much technology that didn't even exist in their time.
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angmc43
9 years ago
But in Khan's case, he had the Botany Bay, which looks pretty advanced for late 1990s space technology. That does suggest Khan knew and understood quite a bit back then.
One trek writer, melding Khan's origins with the reality of the late 20th century, revealed that his mentor was Gary Seven ("Assignment: Earth"), who saw Khan as a successor.
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Ohio9
9 years ago
Ugh, don't remind me. I read those books and they were two of the worst books imaginable. They contradicted practically everything the original story established about Kahn.
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Humphrey_Fish
9 years ago
Imagine someone from the 1700s being able to master the controls of a modern nuclear powered aircraft carrier in a matter of days. Even if they were a genetically enhanced genius with the ability to memorize written material instantly, I'd still think it would take a long time to master so much technology that didn't even exist in their time.
Considering UI tends to improve over the years, try the reverse. Put someone from the 2000s into a wooden sailing ship, and see how fast they screw things up.
Yet, some things are simply universal to the human form and reality. You move a control to move a direction, whether long ago, now, or far in the future. In all its variant forms, a steering wheel is still a steering wheel(even when it's not a "wheel").
Quien es mas Sherlock?
Hombre de Hierro
O
Doctor Extraño
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doctortobe
9 years ago
They had both the Captain and First Officer to help them along with things. Even under the influence of the eels, they would have been able (and willing) to give training to Khan's men. Genetic superman abilities did the rest.
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