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What is star trek's "lost era" & what we know.

Michelle Yeoh's Star Trek: Section 31 will be set in the "lost era" of Starfleet history, but what is it, and what do we already know about it?

• The "lost era" between Star Trek VI and TNG holds major historical events that shape the franchise's future.
• Michelle Yeoh's Section 31 movie explores this politically fractious time with Emperor Georgiou's mission in the 24th century.
• Key events like the Tomed Incident, the Cardassian Occupation of Bajor, and the Khitomer Massacre impact future Trek characters.

Michelle Yeoh's Section 31 movie will take place in Star Trek 's "lost era", expanding on the limited knowledge that fans have of this tantalizing time period. The confirmation that Kacey Rohl will play a young Rachel Garrett in Star Trek: Section 31 confirms that the latest mission for Emperor Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) will take place in the early 24th century. This extensive period in the Star Trek timeline takes place between the end of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country and the start of Star Trek: The Next Generation , during which some major historical events took place.

Star Trek 's "lost era" lasts for almost 70 years, taking in two starship Enterprises and some key events that would influence the Star Trek: The Next Generation era . While Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) may have helped to establish peace with the Klingons in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country , there were multiple threats elsewhere in the universe. During this 70-year period, the Romulan Star Empire and Cardassian Union became big threats to the peace and stability established by the Khitomer Accords. Star Trek 's "lost era", therefore, is the perfect time period for Michelle Yeoh's Star Trek spy movie to explore.

Where You've Seen Star Trek: Section 31's New Actors Before

12 unknown: emperor georgiou is sent to star trek's "lost era", why has the guardian of forever sent georgiou to the early 24th century.

The Guardian of Forever (Paul Guilfoyle) sent Georgiou back through time in Star Trek: Discovery season 3, when it became clear that the former Terran Emperor could no longer live in the 32nd century. It was never confirmed exactly when the Guardian was sending Georgiou, with many presuming that she would just re-emerge in the 23rd century. Now it's been confirmed that the Guardian has sent her to Star Trek 's "lost era", a politically fractious time where, perhaps, Georgiou can do a lot of good to atone for the sins of her past .

11 2293: Kirk "Dies" While Saving The USS Enterprise-B

Could captain john harriman appear in section 31.

In the same year that Captain James T Kirk helped to usher in a new era of peace between the Federation and the Klingon Empire, he gave his life to save the USS Enterprise-B. Kirk's death effectively marks the start of Star Trek 's lost era , as barely anything is known about what happened next to the USS Enterprise-B. Commanded by Captain John Harriman (Alan Ruck), the Excelsior-class starship embarked on its fateful first flight in 2293, over 70 years before the launch of the Star Trek: The Next Generation 's version of the starship Enterprise .

Given that it's a younger Rachel Garrett in Star Trek: Section 31 , there is the possibility that Harriman's Enterprise is still in service...

Captain John Harriman has been dubbed the worst Enterprise captain due to his handling of the situation involving the Nexus and the El Aurian refugees in Star Trek Generations . However, that's just one moment in the Starfleet officer's career, and official Star Trek has never confirmed if he ever redeemed himself for his mistakes. Given that it's a younger Rachel Garrett in Star Trek: Section 31 , there is the possibility that Harriman's Enterprise is still in service, meaning that the movie could update fans on this unfairly maligned Starfleet captain.

Star Trek: How The Enterprise Got Its Worst Captain (Backstory Explained)

10 2311: the tomed incident occurs, the federation-romulan conflict is one of the biggest events of star trek's "lost era"..

One of the most important, and mysterious, events in Starfleet history's "lost era" is the Tomed Incident . The exact specifics of this historical confrontation between the Federation and the Romulan Star Empire are unknown. However, Star Trek: The Next Generation revealed that the incident led to the loss of thousands of lives, presumably on both sides of the conflict. This led to the signing of the Treaty of Algeron, which redefined the boundaries of the Romulan Neutral Zone, and barred any Federation experiments with cloaking technology. The Romulan Star Empire also withdrew from interstellar politics, becoming a more isolationist regime.

The Treaty of Algeron remained in place for decades, barring a special dispensation that let the USS Defiant break the cloaking device ban in 2371. Years before, Captain Erik Pressman (Terry O'Quinn) worked with individuals within Starfleet Intelligence to develop a top secret interphasic cloaking device . While Pressman's experiment took place years after Star Trek: Section 31 , the involvement of Starfleet Intelligence does create the possibility that Georgiou could be thrown directly into the aftermath of the Tomed Incident.

9 2319: Cardassian Occupation Of Bajor Begins

The Cardassian Occupation of Bajor was another major event that took place during Star Trek 's "lost era". In 2309, the technologically advanced Cardassians offered to help the Bajorans, and spent a decade preparing to finally assert military rule over the planet in 2319 . The occupation was a brutal time, in which the Cardassians began stripping Bajor of its natural resources and enslaved its people. For 50 years, the Federation stood by and did nothing, as to intervene would be a breach of the Prime Directive.

The Cardassian Occupation of Bajor was a hugely formative event for Star Trek characters Ro Laren (Michelle Forbes) and Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor).

Key figures like Ambassador Spock (Leonard Nimoy) and his father, Ambassador Sarek (Mark Lennard) bitterly disagreed over the Federation's handling of the Cardassians. It's possible, therefore, that figures within the Federation may have sent Section 31 operatives to supply the Bajoran Resistance with weaponry and supplies to fight their oppressors. The Cardassian Union were probably the biggest threat to peace and stability during Star Trek 's "lost era" , so weakening them by covertly supporting their enemies would be a smart tactical move by the Federation.

8 2327: Jean-Luc Picard Is Stabbed Through The Heart By A Nausicaan

The near-fatal incident was the making of the future enterprise captain..

The Starfleet career of Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) was almost cut tragically short in 2327, when he was stabbed through the heart by a Nausicaan. Picard underwent emergency surgery, in which he had an artificial heart fitted . In Star Trek: The Next Generation season 6, episode 15, "Tapestry", Q (John de Lancie) helped Picard to realize that this incident made him the legendary Starfleet captain that he would become. By facing death at the start of his career, Picard knew that life was short, and was emboldened to make his mark as an officer, eventually becoming captain of the Enterprise.

7 2333: Jean-Luc Picard Takes Command Of The USS Stargazer

Could jean-luc picard meet philippa georgiou.

In 2333, Jean-Luc Picard assumed command of the USS Stargazer when the commanding officer was killed in action . Starfleet were so impressed by Picard's courage under fire that they made him the permanent commanding officer of the Stargazer. Jean-Luc commanded the USS Stargazer for 22 years, joined by his best friend, Lt. Commander Jack R. Crusher (Doug Wert), the husband of Star Trek: The Next Generation 's Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden). The timing of Picard's service aboard the Stargazer does make him one of the few Star Trek: The Next Generation characters who could cross paths with Philippa Georgiou in Star Trek: Section 31 .

Picard's History With Beverly Crusher's Family Explained

6 2335 - 2336: lore and data are built on omicron theta, the soong-type androids were a huge leap forward for artificial intelligence..

Dr. Noonien Soong (Brent Spiner) and his wife Juliana (Fionnula Flanagan) made a huge leap forward in creating synthetic life. In 2335, Lore was built and activated, but displayed signs of emotional instability, and even a sinister degree of malevolence. Lore was deactivated, and Soong began working on a new and improved model, Data, who was less emotional and therefore more stable. With the help of Juliana, Data began to learn about art and music, in a desire to become more human . However, the Soong family were soon to face a devastating tragedy that would place Data in the hands of Starfleet.

5 2338: Omicron Theta Is Attacked By The Crystalline Entity

Lore's revenge was devastating, but set data on a path to starfleet..

Lore took revenge on Noonien and Juliana by communicating with the Crystalline Entity, an immensely powerful being responsible for thousands of deaths in the 24th century . Lore effectively fed the Soongs' home of Omicron Theta to the Entity, which quickly consumed all organic life on the planet. Juliana was seriously injured as she and Noonien Soong fled the Entity, later dying and being replaced by an android duplicate. Data was left behind on Omicron Theta, where he was discovered by the crew of the USS Tripoli, who reactivated him, and inspired the Soong-type android to pursue a career in Starfleet.

The Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Silicon Avatar" reveals that Raymond Marr was killed on Omicron Theta, inspiring his mother Kila to dedicate her career to learning more about the Crystalline Entity.

4 2344: The USS Enterprise-C Is Destroyed

Captain garrett's sacrifice preserved peace with the klingon empire..

Years after she meets Philippa Georgiou in Star Trek: Section 31 , Rachel Garrett is captain of the USS Enterprise-C . Beyond its tragic ending, the service history of Garrett's Enterprise is unknown, but it was a starship of huge historical significance. As revealed in Star Trek: The Next Generation season 3, episode 15, "Yesterday's Enterprise", the Enterprise-C bravely fought off a Romulan attack on a Klingon colony. Outgunned and outmanned, the Enterprise-C was destroyed above Narendra III by four Romulan warbirds .

First appearing in 1990's Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, "Yesterday's Enterprise", Rachel Garrett would remain the only female captain of the starship Enterprise until Seven of Nine took command of the USS Enterprise-G in 2023's Star Trek: Picard finale, "The Last Generation".

The biggest tragedy of the USS Enterprise-C was that the crew were presented with a way out when, over 20 years later, they fell through a temporal rift. However, their disappearance from Narendra III ultimately led to tensions between the Federation and the Klingon Empire reaching boiling point once again. And so Garrett and her crew made the decision to return to 2344 and face their tragic fate. The Klingon Empire was so impressed by the Enterprise-C's glorious battle against the Romulans that relations between them and the Federation began to improve .

3 2346: The Romulans Attack Khitomer

The khitomer massacre tore the house of mogh apart..

