Two important moments in Star TrekThe fictional story shares a connection that goes much deeper than one can assume at a glance. The Star Trek Timeline is filled with moments that define the future of humanity, from Zefram Cochrane discovering warp drive to Star Trek: The Next GenerationS cast made first contact with the Borg. As a result, Star Trek: Enterprise Contains its fair share of landmark moments, with Archer and the gang often laying foundations for Starfleet’s future. Indeed, one such historical brick was laid in the opening minutes of Star Trek: EnterpriseIt’s their first episode.
Season 1’s “Broken Bow” begins with a farmer shooting a Klingon, later identified as Klang, after the alien’s ship crashes near his property, and this split-second example of shotgun-based violence has a huge ripple effect on the entire Star Trek Universe. The meeting represents the first contact between humans and Klingons, starts the journey of the Enterprise between the stars, and ultimately triggers a long period of conflict between the two species involved. In addition to the above, the rumor that he found himself on the wrong end of old McMoore’s shotgun also serves to foreshadow a very significant point in Star Treks mirror universe chronology.
History repeats itself from Star Trek: Enterprise Season 1 to Season 4
The problematic first contact between Earth and Qo’noS is almost a perfect mirror of another first contact shown much later in Star Trek: Enterprise. The two-part season 4 story “In a Mirror, Darkly” begins with Zephan Cochrane welcoming the Vulcans arriving on Earth, but instead of extending the hand of peace as he does in 1996’s. Star Trek: First Contact end movie, Mirror Cochrane whips out a shotgun and blasts the Vulcan ambassador to signal a full-scale attack on the recently-landed alien ship.
It can’t be an accident Star Trek History contains two separate cases of humanity meeting an alien species for the first time, shooting on sight, and changing the course of Earth’s development.
The two scenes are eerily similar – both opening scenes where an alien lands on Earth and almost immediately gets shot in the chest by the first person they lay eyes on. Just like the Klingon example from “Broken Bow,” Cochrane’s murder of Vulcan’s representative had long-lasting ramifications for Star Treks future, representing the beginning of the evil rule of the Terran Empire creeping across the galaxy.
From Cochrane first opening fire, the mirror version of humanity later goes on to subjugate the Vulcans, control many other planets through fear and force, and spread Terran terror far and wide. in Star Trek: DiscoveryThe Mirror Universe’s Philippa Georgiou even reveals that her world’s version of First Contact Day celebrates Zefram Cochrane’s brutal hello to the Vulcans, and credits the technology gleaned from the stolen Vulcan ship for starting a chain of events that allowed the Terran Empire To gradually take control of planets beyond Earth’s solar system.
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It can’t be an accident Star Trek History contains two separate cases of humanity meeting an alien species for the first time, turning it on sight, and changing the course of Earth’s development. The comparison between the Klaang and Cochrane incidents perhaps serves to highlight how Violence and mistrust are, to some degree, inherent traits that exist in all versions of the Earth. In one universe, that manifests as a frightened farmer firing at a very-obviously-unfortunate alien intruder; In another, it means that greedy humans seize the technology of another species and kill those who stand in the way.
The Zefram Cochrane incident was not the beginning of Star Trek’s Mirror Universe
The real origin of Star Trek’s Mirror Universe
Zefram Cochrane shooting the volcano may have ultimately led to the mighty intergalactic Terran empire that dominates Star Treks Mirror Universe episodes, but this is not the starting point for the Mirror Universe itself. While Star Trek The Mirror Universe is a darker retelling of the Prime Universe’s own history, there is no clear point where the timeline diverges and humanity is sent on a wildly different course.
The clear parallel between Klingon First Contact in the Prime Universe and Vulcan First Contact in the Mirror Universe remains a fascinating commentary on humanity’s failings.
Archer climbs in Star Trek: Enterprise That The Terran Empire existed for “Centuries“At the time of “In a Mirror, Darkly.” This means that it must predate first contact, which occurred less than 100 years earlier. so too, Star Trek: DiscoveryS. Kovich conducts research that reveals these Terrans from the Mirror Universe carry a genetic mutation that makes them biologically more aggressive. Mirror Earth was therefore already on a dark path long before the volcanoes landed. Star TrekThe Prime Universe didn’t split into the Mirror Universe simply because Zefram Cochrane didn’t feel like entertaining visitors one day.
Nevertheless, the clear parallel between Klingon First Contact in the Prime Universe and Vulcan First Contact in the Mirror Universe remains a fascinating commentary on humanity’s failings. Star TrekThe overriding takeaway here is that violence breeds violence, and the inability to show diplomacy and tolerance to outsiders will often generate problems far bigger than a Klingon-sized hole in a cornfield.