Picking up a loose thread from the Next Generation, Discovery turned a one off story about a quickly forgotten galactic revelation into a full season of expanding the lore and mystery of the Progenitors. It’s not for the first time either. Spock’s plan for unifying Romulus and Vulcan started in the 24th century and had been realised by the time Burnham landed in the 32nd.
It’s not just Discovery pulling at the tapestry. Picard showed us what happened to the disconnected Borg Hugh, Lower Decks revealed Academy dropout Nick Locarno as a season baddie. Even Prodigy picked up on Janeway’s career following her cameo as an Admiral on the big screen. The trend continued in recent years with Picard mining the Next Generations past, answering questions fans had long pondered from the fate of Ro Laren to what happened to the other Soong type androids.
The method of using the past to build the future worlds seems to be in style. But with so much ground covered, what other loose ends can be pulled?
A Continuing Conspiracy
In the early days of the Next Generation the command structure was wiped out after some creepy alien bugs planted themselves in the head of Starfleets finest in a bid to take over the fleet and be generally evil! When you think about it, Starfleet Security really need to get some extra training because it took Picard and Riker running around blasting alien heads off before anyone noticed….
It’s common knowledge by now that Conspiracy ended with a signal to bring reinforcements afor a second go. And nothing happened because creative ideas changed. Biological assimilation was replaced with technological and the Borg were brought in instead. But what about that bug alien signal? Sure, it might be a bit quick to try that story again. Out of Picard’s three seasons, two of them involved a conspiracy within Starfleet. Doing it again might be a little bit much, especially after Discovery landed on a feeling of hope.
Yet, if we’re mining for mysteries to solve, it might be time to find out if someone did answer that signal….
Beyond The Barrier
Not visible from afar, yet very visible in close range with a hefty effects budget, is a barrier surrounding the galaxy. Filled with weirdness that makes it hard to travel through without spending even more of your effects budget, the barrier made it’s debut in the original series before being revisited in Discovery when the crew reached out to mysterious Species 10C. Even in the 32nd century though, the barrier felt like a limit to exploration…
For all the exploration in the Star Trek Universe, in real terms the reach the Federation had was still very small and our galaxy is only a tiny dot in the wider universe and no matter what era, the same people around bringing he same conflicts. The idea of breaking the barrier has only seemed to be broached behind the scenes, whether it was a pitch of a lost starship or the idea that the 26th century Enterpise J could survive the journey, but the risks seem to hold Star Trek into avoiding he same exploration as other franchises such as Stargate in expanding beyond the limitation. It might not technically be a loose end, but breaking the barrier to race to another galaxy is one idea the franchise could boldly go next.
Commander Sela & Tasha Yar
Thanks to timey wimey shenanigans, an alternate version of Tasha Yar ended up on the Enterprise-C during a battle with the Romulans. In the regular timeline, that Tasha was captured, birthed Sela. Sela became a massive antagonist to Captain Picard and the Enterprise. Then she just dissapeared. Unlike the Duras sisters, who kept popping up until they popped their cloggs, Sela’s story just came to a stand still.
Considering everything that happened in the years following, from the Romulans and the Dominion to the entire Senate being executed in Nemesis, it always seemed mystifying that such an intriguing possibility was left behind. Sure,. Star Trek Online told a story of what Sela could have become. But with all the references and returns in recent years, there’s still a huge possibility to have Sela return one day…
The Jurati
Technically this has had a season to itself. Picard’s second season was pretty much an origin story for a new type of Borg. Once Assimilated by the Bnorg Queen from another dimension, Agnes Jurati managed to counter that assimilation and assimilate the Queen right back. It wasn’t entirely forgotten. Shaw mentioned it in Picard’s third season, hand waving Jurati as not the real Borg, but it’s such a huge thread to leave wide open. The turn of the century has peaceful Borg!
Of course, there’s no show set in that time period right now and it’s uncertain if there ever will be. Despite the fan campaign for a Legacy show to continue the adventures, Terry Matalas has moved on to pastures new and executive overlord of all Trek Alex Kurtzman has said it’s not even his call if Paramount wants to greenlight or not. Will we ever see how the Jurati fit in as the Federations protectors?
The Sisko
It’s been twenty five years since Benjamin Sisko made his promise to Kassidy Yates. Just like Arnie, he said he’d be back. Well Ben, we’re waiting!
Deep Space Nine was a show that had a complete ending. As every character either said their goodbyes or began a new chapter of their life, Kassidy and Jake were left waiting for Sisko to return after he left the corporeal world to join the Prophets. Sisko’s arc was mostly complete. He went from a depressed and bitter widower to rekindling his life on DS9, becoming a religious icon, war hero and remarried. There’s even another Sisko on the way who’s be well into being an adult by now guided by his mother and much older brother.
