On Star Trek Day, a new trailer was released for Star Trek: Discovery season 3. It was jam-packed with stuff and we have been trying to sort it all out. Today we present an analysis of the trailer based on previously released information plus what was discussed at the Discovery panel on Star Trek Day, along with some educated speculation.
Based on what can be seen along with some previous cast and crew commentary, the trailer looks to be mostly comprised of the first four episodes, but there may be some moments from later in the season. The analysis is grouped into sections and (more or less) organized into our best guess for chronological order.
And of course, be aware of SPOILERS.
Wormhole to the future
Season three appears to pick up right where season two left off with the USS Discovery going through a wormhole into the future, led by Michael Burnham flying ahead of the ship in the Starfleet-made time travel suit. A narration from Michael Burnham sets things up: “We traveled into the future. 930 years. A one-way trip. No going back.”
We can also see what the travel into the future is like for the Discovery crew, we saw this footage at the end of season 2.
We can also see Michal Burnham as she travels forward through the Red Angel suit’s heads up display.
New for season 3, the Discovery finally makes it through the wormhole. The damage from the battle in the season 2 finale is apparent, and it looks like the ship barely made it, as it shoots out of the wormhole erratically.
We can also see Michael Burnham tumbling out of control in the Red Angel suit through a debris field above a planet. Some of the debris appears to come from destroyed Starfleet ships or some kind of ship that had a saucer configuration.
Michael meets Book and learns about “The Burn”
We already knew from previous panels and interviews that Michael Burnham and the USS Discovery are separated when they arrive in the future. We can see how Michael’s journey starts as she crash lands on a planet, with her suit warning her: “Impact Imminent.” Obviously, she and the suit survive the landing.
Michael’s first move upon arrival is to exit the suit and use its advanced tech to give her an assessment of the planet. The computer informs her she has reached the year 3188.
She is elated when informed, “Multiple life signs detected.” Remember, the goal of the jump-to-the-future mission was to stop the Control AI from getting its hands on the sphere data housed on the USS Discovery, which would then use that data to become sentient and wipe out all life in the galaxy. So Michael’s elation here is all about knowing they had accomplished their mission.
However, that still leaves Michael on her own, with limited resources in a seemingly barren area. She opens up a 23rd-century Starfleet field kit, complete with communicator, tricorder, badge, and phaser. There is also a hexagonal box that could contain more power cells for the various pieces of tech. It’s also possible the box could be for the Red Angel suit.
We also see Michael walking along with a new character, Cleveland “Book” Booker (David Ajala), who will be a main character this season and is a native of the future where Burnham finds herself. According to showrunner Michelle Paradise, “Book becomes a window into this new world for us. He becomes kind of the eyes through which we see the everyday present for those who were born into this new future.”
Book is quick to notice Michael being different, saying, “You’re not from around these parts.” He then breaks the bad news: “The Federation mostly collapsed after The Burn… The Burn was the day the galaxy took a hard left.” According to executive producer Alex Kurtzman, what happened to the Federation came from outside of it, saying, “The Federation was as strong as ever. Obviously, something cataclysmic went down that changed everything.”
Another moment has Burnham revealing where she comes from to Book with the following exchange:
Book: A true believer?
Burnham: Yeah.
Book: A time traveler.
Burnham: There was no other way.
We can see Book and Michael (wielding a future weapon) in a fight that includes an Andorian.
Disco down, but happy to be alive
Coming down at another location (although possibly on the same planet) was the USS Discovery, which utilized its phasers to clear a path as it crash-landed.
The crew of the USS Discovery has gone through a lot, and they don’t know where Michael is, but they are alive. Suru gives the crew a pep talk as they hug it out: “We are completely disconnected, but we are also together.”
Saru and Tilly explore a planet for a spare part
The Discovery won’t be able to just fly off after this hard landing. According to Alex Kurtzman, “Something goes wrong with the ship that makes it basically impossible for them to get back in the air. So they have to step out into the world and see if they can find something to help repair the ship. And in so doing, they get their first taste of what’s actually going on on the planet.”
And we can see that in the trailer, with Suru and Tilly in civilian clothes leaving the USS Discovery.
Later they walk into an establishment that has swinging old West saloon style doors.
There they meet an alien who appears to be a Cordanite from the dilithium-rich planet Coridan, although that does not necessarily mean that’s where they crash-landed. He says to Saru, “I always believed you were out there somewhere and that we were part of the Federation no matter what.”
Saru takes command
There is also a nice shot of Saru toasting the surviving crew in the ready room. This scene also shows Paul Stamets and Dr. Culber sharing a moment. Also present are Bryce, Detmer, Owosekun, Rhys, and Nhan. In this shot, we can also see Saru has his shoulders details filled with gold, which is unique to captains. This indicates that during the time on their own, acting captain Saru assumed the full rank of captain.
