romulan supernova star trek

Romulan sun

Remus was tidally-locked to this star, and its Reman inhabitants lived on the dark side due to the scorching temperatures on the day side. ( Star Trek Nemesis )

• 1 The Romulan supernova
• 2.1 Background information
• 2.2 Apocrypha
• 2.3 External links

The Romulan supernova [ ]

In the 2380s it was discovered that the Romulan sun would soon go supernova , threatening to destroy the Romulus system and its inhabited planets and threatening the lives of billions of people in the Beta Quadrant .

The Romulan Star Empire asked the United Federation of Planets for help with evacuation efforts, and Starfleet agreed to provide aid at the behest of Jean-Luc Picard . Picard left the USS Enterprise -E to command a rescue armada of ten thousand Wallenberg -class transports, with the intent to relocate 900 million Romulan citizens to worlds outside the blast of the supernova. He would later compare this rescue effort to the Dunkirk evacuation of World War II . ( PIC : " Remembrance ")

The plan was not popular in the Federation. Many felt that there were better uses for the Federation's resources than aiding its oldest enemy , and fourteen member species even threatened to secede if aid was given to the Romulan Empire. The final blow came on April 5th , 2385 , when the evacuation fleet was destroyed before it could depart from Mars by a group of compromised synths during a surprise attack on the planet , secretly orchestrated by a secret Romulan cabal known as the Zhat Vash . Starfleet subsequently called off the rescue and abandoned the Romulans, a move that drove Picard to resign in protest. ( PIC : " Remembrance ", " Maps and Legends ", " The End is the Beginning ", " Broken Pieces ")

In 2387 , shortly before the supernova was projected to occur, Ambassador Spock of Vulcan concocted a plan to use red matter to create a black hole that would absorb the exploding star's energy and promised to do so in time to save Romulus. However, the supernova began before he could arrive, and Romulus and its remaining population were destroyed. Among those killed were the wife and unborn child of Nero , who swore vengeance against Spock, Vulcan, and the Federation for letting his world die.

Shortly after Spock released the red matter from the Jellyfish , successfully halting the supernova's expansion, Nero confronted Spock from the Narada . As Spock attempted to escape, both of their ships were pulled into the black hole that had consumed the star, sending them back in time and resulting in the creation of the alternate reality . ( Star Trek )

In the aftermath of the supernova, Romulan refugees lived dispersed. While some migrated to Earth, many made a living on the former relocation hub of Vashti . Backed by the Tal Shiar, a new political entity succeeding the Star Empire was the Romulan Free State . ( PIC : " Maps and Legends ", " Absolute Candor ", " The Impossible Box ")

Appendices [ ]

Background information [ ].

Prior to the release of Star Trek Nemesis , which establishes that the Romulan sun was a single star, Star Trek Maps (p. 29) and The Worlds of the Federation (p. 148) both placed the Romulan star system around a binary star system of two white dwarfs .

In the script of Star Trek , the star that went supernova – not yet established as the location of the Romulus system – was referred to as being in the Beta Quadrant . [1]

The Star Trek: Picard press kit [2] states that Admiral Picard was ordered to leave the Enterprise in 2381 to assist the Romulan people "during their time of great crisis". This might indicate that the impending supernova had been known at least since then.

Having a supernova threaten the entire galaxy, as was claimed to be the case by Spock in Star Trek , is a physical impossibility under normal circumstances: the law of special relativity limits the shock wave's expansion rate to below the speed of light, meaning it would be a minimum of several years before it affected even nearby stars. The expansion of the blast wave would also result in it weakening and dissipating over time.

Even if Spock consumed the star in time to prevent it from destroying Romulus, doing so would still leave the planet without a source of heat and light, resulting in it becoming uninhabitable anyway, albeit physically intact.

In the anti-time future depicted in " All Good Things... ", Romulus remained intact and inhabited as of 2395 , suggesting that the supernova either did not occur or was successfully mitigated by Spock's actions. In this timeline, however, the Romulan Star Empire still became defunct due to Klingon conquest.

Apocrypha [ ]

In Diane Duane 's Rihannsu novels , the Romulan sun was a single G9-class star, known as 128 Trianguli to the Federation and Eisn to the Romulans ("homesun" in the Romulan language ).

Prior to the release of PIC : " Remembrance ", which established that the supernova of 2387 was the Romulan sun itself, various non- canon works stated that its source was a neighboring star called "Hobus". In the comic book series Star Trek: Countdown , the star's galactic threat came from its unusual ability to transform anything it contacted into energy, which it then consumed, increasing its power and causing it to expand farther and faster throughout the galaxy.

The backstory for Star Trek Online , which follows the Countdown continuity, further states that the shockwave from the Hobus explosion propagated through subspace at faster-than-light speeds and reached the Romulus system in just over a day, destroying both Romulus and Remus mere hours into an evacuation expected to take six weeks. A scandal occurred several years later involving rumors that the Vulcan Science Academy knew about the instability of the star but did nothing until Spock attempted to save Romulus with the Jellyfish . The scandal resulted in several resignations and sowed seeds of distrust towards the Vulcans.

It is revealed during the course of Star Trek Online itself that the supernova was not a natural occurrence: the supernova and the unusual behavior of its shockwave were caused by an Iconian -designed doomsday weapon deployed by rogue members of the Tal Shiar . Then- Admiral Taris led the operation but claims to the player character that she was deceived about the nature of the Iconian device by her then- science officer , Hakeev ( β ).

