Khan Noonien Singh’s (Ricardo Montalban) escape from Ceti Alpha V and rampage with the Genesis Device in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan only happened because of a big mistake on Starfleet’s part. Directed by Nicholas Meyer, Star Trek II is a sequel to “Space Seed,” the classic Star Trek: The Original Series episode that introduced Khan. The genetically engineered super villain stole the planet terraforming Genesis Device in Star Trek II, and the USS Enterprise led by Admiral James T. Kirk (WIlliam Shatner) stopped him at great cost.
Star Trek: The Original Series‘ “Space Seed” ended with Captain Kirk sending Khan and his 70+ followers to the planet Ceti Alpha V. A rugged world devoid of technology, Khan and his genetically augmented people would need all of their abilities to survive. Kirk and Starfleet evidently never returned to see what became of Khan on Ceti Alpha V, but that isn’t the big mistake that ultimately set Khan loose on the galaxy. It was the inexplicable error made by the USS Reliant that put the destruction in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan into motion.
A Big Mistake By Starfleet Freed Khan In Star Trek II
“THIS Is Ceti Alpha V!”
As Khan told the USS Reliant’s Captain Clark Terrell (Paul Winfield) and Commander Pavel Chekov (Walter Koenig) when they met, “THIS is Ceti Alpha V!” The gobsmacked Terrell and Chekov came to the Ceti Alpha system believing they were on Ceti Alpha VI. On loan to Dr. Carol Marcus’ (Bibi Besch) Project Genesis, the USS Reliant sought Ceti Alpha VI as a lifeless planet to test the Genesis Device’s terraforming powers. Captain Terell and the Reliant’s crew had no idea Ceti Alpha VI exploded six months after Captain Kirk left Khan and his followers on Ceti Alpha V.
However, mixing up Ceti Alpha V and VI is a mᴀssive blunder on the part of the USS Reliant’s crew. If Ceti Alpha VI exploded, it wouldn’t have been vaporized. There would have been asteroids and debris, ample evidence of the planet’s destruction. Further, Reliant was specifically searching for Ceti Alpha VI, yet the ship’s sensors somehow missed that the Ceti system’s planet count was one short – or Reliant never scanned at all.
It doesn’t truly make sense that Captain Terrell and his Starfleet crew had no clue whatsoever Ceti Alpha VI was destroyed, and they beamed onto the wrong planet — except for Star Trek II needing it as a plot device to set Khan’s diabolical mayhem into motion.
Star Trek: Lower Decks Pointed Out Starfleet’s Big Mistake
Starfleet Fixed Its Lack Of Follow Through In The 24th Century
Starfleet’s other big mistake in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan was, of course, lack of follow-through and never checking up on what happened to Khan. Starfleet was notorious enough for this practice that Star Trek: Lower Decks not only commented on it, but built the animated comedy’s mission statement around remedying Starfleet’s poor attention to detail. In Star Trek: Lower Decks, the USS Cerritos and the California Class fleet’s mission is Second Contact, i.e. following up on the strange new worlds, life forms, and civilizations Starfleet meets.
Starfleet had fewer starships in the 23rd century, compared to the armada available to oversee the more expansive United Federation of Planets of the 24th century.
If Starfleet’s California Class existed in Star Trek’s 23rd century, it’s likely Khan wouldn’t have escaped. Starfleet would have had a ship travel to the Ceti Alpha system and learned that Ceti Alpha VI exploded, shifting Ceti Alpha V’s orbit. The torture Khan inflicted on Commander Chekov and Captain Terrell in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan was terrible and regrettable. But the tragedies resulting from Khan’s escape could have been avoided if the USS Reliant hadn’t made a huge mistake in not scanning the Ceti Alpha system properly, to begin with.