Breakout at the Orion facility with a little help from Georgiou
From previous commentary, we know the crew will not be reunited until the third episode, and at least a year will go by. There are a handful of scenes at a location featuring Michael Burnham with her long hair, indicating this jump in time. In one scene can see her with longer hair with Georgiou (who was on board the USS Discovery when they jumped), but it isn’t clear if this sequence is before or after Burnham is reunited with the rest of the Discovery crew. It is possible Georgiou separated herself from the rest of the crew (as a Section 31 operative she isn’t actually part of Starfleet and she has her own agenda as the former Terran Emperor). Here we see Burnham and Georgiou being led into an industrial facility by an Orion man.
We can also see a bearded Andorian, appearing to watch their arrival.
Book is also seen using one of these future weapons to push back a group, which also includes some Andorians.
As Book sends these guys flying, we can see signage in the Orion language.
We later see Book and the bearded Andorian running from the facility with others. It’s possible this whole sequence was some kind of breakout, possibly involving Book freeing a friend from Orion slavery.
Georgiou fights a whole lot of guys
There is also a scene with Georgiou that may be part of the incident at the Orion facility or something entirely different. She gets into an argument with a human character played by Jake Weber (Homeland) who says to her, “The thing is, you got no authority here.”
Michelle Yeoh shows that the Emperor’s authority comes at the end of a broken bottle over the head and a swift kick, plus a punch to the face.
A reunited crew
According to Jonathan Frakes, the crew reunites with Burham in the third episode (which he directed). And we can see Michael hugging Detmer while wearing her civilian garb. Martin-Green talked to Star Trek Magazine about how the time apart impacted her character. “We see what it feels like for me to get a little rougher around the edges. And then, coming back [to the Discovery], it’s tough to come back.”
Soon enough this longer-haired Burnham is back in her gold command uniform, talking to Saru about the state of the galaxy, saying, “The Federation isn’t just about ships. The Federation is its people.” Note that Saru is still wearing the gold shoulders of a captain.
Burnham can be seen on the bridge staring out of the viewscreen saying, “Let’s show them who we are.”
Another scene on the bridge features Saru in the captain’s chair.
We can also see Book now onboard the USS Discovery, where he and Burnham are looking at a ship (possibly his ship?) in the hanger. They have some banter…
Burnham: We have work to do. But if things were easy…
Book: It wouldn’t be worth it.
More hugging
There are a couple more shots of hugging onboard the USS Discovery. One is in the Stamets’ lab, which appears to have been updated a bit. Also seen in this scene are Nilsson and Osnullus.
The trailer also showed Detmer hugging Stamets.
Meeting up with the down (but not out) Federation
The trailer has made it clear that the Federation is not what it was, and Alex Kurtzman has confirmed that season three “is about trying to bring it back.” But it still exists in some form. According to Michelle Paradise, the Federation is “much diminished from what it was” and “very much kind of in survival mode.” The trailer shows this clearly with a future flag of the Federation unfurling. This flag features significantly fewer stars than the flags of the 23rd and 24th-century Federation.
After the ship is fixed it uses its spore drive to jump to a new planet, which also has some orbiting debris.
We see what appears to be a future Starbase in a debris field. The Starbase appears operational, yet damaged. This could be some kind of HQ for what is left of the Federation.
Saru, Burham and Adira (a new character played by Blu del Barrio) entering a futuristic location, presumably the futuristic Starbase. An unknown voice says, “Welcome to the future.”
At some point Saru and a Vulcan dignitary exchange Vulcan salutes onboard the USS Discovery in orbit around a planet, possibly the same one as the Starbase.
A 32nd century Starfleet officer visits the USS Discovery and chats with Stamets, Reno, and Tilly. She says, “Dysfunction aside, you all make a pretty good team.”
This prompts some fun Reno/Stamets banter:
Reno: Dysfunction is the team.
Stamets: We’ve just accepted it.
Reno: No we haven’t.
The screen they are working on says “CME DETECTED” and “Coronal Mass Ejection – Light Magnitude.”
Also, take note that this officer has a different uniform and new oval silver Starfleet badge.
USS Discovery rejoins Starfleet
An unknown character (possibly Adira) can be seen using future tech to create a Starfleet badge, or multiple badges.
Michael Burnham, now back in her silver (science division) uniform, puts on one of the future Starfleet badges.
Burnham, with the new badge, shares a moment with Saru.
Through the middle section of the trailer, we hear a narration from Michael Burham that all leads up to what may be a summit or ceremony on the Discovery that includes some lit torches.
Burnham is wearing her sliver uniform and 32nd-century badge in this scene. Her narration:
We all want a future that’s real. That matters. The Federation gave us the resources and the mandate to solve the biggest, most troublesome problems of the galaxy. And I may question, and I may fear, because the problems may seem insurmountable. But haven’t we always risen to meet them.
