Star Trek’s New Era Will Answer a Dark Question It’s Avoided for 30 Years

IDW recently released a look at its January solicitations, including one for Star Trek: The Last Starship #4, which will be written by Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly and drawn by Adrian Bonilla. IDW’s solicitation reads as follows:

First Officer Wowie Carter was once called the child without fear. But with the Federation in freefall and Earth still reeling from a brutal Klingon assault, fear is all that remains—and Wowie is cracking under its weight.

A variant cover shows an onlooker staring at a blatant, anti-Federation propaganda poster that touts the merits of a “closed Earth.”

The Burn Decimated the Star Trek Universe

In the Burn's Aftermath, Earth Left the United Federation of Planets

As revealed at the beginning of Star Trek: Discovery’s third season, “The Burn” was a catastrophic event, taking place in the 30th century, that destroyed the galaxy’s supply of the critical element dilithium. Without it, there was no warp travel and the Federation, which had stood for nearly a thousand years, fell apart.

As Discovery’s third season progressed, fans, already reeling from the revelation of the Burn’s existence, were also shocked to learn that Earth had left the United Federation of Planets, an organization it helped create in the mid-22nd century. Losing a founding member like Earth sent shockwaves through the galaxy, destroying morale and hope.

Star Trek's Ideals of Hope Broke Down in the Face of the Burn

Star Trek: The Last Starship #4's Cover Shows the Beginning of Earth's Descent

When 

Discovery made it to the Earth of the 31st century, it found a planet that was a bit more xenophobic than they remembered. Earth had seemingly turned its back on the rest of the galaxy. Discovery ended with warp travel restored, and a new beginning for the Federation that will continue in the Starfleet Academy show.

One of the issue’s variant covers shows the beginning of this shift towards darkness. The poster depicted on the cover features exaggerated, borderline racist 

depictions of the Vulcans, Andorians and the Tellarities. Bold text proclaims a “closed Earth is a safe Earth.” Finally, an image of Earth is overlaid on the Federation’s flag, with a lock on it.

As revealed in Star Trek: Enterprise, the four founding members of the Federation were: Earth, Vulcan, Andor and Tellar.

The message from the poster is clear: the Federation was no longer welcome on Earth. This is a heartbreaking development in the 

Star Trek universe. Earth was arguably the central planet of the Federation: most Starfleet personnel viewers saw were human, and the organization seemed to lean in a heavily human direction.

Everything about the poster on the cover of Star Trek: The Last Starship #4 seems to run counter to the franchise’s ideals. Creator Gene Roddenberry foresaw a future where humanity had risen above racism, nationalism and other dividing factors. Humanity had also shed its xenophobia and taken its place in the galactic community.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Foreshadowed The Last Starship

Star Trek: The Last Starship Answer's Deep Space Nine's Toughest Question

Star Trek: The Last Starship explores this loss of values and faith that happened in the aftermath of the Burn by reviving Captain Kirk and using him as a symbol of hope and unity. Resurrected by a breakaway faction of the Borg, Kirk is now a “man out of time” given the biggest mission of his career.

The Last Starship is a desperate attempt to restore the Federation’s moral core, but one episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine looked at this very topic.

The Last Starship

 is a desperate attempt to restore the Federation’s moral core, but one episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine looked at this very topic. In the now-classic third season two-parter “Past Tense,” SIsko, Bashir and Dax are sent back to 21st century Earth on the eve of a massive social uprising.

In the episode, Bashir and Sisko are confronted by the horrors of the time, including disease and poverty. Bashir, who grew up in the utopian 24th century, wonders out loud what might happen to Earth if the Federation went away. For example, would humanity’s darker impulses return? Would old divisions thought long gone resurface?

Star Trek: The Last Starship Is a Fight for the Federation's Soul

Can Captain Kirk Save the Galaxy One Last Time?

If the cover to Star Trek: The Last Starship

 #4 is to be believed, humanity’s dark side did return and with a seeming vengeance. The Burn’s aftermath turned Earth against the very organization it helped create, and took that anger out in unhealthy and disturbing ways, such as racist depictions of friendly species.

Earth in the era of the Burn seems to give Doctor Bashir’s question from thirty years ago a cold and brutal answer, but Star Trek: The Last Starship

does not lose sight of the fact that humanity is so much better than this cover depicts. Captain Kirk’s return is a war for the Federation’s soul.