In the more recent reference book Stellar Cartography: The Starfleet Reference Library ("Stellar Cartography", p. 35), the explosion of Hobus was called a "subspace supernova". This event resulted in the destruction of the entire Romulan star system, with billions killed. The cause of the explosion was unclear. The star was located in the Beta Quadrant. There was some contention on where precisely the star was located. On p. 35, the star was located in the Romulan Neutral Zone . Yet, in the "Federation Historical Highlights, 2161-2385" and "Position of the Romulan Star Empire", the star was located "southeast" of Romulus and quite some distance from the Neutral Zone. On the "Position of the Romulan Star Empire", which was a map of the Romulan Empire – prepared by the Stellar Archive Artist Lsel Essik, from the Romulan Master Data Catalog, in 2366 – Hobus was identified as a Romulan system.

The Star Trek novelization instead stated that the star had merely threatened systems in its own vicinity rather than the entire galaxy.

This information was superseded by canon, when the Romulan sun was identified as the star which supernovaed in the episode " Remembrance ".

The novel The Last Best Hope suggested that the Romulan government refused to openly acknowledge the coming disaster to much of its populace for fear of losing power.

External links [ ]

• Eisn at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• 1 Daniels (Crewman)

Den of Geek

Star Trek: Picard: What Happened to Romulus?

Confused about this fabled supernova that destroyed the Romulans referenced in Star Trek: Picard? We have the answers.

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This article contains massive Star Trek: Picard spoilers.

One of the most essential pieces of the Star Trek: Picard  puzzle actually happens off-screen, and to fully understand it, you have to travel back in time about ten years. In the first episode of Star Trek: Picard — “Remembrance” — a lot of folks are talking about the Romulan Supernova; a galactic cataclysmic event which changed everything. But what the heck was the Romulan Supernova and why is it so important not just to Jean-Luc Picard, but to the entire galaxy? The short answer is: the Romulan Supernova is J.J. Abrams. Here’s the long answer:

Famously — or infamously — the 2009 J.J. Abrams-directed Star Trek is a film reboot insofar as it created a parallel universe in which Captain Kirk became blue-eyed Chris Pine, Spock became Zachary Quinto, and the architecture of the 23rd century looked like it had been designed by Steve Jobs. But in a move straight out of Biff’s playbook in Back to the Future Part II , the Abramsverse exists because of time travel meddling. At the start of the film, a Romulan ship called the Narada — captained by a Romulan named Nero (Eric Bana) — emerges from a time vortex and destroys the USS Kelvin in the year 2233. Later, after waiting around for quite awhile , Nero and the Narada causes a lot of trouble for the reboot crew in the year 2258. But, if you’ve seen the 2009 reboot film, this is old news, right? Well, yes and no. One thing you may have forgotten is exactly where and when Nero and his Romulans came from when they popped out of that time vortex. Because although we connect those Romulans with the reboot film, and therefore the 23rd century, the fact is, from a non-linear, but strictly canonical point of view, Nero comes from Picard’s 24th century specifically, the year 2387.

So when Jean-Luc is getting interviewed in the first episode of Picard on the anniversary of the Romulan Supernova, this is the exact same event from the 2009 reboot. In that movie, we got all the information from Old Spock, who, like Nero and the angry Romulans, also had time traveled from the late 24th century. But now, about 11 years after the reboot movie, we’re essentially rejoining the future that Old Spock left behind when he time traveled into the past. Only now it’s the year 2399, and the Romulan Supernova is history — recent history — but still history.

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read more: The  Next Generation  Episodes to Watch Before  Picard

Prior to the launch of Picard , it was generally assumed that the destruction of the Romulan home planet, Romulus, would be discussed in the series, but the Picard premiere reveals that this event is pivotal to the backstory of the show. Jean-Luc himself had planned to lead a rescue armada to help evacuate the entire Romulan Empire, but because Mars was suddenly attacked by rogue Synths (synthetic lifeforms) in 2385, the plans for the rescue armada for Romulus were called off, and, clearly angry and heartbroken, Picard resigned from Starfleet. So essentially not only did the Romulan Supernova create the backstory to the Kelvin Universe of the reboot films, it’s also the prologue to everything that happens in Picard .

On top of all that, Picard has also neatly fixed a plothole in the J.J. Abrams Star Trek , which has been lingering since 2009. In that film, Spock was acting alone to help the Romulans avoid total destruction, which is why he was trying to inject experimental “red matter” into the supernova. Because J.J. Abrams movies move really fast, upon first viewing in 2009, we didn’t have a lot of time to ask why Old Spock was all on his own, and now we know; the Federation planned to help the Romulans, but then, after getting attacked by rogue Synths, decided to pull the plug on Picard’s plan. Which is why Old Spock was totally alone in his quest to stop the supernova with his tiny spaceship and goofy red matter.

