Just a few months after learning that the Destination Star Trek European convention will be heading back to the UK next October, today we learned that the event will also be returning to Germany in April 2018!
After nearly four years away from the country, Destination Star Trek Germany heads to the Messe Westfallenhallen in Dortmund, Germany next year from April 27 – 29, and already has a notable lineup of announced Trek guests.
Destination Star Trek, Europe’s Official Convention for Star Trek fans, will return to Germany on 27th to 29th April 2018 at The Messe Westfallenhallen in Dortmund to celebrate over 50 years of Star Trek.
Star Trek legend, William ‘Captain Kirk’ Shatner will be headlining the whole weekend, meeting fans, posing for photos and signing autographs. He will be joined by a reunion of many of the main cast from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, which celebrates its 25th Anniversary in 2018.
Due to appear so far is Nana Visitor, Rene Auberjonois, Terry Farrell, Nicole De Boer, Max Grodenchik, Aron Eisenberg, Jeffrey Combs, Casey Biggs, James Darren, Vaughn Armstrong, Cirroc Lofton and in her first European appearance Camille Saviola.
Also appearing will be Walter Koenig, Robert Duncan McNeil, documentary makers Adam Nimoy and Dave Zappone plus writer/producer Ira Steven Behr with more guests still to be announced.
Destination Star Trek was last in Germany in 2014. Boasting one of the largest fan-bases in the world, Germany has a special relationship with Star Trek and it was only natural that with a new series to celebrate that the event should come back to it’s mainland Europe home.
Destination Star Trek is a fully immersive experience where fans can meet their heroes from the show, have photos with them and get autographs, listen to their amazing stories and even step foot on the Bridge of the star ship Enterprise itself.
For those of you already planning to join an away mission to Germany next spring, you can head over to DestinationStarTrekGermany.com to purchase your tickets now.
After an uneven but nonetheless engaging two-episode opener, Star Trek: Discovery kicks its story into full gear with its third episode and unofficial ‘second pilot,’ “Context is for Kings,” which finds the disgraced Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) recruited to serve aboard the USS Discovery after being rescued from a doomed prison transport shuttle en route to Tellun.
Six months have passed since Burnham committed mutiny and essentially triggered the Federation-Klingon war. On Discovery, Burnham learns Captain Gabriel Lorca (Jason Isaacs) and scientist Lt. Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp) is experimenting with a form of spores as a way to advance transport capabilities in space and potentially defeat the Klingons.
Burnham is given a chance to redeem herself (or at the very least, make herself more useful) as part of Lorca’s covert scientific mission.
Gabriel Lorca (Jason Isaacs) introduces himself to Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green). (CBS)
By episode three, it’s pretty clear that Star Trek: Discovery isn’t your father’s Star Trek. The show is slicker, darker, and brimming with more character conflict than anything the series could muster during its Rick Berman years — its closest comparison in the franchise would perhaps be Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
It’s also enveloped in an ever-present haze of mystery, a trait that is only amplified by telling the episode almost exclusively from the point of view of Burnham, who tries to unravel the machinations of Discovery’s mission.
As new as Discovery feels, there’s something also refreshingly familiar about it as well. Bringing a character with a checkered or damaged past aboard a series starship as a way to redeem themselves or find renewed purpose is certain nothing new to Star Trek. Think back to The Next Generation and Voyager with characters like Tom Paris, Ensign Ro, and Tam Elbrun, the troubled Betazoid from the terrific TNG episode “Tin Man.”
Burnham looks for a seat in the USS Discovery’s mess hall. (CBS)
There are certainly other character examples out there. Star Trek always seemed willing to give bad people a second chance — particularly if their skills were appropriate to a important mission. Discovery is the first to switch the point-of-view to one of these damaged, non-command-level characters and craft a series that follows their journey to some kind of redemption.
Or is it? Instead, does Discovery have a less-obvious and darker purpose for Burnham?
It’s still way too early to tell where Burnham’s character will end up. How far does the rabbit hole go down for her? As she points out in the episode’s closing moments, sometimes up can be down. Burnham’s path ahead could lead anywhere.
After a rather shaky introduction in “The Vulcan Hello” — marked by a clumsy, talky, and awkwardly-directed exchange with Captain Georgiou on its desert planet opening — Burnham has emerged as a truly fascinating and layered character. Sonequa Martin-Green deserves an enormous amount of credit for the heft she brings to the role.
Burnham works next to Cadet Tilly (Mary Wiseman) in Discovery’s engineering bay. (CBS)
It’s easy to dismiss Cadet Tilly (Mary Wiseman) as Discovery’s first irritating character; I kept getting flashbacks to Ensign Sonya Gomez, another nervous and eager-to-please-to-the-point-of-nausea character for TNG’s second season. It’s going to be interesting to watch her relationship with Burnham evolve.
