The Star Trek Secret Hiding From The Very Start
The Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Face of the Enemy” deepened Romulan lore by revealing that this secretive race has an even more secretive police known as the Tal Shiar. Later shows (particularly Deep Space Nine) would make great use of this Romulan revelation, but after rewatching The Original Series episode “Balance of Terror,” we were struck by the idea that these secret police have been part of Star Trek from the very beginning. One of the minor characters aboard the Romulan commander’s ship seems very much like he’s a member of the Tal Shiar, and Strange New Worlds reinforces this conclusion.
Evidence From The Next Generation
In the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Face of the Enemy,” we are introduced to the idea that not only do Tal Shiar members frequently travel aboard Romulan ships but that it often creates a major tension between these super spies and the commanders of these respective vessels. We see a surgically transformed Deanna Troi pose as one such Tal Shiar member (Major Rakal), and she clashes with Commander Torveth in an attempt to help a friendly third party get Romulan supplies to the Federation.
Hidden Romulan Agenda In The Original Series
At the time, the dynamic of spies versus officers among the Romulans felt very fresh, but now it seems like it may have been hiding right in front of fans for decades. The Star Trek: The Original Series episode “Balance of Terror” introduced us to the Romulans for the first time, and there is an immediate tension between the Romulan Commander and Decius, one of his subordinates. After the Commander demotes Decius, the centurion warns his commanding officer that Decius “has friends…And friends of his kind mean power.”
The Tal Shiar Have Been Around Since The First Few Episodes
You can probably guess where we’re going with this: in retrospect, it seems like Decius was a member of the Tal Shiar. If so, that would provide additional tension to a later scene in which Decius convinces his Commander to attack the Enterprise even though the older man is convinced (rightfully so) that Captain Kirk has simply laid a trap to lure them in. Still, by itself, these surface-level resemblances to later Star Trek episodes were not enough to convince us that the Tal Shiar were hiding (cloaked?) in plain sight in The Original Series.
Strange New Worlds Confirms The Theory, Sort Of
However, we got a better look at these Romulans in the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds episode “A Quality of Mercy.” That episode was an exploration of what would have happened if Captain Pike had commanded the Enterprise rather than Captain Kirk during that fateful first encounter with the Romulans. Though he is not named in this alternate reality episode, we see the Decius character successfully contact the Romulan Praetor, and her arrival with a fleet of Romulan ships kicks off a decades-long war with the Romulans that costs the Federation millions of lives.
Decius Has Always Been A Tal Shiar Operative
This strengthened our Tal Shiar suspicions quite a bit because while “Balance of Terror” implied Decius was politically well-connected, there was no indication that he could easily and quickly communicate with the Praetor, otherwise known as the official head of the Romulan government. Frankly, it would make no sense if a random Romulan with a few family connections could instantly get hold of the most powerful person in his entire Empire. But if Decius was a Tal Shiar agent either overtly or covertly overseeing the mission, it would make sense that he could expedite a call to the Praetor.
Where Will We See The Tal Shiar Next?
The Star Trek: The Original Series never used the term “Tal Shiar” by name, but the very name of this secret police is an homage to a Vulcan martial art technique (tal-shaya) we learn about in the early episode “Journey to Babel.” Furthermore, Strange New Worlds retroactively verifies how important this Romulan mission was to the Praetor herself, so it would be logical to have one of her own spies onboard. For all these reasons, our new headcanon is that the Tal Shiar has been part of Star Trek since the very first Romulan episode.
