Star Trek: Lower Decks Just Crossed Over With Four Live-Action Series
Shaxs, the rowdy security chief of Star Trek: Lower Decks, just joined a ship whose crew is made up of characters from four live-action Trek series in IDW's Star Trek #7.
Lieutenant Shaxs of Star Trek: Lower Decks fame just joined a crew of heroes including characters from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Voyager, and even Star Trek: The Original Series. In the most recent issue of IDW‘s Star Trek comic, Ben Sisko returns to DS9 in the hopes of finding a mysterious artifact. To help him on his quest, Sisko is assigned Shaxs, who is certain the artifact Sisko is looking for is in the hands of the last people any Bajoran wants to deal with: the Cardassians.
Wtih Shaxs’ addition to the crew of the Theseus, Star Trek: Lower Decks becomes the latest series to lend a hero to Sisko’s quest in the IDW comic. Set between the events of 1998’s Star Trek: Insurrection and 2002’s Star Trek: Nemesis, the comic book sees Ben Sisko of DS9 return from the Prophets to find out who is hunting the most powerful beings in the Trek mythos and stopping them. Starfleet gives him their most advanced ship, the Theseus, to complete his task, along with a crew culled from all across the narrative.
Part of what’s so brilliant about IDW’s Star Trek series is that its heroes not only hail from — with the addition of Lower Decks — five different Trek TV shows, but the crossover is accomplished without any extra time travel shenanigans. The crew of the Theseus includes Ben and Jake Sisko from DS9, Beverly Crusher and Data from TNG, and Tom Paris from Voyager. Montgomery Scott from TOS is the chief engineer, which tracks since he was brought to the 24th century in the Season 7 TNG episode “Relics.
Nor does Shaxs’ presence clash with any of the canon or necessitate any time travel. Since Star Trek: Lower Decks takes place after the events of Nemesis, the story of the IDW comic would need to unfold before Lower Decks. But since we know Shaxs was stationed aboard the U.S.S. Cerritos before Season 1 of Lower Decks, again this doesn’t conflict with any established continuity.
In spite of interacting with Trek heroes we’re used to seeing in live-action, the IDW comic gives Shaxs the same big, obnoxiously bloodthirsty personality, with the Bajoran loudly celebrating every win and talking about every enemy through gritted teeth.
This eclectic crew isn’t alone, either. Worf previously joined the Theseus crew, until he split off for Star Trek: Defiant, which features its own group of heroes that likewise span Trek’s mythos. No Star Trek: Lower Decks characters have joined the Defiant’s crew just yet, but it does boast Ambassador Spock, Ro Laren of TNG, Data’s evil twin brother Lore of TNG, and B’Elanna Torres of Voyager.
On Star Trek: Lower Decks, Shaxs is portrayed by prolific voice actor Fred Tatasciore. The series’ fourth season is expected to premiere some time in mid-2023, and it’s already been renewed for a fifth season.
