Star Trek: Strange New Worldswill conclude in season 5, but a significant thing needs to happen for theStar Trekprequel series to make it to its planned endpoint. Ahead of the highly anticipatedStar Trek: Strange New Worldsseason 3’s July 17 premiere, Paramount+ announced thatStrange New Worldswould end in season 5, which will be a 6-episode final season. This gives co-showrunners Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers a road map to conclude the voyages of Captain Christopher Pike’s (Anson Mount) Starship Enterprise.
With Paramount+’s five-season plan established, this makesStar Trek: Strange New Worldsseason 3the midpoint of the prequel series.Strange New Worldsseason 3 opens with “Hegemony, Part II,” resolving the USS Enterprise’s crisis with the Gorn. Afterward,Strange New Worldsseason 3 will delve into genre-bending hours of"adventure, romance, and mystery"for the crew of the USS Enterprise. However, for the currently in-productionStar Trek: Strange New Worldsseason 4, and the soon-to-be-filmed season 5,the passage of time now becomes of the essence.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Will Need Time Jumps To Get To Season 5’s Series Ending
Strange New Worlds Is Still Years Away From Star Trek: The Original Series
ForStar Trek: Strange New Worldsto meet its planned endpoint,the prequel will require the copious use of time jumps.Strange New Worldsseason 1 began in 2259, 8 months after theend ofStar Trek: Discoveryseason 2. At some point duringStrange New Worldsseasons 1 and 2, the calendar turned into 2260.Strange New Worldsseason 3 brings the timeline up to 2261.
Given thatStrange New Worldsdidn’t know the show would end with season 5 until long after season 3’s production was completed, this leaves the prequel two seasons consisting of 16 episodes to reach the starting point ofStar Trek: The Original Series.Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) takes over command of the USS Enterprise in 2265.Strange New Worldsseasons 4 and 5 have to coverabout four years to get to the handoff point between Captains Pike and Kirk, which means time jumps.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Already Uses A Time Jump In Season 3
Time Passes Quickly At Some Point In Strange New Worlds Season 3
Star Trek: Strange New Worldsseason 3 has one confirmed time jump.Strange New Worldsseason 3’s premiere picks up immediately fromStrange New Worldsseason 2’s ending cliffhanger. At some point after that,time leaps forward to 2261, with aStrange New Worldsseason 3 episode taking place during the centennial party for the United Federation of Planets, which was founded in 2161. Ensign Nyota Uhura’s (Celia Rose Gooding) hair was close-cropped sinceStrange New Worldsbegan, but it’s considerably longer in season 3, confirming the quick passage of time.
There may be further time jumps inStar Trek: Strange New Worldsseason 3, but there are still a handful of years to cross beforeCaptain Kirk takes over the Starship Enterprisein 2265. It’s more likely thatStrange New Worldsseason 3 is self-contained because it was produced long before the endpoint of the series was decided, and thatStrange New Worldsseason 4 will begin seeding the end of theStar Trekprequel, with season 5 taking the show to its final destination.
What Has To Happen When Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Ends In Season 5
We Know Some Of What Strange New Worlds' Endgame Is
Since its inception,Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' dual mission has been to tell the stories of characters introduced inStar Trek’s original pilot, “The Cage,” like Captain Pike and Number One (Rebecca Romijn), while simultaneously putting the pieces in place forStar Trek: The Original Series. Lieutenant James T. Kirk (Paul Wesley) and Scotty (Martin Quinn) joining the prequel made it clear thatStrange New Worlds' endgame wasto build towardsTOSand the launch of Captain Kirk’s five-year mission.
Key events that have to happen include Kirk becoming Captain and assuming command of the USS Enterprise, Spock (Leonard Nimoy) replacing Number One as First Officer, and Dr. Leonard McCoy (DeForest Kelley) becoming Chief Medical Officer instead of Dr. Joseph M’Benga (Babs Olusanmokun).Strange New Worldswill also reveal what canonically happens to Number One, as well as other characters introduced in the prequel who are not inTOS, likeLieutenants La’an Noonien Singh(Christina Chong) and Erica Ortegas (Melissa Navia).
It won’t be a surprise to see the prequel using time jumps to warp towards its planned ending.
With only two seasons and 16 episodes left after the end ofStar Trek: Strange New Worldsseason 3, it won’t be a surprise to see the prequel using time jumps to warp towards its planned ending in season 5.
