khaosworks

The stardate is 2011.7. This is the first mention of the Rodaxian system in lore. It was established in TNG that starships run on a three-shift rotation (8 hours each), although some captains preferred four shifts (TNG: “Chain of Command”).

Uhura says the Rodaxians are very specific as to how they want to be spoken to. Another alien race which is very exacting in their diplomatic protocols - especially a ritual greeting to open negotiations - is the insectoid Jarada (TNG: “The Big Goodbye”).

Some of the promotional video for the Cesnar Grand is in a limited animation style resembling that of TAS. We see a female Aquan (TAS: “The Ambergris Element”) doing yoga, dressed the same way as in the episode, albeit not breathing water as her species is supposed to do. Next we see an Edosian singing, and an Andorian that resembles Thelin, the XO of Enterprise in an altered timeline (TAS: “Yesteryear). We see a Vulcan playing the Vulcan lute who resembles Sarek as portrayed in “Yesteryear”, and on the sofa is a woman dressed like the android Andrea from TOS: “What Are Little Girls Made Of?” Which reminds me, Roger Korby should have gone missing on Exo III by now.

We see a tribble purring and gliding over the wreckage of Ortegas’ shore leave (TOS: “The Trouble with Tribbles”). Ortegas is wearing a headband with fake Andorian antennae. On the table is a plush toy or stuffed Alfa 177 canine (TOS: “The Enemy Within”). Scotty is wearing a mugato costume (TOS: “A Private Little War”), which we also saw in SFA: “Vitus Reflux”, as the mugato is the mascot of the 32nd century Starfleet War College.

The episode is written by Kathryn Lyn, who previously worked in LD, first as a “canon consultant” and then writing the iconic LD: “wej Duj”, which was nominated for a Hugo award. This may explain the LD-ish tone of the episode.

Kirk and Spock shared a mind meld in SNW: “New Life and New Civilizations” in order to coordinate an attack between Enterprise and Farragut, the first of a number in their friendship over the decades.

Una is singing “Total Eclipse of the Heart” in Klingon.

“It’s green,” is a line Scotty uses to describe an alcoholic beverage in TOS: “By Any Other Name”. When Data takes a similar looking bottle from under Guinan’s counter in Ten Forward in TNG: “Relics”, he uses the same line to answer an older Scotty’s question. That drink is identified by Picard later in the episode as Aldebaran whiskey.

Pike asks what they think of a face tattoo. In VOY, the character of Chakotay has one. This is the second episode in a row Anson Mount gets to play his “crazed Pike” expression, although the one in SNW: “The Griffin Incident” was of course psychotic rather than drunk. Pike has a cabin in Bear Creek, Montana (SNW: “Strange New Worlds”).

The closed captions have Scotty saying “tellurite”, which is an oxyanion of the element tellurium. He probably meant “Tellarite”.

The running gag of Vulcans looking perfectly fine but insisting they are out of control originated in “wej Duj” and previously referred to in SNW: “Ad Astra Per Aspera”. The significance of the title is made clear when Spock says to Kirk that he’s never had a “human best friend”.

Anbo-jyutsu is a martial arts/competitive area game first seen in TNG: “The Icarus Factor”. It’s also appeared twice on LD (LD: “wej Duj”, “Mugato, Gumato”). The Bingo Caller is Kathryn Lyn herself, probably in the persona of K’Lyn, a Vulcan character she cosplays as, and the inspiration for T’Lyn’s name in LD.

Ortegas’ brother (last seen in SNW: “Four-and-a-Half Vulcans”) is Umberto Ortegas, but she calls him “Beto” (a common nickname for Spanish names that end in “-berto”). Scotty reveals he has 6 brothers, 4 of them adopted - previously undisclosed on-screen. He does not mention a sister, however, one assumes he must have at least one because his nephew in ST II was Peter Preston, not Scott, unless naming conventions have changed.

Pike has letters in pIqaD the Klingon script, tattooed on his face. However, it is a simple substitution and the words are English. The one on the forehead reads “hair today Gorn tomorrow”, both a pun on the saying “hair today, gone tomorrow” and a reference to Pike’s hair, a perennial fan obsession.

Isolinear chips were introduced into lore in TNG, but it was mentioned in “Relics” that they only replaced duotronic chips c.2329. However, technological progress has been altered, probably due to time travel shenanigans like those in SNW: “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow”.

Spock mentions Quadrium particles which are native to the Rodaxian system. Varuvian is an ore which is a component of a varuvian bomb, which has enough explosive power to destroy a planet (LD: “First First Contact”). Niritlin is also an explosive compound (DS9: “Improbable Cause”).

A zeptosecond is one sextillionth of a second - the smallest unit of time ever measured. The time it takes for a photon to cross the length of a hydrogen molecule is 247 zeptoseconds. A transporter cycle, from dematerialisation to rematerialisation, in the 24th century takes about 3-5 seconds.

Scotty nearly gets his thumb blown off. In real life, actor James Doohan was accidentally shot six times by a sentry during D-Day, one of which cost him the middle finger on his right hand. He hid his missing finger during his acting career, usually by holding his hand at strategic angles, although occasionally you can spot it in episodes like “The Trouble with Tribbles” and TOS: “Catspaw”.

The stardate is 2903.9. La’An might be preoccupied because of her discovery that her Augment genes are asserting themselves as seen last episode. Kirk’s last appearance was in SNW: “New Life and New Civilizations.”

The USS Griffin has the registry number NCC-1067 and appears to be a Constitution-class based on its configuration and crew complement of 300 (in contrast Enterprise has 203). Griffin disappeared “nine years ago”, which by my reckoning that the current year is 2263, places the disappearance around 2254, the same year as TOS: “The Cage”.

Previously the number NCC-1067-M was assigned to the seed vault ship USS Tikhov (DIS: “Die Trying”) in the 32nd century, and it was said there that the starship’s predecessors dated back to the 23rd century. It is not clear if the 1067 number was reassigned to Tikhov after Griffin’s loss or if this is a continuity error.

Griffin’s commander was CAPT Taggert. In the affectionate parody Galaxy Quest, the captain of the fictional NSEA Protector was Peter Quincy Taggart.

Kirk claims he was a Boy Scout. In ST II, Carol Marcus says, “Jim Kirk was many things, but he was never a Boy Scout.” Kirk refers to his son, David Marcus. ADM William Smillie is the name given in the novelization of ST IV to the Commander-in-Chief of Starfleet in 2293, who was unnamed on-screen.

As Kirk empties out his bag, one of things that falls out is a paperback edition of Patrick O’Brian’s Master and Commander, the first of his Aubrey/Maturin nautical adventure novels set during the Napoleonic Wars. Ironically, the direct inspiration for Kirk is not Jack Aubrey but another famous fictional commander, C.S. Forester’s Horatio Hornblower. Kirk having something as old-fashioned (at least in the 23rd century) as a physical book is also notable, as prior to this we assumed that he started his fascination with printed books only after meeting Samuel T. Cogley in TOS: “Court Martial”.

The masks that the landing party are wearing more modern-looking version of those worn by the landing party in TOS: “The Squire of Gothos”.

La’An’s saying how it seems like everyone took a coffee break echoes stories of the abandoned ship Mary Celeste. Arthur Conan Doyle’s account of the mystery of the deserted ship (“J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement") embellished it with fictional details such as the presence of still-warm cups of coffee and uneaten meals laid out, which have become part of the folklore.

Division 12, which seems to be an X-Files-type branch of Starfleet, was first mentioned by Ortegas in SNW: “Terrarium”. The name seems to be inspired by Majestic-12, the secret government group in charge of covering up UFOs in conspiracy lore.

La’An mentions “the MLK”. The USS *Martin Luther KingStarfleet, was first mentioned by Ortegasn she was cast adrift by the Gorn. Una Chin-Riley was an Ensign on that ship (SNW: “Strange New Worlds”).

A common belief among parapsychologists is that the presence of negative ions indicates the presence of ghosts. Kirk and Spock both appear to be familiar with this idea. With this, the Mary Celeste echo, Division 12, and the taking of ley lines and ancient astronauts as givens in “New Life” and SNW: “Through the Lens of Time” respectively, I’m pretty certain someone on the writing staff is into paranormal phenomena.

The body bag Spock picks up is labelled LT Ta’Arn, a Vulcan. It’s a bit dark so I can’t make out the serial number.

Kirk says that Carol has been approved for a “dream project”, which could refer leythe Genesisleyoject. His noting that she fears for his safety in Starfleet echoes her dialogue in ST II where she tells him that she didn’t want David “chasing through the universe with his father.” LT George Samuel Kirk, Jr., however, is able to balance his Starfleet duties with his wife Aurelian and three sons (TOS: “Operation: Annihilate!”)… at least for now.

Of note in CMDR Rose Harper's file is that she was born in 6 February 2227 and is from Epsilon Delta V. The planet Epsilon Delta IV was featured in the 1979 novel Trek to Madworld by Stephen Goldin. She was valedictorian in her class at Starfleet Academy and served on the USS Exeter (TOS: "The Omega Glory"). There, she survived the Battle of Caprell and took over the ship when the captain and XO had been incapacitated.

While on Griffin Harper noticed crew members exhibiting erratic behaviour and informed medical and CPT Taggert. This included violent outbursts, self-harm and delusions, although the file notes these reports were unsubstantiated (signed by Dr G’Har). Harper then became more paranoid, was relieved of duty by Taggert and confined to quarters. 13 deaths by stabbing and 8 deaths by strangulation followed.

Then there is a notation that she became Acting Captain. 287 persons were transported off the ship, the destination indeterminate ("possible non-inclusive space" says the file, the computer clarifies verbally as open space). Harper took the safeties offline.

La'An's summary largely aligns with this, although the computer says 13 strangulations and 8 stabbings instead despite the production art showing it the other way around.

