Everything you need to remember before Star Trek: Episode 31

This week Star Trek boldly goes with the first major film of its streaming era: Section 31long in the works former series became a movie streaming vehicle for Michelle Yeoh, returning to the franchise for the first time since out Discovery in 2020 But aside from the controversial spy organization that gives the film its name, here’s what else you need to know going into the film.

What is Section 31?

First introduced in the sixth season of Star Trek: Deep Space Ninesection 31 is a secret intelligence branch of the Federation—separate from Starfleet’s public-facing intelligence wing—intended to operate as a black ops organization tasked with operating against existential threats to the Federation. Named after a clause in the Starfleet charter that allows for “extraordinary measures” in the face of extreme threats, Section 31 operates without official knowledge or direction from the Federation or Starfleet as a whole, conducting wet operations, interceptions, and counterintelligence operations throughout Starfleet history. fleet.

Although introduced in Deep Space Nine at the height of the Dominion War arc, Section 31 would appear Enterprise and Discovery to establish their roots earlier within Star Trekmain timeline of, but ever since their debut, the band has been noticed as deeply contradictory from Star Trek fans what the existence of a secret police force within the franchise’s utopian setting means for the idealistic nature of that utopia.

The short, universe-hopping story of Philippa Georgiou

Discovery first introduced Michelle Yeoh’s Philippa Georgiou as the captain of the USS Shenzhouonly to be killed in action at the outbreak of the Klingon-Federation war featured in the show’s first season. However, Yeoh would return to portray the character later in the same season during the storyline Star Trekthe infamous parallel reality, the mirror universe. There Georgiou was not an officer in the Terran Empire, but its emperor – and after surviving an attempted coup, she was brought back with the crew of Discovery to Star Trek‘s prime universe at the behest of Michael Burnham, who was prime Georgiou’s protégé and first officer aboard the Shenzhou.

Mirror Georgiou was recruited into Section 31 after the end of the war, acting as an agent initially tasked with maintaining the stability of the post-war Chancellor of the Klingon Empire, L’Rell. But eventually she managed to get back on board Discovery when the ship was forced to send itself thousands of years into the future to the 32nd century to destroy the rogue artificial intelligence developed by Section 31, Control. However, the temporary distance from both her home reality and her home timeline caused Georgiou to begin to destabilize on a molecular level. After a meeting with Guardian of Eternitywho tests Georgiou to see if her time in the primordial universe has changed her as a person, she is sent back to an undisclosed time period (more on that later) where the mirror and primordial universes are still aligned, allowing her to remain in the final universe without the threat of destabilization.

Who else is inside Section 31?

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

• Omari Hardwick plays Aloka Section 31 cell leader on a covert mission that recruits Georgiou in an attempt to make her pay for her past crimes as Emperor of Earth.
• Played by Robert Kazinsky ZephAlok’s right hand, who lives in a mechanical exoskeleton.
• Sam Richardson plays quasianother agent of Alok’s team and Hameloid, a shape-shifting race first seen in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.
• Humberly Gonzalez plays honeya Deltan agent on Alok’s team who, unlike previous Deltans who joined Starfleet, did not take a vow of celibacy, allowing her to use the natural charm of her species for Section 31’s benefit.
• Sven Ruigrok plays the most mysterious member of Alok’s team, known only as moss. Described as a “fun-loving” character with anger issues, his pointy ears suggest he may be either a surprisingly emotional Vulcan, or perhaps one of their sister species, the Romulans.
• Rounding out the main cast is Casey Rolle in the role Rachel Garretta young Starfleet officer assigned to Alok’s team for surveillance purposes, although official knowledge of the division’s existence is classified. Garrett has already appeared in Star Trek before in Next generation episode “Yesterday’s Enterprise” where she is played by Tricia O’Neil and captains the USS Enterprise-C until its destruction defending a Klingon outpost from Romulan forces in 2344.

When it is Section 31 Assignment?

Although we don’t have an exact setting for the film yet, other than the fact that it takes place Star TrekGround Reality, the existence of Rachel Garrett in the cast suggests that the series must be set sometime in the early 24th century, given that she has not yet risen to the rank of captain, nor taken command of Enterprise-C. This will set Section 31 in a period largely revealed by Star Trek on the small screen known as The Lost Era. The original series takes place in the late 2260s, and the successor films take place from the 2270s to the 2290s, while The next generation began in 2364, shortly after the commissioning of the Enterprise-D almost 20 years after the destruction of its predecessor.

The Enterprise-C itself operated during a time period in which relations between the Federation and the Klingon Empire following the signing of the peace treaty by Hitomer in the late 23rd century were still relatively strained. The sacrifice of the Federation flagship protecting the Klingon forces was necessary to strengthen relations between the two factions, eventually leading to the official Treaty of Alliance established sometime between 2344 and the events of The next generation– which can give us some hints about what the state of the universe is at the time of Section 31.

Section 31 hits Paramount+ from January 24.

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