Shockingly or not, the producer of Star Trek: Picard , and one of the show’s co-creators is Alex Kurtzman, the co-writer of both Star Trek  (2009 ) and Star Trek Into Darkness   (2013). So in terms of connecting the slightly confusing mythologies between the reboot films and the Prime timeline (which is where Picard happens, to be clear) Kurtzman was uniquely suited to juggle this complicated event. In other words, if anyone in the Picard writers’ room asked: “Where was Picard while Spock was getting high on red matter?” Kurtzman would know, because he’s the guy who exploded this whole champagne Romulan supernova in the first place.

read more: Short Treks — How  Children of Mars  Sets Up  Picard

In fact, Kurtzman’s involvement could also explain why one bit of left-over Star Trek apocrypha from 2009 has resurfaced in a slightly different way for Picard . Before the 2009 reboot hit theaters, IDW published a four-part comic book miniseries (co-written by Kurtzman) called Star Trek: Countdown , in which it was revealed that the Narada was outfitted with reverse-engineered Borg technology. In the final moments of “Remembrance” it comes clear that the Romulans are in possession of a Borg cube, which suddenly makes this small non-canon detail from the original Countdown  comic, true. (The rest of it, including Data as Captain of the future- Enterprise and Picard an ambassador to Vulcan, really doesn’t work, however.)

Right now, IDW has published two issues of a 3-part series called Star Trek: Picard: Countdown , which — you guessed it — outlines exactly what Picard was going to prep for the Romulan rescue before everything went to hell on Mars. The first two issues have already been published, and the final issue is expected out on January 29. So, far, this series has firmly established why Jean-Luc’s Romulan housekeepers in the new series — Laris and Zhaban — got involved with Picard in the first place. And, yes, it essentially because they had nowhere to go after the supernova, but also, because they left the Tal Shair (the Romulan secret service) in disgrace for helping Picard.

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read more: Where  Star Trek: Picard  Fits in Federation History

Finally, curious as to why there are dual rings in Romulan space? Well, that might be the remains of the Romulan supernova. Nobody says “Hobus Supernova” in Picard , numerous sources (like Star Trek: Online , and the Star Trek maps book Stellar Cartography: The Starfleet Reference Library ) call the star that exploded the “Hobus star.” But because we see two ominous rings in Romulan space right at the end of the episode, were there two Hobus stars? Was this binary star system that blew up? One Geoff Mandel illustration from  Stellar Cartography  (map 10, specifically) seems to depict Hobus as a double star. This hasn’t been confirmed in on-screen dialogue, but those double rings are pretty serious, right?

If the Hobus system was a binary system, that means the Romulan Supernova was a Star Trek explosion so good, they decided to make it a double.

Star Trek: Picard  is now streaming on CBS All Access.

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…

Memory Beta, non-canon Star Trek Wiki

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

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Destruction of Romulus

Romulus blasted by a stellar shockwave.

The Destruction of Romulus was a 24th century catastrophic event, the disintegration of the Romulan homeworld Romulus by a supernova shockwave in the year 2387 . Billions of lives were lost in the event. ( TOS movie , novelization & comic adaptation : Star Trek )

• 1.2 Supernova
• 1.3 Aftermath
• 1.4.1 Kelvin timelines
• 1.4.2 Mirror universes
• 2 Affected worlds
• 3.1 See also
• 3.2.1 Appearances
• 3.2.2 References

History [ ]

In 2380 , Romulan and Federation astronomers detected that the star of the Romulan system , Eisn , was going supernova . The Federation offered to help the Romulan Star Empire in evacuation threatened worlds. The Imperial leadership determined that a 10 lightyear radius around the system would be devastated.

Admiral Jean-Luc Picard led a Starfleet task force from the USS Verity to assess colonies and relocate their Romulan and native populations. Taking the refugees across the Federation-Romulan border to Vashti , Picard inadvertently and unilaterally dissolved the Romulan Neutral Zone .

Both Federation and Romulan astronomers determined that the supernova might have an artificial cause.

Meanwhile, Starfleet begun a massive starship construction program at the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards at Mars , focusing on mass-producing Wallenberg -class transports to help evacuate the Romulans. The Daystrom Institute provided Daystrom A500 synths to assist with the monumental effort. ( PIC novel : The Last Best Hope )

The Zhat Vash were a secret cabal within the Star Empire's intelligence service Tal Shiar , and feared artificial intelligences above all else. They took control of the Martian synths, and made them obliterate Starfleet's shipbuilding facilities at Utopia Planitia and incinerate the Martian surface by setting the planet 's atmosphere ablaze. ( PIC episode : " The End is the Beginning ")

As a result, the Council of the United Federation of Planets banned artificial life and abandoned the Romulan evacuation effort. ( PIC novel : The Last Best Hope )

The Iconians manipulated Taris , Hakeev and their Reman supporters into preparing the nearby star Hobus into going supernova. ( STO - In Shadows mission : " Revelation ")

T'Ket , one of the last 12 surviving Iconians, plotted the destruction of Romulus in revenge for Sela 's stealing of the Devil's Heart during a time travel mission to Iconia 200.000 years prior. ( STO - Iconian War mission : " Midnight ")

Spock and the Romulan Mining Guild learned of the threat posed by Hobus in 2387 . ( Countdown comic : " Number One ")

In 2270 , the Aegis operative Gary Seven had given Spock a temporary vision of future events, including the destruction of Romulus. ( TOS - Year Five - Experienced in Loss comic : " Issue 23 ")

Supernova [ ]

