what is star trek kelvin timeline

Star Trek: Kelvin Timeline explained

We've remodulated our tricorders to help you make sense of the Star Trek Kelvin timeline from the recent Star Trek movies.

Our Star Trek: Kelvin Timeline explained article is here to tell Spock from Spock.

How do you reboot a franchise that’s been around more than 50 years old and whose fan base is, shall we say, passionate about the accuracy of its canon? If you wipe the slate completely clean and start afresh, you lose the benefit of five decades of lore from which to draw inspiration and characters. If you keep the continuity, you’re shackled to decades of details from which you can’t escape. What can you do? If you’re Star Trek, you create the Kelvin Timeline.

The Kelvin timeline, or "alternate universe Trek", creates a new environment in which the events of the more recent Star Trek films (Star Trek, Into Darkness, Beyond) won’t contradict those that came before. It’s also how Spock ended up meeting himself. 

If you want to rewatch the new Star Trek movies, our Star Trek streaming guide will show you where to watch them all online. And if you're curious to see how the new movies stack up against the classics, check out our Star Trek movies, ranked worst to best article. Now, let's dive into the Star Trek Kelvin timeline.

Event One: Nero Travels Through Time 

According to Star Trek (2009), the planet Romulus was destroyed by a supernova in the year 2387. Ambassador Spock attempted to use "red matter", a substance so powerful that a single drop can destroy a planet, to save Romulus by destroying the supernova. He did indeed manage to destroy the supernova, but not in time to prevent the planet’s destruction. To make matters worse, both his ship, the experimental Jellyfish, and the Romulan mining ship Narada were pulled into the black hole’s wake and sent hurtling backwards in time. Spock emerged in 2258 while the Romulans landed in 2233. 

The Narada’s captain, Nero decides to use this opportunity to take out his grief on the organization he holds responsible for the ruin of Romulus and, by extension, the death of his family: the Federation. One of his first acts is to destroy the U.S.S. Kelvin, captained heroically to the very last minute by George Kirk, who lives just long enough to name his newborn son James.

And thus begins the Kelvin timeline. 

Spock, Meet Spock 

Jim Kirk grows up as a rebellious punk constantly trying to outrun his father’s long shadow. Christopher Pike sees something of value in him and urges him to join Starfleet, which he eventually does. Through a contrivance of events, he ends up aboard the Enterprise along with Spock, Bones McCoy, Uhura, and the rest of the Original Series crew. 

It’s now 2258 and Ambassador Spock emerges from the black hole just in time to be scooped up by Nero, who keeps the Jellyfish — and its cache of red matter — for himself while abandoning Spock on the frozen planet of Delta Vega. He wants Spock to bear witness as the Narada drills a hole into the center of Vulcan and releases red matter at the planet’s core. The Enterprise tries to stop him and fails, though they do manage to rescue Spock’s father, Sarek. Nero is eventually defeated, and Spock's young and old take a moment to reflect on their coexistence

Enter Khan, Exit Kirk 

Nero’s too-close-to-success-for-comfort attempt to destroy Earth shifts Starfleet’s ethos from one of discovery to one of protection. They still want to "seek out new life forms," but only to find out how dangerous they are. In Into Darkness (2013), Alexander Marcus, leader of the secretive Section 31, finds the SS Botany Bay, stuffed to the rafters full of augmented humans in cryostasis. He wakes one of them up — Khan Noonien Singh — and forces him to build weapons that Earth could use to defend itself against alien threats. 

Huge surprise, Khan betrays Marcus, exacting vengeance on various Starfleet targets. In doing so, he kills Kirk’s father figure Christopher Pike. Marcus tries to leverage Kirk’s hot-headedness by sending Kirk after Khan, who has fled to the Klingon homeworld of Kronos. He figures Kirk will kill, not capture, Khan, thus removing a threat and evidence of Marcus’ secret project.

Kirk goes off script and keeps Khan alive, much to the chagrin of Admiral Marcus, who tries to blow them all the heck up. The sacrifice that leads to victory happens just as in the original, except in the Kelvin timeline it’s Kirk who gives his life to save his crew. In the prime timeline, Genesis brought Spock back to life, but here it’s Khan’s blood that gets the job done.

That bit of ugliness behind them, the Enterprise receives its five-year-mission. You know the one.

Farewell to Spock 

In Star Trek: Beyond (2016), the Enterprise discovers the USS Franklin, a Federation ship that had been lost for decades. Here’s what’s fun about that: the Kelvin timeline doesn’t start until 2233. The Franklin disappeared before that, so it exists in both timelines, which means a different version of it could theoretically pop up in Star Trek media that doesn’t adhere to the Kelvin timeline. 

In Kelvin, however, the Franklin is half-buried after crashing into the surface of the planet Altamid. Few of its former crew remain, and those that do are unrecognizable, having been transformed by technology they’ve used to keep themselves alive. The Franklin’s captain, Balthazar Edison, now known as Krall, rejects Starfleet ideals of peace. He’s a soldier and he believes that he should be allowed to do what he does best. He returns to starbase Yorktown with the goal of commandeering it to launch an attack on the Federation, but first he’ll have to kill every living thing in residence. Kirk et al save the day, of course. 

This is also the point at which Ambassador Spock leaves the timeline due to the passing of the peerless Leonard Nimoy. Kelvin Spock had been planning to rejoin what remains of the Vulcan people, but instead chooses to honor his other self by remaining in Starfleet.

Crossover With the Prime Timeline 

Keeping track of the Kelvin timeline is important because there are still Star Trek properties operating in the prime timeline, such as Picard . However, there has been a little bit of crossover between the two. Picard takes place long after the titular character has quit Starfleet, and early on we discover the destruction of Romulus was why. 

Picard wanted to launch a rescue mission to save as many Romulans as possible before the detonation of the supernova, but Starfleet pushed back. He went forward with it anyway, but when his ships were decimated by a fleet of rogue synths, Starfleet gave up all rescue efforts. Picard resigned in disgust. Everything that happens after that — and therefore everything taking place in the show — is part of the prime timeline, despite being kicked off by Event One.

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Susan Arendt is a freelance writer, editor, and consultant living in Burleson, TX. She's a huge sci-fi TV and movie buff, and will talk your Vulcan ears off about Star Trek. You can find more of her work at Wired, IGN, Polygon, or look for her on Twitter: @SusanArendt. Be prepared to see too many pictures of her dogs.

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Star Trek: Mapping Out the New “Kelvin” Timeline

Star Trek superfans are sticklers for canon. Star Trek’s official lore spans centuries, from obscure millennia past to the far-flung future of the 31st century. When J.J. Abrams and his production team set out to create a new version of Star Trek in the form of the 2009 film of the same name , they knew they had to address a daunting question. How could they reinvent iconic characters like Captain Kirk , Spock , and Dr. McCoy  without trampling on decades worth of lore?

The answer to that question is the most clever conceit of the current feature film series: Rather than violate canon or create a prequel to the original show, the production team decided to create an alternate reality .

That means the new films are not a reboot of the original Star Trek. Rather, they exist in a separate yet parallel universe to the six TV shows and 10 films that came before. It may seem like a small semantic shift, but it allayed any fears Star Trek fans had that Abrams would barge his way in and obliterate 40 years of existing Trek history.

Even better, Abrams and team actually created a fictional reason for this new timeline (known now as the Kelvin Timeline) to exist, then tied it directly to events that occurred in the original timeline (aka the Prime Timeline).

So how exactly did the Kelvin Timeline come about, and what’s happened since?

Romulus Is Destroyed (Prime Year 2387)

In the year 2387, almost 20 years after the events of The Next Generation , a supernova threatened the entire galaxy. In its path was the planet Romulus , the capital of the Romulan Star Empire . Spock, whose long Vulcan lifespan allowed him to live for over 100 years after Star Trek: The Original Series , promised to help the Romulans. Armed with a substance known as red matter that could disrupt the supernova, Spock took a Vulcan ship to Romulus — but it was too late. The supernova destroyed Romulus. Spock launched the red matter anyway to stop any further destruction.

A Romulan mining ship called the Narada , commanded by a Romulan named Nero , witnessed the planet’s destruction and found Spock. Nero, enraged by the destruction of his planet and the death of his pregnant wife, blamed Spock for what happened. Both the Narada  and Spock’s ship came too close to the black hole created by the red matter. They were both sucked in, with the Narada going in first.

And that’s where the Kelvin Timeline begins…

The Narada and the Kelvin (Kelvin Year 2233)

Over 100 years earlier, in 2233, the Federation starship U.S.S. Kelvin intercepted strange readings on the Klingon border. They went to the source of the readings and found the black hole, with the Narada  emerging from it soon after. The Narada immediately attacked the Kelvin , and Nero realized that he and his entire crew had gone back in time to the 23rd century. George Kirk , the first officer aboard the Kelvin , commanded his ship after the death of his captain.

At the same time, his wife Winona gave birth to a son: James Tiberius Kirk . Only minutes after the future Captain Kirk’s birth aboard an escape shuttle, the Kelvin was destroyed, taking George Kirk with it.

It was this event that sparked the beginning of the Kelvin Timeline. The destruction of the Kelvin didn’t happen in the timeline Nero came from. George Kirk lived to old age and watched his son become captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise . By virtue of Nero’s arrival and the ripple effect it caused, history would be very different in this new universe.

Nero, meanwhile, went into exile, having calculated that because of time displacement, it would not be another 25 years until Spock arrived from the future.

Kirk and Spock Begin (Kelvin Year 2258)

The young Kirk and Spock both began their lives in a new reality. Kirk, raised without a father, became rebellious and was often in trouble with the law in Iowa. Yet he was still gifted. The half-human Spock grappled with his emotions while growing up on Vulcan. He joined Starfleet and became first officer on the Enterprise , under the command of Christopher Pike . Kirk also joined Starfleet on advice from Captain Pike.

In 2258, Nero finally captured Spock Prime. Intent on revenge, Nero used red matter to destroy Vulcan . Starfleet sent an armada, crewed largely by available cadets from Starfleet Academy, in order to find out what was happening. The Enterprise , upon which Cadet Kirk had snuck on board after he was put on academic suspension, arrived late to find the armada destroyed. Nero spared the Enterprise only because he knew the young Spock would be aboard. Pike was captured by the Romulans, but not before he placed Spock in command and appointed Kirk as first officer.

A disagreement over what to do next led Spock to abandon Kirk on a snowy world near Vulcan. Kirk met Spock Prime there and learned about what happened in the other timeline. With the help of Montgomery Scott (Scotty), who was stationed at an outpost, Kirk transported back to the Enterprise and emotionally compromised Spock, forcing him to step down as acting captain. Kirk took command and led the crew to rescue Captain Pike and destroy the Narada . Pike was promoted to Admiral, while Kirk became captain of the Enterprise .

The new crew soon set out on their mission. By that point, the other classic characters of Leonard McCoy , Nyota Uhura , Hikaru Sulu , and Pavel Chekov also joined the crew throughout the course of the mission to stop Nero.

Starfleet’s Militarization (Kelvin Years 2258-2259)

After Vulcan was destroyed, Starfleet — under the command of Admiral Alexander Marcus — began searching distant quadrants of space. Their objective was to find anything they could use to strengthen Starfleet. Not only could that prevent a future disaster like Vulcan, but Marcus also believed that war with the Klingons was imminent. He wanted that war. He wanted to win it, and he believed he was the only one who could. The militarization of Starfleet had begun.

While searching, Starfleet discovered the Botany Bay , a 20th-century spaceship from Earth that carried genetically-engineered humans. These humans, known as Augments , were led by Khan Noonien Singh . Khan and his crew had been frozen in cryosleep since the 1990s, and Marcus awoke only Khan.

Under the new identity of Commander John Harrison, Khan was forced into working for Section 31 , a covert black ops group in Starfleet, to design new weapons and ships that could benefit from Khan’s savagery. Marcus used Khan’s crew against him, but Khan eventually placed them inside the torpedoes he had built and tried to smuggle them to safety. Khan was discovered, and he was forced to flee Starfleet alone.

