Star Trek: Starfleet Academy has just introduced a new superweapon. Introduced in Star Trek: Voyager, the Omega molecule is one of the most powerful substances known to exist in the franchise. It’s highly unstable, and the Federation banned any and all research on Omega molecule; Starfleet captains were ordered to destroy any Omega molecules they encountered, even if doing so meant breaking the Prime Directive. That’s because Omega molecules tend to destabilize in the most destructive ways, disrupting subspace and making warp travel impossible.
Fast-forward to the late 32nd century, and the pirate Nus Braka has launched what seems to be a masterstrike against the Federation. He’s successfully weaponized a variant of the Omega molecule, Omega 47, using mines to cut Federation territory off from the rest of the galaxy. If a Federation starship flies anywhere near the mines, the Omega 47 is detonated, and subspace in that region would become impossible to traverse. But here’s the catch; Braka wasn’t the one who created Omega 47.
Starfleet Has Been Experimenting With Omega 47
image courtesy of paramount
In a shocking twist, Starfleet Academy episode 9 reveals Starfleet itself has been experimenting with Omega molecules, seeking to weaponize them. It’s important to note that this is a very different Starfleet; the show is set in the late 32nd century, further forward in the Star Trek timeline than we’ve ever been before, in the aftermath of a galactic disaster known as the Burn. This incarnation of Starfleet acknowledges that it is a military forces as well as a diplomatic one, with a military academy (the War College) running alongside Starfleet Academy itself.
Even given that context, though, the Omega 47 research is absolutely shocking. The Burn essentially cut off warp travel for well over a century, presumably explaining why the Federation felt it was fine to begin researching Omega molecules as a power source in the first place; the consequences wouldn’t be as severe. But now warp travel has been restored thanks to the Discovery crew, meaning Omega 47 has become the ultimate superweapon. Weaponizing Omega 47 would make Starfleet the preeminent galactic power, because it could simply cut any emerging rival out of the galaxy completely.
To be fair, it’s clear this project was being conducted by some sort of clandestine black ops group. Admiral Vance certainly had no knowledge of the projects being conducted at Starbase J19-Alpha, because he’d have never been willing to leave it undefended to help Starfleet Academy cadets. It would have been the equivalent of the US government pulling all security from a military weapons installation during the height of the Cold War – literally unthinkable. That means we’ve just learned that groups like Section 31 are still active at this point.
Fans Are Getting Tired of Starfleet’s Dark Side
Image courtesy of CBS Studios
Gene Roddenberry envisioned Star Trek as something of a utopian future, but the Alex Kurtzman era has consistently explored Starfleet’s dark side. There’s a certain degree of cynicism to this approach; a belief that every Garden of Eden must have its serpent as part of the system itself, an attractive idea from a narrative point of view but one that undermines Roddenberry’s own ideology. That explains why the fanbase has grown very, very tired of this idea.
Starfleet Academy tries to dodge this by not having the Federation be the bad guys. A third party has stolen Federation technology, using it against Starfleet itself, and we’re still supposed to be rooting in Starfleet’s favor. But it’s notable that neither Admiral Vance nor Commander Ake express any hint of surprise that someone in Starfleet would be carrying out research like this, underlining the corruption that runs through the Federation itself.
The irony, of course, is that Chancellor Ake has just rescued Caleb’s mom. That means she’s about to have to present a vision of the Federation, insisting that Starfleet has changed and is now much more true to its ideology, in the face of evidence to the contrary. It’s a shocking and unprecedented twist, one that should really shake every one of the cadets’ confidence to the core, and even the Chancellor’s own trust in Starfleet too.
Naturally, we’ll have to wait and see how Star Trek: Starfleet Academy handles this particular crisis. It’s entirely possible Season 2 (which has now finished filming) will move on from this, focusing on the difference between promise and reality, and perhaps forcing the Federation to abandon its dark side at last. But the sad truth is, that may not be a story the fanbase is all to interested in exploring.
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