Summary
- Star Trek: Discovery takes place in two different eras of the Star Trek timeline: seasons 1 and 2 are prequels set in the mid-23rd century, while seasons 3, 4, and 5 take place in the 32nd century.
- Star Trek: Discovery faced controversy and creative changes but ultimately became the vanguard of Star Trek's distant future.
- Star Trek's 32nd century will be continued after Discovery season 5 by Star Trek: Starfleet Academy.
Star Trek: Discovery takes place in two different eras of the Star Trek timeline. Premiering in 2017, Discovery was the first new Star Trek TV series in 12 years, since Star Trek: Enterprise's 2005 cancelation. Discovery helped launch the CBS All Access streaming service, which was rebranded as Paramount+. Controversial since its inception, Discovery was nonetheless successful enough to spin off multiple Star Trek series on Paramount+. Discovery is also the first Star Trek series to run for five seasons since Star Trek: Voyager, although the upcoming Star Trek: Discovery season 5 is also the show's last.
Created by Bryan Fuller, Star Trek: Discovery was originally conceived as an anthology that would take place in different eras with different characters. Behind-the-scenes creative conflicts saw Fuller leave the series before Star Trek: Discovery premiered, and season 1's showrunners were also replaced by Alex Kurtzman and Michelle Paradise for season 2, with Paradise later becoming sole showrunner. Star Trek: Discovery is canonically part of Star Trek's Prime Timeline, although the show's visual style and story created doubt in some fans' minds. Star Trek: Discovery has deep roots in the era of Star Trek: The Original Series, but Discovery is now the vanguard charting the farthest point of Star Trek's distant future.
When Star Trek: Discovery Season 1 & 2 Take Place
Discovery began as a prequel to Star Trek: The Original Series
Star Trek: Discovery seasons 1 and 2 are prequels set in the mid-23rd century, approximately a decade before the five-year mission of the Starship Enterprise commanded by Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner). Star Trek: Discovery season 1 takes place in 2256 and 2257, depicting a devastating war between the Klingon Empire and the United Federation of Planets that was partly instigated by Commander Michael Burnham, the adopted daughter of Vulcan Ambassador Sarek (James Frain). Discovery season 1 covers the beginning of the Klingon War into its conclusion, with a spectacular multi-episode detour into the Mirror Universe that brought Emperor Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) into Star Trek's Prime Timeline.
Star Trek: Discovery season 2 was better received than its debut season, thanks to the introduction of Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount), Spock (Ethan Peck), and Number One (Rebecca Romijn). Pike left his post on the USS Enterprise to Captain the USS Discovery on a mission to uncover the Red Angel and save the galaxy from Section 31's genocidal A.I. called Control. Star Trek: Discovery season 2 ended with the shocking exit of the USS Discovery and Michael Burnham from the 23rd century as they permanently traveled 930 years into the future. Meanwhile, Pike, Spock, and Number One proved so popular that they received their own spinoff, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 1 picks up in 2259, a few months after Michael Burnham and the USS Discovery's one-way journey to the 32nd century.
When Star Trek: Discovery Season 3, 4 & 5 Take Place
Discovery traveled to the uncharted, distant future
Star Trek: Discovery seasons 3, 4, and 5 take place in the32nd century, which is the farthest known point in Star Trek's Prime Timeline. Commander Burnham arrived before her starship in 3188 and waited a year until she was joined by the USS Discovery. In Star Trek: Discovery season 3, Burnham and the Discovery found the 32nd century Federation shattered by a galactic cataclysm called The Burn that eliminated warp drive from the galaxy. Burnham and her crew solved the mystery of The Burn and returned warp travel to the Federation.
