Michelle Yeoh's Star Trek: Section 31 Will Bring Back An Important TNG Character
With the latest installment in the Star Trek franchise wrapping up filming, the first "Star Trek: Discovery"-era film is on its way. Fans can't wait to see what their favorite devious black leather-clad ex-Terran Emperor Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) has been up to in the Prime universe when "Star Trek: Section 31" finally airs. According to Variety, Georgiou has been palling around with a young version of Rachel Garrett, a captain from the alternate timeline USS Enterprise-C in the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" episode "Yesterday's Enterprise."
Originally played by Tricia O'Neal, Captain Garrett is piloting the Enterprise in 2344 when her ship is pulled through a temporal rift, disrupting the timeline and sending the future Enterprise into an alternate reality where Tasha Yar (Denise Crosby) never died. There, they learn that because Garrett's ship was pulled from a crucial battle between the Klingons and Romulans, the Federation has been at war with the Klingons ever since. To make things right, the brave Garrett commits her crew to travel back through time to sacrifice herself and her ship for the greater good.
The Garrett appearing in "Section 31" is reportedly a "young" Garrett and will be played by Kacey Rohl, who portrayed Alena Whitlock aka Kojo Sledgehammer on "Arrow." Although it's unclear how she will connect to Section 31, her appearance in the series promises to give viewers a closer look at the life of one of Star Trek's most venerated captains.
What to know about Star Trek's Rachel Garrett
Listed in the script of "Yesterday's Enterprise" as a "tall, handsome woman that commands respect instantly," Garrett is one of the franchise's most fearless and dutiful commanders. A clue about Garrett's timeline can be found hidden in the PC game "Star Trek: Starship Creator Warp II." Inside the game, a digital readout created by Michael Okuda, an art and special effects supervisor responsible for creating many a Star Trek computer screen, lists Garrett's birth year as 2300, making her 44 years old at the time of her sacrifice. This places her timeline firmly in the so-called "Lost Era" between the death of Captain Kirk and the events of "Star Trek: The Next Generation."
Although Garrett agrees to lead her crew back to her original timeline, she never makes it there, as she's killed by shrapnel when a Klingon bird-of-prey attacks her ship. To ensure the ship gets back through the temporal rift safely, Tasha Yar joins them, traveling back through the time rift where she is captured by Romulans, ultimately leading to the birth of her half-Romulan daughter, Sela (also played by Denise Crosby).
As Garrett's role in the affair and her captaincy of the Enterprise earns her the Red Lady statue on M'Talas Prime (an Easter egg on "Star Trek Picard" Season 3), it's hard to imagine her having any connection to the ethically murky Section 31. But the noble captain may have a role in helping Georgiou achieve her redemption arc after the events of "Star Trek: Discovery."