We all remember the evil Captain Lorca on Star Trek Discovery,
even the shocking revelation that he was in fact from the Mirror Universe,
but now Actor Jason Isaacs who portrayed him would like to return as the character
but how?
Hey everyone, my name is Captain Jack and welcome back to Trek Central!
Today we’re talking about Actor Jason Isaacs,
who played Gabriel Lorca in Star Trek Discovery,
wanting to return to the character.
But how exactly would he even do that?
The last time we saw Lorca, he met a bit of a hot ending….
Now of course there is a possible way for us Trekkies to see more of Lorca.
While his mirror universe counterpart is dead,
the “Prime” version of Lorca is supposedly still alive and kicking,
but no one knows where he is.
The last time anyone actually saw Prime Captain Lorca was when he was still commanding the USS Buran in the year 2256.
In that same year,
his Mirror Universe Counterpart switched places with him.
This evil Lorca would then destroy the Buran
and would later become the Captain of the brand new Crossfield Class USS Discovery,
obviously we know how that ended up don’t we.
In the mirror universe, in 2256,
the ISS Buran was under the command of the Mirror Universe Gabriel Lorca.
He had taken the Buran to a planet called ‘Priors World” in an attempt to recruit more allies to his cause,
having just failed in his attempt at overthrowing the Terran Emperor Phillipa Gergiou.
While Mirror Lorca was on the surface,
the Terran Empire Flagship, ISS Charon under the command of Georgiou arrived and attacked the Buran.
In the crews desperate attempt to beam there commanding officer back,
the ship was struck by an Ion storm,
resulting in a transporter accident causing Mirror Lorca to switch places with his Prime Universe counterpart.
The ISS Buran was then reported as destroyed with the loss of all hands.
Now you may think, but with the ISS Buran destroyed, how could PRIME Lorca survive?
Why yes, it does seem like PRIME Lorca is totally dead,
but what is interesting is there is NO confirmation of the character actually being KIA.
Everyone who speaks about it is rather cryptic and does not give a clear answer to the question.
More than likely, no one had found a body due to the ISS Buran’s destruction,
but what if Prime Lorca was captured by Terran Empire forces?
Let’s presume he was.
He would have been taken before Emperor Georgiou who would have probably executed him,
having believed that Prime Lorca was the Mirror Lorca she knew and the same one who has just tried to overthrow her
she would be upset to be honest.
However we know this isn’t the case as Phillipa would react to seeing the actual Mirror Lorca in the Discovery episode “Vaulting Ambition”.
If you just saw a man you had just killed, you would probably say so.
On the flip side,
he could have been captured and imprisoned by other Rogue Terran Empire forces.
Mirror Gabriel Lorca was not the first to defy the Terran Empire and would not be the last.
If other rouge elements had captured Prime Lorca, they might have been able to use him as a bargaining chip later down the line.
Admiral Katrina Cornwell of the Prime Universe strongly believed that no one could survive alone in the Mirror Universe,
therefore choosing to believe that Prime Gabriel Lorca was dead.
With the outbreak of Control Situation and the Red Angel crisis in 2257,
Starfleet most likely forgot about Lorca,
or were unable and very unlikely to even attempt a rescue if there was a chance of one.
With that, what if I told you that Gabriel Lorca was still alive,
and yes i mean the PRIME one.
Recently the Trek Central team has been reading the novel, Star Trek: Discovery - Drastic Measures,
which is written by long time Trek Author, Dayton Ward.
You can check out our Spoiler-Free book review via the description below,
just a warning, the following part of this video will contain minor spoilers for the book.
The novel explores Prime Lorca when he is younger, still only a Lieutenant Commander at the time.
In 2246, 10 years before the events of Star Trek Discovery,
he is the commanding officer of the Starfleet Outpost on Tarsus IV,
during which he and his team are caught up in the middle of a brutal event.
In the final chapter of “Drastic Measures”,
we get a scene in which PRIME Gabriel Lorca finds himself within a prison cell.
No date is given, but enough context is given that this could be in the Mirror Universe,
after his transporter accident on in 2256.
The prison cell is described as dark, and violence is said to be a way of life for his captors.
This could mean his captors are Terrans, as they are sensitive to light and are a violent people.
Additional details include the fact that his captors wanted to keep HIM alive,
yet had no concerns about executing other prisoners.
. It’s worth noting that we do not know an exact date of when this story part takes place or exactly where it takes place.
or where it exactly takes place as well.
His Mirror Universe Captors could have simply forgotten what to do with him.
During the USS Discovery’s cross into the Mirror Universe,
the crew destabilized the Terran Empire with the destruction of the ISS Charon and the presumed death of Emperor Georgiou,
who had actually gone to the prime universe along with the Discovery.
it would have sent the Empire into disarray with a large power vacuum,
meaning someone could have simply forgotten what to do with Lorca. Or they could just be waiting for further instructions that never would come.
Ok, so Prime Lorca is alive,
but how do we get to see him again and realistically, how could Jason Isaacs even portray the character.
Star Trek Discovery has left behind the 23rd century,
with the show going almost 1000 years into the future
it’s unlikely we’ll see the 23rd Century mirror universe again and with that, Lorca as well.
I really cannot imagine us seeing Lorca in Season 3 or any future season of Discovery,
it would not make sense for him to appear.
Along with that, he would somehow need to cross from the mirror universe back to the prime universe and then jump to the future,
it just does not logically make sense why he would do that.
To build onto it, Prime Lorca is unlikely to know much about the USS Discovery,
given that it was his Mirror Counterpart who was the Captain of the ship all along.
I do have a wild and crazy theory of how we could see more Prime Lorca.
Section 31.
Stick with me here.
We know CBS are pushing along with a Section 31 show for the Star Trek Franchise,
which is led by Michelle Yeoh’s character of Mirror Phillipa Georgiou.
What if somehow, Lorca winds up working for Section 31,
maybe he is rescued from the Mirror Universe by Georgiou,
obviously that would mean she would need to find her way back from the future where the USS Discovery is, but I expect we’ll see how that plays out next year.
Regarding technical slash lore explanation of how he could get back to the Prime Universe,
either to join Section 31 or do something else.
He would probably try to recreate the situation in which he came to the Mirror Universe in the first place,
a transporter malfunction through an Ion storm.
But we have seen other ways people have crossed through to the other side,
including wormholes or interphasic rifts, so he could try a whole number of things to get back to the his own universe.
(Lorca) Let's go home...
Another option is Short Treks.
CBS are a fan of showing us multiple locations and characters from the Trek Universe through the Short Trek media form,
so maybe some sort of adventure which features Prime Lorca escaping his mirror universe captors?
Him fighting his way out and attempting to get back to the prime universe could potentially tie into the Section 31 series,
should CBS and the production team wants to do something along those lines.
We’ll have to see how this plays out, if it even does.
So that’s our thoughts on Jason Isaacs potentially returning as PRIME Gabriel Lorca to the Star Trek Universe.
To continue this discussion, we want to hear your thoughts and theories on how Lorca could return, so make sure to let us know via the comment section below.
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I’ve been Captain Jack, thank you for watching and we’ll see you next time.