Khan’s Wrath (Kelvin Year 2259)

Khan believed his crew was dead, so he set out for revenge against Marcus and Starfleet. He bombed a Section 31 base in London, prompting the fleet captains and their first officers to gather in San Francisco. Among those present were Pike, Kirk, and Spock. Kirk had lost command of the Enterprise after violating the Prime Directive , and he was reassigned to be first officer under Pike, who retook command of the ship. Khan attacked the officers and killed many of them, Pike included, giving Kirk his own thirst for revenge.

Khan found refuge on the Klingon homeworld, which was where Marcus — who wanted to use this as a pretext for war — ordered Kirk to take the Enterprise to kill “John Harrison” with the torpedoes Khan had designed. Instead, Spock convinced Kirk to capture “Harrison” and return him to Earth for trial. Kirk then learned that Harrison was really Khan.

Marcus soon arrived aboard an experimental starship called the Vengeance . Never intending for Kirk to make it away from the Klingon homeworld alive, Marcus fired on the Enterprise . Kirk and Khan teamed up to space jump from the damaged Enterprise to the Vengeance , which Scotty had snuck onboard earlier and disabled. There, they could capture Marcus and rescue his daughter, Carol Marcus , a member of the Enterprise crew.

Once aboard, Khan betrayed Kirk, killed Admiral Marcus, and demanded that Spock beam the Augment-filled torpedoes to the Vengeance . Once Spock did so, Khan returned the Enterprise crew members and opened fire. The Enterprise was critically damaged, but Spock played his trump card: He detonated the torpedoes in the Vengeance launch bay, after having Dr. McCoy remove the Augments while they were still on the Enterprise. The Enterprise nearly crashed before Kirk sacrificed his life to save the ship, while Khan crashed the dying Vengeance into the heart of San Francisco.

Spock, enraged at the death of Kirk, chased Khan through San Francisco. McCoy, meanwhile, realized that Khan’s blood had regenerative properties that could return Kirk to life. Uhura transported to San Francisco, where she convinced Spock to capture Khan instead of killing him. Kirk returned to life because of the blood, while Khan was placed into cryosleep once again. One year later, the refitted Enterprise was assigned a new journey: a five-year mission to explore where no one has gone before.

The Five-Year Mission (Kelvin Year 2263)

WARNING: Major Plot Spoilers for Star Trek Beyond Follow!

After spending so much time in deep space, the crew of the Enterprise  became listless. Even Captain Kirk, always the adventurer, thought things were getting a little too routine. A stop at a space station called Yorktown , though, gave them a new mission: rescuing a crew stranded on a planet cloaked inside a nebula . The Enterprise traveled to this strange new world only to be immediately attacked and destroyed by a crew of drone ships. Kirk was the last person to depart the ship, watching the saucer of the Enterprise crash onto the surface from his escape pod.

With most of the crew captured by the leader of the drone swarm, a mysterious alien warrior named Krall , Kirk and the others who weren’t captured regrouped and find their crewmates with the help of a stranded warrior named Jaylah . They ended up boarding the crashed remains of a 22nd-century starship called the USS Franklin , that disappeared in the early 2160s and was never heard from again. The crew repaired the Franklin , which Jaylah had been working on for several years after making the ship her home, and rescued the rest of their crew.

It was then that they learned the truth: Krall was actually Balthazar Eddison, the captain of the Franklin , who had used alien technology to keep himself alive — at the cost of extreme physical mutation. And he had a beef with the Federation: He was a soldier in the Xindi War and the Earth-Romulan War , who felt he was forgotten when peace was achieved and the Federation never rescued his crew. For a century, Krall searched for an ancient artifact known as the Abronath that could power a bioweapon from the planet, and he attacked the Enterprise once he learned it was aboard.

Flying the Franklin , Kirk and his crew followed Krall to Yorktown, where Krall intended to unleash the bioweapon against millions of Federation citizens. Kirk defeated Krall, who was sucked into space and killed. Through his dealings with Krall, who had a similar identity crisis, Kirk came to remember that being a starship captain was his first, best destiny, and that he lived for the adventure with his crew. The crew was given a new starship, the USS Enterprise-A , and they resumed their five-year mission to explore where no one has gone before.

Star Trek Beyond is in theaters now.

Kelvin Timeline

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Starfleet and Klingon ships in the alternate reality

Klingon uniforms

The Kelvin Timeline is a alternative quantum universe created when the Romulan Nero traveled to 2233 and destroyed the Federation starship U.S.S. Kelvin. The subsequent history and development of this timeline is significantly different from those of the "Prime" universe.

• 2 Missions visited
• 3 Other involvement
• 6 External links

History [ | ]

In 2233, the mining vessel Narada appeared and destroyed the Federation starship U.S.S. Kelvin , killing a large number of her crew, including George Kirk.

As a consequence, James T. Kirk grew up without his father's influence to join Starfleet . However, he was eventually persuaded by Christopher Pike.

In 2258, the Jellyfish appeared and was captured by Nero, as part of his revenge for the destruction of Romulus in the prime timeline. He leaves Spock on Delta Vega to witness the destruction of Vulcan. After, Nero attempts to destroy Earth , but is stopped by the U.S.S. Enterprise . ( Star Trek (2009) )

This incident changed the very nature of Starfleet , which starts searching for possible threats in deep space. At one point, Alexandar Marcus, the leader of Section 31, found a ship called SS Botany Bay, which carried augments from Earth 's distant Eugenic Wars. Marcus revived Khan Noonien Singh and recruited him to fabricate weapons which could be used in a potential war against the Klingon Empire . ( Star Trek Into Darkness )

Around that time, the Sphere-Builders from prime timeline came in contact with the Klingons and tasked them with guarding the Spheres they were secretly building throughout the quadrant. ( “Terminal Expanse” )

In 2259, Khan turned against Starfleet, destroying a Section 31 base located in London and fleeing to Qo'nos . The crew of the Enterprise successfully captured him, but was almost destroyed by Admiral Marcus, who took command of an experimental vessel called U.S.S. Vengeance . Marcus, attempted to stop the Enterprise from reaching Earth , but ultimately failed. ( Star Trek Into Darkness )

A year later, Enterprise set out on her five-year mission of exploration.

Aware of the Sphere Builder threat, Starfleet worked hard at developing new tactics which could be used to destroy Tuterian spheres. In 2260, the U.S.S. Yorktown , under the command of Admiral Garrett , with the assistance from a vessel from the prime timeline, destroyed one of the newer sphere networks, halting the Sphere Builder advance into the Kelvin Timeline. ( “Terminal Expanse” )

In 2263, Baltazar Edison, also called Krall, destroyed the Enterprise , and then tried to kill everyone aboard the a Federation starbase Yorktown, only to be stopped by Kirk, who took command of an old Starfleet vessel, U.S.S. Franklin . ( Star Trek Beyond )

Missions visited [ | ]

Other involvement [ | ]

• “The Measure of Morality (Part 2)” : The Kelvin Timeline version of the U.S.S. Enterprise (or a simulacrum of it), along with several other prime timeline starships Enterprise , the U.S.S. Defiant , U.S.S. Voyager , and the U.S.S. Discovery , assists the player's ship in a battle against a renegade Excalbian simulacrum Borg Queen .
• Isaac Garrett (Kelvin Timeline)

See also [ | ]

• Playable Kelvin Timeline starships
• Usable Kelvin Timeline weapons
• Usable Kelvin Timeline Outfits
• Kelvin Timeline Lock Box
• Kelvin Divergence Lock Box

External links [ | ]

• Alternate reality at Memory Alpha , the Star Trek Wiki.
• Alternate reality (Nero, 2233) at Memory Beta , the non-canon Star Trek Wiki.
• 2 Playable starship
• 3 List of canon starships

How Star Trek Connected the Kelvin Timeline to the Prime Universe

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The Star Trek universe encompasses over two dozen films and series spanning 57 years. There are real-world reasons the trilogy of films, beginning with 2009's Star Trek, separates the continuity. One of them was so that modern-day storytellers wouldn't be hamstrung trying to fit their stories into the canon. Yet, after the film series petered out and companies merged, they all connected.

Rather than simply trying to tell a prequel story or reboot the continuity entirely, writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman crafted a way to connect the film to what came before. Leonard Nimoy appeared as an older Spock in the film, despite Zachary Quinto playing a younger version of that character. The premise was that the Romulan Sun destabilized, and before Spock could save his alien cousins, the planet was destroyed. With the help of some sci-fi stuff called "Red Matter," Spock and a giant Romulan mining vessel captained by Eric Bana's Nero traveled back in time. When Kurtzman was eventually tapped to kick off the third wave of the Star Trek series , he stuck to what's known as the "Prime Universe" partly because of rights issues. Still, by the time Picard debuted, the Kelvin Timeline and Prime Universe were loosely connected.

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The Kelvin Timeline Is One of Many Alternate Realities in Star Trek

Between 2006 and 2019, CBS Television and Paramount owners Viacom were separate companies. While CBS retained the rights to Star Trek on TV, Paramount was able to hold on to the film rights thanks to the 2009 film. The characters and situations in the movies were off-limits for TV. When CBS and Viacom merged (again), all the rights to Star Trek were under the same corporate umbrella. While there are many alternate timelines and realities in Star Trek , they usually disappear by the end of a specific episode. The Kelvin Timeline persists , and the events in the Prime Universe that inspired it have been canonized. In the run-up to the 2009 film, IDW released a prequel comic series featuring many of The Next Generation characters. While things like Geordi La Forge building the Jellyfish ship may not be canon, the events mentioned in the film are.

When Picard debuted in 2020, one of the reasons he effectively retired from Starfleet was because of the destruction of Romulus. He organized a massive fleet to rescue the Romulan people, but an attack (orchestrated by Romulan spies) prevented it from happening. So, at the end of the 24th century, the planet Romulus is destroyed. This also means Spock disappeared into the alternate past, where he died, as mentioned in Star Trek: Beyond . However, what happened to him and Nero's ship is likely a mystery to Starfleet at that time. But it's not a mystery to the Starfleet of the future.

In the first episode of Star Trek: Discovery Season 3, the titular ship and her crew traveled 900 years into the future. By the end of that season, an operative from the shady intelligence agency Section 31, played by David Cronenberg of all people, revealed that an alien Starfleet officer from the Kelvin Timeline crossed into their timeframe. The uniform suggested they were from the mid-24th century, around the time of The Next Generation series . This officer revealed the major events of the Kelvin Timeline to the Starfleet of the Prime Universe. They are also aware of the Mirror Universe, where Michelle Yeoh's character was from.

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How Does the Kelvin Timeline Affect Star Trek Canon?

While The Kelvin Timeline is as canon as anything else in Star Trek , it doesn't apply to any other series. As a concept in big franchises, canon is more guidelines for the writers of future stories than for fans. It gives the universe consistency. In fact, even though Star Trek: The Animated Series isn't itself canon, many concepts introduced in the show became essential parts. This means the Kelvin Timeline is as much a part of the canon as the Mirror Universe. It is a separate reality with its own history or future, depending on the storytelling perspective. Still, the events of the Prime Universe mentioned in the films are canon and have affected the shows produced after the movies.

Unfortunately for the Kelvin Timeline, it is stuck in limbo. Should storytellers want to revisit it or perhaps do a big-old multiverse crossover like The Flash movie , it might become relevant. As it stands now, the Prime Universe is still the one Star Trek fans need to care about the most. For now, the three films released in the early 21st century are as Star Trek as it gets while remaining a little pocket universe for folks to enjoy on its own merits.

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Star Trek: The Kelvin Timeline, Explained

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Star Trek first graced the small screen way back in the late 1960s, and since then it has been a staple in the science fiction adventure genre. Over the years it has not only come up with some of the most incredible depictions of what further lies ahead for mankind, but also influenced modern day technology . This all came to a rather disappointing stop, however, back in 2005 when the Star Trek: Enterprise went off the air, leaving a large void for the first time in years. Eager to bring Star Trek back into popular culture and re-invigorate the franchise Paramount Pictures set about creating not only a new, never seen before action adventure Star Trek film, but to create an entirely new timeline: The Kelvin Timeline.

