The same as Star Trek Prodigy, it seems to be missing, or is because region block?

The first episode has dropped, and should be available on your podcast app of choice.

• The sehlat referenced in the episode title is an animal native to Vulcan, first mentioned in “Journey to Babel” where we learned that as a child, Spock had one as a pet. The first time one was on screen was “Yesteryear”.

• Kirk opens his first officer’s log with, ”Stardate…what is a stardate?” On this show? Please do not get my started. However, stardates have been part of Trek since the show’s second pilot, “Where No Man Has Gone Before”.

    • A memo provided to writers on TOS stated that, stardates were to obfuscate what century TOS was taking place in, and stated that Stardates were unique to their point in the galaxy, so they didn’t to follow from one episode to the next.

    • For TOS, TAS, the TOS movies, and SNW, stardates generally all follow the system set up for TOS, wherein there are four digits and a single digit percentage point following a decimal; the percentage point divides the day into tenths. SNW has had some variations, including having two numbers following the decimal, and once even using the Kelvin timeline method of calculating stardates.

    • DIS used the same four digits and a percentage point of the other 23rd century shows, except it’s numbers only ever increased. And upon transitioning to the 32nd century for season three on, they used six digits and a percentage point. On the whole though, Stardates were relatively rare in the series.

    • TNG, DS9, and VOY used a system introduced in TNG, where stardates began with 4, indicating they were set in the 24th century, followed by the corresponding season of TNG -- i.e. all the TNG season three stardates begin with 43 -- and then three random numbers, and another digit fallowing a decimal place. Sometimes within a season the number would decrease.

      • An obvious issue is that TNG, DS9, and VOY collectively ran for 14 years, from 1987 to 2001. The DS9 season five and VOY season three both had stardates beginning with 50, which would indicate they were in the 25 century, despite it being 2373.

    • The Kelvin universe stardates are just the year according to the Gregorian calendar, followed by the date expressed as the number of days in the year. So, 2009’s “Star Trek” was set in 2258, January 1 would be 2258.1, and December 31 would be 2258.365. Presumably.

    • PIC seasons one and two did not use stardates because showrunner, Michael Chabon, was not a fan. Season three did include stardates for two episodes, both of which began with 78, presumably indicating that they continued counting from the TNG, DS9, VOY seasons to reach that for the number of in universe years that had passed.

    • According to LDS co-producer, Brad Winters, LDS and PRO used a “unified stardate theory” devised by Trek science consultant, Doctor Erin MacDonald. LDS began with stardates starting with 57, in season one, but did not follow the one year per season convention that was used for TNG, DS9, and VOY.

    • So, to answer the question posed by Kirk in his log, stardates are a headache.

• Kirk’s log continues by complaining that he’s bored with the mundanity of space exploration. Kelvin Captain Kirk’s log at the beginning of “Star Trek Beyond” had a similar complaint.

• The USS Farragut’s interiors are reused USS Enterprise sets with little redress beyond the battle damage. We see the bridge, the captain’s ready room, and sickbay. Despite Scotty being dispatched to engineering, it does not show up on screen. In fact, we have yet to see the engineering set for the Enterprise this season, either.

    • The Farragut bridge lighting is more white than the Enterprise, and obviously the displays are off the ‘Farragut’.

• The * Farragut* is captained by a Vulcan named V’Rel. The first captain Kirk served under aboard the Farragut was Garrovik, though he would have died in 2257, four years earlier, as per the TOS episode, “Obsession”.

• ”Risk is why we’re here, isn’t it?” This line from Kirk’s speech in “Return to Tomorrow”, ”Risk is our business.”

• Chapel, Uhura, Spock, and Scotty all beam over to the Farragut, which is notable as they’re all future members of Kirk’s crew aboard the Enterprise during TOS. The obvious exception in the group is La’An, whom there has been some foreshadowing of a romantic involvement with Kirk, specifically in “Subspace Rhapsody”, and he will no doubt ghost her for a three breasted purple woman at some point, hence the reason she does not continue to serve aboard the ship. Or she’ll live(?) up to her red shirt reputation by the series end.