Saru is also seen with a new badge, now fully in command of the USS Discovery. Presumably, Michael Burham is now the first officer and chief science officer.
Tree hugging… and running
At some point, the crew visits a forest, with a really big tree.
And Tilly hugs the tree.
Book and Burham (in civilian clothes but with her new Starfleet badge) run from unknown pursuers through a forest.
Adira and Grey
The trailer also features a moment shared between new characters Adira (top) and Gray (middle). We also see them grasp hands.
Gray is a Trill and can also be seen floating in a symbiont pool, likely in the Caves of Mak’ala on Trill.
Adira can also be seen in a Jeffries tube on the Discovery. It has been revealed they will be working closely with Stamets.
Musical explosion
A brief moment in the trailer shows an explosion at an unknown location, but it could be some kind of future concert venue. There are instruments on the wall and a cello can be seen flying through the room. The architecture could be from the same future Starbase shown above.
Book and Burnham romance
There is also a brief kiss between Burnham (with her long hair) and Book. Alex Kurtzman has said that Burnham has “met her match” with Book.
Title cards
The trailer also features a couple of title cards to drive home the theme of the season.
Watch it again
Now that you have seen our analysis, watch it again.
What did you see?
Share your thoughts and insights into the new trailer below.
Keep up with all the Star Trek: Discovery news and analysis at TrekMovie.com.
I’m curious to know if the opening credits will be completely revamped, and not just updated with some new visuals like in Season Two. The “Discovery” logo is new, and that may be the one they use moving forward… with new credits. I guess we’ll find out soon.
Completely new title sequence. Something closer to the Picard intro.
You think so? I think the concept and execution of the two openers are very similar already.
Hopefully something with an actual theme tune
Right? And hopefully not like that lame Picard opening that was even more boring than the rest of the show
Alright the crew needing resources, utilizing an old starbase and rebuilding the Fédération in a conflict and hardship filled Universe, I’m in. Finally some post 23rd century Trek worth watching outside DS9.
That isn’t how you spell Federation.
Ah sorry, when I use that particular laptop it for some reason adds all the accents in the browser… of course doesn’t do it when I wish it would, always does it when I don’t want it to.
I liked it!
One of my devices keeps switching to French language defaults at inappropriate moments too. Easy to miss when it’s just a few accents.
Bryant could we all just chill with the English nitpicking. I’ve said my piece on an earlier thread on this point, but sheesh.
That isn’t how you spell being a friendly person, Bryant.
Why does it matter, Bryant? Does it affect you personally?? Are you a member of a completely fictional and imaginary galaxies-wide governing society? Be nice, Bryant.
Did you get anything in particular out of pointing that out?
I’m curious about how they will treat established canon that references as far as Daniel’s 31st Century, because if Daniel’s people (and the 29th century’s relativity) had time travel technology that advanced, any “hard left” the galaxy could make, could easily be rectified
Not if the problem was in the physical realm.
More, in the other trailer shown at NY Comic-Con in 2019, there is a scene where Burnham says that she’s been going back and trying to find the point/event where it all started but she can’t. So, time travel hasn’t enabled them to find the “butterfly wing” event that launched the chaos of whatever disaster The Burn may be.
WHAT IF… their jump into the future at the end caused this disaster? Maybe their jump had some effect on space which caused/will cause/will have caused/will have caused “The Burn” on their way into the future or shortly before they arrived/will arrive/will have arrived/will have had arrived (what is the correct tense to express that? Future past perfect? The guys from Big Bang Theory came up with their own tense… ;-) )
It’s possible Burnham has been time-travelling in the wrong direction. Perhaps the triggering event is in the *future* beyond the 32nd century, and involve something (technology-based or naturally-occurring) whose effects ripple backwards into the past.
That would probably violate the temporal accords and the temporal prime directive. They aren’t supposed to change history. Daniels and the non-insane version of Braxton only ever altered history to put it back the way it was supposed to be.
Hmm… but does this apply when you land in the future? You change your present if you alter the past, but not the future.
I believe their directive is not to interrupt the normal flow of time. I think they’d only try to stop the burn if it was due to temporal machinations.
While I don’t think they’d change the normal flow of time, only correct changes, I also wouldn’t quite consider it to be established canon. The future Daniels was from is certainly a possible future, and Trek is full of instances of the present being influenced by futures that end up never coming to pass (i.e. VOY: Endgame), but until we get a story that treats that version of the 31st century as the narrative’s “present”, I don’t consider us as the audience or the powers that be as the creators beholden to it, considering the fact that the future from the perspective of any particular main character remains unwritten.
The kelpien we see in a Trailer might actually be Half kelpien Half Human or Other kind of Race just my Theory anyways
Not “comprised of.” “Composed of.” The words “comprised of” have no meaning in English when used together like that. Something can comprise something else or it can be composed of something else, but it can’t be comprised of something else–that’s nonsensical grammar.
