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Star Trek: Who Are The Ocampa?

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Over the course of its many shows and films, the Star Trek franchise has spanned multiple decades and introduced many different characters from every corner of the galaxy. The galaxy's vastness highlights civilization's diversity in ways of several other alien species. When the USS Voyager was stranded in the Delta Quadrant, they discovered many species previously unknown to the Federation.

While some of these alien species were intimidating and hostile, others are friendly and empathetic; for instance, the Ocampa. What are Ocampa, how powerful are they, and what role have they played in their appearance in Star Trek: Voyager ? Here's what fans should know about these residents of the Delta Quadrant.

RELATED: High Concept and Low Concept Science Fiction, Explained

Who Are The Ocampa?

Ocampan physiology.

The Ocampa people, natives of the planet Ocampa in the far and vast Delta Quadrant, are a friendly and peaceful alien species notable for their telepathic abilities. The Ocampa are notable for their human-like appearance, but their ears are pointed much like those of Vulcans, and they have slightly more prominent foreheads and eyes. The Ocampa have a short lifespan, averaging about 9 years. Although they reproduce sexually, the Ocampa could only mate once during the period of life called the elogium, and the mating was limited to only a single child.

Many fans wonder how Ocampa managed to survive as a species despite a couple only being able to mate once. If this were the case, the population would drop by half in each generation. Although there is no proper explanation, a theory suggests that the Ocampa’s reproduction method mirrors that of guinea pigs. If they bear a child in their first year, they can have more pregnancies until their lifespans run out. This theory makes sense; otherwise, there would be no way for the Ocampa to survive this long.

The Ocampa are known for their solid mental capabilities. They are natural telepaths, and can communicate between themselves and other species. Moreover, they have an excellent memory, and with strong enough abilities, can even foresee the future. Ocampans could also perform telekinesis, although the strength varied from individual to individual.

Ocampan History and Society

The Ocampa world used to be an M-Class planet. They once had a more prominent civilization, before the planet's atmosphere was destroyed in an accident caused by a visiting alien known as a Nacene. The following period, which the Ocampans referred to as "The Warming" era, was full of global catastrophes after the accident resulted in the planet's inability to produce nucleogenic particles.

To rectify their error and attempt to atone for their deeds, the Nacene left two of their kind behind, Suspiria and an individual known as Caretaker. The Ocampa retreated to an underground city located miles below the surface, protected by security barriers. The only way they could enter was through tunnels, and over generations, this became the only life they knew.

The Caretaker provided the Ocampa with food, water, and sufficient survival energy. He did so with his array, a large space station that could manipulate energy, interstellar communication, and much more. While his intentions were for the good, the Ocampa came to rely solely on the Caretaker. Suspiria, realizing this, left along with a few hundred Ocampa to their very own array that she created for them. Meanwhile, the Ocampa left in their city came to regard the Caretaker as a god, and lost the capability to survive on their own. Their telepathic abilities weakened, and they lost their sense of independence.

While Caretaker's action made the Ocampa weak and reliant on him for survival, Suspiria did the quite opposite and helped the Ocampa develop their abilities like psychokinetics and precognition. The Caretaker dies early in Star Trek: Voyager , leaving the Ocampa vulnerable and on their own for survival. One Ocampa, Kes, left the underground city, eager to see the galaxy now that she was no longer dependent on the Caretaker.

When Do The Ocampa Appear In Star Trek?

The Ocampa appear in 1995's Star Trek: Voyager . In the show's first episode, the starship USS Voyager was searching for the Val Jean, a Maquis ship. However, Voyager suddenly got pulled into the Delta Quadrant by the Caretaker, who had also taken the Val Jean. Being the only Nacene around, the Caretaker was looking for a mating partner to produce offspring who would carry on with the protection of the Ocampa. Time was short, as another species known as the Kazon was after the Caretaker's array.

After the USS Voyager ’s landing in the USS Quadrant, they met and allied with the Ocampa. Kes, an Ocampan, played a massive part in the partnership, as she has an empathetic connection with the crew. The USS Quadrant was looking for a way back home, as they were 70,000 light years away from Earth. The crew found themselves stuck far away from home in the middle of an unknown area in space surrounded by hostile alien species and determined to help the Ocampa after the Caretaker died.

Kes' Role On Star Trek: Voyager

After the death of Caretaker, Kes joined the Voyager crew . Her medical knowledge was essential to the crew’s journey, and Kes became one of the series' main characters. Due to her shorter lifespan, she aged physically and mentally fast. Throughout her journey with the crew, Kes rapidly became aware of her own abilities, mainly psychic abilities. With her visions, she proves a valuable asset to the crew. For example, in this one instance, she treated Neelix after his lungs got stolen by the Vidiians. Her precognition and telepathic abilities helped the crew multiple times as they encountered the challenges in the Delta Quadrant, particularly as she was the only one who could communicate with the hostile Species 8472.

As she aged quickly, Kes' power grew, and soon, she could not control her powers and began to give off power surges. These surges caused destabilization on a subatomic level, and ended up damaging the ship. Knowing she was a potential danger to the ship, Kes took off to find her true destiny and practice her powers. Her departure from the show was rather rushed, considering how the writers didn't know what to do with her character and had little room for more development, evidenced by her shorter lifespan. But despite her short tenure, Kes remains a memorable character and a representative of an interesting Star Trek species.

Star Trek: Voyager is available to stream on Paramount+.

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Telepathic Pathology in Star Trek

• First Online: 11 July 2018

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Psi is a term used by parapsychologists to refer to both extrasensory perception and psychokinesis, abilities that have never been proven to exist. Telepathy is a form of psi, the direct communication of thoughts from one mind to another. In Star Trek , various kinds of telepathy have been displayed, often as unique alien properties. Star Trek has not only explored the possibility of the existence of telepathy, but also its logical corollary, the possibility of coexistent pathology. This essay will describe these fictional conditions from a medical perspective and will demonstrate that telepathic disease is depicted as working at longer distances than conventional (even air-borne) diseases. This imaginary medium is shown to communicate neuroses or psychoses to others via direct, mind-to-mind transfer, to one individual or to multitudes in epidemic proportions, often at distances that would require the equivalent of electromagnetic radiation as a mode of transmission. Since science fiction purports to be the handmaiden of the sciences, Star Trek treats these disorders with their own internal and therefore plausible logic in a convincing display of legitimacy, boldly taking us where no known diseases have gone before.

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Grech, V. (2018). Telepathic Pathology in Star Trek . In: Rabitsch, S., Gabriel, M., Elmenreich, W., Brown, J. (eds) Set Phasers to Teach!. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73776-8_11

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A telepathic species, Letheans are feared and respected as mercenaries throughout the Alpha Quadrant. Lethean telepathic attacks are almost always fatal.

Physical appearance [ | ]

Letheans are bald, with a vertical bone ridge that runs across their face and heads. They have small bone protrusions that can grow along this ridge and on their cheeks, and their skin is mottled and has multiple cartilage folds. Their eyes have a reddish tint. Letheans are descended from reptiles and prefer the dark. They have an average lifespan of 60 years.

Other information [ | ]

Letheans are known for their ferocity and stubbornness, but are often thought to be unintelligent. This is a stereotype that Letheans exploit to their advantage. Seeing the rising strength of the Klingon Empire, the Letheans have offered their services to J'mpok . They have not been granted full citizenship, however, and continue to look for ways to prove their worth.

Traits [ | ]

• Click "Rapture" to deal Psionic damage with a 40% chance of stunning the target if it is alive.

• +10 Perception
• +1.5% Expose Chance
• +1 sec Expose Duration
• Unrestricted personal traits

Duty officers [ | ]

See also [ | ].