It seems obvious that Burnham is being set up as a potential mentor to help tame her nervous tendencies and grow into a leader and future captain that she wants to be. As long as Discovery keeps its eye on the ball and not get too mired in its war story at the expense of its characters’ personal journeys, we will have a truly winning series that offers something new while staying true to the humanistic spirit of Star Trek.
Kudos needs to be given to director Akiva Goldsman, who improves upon the jarring and inconsistent pairing of David Semel and Adam Kane, who helmed the first two episodes. To give Discovery a pass, it’s not uncommon for a new Star Trek series to start out not exactly knowing how it should look, or even sound — a problem The Next Generation wrestled with for its first few years.
Michael Burnham contemplates life aboard the USS Discovery. (CBS)
Goldsman gets pretty close, finding a look that at least services “Context” adequately. Composer Jeff Russo also keeps the music appropriately mysterious and spooky.
As a story that’s essentially a single link in a much larger chain, “Context” is difficult to review on the merit of its singular plot. Beyond Burnham’s decision to stay aboard Discovery, there’s no real resolution offered. Of course, that’s the intent.
It will be interesting to see where things progress. On the whole, “Context is for Kings” offers an engaging setup for the much larger story to follow, with compelling character introductions and dense moral and ethical implications that promise a none-too-easy period of adjustment for Burnham as the USS Discovery’s newest crew member.
Star Trek: Discovery returns this Sunday with episode four: “The Butcher’s Knife Cares Not for the Lamb’s Cry.” Watch for our ongoing Canon Connections series to continue later this week as we look for the ties to Trek‘s past in this most recent episode!
Rob Heyman is a freelance journalist and entertainment critic. He is a regular contributor to both TrekCore and The Logbook, where he has written episode reviews of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Voyager, and the Star Trek movies.
Emmy and Oscar-winning makeup artist Joel Harlow has been in the business for three decades, taking part in creating the worlds of films from the Pirates of the Caribbean series, to X-Men and Logan, to Marvel’s Black Panther.
Star Trek fans first got to know his handiwork through 2009’s reboot film, where he won the Academy Award for his contribution to J.J. Abrams’ first Kelvin Timeline film. Most recently, however, his work sprang to life as the driving alien makeup artist for 2016’s Star Trek Beyond, where he led a team that created more than 50 brand-new alien designs for the 23rd Century world of the film.
This week, Titan Books is debuting Star Trek Beyond: The Makeup Artistry of Joel Harlow, shining a spotlight on the artist’s creative work in the most recent Trek film, a 256-page hardcover release filled with behind-the-scenes images, insight, and never-before-seen photography of the making of the film.
We had the opportunity to sit down exclusively with Joel Harlow at the 2017 Star Trek Las Vegas convention this past August to discuss this new release.
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TREKCORE: This is the second book focused on the creative side of the Kelvin Timeline Star Trek films – the first being 2009’s The Art of Star Trek, in which you had a small part. But this one is all about your design work for Beyond. How did it come about?
JOEL HARLOW: Well, I was working with Joe Nazzaro, who was writing an interview with me for Prosthetics Magazine. After the interview was over, and we were talking about photos to release and whatever was documented, I was like, “Look, I documented this film more than any film I’ve ever documented.”
I’ve got over 5,000 photos and videos… I was flying my drone around the shop! This was documented start to finish and each one of the characters that we were making I documented start to finish – from design, concept, sculpture, life cast and molding, casting pieces, pre-painting, application tests, retests… there’s just a wealth of information on each one of these 50-plus characters.
That 2009 book had some of our work in it, but this new one is really a reward to the crew. They spent all these months and all this time, pouring blood, sweat, and tears into characters that you may never even see on film, or if you do, they cross in the background for a few seconds.
Harlow (center) and the Burbank, CA makeup team for ‘Star Trek Beyond.’
TREKCORE: So how did you take this mass of information and break it down for the book?
HARLOW: That was mostly Joe Nazarro. He structured how we would lay it out. It was by location — Altamid, Yorktown, and the Enterprise — and even though some of those characters cross over between the different locations, the different worlds, we kept them kind of divided that way.
Then, each chapter is on a character, and within each character section you’ve got the design work, the sculptures, text makeups, test sculptures, just things that you’d never see.
You know, that’s always my favorite part of like, say, you’re doing a DVD, all that behind the scenes stuff. That’s instantly what I go to – the outtakes, let me see the design process… and this book is loaded with that stuff.
TREKCORE: The dozens of new designs you brought to life in Star Trek Beyond — how do you even begin to take on such a massive challenge?