The complicated relationship between the Klingon Empire and Worf (Michael Dorn) begins in Star Trek 's "lost era" with the devastating Khitomer Massacre in 2346. It was a massive escalation of the attempted destruction of Narendra III two years earlier. Worf's father, Mogh, desperately tried to warn the colony about the impending attack, after unearthing the fact that the planet's defense codes had been leaked by the traitor Ja'rod. Romulan forces launched a devastating attack on the Klingon colony, resulting in an estimated 78% of the population being listed as casualties . The attack orphaned Worf, who was raised by his adoptive human parents, Sergey and Helena Rozhenko.

Why Worf’s Son Alexander Rozhenko Has Human Names, Not Klingon

2 2362: the setlik iii massacre happens, the tragedy made chief o'brien a hero..

The Federation-Cardassian Wars began in 2347 and the conflicts between both powers lasted into the early 2360s . One of the most devastating tragedies of these conflicts was the Setlik III massacre, the date of which is up for debate in Star Trek canon. In Star Trek: The Next Generation season 4, episode 12, "The Wounded", Chief O'Brien (Colm Meaney) states that the massacre occurred in 2347, but this is later contradicted when Star Trek: Deep Space Nine dates it closer to 2362.

Chief O'Brien became the " Hero of Setlik III " by saving the lives of 13 people with a field transporter.

Whatever the date, the Cardassian attack on Setlik III was devastating, and killed the majority of the colony's inhabitants, including the family of Captain Benjamin Maxwell (Bob Gunton). Chief O'Brien became the " Hero of Setlik III " by saving the lives of 13 people with a field transporter. It was revealed in Star Trek: The Next Generation that the Setlik III massacre was a terrible mistake, launched out of the false belief that the civilian colony was a staging ground for a Federation invasion of Cardassian space .

Captain Janeway, Chief O'Brien, and Captain Picard all saw action during the Federation-Cardassian Wars.

1 2363: Construction On The USS Enterprise-D Is Completed

19 years after the destruction of the USS Enterprise-C, construction was completed on her successor in 2363. This is the moment that brings Star Trek 's "lost era" to a close, as Captain Jean-Luc Picard would command the USS Enterprise-D for eight years beginning in 2364. The adventures of Picard's crew are legendary, and well documented, as are those of Captains Janeway and Sisko who followed in his wake. However, whether it was the falllout from the Cardassian border agreement, or the revelations about the Khitomer Massacre, all three of those legendary Star Trek captains had to deal with the fallout from this "lost era" of Starfleet history.

Star Trek: Section 31 will release exclusively on Paramount+ at a later date.

Star Trek: Generations is available to stream on Max.

All episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine are available to stream on Paramount Plus.

Star Trek: Section 31

In this Paramount+ exclusive movie event, Michelle Yeoh returns as Emperor Philippa Georgiou, who was first introduced in Star Trek: Discovery Season 1. Star Trek: Section 31 centers on Yeoh's character as she faces her past sins and is recruited by Starfleet's secret division that protects the United Federation of Planets.

Star Trek: The Next Generation

Star Trek: The Next Generation is the third installment in the sci-fi franchise and follows the adventures of Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew members of the USS Enterprise. Set around one hundred years after the original series, Picard and his crew travel through the galaxy in largely self-contained episodes exploring the crew dynamics and their own political discourse. The series also had several overarching plots that would develop over the course of the isolated episodes, with four films released in tandem with the series to further some of these story elements.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, also known as DS9, is the fourth series in the long-running Sci-Fi franchise, Star Trek. DS9 was created by Rick Berman and Michael Piller, and stars Avery Brooks, René Auberjonois, Terry Farrell, and Cirroc Lofton. This particular series follows a group of individuals in a space station near a planet called Bajor.

The History Of The Romulans, And Their Place In The Star Trek Universe

"Star Trek" is home to countless alien races, but few have as enduring a presence in the franchise as the Romulans. They're the most persistent adversaries of the Federation, so much so that blue-tinted Romulan Ale remains under trade embargo. This hostility makes it all the more ironic that they resemble humanity's first alien allies, the Vulcans , sharing their pointed ears and arched eyebrows.

The in-universe origin of the Romulans is that they were Vulcans, millennia ago. In that distant past, the Vulcans were a warlike people, far from the cold logicians that fans know. That changed when (in Earth's 4th century), the philosopher Surak taught his people to embrace logic and master their emotions. Not all Vulcans accepted Surak's teachings; "Those Who March Beneath The Raptor's Wings" were eventually exiled from Vulcan. These dissident Vulcans settled on the twin planets Romulus and Remus, evolving into the Romulans and personifying a violent path not taken by their Vulcan cousins.

"Star Trek" is big on allegory — the interstellar powers represent the geopolitics of the 20th century. The Federation is the United States of America, a democracy of many member states. As the Federation's most pressing rival, the Klingon Empire is the Soviet Union. The Romulan Star Empire is China, a "sleeping dragon" superpower.

So, why have the Romulans endured as a crucial part of "Star Trek" history — and what does their role in that history look like?

Romulans in the Original Series

The Romulans were created by writer Paul Schneider, debuting in the season 1 episode "Balance of Terror." The episode features the Enterprise reacting to the destruction of outposts along the Romulan Neutral Zone; the culprit is a Romulan ship armed with a cloaking device. The Romulans flee back home while the Enterprise pursues its invisible quarry in a cat-and-mouse game.

This episode established the Romulan Star Empire had fought humanity in a devastating war a century ago. The war ended with a Neutral Zone established between the two parties' territories. Notably, no human had ever seen a Romulan in this time (or at least, no human who survived to tell about it). That means the Enterprise crew is stunned when they discover their adversaries are identical to Vulcans. The Romulans' exact backstory isn't spelled out, but Spock (Leonard Nimoy) speculates they are a Vulcan offshoot who retained his ancestors' warlike ways.

Schneider modeled the Romulans on the Romans; their twin homeworlds are named for the mythical founders of Rome and they employ ranks like "Centurion." Interviewed for "The Captains' Logs" by authors Edward Gross and Mark Altman , Schneider explained: "I came up with the concept of the Romulans which was an extension of the Roman civilization to the point of space travel, and it turned out quite well."

The Romulans' ship, dubbed a "Bird of Prey" due to the hawk painted on its underbelly, also created an association between the Romulans and birds. By "Star Trek: The Next Generation," their imperial insignia had evolved into a stylized raptor. Their ancestors' moniker, "Those Who March Beneath The Raptor's Wings," was probably extrapolated from this connection too by writer André Bormanis (the name first appears in "Star Trek: Enterprise" episode, "Awakening," written by Bormanis).

Further appearances

"Balance of Terror" is one of the most acclaimed episodes of "Star Trek: The Original Series." It was even semi-remade for the season 1 finale of "Strange New Worlds," titled "A Quality of Mercy." The unnamed Romulan Commander (played by Mark Lenard, who would go on to play Spock's father, Sarek) is an especially well-remembered villain, predating Khan Noonien Singh as the first worthy adversary of Captain Kirk (William Shatner) and the Enterprise. Even with his last words, he retains dignity and honor: "I regret that we meet in this way. You and I are of a kind. In a different reality, I could have called you friend."

Despite this dynamite debut, the Romulans made only two more appearances in "The Original Series." They are the antagonists of the season 2 episode "The Deadly Years," about the Enterprise crew succumbing to premature aging. However, only their ships are seen, not the Romulans themselves. They make a second and final onscreen appearance in season 3's "The Enterprise Incident" ( written by the legendary D.C. Fontana ). In this episode, Spock seduces a Romulan commander (Joanne Linville) while Kirk poses as a Romulan officer to steal her ship's cloaking device.

According to "The Art of Star Trek" by Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens, "Romulans were originally intended to be more of an ongoing threat to the crew of the Enterprise, but the make-up requirements proved too expensive. Klingons were cheaper." Note how, in "Balance of Terror" and "The Enterprise Incident," Romulan extras often wear ear-concealing helmets — an easy way to bypass make-up expenses.

The Romulans had only minor roles in the six theatrical "Star Trek" films featuring the original cast. They were rejected as villains of the third film, "The Search for Spock," again in favor of the Klingons (this is why the Klingons in that film have a cloaked ship called a Bird of Prey).

The Rihannsu

During the 1980s, the Romulans took center-stage in "Rihannsu," a five-novel series written primarily by Diane Duane (Peter Morwood co-authored the second, "The Romulan Way.") Published from 1984 to 2006, the novels invented a culture and language for the Romulans wholesale; they are technically not "Trek" canon but remain acclaimed for their world-building.

"Rihannsu" ("The Declared") is the Romulans' native name for themselves, akin to how German people call their nation "Deutschland," the Japanese call theirs "Nippon," etc. They are driven by "D'era," an expansionist impulse akin to Manifest Destiny, and "Mnhei'sahe" (ruling passion), a complex code of conduct that is foremost a rejection of the Vulcan system of logic.

"Mnhei'sahe" is weighed by one's personal strength and devotion to the Empire. Romulans seek power not for personal benefit per se, but because greater power serves the Empire. Selflessness is an alien concept to the Romulans; do things for the sake of your own Mnhei'sahe and others will benefit in the process. "Mnhei'sahe" spreads its claws even into simple Romulan social interactions, where the ideal outcome is for both parties to depart with their honor intact.

Much of Duane's other additions are inferences based on "Balance of Terror" and "The Enterprise Incident." Akin to Rome, the Romulans are an Oligarchic Republic; a Praetor is elected by the Senate itself, not the people at large. "The Enterprise Incident" showed a Romulan woman with a high military rank. So, "Rihannsu" gave the Romulan society a matriarchial tilt; a Romulan's family lineage is derived from their mother, not their father.

