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 27 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, a musical instrument that creates different tones as you interact with its magnetic field. Patented by Leon Theremin in 1928, its unique sound has been used as to evoke an otherworldly atmosphere in science fiction movies and television. Contrary to popular belief, the TOS Star Trek theme did not use a theremin, but was rather performed by coloratura 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 Newsom) 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: “Trials and Tribble-lations” 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 seem to 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 does feature 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.

In 32nd century San Francisco behind the San Francisco Ferry Building there 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.

We discover that 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.

That last voice-over is indeed Avery Brooks, not from Star Trek but from Here… a spoken word and jazz album he released in 2006.

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

I was born into & will die with Learning Challenges (in- language processing & short & long term memories), have earned degree in SLD, many certifications, including VE & ESE, from the most respected higher educational school in Fl., whatever that is worth, & facilitated learning in Elementary schools’-high schools’-adult education school’s ESE & Etc. classrooms. So I understand that challenges can be extremely hard identify-prove & everywhere, I think everyone has a challenge, to some degree.

Yet I cannot understand the challenges that genetic engineered friends of Dr. Bashir character Lauren (played by Hillary Shepard) & Patrick (played by Michael Keenan).
The only thing that comes close to challenges I see in- Lauren having is higher attraction drive to men, than the average person &
Patrick having is he is easily manipulated-to easy to go along with others, especially by Jack.

Lauren thing seems like UPN censored away the writers from going to a real challenge & forced them to her being just higher attraction drive to men, than the average person, which is not a challenge.
&
Patrick thing is not even close to being a challenge at all, maybe, lack confidence or whatever, but not a challenge, while Lauren is also not a challenge, I can understand that if the writers were not censored away from her being sex addiction, then that would been a challenge.

Why has there not been a ‘Star Trek’ series or series of movie that involves people with super intelligence & skills like that, but the challenges go along with it? Half joking, but ‘Big Bang Theory’s* character Shelton would work & be funny. Shelton fanboy did not pay me to say that or have something on me to force me to say that. Heck the other ‘Big Bang Theory’s character characters would also work & be funny. But a lot more serious, there are some challenges that give people traits that makes them the perfect crew members.

*- Funnies comedy of all time, The GOAT!

Sometimes the time travel confuse me, in this case, the new Borg queen pretend to create a new collective, now, the third season Borg queen is the old one, right?

So, what happend with one and the other collective? The new one affected the other one?

Edit: I add an spoiler warning in the title.

Might get a Pebble for this

Since Discovery, despite the Star Trek writers repeatedly beating us over the head with this, I still somehow didn't catch onto the pattern. If there is a through-line to all the new shows, the notion that acknowledging one's own vulnerability is a sign of individual strength, and that showing support when others are being vulnerable around you, is also a sign of individual strength.

This may not feel "woke" in the way it's usually understood, but I really think it's pushing a long overdue envelope, and one that is arguably more important to our times than a half-black half-white face representing the "illogical" nature of racism.

For example: when I read the angry tweets about the new series (ie; the "pussification of men", etc.) I can't even force myself to see them as coming from anything other than weak, scared people who are too afraid of what the world would think of them if they expressed their authentic selves. They want to scare the rest of us into being as scared as they are, because they believe it will make them feel less alone. But loneliness can only be fixed by showing vulnerability.

And that's the root of the problems in our modern era, isn't it? Deeply insecure people hurting others in a desperate effort to not be hurt themselves. They haven't always portrayed this concept in a graceful way, but kudos to Star Trek for keeping up the tradition of asking its audience: "What is it you're so afraid of?"

Recently I was talking with people about how I watch TNG, DS9, Voyager, Picard, Lower Decks and people point if I'm a trekkie, and to be honest I don't feel like a fan of Star Trek despite is mostly the only series I care to watch apart of Avatar Aang/Korra.

I tried to get into The Original Series, but I just can't, today I saw Mirror mirror, I don't know if I'm a trekkie really, but people still seeing me like that.

After that, I have two choises, watch Enterprise or Strange New World and I think I will go for SNW.

An absolute banger. Bandcamp link: https://lukeski.bandcamp.com/track/one-night-in-quarks-bar

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.

Written by: Gaia Violo & Eric Anthony Glover

Directed by: Doug Aarniokoski

Star Trek fans have become very sensitive to introductions of new characters, aliens or historic events arguing that things that haven’t previously been mentioned ‘break canon’ or disrespect lore.

This piece by Inverse shows how profoundly TNG retconned Federation, Starfleet, and main characters’ history on the fly.

Worth thinking about.