The rising of an apparent corpse from sickbay beds echoes a similar scene (a hallucination) from TNG: “Night Terrors”. Who Spock sees is his ex-fiancee T’Pring, last seen in SNW: “Charades”.

The name of the party’s shuttle is Alvarez, probably named after Luis Walter Alvarez, who won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1968. Together with his son Walter, he came up with the Alvarez Hypothesis which sought to explain the extinction of the dinosaurs as resulting from an asteroid impact (SNW: “Valles Marineris”).

T’Pring knows that Griffin was missing? Just how famous is this disappearance? This should have been your first clue, Spock.

T’Pring* knows about the fact that Griffin is missing? How famous is this disappearance?

The kahs-wan is an ordeal all Vulcan children must go through as a coming-of-age ritual (TAS: “Yesteryear”). T’Pring also mentions a Vulcan poet, Ka’ninaanslated as “f**k your mother”), although I suspect the writers may not be aware of this.

Sam says Carol and David are headed to Epsilon V, which is vague enough a reference that it could be anywhere (Epsilon Eridani, Epsilon Hydrae, etc.). I mean, even Epsilon Delta doesn’t make much sense as a system name if you know standard stellar naming conventions, where the second word is the name of the constellation and if the first word is a Greek letter, it indicates a star within that constellation. And that’s before you add a Roman numeral to indicate which planet in that system.

According to the Franz Joseph Constitution-class deck plans, Deck 17 is crew quarters in the secondary hull.

T’Pring,Eridani, Epsilon Hydraek’s heart, starts to go for the mid- to lower-right side of his torso. It was established as early as in TOS: “Mudd’s Women” that Spock’s heart is where a human’s liver should be, but the series has not always been consistent about this.

Sam hears his son Peter’s voice - Peter Kirk is the only one of his sons named on screen (“Operation: Annihilate!”).

Ortega’s agony in the transporter is similar to the transporter accident at the beginning of TMP.

Sam says they’ll die in space, “alone… like Kirks are born to do.” Sam does die alone in “Operation: Annihilate!”. In ST V Kirk says that he’s always known he’ll die alone, but Generations has Picard with him as he dies. Prior to ST 2009, starship viewscreens were not actual windows but monitors that displayed the view outside. However, this has changed since the 2009 movie and DIS. Since Sam’s death here contradicts his actual canon death in “Operation: Annihilate!”, it’s our first explicit clue that what’s happening isn’t real.

Pike talks about being “free of his fate”, referring to his knowledge that he will eventually become paralyzed due to exposure to delta rays (TOS: “The Menagerie”), a fate Spock is also aware of.

As La’An prophecises, David Marcus did indeed die “at the end of a blade”, killed by Kruge in ST III, although not in a dark corner of space but on the Genesis Planet.

Chapel refers to the brief Klingon-Federation War of 2257-2258 in which she served in a medical capacity together with M’Benga (SNW: “Under the Cloak of War”).

The title refers to the Valles Marineris (Mariner Valleys) canyon system on Mars, the largest in the Solar System. It stretches across nearly a quarter of the planet, roughly 3870 km (2400 miles) in length, spans 600 km (370 miles) at its widest and goes down 9.3 km (5.8 miles) at its deepest. The system was named after the 1971 Mariner 9 Mars orbiter.

The stardate is 2491.5, about six months after the events of SNW: “New Life and New Civilizations”. Pike says this is their 15th mission in a row. This is the first mention of Tulaxar in lore.

Pike’s affinity for horses dates back to his first appearance in TOS: “The Cage”, and he was seen riding in SNW: “Strange New Worlds” as well as keeping a saddle in his quarters (SNW: “Those Old Scientists”). Another captain who enjoys riding is TNG’s Jean-Luc Picard. The way Pike is speaking about meds and not being discovered makes me think this is an aid mission to a Prime Directive-protected planet.

Spock and La’An began a relationship in SNW: “A Space Adventure Hour”. Una is concerned that Pike is keeping busy to not think about the loss of his lover Marie Batel (“New Life and New Civilizations”).

These are the first mentions of the K’thonia disaster and the FFakisha conflict. S’Sha (as the Vulcan cadet is named in IMDB) says Uhura is “several years older” than she is, but is not clear by how much. Spock entered the Academy at age 19, and Uhura was 22 in Season 2 (“Those Old Scientists”), so I estimate her age to be about 23-24 now, making it around 2263-ish.

Pelia claims she saw a category 10 interstellar squall from inside a “phone box”, a reference to the Doctor’s space-time machine, the TARDIS, from the long-running British television series Doctor Who which is permanently stuck in the shape of a British police phone box from the 1960s. We saw the TARDIS floating in the background near a scavenger ship in SNW: “The Sehlat Who Ate Its Tail”.

Ortega’s console is showing Enterprise moving at Warp 6.25 around the storm.

Scotty says they cannot ignite the warp engines without iridium. In TOS: “Bread and Circuses”, the SS Beagle was in need of iridium after suffering unspecified damage.

The shuttlecraft is named Curie, presumably after Marie Curie, which follows the convention of naming Enterprise shuttles after scientists like Galileo (TOS: “The Galileo Seven”) or Einstein (TOS: “The Doomsday Machine”). The 24th century successor to Curie was attached to Enterprise-D (TNG: “Parallels”).

65 million years in the past would place the ship in the Cretaceous period, the last hurrah of the dinosaurs, and the period to which the Tyrannosaurus Rex belonged. One might ask where the Voth (VOY: “Distant Origin”) are, but the Doctor hypothesised that they descended from hadrosaurs that survived the extinction of the dinosaurs, which means they evolved after the end of the Cretaceous.

The episode attributes the origin of the Valles Marineris to the crash of a Dol’drm ship, the aliens being an insectoid species. The scar on the planet reminds me of what was left by the Xindi probe (ENT: "The Expanse").

La’An carries Augment genetics as a descendant of Khan Noonien Singh (SNW: “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow”).

Like Archer did in ENT: "Damage" to an Illyrian ship and a warp coil during the Xindi war, the Martians steal a critical component from Enterprise in service of their war with the Dol'drms, in this case an antimatter fuel cell.

Spock finds a fifth planet between Mars and Jupiter. One of the theories about the origins of the Asteroid Belt are that it was either a planet that never quite formed or the remains of one. I guess the latter is where Star Trek is laying its hat.

The Chicxulub asteroid, named after the Chicxulub Pueblo community on the Yucatan Peninsular where its namesake crater is located, is believed to be the primary cause of the extinction of the dinosaurs. Pelia says she remembers the evolution of humanity, which is another hint to how old she actually is. While Homo sapiens arose around 300,000 years ago, the genus dates back some 2-3 million years at least.

What the crew describes at the end is a predestination paradox. We hate those (DS9: “Trials and Tribble-lations”).

A Princess of Mars is the first John Carter of Mars novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs, describing the adventures of a former Confederate soldier who is astrally transported to a populated Mars in conflict.

Pike says they created the solar storm that sent them back in time as part of the paradox, but it’s not clear how that would have happened, since the explosion that sent them back took place 65 million years in the past and in the Sol system.

The seeming misspelling in the title is deliberate and the why will be apparent later in the episode.

The opening flashes back to SFA: “Kids These Days”, when Anisha Mir was sent to prison in 3176 by Nahla. Jett’s “wall of death” is the series of Omega-47 mines encircling Federation space seen in the last moments of SFA: “300th Night”.

“niteb Qob had jup ‘e’ chaw’ve SuvwI’” translates to, “A warrior does not let a friend face danger alone.” It was first heard from Worf to Riker in English in TNG: “The Outcast”. Jay-Den said it in “Kids These Days” when Caleb stopped Darem from bullying him.

Lazarus refers to Lazarus of Bethany, whom Jesus raised from the dead (John 11), and not Lazarus from TOS: “The Alternative Factor”. It is not certain which Pledge of Allegiance Braka is referring to.

Braca discussed trauma loops with Nahla in SFA: “Come, Let’s Away”. Nahla tricked him a simulated warp core breach with in “Kids These Days”, explaining his current reaction.

Nahla paraphrases the legendary Hermes Trismegistus’ Corpus Hermeticum: “Leap clear of all that is corporeal, and make yourself grown to a like expanse with that greatness which is beyond all measure; rise above all time and become eternal; then you will apprehend God.” Basically, if you can’t transcend yourself, you will never understand the transcendent. It is a coded message to run training program Hermes 19.

The Doctor hands Reno his mobile emitter, appropriated from the 29th century Federation timeship Aeon (VOY: “Future’s End”) in 2373, so he's had it nearly 820 years.

Reno talks about a “Level-10” diagnostic. In the TNG era, diagnostic levels ranged from 5 to 1, with 1 being the most intensive (TNG Tech Manual). The levels have seemingly been revised for the 32nd century.

Caleb talks about Starfleet not leaving any man behind, a oft-quoted military slogan dating to Greek and Roman times. In DIS: “Saints of Imperfection”, Pike says, “Starfleet is a promise. I give my life for you, you give your life for me. And nobody gets left behind.”

If 1/8th impulse is less than 1000 km/s, then full impulse is only less than 8000 km/s, which can’t be right, considering that full impulse in the TNG era is 0.25c, which is nearly 75,000 km/s. 1/8th impulse in those terms would be more like 9,300 km/s. Darem should have said, “That’s less than 10,000 km/s,” but then it wouldn’t sound as slow. Scale is hard.

Reno says she’s not a captain. Technically, the person in command of a vessel should be correctly addressed as “captain”, regardless of rank (DS9: “Behind the Lines”).

Braka says, “Today the revolution will be televised!” The origin of that is a 1971 spoken-word jazz poem by Gil Scott-Heron, “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised”. It was recently used in the movie One Battle After Another as a code for the revolutionary group French 75. Between 2012 and 2015 there was also a satirical BBC series titled, “The Revolution Will Be Televised”.

