Across its nearly 60-year history, Star Trek has created some of the most iconic and long-lasting stories ever seen on a screen. Indeed, part of what makes new Trek properties so iconic is that they are all linked in a unified Star Trek timeline, and thus each new movie or TV show only adds to the narrative started by Gene Roddenberry back in 1966. For the most part, all of these stories take place in the “Prime Timeline.” There are, however, other realities; Star Trek’s Mirror Universe and the Kelvin Timeline are the two most prominent alternate timelines.
The Mirror Universe, for example, has showed up in every era of Trek, from Star Trek: The Original Series to Star Trek: Discovery, and the three movies in the Kelvin Timeline arguably relaunched the franchise for the 21st century. The finale of Star Trek: Lower Decks, however, revealed that there are an infinite number of parallel realities alongside the Prime Timeline, and episodes from across the franchise have shown what some of those timelines look like. Unfortunately, for the most part, those alternate realities have been essentially ignored after their episodes wrapped up.
1
Enterprise: Shockwave Parts One and Two
The Federation Never Forms Because Captain Archer Isn’t There
Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) has honors unmatched by any other Starfleet captain, and he deserves them given he was responsible for the creation of the Federation. During the events of Star Trek: Enterprise, however, Captain Archer did not know that the Federation was in his future. “Shockwave” explored an alternate timeline where Captain Archer didn’t found the Federation, with the interesting twist that, due to Starfleet’s Temporal Prime Directive, he couldn’t know how the alternate timeline resulted from his actions. Unfortunately, this alternate timeline left Earth in ruins, making it somewhat uninteresting for Star Trek to revisit.
2
Enterprise: Storm Front Parts One And Two
Agents In The Temporal Cold War Helped The Nazis In World War Two
The Temporal Cold War plotline in Enterprise meant that Captain Archer encountered more alternate timelines than he had any right to expect when he set out to explore the galaxy. It seems obvious that the Temporal Cold War should end with yet another alternate timeline, this one intentionally created by the Na’kuhl, enemies of the Federation in the Temporal Cold War. The Na’kuhl first assassinated Lenin, then traded technology with the Nazis, leading to an invasion of North America when the Enterprise arrived.
Star Trek: Discovery revealed in its finale that Temporal Agent Daniels (Matt Winston) is still active as Doctor Kovich (David Cronenberg) long after helping Captain Archer.
Unfortunately, the two-episode arc “Storm Front” does not reveal what the effects of the interference were in other parts of the timeline. The USS Enterprise was stuck in the 1940s, so the later effects on the Federation were not shown. However, Star Trek has explored other alternate timelines where the Nazis won WWII, so we can guess. In fact, the Enterprise Mirror Universe episode, “In A Mirror, Darkly,” suggests in its theme song that a Nazi victory was a core event in the history of the Mirror Universe.
3
Strange New Worlds: A Quality of Mercy
The Neutral Zone Incursion Leads To Open War Between The Federation And The Romulans
Since its opening episode, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has been haunted by the eventual fate of Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount). The Original Series established decades ago that Captain Pike’s life ends in tragedy when his body is destroyed by Delta Radiation, and Strange New Worlds revealed that Captain Pike knew his future the whole time. It seems natural, then, that Strange New Worlds would include an episode where Captain Pike can see an alternate reality where he avoids his fate.
Unfortunately for Captain Pike, everything is much worse if he remains the captain of the Enterprise.
Unfortunately for Captain Pike, everything is much worse if he remains the captain of the Enterprise. In this alternate reality, Captain Pike handles the Romulan Neutral Zone Incursion, which Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) handled in The Original Series, leading to war between the Federation and the Romulan Star Empire. This version of reality is so dark that it is an older Captain Pike himself who travels through time to prevent this future. Given that this chain of events would destroy every other Star Trek property except Enterprise, it’s no wonder this chain of events was left in the past.
4
The Original Series: The City on the Edge of Forever
Unless One Innocent Woman Dies Young, The Nazis Conquer The World And The Federation Never Exists
Despite being the greatest episode in Star Trek, “The City on the Edge of Forever” features a reality that the franchise never revisited. After traveling back in time and falling in love with the 1930s pacifist Edith Keeler (Joan Collins), Captain Kirk realizes that unless she dies young, she’ll kick off a chain of events leading to a Nazi takeover of Earth. While this isn’t the only episode exploring a reality where the Nazis won, it is, perhaps, the most tragic. Even if none of the Star Trek shows doesn’t return to this reality, the episode remains deeply impactful.
5
The Next Generation: Yesterday’s Enterprise
The Enterprise-C Goes To The Future, Leading To War Between The Federation And The Klingon Empire
In some ways, Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s episode “Yesterday’s Enterprise” is unique among Star Trek alternate reality episodes. For one thing, “Yesterday’s Enterprise” features none of the characters from the Prime Universe of TNG. Sure, Captain Jean Luc Picard (Patrick Steward) and Commander William T. Riker (Jonathan Frakes) are in the episode, but only as versions of themselves engaged in an all-out war with the Klingon Empire.
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Star Trek: Section 31’s Only Starfleet Officer Doesn’t Know They’re Doomed
Star Trek: Section 31’s Lt. Rachel Garrett has no idea about the tragic fate that awaits her after she becomes captain of the USS Enterprise-C.
What makes this version of the universe so interesting is that it reveals that the stars of The Next Generation are fundamentally themselves regardless of what reality throws at them. Captain Picard will always strive for a better future for Starfleet, even if reality itself has warped around him such that Starfleet is almost unrecognizable. Despite how interesting this reality is, however, it collapsed back into nonexistence when the Enterprise-C went back to its own time.
