WARNING: Contains SPOILERS for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' Season 2 finale, "Hegemony."

Summary

  • Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' season 2 finale, "Hegemony," maintains the established Star Trek canon surrounding the Gorn, avoiding any major disruptions to the storyline.
  • The introduction of the Gorn Protocol Box reveals that knowledge of Gorn combat is reserved for officers with high-level clearance, such as Captain Pike, which explains why Lt. Kirk would not be aware of these protocols.
  • The attack on Parnassus Beta is presented as a border dispute rather than an all-out invasion, aligning with previous information about the Gorn Hegemony and allowing for a potential temporary resolution that respects Gorn borders.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' season 2 finale, "Hegemony" pits the USS Enterprise against the Gorn, but keeps the established Star Trek: The Original Series canon largely intact in several ways. The Gorn first appeared in the classic TOS episode "Arena", which apparently depicted First between them and the Federation. However, the only thing that "Arena" explicitly states is that Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) has never seen a Gorn before. Lt. Commander Spock (Leonard Nimoy) even arches an eyebrow when the Gorn are mentioned by the mysterious Metrons, which could easily be read as the Vulcan ing his prior experiences in Strange New Worlds.

"Arena" also stated that the Federation was encroaching into Gorn territory by establishing a colony on Cestus 3. Spock conceded to Doctor Leonard "Bones" McCoy (DeForest Kelley) that Starfleet didn't know much about that particular region of space. The Gorn attack another Federation colony in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' season 2 finale. They claim that Parnassus Beta is inside their territory, forcing Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) to defy Starfleet orders and risk war to save his girlfriend Captain Marie Batel (Melanie Scrofano). Though Pike risks shattering a fragile peace, Strange New Worlds smartly avoids shattering canon in the following ways.

9 The Gorn Protocol Box

A cache of guns and grenades designed to fight the Gorn

While Starfleet inventing an entire cache of weapons specifically designed for combat with the Gorn may seem like a plot hole, it isn't. When Pike unveils Crate 32 in his conference room, the entire senior staff of the Enterprise are surprised by its existence. This implies that knowledge of the Gorn Protocol is purely reserved for officers with high-level clearance, like Captain Pike. As such, it wouldn't make any sense for the young Lt. James T Kirk (Paul Wesley) to be aware of these protocols at this stage in his ascension through the Starfleet ranks.

8 Spock Fights An Adult Gorn - In A Spacesuit

Spock is terrorised by a Gorn in outer space

In "Arena", Kirk and the Gorn Captain are pitted against each other in hand-to-hand combat by the ethereal Metrons. While Kirk fights for his life, the crew of the USS Enterprise are too busy trying to get their systems back online, so they can rescue the Captain. Kirk and the Gorn do battle for a considerable amount of time before the Metrons allow the Enterprise crew to watch the battle. From a script and story perspective, it would make no sense for Spock to then explain what a Gorn is because the audience has already seen exactly what it is and what it's capable of. This allows considerable latitude for Spock and the Gorn in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3 and beyond.

That being said, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds hedges its bets during the thrilling zero-g fight between Lt. Spock (Ethan Peck) and the adult Gorn in the wreckage of the USS Cayuga. With both Spock and the Gorn in space suits it's hard for the Vulcan to get a good look at the terrifying Star Trek aliens. This smooths over any possible surprised reaction from Leonard Nimoy's Spock during the fight sequence in "Arena". Though season finale writer Henry Alonso Myers needn't have worried as, in "Arena", Spock seems far more interested in Kirk's skills at building a makeshift grenade launcher than he is in the Gorn.

7 Parnassus Beta Is A Gorn-Federation Border Dispute

The Enterprise viewscreen displays a territory boundary for a region of space

In Star Trek: The Original Series, the devastating attack on Cestus III happened because the colony encroached on Gorn territory. Upon receiving this information aboard the Enterprise, Dr. McCoy sadly observed that the Gorn were probably just protecting themselves. Parnassus Beta also falls within Gorn space in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' season 2 finale, which means that the Enterprise cannot cross the red line. It's a smart move to make the attack on Parnassus Beta part of a border conflict rather than an all-out invasion, as it's in keeping with what little information Star Trek had previously revealed about the Gorn Hegemony.

6 Captain Pike's Strange New Worlds Rescue Mission Is Unofficial

Star Trek Hegemony Pike Cliffhanger

Crucially, Pike isn't acting officially when he takes his team of volunteers down to the surface of Parnassus Beta. This means that the final outcome of the Gorn confrontation, and the fate of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' Captain Batel could end up redacted in future Starfleet records. This would mean that Kirk's ship the USS Farragut and other Federation vessels could remain unaware of exactly what happened on Parnassus Beta. A temporary deal could be struck which respects the Gorn borders and allows the species to maintain its privacy.