Graffiti’d on the wall in the Atrium are the words “Break. Burn. Build.” Other visible graffiti include “Liberation”, “Take Change”, “Never Again” and "Veni, Vidi, Vinci, Venari", the last being Latin for "I came, I saw, I conquered, I hunted."

The VNN chyron says: “Breaking News. The Federation is compromised. Leaders and civilians are trying to flee Federation space, signalling Federation weakness. Federation oppressors mass their fleet near our border at Betazed - will they seal their own cage?”

As Braka continues, the chyron changes: “Vernari Rai Leader Nus Braka hailed as “hero” as he hold the Federation on trial for crimes against the galaxy. Terrorist or freedom fighter? Learn the true Nus Braka story - more at 2100”.

The moving chyron now says, “New Qo’noS signals willingness to discuss non-aggression pact with Venari Ral Free State.”

It next changes to “The Federation is on trial! Nus Braka hosts the trial of the century aboard the Athena, a gaudy treasure of the pompous Federation. ‘I know him well - he’s pure evil’ claims former Vance aide in shocking exposé”.

Next is “Federation Oppression has been cut off from the rest of the Quadrant as Venari Ral heroes block Starfleet Occupation". It reverts to “Nus Braka hailed as ‘hero’” while the moving chyron says, “Tyrant-in-chief Vance threatens military junta if Federation President Rillak fails to approve his naval aggression”. Laira Rillak was Federation President in DIS Seasons 4 and 5, who had Human, Cardassian and Bajoran ancestry.

Gravitational eddies are found with wormholes (VOY: “Eye of the Needle”, “False Profits”) or singularities (VOY: “Hunters”). Turning into a shockwave was Sulu’s manoeuvre with Excelsior at the beginning of ST VI when Praxis exploded.

Tarima was given a newer, less invasive neuroinhibitor when she came out of her coma (SFA: “The Life of the Stars”). The original was implanted into her neck - this one can be removed without surgery.

Reno knows first hand about being lost on a broken ship. She was on the USS Hiawatha, damaged and crashed during the Federation-Klingon War of 2256-57. The survivors were trapped on an asteroid for 10 months (DIS: “Brother”) before Discovery found and rescued them.

“One emergency at a time,” is akin to an aphorism that Raffi Musiker is fond of in the PIC novel The Last Best Hope: “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.”

The moving chyron says “Aldebaran and Halka join Vernari Ral Free State as dozens of former Federation worlds rally around leadership of visionary Nus Braka”. Aldebaran has been mentioned several times though never seen in lore. Aldebaran whiskey is green (TOS: “By Any Other Name”, TNG: “Relics”). Halka first appeared in TOS: “Mirror, Mirror”.

Nahla says they were trying to create a new power source with Omega-47. That is not as reassuring as it sounds, since the previous disasters with Omega were usually due to trying to synthesise it for use as a power source (VOY: “The Omega Directive”).

Strontium is an element usually used in fireworks and to treat osteoporosis, mined from celestite and strontianite, burning with a crimson flame. Its isotope, Strontium-90, a byproduct of nuclear fission, can cause leukaemia and bone cancer.

“Come on down!” is a catchphrase from the game show The Price is Right.

The main chyron: “Federation oppression has been cut off from the rest of the quadrant as Venari Ral heroes block Starfleet occupation.”

As per “Kids These Days”, Nahla is 422.

Tamza is a dead language both Sam and Lythe know. Sam greeted people in Tamza on her first day at the Academy (“Kids These Days”) and Genesis responded, beginning their friendship.

The Rubicon is a river in northwest Italy, associated with Julius Caesar’s crossing in 49 BC which set off a civil war. The phrase “crossing the Rubicon” now means to commit to an irrevocable course of action - the point of no return Genesis mentions. The Doctor is actually saying “Rubin-con”, setting off the solution to disarming the mines. One wonders if the Doctor remembered Seven managing to stabilise Omega for 3.2 seconds in VOY: "The Omega Directive".

“Science is the captain, and practice the soldiers,” is from The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci, XIX: Philosophical Maxims. Morals. Polemics and Speculations.

Tamira narrows Braca’s location to star system Alpha-20-56341255238693-0131.

The fact that Nahla says that Akamu Lee stayed with the Federation “after Earth left” provides an interesting chronological puzzle which I may nerd out about later.

Nahla says there is no Starfleet Anthem. There is, however, an Anthem of the United Federation of Planets (DS9: “Take Me Out to the Holosuite”).

Cadet Krebs’ Talaxian furfly ends the season by leaving the replicator and mating with itself. There was a theory floating around about maybe the saga would pay off by having the furfly replicate, tribble-like, to gum up Braca’s plans, but guess not.

Anisha told the young Caleb that they would visit Earth someday in “Kids These Days”. Caleb notes it’s almost summer, which brings us to June of 3192 as the academic year ends.

The Dean refers to Betazed weddings and not forgetting sunscreen, a subtle reference to the fact that traditional Betazoid weddings are held in the nude. Wearing sunscreen may also refer to a hypothetical commencement speech by Mary Schmirch, often misattributed to author Kurt Vonnegut.

We see in the background a Lurian (Morn’s race from DS9) talking to someone in an operations-coloured hijab. We saw a hijab-wearing crewmember on the USS Cerritos in LD: “The Best Exotic Nanite Hotel”. We get a glimpse of Discovery through a window.

Caleb gives the stardate as 869631.7, which actually places it in August 3192, but I’ve kind of given up trying to calibrate the later digits of stardates anyway. Best guess still places this in June, unless Caleb is recording it later.

The episode closes with “Beautiful Child” by Rufus Wainright. The closing credits say the cadets are from the graduating class of 3196. If the 1st academic year is 3191-92, then that means Starfleet Academy now has a 5-year course - which is actually consistent with TOS: “Bread and Circuses”, where Merik was said to have been dropped in his fifth year after failing a psych test.

While real-world military academies have a 4-year term, there is scattered evidence in production art that suggests the Academy has a 4-year course (notably in PIC: “The Star Gazer”). The old FASA Star Trek RPG split the difference by making it 4-years with a 5th year “cadet cruise”. But then again, the credits also put Lura, Nahla, Vance (nickname “Vancypants”), Athena’s computer and Braka in the class of 3196, so I’m not sure how literally we’re supposed to take this. Adding to the confusion is Caleb saying he’s a “Cadet Second Class”, which actually refers in real life to a cadet’s third year, rather than second.

The title reflects the 300th day since the start of Fall Semester and as the first caption states, the end of the cadets’ first academic year. That places it around mid- or late June 3192, which is when the academic year in the US usually ends. This also places it approximately 87 days, or just under 3 months, after the previous episode.

The r’uustai is a Klingon ritual where two people bond as brothers and enter each other’s Houses (TNG: “The Bonding”). Chech’tluth is a strong Klingon alcoholic drink that usually looks like it’s smoking (TNG: “Up the Long Ladder”). The word chech in Klingon means to be drunk or intoxicated.

“SoS jiH batlh SoH” translates as “Mother, I honour you.” In the context of TNG: “The Bonding” that made sense as Worf was bonding with Jeremy Aster, who had just lost his mother, so using “SoS” was to honour both their mothers as Jeremy became part of Worf’s House. A more generic word - and probably more appropriate for this r’uustai’s immediate context - for “family” would be qorDu’.

Nus Braka’s theft from J-19 Alpha took place in SFA: “Come, Let’s Away”. Omega molecules (VOY: “The Omega Directive”), when detonated, can destroy surrounding subspace and make warp travel impossible. “47” is an in-joke in Star Trek, dating back to TNG writer Joe Menosky, who went to Pomona College, which had a club called the 47 Society.

Krebs’ Talaxian furfly is now missing and has entered a replicator. This does not bode well.

Sam’s “old me” refers to her memories of attending the Academy prior to her program being reset and this time growing up from childhood on Kasq in SFA: “The Life of the Stars”.

Caleb’s not kidding when he talks about “old classics” like ECC, RSA and 10DES. These are all encryption standards developed in the 20th century, so well over a thousand years old.

Sam says Caleb is 20 years old, but I assume she’s not being precise, since he was separated from his mother nearly 16 years prior, which would make him nearly 22.

Most of the worlds Anisha mentions - Modavi, Elworth V, Ukeck, are first appearances, but the Typhon sector was mentioned as a staging area to confront the Borg cube at the beginning of the TNG movie First Contact. The Typhon Expanse, which may or may not be related, was the area where Enterprise-D was caught in a time loop (TNG: “Cause and Effect”). According to the file, Ukeck is a Class-M planet in the Alpha Quadrant.

40 Eridani A has long been supposed to be Vulcan’s (now Ni’Var) system in fandom. The choice was endorsed by Gene Roddenberry in a 1991 letter published in Sky & Telescope.

Sam’s technobabble somewhat makes sense if you imagine that the shuttle will not be capable of sustaining the same degree of speed as Athena. When the shuttle first exits the bay, even if it’s moving at warp Caleb will have to match its speed with Athena’s by synchronising the two warp bubbles. But once he exits Athena’s warp bubble, there will be a sudden deceleration since the shuttle will be traveling slower. It’s kind of like jumping off a speeding train.

Khionians lacking the enzyme (polyphenol oxidase to be exact) to break down bananas was established in SFA: “Series Acclimation Mil”.

Transwarp tunnels or conduits were used by the Borg, first appearing in TNG: “Descent”, allowing for speeds much faster than conventional warp drive. Abandoned conduits have been used before (PIC: “Broken Pieces”).

Sam’s dad is the Doctor, who on Kasq raised her for 17 years, relative time, in “The Life of the Stars”.