Oh, come on. “Academie Anglaise” on TrekMovie again.
Rios, it’s clear that you love precision in English, but has it ever occurred to you that these kind of posts may be really chilling for non-native English speakers who love Trek and want to be part of a global conversation?
If you nitpick English with native English speakers, what about those who aren’t? Can they be welcome? It doesn’t come across as IDIC, but I know that you hold that value closely.
Anyway, prepositions evolve. Usage evolves. More, it’s not the same in every English-speaking country. We Canadians experience on a daily basis, and I expect that those of you in Australia do too.
If I were typing in a language not native for me, I’d want someone to correct my mistakes. How else would I know I was making them? I certainly wouldn’t assume someone doing so was trying to chill me out of the conversation.
As a non-native speaker and an English teacher, I also agree with Bryant here. I would want to learn from my mistakes and improve myself even more as a result.
Maybe all of you guys are right. Corrections are helpful, but, as they say, the sound makes the music. OP is a tad abrasive here.
Let’s just say that the norms around this kind of thing vary across languages and cultures.
I speak a number of languages and I’m very conscious of these differences in norm: my own work involves a lot of reviewing and revising the work of others, many of whom aren’t native English speakers. So, I’m wouldn’t want those from other languages to be discouraged. IDIC indeed.
Generally, in English, it’s not cool to correct others unless someone has invited you to do so, or if your in the formal role of a teacher. It’s called “gratuitous advice” and it’s definitely socially a negative. Correcting people in front of others is a serious no-no. Even when one’s job involves approving or correcting other’s writing, a fair amount of tact is required.
Since Rios and others making picky language comments trying to clarify the meaning for themselves, it’s gratuitous correction. They aren’t our teachers or moderators, we’re here to talk Trek, and in English this comes across as gatekeeping, so I’m feeling like something needs to be said and at this point, I’m losing my sense of humour about it.
Examples of languages with other norms? French speakers almost always correct your speech and there is an Academie Française that people accept establishes norms. It’s tough to take when one isn’t from that culture though.
It’s been documented to be a significant inhibition for Anglophones in Canada learning French, and for most of us French as a second language isn’t optional. French teachers in Canada are taught not to overcorrect or their students just shut down. Anglophone students learn to accept that they need to write French with aggressive editing software tools.
In my experience, Russians seem to have a happy medium on this. They are super gracious and encouraging to English speakers trying to speak Russian in Russia, but also feel that they would be disrespectful to “leave someone in their error.”
There are some other typos in it, too. “Suru”, “Burham”, “Hanger” (should be hangar), “The Stamet’s Lab”.
Rios is a notorious troll. Back to the cave with you.
Thanks for the feedback but this thread is getting pedantic and personal. CLOSING
How are phasers useful during crash-landing? I actually thought they were using tractor beams to soften the crash, which would be quite creative actually, as we have seen some crash-landings before but never assisted by tractor beams.
PS Great analysis, Trekmovie!
We just saw in Lower Decks how tractor beams can be reversed to push objects away.
So, I agree, it could be that Discovery is leading with reversed tractor beams to act as brakes on the landing. The pushing action would furrow the terrain.
The concept was introduced in a very early episode of TNG where Wesley modifies the tractor beams to push an old starship into the path of a stellar fragment that’s about to collide with the Enterprise. It’s the one that is a sequel to a TOS episode where the crew comes down with an affliction that causes them to act out and lose all their inhibitions.
Ahhh. *Smiles happily* I remember those. The Naked Time and The Naked Now. I actually have a shower curtain with a picture of the Enterprise saying “The Naked Time”.
Yeah I thought they used tractor beams too. It was probably a bad idea for them to make the phasers and tractor beams as visually similar as they are.
I too never even considered that those were phaser beams & thought it was them using the tractor beams to cushion their descent (just like near the end of season 1 when they jumped into a cave on Qo’noS & used the tractor beams to stabilise the ship so it didn’t fall straight to the ground upon suddenly going from 0g to probably more than 1g).
So Andorians can grew beards and facial hair. This is interesting, and I still love Jonathan Frakes for consistently giving us spoilers :))
More than that, I wonder if it’s pointing to Andorians being (the) new enemies in this future, after the Federation fell apart. It would neatly tie into Enterprise which build up the idea that Andorians are a rather violent warrior species at its core.
I am curious if we will see Michael sending the last signal to Spock that he promised to send.
I bet they will simply ignore it.
Star Trek tends to forget these type of details. It is not the most important thing for Season 3, but one scene, few minutes, will be a nice gesture for the story, for continuity.
If it’s episodic than this kind of forgetting is forgivable. However, if one insist on serialization then it isn’t
The burn? an unsubtle reference for Burn-ham?. Why is she always the centre of the universe? I’ve been re-watching Babylon 5 and good Lord that is still superb after all these years, I wish this show would learn from that series, heck all modern shows should.
