History Recap / StarTrekTheNextGenerationS3E17SinsOfTheFather

* KnowWhenToFoldEm: Picard's justification to Kurn when Worf agrees to the FateWorseThanDeath. At least this way, there will be another time to challenge Ja'rod and K'mpec, and Worf wants Kurn to be alive in order to do so.

--> '''Worf:''' Then THIS ''Ha'[=DIbah=]'' should have been fed to the dogs!

* KnowWhenToFoldThem: Picard's justification to Kurn when Worf agrees to the FateWorseThanDeath. At least this way, there will be another time to challenge Ja'rod and K'mpec, and Worf wants Kurn to be alive in order to do so.

* SecretTestOfCharacter: Kurn intentionally tries to provoke Worf to see if there is still enough of a Klingon in him to face the High Council and fight its accusations against their father.

* EurekaMoment: Even as they uncover more and more pieces of the puzzle, Picard and Worf remained baffled by the motive for framing Mogh for the Khitomer massacre. It's not until K'mpec chastises Duras during the penultimate scene ("Would you kill an old women to cover your dishonor?") that Picard ''finally'' realizes what the hell's going on here: That the High Council's trying to protect the House of Duras.
* FateWorseThanDeath: Discommendation is implied to be this, as Worf's willingness to accept this fate seems to convince Duras more than any notion of execution of Worf and Kurn.

* {{Hypocrite}}: When Worf challenges the charges against his father, Duras spends the entire trial-- later revealed to be [[KangarooCourt rigged in his favor]]-- slandering Worf's father and Worf himself with every breath, all while aware that it was his ''own'' father who was truly guilty.

** But also PlayedWith when Kurn introduces himself as "Son of...Lorgh", as Worf had ordered him to keep his true parentage a secret. The pause is brief, but just noticeable.

* KangarooCourt: The trial turns out to be this as the High Council had already decided to blame Worf's father, not knowing his son would come to mount a defense. K'mpec even says so much at the end by saying the trial was over before it had begun.

--> '''Kurn:''' This entire ship seems built for...comfort, relaxation, being at ease. It is not the ship for a warrior... not the ship for a Klingon.

* SurpriseWitness: Kahlest -- in truth she doesn't know anything, but Picard is able to use her as a bluff to force the Council to reveal the truth.
* TakeAThirdOption: Worf went to make his challenge with the understanding that there were only two possible outcomes- vindication or death, and he did not fear death. But when he learned that there was never any chance of vindication, and Kurn must die along with him now that the council's conspiracy has been exposed, he accepts the third possibility of effectively admitting Mogh's guilt and accepting discommendation as the only way to save Kurn's life; while he does not fear death, he will not sacrifice his brother.

* VillainHasAPoint: Duras refuses to accept the idea of executing Worf, but sparing Kurn, knowing full well that any Klingon, especially one as honourable as Kurn, would insist on seeking revenge. Worf, though he understandably doesn't ''agree'' with Duras, acknowledges the point and instead offers to accept discommendation to save his brother's life.

** "Be silent, Duras. Would you kill an old women to cover your dishonor?" K'mpec's rebuke of Duras finally gives Picard and Worf the last piece of the puzzle and helps them realize ''why'' the High Council framed Mogh.

Worf explains this to the captain, asking for leave to pursue the manner. Picard is puzzled; why is all of this happening now, about twenty years after the massacre took place? Worf doesn't know, but the man behind the accusation is Duras, whose family has been the greatest rivals of Worf's family for generations. Worf further explains that being labeled a traitor is a serious allegation in Klingon society, which blemishes not just the name of the accused, but also marks his descendants for seven generations. Worf, of course, feels strongly obligated to challenge this claim, hoping to either clear his father's name or answer for his crimes, as the family of a Klingon warrior is responsible for his actions and he is responsible for theirs: if Worf can not successfully refute the accusation, he will be executed in his father's place. Picard says that since Worf is accused of a capital crime, it would be better if he were standing at Worf's side as he made his challenge, and commands Kurn to set course for the Klingon homeworld.

