Firstborn (23 Apr. 1994)

In an effort to help him accept his Klingon heritage, Worf and his son, Alexander, attend an ancient Klingon ceremony.

Director:

Jonathan West

Writers:

Gene Roddenberry (creator), René Echevarria (teleplay),

Stars:

Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, LeVar Burton

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Patrick Stewart	...	Captain Jean-Luc Picard
Jonathan Frakes	...	Commander William T. Riker
LeVar Burton	...	Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge
Michael Dorn	...	Lieutenant Worf
Gates McFadden	...	Doctor Beverly Crusher
Marina Sirtis	...	Counselor Deanna Troi
Brent Spiner	...	Lt. Commander Data
James Sloyan	...	K'Mtar / Alexander Rozhenko at 50
Brian Bonsall	...	Alexander Rozhenko
Gwynyth Walsh	...	B'Etor
Barbara March	...	Lursa
Joel Swetow	...	Yog
Colin Mitchell	...	Gorta
Armin Shimerman	...	Quark
Michael Danek	...	Singer

Storyline

Worf is worried when his pre-teen son Alexander, at the age to commit to becoming a warrior, refuses the ceremony. Picard grants him a visit to a Klingon outpost, where the boy gets a taste for Klingon fight training. They also become the target of a murder attempt, which K'Mtar, a trusted adviser of Worf's house, ascribes to the surviving sisters of the rivaling D. house, who are tracked down, involved in illegal mining, but deny and suggest a mystery killer. K'mtar fails to convince Alexander or Worf the boy should enroll in a Klingon school to get rid of his human 'weak' moralism. The truth is about a spectacular assumed identity.

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Plot Keywords:

fight | duel | 24th century | knife

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

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Details

Release Date:

23 April 1994 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Television

Technical Specs

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Rickey D'Shon Collins reprises the role of Eric for the third and final time.

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Goofs

Riker mentions bio-metic gel, when in the past its described as bio-mimetic gel.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Lieutenant Worf: As time passes, a boy inevitably becomes a man. But what is not inevitable is that a man become a warrior. A warrior must be forged like a sword, tempered by... by...
Lieutenant Worf: [remembers] Tempered by experience.

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Connections

References Superman (1978)

User Reviews

Alexander's TNG story arc comes to an end.

ST:TNG:173 - "Firstborn" (Stardate: 47779.4) - this is the 21st episode of the 7th and last season of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

As Alexander approaches his First Rite of Ascension, he tells his father he doesn't want to declare himself a warrior as Klingons his age are supposed to. Hoping to help Worf, Picard directs the Enterprise to stop at Maranga IV where Worf and Alexander attend the festival of Kot'baval. There, a mysterious family friend, K'mtar, is there to help and offers to train Alexander to become a warrior.

But, there's something about K'mtar that isn't right . . . and at the same time, VERY familiar. And perhaps K'mtar can help bring the conflict between father and son to an end.

Trivia note: Brian Bonsall returns in his first appearance as Alexander Rozhenko since 1992's "A Fistful Of Datas" and with this episode concludes his story arc on TNG. Also, along for the ride are the familiar Star Trek villains Lursa and B'Etor (where is it also mentioned they were recently on Deep Space Nine). And, James Sloyan who plays K'Mtar in this episode, previously played Sub-Lieutenant Setol/Admiral Alidar Jarok in the 3rd season episode "The Defector".

And special guest star Armin Shimmeran stars as Quark - someone whom Riker knows very well!