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  • Wait, So When *Is* ‘Starfleet Academy’ Set, Anyway?

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    We’re almost three weeks into Starfleet Academy, and the show, with some occasionally rebellious rockiness, has started to find its niche in the world of Star Trek. But one thing has kept bothering me across its first three episodes.

    I have no idea when this show is taking place.

    Now, I know this is a stupid thing to be thinking about. At the end of the day, it doesn’t actually matter to Starfleet Academy to know where exactly it fits in the Star Trek timeline. We know it’s the 32nd century; we know approximate timing—it’s somewhere around the early 3190s—and we also know that, really, nothing has happened in the show yet that rooting it in one very specific time and place has required an exact explanation on-screen. Especially so considering that the only Trek show Starfleet Academy has to have a direct connection with on the timeline is Discovery, a series that is no longer an ongoing concern.

    I guess part of it is I’m a bit of an oldhead, especially when it comes to Starfleet Academy‘s rambunctiously charming cast of kids. The Trek I grew up with, namely Deep Space Nine and Voyager, opened by rooting itself in relation to direct moments in the late-24th-century setting they shared, spinning out of TNG—the personal fallout Picard’s assimilation has on Ben Sisko and the outbreak of conflict in earnest between the Maquis and the Cardassian Union. But while Academy does give us a few hints about the passage of time in what we’ve seen so far (Darem’s message to his parents at the top of episode three, “Vitus Reflux,” notes that three weeks have passed since classes began, for example), it is broadly very vague about it.

    Again, that’s not stopped one tiny corner of my Trek brain from relentlessly obsessing over it, no matter how little it matters. So let me try and lay down all the facts we know and try to lay out a working theory.

    Star Trek: Discovery‘s Timeline in Comparison to Starfleet Academy

    © Paramount

    Discovery‘s third, fourth, and fifth seasons give us a broad time frame for its own events. Michael Burnham successfully jumps from the 23rd century to the 32nd in the opening of season three in the year 3188—and shortly thereafter (for us at least), thanks to temporal displacement, the USS Discovery and her crew follow in 3189. In that time, they learn about the cataclysmic galaxy-wide ramifications of the event known as the Burn and resolve its mysterious origins, laying the groundwork for a largely shattered Federation to start rebuilding itself.

    Likewise, the next two seasons are given stardates that place them in the following years: 3190 for season four and 3191 for season five. Which means we can date some important things for the setup of Starfleet Academy‘s own internal timeline: Discovery season four opens with the formal reopening of Starfleet Academy itself, with Michael giving a speech to mark the occasion in the premiere episode, “Kobayashi Maru,” and the season climaxes in “Coming Home” with the revelation that Starfleet and United Earth have begun talks for the latter to rejoin the Federation.

    Starfleet Academy‘s Timeline in Comparison to Star Trek: Discovery

    Starfleet Academy Lura Thok Reno
    © Paramount

    It’s the new show itself that starts throwing a few timeline curveballs. The first episode, “Kids These Days”, has to follow some time after the events of Discovery season four, because its whole premise is about the USS Athena making its way to Earth to begin classes, the first academic year for the institution to take place on the planet since Starfleet was ousted after the Burn over a century prior (those classes are, specifically, described as the fall semester, so whatever year it’s taking place in, it’s later in it). The Athena also has no issues with a lengthy warp travel from where it was bringing aboard its last students and Earth itself, so the resolution of the dilithium shortages uncovered by Discovery at the end of season four has recovered enough that it’s at least not out of place for the Athena to casually be using its warp drive.

    But when the ship is attacked by Nus Braka and the Venari Ral, we get our first odd note: the Discovery can’t come to the Athena‘s aid as it’s currently in the midst of an extensive refit. In Star Trek, the term “refit” is usually only used to describe a starship undergoing extensive technological overhauls, either complete system updates or even its old self being replaced by a new class of ship—transferring the name in the process but noting that refit with an alphabetical letter attached to its NCC registry number (all the versions of Enterprise, the Voyager-A in Prodigy, and of course, the Discovery itself).

    We only ever see the Discovery undergo two major refits on-screen: the three-week process taken to update its systems and technology from the 23rd century to 32nd century standards, becoming the Discovery-A in the process, in the season three episode “Scavengers,” which takes place shortly after the Discovery has emerged out of time in 3189, and then again in the season five finale, “Life Itself,” in an epilogue set decades after the events of the show.