Much of "Rihannsu" is a holdover from the suggestion in "Star Trek: The Original Series" that Romulans were a warrior culture. For instance, their society has a semi-feudal system with a strong emphasis on family affiliation. Canon material would take a different path, showing Romulans as militant but not exactly honorable.

The Next Generation

In "Star Trek: The Next Generation," the Klingons were now good guys (mostly). They also became the go-to warrior race of "Star Trek"; Klingon society took on Viking and Samurai characteristics, where war, personal honor, and feudal affiliation were everything.

The Romulans became less and less the noble Roman-esque adversaries that Schneider had conceived of, with "TNG" instead highlighting their duplicity (with the cloaking devices) and isolationism. Thus, the stereotypical traits of Romulans became paranoia, deception, and xenophobia.

The Romulans were reintroduced in "TNG" season 1 finale, "The Neutral Zone," where it's said they had stayed out of galactic affairs for much of the 24th century. The episode (where several of their colonies are destroyed by the to-be-revealed Borg) awakens them. Creator Gene Roddenberry had initially not wanted to use the Romulans, but poor reception to the Ferengi meant the Federation needed a new adversary. Thus, the Romulans became the most frequent alien antagonist in the series; the Federation and Klingons were united as their enemies. Recurring Romulan villains included Tomalak (Andreas Katsulas) and Sela (Denise Crosby).

The most notable additions to the Romulans in "TNG" included V-shaped forehead ridges (dimorphic evolution from their Vulcan cousins), the D'deridex Class (enormous green warships descended from the Birds-of-Prey from "The Original Series"), and the Tal Shiar, Romulus' secret police.

Romulan highlights in "TNG" include "The Defector" (a Romulan military officer defects to the Federation) and "Reunification" (where Ambassador Spock has begun a push on Romulus for the two peoples to be one again).

The Next Generation (cont'd)

The Romulans weren't as prominent in "Deep Space Nine" as in "The Next Generation," but that series featured them finally uniting with the Federation. While the Federation and Klingons fight a losing war with the expansionist Dominion, the Romulans initially stay on the sidelines.

In the season 6 episode, "In The Pale Moonlight," Captain Sisko (Avery Brooks) and Garak (Andrew Robinson) falsify evidence of the Dominion's plans to invade Romulus and try to sway Senator Vreenak (Stephen McHattie). When their deception is revealed, Garak (with Sisko none the wiser until it's done) pulls a move the Romulans would be proud of: he assassinates Vreenak and frames the Dominion. Thus, the Romulans join the war as allies, and remain so until the series' end.

The Romulans finally got a silver screen spotlight in "Star Trek: Nemesis," the final "TNG" theatrical film. The Romulan Senate is assassinated by a bio-weapon and a new Praetor, Shinzon (Tom Hardy), seizes power. It turns out Shinzon is a failed clone of Picard, the product of an aborted spying operation. The biggest wrinkle "Nemesis" introduces to the Romulans is the Remans. Playing on the pre-established twin planets Romulus and Remus, the grey-skinned Remans are a slave race, toiling as forced laborers and shock troops.

The film skimps on the details of Reman history, so viewers can surmise they evolved on Remus and were subjugated by the Romulans. However, the novel trilogy "Vulcan's Soul" by Josepha Sherman and Susan Shwartz builds on the Remans displaying telepathy like the Vulcans (which the Romulans have always lacked). In this telling, the Remans were Vulcan exiles who refused to give up their telepathy and so were oppressed by the future Romulans; their appearance stems from the poor living conditions on Remus.

Looking to the past

"Star Trek: Enterprise" was a prequel set in the 22nd century, beginning before first contact between humans and Romulans. That event was depicted in the season 2 episode "Minefield," when the Enterprise stumbles into Romulan territory and is disabled by a cloaked minefield. True to canon, only the Romulans' ships are seen in the episode.

The Romulans finally took a larger role in season 4. The three-parter, "The Forge/Awakening/Kir'Shara" was about a Vulcan conspiracy to invade the Andorians. The ending revealed that Vulcan Administrator V'Las (Robert Foxworth) was in league with the Romulans and secretly working towards reunification. A subsequent three-parter, "Babel One/United/The Aenar," featured the Romulans as the explicit villains. A Romulan drone-ship, equipped with a holographic projector and controlled by Admiral Valore (Brian Thompson), attacked ships throughout the Alpha Quadrant to ferment dissent (the story begins with it destroying an Andorian ship while disguised as a Tellarite one, it later destroys a Rigellian freighter while disguised as Enterprise, etc.). However, the attacks only wind up bringing the targeted races together.

"Enterprise" established a firm timeframe for the Earth-Romulan War: 2156 to 2160. Moreover, the war was revealed as the event that brought the Federation together; Humans, Vulcans, Andorians, and Tellarites united in a military alliance against Romulan expansionism and never broke apart. The Romulans' increased presence in season 4 was building up to the war, but unfortunately, "Enterprise" was canceled before subsequent seasons could depict it. Thus, the Earth-Romulan War remains undepicted onscreen, confined to novels "Beneath The Raptor's Wings" and "To Brave The Storm" (both by Michael A. Martin).

The home world destroyed

Romulans were again the villains of a "Star Trek" film in director JJ Abrams' eponymous reboot. In the year 2387, Romulus and Remus are destroyed when their star goes supernova, shattering the Empire. Spock manages to contain the explosion with the substance Red Matter, opening a wormhole that sends him back in time to the 23rd century. Following him is the Romulan mining vessel the Narada, captained by vengeful Captain Nero (Eric Bana) — his name is another allusion to ancient Rome . 

The Narada's presence creates an alternate timeline; Nero and his men destroy Vulcan with Red Matter before being defeated themselves. Nero and the Narada's crew stand out from other Romulans thanks to their shaved heads and tattoos; the admittedly non-canon comic "Star Trek: Countdown" suggests this is part of a mourning ritual. Normally the tattoos would fade, but Nero and his crew burnt them into their skin to ensure they'd never forget the loss of their home.

"Star Trek" returned to the "TNG" era with "Picard" and followed on from this point. It turns out that Starfleet offered to help evacuate Romulus, but after an attack on Mars, reneged on the plan; Picard himself resigned in disgust. The Romulans are far from extinct though. The Empire has collapsed into warring factions, one of which is the Romulan Free State. According to "Star Trek: Discovery," Vulcan/Romulan reunification will have become a reality by the 31st century. The groups remain culturally divided, but they again exist on the same planet, renamed from Vulcan to "Ni'var" (meaning two combined into one).

Romulan worldbuilding

Michael Chabon, showrunner of "Picard" season 1, also shared (via Medium) worldbuilding notes on the Romulans . These presumably influenced his onscreen depiction of them. Chabon writes that the Romulans are such secretive people that there is nothing more intimate to them than the truth; marriages have three participants because there must be third-party verification in everything.

The Romulan government is organized like an espionage network, with multiple competing cells, while Romulans all have four names: the common name (used for familiarity), imperial name (the state-recognized name), open name (for outsiders), and their true name (used only for close intimacy). Chabon suggests that a rumored reason for the Romulans' secrecy is the abundance of camouflaged predators on their adopted homeworld; their cloaked warbirds are modeled on a raptor whose plumage blends into the horizon.

Not all depictions of the Romulans totally align — compare Duane's Rihannsu to Chabon's Romulans. However, they all draw upon "The Original Series" and make inferences from there. "Star Trek" writers and fans aren't much different; they both take canon material and expand on it with some imagination.

"Star Trek" and its spin-offs are streaming on Paramount+.

The Untold Truth Of Star Trek's Romulans

Star Trek   gives good bad guy. Since  Star Trek: The Original Series'  ( TOS)  premiere in 1966, Gene Roddenberry and his colleagues have brought us lots of memorable recurring antagonists. There are the warlike Klingons, the trickster Q, and the relentless Borg — but before most of  Trek 's repeat villains came the Romulans. 

Only appearing in a few of the original series' episodes and making minor appearances in the original crew's films, the Romulans were nonetheless remembered when the  Trek  franchise was revived with  Star Trek: The Next Generation   ( TNG ). For most of their time onscreen, the Romulans have been Cold War -like opponents. They plot, they assassinate, and they threaten, but they rarely make open war on Starfleet. But when they do open fire? Well, nine times out of ten, the Romulans only let slip the proverbial dogs of war after their work in the shadows has made their victory seemingly inevitable. 

Unlike Starfleet, the Romulan military and secret agents have few moral qualms about dealing with other species, and their mercilessness helps breed paranoia within their ranks. They'll do anything to get ahead, and assume everyone they meet is just as willing. Their paranoia sometimes proves more than accurate, as even some of the most idealistic members of Starfleet have taken a break from their usual ethical high ground when dealing with the sons and daughters of Romulus. 

For more about one of  Star Trek 's oldest powers, keep reading for the untold truth of the Romulans.

Their creation was inspired by ancient Rome

According to commentary on the  TOS  season 1 Blu-ray, the idea for the Romulans came from writer Paul Schneider, who wanted worthy adversaries for Captain Kirk (William Shatner) and was inspired by the Roman Empire . 

Romulans make their first appearance in the  TOS  season 1 episode "Balance of Terror." We learn that after a bloody conflict with the Romulans, a peace treaty was forged between them and the Federation via subspace radio. The treaty establishes a neutral zone in which neither side's ships are allowed to enter. A map is displayed to the  Enterprise  crew that shows the planets Romulus and Remus on the opposite side of the zone. 

Romulus was the legendary founder of Rome. In Roman myth, Romulus and his brother Remus are born to a mortal woman, Rhea Silvia, who mates with Mars — the god of war. Left for dead by their uncle Amulius' servants, the twins are saved by a wolf. They're eventually raised by shepherds and, upon growing to adulthood and learning the truth about who they are, they kill their uncle and seek a place to start their own kingdom. There are different versions of how it happens, but at some point in the tale Romulus usually kills Remus in a dispute over where their new kingdom is to be founded. 

