Summary
Warning: contains spoilers forStar Trek#21!
Captain Kirk’s “death” has revealed a potentially dark truth about theStar Trekuniverse. Kirk’s passing in 1994’sStar Trek: Generationswas a landmark event in the franchise, and symbolized the passing of the torch. Now, inStar Trek#21, T’Lir, the last of the Organians, reveals they knew Kirk’s fate years ahead of time. Thisinsight opens up some dark implications for theStar Trekuniverse as a whole.
Star Trek#21 is written by Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly and drawn by Megan Levens. The god-like T’Lir is the last of the Organians, who took the form of a Vulcan as a way of surviving. The issue features a text piece, made to resemble T’Lir’s journals of their time on Organia. T’Lir reveals, that on Organia, they met Captain Kirk. Kirk, Spock and company come to Organia to prevent it falling to the Klingons, unaware of the Organians' true nature.
T’Lir recounts thatKirk had the “temporal signature” of the Nexus, even then.
Star Trek GenerationsKilled Off Captain Kirk in a Controversial Move
Kirk’s “Death” Seemed to be Pre-Ordained
Paramount Pictures releasedStar Trek: Generationsin 1994, bringing together Captains Kirk and Picard for the first time. In the film’s opening sequence, Kirk is seemingly killed rescuing El-Aurian refugees. In fact, Kirk was not dead, but had fallen into a traveling cosmic anomaly called the Nexus. Inside, the laws of time and space were meaningless, and they allowed Kirk to live until the 24th century, when he was freed by Captain Picard. Kirk was then killed in the battle with Doctor Tolian Soran on Viridian III. Kirk’s body eventually foundits way to a Section 31 facility.
However, T’Lir seemingly knew Kirk’s fate, decades before it was to come to pass, and this raises some intriguing and disturbing questions about the idea of predestination in theStar Trekuniverse.
However, T’Lir seemingly knew Kirk’s fate, decades before it was to come to pass, and this raises some intriguing and disturbing questions about the idea of predestination in theStar Trekuniverse. T’Lir’s observation about Kirk and the Nexus would imply that the Captain was always going to meet this fate–there was no way around it. Kirk survived many harrowing encounters, but was unable to dodge the Nexus and his eventual death on Viridian III. In essence,the destiny of mortals in theStar Trekuniverse is predestined, whether they want it or not.
Does Freewill Truly Exist in theStar TrekUniverse?
Mortals May Be Able to Circumvent the Will ofStar Trek’sGods
Theassembled gods in the Pleromaseem to reinforce this fact, but the actions of both Sisko and Kahless seem to say otherwise. Kahless’ crusade against the gods of theStar Trekuniverse showed they can be hurt and even killed, implying they are subjected to the same laws mortals are. Furthermore, Sisko and company, using a highly advanced technology designed by T’Lir and Scotty, were able to enter the Pleroma. If Klingons and humans can short circuit the will of the gods, then freewill may truly exist in theStar Trekuniverse.
