Michelle Yeoh’s Section 31 movie will take place in Star Trek‘s “lost era”, expanding on the limited knowledge that fans have of this tantalizing time period. The confirmation that Kacey Rohl will play a young Rachel Garrett in Star Trek: Section 31 confirms that the latest mission for Emperor Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) will take place in the early 24th century. This extensive period in the Star Trek timeline takes place between the end of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country and the start of Star Trek: The Next Generation, during which some major historical events took place.
Star Trek‘s “lost era” lasts for almost 70 years, taking in two starship Enterprises and some key events that would influence the Star Trek: The Next Generation era. While Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) may have helped to establish peace with the Klingons in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, there were multiple threats elsewhere in the universe. During this 70-year period, the Romulan Star Empire and Cardassian Union became big threats to the peace and stability established by the Khitomer Accords. Star Trek‘s “lost era”, therefore, is the perfect time period for Michelle Yeoh’s Star Trek spy movie to explore.
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Unknown: Emperor Georgiou Is Sent To Star Trek’s “Lost Era”
Why has the Guardian of Forever sent Georgiou to the early 24th century?
The Guardian of Forever (Paul Guilfoyle) sent Georgiou back through time in Star Trek: Discovery season 3, when it became clear that the former Terran Emperor could no longer live in the 32nd century. It was never confirmed exactly when the Guardian was sending Georgiou, with many presuming that she would just re-emerge in the 23rd century. Now it’s been confirmed that the Guardian has sent her to Star Trek‘s “lost era”, a politically fractious time where, perhaps, Georgiou can do a lot of good to atone for the sins of her past.
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2293: Kirk “Dies” While Saving The USS Enterprise-B
Could Captain John Harriman appear in Section 31?
In the same year that Captain James T Kirk helped to usher in a new era of peace between the Federation and the Klingon Empire, he gave his life to save the USS Enterprise-B. Kirk’s death effectively marks the start of Star Trek‘s lost era, as barely anything is known about what happened next to the USS Enterprise-B. Commanded by Captain John Harriman (Alan Ruck), the Excelsior-class starship embarked on its fateful first flight in 2293, over 70 years before the launch of the Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s version of the starship Enterprise.
Captain John Harriman has been dubbed the worst Enterprise captain due to his handling of the situation involving the Nexus and the El Aurian refugees in Star Trek Generations. However, that’s just one moment in the Starfleet officer’s career, and official Star Trek has never confirmed if he ever redeemed himself for his mistakes. Given that it’s a younger Rachel Garrett in Star Trek: Section 31, there is the possibility that Harriman’s Enterprise is still in service, meaning that the movie could update fans on this unfairly maligned Starfleet captain.
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2311: The Tomed Incident Occurs
The Federation-Romulan conflict is one of the biggest events of Star Trek’s “lost era”.
One of the most important, and mysterious, events in Starfleet history’s “lost era” is the Tomed Incident. The exact specifics of this historical confrontation between the Federation and the Romulan Star Empire are unknown. However, Star Trek: The Next Generation revealed that the incident led to the loss of thousands of lives, presumably on both sides of the conflict. This led to the signing of the Treaty of Algeron, which redefined the boundaries of the Romulan Neutral Zone, and barred any Federation experiments with cloaking technology. The Romulan Star Empire also withdrew from interstellar politics, becoming a more isolationist regime.
The Treaty of Algeron remained in place for decades, barring a special dispensation that let the USS Defiant break the cloaking device ban in 2371. Years before, Captain Erik Pressman (Terry O’Quinn) worked with individuals within Starfleet Intelligence to develop a top secret interphasic cloaking device. While Pressman’s experiment took place years after Star Trek: Section 31, the involvement of Starfleet Intelligence does create the possibility that Georgiou could be thrown directly into the aftermath of the Tomed Incident.