Considering the treachery and violence we've seen the Romulans are capable of, if nothing else Schneider picked fitting names for their worlds. 

Romulans are an offshoot of Vulcans

When the  Enterprise  first encounters Romulans, they're the first humans to actually see the race, and their physical similarities to Vulcans leaves some crew members questioning Spock's (Leonard Nimoy) loyalty. Their similar features aren't a coincidence — Romulans are an offshoot of the Vulcan species.

Centuries before the events of Star Trek  when the Vulcans begin to purge their emotions in pursuit of pure logic, not everyone plays ball. Some Vulcans reject the new ideas, and after a bloody war they leave to create their own society on Romulus and Remus. 

Romulans, however, are not   just Vulcans on a different planet. Millenia of genetic drift created many subtle variations in their physiological makeup. They still share pointed ears, but there are some obvious differences, like the prominent ridges on Romulans' foreheads. There are less obvious differences too, which Dr. Crusher learns in the  TNG  episode "The Enemy," when she unsuccessfully tries to heal an injured Romulan by treating him as if he were a Vulcan.

Predictably there are Romulans like TNG 's Sela (Denise Crosby) who feel nothing but contempt for Vulcans. But some feel a strong kinship toward their less passionate cousins. In the  TOS  episode "The Enterprise Incident," the Romulan Commander (Joanne Linville) admires and and is attracted to Spock. In the  TNG  two-parter "Unification," it's feared that Spock has defected to Romulus, when in fact he's there meeting the members of a growing movement of Romulans who wish to reunite with their Vulcan ancestors. 

One of the first onscreen Romulans was Spock's dad... kind of

If you're more familiar with the original crew movies than with  TOS , or more familiar with  TNG , then you may be surprised to learn who played the first onscreen Romulan Commander: Mark Lenard, who would later appear in "Journey to Babel" as Spock's father Sarek. Lenard reprised the role of Sarek in  TNG , in a number of the original crew movies, and even lent his voice to Sarek in  Star Trek: The Animated Series . But before he played Sarek, he played the unnamed Romulan Commander in "The Balance of Terror." 

Speaking to  Starlog  (via MyStarTrekScrapbook ) in 1984, Lenard said the Romulan Commander role was the second time he'd gone up for a part on  TOS . And while the second time proved the charm as far as getting on the series was concerned, it would take a third try before he got to meet any of the series regulars. In "Balance of Terror," all of the communication between his character and the  Enterprise  crew takes place on a viewscreen, so there was never any need for him to be in the same space. It wasn't until he returned as Sarek that he was able to meet the intrepid crew.

Lenard wasn't the only Romulan in that episode to return later as a Vulcan. Lawrence Montaigne, who plays the ambitious Romulan officer Decius in "Balance of Terror," returns as the Vulcan Stonn in season 2's "Amok Time." 

The Romulans boast a number of secret cabals

One of the reasons so many Romulans remain loyal to their government is the Tal Shiar — a powerful secret police that conducts clandestine operations both inside the Romulan Empire and against Romulus' rivals. They kidnap, torture, assassinate, and don't lose much sleep over any of it. 

The Tal Shiar is first mentioned in  TNG but becomes more visible in  Star Trek: Deep Space Nine ( DS9 ), when we witness how resilient the organization is. In the two-part DS9  story spanning "Improbable Cause" and "The Die is Cast," the Tal Shiar join forces with the Cardassians' secret police — the Obsidian Order — in a sneak attack on the Dominion. The whole thing turns out to be a trap and their fleet is decimated. The events wipe out the Obsidian Order and help lead to the overthrow of the Cardassian government. The Tal Shiar, on the other hand, are still one of the most powerful parts of the Romulan government when we meet their leader Koval (John Fleck) in the  DS9 s eason 7 episode "Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges."

More recently in  Star Trek: Picard ,   we learn the Tal Shiar is a part of an older organization called the Zhat Vash — something so secret some Tal Shiar members believe it's a myth. The Zhat Vash is dedicated to wiping out all synthetic life, and it's embedded in governments all over the galaxy, including the highest ranks of Starfleet.

A favorite episode proves Starfleet isn't above using Romulan tactics

The Romulans are often depicted as unduly paranoid in contrast to the well-intentioned heroes of Starfleet. In a fan-favorite episode –  DS9 's "In the Pale Moonlight" — Starfleet proves that sometimes the Romulans should  be paranoid. 

Captain Ben Sisko (Avery Brooks) commits himself to convincing the Romulans to enter the war against the Dominion. He enlists the enigmatic Cardassian Garak (Andrew Robinson) to retrieve Dominion plans to invade Romulus. When that doesn't work out, Garak sells Sisko on the idea of creating a fake holographic record of the Dominion leaders discussing the invasion of Romulus. Sisko invites the Romulan Senator Vreenak (Joseph McHattie) to DS9 to show him the recording, but the senator sees through the lie. Not long after an enraged Vreenak leaves the station, we learn his ship has been destroyed and the Tal Shiar believes the Dominion is behind it. Sisko realizes Garak never meant for the fake holo-record to work, but instead always planned to assassinate Vreenak and pin it on the Dominion. Sisko is enraged and even attacks Garak in his shop, but in the end — because he's desperate to defeat the Dominion — he keeps the truth to himself. 

The entire story is told from Sisko's point of view as he reads it into a log entry. In the final moments of the episode, as soon as he finishes the tale, he orders the computer to delete it. 

Romulans make Star Trek's most famous beverage

Apparently, when Romulans aren't plotting to dominate the galaxy, they like to party. Sprinkled here and there throughout the  Trek  franchise is Romulan Ale — a  very  strong alcoholic drink that is illegal in the Federation, yet Starfleet officers keep getting their hands on it anyway. 

The first time the beverage is mentioned is in 1982's  Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan when Bones (DeForest Kelley) brings a bottle of it to James Kirk for his birthday. Kirk is noticeably surprised at how strong the drink is. Regardless, he somehow doesn't have a problem serving it during a diplomatic dinner aboard the  Enterprise  in 1991's  Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country — a detail that is used against him and McCoy when they're framed for assassinating the Klingon Chancellor. Ben Sisko serves what appears to be replicated Romulan Ale to a Romulan senator in the  DS9  episode "In the Pale Moonlight," though the senator refers to it as "kali fal," which may or may not be the Romulan name for the blue drink. At the wedding reception for Riker and Troi in 2002's  Star Trek: Nemesis , Worf (Michael Dorn) complains that "Romulan ale should be illegal" as he nurses a headache. "It is," Geordi (Levar Burton) reminds him.

As far back as the TOS  episode "The Enterprise Incident," the Romulan Commander shares a blue drink with Spock as she's trying to seduce him, though we never hear its name. 

In 1995, they wanted to wish you a Merry Christmas

In 1995, the Romulan Empire made its first appearance on a Hallmark commercial. No you didn't misread that. Promoting a Romulan Warbird Christmas ornament, Hallmark released a commercial depicting the pointy-eared aliens kidnapping a Hallmark cashier to interrogate her about how she'd "pirated" the design of the ornament from the Romulans. 

And they didn't just get any actors to show up in costume and makeup. The cheerful cashier's interrogators are mostly  Star Trek  actors who had already played villains on at least one  Trek  series. Martha Hackett — the Romulan woman in the commercial — is probably more well known to  Trek  fans as the Cardassian Seska on  Star Trek: Voyager . But she'd also played the Romulan officer T'Rul in the two-part  DS9  episode "The Search." The introduction of the Defiant  includes a cloaking device on loan from the Romulan Empire and it's T'Rul's job to run the cloaking device and keep its secrets from Starfleet. 

Considering neither T'Rul nor any other Romulan is shown on board the  Defiant  to safeguard their cloaking secrets after "The Search," they apparently weren't any better about protecting their secrets than they are at interrogating Hallmark cashiers.

Romulans are in lots of first drafts, but fewer final drafts

When it comes to the Trek  movies, the Romulans usually play second fiddle if   they show up at all. Romulans were the chief antagonists of J.J. Abrams' 2009  Star Trek  reboot, but before that they failed to take center stage in any of the movies. The closest they got was 2002's  Star Trek: Nemesis ; their homeworld and government are important to the plot, but the main villain is Shinzon (Tom Hardy) — a clone of Picard — and a race of former slaves called the Remans. 

But it isn't for lack of trying. The Romulans were originally meant to take a larger role in a number of  Trek  films. Remember the Klingons in 1984's  Star Trek III: The Search for Spock ,   led by the ruthless Commander Kruge (Christopher Lloyd)? According to a 2002 issue of  Star Trek: The Magazine , it was originally going to be the Romulans who clash with the  Enterprise in orbit of the Genesis planet — not Klingons. They were  originally planned as the villains for 1998's  Star Trek: Insurrection , but were ultimately replaced by the face-stretching Son'a. In Michael Piller's unpublished book Fade In , the  Trek  writer wrote that Patrick Stewart — among others — was very much against the inclusion of the Romulans, who the actor felt were "unexciting." Stewart worried that using the Romulans would make it appear as if "we just couldn't come up with any new bad guys." 

The process of turning an actor into a Romulan has evolved

The look of the Romulans, the process of creating that look, and the resources devoted to it have all changed significantly since their first appearances. In  TOS , Romulans look almost identical to Vulcans, and the cost of adding latex pointy ears to actors made them too expensive to use on background actors. On the  TOS  season 1 Blu-ray commentary, we learn that in "Balance of Terror," only two of the Romulan actors were actually given the ears while the rest of the Romulans are made to wear helmets hiding their ears.

Romulans show up a lot more once  TNG  comes around, and their reintroduction comes with a new design. Prominent brow ridges were added to Romulan prosthetics. According to the reference book  Star Trek: The Next Generation 365 , this was both to make the Romulans appear more menacing and to help differentiate them from their Vulcan cousins.

