Montgomery Scott invented transwarp beaming in Star Trek, but when exactly did the “miracle worker” create this revolutionary technology? Scotty has an amazing and complicated Star Trek legacy: The Prime Universe’s Montogomery Scott (James Doohan) was the Chief Engineer of the USS Enterprise in Star Trek: The Original Series and the TOS movies, but he jumped to the 24th century in Star Trek: The Next Generation. In the alternate Kelvin Timeline, Scotty (Simon Pegg) was also the Chief Engineer of the Starship Enterprise in J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek movie trilogy, and it’s this version of Scotty who actually got to use transwarp beaming.
Transwarp beaming was a theory (since proven) that postulates it’s possible to beam an object or person from one star system to another or to a starship traveling at warp speed. As Scotty explained in Star Trek 2009, “The notion of transwarp beaming is like trying to hit a bullet with a smaller bullet whilst wearing a blindfold and riding a horse.” Nonetheless, with the transwarp beaming formula provided to Scotty by Ambassador Spock (Leonard Nimoy), which came from Scotty’s Prime Timeline counterpart, Scotty and James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) were successfully able to transwarp beam themselves onto the Enterprise while it was traveling at warp. Khan Noonien Singh (Benedict Cumberbatch) later transwarp beamed from Earth to the Klingon homeworld in Star Trek Into Darkness.
When Did Scotty Invent Transwarp Beaming In Star Trek’s Prime Timeline?
When, exactly, Scotty invented transwarp beaming gets confusing. In Star Trek’s Prime Timeline, the first mention of transwarp drive was in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. Transwarp drive was “The Great Experiment” of the USS Excelsior. However, Scotty sabotaged the Excelsior’s transwarp drive, which resulted in Starfleet not widely adopting the new warp technology. Ambassador Spock told the Kelvin Timeline’s Scotty that his Prime Timeline counterpart perfected the formula for transwarp beaming, but did it happen in the 23rd century (perhaps after Scotty turned the Excelsior) or after Scotty emerged in the 24th century in Star Trek: The Next Generation? It’s also unclear if Scotty and Spock ever reunited in the TNG era or when the Vulcan got the transwarp formula from Mr. Scott.
In Star Trek 2009’s Kelvin Timeline, Scotty had the notion of transwarp beaming apparently far earlier than the Prime Timeline’s Montgomery Scott. Kelvin Scotty said he argued with his instructor, who deemed transwarp beaming “impossible.” To prove his case, Scotty tested his theory on Admiral Archer’s (Scott Bakula) prized beagle. Unfortunately for the dog, the experiment was a failure. Scotty’s theory was eventually proven correct, but it’s a bit of a cheat that the answer came from himself in another reality.
Why Hasn’t Scotty’s Greatest Star Trek Miracle Been Used Since Into Darkness?
After Star Trek 2009, Starfleet apparently took over Scotty’s transwarp beaming technology and turned it over to Section 31. It then came under the possession of Khan, who was posing as Starfleet Commander John Harrison. Khan used his genius to create a portable transwarp beaming device while he used to flee Earth and jump to Qo’noS. This was the last time transwarp beaming was utilized in the Star Trek franchise, and all of it took place in the Kelvin Timeline.
Curiously, there’s been no explanation as to why Star Trek’s Prime Timeline hasn’t referenced or used transwarp beaming. It apparently isn’t 23rd-century technology at all, and it was given to the Kelvin Timeline’s 23rd century by the Spock of the future to coincide with how much more advanced Kelvin technology of the era is compared to Prime Timeline technology. But it’s also interesting that late 24th-century and early 25th-century set series like Star Trek: Lower Decks, Star Trek: Prodigy, and Star Trek: Picard don’t use transwarp beaming, much less Star Trek: Discovery‘s 32nd century. Scotty’s greatest miracle appears to be forgotten by Star Trek.