HARLOW: To enter into a film — any film — saying that you have to design 50 specialty characters… it’s overwhelming. We really pushed the envelope. Let’s do another one. Let’s keep making them. By the time we got up to Vancouver which is where we shot the bulk of the film, we had 46.
My wife came to me, and said, “You know, you’ve got 46, and it’s the 50th anniversary of Star Trek,” so then, certainly, we needed to make four more!
Just a few of the huge selection of alien designs seen in ‘Beyond.’
TREKCORE: So the “50 aliens” thing wasn’t a specific plan from the beginning?
HARLOW: No, she pointed it out! So then you think you’ve got 50, and that’s probably enough…. but then production comes up with another scene, and they ask for another alien… so we just kept going.
But you have to focus on your hero characters — your Jaylahs, your Kralls — and then you just, fortunately, work with your crew. I had a crew of 60 people and every one of them was a die-hard Star Trek fan. So by the time we finished one character, it was time to do another one.
TREKCORE: And then you and your wife both managed to put on the ears yourself as Vulcans in Beyond too — was that the first time you’d appeared in a film you worked on?
HARLOW: I was in makeup for The Lone Ranger, and a couple other things like a commercial I did, you know, but something of this magnitude, yes, it was the first time. Vulcans are a race of characters that are just so beloved; it’s definitely something I had to do.
Cindy and Joel Harlow appear as Vulcans on Yorktown in ‘Beyond.’
TREKCORE: What was your Star Trek background before joining the team for the 2009 film? How familiar were you with the universe before that production began?
HARLOW: I grew up watching it at my grandparents’ house, and just remember being captivated by Spock — and as a kid, you were transported to different worlds. A different experience than any television I’d seen before.
TREKCORE: Growing up with that, what does it mean to you now being part of the process – and now seeing fans dressing up in your creations?
HARLOW: It’s so unusual! Watching the Original Series, never in a million years dreaming that I would one day be doing Leonard Nimoy’s ears [in the 2009 film].
Leonard was such a gentleman, he sat down in the chair and I first glued the ears on him, put the wig on and did the eyebrows — even if you don’t know Star Trek, you know Spock. Spock is iconic. And seeing him there, in full Spock makeup, was chilling. I still have goosebumps now thinking about it.
It’s great to see all the fans here [in Las Vegas], coming out to support Star Trek.
Harlow (left) with Leonard Nimoy during production of ‘Star Trek’ (2009).
TREKCORE: How much did your work on the 2009 film influence you on Beyond?
HARLOW: Well, in the first film we were dealing with alien races that had already existed; redefining Romulans, and others. Certainly there were some background characters, but primarily I was dealing with Romulans and Vulcans.
It was trying to deliver something with 2009 techniques and materials that would elevate the makeup craft. So it was silicone, punched eyebrows so you don’t see lace; it’s taking everything that I had learned and pouring it into redefining characters and races that Trek fans had grown to love.
Those are huge shoes to fill.
TREKCORE: That’s a big part of what’s happening in the new television series; Neville Page and Glenn Hetrick’s work reimagining the look of the Klingons.
HARLOW: I’ve seen some of their imagery, but we actually had Neville’s design for a Klingon in Star Trek Beyond; we sculpted it out and ready to go.
Initially one of those scavengers on Altamid was going to be a Klingon when Jaylah first meets Scotty. But ultimately it never made it past the sculptural state — although, that sculpture is in the book. It’s all this stuff that this brilliant sculptor who worked with me, Joey Rosco.
As you know, we lost Leonard Nimoy during the production time of the film, and he did a tribute bust of him and that imagery is in the book too. It’s an amazing piece.
TREKCORE: Had you worked with Justin Lin before Beyond at all?
HARLOW: No, but on this film we just clicked. From the first couple of meetings where I would bring in designs and show him what we were thinking, he embraced it and just let us run with things – and by the end, I would just go to him and say “Hey, we’re gonna do this…” and he’d just tell us to go with it.
That kind of freedom as an artist really lets you feel unconstrained, and you can just create.
Harlow with longtime Trek makeup artist Michael Westmore at STLV 2017.
TREKCORE: Where do you find inspiration for your designs? Longtime Trek makeup lead Michael Westmore talks a lot about the things he sees in animals – what about your process?
HARLOW: Well, yeah, a lot of it is from nature. I have always been a big fan of the ocean — so deep sea life, you know, whether it’s plant or animal life, fish, whatever.
I draw a lot of inspiration from the creatures of the sea. The coloring, bioluminescence… there’s just so much down there, that is an alien world, right? There’s stuff down there that we haven’t discovered yet. The weird sea life that we’re discovering deep down? That lends itself so easily to this.
