Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2, Episode 8 - "Under The Cloak Of War"

Summary

  • Episode 8 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds reveals the origins and use of the super soldier serum Protocol 12 in the Klingon War.
  • Protocol 12 provides temporary boosts to strength, stamina, and pain resistance, making s capable of overpowering Klingon warriors.
  • Dr. M'Benga continued to produce Protocol 12 even after Starfleet abandoned its use, using it to achieve vengeance against the Klingon high command on J'Gal.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2, episode 8 explained the super soldier serum Dr. Joseph M'Benga (Babs Olusanmokun) and Nurse Christine Chapel (Jess Bush) used to kill Klingons during the Klingon War. Chapel and M'Benga used the heretofore unknown substance in Strange New Worlds' season 2 premiere to take out Klingon warriors who took them hostage on Cajitar IV. But the roots of the USS Enterprise's senior medical officers' usage of Starfleet's own super soldier serum go back to their horrific wartime experience on the moon of J'Gal.

In Strange New Worlds season 2, episode 8, "Under the Cloak of War," the arrival of Klingon Ambassador Dak'Rah (Robert Wisdom) on the Starship Enterprise triggers old traumas for Dr. M'Benga, Nurse Chapel, and Lt. Erica Ortegas (Melissa Navia). All three are Klingon War veterans who were outraged that the war criminal known as "the Butcher of J'Gal" was now feted as a diplomat by the United Federation of Planets. But Dr. M'Benga knew Dak'Rah's secret: he was lying about being the "Butcher of J'Gal" and used that notoriety to position himself as a peace-maker to the Federation. M'Benga's own past with J'Gal involves his use of Starfleet's super soldier serum known as Protocol 12.

Strange New Worlds’ Klingon Killing Super Soldier Serum Explained

Chapel M'Benga Protocol 12

Protocol 12, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' super soldier serum, pumps the body full of adrenaline and pain inhibitors. Dr. M'Benga correctly asserted Protocol 12 is "bad for your health," which he knew from extensive personal experience. Protocol 12 boosts a human's strength and stamina temporarily, making them resistant to pain and able to physically overpower Klingon warriors. Before J'Gal, Dr. M'Benga was known as "the Ghost," a black operative who had the most confirmed kills of any Starfleet Officer in the Klingon War. Strange New Worlds season 2, episode 8's flashbacks of conflict on the moon of J'Gal revealed that Starfleet had already discontinued its use of Protocol 12 by that point of the Klingon War.

However, Dr. M'Benga knows how to manufacture Protocol 12, and he continued to make the serum even after Starfleet abandoned its use. M'Benga had Protocol 12 on J'Gal, and he even gave some to Nurse Christine Chapel to help her escape the moon during Starfleet's evacuation. Strange New Worlds' season 2 premiere revealed that M'Benga still made Protocol 12 aboard the USS Enterprise, and he brought it along during the Cajitar IV mission knowing he would face Klingons once more. Thankfully, Protocol 12 doesn't seem to be an addictive substance, but every time Chapel and M'Benga used it, it was for the purpose of having Klingon blood on their hands.

How Dr. M’Benga Used Protocol 12 To Become The Butcher of J’Gal

M'Benga Butcher

Dr. M'Benga initially refused to resume his brutal, killing ways on J'Gal. Terrified that the war and his use of Protocol 12 turned him into a monster his family would no longer recognize, M'Benga insisted on being "just a doctor." But the Klingons escalating violence and massacring any non-Klingon on J'Gal pushed M'Benga past his breaking point. Joseph used Protocol 12 to attack the Klingon high command on J'Gal, which was led by General Dak'Rah. M'Benga killed Dak'Rah's inner circle while the General himself escaped.

Yet Dak'Rah claimed that he killed his own men and embraced being known as the "Butcher of J'Gal." This lie enabled Dak'Rah to sell himself to the Federation as a reformed Klingon looking to broker peace. But Dak'Rah never dreamed he would run into the true "Butcher of J'Gal," Dr. M'Benga, or that he would die by M'Benga's hand on the USS Enterprise years later. Starfleet discontinuing Protocol 12 before J'Gal preserves Star Trek canon in regard to a super soldier serum never being mentioned during the Klingon War on Star Trek: Discovery. Protocol 12 is an invention of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and its overall history is intimately tied to Dr. M'Benga and Nurse Chapel.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2 streams Thursdays on Paramount+.