Background

SCC 2018 Panel Highlights & more including a new Number One!

Article arrow_drop_down

In their first public event together in the lead up to Discovery’s second season, the cast and crew of Discovery took to the stage in the infamous Hall H at SDCC for an hour long panel on the upcoming season!

Giving news and insight into whats to come, as well as sharing their vision of hope and the future, Tig Notaro led Sonequa Martin-Green, Anthony Rapp, Shazad Latif, Doug Jones, Wilson Cruz, Mary Wiseman, Mary Chieffo, and Anson Mount in discussions alongside showrunner Alex Kurtzman and producer Heather Kadin in front of a ravenous crowd as they were welcomed to the stage.

With a new trailer and new insights, we’ve taken a quick look at the highlights of the night ahead of Discovery’s next foray into space.

New Mission
Unsurprisingly, little was given away about the next series and it’s core story outwith Anthony Rapp explaining to fans that it was very science heavy, which has been a difficult task for him as his dialogue had been carefully crafted to fit very closely with the science aspect of his character. The season is expected to explore more than the first, with new science, new adventures and new challenges to face the crew as they delve into a huge mystery.

The trailer shown to fans afterwards also confirmed that Captain Pike would be temporarily leaving his chair on the Enterprise to take command of Discovery, which allows the show to tackle the first captain of the Enterprise; and the one with the least screen time.

Kurtzman described Pike as Lorca’s opposite; a kind and gentle leader who’s not afraid of owning up to his mistakes and taking his crew opinions on board, with tremendous optimism and a ‘good heart’. While Pike remained largely unexplored in the original series, the recent Kelvin Timeline movies gave a chance for the character to become a mentor to Kirk and the crew. By the looks of things, this version of Pike may just balance out those two previous iterations of the first Captain of the Enterprise.

While the story remains a secret as of now, Kurtzman was also keen to confirm that season two will begin to line up Discovery with what had come before by ‘syncing up canon’ as they get closer to the timeline of the original series.

As for the Klingons, they’ve not been forgotten. While Discovery’s crew go off on a new adventure, L’Rell will be facing the trials of becoming the Chancellor of the Empire by force. And she’ll have the tormented Ash Tyler by her side as we explore their relationship through his adjustment and finding themselves amidst the chaos of their decisions.

While the story, described by Mary Chieffo as a ‘beauty and the beast’ scenario, is largely based on Qo’nos, Kurtzman did add that their storyline and that of Discovery’s will merge and cross paths towards the seasons end.

New Crew
In a surprise announcement by Anson Mount, former Mystique of the original X-Men trilogy was named as the new Number One of the Enterprise, with Romjin confiirming that news soon after through twitter.

Stepping into the shoes of Majel Roddenberry, Romjin will be the first actor to take on the character since the original Trek Pilot, The Cage, which was later re-purposed for Spock’s trial in The Menagerie.

Wilson Cruz was also on hand to point out – again – that he would still be a part of Discovery despite his characters death in the first season. Ever since that moment, Cruz has been vocal about remindng fans that although it seemed to be, his story was far from over.

But of course, the news that brought the most excitement from the crowd was that we would see Spock this season. While they didn’t confirm whether it would be Lieutenant Spock or the younger Spock in Burnham flashbacks (news that Jonathon Frakes let slip months ago), from the trailer it looks certain that everyones favourite Vulcan will likely make an appearance alongside his foster sister, Michael Burnham.

New Worlds
It was made known some time ago that while the first season of Discovery was very closed within the confines of the ship, the second would see the crew get out a bit more.

The trailer did show some shots of an away mission, perhaps from the ship Tig Notaro’s character is assigned to, but during the panel the team let us know about one of the new worlds we’d be exploring in season two: Saru’s homeworld.

On Saru’s world his people, the Kelpians, are the prey to a more dominant species and the season would see a more experienced and confident Saru return.

New Trek
Through the panel we also learned we’d be getting more Trek from the Discovery producers in the form of four shorts to be released in December.

Extending the Discovery world, writer Bo Yeon Kim confirmed that ‘Short Trek’ would be character-centric mini-episodes while Kurtzman mentioned that three of those pieces will revolve around Tilly, Saru and Harry Mudd. The fourth of the character exploration pieces will focus on new character, Craft, portrayed by Aldis Hodge.