Paramount wanted a prequel film, showing what led Captain James T. Kirk and the much loved, much memed, Spock to where audiences see them in The Original Series. Screenwriters Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci were hired to create this story, but they quickly ran into conceptual problems. Their biggest problem was that audiences already knew the story of these characters and what happens to them. Unless purely new people were watching the film, there would not be the same amount of drama or suspense, especially when they know how these characters die (and thus know that they don’t die in the new film). The other issue was that Kirk’s life before the events of The Original Series were not particularly film-worthy. That's not to say they were not interesting or exciting, but there wasn’t much canonically there to explore.

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Keeping to the canon was something Kurtzman and Orci were especially interested in. They had an opportunity to rewrite the story, make changes here and there that broke with the history Star Trek had established so well over the years. Instead, they decided to do something interesting, and use time travel to create a whole new timeline . With this device, they were able to incorporate new and fresh ideas and narrative, but left the original “prime” timeline in place. This is one of the main story elements of the 2009 film Star Trek , which starts in the year 2380 in, interestingly, the “prime” timeline. This is the same universe audiences know and love, the one that gave them heartbreaking moments on DS9 , and the enigmatically wonderful Captain Picard.

The Romulan sun is about to go supernova, which would destroy not only Romulus, but countless other nearby worlds. Cutting a long story short, Ambassador Spock used a red matter device to stop the disaster, but he failed to save the home world, leading him to be chased and attacked by a lone Romulan mining ship, the Narada, captained by a Romulan named Nero. This is where things start to get complicated. During the chase, the two get caught in the gravitation pull of a black hole, which flings them back in time to the year 2233, over 150 years in the past. Being a Romulan , Nero, despite his confusion, seeks out and attacks the nearest Federation ship, which just so happened to be the U.S.S. Kelvin, captained by none other than First Officer George Kirk — James T. Kirk's father. In an effort to save the countless shuttles escaping the destruction wrought by Nero, which included a shuttle containing the newborn James Kirk and his mother, George Kirk sacrifices his ship. As the Kelvin is destroyed, it sets about the start of the new timeline, named in honor of the ships' sacrifice.

From this point onwards, things follow a fairly similar chain of events to those who know the “prime” timeline, but things are all slightly different. Audiences are shown a different Kirk, one who is rebellious, and far away from the fairly conventional pre-enterprise Kirk mentioned earlier. Bar fights and stolen car joyrides are a few of his newfound hobbies, but as things progress, the old Kirk attitude comes through. Eventually he finds himself fighting alongside Starfleet (after a bit of fibbing) aboard the iconic USS Enterprise . Yet despite his similar trajectory, there are bigger differences in the wider universe. One of these, which came as a shock to many first time viewers, was that the 2009 film ended with the destruction of Vulcan by the hands of Nero as penance for the destruction of his own home world, having blamed Spock.

The similarities and differences continue into the second film Star Trek: Into Darkness where audiences are introduced (or perhaps re-introduced) to the one and only Khan Noonien Singh. In the prime timeline, Kirk is the one who awakens him from the cryogenic stasis, and starts a whole series of events that end in one of the best Star Trek films ever made, The Wrath of Khan. However, in the Kelvin timeline, it is Admiral Alexander Marcus who wakes Khan from his slumber.

After the destruction of Vulcan, Starfleet is no longer the same utopian Starfleet audiences have grown to know and love ( ignoring their problematic tendencies ) from the previous iterations into the franchise. It had adopted a much more militaristic persona, breeding warlike minds like that of Admiral Marcus. In secret, he blackmails the reawakened Khan to help develop powerful weaponry, as well as warships for the federation. Audiences are treaded to the same characters and baseline story, but from the perspective of an all new timeline.

The Kelvin timeline is rather hit-and-miss among fans of the Star Trek franchise. Some like to ignore its existence, but in a way that’s exactly what the writers wanted. They wanted to retell a story that everyone knew and do it differently, all without breaking the well-respected canon that fans have grown so attached to. Creating the Kelvin timeline was a stroke of genius in a way, and while not being directly linked to the “prime” timeline, the films have still influenced proceeding additions to the franchise. The destruction of Romulan, an event that the 2009 Star Trek states takes place ion the “prime” timeline, plays as major context to the events of 2020s Picard . The Kelvin timeline is a great example of how one small event can cause major ripples within the universe, changing events to near unrecognizable levels, all while producing four ( to count the upcoming 2023 film ) half-decent Star Trek films.

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The Kelvin Timeline of Star Trek

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Summary [ ]

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A friendly reminder regarding spoilers ! At present the expanded Trek universe is in a period of major upheaval with the continuations of Discovery and Prodigy , the advent of new eras in gaming with the Star Trek Adventures RPG , Star Trek: Infinite and Star Trek Online , as well as other post-57th Anniversary publications such as the ongoing IDW Star Trek comic and spin-off Star Trek: Defiant . Therefore, please be courteous to other users who may not be aware of current developments by using the {{ spoiler }}, {{ spoilers }} OR {{ majorspoiler }} tags when adding new information from sources less than six months old (even if it is minor info). Also, please do not include details in the summary bar when editing pages and do not anticipate making additions relating to sources not yet in release. THANK YOU

• Memory Beta articles sourced from novels
• Memory Beta articles sourced from comics
• Memory Beta articles sourced from comic adaptations
• Memory Beta articles sourced from video games
• Memory Beta articles sourced from games
• Memory Beta articles sourced from Star Trek Online
• Other realities
• Alternate realities

Kelvin timeline

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The Kelvin timeline or alternate reality was a parallel universe created in the year 2233 with the temporal incursion of the Narada , a Romulan civilian mining vessel under the command of Nero , from the year 2387 . The alternate reality differed from the primary reality in a number of capacities, including the attack upon the USS Kelvin , the launch of the USS Enterprise in 2258 , and the destruction of the planet Vulcan by the Narada . ( TOS movie , novelization & comic adaptation : Star Trek )

• 1.1 Alteration
• 1.2 Destruction of Vulcan
• 1.3 Attack on Earth
• 1.4.1 Q's gambit
• 1.4.2 Final mission of USS Enterprise NCC-1701
• 1.4.3 The Endeavour
• 1.4.4 Terminal expanse
• 1.5 Far future
• 2.1.1 Nomenclature
• 2.2 External link

History [ ]

Alteration [ ].

The Narada was pulled into a black hole and appeared in the year 2233 . Nero launched an attack on the Federation starship USS Kelvin . The Narada severely damaged the Kelvin with its powerful weapons but was crippled when George Kirk rammed his ship into it. The disabled Narada soon attracted the attention of the Klingons. A fleet led by Captain Kor of the IKS Klothos attacked. The Narada 's crew did their best to repel the Klingons, but despite killing many could not hold back the stronger Klingon force. ( TOS movie , novelization & comic adaptation : Star Trek ; TOS comic : " Nero, Number One ")

Destruction of Vulcan [ ]

The Narada attacked Vulcan, destroying all of the Starfleet ships that attempted to intervene save one: the Federation starship USS Enterprise , fresh on her maiden voyage (which due to the timeline change was pushed back to 2258 when it should have been 2245). Though the Enterprise crew tried to foil this plan, the Narada successfully drilled into the core of the planet and placed Red matter there, creating an artificial black hole at the core, which promptly consumed the planet. ( TOS movie : Star Trek )

Attack on Earth [ ]

The Narada then attempted to destroy Earth in a similar manner, but through the actions of Captain Kirk and Spock , an artificial black hole was created which then consumed the Narada . ( TOS movie : Star Trek )

Later missions [ ]

The Enterprise engaged in a series of campaigns against the Klingon Empire , the Cardassian Union , and the Romulan Star Empire , going up against some of the most advanced starships of each. ( TOS video game : The Mobile Game )

After stopping at the Aldebaran colony, the Enterprise prepared to leave the Milky Way galaxy when it intercepted a record-marker from the SS Valiant . Spock was able to analyze the memory banks, revealing an unknown force in the region that forced her captain to destroy his own ship.

Continuing its course to our galaxy's boundary, the Enterprise encountered an unusual force field known as the galactic barrier . Nine crewmembers died, and another was injured—Kirk's friend, Lieutenant Mitchell . The Enterprise also lost her warp capability.

Under the care of Leonard McCoy , Mitchell began to exhibit unusual powers, such as levitation and telepathy. At a senior staff meeting in the briefing room , the crew agreed to maroon Lieutenant Mitchell on "another Delta Vega."

Arriving at Delta Vega I , Kirk and McCoy prepared Mitchell for exile when he attacked Kirk with a blast of energy from his hands. McCoy made a split decision to knock him out with a sedative. He was later beamed down to the planet, with Kirk and Spock, while Scott and Kelso searched the facility for materials they needed to restore the ship's warp drive.

Mitchell revived, escaped his force field, then stunned Kirk and Spock with the energy from his hands. He later met Kelso, and forced his former friend to shoot and kill himself with his phaser.

Scott revived Kirk and Spock, telling them Mitchell had escaped and Kelso was dead. Kirk made a command decision to confront Mitchell, ordering Spock to quarantine the planet and leave if he had not returned in three hours.

Awaiting him in the desert, Mitchell demonstrated his power of illusion to Kirk by transforming the landscape around them into the bar from Iowa. Returning the landscape to its original state, Mitchell forced Kirk to kneel before him and beg forgiveness for his failure and his humanity. As he did so, Spock came up behind Mitchell and nerve-pinched him. Kirk ordered Spock to stand back, then shot and killed his friend.

Kelso and Mitchell were buried in space. Spock later joined Kirk in the briefing room, offering to play chess with him. Kirk accepted the offer, and Spock left for Engineering , leaving him alone in the briefing room.

• The Galileo Seven, Part 1 and Part 2
• Operation: Annihilate, Part 1 and Part 2
• Vulcan's Vengeance, Part 1 and Part 2
• The Return of the Archons, Part 1 and Part 2
• The Truth About Tribbles, Part 1 and Part 2
• Countdown to Darkness, Issue 1 , Issue 2 , Issue 3 , and Issue 4
• I, Enterprise!, Part 1 , and Part 2
• Star Trek Into Darkness
• After Darkness, Part 1 , Part 2 , and Part 3
• The Khitomer Conflict, Part 1 , Part 2 , Part 3 , and Part 4
• Parallel Lives, Part 1 and Part 2
• Lost Apollo, Part 1 and Part 2

Q's gambit [ ]

Following the apparent "death" of Ambassador Spock in 2387 , Q went back in time and had the USS Enterprise transported a hundred years into the future. In the future, the Cardassian Union and the Dominion had conquered both Bajor and the Federation. However, following Dukat releasing both a prophet and Pah-wraith from the Reckoning Tablet , Q then became a vessel for the prophet and was able to destroy Dukat and the pah-wraith. Q then returned the Enterprise and its crew back to its proper time.( TOS - The Q Gambit comics : " Part 1 ", " Part 2 ", " Part 3 ", " Part 4 ", " Part 5 ", " Part 6 ")

• Behemoth, Part 1 , and Part 2
• Eurydice, Part 1 , Part 2 , and Part 3
• Tholian Web, Part 1 and Part 2

Final mission of USS Enterprise NCC-1701 [ ]

Following negotiations between the Teenaxi Delegation and the Fabona Republic , the Enterprise docked at Yorktown Station to resupply. During this time, Ambassador Spock has died, Spock and Uhura took a time out from their relationship and Kirk applied for promotion to vice admiral .

An escape pod was found and its occupant, Kalara , informed the Yorktown crew that her ship was stranded on Altamid . Commodore Paris agreed to let Kirk and the Enterprise enter the Necro Cloud to assist her. However, once in orbit around Altamid, the Enterprise came under attack by a swarm of ships . The Enterprise tried to escape but was crippled and boarded by Swarm drones led by warlord Krall and Manas . Kirk and his crew were then forced to abandon ship before it's saucer section crash-landed on Altamid. However, most of the crew had been captured save for Kirk, Chekov, Spock, Kalara, McCoy and Scotty.