• Playable Lethean starships

External links [ | ]

• Lethean at Memory Alpha , the Star Trek Wiki.
• 1 Playable starship
• 3 Infinity Prize Pack - T6 Ship

Psionic Abilities

From star trek: theurgy wiki.

Numerous Star Trek episodes across all series used psionic abilities . Yet, in a sim, there is always the concern that telepathic or emphatic abilities might be overused. It could quickly become the tool for godmoding, which is is addressed in our General Rules . Therefore, the use of telepathic or emphatic abilities must be situational and given some rules that the sim should adhere to.

• 1 Star Trek: Theurgy Psionic Rules
• 2.1 Telepathy
• 2.2 Empathy
• 2.3 Touch Telepathy
• 2.4 Strong Psychic Links
• 2.5 Psychometry
• 2.6 Psychoprojectivity
• 2.7 Psychic Resistance
• 3.1 List of Psionic Ratings for Psionic & Non-Readable Species
• 3.2 Psionic Ratings for Unique Characters
• 4 Disclaimer Notice

Star Trek: Theurgy Psionic Rules

• Keep it in the background mostly. Mention it in sim the way you would mention any other sense. For instance: if your character is in a rose garden, you might mention the scent of flowers in your sim. Essentially Telepathy is just another sense.
• No silver lining is without a disadvantage. Keep in mind the down-side of being a telepath serving among those who have little control over their minds and emotions. What is it like to be on the Theurgy with minds all crying out? Or if your character look into the mind of a killer, perhaps s/he cannot sleep for the next week, and end up in sickbay. Nothing is free.
• Assume your character and culture has a taboo about freely entering the minds of others. This will give you a reason for not uncovering everybody’s secrets.
• Remember, alien minds are just that. Alien. Perhaps there is difficulty interpreting what a lizard people’s thoughts really mean. There is no Universal Translator for thoughts or emotions. Meaning, if a Romulan is thinking about something, a Deltan is not going to be able to read those thoughts, unless they also know Romulan to a sufficient enough degree. Same as with a Betazoid attempting to read the mind of a Bajoran , etc. Do not assume a character is thinking in Federation Standard just because that species is a member of the UFP. Always assume that a character is thinking in their native tongue unless otherwise specified in the post in which they are writing the thoughts. Empathy work along the same lines, but is more generalised than the nuance of a language. If an empath come across an alien they are not familiar with, they wouldn't be able to immediately know the minds and sensibilities of this alien. The empath would not have a point of reference. Anger may not feel exactly like anger in all known species. In summary, a character cannot read the thoughts or emotions of an unknown entity. They would need to build familiarity, linguistic expertise and gain long experience reading individual species.
• Read another character's current thoughts
• Feel another character's current mood (angry, sad etc.)
• Do so at varying distances depending on the strength of their abilities, but not through monitors, obviously.
• Do the above with varying clarity depending on circumstances and vividness of thoughts and emotions. Example: Reading a person's thoughts while he is fishing and isn't thinking about anything in particular will not yield much at all.
• Only read thoughts and feel emotions that are made perfectly clear in another writer's post, and not read something that shouln't be there according to the writer. Being too presumptuous in this regard equals godmoding, so please... please don't overuse these abilities in writing telepaths.
• Read non-current thoughts or feelings. Think of a character's mind as a map, and as the character thinks, a spotlight is moving across that map. The telepath may only be able to read what the spotlight is shining on.
• Click some button and 'download' the entire family history of a character, or know all previous acquaintances in another person's memory.
• 'Download' all the knowledge of secret Starfleet Intelligence information from someone who happens to pass by. Unless, of course, the intelligence operative in question is explicitly trying to solve some secret puzzle in his head at that exact moment, where the telepath will be reading the fitting of those pieces of the puzzles and not the entire context and scope of the image.
• Do what touch-telepaths do in a casual manner, where the shows several times show Vulcans delving into minds and learning things as if they are accessing a library. The mind-meld is very different from reading current thoughts. Doing it without touch takes time and focus, and in such case, see below rule #7.
• Lastly, strength/success of aggressive telepathic probing is determined via OOC agreement between writers prior to posting.

Various Forms of Psionic Abilities

A variety of psionic abilities were found in numerous species throughout the Milky Way Galaxy .

The most common of the psionic abilities , telepathy allowed individuals to communicate through either unspoken words or detailed images. Most telepathic species (i.e. Aenar, Betazoids, Vulcans ) communicate with unspoken words. Imagery communication is less common (i.e. Cairn), but not impossible to learn. Certain telepathic species can read and influence the minds of other non-telepathic species. How intense these mind readings were depend on the specific species, individuals, and training.

Another common psionic trait, empathy allowed individuals to sense, interpret, and influence the emotions of others. Many telepathic species also had empathic abilities. Empathy is quite common in offspring produced of a telepathic and non-telepathic union (i.e. Betazoids, Napeans, Vulcans ).

Touch Telepathy

A less common form, touch telepathy required physical contact. The most famous form of touch telepathy is the Vulcan Mind Meld. The mind meld is a bridge between thoughts, emotions, ideas, and sensations. The link can be established with both telepathic and non-telepathic races, and sometimes multiple individuals at a time (i.e. Vulcan "Briding of Minds" ritual). Other species (i.e. Letheans, Elsarians ) had evolved into touch telepaths. Touch telepathy had enhanced dangers, however. Melds between telepathic races were known to be risky ( Vulcans and Betazoids ). Various species (i.e. Letheans) could use touch telepathy as a way to cause cerebral trauma.

Strong Psychic Links

Most telepathic races could create strong telepathic bonds, both on a conscious and subconscious level. The Vulcan psychic bond is shared between bonded individuals; they could share thoughts, feelings, and images even with a non-telepathic mate. When Betazoids reach a deep, emotional connection, they can speak mentally with their beloved even if the other is non-telepathic. Something happened in that connection that altered the brain, both in the telepath and non-telepath so that, even if only subconsciously, a connection was there in a more permanent state than would be normal. Distance would mitigate, or even block the connection of these links. But it could operate over a longer distance than normal because of that familiarity connection. They knew what they are looking for in the sea of thoughts, rather than trying to sift through them normally to find a single voice.

Psychometry

A rare ability amongst some telepathic races (not Betazoids , Vulcans and others which have not shown this ability in Star Trek canon), psychometry allowed individuals to explore or even interact with past memories. Certain races (i.e. Ullians) had a natural affinity for it, however, and could even manipulate the memories of others. Psychometry rituals and therapy techniques are used to help heal psychic traumas.

Psychoprojectivity

A much rarer form, psychoprojectivity had two distinct forms: mental and physical. Physical psychoprojectivity allowed races (i.e. Aenar, Halanans) to manifest solid objects and even individuals (much like a hologram) into the real world. Mental psychoprojectivity, depending on training, allowed certain races (i.e. Botha, Reman ) to create elaborate mental hallucinations within an individual’s mind.

Psychic Resistance

Some species (i.e. Ferengi , Breen , Câroon ) naturally evolved to resist the many forms of psionic senses.

Psionic Rating

Telepaths can read thoughts, empaths can read emotions. The only exceptions are when reading the minds of species with four lobed brains, most notably, the Ferengi , or when a Câroon 's energy body act as a kind of jamming field. The ability of a telepath or empath can be easily referenced using the following table:

List of Psionic Ratings for Psionic & Non-Readable Species

When writing the reference, include a T before the number for a Telepath (T3), an E for an Empath (E5) or P for Psionic, meaning both T and E (P4). Use DM , CWM and NR for readability rating. For instance, Ferengi would be listed as P0 NR because they possess no psionic abilities (P0) and are non-readable (NR) due to their four-lobed brains.

Psionic Ratings for Unique Characters

Using the same rating system as above, here are characters in Star Trek: Theurgy with unique ratings due to different reasons, making them stand out from the norm of their species. They could also be hybrids of different species, which might give them a unique psionic rating.

