He was terrible he had no bedside manner, He hated Troi's uniform, he was disgustingly uptight.
He was narcissistic, egotistical, burocratic,
pushy, Straight Arrowed and overall the worst individual to wear a red uniform
and 4 pips on his collar in Starfleet history and his name was Edward Jellico.
That's it for this video ! if you want to keep
up to date with all the latest Star Trek news lore and more.
Oh alright fine, i suppose you want more then that.... FINE, fine, fine....
Why, I ask you, did we call this video “Starfleet’s WORST captain?” My own
personal answer to that question - as I’m sure a chunk of you will agree - is “We
aren’t. We’re talking about the WORST Starship Captain in STAR TREK HISTORY,
and we’re talking about him because he is returning to the Star Trek Universe in 2022.
That’s right, this is Edward Jellico, in Trek Central’s Star Trek Explained series. But why
was he the worst? Why didn’t Commander William T. Riker like him? The man only
commanded the USS Enterprise-D for two episodes, but somehow everyone dislikes him. But why?
Today, we’ll learn about that and how Jellico returns to Star Trek.
Welcome to Trek Central Lords, Ladies and Sovereigns. I’m your host,
Lieutenant Commander Adam, and let’s get into it!
Before we warp into this video, If you want to keep up to date on all the latest Star Trek news,
lore and more, then make sure to hit that subscribe button
to never miss a video from the team here at Trek Central! You can also
follow us on social media for daily updates on the Star Trek Universe!
As always, please let us know your thoughts in the comment section below,
because if you’re talking about Star Trek, then we want to hear about it!
Okay, engage!
Little is known about Edward Jellico’s early life, apart from the fact he began his early career as a
Shuttle Pilot in the Sol system on the Jovian Run, a standard shuttle run between Jupiter and Saturn.
However, by the mid 2360s, he held the rank of Captain and was a family man with a son.
He would play a critical role in establishing the armistice in 2367 between the Federation and
Cardassian Union during the Federation-Cardassian Wars, a border conflict that would start 2 decades
earlier in 2347. In 2369, he took command of the USS Cairo, an Excelsior-class starship.
Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Commanding Officer of USS Enterprise Star Date 46358.1.
You are hereby requested and required,
to relinquish command of your vessel to Captain Edward Jellico.
Commanding Officer USS Cairo as of this date.
Jellico came to the attention of the crew of the Galaxy-class USS Enterprise-D when
he was assigned to the starship as its commanding officer in 2369, under orders
of Vice Admiral Alynna Nechayev (Nay-chey-ev). This was due to Jellico’s experience in dealing
with the Cardassians. A conflict between the Federation and the Cardassian Order was brewing,
forcing the Enterprise captain, Jean-Luc Picard, to go undercover on Celtris III.
Where he found a couple of lights...
Jellico’s command of Enterprise-D did not get off to the best start. He was a stern and
authoritarian officer, leading him to micro-manage those under him. He actively dismissed Counsellor
Troi’s recommendations to allow the starship crew to adjust to having a new captain. While also
insulting her dress code and insisting that she wore a standard Starfleet Uniform while on duty.
I mean, the biggest issue at hand was that he had Livingston, the fish in the Enterprise-D’s
ready room, removed. Clearly a man with no taste.
First Officer Commander William T. Riker ran into numerous confrontations with Captain Jellico.
Therefore the relationship between the pair was never going to work. The major disagreement
revolves around shifting the Enterprise’s crew rotation to a four-shift pattern rather than the
previous three rotation patterns that everyone has been accustomed to. While the change was
difficult to implement, Jellico would not accept Riker’s excuses for not having made the change.
When the Cardassians abducted Jean-Luc Picard while undercover, Riker and Jellico
had a major disagreement over handling the situation. The heated argument culminated
in Riker’s open insubordination against his captain, forcing Jellico to relieve
Riker of his position and install Lieutenant Commander Data as his new executive officer.
He's waiting for some sign of weakness form our part before he starts making more demands.
I can't beleive you are willing to sacrifice Captain Picard's life as a negotiation tactic.
The confrontation between the two experienced officers would later prove problematic. Jellico
intended to mine the Cardassian starships hiding in a nebula. However, while the
Enterprise Chief Engineer, Geordi La Forge, was willing to take on the dangerous mission,
he recommended that Commander Riker pilot the shuttle. This was after all
a man who had a reputation for being able to handle his equipment in tight spaces.
Eventually, Captain Jellico and Commander Riker hashed out their differences. Ultimately the pair
outlined the faults they saw in each other during a frank conversation. Riker even admitted that he
saw Jellico as someone who was close-minded and arrogant. Even going as far as to say he
wound up the crew of the Enterprise too tight, leaving them unable to perform their jobs well.
Riker eventually performed his mission under Captain Jellico. Jellico's plan
came to fruition with the Anti-matter mines on the Cardassian Starships. He contacted
the Cardassian fleet and informed them that their ships were at his mercy. He demanded that
the ships eject their phaser coilers, withdraw to Cardassian space and release Captain Picard.
Although whether their eventual release of Picard was because of
this power play or because they got sick of arguing with Jean-Luc about
how many lights there were in his cell is anybody's guess....
