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Star Trek: A Guide to All the Mirror Universe Episodes

What can we learn about Star Trek: Discovery from these previous Mirror Universe-set Star Trek episodes?

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Warning: This article contains Star Trek: Discovery spoilers.

In this week’s episode of Star Trek: Discovery , we got confirmation that the crew of the Discovery has landed in the franchise’s Mirror Universe where, instead of the peace-loving Federation, Earth has its own, tyrannical Terran Empire.

The Star Trek franchise has a history of episodes and arcs that take place in this Mirror Universe. They are often amongst the strongest storytelling of their respective series and build upon the Mirror Universe mythology that has come before.

As we head further into Discovery ‘s incarnation of the Mirror Universe, let’s look back at all of the Mirror Universe episodes in Star Trek ‘s history…

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The Original Series’ Mirror Universe

The one that started it all! The Original Series first ventured into the Mirror Universe in Season 2’s “Mirror, Mirror,” when four members of the Enterprise’s crew are switched with their nefarious counterparts in the Mirror Universe.

Discovery has drawn many of its Mirror Universe elements from this original incarnation, including the Agony Booths and the Terran Empire’s preferred method of job promotion: betrayal and murder.

Discovery also borrows “Mirror, Mirror”‘s logic that one does not simply travel to the Mirror Universe, but must switch places. The Mirror Universe’s Discovery has seemingly ended up in  our  Discovery’s universe, which will no doubt cause all manner of problems for the Federation.

There better be at least one goatee in Discovery ‘s mirror universe or I’m asking for a refund. (Though Tilly’s Terran ‘do is a good start.)

Deep Space Nine’s Mirror Universe

Deep Space Nine did a deep dive into the Mirror Universe with five separate episodes across five different seasons: “Crossover” (Season 2), “Through the Looking Glass” (Season 3), “Shattered Mirror” (Season 4), “Resurrection” (Season 6), and “The Emperor’s New Cloak” (Season 7).

While the Deep Space Nine Mirror Universe story arc doesn’t seem to have much to do with Discovery ‘s take so far, its thematic foundation of the narrative rested on the idea that those who visited the Mirror Universe had a positive effect on the Terran Empire, which began to reform itself for the better. Could the Discovery’s visit to the Mirror Universe have been part of that path to change?

DS9 ‘s visit to the Mirror Universe also introduced the idea that people who died in the “normal” universe might be alive and well in the Mirror Universe, as we found with Sisko’s wife. In “Despite Yourself,” we met Mirror Connor, another version of the Shenzhou’s ensign. It seems inevitable that we will meet more mirror versions of characters who’ve died in our universe. My favorite theory? That Phillipa Georgiou is the Emperor of the Terran Empire.

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Enterprise’s Mirror Universe

Enterprise really hit its narrative stride when it ventured into the Mirror Universe in “In a Mirror, Darkly, Parts 1 & 2,” which saw the show imagining a fate for the USS Defiant, the missing ship the Enterprise is looking for in The Original Series episode “The Tholian Web.” 

What happened to the Defiant, per Enterprise canon? Basically, the crew went crazy, turned on each other, and ended up in the hands of the Tholians. The crew of the ISS Enterprise, captained by a Mirror Universe version of Jonathan Archer, steal the ship from the aliens and attempts to use it to overthrow the Empire. The Defiant has already had a mention in Discovery as a ship that has previously crossed over to the Mirror Universe.

These episodes give us the backstory for the Terran Empire, and how it ended up so different from our universe’s Federation. It imagines the famous first contact between human Zefram Cochrane and the Vulcans going very differently. Instead of a peaceful interaction, Cochrane kills the lead Vulcan and he and other humans loot the ship. Yeah, the Mirror Universe is the worst.

Kayti Burt | @kaytiburt

Kayti is a pop culture writer, editor, and full-time nerd who comes from a working class background. A member of the Television Critics Association, she specializes…

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In a Mirror, Darkly

Star trek: enterprise.

• Set in the dark and oppressive Mirror Universe, Commander Archer leads a mutiny in a bold attempt to seize control of an advanced starship - a vessel from the future that may be the key to saving the Terran Empire.
• Another Enterprise is traveling in a mirror universe where everything is a great deal different. Zefram Cochrane shot the first Vulcan setting foot on Earth and mankind went the aggressive way. Today humans have formed the Terran Empire, assimilating many other species, but there's a devastating war with rebels going on. First officer Jonathan Archer disagrees with a decision Captain Forrest is making. He decides to take matters into his own hands and starts a mutiny. In command of the Enterprise, Archer sets course for Tholian space. Reports have shown that the Tholians have captured an Earth ship that might have come from another universe. — Arnoud Tiele ([email protected])
• On April 5, 2063, in Bozeman, Montana of a mirror universe, Zefram Cochrane kills the Vulcans in their first contact. On May 13, 2155, the humans are part of a dark empire that uses force and torture to subdue other species, and they are close to being defeated by the rebels. On the Enterprise, First Officer Archer leads a mutiny against Captain Forrest and travels to Tholian space to take over the Earth ship Defiant that has come from the future of another universe and captured by the Tholians. They intend to use reverse engineering to research the advanced technology and weapons brought with them. — Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• In 2063, a Vulcan ship lands on Earth (In Bozeman Montana), making first contact with humans (as seen in Star Trek: First Contact). Instead of peacefully greeting them, Zefram Cochrane shoots the lead Vulcan and the humans storm and loot the ship. The dark Earth history starts, which is an alternate time-line.. In 2155, Doctor Phlox and Major Reed demonstrate a new torture device (which is effective on any humanoid species) to Captain Forrest (Vaughn Armstrong) and Commander Archer on the ISS Enterprise. Archer suggests to Forrest they travel into Tholian space, as he has heard rumors of technology they might wish to steal. Earth is an Empire now and has an emperor as well. Earth is at war and it is not going well for them. The two argue, and Forrest returns to his quarters where he is comforted by Lieutenant Sato (Sato is supposed to be Forrest's mistress in the alternate time-line). Later, Forrest is ambushed by Archer and several MACOs (a military team) and sent to the brig. Archer travels to the bridge and announces that he has taken command. T'Pol is a sexy commander serving under Forrest. She knows that Starfleet has given no orders to go into Tholian space to steal tech.. After torturing a Tholian pilot (Whom they capture in Thorian space) for coordinates, he orders a change of course to the shipyard, and tells Commander T'Pol, whom he promotes to first officer, to install a Suliban cloaking device with Commander Tucker. Archer also appoints Sergeant Mayweather as his personal guard, and Sato proposes that she keep her job as Captain's woman (she tries to stab Archer, but he anticipates the move and stops her attack). Archer has Sato send a message to Starfleet about their mission to raid the Tholian technology. Tucker is injured when the cloaking device is sabotaged. Archer is tough as nails and wants Tucker back on the job fixing the cloaking device. Archer questions Forrest, who denies all knowledge, and Reed tortures Tucker expecting him to be the saboteur (Reed shows proof that Tucker initiated an EPS power overload that led to damage to the cloaking device). T'Pol leads a team to free Forrest and reclaim the ship, but Archer encrypts navigation control to prevent a course change (Archer had anticipated that it might be T'Pol who damaged the cloaking device and not Tucker. Her goal was to damage the internal sensors, the cloaking device was a by product only). Forrest tortures Archer, but orders his release after he receives word that Starfleet agrees with Archer's plans. Archer shows images of an alternate universe vessel from the future named USS Defiant (a Constitution-class star-ship, last seen in "The Tholian Web"), that has technology and power that is a century more advanced than ISS Enterprise. Archer says Tholians were experimenting with time travel and exploded a Tri-cobalt device in space, creating a space time rift. This created a doorway to a parallel universe, but the portal was too unstable. So, they sent a distress signal across the portal and lured a ship from the the side into our universe. The ship that came is not only from another universe, but also from 100 yrs in the future.. It is an Earth vessel, with advanced tech.. On arriving at the shipyard, Archer, T'Pol, and Tucker transport across, and Tucker begins powering up the vessel. Forrest wanted to destroy the ship, but Archer wants to take the ship with them. T'Pol was sent by Forrest, so that Archer doesn't return from the mission. Tholian vessels then attack, creating an energy web around the USS Defiant. The Enterprise is no longer invisible as the cloak disengages and Tholians attack it as well. Forrest orders the crew to abandon ship (reactor breach in 3 mins) but remains behind as the ship is destroyed.

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Published May 21, 2019

The Evolution of the Mirror Universe

Starfleet has always changed with the times. Its evil twin does, too. 

