Good vid but personally I think what we've been told about the Elachi is misinformation so we don't find out what they actually are. And what I believe they actually are is another race that the Iconians have biologically reformed or mutated like they did the Herald race. & why would that be so bad? Because the race that they used in this case is the race of .... ET from the movie ET. ;)
Man Enterprise was such an underrated show. It’s cancellation just as it had found its identity was a travesty. Especially considering where it was going. Would’ve loved to see the actual official formation and ratification of the Federation and the events leading up to it.
With so many story possibilities Enterprise had a lot of potential. But the show had 2 main problems: the acting was generally bad and the characters were uninteresting and 2 dimensional. Yet, I watched every episode and I agree that the show was cancelled just as it was getting better. I tried watching Voyager, which was much worse than Enterprise. I think I gave up in season 5.
Silent Enemy is one of my favorite Enterprise episodes. The realization they are completely outgunned, the race to get not just one but all three phase cannons online, the deliberate overload to punch through the Elachi shields, it all makes the tech nerd in me squeal in joy.
I really love the terror episodes of Star Trek. 90% of the time Star Trek is like "Aliens are just like us we just need to get to know them" and that's true, and it's a good lesson to have and keep in mind. But sometimes, rarely, aliens are ... *alien*, unknowable and more importantly and terrifyingly - hostile. And when it happens all you can do is try to survive the encounter and then that quote from Q to Picard comes to mind. *"It's (space) not safe out here. It's wonderous, with treasures to satiate desires both subtle and gross..... but it's not for the timid."*
I mean, we haven't had any contact with aliens if they even exist. There is no way to know just how alien they'd be. There's nothing to say we'd even be able to comprehend the way they operate.
Agreed. I wish we had more episode like that. But one of my favourite episode from TOS was the 'Devil in the Dark'. The creepiness and the sheer alien nature of the entity was terrifying. God i miss real Star Trek. Picard season three is the only good, and legitimate, content we have had since Enterprise ended.
I wouldn't have thought it possible, but the Elachi are even more horrifying than the Borg. At least with Borg conversion, the nanoprobes can be deactivated and the cybernetics removed. You'll still have a nightmarish case of PTSD to work through, but recovery and rehab are entirely possible. With the Elachi, though, there's no coming back from that Innsmouth-style horror. Having the memories of who you were and what was taken from you return seems like a fate worse than death.
Those who escaped assimilation are forever changed, as well. The nanoprobes re-write DNA in order to make the assimilation process survivable. The biological technology that remains is why former Borg can still hear the Collective years after they regained their humanity.
@@The_Keeper instead of a fungus, you lose everything through technology. Both are quite horrific ways to go. I actually fear the Borg more because you are still conscious of your actions and you are powerless to stop yourself. Knowing what he had done and being unable to fight almost broke Picard. As someone who also suffers from PTSD, I know first hand what it's like to be forced to kill innocent people and not being able to do anything about it. During a time of war, servicemen face summary execution for disobeying orders.
You’re forgetting about Species 8472. If the EMH hadn’t been there, Harry would have been eaten alive from the inside by some weird parasitic things, all while conscious
The Elachi were essentially an organic form of the Borg, taking in a host & infecting it, until the host was transformed enough to fully become one of its own.. A fascinating concept,..
yeah, i'll always been a fan of "alien" aliens. Since sci-fi is built on metaphor, costume design is built on humans, and just the need of having characters being relatable for a good storytelling, Aliens tend to just be human so it's so rare to really explore something like the Elachi or even the 10-C from last season of Disco (and even there we didn't get to actually explore them beyond the communication stuff)
I don’t think it’s about metaphor or relatability, rather budget. Non humanoid aliens can’t have human actors in a suit. This means animatronics or CGI and on top of that more work to bring them to life. That’s all very expensive. The odds of other real sentient life being bipedal are very slim. It’s all budget.
The aliens in Rise of the Federation were not about ignoring technology, they failed to recognize humanoids as feeling beings, because they were telepaths but only could read themselves. Technology was not a criterion for them to give rights to a being. To them, the ability of humans to build a spaceship was like the ability of ants to build an anthill.
When I first saw that episode when I was a preteen, these aliens scared the crap out of me that I had nightmares afterwards. Especially the way their eye stalks just moved and just....ugh.....
The idea of sentient fungal life is a nifty one in sci-fi. The idea of them abducting and basically replacing people is terrifying though lol. Sometimes Trek manages to do suspense surprisingly well. Thank you for this spooky episode. God be with you out there everybody. ✝️ :)
I'm trying to remember...there was a TNG episode with aliens who would abduct people into subspace pockets from the ship while they were sleeping, do experiments on them (like detaching and reattaching limbs, changing out the entire circulatory system, etc), then mind-wipe them and return them in the morning none the wiser. Were those Elachi as well? I know the species I'm thinking of has been used in STO as well, but I don't feel like wiki-walking trying to find it. :-/
Man, I don't remember these aliens at all, and I watched through all of pre-Kurtzman Star Trek not too very long ago. I guess that's the fate of these one-off aliens of the week, to be easily forgotten.
The primary plots are the Enterprise installing the phase cannons and... Hoshi figuring out what food Lt Reed likes for a birthday dish. The aliens appear for a few seconds, otherwise it's an attacking ship, providing pressure to the weapons upgrades. 95% of what he's talking about here is from ancillary media, not the show.