Romulus was destroyed in 2387 . Ambassador Spock stopped the expansion of the supernova , which threatened the Milky Way Galaxy , by dropping Vulcan red matter into it. It created a black hole that pulled his ship, the Jellyfish , and Prod Nero 's Narada into the 23rd century . This led to the creation of a new, alternate reality , the Kelvin timeline . ( TOS movie , novelization & comic adaptation : Star Trek )

Aftermath [ ]

The Romulan Star Empire disintegrated in the aftermath of losing Romulus. Major colony worlds declared themselves the new capital. Major contenders were Achernar Prime and the Rator system. Before the supernova, the Romulan Star Empire had already temporarily split into the RSE and the Imperial Romulan State but they reunited in the 2380s . ( STO novel : The Needs of the Many )

The "Romulan Empire" was a successor state to the Star Empire, and deployed Romulan vessel - small warbirds - in the 2390s . ( STU Issue 5: "Romulan Vessel")

The Romulan Free State was another. They controlled the Artifact , a derelict Borg cube , and had the backing of the Tal Shiar . ( PIC episode : " Remembrance ")

The Unification movement , led by D'Tan , organized a popular insurrection against the Tal Shiar , and formed the Romulan Republic . The new government gained recognition from the United Federation of Planets and the Klingon Empire withe colonization of New Romulus and its establishment of the new nation's capital in 2409 . ( STO - From the Ashes mission : " Turning Point ")

In that year, the Romulan Republic Navy learned of the Iconian, Romulan and Reman involvement in the Hobus supernova. ( STO - In Shadows mission : " Revelation ")

In 2410 , the deposed Praetor of the Romulan Star Empire Taris lived with the Iconians and tried to get them to undo the destruction of Romulus. Unbeknownst to her, Iconian physiology prevented them from time travelling . Taris was killed by Sela, and the Iconian Empire commenced the Iconian War against the Milky Way galaxy . ( STO - Iconian War mission : " Uneasy Allies ")

The reason for the Iconian focus on Romulus was learned by the Khitomer Alliance during a time-travel mission to the Fall of Iconia . Returning the Devil's Heart to the Iconian Whole ended the Iconian War. ( STO - Iconian War mission : " Midnight ")

The armed conflict between the Romulan Republic and the Tal Shiar-controlled remnant Romulan Star Empire continued into 2411 . ( STO website : House United : The Legendary Romulan Warbird Bundle! )

Alternate timelines [ ]

The Destruction of the alternate Romulus (insiet, top right).

In an alternate timeline created by the Khitomer Alliance and the Krenim timeship KIS Annorax , the destruction of Romulus was prevented in order to aid the Alliance in the war with the Iconians, even though this would prevent the rise of the Romulan Republic. However, this led to Romulus and its system being assimilated by the Borg Collective . The Borg overwhelmed the Romulan Star Empire entirely in the 2390s and established Unimatrix 652 in its place. Borg ships of this unimatrix operated with Romulan cloaking devices . Colonel Hakeev was designated Secundus of Borg . The Annorax undid this timeline by eradicating a Borg transwarp gate . ( STO - Iconian War mission : " Butterfly ")

Kelvin timelines [ ]

In an alternate Kelvin timeline , Dominion agents used red matter to destroy Romulus in the 2370s , eliminating the Romulan Star Empire as a threat. The Klingon Empire absorbed Federation and Romulan resources to continue the Dominion War . ( TOS - The Q Gambit comic : " Part 3 ")

Mirror universes [ ]

In one permutation of the mirror universe , agents of the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance detonated a thalaron bomb on Romulus in late 2376 . This rendered Romulus uninhabitable for 950 years, until 3326 in the early 34th century . Praetor of the Romulan Star Empire Hiren was forced to abandon the Romulan Star Empire at large, turning the Romulan Star Navy into a roving fleet . ( NF - Mirror Universe short story : " Homecoming ")

Affected worlds [ ]

• Ectis II : tagged for evacuation [1]
• Hobus I : destroyed [2]
• Hobus II : destroyed [2]
• Hobus III : destroyed [2]
• Insitor V : tagged for evacuation [1]
• Nimbus III : massacre and forcibly evacuated by Tal Shiar [1]
• Remus : destroyed [3]
• Romulus : destroyed [4]
• Tavaris IV : tagged for evacuation [1]
• Yuyat Beta : includes native Yuyati population [5]

Appendices [ ]

See also [ ].

• Destruction of Praxis
• Destruction of Praxis (Kelvin timeline)
• Destruction of Vulcan

Appearances and references [ ]

Appearances [ ].

• TOS movie , novelization & comic adaptation : Star Trek (first appearance)
• Countdown comic : " Number Four "
• STO - Tutorial mission : " A Day on the Farm "

References [ ]

• ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 PIC novel : The Last Best Hope
• ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 STO - In Shadows mission : " Revelation "
• ↑ STO novel : The Needs of the Many
• ↑ TOS movie , novelization & comic adaptation : Star Trek
• ↑ ( PIC - Countdown comic : " Issue 1 ")
• 1 Ferengi Rules of Acquisition
• 2 USS Voyager (NCC-74656-A)
• 3 Lamarr class

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• Short Treks
• Strange New Worlds
• Deep Space Nine
• Star Trek: Picard
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Will Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 explain the Romulan Supernova?