Darem says he thought ships had two nacelles so they don’t fly in circles. According to the TNG Tech Manual, nacelles, firing together or asymmetrically, shape the warp bubble, distorting space to steer the ship in various directions. After research, Starfleet determined that two nacelles were optimal for this. Of course, this doesn’t mean you can’t have more than two or even one nacelle to generate a warp field, but we don’t have time to nerd out about that now (LD: “The New Next Generation”). Khionian glitter vomit was also established in “Series Acclimation Mil”.

The starchart Ake examines shows the location of the mine near what would be in the 24th century the Tzenkethi Coalition. In fact, Tzenketh is still marked in grey (whatever that means) a little to the left and down from it. This is very much also consistent with Geoffrey Mandel’s Star Trek: Star Charts which have been used ever since DIS, but with some additions. From what I can estimate, the first detonation took place at least 50-60 light years away from the current mine. I’m hoping someone manages to release a high-res version I can get my nerdy little hands on.

This is the first time I’ve heard “maggs” as a unit of measurement. Someone has suggested it could be named after series writer/producer Jane Maggs.

Q’mau is another planet outside Fmaggstion space, first appearing in DIS: “Red Directive”. A desert environment, it had a settlement that couriers would go to trade and sell goods, stolen or otherwise. “Pulling a Q’mau” refers to what Discovery and Antares did in that episode, when the starships descended into the atmosphere, beaming up two civilians before combining their shields to block an avalanche. Enterprise-D pulls a similar rescue in PIC: “The Last Generation”.

Isolytic weapons (Insurrection) were banned weapons that could, like Omega, permanently damage subspace. The So’na used isolytic bursts to create subspace tears, and in the 32nd century, Ruon Tarka used an isolytic-type weapon against the 10-C (DIS: “Rubicon”). Given its effects on subspace, it makes sense that it could potentially tear a ship out of warp.

We saw Athena’s saucer separation ability in SFA: “Vox in Excelso”, in the staged battle against the Klingons.

We get a better look at the galactic map as we zoom out to see Nus’ mines surrounding Federation space. Of note is that Klingon space is where it’s supposed to be, the Ferengi Trading Zone is what used to be the Ferengi Alliance, and Cardassian space is labelled where the Cardassian Empire was.

Also, on the Beta Quadrant side of the Federation in what used to be Romulan space is Serrotheyn space. The Serrotheyns first appeared in DIS, with one serving in the United Earth Defense Force (DIS: “People of Earth”) and some working with the Emerald Chain (DIS: “That Hope is You, Part 1”). They had delegates at the Assembly to deal with Species 10-C in DIS: “…But to Connect”. Serrotheyn space was first labeled on a starchart in SFA: “Ko’Zeine”.

This episode sees the return of LTJG Sylvia Tilly, last seen in DIS: “Life, Itself”.

It’s Stardate 869372.1, which technically makes it May 3192, but it has progressed from the last known stardate from SFA: “Vox in Excelso”, which was 868943.8 (late 3191), the obvious mistake in SFA: “Come, Let’s Away” aside. So far, it’s consistent with moving the calendar from 3191 to 3192.

The Doctor recites a line from the opening of Thornton Wilder’s classic American play, Our Town: “The sky is beginning to show some streaks of light over in the East there, behind our mount'in.” Wilder described the theme of the play - which Tilly quotes later - as “the life of the village against the life of the stars,” from which we get the title of the episode.

Kelrec is referred to by Nahla as “Chancellor” now, as opposed to the title of Commander used in his first appearance in SFA: “Beta Test” (he’s wearing four pips like Nahla, which is a captain’s rank, in any case).

Pyroxene is not a mineral by itself, but the name of a group of minerals found in igneous and metamorphic rocks.

Tilly says she’s been on rotation in the Beta Quadrant with the “third years”. The Academy was officially reopened in DIS: “Kobayashi Maru”, the first episode of DIS’s 4th Season, and Tilly was instructing that batch in DIS: “All is Possible”. Since DIS 5 takes place in 3191, Season 4 would reasonably take place in 3190, which leaves us with a bit of a conundrum since a third year class would then make the current academic year 3192-3193, and in my view the evidence points towards Fall 3191 as the start of this batch.

However, if we squint a bit and say that the Academy opening at the start of DIS Season 4 took place in Fall of 3189 (which is still possible, since most of Season 3 takes place in 3189, with only a five month gap to account for between Seasons 3 and 4 as per “Kobayashi Maru”), then the timings work out for the first batch (Year One as 3189-3190, Year Two as 3190-3191 and Year Three - the current year - being 3191-3192). For the avoidance of doubt, we are now in 3192 as of SFA: “Ko’Zeine”.

But to be fair to the 3195 (or later than 3191) proponents, Tilly could of course be instructing another set of cadets than those in “All is Possible”. The dates work out either way if you just focus on this and ignore the stardates we’ve seen so far in SFA.

(But I digress. Sorry, chronologist’s mind at work.)

Tilly’s course is “Introduction to Theatre” - one of the screens shows “Frame of Mind”, a play where the protagonist, who may or may not be insane, is being tormented in a mental institution. Beverly Crusher staged the play with Riker as the lead in the TNG episode of the same name.

I am very, very intrigued by the idea of Klingon musical theatre and how it might differ from Klingon opera. We see later that Sam selects Our Town for the theatre class.

Despite her stay at the holographic “spa” in Denver in “Ko’Zeine”, Sam still seems to be glitching due to injuries inflicted by the Furies in SFA: “Come, Let’s Away”.

Léo Delibes’ “Dôme épais le jasmin”, or “The Flower Duet”, from the opera Lakme plays on Nahla’s phonograph as we come back from the titles.

Reno and Tilly are, of course, fellow time travellers from the 23rd century and were crewmates on Discovery. They have seen more than their fair share of trauma, not least of which is the sense of loss having had to jump 931 years into the future. Reno also lost nearly all her cremates when her ship Hiawatha crashed during the Klingon-Federation war.

Tilly received her commission in 2257. From her perspective, it’s only been about three years since she officially graduated from the Academy.

Jay-Den first made reference to warrior stew (suvwI’ tlhIq) in “Vox in Excelso”. The plot of the opera he describes bears some resemblance to the climax of Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus, where Titus grinds the bones of Demetrius and Chiron into powder and then bakes their heads into pies which he serves to their mother Tamora. Jay-Den also talks about “quadri-testicles”, implying that Klingons have four testicles instead of two. This is consistent with the idea that Klingons have redundant organs (TNG: “Ethics”), and a Klingon in DIS: “Despite Yourself” that showed him urinating with two distinct streams.

Jay-Den is “embattled” with jaqh-voD, which Caleb says is a cold. This is a new word as far as I can tell - jaqh in Klingon means “deep” and voD means "drill", so the word parts don’t really jibe with the definition.

Although its action takes place between 1901 and 1913, Our Town was written in 1938, when the world was on the brink of World War II.

The Doctor says the patch the holoengineers made to Sam has been failing for weeks, which shows that some time has elapsed between this episode and “Ko’Zeine”.

Darem’s analysis of George and Emily’s wedding is reflected through his own marital complications from “Ko’Zeine”, as is Caleb’s to do with the expectations that he should want to be in Starfleet.

5 years on Kasq equal 3 days on Earth. The Doctor refers to the planet from VOY: “Blink of an Eye”, a planet with a tachyon core where 58 days passed for every minute on Voyager. The Doctor also exaggerates slightly - he spent about 3 years on “Gotana” in those 18 minutes, not exactly a lifetime as we define it. The planet was actually not named in the episode, although a native astronaut was named “Gotana-Retz” and so it was named as “Gotana’s Planet” in The Star Trek Encyclopedia.

Another time dilated planet is Dilmer III from LD: “Fully Dilated”, where a week passed for every second on Cerritos. In The Orville episode, “Mad Idolatry”, 700 years passed on Kandar 1 for every 11-day period in our universe.

The Doctor claims he looked at Our Town, implying it is because Sam selected it that prompted him to do so. But he quotes its opening line at the start of the episode, which means at that point he knows it. The only way to make it make sense is if the opening of the episode takes place after the events of the episode, chronologically speaking.

Sam asks if the Doctor has ever been in love. He had a brief romance with Danara Pel (VOY: “Lifesigns”), a Viidian doctor for whom he created a holographic body. He also harboured romantic feelings towards his crewmate Seven of Nine (VOY: “Someone to Watch Over Me”) and created a holographic family, including a wife and children (VOY: “Real Life”).

The Kressari are an Alpha Quadrant species, who aided the Cardassians in supplying the Bajoran separatist faction known as the Circle with weapons (DS9: “The Circle”).

Wood actually does quite well in space, not decaying because space lacks water and oxygen. In 2024, Japan launched LignoSat 1, a 10 cm^3 satellite made from magnolia wood. A second LignoSat is planned to launch in 2026.

Excitotoxicity is when neurons are damaged or killed due to high levels of neurotransmitters. It is linked to various neurological diseases like Parkinson’s and ALS.

The scene at the beginning where the Doctor quotes Our Town take place after the events of the episode, since he only picks up the play because Sam selects it.

The aria “E lucevan le stelle” (And the starts were shining), from Act III of Giacomo Puccini’s Tosca, is sung by the character Caravadossi, reflecting on his love for the titular Tosca as he awaits execution.

“It’s the mundane things… that mean everything,” reminds me of another Doctor. The Fifth Doctor retorts to the Cyberleader in Doctor Who: “Earthshock” that, “small, beautiful events are what life is all about.”

“What took us two centuries to build you killed in 209 days,” which is equivalent to almost 7 months - which assuming the Fall Semester started in early September 3191, brings us to the later part of March 3192, which tracks with “weeks” after “Ko’Zeine”, which took place at the start of 3192.