Following,Picard’s safe return to the USS Enterprise,
Jellico’s brief stint as the starship's commanding officer ended. He returned to command
the USS Cairo, not before informing the crew that it was an honour to serve with them. By 2374,
Jellico had been succeeded as Captain of the USS Cairo by Captain Leslie Wong. However,
the ship was missing in action and presumed destroyed by The Dominion.
So what happened to Jellico ?
By the early 2380s, Edward Jellico was promoted to Admiral. Though the only thing we know is that
he had banned a music duo the Zebulon Sisters from performing on active-duty Starships.
You’ll need to watch Star Trek: Lower Decks to dive deeper into that wormhole.
Go on... Its absolutely worth it.
Good luck!
Edward Jellico’s story continues in the Beta-canon of the Star Trek Universe.
And like ive said hundreds on times,
If i say the phase "Beta Cannon" im talking about stuff that didnt happen on screen...
:WE ARE ON THEORY CRAFT MODE:
So will all the Trolls please leave the building.
We always ask nicely.
He presided over the investigation following the loss of the USS Enterprise-D at Veridian III in
2371. Where he would not only return to facing down Commander RIker, but Captain Picard as well.
In 2381, Jellico was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Federation Starfleet.
Which is a sharp uptick. I mean he is played by
the same guy that took over the whole of Omni-corp in Robocop but still....
Can you imagine what would happen if that became cannon ?
Nevermind the synths, all of them would have been replaced by defective ED-209's.
ED-209 ? EDward Jellico ?
Is he the Star Trek equivalent of an ED-209 android ? I'm just
going to stop that before i get too carried away.
Being C&C of Federation Starfleet placed him in overall command of
Starfleet’s response to that years Borg invasion,
which devastated much of the known galaxy. Jellico’s “Get it done” attitude to command
and strategy ultimately served Starfleet and the Federation. He wanted to be on the front lines,
in command of a starship. Therefore he spent many nights in his office presiding over war reports.
During the end of the war, Admiral Jellico reached desperation. The Borg were systematically
exterminating the Federation. Therefore, Jellico countermanded Admiral Nechayev’s ban on weapons
known as “Transphasic Torpedos” and sent the design specifications to all Federation
Starfleet members and the Klingon Defense Force. His desperate attempt to save more of
the Federation was a gamble. Jellico admitted he would accept the blame if it went wrong.
Eventually, the Borg Invasion ended, and the Federation emerged victorious. Though
the level of life lossed and destruction on both the Alpha and Beta Quadrants would take
some time to repair. Following the Invasion, Admiral Jellico tendered his resignation to
Federation President Nanietta Bacco. Jellico believed that personal honour demanded it.
In 2386, Jellico’s life fell apart. His role in the removal of Federation President Min
Zife in 2379 by Section 31 was exposed due to the organisation's collapse. As their files
and records were made public, Jellico was exposed for forcing the President to resign,
following the Tezwan affair, and though he was personally not aware,
this led to section 31 assassinating Min Zife after his resignation.
Federation Security agents arrested the now-retired Admiral Jellico, and he was
locked away. However, he was put into witness protection following the assassination of Admiral
William Ross due to his involvement in Section 31, and their assassination of a Federation President.
But dragging ourselves away from
theory crafting Beta Canon world lets talk about the "REAL" world for a second.
Around the time of New York Comic Con, it was announced that actor Ronnie Cox would
reprise his role as Edward Jellico for the animated series Star Trek: Prodigy. This
time Jellico returns as an Admiral and appears to communicate with Vice Admiral Janeway’s USS
Dauntless starship. A released screengrab shows the Admiral speaking with Commander Tysses,
Janeway’s First Officer. Going off of his rank in the episode, it’s likely
Jellico is the rank of Fleet Admiral though whether he is CnC at the time, we shall see.
Hopefully not but he probably will be...
Star Trek: Prodigy is set 14 years after Edward Jellico’s last appearance in Star Trek:
The Next Generation. As such, we can see he is promoted to Admiral. The series creatives
explained that Jellico, like always, will act as some sort of foil to our hero,
Admiral Kathryn Janeway. Jellico has a track record of getting things done,
no matter what you think of him, so he might indirectly help Janeway.
What is interesting is that before this was announced we had the mention of Jellico being
an Admiral in Lower Decks, another example of the showrunners of these shows talking to
each other to get some nice continuity in. It seems like we will see a lot of
this between Lower Decks and Prodigy being somewhat in the same timeline,
especially with the return of Jellico and Thadiun Okona as well,
who had his appearance changed in Lower Decks to look like how he will appear in Prodigy.
However, we know Janeway is on the hunt for the USS Protostar and actively trying to find
out what happened to her long-time friend and former First Officer,
Captain Chakotay. It will be a process of waiting to see how far Jellico will stop
in trying to reign in Janeway and if it is a line he wants to cross with this character.
SO, what do you think of Starfleet’s Worst Captain? Is he that bad,
or do you appreciate Jellico’s command style in the Star Trek Universe? Let us
know your thoughts in the comment section below.
If you want to keep up to date on all the latest Star Trek news, lore and more,
then make sure to hit that subscribe button to never miss a video from the team here at
Trek Central! You can also follow us on social media or join our Community Discord Server!
For now, I’ve been Lieutenant Commander Adam, thanks for watching and we’ll see you next time!
Live Long and prosper my friends!
And Never Forget,
There Are,
Four
Lights