Disclaimer Notice

Some info, like the original layout of the rating system, is used with permission of USS Wolff CO - granted Nov 1, 2016 Rules inspired by The Basic Rules of Telepathy & Empathy by Fleet Captain Hollis and Fleet Admiral Wolf at Starbase 118

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Star trek’s 3 efrosians in movies & discovery explained.

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A Classic Star Trek Movie Alien Returns In Discovery Season 5 Episode 8

Star trek's new warp drive makes all others look pathetic (in any era), star trek's new warp drive breaks the prime directive in a way no-one expected.

• Efrosians in Star Trek were originally seen in movies, but a new named character is introduced in Discovery season 5.
• The design of Efrosians was created by artist Thomas Blackshear and translated into prosthetics by makeup artist Brian Wade.
• The Efrosians have limited appearances on screen, with only 3 Efrosians appearing in Star Trek, including the Federation President.

The Efrosians in Star Trek appear twice, and only briefly, in the Star Trek movies , before a named Efrosian character debuts in Star Trek: Discovery season 5. The Efrosians are a Star Trek alien species characterized by long, flowing white or platinum blonde hair, piercing light eyes, and V-shaped cranial ridges. The first two appearances of Efrosians imply that every member of the species may be blind, but without a larger sample size, it's hard to tell if that's a universal trait among all Efrosians, or simply coincidence. It's possible -- and far more likely -- that Efrosian sight simply differs from that of other sentient species in Star Trek .

Several people had a hand in the creation of the Efrosians in Star Trek . The name "Efrosian" comes from Star Trek IV unit production manager Mel Efros , who anecdotally wasn't aware that bus punk and associate producer Kirk Thatcher had decided to honor Efros as the namesake of a new alien species. Artist Thomas Blackshear, whose work appears on the Star Trek collectors' plates in the Hamilton Collection, sketched the initial design for the Efrosians, which was translated into facial prosthetics by makeup artist Brian Wade. Later Efrosian characters appear in Star Trek novels, but only 3 Efrosians canonically appear on-screen in Star Trek .

Star Trek: Discovery season 5 introduces Hy'Rell, a new character who is from the same alien species seen in the movies Star Trek IV and Star Trek VI.

USS Saratoga’s Helmsman In Star Trek IV Is Efrosian

Nick ramus' efrosian starfleet officer encounters the whale probe.

The unnamed helmsman of the USS Saratoga in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, played by Nick Ramus, is the first Efrosian to appear in Star Trek . Star Trek IV opens with the USS Saratoga's encounter with the alien probe that will later prompt the USS Enterprise's journey back through time. The Saratoga crew consists of unnamed characters, from the uncredited human navigator to Madge Sinclair's captain, who also happens to be the first female captain in Star Trek . Everyone attempts to determine the nature of the alien vessel, and the Saratoga's helmsman contributes by establishing communication with Starfleet Command, in addition to operating the helm controls.

In the absence of official Star Trek material referring to the Saratoga helm officer as an Efrosian, the novelization of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home called Ramus' character a Deltan. Later Star Trek novels rectified the error by naming the Efrosian planet of origin Efros Delta.

The design of Ramus' nameless Efrosian stands out among the Saratoga's primarily human bridge crew. Light from the consoles reflects off the Efrosian's white hair in the dim lighting of the bridge. His eyes are also completely white, and seem to shine in the darkness. The helmsman of the Saratoga is clearly a new Star Trek alien, but the name of the helm officer's species is never stated as Efrosian in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home , and only appears in the captions of publicity photos. For a while, it seems as though Nick Ramus' Efrosian character may be a one-off alien design, never to be seen again in Star Trek .

The Federation President In Star Trek VI Is Efrosian

Kurtwood smith's efrosian president attends the khitomer conference.

Star Trek 's next Efrosian character is the Federation President in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country , the first of 4 Star Trek characters played by Kurtwood Smith . The Efrosian Federation President is responsible for initiating peace talks with Klingon Chancellor Gorkon (David Warner), and releasing Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and Dr. Leonard McCoy (DeForest Kelley) to the Klingons after Kirk and McCoy are framed for Gorkon's assassination. The Efrosian Federation President represents the United Federation of Planets at the Khitomer Conference during the negotiations between the Federation and the Klingon Empire, and narrowly avoids his own assassination, thanks to the crews of the USS Enterprise-A and the USS Excelsior.

Kurtwood Smith also appears in Star Trek: Voyager season 4, episodes 8 & 9 "Year of Hell", as Annorax, leader of the Krenim Imperium; in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 5, episode 3 "Things Past" as Cardassian security officer Thrax; and in Star Trek: Lower Decks season 1, episode 8 "Veritas" as Imperium Magistrate Clar.

Kurtwood Smith's Efrosian Federation President in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country is never named, just like Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home 's Efrosian on the USS Saratoga , but anonymity isn't all the two Efrosians in the Star Trek movies have in common. After being created for Nick Ramus' helmsman in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home , the same Efrosian makeup appliances were reused for Kurtwood Smith to play the Federation President in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country . The Federation President has bright blue eyes, however, instead of the pure white lenses that were used for the USS Saratoga helmsman.

Archivist Hy’Rell In Star Trek: Discovery Is Efrosian

Elena juatco plays hy'rell, librarian of the eternal gallery and archive.

The most recent addition to the list of Efrosians in Star Trek, Hy'Rell (Elena Juatco) represents the constantly moving Eternal Gallery and Archive and appears in Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 8 , "Labyrinths". Because of its current location in the Badlands, the Archive doesn't get many visitors, so Hy'Rell is eager to introduce the Archive with a bubbly prepared speech and excited to help Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) find the next clue to the Progenitors' technology. Archive librarians aren't supposed to take sides, but Hy'Rell is sympathetic to the plight of the USS Discovery crew and assists in evading the Breen.

Star Trek: Discovery 's Hy'Rell is the first Efrosian with a name and female identity, in addition to being the first Efrosian on a Star Trek television show after their origin in the Star Trek films. Curiously, Hy'Rell doesn't seem to exhibit the limited eyesight of the 23rd century Efrosians, but retains the bright blue eyes that originated in the President's design. The relative rarity of Efrosians in Star Trek means there's not much information about Efrosian culture or people as a whole, so hopefully, Star Trek: Discovery 's Hy'Rell won't also be the last Efrosian in Star Trek .

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country are available to stream on Max.

Star Trek: Discovery is streaming on Paramount+.

Star Trek: Discovery

Did Captain Kirk Really Meet God In Star Trek V: The Final Frontier?

In Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, Captain Kirk and the USS Enterprise crew go on a mission to meet God, but do they actually succeed in their task?

• William Shatner directed The Final Frontier due to contract clause and Jerry Goldsmith returned to score.
• Spock kills "God," which was a controversial plot point and seen as a low point for Star Trek movies.
• Kirk, Spock, and McCoy didn't actually meet "God" on Sha Ka Ree, per Roddenberry's vision.

There are three notable things about Star Trek V: The Final Frontier , the fifth movie starring the cast from Star Trek: The Original Series . The first is that James T. Kirk actor, William Shatner, directed the feature as part of his "favored nations" clause in his contract. The second is that legendary composer Jerry Goldsmith returned to score the film for the first time since Star Trek: The Motion Picture . The third is that Spock kills "God." Yet, in The Final Frontier , does Kirk and company actually meet the real God on the planet Sha Ka Ree?

Of course, there is a lot that is polarizing about Star Trek V , as it's seen as a low point in the storied film franchise. Yet, even with the appreciation of Marvel Studios' CEO Kevin Feige, it's called Star Trek 's worst movie . There are many reasons for this, however, as Shatner's direction is not entirely to blame. There was also a more controversial message in the film than the previous entry's "don't murder whales." Still, the film has its charms, which stand out much more clearly when audiences realize that Kirk, Spock and Doctor McCoy didn't actually meet "God" on Sha Ka Ree.