Before Star Trek: Discovery was around, back in 2009, J.J. Abrams set up several mysteries during the first Kelvin Timeline movie . The imaginatively named Star Trek . The most significant one of these for the ‘Prime’ Star Trek timeline was the Romulan Supernova. But will Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 explain the Romulan Supernova?

In the 2009 film, this event was the catalyst that made its villain, Nero, embark on his quest for revenge against the Federation. Several explanations from various off-screen sources have emerged over the years. But the mystery has remained very much unsolved (and seemingly intentionally avoided) on screen. Even the Romulan-heavy Star Trek: Picard Season 1 avoided addressing or explaining the supernova in any detail. Choosing instead to focus its narrative on the gargantuan rescue operation that Starfleet ended up getting cold feet on.

In the past few months, we’ve gotten some new information about Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 , which hints that the cause of the supernova may finally be established on screen.

The first explanation for the supernova was given in the marketing build-up to the release of Star Trek (2009). The sequence of events leading to Nero’s travel through time to attack the U.S.S. Kelvin was covered through a comic series called Countdown . This 4-issue event was set in the prime timeline eight years after Star Trek: Nemesis . Countdown was based on a story by Star Trek (2009) writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman .

Tim Jones and Mike Johnson then wrote it. Johnson publicly stated that he considered Countdown to be canon, but in the years since another Kurtzman production (Picard) has confirmed it is not. As Picard actively contradicts the comic in significant ways (such as the fate of B-4).

Another notable divergence is that the Romulan star wasn’t going supernova in the Countdown comics. Instead, it was the Hobus star. The comics and movie combined laid out a (somewhat nonsensical, even for Star Trek ) plot about how this star going supernova threatened the galaxy to explain how a supernova seemingly travelled across multiple star systems. These events led to Spock using the MacGuffin Red Matter to collapse it into a short-lived black hole, which transported both his (Geordi LaForge-designed) ship and Nero’s back to the 23rd century.

Star Trek Online’s Explanation

The popular Star Trek MMORPG also took a turn explaining the supernova that led to the destruction of Romulus in an episode called Romulan Mystery . This story has seen several revisions over the years regarding structure and gameplay. If you haven’t played the game or don’t intend to play it, a basic summary of the story is in the next paragraph. If you do want to play Star Trek: Online and don’t want to spoil yourself, you can skip ahead. In Romulan Mystery, the supernova also started with the Hobus star. The player travels to the remnants of the Hobus system to find clues about the destruction of Romulus and Remus. The Romulan Republic has a theory and believes that the former praetor is responsible. Republic forces tried to capture the praetor, but she escaped through an Iconian gateway.

Throughout the story, you uncover that the unusual behaviour of the supernova was because it wasn’t a natural event (surprise)! But the effect of an Iconian doomsday weapon that rogue members of the Tal Shiar deployed.

So what about Star Trek Discovery?

As we know, Discovery is now set in the 32nd century. Almost a whole millennia from the events of the other live-action series. This jump to the future has opened up a wealth of possibilities for the show, allowing it to push beyond the established events of other series. The move also allowed Discovery to address the open-ended questions of the era, though. Such as the results of the Vulcan and Romulan reunification movement (also led by Spock) in the much-loved season 3 episode Unification III .

Discovery’s distance in the timeline from the other shows allows it to answer such questions without removing the possibility of them being explored in more depth in 23rd, 24th or 25th-century shows. As Harry Kim said in Star Trek: Voyager’s finale: “It’s not the destination that matters, it’s the journey”. So, with that in mind, let’s look at the clues we’ve had so far that Discovery may tackle the supernova. Be warned, go no further if you operate a zero spoiler policy!

Season Summary

The upcoming fifth season, which will debut in April, finds Captain Burnham and the crew of the U.S.S. Discovery uncovering a mystery that will send them on an epic adventure across the galaxy to find an ancient power whose very existence has been deliberately hidden for centuries. But there are others on the hunt as well… dangerous foes who are desperate to claim the prize for themselves and will stop at nothing to get it. Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 – StarTrek.com

The Red Directive

We started the year with a sneak peek at the episode titles for Discovery’s upcoming 5th and final season. Last week, we got our first episode synopsis for the cryptically titled “ The Red Directive “.

Capt Burnham & the Discovery are sent to retrieve a mysterious 800 year-old Romulan vessel; until the artifact hidden inside is stolen, leading to an epic chase. Meanwhile, Saru is offered the position of a lifetime, and Tilly’s efforts to help pull her into a tangled web of secrecy. Synop for Star Trek: Discovery Episode 5×01 ‘Red Directive’

An 800-year-old ship with an artefact hidden inside? Was Star Trek Online on the money with their story? The title of the episode itself implies a link to Red Matter. We know from the only other directive titled episode The Omega Directive in Voyager’s fourth season that Starfleet has precedent for creating directives to deal with dangerous substances, and from what we saw in Star Trek (2009), Red Matter would certainly warrant one…

Of course, we have to address that this very specifically is a Romulan ship, and one from the 24th Century, no less. It also bears a striking resemblance to one of the few Romulan designs that we’ve seen on screen. The Romulan science ship is seen in Star Trek: The Next Generation ‘s “ The Next Phase “.

Given the limited number of Romulan designs seen in Star Trek , this must be an intentional choice. Also, a tasteful update to the design, if I do say so myself.

