Review: Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Season 1 Episode 4 “Vox in Excelso”
Starfleet Academy’s resident wayward Klingon gets the spotlight in an episode that hits hard and provides fans with the kind of intellectual stimulation that make up the best Star Trek episodes.
A Lost Klingon in a Fractured Galaxy
It’s no secret that Jay-Den Kraag (Karim Diane) is a fish out of water. He is non-aggressive, deeply intellectual, and eager to learn from those around him—traits that already make him an anomaly among Klingons. But simply being Klingon also makes him rare. In the post-Burn galaxy, the Klingon Empire—or what remains of it—is fractured and weakened. A catastrophic accident involving the last surviving Great Houses has left the Klingon population scattered, with many living as refugees and the species itself edging toward extinction. As if that weren’t devastating enough, Jay-Den’s family is believed to have been lost in that same tragedy.
“This nebula was once a star. It could not have evolved into this present without every moment of its past. It makes me think of all of you.”
– Chancellor Ake (Holly Hunter), who is staring out at the Val Nebula during Athena‘s first formal spaceflight, in her address to cadets.
It’s an enormous burden for the young man to carry, and this episode makes it clear that “Vox in Excelso” is a long-overdue showcase for Karim Diane. Until now, Diane hasn’t been given much opportunity to stretch, particularly in emotionally demanding scenes. Here, the episode asks him to convey anger, empathy, detachment, kindness, and humility through Jay-Den—and he delivers on all fronts. It’s a quietly impressive performance.
The presumed loss of Jay-Den’s family and the ongoing collapse of the Klingon Empire unfold alongside Starfleet Academy’s debate team preparations. The team selects a controversial topic for the competition: the future of the Klingon Empire. It’s a sensitive subject, but one Jay-Den embraces without hesitation. Despite his conviction, he struggles as a debater, suffering panic attacks whenever he’s required to speak publicly. Still, he refuses to look away from his people’s crisis, believing it’s better to have a thoughtful, guided discussion about Klingons in the classroom than let ignorance fester in the halls of the Academy.
At the heart of the debate are two possible paths for the Federation. It can assist the Klingons by offering them a new planet similar to their lost homeworld, or it can step aside and allow them to survive—or fail—on their own. The Klingons favor the latter option, seeing self-determination as the only course that preserves their honor.
Family Matters
Being uncomfortable with public speaking is only one of the things weighing on Jay-Den’s mind. We learn through a series of flashbacks that, before launching his career at the Academy, Jay-Den voiced to his family that he wanted to join Starfleet. This was in stark contrast to his brother, Thar (Tremaine Nelson), who was a Klingon warrior through and through, earning his father’s respect and love thanks to this traditionalism. Thar was special, though, as he recognized and appreciated early on that it was Jay-Den’s destiny to become something other than a blood-craving Klingon.
Thar meets a tragic end after an altercation at a local market when he tries to sell a rare Federation transmitter he finds in the woods. The mortally wounded Thar leaves Jay-Den with some touching parting words: “You are enough of everything…Trust yourself. Trust the stars.” The transmitter Thar leaves Jay-Den cycles with an important message for Jay-Den’s future: an invitation to Starfleet Academy.
After Thar passes, Jay-Den and his father (Martin Roach) go on a ceremonial hunt that ends in Jay-Den refusing to kill a hawk, which causes his raging father to miss the hawk himself. In a brief melee with his son, the transmitter given to Jay-Den by Thar is damaged. Viewing Jay-Den’s desire to join Starfleet Academy as an insult to their house, Jay-Den’s family abandons him. The only thing Jay-Den takes with him to Starfleet Academy is the broken transmitter.
Finding a Voice
“There’s been a tragedy; don’t compound it with ignorance.” – The Doctor to the students when they choose to debate the Klingon situation.
At first, Jay-Den has difficulty bringing a voice to his feelings about the Klingons’ place in galactic society, and how he thinks any plan for Klingon survival should come from the Klingons, without the Federation or anyone’s help. Off the debate stage, the young Klingon is clearly agitated about his people’s diminishing place in the galaxy and his own isolation at the Academy, and nothing his friends do seems to help him.
Before the debate, as Jay-Den is brooding in his room looking at the remnants of the transmitter he brought from his past, Darem Reymi (George Hawkins) stops by hoping to help the Klingon blow off steam. Darem teaches Jay-Den a fear-fighting breathing technique that is effective and surprisingly intimate. The result of the exercise is that Jay-Den feels comfortable using his own voice to give life to his thoughts and feelings on the debate stage.
During the debate, Jay-Den and Caleb Mir (Sandro Rosta) find themselves on opposite sides of the argument, which is witnessed by members of the school’s students and faculty. Jay-Den takes a moment to gather his confidence and arguments as he and Caleb cite legal precedents and previous galactic events as supporting evidence for their positions. Soon, the two men are heated, and they almost come to blows before the Doctor calls a time-out.
“In the context of this debate, the Federation and its laws are irrelevant. To argue otherwise is to deny the Klingons their right to define themselves. Is that not an existential right?”
– Jay-Den during his first round of arguments with Caleb.