The Star Trek Crew Always Had a Date With God

Star trek's worst movie was its best story about kirk, mccoy and spock.

Visionary Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry always wanted his crew to meet God . There are signs of this throughout the previous iterations of Star Trek , from The Original Series to the pilot of Star Trek: The Next Generation . Roddenberry had a vision of a united world that put war, poverty and religious extremism behind them and looked to the stars . He was an atheist, and an allegory he wanted to put in Star Trek was that the concept of gods came from simple human misunderstanding of scientific concepts. Sure, some of those concepts were things like "Where does the sun go at night." Yet, as his friend Arthur C. Clarke posited: "Any significantly advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

In the Star Trek: The Original Series episode "Who Mourns for Adonais," the USS Enterprise is stopped by a powerful alien claiming to be the god Apollo. In the episode, he tells the crew the other aliens who inspired the Greek Gods moved on to a higher plane. Yet, he waited for humans to find him and start worshipping him again. In Star Trek: The Animated Series , two episodes dealt with this. In "The Magicks of Megas-Tu," a proposed story about meeting God became a story about the Enterprise meeting the alien who was the source of the Devil myths, and Kirk defended him. The Emmy-winning Star Trek: TAS episode , "Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth" introduced K'ul'ulkan as an alien being also encountered by the Enterprise.

This continued into the feature film era. The story Roddenberry most wanted to tell on the big screen was put into script form with the working title The God Thing . Another lost Star Trek movie called Planet of the Titans had nothing to do with Roddenberry, but would've sent Kirk and the crew back in time where they became the basis for the Greek Gods on Mount Olympus. There are many attempts to use the Star Trek characters to make the argument that humanity's myths about gods could've simply been born from extraterrestrial contact from before society had the vocabulary for such things .

William Shatner Never Intended for Kirk to Meet the 'Real' God In Star Trek V

William shatner is wrong about his regret for kirk's death scene.

Ironically, Gene Roddenberry hated The Final Frontier when it was set to be released. In the book The Fifty-Year Mission - The First 25 Years by Edward Gross and Mark A Altman, many speculate he didn't like the idea of the story being told without him writing the script. The other problem he had with the film was Sybok. Not because he was Spock's secret brother, but rather because Sybok's "Share your pain" gimmick won over the members of the crew like Sulu, Uhura, Chekov and even Doctor McCoy. Yet, it's that very detail that proves the God of Sha Ka Ree was not the actual God . He likely never even made it to Earth.

The story itself was inspired by the 1980s televangelists who used hokey gimmicks and tricks to con people out of their money. Sybok, however, wasn't that cynical. He believed he had been in communication with God. His ability to win over people to his side by asking them to share their pain, was likely because of his Vulcan telepathic abilities combined with his full embrace of emotion. Perhaps because this being was powerful and in pain, it reached Sybok and enticed him to capture a starship to push past the barrier around the planet, so it could be freed. If this being was the source of any of Earth's mythology, it was likely the Old Testament-style God, full of wrath, destruction and a need to be praised.

Audiences can think whatever they'd like about The Final Frontier , but Kirk asking "Excuse me? What does God need with a starship?" is one of the most memorable Star Trek lines of all time. The being on Sha Ka Ree was clearly imprisoned there for some kind of galactic crime. Perhaps an advanced civilization trapped him there to protect developing worlds, or perhaps this being was incarcerated by his equally powerful kin. Similar to Apollo (who chose to stay) and the beings from "Who Mourns for Adonais?", it seems like the God of Sha Ka Ree was being punished. Either way, it was seemingly destroyed by a few choice shots from a Klingon Bird of Prey, making him a sorry example of even alien divinity .

What Species Was The Final Frontier's God, Anyway?

One of the most underrated star trek films is far better than fans remember.

There is no shortage of god-like aliens in the Star Trek universe. In fact, the last time Roddenberry tried to tell his version of the God story came in The Next Generation's pilot. It's very possible that the God of Sha Ka Ree was a "Q." Introduced in "Encounter at Farpoint," Q was a member of the Q Continuum, whose members all went by that single-letter name. It's also believed that Trelane, the reality-bending being from The Original Series episode "The Squire of Gothos." Like Q in the second-wave series, he was jovial, a little silly and prone to fits of anger.

Of course, the God of Sha Ka Ree doesn't have to be a member of the Q Continuum, as there are other options. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine introduced the Bajoran Prophets as fourth-dimensional beings who had the power to send visions and see all of time and space. Yet, they didn't seem to express the ability to interact with "linear" types as well. There are other powerful alien species in Star Trek who could. In The Original Series alone, beyond Apollo and Trelane, there were the Metrons and Organians, who were both noncorporeal lifeforms that could alter reality.

The reverse has also happened, most notably in The Next Generation 's episode "Who Watches the Watchers." Captain Picard is viewed as a god when a surreptitious survey mission on a pre-warp planet is discovered by the locals. While there is no definitive answer to what species the God of Sha Ka Ree actually was, there is plenty of evidence in the universe to make it clear he wasn't the actual Divine Creator of the universe . Yet, it's Star Trek: Discovery that's getting the closest to actually "finding God."

Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Is Bringing Humanity's Creator Closer Than Ever

Star trek's william shatner pokes fun at star wars on may the fourth.

In TNG's Season 6 episode "The Chase," the writers introduced a massive canon reveal that was meant to address a nitpicky fan complaint. Since Star Trek is all about "infinite diversity in infinite combinations," fans wondered why so many aliens had a head, two arms and two legs. The real answer, of course, is that humans had to play them. Yet, TNG revealed a species of aliens from 4.5 billion years ago seeded planets across the Milky Way to create humanoid life after traveling the galaxy and finding they were alone . This revelation was buried by Starfleet, but Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 picked up the story.

Throughout the season, the USS Discovery is assembling clues left by a group of 24th Century scientists who found more evidence of the Progenitors and their technology. Because Starfleet was at war with the Dominion, they hid this discovery until a time when the galaxy was at peace. If the USS Discovery finds this technology, that will be the closest Star Trek has gotten to actually unveiling the true creator of humanity . As Roddenberry always intended, it wasn't some omniscient, supernatural being, but rather an advanced race of "people" who had technology indistinguishable from magic.

Star Trek: Discovery debuts new episodes Thursdays on Paramount+, where the rest of the series in the universe are streaming. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier is streaming with the rest of the films on Max .

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

Captain Kirk and his crew must deal with Mr. Spock's long-lost half-brother who hijacks the Enterprise for an obsessive search for God at the center of the galaxy.

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Published May 22, 2024

A Guide to Star Trek's Essential Libraries and Archives

The Eternal Gallery and Archive is not the only collection dedicated to the preservation of galactic knowledge.

This article contains story details and plot points for Star Trek: Discovery's "Labyrinths."

StarTrek.com

Housing the largest known collection of historical and cultural artifacts in the Alpha or Beta Quadrant, the Eternal Gallery and Archive was devoted to the preservation of galactic knowledge. Whether ensuring that lost civilizations were never forgotten or storing obscure texts like Labyrinths of the Mind , the Archive acted as a neutral site where all species were welcome — as long as they obeyed the rules, of course.

"Labyrinths"

While Star Trek: Discovery 's " Labyrinths " showcased the Archive as the preeminent repository in local space, other Star Trek facilities have played a pivotal role in safeguarding an array of priceless antiques and information.

Flint's Gallery in the Omega System

"Requiem for Methuselah"

We'll begin with the ornate collection owned by Flint, a 6,000-year-old being from Earth who eventually retired to Holberg 917G in the Omega system.

