Season Three of Star Trek Discovery presented us with an entirely new Starfleet, and Federation for that matter!
One that is *drastically* different from the 23rd and 24th century versions
we’re so familiar with.
One thing that was slightly mysterious,
was who is actually running The Federation
sure we have Admiral Vance and well… he’s certainly a gentleman, but WHO and WHERE is the President?
Today, we might have that answer!
Hello everyone, my name is Captain Jack and welcome to Trek Central!
Federation Presidents have been seen throughout the many different iterations of Star Trek!
Commonly faced with big decisions and various hard calls,
but usually coming out on the right side of history.
Whoever is running the show in the 32nd Century, also following The Burn,
likely has a very very hard job to do.
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Recently, thanks to the Twitter Account Toronto Filming, we learned that a character called “President Rillak”
will be present on set in upcoming episodes of Star Trek Discovery Season Four.
Immediately following this development,
many of us go to theorizing about who this character might be,
and how they might fit into Discovery’s ever evolving storyline.
. Given that other trailers also showed Captain Burnham and T’Rina, the Ni’Var President,
some of us theorized that this new “Rillak” character would be replacing T’Rina, who appeared in Discovery Season 3.
However, following the new trailer for Discovery Season Four,
that aired during First Contact Day, we have new theories on who the Federation President is,
and how this new character of Rillak might be them.
Jumping into the trailer for Season Four, we see this new character giving Captain Michael Burnham orders,
as well as taking part in some sort of diplomatic meeting between President T’Rina, Admiral Vance and herself.
Burnham and some Qowat Milat nuns are present as well.
If this is President Rillak, then it would appear that she might be the Federation President,
or at least some high-ranking individual.
Her outfit also might fit this as well, as it is very similar to Jonathan Archer’s “formal uniform”,
that he wore during the signing of the original Federation Charter.
Her uniform also has a pin on it, which looks very much like the United Federation of Planets symbol.
Another interesting detail is that the character seems to be Half-Human, Half-Cardassian.
Certainly a turn up for the books in terms of the Cardassian species progression into Starfleet and the Federation.
Though we did see a Cardassian Captain during Discovery Season 3, so a Federation President is not too hard to imagine.
Looking back at Season Three of Discovery, we did get a mention of the Federation President.
During the year of 3189, when the Emerald Chain seized the USS Discovery,
the Federation President ordered Starfleet Fleet Admiral Charles Vance to conduct negotiations with Minister Osyraa
for the release of the starship and it’s crew on their behalf.
Osyraa even makes mention of the fact the President is not present before negotiations are about to take place between the parties in attendance.
While we do not know 100% for sure that this individual in the trailer is the Federation President,
or perhaps President Rillak who is the Federation President,
I’d lean on the side that I think this is a sure enough thing given the circumstances.
Discovery’s upcoming fourth season seems to have experienced a time jump as well,
with different uniforms and a new mission.
In the trailer this important character is heard giving Captain Michael Burnham orders on how to handle this new threat
to Federation and non-Federation planets,
showing they care about everyone around them. Not just their member planets in a sense.
. It will be interesting to see this character develop and what comes of them.
Now, for a while, there was another character who we considered to be the mysterious and ever so elusive Federation President,
Mr Glasses man himself.
On a serious note this character is called Kovich.
hile his name is not mentioned on screen or even in the credits for that matter,
we do know he is called Kovich thanks to CBS promotional material for Discovery Season 3.
Kovich appeared in the Season 3 Episode “Die Trying”, being the mysterious Federation Agent who interrogated Phillipa Georgiou.
Immediately this character struck us as someone totally different from the likes of Admiral Vance and Lt Wila.
He was Starfleet, but not dressed in the 32nd Century style uniform,
instead having a very interesting fashion statement.
As the episodes went on, it was revealed that Kovich was indeed knowledgeable about Terran history,
as well as having access to confidential information such as that of the Temporal Agent from the Kelvin timeline,
Lieutenant Yor.
Fast forward to the Season Finale of Discovery’s third season and Kovich pops up again,
this time on the Federation Headquarters command station
with Admiral Vance as the USS Discovery, which was commandeered by Osyraa, attempts to flee.
Vance ordered Discovery be fired upon, which Kovich speaks up about.
His concern was that if the USS Discovery was destroyed, and it’s Spore-Drive technology lost in the process,
then the way to reunite the Federation would also be lost with it.
This is what caught the attention of ourselves.
Kovich’s outspoken remarks about wanting to “reunite the Federation'', means he obviously deeply cares about seeing the Federation prosper once again,
and maybe that is his mission, whoever he really is.
For now, I’d say it’s unlikely that Kovich is the Federation President,
given the Season Four trailer revelation, though the character will still remain a mystery for now.
n the Season Four trailer revelation, though the character will still remain a mystery for now. Concept art suggests his rank might be that of a Commodore,
given his tricom badge.
The latest Commodore we have seen in Trek was that of Commodore Oh in Picard,
Director of Starfleet Security, so it could make sense that if Kovich is a commodore he might be the new Director of the 32nd century Starfleet Security.
Though this is not fully confirmed right now.
It has been confirmed that Kovich will be returning in season 4,
so we cannot wait for more to be revealed about this mysterious character.
Finally, one of the popular fan theories for Star Trek Discovery Season Four
was that former USS Discovery Captain, Saru, might run for President of the United Federation of Planets.
He is sort of out of a job right now, with Burnham taking over the command of Discovery,
meaning the writers need to find something for him to do in the upcoming season.
Well, given that Season 4’s trailer has shown Saru in a new uniform,
apparently on kaminar,
I think this theory has likely seen the end of the road for now.
Saru seems to be in some sort of ambassador position as many others also theorized that he would end up at the end of Season 3.
Do you have any theories or thoughts on who the Federation President might be in Star Trek Discovery Season 4
and who do you think this President Rillak character might be?
Let us know in the comments!
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For now, I’ve been Captain Jack, thanks for watching and we’ll see you next time! Live Long and prosper my friends!