Everything you need to remember before Star Trek: Episode 31

This week Star Trek boldly goes with the first big film of the streaming era: Section 31it has been working for a long time past series The film became a release vehicle for Michelle Yeoh, and she returned to the franchise for the first time. came out Discovery in 2020. But aside from the controversial spy agency that gives the film its name, here’s what else you should know going into the film.

What is Section 31?

It was first introduced in the sixth season Star Trek: Deep Space NineSection 31 a secret intelligence department The Federation was intended to function as a black ops organization—separate from Starfleet’s public-facing intelligence wing—with the mandate to act against existing threats to the Federation. Section 31, named for the clause in the Starfleet charter that authorizes “emergency measures” in the face of extreme threats, has carried out undercover, covert, and counterintelligence operations throughout Starfleet’s history without the official knowledge or direction of the Federation or Starfleet in general. .

Although presented in Deep Space Nine At the peak of the Dominion War arc, Division 31 would perform Enterprise and Discovery establish their roots earlier Star Trek‘s main timeline, but the group has been seen since their debut as deeply controversial by Star Trek fans have expressed what the presence of undercover police in the utopian setting of the franchise means for the idealistic nature of this utopia.

A Short, Universe-Hoppana History by Philippa Georgiou

Discovery first introduced Michelle Yeoh’s Philippa Georgiou as the captain of the USS Shenzhouonly his death in battle during the outbreak of the Klingon-Federation War was depicted in the show’s first season. However, Yeoh would return to reprise the character during a storyline set in that season Star Trekthe infamous parallel reality of Mirror Universe. There, Georgiu was not an officer in the Terran Empire, but its Emperor, and after surviving a coup attempt, he was sent back with his ship’s crew. Discovery for Star Trek‘s main universe at the behest of Michael Burnham, the protégé of Chief Georgiou and the ship’s first officer. Shenzhou.

Mirror Georgiou was recruited into Division 31 after the war ended and initially served as an agent tasked with maintaining the stability of L’Rell, the post-war Chancellor of the Klingon Empire. But he eventually returned to the ship Discovery when the ship is forced to send itself thousands of years into the future to the 32nd century to destroy a rogue artificial intelligence developed by Section 31, Control. However, the temporary distance from both the home reality and the home timeline caused Georgiou to begin to destabilize at the molecular level. after encountering The Eternal ConservativeExperimenting to see if Georgiou’s time in the prime universe had changed him as a person, he was sent back to an undisclosed time period (later) where the Mirror and Prime universes were still aligned, allowing him to stay. the last universe without the threat of destabilization.

Who else is Section 31?

Yeoh’s Georgiou is the main returning character Section 31but he’s not the only familiar character among a cast of mostly new characters. Here’s a quick rundown of the main Section 31 agents we plan to meet in the movie:

• Played by Omari Hardwick AlokThe leader of Unit 31 on a secret mission that recruits Georgiou to make him pay for his past crimes as Terran Emperor.
• Played by Robert Kazinski ZephAlok’s right hand lives inside a mechanical exoskeleton.
• Played by Sam Richardson QuasiChameloid, another agent on Alok’s team and a shape-shifting race seen for the first time Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.
• Played by Humberly Gonzalez HoneyA Deltan agent on Alok’s team, unlike Deltans who had previously joined Starfleet, did not take a vow of celibacy, allowing him to use the natural charm of his species to take advantage of Section 31.
• Sven Ruygrok plays the most mysterious member of the team known only as Alok Fuzz. Described as a “fun-loving” character with anger issues, his pointy ears suggest he could be either a surprisingly emotional Vulcan, or perhaps one of their sister species, the Romulans.
• Rounding out the main cast is Kacey Rohl Rachel Garretta young Starfleet officer assigned to Alok’s team for surveillance purposes, despite official information about the division’s existence being classified. Garrett has appeared before Star Trek before The Next Generation “Yesterday’s Enterprise” episode, played by Tricia O’Neil, where she captains the USS Enterprise-C was destroyed in 2344 while defending a Klingon outpost from Romulan forces.

When Section 31 Install?

Although we don’t have an exact structure yet except for the filming Star TrekThe ground reality is that the presence of Rachel Garrett in the cast indicates that the series must still be set in the early 24th century, as she has not yet been promoted to the rank of captain or commanded a command post. Enterprise-C. That would define it Section 31 in a period largely revealed by Star Trek on the small screen, commonly known as The Lost Era. The original series was set in the late 2260s, with its sequels taking place from the 2270s to the 2290s. The Next Generation started shortly after commissioning in 2364 Enterprise-D about 20 years after its predecessor was destroyed.

The Enterprise-C itself operated at a time when relations between the Federation and the Klingon Empire were still relatively strained following the signing of the Khitomer Treaty at the end of the 23rd century. It took the sacrifice of the Federation flagship protecting the Klingon forces to strengthen the ties between the two factions, resulting in the official Treaty of Alliance established some time between the year 2344 and the events. The Next Generation– which can give us some clues as to what the state of the universe was like before then Section 31.

Section 31 Accessing Paramount+ from January 24th.

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