Most of the time, Starfleet’s bravery and ingenuity are enough to win every fight and save every day, but the tragic Star Trek battles that Starfleet lost are defining events along the Star Trek timeline. Tragedies like Wolf 359 in Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine‘s Dominion War affect a whole generation, with characters carrying the heavy burdens of their loved one’s deaths or their own survival as part of their backstories. Entire seasons of Star Trek: Discovery are anchored by mysteries that come with more losses for Starfleet, and interrogate the effects of enormous tragedies on individual people.
Starfleet’s losses are an integral part of Star Trek‘s storytelling because loss shows that not every fight can be won, even in Star Trek‘s optimistic future. Sometimes the enemies are stronger, faster, or smarter. Sometimes the heroes lack the resources or strategy needed in order to win, and sometimes their hands are tied with directives from higher up the chain of command. Star Trek‘s strength is in its characters, and how they deal with loss is an important part of showing who these people are, both while tragedy is striking, and in the aftermath of painful events.
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9 The Borg Betray Janeway’s Alliance
Star Trek: Voyager Season 4, Episode 1, “Scorpion, Part II”
When the USS Voyager finally encountered Borg space on their journey across the Delta Quadrant, Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) made an unheard-of alliance with the Borg, and promised help in defeating Species 8472 in exchange for safe passage. Commander Chakotay (Robert Beltran) advised against the alliance with a prescient warning that the Borg couldn’t be trusted, but Janeway still allowed the Borg to modify Voyager. After Janeway’s end of the bargain was fulfilled, the Borg terminated Janeway’s alliance, and their representative, Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan), continued assimilating the USS Voyager.
8 Jadzia Dax’s Death
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 6, Episode 26, “The Tears of the Prophets”
The death of Lt. Commander Jadzia Dax (Terry Farrell) was a great loss for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, gravely affecting the characters of DS9 while introducing a powerful spiritual front to the Dominion War. After Captain Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) ignored the Prophets’ warning to remain on DS9, the Emissary’s absence left DS9 vulnerable to unexpected spiritual attacks. In the Bajoran temple, Gul Dukat (Marc Alaimo) released the pah-wraith that killed Jadzia Dax and went on to attack the Prophets through the Orbs. Heavy with guilt over Dax’s death and the Prophets’ apparent absence, Sisko left DS9 without warning at a time Starfleet needed Sisko most.
7 The Gorn Destroy the USS Cayuga at Parnassus Beta
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2, Episode 10 “Hegemony”
Captain Marie Batel’s (Melanie Scrofano) USS Cayuga was on a humanitarian aid mission to the Parnassus Beta colony when the Gorn Hegemony attacked, having determined Parnassus Beta to be located within Gorn space. The USS Enterprise, led by Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount), responded to the Cayuga’s distress call to find the Cayuga completely destroyed. As the Enterprise held the Federation’s border against Gorn forces amassing nearby, Pike led a team into Gorn space to rescue survivors on the colony, and found Parnassus Beta had been massacred. The loss of the Cayuga and 5,000 colonists strained tension between the Federation and Gorn Hegemony, potentially inviting war.
6 The Living Construct Nearly Destroys Starfleet
Star Trek: Prodigy Season 1, Episodes 19 & 20, “Supernova, Parts I & II”
After First Contact with Starfleet led to the Vau N’Akat nearly wiping themselves out, the Vau N’Akat vowed revenge by placing a weapon, the living construct, within the USS Protostar, which would destroy Starfleet ships through their communication systems. The crew of the USS Protostar tried valiantly to protect Starfleet as they finally entered Federation space, but The Vindicator (Jameela Jamil) activated the Living Construct, starting the chain reaction that caused the USS Dauntless’ weapons to fire on other Starfleet ships, then automatic distress calls that summoned more Starfleet ships, then those ships firing on each other, then more automatic distress calls, then…
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5 The Dominion Take Over Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 5, Episode 26, “A Call to Arms”
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine‘s Dominion War officially began when the Dominion, using their Cardassian allies, drove Starfleet forces out of Deep Space Nine and retook the station as Terok Nor. Things looked grim for Starfleet even before the Dominion took over DS9, with a new Jem’Hadar convoy arriving nearly every week and rumors that the Romulans had joined the Dominion. Negotiations with the Dominion broke down, forcing Bajor to sign the Dominion’s nonaggression pact to ensure their safety. Starfleet was spread thin and left DS9 to its own devices, with a minefield that encouraged the Dominion to attack instead of deterring them as planned. DS9 was lost, but the war had just begun.
