As Kahn is activating the Genesis device he directly quotes Ahab from chapter 135, starting with “to the last…”
Towards thee I roll, thou all-destroying but unconquering whale; to the last I grapple with thee; from hell’s heart I stab at thee; for hate’s sake I spit my last breath at thee.
Hey man, tell it to Spock. He’s the one who called Khan “quite intelligent,” which is not exactly something he’d say about most of his fellow crew.
Of course, Khan then proved himself to be a complete idiot afterward, so maybe it’s just that Spock is a poor judge of these things. Maybe McCoy was the genius all along.
At the risk of stating the well-known, Khan’s line references Moby Dick:
and:
I did not know that, thanks for posting!
Removed by mod
As Kahn is activating the Genesis device he directly quotes Ahab from chapter 135, starting with “to the last…”
Reading the text of Moby Dick? Okay, cool.
Hearing it performed by Ricardo Montalban? Some of the best goddamn poetic prose ever.
Exactly. Kirk is his white whale and his obsession with killing him ends up being his death.
Kahn read Moby Dick, was in the habit of quoting it, completely missed the point of the book.
I’m laughing at the ‘superior intellect.’
Hey man, tell it to Spock. He’s the one who called Khan “quite intelligent,” which is not exactly something he’d say about most of his fellow crew.
Of course, Khan then proved himself to be a complete idiot afterward, so maybe it’s just that Spock is a poor judge of these things. Maybe McCoy was the genius all along.
And years later, Picard overcame his White Whale.