Putting the pieces together

So, we have a series arc that sees the Star Trek: Discovery crew uncovering a mystery. This mystery leads to an ancient power whose existence has been hidden for centuries. The mystery just happens to start on a 24th-century Romulan science ship as well.

We’re told that the power has been deliberately hidden. Given that it seems to have been hidden on a Romulan ship (or at least a clue that points towards the power), that would seem to imply that the Romulans were the ones who did this. This would certainly support a Star Trek: Online-type narrative of a rogue Romulan faction causing the supernova.

On top of that, we have the fact that Discovery producer Alex Kurtzman was involved in the original Romulus destruction explanation back in 2009 and that the only other ‘Directive’ named episode dealt with a Starfleet ship dealing with a dangerous substance. Dangerous would certainly be an apt word to describe Red Matter, and it would make sense if the Red Matter were also acquired by the Romulans and hidden with the power they used.

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Star Trek: Picard actor reveals how the Romulan supernova looms large over the series

"We’re all affected by the destruction of Romulus," says Star Trek: Picard actor Evan Evagora

Along with the Klingons and the Borg, the Romulans are among the most enduring enemies of the Federation. It’s pretty much a given, then, that the destruction of their home planet (as witnessed in JJ Abrams’ Star Trek ) has had major implications for the universe we beam into at the start of Star Trek: Picard . 

Jean-Luc himself is troubled by the failure of a mission to save Romulus from a supernova, while its former inhabitants have had to deal with the rather major inconvenience of losing their home. 

“We’re all affected by this event and I think the show shows how each of us has dealt with it in our own different ways,” reveals Evan Evagora, who plays young Romulan Elnor, in an interview with GamesRadar+. “We have our own coping mechanisms. Even though this event has affected us all, it’s affected us all in completely different ways."

Harry Treadaway, who plays another Romulan called Narek, chips in: "But in strong, powerful ways, which will ultimately have impacts on our behaviour and actions."

As for the specifics of what’s been happening to the survivors of the Romulan Empire since their home got caught up in a supernova, the duo are rather more cagey – though Evagora does reveal that he’ll be speaking in his own accent in the show, “so you’ll be hearing a Romulan speaking with an Australian accent for the first time”. We’ll have to wait and see whether that’s because there’s a Romulan settlement in Melbourne, or simply a glitch in the universal translator.

As for Narek: “Michael [Chabon, executive producer] filled in some backstory for me,” explains Treadaway. “We spoke about how my character had grown up away on another planet somewhere, and had always been aware [of the loss of his home].”

Meanwhile, Evagora divulged a little more about Elnor at a Q&A following Star Trek: Picard’s UK premiere. “I’m very different to Narek and Narek’s very different to me,” he said. “[Elnor] wasn’t raised how Narek [was]. He’s a refugee, due to his planet being blown up, and what makes him different is the fact he was raised by this all-female sect of warrior nuns. He believes in absolute candour, he doesn’t know how to lie – his naivety is something very special, and I think it shines a lot of moments of truth when they’re needed aboard the ship.”

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GamesRadar+ also spoke to the Picard team about where the show fits on the Star Trek timeline and h ow the Borg will play a key role in the show. Our sister publication SFX also spoke to Stewart about his future in the Star Trek universe, with  the actor revealing he would love to work with Quentin Tarantino.  

Star Trek: Picard airs in the US on CBS All Access from January 23, and in the UK on Amazon Prime Video from January 24. Check out our guide on how to watch Star Trek: Picard online .

Richard is a freelancer journalist and editor, and was once a physicist. Rich is the former editor of SFX Magazine, but has since gone freelance, writing for websites and publications including GamesRadar+, SFX, Total Film, and more. He also co-hosts the podcast, Robby the Robot's Waiting, which is focused on sci-fi and fantasy. 

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The Untold Truth Of Star Trek's Romulans

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

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

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

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

Their creation was inspired by ancient Rome

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

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

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

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

Romulans are an offshoot of Vulcans

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Romulans boast a number of secret cabals

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Romulans make Star Trek's most famous beverage

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

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

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

In 1995, they wanted to wish you a Merry Christmas

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

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

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

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

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

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

The process of turning an actor into a Romulan has evolved

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

'Star Trek: Picard's Romulan continuity, explained by the producer

'Picard' adds a new wrinkle to Star Trek's already-confusing timeline. So we asked Akiva Goldsman to explain where the new show fits in.

Star Trek encompasses so many movies, TV shows, and novels that keeping track of its various timelines is practically a full-time job. Luckily, the team behind Star Trek: Picard has someone to do just that, executive producer Akiva Goldsman, who previously worked on Star Trek: Discovery , along with various sci-fi and action classics like I Am Legend and Batman Forever .

What timeline does this return to the Jean-Luc Picard story take place? It was a question executive producer Akiva Goldsman was more than prepared to answer at a Television Critics Association press event just a week ahead of the show's highly anticipated premiere.

"If you look at J.J.'s movies, there is one section of the first movie which is actually canon. It's before the universe is split, before the entry into the Kelvin Universe,” Goldsman tells Inverse.

Captain Picard with some angry Romulans.

