Star Trek Discovery Cancellation Ruins Strange New Worlds Crossover?
The fifth and final season of Star Trek: Discovery has been filled with fan service, including the entire season’s mystery arc being based on the beloved TNG episode “The Chase.” We’ve gotten callbacks to the Dominion War and a cameo by a Soong-type android. But one of the most ambitious bits of fan service was Discovery encountering the abandoned hulk of the Mirror Universe vessel ISS Enterprise.
We later found out its crew rebelled from the Terran Empire and escaped into the Prime Universe, but it’s my belief this episode was meant to set up a Strange New Worlds crossover we will never get.
Star Trek: Discovery Setting Up Strange New Worlds?
How, exactly, could Star Trek: Discovery have been setting up a crossover with Strange New Worlds? It may seem unlikely, especially with SNW taking place in the 23rd century and DSC now taking place in the 32nd century.
However, there are various ways for the show to explain how a vessel could time-travel to the future (something that the Discovery crew knows all about) or just get stuck in a timey-wimey space phenomenon.
Star Trek: Discovery “Mirrors”
In the Star Trek: Discovery episode “Mirrors,” Captain Burnham and Booker board the ISS Enterprise in search of the criminals Moll and L’ak as well as clues about the Progenitors. These ancient aliens who created many major races in the galaxy and whose technology could be used as a superweapon.
Our heroes eventually discover that this ship fled the Mirror Universe after Spock became the Terran Emperor and was executed for trying to usher progressive reforms into a regressive empire. We later find out they safely made it into the Prime universe despite the ISS Enterprise getting stuck in the wormhole.
Didn’t Know Fifth Was Last
Here’s my speculation: we know that the Star Trek: Discovery cast and crew did not originally know the fifth season would be their last. After the show’s surprise cancellation, however, Paramount allowed new scenes to be shot to help wrap the season up and make it feel more like a finale.
Many fans (myself included) assumed these new scenes would mostly be added to the season finale to help wrap up the series. However, seeing the ISS Enterprise makes me think the show had an ambitious Strange New Worlds crossover planned for a future season and a new scene was added to quickly resolve things.
Trying To Find Clues
In Star Trek: Discovery, we learn that the ISS Enterprise crew rebelled against the Terran Empire and fled to the Prime Universe, with the ship getting stuck in a wormhole.
At first, what happened to the Mirror crew was a mystery. Later, though, Captain Burnham happily reveals that everyone safely made it to the Prime Universe in the 23rd century. The one fleeing Terran, Dr. Cho, became a Starfleet branch admiral who researched the Progenitors and left the clue Burnham and Book are trying to find.
Strange New Worlds Mirror Universe?
My theory is that Star Trek: Discovery was originally going to leave the fate of that crew as a mystery so that in future seasons, we could find out they escaped into the future and get cameos from Mirror Universe versions of Strange New Worlds characters.
Mirror Pike, for example, could basically be an anti-Lorca: a captain from the evil universe who is actually a good guy and not just putting on an act. The crossover between Strange New Worlds and Lower Decks proved very popular, and this would have been a chance for Paramount to engage in more of that sweet, sweet brand synergy.
Adding New Scenes?
Furthermore, I believe that after Star Trek: Discovery was canceled, the conversation where Burnham tells Booker the crew all survived and settled in the Prime Universe was later added as a new scene.
Think about it: that scene is just two characters talking on a very small set. That’s not exactly a smoking phaser when it comes to my theory, but this would have been a lot easier to add as a new scene compared to something like a major ensemble scene on the Discovery’s bridge.
Future Crossovers Could Still Happen?
We may never definitively know if Star Trek: Discovery was setting up a Strange New Worlds crossover, but I’m trying to embody what Burnham said about the rebel Enterprise crew. “They had hope…despite impossible odds.”
In my case, I hope that Paramount hasn’t fully given up on ambitious plans like crossovers in favor of just playing it safe with Starfleet Academy, an upcoming show aimed at teens so aggressively that it might as well be called Stardate 90210.
