Good morning, cadets, and welcome to Office Hours! This is a series by your favorite Starfleet Academy TAs, Anaum Hussain of Sirens, Singers, and Mirages and Sinéad McDevitt of My Fair Neadie!
Office Hours will be recapping and reviewing each episode of Starfleet Academy! This is on Episode 4 “Vox in Excelco.” If you want to see Episode 3, click here!
On a note before we begin, I know this is really late, and I’m sorry if you hoped this would come out before Episode 5— I was extremely sick and unable to write and post this until now.
Lecture Notes
“Vox in Excelco” is the first episode in Starfleet Academy to star Jay-Den. We learn why he joined the academy— because his brother Thar thought he should go. Thar was Jay-Den’s biggest supporter and a much more typical Klingon warrior.
Thar always believed that Jay-Den’s heart was in medicine, and brought him forbidden Federation technology in order to satiate his hunger for knowledge. Unfortunately, Thar was stabbed by a trader while trying to get Jay-Den a dermal regenerator. Jay-Den wanted to help his brother by running to the trading post and getting that dermal regenerator, but his parents screamed that Klingons should never use Federation technology and Thar died.
Such a good design for a man that’s dead. (Source: Paramount+)
Jay-Den and his parents got into an argument where the Starfleet Academy invitation that Thar gave him ended up rolling off a cliff and shattering, and his parents left him on Krios Prime.
Meanwhile in the present, The Doctor is running the Aaron Satie Debate Competition which Caleb is annihilating— defeating every opponent he comes across, until he comes to Jay-Den. Turns out Jay-Den has public speaking anxiety, and he freezes up on stage.
Caleb tries to comfort Jay-Den by making him Klingon dishes in the replicator, including something called Warrior’s Stew that no Klingon tastes until they’ve had their first kill, which Jay-Den refuses to eat. Jay-Den is then called off to Nahla’s office, where he learns that all three of his parents may be on a ship that’s suffered mechanical failure. This ship holds the last of the eight Klingon houses— all that remains after The Burn.
Jay-Den refuses to take time off, and he heads back to class. Unfortunately for him, the Klingons are all anyone can talk about, and this leads to the topic for the debate competition being decided against The Doctor’s objections— the Klingon Diaspora.
It’s a tough run. Caleb tries to convince Jay-Den to team up with him and when that doesn’t work tries to give him pointers, while Nahla is trying to convince the Klingons to take a planet in Federation space as their new homeworld— and tries to recruit an old Klingon friend of hers, Obel Wochak, to the cause. Obel thinks that it’s impossible, for all the Klingons have left is their traditions, and if they lose their pride they will lose the last thing that makes them Klingon.
At the end of all this, Darem shows up and manages to help Jay-Den with a Khionian battle breathing technique, and Jay-Den finds his voice in time for the competition and is able to bring up his points.
The competition begins with old rivals— Genesis and Darem go head to head, with Darem taking the crown this time. Sam wins her round readily, and then Jay-Den and Caleb get their question. Should the Federation give and/or enforce asylum for the refugee Klingons?
This goes poorly. The debate starts out strong, but soon devolves into Caleb demanding that the Klingons be helped even against their own will by personally attacking Jay-Den and Jay-Den screaming at Caleb back, to the point where The Doctor kicks them both out.
Jay-Den sits by the window brooding until Cadet Master Lura Thok enters— who’s half Jem’hadar and half Klingon. She speaks with Jay-Den and takes her position as Jay-Den’s Klingon Elder— she begins to mentor him and explains that his parents didn’t abandon him because they were angry like Jay-Den had thought. They were setting him free to live his life in the only way they knew how.
Jay-Den returns to the stage with a bold new idea, one that Nahla is excited to try. If the Klingons won’t just accept the gift, why not make them fight for it?
Look at him! Look at my boy! (Source: Paramount+)
Nahla challenges the Klingons to a fight for the planet. She “tries” to get them out of the sector with a bunch of other Federation ships, but actively makes sure none of them hit the Klingons as they go for the planet. The Klingons “conquer” it for the empire, with no casualties on either side, and everyone’s happy— including Jay-Den, whose parents are alive and well.
Caleb and Jay-Den make up, after Caleb reveals that Darem told him about the broken transmitter. He fixed it for Jay-Den, and they talk about their families and how much they miss them before resolving to be friends. In Jay-Den’s words, “Maybe the trick is not to let go of the past, but to let the present in.”
Besties! (Source: Paramount+)
Discussion
FINALLY, JAY-DEN GETS SOME SPOTLIGHT! He and Sam have been relegated to the side for most of the show so far, so him getting a big episode is fun!
Also, this episode is just fun for anyone as addicted to classic Trek as I am. I’m quite literally watching Deep Space Nine as I write this, so the references are amazing. Aaron Satie is the father of Norah Satie from The Next Generation’s “The Drumhead,” and The Doctor brings up how he argued himself into existence in “Author, Author.” I just love it when The Doctor gets a big moment in Starfleet Academy, though I am biased— Voyager is my favorite Star Trek.
One of the greatest moments in Voyager. (Source: Paramount+)
I really enjoyed the story, and it’s shocking how upset I got at Thar’s death when I knew it was coming. The episode made us care about him, and he was only in two flashback scenes!
It’s also just fun overall— getting to see how the Klingons are doing after The Burn and helping them rebuild is brilliant, and Lura Thok is once again one of the best parts of the show. A half-Klingon half-Jem’hadar woman is a brilliant idea, and to those who say that there are no Jem’hadar women— it’s been a few centuries since DS9, come on. And that’s not even factoring the fact that she's also a Klingon, who definitely have women! Do K’Ehleyr and B’Elanna Torres mean nothing to you?! Her taking a place as Jay-Den’s mentor is a great idea, and it’s brilliant for both of their characters. They deserve that connection, especially after Jay-Den saved Lura’s life in the first episode.
Also I’ve got to say, this episode is making me question just what ships are getting teased in Starfleet Academy. I was absolutely sure that Darem and Genesis were going to get together by the end of the season, but this episode seemed to have some tension between Darem and Jay-Den. Of course, Darem is canonically bisexual and polyamorous, so there’s a chance it’s… well, both of them!
Seriously, am I insane or was this scene as gay as I thought? (Source: Paramount+)
“Vox in Excelso” is a great episode, and it’s unique in that it finally takes Caleb out of the driver’s seat. Caleb’s only reason for being in this episode is to help Jay-Den. He doesn’t take any spotlight, unlike how he stole a bit from Darem and Genesis in “Vitus Reflux.” It plays to the strengths of a show like Starfleet Academy, with an ensemble cast as strong as this one is. Taking Caleb out of the driver’s seat for a couple of episodes can only help, and I hope he stays in the back for Episode 5 so Sam can finally shine!
Episode 5 will be on My Fair Neadie! Go check it out!