By Joshua Tyler
| Updated
Star Trek: Lower Decks had its big finale this week, and in the process of wrapping up the series, they solved one of the worst problems Star Trek has ever had. This problem is called Star Trek: Discoveryand thankfully, it is no longer part of the official Star Trek canon.
Lower decks has always taken full advantage of its animated format to resolve some of the franchise’s nagging questions and biggest mistakes. They ironed out a lot of things, but the one thing that seemed impossible to iron out was the way Star Trek: Discovery destroyed the entire Star Trek universe.
Uncovering the Damage to Star Trek
For those who have forgotten, when Star Trek: Discovery Debuted, the series existed in the past for the first two seasons. It took place in a time between Archer’s Enterprise and Kirk’s Enterprise and began by starting a war with the Klingons.
The problem is, they made the Klingons look like this…
And throughout the rest of Star Trek, since the days of the original series and limited makeup, Klingons look like this…
This was just the beginning of the mess Discovery tried to make the Trek universe. The series was made with the goal of erasing all previous Trek, and it decided to do so rather quickly.
However, by the second season, the people of Primordial I realized it was a horrible idea and it wasn’t what anyone wanted. So they found an excuse to send the series so far into the future that it couldn’t do any more damage.
By then, they had already done a lot. Fortunately, this doesn’t matter now, because the Star Trek: Lower Decks final confirmed that the events of Discovery take place in an alternate reality.
How Star Trek: Lower Decks removed Discovery from canon
Paramount has been clear since the beginning of the series: even if it is animated, Star Trek: Lower Decks is complete canon and takes place in the main timeline of the Star Trek universe. So what’s going on in Lower decks is not fan fiction or an alternate universe.
In the series finale, a group of Klingon ships encounter a phenomenon that transforms things into alternate reality versions of themselves. When a Klingon ship hits one of these transformation rays, it transforms into a large, ugly Discovery-style Klingon ship.
Then one of the crew members turns into Discovery-Klingon style.
This couldn’t have happened if these weirdos Discovery Klingons have always existed in the main Star Trek timeline. This means that Discovery and his Klingons, like JJ Abrams’ Star Trek films, took place in an alternate universe. One that has nothing to do with the rest of Star Trek.
Strange New Worlds is still a favored timeline
You may be wondering if this means Star Trek: Strange New Worlds also exists in this same universe since the series was a spin-off of Discovery. Fortunately, the answer is absolutely no.
The only Klingons we’ve ever seen Strange new worlds look exactly like the Klingons we’re used to seeing since Worf climbed onto the deck The next generation. There has never been a solid explanation for why they are so different from Discovery Klingons, but now we have one.
The Enterprise we saw on Star Trek: Discovery is not the same as the one we follow Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. This previous Enterprise (which, by the way, is slightly different from that of Strange new worlds) goes on continuing adventures in the same alternate reality Star Trek: Discovery took place in.
Goodbye to lower decks and thank you
Nobody wanted Star Trek: Lower Decks to finish. This is the the best thing Trek has done from Archer’s Enterprise. Today, he solidified that status by giving us a gift. When leaving, Lower decks fixed the entire Star Trek universe.
Take a moment to thank Star Trek: Lower Decks showrunner Mike McMahan. If we’re lucky, maybe one day Paramount will wise up and bring Lower decks back for another franchise repair adventure.