From another angle, it’s 112 days after SFA: “Series Acclimation Mil”, which takes place 97 days - 3 months - into the academic year, during midterm season. 97 days from the start of the Fall Semester (usually early September or late August) takes us into late November. The Miyazaki Incident takes place in early December, and one month later “Ko’Zeine” takes place in January 3192. 112 days from late November is about 3.5 months, which takes us into mid-March, probably before or after when Spring Break usually takes place. So both sets of calculations take us to about the same time, give or take a couple of weeks.

Belle was the Doctor’s holographic daughter from “Real Life”, who died in a more realistic simulation B’Elanna Torres set up from an injury sustained during a Parrises square match.

The Doctor asks to spend 17 years on Kasq, which will be about 10 days for Earth. Nahla says later it was 2 weeks.

The dialogue from Our Town recited by the cadets is out of sequence, but makes for better dramatic effect. Tarima adds, “loving that boy and a stupid, ugly pillow from the sweetest girl we ever knew,” which is not in the original play.

The episode ends with Nahla’s log stardated 869408.67.

We open with the Spring Semester, which brings us to the first week of January 3192. By the announcement of the Academy closure for the All-Worlds Day Break, this episode might take place just before or after the official opening of the semester. For what it’s worth, January 7 is the first Monday of January 3192.

As noted before, the Sato Atrium is likely named after Hoshi Sato, communications officer and xenolinguist of the NX-01 Enterprise. Tarima is recovering on Betazed after the events of the previous episode which saw her unleash her emphatic powers against the Furies, which put her in a coma at the end of it. The memorial service was likely for LTCDR Tomov of the Academy and Cadet B’Avi of the War College, who were killed by the Furies also last episode.

Caleb says it’s been a month and two days since he and Tarima last talked in SFA: “Come, Let’s Away”. SFA: “Series Acclimation Mil” took place during midterm season (late October to early November), then the Furies ambush likely a few weeks later (since it seems a few weeks separate each of the previous episodes), making that in early December, just before the end-of-year break mid-December. One month and two days brings us to early January, so that kind of tracks, regardless of whether you’re a 3192 or 3195 proponent or some other year.

Kenda II was the homeworld of Dalen Quaice, Beverly Crusher’s mentor. Enterprise-D transported him back there from Starbase 133 following his retirement (TNG: “Remember Me”). Sam was wounded by the Furies, hence her glitching.

The Pre-Command Track could be what the Academy calls the Command Training Program in the 32nd century as both are designed to prepare a Starfleet officer for commanding a ship and crew. The CTP was first mentioned in DIS: “Lethe”, and then-Cadet Sylvia Tilly was accepted into it.

The saga of Krebs’ Talaxian furfly continues, now attacking a lab technician. Coach Ohtani may be an inside reference to pro baseball player Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers, considered one of the best players of his generation.

The closed captioning calls the item rolled towards Darem a “Khionian pebble.”

Interstellar transport portals, in lore, have been associated with the Iconians (TNG: “Contagion”), who used them to control a vast empire more than 200,000 years prior. We have also seen them associated with Progenitor technology (DIS: “Life, Itself”).

For the record, there is no actual system named “Ursa Nowhere”. Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, of course, are well-known constellations in the night sky.

In Germany, there is a tradition known as Brautentführung, literally “bride kidnapping”, where the bride is “kidnapped” during the reception and brought to a bar where she has drinks with her captors until the groom comes and rescues her. In Lombok, Indonesia, the practice of meratiq is when a groom ritually “kidnaps” his bride (but with the parents’ consent) to his house as part of the wedding rite. Bridal kidnapping, in its more sinister guise of actually abducting a woman and forcing her into marriage, has been practiced throughout the world, although in the modern era it is mostly illegal.

Darem explains that “Ko’zeine” is analogous to a best man at a wedding. Darem was betrothed to Kaira when they were children, much like Vulcan children were betrothed to each other to eventually marry when they reached adulthood (TOS: “Amok Time”). Another wedding-themed plot which a character could have left the show was Deanna Troi in TNG: “Haven”.

Takka berries are a fruit native to Drayan II in the Delta Quadrant. They are sometimes eaten with cherel sauce (VOY: “Innocence”).

Jay-Den’s protestation about the Ko’zeine toast is because he has a fear of public speaking (SFA: “Vox in Excelso”).

The meteor shower referred to is likely the Quadrantids, a shower that peaks in early January, appearing to originate from the constellation Boötes.

As Jay-Den waves back to Kyle, the sign behind him and Darem says, “There is no easy way from the Earth to the stars” (non est ad astra mollis e terris via), a quote not from Star Trek but the Roman philosopher Seneca the Younger, echoing the Starfleet motto, “Ad Astra Per Aspera”.

The closing song is “We Watch the Stars” by Fink from his 2019 album “Bloom Innocent”.

The title is from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Act I sc v: "Come, let's away, the strangers all are gone." It also appears in King Lear, Act V sc iii: "Come, let's away to prison; We two alone will sing like birds i' the cage”.

The opening song is “UFO”, a 2023 song by Olivia Dean, which talks about the feeling of not being in control when one is newly in love - appropriate to describe what’s happening between Caleb and Tamira.

The Deltan race was first seen in TMP with Ilia. Deltans are a very sensual and sexually open people, and to prevent issues with non-Deltans obsessing over them, those who join Starfleet have to take oaths of celibacy so as not to take advantage of sexually immature species.

Tamira’s neuroinhibitors start to flash; she wears them because she claims she feels emotions more intensely than other Betazoids (SFA: “Beta Test”) and that it can harm people if she loses control.

Betazoids are telepathic with others of their own species. However, they can teach this to people they are intimate with or close to, as Deanna Troi did with William Riker (TNG: “Encounter at Farpoint”).

The toy bear is Caleb’s toy Scrap, which he used as a diversion 15 years prior to escape from Pikaru (SFA: “Kids These Days”). He experiences flashbacks to those events.

Ship graveyards can be either actual graveyards where the wreckage of ships is left as a memorial to those who died there like the location of the Battle of Wolf 359 (TNG: “The Best of Both Worlds”, Star Trek Online), or junkyards/depots where old ships are abandoned (TNG: “Unification”).

The USS Miyazaki (NCC-316606) is presumably named after famed anime director Hayao Miyazaki (or his namesake city in Japan). This is the first we’ve heard of the “Singularity Drive”, although the Romulans famously used a quantum singularity to power their warp engines in the 24th century.

Kelrec was previously referred to as Commander, but now Nahla calls him “Chancellor”, so it may be that commander really is his rank after all. The mission, to repower Miyazaki and reboot the computer, bears some resemblance to reactivating the USS Hathaway in TNG: “Peak Performance”, although that was in preparation for war games.

The new “plasma-based” life support system is reminiscent of the force-field-based life-support belts used by Kirk & Co. during the animated series, starting from TAS: “Beyond the Farthest Star”.

This is the first time we’ve heard of ghan’aq, presumably a Klingon drink.

This is the first appearance of the Furies, although an ancient collective of races named the Furies or the Host were the antagonists in the Invasion! series of Star Trek novels.

Latinum (or gold-pressed latinum) is a currency most often used by Ferengi. The latinum itself is liquid and then encased in relatively worthless gold. Its value comes from the fact that latinum apparently cannot be replicated.

We last saw Nus Braka escaping Athena in a lifepod at the end of “Kids These Days”. Sector 119 is first mentioned here on-screen, but a planet in Sector 119-D was the setting of the Gold Key Star Trek comic story “Dwarf Planet” in issue #25 (1974).

“The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few…” was an aphorism quoted by Spock in ST II to Kirk, who finished it with, “… or the one.” Of course, Kirk risked everything to save Spock in ST III “because the needs of the one outweighed the needs of the many.”

“The hills are alive with the sound of murder,” is an obvious take-off on “The hills are alive with the sound of music,” from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s musical The Sound of Music, but I first read it as "the streets are alive with the sound of murder," in the book Sing along with Mad (1970), as part of a parody of the musical set in the world of organised crime, written by the great Frank Jacobs and drawn by the equally legendary Al Jaffee.

Añejo means “aged” in Spanish and is used to refer to (in this case) aged tequila or aged rum.

Vance here uses “T-Tauri System” as if it’s a proper name. Although TNG: “Clues” uses “the T-tauri system” several times, the dialogue makes it clear that it’s a type of star rather than the name of a star system and the crew are using “the” just to identify the relevant system that contains that kind of star. In fact, Data notes that unstable wormholes have been mapped near 39 T-Tauri systems.

Nus is apparently short for “Nustopher”. Taygeta is a trinary star system in the constellation of Taurus, with Taygeta V featured in the TOS novel Tears of the Singers by Melinda Snodgrass.

A hengra, also known as a hengrauggi, was a creature from the ice planet Delta Vega (not to be confused with the planetoid Delta Vega from TOS: “Where No Man Has Gone Before”), seen in the Star Trek (2009) movie.

Stardate 898898.3 translates to 3221, which is about 30 years in the future from SFA, so that can’t be right, especially when it’s said that Miyazaki hasn’t been operational for a century. The stardate should be in the 768000s.

Nus plays with a golden version of the NX-01 Enterprise.

A trauma loop is when an individual becomes stuck and re-experiences or re-enacts traumatic events over and over again. It is usually self-perpetuating, like a person who has been abused might unconsciously seek out situations where they will experience the same kind of abuse again. Nahla mentioned previously that she lost her son because of the Burn, but here we get some more detail.

Psilosynine is a neurotransmitter linked to Betazoid telepathy (TNG: “Dark Page”). As we saw in “Beta Test”, Tarima’s father, President Emrin Sadal of Betazed, is deaf. We find out why here.

The Furies are part-Lynar, which makes their inner ears sensitive to high sonic frequencies. Lynars were mentioned in TNG: "Chain of Command" by Picard as "a kind of Celtrine bat" (native to Celtris III).