The ''Enterprise'' crew continue their investigation and discover that the Klingons recently captured a Romulan ship with information about Khitomer in the ship's logs, which is how they found out about the treachery. By comparing the information in the Klingon archives with the logs of the first Federation ship on the scene, La Forge and Data discover that there is a discrepancy in the transmissions -- the evidence that supported Mogh's guilt was faked. It's also discovered that Worf's nurse, a woman named Kahlest, was the only other survivor of the massacre. She was also rescued by the Federation and returned to Qo'noS.

Picard journeys into the Old City and finds Kahlest's home, where he tries to persuade Kahlest to accompany him back to the High Council chamber, telling her that the family that she once served proudly needs her again. Kahlest has fallen into despair, and refuses -- until Duras's assassins attack again, and Kahlest saves Picard's life as they fight them off.

K'mpec, clearly weary and demoralized, tells Worf that he should just have left quietly when he personally requested it of him, before he explains the truth. When Klingons captured the Romulan ship with the records, they learned of the treachery behind the Khitomer Massacre; this soon became common knowledge, and someone had to answer for that treachery. The Duras family has become too politically powerful, [[TheNeedsOfTheMany and to expose Ja'rod would likely split the Empire and cause a civil war]], so Mogh was blamed instead, since Worf, off in Starfleet, would not be likely to challenge the judgment. No one realized that Kurn was Mogh's second child--but now both of them must die in order to complete the frame-up. Declaring Worf's challenge successful, [[PatrickStewartSpeech Picard refuses to hand Worf and Kurn over for execution]], over K'mpec's threats to end the alliance with the Federation.

* DirtyCoward: Duras does exactly none of his own dirty work, dispatches assassins to deal with Kurn and Picard, using his influence over the High Council to dodge punishment for the crimes of his father, and threatens both Kahlest (an elderly woman) and Picard to their faces while hiding behind K'mpec's (clearly reluctant) protection.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Kahlest says of Mogh that he was "loyal to the Emperor." Later episodes confirm that the Klingon Empire doesn't actually ''have'' an Emperor; the Chancellor and the High Council run the government, and the throne's been vacant for centuries (In season 6's "Rightful Heir", the Klingon government [[KickedUpstairs "promotes"]] a clone of Kahless to Emperor so that Chancellor Gowron can remain leader). The most likely explanation is that Kahlest was using "the Emperor" metaphorically, referring to what the title represents, similar to how someone in a monarchy can be loyal to "the Crown" as an institution, independent of any specific holder.

* AFatherToHisMen: Picard is ''not'' going to simply stand by when his officer is facing a charge of Treason.

* DownerEnding: The politics of the situation force Worf to be publicly dishonored even though everyone knows what really happened, and he has to satisfy himself with slapping Duras. For the moment, anyway, as Ron Moore had always planned to continue the story later.

* InnocuouslyImportantEpisode: This episode first shows [[InherentInTheSystem that the 24th century Klingon government is extremely corrupt]], which will have repercussions lasting all the way through ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', [[BookEnds getting rectified by Worf, fittingly enough]].

K'mpec, clearly weary and demoralized, tells Worf that he should just have left quietly when he personally requested it of him, before he explains the truth. When Klingons captured the Romulan ship with the records, they learned of the treachery behind the Khitomer Massacre; this soon became common knowledge, and someone had to answer for that treachery. The Duras family has become too politically powerful, [[{{ForTheGreaterGood}} and to expose Ja'rod would likely split the Empire and cause a civil war]], so Mogh was blamed instead, since Worf, off in Starfleet, would not be likely to challenge the judgment. No one realized that Kurn was Mogh's second child--but now both of them must die in order to complete the frame-up. Declaring Worf's challenge successful, [[{{PatrickStewartSpeech}} Picard refuses to hand Worf and Kurn over for execution]], over K'mpec's threats to end the alliance with the Federation.

* KickTheSonOfABitch: K'mpec looks on in approval when Worf backhands Duras.

* WhamEpisode: Like the less well loved Skin of Evil from the first season, this episode illustrates this sequel means business.

* "Be silent, Duras. Would you kill an old women to cover your dishonor?" K'mpec's rebuke of Duras finally gives Picard and Worf the last piece of the puzzle and helps them realize ''why'' the High Council framed Mogh.