With the assistance of fellow crash victim Jaylah , the still-free members of the senior staff were able to reunite at her "house", the wreck of the NX -class variant USS Franklin . After rescuing the prisoners in a raid on Krall's base, they repaired USS Franklin and pursued Krall's swarm to Yorktown Station, where they were able to destroy the swarm by using a radio transmission of the Beastie Boys ' song " Sabotage " to jam its communications. They then pursued Krall into the station and were able to foil his attempt to deploy a biological weapon against its inhabitants.

Kirk turned down promotion to vice admiral and was placed in command of the USS Enterprise -A , still under construction at the time. ( TOS movie : Star Trek Beyond )

During Enterprise -A's construction, Captain Kirk and Dr. McCoy were then assigned to the USS Endeavour . Commander Sulu was assigned to the USS Concord and Commander Scott then took a position at Starfleet Academy . Commander Spock and Lieutenant Uhura then took a sabbatical to New Vulcan to assist in rebuilding the Vulcan Science Academy . ( TOS - Boldly Go comic : " Issue 1 ")

The Endeavour [ ]

Kirk and his crew on the Endeavour encountered the Borg , who had followed traces of Borg technology from the Narada to the Alpha Quadrant. Kirk tracked the lonely sphere back to Romulus , where the combined forces of the Endeavour and the Romulans were able to destroy it. ( TOS - Boldly Go comics : " Issue 1 ", " Issue 2 ", " Issue 3 ", " Issue 4 ")

Terminal expanse [ ]

Temporal Agent Daniels takes an early 25th century prime timeline temporal agent into the Kelvin Timeline to help the constitution -class USS Yorktown fight the Sphere Builders and their Klingon allies, who had invaded the Kelvin Timeline to gain an advantage in the Temporal Cold War. Daniels and his assistants are helped in defeated the Sphere Builders by the Yorktown 's Captain, Isaac Garret, and its Science Officer, 0718.

Far future [ ]

Vulcan civilization continued to thrive on New Vulcan by as late as approximately 5259 , where a statue of Spock Prime still stood. While many of the surrounding monuments were larger than life, the monument of Spock was life size. This was at Spock's request, as he felt a larger than life monument would not be logical. ( TOS - Legacy of Spock comic : " Part 4 ")

Appendices [ ]

Background [ ], nomenclature [ ].

The name "Kelvin timeline" does not appear in any canon material, but is CBS Television 's internal name for the alternate timeline created by Nero's attack on USS Kelvin . The name was first revealed to the public in a 2016 interview with Al Rivera , the lead designer of the Star Trek Online video game , before it appeared in the fourth edition of The Star Trek Encyclopedia and The Star Trek Book .

In " Terminal Expanse ", Daniels specifically calls this timeline the "Kelvin timeline".

External link [ ]

• Kelvin timeline article at Memory Alpha , the wiki for canon Star Trek .
• 1 Cheronian
• 2 Ferengi Rules of Acquisition
• 3 Eclipse class

The Entire Star Trek: Discovery Timeline Explained

For a series ostensibly about exploring the galaxy and meeting new lifeforms in the hopes of sharing knowledge and resources, there sure is a lot of time travel in "Star Trek." It's been present from the very beginning, as even Kirk and crew visited the past multiple times . Two of those adventures resulted in the iconic episode "The City on the Edge of Forever" and "Star Trek 4: The Adventure Home."

Modern "Star Trek" adventures have embraced this aspect of the universe, as time travel was also the direct cause of the Kelvin Timeline featured in the 2009 "Star Trek" film and its sequels. When the Romulan Nero traveled back in time and destroyed the USS Kelvin, killing James Kirk's father, he accidentally contributed to the creation of a new universe running parallel to the prime timeline. Ultimately, time travel has become every bit as important to "Star Trek" as exploration.

"Star Trek: Discovery" is no exception to this. Initially a prequel series set ten years before the original series, it soon became a sequel set further into the future than any other "Star Trek" installment. Time travel tends to muddy the narrative progression of a story, so we will be looking at where "Star Trek: Discovery" started to shed some light on where it ended up. Here is the entire "Star Trek: Discovery" timeline explained.

A visit to Talos

"Star Trek: Discovery" is set ten years before what is now referred to as "Star Trek: The Original Series." However, one episode of "The Original Series" actually occurs before "Discovery." In many ways, it is the beginning of the entire "Star Trek" franchise. While most viewers back in the late '60s probably remember it as the story told in the exciting two-parter "The Menagerie," which reuses the footage captured for the original "Star Trek" pilot called "The Cage."

We have to begin here because these events play a crucial role in "Star Trek: Discovery" Season 2. "The Cage" sees the Enterprise crew, led by Captain Christopher Pike, visiting Talos IV, encountering a strange alien race. These are the Talosians, telepaths who experience life by manipulating beings they keep in their menagerie. By forcing Captain Pike to endure multiple illusions of their creations, they hope to understand love, anger, fear, excitement, and other emotions they forfeited by choosing to further develop their mental abilities.

Years later, after Captain Pike temporarily assumes command of the USS Discovery, he is forced to revisit Talos IV to cure Spock of his current mental disorder. Not only is it a chance to save Spock's life, but it also allows Pike to seek out closure regarding his past experiences on the planet.

The Battle at the Binary Stars

"Star Trek: Discovery" officially begins with a huge two-part story called "The Vulcan Hello" and "The Battle at the Binary Stars." This is where we meet the star of the show, Commander Michael Burnham, the first officer of the USS Shenzhou. While most "Star Trek" shows tend to be ensemble pieces, "Discovery" belongs to Burnham and it is her arc that we follow.

This opening episode sees Starfleet encountering Klingons for the first time in about a century. An extremist group of Klingons led by the xenophobic T'Kuvma engaged in a devastating battle with the USS Shenzhou after an altercation with Burnham resulted in the death of one of their own. This opening battle becomes a war between the Federation and the Klingons, the effects of which are still being felt during "The Original Series" and the six original "Star Trek" movies .

Following this battle, Michael Burnham is stripped of her rank and sentenced to life in prison — which leads to the true beginning of the show.

Six months later

Following Michael's sentencing, the show jumps ahead six months. While being transferred to a new prison, there's an emergency and the Discovery arrives to save her. While on the ship she meets its captain, a dark and elusive man named Gabriel Lorca, and its crew. She also reunites with her old friend from the Shenzhou, Commander Saru. Healing their relationship following her mutiny is a major part of the first two seasons of "Star Trek: Discovery." 

Lorca believes that Michael's knowledge and experience could be of some use to them on the Discovery, so he invites her to unofficially join them as a specialist. The reasons behind Lorca's decision to go out of his way to save her, and why he wants her working with him on the Discovery, is another major element to the first season. His character comes off as a little strange right away, as Starfleet captains tend to be fairly approachable and diplomatic. However, Lorca is intimidating, conniving, and a little too adept at war to fit the typical captain archetype.

Taking Control

To correctly understand the timeline of "Star Trek: Discovery," we next need to dive into some events that are revealed during Season 2 but take place in Season 1. 

Section 31 is the secret Black Ops division of the United Federation of Planets . They operate in the shadows, carrying out missions the Federation doesn't want to be made public. They feature heavily in "Star Trek: Discovery" and its second season. Following the events of "The Battle at the Binary Stars," Section 31 starts using a threat assessment artificial intelligence called Control in the hopes of preventing wars.

The idea is the Federation would give Control information regarding potential threats, and Control would then provide suggestions on how to proceed. As often happens in science fiction when artificial intelligence is involved, things go haywire when Control decides it no longer needs human beings to implement its suggestions. Instead, it assumes "control" of human beings to enact its agenda. This leads to the massive time jump the USS Discovery would take into the future during the end of Season 2.

Into the Mirror Universe

The USS Discovery has an experimental new system called a spore drive. It allows the Discovery to travel along a microscopic network spread throughout the universe, effectively making instant travel possible. It's an incredibly complex system, one that Forbes notes was inspired by a real-life mycologist, which can be used to break the barriers between realities.

The idea is proposed to astromycologist Commander Paul Stamets by Captain Gabriel Lorca. Stamets is considering leaving Starfleet, but Lorca convinces him to stay on to try one final experiment to see if it truly is possible to visit alternate realities. The experiment works, and the entire crew of the USS Discovery is transported into the classic evil dimension of the "Star Trek" universe — the Mirror Universe .

In the "Star Trek" Mirror Universe the heroes are villains and the villains are heroes, and it is soon revealed that this is where Lorca is from. He arrived in the prime timeline, took over the original Gabriel Lorca's life, and orchestrated events to unite with Michael Burnham — who was his lover in the mirror universe — and use the spore drive to return to his universe and overthrow Emperor Georgiou.

While the time the crew spends in the mirror universe might seem brief, it turns out that nine months pass during that time. 

Nine months later

When Gabriel Lorca dies in the mirror universe, the crew of the USS Discovery returns to their native universe — but they've brought the emperor with them. 

One of Michael Burnham's defining character traits is parental issues. She lost her human parents at a very young age. She was then adopted by the Vulcan Sarek and his human wife, Amanda. They raised her on Vulcan with their son Spock, effectively making her Spock's human step-sister .

Although she tried to live like a Vulcan, her human emotions were far too powerful. As a result, when she joined Starfleet and was assigned to serve on the USS Shenzhou, she gravitated to its human captain Phillipa Georgiou, seeing her as a maternal figure. Tragically, Georgiou died in the Battle of the Binary Stars, and the guilt of her loss has tortured Burnham ever since. Upon arriving in the mirror universe and finding another Georgiou, she can't help but try and bring her back to the prime timeline, hoping to correct her biggest regret.

Back in the prime timeline, they discover that nine months have passed and the war has not been going well. Discovery is boarded by Sarek and Admiral Cornwell, who informs the recently-returned crew that the Klingons have almost won the war.

The mystery of the Red Angel

By the end of Season One, the Klingon War is over, and there is an uneasy peace between the two sides. However, the crew of the Discovery doesn't have long to reflect on these events, as they soon encounter the Enterprise and are boarded by Captain Christopher Pike. Pike has been directed to temporarily assume command of the Discovery to research red burst anomalies that have been popping up all over the galaxy.

The red bursts are caused by an entity referred to as the Red Angel. The identity of this entity and the reasons for its actions are complex but intimately related to Michael. It turns out that there are two Red Angels — one is Michael Burnham's mother, Gabrielle, and the other is Michael herself. The form of the angel is actually a suit capable of traveling through time developed by Michael's parents as a project for Section 31.

At some point, Gabrielle decides to use the suit to escape an attack from Klingons but winds up in the distant future. She sees that the AI system Control has taken over the galaxy, so she uses her suit to jump around in time in the hopes of preventing Control from evolving and spreading across the galaxy. Michael then uses the suit to send signals that appear as red bursts for the crew of the Discovery to follow, defeat Control, and travel to the future.

The all-knowing Sphere

Season 2 of "Star Trek: Discovery" is full of big, wild ideas that could serve as the basis for a film or an entire series. The first, of course, is the threat of Control. The second is the Red Angel. The third is a sentient, planet-sized lifeform called the Sphere.

This Sphere has spent hundreds of thousands of years exploring the galaxy, collecting information and experiences. It has existed for such a long time that it is now dying. With such a wealth of knowledge and experience, it doesn't want to be forgotten, so it transfers its memory to the Discovery's computers.

As wonderful a find as this is, it is also incredibly dangerous. When Airiam, a cybernetic member of the Discovery crew, is infected by a future version of Control, she is directed to transfer all the sphere data on artificial intelligence to the current form of Control. With that information, Control will be able to gain full sentience and take over the galaxy — just as seen in Spock's vision from the Red Angel.

Defeating Control

For any "Star Trek" fans upset that "Star Trek: Discovery"  takes place 10 years before "The Original Series" but the technology is significantly more advanced — or that Spock never mentioned having a human step-sister — their fears were partially quelled when the ship made the jump ahead almost one thousand years.

