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Canonicity of the name[]

I feel somewhat stupid to only discover this after I entirely reworked the article, but I'm starting to doubt if the name "Ardanan" was ever mentioned on-screen. Though this name seems firmly established in fanon, I can't remember it mentioned in the episode, and I can't find it in any transcript. As for the star trek encyclopedia, it has no entry on ardanans, but under "Ardana" it does mentiones the "two classes of ardanans". As far as I can tell however, in other relevant articles they are just refered to "inhabitants or ardana". Should this be renamed to Ardana inhabitants? Capricorn 04:11, 14 August 2007 (UTC)

The term "Ardanan" is never mentioned in the episode and the three terms used (Troglyte, Disrupter, Stratos city-dweller) all refer to specific classes/groups of the same species. Generally, this would be good enough reason to move it to Ardana inhabitants/natives, however, there is another reference to Ardanans. In ENT: "Precious Cargo", an Ardanan shuttle is mentioned, almost surely a reference to the species from Ardana.--Tim Thomason 22:29, 13 July 2008 (UTC)

Removed[]

  • It is unknown how the conflict between Troglytes and city-dwellers evolved after the intervening of the Enterprise. DS9: "Rapture" indicates with the Federation position on the Bajoran D'jarra, that caste systems were condemned by the Federation in the 24th century. From the surprise and dismay when Kirk found out some of the specifics of Ardanan society it might be speculated that the Federation was not fully aware of the situation at the time.
  • Although Plasus calls the Troglytes "a conglomerate of inferior species" at one point, it still seems both city-dwellers and Troglytes form one and the same species, as this was an essential plot-point. His quote might perhaps be atributed to the widely held belief of superiority on Stratos.

I can see the merit of the first comment, because having just viewed the episode and comparing it to what was stated in "Rapture" and even "Attached" and "The Hunted", there must have been some significant policy changes between "The Cloud Minders" and the requirements established for those wishing to join in TNG, that or the Ardanans really pulled the wool over the Federation's eyes while getting their admittance passed through.

Second, it was clearly stated on the bridge that they were one in the same species, to say that "it still seems" and "might perhaps" suggests guesstimation rather than dealing with the facts. --Alan 04:00, 4 February 2009 (UTC)