What Happens To Strange New Worlds’ Missing Characters During Star Trek: The Original Series? I Think I Know

Warning: SPOILERS For Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4, Episode 2 – “The Griffin Incident”Just two episodes into season 4, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has already dropped potential clues about what could happen to three popular characters who don’t remain aboard the USS Enterprise in Star Trek: The Original Series. The fates of Commander Una Chin-Riley (Rebecca Romijn), Lt. La’an Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong), and Lt. Erica Ortegas (Melissa Navia) loom over Strange New Worlds‘ final two seasons.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4 starts the build to the prequel’s pre-destined conclusion where Captain James T. Kirk (Paul Wesley) takes over the Starship Enterprise from Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount). Star Trek canon makes who stays aboard Kirk’s Enterprise, and who joins, i.e. Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy (Thomas Jane) and Hikaru Sulu (Kai Murakami), fait accompli.

When Star Trek: Strange New Worlds concludes after season 5’s final six episodes, audiences will have answers to the lingering question of what becomes of Number One, La’an, and Ortegas, as well as Commander Pelia (Carol Kane). In particular, why Una leaves the USS Enterprise and where she goes are questions that will finally be answered after over 60 years.

Theory: What Happens To Strange New Worlds’ Missing Characters During Star Trek: The Original Series

It’s possible that Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has already laid out the puzzle pieces for where Una, Ortegas, and La’an are and what their next mission is during Star Trek: The Original Series. I theorize that they (and possibly Pelia, as well) will become agents of Division 12, Star Trek’s version of The X-Files. Here are the clues:

The first clue is Una leading a landing party to prehistoric Earth in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4’s premiere. Why do the Enterprise’s First Officer, Security Chief, and helmsman go on this mission instead of, say, Science Officer Spock (Ethan Peck) and xenoanthropologist Lt. Sam Kirk (Dan Jeannotte)? This trio is an odd choice for this away mission.

Logic suggests that Star Trek: Strange New Worlds wanted to plant the seeds in audiences’ minds about what kind of team Una, La’an, and Erica would be. Together, they investigated the unforeseen and jaw-dropping circumstances of walking among dinosaurs during Earth’s Cretaceous era. This sounds like the mission statement of Division 12, which Ortegas name-dropped for the first time.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4, episode 2, “The Griffin Incident,” sent La’an, Spock, and Lt. Commander James T. Kirk (Paul Wesley) aboard a missing Starfleet ghost ship. “The Griffin Incident” revealed more about Division 12. An invention of Strange New Worlds, Division 12 comprises specialists who investigate weird, inexplicable phenomena in the galaxy.

I don’t think any of this is a coincidence, and neither is Una finally being promoted to Commander, placing her one step closer to becoming Captain. I theorize that at the end of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Number One will become a Captain assigned to take command of Division 12, and she will bring La’an and Ortegas with her.

As part of Division 12, Una Chin-Riley, La’an Noonien-Singh, and Erica Ortegas would become secret agents. Conveniently, their Starfleet records and activities would become classified. This would be a handy canonical explanation for why nothing is known about Una, La’an, and Ortegas after they exit the USS Enterprise following Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.

Will A Star Trek: Division 12 Spinoff Happen?

Division 12, which has only been spoken about and not seen thus far in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4, is an instantly intriguing idea. A Strange New Worlds spinoff about Una, La’an, and Ortegas operating as Starfleet’s X-Files agency is a fantastic premise for a Star Trek TV series, and arguably even better than the proposed Star Trek: Year One spinoff about Captain Kirk’s USS Enterprise.

Unfortunately, the odds of Star Trek: Division 12 happening are slim to none (the same with Star Trek: Year One), given the current state of Star Trek under Paramount Skydance. After Star Trek: Starfleet Academy and Strange New Worlds‘ final seasons premiere in 2027, Paramount+ seems set on placing the Star Trek TV franchise on hiatus while Paramount Pictures focuses on launching new Star Trek theatrical movies.

However, the future of Star Trek also isn’t set in stone yet. While things are happening and decisions are being made at Paramount about Star Trek’s next steps, strong fan interest in an idea — if such a thing materializes for a Division 12 spinoff — may also sway the powers that be. The overwhelming fan love for Anson Mount’s portrayal of Captain Pike in Star Trek: Discovery led to Strange New Worlds‘ creation, after all.

Meanwhile, I must caution that Una, La’an, and Ortegas joining Division 12 when Star Trek: Strange New Worlds ends is merely a theory. Yet it is also “a theory that happens to fit the facts,” as Captain Spock (Leonard Nimoy) would say.

More clarity will come if Division 12 keeps coming up in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4, but becoming X-Files-like secret agents would be a graceful exit and a fittingly exciting future for Number One, La’an, and Ortegas.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4’s new episodes premiere Thursdays on Paramount+.

Release Date

2022 – 2027-00-00

Network

Paramount+

Showrunner

Henry Alonso Myers, Akiva Goldsman

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