I wasn't a big Enterprise fan but the episode these guys were in was one of my favorites, they were a genuine powerful threat, never before seen, the battle between their ship and the NX01 was like that of the first UNSC ships battling the Covenant to find out their enemy had the energy shielding and were impervious to most of your weapons.
Honestly, I think they were originally created to match the idea of "Aliens" and "Probing." Probably as kind of a joke. I think the whole episode was kind of meta in that the Elachi or whatever you want to call them represented our fears about outer space and that Starfleet beat them through willpower and creative use of science and technology. Essentially setting the tone for the standard Federation protocol for dealing with problems going forwards.
I think it's more likely that when the Iconians found them they were most likely primitive and they were uplifted. Most of their servitors were uplifted and dependent on their masters technology.
I forgot they appeared in Enterprise. Considering Discovery Season 5 mentions that the Iconians are alive (Remnants of the Iconian Empire, I believe is what was said when discussing who could have made the dark matter anomaly), the connection to the Iconians and Elachi isn't entirely impossible, though we don't know anything more than that for now.
I heard we would've gotten a Romulan arc and something involving the Kzinti in ENT season 5, also T'Pol was supposed to be revealed as half-romulan on her father's side.
Probably not - a much of the way Star Trek was written at the time especially in ENT’s first and second season was on some “monster of the week” system
Sounds a lot like the relationship between the Reapers and Collectors in Mass Effect, except the reason for the abductions are even less believable. 7:30 even looks a bit like a Reaper.
Playing through the Romulan arc in STO was the most invested I'd ever been in an STO plot-line. Man, I still feel like "I remember Virinat because I was there" - it was very good.
>creepy one shot alien used as a fantastic example that abduction horror could still work in space >Lore makes them fungal, adding to their uniqueness >Lore retconned into mycelial network, because all fungus must be connected >the mycelial network was already a massive retcon to explain away STD's Lore breaking tech >STD itself forgot about the mycelial network after season 2 I wish the writers would stop bolting things to Discovery in an attempt to anchor into the wider cannon
and i wish that so called people wouldn't be hypocrits, whom are just make up things to bash something because the want to hate something and don't claim that it's not so! If it wouldn't be Disco the Fans would like the connections that are made between certain events and further Star Trek Fans should be well familiar with "retcons and Lore breaking tech" from TOS or all the other shows but let's be honest, TOS breaks it's own sacred lore every episode. But it's Disco so NOW it's matters and a Problem, the 827 other Times not? As i said, would be nice if Star Trek Watching People wouldn't be just hypocrits but we can't have everything
@@enisra_bowman it's one thing to retcon something, in part because of what is available to do in a budget. It's ENTIRELY different when the writers, actors, and hell, even show runners themselves admit to not even bothering with source material. Especially material as rich in history as Trek.
@@Kainis80 sooo, more things that only matter once it's Disco and ignoring that TNG, DS9 and VOY mention the other maybe TWICE in all there Seasons that there is another Series
would be nice to have an Enterprise-esque run-in with them on SNW. Basically something that freaks out even the Gorn. Just one or 2 episodes to tie them into that century. Then toss something similar into perhaps a Picard: Legacy spinoff where they might actually explore them more with the larger Iconian situation, perhaps with finding references to Disco's use of the network and how things got really screwed up for the Elachi after that.
I love the idea of aliens with inscrutable motives not just methods. The idea that they could hold something other than technology, and self as separate from other as the true importance of a species is really fascinating to me.
Since the origin of the humanoid form in TNG ("The Chase", s6e20) still resonates with me, my head canon requires an explanation for all humanoids in Star Trek. These creatures are too weird in my estimation to have been a result of seeding by the progenitor race. This mycelial origin is therefore fascinating to me, and the connection to the Iconians is similarly a wonder. I'd love to see more references to the game version of the Iconians added to the film and TV franchise canon.
I wonder whether their natural/original form is something other than humanoid, with this humanoid form that we see merely the result of using a humanoid host for their spores.
Im almost positive that the shrike from s3 of picard is a ship that once belonged to the bug like aliens that nearly took over the federation in TNG. the primary hull looks like the bugs did in there smaller parasite form.
THe Elachi are so oawesome to me as they are a perfect example of what STO does well. THey had no name and only appeared in 1 episode of ENT, but STO took this minor unkown race and made somethign truely fascinating out of them. They were finally given a name and like the Sonlanae tied into the Iconians as a servant race, their backstory was fleshed out to be that they can capture people to make more Elachi, and when STD was added durng New Trek's creation, STO eventually took the fungal nature of the Elachi and tied them into the Mycelial Network we see used in STD. I just replayed the main Romulan storyline in STO and it's great with how they tied so many threads together to build up the Iconians, bringing back Taris from the premiere episode which mentioned the Iconians as he was the Romulan officer who helped the Enterprise-D deal with the Iconian probe issue and disocer the Iconian Gateway, and Taris an Hakeev who was on her ship at the time of the incident both had an involvement in destroying Romulus and Remus. An later Hakeev and the Tal Shiar ally with the Elachi leading to the Romulan Republic player character's journey when their colony of Virinat is devastated. Later we get more of a look into the Elachi when a Romulan was made and Elachi only for him to be saved when J'ula messed with the Mycelial Network, this led to some Elachi becoming Liberated Elachi and allies now. Overall took a mystarious unamed barely known race and fleshed them out so well and eventually tying it into other Star Trek media, even something as bad and hated as STD, which I appreciate.