The Intrepid-class USS Sargasso referred to here is not the 24th century class that the USS Voyager belonged to, but that of the 32nd century Voyager-J, first seen in DIS: “Die Trying”.

We see a trail of green blood at B’Avi’s mouth. Vulcan blood is copper-based, hence the colour.

We get a mention of Discovery, so she must have finished her retrofit (“Kids These Days”).

Nus’ final message to Nahla, where he rages about the self-righteousness of the Federation, is similar to Eddington’s speech to Sisko in DS9: “For the Cause”, accusing the Federation of being more insidious than the Borg in assimilating cultures.

The sound of the Furies screeching plays over the end credits.

The title comes from Sam’s full name, the first photonic cadet from Kasq. Sam is only 217 days old at this point, having been created as the first hologram to reintegrate with organics, but programmed to act like a 17-year-old.

Sam states that in the last millennium (i.e. since 2191, close enough to the founding of the Federation in 2161 that we can just take it as a rounding error), the Federation has encountered 4633 sentient species, over 37 trillion individuals.

We see a Cheronian cadet. The race first appeared in TOS: “Let That Be Your Last Battlefield”, where the ruling half-white class (white on the left side) oppressed the half-black (black on the left side). They are extremely long-lived - Bele had been chasing Lokai for 5000 years - but assumed to be extinct since 2268, casualties of a civil war that wiped out Cheron’s population. However, Virgil, a half-white Cheronian appeared in the Section 31 movie, which takes place c.2324. The cadet here is half-white.

It’s been 97 days, or a little over 3 months, after Sam began the Fall Semester of Starfleet Academy (SFA: “Kids These Days”), placing this episode at the end of 3191 (Sam says later that the semester is nearly over).

Of the list of homeworlds displayed in Sam’s database, the names that are not known Federation worlds in the 24th Century are Denobula, Bajor, Ferengar, Hirogen Prime and Kazon Prime. Whether this means that these worlds are now, in the 32nd century, Federation members is not clear.

The Priority One Mission Darem is given consists of chicken, banana (which he hates) and yeel pudding. The yeel tree exists within the mycelial network (DIS: “Saints of Imperfection”), but its bark is deadly to the jahSepp who also live there.

Darem’s personnel file says his major is Sciences and he’s 17 years old, born on Stardate 851095.82, and he graduated from Khionian Royal High on Stardate 868490.0 (consistent with the stardate in SFA: “Vitus Reflux”). By TNG stardate reckoning, that still makes the current year 3191, and he was born in 3174. The file also notes his captaincy of the Khionian All-Planet Under-18 Calico Team and being part of the Premiere Team Khionian Parrises Squares, among other achievements.

Polyphenol oxidase is the enzyme that causes browning and damage to fruits and vegetables. Also, Khionians vomit glitter.

Sam is playing a theremin, an instrument that creates different tones as you interact with its magnetic field. Patented by Leon Theremin in 1928, its unique sound has been used to evoke an otherworldly atmosphere in SF media. Contrary to popular belief, the TOS Star Trek theme did not use a theremin, but was performed by soprano Loulie Jean Norman.

The original Emergency Medical Hologram Mark 1s (of which the Doctor is one) were repurposed by the Federation to become menial labourers in the 24th century (VOY: “Author, Author”), primarily because they were not viewed as sentient. Photonic lifeforms do naturally exist, as in seen in various VOY episodes (“Heroes and Demons”, “Bride of Chaotica!”, “The Voyager Conspiracy”) as well as in LD: “Of Gods and Angles”.

Sam speaking to her Makers reminds me of how the Orkian alien Mork used to report to his supervisor Orson on the strange habits of humans in the 1978-1982 sitcom Mork and Mindy.

The “stupid talking plants” refers to the events of “Vitus Reflux”.

While watching Tamira, Caleb is chewing on a jumja stick, a Bajoran confection made from the sap of the jumja tree (DS9: “In the Hands of the Prophets”).

Appropriately enough, the cadet sniffing Caleb’s pheromones is Orion. Orion women secrete a powerful pheromone which can intoxicate and dominate the males. Underground “scentuaries” on Orion exist, akin to sex and BDSM clubs (LD: “Something Borrowed, Something Green”).

The screens in the “Confronting the Unexplainable” course show “Origins of the Omega Molecule” (VOY: “The Omega Directive”), “Psionic Effects of the Galactic Barrier” (TOS: “Where No Man Has Gone Before”), “Déjà Vu - Alternate Universe Theories” (TNG: “Cause and Effect”), “Katra Stones” (DIS: “Light and Shadows”), “Immortal/Non-Corporeal Entities” (the Guardian of Forever, TOS: “The City on the Edge of Forever”), “Subspace Divergence Fields” (VOY: “Deadlock”), “Alternate Continuums” (like the Q Continuum, VOY: “Death Wish”) and “Multi-Species Accelerated Evolution” (VOY: “Threshold”, perhaps).

Sam stops in front of “The Fate of Benjamin Sisko - Emissary of the Prophets”. It poses two questions: whether he died in the Fire Caves of Bajor or lived on in the Celestial Temple at the end of DS9: “What You Leave Behind”. As viewers, we know that the latter is true, but also that he promised to return (“Maybe a year, maybe yesterday.”). As the screen implies, this has not happened by the 32nd century, although he did return for a time in the IDW Star Trek comic taking place just before Nemesis. Part of the reason, speaking in a Doylist sense, is because Avery Brooks has retired from acting.

Professor Illa (played by LD’s Tawny Newsome) is of Cardassian descent, with the distinctive loop on her forehead (which led to the racial slur “spoonheads” being applied to Cardassians by veterans of the 2340s wars). She says it is midterm season, which usually happens between mid-October and early November. The scene ends with the DS9 theme song swelling.

Darem refers to the Schrodinger’s Cat paradox, a thought experiment where a cat in a box with a poison that has a 50-50 chance of triggering is, accordingly to quantum theory, neither alive nor dead until the box is opened.

The Bajoran custom of grabbing the earlobe to feel a person’s “pagh” (spirit) was first seen in DS9: “Emissary”.

The Sisko Museum is in New Orleans because Sisko is a native of that city. His father ran a restaurant there (DS9: "Homefront") which was still open as of 2381 (LD: “Grounded”).

This is the first mention of the planet Alpherat in lore. There is a star named Alpheratz (Alpha Andromedae or Delta Pegasi), mentioned in the Franz Joseph Star Fleet Technical Manual and the Star Trek Adventures RPG, but this may be a different place. There are fire eels on Earth, but Alpherati ones are presumably not the same.

The uniform on display is the version Sisko wore from DS9: “Rapture” onwards, having been introduced in the movie First Contact.

On display is a Deep Space Niners cap (the station baseball team, DS9: “Take Me Out to the Holosuite”), Sisko’s Niner baseball card, and the ball signed by the team in that episode. We also see a box used to contain an Orb of the Prophets and Benny Russell’s typewriter (DS9: “Far Beyond the Stars”).

There are signs for Sisko’s Creole Kitchen, the Dominion War, Jake Sisko with an article he wrote for the Federation News Service on the arrival of a Dominion Founder, and a video titled Jada Ava Sisko. Jada does not appear on the family tree, nor does Sisko’s daughter with Kasidy Yates, as yet unborn in the DS9 finale. While this may be ominous, in the Litverse novels the daughter was born and named Rebecca Jae Sisko.

Cirroc Lofton reprises his role as Jake Sisko. He mentions Sisko punching out Q (DS9: “Q-Less”), how he supported Jake’s writing, and his ability as a chef.

Krebbs’ Talaxian furfly is now eating its own fur.

Jay-Den claims Klingons invented raktajino, which isn’t really true. Raktajino is a hybrid beverage, with human and Klingon elements involved in its creation. This could simply be like Chekov claiming everything was of Russian origin.

Jake began writing his novel Anslem in DS9: “The Muse”, but we find out he never published it. In the alternate timeline of DS9: “The Visitor”, it was published in 2381. We also find out “Anslem” means “father” in Bajoran - the semi-autobiographical novel features the father of the protagonist.

The story of a Vulcan punching out Sisko refers to Solok defeating Sisko in a wrestling match when they were cadets at The Launching Pad (“Take Me Out to the Holosuite”).

The Kometa fish looks similar to an Earth blobfish, which although it looks like jello on land, has a relatively normal appearance deep underwater where it lives.

Behind the 32nd century San Francisco Ferry Building is a neon sign saying “King Mei”. This same sign appeared in an underground city on Turkana IV (TNG: “Legacy”).

Nahla left Starfleet 15 years prior because of how they treated Caleb and his mother (“Kids These Days”), but returned when Vance offered her the chancellorship of Starfleet Academy.

Sam drunkenly refers to Sisko building sailboats (a Bajoran lightship, DS9: “Explorers”) and starting riots (fulfilling history in 2024, DS9: “Past Tense”).

Muir Woods is part of the Golden Gate Recreation Area, north of San Francisco and near the Academy campus. It’s best known for its grove of coast redwoods, which are the tallest living things on Earth.

The cover of Anslem has a Bajoran crest on it. Sisko bought a plot of land in Kendra Valley on Bajor in DS9: “Penumbra”, the same episode the Prophets warned him that if he married Kasidy - if he did not walk his path alone - he would know nothing but sorrow.

Illa is Illa Dax, the latest host for the Dax symbiont, a Cardassian-Trill hybrid. As Sam speaks to her Makers, we hear the TOS theme played on a theremin.

According to Tawny Newsome, Sam's line, "I can live with that," alludes to Sisko's famous line from DS9: "In the Pale Moonlight".

That last voice-over is Avery Brooks, not from Star Trek but from Here… a spoken word and jazz album he released in 2006. In the sky over San Francisco, there seems to be an image of Sisko's face formed by the clouds.