As of the 2020 premiere of  Star Trek: Picard , hi-def technology changed things. On  The Ready Room  – the  Picard  after-show — prosthetic designer Vincent Van Dyke said that "every single background performer, all the way to the foreground hero characters" not only are fitted with ears, but "laced brows." Every single Romulan actor on  Picard  wears a prosthetic piece that includes eyebrows which have been painstakingly laced — one hair at a time — into the prosthetic. Long gone are the days of fitting the extras with skullcap helmets. 

In Star Trek: Picard, the Romulans become both friends and foes

One of the unique things about  Star Trek: Picard is that while it gives us plenty of Romulan villains, we also meet possibly the most sympathetic Romulan characters to ever appear in any  Trek  production.

When we find the retired Picard running his family vineyard, he's accompanied by two Romulans who treat him like nothing less than family. Laris (Orla Brady) and Zhaban (Jamie McShane) are former Tal Shiar agents who live with Picard, cook for him and — when a Zhat Vash squad comes gunning for the retired admiral — risk their lives for him. Their loyalty springs largely from Picard's efforts to evacuate the Romulan Empire. Both are fiercely protective of Picard, particularly Laris. 

At the same time, the Romulans have not all left their more villainous impulses behind. Along with Picard's Romulan friends, the newer series introduces us to the seductive Narek (Harry Treadaway), his ruthless sister Narissa (Peyton List), and the fanatical Zhat Vash whose agents have the unsettling ability to spit out a corrosive liquid that kills both themselves and anyone unlucky enough to be nearby. 

Star Trek: Picard forces 2009's Star Trek to make more sense

One of the interesting side effects of  Star Trek: Picard and its stronger focus on the Romulans is that it manages to reach back in time and force 2009's  Star Trek to make more sense. 

A lot of fans — even those who enjoyed J.J. Abrams' reinvention of the  Trek  franchise — weren't overly impressed with Eric Bana's Nero. The Romulan villain goes into the past and, among other things, destroys Vulcan. Nero does what he does purely for vengeance, to get back at the Federation for the supernova that destroyed Romulus and killed his family. To some fans, Nero's motivations didn't add up. After all, the Romulan supernova is a natural phenomenon. How could Nero blame the Federation, the Vulcans, or anyone else for not helping, particularly when you consider how hostile the Romulans have been to, well...  everyone ? 

But with  Star Trek: Picard and the backstory it presents, Nero's quest for vengeance comes into focus. In  Picard  we learn that Starfleet committed to helping evacuate the Romulan Empire and then, after the unexpected synthetic revolt on Mars, backed out of the endeavor. From Nero's point of view, it's one thing to stand by and do nothing; it's quite another to offer help and then to withdraw it at the 11th hour. It makes Nero's rage much easier to relate to, though his actions are no less monstrous. 

Star Trek: Insurrection's First Villains Help the Movie Make Better Sense

Star Trek: Insurrection failed to land like the filmmakers wanted, but the inclusion of regular The Next Generation villains would've helped it soar.

Of the movies starring The Next Generation cast, Star Trek: Insurrection falls squarely in the middle. First Contact is the zenith, with Nemesis as the nadir. Arguably, the movie and Generations feel a bit too much like the show. That's why Patrick Stewart objected to the use of classic Star Trek villains that would've helped Insurrection make more sense. The filmmakers wanted to do something new, fit for the big screen. However, when it came to the aliens, that was a mistake.

One thing Star Trek fans have to remember is that every step of the way, success and continuation were not a guarantee. In fact, The Next Generation was created out of Star Trek: Phase II leftovers , a planned sequel series abandoned for the first film. Written by Michael Piller and directed by Jonathan Frakes, Insurrection was the film its star and the studio wanted, mostly. Yet, instead of the new Son'a aliens (an offshoot of the immortal natives on the planet Bak'u), the original enemy would be Romulans. Since a corrupt member of Starfleet is the real villain, bringing back the old enemy would've helped the movie make more sense both in the context of the story and the larger universe. Executive Producer Rick Berman and the studio also weren't too jazzed about the Romulans, but there was a plan to give them the kind of big-screen upgrade the Klingons got from the series to films. Also, the Romulans hadn't ever been used in a movie before. It would've been a home run for the fans, but the idea struck out once Patrick Stewart heard about it.

RELATED: The Next Generation's USS Enterprise-D Was Star Trek's Best Hero Ship Upgrade

How the Romulans Would've Fit Into Star Trek: Insurrection

In 1999, the late Michael Piller wrote, and Trekcore.com published F ade In: The Making of Star Trek Insurrection, A Textbook on Screenwriting from Within the Star Trek Universe . It's essentially a post-release film diary complete with draft story treatments and correspondence between Piller and Stewart in his first role as the Associate Producer of a Star Trek film. The movie was supposed to be lighthearted, but Captain Picard resigns in protest from Starfleet. In the movie, as it debuted, he does this because an Admiral is in an unholy alliance to steal "the fountain of youth" from an almost indigenous race. To put up with some of the Son'a confused fans because they didn't know who they were. But the Romulans? Audiences would understand why peace was important.

That last time Star Trek saw Spock before the Kelvin Timeline films was in "Unification," a two-part TNG episode where Star Trek's most-beloved Vulcan leaves the Federation to begin a slow process of creating a logical, peaceful Romulus that would reunite with Vulcans. Piller thought a great way to create emotional conflict was to have peace with the Romulan Empire on the line. Yet, Stewart wrote, "the Romulans -- a race already unexciting in TNG …is revisionist and backward-looking in a most disappointing way," according to Fade In . Later, correspondence revealed his distaste was less about Romulans and more about the specific Romulan villain, a "fool" named Joss. Stewart did like the corrupt Starfleet angle, even writing "Stop spinning, Gene," noting the late franchise's creator's insistence his future be a utopia.

What's interesting is the inclusion of Romulans allows for Roddenberry's vision to remain more intact than in the movie as it debuted. Starfleet had been in a Cold War with Romulans for over a century. Instead of a wantonly corrupt Starfleet officer, the villain could've just taken his acceptance of evil for "the greater good" too far. The Son'a weren't a threat to the Federation, but the Romulans were the only real threat left. The Starfleet officers ordered going along with the plan would do so if it meant finally having peace with the Federation's oldest enemy.

RELATED: Star Trek: Discovery Broke the Franchise Mold in a Way No One Talks About

Insurrection's Biggest Problem Is Lack of Cohesion with the Star Trek Universe

In the book, Piller describes the many versions of his story, including one where Picard kills Data. He wanted to take the beloved captain on a true hero's journey. But more so than Romulans, Stewart felt that journey was well-trod ground. He wanted Picard to be more of a hero, eager to embrace action and danger. Meanwhile, Berman and Piller wanted Insurrection to share a sensibility with Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home . It's the only movie in the canon where the heroes don't take a single life. The only phaser action is when Kirk melts a lock on a door. So, while Romulans were the alien villains, the obstacles the film had to overcome were much greater. Losing the Romulans was an easy battle to cede to the star.

Yet, the reason The Voyage Home brought in the highest profits of any of those first six movies had a lot to do with the two films before it. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Star Trek III: The Search for Spock were feature-film TV episodes. It created an unofficial trilogy, and the "fun" of the movie was earned by the heavy emotion and losses of its predecessors. Generations and First Contact were heavy, but they had nothing to do with one another. The Next Generation crew had no arcs through the films. Insurrection didn't connect meaningfully to First Contact , and neither did Nemesis (which featured the Romulans). There was no sense the characters were building to anything.

What makes the original cast's final film, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovery Country so timeless isn't how it paralleled the end of the real Cold War. It's a movie about a group of heroes unsure about what to do when the world doesn't need them anymore. The addition of the Romulans could've set up a similar multi-movie arc for TNG 's crew. By constantly chasing "the new," the film series lacked the cohesion and continuity that kept audiences coming back. After Insurrection , the loyal Star Trek fanbase decided to catch the next movie on video. They had no idea it would be the last one.

The Complete History of Vulcans In the Federation Era of Star Trek

Quick links, vulcan troubles with starfleet and the federation in the 23rd century, 24th century vulcans were integrated into federation society, ambassador spock and romulan reunification, vulcan reunification with the romulans and leaving the federation.

There is no alien species more closely associated with the history of Star Trek and the Federation than the Vulcans. Originally created by Gene Roddenberry via the character of Spock, countless writers, producers and actors have contributed to the history and culture of the signature Star Trek aliens. However, despite being one of humanity's first alien allies, the Vulcans have kept their distance from humans and the Federation just the same.In order to keep Spock unique, Roddenberry instructed writers to keep the rest of Vulcan society at a cosmic arm's length from Starfleet.

When picking through the Star Trek: Phase II leftovers for TNG , he wanted the next generation of his universe to avoid Vulcans, along with most elements from the previous show. To that end, Star Trek didn't have a regular Vulcan character until Tuvok appeared in Star Trek: Voyager , nearly 30 years after The Original Series debuted. While Vulcans and humanity worked closely in Star Trek: Enterprise , their relationship was as adversarial as it was friendly. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has introduced a handful of Vulcan characters, but only one was in Starfleet. Given the prominence of Vulcans in the Star Trek franchise, it's worth examining the history Vulcans in the time of Star Trek 's Federation.

Star Trek's Lost Vulcan: Phase II Almost Replaced Spock With This Character

While closely involved with the creation of the Federation, specifically through Commander T'Pol, the Vulcans continued to do their own exploration missions. At some point in the 23rd Century, for example, a Vulcan science vessel was destroyed in the Hanoli system trying to close a rupture in subspace. They did not seek help from Starfleet. In fact, in most timelines, Spock's decision to join Starfleet instead of the Vulcan Science Academy was controversial. Not the least of which, it caused him and his father to become estranged until the Federation conference on Babel in 2268.