Interesting. I've just started playing Star Trek Online with a Romulan character and I've witnessed the start of that invasion, I recognised the ship as the design from Enterprise when it came in overhead before we beamed off that planet. At the moment I logged off where I'm still in engagements with the Tal'shiar and the Tholians with my little Warbird which is no doubt the precursor to the quest chain involving these aiens.
This video needed to be made, great job! Just a note, the Elachi actually appear on screen more than twice in the shows. The first time is as you mentioned, on the NX-01 Enterprise, and the last time was the attack on Mars/Utopia Planitia, but you forgot an entire TNG episode "Schisms" that was based completely around them. The examination table you show from Star Trek Online is the exact same one that they recreate in the holodeck when Riker, Worf, and other crew members go missing while they sleep in that episode. True we never see the Elachi in the episode "Schisms", but their clicks can be heard and it is confirmed in canon that it was the Elachi abducting the TNG crew to do medical experiments on them and then probably seed them with their fungus. So, they've actually been shown on screen in canon 3 times now, with 2 episodes dedicated to them and their mysterious ways. I know too much about Star Trek lol I should start my own channel. I really thought you were going to mention "Schisms" for sure, which was part of the reason I clicked on the video. Maybe you can do a part 2 and include some of your theories and ideas with the "Schisms" episode included, so those that aren't total Trekkies will know the full story.
The beings in "Schisms" are biologically distinct, having a biology dependent on solanogen (a substance which is only stable in subspace). STO calls these beings the Solanae; they were responsible for maintenance of those Iconian systems stored in subspace domains, and the reasons for their rather bizarre medical experiments are never made clear (maybe it's just their way of saying hello - they *are* aliens, after all).
Well, the Solonae are USUALLY depicted and referred to as quite a separate species (in "Schisms") but in many ways, they are still pretty similar, in behavior, at least, @Pistol P , so yes, that case, can be made...
Those aliens couldn't exist in the same subspace domain as the crew of the NX-01 traveling through normalspace though, that's what they were trying to learn to do in Schisms and presumably wouldn't be able to do before the end of Schisms. Or probably after considering Riker shot one or two of them and when that happens there's some SFX that I think is supposed to indicate whatever personal safety field they had collapsed and they "drowned" inside the pocket universe with a non-compatible potential range of cellular energy states. I don't think they could just walk around and mess with people on Enterprise, at least as of the date of Silent Enemy.
Played STO after quiet some time off(quit again thou), INSTANTLY recalled that episode AND saw similarity between Elachi and this ship (not like we dont fight EXACTLY THIS SHIP IN STO AND ITS AN ELACHI FRIGATE). I frelled out seeing that myself. I was so happy that not only this proofs that STO is canon, but also that archer frelling PREVENTED them from turning up to early so we have a worthy foe to shoot in STO (imagine them destroying the NX so no fed happening)
The aliens in Star Trek ENT - Silent Enemy was first a uknown species, but later they were known as Shroomies and after that in Star Trek Online : The Elachi (also known as Shroomies, Mutes, and Vertians) were an alien species native to Gamma Vertis IV, in the galaxy's Alpha or Beta Quadrants. The Elachi entered the astropolitical stage in the 22nd century and returned as a major player in the early 25th century, operating from subspace. (ENT episode: "Silent Enemy", ENT - Rise of the Federation novel: A Choice of Futures, STO mission: "Turnabout")
Jesus Christ. I never realized that the Aliens from that ENT Episode were actually the Elachi, i thought the Elachi were a fully original STO addition. Oh well, you live and learn
They could potentially get another on-screen appearance in the future, as an antagonist for a Titan series, following on from Picard. I’d definitely prefer them to turn up in the 25th century though, rather than Lower Decks, Strange New Worlds, or the Academy series set to follow on from Discovery.
The NX-01 Enterprise was a show about Archer getting his ass handed to him in the majority of the episodes. If not for luck, T’Pol, and Shran, the ship would have never made it.
the elrachi fit the defintion of what in stellaris is called a NECROPHAGE a species that only can reproduce by consumsing converting or parasitzing other sapient lifeforms with elrachi being the more exterdimensional form where as something like the Go uld from star trek are a classic parastic example.
There's a fan made, full length, live action, Enterprise movie, set during said war. It's centered on the exploits of the NX03. It's hammy but a cool little thing. It's called Star Trek Horizon and you can see it on UA-cam.
I prefer the Elachi more as old fashioned grey aliens. Abducting people and performing experiments on them. It certainly feels that is what the original Enterprise episode was referencing. Even their appearance seems to match some styles of greys. I'm kind of disappointed STO has moved away from the stories they were telling and retconned in the newer shows, figuring out whys to shoehorn things in.
It seems like every unexplained alien or creature from previous shows are all put in with the Iconians so there is an explanation - oh these guys were advance scouts or these guys were their friends and because they needed a gig the Iconians got them the job as mushroom raiders or some other such nonsense because lord knows you can't have something unexplained or not linked up with other ST lore.