The section he's referring to is the destruction of Romulus which, in J.J. Abrams's 2009 Star Trek reboot, sent Spock back in time and retconned the entire canon. In the process, a brand new timeline was introduced, giving audiences the Kelvin universe where the new versions of James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) and crew exist in.

Picard "takes that Romulan supernova and is part of the canon," Goldsman confirms.

Aside from the refugee crisis in Picard that the Romulan supernova creates, we don’t know much else about the long-term effects of that destruction. However, given the addition of a Romulan presence on the show, something tells us Captain Picard isn’t just coming out of retirement to face down his personal demons, but another long-time enemy.

Armed with the knowledge of which Star Trek timeline Picard takes place in, Goldsman gives a brief refresher on what kind of story we can expect.

"Our closest cousins would probably be the back half of season one of Discovery , the mirror universe continuity,” he says, “and then some of Deep Space 9 where it became, you know, fundamentally serialized."

Evil Spock in "Mirror, Mirror" ('Star Trek: The Original Series,' 1967)

The concept of the Mirror Universe, which presents a parallel, similar-looking, but far less-optimistic Star Trek timeline, was first introduced in Star Trek: The Original Series , in an episode titled, "Mirror Mirror." The inclusion of Jeri Ryan's fan-favorite Borg character Seven of Nine to the mix alludes to a continuation of her character's journey which began in Star Trek: Voyager . These tidbits add some interesting color to the new Star Trek story, but of course, we can’t help but wonder how the show will address Jean-Luc Picard's life, and Next Generation story, since the events of 2002's Star Trek: Nemesis .

"We are in continuity, certainly, with Nemesis ," Goldsman says. " Nemesis is the last time we saw many of these folks and so, yes Nemesis is our antecedent. But we took the interstitial two decades, essentially, and imagined them. So there's a lot that came in between that we filled in in order to push forward."

Before any of that could happen, Sir Patrick Stewart’s involvement in the new series was obviously integral to getting it made, but there was always one big rule that came with the actor’s return to the iconic role. Star Trek: Picard needed to traverse new narrative territory, not just retread the subject matter explored in TNG’ s groundbreaking seven-season run, and the four movies that followed.

"I discovered I also lived through those 19 years, and I had changed ." — Patrick Stewart

This brings us to the two watershed moments that will surely have had a lasting impact on the Captain: The destruction of Romulus and the death of his dear friend Lt. Cmdr Data (Brent Spiner), who perished to save Picard’s life in Nemesis . Promotional clips for the series show Spiner back in the android makeup, further alluding to a concept that Picard’s past may indeed be catching up with him.

"The backstory of those 19 years is very, very important," Sir Patrick Stewart explains, discussing the profound changes in both his on-screen persona and his off-screen one. "But the great thing about it is, and I wasn't prepared for this, I discovered I also lived through those 19 years, and I had changed."

Star Trek: Picard premieres Thursday, January 23 on CBS: All Access.

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Star trek theory: the romulan supernova was created by picard's real villains.

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“It Was Heartbreaking”: Michelle Hurd Breaks Down Losing Star Trek: Picard Actors Between Seasons 2 & 3

I'm sorry that leonard may be dead but at least it allows penny's big bang theory spinoff return, what time the boys season 4 episode 5 releases.

Was the Romulan supernova really an accident - or was it actually engineered by  Star Trek: Picard 's real villains? The first season of  Star Trek: Picard is set in the shadow of two tragedies. The first was the  Romulan supernova , which - according to J.J. Abrams'  Star Trek movie - destroyed the planet Romulus and threatened to wreak havoc on a galactic scale. The second was a horrific terrorist attack by synthetics , which caused the Federation to ban synthetic life and retreat from helping the Romulans.

Picard has gradually learned the truth of the Mars attack. He now knows the synthetic uprising was caused by a group of Romulans known as the Zhat Vash , who for millennia have been working to ensure synthetic life was prevented from developing. They had successfully infiltrated Starfleet, and they used the tragedy to incite the ban - even though it ended the Starfleet refugee effort, and thus led to untold billions of Romulan deaths.

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The latest episode of  Star Trek: Picard , "Broken Pieces," finally revealed the truth behind the Zhat Vash's obsessive quest. Furthermore, it raised a disturbing possibility; the Romulans and an unknown force have been fighting a sort of "shadow war" all these years, and the destruction of Romulus itself was part of the mysterious enemy's endgame.

Star Trek: Picard's Admonition Explained

According to the latest episode of  Star Trek: Picard , the story begins hundreds of thousands of years ago, on an unknown world. One ancient, long-forgotten race developed synthetic life, but learned that in doing so it had drawn the attention of a cosmic power. " Apparently, these people believed there was a threshold of synthetic evolution, " Picard explained to his crew. " A dividing line. " The crossing of this line was compared to the discovery of warp drive on Earth, which told the Vulcans humanity was sufficiently advanced for first contact. In this case, however, this powerful cosmic force simply wiped the organics out.

The victims of this aggression used their technology to move eight suns into a stable orbit around one another, and at the center of the cluster they placed a single world. Millennia later, Romulan explorers discovered this phenomenon, and were understandably fascinated by it. On the world, they discovered what they call the "Admonition" - a psychic warning speaking of the havoc that will come if synthetic life is allowed to develop. Essentially, this told the Romulans: don't do what we did. Thus the Romulan explorers formed the Zhat Vash, swearing to do everything within their power to keep the unknown aggressors at bay.