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As we evolve, so do the stories we tell ourselves — and so do the monsters that lurk within them. Creatures like the vampires that crept into our imaginations hundreds of years ago may share a common ancestry with the ones we write about today, but they represent different dangers each time they reemerge in the zeitgeist. Heck, sometimes they even sparkle.

By comparison, half a century’s worth of Star Trek mythology hardly registers a blip on the grand timeline of human history. But because those 53 years are so well preserved on film, it’s easy to track how each iteration of the franchise shapes itself into a form that a new decade of viewers will recognize. And while there are no vampires in Trek lore (no, the Remans in Star Trek: Nemesis don’t count), there is an entire realm full of similarly alluring sadists who look like our heroes’ lost loved ones, and who’d love nothing more than to seduce them all to the dark side.

It’s got a pretty ironic name, too, when you think about it: the Mirror Universe.

More so than Klingons or Borg, or any other race that's fought the Federation, the people of the Mirror Universe are the closest thing Trek have to a consistent monster myth — partially because they've been around for so long, but mostly because their “evil” nature is the entire reason for their existence. They might be sympathetic as individuals and they’ve shown that they can adapt to cultural norms, but from their very first appearance, they were designed to scare us.

Star Trek: The Original Series | “Mirror, Mirror” (1967)

As with so many now-iconic Star Trek conceits, the Mirror Universe started with a single one-off episode, in which transporter interference from an ionic storm spits Kirk, Uhura, Scotty, and McCoy out into a “parallel” universe from their own. In place of the United Federation of Planets they find the Terran Empire, where mutinous, evil twins of their fellow crew members use the might of the ISS Enterprise to raze alien civilizations across the universe.

The Terrans are coded as foreign, threatening others from the moment the landing party emerges from the transporter. They wear gilded uniforms that fall somewhere between 19th century Persian military outfits and Pirates of Penzance costumes in appearance. Add to that Spock’s ‘60s counterculture goatee and the censor-baiting bikinis (television was a notoriously anti-belly button medium back then), and it would have been abundantly clear to a typical contemporary audience that the Mirror Universe was not a place for Good and Decent American Values.

Still, the easiest way to demonstrate a fictional society’s cruelty is to treat its women poorly ( Handmaid’s Tale and Game of Thrones do this in spades), and the Mirror Universe delivers on that front, too; Uhura quickly finds herself fending off aggressive sexual advances from her coworkers, and Marlena Moreau, the most important crewwoman on the ship, derives her power from her position as “Captain’s Woman” — in other words, from being Kirk’s concubine. Classic Star Trek certainly had its blind spots when it came to gender, but the patriarchal structure of Terran society is clearly meant to be on a completely different level of overt terribleness in comparison.

Eventually the landing party finds a way home, and for good measure Kirk throws in a starkly logical plea that Mirror Spock peacefully reform the Empire to keep it from crumbling in a century’s time (although his suggestion that the Vulcan use a machine that can literally just make people disappear doesn’t quite match up with that whole peace notion). The crew returns to their Enterprise to learn that their counterparts didn’t have much time to wreak havoc before everyone else figured out the mix-up. “It was far easier for you, as civilized men, to behave like barbarians, than it was for them as barbarians to behave like civilized men,” offers the original Spock as an explanation.

Despite the imperialistic rhetoric Spock uses, the message is clear. These “brutal, savage, unprincipled, uncivilized, treacherous” people are just as human as we are, and their evil deeds aren’t too far away from our own. Given that the ‘60s are still remembered for the systematic brutality endured by nonviolent Civil Rights protesters (and, later, antiwar protesters — the Dow Chemical riots happened just two weeks after “Mirror, Mirror” aired, in fact), this warning would have felt especially appropriate at the time.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine | “Crossover” (1994), “Through the Looking Glass” (1995), “Shattered Mirror” (1996), “Resurrection” (1997), and “The Emperor’s New Cloak” (1998)

Although The Next Generation occasionally paid homage to fan-favorite episodes from The Original Series — “The Naked Now,” for example, was a sequel to “The Naked Time,” in which an infection among the crew causes them to behave hilariously out-of-character — the show never attempted its own version of the Mirror Universe. At a 2017 Star Trek Las Vegas panel, producer Brannon Braga explained, “We were a little frightened at doing it, and doing it badly, and maybe never really figured out what The Next Generation take would have been on it.”

But Deep Space Nine , the red-headed stepchild of the Star Trek franchise (or, perhaps more accurately, the cool childless aunt who shows unexpectedly every six years and who you’ve always suspected might be in a long-term relationship with her “roommate”), was willing to take many more risks. Unlike The Next Generation , DS9 kept itself bound to one location, drawing on themes of war and interventionism that would have felt very familiar to globally minded citizens of the ‘90s. Honestly, if you replace the Cardassians with Russians, Bajor with Ukraine, and Starfleet with the United Nations trying to keep everybody in line, it wouldn’t be that hard to transplant entire episodes of the series into the real world of post-soviet politics.

Although DS9 didn’t let its characters sail away from problems as easily as the crew of the Enterprise could, it did let them pop over to the Mirror Universe basically any time they wanted, returning five different occasions over seven seasons. However, each excursion became progressively less unsettling and more ridiculous; by the last visit in “The Emperor’s New Cloak,” the Mirror Universe was used more for comic relief, in stark contrast to the densely serialized war narrative that encompassed the rest of DS9 ’s final season.

Which isn’t to say that there’s no interesting meat on the bones of this new mirror. For one thing, the Terrans of DS9 are no longer conquerors; having been conquered themselves when Spock’s habilitated empire was defeated by the equally brutal Klingon-Cardassian Alliance. As such, the Terran lack of empathy manifests not just as cruelty, but as complacence; instead of promoting peace, our heroes nudge their parallel counterparts towards rebellion, transforming them into freedom fighters that band together against a powerful regime (If this is all starting to sound familiar, remember that Star Wars came after the original Trek series and changed pop culture pretty significantly in its wake).

There is one notable exception, of course: Intendant Kira Nerys, who rules Terok Nor with an iron fist, a chaotic sexual hedonism, and loads of manipulative, fake empathy for the Terran slaves she considers to be beneath her. Basically, she’s what you’d get if you took recurring series baddie Gul Dukat and stuck him in Major Kira’s body, right down to the uncomfortable obsession with “good” Kira. A solidly obvious example of the Depraved Bisexual trope (1992’s Basic Instinct changed pop culture a lot, too), the Intendent may not have been Trek ’s first queer-coded villain, but she was certainly the most obvious. She was also, it should go without saying, unbelievably fun to watch, which is why she ended up in every single DS9 Mirror episode whether she was integral to the plot or not. Truly, Buffy the Vampire Slayer 's Vampire version of Willow owes a lot to Intendant Kira’s shining example.

Yet despite all the dystopian camp, these stories were just as invested in grief and trauma as the rest of DS9 ’s sprawling narrative, primarily in the form of interactions between its protagonists (the Siskos and Major Kira, more specifically) and mirrorverse doppelgangers of their dead loved ones (Sisko’s wife and Jake’s mother, Jennifer, and Kira’s lover, Vedek Bareil). Much of Deep Space Nine revolves around how difficult and confusing it is to process loss in the midst a violently changing status quo – what better way to represent that than with living ghosts who don’t act like “themselves” anymore?

Star Trek: Enterprise | “In A Mirror, Darkly” Parts 1 and 2 (2005)

If Deep Space Nine smoothed the Mirror Universe into a swashbuckling field trip, Enterprise brought it screaming back to its dark authoritarian roots (literally, in the case of Mirror Archer’s pitch-black crew cut). Although Enterprise is sometimes overlooked as a prequel series, it does a wonderful job of taking the familiar trappings of TOS and contextualizing them more deeply – and often, more interestingly. I could, in fact, spend the rest of this article writing about how deeply devoted I am to Enterprise ’s interpretation of the Andorians and how much I yearn for Discovery to follow in its badass baby-blue footsteps, but that’s not really relevant to the issue at hand.

What is relevant is how Enterprise breaks unexpected ground via a two-part story arc that takes place entirely in the Mirror Universe, without any Federation characters to serve as our audience surrogate. The intro opens on recycled Star Trek: First Contact footage of humanity’s fateful first encounter with Vulcans – and then not only devolves into chaos as the humans open fire, but then launches into a completely reimagined opening title sequence that juxtaposes ominous march music with war footage and Nazi airplanes. “Faith of the Heart,” this isn’t.

