Warning: contains spoilers for Star Trek: Defiant #26!
For the first time in over 30 years, Star Trek has brought a powerful doomsday weapon back into continuity. In its five decades of existence, the Star Trek franchise has featured some truly terrifying weapons, ones that make the blood run cold. Of all these devices, one ranks far above the rest: “the Doomsday Machine,” and it returns, sort of, in Star Trek: Defiant #26.
Star Trek: Defiant #26 was written by Christopher Cantwell and drawn by Davide Tinto. The issue, part three of The Lore War, offers insight into Lore’s “menagerie,” where he keeps “anomalies” and “incongruities.” A text piece in the issue offers a breakdown of what exactly is in the menagerie. One of them is the “engineer of pre-galactic ‘Doomsday Machines.’” There is only one engineer in the menagerie, but it has proven to be resistant to all forms of torture and information extraction.
"The Doomsday Machine" Is One of Star Trek's Greatest Episodes
The Doomsday Machine Has Captured the Imagination of Star Trek Fans
The reference to a “Doomsday Machine” will be familiar to longtime Star Trek fans, as it is a reference to one of the very best episodes in the entire franchise. In the classic Star Trek’s second season, Kirk and the Enterprise encountered a mysterious device that sliced up planets and consumed them for fuel. Spock christened it “the Doomsday Machine,” and the crew proceeded to find a way to stop it. Kirk and company narrowly defeated the Doomsday Machine, and its fate after the episode ended is unknown.
The episode "The Doomsday Machine" was written by noted science fiction novelist Norman Spinrad.
While the fate of the Doomsday Machine was never revealed on-screen, the novels picked its story up. Published in 1990 and written by Trek and comics scribe Peter David, Vendetta, a Star Trek: The Next Generation novel, followed up on "The Doomsday Machine", telling its origins in the process. According to Vendetta, the Doomsday Machine was created by the Preservers as an anti-Borg weapon, and there was more than one. A renegade El-Aurian, a race who was destroyed by the Borg, found the prototype of the Doomsday Machine and used it for its intended purpose.
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Vendetta featured some deep-cut elements from across the Star Trek universe, namely the aforementioned Preservers. Much like the Doomsday Machine, the Preservers were introduced in the classic Star Trek, in the third season episode “The Paradise Syndrome.” One of the oldest races in the galaxy, the Preservers traveled the cosmos, seeding various worlds with life. In the episode, Kirk and company found a colony of Indigenous people in a distant world, having been moved there by the Preservers centuries prior. Just like the Doomsday Machine, the Preservers were never followed up on-screen.
Star Trek May Never Follow Up "The Doomsday Machine" On-Screen
Yet the Star Trek Comics and Novels Have Followed Up on the Doomsday Machine
The text piece in Star Trek: Defiant #26 subtly acknowledges the events of Vendetta. Much like “The Doomsday Machine” is considered a classic Star Trek episode, Vendetta is a highly regarded novel. Vendetta is a tense and gripping read, one with non-stop action, high stakes and numerous Easter Eggs. While certain elements of Vendetta have been rendered out of canon by later television shows and movies, the origin it provided for the Doomsday Machine does not contradict established lore. Defiant’s text piece also acknowledges Vendetta’s revelation that there is more than one Doomsday Machine too.
This is good news for the Star Trek universe, for the idea of Lore having access to a Doomsday Machine is a terrifying prospect.
Now, with the Star Trek universe consumed by The Lore War, the Doomsday Machines make their return, in a fashion. Lore has only captured one of the Doomsday Machine builders, and fortunately not one of the Machines themselves. The Preserver in Lore’s Menagerie has also resisted the android’s brutal and no doubt violent attempts to obtain information, a testament to the utterly alien nature of the species. This is good news for the Star Trek universe, for the idea of Lore having access to a Doomsday Machine is a terrifying prospect.
Star Trek: Defiant #26 is on sale now from IDW Publishing!
