Warning: contains spoilers for Star Trek: Lower Decks #1!Star Trek finally explained why the Enterprise would not have survived without Mister Spock. The Enterprise’s Science Officer, Spock, was crucial to many of the ship’s victories. Spock’s formidable intellect was front and center in many of these triumphs, to the point it gave the Enterprise a serious advantage over its Starfleet brethren, and this gets a callout in Star Trek: Lower Decks #1.
Star Trek: Lower Decks #1 is written by Ryan North and drawn by Derek Charm. The Cerritos finds an older, derelict Starfleet vessel: the Bonaventure. The crew learns the truth: the Enterprise, under the command of Captain Kirk, found the Bonaventure trapped in the “Delta Triangle.” The Enterprise subsequently escaped, thanks to a formula Spock designed and implemented. The Bonaventure’s crew tried to duplicate the Enterprise’s trick, but without a “Spock of their own” to do the calculations and synthesize the materials, it took them over a year to recreate the results.
Spock Was Invaluable to the Enterprise--And One Animated Series Episode Drove This Home
It Took Another Ship Over a Year to Recreate What Spock Did In Thirty Minutes
Star Trek: Lower Decks #1’s first story is a deep cut into franchise lore, using it to show how indispensable to the Enterprise Spock was. In the first season of Star Trek: The Animated Series, in the episode titled “The Time Trap,” the Enterprise was sucked into a mysterious dimension, with seemingly no hope of return. After they did return home, the Enterprise crew never spoke of their experience in the Delta Triangle again. Lower Decks, which makes a point to follow-up on franchise plot holes, revisits the episode, revealing why Spock is one of the greatest officers ever.
While the Bonaventure was also successful in escaping the Delta Triangle, they encountered far more obstacles along the way, and had trouble overcoming them because they had no one on Spock’s level. Captain Moyo, the Bonaventure’s skipper admits it took her crew several months to reproduce Spock’s calculations, and several more months to create the materials necessary to implement Spock’s solution. Moyo’s final log admits they escaped, but when the Cerritos find the ship, it is abandoned. The crew’s fate is still a mystery, but there is a possibility their disappearance may be the result of the botched escape attempt.
Spock's Smarts Saved the Galaxy Many Times
Only Data Can Duplicate, and Surpass, Spock's Successes
Regardless of what happened to the Bonaventure’s crew, the point remains: not having an officer of Spock’s caliber hampered their efforts. Numerous Star Trek episodes and movies have featured Spock using his intellect to find a solution to whatever dilemma the Enterprise is facing this week. For instance, Spock’s mind-meld with V’Ger in Star Trek: The Motion Picture gave Kirk the insight needed to defeat the alien. “The Time Trap,” referenced in Star Trek: Lower Decks #1 is another such example. Spock was crucial to the success of the Enterprise–as another crew learned the hard way.