Since the burn would have to have happened some time after Picard, I doubt that Michael has anything to do with it.
The Burn seems to have happened after the main period of the Temporal War, so I’m thinking mid to late 31st century.
We know that Book grew up in a post Burn galaxy, but he still knows what Starfleet and the Federation are even if the society he’s from has been cut off.
As great as Babylon 5 was, the entire galaxy seemed to revolve around Sheridan and to a lesser extent, Delenn. So your analogy doesn’t really work.
As much as I enjoyed that show, there was also a fair amount of cheese.
I love DS9, still the best Trek ever. But wasn’t Sisko a God? Everything revolves around God, right?
That’s quite the conclusion you’re leaping to there. Don’t tell me, let me guess. The galaxy took a hard LEFT turn there as well. Left always means something bad….right?
I’m on board with making Saru the captain! A permanent alien protagonist captain is something truly new in the history of Trek and befitting of the new far future setting “alien” to the crew. Also, not everything needs to revolve around St. Michael all the time. This whole concept of focusing an entire multi-season show on just one character was a dead-end and lacking (snicker) diversity!
An alien captain is loooong overdue. I’ve been wanting this to happen since the early 90’s.
We already had Spock in Star Trek II.
There have been temporary or guest alien captains, but this is the first time it has been a series regular.
It’s almost like the show is about Michael. Oh wait, it is. They literally announced at the very start its a show about her.
Perhaps, but that makes Discovery the first Trek series that so heavily focuses the series on one character rather than a trio or an ensemble. It’s exasperating as Discovery arguably has the strongest and most well rounded ensemble since DS9.
I can understand that for most Star Trek fans “#1 on call sheet” does not mean, one character is the sole hero that solves every A-plot level problem, even when it’s beyond her expertise and experience. It’s definitely a different understanding of “lead” than most of us have.
If it’s the new “way that things are”, it still doesn’t seem a good fit for Trek. I’m wondering if it’s behind some of the grumbles about Mariner in LDS and Picard. At least, LDS let’s those lower on the call sheet have their own moments in B & C plots.
Enterprise tried to focus on Scott Bakula to some extent as a reaction to Voyager’s large ensemble. For those of us who did not find Archer to be an interesting or credible captain, the relative lack of episodes focusing on the rest (other than Trip and T’Pol) was a reason to stop watching. There is a ratings lesson to be learned from that.
TG47, this fully reflects my stance on this, including Enterprise/Archer, and you have even said it with way more tact than I would have ;)
The thing is VS, I actually like Burnham and SMG’s acting by-and-large.
I just think that making her the one to solve almost every problem does both the character and the actor a disservice. I keep on going back to Avery Brooks view on Sisko: it was essential for him to just be an ordinary human man.
Now imagine how unpalatable Discovery becomes for those who dislike both Burnham as written AND MSG’s acting ;)
As with episodic narration, an ensemble cast ensures that even if you do not like one character / actor, you have others to pick from, and respective character-centered episodes. It’s not just the diversity I expect from Trek, it’s smart business, appealing to a wide, heterogeneous audience. CBS picked the worst of both worlds with Discovery.
you can count on everytging will revolve around her…. again and again and again and again and again.. .
Thanks for the screen caps TM!
One of the things I didn’t realize in the trailer until very recently is that we saw a Starfleet officer in the 32nd century in the shot with Stamets, Tilly and Reno. That’s pretty cool! And really love the new Starflleet uniform she is wearing. So different but really unique (and MUCH better than the DIS ones ;)). Before, I wasn’t sure if Starfleet existed at all based on Booker and his line in the first trailer about ghosts. I knew the Federation was still there but maybe Starfleet itself was abandoned completely and that the Discovery crew might be the ones to restart it.
But I’m really happy that’s not the case. But now that we know it exists in some capacity and they are wearing the new Starfleet design does it mean A. they are officially part of this Starfleet now and B. if they are, will they eventually wear the new uniforms?
I hope the answer is yes on both! And that they will stay for good and see them make a fresh start. It’s exciting to have a Trek show again where it can go literally ANYWHERE from this point on and everything is essentially brand new. Haven’t felt like this since Voyager but in many ways closer to what TNG was when it started since it help define so much of the era in general.
Tiger, as far as I am concerned, the sooner they get rid of those ridiculous Flash Gordon/Zap Brannigan themed blue and gold uniforms, the better! They always seemed to belong to a spoof like Galaxy Quest or scifi comedy like Futurama than an official Trek series (and rather at odds with the the grimdark tone of season 1 in particular)
Definitely agree! When I assumed the show would just stay in the 23rd century that maybe by the end of the season they would all switch to the Pike/TOS style uniforms (and signify the point the show would look closer to TOS by its run like they kept saying). I honestly thought seeing Pike and the others in their uniforms was purposely foreshadowing of what was to come by the finale and the Discovery crew would be in those. Yeah, not quite. ;)
Stat Trek has always had questionable uniforms here and there, but I still wonder who looked at those band uniforms and though ‘PERFECT’ when they were approved? The boots look like something college kids would wear, not professionals.It all just looks so ridiculous and waaay too busy.
