The season two episode, “The Trouble with Tribbles,” is easily one of the most iconic episodes inStar Trek: The Original Series. The rapidly multiplying fuzz-balls which quicly overran not only Space Station K-7 but also the USS Enterprise are some ofStar Trek’s most iconic aliens, perhaps second only to Vulcans and Klingons. Indeed, whenStar Trek: Deep Space Ninehad a crossover withThe Original Seriesin “Trials and Tibble-ations,” the event they returned to was the Tribble situation on K-7. But there is more to “The Trouble with Tribbles” than just some cute fast-breeding pests that ate through grain supplies.
The conflict of “The Trouble with Tribbles” comes from the tense relations between the Enterprise and Captain Koloth’s (William Campbell) Klingon vessel. Indeed, in theTOSandDS9treatments of the narrative, a fight breaks out between the Klingons and Starfleet.Given the hostile relations between the Federation and the Klingon Empire, it seems miraculous the situation on Space Station K-7 didn’t lead to war.Indeed, Chief Engineer Scott (James Doohan) beamed theEnterprise’s fast-breeding tribblesonto the Klingon vessel, as if to add further provocation. Nevertheless, there’s a good reason why “The Trouble with Tribbles” didn’t lead to open war.
Kirk & Klingons Didn’t Go To War In Star Trek’s Tribble Episode Because Of The Klingons’ First Appearance
The Treaty Of Organia Saved The Federation From War
The Klingon Empire and the Federation have never had a particularly stable relationship. Indeed, in the first appearance of Klingons inStar Trek, the season one episode “Errand of Mercy,” the Klingon Empire is at war with the Federation.The Federation-Klingon War of 2267 was a border dispute and the culmination of a long-standing Cold War.The first few seasons ofStar Trek: Discoveryshowed how brutal Klingons could bein previous conflicts between the two powers have been. So, when the Klingons brawled with Starfleet personnel on K-7, those could easily have been the opening volleys of yet another Federation-Klingon war.
Star Trek Reveals Martok’s Klingons Went To War With Tribbles After DS9
Star Trek has revealed that Chancellor Martok’s Klingon Empire led the Second Great Tribble Hunt in the years after Deep Space Nine ended.
Luckily, at the end of “Errand of Mercy,” the Federation and Klingon Empire signed the Treaty of Organia. The Treaty of Organia ended the Federation-Klingon War of 2267 and was the first symbol of a lasting peace between the rival powers. Since the treaty prevented territorial expansion between the Klingon Empire and the Federation and provided diplomatic channels to resolve disputes, the fistfight and poisoned grain of “The Trouble with Tribbles” did not lead to war.In an early example ofStar Trekcontinuity, the Treaty of Organia arguably saved the Enterprise.
Star Trek VI’s Future Klingon & Federation Peace Was Set Up In The Original Series
Without Early TOS Episodes, No Later Klingon Plots Could Have Happened
But more than just saving the Enterprise and Space Station K-7 from war, the Treaty of Organia prefigured the lasting peace that followed in laterStar Trekproperties. In “Errand of Mercy,” the Organians predicted that, one day, the Federation and Klingon Empire would be friends. And, duringStar Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, that friendship began to come to fruition with the Khitomer Accords.The Treaty of Organia proved the Federation and Klingons could hold to a peace treaty, and the Khitomer Accords solidified that peace.
The Organians predicted that, one day, the Federation and Klingon Empire would be friends.
The later cooperation between the two powers during the Dominion War inDeep Space Ninewould not have been possible without the treaties preceding it. Without the Treaty of Organia, it is entirely possible that the Federation would have ceased to exist. So, “The Trouble with Tribbles” tested the mettle of what is perhaps the defining treaty ofStar Trek: The Original Series.
