Was Shinzon a Pawn?

[Sionnach Glic]

While browsing SDN, I saw this interesting take on Shinzon that would help explain a lot about just how he managed to take control of the whole Empire. The original thread is here, the post I'm talking about is below.

Maybe this should be in fanfics, since it's just personal conjecture based on "not much really", but I figure it might spark some discussion.

What if, in Nemesis, Shinzon was not a glorious leader of poor oppressed slaves, but a pawn in a Romulan power play who escaped his leash and ran amok?

Picture this:

The year is 2379. The Empire has just won a major war and it has done so with the aid of its two sworn enemies. There's every chance that relations with the neighbouring powers will stay, if not friendly, than at least not as hostile as in the past.

Certain Senators disagree with this. They're afraid the Empire is going soft by cuddling up to the Klingons and the Federation. They never believed in a Romulan intervention in the Dominion War, or they believed the intervention should have been on Romulan terms and not as the result of dubious evidence. So in good Romulan tradition, they plan a coup.

But how to pull it off? The current government is riding on a wave of popular support after the war. Any direct attack will lead to a backlash, not just from the public which can be controlled but also from the middle echelons of power, the local governments, the pencil pushers that need to be kept in line. A coup now will be seen as a senseless power grab. What is needed is a crisis, proof that the current Senate's soft stand is damaging the Empire; a crisis that the plotters can defuse by swooping in and restoring order.

But how do you manufacture a coup that is both powerful enough to overthrow the Imperial Senate, yet weak enough to be overthrown by the plotters? The solution is simple; the plotters tailor their coup to be capable of delivering a fast, sharp blow, but incapable of maintaining momentum. A junta designed from the ground up to self-destruct. The ingredients: a disposable populace, a leader on borrowed time and a military force running on fumes.

The first ingredient are the Remans. They are hideous slaves, more animal then man as far as the Romulans are concerned. But there are many and they are on Romulus' doorstep. The image of these savages seizing control of the Empire is a publicity nightmare of delicious proportions to a plotter hoping to discredit the current rulers. A coup by Senators or the Army is a defeat; a coup by livestock is just embarrassing. And since these are not true Romulans, any cleanup operation afterwards will have full public support.

The second ingredient? Shinzon. The plotters could not have dreamt up a better rebel. Culturally Reman, biologically human, he is a hybrid of everything the Romulans will rally against. More than that, he is a fleeting threat; living on borrowed time, he will either be too weak to resist the plotters' counter-coup or already dead.

The third ingredient proves to be tricky. No coup can succeed without military support, but the plotters hesitate to give Shinzon access to Romulan military assets. The Romulan Military, ideally, is a tool rather than an actor. If the counter-coup is to succeed, no Romulan can be seen fighting on the Reman side for fear of straying close to civil war imagery; but Shinzon needs space support, if for no other reason than to blockade Romulus until the panic and confusion among the population reaches the critical mass where they'll be grateful for any relief.

The answer? The Scimitar. Originally a war prize, this half-finished Dominion ship has been rotting in a Reman shipyard for years. But under the guise of a reverse-engineering project, the ship is finished and fitted; haphazardly stacked shield generators, more weapon than are practical or economical, and above all a weapon of terror that will forever peg Shinzon as a madman in the eye of the average Romulan. The Scimitar isn't good warship; it lacks range, it lacks endurance, it lacks damage control, but for the few days in which it can function at full capacity - the few days before its fuel runs out, its weapons break down and its overtaxed internal structure fails from cumulative stress - it is an indestructible fortress, capable of holding the planet.

The self-destructive coup is all set. With Shinzon as the figurehead and the support of a few low-level flunkies - Suran and, at first, Donatra - the coup will wipe out the old Senate and pave the way for the plotters. The one thing the plotters didn't count on, however, is Shinzon's utter insanity. Rather than play nice and overthrow the government like a good boy, Shinzon goes on a convoluted quest to drink Picard's blood, plundering Romulan intelligence archives for lures he hopes Picard will not be able to resist; he finds the Soong saga, buys B-4, sets up his hopelessly complex honeytrap and hilarity ensues. By the time the plotters were expecting to lead their glorious counter-revolution against the Reman threat, Shinzon is out in deep space chasing the Enterprise like a dimwitted puppy after an icecream truck, and the coup deflates as the military re-establishes control.

Thoughts? I think it's a pretty good take on the character.

[Captain Picard's Hair]

I think it makes more sense than whatever the "official" explanation is supposed to be*, by default. The internal Romulan politics is very Romulan, and Shinzon is more complete nutjob than proper villain. Regardless of it's origins, we've found it hard enough to explain how Shinzon a/o the Remans themselves could have built something like the Scimitar by themselves. (And it does look vaguely Dominion until you unfurl those wings!)

Quite clever.

* is there really an official or "canon" explanation for these gaping plot holes at all? In that case, it makes more sense than the implicit idea that this was a Reman plot spearheaded by this nut too crazy to out-plot a paper bag.

[Mikey]

Not bad, but I don't see much a difference in the final analysis between either: a) rising up from his humble slave/experiment beginnings to do what he did, or b) "slipping his leash" and still doing what he did of his own volition.

[Deepcrush]

I like the idea of it. Very Romulan in its willingness to sell lives of all those who would be lost in the war to come against the UFP/KE alliance. Should someone step up and end the bloodshed, that someone would be a hero of the RSE.

[Mark]

That DOES sound way more "Romulan" than what actually happened.

[Lt. Staplic]

That does sound much more realistic, and would explain a lot. Maybe Donatra was with the conspirators, there to orgonize the distruction of the coup, then was suprised by Shinzon's sudden power stride and got spooked into compliance. That could also explain her sudden change of heart, she realized just how psycho he was and returned to the orrigional plan.

[Sionnach Glic]

Not bad, but I don't see much a difference in the final analysis between either: a) rising up from his humble slave/experiment beginnings to do what he did, or b) "slipping his leash" and still doing what he did of his own volition.

The end results are both the same, but this way's a far more plausable reason as to just how a rebellion that should by all rights have been put down in a few days at most could have led to Shinzon taking over the entire Empire and seizing a powerful superweapon.

[Deepcrush]

Plus with Shinzon dying and a ship that had the worst crew around. The whole thing was doomed to failure. Having only one ship against the whole RSE could never win. I really wish this was a part of the movie.

[Mikey]

It certainly would explain why Romulus sent such a half-assed attempt to aid the E-E in stopping him.

[Lt. Staplic]

yay fans, bringing logic to the happennings of Star Trek.

[Deepcrush]

It certainly would explain why Romulus sent such a half-assed attempt to aid the E-E in stopping him.

Plus it never hurts to get rid of a few SF ships. Then just say "oh but we didnt do it, it was the rebels!"

yay fans, bringing logic to the happennings of Star Trek.

That's pretty much the standard around here.

[Lazar]

You can actually get two movies for the price of one, just by watching TWOK. Simply imagine that:

1. Kirk is Patrick Stewart,
2. Spock is Brent Spiner,
3. Khan is some bald twirp, and
4. it sucks.

And there you have NEM!

[Deepcrush]

Are you saying TWoK sucks???

[Lazar]

No, I said imagine that it sucks.

[Tsukiyumi]

No, I said imagine that it sucks.

That's a bit of a stretch.