Thats why I like the new uniforms (assuming its a standard one) because it goes back to the simple but unified look like all the TNG-FC uniforms did. And I like it’s a one piece again. It’s going to be fun to nerd out on all the changes as well! ;)
The mid-period Picard uniforms shown in flashbacks (with the thick black stripe running through the coloured shoulder yoke) really made me think of marching band uniforms.
Still not quite on board with the asymmetrical collars on the DIS uniforms. It feels like everyone’s wearing a neckerchief like an 1800s railroad worker.
If they wanted a retro feel I would have loved a Robotech/Harlock-inspired twist – standing collar for the Captain, a zip turtleneck collar + a sort of naval double-breasted semi-wrap jacket for everyone else, would preserve the blue with gold pinstriping but, like TWOK, referencing Navy uniform styles.
As much as I love traditional naval styles, we need to acknowledge that they persisted for wet navies because they were based on practical clothing technology from their time period.
Turtlenecks and other knits make sense for a working spaceship, featured zippers and button closures, not so much.
I can’t stand SMG’s acting. The bit where she’s screaming made me cringe.
See, there’s the rub if you don’t like something, you’re not unduly compelled to watch it. See how that works? (smiles)
Season 3 looks meh, why would they get 32nd century bages but not 32nd century uniforms? Seems like a missed opportunity.
Perhaps we’ll find out by, say, watching the show…
From a military protocol point of view, it’s not uncommon for serving officers and ranks coming off of deployment to be permitted to wear their deployment uniforms for a halo period once they’ve returned home. It’s a way to distinguish special service.
So, perhaps we’ll wee the crew of the Discovery in the 32nd century Starfleet uniforms in Discovery S4.
On the other hand, since those badges likely have communications and other tech that that Discovery will need to integrate with 32nd century Starfleet, they’d need to get those immediately once they are recognized and accepted.
Exactly. As I stated in another post, they may switch uniforms by the end of the season. Of course could be wrong but it’s a two minute trailer we still know next to nothing.
And yes the badges are probably for communication since we obviously seen them used that way since the 24th century which clearly they didn’t have in Discovery’s time (although Section 31 had it then but I digress).
You should watch the show to find out.
Broken replicators? Let’s hope! Maybe they have to watch some old YouTube crafting videos.
Because the 32nd century uniforms as shown above aren’t flattering to actors? Cost? And maybe some in-universe reason.
I like the Discovery uniforms, btw.
If that was the issue, then maybe they would’ve made uniforms that were more flattering in the first place. But I don’t think it is. I think they will end up in those uniforms but prepared to be wrong. I like them 100 times more than Discovery.
And wouldn’t it just be weird to be a part of this new Starfleet but still wearing thousand year old clothes? What’s the point of even keeping them?
Tiger, while these uniform do fit the TNG design lineage and are better /more futuristic than Discovery’s, I do find them a tad unimaginative and oblivious of the fact that we are talking about NINE HUNDRED YEARS.
Ironically, if there was any time to break the design lineage and go bonkers (without moving into the realm of spoof or fantasy), this was it! The communicator, which looks more like the Bajoran one actually and only has a faint connection to the old Delta symbol, and the starbase design are good examples for this done better.
What I expect for such a long time gap are not just new uniform designs but entirely new fabrics, and a certain amount of WTF as this is the time span where cultural norms change (hell, they even did in the last ten!) So we could fully expect men in skirts, the return of hats or caps and other elements previously foreign to Trek or contemporary fashion. Unfortunately, recent scifi has consistently picked “relatability’ and” contemporary coolness” over the risk of alienating viewers or looking silly in a few years (which “contemporary coolness” also does, of course, see TOS hippie episode).
And we may still get a lot of that. Again we can’t base everything off a few minutes of footage.
But I do think we are going to hear THIS IS SUPPOSE TO BE 900 YEARS IN THE FUTURE arguments if people think the planets, tech, species, clothes, etc is not imaginative enough. I can see those coming…a lot lol. They may even regret leaving the 23rd century altogether. But I’m just going to wait and see first. So far I do like what I see at least, even if still very little.