• The Destroyer of Worlds is designed with a mouth, and swallows the Enterrise whole. Other times the hero ship has has been fully engulfed by another ship include:

    • In “Distant Origin” the Voth beamed the USS Voyager into their city ship

    • In “Endgame”, a Borg sphere captured the Voyager, though it was all part of the plan

    • In “The Crossing” the Wisps disabled the NX-01, and brought it into their ship

    • In “Countdown” and “Zero Hour” Xindi-Aquatic ships were used to transport the NX-01

    • In “That Hope is You, Part 2” the Viridian tractored the USS Discovery A aboard

    • In “Let Sleeping Borg Lie” the Protogies flew the USS Protostar into a dormant Borg cube

    • in “The Last Generation”, Data flew the USS Enterprise D/USS Syracuse through a massive Borg cube

• The Destroyer of Worlds is made up of a variety of other cultures ships, including Klingon. In “Samaritan Snare” we were introduced to the Pakleds who lured more advanced species in and stole their technology. We eventually saw Pakled Clumpships in LDS’ “No Small Parts” with a breakdown of all the species’ components.

    • Scotty and Spock make note that one of the other ships is a D7-class Klingon ship. The D7-class would only be about four years old at this point, the design having been finalized in “Point of Light” and the first completed vessel being seen in “Through the Valley of Shadows”.

      • This assumes we ignore the Klingon Sech-class cruiser in being referred to as a D7 by a shuffleboard computer in “Choose Your Pain”, but that was also quite clearly a different spaceframe.

• We learn that the Destroyer of Worlds is something of a local legend, known to remote colonies, as well as other species, including the Klingons and the Gorn. The Klingons call it the Chack-Ka, or Annihilator. In “Where Silence Has Lease”, Worf shared that there was a Klingon legend about ”a gigantic black space creature which was said to devour entire vessels.” We have no indication if the Destroyer of Worlds was the inspiration for that legend, but it’s a neat idea.

• Captain V’Rel has a three-dimensional chess board in her ready room. Kirk and Spock were first seen playing three-dimensional chess in the second TOS pilot, “Where No Man Has Gone Before”.

    • The board appears to be the one sold by The Nobel Collection with a custom stand, as previously seen in “Lost in Translation” but with custom pieces as well.

• ”Those are the signatures from the picked-apart alien ships we saw in Nessie’s gob.” Scotty also made reference to the Loch Ness Monster in the TAS episode, “Bem”. Nessie’s only other mention was in ENT episode, “Stormfront, Part II”.

• Scotty appears unclear on what to call Kirk while he’s acting Captain. In “Behind the Lines” O’Brien explained to Nog that it is an old naval tradition that whomever is in charge of a ship is referred to as captain, regardless of rank. Presumably Scotty skipped that day.

• Pelia implies she is at least 5,000 years old. Previously she’d indicated she was at least 3,000 years old.

• This is the first time there’s been any indication that Starfleet vessels use copper wiring in their consoles, a fact that is necessary for Pelia’s plan in the episode to work. Her plan is:

    • Strip the copper cables out of the bulkheads

    • Collect all the catalytic converters from the shuttles in the shuttle bay

    • Raid sickbay’s supply of sudafed

• Kirk informs Scotty that the Destroyer of Worlds was harvesting aldentium from the world it destroyed. In “Family”, Data described aldentium as a mineral that is ”firm and chewy, but with a slight resistance to the bite.”

• Pelia’s quarters are full of enough junk that Kivas Fagio would have heart palpitations looking at it. We saw in “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow” that she was transferring a significant amount of personal affects to the ship. Here we see:

    • An Atari video game system, which is kind of like the titular game from “The Game” but more addicting.

    • ”This is a, uh…personal massager?” Oretegas confirms that vibrators still exist in the 23rd century.

• Pike and La’An come up with the idea to fill the umbilical stealing resources from the Enterprise with baryon particles from the waste system. We learned in “Starship Mine” that baryons are accumulated during warp travel, and need to be eliminated as part of starship maintenance.

• Kirk’s plan uses the Farragut’s now useless warp nacelles as improvised missles, causing the Destroyer of Worlds to disable itself with it’s own grappler cables attempting to catch them. The first time we saw Kirk order Scotty to detach the nacelles of the Enterprise was in “The Apple”.

• The waste tank La’An has the baryon particles in is cylindrical with a handle on one side, very similar to the holodeck biofiler waste tanks seen in “Moist Vessel”.

• We learn that once again the greatest monster is man! The core of the Destroyer of Worlds is the XCV-100, an Earth ship lunched in the 21st century, after World War III. The ship bears the flag of the United States, as well as a blue Starfleet delta with the United Earth symbol on it, a logo also seen on the Friendship 1 in “Friendship One”. This would be the earliest vessel to bear a delta, so far.