Elachi? I thought they were called the Kovaalans. In Star Trek Enterprise: season 3, episode 21, an episode titled "E2" has a future NX-O1 Enterprise which was attacked by ships identical to the one in "Silent Enemy." The crew of this other Enterprise called them the Kovaalans. According to the Star Trek Encyclopedia (4th ed., vol. 1, p. 441), the Kovaalans are the unnamed species from ENT: "Silent Enemy".
Quick Question. IF Vadic's crew took the form of the Elachi. Why?? I mean. Why have the Changlings taken those forms, and where could they have gotten them?
I wish I had the time and money to invest into Star Trek online that really does seem to be the place where Star Trek is actually continuing forward an interesting fashion.
@@Mehrine88 well because it just feels like a lazy combination, like the devs saw that episode of enterprise and said "perfect we can use these unknown aliens in our plot" and then when discovery introduced the space mushroom shit they went "wow we can get to plots for for price of one by combining these 2 totally unrelated elements". Its like putting a hat on a hat ya know
@@exilestudios9546 Honestly, making logical connections between random story elements introduced over the decades is a pretty major part of most expanded universe type storytelling. I think it's basically a natural result of there only being so many altogether new concepts you can introduce when working within a licensed universe, but, as a writer, still wanting to explore something with some potential depth. Giving this fungal species an origin within an established fungal realm means the writers can tell a potentially interesting backstory without needing Paramount to approve a series of entirely new concepts that fans might not even go for.
Forgot to link the instagram link from Dave Blass! Here: instagram.com/p/CpAh7XHOY4d/?hl=en
Aren't you able to simply edit your video description after upload?
i liked this it was interesting
also maybe you could do another in-depth vid about them it would be interesting
Good vid but personally I think what we've been told about the Elachi is misinformation so we don't find out what they actually are. And what I believe they actually are is another race that the Iconians have biologically reformed or mutated like they did the Herald race. & why would that be so bad? Because the race that they used in this case is the race of .... ET from the movie ET. ;)
Man Enterprise was such an underrated show. It’s cancellation just as it had found its identity was a travesty. Especially considering where it was going. Would’ve loved to see the actual official formation and ratification of the Federation and the events leading up to it.
With so many story possibilities Enterprise had a lot of potential. But the show had 2 main problems: the acting was generally bad and the characters were uninteresting and 2 dimensional. Yet, I watched every episode and I agree that the show was cancelled just as it was getting better. I tried watching Voyager, which was much worse than Enterprise. I think I gave up in season 5.
@@michaelbayer5094 And here you are.
@@westrim ?
Imagine a world where every Star Trek ran 5 seasons longer than planned 😔
Yea we got robbed
Silent Enemy is one of my favorite Enterprise episodes. The realization they are completely outgunned, the race to get not just one but all three phase cannons online, the deliberate overload to punch through the Elachi shields, it all makes the tech nerd in me squeal in joy.
I really love the terror episodes of Star Trek. 90% of the time Star Trek is like "Aliens are just like us we just need to get to know them" and that's true, and it's a good lesson to have and keep in mind.
But sometimes, rarely, aliens are ... *alien*, unknowable and more importantly and terrifyingly - hostile. And when it happens all you can do is try to survive the encounter and then that quote from Q to Picard comes to mind.
*"It's (space) not safe out here. It's wonderous, with treasures to satiate desires both subtle and gross..... but it's not for the timid."*
I mean, we haven't had any contact with aliens if they even exist. There is no way to know just how alien they'd be. There's nothing to say we'd even be able to comprehend the way they operate.
I agree, I like the stuff where they have to work at it but don’t get a clear answer.
Also , that Q quote … well used !
Yea, reminds me of those aliens in TNG who kept taking Riker and at the end left something in the galaxy.
Agreed. I wish we had more episode like that. But one of my favourite episode from TOS was the 'Devil in the Dark'. The creepiness and the sheer alien nature of the entity was terrifying.
God i miss real Star Trek. Picard season three is the only good, and legitimate, content we have had since Enterprise ended.
@@SmugCanadian Star trek online calls those aliens the Solanae, also subspace dwelling creatures that are servitors to the Iconians.
I remember watching this episode on release and appreciating the fact that the aliens weren't just humans in makeup.
I wouldn't have thought it possible, but the Elachi are even more horrifying than the Borg. At least with Borg conversion, the nanoprobes can be deactivated and the cybernetics removed. You'll still have a nightmarish case of PTSD to work through, but recovery and rehab are entirely possible.
With the Elachi, though, there's no coming back from that Innsmouth-style horror. Having the memories of who you were and what was taken from you return seems like a fate worse than death.
Those who escaped assimilation are forever changed, as well. The nanoprobes re-write DNA in order to make the assimilation process survivable. The biological technology that remains is why former Borg can still hear the Collective years after they regained their humanity.
@@PMMcIntyre Still better than being eaten alive by a fungus, slowly losing your memories, your body, and sense of self.
