'Star Trek: Discovery': 5 of the most pressing questions we have about life and the galaxy in the 32nd Century
Between alternate universes, strange new planets across dozens of seasons, and even rebooted timelines, it can feel like there's very little of the 'Star Trek' universe that hasn't been explored. Nearly every week, "exploration" is what the franchise is all about, and 'Discovery' is not dropping the ball on that front. With its newest season, the USS Discovery is boldly going where no one has gone before, launching itself into the far future of the 32nd century.
Here are our biggest questions about the future, and what it could mean for the franchise as a whole.
1. What new technology has been invented?
'Star Trek' is already a futuristic show, and even non-fans of the series are familiar with the various kinds of technology it's introduced, from communicators to universal translators, to teleporter beams. Considering how much technology in our own world has changed just in the last 20 years, how much will it have advanced in the nine centuries since the Discovery's jump? We've already seen responsive furniture and personalized teleporters, but in all honestly, that sort of technology isn't really leaps and bounds ahead of what was already there - there's a chance for the future to hold some truly mindblowing futuristic equipment that could astonish Starfleet's best and brightest.
2. What new threats does the future hold?
A new era calls for new enemies, and there's no telling what kind of threats may have evolved over the centuries. One of the franchise's biggest villains is the Borg, whose threat comes largely from their assimilation with technology. With technological advances in the future, what new kinds of enemies may appear in the future? What weaponry do they have? Have new alien species risen to prominence, or do old familiar faces somehow still hold dominance in the galaxy for nearly a millennium straight?
3. What legacy did our favorite characters leave behind?
While the Federation may no longer be around, it's revealed that it dissolved only around a hundred years in the past - meaning that the Federation had a good 800 years to its illustrious future after the Discovery's time jump. What mark did captains like James T. Kirk (William Shatner) or Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) leave behind? Or are their names lost to history, overshadowed by future generations of captains whose deeds out shadow even the franchise's favorites? With the Federation dissolved, historical records may be lost - but that makes any names that did last through history that much more significant.
4. What caused The Burn?
One of the biggest and most terrifying mysteries about the future is the spontaneous combustion of dilithium throughout the universe. Somehow, simultaneously across parsecs, most of the world's dilithium supply just exploded. If this was done on purpose, it would imply the power to alter the chemical make-up of a substance across a universe, the kind of reality-warping power that's nearly godlike. If it was an accident, that's even more worrying - because the universe depends on dilithium for its warp-capable ships closing the gap between planets, and there's no guarantee that at any moment, all those ships might just explode once again in the vast, cold reaches of space.
5. Does the Future Need a Federation?
The United Federation of Planets brought together hundreds of planets under one banner, if not thousands in the wake of the centuries since. Trillions upon trillions of sentient beings, working together for the greater good, sharing their technology and ideals in one, grand society. The Federation, however, is not without its flaws - many alien species have criticized it for its assimilation of different cultures into a more homogenized society for its idea of utopia. Now that the Federation is gone - and has been, for over a hundred years - the universe somehow still appears to be managing on its own. How much difference does the Federation truly make for those who have not had to live with it? Though its officers hold out hope for its return - and though the arrival of the Discovery might make the Federation's return that much more likely - is it something the universe truly needs or is it time for something new?
'Star Trek: Discovery' airs Thursdays on CBS All Access.