    • Other Earth ships that vanished include:

      • The Ares IV - “One Small Step”

      • The Bonaventure - “The Time Trap”

      • The USS Franklin - “Star Trek Beyond”

    • The ship was meant to carry humanity to the stars, and was presumably conceived of by billionaires attempting to escape the mess they made of Earth. Pelia claims ”they were the best of us,” which explains the distinctive red cap among the junk in her quarters.

• Data served Scotty Aldeberan whiskey in “Relics”.

• The episode ends with strains for the TOS theme playing after Pike calls Kirk “Captain Kirk.”

The meaning of the title becomes obvious at the conclusion of the episode when we discover that Ortegas' ordeal is an observational experiment.

It is Stardate 2198.7. Ortegas mentions that the strange phenomena that the region of space is known for is “the kind of thing Division 12 usually looks into.” This is the first mention of such a division, which in context might imply a kind of X-Files type investigative branch of Starfleet. In LD: “Much Ado About Boimler”, Division 14 deals with anomalous medical issues afflicting Starfleet personnel.

Ortegas keeps a picture of her kid brother Beto (she mutters in Spanish, “hermanito”) on her mantle, along with models of planes. Thanks to the screenshot people at the cygnus-x1 website,  I can spot an SR-71 Blackbird, a B-24 Liberator, a Supermarine Spitfire but there’s a couple I still can’t make out (an F-117 Nighthawk, possibly?). There’s also a model of the current Constitution-class Enterprise and a Walker-class starship.

The science lab Spock and Uhura are in is the same set as was used for La’An’s katra-space in the previous episode, which appeared to contain Cetacean Ops. “Let’s light this candle,” was said by astronaut Alan Shepard when he was about to become as the first American in space on May 5, 1961, in frustration when the engineers were still debating whether to launch Freedom 7.

Ortegas is flying the shuttle Archimedes, named for the Greek philosopher best associated with the phrase “eureka” which, according to legend, he shouted when discovering the principle of displacement. In 2381, the Obena-class starship USS Archimedes was commanded by CAPT Sonya Gomez (LD: “First First Contact”). We also see that Archimedes is outfitted with blast shields.

“Five by five” is an expression that means everything is fine, or optimal. It dates back to World War II, measuring the strength and clarify of a radio signal (on a scale of 1 to 5). Una asks if Pike is jealous, referring to his first assignment out of the Academy as a test pilot (DIS: “Light and Shadows”).

Ortegas says her stardate is unknown, probably because her location is unknown. This goes back to the TOS series bible, which stated: “Stardates are a mathematical formula which varies depending on location in the galaxy, velocity of travel, and other factors, can vary widely from episode to episode.” This was to provide a Watsonian explanation as to why stardates in consecutive episodes might be out of sequence, and so writers didn’t need to worry about being sequential with stardates in other episodes.

Wormholes are indeed notoriously unstable, although some can remain stable for a long time, like the Barzan wormhole (TNG: “The Price”). The only known completely stable wormhole is the Bajoran wormhole connecting the Denorios Belt in the Bajoran System with the Gamma Quadrant, but that wormhole is constructed by the Prophets.

The USS Constellation (NCC-1017) was a Constitution-class starship which was under the command of CDRE (at this point CAPT) Matthew Decker when it was destroyed by the Planet Killer five years from now in 2267 (TOS: “The Doomsday Machine”). This is the first mention of Epsilon Indi III, although Epsilon Indi II and IV have been mentioned prior (TNG: “Eye of the Beholder” and DIS: “Terra Firma, Part 1” respectively). Epsilon Indi is a trinary star system 12 ly from Earth.

There is a very TOS/Sol Kaplan-ish music cue when Ortegas spots the Gorn, but I’m uncertain if it’s taken from TOS: “Arena”.

Uhura calls her shuttle simulation Kamili Alpha One. As mentioned in SNW: “Lost in Translation”, Kamili was the name of her pet cat, the name meaning “perfect” in Swahili.

The most famous example of the “enemies working together for survival” trope in science fiction is the 1979 novella Enemy Mine by Barry B. Longyear which was adapted into a movie in 1985. In Star Trek, the trope appears several times but is closest to the novella in TNG: “The Enemy”, TNG: "Darmok", DS9: “The Ascent” and ENT: “Dawn”, in that the reluctant alliance takes place in when both are stranded in a hostile environment.

Enterprise uses a static warp field to try and prop the wormhole open. In TNG: “Remember Me”, Wesley creates a static warp field, or bubble, in an attempt to recreate the Traveler’s actions in TNG: “Where No One Has Gone Before” but it results in the creation of a pocket universe when Beverley Crusher is caught in it. In TNG: “All Good Things…”, a static warp shell acted as a subspace barrier between time and anti-time. In TNG: “Relics”, Jenolan used its shields to prop open the exit out of a Dyson sphere so Enterprise-D could escape.

