Warp Five 74: Re-Deconstructing Degra

For better or worse, Degra was first and foremost a Patriot. In continuing Degra’s character exploration from Warp Five Episode 42, it is apparent that his character arc has even more complexity still left to explore. The Season 3 Xindi arc from September 2003 to May 2004 emulated the U.S. national zeitgeist, post-911, with issues of torture, weapons of mass destruction, and moral compromise at the heart. But without Degra's redemption and the overall resolution of the conflict which hinged upon reconciliation, the story would have been significantly darker and fundamentally not in the best traditions of Star Trek.   Conceptually, the initial inspiration for the character of Degra was J. Robert Oppenheimer, one of the fathers of the atomic bomb. Brannon Braga explained in Star Trek Magazine #117, p. 62, "We knew we wanted to create an Oppenheimer-like character who was the mastermind behind building the bomb, who was very committed to his species but wracked with guilt, just like Oppenheimer." So please join us for a deeply philosophical discussion about Degra and how he faced his own morality which ultimately led to his redemption.   Host Will Nguyen   Guests Jeffrey Harlan & Tommy Kraft   Editor Matthew Rushing   Executive Producers Norman C. Lao, Matthew Rushing and Christopher Jones   Associate Producers Floyd Dorsey and Mike Morrison   Production Manager Richard Marquez   Content Manager Will Nguyen   Chapters Intro and Welcome Boomers! (00:01:23) Revisiting Degra from Warp Five 42 (00:02:18) Reflecting the American National Zeitgeist Post-911 (00:08:45) Was Degra’s Plan Overly-Complicated? (00:14:55) Xindi Religious Fundamentalism or Extremism? (00:21:18) The Strategy of Stratagem (00:25:15) Do the Ends Justify the Degra? (00:31:33) The Romulan War Degra-ssion (00:38:36) Degra-demption (00:42:09) Degra’s Debatable Demise (00:53:37) Degra’s Significance to Enterprise (00:59:08)   Closing and Thanks For Listening (01:07:30)   Send us your feedback! Twitter: @trekfm Facebook: http://facebook.com/trekfm Voicemail: http://www.speakpipe.com/trekfm Contact Form: http://www.trek.fm/contact Visit the Trek.fm website at http://trek.fm/ Subscribe in iTunes: http://itunes.com/trekfm   Support the Network!   Become a Trek.fm Patron on Patreon and help us keep our shows coming to you every week. We have great perks for you at http://patreon.com/trekfm