MovieChat Forums > Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991) Discussion > Is this a plothole?

Is this a plothole?

posted 10 years ago by Gonzo84
12 replies | jump to latest

In the latter part of the film, it is established that the conspiracy reaches to the high levels of both Starfleet and the Klingon High Command, if this is true then why isn't the following possible?

The Starfleet Admirals involved in the conspiracy would presumably have (or be able to get) access to the Enterprise A's prefix code. This would let whomever they gave the code to access to the Enterprise A's command functions and allow them to alter the photon torpedo databanks from another ship (think Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan with the shields). If the databanks can be altered from somewhere else, Spock and the rest of the crew wouldn't have been able to figure out what had been going on (or at the very least slow them down enough to not be able to save the Federation President in time).

Our late editor is dead, he died of death which killed him. -John Lennon Daily Howl

[–] 10 years ago

[deleted]

[–] TheSolarSailor 10 years ago

But the prefix code could have been given to General Chang to disable the Enterprise's shields and defeat them utterly. Then again, Spock may have had the foresight to alter the prefix code since he knows about the conspiracy. Remember, he speculated that Khan just might have been intelligent enough to have done this with Reliant, which would have rendered Kirk's bluff useless.

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Whose idea was it for the word LISP to have an S in it?

[–] Gonzo84 10 years ago

Yes, but the conspiracy wasn't even evident until after the torpedo shot on Gorkon's ship. I don't think Spock could have changed it with all the commotion, and in that time General Chang could have easily destroyed the Enterprise A (or plant evidence in the data banks). Spock probably changed it the second that Captain Kirk and Dr. McCoy transported over to the other ship, to avoid either of the knowing the code if they taken in for questioning.

Our late editor is dead, he died of death which killed him. -John Lennon's Daily Howl

[–] TheSolarSailor 10 years ago

Well, I was talking about the Khitomer battle. There was no reason to use the prefix code for the initial attack early in the film, as it was just to get a war started and not a plot to destroy Enterprise. I wouldn't be surprised if they did try to get the prefix code to Chang for the final battle, though, since Enterprise threatened to ruin everything at that point.

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Whose idea was it for the word LISP to have an S in it?

[–] kerryedavis 10 years ago

It has only ever been established that the prefix code allows another ship to remotely disable the shields of another vessel in range. - by
captainbryce2

Not correct. Just in the TNG episode Unnatural Selection, they take control of the infected ship's helm, access the bridge cameras and sensors, and start it sending a quarantine message. I believe at one point Data says they have full control.

[–] Gonzo84 10 years ago

If that is true, then General Chang should have been able to get into the Enterprise A's computer banks and plant the evidence.

Our late editor is dead, he died of death which killed him. -John Lennon's Daily Howl

[–] kerryedavis 10 years ago

Maybe he did. I don't recall any specific report in the movie that it WASN'T done remotely. Spock THEORIZED that whoever altered the data banks was (back) on the Enterprise, but he might have been wrong.

Something like that would probably have been logged, though. And might have given away the presence of another ship. So it seems more likely that they would have relied on Valeris or one of her cohorts.

[–] Grafknar 10 years ago

Not necessarily. We can't make assumptions on ST6 based on Next Gen technology that was 78 years more advanced.

Notice that in TOS, they didn't have that technology - as demonstrated by their need to board the Constellation, Exeter, and Defiant to find out what happened on those ships.

[–] Gonzo84 9 years ago

While that may be true, it may not be. You said yourself that STVI technology isn't as advanced as ST:TNG, but there probably were major advancements made during the twenty-four years between when Kirk's five year mission ended and the events of ST:VI. Consider that the Enterprise A was brand new a mere six years before ST:VI (which is why I don't understand why Starfleet wanted to decommission it), so all the technology is practically brand new. With that in mind, there may have been prototypes of TNG technology on the Enterprise A.

(I used "The Star Trek Encyclopedia" timeline as a reference for the amount of years between missions).

"Logic is the beginning of wisdom, not the end." - Spock

[–] bjlevine 10 years ago

Well the Valeris thing was a complete un-surprise.

Scotty: "We need to discover who the conspirator on the Enterprise is!"
Spock: "Logically, it must be Lt. Valeris."
Scotty: "How do you know?"
Spock: "She is the only major character on the ship who wasn't in any of the previous movies."

"Lovey-dovey. Bonk bonk on the head!"

[–] Gonzo84 10 years ago

It wouldn't have been if the original idea for the story had gone ahead, which was Lt. Savvik playing the role that Lt. Valeris played.

Our late editor is dead, he died of death which killed him. -John Lennon's Daily Howl

[–] TheSolarSailor 10 years ago

No one would have seen it coming if it had been Saavik. Oh what could have been. As it stands, Valeris was WAY too obvious from the get go.

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Whose idea was it for the word LISP to have an S in it?