In some ways, the pre-Kirk Terran Empire confines itself to many of the parameters that TOS set for the Mirror Universe. There are bare midriffs again, made even more hellish this time around by the mid ‘00s trend of low rise pants (On a related note, you can’t convince me that Mirror T’Pol’s hair, with its center-parted bangs and pin-straight length, wasn’t a deliberate jab at the style choices of several contemporaneous pop stars). Hoshi Sato serves as the Captain’s Woman for two different male authority figures — that is, right up until she kills the last man standing in her way and declares herself Empress. Enterprise was definitely on a “women using sex for power” kick around that time; the previous episode in the season, “Bound,” reinvents the Orion Slave Girls as active partners in a conspiracy to ensnare the men of other species with their pheromones.

Hoshi’s ascension is just the twist ending, though. As is the case of pretty much every show on television during George W. Bush’s presidency, the true villain here is a torture-happy military rising to power on the backs of a marginalized population — this time the Vulcans and other non-Terrans. And Mirror Archer, too, is haunted; not by the dead, but by his own ambition, as an apparition in the form of his newly discovered double (Thanks to some dimension-hopping time shenanigans, post-Federation records from the original U.S.S Defiant end up in the Empire’s possession), egging him on with his far superior personal accomplishments like the Gallant to Mirror Archer’s Jingoistic Goofus.

By this time Enterprise had completely reoriented itself around a post 9/11 narrative, ending its second season with a terrorist attack against Earth and continuing with the Enterprise ’s efforts to reach the far-off civilization responsible for it. “In a Mirror, Darkly,” then, represents a stark examination of America’s more reprehensible actions during that time — and lands much better than previous Mirror Universe episodes as a result.

Star Trek: Discovery |“Despite Yourself,” “The Wolf Inside,” “Vaulting Ambition,” and “What’s Past Is Prologue” (2017-2018)

Since Discovery will return for a third season, there’s no telling how the Mirror Universe might continue to evolve in future episodes. So far, however, it succeeds at combining some of the best tropes of past Terran encounters: elaborate gold medals, super straight haircuts, Starfleet operatives pretending to be their own evil selves, Vulcan rebels with imposing beards, and twice the fun from the new Philippa Georgiou, who’s both an imposing female Emperor (Hoshi walked so she could run, y’all) and a returning dead character whose presence thoroughly freaks out our protagonist.

Best of all, the show hasn’t yet fallen back on over-the-top gender stereotypes or explicitly revealing costuming to get its villainy across — they eat poor defenseless Kelpiens instead. We do eventually learn from Mirror Georgiou that everybody in her world is pansexual, however, herself included (and let’s all admit to ourselves that some of us would have been a little disappointed if she weren’t).

Beyond all the clever nods to continuity, Discovery also returns to an important truth inherent to the Terran Empire: it is the end point to a slippery slope of bad decisions that our contemporary 2019 society could be making at this very moment.That’s why Captain Lorca is such a compelling villain in the first place. His ruthless methods seem understandable, maybe even relatable, in the face of overwhelming threats to the Starfleet way of life — that is, until we realize just how many lines our heroes have crossed along the way. Not to mention that the sight of a fearsome, fascist demagogue attempting to crush a minority resistance feels especially apt in today’s political climate.

“When we were in the Terran universe, I was reminded how much a person is shaped by their environment,” Ensign Tilly says after their escape, to drive the point home. “And I think the only way that we can stop ourselves from becoming them is to understand the darkness within us, and fight it.”

Unless something drastic changes in the timeline after the 24th century,the Mirror Universe is always going to function as an “evil” shadow of the one where Star Trek spends most of its time. But it’s also served as a cautionary tale for the show’s progressively minded fanbase — one that constantly needs to be reexamined in relation to our own surroundings. After all, if we don’t understand our own darkness, how else can we learn to combat it, pushing it down into submission in order to achieve that diverse, equal, post-scarcity future utopia we deserve?

Victoria McNally (she/her) is a writer in Brooklyn and has a lot of opinions about skants. Find her online at victoriamcnally.com or at @vqnerdballs on Twitter and Instagram.

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Star Trek's Mirror Universe Explained

In the iconic narration of  Star Trek: The Original Series ( TOS ), Captain James T. Kirk vows to go "where no man has gone before." Numerous television series and films later, not only does Kirk make good on his promise, but he's joined in his quest to map the unknown by other heroic captains and crews. Whether by accident or on purpose,  Star Trek 's heroes have found themselves lost in distant corners of the galaxy, tossed on the eddies of time, caught in the crossfire of wars waged on other planes of existence, and once — no, really — in Sherwood Forest. 

One of the stranger locations that  Star Trek  keeps bringing its heroes back to is known as the Mirror Universe. The brutal locale makes its first appearance in "Mirror, Mirror" — a season 2 episode of  TOS  airing in 1967. It would take 27 years for Trek heroes to make their way back to the place in  Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 's   ( DS9 ) season 2 episode "Crossover." Since then, the gates to the Mirror Universe have stayed busy. Along with subsequent episodes of  DS9 , the Mirror Universe and its twisted characters have returned in the prequel series  Star Trek: Enterprise  ( ENT ) and  Star Trek: Discovery , and creators of non-canonical Trek media have taken the opportunity to bring the crews of other series to this weird world. 

But what is the Mirror Universe? To find out, keep reading for  Star Trek 's Mirror Universe explained.

WARNING! Spoilers for multiple  Star Trek  series follow!

What is the Mirror Universe?

What if everything was different? What if cowards were heroes, heroes were villains, and villains ruled over everything?  Star Trek  answers this question with its parallel reality, the Mirror Universe.

These days it's tough to have any kind of interest in science fiction and not be familiar with the concept of parallel universes, but  Star Trek 's Mirror Universe isn't just different. As the name implies, the people of the Mirror Universe are often the exact opposite of their Prime Universe counterparts. The  United Federation of Planets  and its hallowed ideals are replaced by the Terran Empire and a barbaric "might makes right" philosophy.  In Starfleet's place is the Imperial Starfleet, and its captains — known for their compassion and tolerance in the Prime Universe — are ruthless, unforgiving, and often xenophobic. The quickest way to get ahead in the Imperial Starfleet is to assassinate your superior officer, and the only consistent forms of discipline are torture — usually in the form of the excruciating agonizer booths — and death.

While the Mirror Universe characters are the opposite of the Prime Universe counterparts, that doesn't always change their roles in terms of being heroes or villains. The Mirror Universe version of  DS9 's Miles O'Brien , for example, is largely depicted as being heroic, though the Mirror O'Brien is willing to do things — like kidnapping — in order to achieve his goals that the prime O'Brien probably wouldn't stoop to. 

The first crossing

In 1996's  Star Trek: First Contact , Zefram Cochrane lays the groundwork for the founding of the Federation when he greets the first Vulcan to visit Earth. But in the two-part  ENT  episode "In a Mirror, Darkly," the Mirror Cochrane instead murders the Vulcan, paving the way for the oppression and brutality of the Terran Empire. 

Fast forward a hundred years later to the Terran Empire's version of the Enterprise ,   where Jonathan Archer is only a first officer. Mirror Archer is much more ruthless than his Prime counterpart, and he stages a coup to take over command of the ship. Among other things, we learn the Mirror versions of Dr. Phlox and Malcolm Reed are the inventors of the excruciating agonizer booths and that T'Pol is working with the Vulcans and other oppressed Imperial races in their rebellion.

Unlike most Mirror Universe episodes, none of the main characters from the Prime Universe cross over ... except in Archer's mind. After learning of the other universe, Mirror Archer has maddening visions of the Prime Archer taunting him. The story cleverly crosses over with the  TOS  episode "The Tholian Web," transplanting the captured USS  Defiant  not only from the Prime Universe but through time. Archer and his crew capture the  Defiant and use its superior technology to cripple the rebellion and to put Archer in the position to take the Imperial throne. In the final moments of the episode, however, Hoshi Sato — who Archer believes to be his loyal concubine — poisons him, taking the throne for herself. 

A Mirror Universe stowaway

For most of  Discovery 's first season, the eponymous vessel is commanded by Captain Gabriel Lorca, a man whose sensitivity to light — we're told — is a result of his injuries aboard the USS  Buran . By the end of the first season, however, we learn Lorca is perhaps the most deceitful captain in the history of  Trek 's   commanding officers . Lorca is, in fact, a native of the Mirror Universe masquerading as his Prime counterpart. His identity as a Terran accounts for his light sensitivity, though this is the first time we learn of this aspect of Terran biology. 