This is perhaps because for much of the early 23rd Century, Vulcans endured some infighting about their role in the multicultural society. Spock's father Sarek may not have wanted his son to join Starfleet, but he did want to foster better relations with humanity. Along with marrying Amanda Grayson, he adopted Michael Burnham after her parents were killed. Sometime before the 2250s, Vulcan "logic extremists" tried to kill Burnham in a bombing at the Vulcan Learning Center. Later, they tried to assassinate Sarek himself. They even recruited Starfleet Admiral Patar into their ranks and philosophy, after he became disillusioned with the organization during the Federation-Klingon War.

In the late 23rd Century, Vulcans in Starfleet were more common, but they often served together on their own vessels. One such all-Vulcan crew served on the USS Intrepid and were killed by a microorganism that consumed organic life to replenish itself. Yet, Vulcans were still private people, with things like the pon-farr not even appearing in Federation medical records. Spock, however, stayed in the Federation's service and even helped negotiate the Khitomer Accords with the Klingons, bringing peace after decades of hot and cold war.

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country's Original Villain Was Heartbreaking

As has become a theme throughout each era of Vulcan history on Star Trek , there were some elements in the culture who wanted to step back from their role. I n the late 2360s, Captain Picard and Commander Riker were captured by pirates who were a part of this movement, hoping to use a telepathic weapon to force the Vulcans out of the Federation. They foiled this plan, and the Vulcans agreed to root out this movement, but wanted to keep it a private matter, at least within their own society.

Perhaps inspired by Spock's example, the Vulcans of the 24th Century played a significant role in the Federation, despite not many appearing on the screen. Vulcans lived by the motto "We're here to serve," specifically the galaxy. A number of Vulcans joined the Admiralty, with Savar, Sitak and T'Lara all appearing in both Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine . Still involved with the Federation was Spock's father, Sarek, who traveled on the USS Enterprise and mind-melded with Picard.

Despite all this progress, Vulcans still often served on ships that were only crewed by their kind. The USS T'Kumbra, for instance, was an all-Vulcan vessel that liked to challenge human Starfleet colleagues (especially Captain Sisko) to baseball games. Still, the disillusionment with the Federation and Starfleet wasn't limited to just Vulcan purists. When the Maquis group formed to fight Cardassians without the approval of Starfleet, a number of Vulcans were involved in it. The most notable was Sarkonna, who inadvertently orchestrated the potential for a peaceful settlement after Quark explained the "economics of war" to her.

The Star Trek Backrub That Launched Spock and Kirk Shippers, Explained

While Spock was still active, he resigned from Starfleet and retired to Romulus. There, he worked undercover to begin the process of introducing the teachings of Surak to their galactic cousins. This led to an invasion of Vulcan by Romulus, thwarted at the last minute by the ingenuity of Spock and Data working together. The USS Enterprise-D was dispatched to discover what he was doing on Romulus, specifically out of fear that he defected.

At this time, Sarek was succumbing to an affliction causing older Vulcans to suffer outbursts of emotion. This was described as Vulcan senility, and he asked Captain Picard to find his son. While Spock was unable to see his father again , he did mind-meld with Picard. Since Picard mind-melded with Sarek once before, Spock was able to share some of his father's thoughts. Spock decided to stay on Romulus to continue preaching logic and reunification, happy that this would be his final contribution to greater galactic peace.

However, Spock failed Romulus when he didn't stop the explosion of a star that destroyed the Romulan homeworld. A mining vessel constructed out of Borg technology called the Narada traveled back in time and destroyed the planet Vulcan in the 23rd Century. This created a branch timeline, which was depicted in the Star Trek movies of the 2010s. Ambassador Spock remained in this timeline and died of natural causes.

Strange New Worlds: One Vulcan Can Help Spock on His Emotional Journey

In the 32nd Century, the galaxy reeled from "the Burn," an incident that destroyed dilithium used for warp travel. This caused many founding species, including Vulcans and humans, to leave the Federation behind. At the same time, the effort of Romulan reunification begun by Spock was successful after the destruction of the Romulan homeworld.

Planet Vulcan was renamed Ni'Var and while Vulcans and Romulans retained their original species identities, they formed a collaborative society. When Michael Burnham -- once a source of ire among Vulcans -- visited Ni'Var in the 32nd Century, she helped set them on a course to rejoin the Federation and Starfleet. However, it was a lengthy political process.

There are still elements in the Vulcan and Romulan societies who distrust the Federation. Vulcan purists threaten the renewed alliance, and they are political rivals of President T'Rina. Her relationship with Captain Saru (a Kelpian and Starfleet officer)

The Star Trek universe encompasses multiple series, each offering a unique lens through which to experience the wonders and perils of space travel. Join Captain Kirk and his crew on the Original Series' voyages of discovery, encounter the utopian vision of the Federation in The Next Generation, or delve into the darker corners of galactic politics in Deep Space Nine. No matter your preference, there's a Star Trek adventure waiting to ignite your imagination.

Created by Gene Roddenberry

First Film Star Trek: The Motion Picture

Latest Film Star Trek: Nemesis

First TV Show Star Trek: The Original Series

Latest TV Show Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

Cast Nichelle Nichols, Scott Bakula, Kate Mulgrew, Jonathan Frakes, Patrick Stewart, William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Avery Brooks, Deforest Kelley, James Doohan

TV Show(s) Star Trek: Animated, Star trek, Star Trek Voyager, Star Trek: Enterprise, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek Lower Decks, Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Picard, Star Trek: Prodigy, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Star Trek: Lower Decks

further complicates this political situation. However, no matter where the stories fall in Star Trek history, Vulcans will be a significant part of them.

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• 2024 Spring Entertainment Preview

Star Trek: Discovery is finally free to do whatever it wants

Imagining the future of the future

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It’s a truth universally acknowledged that even among the greatest television shows in Star Trek history, most of them take two seasons to stop being kind of bad. Never has that been more true or more excruciating than in the case of Star Trek: Discovery .

Polygon is looking ahead to the movies, shows, and books coming soon in our Spring 2024 entertainment preview package, a weeklong special issue.

Often it felt like what Discovery was really doing in its early seasons was discovering what didn’t work. Strong performances from a great cast? That works. A Klingon design that absolutely nobody liked ? Definitely not. But despite the stumbles, Discovery season 1 had still averaged C’s and B’s with reviewers, and had built an audience and a subscriber base for Paramount Plus. On the strength of Disco ’s first season, Paramount greenlit Star Treks Picard , Lower Decks , and Prodigy , three new shows covering a huge range of ages and nostalgic tastes. And spinning out of Disco ’s second season, which introduced familiar , nostalgic characters and a brighter, more Star Trek-y tone, Paramount produced Star Trek: Strange New Worlds , inarguably the best new addition to the franchise since 1996.

Star Trek: Discovery crawled so that the rest of modern Trek could run... and then it started to walk. The show’s third season saw the USS Discovery and crew in the place that should have been their starting blocks: the bleeding future edge of Star Trek’s timeline. Thanks to season 3’s groundwork, season 4 became the first time that Discovery had a status quo worth returning to. In its fifth and final season, Star Trek: Discovery is finally free — free in a way that a Star Trek TV series hasn’t been in 23 years.

Star Trek: The Next Generation is such an elder statesman of the television elite that it’s easy to forget that it was daring. The show’s triumph wasn’t just that it featured a new cast of characters, but also its audaciousness in imagining the future of the future — and making that future unmistakably different . The Original Series showed a racial and national cooperation that seemed fantastical in its time, with an alien crewmember to denote the next frontier of embracing the other . Next Generation saw that bet and raised it, installing a member of the Klingon species, the Federation’s once-feared imperialist rival state, as a respected officer on the bridge of Starfleet’s flagship.

Next Generation ’s time period — one century after Kirk’s Enterprise — wasn’t a nominal choice, but a commitment to moving the story of Star Trek forward. From the show’s foundations, Gene Roddenberry and his collaborators, new and old, set a precedent that the Federation would evolve. Therefore, in accordance with the utopian themes of the franchise, old enemies would in time become friends. Next Generation embraced The Original Series ’ nemeses and the rest of ’90s Trek saw that bet and raised it again, pulling many of Next Gen ’s villains into the heroic fold. Voyager welcomed a Borg crewmember and disincorporated the Borg empire; Deep Space Nine gave the franchise the first Ferengi Starfleet cadet, and brokered a Federation-Klingon-Romulan alliance in the face of an existential threat.

But Discovery — at least until it made its Olympic long-jump leap 900 years into the future — couldn’t move Star Trek forward. So long as it was set “immediately before Kirk’s Enterprise,” hemmed in by the constraints of a previously established era of Star Trek history, it could graft on new elements (like Spock’s secret human foster sister) but it couldn’t create from whole cloth (like a galaxy-wide shortage of starship fuel that nearly destroyed the Federation). Like its predecessor, the ill-fated Star Trek: Enterprise of the ’00s, it was doomed to hang like a remora on the side of the events of The Original Series , or, if you’ll pardon another fish metaphor, doomed like a goldfish that can only grow as large as its half-gallon fishbowl will allow.

Discovery ’s later, free seasons in the 32nd century have shown the Federation at its most vulnerable, a subtler echo of Picard ’s own season 1 swing at fallen institutions . (Fans of Voyager and Deep Space Nine know that this is an extremely rich vein of Trek storytelling.) In its third season, Discovery solved a galaxy-wide fuel crisis that had shattered the community of the Federation. In its fourth it fought for a fragile new Federation alliance and its millennia-old ideals.

And those seasons have also boldly committed to the idea of imagining the future’s future — 900 years of it. The centuries-old rift between Vulcans and Romulans is long healed, Ferengi serve as captains in Starfleet, the work of Doctor Noonien Soong has brought new medical technologies to the fore.