I know it may sound contradictory to want Discovery continue adhere to Trek canon on the one hand, but also be more imaginative and far-reaching in its changes of the future, but they are only contradictory at first glance. Depicting a future that realistically reflects the enormous time gap to all previous Treks, but nevertheless still feels like Trek will NOT be easy. It certainly shows the writers have not left the mine field and are, unfortunately, mistaken if they think jumping 900 years into the future will free them from all fan controversy ;)
I understand what you mean. I guess the best answer to that is what did you think of the other characters and their outfits we saw in the far future like Daniels in the 31st century or Captain Braxton?
Daniels basically had an outfit that screamed “I’M REALLY FROM THE FUTURE!” ;) But Braxton and his crew uniform looked Starfleet enough but still different in their own way. Just to jog your memory this is the crew of the Relativity:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saBKpiXCssI
Does it look ‘different’ enough for the 29th(??) century? Probably not but to me its fine since I don’t really have an idea what they SHOULD look like that far flung in the future. And of course Discovery is centuries after these guys. Its just hard to say.
Or you can go the directions of what Daniels was wearing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5490DhVfVHU
I like the other guys if I’m being honest but Daniels could be more ‘realistic?’ And he’s a hundred years before Discovery. There is no hard answer obviously. That’s the brilliance of the future, no one knows what it will actually look like, just probably different. ;)
I know you were talking about everything as a whole. I was only talking about the outfits mostly since that’s what started this conversation and the one direct thing we seen of a future Starfleet.
Maybe the 32nd century uniforms chafe…..a lot like this comment does.
Kinda like why the crew of the Voyager didn’t switch to later-season DS9 / First Contact uniforms once they regained contact with Starfleet: Real world explanation, they’ve already got the expensive costumes; in-universe explanation, it’s not the most pressing concern when resources are scarce.
The badge is the most recognisable indication of Starfleet membership, being the organisation’s emblem, so it’s more important to for them to change that part of their appearance than the rest of their uniforms, and also it makes sense for them to use 32nd century combadges instead of 23rd century communicators.
I’m looking forward to S3. What I’m hoping for is Saru to emerge as a heroic figure to emerge with qualities of Pike Kirk or Picard. (Combination of all great Captains) Hopefully, Saru will use the computer as he did previously, looking for the qualities of previous Captain’s he hopes to emulate. While I’m fine with the “fake it till you make it” strategy? I hope he just becomes the heroic Captain.I personally identify with heroic figures. I have family members who are part of the LGBTQ community. They are beyond excited for representation in this new season. I hope members of that community realize that they fit in the future. Just like people in the African American community got excited when they saw Nichelle Nichols in TOS. Just people in the gay community got excited to see Stamets, Culber and Tig in previous DSC seasons.
What is “The Burn” really? Did the sun go supernova or something. The Federation was doing fine until something bad happened outside of Federation space in the galaxy. Everything went horribly wrong after that. Overall, so excited about season 3.
The Yuuzhan Vong invaded. ;)
Only using SPF 10 during a supernova?
IRL a supernova would not affect that many systems.. although they have already invoked this silliness before
the burn …. ham
Hmmm the Burn Ham…. sizzling breakfast bacon causing micro fissures in the space time, disrupting subspace and altering reality as we know it, throughout the galaxy!
You heard it here first, folks!
it causes space farts!
The Federation vanished when the galaxy farted after enjoying a yummy burn ham…
STOOOP IT … hahaha
how exactly is the the disco Crew dysfunctional?
ok, they say it in the trailer. but from what we have seen its a Pretty harmonic gang. besides some minor but quickly resolved conflicts they have been presented to us as a emotionally well functioning family.
but I guess it sounds cool to say something like that.
That Starfleet Field Kit is nothing short of awesome. I really, really like it. I hope they make a prop replica of it! OR, better yet, into a role-playing set as a toy for kids!
Also, I love the Trill stuff. I kind of hope it’s not Dax, but if it is then that is ok.
Lots of aliens, both a mix of classic aliens and new is a awesome.
It’d be nice – there’s been no news on affordable toys or detailed replicas for some time now… Art Asylum was supposed to do some but their license got pulled, I think? and Anovos was supposed to release a detailed version for cosplayers, but it’s still listed as a “future product.” The only stuff available is 3D printed unofficial replicas.
I think the licensing was tied up with the Paramount/Viacom merger, so hopefully the new combined company will get the paperwork together before Xmas.
What I’m slightly confused by is the badge. I mean, it’s just a badge, not a combadge; doesn’t seem that useful in a dire survival situation…
The Federation is in survival mode. Good thing one extremely obsolete starship can come in and solve everything in 10-ish episodes.
Symbols can be pretty powerful. It doesn’t sound like the Federation is stuggling with tech.
I’ll wait to see it, though.
I have a feeling it’s the spore drive that’s going to be really beneficial this season. They already made it clear no one else will have one but the Discovery. So it probably won’t be that obsolete.
And we still have to remember it has all that data from the alien sphere and will probably use some of it to upgrade the ship as well.
