10 Captains Who Broke The Rules | Star Trek
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00:00It can be very frustrating being a captain in Starfleet. I mean, there's so many regulations
00:05to follow, so many lines you need to walk. Oh, one wonders how they don't all have back
00:11problems. Unless, of course, it was those Season 1, Season 2 uniforms in the next generation,
00:16in which case they absolutely had back problems. Slightly different reasons, though. You might
00:21think that that would be enough to encourage any of them to be a little bit naughty. With
00:26that in mind, I'm Sean Ferrick for Trek Culture, and here are 10 Star Trek Captains
00:31Who Broke the Rules.
00:3210. Eric Pressman
00:34Yes, yes, we may know our friend Eric slightly better by his Admiral's rank, yet he was
00:40a mere captain once. He commanded the USS Pegasus, which, among other interesting accolades,
00:45boasted the honour of being William T. Riker's first posting after graduating from Starfleet
00:48Academy. Eric was an affable, thoroughly personable man. He inspired an upbeat atmosphere around
00:54him even as the years passed and his neck was weighed down with extra pips. But, as
00:58the audience discovered in his past, he had broken a fairly major rule in the Starfleet
01:02handbook, one that got a lot of people killed.
01:05Aboard the Pegasus, Pressman had been experimenting with a secret interphasic cloaking device,
01:09an action that was directly in opposition to the Treaty of Algeron. This treaty was
01:13drawn up to end hostilities, at least at that point in history, between the Federation and
01:17the Romulan Star Empire. Without it, the wars that would surely have broken out could have
01:22been devastating to the landscapes of the Alpha and Beta Quadrants. Now, we understand
01:27wanting to make a quick, quiet exit sometimes – I'm Irish, we mastered the goodbye – but
01:32there was simply too much at stake here. Eric, that's detention for you, sir.
01:379. Benjamin Maxwell
01:39Ben Maxwell's story of disobedience is a tragic one. Here was a man haunted by the
01:43horrors of the Cardassian Wars, unable to come to terms with what he's lost. Though
01:47that should make him a pitiable man, here, instead, it makes him a dangerous one. Taking
01:53the USS Phoenix into Cardassian territory and attacking their bases and ships without
01:57provocation, Maxwell threatens to plunge Starfleet into conflicts anew with their tenuous allies.
02:02Though history may have vindicated at least some of his beliefs, the fact is that in Starfleet,
02:08there's no room for a rogue officer. The scene in Maxwell's ready room, quiet and
02:11reflective, is a powerful image detailing the costs of war on those that are forced
02:15to fight them. O'Brien does talk him down, but Maxwell has broken so many rules and
02:20violated protocols that his career will forever be remembered for his final acts. It's unclear
02:25if he was ever drafted to fight in the Dominion War, though it's unlikely. Therefore, Maxwell's
02:29rule-breaking cost him everything that he had left.
02:328. Rudy Ransom
02:35Were it not for another name on this list, Rudy Ransom would have been in the most unique
02:40position of all. The Equinox was dragged across space by the Caretaker and deposited in the
02:44Delta Quadrant. There, he was doubly unlucky, as the Caretaker often sent ships home when
02:49finished with them. Ransom's ship was left stranded. History will judge Ransom as a
02:53captain who betrayed the Prime Directive and then actively engaged in the murder of
02:57innocent alien beings, all for the chance to get home faster. Perhaps history is correct,
03:01but spare some sympathy for the position he was in. All alone, in a Nova-class ship that
03:06wasn't designed for deep space, then relentlessly attacked day after day, Ransom still had to try
03:11and get his crew home. That was without question. His methods were ghastly, though even he knew
03:16that, as in his final acts, he sought a measure of redemption. He broke all the rules, and
03:20he paid dearly for it. But what will they say about the man, his career, and his attempts
03:25to put things right?