Even still, Discovery hasn’t been truly free in its third and fourth seasons. Star Trek: Picard was out there, forming new past elements of a post- Next Gen / Voy / DS9 era that Discovery had to abide by. And, after all, the show still had to make sure there was something for its own next season to come back to.

But now — with Prodigy and Picard finished, and Strange New Worlds and Lower Decks locked into their settings of Star Trek’s established past, and Starfleet Academy and Section 31 not yet in production at the time that its final season would have been written — Discovery has reached the final final frontier for a Star Trek show. If you’re a Star Trek fan, that should excite you.

Not since Deep Space Nine in 1999 and Voyager in 2001 has a Star Trek series had the freedom to wrap up its run with the Federation in any state it wants to. With franchise flagship Next Generation at an end, and Voyager restricted to the Delta Quadrant only, Deep Space Nine used its last seasons to throw the Federation into all-out war, making sweeping changes to the established ficto-political norms of ’90s Trek. Voyager used its finale to do what Captain Picard never could: defang the Borg (mostly).

We don’t know exactly what Discovery will do with that freedom. Season 4 directors have talked about reaching “ into the past to get further into the future ,” and likened it to Indiana Jones. Official news releases have said the crew will “uncover a mystery that sends them on an epic adventure across the galaxy to find an ancient power whose very existence has been deliberately hidden for centuries.” But speculating on what that means would be beside the point.

Discovery , the show about an intergalactically teleporting starship, can finally, actually, go anywhere. It’s been almost a quarter of a century since a beloved Star Trek series was so free to boldly go. Let’s hope they’re very bold indeed.

Star Trek: Discovery season 5 premieres with two episodes on April 4 on Paramount Plus.

Spring 2024 entertainment preview

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The Narada was a Romulan mining vessel that was in service in the late 24th century .

In 2387 , the Narada was commanded by Nero ; his second-in-command was Ayel .

• 3.1 Weapons
• 4.1 Background information
• 4.2 Apocrypha
• 4.3 External link

History [ ]

Following the destruction of Romulus by the supernova of the Romulan sun in 2387 , Nero took the Narada to intercept Ambassador Spock , who was attempting to create an artificial black hole which would consume the star before it destroyed more worlds. Both the Narada and Spock's ship, the Jellyfish , went missing after they were pulled into the black hole.

Interior of the Narada

The Narada emerged from the black hole, 75,000 kilometers from the edge of Klingon space , in the year 2233 , creating the alternate reality . There, the Narada encountered and attacked the USS Kelvin , easily overpowering the much smaller Federation starship . During the attack, the Kelvin 's commanding officer, Captain Richard Robau , was killed, forcing Lieutenant George Kirk to take command. With his ship heavily damaged and facing imminent annihilation by the Narada , Kirk gave the order to abandon ship. To save the lives of those evacuating in the shuttles , Kirk rammed the Kelvin into the Narada . Although the Narada sustained enough damage to ensure the safety of the Kelvin 's evacuees, the vessel was still operational.

The unfinished Narada surrounded by Klingon warbirds

The Narada warps after the Jellyfish

Twenty-five years later , the Narada was involved in an attack on a Klingon prison planet and the destruction of 47 Klingon warbirds . Shortly thereafter, the Jellyfish , with Spock aboard, emerged from the black hole and was immediately captured by the Narada . The Narada then left for Vulcan and drilled a hole into the planet , all the way to its core . When the Federation sent a small fleet to Vulcan to investigate the seismic disturbance , the Narada destroyed them shortly before the USS Enterprise arrived. The crew of the Enterprise successfully stopped the drill, but were unable to stop Nero from injecting red matter , taken from the Jellyfish , into the core of the planet, creating a black hole, which quickly consumed Vulcan.

The Narada is consumed by a black hole

Following Vulcan's destruction, Nero interrogated the captured Christopher Pike using Centaurian slugs , forcing the helpless captain to reveal Earth 's planetary defense codes . Nero took the Narada to Earth and began drilling into the San Francisco Bay . However, the drill platform was destroyed by that era's Spock using the Jellyfish , which he confiscated from the Narada . After drawing the Narada away from Earth, Spock rammed the Jellyfish into the Narada . The remaining red matter that was aboard the Jellyfish was ignited, creating a massive black hole that slowly began to crush the ship. Kirk offered to assist the crew of the Narada , but Nero refused. Kirk then had the Enterprise fire upon the Narada to ensure its destruction until the ship was pulled apart and ultimately devoured by the black hole. ( Star Trek )

• See : Narada personnel

Technical data [ ]

Weapons [ ].

Despite being only a mining vessel in its own time, the Narada possessed weaponry far more advanced than those of any of the ships it encountered in the 23rd century. The primary weapons seemed to be highly destructive missiles , each of which could break into several component projectiles. These projectiles were powerful enough to penetrate the standard shields that starships of the time utilized. The Narada housed at least enough of these weapons to easily destroy entire fleets of ships; more than fifty vessels were destroyed over twenty-five years.

As a mining vessel, the Narada also had an immense drilling apparatus , which was a platform at the end of a lengthy metallic line seemingly hundreds of kilometers long. The drill emitted a powerful beam that could penetrate a planet's surface and continue all the way to its core. The high energy output from the beam itself also acted as a disruptor of sorts, causing localized interference in both communications and transporter signals.

With the Jellyfish in its possession, the Narada could also deploy bombs loaded with the incredibly destructive red matter.

Appendices [ ]

Background information [ ].

The Narada was designed by James Clyne . Production designer Scott Chambliss wanted the ship to be asymmetrical, in contrast to the "perfect symmetry" of the Enterprise . Chambliss contemplated "the scariest thing in space" and looked to a kitchen knife, imagining "500 gigantic knife-edge points". "That's how the Romulan ship developed, with a kitchen knife and the twisted imagination of James Clyne," he said. During development, the ship was referred to as "Hanson's Ranch" to keep its name secret. ( Star Trek - The Art of the Film )

J.J. Abrams wanted the ship's interiors to feel mysterious by having them be "amorphous, to have a sense of no corners, ceilings or floors". To minimize the size of the set, Chambliss called on his experience in theater to build a set where parts could be moved around to create another section of the ship each day. Cinematographer Dan Mindel used "abrasive" yellow-green lighting to suggest the angry and fragmented mindset of the Romulan crew. Visual effects supervisor Roger Guyett complemented the feel by underlighting the digital shots "in classic horror movie style", based on a lighting test "that went wrong, but I actually liked the look" of.

ILM model supervisor Bruce Holcomb stated the Narada was six miles (ten kilometers) long, [5] while Post magazine mentions it is five miles (eight kilometers) long. [6] The film's Blu-ray gives a final estimate of the ship's length at 30,737.3 feet (9,368.7 meters). Regardless, the ship was one of the largest digital models ever built by the company: according to Roger Guyett, the detail required near 1:1 scale.

Apocrypha [ ]

The Narada , before being retrofitted in 2387

In the Star Trek prequel comic book miniseries Star Trek: Countdown , the Narada 's advanced weaponry and appearance are explained as being the result of the ship being retrofitted with salvaged and reverse-engineered Borg technology. The Tal Shiar in the 24th century had been experimenting with Borg technology, and Nero's ship was the experimental vessel used. The Narada was retrofitted at The Vault ( β ), a cloaked military installation in deep space, subsequent to the destruction of Romulus. The Borg nanoprobes allowed the ship to grow and repair itself, and also take on a much larger and more menacing appearance. The ship's speed was increased from Warp 9.8 to "…immeasurable transwarp speeds." This information also appeared on the Blu-ray release of the film in the supplement section "Starships." While the Narada itself was not referenced in Star Trek: Picard , that series confirmed that the Romulans had access to Borg technology in the form of the Artifact , a disabled Borg Cube .

The Borg connection paid off in the sequel to Countdown , Star Trek: Nero . After Nero escapes from Rura Penthe – the " Klingon prison planet " – the Narada takes him to V'Ger , which Nero uses to calculate where Spock will arrive. By then, the Narada had seemingly developed a telepathic link with Nero that allowed him to command the Narada remotely.

In Star Trek: Ongoing 's " Mirrored, Part 1 ", set in the alternate reality's mirror universe , Kirk – Spock's first officer – commandeers the Narada from Nero following the Terran Empire's conquest of the Klingon Empire. He attacks and destroys the Enterprise , and sets course for Vulcan. However, after recovering Spock Prime, he is outmaneuvered by Spock Prime, Uhura, and Spock – Uhura having saved Spock's life before the destruction of the Enterprise – and is killed before he can destroy Vulcan, with the two Spocks remaining on Vulcan to rebuild while Uhura takes command of the Narada .

The Narada 's connection to the Borg is confirmed in the Star Trek: Boldly Go series – set before the completion of the USS Enterprise -A – when the Federation is attacked by a Borg sphere seeking answers about the temporary presence of a fragment of the Collective in this galaxy, but their primitive technology at this time allows the Federation and the Romulans to destroy the sphere and save those who have been assimilated.

In Star Trek Online , while the Narada itself doesn't appear, it's revealed that after her disappearance, the Tal Shiar continued their experiments with Borg technology. This results in Mogai - and D'deridex -class ships being retrofitted in similar ways and looking almost identical to the Narada .

The 2013 virtual collectible card battle game Star Trek: Rivals has the Narada as card #107.

External link [ ]

• Narada at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• 1 Rachel Garrett
• 3 USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-G)

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• Series & Movies

Published Mar 26, 2024

Star Trek's Strongest Supporting Women Characters

Beyond the Captain Janeways, Dr. Crushers, and Major Kiras, there has always been strong women in Star Trek.

StarTrek.com

While the Star Trek franchise reached its pinnacle with Kate Mulgrew's fantastic portrayal of Captain Janeway, it began earlier with the truly revolutionary casting of Nichelle Nichols as Lt. Uhura. While one can nitpick and say she was subservient to the boys (and there's definitely an argument to be made), the very fact that an African American woman was seen on the Bridge had a direct impact on the viewing public. (Just ask Whoopi Goldberg!)

