Khan says that the Ceti eels killed twenty of his people a full 30% of those exiled on the planet. How in God's name is that possible? He tells us that they enter through the ear then he restrains the two officers puts the eels in their helmet and slaps it over their heads. How could they possibly have killed twenty of his people when once they enter the ear they scream in agony? Presumably Khans people are intelligent enough to come up with countermeasures such as ear plugs or wrapping their heads in cloth when they sleep. The eels don't attack while they're awake do they? You know, crawl up their bodies and make it all the way to their ear before they flick the creature off and stomp on it. Was there some sort of Mass Attack of the eels on the first night that Khans people slept out in the open after being exiled where 20 of them were exposed before they realized what was happening? But then again he says they weren't killed all at once. Meaning that after it had happened to some of the exiles if that happened again to others? Any ideas on how this might have gone down and claimed 20 super intelligent genetically Superior beings.?
"They killed twenty of my people.." ?!
- Thread starter Grant
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Since those whose ears the eels crawl into are subject to suggestion, might it not also make them more prone to violence? Perhaps it took just a few of those "infected" to kill a few other of their fellow supermen to come to that number, Or maybe one or two of those brainwashed were convinced for some reason to attack their compatriots. As tight-knight as Khan's group seemed I always envisioned the possibility of some sort of power struggle being possible in the years after they were marooned there, particularly after Ceti Alpha 6 exploded. Evidence for that possibility can be found in Spock's comments in "Space Seed" about the supermen being prone to fighting amongst themselves and how "superior ability breeds superior ambition". Maybe not all of them agreed with Khan's decision or leadership and tried to use the eels as weapons?
Then again, the eels killing off so many in the 15 years they were on the planet doesn't seem too farfetched to me even if they were aware of the danger early on. One would assume the larva are pretty good at "infecting" a host when they least expect it and as mentioned, Khan did say they died over time and death wasn't instant.
I think a bigger question is what makes the parasite decide to finally bug out from the host and what becomes of it? I always thought Chekov's earwig vacated because he was somehow able to fight it off by disobeying Khan, but we don't know if that's just the natural progression of it's cycle. Perhaps after having no need for the host when they reach a certain size, they then exit; the person dying of the trauma, Chekov not withstanding.
But just maybe once free of the body, they continue to grow and become an even bigger bugger; enough to be able to attack and kill the uninfected humans. If the adult eels were a few times bigger I could totally see those pinchers biting off heads. Maybe that could count for a few of the casualties, rather than all twenty being due to being "implanted". Then again, I wouldn't put it past some of those deaths being of other causes or hazards of the planet that had nothing to do with the eels. Remember Khan was a madman and made even more insane by his exile and just looking for someone (like Kirk) or something (like the eels) to totally blame for his problems; so I think some of the things he claimed or said could be taken with a grain of salt.
Then again, the eels killing off so many in the 15 years they were on the planet doesn't seem too farfetched to me even if they were aware of the danger early on. One would assume the larva are pretty good at "infecting" a host when they least expect it and as mentioned, Khan did say they died over time and death wasn't instant.
I think a bigger question is what makes the parasite decide to finally bug out from the host and what becomes of it? I always thought Chekov's earwig vacated because he was somehow able to fight it off by disobeying Khan, but we don't know if that's just the natural progression of it's cycle. Perhaps after having no need for the host when they reach a certain size, they then exit; the person dying of the trauma, Chekov not withstanding.
But just maybe once free of the body, they continue to grow and become an even bigger bugger; enough to be able to attack and kill the uninfected humans. If the adult eels were a few times bigger I could totally see those pinchers biting off heads. Maybe that could count for a few of the casualties, rather than all twenty being due to being "implanted". Then again, I wouldn't put it past some of those deaths being of other causes or hazards of the planet that had nothing to do with the eels. Remember Khan was a madman and made even more insane by his exile and just looking for someone (like Kirk) or something (like the eels) to totally blame for his problems; so I think some of the things he claimed or said could be taken with a grain of salt.
I always assumed that Chekov's eel broke free because it sensed the death of its "mate".
Back in the day, some people in my Trek club explained that Chekov's eel gave up its search for his brain.
I think maybe those pincers on the full grown eel in the tank are poisonous. If they can hide under the sand and then pounce out like the one in the tank did when Khan was fishing around for it, I could see them being pretty deadly and hard to detect. Khan restrains the eel by immobilising the pincers, so it seems possible that's the dangerous end.