We never learn exactly when the Mirror Lorca crossed over to the Prime Universe, nor do we know the fate of the Prime Lorca. It's speculated he couldn't have survived alone in the Mirror Universe, but we never find out for sure. All we know is that as soon as he learned of Discovery 's unique spore drive, Mirror Lorca did everything he could to find himself in the experimental ship's command chair in order to use the drive to bring himself back to the Mirror Universe and continue his rebellion against Emperor Philippa Georgiou. 

At the end of "Into the Forest I Go," Lorca finally puts his plan into action. When the rest of the crew believes they're using the drive to jump to Starbase 46, Lorca secretly diverts the ship to the Mirror Universe. He reignites his rebellion against the Emperor, only to be killed by Georgiou in "What's Past is Prologue." 

The Emperor's new clothes

In the Prime Universe, Philippa Georgiou was the captain of the USS  Shenzhou — Michael Burnham's commanding officer who died during the Battle of the Binary Stars. But in the Mirror Universe, Georgiou is the emperor of the Terran Empire. While the Mirror Georgiou seems content to die fighting Lorca's followers, Burnham saves her against her wishes, bringing her back to Discovery  and subsequently to the Prime Universe. 

With unmatched combat skills and a devious mind, Mirror Georgiou becomes a great asset to the clandestine operations of Section 31. The official word from Starfleet is that the prime Georgiou somehow miraculously survived the Battle of the Binary Stars. It's agreed that the existence of the Mirror Universe is to be purged from all records because of the concern that in the wake of the devastating war with the Klingons , Federation citizens who learn of the Mirror Universe might attempt to cross over to find counterparts of their dead loved ones. 

While Georgiou resists any attempts by her new Prime allies to make her any less savage, it's clear she holds a special place in her heart for Burnham whose Mirror counterpart is her adopted daughter. Georgiou eventually rejoins the crew of the  Discovery  and becomes an integral part of their efforts against the rogue A.I. Control. She's also among the heroes when they choose to purposely strand themselves in the distant 32nd century. 

Kirk visits the Mirror Universe

In the opening of "Mirror, Mirror," Captain Kirk, Scotty, Uhura, and Bones are on surface of the Halkan homeworld, having tried and failed to negotiate dilithium mining rights. But somehow, due to a raging ion storm, when the four Federation officers are beamed back to Enterprise , they find themselves aboard the version of the ship in the Mirror Universe instead of their own. Meanwhile, their Mirror counterparts are sent to the Prime Universe where they're soon imprisoned. "Mirror, Mirror" takes place approximately a decade after  Discovery 's crossover, but because of Starfleet's decision to keep the place a secret, Kirk and his crew don't know what they're in for. 

On board the Mirror  Enterprise , everyone's in strange uniforms, including female crew members being in much more revealing outfits (and it isn't like the Prime Uniforms were particularly conservative). Most conspicuously, everyone gives each other salutes reminiscent of the infamous Nazi one-arm salute. 

Kirk and his colleagues from the Prime Universe struggle to remain incognito while they search for a way back home. See, rather than negotiating, the Terrans are threatening the Halkans with annihilation if they don't allow them to mine dilithium. And Kirk raises suspicions when he refuses to fire on the planet, inspiring an assassination attempt. The bearded Mirror Spock eventually discovers the identity of the Prime Universe heroes and allows them to return, wanting his own captain back. However, Spock's time with the Prime Kirk proves more consequential than anyone at the time imagines.

The fall of the Terran Empire

In season 2 of  DS9 , heroes from  Trek 's Prime Universe find themselves in the Mirror Universe for the first time in over a century. In "Crossover," Major Kira and Dr. Bashir come across a very different Deep Space Nine. In the Mirror Universe, DS9 is still named Terok Nor, but Odo is a slavedriver, Sisko is a pirate, and the Ferengi bartender Quark doesn't even know what latinum is.

Rather than Starfleet, Terok Nor is ruled by the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance (KCA). Bajor is a part of the KCA, and the world's ruler — who also presides over the station — is the cold-blooded and seductive Intendant Kira, one of  Star Trek 's best villains . From the Intendant, Prime Kira learns that Kirk's trip to the Mirror Universe in TOS  had far-reaching consequences. Kirk so inspired Mirror Spock that the Vulcan helped bring about a series of compassionate reforms throughout the Terran Empire. Sadly, their lapsed focus on defense made them easier targets for the KCA. The Terrans are now a conquered people, working as slaves for the KCA and forced to wear clothing bearing the symbol of Earth to identify themselves. Because of this, while Intendant Kira treats her Prime counterpart as a treasured pet, Bashir is pressed into slavery as soon as he arrives. 

Kira and Bashir eventually escape with the help of the Mirror versions of Miles O'Brien — better known as "Smiley" in the Mirror Universe — and Sisko. Like Kirk before them, Bashir and Kira inspire change in the darker universe.  

The Terran Rebellion

DS9 's lead, Captain Sisko, is kidnapped and brought to the Mirror Universe by Smiley in season 3's "Through the Looking Glass". He learns that when his Mirror counterpart betrayed the KCA in "Crossover," the act started a Terran rebellion. Now, Smiley needs Sisko to help the rebellion by pretending to be his Mirror counterpart long enough for one last mission.

DS9  tracks the conflict between the Terrans and the KCA intermittently throughout the series, offering one Mirror episode every season except for its first and fifth. While the group refers to itself as the Terran Rebellion, other oppressed races are part of the struggle.  Star Trek:  Voyager 's Tuvok — a Vulcan — makes a cameo as part of the rebellion in "Through the Looking Glass." Plus, other races are spotted in their gatherings. Like the Maquis of the Prime Universe, they hide in the Badlands, where the KCA's sensors can't find them. Their leaders include much tougher and no-nonsense versions of Bashir and Jadzia Dax.

Things are looking up for the Terrans by the final  DS9  Mirror episode, "The Emperor's New Cloak." By the end of the episode, the Terrans have their own version of the  Defiant ,   complete with a game-changing cloaking device, and they've captured Terok Nor. At the same time, the KCA leadership is in disarray. Intendant Kira is on the run, Garak is dead, and the KCA regent — a much more sadistic and violent version of Worf — is the Terrans' prisoner.

The Mirror Universe rebooted?

Discovery 's season 3 two-parter "Terra Firma" reveals the crew's Mirror Universe native Philippa Georgiou is dying because of their journey to the 32nd century. Because 900 years have passed since Georgiou's crossing to the Prime Universe, the Prime and Mirror Universes are no longer aligned, causing her molecular cohesion to deteriorate. 

Learning of a world with a possible cure,  Discovery  brings Georgiou to a planet where a mysterious man keeps vigil over what appears to be a door leading to nowhere. In the second part of "Terra Firma," we learn this is the Guardian of Forever, who first appears in the classic  TOS  episode "The City on the Edge of Forever," one of  Star Trek 's saddest tales . The Guardian allows Georgiou to rejoin her life as emperor of the Terran Empire, where she tries and fails to redeem the Mirror Michael Burnham and save her life. Her attempts at peace and her compassion toward the Mirror Saru, however, convince the Guardian she's worth saving. The Guardian then sends her back to the 23rd century. 

The Guardian makes it clear Georgiou's trip back in time — which ends in her death — was no illusion. Since her Mirror Universe adventure all takes place before the Mirror episodes of Discovery 's first season, does that mean most of the history of the Mirror Universe has been altered? Or did her actions create another  parallel timeline — a second Mirror Universe?

Time travel — it's confusing and causes problems. 

The untold story of Tiberius

In  TOS ' "Mirror, Mirror," Prime Kirk discovers his Mirror counterpart has been secretly using a device called the Tantalus Field. With it, Mirror Kirk can monitor anyone on his ship and, should he choose, disintegrate them with the touch of a button. His concubine, Marlena, says it's how he became captain, implying he used it to murder his predecessor. But according to the "Before Her Time" documentary on the season 4  Enterprise Blu-ray, there was almost a reveal that the device did something else entirely. 

According to the documentary, rather than the two-parter which ultimately became "In a Mirror, Darkly," the  Enterprise  creators wanted William Shatner to reprise his role as the Mirror Kirk, aka Tiberius. In "Mirror, Mirror," it's said Tiberius got the Tantalus Field from an alien scientist's "plundered lab." The proposed  Enterprise  story would reveal that rather than killing, the device actually sends its victims to a penal colony in the Prime Universe. Tiberius would find himself at this prison, presumably surrounded by a bunch of people he sent there, such as his predecessor, who would likely have been the Mirror Captain Pike. 