In Star Trek: Discovery season 4, which takes place in 3190, Captain Michael Burnham and her starship faced the Dark Matter Anomaly, a planet-killing entity that threatened the Federation. Cleveland Booker (David Ajala), seeking revenge for the DMA destroying his home planet of Kwejian, teamed up with mad scientist Dr. Ruon Tarka (Shawn Doyle) to destroy the DMA's creators, Species 10-C. The USS Discovery ultimately crossed the Galactic Barrier into another galaxy to make peaceful First Contact with Species 10-C, with Book coming to his senses and helping Captain Burnham and Discovery.
|
Star Trek: Discovery's Timelines |
Year Discovery Is Set In |
|---|---|
|
Star Trek: Discovery Season 1 (23rd century) |
2256-2257 |
|
Star Trek: Discovery Season 2 (23rd century) |
2257-2258 |
|
Star Trek: Discovery Season 3 (32nd century) |
3188-3189 |
|
Star Trek: Discovery Season 4 (32nd century) |
3190 |
|
Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 (32nd century) |
3191 |
Star Trek: Discovery season 5 takes place in 3191 and centers on the USS Discovery's Red Directive mission to locate the ancient technology of the Progenitors. Introduced in the Star Trek: The Next Generation season 6 episode "The Chase", the Progenitors are the ancient humanoids who seeded life throughout the galaxy. Captain Burnham and the USS Discovery followed clues to the Progenitors' life-creating technology, which also must be safeguarded from the Breen.
Star Trek: Discovery season 5 wasn't produced as the final season, and the cast and crew found out after the season finished filming that Paramount+ canceled the series.
Why Star Trek: Discovery Changed Timelines
Discovery soft-rebooted itself in season 3
Star Trek: Discovery's series trajectory is perhaps the most unusual of any Star Trek series, which are historically each based in one particular era, be it the 22nd, 23rd, 24th, or 25th centuries. While Star Trek: Discovery season 1 found plenty of fans, there was a hostile pushback from longtime Trekkers because of the series' irreconcilable anachronisms and technology, like the USS Discovery's game-changing spore displacement hub drive. Ultimately, the bold decision was made to change Discovery's place in Star Trek's timeline, which ended complaints about the series violating the 23rd-century Star Trek canon.
The 23rd-century prequel era was turned over to Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, which has been far better received overall than Discovery was in that same timeline.
Jumping 900 years forward into the 32nd century gave Star Trek: Discovery a renewed status as the first Star Trek series of an expanding universe on Paramount+. Discovery was the flagship of Star Trek on Paramount+, and setting up shop in the 32nd century gave Captain Burnham and Discovery the honor of charting Star Trek's future. Star Trek: Discovery doesn't end where or when it began, but Captain Michael Burnham is now an anchor of two opposite points in Star Trek's vast timeline.
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Continues The 32nd Century After Star Trek: Discovery Ends
The next Star Trek series picks up where Discovery leaves off
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy is the next Star Trek series on Paramount+. Star Trek: Discovery set up Starfleet Academy, even shifting Lt. Sylvia Tilly (Mary Wiseman) to become an instructor at the reopened school. Starfleet Academy is confirmed to continue Star Trek: Discovery's 32nd century, and the setting will reportedly return to San Francisco on Earth.
Tawny Newsome, who plays Lt. Beckett Mariner on Star Trek: Lower Decks , is one of the writers of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy.
Starfleet Academy's showrunners are Alex Kurtzman and Noga Landau, and the series will film on the largest sets ever constructed for Star Trek. Some familiar faces from Star Trek: Discovery may appear in Starfleet Academy. With production slated to kick off in fall 2024, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy may not premiere on Paramount+ until 2026.
Will Star Trek: Discovery Season 6 Or Star Trek: Discovery Movies Happen?
There could still be the possibility of more Discovery
There has been no indication that Star Trek: Discovery will return for season 6. Paramount is in talks about a pending sale of the studio, which will impact future Star Trek productions. This is likely a factor in the cancelation of Star Trek: Discovery and the decision to also end Star Trek: Lower Decks. However, along with the potential for Star Trek: Discovery characters to appear in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, there is a possibility that Star Trek: Discovery could receive its own streaming movie on Paramount+.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is completing production on season 3 and received an early season 4 renewal from Paramount+.
The first Star Trek movie made-for-streaming on Paramount+ is Star Trek: Section 31 starring Academy Award-winner Michelle Yeoh. Section 31 is a spinoff of Star Trek: Discovery, with Yeoh reprising her role as Emperor Philippa Georgiou. Paramount+ is reportedly pleased with Section 31's production and is considering the future of Star Trek streaming movies. Perhaps Star Trek: Discovery's cast could reunite for a 2-hour movie on Paramount+.
