Star Trek: 10 Things You Didn't Know About The Kobayashi Maru

The Kobayashi Maru isn't just a no win scenario.

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#StarTrek #KobayashiMaru #StarfleetAcademy

[TashaJaeger]

I am in, let us say, my Kobyashi Maru era. Gearing up for a fight for disability coverage, in severe money problems because of the disability, looking at losing my house and trying to keep feeding my kids and making sure they're ok. So thank you, your final words actually mean a lot.

[Daedalus-BC]

One thing to mention about Nog's win over the Kobayashi Maru. The program is prepared to respond to the cadet's actions, so when Nog started bartering with latinum, the program retaliated. This went on until the program couldn't keep up and just simply crashed.

[duncansouthern]

"I am not to be trusted with money" Your a legend and propper one of us trekkies Mr Ferick. X

[shawnscott]

Sean; I wrote “Best Tools Available” and want to thank you for the mention. It’s nice to get some recognition after all this time. And thanks to the commenters on here for their kind words of appreciation for the story. It really means a lot to me. You guys are the best! 🖖

[tonette]

I LOVED hearing about Nog!
Thaks as always, Sean.

[KnugLidi]

The best part of all of this was that rumours had spread that Spock dies in this movie. When you have the opening sequence and Spock dies in the opening 5 mins. You are gobsmacked. When the 'it's all a simulation' pops up, you are *relieved*. And you dismiss the rumour. Then, when you get to the end, the ending is a real punch in the gut, as you've been conditioned by the movie to reject the possibility of Spock dying.

[Flameheadwilson]

5:50 Using a real tragedy to train new recruits for unexpected situations is pretty normal.
The USS Cole was bombed in 2000, and when I went through Navy basic training in 2003, they had built an entire simulator facility based on it.

[kadriaof-inviolate]

Dal high-fiving HoloSpock at the end of Prodigy's Kobayashi ep is simply one of my favorite moments in all Trek. It was so unexpected because the Vulcan salute had been taken so seriously every time it was shown onscreen - until then. It's nothing short of brilliant characterization

[humbleevidenceaccepter]

I am old enough to remember the tv commercials for the movie. The script said "for some, it will be their first voyage" (while showing the young engineer mate Preston) "...and for some it will be their last" (while showing a clip of Spock falling on the Kobayashi Maru's bridge)

[pokepress]

Unwinnable scenarios are actually pretty common in video gaming. Some games loop infinitely, others have an error that terminates gameplay, and more modern ones will often have some sort of “endurance” mode.

[demonof]

Nogg was one of my favorites on DS9. He was crafty and deserved more respect.

[themightybob]

Scottys run on the test is terrifying, if he was actually in command of a ship he would have a death count in the double digits😂

[OperativeD]

I know you're focusing on the filmed versions of Captains dealing with the Kobayashi Maru, but as I am a fan of Captain Mackenzie Calhoun (M'k'n'zy of Calhoun) from the New Frontier novels I feel I should mention his solution to the problem at hand. During his fourth year at the Academy, Calhoun took the Kobayashi Maru test. The test took place on the Academy ground's holodeck. During the mission Calhoun was in command of the Intrepid; as was the standard case, the Kobayashi Maru had struck a mine and was adrift. When the Romulan warbirds decloaked, one on either side of the Kobayashi Maru and one behind the Intrepid, Calhoun ordered Shelby to fire on the Kobayashi Maru; she was too stunned to do anything as she was about to target the Romulans. At the moment of hesitation, Calhoun ordered Shelby relieved of her station by the second in command Clarke. Due to the proximity of the warbirds to the Kobayashi Maru, they both sustained damage and were destroyed by the phaser and photon torpedo barrage from the Intrepid. In the end the third Romulan warbird was beaten back but the onslaught of the photon torpedoes of the Intrepid. Calhoun had beaten the Kobayashi Maru test, but at the expense of the Kobayashi Maru being destroyed. (NF novel: Stone and Anvil)

[DerekKnop]

People often confuse "surviving" with "winning". It's something I always felt Kelvin Spock didn't understand in Star Trek (2009) when he threw George S Kirk Sr.'s death back at James. Spock wanted to show that Kirk's dad accepted a no win scenario, but to me, Kirk Sr. didn't lose, he "was captain of a star-ship for 12 minutes, and he saved 800 lives" including his wife and newborn son who he named with his almost last breath. If Kirk Sr. believed it was a no win scenario, he would have just given up, laid down, died, or jumped on a shuttle; but he had a win scenario in sight, his life for his friends and family, and he achieved that goal.

Prime Kirk had faced death so many times, he had lost people, he had made mistakes and owned up to them, but not once did he ever stop fighting. He didn't believe there was ever a scenario where there wasn't a glimmer of hope, and on more than one occasion he was willing to put his life on the line to achieve that win. Saavik also didn't understand that at first, but Kirk believed they were going to stop Khan, and it wasn't because he was blinded by ego, he believed in his friends and his crew, he let them be the best they could be at the things they were good at, and that is what ultimately won the day, because surviving wasn't Kirk's definition of winning. Achieving the mission was his definition of winning.

[artadjacent]

"When in Doubt, buy your way out." -Some Ferengi, probably.

[ChrisWellsChris]

I just cracked up over Nog's method. This should absolutely be canon.

[roguerifter]

I love the TOS Kobayashi Maru novel.


Its hilarious that basically Scotty was picked to take the test because his teachers were looking for an excuse to kick him out of Command School and offer him a transfer to Engineering School. The bet they could do was kick him out for cheating on the Kobayashi Maru because he used a tactic he knew didn't work in reality but should work in a simulation.

[Sashowindfeather]

Nog beating it by being who he was to his core? That's beautiful.

[ArtistryBranson]

I really enjoyed this one, Seán. Quite the thought experiment, and well presented!

[andersonic]

The 1989 novel was marvelous in its details. Kirk reprograms the test so the Klingons stand down when they realize they've facing the legendary James T Kirk. Much better than the 2009 version. Scotty exploits a bug in simulated deflector physics to swiftly destroy ship after ship until an entire Klingon fleet takes him down. This gets him kicked out of Command training back to Engineering where he wanted to be.