Entertainment
Starfleet Academy Just Brought Back The Worst Thing About Star Trek: Picard
By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
Picard remains one of the most controversial Star Trek shows because its first two seasons were astoundingly bad: they piled nonsensical plots on top of bonkers retcons, all in service of creating absolutely slop. Generally, fans agree that Season 3 was a major improvement because it brought back the core crew from The Next Generation while bringing in a showrunner (Terry Matalas) who genuinely cares about the franchise. Unfortunately, even Season 3 couldn’t resist tweaking the lore in a way that absolutely ruined the spirit of Star Trek.
The Beginning Of The End For Star Trek Values
In a single throwaway line, Worf reveals that Section 31 stopped being the Federation’s secret wetworks division and became an open part of Starfleet Intelligence. That means that the “good guys” have no problem working with a division that specializes in murder and genocide, and that nearly jeopardized the entire galaxy back in Discovery. Eventually, Michael Burnham and crew jumped to the far future, but Starfleet Academy just revealed something depressing: Section 31 is alive and well, even in the 32nd century.
Section 31 was introduced back in Deep Space Nine as the Federation equivalent to the Cardassians’ Obsidian Order or the Romulans’ Tal Shiar. The main Section 31 representative in DS9 was a man named Sloane, who insisted that this spooky organization was created by the original Starfleet charter. However, the show played very coy with this notion, forcing audiences to argue whether Section 31 was truly sanctioned by the peace-loving Federation or simply a rogue organization doing terrible deeds in the name of the greater good.
Those terrible deeds included disgracing their Romulan ally, Cretak: they made sure she was convicted of treason, ensuring that this Dominion War hero, who saved countless Federation lives, would almost certainly die. Section 31 also tried to kill all of the Changelings with a morphogenic virus, proving that this organization has no problem committing genocide. Later, Season 3 of Picard also revealed that Section 31 conducted torture experiments on captured Changelings, intent on forcing them to be the perfect spies for the Federation.
Starfleet Loses Its Moral Compass
Many Star Trek fans hated the whole idea of Section 31 because, as Dr. Bashir noted, the very existence of an amoral organization accountable to no one goes against the ideals of Starfleet and the Federation. Those fans mostly clung to the idea that this really might be a rogue organization that Starfleet turns a blind eye to but does not officially condone. Unfortunately, in Star Trek: Picard, Worf casually mentions that Section 31 is an official part of Starfleet intelligence.
That means that, as of the 25th century, Starfleet has openly welcomed a group of genocidal murderers into its ranks. That’s nothing short of depressing, but it fits the mold of Picard, a show that regularly transformed Star Trek’s utopian vision of the future into something dark and dystopian. Speaking of the future, fans who have always hated Section 31 still had one last hope: that in its own fictional future, Starfleet would eventually be able to leave this creepy organization behind.
How Starfleet Academy Brought It All Back
Unfortunately, the Starfleet Academy episode “300th Night” completely dashed those hopes. So far, there has been no mention of Section 31 in either Discovery or SFA, implying that the organization might finally be a thing of the past. However, “300th” night revealed that Starbase J19-Alpha (which had recently been ransacked by Nus Braka) was developing superweapons, including a synthetic version of the Omega particle that could be used to destroy subspace and make warp travel through an area impossible.
It’s basically impossible to watch “300th Night” and not compare Starbase J19-Alpha to Daystrom Station from Picard. In the 25th century, that station housed some of Section 31’s creepiest experiments, including alien superweapons. Meanwhile, it is belatedly revealed that in the 24th century, this is the station where Section 31 tortured Changelings as part of its plan to forcibly create a small army of superspies.
Starfleet Is Now The Galaxy’s Number One Threat
For all intents and purposes, Daystrom Station was a Section 31 Starbase: it was used for their experiments, housed their technology, and generally engaged in experiments that violated half the laws of the Federation. Now, even though Section 31 hasn’t been name-dropped in Starfleet Academy, it seems like Starbase J19-Alpha is the same as Daystrom Station: it is used for secretive experiments that most of Starfleet doesn’t know about. Meanwhile, the revelation that they had weaponized the Omega particle (a molecule that Starfleet previously forced captains to destroy on sight) confirms the station is developing weapons that violate Federation laws nearly a millennium old.
In short, Section 31 obviously won the long game: they went from being considered a rogue organization to being an official part of Starfleet intelligence. Over the next seven centuries, they eroded the values of this once-ethical organization, turning Starfleet into a mirror for their own twisted cause: namely, Federation supremacy, no matter the cost. Sadly, this forever mars Starfleet Academy, a lighthearted show that just confirmed its hopeful cadets are working for one of the most amoral organizations in the entire galaxy!