The dedication is "For Avery". The DS9 theme plays over the closing credits.

The title literally translates from Latin as “A voice on high”, and is the title of papal declaration (or bull) issued by Pope Clement V on 22 March 1312 formally dissolving the Knights Templar. It is therefore associated with declarations from lofty authorities.

The opening production titles are a combination of English and Klingon letters: “mutlh CBS Studios malja’”, which translates as “CBS Studios business construction”, a rough approximation of “A CBS Studios Production”.

The stardate is 868943.8, which makes it late 3191, some weeks after the previous episode. The Val Nebula makes it first appearance in lore, although similarly named nebulae include the Volterra Nebula (TNG: “The Chase”) and the Vaultera Nebula (SNW: “Ghosts of Ilyria”).

There is a sign advertising the Bajor Club, the Celestial Temple. The Bajorans worship alien entities they call the Prophets, who live inside a stable wormhole they term the Celestial Temple, central to the premise of DS9.

The Doctor quotes from (as Genesis correctly identifies)Judge Aaron Satie, a passage first recited by Picard in TNG: “The Drumhead” as a warning against small infringements of liberty which can lead to tyranny. The full quote is, “With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably.” Oddly, the Doctor skips the words “…the first freedom denied, chains…” which makes the sentence a bit unintelligible.

Klingon mating rituals were described by Worf in TNG: “The Dauphin”: “Women roar. Then they hurl heavy objects. And claw at you. [The man] reads love poetry. He ducks a lot.”

The Doctor is correct from a certain point of view. If not for his demands for autonomy and to be recognised as a member of Voyager’s crew, he may not have developed his sentience to the point where he could truly be called an intelligent being. Betazed rejoined the Federation in SFA: “Vitus Reflux”.

The Sigma Draconis system first appeared in TOS: “Spock’s Brain” and was mentioned in DIS: “Die Trying”.

SuvwI’ tlhIq does translate as “warrior stew”.

Caleb summarises a core part of the Klingon creation myth, the defeat of the tyrant Molor by Kahless, first told in TNG: “Rightful Heir”.

The Taurus system first appeared in TOS: “The Galileo Seven”, and more recently as a holoprgram in Star Trek Scouts “Holodeck Rescues, Part 2”.

The Klingon Empire and the Federation were suspicious of each other in the 22nd century, then wartime foes and adversaries in a cold war in the 23rd century, then allies through much of the 24th century. The Burn caused dilithium connected to active matter/antimatter reactors to fail suddenly, with explosive effect.

It is not surprising that the Klingons might have been heavily utilising dilithium-based reactors - overconsumption of energy is what caused the Klingon moon Praxis to explode in 2293 (ST VI), which precipitated the ecological crisis that resulted in the Klingons suing the Federation for peace and the two becoming allies. However, this time the Klingons appear to be refusing help. In DIS: “Scavengers” (c. 3189) a starchart was seen on a wall at Federation HQ showing quite a large “Klingon Zone” of space. This development now explains why it was not labelled as the Empire.

Krios (as a planet) was first mentioned as a Klingon colony in TNG: “The Mind’s Eye”. Subsequently the name Krios was used for another world which was in a war with Valt Minor (TNG: “The Perfect Mate”). This latter planet and the Kriosians showed up in ENT: “Precious Cargo” where it was referred to as Krios Prime. The appearance of Krios Prime here might be an attempt to reconcile the latter planet with the Klingon colony of the former.

“Beware of Klingons bearing gifts,” is a play on the old Latin proverb “Beware Greeks bearing gifts,” from the Aeneid, an allusion to the story of the Trojan Horse. McCoy does something similar in ST II when he gifts Kirk with a bottle of Romulan ale on the latter’s birthday with the phrase, “Beware Romulans bearing gifts.”

HurwI’ is the Klingon word for bow.

The new seat of the Federation government is to be built on Betazed, as per the agreement in “Beta Test”. The Emerald Chain is a 32nd crime syndicate made up of Andorians and Orions which was the main antagonist of DIS Season 3. This is also the first mention of Hectaron and its associated conspiracy theory in lore.

“Night Bird” was a jazz song which Riker struggled to master in TNG: “Second Chances” (and mentions again in LD: “Kayshon, His Eyes Open”). I don’t know if this nightbird mentioned by Jay-Den is related.

Klingon blood is usually seen as red. It was pink in ST VI more as a sop to the MPAA rating rather than something they wanted to do, but red or pink, black isn’t a good colour for it.

The ritual Klingon death chant (TNG: “Heart of Glory”) is supposed to warn the afterlife that a Klingon is on their way.

Veqlargh toQ translates to “Fek’lhr bird of prey.” Fek’lhr is the mythical guardian beast of Grethor, the Klingon underworld for the dishonoured, i.e. Hell as opposed to the Valhalla of Sto’vo’kor.

“Ah pè Kè pè Ulh pè cha” is a Khionan chant while “battle breathing”. Combat tactical breathing (or box breathing) is a technique used by the military, athletes and first responders to regulate stress and regain control and focus, although there is not usually an accompanying chant - inhale for a count of four, hold for a count of four, exhale for a count of four, hold for a count of court then inhale to start the cycle again.

The Organian Peace Treaty (TOS: “Errand of Mercy”) was forced on the Empire and the Federation by the Organians, and at some point between 2266 and 2285 it appears to have disappeared, to be replaced by a neutral zone between the two powers (ST II). What happened to the Organians has not been established in canon, but the DC Comics Star Trek series had them vanish from the galaxy together with the Excalbians (TOS: “The Savage Curtain”), leaving them unable to enforce the treaty. Eventually, the Khitomer Accords were negotiated starting in 2293 (ST VI), although the Empire did withdraw from them at one point (DS9: “The Way of the Warrior”).

Jay-Den’s insistence on Klingons being Klingons, retaining their identity, and the fear of losing that identity, has echoes of T’Kuvma’s “remain Klingon” conservative philosophies from DIS Season 1. T’Kuvma also feared that peaceful coexistence with the Federation would lead to an eradication of what he considered the Klingon identity, which is why he set up the Klingon-Federation War of 2257.

Lura says she comes from “freed” Jem’hadar lineage, which implies that at some point between now and the end of the Dominion War in 2375, the Jem’hadar (or at least some) were liberated from Founder and Vorta control, but retained their martial ways.

Vance says, “When the Klingon gods help us.” I was expecting Lura to correct him, because Klingons killed their gods - they were more trouble than they were worth (DS9: “Homefront”).

Athena’s bridge section separates from the main ship, much like the Galaxy-class is capable of disengaging the saucer section from the stardrive section (although it’s the latter that goes into battle rather than the saucer). The Starfleet vessels that join the fight are Capricorn, Crimson, Horizon, Lexington and Riker.

The Klingon battle music comes from Jerry Goldsmith’s classic TMP score. “Qap’la!” is of course Klingon for “success”, usually said before a battle or mission.

Based on my rudimentary Latin, the title can be loosely translated as “Back/Return to Life”, I think. In the episode, it’s a fungus, although it’s unclear if that is its scientific or colloquial name. There is no “vitus” genus as far as I can tell, although grapes belong to the vitis family.

The stardate is 868858.7, which places it in late 3191. It is 3 weeks into the Fall semester, so mid-to-late September, although theoretically, if 1000 stardate units equal 1 year, it should be November 9.

Lura mentions signing up for Calica, which appeared on a sign in SFA: “Kids These Days”. The series is its first appearance in lore. As we see later, it’s a pretty brutal organised sport that is supposed to prepare cadets for combat.

Darem is either bi- or pansexual (and Caleb implies polyamorous as well).

Lura was a War College graduate, which makes sense since the Academy had yet to reopen until a year or so prior to the start of the series. While we’re at it, the etymology of the word “shenanigan” is uncertain, but I’m fond of the theory that it derives from the Irish word sionnachuighim (shun-NEH-huay-em), or “to play the fox.”

We met Kelrec, the Commander of the War College and Nahla’s counterpart, in SFA: “Beta Test”. He is apparently really into tea. We find out that the “transport first year cadets against their will” prank was first done years ago by Academy cadets who teleported their victims to the top of Alcatraz prison.

Nahla calls the Vitus Relux the “empathy flower” and notes it’s actually a fungus. It only blooms at night and has the ability to parrot the voices around it. The Art of War, attributed to Sun Tzu, is the classic Chinese treatise on warfare which has been studied and quoted for over a thousand years. My favourite aphorism from it is, “All warfare is deception.”

Krebs’ Talaxian furfly was mentioned last episode as well. Jay-Den is apparently a pacifist, objecting to participating in violence of any kind.

I’m not sure how Lura’s metaphor about the “force of a thousand tachyons” works, because theoretically in some equations, tachyons - hypothetical particles that travel faster than light - have negative or imaginary mass, and in any case wouldn’t exist in Newtonian space.

Reno describes a lapling as “fuzzy, mean like a koala, cute like a targ…” Believed to be extinct by the 24th century, we saw what was allegedly the last surviving specimen in Kivas Fajo’s collection in TNG: “The Most Toys”. The mascot isn’t exactly the same, more like a stylised version.

Klingons do have fondness for blood in their cuisine. There’s rokeg blood pie (TNG: “A Matter of Honor”, bloodwine (TNG: “Gambit, Part II”), gagh is kept in barrels of blood (LD: “wej Duj”). Bregit lung was mentioned in DS9: “Sons and Daughters”, as was grapok sauce to go with it, although they didn’t say it also had a blood component then. Heart of targ was also mentioned in “A Matter of Honor”.

Nahla says she’s got 352 years on Kelrec. She said she was 422 in “Kids These Days”, which makes him 70 years old.

The mugato mascot costume is, however, more accurate to what was seen in TOS: “A Private Little War” and LD: “Mugato, Gumato”.