In Star Trek 's " Requiem for Methuselah ," Captain Kirk learned that Flint's immortality afforded him the opportunity to take on numerous names over the centuries, including Leonardo da Vinci, Johannes Brahms, Merlin, and over a hundred others. His travels brought him into contact with the likes of Galileo, Socrates, and Moses, allowing him to amass his collection of rare books and artwork.

From Shakespeare's First Folio and a Gutenberg Bible to art by Sten of Marcus II and lithographs from Taranullus of Centauri VII, his own talents provided him with new additions for his gallery, as he continued to paint Leonardo da Vinci masterpieces and compose Brahm waltzes.

The Kelvin Memorial Archive in the Kelvin Timeline

Star Trek Into Darkness

Starfleet honored the U.S.S. Kelvin crew members who were lost during Nero's initial incursion by naming its London-based data archive the Kelvin Memorial Archive. James T. Kirk referred to the building as a library in Star Trek Into Darkness , but a bombing orchestrated by John Harrison — an alias used by Khan Noonien Singh — exposed the archive's true purpose.

While the structure contained an abundance of publicly-available information, its cavernous lower level was dedicated to Section 31, a top-secret branch of Starfleet. Concerned that a war with the Klingons was inevitable, Section 31 was using the archive to develop defense technology and train its officers to gather intelligence on potential enemies of the Federation. Overseen by Admiral Marcus, the creation of specialized long-range photon torpedoes represented one of the facility's many innovations.  

Kivas Fajo's Collection on the Jovis

"The Most Toys"

Much like Flint, the Zibalian trader Kivas Fajo gathered a unique collection of priceless artifacts to display in a room aboard his vessel, the Jovis , in Star Trek: The Next Generation 's " The Most Toys ."

However, Fajo proved willing to acquire these pieces in a variety of nefarious ways, such as kidnapping Data and forcing the android to become a centerpiece in his personal museum. A vase by Mark Off-Zel of Sirrie IV, a Salvador Dali painting, a 1962 Roger Maris trading card, and the last surviving lapling were also held captive in his menagerie. Fajo prized original and one-of-a-kind items, finding his thrills by bragging about his valuable finds to his friends and fellow collectors. Sadly, Fajo's violent interests also led him to obtain four Varon-T disruptors, a gruesome weapon that delivered a painful death and had been banned by the Federation. 

The Probe from Kataan

"The Inner Light"

Our next entry is a little unorthodox, as this repository of knowledge did not possess any halls to roam or galleries to enjoy.

The Next Generation ’s " The Inner Light " introduced us to an enigmatic probe from Kataan. The object projected an unusual particle stream toward the U.S.S. Enterprise -D which incapacitated Captain Picard and permitted him to experience the life of a person from that long dead planet in a matter of minutes. Although Kataan had been destroyed when its star went supernova approximately 1,000 years earlier, Picard embodied the existence of a man named Kamin for what felt like decades to him. The probe even carried Kamin's beloved Ressikan flute within it. Preserving Kamin's perspective on Kataan's final days kept the planet's legacy alive and left an unforgettable impression on the captain.

The Starfleet Archives on Earth

"Remembrance"

Star Trek: Picard 's first season debuted with " Remembrance ," an installment which found Jean-Luc Picard heading to San Francisco in order to visit the Starfleet Museum.

The Starfleet Archives resided in the building, where the quantum archive supplied the Federation to lock key relics in stasis. Picard maintained his own personal room within the archive, and his collection was overseen by an interactive holographic assistant. A wealth of items from the retired admiral's career — a Klingon bat’leth , a model of the U.S.S. Stargazer , and his famed Captain Picard Day sign — were stowed here, but Picard made the trip so that he could visit Daughter , an oil on canvas painting created by Commander Data in 2369. This excursion convinced the admiral that Dahj Asha was indeed Data's daughter.

The Fleet Museum at Athan Prime

"The Bounty"

While many people collect paintings and sculptures, there are others who prefer that their art is powered by a warp core.

Situated above Athan Prime, the Federation's Fleet Museum turned the old Earth Spacedock into a respected resting place for every legendary starship that survived to retire from active service. First seen in Picard 's “ The Bounty ,” the Fleet Museum provided berths for the likes of the U.S.S. Defiant , U.S.S. Voyager , a Klingon Bird-of-Prey captured by Admiral Kirk, and multiple starships bearing the name Enterprise .

In " Vōx ," Commodore La Forge revealed that he had even used the facility to rebuild and restore the U.S.S. Enterprise -D to its former glory, an enlightened endeavor which contributed to the Federation's victory over the Borg Queen.

An Archive from the D'Arsay System

"Masks"

As if the probe from Kataan was not strange enough, the U.S.S. Enterprise -D located an 87 million-year-old comet originating from the D’Arsay system in The Next Generation 's " Masks ."

An artificial object was buried within, and the device downloaded information into the ship's computer core. Believing it to be an archive from an ancient civilization, the crew watched as the library used the Enterprise 's replicators to manifest artifacts throughout the vessel. The archive connected with Data, subjugating the android to thousands of personalities. The transformation intensified when the object began to turn parts of the ship into swamps, aqueducts, living plants, and other elements from D’Arsay culture. The crew managed to avert a disaster and restore the Enterprise to its previous configuration, but Captain Picard concluded that Data had actually been given a gift in the form of being an entire civilization.

Mister Atoz's Library on Sarpeidon

"All Our Yesterdays"

With its star set to go nova within hours, the planet Sarpeidon conducted a very unique evacuation for its entire population in Star Trek 's " All Our Yesterdays ."

A local librarian named Mister Atoz, as well as his replicas, operated an advanced library consisting of more than 20,000 tapes. Employing a device called the Atavachron, Atoz was capable of sending his fellow citizens to safety at any point in the planet’s history… so long as the Atavachron had prepared those who entered the portal by altering their cell structure and brain patterns to make life natural in Sarpeidon's past.

In a sense, the extensive library did not simply collect a comprehensive archive of the planet's history, it also allowed Sarpeidon's population to live on even after its star went nova.

Daystrom Station

From experimental weapons to contraband from non-Federation species, Daystrom Station concealed Starfleet's most off-the-books tech from the public. During the Dominion War, Vadic and other Changeling prisoners were imprisoned at Daystrom and subjected to invasive scientific procedures. After escaping, Vadic acquired a devastating portal device from the station.

In Picard 's "The Bounty," Admiral Picard and his crew organized a break-in at Daystrom to obtain a manifest from its primary vault, an area protected by a lethal artificial intelligence. A team led by Captain Riker boarded the station and passed a host of Section 31's prized possessions, including the Genesis II Device, James T. Kirk's remains, and a genetically-modified Tribble. However, their greatest find was surely the latest Soong-type android , a highly-advanced hybrid synth which contained elements of Lal, B-4, Lore, and Data.

Memory Alpha

"The Lights of Zetar"

The Memory Alpha planetoid depicted in Star Trek 's "The Lights of Zetar" shared many objectives with the Eternal Gallery and Archive, as the Federation set the structure up as a central library to store the total cultural history and scientific knowledge of every Federation member. The library complex lacked shields, as such defenses were considered inappropriate to its academic purpose. Memory Alpha's information was intended to be made available to everyone, so a protective system did not seem necessary.

Unfortunately, a community of interstellar lifeforms wrought havoc upon the facility, burning out its memory core and killing the various scholars, researchers, and scientists who were present at the time. As it turned out, the beings were the noncorporeal remnants of the Zetar civilization whose life forces refused to accept their own deaths.

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Jay Stobie (he/him) is a freelance writer, author, and consultant who has contributed articles to StarTrek.com, Star Trek Explorer, and Star Trek Magazine, as well as to Star Wars Insider and StarWars.com. Learn more about Jay by visiting JayStobie.com or finding him on Twitter, Instagram, and other social media platforms at @StobiesGalaxy.