@@The_Keeper instead of a fungus, you lose everything through technology. Both are quite horrific ways to go. I actually fear the Borg more because you are still conscious of your actions and you are powerless to stop yourself. Knowing what he had done and being unable to fight almost broke Picard. As someone who also suffers from PTSD, I know first hand what it's like to be forced to kill innocent people and not being able to do anything about it. During a time of war, servicemen face summary execution for disobeying orders.
You’re forgetting about Species 8472. If the EMH hadn’t been there, Harry would have been eaten alive from the inside by some weird parasitic things, all while conscious
“Aquiel” with the coalescent organism also creeps me out.
What is so horrifying about these xenos is that they resemble real-world stories of ETs and UFOs. This episode actually scared me.
0:39 YEAH, BUOY!
I'd say that the Elachi resembles the illithid or Mindflayers of DnD. At least the kidnapping and and tranforming victims into more of their own part.
Good point. They are also from another realm of existence, just like the Illithids.
And IIRC, earlier editions of DnD had it where sometimes, parts of the original personality remained.
Sentient athlete's foot...just what the galaxy needs.
The two aliens are jeff and Bob, they got a bit lost after a night out and 10 pints of Stella
I thought it was Steve and Jeff but I get Bob and Steve confused all the time.
Strange... they don't look like Roanoa Zoro & Luffy.
@@KingofKarniesSteve got even more lost when he went for a curry
Just 10? Beginners.
Lol
1:08
Now THAT is some well integrated CGI! Enterprise was a little too ambitious with their effects sometimes.
I love Enterprise so it makes me smile to see these aliens get some love. That episode from season one, imo, is very underrated.
The Elachi were essentially an organic form of the Borg, taking in a host & infecting it, until the host was transformed enough to fully become one of its own.. A fascinating concept,..
yeah, i'll always been a fan of "alien" aliens. Since sci-fi is built on metaphor, costume design is built on humans, and just the need of having characters being relatable for a good storytelling, Aliens tend to just be human so it's so rare to really explore something like the Elachi or even the 10-C from last season of Disco (and even there we didn't get to actually explore them beyond the communication stuff)
I don’t think it’s about metaphor or relatability, rather budget. Non humanoid aliens can’t have human actors in a suit. This means animatronics or CGI and on top of that more work to bring them to life. That’s all very expensive. The odds of other real sentient life being bipedal are very slim. It’s all budget.
Hearing more about Enterprise and its adventures just makes me smile. It is my favorite star trek after all
The aliens in Rise of the Federation were not about ignoring technology, they failed to recognize humanoids as feeling beings, because they were telepaths but only could read themselves. Technology was not a criterion for them to give rights to a being. To them, the ability of humans to build a spaceship was like the ability of ants to build an anthill.
I had completely forgotten about this but I love episodes like this. Reminded me of when TOS encountered the Gorn.
That Elachi with a phaser is certainly taking his time adjusting its settings.
When I first saw that episode when I was a preteen, these aliens scared the crap out of me that I had nightmares afterwards. Especially the way their eye stalks just moved and just....ugh.....
The idea of sentient fungal life is a nifty one in sci-fi. The idea of them abducting and basically replacing people is terrifying though lol. Sometimes Trek manages to do suspense surprisingly well. Thank you for this spooky episode.
God be with you out there everybody. ✝️ :)
Aagard from StarGate but infected with cordiceps.
I'm trying to remember...there was a TNG episode with aliens who would abduct people into subspace pockets from the ship while they were sleeping, do experiments on them (like detaching and reattaching limbs, changing out the entire circulatory system, etc), then mind-wipe them and return them in the morning none the wiser. Were those Elachi as well? I know the species I'm thinking of has been used in STO as well, but I don't feel like wiki-walking trying to find it. :-/
That was a different species entirely, dubbed the "Solanae" in STO. They were in the episode "Schisms"
@@SpacklerStudios Ah, them...right, I remember now. Thank you for clarifying.
Man, I don't remember these aliens at all, and I watched through all of pre-Kurtzman Star Trek not too very long ago. I guess that's the fate of these one-off aliens of the week, to be easily forgotten.
The primary plots are the Enterprise installing the phase cannons and... Hoshi figuring out what food Lt Reed likes for a birthday dish. The aliens appear for a few seconds, otherwise it's an attacking ship, providing pressure to the weapons upgrades. 95% of what he's talking about here is from ancillary media, not the show.
I wasn't a big Enterprise fan but the episode these guys were in was one of my favorites, they were a genuine powerful threat, never before seen, the battle between their ship and the NX01 was like that of the first UNSC ships battling the Covenant to find out their enemy had the energy shielding and were impervious to most of your weapons.
Honestly, I think they were originally created to match the idea of "Aliens" and "Probing." Probably as kind of a joke. I think the whole episode was kind of meta in that the Elachi or whatever you want to call them represented our fears about outer space and that Starfleet beat them through willpower and creative use of science and technology. Essentially setting the tone for the standard Federation protocol for dealing with problems going forwards.
I think it's more likely that when the Iconians found them they were most likely primitive and they were uplifted. Most of their servitors were uplifted and dependent on their masters technology.
I forgot they appeared in Enterprise. Considering Discovery Season 5 mentions that the Iconians are alive (Remnants of the Iconian Empire, I believe is what was said when discussing who could have made the dark matter anomaly), the connection to the Iconians and Elachi isn't entirely impossible, though we don't know anything more than that for now.