Natalia and Syl are very much inspired by that world. Now a lot of these aliens people may not know when I mention them by name, but when the book comes out they’re all named there. And those names, we came up with them because we needed an easy way to refer to the different designs.
There’s like fifty-some characters all with separate elements — this one’s got teeth, this one’s got horns, this one’s got eyes, hands, fins, whatever it is — we needed a way to reference them in the shop. So we started giving them names just so that our team knew who was who – and those names translated now into this book.
So in hindsight, maybe we should have spent more time on those names — like ‘Slug’? Like, come on! [Laughs]
Natalia (Ashley Edner) with Chekov (Anton Yelchin); Ensign Syl (Melissa Roxbury) on Altamid. (‘Star Trek Beyond’)
TREKCORE: The design for Idris Elba’s character, Krall, changed very late in the Beyond pre-production stage, is that correct?
HARLOW: It was a very late change, yeah. We had spent so much time wavering over the look of Krall, and getting that right, and we thought we had it right. At one point it was going to have tracking lights in the sides of his head, but you can get into a dangerous situation when you overthink something so much you start scrutinizing each wrinkle, each shape; you can just work the magic right out of it.
There needs to be that artistic freedom and those happy accidents you may find as you’re creating a character as you’re sculpting and designing a character; you can homogenize the look and you end up losing the impact.
TREKCORE: Will the original Krall concept designs be included in the book?
HARLOW: Yes, all that’s in there. You’ll see, it could have been an interesting — but different — character, but it’s nothing like what he was in the final film.
The three looks of Krall (Idris Elba) seen in ‘Star Trek Beyond.’
TREKCORE: You’ve been part of a great number of productions over your career – how does Beyond rate in the films you’ve been involved with?
HARLOW:Beyond is absolutely my favorite project. I haven’t worked on anything before or since that offered me the creative opportunity like this. You know, 50+ characters that are all prosthetic-driven, that’s unheard of in this digital age.
But you know, that’s the Star Trek aesthetic, isn’t it? Primarily humanoid, it’s makeup-driven, maybe slight CG augmentation, but that’s what I think speaks to the Star Trek fan, that those aliens are relatable.
TREKCORE: There’s still a bit of a question if and when a fourth Star Trek film may come to fruition. If you were invited back, do you feel like you’ve used up your Star Trek creativity after the scale of your work for Beyond – 50+ new designs, and all that — or do you still have more to share?
HARLOW: No, no, no — those fifty designs were just the start! There’s easily quadruple that number still waiting.
While it all depends on the story, truthfully, if it’s bringing back characters that we know or re-imagining characters that we’ve seen on television, but if it’s similar to Beyond and we’re exploring more of the universe and finding new characters that we haven’t seen? There’s still a wealth of design – and I’m always coming up with more!
Seeing what worked in Beyond, I’d like to push that even further. I’m ready to jump back in if the call comes. I had such a great time and I can’t imagine there wouldn’t be anything I’d be involved in that I wouldn’t drop instantly to take on another Trek film.
Harlow poses with a fan cosplaying as ‘Star Trek Beyond’ alien heroine Jaylah at STLV 2017.
The newest episode of Star Trek: Discovery — “Context is for Kings” — has just debuted, and we’re sure you’re ready to dive into a discussion on all the events that just took place.
Here’s your place to take on all the new Trek lore this episode brought us, with no restrictions on spoilers. If you haven’t yet watched the episode, that’s your last warning!
This thread will remain open until our episode review is posted, later this week.
We originally planned two separete discussion threads for the North American and Netflix releases of Star Trek: Discovery, but we received enough feedback from readers to keep things streamlined to one place for the weekly episodic roll-outs.
For years, the Eaglemoss Official Starships Collection model series has stuck to on-screen, canon vessels from all eras of the Star Trek universe — from Enterprise NX-01 to the Romulan warbird Valdore from Star Trek: Nemesis — and even as they expanded to the Kelvin Timeline films, the model series never took on “beta canon” ships from the world of Trek games, comics, or books.
The USS Titan in its first appearance.
That is, until now! After a massive fan campaign to petition Eaglemoss to include hero starships USS Titan(captained by Will Riker) and USS Aventine (captained by Ezri Dax) from the ongoing post-Nemesis novel line in the Official Starships Collection, these first non-canon vessels are finally making their way to fans after a two-year wait.
While the Aventine is debuting to the USA as a convention-exclusive ship at next week’s New York Comic Con (and will be available to purchase online later), we’ve got our hands on the USS Titan now!
Created by illustrator Sean Tourangeau for Simon & Schuster’s design contest leading off the Star Trek: Titan novel series, the Titan is a Luna-class starship first mentioned in the opening scenes of Star Trek: Nemesis as Will Riker’s new assignment after being promoted to captain.