A Starfleet cover-up was how Star Trek squared Star Trek: Discovery with TOS canon. Spock never spoke about his sister Commander Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) because she was lost in a highly classified mission to clean up one of Section 31's messes. If Parnassus Beta also ends up as one of Starfleet's official secrets, then it would be easy to explain why Spock never mentions it during "Arena". When Kirk asks him about subspace chatter, Spock wryly mentions "space legends", which is what the Parnassus Beta incident could have become in the intervening seven years.

5 Sam Kirk Meeting The Gorn Is Not A Plot Hole

Star Trek Strange New Worlds Lost in Translation Sam Kirk

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2, episode 6, "Lost in Translation" established that Lt. James T Kirk (Paul Wesley) had no interest in xenobiology. When he met his brother, Lt. Sam Kirk (Dan Jeannotte), he made polite conversation about Sam's field of expertise but plainly failed to be engaged. Groundbreaking Gorn research and his bravery in the line of duty could be what allows Kirk's brother Sam to step out of the dual shadows of his brother and father. If so, it would be hilariously on-brand for the disinterested Jim Kirk not to take his brother's research on board, leaving him completely unprepared for his battle in "Arena".

4 No Star Trek: TOS Characters Are Captured By The Gorn

Strange New Worlds Gorn Kidnapped

As well as Sam Kirk, Lt. La'an Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong), Lt. Erica Ortegas (Melissa Navia) and Dr. Joseph M'Benga (Babs Olusanmokun) are also captured by the Gorn. Doctor M'Benga's in Star Trek: The Original Series but very rarely and not in "Arena". This means that the Enterprise crew can lead a daring escape from the adult Gorn in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' season 3 premiere without breaking TOS canon. Their experiences may give La'an closure on her Gorn trauma and give Sam sufficient source material for a xenobiology study but as they're no longer serving aboard the USS Enterprise during "Arena", canon remains intact.

3 Scotty's Gorn Transponder

Scotty Pelia Strange New Worlds

Strange New Worlds introduced their own Scotty in the form of Lt. Montgomery Scott (Martin Quinn) in the season 2 finale. A genius even in his younger years, Scotty was able to create a Gorn transponder to mask himself from their sensors. At the end of "Hegemony", Scotty and Commander Pelia (Carol Kane) are setting about making it work for the USS Enterprise. If Scotty's Gorn transponder was distributed across Starfleet then it would allow starships to avoid detection by the Gorn, reducing the risk of future conflicts. This would explain why Kirk and the Cestus III colonists had never encountered the Gorn before, because Scotty's new tech hid them from detection.

2 There Are 7 Years Between Strange New Worlds And The Gorn's Star Trek Debut

Pike aims a phaser, and Kirk fights a Gorn

A lot can happen in the seven years between "Hegemony" in 2259 and "Arena" in 2266. Societal and technological advances on both sides of the Gorn and Federation conflict will easily smooth over any lingering plotholes. In "Arena", the Enterprise never gets close enough to the Gorn vessel to visually identify it, and Lt. Hikaru Sulu (George Takei) simply notes that it's of an unknown configuration. It wouldn't be surprising if in the seven years after the events of "Hegemony", the Gorn build new styles of starship, especially as Starfleet themselves regularly roll out new classes of starships.

Building new ships between "Hegemony" and "Arena" would neatly avoid a Star Trek canon-breaking Gorn War. Although they're never in visual range of the Gorn ship, it would still be strange for the Enterprise's scanners not to pick up a class of starship it faced before. Especially as it ends Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2 facing down multiple Gorn vessels. The most likely explanation would be that the Gorn Hegemony has had a serious rethink about their starship designs following the events of Parnassus Beta.

1 Paul Wesley's Kirk Isn't In Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' Season 2 Finale

Paul Wesley as Kirk and the Gorn in Arena

The smartest move that Star Trek: Strange New Worlds makes to preserve Gorn canon is keeping Paul Wesley's Kirk out of proceedings. In "Arena", Kirk's log refers to "what the Metrons called a Gorn" which confirms he's never met, or even heard of one before. It's therefore impossible for him to ride to the rescue of the Enterprise in Strange New Worlds' season 3 premiere, making the situation even more desperate. Sadly for the crew of Pike's Enterprise, that's just how it has to be to protect the canon established in Star Trek: The Original Series.

The fixed first meeting with the Gorn is another reason why Kirk and La'an would never work as a couple. If they got close enough for her to discuss her childhood trauma involving the Gorn, then it would fundamentally change the course of "Arena". Kirk might have reacted with far less comion at the end of the episode if he ed the horrors endured by the young La'an Noonien-Singh. It's clear from how radically this would change "Arena" that the lack of involvement of James T. Kirk is the one thing that must remain unchanged in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' thrilling Gorn storyline.

All episodes of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2 are streaming now on Paramount+.