Star Trek Answered a Big Question About Kirk’s Retirement 28 Years Later

Star Trek: Lower Decks answered a big question about Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) retiring 28 years later Star Trek Generations. Kirk met Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) in 1994 Star Trek Generationsbut the historic team-up of the Enterprise’s greatest captains resulted in Kirk’s death at the hands of Dr. Tolian Soran (Malcolm McDowell). However, Star Trek Generations gave a glimpse of Captain Kirk’s brief and restless retirement and when it happened.

Star Trek Generations I saw Captain Kirk enter the Nexus, an interdimensional space lane where time has no meaning. When Captain Picard found Kirk, Jim believed he had arrived moments earlier. In Kirk’s memories, he was aboard the USS Enterprise-B performing a daring rescue when the bulkhead disappeared. The next thing Kirk knew was that he was chopping wood outside the house where he retreated to in Idaho. Kirk was intrigued by his surroundings because he sold this house”years ago” – but for those who have not been revealed until Star Trek: Lower Decks.

Star Trek: Lower Decks reveals what happened to Kirk’s house across generations of Star Trek

Captain Sulu bought Kirk’s house

Star Trek: Lower Decks season 3, episode 8, “Crisis Point II: Paradoxus” included the surprise revelation that Captain Hikaru Sulu (George Takei) bought Captain Kirk’s house in Idaho. Kirk identified the house and barn as belonging to his uncle in Star Trek Generationsso it was always in the Kirk family before Sulu bought it. Ensign Bradward Boimler (Jack Quaid) visited Sulu’s house and barn in a dream while he was in the LARP holodeck from his film, “Crisis Point II: Paradoxus”. Sulu even joked that Kirk “I had to time travel or something. The man could never relax.”

While Boimler was dreaming when he met Sulu at Kirk’s old home in Idaho, Bradward is an expert on Starfleet history and trivia. It is likely that Boimler knew that Kirk lived in Idaho and sold his house to Sulu when he decided to end his retirement. After all, Boimler knew about the Nexus in Star Trek Generations. It’s safe to call Star Trek: Lower Decks establishing that Sulu bought the house in Idaho, the Nexus took Kirk to Star Trek Generations as canon.

Kirk’s Star Trek Retirement Timeline Explained

When did Kirk retire and return to Starfleet?

Star Trek Generations‘time travel between the 23rd and 24th centuries via the Nexus can be confusing, as can when, exactly, Captain Kirk retired from Starfleet. When Kirk realized that the Nexus brought him to the past the day he told his lover, Antonia (Lynn Salvatori), that he was returning to Starfleet, Jim dated him as “nine years ago” from the date he believed to be: 2293. This was the year of the prologue of Star Trek Generations when Captain Kirk was “killed” aboard the USS Enterprise-B occurred.

According to Kirk’s mathematics in Star Trek Generations, he ended his retirement in 2284, a year before the events of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. This means that each Star Trek film starring Kirk starting with The Wrath of Khan took place after the scene that Kirk and Picard played in the Nexus in Star Trek Generations. It’s unclear when exactly Kirk decided to retire from Starfleet, but it was after Star Trek: the movie, which occurred sometime in the 2270s. It is also unknown how long Kirk was retired, but we do know that he lived in the house in Idaho that he later sold to Sulu.

Why Captain Kirk Couldn’t Retire on Star Trek

Kirk had a compulsive need to make a difference

Captain Kirk spent his early years in outer space, exploring and saving the galaxy with Starfleet. Kirk defined himself by his first and best destiny when he was captain of the USS Enterprise. Although Kirk had several lovers, as captain, Jim chose to commit himself to his ship and its crew. This means that Kirk never married and had only one son, David Marcus (Merritt Butrick), who he fathered with Dr. Carol Marcus (Bibi Besch). But Kirk also agreed with Carol that she raise David alone.

Although Kirk believed he deserved the peace and quiet of retirement, Jim still longed to be on the bridge of the starship Enterprise, where he could “make a difference.” Admiral Kirk also turned 49 Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khanwhat it means Jim tried to retire when he was still 40who was too young for a man of Kirk’s ambition and virility. Ultimately, Kirk still felt like he could make a positive impact as a starship captain, and he was right.

Admiral Kirk stopped Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalban), saved a resurrected Spock (Leonard Nimoy) from the self-destructive Genesis Planet, rescued Earth by bringing back the humpback whales of 1986, prevented a false God (George Murdock) from escaping his prison in the center of the galaxy and Captain Kirk was instrumental in ensuring that peace between the Klingon Empire and the United Federation of Planets was achieved. Some of Kirk’s greatest heroics came after he ended his retirement.

Kirk’s retirement set the standard for other Star Trek captains

Star Trek captains’ retirements followed Kirk’s model

Captain Kirk’s Retirement Attempt Became the Model for Others Star Trek Captains who tried to walk away from Starfleet for a quiet life on Earth, only to don their uniforms and return to space once more. In Star Trek: Strange New Worlds‘In the premiere, Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) considered leaving Starfleet and going to his ranch in Montana. Admiral Jean-Luc Picard was restless and unhappy when he retired in Star Trek: Picard. Only Admiral Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) seemed content to retreat to her Indiana farmhouse before Starfleet needed her back at the end of Star Trek: Prodigy season 2.

Kirk, Picard, Janeway, and Pike hoped that a rustic home on Earth would be a happy change of pace from warping across the galaxy. The exception to this plan was Captain Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks). Before becoming one with the Prophets at the end of the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Sisko planned to build a house and retire to his beloved Bajor, not Earth. Sisko probably would have bucked the trend of his fellow captains and been happy with Bajor, but the Prophets had other plans. Ultimately, it is a positive thing revealed by Star Trek: Lower Decks that when Kirk decided to give up his uncle’s house in Idaho, that house went to Sulu and remained within his family’s USS Enterprise.