WARNING: Contains SPOILERS for Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 8, “Labyrinths”

Is Cleveland Booker (David Ajala) the last Kwejian in Star Trek: Discovery? Kwejians are a new Star Trek species introduced by Star Trek: Discovery, and their absence in earlier Star Trek shows is explained by Kwejian first achieving warp capability in the 31st century. Some Kwejians, like Book, possess natural empathy, indicated by a glowing pattern that appears on their foreheads when activated. Empathy gives Kwejians the ability to connect with, understand, and sometimes even influence animals and plants. Kwejian empathy also extends to fungi, so Book can be a navigator for the USS Discovery’s spore drive if Commander Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp) isn’t available.

When Book meets Commander Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) at the start of Star Trek: Discovery season 3, Cleveland is a resentful courier estranged from his Kwejian family. The Burn has made warp travel difficult due to a lack of dilithium, but Book has his own ship, so he survives by taking on courier jobs, ferrying goods and making useful underworld connections. The dog-eat-dog world of Star Trek‘s 32nd century means Book often hides the fact that he wants to help others when possible, his Kwejian empathy makes him a great partner for Burnham, who holds tight to Starfleet ideals as a “true believer”. Book’s relationship with Michael Burnham also saves his life.

Book Isn’t The Last Kwejian In Star Trek: Discovery

Book Is One Of The Few Kwejian Survivors

Cleveland Booker on Star Trek: Discovery isn’t the last Kwejian, but Book is one of the few survivors of Kwejian’s destruction. Kwejian was destroyed by the Dark Matter Anomaly in Star Trek: Discovery season 4, when the DMA’s gravitational waves caused enough gravitational shear to tear Kwejian apart. Everyone on the planet’s surface was killed, including Book’s brother Kyheem (Ache Hernandez) and nephew, Leto (Luca Doulgeris), whom Book had recently reconciled with, when Kyheem accepted the responsibility of becoming the Steward of Kwejian’s Sanctuary. The only Kwejians who were spared were those who, like Book, were offworld at the time of Kwejian’s destruction.

The source of the DMA was still unknown when Kwejian was destroyed, but Book believed that Kwejian was eradicated as an act of genocide. Book was convinced that he, as one of the last Kwejian, had to avenge Kwejian’s destruction. Book pursued the creators of the DMA, Species 10-C, with a single-minded passion that didn’t allow room for other potential motives, even after learning the DMA wasn’t a weapon, but a tool. Booker’s palpable grief was driven by the deep connection of the Kwejian people to their home world. Book had lost more than his family and his home planet; he’d lost the source of his spiritual connection.

What Book’s Artifact In Star Trek: Discovery’s Eternal Gallery & Archive Means

Kwejian Could Be Regrown From The World Root In The Archive

In Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 8, “Labyrinths”, Book learns that cuttings from the World Root of Kwejian survived Kwejian’s destruction by being housed in the Eternal Gallery and Archive. The World Root was a vast root system that ran throughout the Kwejian homeworld, symbolizing Kwejians’ connections to each other and to their ancestors, and the very heart of the Kwejian homeworld itself. In a Kwejian rite of passage, each Kwejian youth received an amulet with the sap of the World Root, an Iku Zhen, as part of their coming of age ceremony, ensuring that a part of the World Root, and Kwejian’s heart, would always be with Kwejians.

The survival of the World Root means that Kwejian could theoretically be reborn from one of the cuttings. After Kwejian’s destruction, the World Root cuttings were moved to a place of honor in the Archive. As one of the last living Kwejian, Book was given the opportunity to view the World Root cuttings on a visit to the Archive in the search for the Progenitors’ technology. Hy’rell (Elena Juatco), the Archive librarian, allowed Book to take the World Root cuttings as a representative of the Kwejian people, only asking for Book to return to the Archive in the future to explain what happened to the World Root cuttings.

Book Is Like Spock In J.J. Abrams Star Trek

Spock Survived Vulcan’s Destruction In The Kelvin Timeline

With the loss of Kwejian in Star Trek: Discovery, Cleveland Booker has something in common with Spock (Zachary Quinto) from the Kelvin Timeline in J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek movies. Spock was helpless to watch Vulcan destroyed in Star Trek, which left him as one of the last remaining Vulcans. Unlike Kwejian, which was destroyed accidentally, Vulcan was destroyed in an intentional act of malice perpetrated by Nero (Eric Bana), a Romulan who originated in Star Trek‘s Prime Timeline, and had a self-made score to settle with the Prime universe’s Ambassador Spock (Leonard Nimoy). Nero used volatile red matter to detonate Vulcan from the inside, leaving approximately 10,000 Vulcan survivors.

Book’s actions in Star Trek: Discovery season 4 are also analogous to Nero’s in J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek, in that Book and Nero are both driven by vengeance for the loss of their homeworlds. Nero is a survivor of the Prime Timeline’s Romulan Supernova of 2387, and believes Spock’s inaction led to the destruction of Romulus; similarly, Book sought to inflict genocide on Species 10-C after their DMA destroyed Kwejian. Unlike the Prime Timeline Romulans and the Kelvin Timeline Vulcans, however, very few Kwejian were living offworld when it was destroyed. Kwejians may be very rare in Star Trek: Discovery, but Cleveland Booker is not the very last surviving Kwejian.

Star Trek: Discovery is streaming on Paramount+.

Star Trek (2009) is available to stream on Max.

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  Star Trek: Discovery

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  Star Trek (2009)