03:267. Donald Tracy
03:28As often is the case with captains who break their oaths, Donald Tracy started out from
03:33a duty of care. The crew of the Exeter were infected with a deadly disease that, at least
03:37in his mind, was curable via the nearby planet's atmosphere. While he discovered that the
03:41Combs did not, in fact, find a cure via their environment, Tracy did find a people to rule
03:46over. With his crew dead, he was unburdened and set about establishing himself as a warlord
03:51on the planet. The arrival of Captain Kirk and company derailed his plans and displayed
03:55his insanity, which was too much for the captain to bear. His little stint of rule-breaking
04:00had also further aided in prolonging a local conflict, something expressly forbidden by
04:05the Federation and in direct violation of the Prime Directive. There is, alas, no recourse
04:10for Tracy here. He may have set out with the best of intentions, but his ambitions quickly
04:14overcame them. At the time of his death, he was a raving madman, and will almost certainly
04:19be forever remembered as such.
04:216. James T. Kirk
04:24Honestly, where do we even begin? Let's be a little fair and look at the contemporary
04:28situation. Kirk existed at a time when space was still vastly unexplored. He commanded
04:33a starship that often found itself in combat situations, so unorthodox thinking was usually
04:38required. However, Kirk swung for the fences, there's no argument about that. There's
04:43the time he armed Tyree's people in a private little war, though one could argue he was
04:47simply evening the playing field. Then there was the time he destroyed the computer on
04:50a Mini R-7, thus forcing Vendikar to seek peace, a gamble that paid off. Wonderful
04:55news! The thing is, either of these examples could just as easily have gone the other way.
05:00It's certain that he prolonged at least one conflict, then there's the frequent
05:03bumps against the Prime Directive, while he treated the temporal Prime Directive like
05:07only so much toilet paper. Kirk was a captain who got things done, however, when it came
05:12to a performance review, the manner in which he gets these things done can be just as important.
05:17Kirk's report card may be looking at a few red marks.
05:215. Hikaru Sulu
05:24Sulu first appears in Where No Man Has Gone Before, the second pilot of Star Trek, but
05:28it would take twenty-five years for the man to finally achieve the rank of captain. That
05:32is, if you ignore those original scripts for Star Trek II, but let's not worry about that
05:36right now. In Star Trek VI, the Undiscovered Country, Hikaru Sulu has taken command of
05:40the USS Excelsior, having already completed two years of scientific research in the Beta
05:44Quadrant when Praxis explodes. This sets off a chain of commands that leads to Sulu breaking
05:49all of the rules to come to the aid of the renegade Enterprise A. Having rescued Kirk,
05:54that ship needs to know the location of the peace talks between the Federation and the
05:57Klingon Empire. Sulu is only too happy to oblige. There's no argument at all that the
06:01man wasn't fully aware of his actions. Kirk even reminds him that by accepting his communication
06:05from the Enterprise, he risks a court-martial. Sulu sardonically says their transmission is
06:09breaking up and he cannot hear a thing the captain is saying. Whatever is to be said
06:12about Shatner and Takei's long-term feud, they truly play very well off each other on-screen,
06:17one rule-breaker to another.
06:194. Spock
06:21Spock is perhaps the best example to those unfamiliar with Vulcans that, yes, they very
06:26much do feel, and yes, they very much do act on those feelings when they want to.
06:31After the arrest of Kirk and McCoy for the assassination of Gorkon, Spock not only ignores
06:35orders to return to Spacedock, but then takes the Enterprise A deep into Klingon territory
06:39on a rescue mission. Though undoubtedly a logical decision, as Kirk and McCoy may be
06:44instrumental in identifying the true killers, there is no question that this is an action
06:48stemming from an emotional response. There was no chance that Spock of all people was
06:52going to abandon his friends, yes, even McCoy, to freezing conditions and probably execution
06:57on Rodopenthe. Having said that, everyone was very lucky that the peace talks went well.
07:01After all, Spock took a Starfleet ship behind enemy lines, liberated two maximum-security
07:07prisoners, and then engaged in battle with a Klingon ship in disguise above Khitomer.
07:11There's only so many, ah, it's okay, it's Spocks, that you can get away with it.
