Star Trek Just Fixed a Forgotten First Contact Character, Making Him an Even Greater Hero

Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Lower Decks, season 5, episode 9 – “Fissure Quest”

Star Trek: Lower Decks brought back Lily Sloane (Alfre Woodard), who fought alongside Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) in Star Trek: First Contact, and made her an even greater hero. Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 5, Episode 9, “Fissure Quest” introduces the Defiant Class starship Anaximander, which is investigating quantum fissures that lead to different realities across the multiverse. The cause of the quantum rifts that threaten the galaxy is linked to a surprising character from Star Trek timeline.

In Star Trek: First Contact, Captain Picard led the USS Enterprise-E back in time to fight the Borg. The Borg planned to prevent humanity's First Contact with the Vulcans in the 21st century, preventing the formation of the United Federation of Planets. Upon arriving in 2063, Picard and his team met warp drive creator Zefram Cochrane (James Cromwell) and his partner, Lily Sloane (Alfre Woodard). Trapped aboard the ship of the future, Lily fought alongside Picard to recover the Enterprise-E from the Borg.

In one reality, Lily Sloane became captain of a new type of starship

In Star Trek: Lower Decks' penultimate episode, “Fissure Quest”, Captain William Boimler (Jack Quaid) and his alternate universe crew Star Trek Legacy heroes encounter the person causing the disagreements – Captain Lily Sloane. When Boimler and his crew are captured by the Khwopians, they find themselves in a cell with Captain Sloane and his crew. Sloane reveals that, in her universe, she helped Zefram Cochrane, or “Zef”, develop a Quantum Reality Drive which allows your ships to travel throughout the multiverse. Now in command of the Beagle, Sloane leads a crew of humans and Vulcans to explore diverse realities.

Captain Sloane was unaware that her ship's Quantum Reality Drive was opening additional rifts in the multiverse that were being left open. Lily immediately apologized and offered to help Boimler and his crew return to the ship. When Boimler expresses his disbelief that Sloane actually enjoys exploring the multiverse, she points out that this allows her and her team to understand each other better. She goes on to say that she has seen humans accomplish incredible feats and that humanity's potential is “unlimited.” Lily expresses the same wonder at exploring various realities that Starfleet's best officers have at exploring the galaxy.

Lily Sloane Was Already a Hero, But Lower Decks Makes Her Even Cooler

As revealed in Star Trek: First Contact, Lily Sloane was a survivor of World War III on Earth and knew how to handle a gun. While working with Zefram Cochrane on Phoenix, Sloane helped fend off a Borg attack and later fought alongside Captain Picard. When Picard flatly refused to sacrifice the Enterprise to save the crew, Sloane finally convinced him to make the right decision. Intelligent, resourceful and empathetic, Sloane was led into an insane situation in First contact and She rose to the occasion, but Star Trek: Lower Decks showed the heroic explorer she could have been.

Lily Sloane from Star Trek: First contact was an action heroine who was willing to get Picard's attention, but spent most of the film reacting to things happening around her. Lower decks made Sloane the captain of a fascinating new type of starship and sent her to explore the multiverse. Captain Sloane did not hesitate to offer help to Captain Boimler, and she appeared to be a skilled, intelligent, and compassionate captain. Lily Sloane has many of the qualities of Starfleet's greatest captains and Star Trek: Lower Decks made her an even more impressive heroine.