    This can’t be the same refit mentioned in “Kids These Days,” because all that happens before the resolution of the Burn and United Earth rejoining the Federation. Considering as that, even delayed by the Venari Ral attack, we’re told that it will take the Athena around 15 hours to get to Earth, we can safely assume that a good chunk of Discovery season three after its refit didn’t happen in the space of less than a day!

    Our next real piece of timeline information comes first in episode two of Starfleet Academy, “Beta Test,” where it’s established that the Federation is still in the process of deciding where its new official headquarters will be, after being positioned on the USS Federation throughout Discovery seasons three through five (it’s eventually decided to be established on Betazed, rather than its pre-Burn home in Paris on Earth).

    Then “Vitus Reflux,” three weeks after the events of “Kids These Days,” gives us another: Jett Reno, talking to Darem about his issues with his fellow cadet Genesis, notes that she “left a starship on the edge of creation” to stay in a relationship with the Academy’s cadet master and first officer, Lura Thok, and take a teaching position at the academy. That ship, of course, has to be the Discovery, but considering that Reno is a regularly established member of the ship’s crew throughout seasons four and five with no mention of her taking leave, that would mean that Starfleet Academy has to take place after the conclusion of Discovery‘s fifth season in, presumably, the fall of 3191.

    Enter Tilly

    Star Trek Discovery Tilly Adira
    © Paramount

    That brings us to one other important factor bridging Discovery and Starfleet Academy together: Sylvia Tilly. Once the academy is re-established in Discovery‘s fourth season, Tilly is given an opportunity to teach its first new cadets, departing Discovery as a full-time member of the crew in the season four episode “All Is Possible”, which sees her go on a training mission with some of those early cadets. Tilly is seen again in season four’s finale and then more regularly throughout season five, where she mentions her work teaching academy cadets.

    We know that, at some point, Tilly will make an appearance in Starfleet Academy—one that will likely be the thing that actually does clear up when the show is set. But if Starfleet Academy is about the first class of students since the Burn in around fall 3191, and Tilly has also been training cadets after the Academy was formally reopened at the beginning of season four the year prior, how do we reconcile that?

    Well, through a technicality. Presumably before either the construction or retrofit of the USS Athena to become the Academy’s new travelling home based out of San Francisco, Starfleet had actually been teaching its first academy cadets in the field, based on the USS Federation and Starfleet HQ, since it was re-established in 3190. Once things settle down again by the conclusion of Discovery season five and more member worlds have rejoined the Federation, or at least begun to, Starfleet must have decided to reopen the academy on Earth, and thus Starfleet Academy follows the first class of cadets to be trained on the planet since the Burn, instead of the first academy students at all.

    Is Any of This Actually Important to Starfleet Academy?

    Absolutely not. If anything, it’s better for the show to not catch itself up trying to over-explain things and its connections to other Star Trek material—after all, it is serving as a major new onboarding point for new fans, just as Discovery did before it. But sometimes it’s fun to just nerd out over things that don’t really matter, as long as you don’t get too worked up over it.

    Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

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    James Whitbrook

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  • I Can’t Believe This Is What Is Getting Right Wing Weirdos Mad About ‘Starfleet Academy’

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    Starfleet Academy, as with any new entry to the Star Trek canon—especially those that were hated upon release only to eventually become diehard favorites of the fandom—courts its fair share of controversy when it comes to its approach to the broader series. Some of this is in its nature as a successor to Star Trek: Discovery, a series that weathered its own fair share of controversies over the years. Some of this is the intention of the show itself, which occasionally seems to delight in its young adult perspective, allowing it the chance to bite its proverbial thumb at the franchise’s authority, almost enticing detractors into an argument.

    But some of it is because people are very stupid, and sometimes, when those stupid people just happen to have the ear of the Trump administration and right-wing grifts are more culturally lucrative than ever, even the most minor and surprising of flashpoints can become the latest volley in the culture war.

    Such has been the case since Starfleet Academy‘s first two episodes aired late last week, when, above all the noise of the pros and cons discussed about its premiere, one complaint rose above all thanks to it being platformed by none other than White House advisor and noted ghoul Stephen Miller. The issue Miller seemingly took umbrage to? There’s some gosh-darned glasses in this Star Trek show.