The gas giant has 396 moons. In contrast, Saturn has 274 moons as of 2025.

The idea of sending up a flare was also used in TOS: “The Galileo Seven” when Spock jettisoned the shuttle’s remaining fuel and ignited it, creating a signal that Enterprise could see. I leave it to your head canon as to whether now we can say Spock got this idea from Ortegas.

The alien that appears before Ortegas is a Metron, dressed in Roman/Greek-esque fashion like the Metron who appeared to Kirk did in TOS: “Arena”. The Metron’s reference to resetting the memory of the Gorn for humans in future is a way to resolve the biggest discontinuity between SNW and “Arena”, namely why Starfleet doesn’t seem to have heard of the Gorn (or the Metrons) despite them being major antagonists in SNW.

Consider this a reminder for people currently watching Star Trek, old and new.

Logic and controlled emotion aren't inherent to being a Vulcan. Somehow gaining Vulcan traits, or biologically transforming into a Vulcan, will not make you logical and emotionless. In fact, quite the opposite would happen.

Vulcans used to be warlike, barbaric (as Spock would describe them) and nearly wiped themselves out. It was the teaching of Surak in the philosophy of pure logic, after centuries of war, that made Vulcans what they are today. Vulcans do this by training logic and emotional control throughout their childhood and teenage years. Ultimately culminating in Kolinahr, the final stage to "purge emotion". But Vulcans still experience emotion, and their state of control is something that requires constant maintenance through meditation and practice.

Vulcans are far more emotional and passionate than even Humans. If a Human so much as houses a portion of a Vulcan's Katra (the mind/spirit), said Human would struggle immensely to keep their feeling under control.

I'm writing all this because I'm getting the feeling that this very important part about Vulcans is being forgotten (perhaps more-so by the current writers of Star Trek).

Yes I know I'm behind everyone else!

First the away team spends a long time debating if they should proceed or... step outside for five seconds to call the ship. They ultimately decide that stepping outside for five seconds is not feasible.

But then literally one minute later Ensign Gamble is somehow beamed up. Presumably they must have called the ship to do this? Did they just... leave out the part about the (now obvious and real) danger? Was there a scene where Pike said "ok yeah his eyes are gone but you can keep going"?

Then later in the episode the away team spends a long time talking about trust and friendship while debating if they should walk on an invisible walkway instead of just like, I don't know, tapping it lightly with their toe or throwing a pebble on it first?

The Ensign Gamble B-plot was good and freaky and featured some great acting by everyone involved. But the A plot felt like it was vibe-scripted! I love SNW but come on.

The “half” refers to Spock, who is only half-Vulcan.

The Stardate is 3111.1, and Enterprise is headed for Purmantee III where the crew will take shore leave. Una says La’An, of all people would understand why she’s remaining on board, as she likes to do work when it’s quiet. Indeed, the two did that in SNW: “Spock Amok” when the crew was on shore leave in Starbase 1. This is the first mention of Greerian cocktails.

Vice-Admiral Pasalk is a Vulcan who headed the JAG office in SNW: “Ad Astra Per Aspera”. He also has an antagonistic relationship with Spock, although that is only apparent to people who can read Vulcan body language, like M’Benga. Batel was a JAG officer who was then promoted to command, being recalled to JAG duty for Una’s trial in that episode.

Tezaar is an M-class planet (Minshara-class, as per ENT: “Strange New World”), capable of supporting humanoid life, but are not warp capable, hence protected by the Prime Directive. Spock explains that the Vulcans made contact with Tezaar before the founding of the Federation (in 2161), but we know that Vulcans had their own non-interference directives long before before official First Contact with Earth in 2063 (see ENT: “Carbon Creek”), as La’An points out.

Spock was turned human and back again by the Kerkhovians in SNW: “Charades”. Pike being overwhelmed by emotions is an expected response, as Vulcans feel emotions much more intensely than humans, hence the necessity to practice arie’mnu (passion’s mastery) to control them. However, given this is a learned response, the sudden snap to “emotionless” Vulcans requires some explanation.

The song is “Reckless Youth” by indie group The Home of Happy. Pike is carrying a lirpa, a traditional Vulcan weapon first seen in TOS: “Amok Time”. Ortegas mentioned she had fought with a lirpa in “Spock Amok”. The away team also carries cylindrical hardshell duffle bags, which were first seen in TNG. Music reminiscent of the Vulcan fight music of “Amok Time” can also be heard as part of the soundtrack.

