Summary
Warning: contains spoilers forStar Trek: Defiant#14!
Star Trek’sfamous opening sequence calls space “the final frontier,” but there are frontiers in the franchise that stretch beyond the galaxy and even the entire universe.Star Trekhas utilized the multiverse concept since its earliest days, leaning into it even more in recent years. InStar Trek: Defiant#14, a new (and horrifying) universe is revealed, although it has exciting implications for the franchise as a whole.
Star Trek: Defiant#14 is written by Christopher Cantwell and drawn by Angel Unzueta. Worf and theDefiant’screw are facing apotential invasion from the “Conspiracy” parasites.Spock attempts a mind meld to learn more, but he is taken over and leaves Worf. Spock makes his way to the Starbase’s power center, cryptically mentioning “the door” opening. As the issue unfolds, it is revealed that the parasites are not from the same universe as Worf and Spock.
Instead, they are from a reality where they are the dominant life form.
The “Conspiracy” Aliens Are Only the Tip of theStar TrekMultiverse
In Addition to Multiple Universes,Star TrekHas Many Alternate Timelines
Introduced inStar Trek: The Next Generation’sfirst season episode “Conspiracy,”the parasites wormed their way into Starfleet’s upper echelon. Picard and the crew of theEnterpriseare able to stop them, but the episode ends on an ominous note: the parasites sent a signal to…somewhere. The episode never received a follow-up, and became one of the franchise’s biggest dangling plot lines. Previous issues ofStar Trek: Defianthinted the parasites originated from outside the universe, and this issue seems to confirm that. It adds an even darker layer to the parasites, making them even more alien.
This revelation also serves as a reminder that a multiverse exists in theStar Trekfranchise.Star Trekhas, on many occasions, played with the concept of alternate timelines. Episodes such as “City on the Edge of Forever,” “Yesterday’s Enterprise,” and “Year of Hell” took this particular concept and spun gold out of it. The entire Kelvin series is also alternate timelines.Star Trekhas sometimes used the terms “universe” and “timeline” interchangeably. Some refer to JJ Abram’s films as either “the Kelvin Universe” or “the Kelvin Timeline.”
What distinguishes the two is that, with a few exceptions, the Kelvin Timeline unfolded in much the same way as the Prime did, in terms of personality and career choices. Shortly after the first Abrams’Star Trekfilm in 2009, IDW launched a series that reinterpreted classic episodesusing the Kelvin crew,meaning that events unfolded in both universes in similar fashions. However,Star Trekhas also shown realities where everything is completely different, such as the popular Mirror Universe.
Star Trek’sMirror Universe is A Pop Culture Touchstone
Star Trek’sMirror Universe Has Been Featured in the Comics As Well
Introduced in the episode “Mirror, Mirror,” airing duringStar Trek’ssecond season, the Mirror Universe has become one of the most endearing in the franchise, and Spock, with his menacing goatee, has become the stuff of pop culture legends.
Introduced in the episode “Mirror, Mirror,” airing duringStar Trek’ssecond season, the Mirror Universe has become one of the most endearing in the franchise, and Spock, with his menacing goatee, has become the stuff of pop culture legends. In the episode, an ion storm sends Kirk, Uhura, Scotty and McCoy to the Mirror Universe. They are horrified by what they found: theEnterprisewas not a ship of peace and exploration, but an instrument of evil used by a fascist empire. The episode ends with Kirk placing the seeds of revolt in Mirror Spock’s brain.
The Mirror Universe returned during DC Comics’Star Trekcomic. InThe Mirror Universe Saga,running throughStar Trek#9-16 and written by Mike W. Barr and drawn by Tom Sutton, the Federation faces an invasion from the Terran Empire. Spock did not go onto implement reforms, and instead doubled down on his fascist ways. Thanks to Kirk and the recently revived Prime Spock, the Federation was able to defeat the Terran Empire, and the story ends with Mirror Spock finally joining the side of good.
Star Trek: Deep Space NineFlipped the Script on the Mirror Universe
IDW’sStar TrekComics Gave Fans Mirror Jean-Luc Picard
While this would seem to bring the story of the Mirror Universe to a close, the concept proved too good to let go, and it returned duringStar Trek: Deep Space Nine’ssecond season. In the episode “Crossover,” it was revealed Spock’s reforms worked—all too well. It left the Empire in a weakened state, and itwas quickly overrun by the Cardassiansand the Klingons. It would go on to appear in two episodes ofStar Trek: Enterpriseand was a major part ofDiscovery’sfirst three seasons and will play a role in the forthcomingSection 31movie.
The Mirror Universe was still not finished, however, and the comics once again picked up the story. In 2017’sStar Trek: The Next Generation: Mirror Broken,the Terran Empire still exists in the 24th century, albeit in a dilapidated and broken state. Now confined largely to Earth’s solar system, Captain Picard of theISS Stargazerlearns of a new and powerful weapon the Empire is building, one that may be able to restore its former glory. Picard, desperate to make a name for himself, steals the weapon, revealed to be the Galaxy-classEnterprise.
TheStar TrekMultiverse Is a Scary Place
Between the “Conspiracy” Aliens and the Mirror Universe, It Is a Truly Dangerous Frontier
Most heart-breaking of all was Barclay, who, in the Mirror Universe, was a scheming and cold-hearted man, seeking revenge on those who wronged his family.
IDW released several additionalStar Trek: The Next Generationcomics set in the Mirror Universe, and they painted a befittingly bleak picture. Deanna Troi, the ship’s empathic counselor, was reframed as the Inquisitor. Standing by Picard’s side, Inquisitor Troi scans everyone, ferreting out the loyal and the dissidents with ruthless efficiency.Most heart-breaking of all was Barclay, who, in the Mirror Universe, was a scheming and cold-hearted man, seeking revenge on those who wronged his family. The Terran Empire was no longer as mighty as it once was, but was still terrifying and disturbing.
The revelation that the “Conspiracy” parasites come from another world in the multiverse might seem to make the concept a terrifying one in theStar Trekmythos. Between the evil Mirror Universe and the utterly alien and disgusting parasites, it would seem the multiverse is full of unsavory characters, and the Federation would be best advised to abandon any research in this area. Yet this need not be the case, and indeed, it could open up new vistas in theStar Trekuniverse to explore. The franchise is built upon the concept of exploration, making this a logical next step.
FutureStar TrekShows Need to Lean More into the Multiverse Concept
The Multiverse is a Potentially Infinite Frontier
The “Conspiracy” parasites emanating from another universe shows the strength of the multiverse concept as it pertains to theStar Trekfranchise. The Mirror Universe has been a key component of the mythos for over 50 years. The “Conspiracy” aliens have been a part of theStar Trekuniverse for over 30 years, and making this established race part of the larger multiverse shows love for the concept. FutureStar Trekmedia can use the multiverse as a springboard to tell some of the franchise’s strongest stories.
