Star Trek: Discovery has demonstrated how dangerous the Temporal Wars were, by revealing three things about its lasting impact on the Star Trek universe. Introduced in Star Trek: Enterprise, the Temporal Wars were a major conflict between various powers, including the Federation, that took place across the entire Star Trek timeline. In Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 4, “Face the Strange”, written by Sean Cochran and directed by Lee Rose, Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and the crew of the USS Discovery become victims of a Krenim chronophage, a deadly weapon left over from the Temporal Wars.
The “time bug” from Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 4 isn’t the first time that the modern franchise has explored the ramifications of the Temporal Wars. In Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2, episode 3, “Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow”, Lt. La’an Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong) faced off against a Romulan time agent, Sera (Adelaide Kane). During their confrontation, Sera revealed that the Temporal Wars have changed the dates of key Star Trek events like the Eugenics Wars and World War 3. Set roughly 200 years after the Temporal Wars ended, Star Trek: Discovery has revealed even more information about the dangers of this space-time conflict.
In Star Trek: Discovery season 3, episode 9, “Terra Firma, Part 1”, it was revealed that time soldiers fighting in the Temporal Wars had to contend with a horrific metaphysical affliction. When former Terran Emperor Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) began breaking down on a molecular level, Dr. Hugh Culber (Wilson Cruz) sought answers. Federation scientist Dr. Kovich (David Cronenberg) revealed that Georgiou wasn’t the first person to experience this condition. During the Temporal Wars, a time soldier called Yorg from the Kelvin Timeline became trapped in the prime Star Trek universe after traveling forward from the 24th century.
Yor and Georgiou were breaking down because the molecules in their body were fighting to return to the correct universe and time period. The only known cure was to return Yor to his own universe, but this was prohibited by the Interdimensional Displacement Restriction, a key tenet of the Temporal Accords. Starfleet fought the wars to uphold the Federation’s Temporal Accords, and so refused to break them by returning Yor, and Georgiou to their own universes. Instead, other alternatives had to be pursued to cure Georgiou of her condition, so that she wasn’t euthanized like the tragic Yor.
To cure Georgiou of her condition, she and Burnham had to bargain with the Guardian of Forever, first seen in Star Trek: The Original Series. In “City on the Edge of Forever”, Captain James T. KIrk (William Shatner) discovers the Guardian on a planet where the timelines of the Milky Way galaxy converge. The Guardian was a sentient time portal, constructed by an unknown alien race, but described itself as neither machine nor being. In Star Trek: The Animated Series season 1, episode 2, “Yesteryear”, the Guardian allows Federation scientists to use it to observe their own history.
By the 32nd century, however, the Guardian of Forever was forced to relocate due to the Temporal Wars. Given that it allowed access to the entire course of history, the various powers involved in the Temporal Wars wanted to weaponize the Guardian’s abilities against their enemies. The Guardian therefore transported itself to the planet Dannus V, where it remained in hiding until it was discovered by Burnham and Georgiou in Star Trek: Discovery season 3. Now able to assume the humanoid form of Carl (Paul Guilfoyle), the Guardian of Forever was more reluctant to help visitors, forcing Georgiou to prove herself to him by returning to the Mirror Universe to show how much she’d changed.
Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 4, “Face the Strange” confirmed that the Krenim Imperium, introduced in Star Trek: Voyager, played a role in the Temporal Wars. Moll (Eve Harlow) and L’ak (Elias Toufexis) planted a Krenim chronophage aboard the USS Discovery by pinning it to the uniform of Ensign Adira Tal (Blu del Barrio). Once the chronophage was aboard, it burrowed itself into Discovery’s engineering and trapped the ship in a random cycle of their own past and future. While the USS Discovery was trapped in a time loop, Moll and L’ak could get a head start on the next clue in the hunt for the Progenitors’ technology.
Commander Rayner (Callum Keith Rennie) confirmed that this weapon was left over from the Temporal Wars, where it had been used against various enemy ships. Unable to break out of the loop, a starship could find itself in a completely changed battlefield once the time bug ran out of juice. In the case of the USS Discovery, their time bug nearly led to an inevitable conflict with Star Trek: DS9‘s Breen. It’s a typically tricksy time weapon from the masters of temporal technology, the Krenim, who once built a weapon that could remove entire species from the space-time continuum.
The confirmation that Star Trek: Voyager‘s Krenim Imperium were involved in the Temporal Wars further heightens the stakes of a conflict that is technically still ongoing. While the Temporal Wars may be over in Star Trek: Discovery‘s 32nd century, there are still battles taking place elsewhere in the Star Trek timeline. This means that starship crews from Star Trek: Strange New Worlds to Star Trek: Lower Decks could find themselves embroiled in the devastating temporal conflict first started in Star Trek: Enterprise.
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