I wonder if Enterprise S5 would have expanded on these mysterious creatures.
I heard we would've gotten a Romulan arc and something involving the Kzinti in ENT season 5, also T'Pol was supposed to be revealed as half-romulan on her father's side.
Probably not - a much of the way Star Trek was written at the time especially in ENT’s first and second season was on some “monster of the week” system
Technically, mushrooms are the fruiting reproductive parts of a fungus rather than the entirety. But with how they reproduce maybe that fits.
Sounds a lot like the relationship between the Reapers and Collectors in Mass Effect, except the reason for the abductions are even less believable. 7:30 even looks a bit like a Reaper.
Honestly, I started feeling the same way about it all.
Hell yes, do an extensive vid on them. I had completely forgotten about these episodes of ENT.
Playing through the Romulan arc in STO was the most invested I'd ever been in an STO plot-line.
Man, I still feel like "I remember Virinat because I was there" - it was very good.
Original and interesting is what I would say they were. Enterprise was and still is a fantastic Star Trek show and I really miss it.
>creepy one shot alien used as a fantastic example that abduction horror could still work in space
>Lore makes them fungal, adding to their uniqueness
>Lore retconned into mycelial network, because all fungus must be connected
>the mycelial network was already a massive retcon to explain away STD's Lore breaking tech
>STD itself forgot about the mycelial network after season 2
I wish the writers would stop bolting things to Discovery in an attempt to anchor into the wider cannon
and i wish that so called people wouldn't be hypocrits, whom are just make up things to bash something because the want to hate something and don't claim that it's not so!
If it wouldn't be Disco the Fans would like the connections that are made between certain events and further Star Trek Fans should be well familiar with "retcons and Lore breaking tech" from TOS or all the other shows but let's be honest, TOS breaks it's own sacred lore every episode. But it's Disco so NOW it's matters and a Problem, the 827 other Times not? As i said, would be nice if Star Trek Watching People wouldn't be just hypocrits but we can't have everything
@@enisra_bowman it's one thing to retcon something, in part because of what is available to do in a budget. It's ENTIRELY different when the writers, actors, and hell, even show runners themselves admit to not even bothering with source material. Especially material as rich in history as Trek.
@@Kainis80 sooo, more things that only matter once it's Disco and ignoring that TNG, DS9 and VOY mention the other maybe TWICE in all there Seasons that there is another Series
One of the times that Star Trek got closer to the classical Greys.
I wish theyd make an appearance in Discovery or in a 25th century show after ST Picard is completed
would be nice to have an Enterprise-esque run-in with them on SNW. Basically something that freaks out even the Gorn. Just one or 2 episodes to tie them into that century. Then toss something similar into perhaps a Picard: Legacy spinoff where they might actually explore them more with the larger Iconian situation, perhaps with finding references to Disco's use of the network and how things got really screwed up for the Elachi after that.
I love the idea of aliens with inscrutable motives not just methods. The idea that they could hold something other than technology, and self as separate from other as the true importance of a species is really fascinating to me.
Since the origin of the humanoid form in TNG ("The Chase", s6e20) still resonates with me, my head canon requires an explanation for all humanoids in Star Trek. These creatures are too weird in my estimation to have been a result of seeding by the progenitor race. This mycelial origin is therefore fascinating to me, and the connection to the Iconians is similarly a wonder. I'd love to see more references to the game version of the Iconians added to the film and TV franchise canon.
I wonder whether their natural/original form is something other than humanoid, with this humanoid form that we see merely the result of using a humanoid host for their spores.
@@Vaatrad the video says that their original environment was the mycelial network, so probably some sort of colony organism.
When I first saw the Elachi I thought they were the race of Captain Boday from Deep Space Nine. The one with the transparent skull.
Im almost positive that the shrike from s3 of picard is a ship that once belonged to the bug like aliens that nearly took over the federation in TNG. the primary hull looks like the bugs did in there smaller parasite form.
The ship design is from sto . Its a species 8472 cruiser. ( they went to war with the federation and klingons),
@@shanenolan5625 I've played allot of STO and never seen a ship that looks like the shrike. However I could see it being an undine ship.
@@ch1mera302 undine are species 8472 . ( 8472 is the borg designation)
THe Elachi are so oawesome to me as they are a perfect example of what STO does well. THey had no name and only appeared in 1 episode of ENT, but STO took this minor unkown race and made somethign truely fascinating out of them. They were finally given a name and like the Sonlanae tied into the Iconians as a servant race, their backstory was fleshed out to be that they can capture people to make more Elachi, and when STD was added durng New Trek's creation, STO eventually took the fungal nature of the Elachi and tied them into the Mycelial Network we see used in STD. I just replayed the main Romulan storyline in STO and it's great with how they tied so many threads together to build up the Iconians, bringing back Taris from the premiere episode which mentioned the Iconians as he was the Romulan officer who helped the Enterprise-D deal with the Iconian probe issue and disocer the Iconian Gateway, and Taris an Hakeev who was on her ship at the time of the incident both had an involvement in destroying Romulus and Remus. An later Hakeev and the Tal Shiar ally with the Elachi leading to the Romulan Republic player character's journey when their colony of Virinat is devastated. Later we get more of a look into the Elachi when a Romulan was made and Elachi only for him to be saved when J'ula messed with the Mycelial Network, this led to some Elachi becoming Liberated Elachi and allies now. Overall took a mystarious unamed barely known race and fleshed them out so well and eventually tying it into other Star Trek media, even something as bad and hated as STD, which I appreciate.
