WARNING: This article contains SPOILERS forStar Trek: Lower Decksseason 5, episode 4, “A Farewell to Farms”.
Star Trek: Lower Decksbrings back the Klingon title once assigned toStar Trek: The Next Generation’s Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart). InStar Trek: The Next Generationseason 3, episode 17, “Sins of the Father”, Lieutenant Worf (Michael Dorn) returns to theKlingon home world, Qo’noS, to restore the House of Mogh’s honor. The Klingon High Council doesn’t allow challengers to fight directly, soWorf has to name a cha’DIch: a ritual second to fight in his place. After Worf’s long-lost brother and eager first cha’DIch, Kurn (Tony Todd), is incapacitated, Picard becomes Worf’s cha’DIch.
Lieutenant Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) first meets Klingon Captain Ma’ah (Jon Curry) inStar Trek: Lower Decksseason 4, episode 9, “The Inner Fight”, when they’re trapped on Sherbal V bydisgraced Starfleet cadet Nick Locarno(Robert Duncan McNeill).Ma’ah’s frank insight helps Beckett reckon with the responsibility of her Starfleet careerso that Mariner can defeat Locarno. InStar Trek: Lower Decksseason 5, episode 4, “A Farewell to Farms”, Mariner seeks out Ma’ah on Qo’noS for help with theUSS Cerritos' season 5 mission, only to find Ma’ah stripped of rank and reluctantly working on his family’s bloodwine farm.
Star Trek: Lower Decks Gives Mariner & Boimler Picard’s Job As Cha’DIch
Naming Starfleet Officers Their Cha’DIch Saves Worf And Ma’ah’s Lives
Star Trek: Lower Decksseason 5, episode 4, “A Farewell to Farms”, gives Lieutenants Beckett Mariner and Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid) the same job as Captain Picard, when they both become cha’DIch for Ma’ah. After Boimler suggests that Ma’ah can invoke the Ritual of J’ethurgh to regain his command, the Klingon Oversight Council, led by Bargh (Colton Dunn), demands a team of four. Unlike Kurn, Ma’ah’s brother, Malor (Sam Witwer), is disinterested (but bribable), whileMariner and Boimler eagerly volunteer to get involved with a Klingon ritual— never mind the deadly painstiks and wild targs.
Ma’ah is first introduced as an ambitious junior officer analagous to Boimler inStar Trek: Lower Decksseason 2, episode 9, “wej Duj”.
Although the rituals end differently, both Worf and Ma’ah get help from their brothers and Starfleet friends in challenges against Councils that can’t be swayed easily. Worf’s opponent, Duras (Patrick Massett), convinces the High Council that Mogh is an appropriate scapegoat. The Oversight Council never intends to help Ma’ah, since Ma’ah killed Bargh’s brother.Picard, Mariner, and Boimler all play by Klingon rules to find Starfleet-approved solutions.Picard stands up to the Klingon High Council, and Worf accepts discommendation instead of death, while Mariner and Boimler let Bargh’s death sate the Council’s demand for blood to ensure Ma’ah succeeds.
Star Trek: Lower Decks Loves Using Cha’DIch For Relationships
Cha’DIch Is A Specific Type Of Dedicated Relationship, Not Just A Friend
Star Trek: Lower Decksloves using the Klingon term cha’DIch to describe relationships between characters, even before Beckett Mariner and Brad Boimler officially earned the title from Ma’ah. InStar Trek: Lower Decks' premiere episode, “Second Contact”, Mariner made herself Boimler’s mentor and named Boimler her cha’DIch.With his reputation as a by-the-book officer, Boimler is the perfect person to defend Mariner to the authorities—especially when said authority is Beckett’s mother,Captain Carol Freeman (Dawnn Lewis). Freeman herself was called cha’DIch by Captain William Riker (Jonathan Frakes), and Vulcan Lieutenant T’Lyn (Gabrielle Ruiz) referred to another Vulcan as hers.
Star Trek Forgot About Riker’s Protégé
Captain Riker’s arrival on Star Trek: Lower Decks revealed he was Ensign Beckett Mariner’s mentor but that story hasn’t been explored since.
Foreign loan words have made their way into English when there’s no pre-existing equivalent, so it makes sense that words from alien languages would become part of Federation standard inStar Trek. Taken literally,cha’DIch means “second”, butthe examples fromStar Trek: Lower Decksgive it a connotation that’s closer to meaning “ride or die”: a friend who will fight for you under any circumstances.Instead of simply longing for that connection, Mariner and Boimler both earnStar Trek’s finest relationship between a Klingon and Starfleet officer when they become Ma’ah’s chaDIch, just as Captain Picard did for Worf.