4 The Battle of the Binary Stars
Star Trek: Discovery Season 1, Episode 2 “Battle at the Binary Stars”
Star Trek: Discovery‘s Battle of the Binary Stars kicked off the Starfleet-Klingon War in 2256, when Klingon warrior T’Kuvma (Chris Obi), hoping to unite the 24 Klingon Houses against Starfleet, lured the USS Shenzhou into a confrontation in Federation space. The Shenzhou’s Captain Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) and Commander Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) boarded T’Kuvma’s ship, but Klingons murdered Georgiou before Burnham killed T’Kuvma and escaped. Although the Klingons lost their leader, the 10 Starfleet vessels that responded to the Shenzhou’s distress call were no match for the united Klingon forces, and Starfleet lost 8 starships and thousands of lives in the brutal conflict, before the war took even more.
3 The Mars Attack of 2385
13 Years Before Star Trek: Picard Season 1
In Star Trek: Picard season 1’s backstory, the 2385 attack on Mars was orchestrated by the Zhat Vash cabal within the Romulan Tal Shiar, dedicated to the elimination of synthetic life forms, even at the cost of their own people. Through Zhat Vash interference, A500 androids working at the Utopia Planitia Shipyards turned on their organic counterparts before using Mars’ own infrastructure to destroy the planet’s surface, rendering Mars uninhabitable. The synth attack culminated in the loss of over 90,000 lives, all Martian colonies, the Shipyards, and the rescue fleet bound for Romulus to ferry refugees from the impending supernova. Without Starfleet’s help evacuating Romulus, the remaining Romulan lives were forfeit, bringing casualties into the billions.
2 The Burn
120 Years Before Star Trek: Discovery Season 3
The Burn ruined Starfleet not just by killing millions, but by destroying the very idea of Starfleet. After leading the USS Discovery 930 years into the future, Commander Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) emerged in the 32nd century to find a disconnected galaxy decimated by The Burn, an event that breached the warp cores of all active starships by rendering dilithium inert over a century earlier. Millions were instantly killed, and warp travel became all but impossible since most remaining dilithium became a precious commodity controlled by the criminal Emerald Chain. Federation member worlds were disconnected and isolated, leaving Starfleet ideals like cooperation and hope all but dissolved.
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1 Battle of Wolf 359
Star Trek: The Next Generation, Season 3, Episode 26 & TNG Season 4, Episode 1, “The Best of Both Worlds, Parts I & II”
The Battle of Wolf 359 changed Star Trek with lasting consequences for many characters’ personal lives and the political landscape in Star Trek‘s 24th century. After Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) was taken by the Borg and transformed into Locutus, Starfleet rallied to defend itself from the threat of Borg assimilation and the Federation’s total annihilation. The Borg’s superior firepower and constant adaptability resulted in the loss of 11,000 lives and 39 Starfleet vessels — every Starfleet ship engaged with the Borg except for the USS Enterprise-D. An entire generation would be impacted by Wolf 359, particularly Jean-Luc Picard, who still grappled with being Locutus decades later in Star Trek: Picard.
As Captain Jean-Luc Picard himself said in TNG season 2, episode 21 “Peak Performance”, “It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness. That is life.” As Starfleet continues exploring the galaxy, loss will inevitably be part of the ongoing story. Federation diplomacy doesn’t always work as intended. New life and new civilizations may indeed be hostile and pose stronger threats, resulting in greater tragedies, with grief that ripples throughout the Federation. The hard losses in Star Trek signal that tragedy will always be a part of life, but strength can always be found in the aftermath.
