When the USS Enterprise dropped off Khan (Ricardo Montalban) and his genetically engineered followers at the end of the 1967 Star Trek episode “Space Seed,” the only person who was actually from the 23rd century was also conspicuously absent when Khan returned for his famous wrath 15 years later. The Starfleet historian Marla McGivers (Madlyn Rhue) was left behind on Ceti Alpha V in 2267, and based on the backstory in of The Wrath, she had perished well before the Reliant rediscovered Khan.
But how did Marla meet her fate? It’s a question Trek fans have had for 43 years, and has previously been tackled in a novel by Greg Cox titled To Reign In Hell: The Exile of Khan Noonien Singh (2005), as well as 2010 comic book series Ruling in Hell from IDW, written by Scott and David Tipton. And now, in episode 7 of the podcast audio series, Star Trek: Khan, a third take on how this all went down has been revealed. And this time, it seems that what we’re getting is the real-deal canon.