The USS Titan NCC-80102 is a Luna-class Federation ship named after a moon in the Sol system and commanded by Captain William T. Riker.
The vessel’s first mission was to transport the crew to the Romulan Empire to investigate the possibility of peaceful relations. After the completion of its primary mission, the Titan began its previously planned mission to explore the Gum Nebula.
During their deep space exploration, Riker and his crew discover darklings, the Caeliar, and the Axis of Time.
The USS Titan model is constructed similarly to Eaglemoss’ other releases, with the upper side of the saucer composed of die-cast metal and the underside, secondary hull, and warp nacelles molded from plastic; the ship measures in length approximately 5.25″.
Despite its size and high amount of surface detail, however, the model has a surprising lack of color – none of the brightly-colored phaser strips, sensor pods, or maneuvering thrusters that appear on other Federation ships; there is a bit of two-toned grey to the ship as certain hull panels are marked with a darker shade.
The main highlight color on the Titan is bright blue, adorning the ship’s deflector dish, small circular areas above and below the ship’s saucer, and most noticably as the three-sided warp grilles on each nacelle.
While both the impulse engines and bussard collectors are presented on the Titan as transparent plastic, the warp grilles are painted details rather than more common plastic inserts; this may be a necessity forced by the complex shape of the nacelle design.
The impulse engines, by comparison, are so tiny that they barely register as red; their location lacks any chance for light to pass through the plastic that they are quite difficult to see.
Eaglemoss USS Titan Model
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All in all, the USS Titan is an outstanding first venture in to the world of off-screen Star Trek starships, one we’re happy to see Eaglemoss is continuing to explore.
Not just the Aventine, mind you, but when we spoke to Eaglemoss’ Ben Robinson in August, he confirmed that the company is exploring several ships that never made it in front of cameras, like Matt Jeffries’ Phase II refit of the USS Enterprise…
Concept illustration of the Jefferies PHASE II Enterprise refit.
…Rick Sternbach’s early concept design of the USS Voyager…
Sternbach’s early USS Voyager prototype design.
…and the original Andy Probert Ambassador-class design of the Enterprise-C, already in the works.
Robinson shared photos of a custom-labeled version of this prototype vessel design on Twitter last week; his personal edition will be labeled the USS Ambassador, while the rest of us will have access to this ship as the Enterprise-C.
In the meantime, you can keep watch in the Eaglemoss store for its return, or stop by their booth next week at New York Comic Con and see if you can find a copy for yourself there.
In a recent interview with Star Trek: Discovery showrunner Aaron Harberts conducted at the Hollywood premiere last week, TrekMovie.com confirmed a long-rumored character appearance for the first season of the show: Amanda Grayson, wife of Sarek and mother to Spock.
The topic of Amanda Grayson was first broached by former producer Bryan Fuller in 2016 when he first revealed early information about the setting of Star Trek: Discovery, hinting that Grayson “maybe” will play a role in the then-in-pre-production series.
According to Harberts, Grayson will be played by actress Mia Kirshner, who had a breakout role in the first season of FOX’s 24 playing terrorist ‘Mandy,’ and became a recurring threat on that series. The Toronto native later featured as series regulars on HBO’s The L Word and Defiance on Syfy.
Kirshner will make the third actress to take on the role of human wife to Sarek of Vulcan, following in the footsteps of Jane Wyatt (seen above) — who originated the role in the classic Trek episode “Journey to Babel” and returned in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home — and Winona Ryder, who portrayed Amanda in the 2009 Star Trek film.
(Majel Barrett voiced the role when Amanda appeared in the animated episode “Yesteryear.”)
Winona Ryder as Amanda in a deleted scene from the 2009 film.
No word yet on when we’ll see Amanda Grayson on screen, but with the already-seen use of flashbacks to Michael Burnham’s childhood on Vulcan, it’s likely the wait won’t be very long as the Discovery team expands upon her story.
The next episode of Star Trek: Discovery, “Context is for Kings,” airs at Sunday on CBS All Access and Space, and will arrive Monday on Netflix.
The Star Trek: Discovery cast is making the trip down from Toronto to New York City next weekend, where the stars and creative team will make appearances at both New York Comic Con and the annual PaleyFest series in the Big Apple.
On Saturday, October 7, the Discovery team takes the stage at The Theater at Madison Square Garden for a panel on the new series at this special off-site location. While specific participants have not yet been announced, we expect the roster to be nearly identical to the PaleyFest event (below).
This fall on CBS All Access, Star Trek: Discovery follows the voyages of Starfleet on their missions to discover new worlds and new life forms, while learning that to truly understand all things alien, you must first understand yourself.