There wasn’t much time to discovery more information due to the panel only lasting an hour with Q&A Sessions, but we expect to hear much more over the weeken from interviews, appearances and even Trek merch with Anovos already stunning fans with their replica of the new USS Enterprise model.

Season Two of Discovery is set for release in January 2019, while the first season is available in the UK & Europe on Netflix alnogside all other Star Trek Series (and the latest Kelvi Timeline film, Beyond, has recently been added to the line up!).

We’ll have more news and titbits over the coming week for all SFCQ2 members at Starbase Europa and a full breakdown of the event in our next edition of Comms. To join the discussion, you can join Starfleet Command for free on our enlistment page!

About the author

About the author

ADM JT Marczynka, DoFA

Creator of things, writer of words, caffeine addict. Director of Communications for Starfleet Command Quadrant 2.

More posts Follow

trending_flat
[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 […]

trending_flat
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 […]

trending_flat
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 […]

trending_flat
The Final Frontier for Strange New Worlds & A Legend Revived! Across the Universe June 2025!

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 […]

trending_flat
[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 […]

trending_flat
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 […]

Related

trending_flat
Paul Giamatti joins Holly Hunter for Starfleet Academy!

Looking ahead to the next generation of Star Trek shows, Paramount and Secret Hideout have already began announcing new cast members to lead the Starfleet Academy series coming to the streaming platform in the near future. News of the show has already turned heads with notes that the new academy campus will be the largest seen on TV so far, being filmed in Pinewood';s largest stage in Canada, though in terms of what to fully expect from the young adult drama, things are largely being kept under Red Directive secrecy. However we now at least know who will be leading the new class ahead of the shows production...

trending_flat
[Review] Life Itself…. Discovery S5E10

Trapped between two black holes, the doorway to the Progenitor's legacy is wide open. Discovery's on guarding duty following Burnham chasing Moll inside while the Breen are recovering to take the technology for themselves before a rival faction finds them. With everything to fight for and the chase becoming a race against time, Discovery's crew enter their final house and a bit to end their five season journey.

trending_flat
[Review] LaGrange Point: Discovery S5E09

All the pieces of the puzzle have been put together. Now with the end in sight, Burnham and her crew are on the edge of their greatest discovery. Yet there are still obstacles in the way with Moll and the Breen having taken possession of the combined Progenitor Artifact, the USS Discovery dead in the water and a potential all out conflict in the background. No wonder Rayner keeps pacing....

trending_flat
[Review] Labyrinths, Discovery S5E08

Hidden behind trials, tests and general annoyances that would drive even a sane person a little bit mad, the final piece of the puzzle is in sight. Hidden within an ancient travelling archive of the galaxy's most prized knowledge, the only problem is figuring out what it all means. Arriving at the Eternal Library, Captain Burnham opens the pages of an ancient Betazoid manuscript looking for the final answer only to find herself trapped in a psychological game where she doesn't even know the question...

trending_flat
[Review] Erigah: Discovery S5E7

Answering a distress call sent my Mol and L'ak, Discovery apprehends the treasure hunters only to find themselves staring down one of several Breen overlords looking to get their hands on the duo leading to a potential revival of war against the devestating power of the Breen. As Burnham and Vance look for a diplomatic answer to a fight they can't win, Moll looks for a way to escape (of course!) while Stamets rounds up the troops to try and figure out the final clue, including recruiting a bored and frustrated Book...

site2025m

Serving the fan community since 1974, SFC is an international not for profit fan organisation bringing together collective of fans collectively enjoying strange new worlds in science fiction media.

Star Trek and all related, derived or inferred ideas are the intellectual property of Paramount and Paramount Global. No infringement is intended in the use of this material. Starfleet Command Quadrant 2 (SFCQ2) does not generate any income or profit from their endeavours as a fan organisation, no part of which is sanctioned by the Paramount Global group or any sub-division of the legitimate copyright holders.

Core Website layout by Ghostpool. Managed and Maintained by Aim to Misbehave on behalf of Starfleet Command  Quadrant 2

© 2401 Starfleet  Command Quadrant 2 (SFCQ2)

Login to enjoy full advantages

Please login or subscribe to continue.

Go Premium!

Enjoy the full advantage of the premium access.

Stop following

Unfollow Cancel

Cancel subscription

Are you sure you want to cancel your subscription? You will lose your Premium access and stored playlists.

Go back Confirm cancellation