    The foofaraw began when Miller took to Twitter to quote-tweet a clip of the series from an account named “End Wokeness” (likely thing for him to do), which featured a scene from the premiere of Holly Hunter’s captain, Nahla Ake, wearing a pair of thickly rimmed spectacles as she talks to her first officer, Lura Thok (Gina Yashere), and another member of the academy’s senior staff, Lieutenant Rourke (Tricia Black).

    Miller was initially vague about just what had annoyed him particularly about the scene—perhaps the dialogue, perhaps that it featured multiple women talking among themselves, who can say—but he described it as tragic, imploring that Paramount, now owned by Trump ally David Ellison, should “save” the franchise by relinquishing all creative control to William Shatner.

    Shatner’s social media account (it’s long been debated over who exactly runs the account for the actor) replied to Miller in turn and seemingly revealed Miller’s supposed tragedy was Hunter’s choice of eyewear. “The fact that they have not cure Hyperopia by the 32rd Century is an abysmal oversight on the writers,” Shatner’s post read in part. “Also Paramount needs to up the budget because I’m sure that a well oiled organization like Starfleet in the distant future could afford more than one pair of glasses for at least this hyperopic bridge crew.”

    It seems Miller ignored that Shatner’s post was clearly dripping with sarcasm, as he both reposted it and then directly responded with another quote tweet lambasting Kirk’s death in Generations as the downfall of all Star Trek. But he didn’t dispute Shatner’s insinuation that the so-called “wokeness” on display was to do with the existence of glasses in 32nd-century society.

    Obviously, to anyone who’s actually watched and engaged with Star Trek at any point in the last 60 years, part of the reason for Shatner’s sarcasm is that Kirk himself is just one of multiple characters that have been depicted across reams of Star Trek material as wearing glasses. Although various treatments for impaired vision exist in Star Trek‘s technological future, glasses were still worn in the 23rd century—an Enterprise transporter technician is seen wearing them in the original show’s pilot episode “The Cage” (and seen again when the pilot’s footage was repurposed for the two-parter “The Menagerie”), as are several other members of the Enterprise crew in The Animated Series. 

    Kirk himself famously wears reading glasses in The Wrath of Khan, citing that he was personally allergic to Retinax V, a commonplace medical drug used to correct vision. More recently, prior to Starfleet Academy giving them to Captain Ake, Jean-Luc Picard wore reading glasses in Picard‘s third season, and Discovery gave us David Cronenberg’s Kovich, who wore glasses as a fashion statement rather than out of necessity, which could also be the case for Ake (although we do see her wearing them to read too). Other eyewear has also been seen throughout the franchise, from sunglasses to, of course, Geordi LaForge’s visor in The Next Generation.

    © Paramount

    But none of this is the actual point of the right-wing grift, just like it’s never the point whenever one of these particular controversies bubbles up to the surface of pop culture toxicity. We’ve seen this cycle across countless films and TV shows that have gained the ire of being declared “woke” by their detractors, a feigned shock designed to generate a cycle of outrage and social media chatter among their acolytes. The point isn’t a lack of awareness or knowledge, or that their minds will be changed if they get a fandom wikia page shoved in their ignorant faces. It’s in the posting, the generation of that hate and attention, before they move on to whatever the next controversy can be, like the vultures they are.

    Stephen Miller probably doesn’t actually care about someone wearing glasses in Star Trek. He appears to have moved on, looking at his Twitter—where he’s now busy seemingly nodding towards another Star franchise, invoking The Mandalorian‘s “this is the way” slogan over a plan by Tennessee Republicans to persecute immigrants. Maybe he’ll come back to whine about something else Starfleet Academy does in the future. But it won’t be the show that’s the point; it’ll be because it’s just something he and his ilk in right-wing circles can try to turn into another round of artificial backlash among the slings and arrows of the culture war.

    Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

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    James Whitbrook

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  • The New ‘Starfleet Academy’ Trailer Has a Lot More Than Lessons to Be Learned

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    At San Diego Comic-Con earlier this year, our first glimpse of the next Star Trek show, Starfleet Academy, put the emphasis on the latter, reminding us all that this show is about teaching the next generation of Starfleet officers. Our latest look at the series at New York Comic Con today wants to remind you, however, that this will still be a Star Trek show, with all the mystery, drama, and adventure that entails.