By the end of Season 2, Control was defeated, the mystery of the Red Angel was solved, and the need to get the sphere data to a safer time period arose. With the data merging to Discovery's computers, the decision was made not to try and delete the data but take it into the future. Using the Red Angel suit, Michael Burnham drags the USS Discovery into a time in a future not yet explored by the "Star Trek" franchise .

Once Discovery is gone, the Federation decides to clear the ship's existence from all Starfleet records and never speak of it, the crew, or its mission again. Thus, Michael Burnham is never mentioned, nor is the Discovery or its experimental spore drive. 

The future of Starfleet and the Federation

The jump to the future is successful, but Michael arrives there alone. Since she was towing the ship, not riding in it, the trip was different for her. Immediately upon arriving, she rams into a ship piloted by Cleveland Booker before being pulled in by a nearby planet's gravity, regaining control of the Red Angel suit only seconds before splattering on its surface.

At first, she is panicked that Discovery won't answer her call but is soon thrilled by the knowledge that there is life on this planet. She eventually meets Cleveland Booker and discovers that the Federation barely exists anymore. The reason for its diminished size and influence was something called the Burn. In the 31st century, nearly every warp core installed in Federation ships exploded, wiping out swaths of life and nearly destroying the Federation. Exactly what caused this "burn" is the central mystery of Season 3. 

One year later

In this new world, where dilithium is more precious than ever, Michael travels the galaxy, trading it for goods and services. She spends an entire year recording her experiences and searching for any sign of the Discovery. Finally, her search efforts pay off, and she is reunited with her crew. In a completely new headspace, Michael isn't sure about serving on the Discovery any longer. True, she earned back her respect and rank but is she is more interested in solving the mystery of the Burn and restoring the Federation rather than limiting herself to a single ship.

By the end of Season 3, the mystery surrounding the Burn is solved, the Federation is in the early stages of reconnecting with its lost members, and Michael joins the crew of the Discovery again. This time, however, she isn't a specialist or a first officer — she is the captain. 

Season 4 is still set in the 32nd century and Michael is now known as Captain Michael Burnham. Her arc mirrors the real-life arc of the show. She started as a first officer who lost everything and worked her way back to a command position, while "Star Trek: Discovery" began life as a prequel with a dubious connection to canon and became a sequel that takes the franchise to brand new heights.

Pocket-lint

How to watch the star trek movies and tv shows in order.

The universe is composed of 13 films and eight TV shows. Here's how to watch them all.

Key Takeaways

• Explore the Star Trek universe by watching the franchise in chronological order, based on stardates.
• The original Star Trek timeline includes the TV show Enterprise and the first two seasons of Discovery.
• The original series, The Animated Series, and the first Star Trek movie are important parts of the franchise's origins.

With the Star Trek franchise rapidly expanding on Paramount+ , now is the perfect time to boldly go explore the Star Trek Universe.

The universe is composed of 13 films and nine TV shows. Now, it'd be easy enough to watch them all in the order they premiered, but if you prefer to watch everything chronologically (when the events take place), we've compiled an ultimate viewing guide for you. Below, you'll find the entire franchise organized by stardates. It starts with the oldest event in the original Star Trek timeline.

Speaking of timelines, there are two in Star Trek: The original, which includes nearly all the films and TV shows; and Kelvin, an alternative timeline that kicked off with the latest three reboot films. To better understand what we're talking about, please read the guide below. Those of you who want to proceed spoiler-free, however, can scroll all the way to the bottom for the list version of this guide.

Also at the bottom, we've included another spoiler-free list. It's structured by order of release - or when each film and TV show premiered.

How to watch every Marvel movie and TV show in chronological order

The original star trek timeline.

The thing to remember about this order is that it is chronological - based entirely on the stardate time system in the Star Trek franchise. Think of stardates as years. In that case, the order below starts with the oldest events in the Star Trek Universe - but it excludes the Kelvin timeline films.

There are spoilers below.

1 Star Trek: E nterprise

The first to boldly go where no man has gone before, star trek: enterprise.

Stardate: 2151 to 2156

Enterprise follows the adventures of one of the first starships to explore deep space in the Star Trek Universe.

Set right before the founding of the Federation of Planets (and about 100 years before the original Star Trek series), Star Trek: Enterprise is a TV show that follows the adventures of Captain Jack Archer, played by Scott Bakula, and the Starship Enterprise crew. This ship is the first Federation vessel to have Warp 5 capabilities, allowing its crew to be among the first deep-space explorers.

The series introduces many of the different alien species important to the Star Trek Universe, such as the Vulcans and Klingons. It also begins to lay the groundwork for the Federation of Planets, in the fourth and final season.

2 Star Trek: Discovery seasons 1 and 2

Discover a new type of starship, set ten years before the original series, star trek: discovery.

Stardate: 2256

The first two seasons of Discovery is set ten years before the original series as the crew of the titular ship tests an impressive new warp drive.

Star Trek: Discovery follows Michael Burnham, played by Sonequa Martin-Green, the first officer aboard the USS Shenzhou before she is found guilty of mutineering. However, with the Federation at war with the Klingons, the captain of the new Discovery ship, Gabriel Lorca, played by Jason Isaacs, enlists Burnham to help get the ship’s experimental warp drive properly working.

Discovery's early setting in the Star Trek universe was changed with a leap through time at the end of season two, which is why we're placing the recently released third season elsewhere on our list.

3 Star Trek: Strange New World

A direct prequel to the original series., star trek: strange new worlds.

Stardate: 2258

Strange New Worlds follows the early adventures of the Starship Enterprise, before Kirk became its captain.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds stars Anson Mount as Captain Christopher Pike.

Pike will be a familiar name to Star Trek fans, as Pike is the man who commanded the starship Enterprise before Captain Kirk. The series follows Pike doing just that, in his final five-year mission as captain of the Enterprise before he becomes Fleet Captain and hands the reigns to Captain Kirk.

This being a prequel to the original Star Trek series, there are also other recognizable names, with Ethan Peck playing Spock and Celia Rose-Gooding as Uhara. A third season is currently in production.

4 Star Trek: The Original Series

Where it all began, star trek: the original series.

Stardate: 2266 to 2269

The original Star Trek series follows Captain Kirk, Spock, and the rest of the crew as they boldly go where no man has gone before.

This is the original Star Trek TV show. It began airing in 1966 and primarily follows the crew of the USS Enterprise, starting with them embarking on a five-year mission “to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before”.

The series introduces William Shatner’s Captain James T Kirk and Leonard Nimoy’s Spock, too.

It also gives us the basis for the universe that makes Star Trek so successful, from introducing numerous alien species like the Vulcans and Klingons to showing us the inner workings of the Federation of Planets. The origins of the Star Trek Universe wouldn’t exist without it.

5 *Optional* Star Trek: The Animated Series

Continue the journey with the original crew, star trek: animated.

Stardate: 2269 to 2270

Continue the adventures of the original series in this animated version that sees most of the cast return to voice their characters.

After The Original Series ended, it quickly became a cult classic. Creator Gene Roddenberry then began work on an animated series that saw most of the original cast provide voice work for the animated versions of their characters. The show essentially functions as the fourth season of the original series, with the original characters navigating unexplored sections of space.

However, it was eliminated from canon by Roddenberry himself, when the rights were renegotiated following the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation. So, if you want to consume every drop of Star Trek content, add this to your list.

6 Star Trek: The Motion Picture

The first star trek movie, star trek: the motion picture.

Stardate: 2273

Captain Kirk, his crew, and a newly remodeled Enterprise head out to investigate an alien entity known as V'ger.

This is the first feature film in the Star Trek Universe. It sees Captain James T Kirk retake the helm of a renovated USS Enterprise to investigate a mysterious cloud of energy that is moving toward Earth. The energy cloud destroys a Federation monitoring station, as well as three Klingon ships, but before Kirk is able to engage it, he must learn to operate an unfamiliar USS Enterprise.

7 Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)

Star trek: the wrath of khan.

Stardate: 2285

The crew of the Enterprise faces off against it's most fearsome adversary, Khan.

The second Star Trek movie is perhaps the most successful entry in the franchise. It sees Captain James T Kirk taking command of a USS Enterprise staffed with untested trainees in order to track down the adversary Khan Noonien Singh and his genetically engineered super soldiers.

In the process of escaping a planet that Kirk trapped him on, Khan learns of a secret device known as Genesis, capable of re-organizing matter to terraform (make them habitable) planets. Khan tries to steal the device, but, of course, Kirk will do all he can to stop him.

8 Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

The crew of the enterprise try to resurrect spock, star trek iii: the search for spock.

Captain Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise set out on a mission to recover Spock's body and bring him back to life.

Following their battle with Khan, the crew of the USS Enterprise returns home to Earth in this third feature film.

Once there, Leonard H “Bones” McCoy, played by DeForest Kelley, begins to act strangely, leading to him being detained. Captain James T Kirk, with the help of Spock’s father, Sarek, played by Mark Lenard, then learns that Spock transferred his Katra into McCoy before dying.

If nothing is done, McCoy will die from carrying Spock’s Katra. So, the crew of the USS Enterprise go back to the site of their battle with Khan - in the hopes of retrieving Spock’s body. To top it all off, they must battle with the Klingon Kruge, played by Christopher Lloyd, over control of the Genesis Device. The Search for Spock is also directed by Spock himself, Leonard Nimoy.

9 Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)

Earth is in danger and the only hope is humpback whales, star trek iv: the voyage home.

Stardate: 2286

The Enterprise travels back in time to 1986 and has to untangle a mystery involving humpback whales and an alien probe.

In this film, a mysterious ship begins orbiting Earth and destroys the planet's power grid. It emits strange noises, too, and the newly resurrected Spock realizes the sound is similar to the now-extinct humpback whale. Believing the strange ship is expecting to hear back the song of humpback whales, the crew goes around the Sun and travels back in time to 1986 to get a humpback whale.

Nimoy returned to direct this film, as well.

10 Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

The enterprise crew must face off with spock's brother, sybok, star trek v: the final frontier.

Stardate: 2287

The Enterprise heads out on a mission to rescue hostages from the planet Nimbus 3.

After finishing a mission, Kirk, Spock, and Bones are enjoying a camping trip in Yosemite in this film when they are ordered to rescue hostages on the planet Nimbus III. But, once arriving on the planet, the crew realizes Spock’s half-brother, Sybok, is responsible for taking the hostages in order to lure a starship, with the hopes of reaching the mythical planet Sha Ka Ree and meeting a God.

Sybok realizes he’ll need Kirk’s expertise to navigate through the barrier at the centre of the Milky Way that leads to this mythical planet. Along the way, the Klingon Kraa decides to hunt Kirk. The Final Frontier is also the only Star Trek film directed by William Shatner.

11 Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

The final film starring the original series cast, star trek vi: the undiscovered country.

Stardate: 2293

After being framed for a political assassination, Kirk and the rest of the crew of the Enterprise must unravel the conspiracy to avoid war with the Klingon Empire.

In the final film of this series, we see the Klingon homeworld nearly destroyed, leading the hostile empire to engage in peace talks with the Federation. Captain James T Kirk is assigned to escort the Klingon ambassador, but is instead blamed when assassins beam aboard the Ambassador’s ship and kill him. The Klingons then sentence Kirk and McCoy to life imprisonment on a frozen asteroid.

At that point, Spock and the rest of the crew must find the true culprits behind the attack of the Klingon ship and rescue Kirk and Bones.

12 Star Trek: The Next Generation

The next generation takes over the uss enterprise, star trek: the next generation.

Stardate: 2364 to 2370

A new crew takes over the Enterprise and heads out on a five-year mission to explore the unknown.

Set 71 years after the USS Enterprise’s last mission with Captain James T Kirk at the helm, The Next Generation introduces us to a new USS Enterprise staffed with the next generation of Starfleet officers, led by Captain Jean Luc Picard (played by Patrick Stewart).

This TV series also shows us new species of aliens, the Cardassians and the Borgs, which replace the now-friendlier Klingons as the Federation’s primary adversaries.