The iconic television franchise, which first launched over 50 years ago, continues to remain true to its roots, and Starfleet’s steadfast ideals of adventure, an earnest pursuit for exploration, and the hope that we can all come together for a better tomorrow.
Join cast members Sonequa Martin-Green, Jason Isaacs, Doug Jones, Shazad Latif, Mary Wiseman, Anthony Rapp, Mary Chieffo, and Wilson Cruz alongside executive producers Alex Kurtzman, Gretchen J. Berg, Aaron Harberts, Heather Kadin and Akiva Goldsman.
The panel will be moderated by former NASA Astronaut Dr. Mae Jemison, a major fan of Star Trek, the world’s first woman of color in space and leader of the 100 Year Starship initiative fostering the capabilities for human interstellar travel.
TrekCore will be in attendance at this event, so watch for updates from the panel on our Twitter feed Saturday afternoon.
Discovery actor Jason Isaacs (Captain Lorca) will also be appearing at NYCC throughout the event for autograph signings and other panels, as well as William Shatner, Kelvin Timeline Trek actor John Cho, and Trek writer/producer Ronald D. Moore.
Saturday night, the Discovery will also be making an appearance at the annual PaleyFest series, with the principal cast and executive production team in attendance in a smaller, ticketed setting.
Named for William S. Paley, founder of CBS and The Paley Center for Media, PaleyFest is a must-see pop cultural event produced by the Paley Center that brings fans together with the stars and creators of their favorite shows for panel discussions with audience Q&A. PaleyFest takes place both in LA & NY.
Joining the conversation will be cast members Sonequa Martin-Green, Jason Isaacs, Shazad Latif, Doug Jones, Mary Wiseman, Anthony Rapp, Mary Chieffo, and Wilson Cruz, along with production leadership team Alex Kurtzman, Gretchen J. Berg, Aaron Harberts, Akiva Goldsman, and Heather Kadin.
TrekCore will also be attending this event and will bring you any news that breaks next weekend.
Finally, on Sunday evening, Discovery showrunner Aaron Harberts and cast member Mari Wiseman — making her on-screen Trek debut in this Sunday’s episode — will join host Matt Mira on the live After Trek discussion show, also filmed in New York City.
After Trek streams live on CBS All Access at 9:30 PM after Star Trek: Discovery.
Keep checking back here at TrekCore for all the latest in Star Trek: Discovery news!
It wouldn’t be an episode of Star Trek without a host of Easter eggs and winks to the overall Trek canon to deepen the rich tapestry of the franchise, and Star Trek: Discovery is no exception!
It’s those little throwaway references to story elements, characters, or other elements of previous shows that mean little to the casual viewer, but we adore — so let’s take a look back through “The Vulcan Hello” and “Battle at the Binary Stars” and find what we can to connect to the larger Trek universe!
“We have engaged…” “…the Klingons!”
At the end of “The Vulcan Hello,” a fleet of 24 Klingon starships arrive to join T’Kuvma’s sarcophagus ship. In response, Captain Phillipa Georgiou of the USS Shenzhou orders Ensign Connor: “Contact Starfleet Command. Tell them we have engaged the Klingons.”
This of course hearkens back to Captain Picard’s ominous request from “The Best of Both Worlds” — “Dispatch a subspace message to Admiral Hansen… we have engaged the Borg.”
A Klingon of a Different Color
The Klingon Voq, who T’Kuvma elevates to the position of torchbearer, is an albino. Voq is not the first albino Klingon to appear in Star Trek canon; the first was an enemy of Kang, Kor, and Koloth in the Deep Space Nine episode “Blood Oath.”
We’ve seen speculation online that Voq may be the same character that appeared in “Blood Oath,” and given the animosity between Voq and Kol — leader of the House of Kor — it may be a long shot, but we’re not ruling it out!
Gamma Hydra, Once More
Captain Georgiou mentions a nearby Andorian colony at Gamma Hydra, a star system mentioned often in the 23rd Century.
Gamma Hydra appears as the colony where Kirk and company are affected by the aging syndrome in “The Deadly Years,” and is referenced in The Wrath of Khan during the opening Kobyashi Maru simulation, when the freighter is located in Gamma Hydra, Section 10 in the Klingon Neutral Zone.
The Battle of Donatu V
T’Kuvma refers to the ‘Battle of Donatu V’ during his conversation with representatives of the Klingon houses, a famed Klingon / Federation skirmish first mentioned in “The Trouble with Tribbles.
The planet is later protected from Jem’Hadar raids by Martok and the crew of the IKS Rotarran during the Dominion War (“Sons and Daughters”).
They’ve Drafted That Directive
While not mentioned by its much more famous name, Starfleet General Order 1 — aka the Prime Directive — is mentioned as a concern by Burnham and Georgiou as they trek through the desert, avoiding Crepusculan interaction.
