Editorial: Diving Deep Into Timeline Questions and Easter Eggs in the ‘Strange New Worlds’ Finale
The finale of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds went straight for a classic Trek genre: time travel.
Whenever the franchise delves into altering or securing the timeline it can leave behind a multitude of questions. In this case, the finale not only goes the time travel route, but plays directly into an episode previously aired in Star Trek: The Original Series. In a sense, this episode “pre-visits” The Balance of Terror. Once Pike is shipped off into the future, the episode begins to mirror the TOS episode in every way. That is… until all hell breaks loose. In this editorial, I will answer timeline questions you may have as well as look back at ways the episodes mirrored each other and where they branch apart.
Even from the beginning it mirrors Balance of Terror as Pike is flushed into a wedding ceremony he is performing. In this timeline he has avoided death, and therefore Kirk is not in command of the Enterprise and in place to perform the ceremony. The original episode sees Kirk about to wed two of his crew members before the ship is thrust into red alert. The same happens to Pike. Now, we know Pike is not supposed to be in command of the ship, but the only acknowledgment to this in the episode is when Spock simply states, “All that we can surmise is that in the Prime future, some other captain of the Enterprise must have commanded it differently.” As Pike turns to Spock for help, it is Spock who tells him he must act as if he would under any normal circumstance. This is the only way to ensure the timeline proceeds as Pike has been warned.
Balance of Terror is again mirrored perfectly when the station is destroyed by the Romulans. After watching this scene in the finale look back at this clip:
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Now the real differences are about to begin. Up to this point the timeline has been secure. The difference so far is Pike has reached out to another Starfleet vessel, The Farragut, for assistance as he begins his pursuit of the Romulan ship. The Farragut is commanded by Captain Kirk himself. In this timeline, he’s not aboard the Enterprise yet, since Pike is still alive. In Balance of Terror, Kirk is in command and doesn’t take long to choose to pursue and destroy the Romulan vessel. After hosting a roundtable discussion on the matter, he believes Spock’s advice about “showing no weakness” is the best route to take. It’s worth noting that in both TOS and Strange New Worlds Chief Medical officers McCoy and M’Benga are the ones who urge Kirk against violence.
Once Kirk decides on attacking first and debating later, he orders them to fire blind. It’s realized in the end this is the approach it would take to win the day:
In Pike’s timeline, he withholds from firing just for a second, and that’s all the time the Romulans need to regroup. Pike’s momentary act of mercy and desire for a diplomatic solution will cost the galaxy dearly. The differing methods of action between the two captains are spearheaded against each other momentarily as this version of a classic episode begins to turn sour.
Of course, in Balance of Terror, Kirk isn’t able to destroy the Romulan ship in his first attempt. Ultimately, he contacts the Romulan captain, and the two earn a level of respect for one another. The Romulan ship ends up being damaged beyond repair, and Kirk extends an offer to save them but is denied.
This scene is nearly identically mirrored in the Strange New Worlds finale. It’s remarkable how the episodes have gone completely differently, but Pike’s burning desire to have peace still wins over the Romulan adversary. In Pike’s timeline, the subordinate to the leader of the Romulan ship goes against his commanding officer’s orders and contacts the Romulan fleet. Once realizing their own ship allowed itself to get captured a “culling” takes place. Pike extends the same offer Kirk did in the original timeline of beaming him and his crew aboard to save them, but the conversation goes much the same.
The Romulans in both timelines sent these ships out to “test” the strength of the Federation. In the original timeline, Kirk’s quick action to destroy the ship signaled to the Romulans that the Federation were rivals and that open war would not be favorable. To the Romulans, it would seem they “passed”. In Pike’s timeline, they took his mercy and the extending of an olive branch as a sign of weakness and launched an immediate and violent war against the Federation. One of the heaviest results of the immediate attack was the loss of Spock. The loss of Spock would be felt forever.
As Pike is about to find out from his future self who paid him a visit, Spock is the key to Vulcan and Romulan reunification. Spock is the one who begins the process of reunification with the Vulcans and Romulans. A lasting peace between the two cultures and a giant step in the way towards galactic peace was destroyed by a singular act of mercy. Here is an exchange between Spock and Captain Picard from Star Trek: The Next Generation:
It will take generations, but we find out in season 3 of Star Trek: Discovery that his efforts resulted in the peace that had eluded the two cultures for hundreds of years.
The name of Spock would live on hundreds of years past his time. Ultimately, he would be remembered forever as the one who began to end the conflict and bring the cultures back together. The shock on the faces of the Discovery crew when they found out is evidence enough of how distant that must feel currently, let alone what it must feel like to Pike, who has seen the beginning of a war.
When reunified, the planet Vulcan would be renamed Ni’Var. It took even longer after reunification, but ultimately, they would join the Federation together. This entire future is lost if Pike’s timeline remains.
Another image to look at is future Pike’s uniform. Judging by the look of it, it appears he is coming from around the time of The Wrath of Khan:
Anson Mount as Pike
If accurate, a war with the Romulans during the time the Augments nearly destroy Earth would be catastrophic. Pike has already stated that millions have died, and the war has no end in sight. All of this was decided by one moment of mercy. I was reminded of an exchange between Kirk and Spock in The City on the Edge of Forever:
“But she was right. Peace was the way.”
“She was right, but at the wrong time”
The final point is this. Obviously, most of the changes in the canonical timeline were avoided by Pike’s choices when returned to his present timeline. However, two critical differences remain:
- 1) Pike knows about the relation between Romulans and Vulcans.
- 2) He knows of this possible terrible future. It is uncertain how either one will affect change in the timeline in the episodes and seasons to come, but I would be surprised if nothing comes of it.
The finale of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds was a reminder of how your stories can be intricately interconnected, but still tell unique and individual stories not coming at the cost of your current character’s journey. I hope this editorial answered any questions you may have had on the finale itself or you at least found it fascinating to see how everything pieces together. I will be right there with you as we journey into Strange New Worlds season 2.
Tyler Bradshaw is a Florida social services coordinator with a passion for movies and filmmaking. While The Empire Strikes Back is his favorite movie all time some other favorites include Seven Samurai, Little Women (2019) and The Lord of the Rings trilogy. He has an always growing list of movies he needs to see with David Lynch being his current favorite director. He loves to engage in thought-provoking conversations about his favorite movies.