The Next Generation ran for seven seasons and featured a couple of cameos from The Original Series, like Spock and Bones, among others.

13 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Everyday life in the deepest reaches of space, star trek: deep space nine.

Stardate: 2369 to 2375

Set on a stationary space station instead of an exploring starship, Deep Space Nine explores what life in space is like after the exploring part is done.

This TV show overlaps with the end of Star Trek: The Next Generation. It focuses on the former Cardassian space station, a backwood outpost that the Federation now controls and has ordered a Starfleet crew to run, with Avery Brook’s Benjamin Sisko as the commanding officer.

It's not about a starship exploring the unknown, but rather the trade disputes and political manoeuvring surrounding a crucial military hub.

14 Star Trek Generations

The two enterprise crews unite to take on a force with the power to destroy stars, star trek: generations.

Stardate: 2371

The first Star Trek film to feature the Next Generation crew also brought back the Enterprise crew from the original series.

Star Trek Generations is the first film to feature the crew of The Next Generation while also starring some of The Original Series cast.

The plot primarily centres around an El-Aurian, named Dr Tolian Soran (played by Malcolm McDowell), as well as an energy ribbon known as the Nexus.

You see, in 2293, Soran is rescued from the Energy Ribbon by a retired Captain James T Kirk, who is attending a maiden voyage of a new USS Enterprise. Then, in 2371, while answering a distress call, Captain Jean Luc Picard finds Soran - and he has a weapon capable of destroying stars.

15 Star Trek: Voyager

A federation starship stranded in uncharted space, star trek voyager.

Stardate: 2371 to 2378

Follow a Captain Janeway and her crew of the USS Voyager as they attempt to find their way home after being stranded in space.

After leaving Star Trek: Deep Space Nine in search of a group of Maquis rebels, the Starship Voyager, led by Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew), is captured by an energy wave that sends it - and a ship of Maquis rebels - into the middle of the unexplored Delta Quadrant. With both ships damaged and far from home, the crews agree to join forces and begin a 75-year journey back to Earth.

16 Star Trek: First Contact

The crew of the enterprise travels back before the first warp drive was used, star trek: first contact.

Stardate: 2373

The Enterprise must travel back in time to prevent a Borg ship from assimilating all of Earth.

In this film, the USS Enterprise tries to help defeat a Borg Cube attacking Earth, with Captain Jean Luc Picard assuming command of a fleet of starships. However, just before the Cube is destroyed, it releases a smaller ship that enters a temporal vortex. The USS Enterprise gives chase through the vortex, but in the process, realizes the Borg traveled back in time and assimilated the entire planet.

And once through the Vortex, the crew arrives in 2063. More specifically, they arrive one day before Zefram Cochrane (played by James Cromwell) uses the first warp drive system, which draws the attention of the Vulcans, leading to humanity's first contact with an alien race.

17 Star Trek: Insurrection

The enterprise must uncover the mystery around a nearly immortal group of people, star trek: insurrection.

Stardate: 2375

The crew of the USS Enterprise uncovers a conspiracy involving the forced relocation of a peaceful alien race.

The action now centres around a planet with a type of unique radiation that rejuvenates its people, known as the Ba’ku. The effects of the radiation make the Ba’ku nearly immortal.

In this film, Brent Spinner’s Data is sent undercover to monitor the Ba’ku people and soon begins to malfunction, which causes Captain Jean Luc Picard and the crew of the USS Enterprise to investigate.

They uncover a conspiracy between a species, which is hostile to the Ba’ku, and Admiral Mathew Doherty, a Starfleet officer played by Anthony Zerbe. The crew of the Enterprise must stop them both in order to save the Ba’ku from being forcibly removed from their home planet.

18 Star Trek: Nemesis

Picard vs picard, star trek: nemesis.

Stardate: 2379

Captain Picard and the crew face a new, dangerous enemy in the form of a clone of Picard himself.

Captain Jean Luc Picard and the USS Enterprise crew are sent on a mission to meet with the leader of the Romulans, Shinzon, played by a super young Tom Hardy. Once there, they learn that Shinzon is actually a clone of Picard, created in the hopes that he would one day be able to infiltrate the Federation. The Romulans had abandoned the plan and sent Shinzon into slavery.

He led a rebellion, however, and created his own starship, the Scimitar. Soon, the Enterprise learns Shinzon’s true plan is to use a form of radiation poisonous to all life in order to attack the Federation and destroy Earth.

19 Star Trek: Picard

Picard's forced out of retirement one more time

Star Trek: Picard

Stardate: 2399

Captain Picard's retirement is about as full of adventure as his career on the Enterprise.

One of the most popular starship captains in the Star Trek Universe, Jean Luc Picard had retired to a life of wine-making, but a new mission set 20 years after the events of Nemesis sees Captain Jean Luc Picard return to space along with many of his old friends. The first season sees Picard struggling with the events that led to his retirement from Starfleet -- when he's forced into a conflict that sees him thrust into a captain's chair again.

The second season sees Picard transported to an alternate timeline by the interdimensional being known as Q (John De Lancie), who originally appeared in The Next Generation. The third and final season of Picard recently got a teaser and is slated to premiere in spring 2023.

20 Star Trek: Discovery seasons 3 and beyond

The discovery's journey picks up later than any other star trek content.

Stardate: 3188

Catch up with the rest of Discovery after a timejump shifts the story to the end of the Star Trek timeline.

Burnham and the crew of the Discovery make a jump through time that lands them further in the future than we've ever seen in the Star Trek Universe.

There, Burnham is separated from the rest of the crew of Discovery.

While trying to locate the ship, she learns that the United Federation of Planets has fallen following the event known as The Burn, which saw ships simultaneously explode throughout the entire galaxy. The fuel for Star Trek's ships, Dilithium, has also become extremely rare, which makes travel across wide distances of space much harder. In the fourth season, Burnham and the crew of the Discovery begin the process of rebuilding the Federation of Planets. A fifth season of Star Trek Discovery is slated to premiere in 2024.

Kelvin timeline: The alternate Star Trek timeline

These films kick off JJ Abrams' alternate Star Trek timeline. Officially called the Kelvin timeline, it's named after the USS Kelvin. If you want to watch them, you can do so either before or after Star Trek: The Original Series. We prefer you watch it after - in fact, watch it after you've finished the original Star Trek timeline, because it literally takes place in a different timeline.

‘Star Trek’s Captain Pike: From Misogyny to Non-Toxic Masculinity

I ’m loving current Star Trek ‘s Captain Christopher Pike ! Anson Mount brings a layered, nuanced, and compassionate performance to a role that could have been either boring or bombastic as hell in the wrong hands. The role itself has also been written that way.

To appreciate how far Christopher Pike has come, we should look at earlier incarnations where, despite starting his existence on a show that aimed to give us an optimistic view of humanity’s future, he was still forced to adhere to 1960s misogyny and toxic masculinity.

Where plenty of sexism has gone before

Captain Christopher Pike (played by Jeffrey Hunter) first appeared in Star Trek ‘s first pilot, “The Cage.” This pilot was rejected by the show’s then-network NBC, remaining unreleased and unaired for years. However, NBC believed in Gene Roddenberry’s concept enough to order a second pilot with lots of changes (like a new Enterprise captain, James T. Kirk), “Where No Man Has Gone Before.”

“Where No Man Has Gone Before” had plenty of misogyny in it . In one scene, a blonde yeoman comes onto the bridge, Captain Kirk gets her name wrong (calling her “Jones” instead of “Smith”—she briefly corrects him), then physically moves her away from his chair to get past her. She then has exactly zero lines for the rest of that looooong scene, only existing as a prop for men to physically move.

Dr. Elizabeth Dehner (Sally Kellerman), the doctor introduced in the pilot, was introduced by a man while all the other male department heads introduced themselves. Lt. Commander Gary Mitchell (Gary Lockwood) immediately hits on her. At work. In front of everyone on the bridge. Upon first meeting her. He then calls her a “walking freezer unit” when she rejects his advances, and no one bats an eye.

So yeah, Star Trek was a product of its time, blah-blah. It’s interesting to note, though, that while Kirk is steeped in the same sexism as everyone else, he doesn’t make sexist remarks in his introductory episode. Sexism isn’t a conscious part of his identity as presented.

TOS Pike can’t handle women on the bridge

And then there’s Captain Christopher Pike—who, when introduced, sloppily navigates having women on the bridge. Check out this clip from “The Cage:”

Not only is he still “getting used to” seeing women on the bridge, he treats his yeoman like a child while not even seeing Number One (Majel Barrett) as a woman, because she’s … smart and competent? He makes a big production of leaving her behind during an away mission, because she’s his most “experienced officer,” so she needs to monitor the planet from the ship.

I know she’s the First Officer, and it’s wise for the First Officer to stay behind if the Captain is leaving the ship … but it just sucks that the first time the show adhered to protocol was with a woman first officer on the heels of dealing with a sexist moment with her boss.

Anyway, the Enterprise responds to a distress call from the survey vessel SS Columbia, which had gone missing 18 months prior.

They go to the source of the call, Talos IV, to look for survivors. However, a woman named Vina (Susan Oliver), is the only one. The others are illusions created by the Talosians to lure the Enterprise to them. They present Vina to Pike as an object of desire. They imprison Pike, because they hope to have them repopulate their planet and create a slave race for them. (Yowza.)

Once the problem of the episode is resolved, the Talosians let Pike go. Pike asks Vina to come with them. That’s when the Talosians reveal that the beautiful Vina is partially an illusion herself. Her youthful beauty fades away, and we see her true appearance as an older woman, disfigured from the accident. The Talosians healed her, but had no record of what humans are supposed to look like, so they did their best.

Vina says that this is why she can’t go with Pike. And … Pike doesn’t put up a fight. It’s more important that she be somewhere where she can be beautiful than that she be with her people again? Like, he doesn’t even bring up the possibility of their medical officers being able to help her, or her family and friends who must miss her.

He just leaves her there. Because God forbid she not be young and pretty. And we’re supposed to understand this as a “compassionate” gesture. Ugh.

Footage from the unaired “Cage” pilot was repurposed in the Star Trek episode “The Menagerie,” where we’re re-introduced to Captain Pike. This time, he’s a fleet captain with whom Spock served before Kirk (in a nod to “The Cage”), and he’s suffered a horrible accident in the process of saving cadets from a plate rupture on a training vessel. The radiation left him paralyzed and reliant on the use of a brainwave-operated wheelchair for mobility and communication.

“The Menagerie” centers around Spock (Leonard Nimoy) who, in a show of loyalty to his former, long-time captain, risks court-martial and imprisonment to get Pike back to Talos IV. Turns out, Pike wants some of that Talosian Instagram filter for himself so that he can live out his few remaining years with use of his body.

While I don’t know how to feel about this presentation of disability (and the desire to “fix it” at the expense of leaving your entire species behind), at least this reason for wanting what the Talosians can do is a genuine quality-of-life issue. Whereas he left Vina on Talos IV years ago, because she was stricken with … not being young and pretty.

I guess not being young and pretty is considered a disability to some people. /sarcasm

Kelvin Universe Pike

Kelvin Universe Pike (Bruce Greenwood), whom we got to know in J.J. Abrams’ 2009 Star Trek film, brings more mature, tough-love Dad Energy than previous incarnations.

This Pike served with Kirk’s father on the USS Kelvin, and is disappointed with how young Jim is choosing to honor his father’s memory. He challenges Kirk to join Starfleet and “do better.”

Through Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness , Pike is a gruff, but nurturing presence for Kirk; a father figure who guides Kirk toward being his best self.

Greenwood’s Pike is the halfway point between the cold leadership and callous sexism of Jeffrey Hunter’s Pike, and the warm, progressive, non-toxic masculinity of Anson Mount’s.

Present-day Pike (a.k.a., the best Pike)

When Captain Christopher Pike was first introduced in Season Two of Discovery , replacing Jason Isaac’s Captain Lorca in the episode, “Brother,” it was immediately clear that he was a different kind of captain than we’d ever seen, of any race or gender. Check out how he introduces himself as Lorca’s replacement:

He jokes and smiles. He listens to people. He cares about the crew’s emotional well-being.

