Summary
- Star Trek: Section 31 explores the mysterious "lost era" of Federation history, potentially answering questions about pivotal events.
- Michelle Yeoh's Emperor Philippa Georgiou faces her past sins, recruited by the secretive Section 31.
- The film delves into Captain Rachel Garrett's journey and could resolve the fates of iconic starships like the USS Enterprise-B.
Michelle Yeoh's upcoming Star Trek: Section 31 film takes place in Star Trek's "lost era," and could answer several questions about this mysterious period of 24th century history. After the end of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, about 70 years pass before Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) takes over command of the USS Enterprise-D in Star Trek: The Next Generation. While TNG mentioned several historical events that took place over the preceding years, much about this period of Federation history remains unknown. The confirmation that Kacey Rohl will play a young Rachel Garrett in Star Trek: Section 31 places the timeline for the film squarely in Star Trek's "lost era."
Michelle Yeoh's Emperor Philippa Georgiou made her debut in Star Trek: Discovery season 1, and she became one of the show's best villains-turned-antiheroes. After the USS Discovery traveled to the 32nd century in Star Trek: Discovery season 3, Georgiou began experiencing strange and debilitating symptoms. Because she was from the Mirror Universe of the 23rd century, Georgiou was dying from her displacement in both universes and time. In Discovery season 3, the Guardian of Forever (Paul Guilfoyle) sent Georgiou back to "a time when the mirror universe and the prime universe were still aligned," which was, apparently, the early 24th century. Star Trek: Section 31 visiting Star Trek's "lost era" could finally answer the following questions.
What Is Star Trek's "Lost Era" & What We Know
Michelle Yeoh's Star Trek: Section 31 will be set in the "lost era" of Starfleet history, but what is it, and what do we already know about it?
6 How Did Rachel Garrett Become Captain Of The Enterprise?
Section 31 will likely reveal more about Garrett and her Starfleet career.
Captain Rachel Garrett (Tricia O'Neil) appeared in only one episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, but she made quite an impression. As the Captain of the doomed USS Enterprise-C, Garrett had a confident and commanding presence that made her immediately captivating as a character. It's unclear what Starfleet's secret security organization Section 31 would want with the young Garrett, but her Starfleet journey will undoubtedly be an interesting one.
In Star Trek: The Next Generation season 3, episode 15, "Yesterday's Enterprise," the badly damaged USS Enterprise-C inadvertently travels through a temporal rift and changes the timeline. Captain Picard and the USS Enterprise-D eventually determine that the Enterprise-C must return to its own time period to restore the proper timeline. Despite knowing they will be destroyed, the Enterprise-C returns to its proper time to prevent the bleak future. Captain Garrett is killed before her ship makes it through the wormhole, but Starfleet later honors her sacrifice and service with a statue in Star Trek: Picard season 3.
Although some of Rachel Garrett's life and career history have been explored in Star Trek tie-in novels, these stories are not considered canon and may not line up with Star Trek: Section 31's interpretation of the character.
5 What Happened To The USS Enterprise-B?
Little is known about the career of the Enterprise-B after its appearance in Star Trek Generations.
The USS Enterprise-B debuted in Star Trek Generations, which saw Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner), Montgomery Scott (James Doohan), and Pavel Chekov (Walter Koenig) join the ship's maiden voyage. Under the command of Captain John Harriman (Alan Ruck), the Enterprise-B was quickly pulled into an impromptu rescue mission when it received a distress call from two Federation transport ships carrying El-Aurian refugees.
The El-Aurian ships had been trapped in an energy distortion known as the Nexus, and the Enterprise soon faced the same distortion. Scotty managed to break the ship free, but Kirk was caught in a hull breach and presumed dead, when, in actuality, he was trapped within the Nexus. Nothing canonically is known about what happened to the USS Enterprise-B or Captain Harriman after Star Trek Generations or exactly when the ship was decommissioned and replaced with the USS Enterprise-C. Section 31 could fill in some of this history and reveal more about one of the iconic starships named Enterprise.