What if this galaxy-wide external calamity disrupted subspace in such a way that warp travel is restricted to extremely low speeds that puts anything but the nearby stars out of reach for anything but multi-generational sleeper ships like on the good old days? It would put a massive political entity like the Federation, spanning 8000 light years according to FC, at a disadvantage compared to the small empires based on conquest like the Romulans or Klingons. As we know, the geographical extent of civilizations is directly related to the efficiency of its infrastructure and modes of transportation (see Roman Empire). It would explain why a major storypoint seem to be visiting previous member worlds that feel abandoned by the Federation. And make Discovery’s non-warp propulsion tech a game changer despite (or rather, because) of coming 900 years from the past!
The Klingon and Romulan empires are really big. Just as big like the Federation in fact. Since all of them use warp travel in some capacity
Exactly! I agree with all of this. As others have pointed out it could just be an environmental issue where warp travel has been deemed impossible for travel. I mentioned the Omega particle as one example which eliminated not just warp travel, but even communication between worlds without subspace. It may not be that, but it could be something similar. And the spore drive is what will help them get to the other worlds while solving the mystery at the same time.
And to be honest I kind of prefer something like this and not some overly convoluted story of how aliens came from the 38th century and purposely destroyed travel to gain some kind of foothold in the future and all of that. Not everything requires a supervillain, it would just be interesting to see what happens when someone took science too far and the consequences of it. There can obviously still be conflict like new groups popping up to take advantage of these worlds but nothing like Control or Romulans showing up and this has been some grand plan from the start.
But this is Discovery of course, look for an evil Andorian who wiped the Federation out for conquest to be the main plotline. That and we learn one of Burnham’s descendant now harnesses the energy to put the Federation back together but needs the power of the multiverse to do it and so on.
They already did that plot, in the seventh season of TNG — remember the warp speed limit? The plot was truly awful and they undermined any environmental message they wanted to send by (1) routinely authorizing the Big-E to “exceed warp limits for the duration of the mission” for a couple of weeks, and the (2) forgetting about the plot development entirely.
If saving the planet means giving up aviation…we’re not saving the planet.
I also prefer it (external disaster) to Picard’s cynical dystopian version of this, it is more Roddenberryan as well (compare the mandated alien invasion in Conspiracy rather than corruption of Starfleet). It is interesting Kurtzman would explicitly rule out corruption and inner turmoil as a seeming reference to what Picard did, given that he is the father of both stories. Fan backslash to Picard season 1 can’t really factor into Discovery season 3 as it was both written last year.
This wouldn’t surprise me. It’ll be an allegory for climate change/global warming. “The Burn” will either be an accidental man-made disaster, or something naturally-occurring (eg. a much bigger, nastier version of the “energy ribbon” from Generations sweeping around the galaxy every few tens/hundreds of thousands or millions of years).
It’d be funny if they actually tied it to the TNG season 7 episode by stating, it was not just the writers who swept this issue under the carpet after a short while, but in universe they did, too (who wants to travel at Warp 5 after all?) and after a few centuries of harming subspace, the chicken came home to roost…
Well they have the almighty Burnham, they saviour of the universe.
If it’s literally trillions of times faster than any other ship in the galaxy, it very well could…
It’ll be interesting to see how things play out. I wonder if the events of Picard play into things at all. Granted that was a long time ago from Discovery’s standpoint, but could that have set off a chain of events leading to the Federation’s demise at some point. Or will they keep it wholly separate. I could see that as well, due to it being hundreds of years later (plus I imagine Picard will probably ultimately want to end on a more uplifting note, then hundreds of years of going downhill).
The Federation is at the brink. The galaxy is in survival mode.
I guess warp drive doesn’t work anymore because subspace was destroyed by an unknown galactic calamity.
The spore drive is a game changer. Space travel will never be the same. Warp travel is now obsolete.
Let’s wait and see how everything plays out over the course of the season.
We seen signs of that problem with subspace in the Next Gen.. it could be an extension of that
The burn…. Burnham … Could discovery be the cause of the collapse of the federation. And it’s salvation.
i kept thinking that it has quite a few elements that are similar to the great bird of the galaxy’s other works and expected a Dylan Hunt to pop in (for all you younger’s Andromeda ,Planet Earth & Genesis II)
Bruce, I do think there seem to be some ideas from those woven in, but take issue with those who keep posting “it’s just Andromeda.” Personally, I’m up for seeing some of those elements worked into the Trek universe.
One thing that occurred to me is that Book, as described by Kurtzman and Adjala, will be playing the “native guide” character that the female new society romantic interest played to Roddenberry’s assorted time traveling “Dylan Hunts” . That is Burnham is Discovery’s “Dylan Hunt” archetype.
I’m cool with that switch of gender roles.
I’m guessing the tree was planted by the crew’s family members as a memorial to the thought-dead crew & grew to that huge size in the intervening 900ish years…