Unfortunately, negotiations between Shatner and Paramount didn't work out. However, it's fun to consider the idea of Shatner reprising the role, particularly when you consider how little we see of Tiberius in "Mirror, Mirror." 

Picard's Enterprise in the Mirror Universe

Unfortunately,  Star Trek: The Next Generation  doesn't include any trips to the Mirror Universe. Plus, the history of the Mirror Universe as it's presented in  DS9  would seem to discount any Mirror versions of either the  TNG  or  Voyager   crews since the Terran Empire would've been conquered long before those groups existed. But while it's not considered part of official  Trek  canon, some clever comic book creators found a way to tell the story of the Mirror  TNG  heroes.

In 2017, IDW released the miniseries  Star Trek: The Next Generation — Mirror Broken , written by Scott and David Tipton and with art by J.K. Woodward. We learn that the news of the Terran Empire's demise is the result of exaggeration and rumor. The Klingon-Cardassian Alliance has bitten huge chunks out of the Empire, but it's far from dead.  Mirror Broken  begins with the Mirror Jean-Luc Picard as captain of the  Stargazer , while most of the series follows his efforts to take over the  Enterprise . The motley cast includes a bearded Picard, a spiky-haired Wesley Crusher, and a surprisingly confident and competent Lieutenant Barclay.

Broken Mirror  isn't the last we see of the ISS  Enterprise ,   either. In 2018, the same creative team released two follow-up miniseries –  Through the Mirror and Terra Incognita — that depict the pirates making their way to the Prime Universe.

The Pirate Queen of the Delta Quadrant

The  TNG  crew aren't the only ones to get the Mirror Universe treatment in the comics. In 2019, IDW released  Star Trek: Voyager — Mirrors and Smoke by Paul Allor and J.K. Woodward. A quick prologue explains that Captain Janeway and her crew were part of the Terran Rebellion against the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance before being flung to the Delta Quadrant. Unlike their Prime Universe counterparts, they're quite happy being far from the KCA and decide to stay where they are. 

Voyager 's bloody reputation has earned Janeway the title Pirate Queen of the Delta Quadrant. Mirror Neelix and Kes — Delta Quadrant natives who join the crew in the series — are Janeway's rivals. The ship's command structure is a bit different, as well. In the series, Commander Cavit is replaced by Chakotay as first officer after Cavit is killed, whereas in  Mirrors and Smoke ,   it's Chakotay who murders Cavit in order to climb the command ladder.  

One of the most interesting transformations we see is that of Annika Hansen, aka Seven of Nine in the Prime Universe. Hansen was never assimilated by the Borg in the Mirror Universe, though ironically, she still plots — alongside the Doctor, who's disgruntled from his poor treatment by the Terrans — to take over the ship.

A 57-Year-Old Star Trek Mystery Has Finally Been Solved

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Key Takeaways

• Nearly 60 years ago, Star Trek: The Original Series introduced the Mirror Universe.
• Star Trek: Discovery returned to that parallel dimension in Season 1, showing audiences more of that world.
• In the final season of Star Trek: Discovery, the fate of a key vessel in the mirror universe is revealed.

The following contains spoilers from Star Trek: Discovery , Season 5, Episode 5, "Mirrors," now streaming on Paramount+ .

One of the most interesting concepts in the Star Trek mythology is its "mirror universe," a parallel dimension where almost everyone is evil. Of the universe's dozen series, only four ever explored it, and only two did so more than once. Star Trek: Discovery made the mirror universe key to its first season, and in its final one, the series revealed what happened to the ISS Enterprise 57 years after it was first introduced. When the show first debuted, some long-time fans felt the crew and the captain were not in keeping with the tenor of proper Starfleet officers. However, Season 1 revealed Captain Lorca hailed from that universe , explaining why he seemed more "evil" than the typical starship captain.

Once the USS Discovery traveled through a wormhole to the 32nd Century, Dr. Kovich told Dr. Culber that the Mirror Universe and Prime Universe were too far apart for "crossings" to occur any longer. However, while on the hunt for the clues to the location of the Progenitors' technology, Captain Burnham and Cleveland "Book" Booker find a pocket of interdimensional space housing a vessel from the Mirror Universe. However, it's not any old starship, it is the ISS Enterprise last seen in "Mirror, Mirror" when the Prime Universe's Captain Kirk told Mirror Universe Spock it only took one good man to start a revolution. Once Star Trek: Deep Space Nine reintroduced the Mirror Universe, what happened to the ship was an open question Discovery just answered.

Kirk: What worries me is the easy way his counterpart fitted into that other universe. I always thought Spock was a bit of a pirate at heart.

Spock: Indeed, gentlemen. May I point out that I had an opportunity to observe your counterparts here quite closely. They were brutal, savage, unprincipled, uncivilized, treacherous - in every way splendid examples of homo sapiens, the very flower of humanity. I found them quite refreshing. -- Star Trek: The Original Series "Mirror, Mirror"

Where the Mirror Universe and the ISS Enterprise Came From

Star trek: discovery's mary wiseman, wilson cruz and blu del barrio hype finale.

In an interview with CBR, Star Trek: Discovery's Wilson Cruz, Mary Wiseman and Blu del Barrio share how they approached ending the Paramount+ series.

When Gene Roddenberry put together his pitch for Star Trek 60 years ago in 1964, a loose idea of the Mirror Universe concept was on an early pitch document . The full concept came from writer Jerome Bixby, based on his decade-old short story "One Way Street." The writer said "the universe [he] created was a very savage counterpart" and that "it's arguable...the universe itself might be termed a 'character,'" in The Captain's Logs Supplemental by Edward Gross and Mark A. Altman.

In "Mirror, Mirror," Kirk, Doctor McCoy, Uhura and Scotty are sent via transporter accident to the Mirror Universe. The episode is mostly about them trying to survive long enough to be returned to their own universe. However, Mirror Spock figures out the captain and crew aren't from his version of reality. So, he ends up helping them recreate the accident so they can return home. Tiberius Kirk and the evil versions of the crew are also sent back, but it's strongly implied that Spock will quickly take control from him.

Star Trek: The Original Series "Mirror, Mirror" Official Synopsis: A transporter accident places Captain Kirk's landing party in an alternate universe, where the Enterprise is in the service of a barbarically brutal empire.

In Star Trek: Enterprise , a two-part episode set in the Mirror Universe brought the USS Defiant from The Original Series episode "The Tholian Web" to the past. This helps explain why the ISS Enterprise is so much like the Constitution class vessels from the prime universe. Each starship is also equipped with a Tantalus Field, a mysterious device that makes a captain's enemies vanish. Presumably, Spock used the vessel to start his revolution, and Deep Space Nine reveals how it all turned out. Yet, what happened to the ISS Enterprise remained a mystery, until "Mirrors."

The USS Discovery's Search for Clues Led Burnham to the Enterprise

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In an interview with CBR, Star Trek: Discovery co-creator Alex Kurtzman and showrunner Michelle Paradise tease the Paramount+ series' last mission.

Captain Burnham and the USS Discovery crew are familiar with the USS Enterprise, though Captain Christopher Pike was her commanding officer then. After surviving the Time Bug placed on the ship by Moll, Burnham and Book take a shuttle into an "aperture" of extradimensional space to follow their ship's warp trail. When they enter it, Burnham recognizes the ship, but tells Book that during her time in the Mirror Universe in Season 1, she never saw that particular vessel. The ship has been stuck there for some time, and it's damaged. Not just from the pocket dimension it sits in, but it had been in a battle.

Star Trek: Discovery "Mirrors" Official Synopsis: Captain Burnham and Book journey into extradimensional space in search of the next clue to the location of the Progenitors' power, while Rayner navigates his first mission in command of the U. S. S. Discovery and Culber opens up to Tilly.

When Burnham and Book board the vessel, they discover something surprising. Rather than a Terran warship, they see the ISS Enterprise seemingly serving as a home to refugees . After restoring some power to the ship, they are able to locate Moll, L'ak and the clue they seek by scanning for the quantum signature of people and objects from the prime universe. A short fight breaks out, but circumstances align so that Moll and Booker have to work together to free L'ak and Michael from a security protocol.

When L'ak and Michael fight, she's able to get the clue and she, accidentally, wounds the Breen exile. Moll and L'ak escape in the shuttle Michael and Book arrived on, so they have to figure out a way to get the ISS Enterprise out of the extradimensional space it was marooned in so long ago. Naturally, they succeed with the help of quick-thinking by Commander Rayner on the USS Discovery. What's most interesting, however, is that throughout this adventure no one really wonders just how the clue from the Prime Universe ended up on the flagship of the Terran Empire.

