Warning: contains spoilers forStar Trek: Lower Decks#1!Star Trekfinally explained why theEnterprisewould not have survived without Mister Spock. TheEnterprise’sScience Officer, Spock, was crucial to many of the ship’s victories.Spock’s formidable intellect was front and center in many of these triumphs, to the point it gave theEnterprisea serious advantage over its Starfleet brethren,and this gets a calloutinStar Trek: Lower Decks#1.
Star Trek: Lower Decks#1 is written by Ryan North and drawn by Derek Charm. TheCerritosfinds an older, derelict Starfleet vessel: theBonaventure. The crew learns the truth: theEnterprise, under the command of Captain Kirk, found theBonaventuretrapped in the “Delta Triangle.” TheEnterprisesubsequently escaped, thanks to a formula Spock designed and implemented. TheBonaventure’screw tried to duplicate theEnterprise’strick, but without a “Spock of their own” to do the calculations and synthesize the materials, it took them over a year to recreate the results.
Spock Was Invaluable to theEnterprise–And One Animated Series Episode Drove This Home
It Took Another Ship Over a Year to Recreate What Spock Did In Thirty Minutes
Star Trek: Lower Decks#1’s first story is a deep cut into franchise lore, using it to show how indispensable to theEnterpriseSpock was. In the first season ofStar Trek: The Animated Series, in the episode titled “The Time Trap,” theEnterprisewas sucked into a mysterious dimension, with seemingly no hope of return. After they did return home, theEnterprisecrew never spoke of their experience in the Delta Triangle again.Lower Decks, which makes a point to follow-up on franchise plot holes, revisits the episode, revealing why Spock is one of the greatest officers ever.
While theBonaventurewas also successful in escaping the Delta Triangle, they encountered far more obstacles along the way, and had trouble overcoming them because they hadno one on Spock’s level.Captain Moyo, theBonaventure’sskipper admits it took her crew several months to reproduce Spock’s calculations, and several more months to create the materials necessary to implement Spock’s solution.Moyo’s final log admits they escaped, but when theCerritosfind the ship, it is abandoned. The crew’s fate is still a mystery, but there is a possibility their disappearance may be the result of the botched escape attempt.
Spock’s Smarts Saved the Galaxy Many Times
Only Data Can Duplicate, and Surpass, Spock’s Successes
Regardless of what happened to theBonaventure’screw, the point remains: not having an officer of Spock’s caliber hampered their efforts.NumerousStar Trekepisodes and movies have featured Spock using his intellect to find a solution to whatever dilemma theEnterpriseis facing this week. For instance, Spock’s mind-meld with V’Ger inStar Trek: The Motion Picturegave Kirk the insight needed to defeat the alien. “The Time Trap,” referenced inStar Trek: Lower Decks#1 is another such example. Spock was crucial to the success of theEnterprise–as another crew learned the hard way.
