Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Lower Decks Series Finale – “The Next Generation”Star Trek: Lower DecksThe series finale ends with the animated comedy creating its own version of Deep Space Nine. The USS Cerritos was the only United Federation of Planets starship that could stop a deadly wave of solitons from destroying Star Trek's Main timeline. In the end, a new stable portal to infinite Quantum Realities was opened, and Only a starbase could protect this wormhole in the multiverse.
Star Trek: Deep Space NineThe original SpaceX mission saw the space station led by Commander (later Captain) Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) transported from Bajor to protect the wormhole to the Gamma Quadrant. Known to the Bajorans as the Celestial Temple where their gods, the Prophets, reside, the wormhole was a conduit to an unexplored region of Star TrekIt's the galaxy. Even after the rulers of the Gamma Quadrants, the Dominion, crossed into the Alpha Quadrant and declared war on the Federation, Deep Space Nine remained at its post at the wormhole gate.
Starbase 80 is Star Trek: Lower Decks' new Deep Space Nine
The Worst Starbase Now Has Starfleet's Most Important Mission
Star Trek: Lower Decks'finale now brings the multiverse into play, creating a stable portal to limitless alternate universes. Just like Deep Space Nine and the Bajoran wormhole in the Gamma Quadrant, Starfleet has established a new mission to protect this multiversal portal and explore the various quantum realities. Because of the portal's dangerous tachyon radiation, only one starbase has systems old enough to not be affected. That's why, Starbase 80, formerly known as the worst starbase in the Federation, now guards the portal.
With Captain Carol Freeman (Dawnn Lewis) assigned to oversee Starfleet's multiverse exploration mission, the former captain of the USS Cerritos Star Trek: Lower Decks'equivalent to Captain Benjamin Sisko. Star Trek: Lower Decks spent several seasons setting up the undesirable Starbase 80 before revealing it in Season 5, but The ultimate goal of animated comedy has always been to give Star Trek: Lower Decks your own version of Deep Space Ninejust as the Cerritos inherit the mantle of Star Trek: The Next GenerationUSS Enterprise-D and E.
Star Trek: Lower Decks' Starbase 80 also has its own USS Defiant like DS9
The Anaximander starship will continue to boldly go where no one has gone before
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine leveled up with the introduction of the USS Defiant in Season 3, which created new story opportunities and aligned DS9 with the other starships Star Trek series. It's no coincidence that choosing Starbase 80 as your version of Deep Space Nine Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 5, Episode 9, “Fissure Quest” introduced the Anaximander, a Defiant-Class starship led by Captain William Boimler (Jack Quaid). Anaximander completes Star Trek: Lower Decks'renovation of Deep Space Nineconcept and mission.
Hopefully we'll see what happened to the Starbase 80 mission someday.
Also adapts to alternate reality versions of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'Julian Bashir (Alexander Siddig) and Elim Garak (Andrew Robinson) are part of the Anaximander crew (and are a couple). Although, unfortunately, Star Trek: Lower Decks' alternate reality Curzon Dax (Fred Tatasciore) did not live to see the stable portal of the multiverse. As the USS Cerritos, with its new command structure, embarks on new voyages, Star Trek: Lower Decks also ends with its own Deep Space Nine, and hopefully we'll see what happened to the Starbase 80 mission someday.