But there’s still a lot of stories to tell. The Prophets have always protected Bajor and whether by threat or by unity, the Emissary will always have a reason to return. Especially after so much turmoil in the Federation which would have reached DS9 and Bajor.
Sadly, it’s unlikely we’d ever see this happen. Avery Brooks has long retired form acting and stopped even doing fan conventions as he didn’t like retreading old ground so often. Which is fair. But if Patrick Stewart can end Picard in his 80’s, and William Shatner willing to return (with the aid of CGI!) to end his voice to Kirk once more, we can still hold on to the slightest bit of hope that The Sisko will return….
About the author
[Ships of the Line] The Excelsior II
When it comes to exploring the final frontier, Starfleet has been widely experimental in it's design philosophy and thanks to a galaxy rich with resources – and possibly, yeah, overcoming capitalist ideals – is never shy on supplies to try out new ideas or unload a whole new line of ships for specific mission types or general experimentation. Still, while designs and ideas rotate on a regular basis to bring the specialist ships such as the Protostar or Defiant Classes, the core fleet is always held together with standard builds that can last for decades. In approaching a rebuild of the fleet to incorporate new ideas, new technologies, and new lessons learned from an ever increasing range of new and more powerful enemies to Federation ideals, Starfleet's engineers sometimes go back to the well and lean on old classics that […]
A Fistful of SNW Episodes to Rewatch Before Season 3.
In just a matter of weeks we'll be off to venture more Strange New Worlds as Captain Pike and the Enterprise crew return for their third season. Last we left them, the crew were in the middle of a Gorn crisis as a personal mission that could risk all out war resulted in the crew being split in two with half safe and sound on the Enterprise with the others in enemy hands with Pike left to decide what happens next as all odds are against them. It's been a long wait since seeing Pikee staring into space trying to decide on the next move. Especially with writers strikes pushing back filming. But now we're almost there, we've picked out some key episodes to rewatch ahead of the launch! Hegemony (S2E10) May be an obvious one, but with Season 3 […]
What If…. there was no Next Generation?
On the announcement of a new Star Trek show there was a lot of pushback. Most were excited at the idea of a new era, but some felt a new rehash of the concept was a mistake. It'll never work. The dynamics weren't right. They'd missed the point of what Star Trek was. It wasn't in the spirit of what came before. The casting was wrong, none of the new cast seemed likable It was doomed before it even began. And no, this wasn't Discovery. Nor the series of films introducing an alternate reality that played on the idea of Kirk and Spock fulfilling their destiny despite their radically changed origins. This was 1987 before the Star Trek Universe even existed. As of now (June 2025), Star Trek as an overall franchise consists of 818 episodes of live action over […]
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As we wait impatiently for the launch of Strange New Worlds third season, and the resolution to the dramatic cliff-hanger that saw the Enterprise crew separated in a battle against the Gorn, Paramount has given the bittersweet news that the series end is in sight by announcing earlier this month that it's fifth season would be it's last. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwqPH7UhKYI In a joint statement, the executive producers – Alex Kurtzman, Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers – focused on the adventures to come whilst being thankful for the journey so far. “ “We’re deeply grateful to Paramount+ for the chance to complete our five-season mission, just as we envisioned it, alongside our extraordinary cast and crew. And to the passionate fans who’ve boldly joined us on this journey.” Some time and a couple of Hollywood strikes ago, SNW's third and fourth […]
[Retro Review] Timeless. Voyager S5E06
Voyagers mission was to find a way home. And Harry Kim found one. Using found slipstream technology as well as time sensitive components to make it work, Kim proposes a risky plan to build the drive and race the crew home. When his space bestie Tom points out it's a stupid plan due to variables they haven't been able to counter, Captain Janeway give sit the rubber stamp anyway on the condition Chakotay fly ahead in the Delta Flyer with Kim so they can feed back course corrections so Voyager doesn't explode. Thankfully, it doesn't explode. Yet fifteen years later, Chakotay and Kim are the sole survivors of the mission; the Flyer being small enough to navigate the slipstream variances while Voyager was thrown out of the stream and crash landed on an ice planet, killing the entire crew. Now […]
Meet The Fleet Support: Final Positions Confirmed.
For anyone who'd missed it in previous Fleet Alerts or announcements; one of our main goals in 2025 was to build a new support team for Q2. Since our mass fleet redevelopment ten years ago, we've seen things changes, people come and go and the entire landscape of humanity shift twice while the franchise that brought us all here to begin with grew and evolved multiple times. Enter Fleet Support. At it's heart, SFCQ2’s Fleet Support division has been designed to aid and supplement membership opportunities and solidify a helpful, informative and supportive structure. Each role acts as a secondment to allow members to continue to be an active part of their unit while representing and supporting the fleet at an ‘HQ’ level. While we figured out two of the five positions fairly quickly, the two roles we've been most […]
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