Star Trek: Discovery Seasons 1-4 are streaming exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S., the UK, Canada, Switzerland, South Korea, Latin America, Germany, France, Italy, Australia and Austria. Seasons 2 and 3 also are available on the Pluto TV “Star Trek” channel in Switzerland, Germany and Austria. The series streams on Super Drama in Japan, TVNZ in New Zealand, and SkyShowtime in Spain, Portugal, Poland, The Nordics, The Netherlands, and Central and Eastern Europe and also airs on Cosmote TV in Greece. The series is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.

In addition to streaming on Paramount+ , Star Trek: Picard also streams on Prime Video outside of the U.S. and Canada, and in Canada can be seen on Bell Media's CTV Sci-Fi Channel and streams on Crave. Star Trek: Picard is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.

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Interview: ‘Discovery’ Writer Eric J. Robbins On Efrosians And More Star Trek Connections In “Labyrinths”

| May 19, 2024 | By: Anthony Pascale 18 comments so far

The eighth episode (“ Labyrinths “) of season 5 of Star Trek: Discovery  was co-written by Eric J. Robbins who also happens to be a lifelong Trek fan. TrekMovie had a spoilery chat with the writer about how he worked with co-writer Lauren Wilkinson to mix Burnham’s emotional mindscape journey with the sci-fi action happening around the Eternal Archive.

Would it be fair to say you are the biggest fan in the writer’s room?

I don’t know, there are lots of fans who worked on the show. And I think we all come in from different directions. Like Carlos Cisco, who you talked to about episode 5, he is a more recent convert. He was big into Dungeons & Dragons and any major intense lore-building world, so for him it was important to understand what’s going on. But on the flip side of that, you have people like myself, or Kirsten Beyer, who is a producer on all these shows. We are people who grew up with Star Trek and loved it for a long time. What I really learned from working with a bunch of Star Trek fans is we can find an angle on anything and because this is the 916 th episode of Star Trek, there are contradictions throughout the franchise, but what is really exciting about working on Star Trek is you could have two big fans arguing completely opposite points, and they both have the canon to back them up. That’s a long-winded way of saying I’m a huge fan, but it’s hard to be competitive about it.

You co-wrote this episode with Lauren Wilkinson. How does coming at things from different perspectives factor into your collaboration, like do you end up doing all the nerdier stuff?

First up, Lauren is an incredible writer. She is fiercely intelligent and has such an intense emotional insight into the characters. And she’s a big Deep Space Nine fan which we bonded over immediately. So Lauren and I really wanted to figure out: what did we want to talk about? It’s important to me that the episodes are somewhat reflective of our real world. Like for my season 4 episode “All Is Possible” where Tilly and the cadets are stranded on the planet while Burnham helps Ni’Var negotiate reentering the Federation, all the negotiation stuff on that was me looking at Brexit and finding an angle on what happened to the Federation. Why was this union broken up and what animosity exists? For “Labyrinths” one thing we talked about – and Lauren is a black woman – this is a show led by a black woman and we never really had many opportunities to dramatize the pressures that women of color face in positions of power in the real world. So Lauren talked about the internal pressure that especially women of color feel when they feel that their performance in the moment can be used to deny people opportunity in the future. So, everything with Burnham was revealing that for this character who’s in massive overachiever, what drives her? And revealing that there’s like a hidden internal fear that’s never really been addressed. And obviously, it’s very abstracted from our real world. So the breakdown, Lauren took a lot of the mindscape concepts and really drilled down on that and Burnham’s emotional journey, while I was primarily focused on aliens and spaceships shooting at each other, because I can I can write that stuff in my sleep. And then we would swap our scenes and we would do passes on them, and that’s kind of the process.

This is another episode for this season that seems to be reflecting back on the series, especially season 1. I know both of you joined the series later, but did you look back to season 1 to write this episode?

Definitely, Burnham’s journey from season 1 was very much on our minds. What drives her? When people are that driven, yes, there is an ambition, but sometimes there’s a hidden insecurity or a flaw, which is what we really, really wanted to dig into. Because Burnham is always portrayed as larger than life. And every Starfleet captain kind of fits into that mold. But everyone does have a little of a hidden wound. Picard talks about the pressures of being in command and having to make decisions, and he denied himself a family. And the inverse of that is Benjamin Sisko who lost his wife and it was this big thing that shaped him. So we really wanted to dig into the things that shaped Michael and I personally felt there were unanswered and unexplored elements of Burnham’s choices from seasons 1 and 2 that I wanted to see more fleshed out.

David Ajala as Book and Sonequa Martin-Green as Burnham in “Labyrinths” (Marni Grossman /Paramount+)

Was there any discussion of who should be the Avatar? Perhaps bringing back some of those earlier characters, like maybe  Sarek? Or was it always Book?

We definitely went through several versions of what the Avatar was going to be. The initial very early pitch, Burnham touches the thing and it puts her in some sort of liminal space and Dr. Derex would show up, and we would have some guest star. The concept was while the battle rages outside, Dr. Derex was sitting at a coffee table with Burnham and saying, “You need to understand the scale and scope of what you are dealing with.” The problem with that is there wasn’t a lot of emotional realization, and the other issue was, how many scenes can you do have a character warning another character about technology that was going to be seen in a later episode? And then the third part was, is there something to be done with one of our actors? We had a lot of fun with Wilson Cruz being possessed by Jinaal in 503. At one point it was Tilly and we went back and forth on if it was Tilly or Book. At one point, we had a lot more characters showing up in the mindscape. The idea was the program was pulling from different parts of Burnham’s psyche. But in the end, Book was the best choice because David and Sonequa have wonderful chemistry, and their emotional arc through the season after the events of season 4 is: I love this person, but they did this thing that I’m having to reconcile and they’re having to rebuild a trust between them.

This episode evokes some Trek classics, especially “The Inner Light.” How much of bringing up older episodes is part of the discussion in the room?  

I feel like it is part of every episode that I worked on Discovery . It was always important for me to find reference episodes. There was a common joke during season four when we were working remotely and after we get back on Zoom after lunch I would be like, “I just watched this episode of Voyager !” So, yes, “Inner Light,” which I hesitate to say because, to me, it is arguably the best written episode of Star Trek : The Next Generation . That and “Family” in terms of emotional exploration of Jean-Luc Picard. “Tapestry” was also on my mind, having an opportunity to reflect on your life and the choices you’ve made. “Balance of Terror” as well, hiding and trying to suss out what your enemy was doing. There are also little inspirations in my episodes from the movies, so in this one trying to gauge shield frequencies and harmonic reference, that is me as a child watching Star Trek Generations in theaters and being like, “Just change the shield frequency!” as the Bird of Prey starts attacking the Enterprise. [laughs]

There was an even bigger movie reference with Hy’Rell…

Oh yeah, Star Trek VI , I love that movie. During the WGA strike last summer I had the opportunity to meet Nicholas Mayer. And I went up to him to talk about how much I loved The Undiscovered Country . And he was like, “Most people come at me with Wrath of Khan .” So yeah, I always loved the Efrosian, I thought he was such a cool design. I always forget there was another Efrosian in Star Trek IV , the helmsmen on the Saratoga. And when we were doing this episode I was like, what species do we want to see, but one that won’t be a production nightmare? I would love to do a Catian, but in live-action it could be expensive. So I went back to Efrosian and I thought we have only ever seen two of them, which is insane because one of them is the President. [laughs] So it was an opportunity to give one an actual name and also see one who has had a female presentation because the other two are very masculine presenting. So I sent the reference and the design team liked it and they thought they could do an updated version of the makeup.