Love your content.
Make any videos you desire.
Trust me, we will watch them! 👍
Thank you Rick once again for the informitive video.
Interesting. I've just started playing Star Trek Online with a Romulan character and I've witnessed the start of that invasion, I recognised the ship as the design from Enterprise when it came in overhead before we beamed off that planet. At the moment I logged off where I'm still in engagements with the Tal'shiar and the Tholians with my little Warbird which is no doubt the precursor to the quest chain involving these aiens.
This video needed to be made, great job!
Just a note, the Elachi actually appear on screen more than twice in the shows.
The first time is as you mentioned, on the NX-01 Enterprise, and the last time was the attack on Mars/Utopia Planitia, but you forgot an entire TNG episode "Schisms" that was based completely around them. The examination table you show from Star Trek Online is the exact same one that they recreate in the holodeck when Riker, Worf, and other crew members go missing while they sleep in that episode.
True we never see the Elachi in the episode "Schisms", but their clicks can be heard and it is confirmed in canon that it was the Elachi abducting the TNG crew to do medical experiments on them and then probably seed them with their fungus.
So, they've actually been shown on screen in canon 3 times now, with 2 episodes dedicated to them and their mysterious ways.
I know too much about Star Trek lol I should start my own channel. I really thought you were going to mention "Schisms" for sure, which was part of the reason I clicked on the video. Maybe you can do a part 2 and include some of your theories and ideas with the "Schisms" episode included, so those that aren't total Trekkies will know the full story.
100% facts
The beings in "Schisms" are biologically distinct, having a biology dependent on solanogen (a substance which is only stable in subspace). STO calls these beings the Solanae; they were responsible for maintenance of those Iconian systems stored in subspace domains, and the reasons for their rather bizarre medical experiments are never made clear (maybe it's just their way of saying hello - they *are* aliens, after all).
Well, the Solonae are USUALLY depicted and referred to as quite a separate species (in "Schisms") but in many ways, they are still pretty similar, in behavior, at least, @Pistol P , so yes, that case, can be made...
Those aliens couldn't exist in the same subspace domain as the crew of the NX-01 traveling through normalspace though, that's what they were trying to learn to do in Schisms and presumably wouldn't be able to do before the end of Schisms. Or probably after considering Riker shot one or two of them and when that happens there's some SFX that I think is supposed to indicate whatever personal safety field they had collapsed and they "drowned" inside the pocket universe with a non-compatible potential range of cellular energy states. I don't think they could just walk around and mess with people on Enterprise, at least as of the date of Silent Enemy.
I would love to see a cultural index on the elachi the idea of a fungal race is interesting
Nice background, I like it. My thoughts all this time is that were conquored by the Klingons and that's why we never saw them again.
It was a lost idea that could have been a great antagonist to explore but we got the Xindi, Oh Boy!!!
Yes! Do the deep dive video! That would be great!😊
Thank you for mentioning this, it is something that has been bothering me from the first second I saw them.
You’ll need a Petri dish to do a culture of the Elachi.
They didn’t beam anyone it was a shuttle from what i remember
1:03 They didn't beam on board they use one of their own shuttles.
Silent Enemy is my favourite Enterprise Enterprise.
A Star Trek way to explain the grey aliens of UFO abductions.
Played STO after quiet some time off(quit again thou), INSTANTLY recalled that episode AND saw similarity between Elachi and this ship (not like we dont fight EXACTLY THIS SHIP IN STO AND ITS AN ELACHI FRIGATE). I frelled out seeing that myself. I was so happy that not only this proofs that STO is canon, but also that archer frelling PREVENTED them from turning up to early so we have a worthy foe to shoot in STO (imagine them destroying the NX so no fed happening)
those aliens traumatised me
Yes, you should do a deep dive into their culture. I could use some more necrophage species for Stellaris.
Miss the culture index videos. Hope you start doing them again.
What a fabulous race. I love the complexity to it. And yes they seem truly alien.
I will say they aliens from Silent Enemy didn't actually beam aboard, they boarded via shuttle. Great vid, love your stuff!
I really like how their hail to the enterprise was a deepfake of Archer's own previous attempted hails.
Do as much as possible on the Shroomies
... they are a fantastic underutilized Trek asset
8:35 Wait, parts of STO Elachi have been made soft-canon? Interesting information. Any chance you could link to a source for that text?
For a beta canon species with a very similar name that might be fun to do a video on, maybe consider the Elasi. Or even the Chodak?
For once, that's a fungi no one wants to see at a party.
The aliens in Star Trek ENT - Silent Enemy was first a uknown species, but later they were known as Shroomies and after that in Star Trek Online :
The Elachi (also known as Shroomies, Mutes, and Vertians) were an alien species native to Gamma Vertis IV, in the galaxy's Alpha or Beta Quadrants. The Elachi entered the astropolitical stage in the 22nd century and returned as a major player in the early 25th century, operating from subspace. (ENT episode: "Silent Enemy", ENT - Rise of the Federation novel: A Choice of Futures, STO mission: "Turnabout")
i think paramount needs a series involving these
It’s crazy how long ago this episode was aired. January 16 ‘22, a few short months after the Sept 11 attacks. Stuff on TV was better back then.