He allows the crew to read his personal record, which Ensign Tilly (Mary Wiseman) accidentally puts up on the view screen, showing vulnerability by addressing his childhood asthma and his failing grade in Astrophysics at Starfleet Academy.

He even respects Commander Saru’s (Doug Jones) position in the chain of command and asks his permission to take the captain’s chair before doing it.

In under three minutes, Anson Mount’s Captain Pike earns the crew’s deep respect and became someone I’d follow anywhere. He is a warm, compassionate man who commands respect by giving it.

And what about his treatment of women?

Pike brings that warm, compassionate, respectful energy to everyone with whom he interacts, no matter their gender. This is especially true for his crew.

Even in the scene above, his first in the pilot for Strange New Worlds , we never get a vibe that he feels he’s better than his lover, Captain Batel (Melanie Scrofano). Even though he is keeping his reasons for questioning his return to command a secret, it’s for genuine, timeline-related reasons, not because he “can’t talk about his feelings,” or is trying to “be a man.”

And can we talk about the fact that in the opening scene of Strange New Worlds , we’re introduced to Pike in his home, watching an old sci-fi movie and making pancakes for his hot, captain girlfriend who’s slept in. Let’s talk about the fact that he’s dating a fellow captain, one with higher security clearance than him, and isn’t threatened by that. Let’s talk about the fact that she’s like “See you in four months,” and he’s like, “Cool. Come see me next time you’re in town.”

It’s a casual sexual relationship, but it’s still full of respect, kindness, and genuine care, with zero insecurity.

Christopher Pike is a great example of non-toxic masculinity. He’s a leader, and a male character, fit for a modern viewership that increasingly values things like mental health, diverse gender expressions and sexualities, and intolerance of abuse from employers and superiors.

I can’t wait to get back aboard his Enterprise when Strange New Worlds returns for its second season on June 15.

(featured image: Paramount+)

The post ‘Star Trek’s Captain Pike: From Misogyny to Non-Toxic Masculinity appeared first on The Mary Sue .

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Star trek is finally ready to embrace the real final frontier (not space).

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Star Trek Reveals One of the 21st Century's Biggest Scientific Breakthroughs Is Illegal in the Future

Every starship enterprise & discovery saucer separation in star trek, star trek unveils the breen's terrifying ultimate weapon, the chimera.

• Star Trek introduces a horrifying new universe with exciting implications for the franchise as a whole.
• The multiverse concept plays a significant role in Star Trek , with alternate timelines and realities explored.
• Future Star Trek shows should embrace the multiverse concept to tell strong stories and expand the franchise.

Warning: contains spoilers for Star Trek: Defiant #14!

Star Trek ’s famous opening sequence calls space “the final frontier,” but there are frontiers in the franchise that stretch beyond the galaxy and even the entire universe. Star Trek has utilized the multiverse concept since its earliest days, leaning into it even more in recent years. In Star Trek: Defiant #14, a new (and horrifying) universe is revealed, although it has exciting implications for the franchise as a whole.

Star Trek: Defiant #14 is written by Christopher Cantwell and drawn by Angel Unzueta. Worf and the Defiant’s crew are facing a potential invasion from the “Conspiracy” parasites. Spock attempts a mind meld to learn more, but he is taken over and leaves Worf. Spock makes his way to the Starbase’s power center, cryptically mentioning “the door” opening. As the issue unfolds, it is revealed that the parasites are not from the same universe as Worf and Spock.

Instead, they are from a reality where they are the dominant life form.

The "Conspiracy" Aliens Are Only the Tip of the Star Trek Multiverse

In addition to multiple universes, star trek has many alternate timelines.

Introduced in Star Trek: The Next Generation’s first season episode “Conspiracy,” the parasites wormed their way into Starfleet’s upper echelon. Picard and the crew of the Enterprise are able to stop them, but the episode ends on an ominous note: the parasites sent a signal to…somewhere. The episode never received a follow-up, and became one of the franchise’s biggest dangling plot lines. Previous issues of Star Trek: Defiant hinted the parasites originated from outside the universe, and this issue seems to confirm that. It adds an even darker layer to the parasites, making them even more alien.

This revelation also serves as a reminder that a multiverse exists in the Star Trek franchise. Star Trek has, on many occasions, played with the concept of alternate timelines. Episodes such as “City on the Edge of Forever,” “Yesterday’s Enterprise,” and “Year of Hell” took this particular concept and spun gold out of it. The entire Kelvin series is also alternate timelines. Star Trek has sometimes used the terms “universe” and “timeline” interchangeably. Some refer to JJ Abram’s films as either “the Kelvin Universe” or “the Kelvin Timeline.”

What distinguishes the two is that, with a few exceptions, the Kelvin Timeline unfolded in much the same way as the Prime did, in terms of personality and career choices. Shortly after the first Abrams’ Star Trek film in 2009, IDW launched a series that reinterpreted classic episodes using the Kelvin crew, meaning that events unfolded in both universes in similar fashions. However, Star Trek has also shown realities where everything is completely different, such as the popular Mirror Universe.

Star Trek's Mirror Universe is A Pop Culture Touchstone

Star trek's mirror universe has been featured in the comics as well.

Introduced in the episode “Mirror, Mirror,” airing during Star Trek’s second season, the Mirror Universe has become one of the most endearing in the franchise, and Spock, with his menacing goatee, has become the stuff of pop culture legends.

Introduced in the episode “Mirror, Mirror,” airing during Star Trek’s second season, the Mirror Universe has become one of the most endearing in the franchise, and Spock, with his menacing goatee, has become the stuff of pop culture legends. In the episode, an ion storm sends Kirk, Uhura, Scotty and McCoy to the Mirror Universe. They are horrified by what they found: the Enterprise was not a ship of peace and exploration, but an instrument of evil used by a fascist empire. The episode ends with Kirk placing the seeds of revolt in Mirror Spock’s brain.

The Mirror Universe returned during DC Comics’ Star Trek comic. In The Mirror Universe Saga, running through Star Trek #9-16 and written by Mike W. Barr and drawn by Tom Sutton, the Federation faces an invasion from the Terran Empire. Spock did not go onto implement reforms, and instead doubled down on his fascist ways. Thanks to Kirk and the recently revived Prime Spock, the Federation was able to defeat the Terran Empire, and the story ends with Mirror Spock finally joining the side of good.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Flipped the Script on the Mirror Universe

Idw's star trek comics gave fans mirror jean-luc picard.

While this would seem to bring the story of the Mirror Universe to a close, the concept proved too good to let go, and it returned during Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’s second season. In the episode “Crossover,” it was revealed Spock’s reforms worked—all too well. It left the Empire in a weakened state, and it was quickly overrun by the Cardassians and the Klingons. It would go on to appear in two episodes of Star Trek: Enterprise and was a major part of Discovery’s first three seasons and will play a role in the forthcoming Section 31 movie.

The Mirror Universe was still not finished, however, and the comics once again picked up the story. In 2017’s Star Trek: The Next Generation: Mirror Broken, the Terran Empire still exists in the 24th century, albeit in a dilapidated and broken state. Now confined largely to Earth’s solar system, Captain Picard of the ISS Stargazer learns of a new and powerful weapon the Empire is building, one that may be able to restore its former glory. Picard, desperate to make a name for himself, steals the weapon, revealed to be the Galaxy-class Enterprise .

The Star Trek Multiverse Is a Scary Place

Between the "conspiracy" aliens and the mirror universe, it is a truly dangerous frontier.

Most heart-breaking of all was Barclay, who, in the Mirror Universe, was a scheming and cold-hearted man, seeking revenge on those who wronged his family.

IDW released several additional Star Trek: The Next Generation comics set in the Mirror Universe, and they painted a befittingly bleak picture. Deanna Troi, the ship’s empathic counselor, was reframed as the Inquisitor. Standing by Picard’s side, Inquisitor Troi scans everyone, ferreting out the loyal and the dissidents with ruthless efficiency. Most heart-breaking of all was Barclay , who, in the Mirror Universe, was a scheming and cold-hearted man, seeking revenge on those who wronged his family. The Terran Empire was no longer as mighty as it once was, but was still terrifying and disturbing.

The revelation that the “Conspiracy” parasites come from another world in the multiverse might seem to make the concept a terrifying one in the Star Trek mythos. Between the evil Mirror Universe and the utterly alien and disgusting parasites, it would seem the multiverse is full of unsavory characters, and the Federation would be best advised to abandon any research in this area. Yet this need not be the case, and indeed, it could open up new vistas in the Star Trek universe to explore. The franchise is built upon the concept of exploration, making this a logical next step.

Future Star Trek Shows Need to Lean More into the Multiverse Concept

The multiverse is a potentially infinite frontier.

The “Conspiracy” parasites emanating from another universe shows the strength of the multiverse concept as it pertains to the Star Trek franchise. The Mirror Universe has been a key component of the mythos for over 50 years. The “Conspiracy” aliens have been a part of the Star Trek universe for over 30 years, and making this established race part of the larger multiverse shows love for the concept. Future Star Trek media can use the multiverse as a springboard to tell some of the franchise’s strongest stories.

Star Trek: Defiant #14 is on sale now from IDW Publishing!

Den of Geek

Discovery Just Brought a Star Trek Enterprise Character to 32nd Century Canon

The Star Trek: Discovery finale reveals that the show has been a pseudo-continuation of the story of an infamous Enterprise character all along!

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This Star Trek: Discovery article contains spoilers.

Since 2020, Star Trek: Discovery has harbored a strange sci-fi temporal anomaly. Starting with the episode “Die Trying,” in season 3, director David Cronenberg —the mastermind who gave us The Fly and more recently, Crimes of the Future —has appeared semi-regularly as a mysterious figure known only as “Dr. Kovich.” As Discovery’ s latter seasons have gone on, Kovich’s true purpose has become more clear, even if we don’t fully understand why he wears that all-black, somewhat contemporary-looking suit.

While it’s been tempting to say that David Cronenberg has just been playing David Cronenberg this entire time, the Discovery series finale actually fully answers the question of who Kovich really is and his larger role in Star Trek canon. In fact, Cronenberg’s strange character is revealed to be, perhaps, one of the most crucial people in the entire universe.

Kovich Is Actually Agent Daniels From Star Trek: Enterprise!

While Kovich has previously assisted the crew of Discovery with various pieces of information about the multiverse and time travel rules, his role in the recently concluded season 5 was significantly larger. Starting with “Red Directive”, he’s been calling the shots, sending Burnham and the crew on the treasure hunt across the universe to track down clues that lead to the elusive—and life-creating—technology of the ancient aliens known as the Progenitors. 

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Back in season 3, some fans theorized that Kovich was the leader of some future-tense version of Section 31 , which would have explained his interest in Georgiou. Before season 4’s introduction of Laira Rillak (Chelah Horsdal), there were even some who suggested he was the low-key President of the Federation. But, now, at the end of season 5, we know the truth: Kovich is actually a bit more important than any of those other guessed-at roles. He’s the guy who saved the entire timeline! 

As Burnham chats in Kovich’s office—which sports Geordi’s visor and Sisko’s baseball in places of honor—she playfully asks him to reveal his true name. Because Kovich has come to trust Burnham, he obliges, introducing himself as “Agent Daniels.” If you’re not a hardcore fan of the prequel series Enterprise , this probably meant nothing. But if you are, this was a fairly huge twist.

In the 2001 Enterprise episode “Cold Front,” Daniels (played then by Matt Winston) revealed to Captain Archer (Scott Bakula) that he was really a time-traveling agent from the 31st century, sent back to the 22nd century to prevent a ton of tampering with the timeline. Daniels then popped-up throughout all four seasons of Enterprise , and, in the events of “Storm Front Parts I and II,” Daniels aids the crew of the NX-01 in an alternate 1944, in which an alien species called the Na’kuhl have aided the Nazis with advanced technology. 