I am sure some fans are going to come at me over the vision. In a deleted scene in Star Trek VI the President has a little eyepiece he uses and in Star Trek IV the Saratoga helmsman also has white contact lenses. So the deleted scene shows the President is blind and that may be a species characteristic. So do we lean into if they are blind or not? And I was like, it’s 800 years later than Geordi, who got his optical contacts, so maybe it has been addressed. I was just really excited to back to a species that has so little defined and add a new character to the mix, but being really cognizant of not defining them too much so writers and storytellers in the future have a real opportunity to dig into the Efrosians and say more about their culture.

Elena Juatco as Hy’Rell in “Labyrinths” (Marni Grossman /Paramount+)

A surprising reference comes from something much more recent when Reno made the joke about Hysperia, from Lower Decks . So are you guys on the lookout for ways you can connect to the new shows?

Sure. internally, we share a lot of material. On Discovery , we would assign certain writers to cover a show and then you get put into their script distribution. So, if we’re in contradiction with another show, we catch it. We are not just looking out for making sure we are not stepping on each other’s toes but also, for me, it’s really important to show a little love to the other series. I think that’s one thing that Star Trek has always done very well. I think it’s one thing the fans have always responded to. Now for the Hysperians, first, the original pass didn’t include Reno because we didn’t know we were going to have Tig [Notaro] and I was told very late Reno was going to be in my episode. So, we were talking about ideas and somebody wrote a rough version of a joke, “Oh I was repairing buoys out by Talaxia, and Talaxians really know how to party.” I was always very cognizant about not being the “canon cop,” but that’s where I was like, “Wait a minute, Talaxia is way deep in the Delta Quadrant, when did Jett Reno have an opportunity to do that?” We never saw Disco jump to the Delta Quadrant so maybe we should change that planet and that episode of Lower Decks just aired and I was like, “What about the Hysperians?” That episode is hysterical and if you put Jett Reno on a fantasy planet she would get up to some intense shenanigans. I just loved that mental image.

A big surprise for this episode is Moll killing the Primarch. Can you explain what motivates the Breen where she starts the episode as an unwelcome human and ends essentially in charge?

This episode, along with “Mirrors” and ”Erigah”, where we have privileged scenes in the Breen culture and see how they function. Going back to my love of Deep Space Nine , it breaks down the idea of species as monoliths, like they did with the Ferengi showing they weren’t simply greedy space capitalists. And also like how Cardassians started basically as space Nazis and by the end of it, you know, Damar especially, is so fleshed out and gives like real insight into their culture, how these people are formed and why they operate the way they do. So for this episode, to get to dig into the Breen was interesting and exciting because we’ve only really seen the Breen as like a very authoritarian wall. There’s a lot of abstraction and a lot of mystery with them. And having the opportunity to see that they’re not so homogenous internally. There are things important to them beyond just subjugating other species and being in control. For example, this whole aspect of ascension using L’ak and for Ruhn’s men it is really important that they honor him. And Ruhn is exploiting that. He doesn’t care. He’s all about political empowerment for himself. Getting to see that there are aspects of Breen culture that are still a little mysterious to us, but there’s like a reverence for them. The “Tergun” oath at the end is a good example of that. For Ruhn, it’s just words. He will say anything to get what he wants, but as you can see for those below him, that is not how they feel. It is a point of contention he goes back on his honor and how it reflects on them. But these are just glimmers into the Breen and there is still much more we don’t know and that is very exciting.

Eve Harlow as Moll in “Labyrinths” (Marni Grossman /Paramount+)

Looking to the future, you obviously have a passion for Trek, are you on the Academy show?

Not the moment. I would love to be a part if they would have me. I’m very excited to see what they’re working on over there. I know several people on that staff and they’re all very, very passionate fans. I’m especially excited to see what Starfleet Academy looks like because the first episode I ever wrote of television – let alone Star Trek – was the cadet episode in season 4. So I’m very excited to see the work we kind of planted there and like what it’s blossomed into. I would love to come back to the franchise in any capacity. I love it all, be it the 23 rd , 24 th , 25 th , or 32 nd century. But this is the end of my Star Trek journey, at the moment.

Eric J. Robbins on the WGA picket line with his Star Trek sign in 2023 (Instagram/Eric J. Robbins)

The fifth and final season of Discovery debuted with two episodes on Thursday, April 4 exclusively on Paramount+  in the U.S., the UK, Switzerland, South Korea, Latin America, Germany, France, Italy, Australia, and Austria.  Discovery also premiered on April 4 on Paramount+ in Canada and will be broadcast on Bell Media’s CTV Sci-Fi Channel in Canada. The rest of the 10-episode final season is available to stream weekly on Thursdays. Season 5 debuted on SkyShowtime in select European countries on April 5.

Note: The interview has  been edited for brevity and clarity.  

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I don’t think an episode should be written to reflect a current event in history. First and foremost, it should be a good story. If this fits with a polarizing question in contemporary history, you can put the episode at the service of the general public and use it to enrich the discussion.

On the other hand, I think it’s good if you can look at a complete series and feel the time in which it was created. Overall, I would like to see fewer characters like Reno, who can do everything and then suddenly come with some exotic ability, or tools like Picard, who can do everything in order to ultimately minimize the narrative effort. Rather, the skills of the crew and the ship should be clear from the start and how they use them to solve unknown situations should be convincing.

And finally, Star Trek should stop wanting too much and start series with a solid social message in mind. TNG Picard changed my life because he always believed in the good and an alternative and chose what was morally right. And a Data, an android who wanted to become more human, showed where logic begins and must end. That shaped my character. But something like this cannot be created on the drawing board. This requires the right people, the right stories and the right freedom.

I agree first and foremost the story has to be good. But I don’t think reflecting on events in history or even current events is necessarily a bad thing. Heck, that was pretty much the mission statement of TOS if you think about it. The problem IMHO is when they get lazy with it. For example, Nazi stories. Like, enough already.

Roddenberry’s raison d’être was to reflect the issues of the time and he fought censors to make sure Star Trek was not neutered. I don’t know if he ever reflected on ways he might have failed. However, the way a single story format works, metaphors are a lot easier to translate in your mind – and then you move on with your life.

The challenge for the writers now is to figure out great stories in a universe trying to be too consistent, with consequences generally never seen. The stories cannot play out in your mind the same way.

Like, for example, the Vulcan criminal in Picard season 3 was a brilliant move, and that kind of diversity is truly IDIC.

When I read the synopsis of this ep in Anthony P’s review a few days ago, it confirmed my decision not to watch Discovery this season. What a mess. Can’t we get back to straight-forward and creative storytelling? Putting the characters in the service of the story rather than the story in service of the characters?

If you haven’t watched it, your criticisms are not really based on much. What an absurd waste of time to comment on something you’ve not seen. Silly. And to give advice to TV writers… when you just write in the comments on a site.. about things to haven’t even watched. Sad.

You haven’t seen it and are thus not informed enough to call it a mess, or to proclaim the storytelling non-creative, or to say the characters are in service of the story. If you’d seen it, then fine, those would be valid criticisms. But you’re speaking from a place of ignorance. All anyone has to do to debate you is say “You’ve not watched it.”

Straight up: this season is not a mess.

If you’re not watching the show, this is just trolling. Closed.

The main thing this episode did was remind me of why I thought the first two seasons were so much better.

Exactly right! Before Michelle Paradise destroyed the show

Lauren is a black woman – this is a show led by a black woman and we never really had many opportunities to dramatize the pressures that women of color face in positions of power in the real world.

This tells me exactly why the writing on this show is so bad, wow

So you would like to see shows without black women? Got it.

That is not at all what he said or implied.

But, should that be an issue 1167 years from now?

Showing it’s not an issue in the future is, I’d argue, as powerful as exploring problems now. Heck, it certainly was when Roddenberry did it back in the 60s.

