Spoiler Warning: Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season One
When Star Trek: Strange New Worlds premiered, it was quite a shock for some people to see the last name Noonien-Singh listed on the cast of characters. Star Trek fans will realize it indicates the same family as the dreaded villain Khan, the deadliest opponent the Enterprise ever faced. But the surprising part here was that it wasn’t Khan’s name on the roster but a descendant named La’an. Naturally, Star Trek fan theories began to spread like wildfire. Is she his wife? Is she his sister? Is she a gender-swapped version of Khan created by some rip in the spacetime continuum?
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
Well, as it turns out, none of these were correct. In the third episode, La’an (played by Christina Chong) spilled the beans that she was a descendant, and she knew of Khan’s terrible reputation. Although the famous battle between Kirk and the megalomaniac hasn’t happened yet in this storyline, Starfleet is apparently aware of the dangers of genetically altered super-humanoids. Though this is somewhat La’an’s cross to bear in the show, her narrative arc seems to bridge more than just a radical super-being that wants to conquer or destroy humanity.
La’an’s character is complex, filled with hidden traumas, fears of intimacy, and potential for growth. It’s possible that Strange New Worlds writers could be experimenting to see if they could rehabilitate Khan if he were given the right opportunities.
La’an: What Is Lurking Below the Surface?
Paramount
Khan Noonien-Singh, while being the most dangerous adversary the Enterprise ever faced, was fundamentally single-minded. He wanted to take over the Enterprise and rule humanity. Though he was super strong and hyper-intelligent, he believed he was the rightful heir to the evolutionary thrown. That singular desire motivated his character to do what he did. La’an, on the other hand, has been much more complicated.
In the first Strange New Worlds episode, she introduced herself as performing in a superior manner until a simple sedative betrayed her ego. When given the option to take a small sedative or to remain lucid through a painful transformation, she chose to remain lucid. Perhaps she didn’t trust the doctor or simply feared being unconscious, but refusing the sedative showed the audience that she wasn’t perfect. She was covering some weakness with unnecessary muscle.
That was our first hint at something lurking beneath all that forced perfection. In the second episode, we got another slight hint. She opened up to Number One with her fear of the Gorn and the trauma she experienced when forced to watch her friends be brutally killed by the alien creatures. This was a real peek into La’an’s life, concrete evidence of her vulnerability and, thus, humanity.
The third episode mainly focused on eugenics and its reasons for being outlawed in the future. While Captain Pike and Spock discussed the morality of a race of genetically modified people that once inhabited the planet they were on, the issue came to La’an in the form of an obvious statement. Clearly, she had an opinion on this, being a genetically modified human herself. This is where she opened up about her evil heritage and how she was trying to better herself.
And this most recent episode gave us a look at the raw fear waiting inside La’an. Finally, brought face to face with the Gorn, more or less, she was forced to reconcile with this lingering terror that she had covered up with self-improvement instead of working through. Usually a calm and intelligent person, we saw her nearly brought to tears in the face of this stress.
La’an Is Relatable, But Can She Be Trusted?
La’an being a 3-dimensional character gives the audience a chance to relate to her and distrust her. Loyal Star Trek fans will know all the assumptions about her last name and likely will refuse to trust her even to the end of the series. She becomes so interesting because she could always be planning something, though that doesn’t seem to be the logical progression in which the writers are moving the story. Like so many other messages in Star Trek, this one might imply that we are to judge people based on their own merits and not the sins of their fathers.
Like so many other characters that we will see grow in their stages before The Original Series, La’an is likely to be one of the most interesting. Her character brings with it a message of hope and complex suspense. She is one of the few characters on the bridge whose fate we do not know. Most of this Enterprise crew survives, but what of La’an? Does she die? Does she leave to begin her own peaceful colony? Will she give in to her darker urges and attempt to destroy the Enterprise? Only time will tell.