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2319: Cardassian Occupation Of Bajor Begins
The Cardassian Occupation of Bajor was another major event that took place during Star Trek‘s “lost era”. In 2309, the technologically advanced Cardassians offered to help the Bajorans, and spent a decade preparing to finally assert military rule over the planet in 2319. The occupation was a brutal time, in which the Cardassians began stripping Bajor of its natural resources and enslaved its people. For 50 years, the Federation stood by and did nothing, as to intervene would be a breach of the Prime Directive.
Key figures like Ambassador Spock (Leonard Nimoy) and his father, Ambassador Sarek (Mark Lennard) bitterly disagreed over the Federation’s handling of the Cardassians. It’s possible, therefore, that figures within the Federation may have sent Section 31 operatives to supply the Bajoran Resistance with weaponry and supplies to fight their oppressors. The Cardassian Union were probably the biggest threat to peace and stability during Star Trek‘s “lost era”, so weakening them by covertly supporting their enemies would be a smart tactical move by the Federation.
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2327: Jean-Luc Picard Is Stabbed Through The Heart By A Nausicaan
The near-fatal incident was the making of the future Enterprise captain.
The Starfleet career of Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) was almost cut tragically short in 2327, when he was stabbed through the heart by a Nausicaan. Picard underwent emergency surgery, in which he had an artificial heart fitted. In Star Trek: The Next Generation season 6, episode 15, “Tapestry”, Q (John de Lancie) helped Picard to realize that this incident made him the legendary Starfleet captain that he would become. By facing death at the start of his career, Picard knew that life was short, and was emboldened to make his mark as an officer, eventually becoming captain of the Enterprise.
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2333: Jean-Luc Picard Takes Command Of The USS Stargazer
Could Jean-Luc Picard meet Philippa Georgiou?
In 2333, Jean-Luc Picard assumed command of the USS Stargazer when the commanding officer was killed in action. Starfleet were so impressed by Picard’s courage under fire that they made him the permanent commanding officer of the Stargazer. Jean-Luc commanded the USS Stargazer for 22 years, joined by his best friend, Lt. Commander Jack R. Crusher (Doug Wert), the husband of Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden). The timing of Picard’s service aboard the Stargazer does make him one of the few Star Trek: The Next Generation characters who could cross paths with Philippa Georgiou in Star Trek: Section 31.
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2335 – 2336: Lore And Data Are Built On Omicron Theta
The Soong-type androids were a huge leap forward for artificial intelligence.
Dr. Noonien Soong (Brent Spiner) and his wife Juliana (Fionnula Flanagan) made a huge leap forward in creating synthetic life. In 2335, Lore was built and activated, but displayed signs of emotional instability, and even a sinister degree of malevolence. Lore was deactivated, and Soong began working on a new and improved model, Data, who was less emotional and therefore more stable. With the help of Juliana, Data began to learn about art and music, in a desire to become more human. However, the Soong family were soon to face a devastating tragedy that would place Data in the hands of Starfleet.
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2338: Omicron Theta Is Attacked By The Crystalline Entity
Lore’s revenge was devastating, but set Data on a path to Starfleet.
Lore took revenge on Noonien and Juliana by communicating with the Crystalline Entity, an immensely powerful being responsible for thousands of deaths in the 24th century. Lore effectively fed the Soongs’ home of Omicron Theta to the Entity, which quickly consumed all organic life on the planet. Juliana was seriously injured as she and Noonien Soong fled the Entity, later dying and being replaced by an android duplicate. Data was left behind on Omicron Theta, where he was discovered by the crew of the USS Tripoli, who reactivated him, and inspired the Soong-type android to pursue a career in Starfleet.
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2344: The USS Enterprise-C Is Destroyed
Captain Garrett’s sacrifice preserved peace with the Klingon Empire.
Years after she meets Philippa Georgiou in Star Trek: Section 31, Rachel Garrett is captain of the USS Enterprise-C. Beyond its tragic ending, the service history of Garrett’s Enterprise is unknown, but it was a starship of huge historical significance. As revealed in Star Trek: The Next Generation season 3, episode 15, “Yesterday’s Enterprise”, the Enterprise-C bravely fought off a Romulan attack on a Klingon colony. Outgunned and outmanned, the Enterprise-C was destroyed above Narendra III by four Romulan warbirds.