07:163. Benjamin Sisko
07:19Yes, we're talking about the Poisoned Planet. One might assume that In the Pale Moonlight
07:23might be the easy option here, but one must remember that to a certain extent,
07:26and with a healthy dose of plausible deniability, Sisko acted with Starfleet Command's blessing
07:31in those circumstances. No, we're not sure that Garrick's final actions are covered in that,
07:36but it's all very grey in that case, isn't it? Where it isn't even remotely grey, not even a hint
07:43of dusky cream, is Sisko's decision to hunt for Michael Eddington. The Maquis' escalation to the
07:49use of biogenic weapons is all the excuse that Ben needs to get a little trigger-happy himself,
07:53although that's hardly giving events their due. The Maquis, with Eddington as their leader,
07:58poison Cardassian worlds so that those settlers are forced to flee. Sisko, though acting behind
08:03the veneer of keeping the peace in the Demilitarized Zone, elects to return the favour to a
08:07Maquis-colonised world, all while Eddington looks on in horror. Eddington truly has the measure of
08:12the man here. His obsession with the former security officer has pushed Sisko beyond the
08:16limits of his duty, and as Sisko later admits, he never received clearance to fire chemical weapons
08:22in the pursuit of these people. We're fairly certain that poisoning a planet to flush out
08:26your quarry goes against at least some Starfleet regulations.
08:30Number two, Catherine Janeway. Catherine Janeway is the angel to Rudy Ransom's devil. Faced with
08:36similar conditions, she managed to keep her crew, her ship, and her conscience in one piece,
08:41for the most part, all while facing uncharted space and unknown worlds. Her resolve to strictly
08:46adhere to Starfleet regulations was tested and ultimately broken when Voyager encountered Omega
08:51in the Delta Quadrant, a devastating molecule that could, when detonated, obliterate subspace
08:56for light shears, thus preventing any ship from establishing a stable warp field. It posed a
09:01direct threat to Voyager's journey home. The Omega Directive clearly stated that Janeway had to
09:05destroy the molecule without aid from her crew and inform no one. The first chink in the armour
09:10was Seven of Nine, who already had knowledge of Omega. There was certainly wiggle room for
09:15argument on recruiting Seven to help. However, it is Chakotay who convinces her to break the big rule
09:20and share the existence of Omega with the rest of the senior staff. As she says herself, had Voyager
09:25encountered the molecule in the Alpha Quadrant, there wouldn't have been any thought or debate.
09:29They would never have been informed. However, their unique position encouraged Janeway to break
09:34this rule and, in turn, entirely for the better, as the sheer amount of Omega discovered would
09:39have required far more resources than her original shuttle-based plan would have provided.
09:44Number One – Harry Kim
09:47Let us here give the man his due. While it may have been in an alternate future that was then
09:52erased by the actions of a certain Admiral Janeway, Harry Kim was, for a time, the captain of the USS
09:58Rhode Island. This Nova-class vessel detected Janeway's adapted shuttle and was sent to intercept,
10:03with only Kim knowing that she intended to use experimental Klingon technology to travel through
10:07time and change the past. There is an irony here. In Timeless, an older Harry Kim breaks every rule
10:13he can to change the past, thus saving Voyager from destruction. Here, he is tasked with preventing
10:18Janeway from doing exactly that. However, can anyone ever truly believe that the forever ensign
10:23wouldn't side with his old captain? Their exchange may be brief, but Janeway and Kim understand how
10:27vital her mission is. As she reminds him, he was once an eager youth who was ready to fly head
10:32first into a Borg-infested nebula to get their ship home quicker. As he was always going to,
10:37Captain Kim relents, disobeyed his orders from Starfleet, and violates the temporal prime
10:43directive in one breath. Though he may never know it, history proved his actions to be correct.
10:48For that shining moment, Captain Kim helped save the lives of everyone on his old ship.
10:53Thanks so much everyone for watching along, we hope you enjoyed this and hope you enjoyed the
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