As Women's History Month comes to a close, let's take a look back — beyond the Dr. Crushers and Major Kiras — to some of the less-obvious strong women characters in the history of Star Trek .

10. Captain Kasidy Yates

"The Way of the Warrior"

It takes a special kind of woman to win the heart of a space station commander, military leader, and Emissary to the Prophets. Kasidy Yates is that women.

She's a hardworking cargo ship captain (engaging in some light and mostly benign smuggling on the side) who refuses special treatment when caught or when it’s time to pitch in against the Dominion. Plus, she likes baseball. Yeah, Kasidy is awesome — let Sisko do the cooking!

9. Yeoman Leslie Thompson

"By Any Other Name"

Okay, an odd pick, sure, but hear me out 'cause this is important.

How much was The Original Series in the vanguard? They were willing to have women beam down to planets as part of armed away teams. And sometimes (okay, once) they were willing to kill them off. Pretty radical!

Yeoman Thompson was the redshirt who was turned into the giant chalk Dungeons & Dragons cube and then crushed to death by that jerk from the Andromeda Galaxy in " By Any Other Name ."

8. Romulan Commander

"The Enterprise Incident"

Nobody said they all had to be good guys!

While ultimately unsuccessful, the unnamed Romulan Commander from The Original Series ' "The Enterprise Incident" was cunning enough that it took the wits of both Kirk and Spock to take her down.

She had ambition and drive, as well as the courage to sacrifice herself for the good of the Romulan Empire. And did she actually get under Spock's Vulcan skin a little bit? That's up to your interpretation.

7. Lily Sloane

Star Trek: First Contact

Blow up the damn ship!

Lily Sloane, Star Trek: First Contact

It takes a lot of sand to say — to SHOUT — something like that to Jean-Luc Picard, as Lily Sloane does in Star Trek: First Contact . And to kinda be right? Even more so.

Most civilians from a pre-Warp era would just be freaking out that time traveling humans and aliens are bombarding Earth, but this sharp engineer keeps her head enough to offer military advice.

"Redemption"

The true mastermind of the Klingon Civil War, the machinations of Lursa of the House of Duras left the galaxy quaking for whole seasons. Even with all this going on, she found time to be a mother. Awww, right?

Also, her death in Star Trek Generations was cooler than Kirk's. Sadly, it was WAY cooler.

(Feel free to argue with me that Kai Winn shoulda got the "political puppet master" slot. It was a close call.)

5. Captain Rachel Garrett

"Yesterday's Enterprise"

From Star Trek: The Next Generation 's " Yesterday's Enterprise ," a serious contender for best single episode ever in any series, we meet the captain of the Enterprise -C, Rachel Garrett . And we don't even KNOW that it is due to her bravery and sacrifice that the current timeline is as breezy and upbeat as it is today. (Guinan kinda knows, but that's complicated.)

Tricia O'Neal's strong-yet-still-feminine portrayal of a starship captain no doubt paved the way toward Captain Janeway, another reason to offer her a hero's salute.

4. Dr. Carol Marcus

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

The woman who held, at least for a time, the heart of James Tiberius Kirk. But Dr. Marcus is no mere Captain's squeeze. She is an independent woman and a brilliant scientist whose Genesis Device is so powerful it was the focus of two movies!!

She also represents one of the very few times you'll see someone have a bone of contention with Starfleet prior to the creation of the Maquis.

(Again, here's your opportunity to scream at me for leaving a different brilliant scientist, Dr. Leah Brahms , off the list. This is hard work, people! And thankless, too. I felt the heat the other day for not including the Salt Vampire from TOS or the corpses from TNG ’s “ Night Terrors ” in my column about Trek ’s freakiest moments.)

3. Number One

"The Cage"

Captain Pike's steady-as-a-rock first officer, Number One, was a brilliant tactician who wasn't afraid to bring out the laser cannons, or to sacrifice herself with an overloaded phaser rather than suffer indignities at the hands of the Talosians.

If you think her story ended with "The Cage," oh, how wrong you are. Drop everything and read John Byrne's fantastic comic series Star Trek: Crew to see Number One's really whacked-out adventures both pre- and post- her time on the Enterprise . Then pick up some of Peter David's New Frontier novels and focus on the Morgana Prime character. (I was there at New York Comic-Con a few years ago when David basically admitted that Morgana - Robin Lefler's mother - was actually Number One!)

In addition, Number One's adventure continues aboard Pike's Enterprise on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds .

2. Ro Laren

"Preemptive Strike"

[ RELATED : Everything You Need to Know About Ro Laren ]

One of the richest figures in Star Trek , the Bajoran nationalist was the first character we ever met whose antipathy toward Starfleet ever seemed justified. Still, her loyalty to Captain Picard kept her in line... most of the time.

Ro Laren was such a badass that even the woman who played her, Michelle Forbes, had to swim upstream. She rejected the offer to be a lead on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , causing the show's producers to create the (at first) somewhat similar character of Kira Nerys. Ultimately, it worked out for the best, but, oh, if only we could glimpse into that alternate timeline!

But to hold that desire ever, don't miss Ro Laren's confrontation with Picard 30+ years after the fact in Star Trek: Picard .

1. Edith Keeler

"The City on the Edge of Forever"

Imagine a woman whose soup is so powerful it could change the course of World War II.

In " The City on the Edge of Forever ," it is this loving, warm, and caring pacifist who must be silenced for evil not to conquer the world. (Blame Harlan Ellison; he's the sicko that thought of it!) Edith Keeler isn't just a character; she's a philosophical construct, a topic worthy of intellectual debate that the finest scholars could argue about for ages. And just thinking about her (and the phrase "He knows, Doctor. He knows.") is enough to send an army of Star Trek fans blubbering.

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This article was originally published on Januarr 15, 2012.

Jordan Hoffman is a writer, critic and lapsed filmmaker living in New York City. His work can also be seen on Film.com, ScreenCrush and Badass Digest. On his BLOG, Jordan has reviewed all 727. On his BLOG, Jordan has reviewed all 727 Trek episodes and films, most of the comics and some of the novels.

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Oakland offers mlb’s athletics a five-year extension to stay in city’s coliseum, kenneth mitchell dies: ‘star trek: discovery’, ‘captain marvel’ & ‘jericho’ actor was 49.

By Denise Petski

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Kenneth Mitchell , who played several characters in Star Trek: Discovery , and also was known for his roles in Jericho and Captain Marvel, has died from complications of ALS, his family revealed Saturday. He was 49.

“With heavy hearts we announce the passing of Kenneth Alexander Mitchell, beloved father, husband, brother, uncle, son and dear friend,” his family shared on X/Twitter.

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Mitchell announced publicly that he’d been diagnosed with ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, in 2020 in an interview with People.

“The moment that they told us it was [ALS], it was like I was in my own movie,” Mitchell told the publication. “That’s what it felt like, like I was watching that scene where someone is being told that they have a terminal illness. It was just a complete disbelief, a shock.”

Mitchell played three Klingon characters in Star Trek: Discovery’ s first two seasons. He portrayed Kol in Season 1, Kol-Sha and Tenavik in Season 2. In Season 3, as the disease progressed, he played Aurellio, a character who used a hoverchair, created to incorporate his need for a wheelchair, into the series.

He also voiced three characters in the first season of Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 1, a black ops operative and a Romulan guard.

StarTrek.com also posted a tribute to Mitchell.

“Being a part of Star Trek keeps me inspired and gives me purpose,” Mitchell told Syfy Wire in 2020. “Hopefully, that will keep going.”

Mitchell is survived by his wife, Susan, their children, Lilah and Kallum, his parents and in-laws and several nieces and nephews.

The family asks that any gifts be directed toward ALS research or toward his children. A GoFundMe campaign has been set up for the children.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Kenneth Mitchell (@mr_kenneth_mitchell)

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Balance of Terror

• Episode aired Dec 15, 1966

The Enterprise must decide on its response when a Romulan ship makes a destructively hostile armed probe of Federation territory. The Enterprise must decide on its response when a Romulan ship makes a destructively hostile armed probe of Federation territory. The Enterprise must decide on its response when a Romulan ship makes a destructively hostile armed probe of Federation territory.

• Vincent McEveety
• Paul Schneider
• Gene Roddenberry
• William Shatner
• Leonard Nimoy
• Mark Lenard
• 55 User reviews
• 13 Critic reviews

• Captain James Tiberius 'Jim' Kirk

• Mister Spock

• Romulan Commander

• Yeoman Rand

• See all cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

Did you know

• Trivia Budgetary and time constraints prevented the make-up and costuming departments from dressing up each Romulan in Vulcan ears as it was such a lengthy process applying them. So they hit on the idea of giving the lesser Romulans helmets, which were manufactured by Wah Chang. Mr. Chang was responsible for creating many iconic Star Trek hand props.
• Goofs When the nuclear device is detonated and Enterprise crew members are thrown about the bridge, Lt. Uhura is "thrown" in the opposite direction from all the other crew.

[after his ship has been disabled]

Romulan Commander : I regret that we meet in this way. You and I are of a kind. In a different reality, I could have called you friend.

• Alternate versions Special Enhanced version Digitally Remastered with new exterior shots and remade opening theme song
• Connections Edited into Star Trek: The Deadly Years (1967)
• Soundtracks Theme From Star Trek Written by and credited to Alexander Courage

User reviews 55

• andycottier
• Jul 11, 2022
• December 15, 1966 (United States)
• United States
• Official Facebook
• Desilu Studios - 9336 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA
• Desilu Productions
• Norway Corporation
• See more company credits at IMDbPro

Technical specs

• Runtime 50 minutes

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