Fridge / Star Trek: Typhon Pact

• Fridge Brilliance: Twice now, the Tzenkethi have shown themselves to be the Manipulative Bastard of the Typhon Pact, manipulating allies and enemies alike with great success. However, between the backfire of Praetor Kamemor (who served their purposes perfectly as a passive, unknowing piece in their game, but who threatened their agenda when she then pursued her own political/moral platform) and being forced to back down at Venette when the Federation and Cardassians pulled a scheme of their own, it would seem the Tzenkethi are frequently underestimating the degree to which other races will avert the intended outcome of their plotting. The Tzenkethi schemes work very well - but ultimately come undone when the aliens they're manipulating fail to act as expected once the plan has unfolded. In other words, the Tzenkethi manipulate well but don't easily grasp the idea that unexpected consequences might arise when their pawns and pieces do their own thing rather than staying where they've been steered to. This becomes Fridge Brilliance when we consider that the Tzenkethi have a highly structured society wherein everyone knows their place and functions as they're supposed to. The Tzenkethi leadership, for all their magnificent bastardry, are used to tidy manipulation of pieces that happily allow themselves to be manipulated, and which are comfortable in the position they're placed in. It's far too easy a game. When dealing with aliens, the combination of this expectation and general xenophobia seems to blind the Tzenkethi to the idea that everyone won't just fall into place as and when the Tzenkethi plot. Basically, the Tzenkethi are good at manipulating, but they're just not used to game pieces that have their own agendas and might randomly wander off half way through the game - or worse, turn on them.

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