Deep Space Nine Revealed the Fate of Spock's Terran Empire

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In an interview with CBR, Star Trek: Discovery's Doug Jones and David Ajala reflect on their fan-favorite roles as Saru and Booker ahead of Season 5.

The first show to return to the Mirror Universe was the first serialized Star Trek , Deep Space Nine in Season 2, Episode 23, "Crossover." Naturally, because that series was set on the space station close to the planet Bajor, this was the corner of the Mirror Universe that the episode (and its many sequels over seven seasons) explored. Rather than the jingoistic rules of the Terran Empire, however, humans were an oppressed class working the ore processing facilities on the Deep Space 9 station. It was ruled by an alliance of Klingons, Cardassians and Bajorans.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine "Crossover" Official Synopsis: Kira and Dr. Bashir are accidentally sent to the Mirror Universe and discover that it is dominated by a ruthless Klingon–Cardassian alliance and Terrans (humans) are slaves.

Kira Nerys met her counterpart, the leader of the station known as "the Intendant." She explained to her what happened after the real Captain Kirk transported back to his universe. Spock used the ISS Enterprise to become Chancellor of the former Empire, all the while making institutional reformations that made the society more peaceful and equitable. However, after years of being oppressed by the Terrans, the Klingon and Cardassian alliance was able to launch a successful campaign against them.

The Klingon-Cardassian Alliance is the dominant power in the Alpha Quadrant and controls the space near Bajor in the Mirror Universe. The alliance is mostly benevolent and a lover of liberty, but the realities of dealing with a foe like the Terran Empire forces them to engage in questionable tactics.

Still, Deep Space Nine left the ultimate fate of the Terran Empire -- and, more specifically, the ISS Enterprise -- an open question . In fact, Intendant Kira never really clarified when the Terran Empire fell, beyond saying that Spock's reforms began "almost a century ago." Still, knowing that the Terran Empire fell under a brutal assault by Klingons and Cardassians , a picture starts to emerge about why the ISS Enterprise would have been a home for refugees and made the perilous, impossible journey across dimensions.

A Terran Refugee Hid the Clue In the ISS Enterprise In the 24th Century

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In an interview with CBR, Star Trek: Discovery star Sonequa Martin-Green reflects on the Paramount+ series' five-season journey and its end.

At the end of "Mirrors," Michael Burnham reveals the scientist who hid the clue on the ISS Enterprise was able to do so because she was, herself, a Terran . Some time before The Next Generation 's "The Chase," she and a group of refugees fled the ISS Enterprise in shuttles and made their way into the Prime Universe. From there, many of them made homes in the Federation, and this particular scientist was the Junior Science Officer on the ISS Enterprise, Dr. Cho.

Star Trek: The Next Generation "The Chase" Official Synopsis: The crew of the Enterprise must race against various rival powers to uncover an archaeological secret that explains the predominance of humanoid life forms in the galaxy.

This means the Terran refugees fled the Mirror Universe sometime before the events of "The Chase." Yet, it was close enough to those events that Dr. Cho was able to make her way back to the ship that carried her and her fellow immigrant in order to hide the clue there. As Booker notes in the episode, the clues to the Progenitors' technology each come with a lesson. In this case, Dr. Cho wanted to subtly teach the searchers who followed her that things can always get better. She went from being a Terran scientist to a Branch Admiral in Starfleet. It's kind of like Starfleet's first mutineer becoming the captain of the first vessel on which she served afterward.

No matter the timeline or universe, the Enterprise is an important, historic vessel. The ISS Enterprise was a warship that brought fear and terror to whomever it visited. At least, until a man named Kirk told a man named Spock there was a better choice to make. In its final season, Star Trek: Discovery has found yet another way to tie its story into the fabric of the universe's past and the message Gene Roddenberry and all those who followed him wanted to give the audience. Things can always be better, but it takes people making the right choices to get there.

Star Trek: Discovery debuts new episodes Thursdays on Paramount+.

Star Trek: Discovery

Not available

Section 31 Movie Can Reveal If Michelle Yeohs Emperor Connects To Star Trek: Enterprise

Star Trek: Section 31 can finally reveal if Emperor Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) is connected to Empress Hoshi Sato (Linda Park) from Star Trek: Enterprise . Section 31 i s the first Star Trek movie made for streaming on Paramount+. Headlined by Academy Award-winner Michelle Yeoh's return as her Star Trek: Discovery anti-heroine, Emperor Philippa Georgiou, Star Trek: Section 31 promises to uncover the sins of Starfleet's black ops agency as well as reveal more about Georgiou's history as the Mirror Universe's Emperor.

The mysterious Star Trek: Section 31 appears to be set in Star Trek 's 24th century 'lost era,' but Philippa Georgiou's glory years as the Emperor of the Terran Empire in the Mirror Universe happened in the 23rd century. As seen in Star Trek: Discovery season 1, and revisited in season 3, Georgiou was the ruthless, absolute ruler of the Terran Empire until she joined Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and the USS Discovery in Star Trek' s Prime Universe. Georgiou's exit from the Mirror Universe left behind unanswered questions , and a pertinent one is whether Georgiou is tied to the 22nd-century reign of Empress Hoshi Sato.

Section 31: Release Window, Cast, Story & Everything We Know About Star Treks First Streaming Movie

Academy Award-winner Michelle Yeoh headlines Star Trek: Section 31, and here's what we know about Paramount+'s first Star Trek streaming movie.

Section 31 Can Answer Whether Michelle Yeohs Emperor Georgiou Is Related To Star Trek: Enterprises Hoshi Sato

Are the two mirror universe emperors linked.

Star Trek: Section 31 contains flashbacks to the young Philippa Georgiou (Miku Martineau) and will show some of the blood that was spilled to make her the Terran Emperor in the 23rd century. This is an ideal opportunity for Star Trek: Section 31 to resolve whether Georgiou's family or legacy is descended in any way from Empress Hoshi Sato. Hoshi is believed to be the first woman to rule the Terran Empire, which she achieved through treachery and murder at the end of Star Trek: Enterprise season 4's two-parter, "In a Mirror Darkly."

Emperor Georgiou's formal title was Her Most Imperial Majesty, Mother of the Fatherland, Overlord of Vulcan, Dominus of Qo'noS, Regina Andor, Philippa Georgiou Augustus Iaponius Centarius.

Another bond Empress Hoshi Sato and Emperor Philippa Georgiou share is the USS Defiant. The 23rd-century Constitution Class starship crossed over from Star Trek' s Prime Universe into the 22nd-century Mirror Universe. Commander Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) of the ISS Enterprise stole the Defiant, plotting to use its advanced technology to take over the Terran Empire. But Hoshi murdered Archer and executed his plan, declaring herself Empress. In Star Trek: Discovery season 1 , Emperor Georgiou knew about the United Federation of Planets from the USS Defiant's computer archives.

Jordon Nardino, who wrote Star Trek: Discovery season 1's "Vaulting Ambition," Tweeted a thread in 2018 about the connection between Emperor Georgiou and Empress Sato , but his background info may not be canonical:

Star Trek: Enterprise Season 5 Would Have Returned To The Mirror Universe

Discovery picked up where enterprise left off.

Star Trek: Enterprise season 5, if it happened, would likely have featured a return to the Mirror Universe, which was a favorite of Enterprise 's late showrunner, Manny Coto. Enterprise 's original idea for a Mirror Universe event involved William Shatner , who would have reprised the Mirror Universe's Tiberius Kirk from Star Trek: The Original Series ' "Mirror Mirror." Tiberius Kirk clashing with Captain Jonathan Archer didn't happen, but Coto decided to take Star Trek: Enterprise into the Mirror Universe anyway with the well-received "In a Mirror Darkly," which ended with the surprise of Hoshi Sato's takeover of the Terran Empire.

A financial and budgetary dispute between William Shatner's camp and Paramount/UPN, which was planning to cancel Star Trek: Enterprise , is believed to be why the Tiberius Kirk Mirror Universe episodes didn't happen.

Star Trek: Discovery 's creation of Emperor Georgiou may have been inspired by Empress Hoshi Sato in some way, but it's more likely the fact that both actresses are Asian is a coincidence after Michelle Yeoh was cast in the roles of Captain Georgiou and Emperor Georgiou. Still, the only two known Mirror Universe Emperors being of Asian descent and separated by less than a hundred years in Star Trek 's timeline would benefit from a long-awaited canonical explanation in Star Trek: Section 31.