I’m sorry, what? Are you saying you don’t think it’s appropriate for Trek to explore issues related to pressures faced by historically disadvantaged groups or coming to terms with your identity? What was Voyager “Lineage” or DS9 “Far Beyond the Stars” about then? Frankly DS9 was wall to wall with issues of race, justice, and the internal psychology of colonization and racism. Further, you even have some of these issues explored with Data, not only in “Measure of a Man,” but also directly in Data’s command in “Redemption.”

This was one of my favorite episodes of the entire series. It pays off so much of what makes the Burnham character exceptional. The dialogue and the pacing were also pitch-perfect. I’ve been a fan of Discovery from the jump (as it were), but sometimes the dialogue can get a little choppy. This season, and this episode in particular, shows that they’ve finally ironed that out, just in time for the show to wrap…

Have to admit I’m turning into a big fan of Eric because of this season. I’m sure it has much to do with the fact that he is a fan and obviously knows this universe incredibly well. He also know how to set the right tone and how to write these characters voices so they sound right. Star Trek is such a delicate thing to get right because it has such a unique language and a dense culture, fans often take it for granted until they feel something is missing. For the first time we aren’t missing that something and I’m loving it! Huge respect for Eric! And a big thank you!

This 'Star Trek Discovery' Character Is a Deep-Cut 'DS9' Reference

• Callum Keith Rennie joins Star Trek: Discovery as Kellerun Captain Rayner, revealing the obscure species from Deep Space Nine .
• Rayner's Kellerun backstory is crucial to Rayner's characterization and mission, with the showrunner promising a focus on his personal history.
• Discovery continues the tradition of exploring one-off alien races with new characters, adding depth and diversity to the final season.

Veteran actor Callum Keith Rennie will join the cast of the final season of Star Trek: Discovery as the alien Captain Rayner, and now we know what species he is. Fans have speculated that Rayner's pointed ears mark him as a Vulcan or a Romulan, but a new interview reveals that he is a member of the Kellerun, an obscure species from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine . TrekCore.com has the details from SFX Magazine's feature on Discovery 's upcoming fifth season , which will premiere on Paramount+ early next month.

Rayner's species will apparently be important to his characterization and the mysterious mission he joins the USS Discovery crew for, as they race against time in the show's final bow. Says showrunner Michelle Paradise , "He’s Kellerun, which is a minor planet mentioned in one of the other iterations… we learn more about his personal backstory and how that plays into who he is, and why he is how he is. We learn about that as the season goes on, and the planet he’s from has a lot to do with that." It won't be the first time an important character on Discovery comes from a one-off alien race; Commander Nhan ( Rachael Ancheril ), who debuted in the series' second season, is a Barzan, a race that had up to that point only appeared in the third-season Next Generation episode "The Price".

Who Are the Kellerun?

The Kellerun made their first and (so far) only appearance in "Armageddon Game", which first aired in 1994 as part of Deep Space Nine 's second season. A species with distinctive large, pointed ears, they had been at war for centuries with their neighbors, the T'Lani, in a conflict that utilized the Harvesters, deadly biological weapons. After the two races made peace with each other, Starfleet sent in Deep Space Nine crew members Dr. Julian Bashir ( Alexander Siddig ) and Miles O'Brien ( Colm Meany ) to help dismantle the remaining Harvesters. However, the Kellerun and T'Lani insist that all knowledge pertaining to the Harvesters must be destroyed - which means killing Bashir and O'Brien, too. The two have to make a desperate race for survival as their friends try to save them from the two alien species.

Although the Kellerun did not appear on the series again, the episode established Bashir and O'Brien's friendship, which endured for the rest of the show's run. Canadian actor Callum Keith Rennie is a veteran of science fiction productions, having starred in Battlestar Galactica , Impulse , The X-Files , Jessica Jones , and The Umbrella Academy . Discovery will be his first Star Trek appearance.

Star Trek: Discovery 's fifth and final season will premiere April 4, 2024 on Paramount+ , wehere past seasons are also streaming. Stay tuned to Collider for future updates, and watch the trailer for Discovery 's fifth season below.

Star Trek: Discovery

Taking place almost a decade before Captain Kirk's Enterprise, the USS Discovery charts a course to uncover new worlds and life forms.

Release Date September 24, 2017

Cast Oyin Oladejo, Emily Coutts, Anthony Rapp, Sonequa Martin-Green, Doug Jones, Mary Wiseman

Main Genre Sci-Fi

Genres Drama, Sci-Fi, Action, Adventure

Rating TV-14

Watch on Paramount+

• View history

The Ullians were a telepathic humanoid species native to the Ullian homeworld . ( TNG : " Violations ")

• 2 Anatomy and physiology
• 4.2 Unnamed
• 5.1 Background information
• 5.2 Apocrypha
• 5.3 External link

History [ ]

Before the 21st century , the Ullians were a violent people. Telepathic memory invasion was a common occurrence . By the end of the 21st century, they had become peaceful, and instances of memory invasion were virtually eliminated, although some members of the Ullian society still practiced that form of rape .

By 2368 , the Ullians had embarked upon an ambitious plan to construct a library of memories from species across the Federation and beyond. Several Ullians, including Tarmin and Jev , were trained in telepathic memory retrieval and used the ability to reconstruct and collect memories. It was hoped the memory library would be not unlike an repository of oral histories . One group of Ullians visited eleven planets in eight star systems including Melina II , Nel III , and Hurada III . Kaldra IV was also a planned stop. Before the Ullian delegation arrived at Kaldra IV, Jev was found guilty of committing telepathic memory invasion against several members of the USS Enterprise -D crew , bringing a temporary interruption to the research. ( TNG : " Violations ")

Anatomy and physiology [ ]

The Ullians were physically similar to Humans . The sides of their skulls had a pronounced hairless bulge.

These species of telepaths was unique from other telepathic species in the sense that they took a vested interest in learning the memories of other species, with the power to enhance and recover lost memories.

Ullians were capable of telepathically reading most humanoid species, although other telepathic species such as the Betazoids had difficulty in reading Ullian minds. ( TNG : " Violations ")

Culture [ ]

For the most part, the Ullians were gentle, honest, and friendly people. They had a great passion for their work, but did not wish to coerce other species into participating if they were not willing.

Unnamed [ ]

• See : Unnamed Ullians

Appendices [ ]

Background information [ ].

According to the script Ullian was pronounced "YEW-lee-n". On one viewscreen, the species name was spelled as "Ulian".

Their physical appearance was not described in the script notes. Keeping that in mind, as according to Michael Westmore :

As I started thinking about ideas for the Ullians, the race of telepathic humanoids introduced in "Violations," I wanted to do something a little different with them. Instead of creating some sort of forehead appliance, I decided to work with the temporal area at the side of the head. The makeup we created looks like a pattern of suction cups, which were bigger for the men and slightly smaller for the woman. We also added more lines and wrinkles for the older characters, suggesting that the temporal patterns change as they get older. Once the appliances had been glued to the side of the head, we took hair and laid it over the upper edge of the pieces, so it looked as though the pattern was a normal part of the skin, and their hair would naturally grow over it. I thought it was a very subtle makeup that worked very effectively without drawing too much attention to itself. ( Star Trek: The Next Generation Makeup FX Journal , p. 88)

The internal reference document, listing all the aliens seen in Star Trek: The Next Generation up through TNG Season 5 , described the Ullians as a "humanoid race, distinguished in appearance by lightly upswept eyebrows and a rough-textured membrane that covers the top of the ear and melds flush to the head. Some are telepathic."

Apocrypha [ ]

According to the DS9 comic " Requiem in Obsidian ", the Obsidian Order used Ullians as agents.

External link [ ]

• Ullian at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• 3 Marlys Burdette