As Star Trek officially retires Captain Montgomery 'Scotty' Scott, the iconic Miracle Worker's final words encapsulate what makes the franchise so unique and so beloved by generations of fans. Introduced in 1966, Scotty was originally the engineer of the USS Enterprise, serving alongside Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Uhura, Chekov and Sulu. Now, 59 years later, Star Trek brings his journey across the universe to an end.
Scotty's final words come in the form of his official resignation from Starfleet...
The moment comes in Star Trek: Omega #1, which concludes the 'Lore War' event in which Data's evil brother corrupted reality. After his experiences in Lore's temporary reality, Scotty officially hands his resignation in to Starfleet and finally returns to Earth, reuniting with his old friend Nyota Uhura.
While Scotty finally revisiting his home planet is a huge moment for a character who, until recently, claimed he had no desire to do so, and his tearful reunion with Uhura is heartwarming, Scotty's final words come in the form of his official resignation to Starfleet, admitting that while serving the organization has been "my privilege," his tour of duty is over, and that he's done all he can. But it's Scotty's final words that truly capture what makes Star Trek so special.
Star Trek: Omega #1 comes from the creative team of Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing, Christopher Cantwell, Clayton Cowles, Joe Eisma, Oleg Chudakov, Mike Feehan, Tess Fowler, Angel Hernandez, Liana Kangas, Megan Levens, Travis Mercer, Ramon Rosanas, Rachael Stott, Erik Tamayo, Davide Tinto, Marcus To, Lee Loughride, and Marissa Louise.
Scotty Believes in the Next Generation
Captain Montgomery Scott Leaves Starfleet With One Eye on the Future
Over the last few years, Scotty has been an essential member of Benjamin Sisko's crew aboard the Theseus - an experimental ship made unique by Scotty's genius. Thanks to Scotty's redesigns, the Theseus has become the first ship to achieve 'Proto-Warp' speed and has traveled to the Pleroma - a realm of the gods outside traditional space and time. Scotty even managed to design a weapon capable of kicking the all-powerful Q off his ship.
However, after being enslaved and having his brain physically removed by Lore, Scotty is officially done venturing where no man has gone before. Scotty's final message reminds Starfleet that "I've seen more of this galaxy than any of you, and even more in the last two years on the Theseus. But I've done all I can with the old girl. Let's see what the next generation does with her."
These are Scotty's final words as he officially leaves Starfleet in Star Trek: Omega #1 and - given actor James Montgomery Doohan's death in 2005 - they're likely to stick. The moving exit reflects back on Scotty's inimitable place in the franchise while looking boldly forward to the future - something that has always been Star Trek's specialty.
Scotty Greets the Future with Optimism
Even While Saying Goodbye, Star Trek Is Excited for What's Next
While Scotty's goodbye focuses on everything he's seen and been through, his final words effectively bequeath the galaxy itself to the next generation. Throughout his time on the Theseus, Scotty has worked with new recruits Sato and T'Lir. The issue sees T'Lir choose to leave their godlike status behind and manifest as a mortal, while Sato is drummed out of Starfleet and joins the Fenris Rangers - new beginnings that stress how far the two neophytes have come. Having spent some quality time with the next generation of space hero aboard the Theseus, Scotty accepts them as worthy heirs.
As Scotty notes in his letter, he's technically 147 years old, and yet his attitude towards the future and the next generation is one of optimism.
Fans could have been forgiven for expecting Scotty to treat the new batch of whippersnappers as his lessers, especially given all he's been through. Alongside his adventures on the Enterprise, Scotty later crashlanded on a Dyson sphere. To survive until his eventual rescue, he spent 75 years in a transporter buffer signal, before being rescued and emerging in an unfamiliar future. As Scotty notes in his letter, he's technically 147 years old, and yet his attitude towards the future and the next generation is one of optimism.
Star Trek's Aspirational Philosophy Makes It Unique
It's the Rare Franchise That Is Excited About Tomorrow
It's perhaps more accurate to say the franchise has always been aspirational, championing a belief that the world can be made better by humanity's best impulses and hard work. It's a relatively rare message in pop culture and particularly sci-fi, which often caters to cynicism both about the present day and what comes next. That's especially true in the current pop culture ecosystem of classic series revamped for the modern day, where the upbeat endings of properties like the original Star Wars trilogy are revealed to have been followed by suffering, corruption and death.
That's partly the case with Star Trek's own modern offerings, with many fans arguing that the franchise has lost its optimistic heart. If so, then modern Star Trek can take a lesson from Scotty - someone who has seen the impossible and paid a high price, but is still excited to consider what could come next for humanity, and what the galaxy's new heroes are capable of.
Scotty's Final Words Look Forward, But His Exit Has Also Addressed the Past
Star Trek Treats the Past and Future as Links in a Chain
While Scotty's final words pass the torch to the next generation, his time on the Theseus has also been about celebrating his legacy. The comics have reunited Scotty with Uhura and Spock, and he even got to say goodbye to Captain Kirk thanks to the rise of a new species of sentient holograms who take their programming from Starfleet legends.
In this sense, Scotty's last words don't come off as placing all hope for a better world in the next generation (something which would be its own form of cynicism.) Instead, the Miracle Worker makes it clear that he's done all he can, and that it was worth doing, seeing the next generation of adventurers as a new link in the chain he helped forge so far. While aspirational sci-fi is rare enough in modern pop culture, this idea of past, present and future working together is particularly unique.