Star Trek: Section 31

Director Olatunde Osunsanmi

Studio(s) CBS

Writers Craig Sweeney

Cast Humberly Gonzlez, Joe Pingue, Sam Richardson, Omari Hardwick, Robert Kazinsky, Michelle Yeoh, Kacey Rohl

Genres Science Fiction, Adventure, Fantasy

Franchise(s) Star Trek

Star Trek: Enterprise

Cast Dominic Keating, Connor Trinneer, Linda Park, John Billingsley, Scott Bakula, Jolene Blalock, Jeffrey Combs, Anthony Montgomery

Streaming Service(s) Paramount+

Writers Rick Berman, Manny Coto, Brannon Braga

Showrunner Manny Coto, Brannon Braga

Where To Watch Paramount+

Creator(s) Rick Berman, Brannon Braga

• Mirror Universe

T'Pol (mirror)

Commander T'Pol was a female Vulcan science officer in the 22nd century Terran Empire . In the 2150s , she served aboard the ISS Enterprise .

• 1 Biography
• 2.1 Background information
• 2.2 External link

Biography [ ]

During her pon farr cycle, T'Pol had Trip Tucker do her a "favor" that he enjoyed doing several times.

T'Pol resented being thought of as a slave , and often voiced her opinion on matters, whether she had been asked to do so or not.

When Commander Jonathan Archer mutinied against Captain Maximilian Forrest in 2155 , Archer appointed T'Pol as his first officer , even though Major Malcolm Reed was next in line under the ship 's chain of command . Although he was prejudiced against Vulcans , Archer respected her abilities as an officer and scientist , and believed (incorrectly) that he had her loyalty.

T'Pol and other Vulcans secretly formed a counter-mutiny against Archer to put Forrest back in command of the ship. To assist in returning control of the Enterprise to Captain Forrest, T'Pol tempted Tucker with a sexual encounter so that she could mind meld with him, planting a mental suggestion to sabotage the cloaking device on Enterprise , and then had his memories altered.

When Commander Archer later briefed the senior crew regarding a ship the Tholians had obtained from the future of the prime universe, and his plan to seize it, T'Pol was skeptical and objected to the plan. Forrest overruled her objections and proceeded with the mission. When Forrest ordered Archer to take an assault team aboard the USS Defiant , he pulled T'Pol aside and secretly ordered her to kill Archer during the mission. T'Pol never got a chance to carry out the order. While the assault team was on board the Defiant , the Enterprise was attacked and destroyed by Tholian vessels. ( ENT : " In a Mirror, Darkly ")

In ultimately omitted material from the final draft script of "In a Mirror, Darkly", T'Pol uttered a brief protest to Forrest placing Archer in command of the assault team which was to board the Defiant though she was ignored by Forrest.

T'Pol subsequently helped Archer and the assault team to power up the Defiant , escape the Tholian base and destroy their ships .

After the Enterprise 's escape pods were collected by the Defiant , there was a crew complement of only forty seven , not nearly enough to run a Constitution -class vessel on a long term basis. Furthermore, the ship was not fully operational in that the ship's warp drive was off-line.

In desperate need of her scientific expertise, Archer appointed T'Pol as his second-in-command. He made it perfectly clear to her, however, that he bitterly resented her betraying him to Forrest, and that he would order her execution were it not for the fact that no other officer was qualified to replace her while Defiant was only partially operational. Archer contemptuously dismissed T'Pol's argument that it was her duty to stop him, since his orders to relieve Capt. Forrest were fraudulent. He icily told her that he felt the Vulcans were responsible for the rebellion against the Terran Empire, and gave her dire warnings as to what would happen to her should she betray him a second time.

T'Pol studied the Defiant 's historical database and learned of the United Federation of Planets that was eventually formed in its universe . She was intrigued by the fact that it was an alliance of several alien races, all of whom were regarded as equals.

T'Pol became alarmed when Archer killed Admiral Black and announced his intention to return to Earth , overthrow the Emperor and take the throne for himself. She feared that many Vulcans would be killed under his reign, as he blamed them for the rebellion. She enlisted the help of Soval , a Vulcan crewman on board the ISS Avenger , and downloaded the Defiant 's tactical information to him before Archer had her and all other alien crew members transferred off Defiant to the Avenger .

Both T'Pol and Soval convinced Phlox to sabotage the Defiant so the Avenger could destroy it. Before this was done, however, communications officer Hoshi Sato discovered the information T'Pol downloaded from the Defiant and arrested T'Pol on the Avenger after fierce hand-to-hand combat.

Interrogated by Archer in Defiant 's briefing room

T'Pol was interrogated by Archer and Sato, but despite their best efforts, they failed to get any information out of her. T'Pol defiantly warned Archer that although it may take centuries, Humanity would ultimately pay for its arrogance. Sato, who hated T'Pol, was adamant that Archer execute her for her treachery immediately. Before the execution could be carried out, however, the Defiant 's power systems began to fail and the ship was attacked by the Avenger . ( ENT : " In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II ")

Appendices [ ]

Background information [ ].

Like her counterpart , T'Pol was portrayed by Jolene Blalock .

In the final draft script of "In a Mirror, Darkly", T'Pol was described thus; " Her hair is [...] longer, more Human in appearance. This T'Pol is far more harsh and fiercely logical than the Vulcan we know – she views emotion as a weakness. "

It was unclear what happened to T'Pol at the end of the episode. However, it is reasonable to assume that both she and any remaining mutineers were likely executed, if not on Archer's orders, then on the orders of Empress Sato.

T'Pol's prediction to Archer regarding the Terran Empire's downfall proved to be prophetic. By the 24th century in the mirror universe, the Terran Empire was destroyed by the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance , and most Terrans were enslaved.

External link [ ]

• T'Pol (mirror) at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• 1 Bell Riots
• 2 Obi Ndefo
• 3 Gabriel Bell

Univers miroir

Q : Qu'est-ce que l'univers miroir (UM) et comment y accéder ?

R : Il s'agit d'un nouvel univers alternatif dans lequel l'Empire terrien règne en maître. Vous pouvez vous y distordre via des failles interphasiques en utilisant des bons Miroir. L'UM est composé d'environ 50 nouveaux systèmes et pour rejoindre son espace profond, vous aurez besoin de clés de faille. Vous ne pouvez pas entrer et sortir à votre guise de ce nouvel univers.

Q : Où trouver une faille interphasique d'entrée pour accéder à l'UM ?

R : Les endroits permettant de se distordre dans l'UM comprennent Alpha Centauri, Mirror Wolf et Mirror Sirius.

Q : Comment obtenir des bons et des clés ?

R : Entrer dans l'espace de l'UM via une faille d'entrée coûte 300 bons Miroir. Vous pouvez récupérer jusqu'à 900 de ces bons tous les 3 jours à la raffinerie Miroir. Au besoin, des bons supplémentaires seront également disponibles à la boutique. Pour vous déplacer d'un système à un autre dans cet univers, vous devrez utiliser des failles de raretés diverses et nécessitant des clés. Les failles peuvent être courantes, assez rares ou premium. Les clés de faille seront aussi disponibles à la raffinerie Miroir.

Q : Dois-je utiliser un bon pour chaque vaisseau qui pénètre dans l'UM ?

R : L'entrée coûte 300 bons par vaisseau qui pénètre dans l'UM. Vous pouvez envoyer plus d'un vaisseau, mais le coût sera multiplié en fonction.

Q : Combien de temps les bons durent-ils ?

R : Au lancement, la durée de base est de 20 minutes. Au terme de celles-ci, vos vaisseaux qui se trouvent dans l'UM en sont extraits automatiquement. Ils conservent tout ce qu'ils y ont obtenu.

Q : Combien de temps puis-je rester dans l'UM et comment le quitter ?

R : Vous pouvez y rester jusqu'à ce que vos vaisseaux soient détruits ou que vos bons expirent. Il n'est pas possible de rappeler les vaisseaux envoyés dans l'espace miroir. Pour en sortir, vous devez trouver une faille d'extraction et l'utiliser pour vous distordre en lieu sûr. L'utilisation des failles d'extraction est toujours gratuite !

Q : Est-ce que les membres de mon alliance peuvent voyager là-bas pour coopérer avec moi ?

R : Si chacun utilise les bons requis de son côté, alors oui, vous pouvez jouer ensemble. Ni les sauts du Discovery ni les trous de ver de l'Eviscerator gorn ne permettent d'accéder à l'UM.