Cooling off from his exchange with Caleb, a frank and revealing conversation with Commander Lura Thok (Gina Yashere) changes the young Klingon’s perception of his family history and place at the Academy. This scene where Thok talks to Jay-Den not as a faculty member, but as a Klingon elder, is illuminating for the tortured young man. Thok, remember, is of Jem’Hadar and Klingon lineage, so she brings a unique perspective to Jay-Den’s internal struggle.
Thok helps Jay-Den realize that his father did not miss the hawk out of rage against his son; rather, he missed purposefully so that the family had an excuse to let Jay-Den chart his own path through the galaxy, even if that included going to Starfleet Academy. Abandoning Jay-Den was a way for the family to save face as Klingons when they realized they had a non-traditional son who undoubtedly had a bright future.
This change in perspective changes Jay-Den, too, as the young Klingon rejoins the debate stage and argues articulately and passionately about how the Federation should retain its integrity by allowing the Klingons to choose their own path through the post-Burn galaxy. As Jay-Den says, “The Federation stops being the Federation if it insists Klingons stop being Klingons.” This scene is a standout one for Karim Diane, who so well portrays Jay-Den’s turmoil of being at this current place in life; you can’t help but feel for the young man as he bravely gives voice to years of emotion.
The Solution
While Jay-Den and the others are preparing for their debate, Chancellor Ake is tasked with meeting with a Klingon ambassador, Obel Wocak (Dave Keeley), with whom she happens to have a past. Admiral Charles Vance (Oded Fehr) hopes Ake can help Obel see the logic behind offering the Klingons Faan Alpha, a planet that is a perfect replacement for the Klingon’s lost homeworld. Obel, unexpectedly, turns down Ake’s offer out of Klingon pride, but Ake asserts that because so many Klingons have already taken refuge in Faan Alpha’s space, claiming the planet for themselves is a natural next step. At the very least, Obel promises Ake that he’ll look into the status of Jay-Den’s parents.
After his success on the debate stage, Jay-Den devises a thoughtful plan that satisfies all parties. The Federation, with Athena leading the fleet, poses a faux-challenge to the Klingons, led by Obel, for control of Faan Alpha. The two fleets fight it out, giving us some brief but eye-popping space action. The Federation ships aren’t really trying to destroy the Klingon invaders; rather Starfleet is giving the Klingons the fight they need to claim Faan Alpha while saving face. No casualties are suffered on either side, and the Klingons maintain their honor when they “win” the fight and claim Faan Alpha for themselves. Suddenly, the Klingon race’s future doesn’t look so bleak.
As the cherry on top, Jay-Den gets news after the battle that his parents survived — and Obel delivers a gift to Jay-Den: a Klingon weapon, a bow and arrow like the one he and his family used before he came to Starfleet Academy. It’s a happy ending all around for the young man, and he and Caleb spend some time reconciling their differences. Jay-Den gets another gift, as well, as apparently Caleb and Darem worked together to mend the broken transmitter Jay-Den has held onto all this time.
The Weight of an Empire
Beyond the compelling plot that drives “Vox in Excelso,” the episode is most impactful for the thoughtful conversation it presents regarding the Klingon Empire in the post-Burn galaxy. The very choice of the debate topic — whether the Federation should help the fractured Klingon race or let them fend for themselves — lays the foundation for a profound intellectual conversation that elevates this episode above its predecessors in this season.
The discussion is made poignant through the lens of Jay-Den Kraag, who embodies the conflict. His internal struggle — being an intellectual, non-traditional Klingon isolated at Starfleet Academy — mirrors the existential dilemma of his people. His climactic argument is a powerful assertion of a race’s right to self-determination and identity, even as it faces extinction. It’s heavy stuff, and this episode delivers this conversation with an appropriate emotional weight and seriousness.
Jay-Den’s struggle and ultimate success in finding his voice and not being afraid of advocating for himself is a valuable lesson for younger audiences. Not only did Jay-Den help the debate audience understand why it was valuable for the Klingons to chart their own destiny, but his efforts helped bring about a political solution to the Klingon problem. Even in these early episodes, Starfleet Academy asserts the power of young people, and “Vox in Excelso” continues that trend.
Besides the unexpectedly poignant commentary on the state of the Klingon race and Jay-Den’s place in it, we enjoyed seeing Caleb and Jay-Den’s friendship grow in this episode. The pair are getting along increasingly well at the Academy before the Klingon issue arises; Caleb even talks Jay-Den through his first panic attack during debate class, including noting how he once learned of the story of Kahless. But friendships are often grown through conflict, so seeing the two against each other later in the episode ultimately serves as a compelling development for their continuing friendship.
Ultimately, this episode is a standout entry for Starfleet Academy thus far, successfully delivering a powerful drama and thought-provoking commentary. “Vox in Excelso” certainly lives up to its English translation: “A voice on high.”
Stray Thoughts:
- In this episode, the Doctor quotes Judge Aaron Satie: “With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured…the first thought forbidden…the first freedom denied – chains us all, irrevocably.” This quote was evoked by Jean-Luc Picard in “The Drumhead,” and it was directed at Satie’s daughter.
- One of the debate topics the Doctor throws out is the geo-political impact of the Emerald Chain, the criminal syndicate featured in Discovery season three.
- The legacy of William T. Riker is alive and well in the time of Starfleet Academy, as one of the ships that supports Athena in battle is the U.S.S. Riker.
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