This golden rule was not in place during the time of ‘Star Trek: Enterprise’ (“Dear Doctor”) but clearly has been established by this point in the 23rd Century, dictating lack of interaction with less advanced alien cultures.
A Small Klingon Colony Near the Border
According to Sarek, H’atoria is a Klingon colony where Vulcans first encountered the Klingons. That Vulcan ship was destroyed, and as a result the Vulcans adopted a policy of always firing first when encountering a Klingon ship – something Burnham describes as a ‘Vulcan hello.’
This “small Klingon colony” was first mentioned in the alternate future seen in “All Good Things,” where Worf was stationed as governor during the ‘Next Generation’ series finale.
The Great Houses
T’Kuvma worked to gain the trust and cooperation of the 24 great Klingon houses during the events of the premiere, convincing members of the House of D’Ghor and Hose of Mo’Kai to join his side against the Federation.
‘Deep Space Nine’ fans may remember D’Ghor as the treacherous Klingon in “The House of Quark” who attempts to bankrupt Grilka and take her lands – leading her to marry Quark; those who remember ‘Voyager’ adventure “The Killing Game” may recall Captain Janeway — in the guise of a Klingon warrior — defiantly telling her Hirogen adversary that “The House of Mo’Kai will never yield”!
The Fab Four
The founding races of the Federation — Humans, Vulcans, Tellarites, and those ‘filthy’ Andorians — are all called out by by T’Kuvma as he promotes Klingon purity against impending Federation encroachment against the Empire.
Kahless the Unforgettable
Kahless is totally entwined with the history and culture of the Klingon Empire. Kahless first appeared in the Original Series episode “The Savage Curtain,” but appeared more prominently in the ‘Next Generation’ episode “Rightful Heir,” where a clone of Kahless is created by the monks at the monastery at Boreth.
T’Kuvma’s cries for Klingon unity also echo Kahless’ words of self-reliance: “You are Klingons. You need no one but yourselves.” (“Rightful Heir”)
Phase Cannons Armed
Both Burnham and Georgiou refer to the Shenzhou’s weapons as phase cannons, familiar nomenclature to fans of ‘Star Trek: Enterprise’ who remember the energy weapons of the NX-01.
The use of the term — they also use the term phasers in other contexts — implies that the USS Shenzhou is an older starship at this point in the timeline; the downed starship Franklin from ‘Star Trek Beyond’ was also armed with pulsed phase cannons.
Qo’onS: Unwelcoming to the Federation
Homeworld of the Klingon Empire; seen in a hologram during Burnham’s studies, rendered in the same green and blue hues as its appearance in TNG’s “Redemption.”. T’Kuvma instructs his followers to return to Qo’Nos and unite the rest of the houses, shortly before his ship is boarded and he is killed.
Qo’Nos has been visited a number of time in previous series, most prominently in ‘Next Generation’ and ‘Enterprise.’
Red Alert!
The ‘red alert’ warning graphic seen on various Shenzhou bridge panels – as well as the helmet of Lt. Narwani, echoes the same imagery used during the Original Series feature films.
Along with the graphic, many of the Shenzhou’s bridge sound effects – from computer noises to the Red Alert klaxon – are nearly identical to those used in both the Original Series and TNG eras of Starfleet.
The Black Fleet
T’Kuvma makes several references to how the warriors entombed on the hull of his ship join the Black Fleet. This is not a televised Star Trek reference, but a reference to one of the novels –- in this case, ‘The Final Reflection’ by John M. Ford — discussed often by the series’ Klingon cast members.
Starships of Many Names
While a number of Federation starships that arrived to back up the USS Shenzhou were named after notable Earth figures of flight — Amelia Earhart, Chuck Yaeager, Sally Ride — there were also a few nods to notable Trek history as well.
The starship Shran, named for the Andorian ally of Jonathan Archer’s NX-01, stands out, as well as the T’Plana-Hath: named for the matron of Vulcan philosphy, as well as the first Vulcan starship to make contact with humanity.
Also arriving was the starship Edison: a reference to the inventor of the light bulb, or to famed 22nd Century MACO Captain Balthazar Edison who commanded the lost USS Franklin… rediscovered in Star Trek: Beyond.
In the Prime Timeline, we do not know whether Edison and the Franklin have been discovered yet, so the ship could very well be named for the hero of the Xindi crisis and Romulan War.
Logic at the Vulcan Learning Center
Young Michael Burnham is shown being tested in holographic pods at the Vulcan Learning Center, first brought to life in the 2009 ‘Star Trek’ film where young Spock was bullied by his full-Vulcan peers.