Q : Est-il possible de se rendre dans l'UM avec n'importe quel vaisseau, indépendamment de son niveau ? Y a-t-il des restrictions ?

R : Cet espace est disponible pour les joueurs dont le centre des opérations est au moins de niveau 40 et dont les vaisseaux ont une portée de distorsion supérieure ou égale à 50.

Q : Que peut-on trouver exclusivement dans l'univers miroir ?

R : Le trellium est une substance qui ne se trouve que dans cet espace. Des gisements sont disséminés dans ses systèmes et vous pouvez également en gagner en éliminant des hostiles. Brut, il ne sert à rien, mais en le raffinant, vous obtenez du trellium liquide.

Q : Qu'est-ce que le trellium et combien de types en existe-t-il ?

R : Il y a deux types de trellium brut : A et D. En les raffinant, vous obtenez du trellium liquide. Le trellium-D liquide est essentiel pour améliorer les officiers venus de l'univers miroir (par exemple Picard et Data, au lancement) et peut aussi être utilisé à la boutique.

Q : Comment obtenir la raffinerie Univers miroir ? Comment fonctionne-t-elle ?

R : Vous la débloquez lorsque votre centre des opérations atteint le niveau 40. Pour transformer votre trellium brut, vous avez besoin d'une raffinerie. La raffinerie UM permet également d'obtenir des bons d'entrée dans l'univers miroir (gratuits) ainsi que beaucoup d'autres objets et matériaux précieux. Un des plus importants est la poussière Miroir : il s'agit de la monnaie à utiliser pour effectuer les recherches très efficaces du nouvel arbre Miroir.

Q : Combien de nouvelles recherches sont disponibles et quelles sont les plus utiles pour survivre dans l'UM ?

R : Environ 70 (!) nodules de recherche ont été ajoutés. L'arbre de recherche Miroir offre des bonus de puissance et de survivabilité uniques. Il fera partie intégrante de vos prouesses dans l'univers miroir. En plus d'être le seul arbre de recherche du jeu permettant d'obtenir la barrière magistrale, il améliorera considérablement vos chances de survie dans les combats en JcJ et en JcE.

Q : Les recherches de l'arbre Miroir s'appliquent-elles seulement à l'UM ?

R : Les recherches Miroir doivent être obtenues via l'UM mais leurs effets s'appliquent à l'ensemble du jeu.

Q : La barrière magistrale est-elle utile dans l'univers miroir ? Pourquoi devrais-je l'obtenir ?

R : La barrière magistrale est un nouveau modificateur essentiel pour accroître vos chances de survie. Elle atténue les dégâts provenant de toutes les sources une fois les autres bonus appliqués. Par exemple, avec une barrière magistrale active, tous les 10 000 points de barrière, les dégâts subis qui seront réduits équivaudront à +100 % de la santé (ce qui signifie que vous pourrez encaisser 100 % de dégâts supplémentaires).

Q : L'univers miroir est-il dangereux ? Quel type d'hostiles peut-on y trouver ?

R : L'endroit n'est pas accueillant. Gardez à l'esprit que dans cet univers, la cargaison des vaisseaux n'est pas protégée. Si les vôtres sont détruits, vous perdrez tout ce qu'ils transportent. Faites de votre mieux pour quitter l'univers miroir en un seul morceau. Vous y affronterez de nouveaux hostiles : les Terriens. Voici leurs aptitudes :

Démantèlement : Au début de la manche, si le joueur ennemi a une brèche de coque, ce vaisseau augmente ses dégâts standard d'un certain pourcentage pour 1 manche.

Point mort : Au début du combat, inflige une brèche de coque au joueur ennemi pour toute la durée du combat.

Photophobie : Au début de la manche, si le joueur ennemi a une brèche de coque, ce vaisseau augmente ses dégâts isolytiques d'un certain pourcentage pour 1 manche.

Q : Les autres joueurs peuvent-ils m'attaquer dans la zone de distorsion et dans les systèmes de l'UM ? Quid de la zone d'extraction ?

R : Dans l'UM, les joueurs peuvent vous attaquer partout.

Q : Quels types d'officiers et de vaisseaux dois-je privilégier pour accroître mes chances de survie ?

R : Vous pouvez aborder l'UM comme vous le souhaitez, mais quoi que vous fassiez, assurez-vous d'activer votre barrière magistrale. Sans elle, il sera très difficile d'explorer l'univers miroir dans ses moindres recoins.

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8 Most Unexpected Actors Cast In Modern Star Trek

6 star trek lost era questions section 31 movie can answer, recasting star trek: the next generation for a movie reboot.

Rachel Garrett (Kacey Rohl) appears in Star Trek: Section 31 , and I hope her life before Star Trek: The Next Generation keeps being explored. Starring Academy Award winner Michelle Yeoh as Emperor Georgiou, Section 31 will take place during Star Trek's "lost era" of the early 24th century. Although the film's storyline remains unknown, it appears Georgiou will be recruiting team members for a top-secret Section 31 mission. Based on the teaser, Section 31 looks unlike any Trek that has been done before, and I'm excited to see where the story goes.

Star Trek: Section 31's new cast looks great. Michelle Yeoh is always phenomenal, of course, but Kacey Rohl's Rachel Garrett is especially interesting. Originally played by Tricia O'Neill, Captain Garrett was introduced in Star Trek: The Next Generation season 3, episode 15, "Yesterday's Enterprise," as the Captain of the USS Enterprise-C. Although Garrett only appears in a couple of scenes , Rachel holds the distinction of being the first woman to command the Enterprise and I have always wanted to learn more about her. Section 31's young Rachel Garrett already looks very different from the one we met on TNG, and I want to see the character's full journey.

Star Trek: Section 31 will flash back to Philippa Georgiou's childhood, revealing how she became the ruthless Mirror Universe Emperor.

Star Trek Should Tell More Stories About Enterprise Captain Rachel Garrett

Rachel garrett deserves to be the star of her own star trek story.

In only one Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, Captain Rachel Garrett made quite an impression. When the USS Enterprise-C emerges from a rift in spacetime, the USS Enterprise-D suddenly transforms into a battleship involved in a devastating war with the Klingons. Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) then has the unenviable task of informing Garrett of her doomed future , as history recorded the Enterprise-C as being destroyed. Even injured and grieving, Garrett realizes that something is off when she is brought to the Enterprise-D. When Captain Picard visits Garrett in sickbay, she questions him until he reveals that she and her ship have traveled 22 years into the future.

Star Trek's current era on Paramount+ has lured several big-name and award-winning Hollywood actors to the franchise, many of whom raise eyebrows.

Garrett takes this revelation without even flinching, immediately worried about how her crew will take the news. I love the way this one scene paints Garret as a character. She comes across as an incredibly intelligent, skilled, and caring captain even on her worst day. I immediately wanted to know more about her, but Star Trek has revealed very little about Garrett onscreen. While Star Trek: Section 31 will hopefully answer some questions about the oft-forgotten Enterprise captain, I hope Star Trek continues to tell more stories about her beyond the Michelle Yeoh-led Section 31 movie .

Star Trek's "Lost Era" Is Full Of Fascinating Untold Stories

A future trek project could answer a lot of questions.

I want to see a future project dive fully into Star Trek's "lost era." Any series or film involving the USS Enterprise will find an audience, and I desperately want to see Captain Garrett in command of the Enterprise-C in all its glory. Whether in a full television series, a mini-series, or a series of films, Star Trek could get a lot of mileage out of stories from the early 24th century. For example, I would love to learn what happened to the USS Enterprise-B after Star Trek Generations, or maybe find out how the USS Bozeman got stuck in the time loop seen in Star Trek: The Next Generation's "Cause and Effect."

Michelle Yeoh's upcoming Star Trek: Section 31 could provide answers to several lingering questions about Star Trek's lost era.

A story set during Star Trek's "lost era" could even check in on Picard during his command of the USS Stargazer. These are the kinds of projects I want to see as a Star Trek fan, ones that tell new stories, but fill in the gaps of established Star Trek canon. It's difficult to imagine a story flopping when it features a ship named Enterprise and a character as compelling as Rachel Garrett. I really hope Star Trek: Section 31 does well for many reasons, but partly because I want Kacey Rohl to stick around as Star Trek: The Next Generation's Rachel Garrett.

Key Background

• Star Trek: The Next Generation is set in the 24th century, nearly 100 years after the events of the original Star Trek series.
• The transporter effect was created by filming stirred glitter in water.

Star Trek: The Next Generation

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Star Trek: Section 31

Which Star Trek: The Next Generation character would you most like to see star in their own spin-off series?