6
Deep Space Nine: Past Tense Parts One And 2
The Bell Riots Have To Happen For The Federation To Exist, No Matter Who Gabriel Bell Actually Is
Although Star Trek: Deep Space Nine had some of the most iconic Mirror Universe episodes in all of Star Trek, DS9‘s two-part story of the Bell Riots in “Past Tense” reveals yet another alternate reality where, without the intervention of a Starfleet captain, the Federation will never have existed. What makes these episodes particularly interesting is the implication that the Prime Universe itself was changed by Captain Benjamin Sisko’s (Avery Brooks) actions.
The Bell Riots were supposed to take place last summer on August 30th, 2024.
At the start of “Past Tense,” the Bell Riots were spearheaded by Gabriel Bell; by the end of the second episode, the Federation archives show a picture of Captain Sisko in Gabriel Bell’s place. In other words, the entire history of Star Trek was overwritten by a version of events where Captain Sisko was a leader in the Bell Riots. As such, it wouldn’t make sense for Star Trek to revisit the alternate reality created in “Past Tense” explicitly, because all of Star Trek is now implicitly an alternate reality.
7
Voyager: Non Sequitur
Ensign Harry Kim Travels To A Reality Where He Isn’t Stationed On Voyager
For perpetual-Ensign Harry Kim (Garrett Wang), the alternate reality he encountered after a shuttle crash in Star Trek: Voyager’s “Non Sequitur” was arguably better than the Prime Universe. Ensign Kim traveled to a reality where he had never been assigned to Voyager and so had to actively choose to find a way back to Voyager instead of staying, safely, on Earth because it makes other people’s lives better. It’s not that dissimilar to the Prime Universe, but Ensign Kim’s brief trip to an alternate reality reveals the true depths of his character.
8
Voyager: Year Of Hell Parts One and Two
A Temporal Weapon Had The Ability To Create Theoretically Infinite Alternate Timelines
Voyager‘s two-parter “Year of Hell” is a plotline so iconic it could have been its own movie. In “Year of Hell,” Voyager has a series of encounters with the Krenim Imperium and their temporal weapon ship. The Krenim temporal weapon was capable of pushing things out of space-time (aka out of the Prime Universe), making it so they never existed. Since Voyager was able to shield itself from the temporal fluctuations, Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) and the rest of the crew could see a wide variety of alternate realities, which collapsed when Captain Janeway destroyed the Krenim temporal weapon.
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Related
I’m Actually Glad Star Trek: Voyager Didn’t Make “Year Of Hell” Last An Entire Season
“Year of Hell” is one of Star Trek: Voyager’s most popular episodes, but there were plans to have the storyline last much longer than a two-parter.
Unlike the rest of the entries on this list, however, Star Trek left the door open for a return to some of those alternate realities. For one, the earlier episode “Before and After” involved Kes (Jennifer Lien) living through one alternate version of Voyager’s encounters with the Krenim Imperium. For another, “Year of Hell Part Two” ends with a Krenim engineer once again drafting plans for a temporal weapon. So, if Star Trek ever wants to, it is entirely possible for them to return to the alternate timelines of “Year of Hell.”
9
Voyager: Timeless
Only Harry Kim And Chakotay Survive Voyager, And They Set Out To Create A New Timeline
The entire ship of Ensigns Harry Kim in the finale of Lower Decks suggests that Ensign Kim might, in fact, have experienced more reality warping crossovers than any other being in the multiverse. Even the Prime Universe Harry Kim saw more than his fair share of alternate timelines on Voyager. In the season five episode “Timeless,” Harry Kim stared down alternate timeline madness once again, this time with Commander Chakotay (Robert Beltran) by his side. Unlike other accidental timeline crossovers, however, in Voyager‘s “Timeless” Harry Kim intentionally chose to rework time and create, from his perspective, an alternate timeline.
Harry Kim left Starfleet in “Timeless,” but it is not specified whether he was ever promoted beyond Ensign before he quit.
Like with Captain Sisko and the Bell Riots, however, the alternate timeline that Harry Kim and Chakotay created ended up becoming the Star Trek Prime Universe, and the unaltered progression of events seems like the alternate timeline. It is unclear whether it would even be possible to go back to this reality, since Harry Kim and Chakotay explicitly set out to destroy it.
10
Picard: Penance
Q Created A Dystopian Alternate Timeline
Since he was first introduced in The Next Generation, Q (John de Lancie) has had the ability to create alternate timelines on a whim. Combined with Q’s perennial fascination and friendship with first Captain, then Admiral, Picard, it is unsurprising that Q made an appearance in Star Trek: Picard. In “Penance,” Q created an alternate timeline to teach Picard a lesson. Although, in the end, Admiral Picard was able to restore the Prime Universe timeline, the nature of Q’s abilities mean that it is always possible that Star Trek could use Q to revisit this or any other alternate timeline.
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Star Trek: Enterprise
6/10
- Release Date
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2005 – 2004
- Showrunner
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Brannon Braga
- Directors
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Brannon Braga
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Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
- Release Date
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May 5, 2022
- Network
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Paramount+
- Showrunner
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Henry Alonso Myers, Akiva Goldsman
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Star Trek: The Next Generation
9/10
- Release Date
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1987 – 1993
- Network
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Syndication
- Showrunner
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Gene Roddenberry
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Star Trek: Voyager
8/10
- Release Date
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January 16, 1995
- Network
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UPN
- Showrunner
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Michael Piller, Jeri Taylor, Brannon Braga, Kenneth Biller
- Directors
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David Livingston, Winrich Kolbe, Allan Kroeker, Michael Vejar
- Writers
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Rick Berman, Michael Piller, Jeri Taylor
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This story originally appeared on Screenrant