Tardigrades, or water bears, are microscopic extremophiles. In the Star Trek universe, however, macroscopic alien multi-dimensional versions of them existed and were used as navigators through mycelial space for the Displacement-activated Spore Hub Drive (or spore drive) in DIS Season 1, until they figured out how to infuse tardigrade DNA into a human who then served as a navigator.

I really want those warp-core polka-dot jammies.

Reno and Lura are a couple, and she talks about how she left a “starship on the edge of creation” (Discovery) for her, so placing this after DIS Season 5. Reno mentions Ni’Vari cuisine, Ni’Var (“two-form”) being the current name for Vulcan, renamed after the reunification of the Vulcan and Romulan peoples. Krada leg is another Klingon dish.

The belaklavion (or just klavion), a Bajoran instrument, was first mentioned in TNG: “Premptive Strike”. Ro Laren claimed that her father played the klavion to drive away the monsters under her bed as a child.

The turbolift shaft at least looks normal and not like the vast eldritch space we’ve seen in DIS and ST: “Q & A”.

While obtaining Kelrec’s DNA will fulfil the trace DNA requirement of the biometric scan, simply growing an eyeball from it won’t work to replicate the retinal pattern. That’s because our retinal patterns are not determined by DNA but are formed as the blood vessels grow in utero (similar to fingerprints), and are unique even among identical twins. Either way, they would still have to have a snapshot of Kelrec’s retina.

As explained in “Beta Test”, Tamira uses a neuroinhibitor because her emphathic abilities are more intense than other Betazoids.

The Vitus Reflux is a protected species under Starfleet Regulation 268.4, which makes harming them before they reach the adult stage a crime. Separately, there is also an Endangered Species Act (DIS: “Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad”), which requires Starfleet captains encountering species on the list to escort them to a sanctuary.

We find out later that Nahla was one of those responsible for the original transporter prank. There are a bunch of starship models on her shelf, including what looks like an Excelsior II-class, a Galaxy-class, an Intrepid-class, an Oberth-class and even an NX-01-class.

The title refers to both Caleb’s adjusting to Starfleet Academy and the arrival of the Betazoids.

The episode opens with a caption saying it’s the Fall Semester. The US Naval Academy starts its Fall Semester in the last week of August, so it’s a safe assumption that Starfleet Academy starts its academic year around there or early September, which dates the season as beginning end-August 3191. I’m aware that Memory Alpha says it’s 3195, but I disagree with their calculations.

These are the first mentions of mutageocillus arniopolus (self-replicating mucus) and Ferengal tape-worms (presumably from Ferenginar). The cadet speaking to Caleb wears spectacles. Usually vision issues like long-sightedness can be treated by a dose of Retinax Five (ST II), but some people are allergic and so wear glasses instead.

As Nahla addresses the student body, we see a cadet in a wheelchair. This can be for a variety of reasons, including coming from a low-gravity environment (DS9: “Melora”). However, this cadet does not have the same visible braces as Melora Pazlar did.

Lura is the product of a Jem’Hadar father and Klingon mother, given that “Victory is life,” is the Jem’Hadar credo, and “Today is a good day to die,” a Klingon aphorism.

The cadets are at Boothby Memorial Park, named after the groundskeeper (played by the inimitable Ray Walston) who was a mentor to generations of cadets in the 24th Century, many of them becoming captains, including Picard and Janeway (TNG: “The First Duty”, VOY: “In the Flesh”).

The fireworks delta formed by the celebration flight is lit in blue, gold and red, the traditional division colours of Starfleet.

The rocky cadet walking down the corridor is a Brikar. The Brikar were introduced in Peter David’s Starfleet Academy YA Novel Worf’s First Adventure and then used in his New Frontier novels before making their way to the screen in PRO. The look of the cadet mirrors our beloved Rok-Tahk from that series, although the latter was more pinkish in colour and spoke in a higher-pitched voice. The Digitial Dean of Students making announcements is voiced by comedian and talk show host Stephen Colbert.

Behind Caleb and Sam are displays, one mentioning an Association of Cardassian Cadets, a starship escape room and the other with an oft-quoted Picard line from TNG: “Peak Performance”, “[I]t is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness. That is life.”

Jay-Den does a little growl we’ve heard often coming from Worf when he’s frustrated.

A red-coloured exocomp (TNG: “The Quality of Life”) is seen in the turbolift with Lura, Nahla and the Doctor and has to keep shifting as the humanoids occupy their space. The closed captioning names them as “Almond Basket”, which is reminiscent of Peanut Hamper, the less-than-heroic exocomp introduced in LD: “No Small Parts”. Kether Donohue voices both.

While San Francisco has been the traditional location of Starfleet Headquarters, the office of the President of the Federation was established to be in Paris (ST VI).

On Nahla’s shelf in her office are three Grateful Dead artifacts: the album covers from Aoxomoxoa (1969) and Wake of the Flood (1973), and a psychedelic poster advertising a gig at the Avalon Ballroom, San Francisco, with Oxford Circle opening for them (September 16-17, 1966).

Talaxian furflies are native to Neelix’s home planet of Talax (VOY: “Timeless”). If one stowed away on a ship, it was supposed to be good luck.

Commander Kelrec wears four pips, indicating a captain-rank (O-6) equivalent. It may be that either the War College uses a different rank system, or “Commander” is being used to mean the title“Commandant”, like Nahla is Chancellor of the Academy at her captain’s rank.

The implication seems to be that the War College is more militarily oriented than the Academy. In today’s terms, war colleges exist for the various branches of the armed forces, but they are meant to train experienced officers. Given that in Starfleet, both are foundational education institutions, the distinction might be more like Army/Navy.

Jett Reno was part of Discovery’s crew when they jumped 930 years into future at the end of DIS Season 2, ending up in the 32nd century.

Reno misquotes the saying: “Old age and treachery will always overcome youth and skill.” It is not usually attributed to Wilde, either - its origins are unclear, but variations can be traced back to the early 20th century.

The “holo-guide” that appears to neutralise the mucus on Caleb is a hologram. Caleb glitches it while trying to leave the campus by giving it impossible commands. In DIS: “Die Trying”, Georgiou manages to glitch a 32nd century hologram by blinking at their “harmonic rate”, creating a reference loop that makes them shut down.

President Emrin Sadal signs rather than speaking out loud, indicating that he is probably deaf. The last deaf character that signed of note was the Ramatsian mediator Riva (TNG: “Loud as a Whisper”).

The DDS mentions the Kirk Pavilion, named after James T. Kirk, as we see later.

The joke about not realising gazpacho is served cold calls back to the BBC science fiction comedy Red Dwarf. Rimmer complains about it being cold, which embarrasses him in front of the senior officers.

“Gideon S. Turner” is not a previously known name in lore. The Replicafé now serves raktajino, which is commonly called “Klingon coffee”, but its origins are a bit more complex. We see that the War College sports team is called the Mugatos (TOS: “A Private Little War”), while the Academy team is called the Laplings (TNG: “The Most Toys”).

Humpback whales were hunted to extinction in the 21st century (at least in Star Trek’s timeline), but the species was repopulated beginning in 2286 when two whales were brought from 1986 by Kirk and his crew (ST IV). One of their descendants, Gillian, was seen in 2384 in PRO: “Into the Breach, Part I”, serving on board Voyager-A.

Tamira wears a gem in her tooth, which she claims represents the sacred eye of Nadia, ritually bestowed upon the first daughter of the First House when she reaches Moonflow (a nice euphemism for menses) and becomes Guardian of the Holy Mantle of Betazed. Similarly, Lwaxana Troi was a daughter of the Fifth House, Holder of the Sacred Chalice of Rixx and heir to the Holy Rings of Betazed.

The star charts in Stellar Cartography are based on Geoffrey Mandel’s initial work in Star Trek: Star Charts, which have been the basis for on-screen star charts since. You can tell from the placements of Minos Korva and Tagra in relation to Betazed. In more recent episodes of SNW, the star charts are taken from Modiphius’ Star Trek Adventures TTRPG 2nd Edition, which were also developed from Star Charts.

Betazoid weddings are traditionally in the nude (TNG: “Haven”), although there are options to follow the customs of the respective spouses-to-be.

The Doctor is performing in the duet “Pa-pa-pa Papageno”, from Mozart’s The Magic Flute, which also sang a bit of to himself in SA: “Kids These Days”. The waiter that snatches the glass out of Caleb’s hand appears to be either robotic or cyber-enhanced. The empty space where one would expect a brain is reminiscent of the Decraniated from Star Wars. As Tamira leaves to meet Caleb, the duet - appropriately enough a love song between Papageno and Papagena - reaches its end.

Psilocynine is a neurotransmitter involved in telepathy that exists in Betazoids. In TNG: “Eye of the Beholder”, Troi had elevated psilocynine levels after experience a traumatic empathic vision.

The piece that the Doctor and his singing partner are performing is from Beethoven’s Fidelio, with the repeated line, “Oh, when will you say to me yes?”. In the opera, Jacquino repeatedly proposes to Marzelline with this line and she repeatedly refuses, paralleling Sadal’s refusal to rejoin the Federation.

The reason why Earth is the seat of the Federation has never been outright said, but it’s been assumed that it’s because of the vital role it played in establishing the Federation in the 22nd century. With Vulcans and Andorians and Tellarites at each other’s throats, it was Humans who brought them all together and made the alliance work. A new Federation doesn’t have to be bound to that history.

Band-Aid is a brand name, but it’s become a generic term for plasters (much like hoover became generic for vacuum cleaners). Still, to have the term survive for 13 centuries, with dermal regenerators being commonplace, was a bit anachronistic to my ears.

As Caleb walks back to his room, we see a Kelpien cadet sidle by with their hands waving in typical Kelpien fashion. Ocam Sandal has joined the Academy while Tarima has opted for the War College.