Jesus Christ.
I never realized that the Aliens from that ENT Episode were actually the Elachi, i thought the Elachi were a fully original STO addition.
Oh well, you live and learn
The crescent wave cannon they used on the nx01 was kind of a dead giveaway lol
@@RyuJinsoku
To be fair, it has been quite some time since i last saw the epispde, so my memory is a bit foggy in that regard
They're the GRAYS. Thanks. 😁
They could potentially get another on-screen appearance in the future, as an antagonist for a Titan series, following on from Picard. I’d definitely prefer them to turn up in the 25th century though, rather than Lower Decks, Strange New Worlds, or the Academy series set to follow on from Discovery.
Awesome as always.
The NX-01 Enterprise was a show about Archer getting his ass handed to him in the majority of the episodes. If not for luck, T’Pol, and Shran, the ship would have never made it.
Reads title. Answers title.
Elachi.
a long game setup of Iconia/Elachi similar to Great Link/Gem Hadar, w/ free Elachi
,w/ a goal, as a story builder
the elrachi fit the defintion of what in stellaris is called a NECROPHAGE a species that only can reproduce by consumsing converting or parasitzing other sapient lifeforms with elrachi being the more exterdimensional form where as something like the Go uld from star trek are a classic parastic example.
What is the four close fitting nacelle starship that pops up at around 4:59? I've seen it a few times in your videos, but can't find any info on it.
Star trek enteprise by far my favorite star trek shows. I love the early technology. Would have loved to see s5 romulan federation war.
There's a fan made, full length, live action, Enterprise movie, set during said war. It's centered on the exploits of the NX03.
It's hammy but a cool little thing.
It's called Star Trek Horizon and you can see it on UA-cam.
@@user-xu2pi6vx7o thx bud i will check it out.
I prefer the Elachi more as old fashioned grey aliens. Abducting people and performing experiments on them. It certainly feels that is what the original Enterprise episode was referencing. Even their appearance seems to match some styles of greys. I'm kind of disappointed STO has moved away from the stories they were telling and retconned in the newer shows, figuring out whys to shoehorn things in.
I think that it would have been better if they left it more of a mystery that's less fleshed out, with maybe hints of a link to the Breen.
I have been wondering this for years.
1:03 the aliens weren't beamed onto the Enterprise, they actually flew some kind of ship into their Second Shuttlebay
7:24 That's a cool ship
It seems like every unexplained alien or creature from previous shows are all put in with the Iconians so there is an explanation - oh these guys were advance scouts or these guys were their friends and because they needed a gig the Iconians got them the job as mushroom raiders or some other such nonsense because lord knows you can't have something unexplained or not linked up with other ST lore.
The Orville had an episode like this in its last season. I guess this is where they got the idea?
They didn't beam aboard. They used a shuttle.
They came aboard via a shuttle craft. Where they left a device.
I wonder if the borg could assimilate the ilachi for drones?
I always thought them as a nod to the classic greys.
Elachi? I thought they were called the Kovaalans. In Star Trek Enterprise: season 3, episode 21, an episode titled "E2" has a future NX-O1 Enterprise which was attacked by ships identical to the one in "Silent Enemy." The crew of this other Enterprise called them the Kovaalans.
According to the Star Trek Encyclopedia (4th ed., vol. 1, p. 441), the Kovaalans are the unnamed species from ENT: "Silent Enemy".
Quick Question. IF Vadic's crew took the form of the Elachi. Why?? I mean. Why have the Changlings taken those forms, and where could they have gotten them?
I wish I had the time and money to invest into Star Trek online that really does seem to be the place where Star Trek is actually continuing forward an interesting fashion.
Totally had my mind flashing back to horrible bosses...
"This is rape!? You're a rapist", etc as well as STRANGER DANGER !!! BAD TOUCH!! BAD TOUCH !!!
I always wondered if they were Husnock…
Elachi are cordyceps in space... GOT IT! 😉
I have an Elachi bridge officer and I named him omle, (elmo backwards)
I think the connection to discoveries mushroom land is incredibly stupid and it's a retcon that I hope gets ignored
Why so?
@@Mehrine88 well because it just feels like a lazy combination, like the devs saw that episode of enterprise and said "perfect we can use these unknown aliens in our plot" and then when discovery introduced the space mushroom shit they went "wow we can get to plots for for price of one by combining these 2 totally unrelated elements". Its like putting a hat on a hat ya know
@@exilestudios9546 Honestly, making logical connections between random story elements introduced over the decades is a pretty major part of most expanded universe type storytelling. I think it's basically a natural result of there only being so many altogether new concepts you can introduce when working within a licensed universe, but, as a writer, still wanting to explore something with some potential depth. Giving this fungal species an origin within an established fungal realm means the writers can tell a potentially interesting backstory without needing Paramount to approve a series of entirely new concepts that fans might not even go for.
Elanchi they appeared on star trek enterprise and star trek online
We need enterprise movie or follow up !!