Pike’s opening narration for this episode is in a stilted manner, as a nod to his status as a Vulcan.

Una’s explanation for why the away team is acting so coldly is because the serum was derived from Spock’s “perceived experiences”, leading them to assume the manners that Vulcans normally years to develop. That being said, how a serum can be based on “experiences” is not explained.

Kirk’s mention of Sam reminds me that we haven’t seen him since SNW: “Through the Lens of Time”.

It is well established that Vulcans have an enhanced sense of smell compared to humans and that they find human odors unpleasant. As mentioned in ENT: “The Andorian Incident” and “Spock Amok”, Vulcans take nasal suppressants/numbing agents to help with this.

La’An’s obsession towards martial matters and conquest is meant to seem Romulan in nature (as Kirk says, aggressive and manipulative) but as we find out later, it’s her Augment ancestry influencing her Vulcan state.

It’s interesting that M’Benga and Spock are now talking openly about katras, when it was first presented as a deeply personal thing to Vulcans (Sarek says in ST III that Spock would not have spoken of it openly). But then again mind melds were also supposed to be things Vulcans didn’t talk about (TOS: “Dagger of the Mind”).

Pike’s allusion to a mission he is not permitted to discuss is his knowledge of the Romulans gained on a trip into an alternate future (SNW: “A Quality of Mercy”). La’An learned about Romulans while also time traveling in SNW: “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow”.

Someone on Lemmy has pointed out that Ortegas' reference to sandwiches with fries inside them (and the name "Purmantee") is likely a reference to Primanti Bros., a Pittsburgh-based sandwich chain famous for having fries and slaw packed inside their sandwiches.

Kintsugi is the Japanese art of mending broken ceramics by filling in the gaps between shards with a metallic lacquer made from gold or sometimes silver. The philosophy behind the practice is to embrace imperfections and find beauty in them instead of keeping them hidden.

15 years puts the end of Una and Doug’s romance in 2244, a year before Enterprise was launched. My best guesses put Una at around 42 years of age (I’ll spare you the math) so she last broke up with Doug when she was 27.

Batel says Pasalk used to call Pike “the human with inappropriate hair”, which is clearly a meta joke as Pike’s hair is a frequent topic of conversation among fans.

Doug attributes Spock’s ability to lie to his human heritage and claims that as a full-blooded Vulcan he cannot lie, but full-blooded Vulcans have been known to lie (or at least obfuscate) before - especially T’Pol and Tuvok - on numerous occasions.

Kirk says he’s served under Vulcans. The current CO of Farragut is V’Rel, a Vulcan female captain.

La’An’s katra space includes a lab with beluga whales, which might suggest that Enterprise, even at this point in time, has a Cetacean Ops department. Cetacean Ops was a throwaway piece of background dialogue in TNG: “Yesterday’s Enterprise” and then elaborated on in the 1992 TNG Technical Manual as well as included on the 1996 Galaxy-class blueprints. The Tech Manual mentioned that Enterprise-D had two whales who helped in navigation. The USS Cerritos’s own Cetacean Ops was mentioned in LD: “Second Contact” and finally seen - the first time Cetacean Ops had been shown on-screen in any Star Trek series - in LD: “First First Contact”. A Cetecean Ops has also appeared in PRO, on the Lamarr-class Voyager-A.

Plomeekkatra is a traditional Vulcan dish, which can be bland or spicy. Chapel made plomeek soup for Spock in “Amok Time”, although Spock, in the throes of pon farr, threw the bowl into the corridor.

It appears that we are meant to believe that it was Kirk who introduced Scotty to the pleasures of Scotch.

First Firstthe post-credits scene is that the inability to use contractions was part of the character of Data in TNG (yes, it’s debatable). Also, while his smiles are often wry and subtle, Spock has grinned a number of times before, in TOS: “The Cage”, TOS: “Amok Time” and laughed in SNW: “Children of the Comet” and SNW: “Those Old Scientists”.

Written by: Dana Horgan & Henry Alonso Myers

Directed by: Jordan Canning

thanks to everyone for sharing about Star Trek books! i've never given them much thought but just thanks to your posts i've decided to dive in with my first two books!

i'm getting the first book from the Titan series because i've wanted to see Captain Riker since i was kid, and from the SNW series, since i can't get enough of this crew.

thanks all!

Any series