Warning! the following contains spoilers for the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 episode "Under The Cloak Of War." Read at your own risk!
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds delivered a wild episode with "Under The Cloak Of War." The thrilling installment both took us back to the height of the Klingon War and the current after-effects it had on Doctor M'Benga, Nurse Chapel, and Lt. Ortegas. This was a huge episode for M'Benga, and one that might've clued viewers in on why he's no longer the Chief Medical Officer despite still being on the crew when James T. Kirk takes over in the original Star Trek series.
The Enterprise crew is made to play host to "Rah," a reformed Klingon ambassador for Starfleet once known as "The Butcher Of J'Gal." The nickname came in part for the atrocities he was responsible for on the battlefield of J'Gal but mainly for murdering his own men after allegedly being disgusted by the atrocities they committed. Since then, he had been responsible for negotiating peace between Starfleet and other species, but M'Benga and others who served in the war didn't buy that he was truly reformed.
Later in the episode, we discovered the true reason for M'Benga's suspicion. Via a flashback, M'Benga had the highest number of confirmed unarmed kills in Starfleet before his days as a doctor. Because of that he was sent to execute Rah and his men and deal a major blow to the Klingon effort on J'Gal. M'Benga confronted Rah in the present during a private conversation to say that he knew the Klingon didn't kill his own men, because he did.
M'Benga was the real "Butcher of J'Gal," and lived with the pain that Rah escaped justice for his crimes and flourished under the lie he made up to Starfleet. In reality, Rah fled out of fear of M'Benga and lied due to the inherent Klingon shame of his act of cowardice. This all led to the events that, I believe, might ultimately get M'Benga stripped of his status as Chief Medical Officer.
Starfleet Will Likely Further Investigate Rah's Death
Those who watched the latest Star Trek: Strange New Worlds with their Paramount+ subscription might point out that Pike felt relatively sure M'Benga would be cleared of any blame for the situation. After all, Nurse Chapel confirmed that M'Benga acted in self-defense after an attack instigated by Rah, so he had a witness on his side. What Pike didn't know is that Chapel didn't see all that occurred, and walked in mid-conflict. Even then, she only saw the action occur behind tinted glass. Chapel likely sided with M'Benga because she had a deep connection to her Chief Medical Officer thanks to their time together in the war. She also didn't like Rah, so she had every reason to cover for her crewmate.
Starfleet is made up of the best and brightest, so I'm not entirely sold that someone investigating won't pick up on M'Benga and Chapel's connection and her incentive to cover for him. Rah was considered a major poster boy for Starfleet and a symbol of peace following the end of the Klingon and Federation war. I don't think this will be a problem that just goes away, even if Pike feels like M'Benga is free and clear.
Similar to how Captain Batel was "overlooked" for a promotion after failing to properly convict Una during her trial, Starfleet has ways of punishing people even if they can't prove they did anything wrong. It's possible that while there is no evidence M'Benga intentionally killed Rah – and to be clear, we have no idea if he did or not – he could be demoted as a punishment for being involved in the death. It wouldn't be fair, but as we've learned throughout the franchise, top brass in Starfleet can often hand down unfair rulings.
M'Benga Could Step Down From His Position Out Of Guilt
There's a line in this episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds that feels a lot different upon rewatch. Ortegas had doubts about entering the dinner party for Rah because she felt that he hadn't truly changed and was still "The Butcher Of J'Gal." M'Benga told Ortegas that if people pretend for long enough, they can turn into the person they wish to be.
M'Benga wasn't referring to Rah. He was talking about himself. If the Doctor did intentionally kill the Klingon ambassador for making him become the "Butcher Of J'Gal," he's essentially reaffirmed that no amount of years as a healer can negate the rage and killer instinct he's lived with for years. I don't see M'Benga handling the stress of that too long, and maybe having a personal crisis about whether he's fit to lead the medical team of the Enterprise.
Perhaps we'll ultimately see M'Benga request demotion because of what occurred, and the Enterprise will search for a new Chief Medical Officer. This would definitely be an easy way to set the stage for Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy and add another essential piece to the future Starfleet lineup to the mix.
Could M'Benga Make It Out Of This Without Any Consequence?
While the situation doesn't look great, it's possible that similar to how Pike doesn't need to worry about Kirk taking his job, Doctor M'Benga will stay on as Chief Medical Officer and we won't see Bones for many seasons to come. Starfleet is likely putting out tons of fires all the time, and if they took the initial word that a Klingon ambassador attacked a Starfleet officer at face value, they might be keener to sweep it under the rug than try to pursue it any further. After all, Rah isn't revered by Klingons anymore, and he wasn't exactly popular amongst Starfleet war veterans. Would a trusted Klingon attacking a doctor be good press?
Maybe, just maybe, M'Benga's potential transgression will get overlooked mainly because the consequences would be too much of a headache for Starfleet to deal with if they found out the truth. It's a possibility, though personally, I think this issue is going to be revisited again, even if it happens in Season 3.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds streams new episodes on Thursdays on Paramount+. Season 2 is almost through, but there's still a lot of fun to be had with the musical episode coming up next week. With all this excitement happening right now, I can only imagine how epic the Season 2 finale will be.