Although Archer isn’t thrilled with Daniels often popping in for some temporal shenanigans, in the end, it’s through Daniels’ help that the NX-01 Enterprise succeeds in restoring the timeline. That said, throughout the run of Enterprise , it seems like several tweaks to the timeline were happening, all along, because of the Temporal Cold War. And now, with the revelation that Kovich is Daniels, it seems possible we could all soon be looking at the Trek timeline in an entirely new light.

What Agent Daniel’s Return Could Mean for the Star Trek Timeline

Back in Discovery season 3, in the episode “Terra Firma Part 1,” Kovich broke new ground for the franchise by becoming the first person from the Prime Timeline to mention the existence of the Kelvin Timeline outright. In doing this, the modern TV shows more overtly acknowledged the permeance of a Star Trek multiverse over a single, linear timeline.

The revelation that Kovich is the same character who fought to preserve the 22nd Century in Enterprise could be even more useful for future timeline questions than it might seem at first. Yes, on the surface, this is a nice easter egg that neatly explains Kovich and his job in the 32nd century . But it also makes the entirety of Discovery a little more timey-wimey than ever before. At the end of Discovery season 2, the ship journeys to the future, to save the past, and all of creation from a rogue AI called Control. In season 3, Kovich was very interested in Georgiou’s connection to Control, which could indicate that, maybe, just maybe, Control wasn’t part of the “original” Prime Timeline.

In fact, since First Contact in 1996, it seems possible that the “original” Star Trek timeline has been modified, and tweaked by various temporal incursions, many, many times over. In Enterprise —the first province of Agent Daniels—Zefram Cochrane remembered the Borg, indicating that the “current” timeline is the one in which Picard and the crew helped restore the events of 2063. If Picard and the Enterprise-E crew weren’t part of a predestination paradox, and some version of First Contact occurred in another timeline without their intercession, then that means everything in Enterprise already exists in a separate timeline from all the canon that came before it.

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On top of this, Enterprise season 3 Daniels (Kovich) told Archer that the war with the Xindi and Starfleet in the 22nd century existed only because of temporal incursions. This, too, suggests that Enterprise was creating a slightly divergent timeline all along, one a bit different from whatever existed in TOS, TNG, DS9, and Voyager, prior to First Contact .

In the 2023 Strange New Worlds season 2 episode, “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow,” there was even more evidence that the Prime Timeline is in flux. Now, Khan no longer rises to power on Earth in the 1990s, but later, in the early 21st century , due to continuing temporal changes. Clearly, whatever happened with the Temporal Wars that we first glimpse in Enterprise is still sending ripples through the entire canon.

By explicitly connecting Kovich to Enterprise though, what Discovery has done is create a kind of comprehensive handwave courtesy of one of the franchise’s foremost time travelers. But whether you choose to believe Daniels reintroduction in the 32nd Century means a lot more temporal shifts have occurred than we know of, revealing Kovich’s true identity was always part of the season 5 plan, as showrunner Michelle Paradise tells Den of Geek .

“Very early on, we knew we were going to have to answer the backstory of this character and who he is and that it had to be worthy of the character himself and the way David plays him,” Paradise says. “A couple of our writers who are very familiar with Star Trek: Enterprise suggested Daniels and the minute they did, all of our heads exploded a little bit because it just felt like that makes sense. We knew, coming into this season, that we wanted to answer that in what, at the time, we thought was the season finale.”

Assuming the Star Trek franchise can coax back Cronenberg for recurring roles on other shows or movies, the universe now has a character who knows more about the various chronologies than anyone else (other than maybe Q) and who can pop in whenever time shenanigans are going on. The great thing that makes Kovich/Daniels unique to Q is that he’s not superpowered or all knowing. He’s simply a guy who’s been around a long time, and some of that longevity is because of time travel.

After all, Kovich is only human. Or, as he told Captain Archer all those years ago, “more or less.”

Ryan Britt is a longtime contributor to Den of Geek! He is also the author of three non-fiction books: the Star Trek pop history book PHASERS…

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Published Jun 3, 2024

Time Agent Provocateur: The Greatest Hits of Crewman Daniels

The man with a plan to save all the entire timeline is back. Or maybe he never left?

This article contains story details and plot points for Star Trek: Discovery's series finale, "Life, Itself."

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As much as serious Star Trek fans might worry about keeping the intricacies of the various chronologies well-ordered in our brains, there are characters within Star Trek striving to do the exact same thing. While Trek has given us our fair share of time agents — from Gary Seven in The Original Series , to Captain Braxton in Voyager , and even recently, La'An Noonien-Singh in Strange New Worlds — there is another, undercover temporally-concerned individual who had a big impact on all of Star Trek . We're talking about Agent Daniels, who first appeared in the Star Trek: Enterprise episode " Cold Front ," way back in 2001.

And now, sneakily, Agent Daniels is back . When Captain Michael Burnham completes her mission in the Discovery series finale, " Life, Itself ," she decides it's time to get some answers from the mysterious Kovich, as played cryptically, and charmingly by legendary director David Cronenberg, starting with Discovery 's third season. When Burnham deduces that Kovich is a "codename," she reintroduces herself, which prompts Kovich to reveal that his real name, yes, is Daniels, and that he'd served on the Enterprise and "other places."

"Life, Itself"

But just how many "other places" has Kovich/Daniels really been? While we may not know the full breadth of the timey-wimey adventures of Daniels, we are aware of his greatest hits to date. Here are the essential Daniels moments, all of which have kept the Star Trek timeline intact. Mostly.  

Daniels Saves the Day… and Then Dies?

"Cold Front"

From the very start of Enterprise , Captain Archer had hints that the villainous Suliban were just one part of a paradoxical Temporal Cold War . But, it wasn't until Episode 11, "Cold Front," that we learned that there were some future-tense allies in this conflict. When Silik sneaks aboard the Enterprise , Daniels reveals himself to Archer as being an agent from the 31st Century, sent back in time to prevent enemy forces from messing with the 22nd Century. Although this is the first appearance of Daniels in any Star Trek episode, ever, Matt Winston's performance convinces us that he's sort of been there all along; an innocuous crewmember that Archer might not notice.

And so, when Daniels reveals to his captain that he has a lot more information about the larger conflict, a seemingly meek character is transformed into a formidable one. That said, Daniels does get zapped, seemingly, to death in this episode, which makes his ability to keep popping up all the more interesting.

Daniels Takes Archer Back to the Beginning

"Shockwave, Part I"

In the Enterprise Season 1 finale, " Shockwave, Part I ," the crew, briefly, believe they are responsible for destroying an entire colony due to a random shuttle plasma accident. This disaster threatens to shut down the entire mission of the NX-01, and Archer, Trip, and everyone involved are understandably depressed. But, just as Archer climbs into bed to cuddle with his dog and feel sorry for himself, he wakes up in his old apartment on Earth, 10 months prior, and exactly one day before his mission began.

As Archer walks around shirtless, trying to figure out what’s going on, Daniels appears, explaining to Archer that nothing about the disaster on Paraagan II was his fault. Turns out, the Temporal Cold War is heating up, and somebody is trying to change the past to frame Starfleet and Enterprise . Daniels is here to help Archer set the record straight. Though, strangely, he doesn't offer to help Archer find his shirt.

Daniels Recruits Archer and T'Pol

"Carpenter Street"

Throughout Enterprise , we learn that Daniels is from the 31st Century, and that his organization deals with a lot of complex rules. He alludes to the "temporal accords," from time to time, which is something his future self, Kovich, has mentioned on Discovery, too. But, in the third-season episode, "Carpenter Street," Daniels can't get involved with the timeline changes directly, and so, he recruits Archer to do some time travel dirty work for him.

In this gritty time travel episode, T'Pol and Archer have to go back to Chicago in the year 2004, and prevent Xindi from using human blood to create a biological weapon in the future. With Daniels as their temporary boss, "Carpenter Street" remains the closest thing a Star Trek episode has done that feels like The Terminator — a shadowy battle in the present to prevent a worse future.

But, in addition to the new revelation that Kovich and Daniels are one in the same, "Carpenter Street" has also influenced contemporary Star Trek shows in other ways. In Picard Season 2, La Sirena 's mission to fix the timeline is similar in tone and style to "Carpenter Street," even if the specifics differ. And, in the Strange New Worlds Season 2 episode, " Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow ," La’An is recruited to fix the timeline in a way that's not entirely dissimilar to what Daniels does with Archer and T'Pol.

A Glimpse at the Enterprise -J

"Azati Prime"

In the Season 3 episode, " Azati Prime ," Daniels once again whisks Archer to a different time period, but this time, to prove a point. In this episode, Daniels wants to convince Archer that figuring out some kind of truce with the Xindi is likely the best route to victory. Why? Well, turns out in the 26th Century, the Xindi are members of the Federation, and some of them even serve in Starfleet.

To make this point very clear, Daniels brings Archer to the deck of the Enterprise -J, a 26th Century incarnation of the beloved ship, that plays a huge part in the Battle of Procyon V. But, If Archer doesn't make nice with the Xindi in the 22nd Century, then the Enterprise -J can't do its thing in the 26th. While this one-and-only glimpse of the Enterprise -J was a wonderful Easter egg for fans when the episode aired in 2004, it also connects to the recent Kovich reveal on Discovery .

In "Life, Itself," when Kovich says he served on the U.S.S. Enterprise , he could have been referring to the Enterprise -J, since the NX-01 Enterprise wasn't initially given the prefix of "U.S.S." Then again, if Kovich survived dying in the 22nd Century, lived in the 31st Century, and settled into the 32nd Century as "Dr. Kovich," then who knows — maybe there are several other Enterprise he's lived on.

Kovich Explains the Multiverse

"Terra Firma, Part 1"

Now that we know that Kovich is Daniels, so much of what he's done — and elucidated — on Discovery makes a lot more sense. In Enterprise , we were made aware that time travel was common in the 31st Century. But, in Discovery , in the 32nd Century, time travel has been outlawed, by the "Temporal Accords." Surely Daniels was behind making this happen, since he probably got sick of all the time paradoxes earlier in his career, which constantly required him to grab Captain Archer in the middle of the night.

In the Discovery Season 3 episode " Terra Firma, Part 1 ," Kovich says to Dr. Culber, "Consider yourself lucky to have skipped the Temporal Wars. Amongst the many horrible things we discovered when weaponizing time — temporal travel can make you pretty sick."

What this ends up meaning is that some time travel within the same reality is okay, but if you time travel and cross parallel dimensions, like Georgoiu did, the results can be fatal. Because we now know that Kovich was Daniels all along, it makes sense that he would have all sorts of knowledge that spanned the era of The Original Series, The Next Generation , and even, the Kelvin Universe. But, as Discovery concludes, what remains so interesting about Kovich is that in a world in which time travel is outlawed, he seems like the last of an extinct breed, the last of the Star Trek time lords, at the edge of the universe.

"Red Directive"

Luckily though, just like everyone else in the Star Trek family, Kovich (or Daniels) is never really on his own. And so, when he recruits Burnham to help with those pesky " Red Directives ," it seems he's carrying on the same tradition he started back in the 22nd Century, when he enlisted the help of the first captain of the Enterprise .

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Ryan Britt is the author of the nonfiction books Phasers on Stun! How the Making and Remaking of Star Trek Changed the World (2022), The Spice Must Flow: The Journey of Dune from Cult Novels to Visionary Sci-Fi Movies (2023), and the essay collection Luke Skywalker Can’t Read (2015). He is a longtime contributor to Star Trek.com and his writing regularly appears with Inverse, Den of Geek!, Esquire and elsewhere. He lives in Portland, Maine with his family.

Star Trek: Discovery Seasons 1-4 are streaming exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S., the UK, Canada, Switzerland, South Korea, Latin America, Germany, France, Italy, Australia and Austria. Seasons 2 and 3 also are available on the Pluto TV “Star Trek” channel in Switzerland, Germany and Austria. The series streams on Super Drama in Japan, TVNZ in New Zealand, and SkyShowtime in Spain, Portugal, Poland, The Nordics, The Netherlands, and Central and Eastern Europe and also airs on Cosmote TV in Greece. The series is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.