It would seem that Star Trek's Strange New Worlds is already infusing the new
series with deep canonical storylines that Star Trek fans love to explore.
During the second episode,
"Children of the Comet" the Strange New Worlds crew finds itself matching wits
with a nearly sentient artificial intelligence embedded into a com that is on a
collision course with Persephone III,
the desert planet hosts a nomadic pre-warp civilization,
totally unaware they're in danger. How Star Trek is that? Right?
The episode seems to be just another solid Trek story,
which Strange New Worlds has now pulled off two weeks in a row,
but then something unexpected started to happen.
Did this brand new Star Trek series just come out of the gates at warp eight,
wine and dine us with a compelling story,
and then cut us a huge slice of canon for dessert. Is anyone else hungry?
Well, let me tell you that is exactly what we think they did,
and if it wasn't for our big brain scientific think tank.
No, not that one.
It may have been a while before anyone realized that Strange New Worlds may have
just connected one of the most important species in the history of the Star Trek
franchise.
If this is the type of Star Trek stories will be getting moving forward,
then Strange New Worlds is going where no Trek series is gone in quite some
time. What mystery did Strange New Worlds, just shed more light on?
You don't wanna miss this episode!
And make sure you stay tuned to the end to see how to get this awesome Star
Trek.
Captain Pike inspired graphic design from the amazing Artist at Mixedtees.com.
When Sam Kirk boldly stepped up to the glowing egg like machine on the comet
racing toward Persephone III,
he was lit up like a kitty cat in Christmas vacation.
And that made one member of the Popcast team. say, Hey, wait a minute.
Where have I seen that before?
And after flipping quickly through our mental encyclopedia on the original
series, we stopped at season three, episode three, titled the paradise syndrome.
In this episode,
captain Kirk Spock and Dr. McCoy find themselves on an Earth-like planet
complete with native American Indians and pine trees.
The planet and the inhabitants are in danger of being wiped out by an asteroid
hurling toward them.
And the Enterprise is checking things out before diverting the asteroid from the
planet's path.
Sound familiar?
While looking around,
they find a strange alien obelisk covered in strange markings and close to the
local inhabitants.
Kirk accidentally triggers the machine and disappears inside where he is shocked
and knocked unconscious,
which is very similar to the way his brother Sam was knocked out in Strange New
Worlds.
But the similarities don't stop there.
The Strange New Worlds AI device responds to and communicates with music.
Kirk's obelisk is covered in markings that as Spock will find out are actually
musical notes that translate into an alphabet.
Uhura is able to bring down the force field on the comet by humming musical
notes and Kirk's communicator with the pattern of his voice,
activates the trap door on his obelisk.
It is during TOS, the paradise syndrome that we learn of the preservers,
a super race of aliens who traveled the galaxy rescuing primitive cultures who
were in danger of extinction and seeding them where they could live and grow.
Key in on that word seed for a moment.
that is exactly what the AI comet was doing in Strange New Worlds.
And these aren't the only two episodes in Star Trek that deal with seeding
planets and protecting primitive cultures during Star Trek,
Voyager season seven episode, natural law Chakotay, and Seven of Nine,
find themselves bouncing off and passing through a protective shield,
placed around the planet of a primitive culture.
We later learned this was done by a highly evolved alien race who wanted to
protect the primitive culture from an advanced civilization who was destroying
them.
While neither Voyager nor Strange New Worlds mentions the preservers by name,
the similarities are too close to ignore an AI obelisk on a comet
is seeding planets with water.
An obelisk on a planet is deflecting asteroids and a device on another
planet has created a force field.
In all of these situations an advanced alien race is cultivating and protecting
the early stages of life and civilization.
but who are the preservers and why do they play such an important role in the
Star Trek universe?
The answers are finally given to us in the next generation episode: "The Chase"
In this episode,
an old archeology professor of Picard's is about to make a groundbreaking
discovery,
but he is killed before he can do it.
Picard and his team unravel the mystery and learned that an ancient alien
humanoid race seated the galaxy long ago,
ultimately creating many of the other humanoid races of the alpha quadrant.
The computer program we see of the ancient creature looks very similar to the
founders from deep space nine.
Which has sparked an interesting debate in the fandom about their possible
relation to the preservers.
And while the preservers are not specifically mentioned in this episode,
Ronald D. Moore,
who wrote the episode as well as many other Star Trek stories explained that he
considered the ancient alien race we see in "The Chase" to be the preservers,
but he intentionally did not specify it.
He felt strongly that this race could be the preservers and that it would be
internally consistent with Star Trek canon,
the memorable speech given at the end of the chase in front of Humans,
Klingons Romulans and Cardassians eloquently explains why the preservers seeded
the galaxy to begin with.
They went out among the stars and discovered that there were none like
themselves, their civilization thrived,
but knowing that one day they would be gone,
they seeded the galaxy in hopes of leaving a legacy of their existence.
What other mysteries are we yet to uncover in the Star Trek universe that has
the preserver fingerprints on it?
It would seem that Strange New Worlds is already blessing us with deep and rich
Star Trek world building that fans thrive on.
What other canon building stories are we about to see in the latest series of
the Star Trek franchise, we will have to wait and see,
but just like the current trajectory of Strange New Worlds.
The outlook is exciting and hopeful. What
do you think?
Do you think the technology in the children of the comet was from the
preservers? What other canonical stories would you like to see the show explore?
Is anyone else excited for the upcoming episode about the Gorn?
What is your favorite Star Trek theory? Let's talk about it in the comets below.
Also check out this awesome Star Trek,
Captain Pike inspired graphic design from the amazing Artists at mixedtees.com.
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