The Zhat Vash have clearly been successful in their mission; they even managed to manipulate the Federation into abandoning synthetic research. What they didn't realize, though, was that scientist Bruce Maddox had hidden himself away on a distant world, where he continued his research into synthetic life. The Zhat Vash have good reason to believe he has built an entire society of synthetics - and, should this be discovered by the unknown aggressors, they will emerge from the shadows once again.

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What Do Star Trek: Picard's Aggressors Want?

At this stage, the aggressors' motives are unknown. It is possible they seek the same thing as the Zhat Vash; they are an organic force who aim to curtail the development of synthetic life. The Zhat Vash ravaged Mars in order to achieve their objective, but these aggressors act on a far greater scale, erasing any civilization that passes the synthetic threshold. While this is feasible, in narrative terms it's unlikely; it would mean there were too many thematic similarities between the Zhat Vash and the aggressors, with the main difference simply being one of scale. It would be repetitive, and thus unsatisfying.

There is, however, an alternative possibility. It could be these aggressors are actually synthetic beings themselves, and that they believe organic life only has value as a sort of incubator for more synthetics. Perhaps they are like the Borg; when they discover a new form of synthetic life, they assimilate its positronic network into their own, and then destroy the organics because they are now deemed superfluous. That would neatly explain why the Romulans believe the synthetics themselves are the destroyers; because, corrupted by the aggressors, that is what they will become. This theory appears far more likely, because it's thematically and narratively distinct from the Zhat Vash, and thus more compelling.

Did The Aggressors Destroy Romulus?

If the second theory is correct, it raises another question: was the destruction of Romulus really an accident? There's always been something rather strange about the Romulan supernova, that appears to have been unusually destructive. Una McCormack's novel  Last, Best Hope - an official prequel to  Star Trek: Picard - features several scenes in which both Starfleet and Romulans astrophysicists speculated that was the case. " What's happening in the Romulan star, " a prominent scientist named Safadi noted openly, " I have no explanation for it. Correction: I don't have a natural explanation for it. " She speculated that the supernova was, in her words, " not naturally occurring. "

The Zhat Vash clearly weren't responsible for the destruction of Romulus; but were the aggressors? They could have learned of the  Zhat Vash 's existence, and from their viewpoint this secretive Romulan cabal was a problem; after all, they were preventing the creation of more synthetic life. If the aggressors do indeed view organics as nothing more than an incubator, they would believe the Zhat Vash had rendered Romulus superfluous and fit only for destruction . What's more, the supernova could have been engineered to happen at such a scale that it destroyed the Admonition as well. Notice the only flashbacks showing the Admonition have been set fourteen years ago, before the supernova, perhaps hinting the eight-sun star system has been destroyed.

This transforms the destruction of Romulus into the boldest move in a sort of shadow war between the Zhat Vash and the aggressors. Perhaps realizing the truth behind the supernova, the Zhat Vash stepped up their attempt to prevent the Federation creating synthetics. They would have realized they were in the endgame now - especially with synthetic labor being developed at the Martian shipyards. Thus they chose to destroy Mars, and doom countless billions, believing that was better than the alternative; the coming of the aggressors, which they no doubt believed would render their race completely extinct. But they failed to factor in Bruce Maddox - and he may have crossed the synthetic threshold over the years since, without their awareness.

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• Star Trek Movies: Kelvin Universe

The Romulan Supernova and the Future of the Kelvin Timeline

• Thread starter mattman8907
• Start date Feb 24, 2023

• mattman8907
• Feb 24, 2023

Ever since the '09 film came up with the Romulan Supernova destroying Romulus, It makes me wonder if the Kelvin Romulus would suffer the same fate in 2387. If so would Quinto Spock make the same choices of Prime Spock (Nimoy) or do you think he would say "F"-that? Also Should they do a 24th century film and if so should the Kelvin timeline start "fixing" itself to align with the Prime timeline?  

F. King Daniel

Fleet admiral.

When there were plans for a 4th movie featuring cameos from Shatner and Nimoy as older versions of Kelvinverse Kirk and Spock, I liked to think it would be them old and grey presiding over the successful evacuation of Romulus in 2387. It'd have been a nice endpoint, trying in to how it all began. And no, there should be no alignment or fixing of any timeline anything. If Michael Keaton can be Batman again in 2023, there's hope for the Kelvin crew to come back one day.  

Laura Cynthia Chambers

Rear admiral.

• Jun 20, 2023

Knowing what they know, wouldn't they take advantage of the 100+ year head start to work on preventing/mitigating the destruction? I supposed the Kelvinverse Romulans would dismiss it as Federation propaganda, though.  

fireproof78

mattman8907 said: and if so should the Kelvin timeline start "fixing" itself to align with the Prime timeline? Click to expand...

fireproof78 said: Kirk would see the disaster coming. Click to expand...

Laura Cynthia Chambers said: Prime Universe side, it started a chain of events that defined his whole life; being able to prevent these events here would be at turns satisfying and emotionally draining. Imagine alt Kirk rescuing alt Nero and his family. Click to expand...

FederationHistorian

• Jul 15, 2023

mattman8907 said: Should they do a 24th century film and if so should the Kelvin timeline start "fixing" itself to align with the Prime timeline? Click to expand...

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