Strange New Worlds Can Answer A Big Section 31 Question Before DS9

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds can answer a lingering question about what happened to Section 31 between Star Trek: Discovery season 2 and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Discovery season 2 revealed that the covert intelligence organization Section 31 was more officially affiliated with Starfleet than in DS9. A century later, the organization had retreated into the shadows, re-emerging during the Dominion War to recruit Dr. Julian Bashir (Alexander Siddig). It quickly becomes clear that nobody in DS9 is aware of Section 31, despite their high-profile involvement in both the Klingon War, and the crisis involving Control and the Red Angel in the 23rd century.

When they were last seen in Star Trek: Discovery, Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) held Section 31 responsible for the apparent destruction of the titular starship. Despite this, Section 31 is presumably still operating in Strange New Worlds, as Starfleet promised Pike they would reform the organization. This raises the question of why, if Section 31 is a known entity in the 23rd century, their existence has been redacted in the 24th century. That’s a question that could be answered in a future episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, which could also set up Michelle Yeoh’s upcoming Star Trek: Section 31 movie.

Strange New Worlds Can Answer Section 31’s Biggest Question Pre-DS9

It’s possible that, after almost a century of inaction, the Dominion War inspired some freelance elements within Starfleet to resurrect Section 31 to meet the threat posed to the Federation. However, that doesn’t answer the question of what happened to the organization after the debacle involving Control. In Star Trek: Discovery season 2, Pike was assured that Starfleet would reform Section 31 and placed Commander Ash Tyler (Shazad Latif) in charge of the intelligence agency. Star Trek 

still hasn’t answered what happened next, with the story picking up again with Luther Sloan (William Sadler) attempting to recruit Dr. Julian Bashir into Section 31 in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

This leaves a big gap in Star Trek canon in which to play with the concept of how an intelligence organization with some official Starfleet oversight becomes increasingly secretive. It’s likely that Section 31 will eventually go too far, requiring Starfleet to authorize a massive cover-up and a public shuttering of the organization. As it’s effectively a sequel series, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds can pick up the loose threads left by Star Trek: Discovery‘s season 2 finale to set up Section 31’s DS9 “return”.

Section 31’s Status In Strange New Worlds

As it’s not been stated otherwise, Section 31 is still active during Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, under the command of Ash Tyler. So far, Captain Pike’s Enterprise hasn’t come across Section 31 or any of its operatives, but that doesn’t mean that their paths won’t eventually cross. As Strange New Worlds season 2 begins, Pike is aware of a future Romulan attack, and the USS Enterprise crew learned more about the Gorn after a harrowing away mission to the crashed USS Peregrine in Strange New Worlds

 episode 9, “All Those Who Wander”. Pike’s knowledge of both the Romulans and the Gorn will be incredibly valuable to Section 31, so he may find himself called to their new headquarters to contribute to their threat assessment.

Starfleet is also presumably still publicly promising to reform Section 31, but as Captain Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) discovered, they may have other motives. When he investigated the organization in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 6, episode 18, “Inquisition”, he discovered that Starfleet would neither confirm nor deny Section 31’s existence. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds can, therefore, begin to explore how Section 31 managed to delete themselves from official records so that no one in the 24th century had even heard of it until they resurfaced during Star Trek: Deep Space Nine‘s Dominion War.