Perhaps the eels became more aggressive after the orbital shift, either due to lack of food or maybe a disturbance in their life cycle. That might explain how they could decimate so many of Khan's people if they were previously considered mostly harmless.
Perhaps the eels became more aggressive after the orbital shift, either due to lack of food or maybe a disturbance in their life cycle. That might explain how they could decimate so many of Khan's people if they were previously considered mostly harmless.
I think the baby eels we see are bigger than standard for natural infection. Perfect for torturing your captives, however. Anyway, originally the much smaller baby eels find people while they are sleeping and are able to enter without major pain. Your ear probably doesn't hurt more when you wake up than if you slept on it too hard. And since they are so small, it takes days or weeks for symptoms to show up, making tracking down the problem very difficult.
76 exiled superhumans went to sleep their first night on Ceti Alpha V. 20 were "invaded" in their sleep by Ceti Eels. After assessing what happened, the next night the remaining 56 wore ear muffs. Problem solved.
The eels must also produce an anesthetic akin to that of mosquitoes, so the host doesn't feel them slithering over the head. Chekov and Terrell were freaking out because Khan told them what to expect, and the creatures themselves may not have had time to excrete the numbing agent.
The creatures in the tank were likely kept for food. A mating pair could produce a lot of protein. Question is, what did they eat?
The creatures in the tank were likely kept for food. A mating pair could produce a lot of protein. Question is, what did they eat?
I'd say that initially, the eel infection was like trying to track down a virus that is highly transmittable, but takes a while for symptoms to manifest. If 20 or so people were infected early on in the colony, Khan's group probably had no idea what was happening. How would they have guessed that there were creatures inside people's heads until the first one "vacated" or drove someone insane over the agony of it's growth?
I think @Greg Cox had some great material in his "Reign in Hell" novel on this very topic, but I won't post spoilers!
I think @Greg Cox had some great material in his "Reign in Hell" novel on this very topic, but I won't post spoilers!
Indeed, as the early symptom of eel infection was an extreme susceptibilty to suggestion...Khan probably took awhile to pick up on that, as his people were always accustomed to following his orders without question anyway!
Why wouldn't they? I don't remember anything in TWOK that suggested their victims had to be asleep. Chekov and Terrell are both awake when Khan puts the eels in their ears.
And Khan says they didn't kill his people all at once. 20 victims over the course of 15 years is barely over one casualty a year. And when you factor in that Khan and his followers might not have even known WHAT was killing his people to begin with, 20 seems like a reasonable number of casualties.
And hell, it's KHAN we're talking about here. He might've reached a point where he just automatically executed anyone he learned was infected. I could easily see him doing that and chalking it up to "the eels causing their deaths."
But he could use them to kill rivals.
I don’t know but that he had a secret way to keep the eels from growing too quickly.
I have heard it said that flies remain smaller if they see bodies of their larger kin.
It would be quite a turn if all but Joachim had eel larvae on Reliant.
I don’t know but that he had a secret way to keep the eels from growing too quickly.
I have heard it said that flies remain smaller if they see bodies of their larger kin.
It would be quite a turn if all but Joachim had eel larvae on Reliant.
I think what Meyer is trying to say about the Ceti Eels is they're so horrific that even Khan's people couldn't avoid being massacred by them.
The parasitic creatures were also said to grow, which would kill the host after a while. As they grow and feed far more off the brain than before, that's when the madness and eventual death (even if not violent) happens. No growth rate pedantry was given, but one might argue the offspring have a slow growth rate up to a point and then, *ding*, they grow three shoe sizes in as many weeks. Pincer puberty...
Even though these fritters are animal-hued and not the day-glo 1987 purple, wouldn't it be peachy neat if both brain-wrapping species from TWOK and TNG's "Conspiracy" were the same species but a different offshoot? The day-glo ones survived in brighter and higher-UV environments where the sandy brown ones lived underground, like organic mines. (I know, it's small universe syndrome, nor does it provide a sequel to "Conspiracy" anyhow...)
Even though these fritters are animal-hued and not the day-glo 1987 purple, wouldn't it be peachy neat if both brain-wrapping species from TWOK and TNG's "Conspiracy" were the same species but a different offshoot? The day-glo ones survived in brighter and higher-UV environments where the sandy brown ones lived underground, like organic mines. (I know, it's small universe syndrome, nor does it provide a sequel to "Conspiracy" anyhow...)
Remember 1982 was also the year of The Thing.
I wonder if the Ceti Alpha 5 parasite lifeforms can only penetrate hosts through the ear canal. Humans have other holes, and other aliens may not even have ears.
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