The biggest tragedy of the USS Enterprise-C was that the crew were presented with a way out when, over 20 years later, they fell through a temporal rift. However, their disappearance from Narendra III ultimately led to tensions between the Federation and the Klingon Empire reaching boiling point once again. And so Garrett and her crew made the decision to return to 2344 and face their tragic fate. The Klingon Empire was so impressed by the Enterprise-C’s glorious battle against the Romulans that relations between them and the Federation began to improve.
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2346: The Romulans Attack Khitomer
The Khitomer Massacre tore the House of Mogh apart.
The complicated relationship between the Klingon Empire and Worf (Michael Dorn) begins in Star Trek‘s “lost era” with the devastating Khitomer Massacre in 2346. It was a massive escalation of the attempted destruction of Narendra III two years earlier. Worf’s father, Mogh, desperately tried to warn the colony about the impending attack, after unearthing the fact that the planet’s defense codes had been leaked by the traitor Ja’rod. Romulan forces launched a devastating attack on the Klingon colony, resulting in an estimated 78% of the population being listed as casualties. The attack orphaned Worf, who was raised by his adoptive human parents, Sergey and Helena Rozhenko.
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2362: The Setlik III Massacre Happens
The tragedy made Chief O’Brien a hero.
The Federation-Cardassian Wars began in 2347 and the conflicts between both powers lasted into the early 2360s. One of the most devastating tragedies of these conflicts was the Setlik III massacre, the date of which is up for debate in Star Trek canon. In Star Trek: The Next Generation season 4, episode 12, “The Wounded”, Chief O’Brien (Colm Meaney) states that the massacre occurred in 2347, but this is later contradicted when Star Trek: Deep Space Nine dates it closer to 2362.
Whatever the date, the Cardassian attack on Setlik III was devastating, and killed the majority of the colony’s inhabitants, including the family of Captain Benjamin Maxwell (Bob Gunton). Chief O’Brien became the “Hero of Setlik III” by saving the lives of 13 people with a field transporter. It was revealed in Star Trek: The Next Generation that the Setlik III massacre was a terrible mistake, launched out of the false belief that the civilian colony was a staging ground for a Federation invasion of Cardassian space.
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2363: Construction On The USS Enterprise-D Is Completed
19 years after the destruction of the USS Enterprise-C, construction was completed on her successor in 2363. This is the moment that brings Star Trek‘s “lost era” to a close, as Captain Jean-Luc Picard would command the USS Enterprise-D for eight years beginning in 2364. The adventures of Picard’s crew are legendary, and well documented, as are those of Captains Janeway and Sisko who followed in his wake. However, whether it was the falllout from the Cardassian border agreement, or the revelations about the Khitomer Massacre, all three of those legendary Star Trek captains had to deal with the fallout from this “lost era” of Starfleet history.
Star Trek: Generations is available to stream on Max.
All episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine are available to stream on Paramount Plus.
Star Trek: Section 31
In this Paramount+ exclusive movie event, Michelle Yeoh returns as Emperor Philippa Georgiou, who was first introduced in Star Trek: Discovery Season 1. Star Trek: Section 31 centers on Yeoh’s character as she faces her past sins and is recruited by Starfleet’s secret division that protects the United Federation of Planets.
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation is the third installment in the sci-fi franchise and follows the adventures of Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew members of the USS Enterprise. Set around one hundred years after the original series, Picard and his crew travel through the galaxy in largely self-contained episodes exploring the crew dynamics and their own political discourse. The series also had several overarching plots that would develop over the course of the isolated episodes, with four films released in tandem with the series to further some of these story elements.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, also known as DS9, is the fourth series in the long-running Sci-Fi franchise, Star Trek. DS9 was created by Rick Berman and Michael Piller, and stars Avery Brooks, René Auberjonois, Terry Farrell, and Cirroc Lofton. This particular series follows a group of individuals in a space station near a planet called Bajor.
