The third season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds finally resolved the Gorn issue in the premiere episode. Created by Akiva Goldsman, Jenny Lumet, and Alex Kurtzman, the show follows Captain Pike and the Enterprise crew explore strange new worlds in their five-year mission. The season 2 finale saw them face a dilemma, where they risked a war with the Gorn, an alien species which has attacked a non-Federation planet.
The Gorn were first introduced in the show in season one, though the ruthless aliens have their roots in The Original Series. Pike and the Enterprise crew successfully send the Gorn into hibernation, hinting at it being ‘someone else’s problem’. The reason is revealed as the Gorn are triggered to hibernate due to stellar activity from a star, which they mimic.
However, the showrunners revealed that this wasn’t the end of the Gorn in Strange New Worlds, which is both a good and a bad thing.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Showrunners Promise the Return of the Gorn
The Gorn are one of the most vicious creatures in the Star Trek franchise. While they were present only in the original series, famously fighting William Shatner’s Captain Kirk, they became the primary antagonists of Strange New Worlds. Introduced in the season one episode, ‘Memento Mori’, they became a faceless threat to the Enterprise, promising a relentless chase.
The season 2 finale sees the Gorn attack and colonize a non-Federation planet called Parnassus Beta, where the Enterprise comes in to save members of the USS Cayuga. The lizard-like species infects Captain Batel, and in the season 3 premiere, Nurse Chapel and Spock use Illyrian blood to neutralize the eggs before they kill Batel.
While the hibernation of the Gorn, told as ten years, lies perfectly with their appearance in TOS ‘Arena’, the showrunners, Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers, revealed that this was not the end of the Gorn in Strange New Worlds, and fans will see them in later seasons (via Trek Movie).
You will see more of the Gorn. The Gorn are not gone, but the Gorn are not the primary adversary for season 3.
The ending of the second episode, ‘Wedding Bell Blues’, shows Ortegas being haunted by a vision of a Gorn species after she survives the ship in the premiere. Will the Gorn truly return, or will they be in a nightmare form? That is yet to be revealed.
The Gorn Return Will Pose Another Canon Problem for TOS
The Gorn are not an original species for Strange New Worlds but have their roots in The Original Series. Debuting in the season one episode, ‘Arena’, the species were part of the Cestus territory, which later had settlements of the Federation, hinting at a resolution between the Federation and the Gorn. The map of Cestus is shown in SNW’s season 3 premiere.
While the hibernation seemed to indicate that the show had worked on the problems the Gorn posed for Star Trek’s canon (first contact was revealed to have happened in ‘Arena’), the showrunners’ new revelation means that the prequel series has left the plot thread loose again. Despite Pike calling it someone else’s problem in the show, it is apparently not.
One of the disadvantages of making a prequel series is that most events should lead into the original show. However, the showrunners seem to be playing fast and loose with some aspects of the canon in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Akiva Goldsman said,
Whenever possible, we try to really dovetail with canon. I mean, there are certain things that were just out the window, like the canonical dates of World War III and things like that. But yeah, we’ll chase an idea that ‘Arena’ could feel brand new by the time we get to ‘Arena.’
While having an antagonist as ruthless and scary as the Gorn is certainly a good thing for the show, only time will tell if the gamble the showrunners are taking is worth messing with the canon. With Spock and Kirk present in the show, all roads lead to TOS. However, if the plan is to do a reboot, then the showrunners have all the freedom in the world.
What do you think about the Gorn? Will their return mess with the canon? Write your thoughts below.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is available to stream on Paramount+.