    Climaxing today’s Star Trek Universe panel at New York Comic Con, Paramount lifted the lid on the second trailer for Starfleet Academy, revealing a lot more teases about the show than just the hopeful college-bound vibes that were on full display in our first look this past summer. There’s still plenty enough of that—we get plenty of classes in session (with new and familiar teachers, like Voyager‘s Robert Picardo as the Emergency Medical Hologram, and Discovery‘s Tig Notaro and Mary Wiseman as Jett Reno and Sylvia Tilly, respectively), and lots of young adult drama for this new class of academy recruits, the first welcomed to the titular Academy (slash Starship, the U.S.S. Athena) in over a century after the events of the Burn from Star Trek: Discovery season 3.

    Of all the new students, however, this trailer focuses on one in particular who will drive the broader narrative of the show: Caleb Mir, played by Sandro Rosta. Turns out he’s got a big link to both Starfleet Academy‘s big bad Nus Braka (played by the legendary Paul Giamatti, a half-Klingon, half-Tellarite hybrid), and the Academy’s latest chancellor, Captain Nahla Ake (Holly Hunter), after his mother (Orphan Black and She-Hulk‘s Tatiana Maslany) was kidnapped by Braka when Caleb was a child. Finally finding the young boy again after fifteen years (and some history with Braka herself), Ake personally recruits Caleb to become an unlikely member of the Academy’s new ranks… and maybe go toe-to-toe with Braka again when he resurfaces.

    Starfleet Academy also features Gina Yashere as Athena First Officer and Academy Cadet Master Lura Thok (a half-Klingon, half-Jem’Hadar), Karim Diané as Klingon sciences cadet Jay-Den Kraag, Kerrice Brooks as Kasqian operations cadet Sam, George Hawkins as Khionian command-track cadet Darem Reymi, Bella Shepard as Dar-Sha command-track cadet Genesis Lythe, Zoë Steiner as Tarima Sadal, the daughter of the President of Betazed, as well as Oded Fehr as Discovery‘s Admiral Vance in a guest capacity. It was also confirmed today that Stephen Colbert will provide the voice of Starfleet Academy’s Digital Dean of Students, providing daily announcements throughout the school.

    Star Trek: Starfleet Academy‘s 10-episode debut season begins streaming on Paramount+ January 15 with a two-episode premiere.

    Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

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    James Whitbrook

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  • ‘Star Trek’ Announces ‘Starfleet Academy’ TV Series

    ‘Star Trek’ Announces ‘Starfleet Academy’ TV Series

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    With Star Trek at a bit of a crossroads — there’s no new movie on the horizon and several of the current TV series like Discovery and Picard are coming to an end imminently — the future of the franchise seems to be a youth movement.

    The franchise announced today they’re turning to an idea that has been discussed as a concept for decades — and has been used in novels and comics, but never before in its own show. The next Star Trek series will be Starfleet Academy, and per the official description, it “will introduce us to a young group of cadets who come together to pursue a common dream of hope and optimism. Under the watchful and demanding eyes of their instructors, they will discover what it takes to become Starfleet officers as they navigate blossoming friendships, explosive rivalries, first loves and a new enemy that threatens both the Academy and the Federation itself.”

    They also unveiled a piece of teaser artwork for the series:

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    Co-showrunners and executive producers Alex Kurtzman and Noga Landau had this to say about the news:

    Admission is now open to Starfleet Academy! Explore the galaxy! Captain your destiny! For the first time in over a century, our campus will be re-opened to admit individuals a minimum of 16 Earth years (or species equivalent) who dream of exceeding their physical, mental and spiritual limits, who value friendship, camaraderie, honor and devotion to a cause greater than themselves. The coursework will be rigorous, the instructors among the brightest lights in their respective fields, and those accepted will live and study side-by-side with the most diverse population of students ever admitted. Today we encourage all who share our dreams, goals and values to join a new generation of visionary cadets as they take their first steps toward creating a bright future for us all. Apply today! Ex Astris, Scientia!

    Although Starfleet Academy as a concept has been around for decades, it’s only made sporadic onscreen appearances in the franchise. It was one of the key locations in the 2009 Star Trek reboot movie directed by J.J. Abrams, and it has been the home to series of novels and other side media. But despite numerous discussions of a Starfleet Academy series or movie, this will be the first show of its kind. It’s sort of an obvious idea, and it could potentially open up the franchise to a younger audience, which is always key in the longevity of these sorts of long-running sagas.

    Production on Starfleet Academy will begin in 2024.

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