In the 2009 film, the learning pods are presented as sunken domes with backlit display screens; in “The Vulcan Hello,” the sunken pods have holographic domes displaying educational content.
The Vulcan Science Academy
We learn in “Battle at the Binary Stars” that Burnham is a graduate of the prestigious Vulcan Science Academy, a center of education well known to the Trek universe.
Most notably, Spock turned down the opportunity to attend, instead choosing to enroll at Starfleet Academy on Earth; T’Pol’s mother T’Les also taught at the Academy until the Syrranite crisis in 2154.
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In addition to these more obvious connections to Star Trek‘s past, there were also several not-so-visible Easter eggs hidden in Captain Georgiou’s ready room.
Made known by the show’s production team through shared photographs of the set, these include a bottle of 2249 Château Picard wine, Starfleet medals previously awarded to Jonathan Archer and James T. Kirk, a collection of recognizably-named books on her shelf, and a diploma from an Andorian military academy.
We can’t wait to see what else Star Trek: Discovery‘s writers bring to the table in this weekend’s new episode, “Context is for Kings.” Keep your eyes out for more canon connections in the future!
While the next episodes of Star Trek: Discovery will be coming to you via CBS All Access and Netflix in most of the world, weekly broadcasts will be continuing in Canada on their Space channel, giving us a first, tiny taste of the next chapter in the Discovery story.
“CONTEXT IS FOR KINGS” — Burnham finds herself aboard the U.S.S. Discovery, where she quickly realizes things are not as they seem, including the mysterious Captain Gabriel Lorca.
In addition to the photo series released earlier this week, CBS has also unveiled an additional photo from the episode, centering on Michael Burnham’s first encounter with the USS Discovery‘s Paul Stamets in the ship’s engineering section.
Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) presents Lt. Stamets (Anthony Rapp) with her orders. (CBS)
Of note is the very TOS-looking yellow data slate in Burnham’s hand, rendered in transparent plastic for this iteration of the franchise.
Star Trek: Discovery airs at 8PM Sundays on Space.
ThinkGeek released an wild new exclusive Star Trek: The Next Generation accessory earlier this month: an Enterprise-D–style warp core USB charger, ready to dock with your Galaxy-class starship and warp you to places never before explored.
But will it take you to Warp 9 or leave you cruising at impulse? Read on!
This warp core is a pass-through USB Type-A charger, with two ports supporting 2.1 Amps of charging power each — meaning that if you’ve got a newer USB-C device, you’ll need an adapter — and even though it’s from the 24th Century, it still plugs into your car’s 12V power port / cigarette lighter rather than drawing from your antimatter reserves.
The charger is not small: it measures 8″ tall, with a wide 2.5″ base that settles onto your vehicle’s cupholder. (It also includes an adapter ring if you have larger-than-usual cupholders.)
Depending on where your charger sits in your vehicle, the two ports may be somewhat awkward to access, as they are strangely placed surrounding the power cable that plugs into your dashboard — meaning you may end up with the cable wrapped around the charger depending on where you need to plug in your devices.
The big feature of this charger, of course, is the internal lighting to simulate the famous blue glow of the Enterprise-D‘s matter/antimatter reaction chamber, hurtling the starship through space faster than the speed of light.
Powered by internal LEDs, the core has a series of simulated warp pulses which travel from the top and bottom of the device — but this small version of the core has no audio component, so don’t expect to be hypnotized by the sound of the dilithium reaction chamber while you’re on the road.
To be clear: We added the extra audio effect to the video above!
One minor disappointment on the internal lighting is that the central portion of the core, normally lit up white aboard the Enterprise-D, doesn’t have its own dedicated LED to glow here; it’s lit up only by the blue lights coalescing around it — which can be easily disabled as needed by the top button.
There’s also a pair of orange LEDs deep below the base to light up the core from the bottom, certainly more visible in the evening hours.
All that being said, this really is a neat bit of Next Generation electronica, which will be right at home in the shuttlepod of your choice — just make sure to perform regular maintenance on the ejection system in case of collision!
Thanks to our friends at ThinkGeek, TrekCore is happy to give away two Star Trek: The Next Generation Warp Core USB Chargers to a pair of lucky readers!
All you need to do is leave a comment below, telling us the following:
From Montgomery Scott to Trip Tucker, Star Trek has plenty of miracle workers in the ‘fleet – tell us your favorite adventure centered around one of those technical wizards!
Make your entry below, and watch your email for winner notifications on October 4!
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Emmy and Oscar-winning makeup artist Joel Harlow has been in the business for three decades, taking part in creating the worlds of films from the Pirates of the Caribbean series, to X-Men and Logan, to Marvel’s Black Panther.
Star Trek:
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On Saturday, October 7, the Discovery team takes the stage at 
