One of the biggest questions surrounding Star Trek: Section 31 was answered. Directed by Olautunde Osunanmi and written by Craig Sweeney, Star Trek: Section 31 premieres Friday, January 24, 2025, on Paramount+. The first Star Trek film made for streaming on Paramount+, Star Trek: Section 31 is headlined by Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh, whose antihero, Emperor Philippa Georgiou, returns to Section 31 in a different era than Star Trektimeline.
Section 31 was created by Star Trek: Deep Space Nineand its introduction in season 6 was immediately controversial. A covert black ops agency seemed to contradict the lofty ideals of the United Federation of Planets. However, Section 31 was an enduring concept. He exists in the alternate Kelvin timeline of Star Trek Into Darkness, and details about his previous incarnations were revealed in the prequels Star Trek: Enterpriseset in the 22nd century, and Star Trek: Discovery, which took place in the 23rd century during its first two seasons.
Check out the official Star Trek Section 31 historical video below:
Official Star Trek video answers one of Section 31’s biggest questions
Section 31 was an “open secret” for part of its existence
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine established that the existence of Section 31 was a secret that not even captains like Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) knew in the 24th century. However, previous versions of Section 31 seen in Star Trek: Enterprise and Star Trek: Discovery saw Section 31 operate openly, and the captain of the USS Enterprise, Christopher Pike (Anson Mount), was well aware of the Federation’s insidious agency. Star TrekThe video “A Quick Guide to Section 31” finally answers this discrepancy:
For much of its existence, Section 31 was an open secret. In the 24th century, as the Federation expanded and peace reigned, Section 31 quietly disappeared from public view, a ghost story whispered but rarely seen.
Section 31 has existed since the earliest days of Starfleet and the founding of the Federation. Characters like Lieutenant Malcolm Reed (Dominic Keating) from Star Trek: Enterprise and Captain Michael Burnham’s (Sonequa Martin-Green) parents were part of Section 31. The greater knowledge of Section 31 within Starfleet appears to coincide with how dangerous the galaxy is and how precarious the Federation is in the 22nd and 23rd centuries compared to the 24th century, when “the Federation expanded and peace reigned.”
Where does Michelle Yeoh’s Star Trek movie fall in the Section 31 timeline?
Star Trek: Section 31 takes place in the “lost age” of the 24th century
Interestingly, Star Trek: Section 31 falls between the well-known 23rd and 24th centuries of Star Trek. Michelle Yeoh Star Trek Movie streaming occurs sometime in the early 24th century, referred to as Star Trekof the “lost era” before the beginning of Star Trek: The Next Generation. It is likely that in Star Trek: Section 31the covert operations division is in the process of disappearing from public view and perhaps even covering its tracks.
Just a few decades later Star Trek: Section 31, during Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Section 31 is unprecedented beyond the highest echelons of power within Starfleet and the Federation.
What is known about Star Trek: Section 31The story is that Emperor Georgiou lives outside the Federation and runs a bar under an alias. Alok (Omari Hardwick) and his Section 31 team recruit Georgiou for a secret mission. Perhaps Star Trek: Section 31His mission is the flashpoint that begins the transition where Section 31 goes from a galaxy-wide known and feared entity to a “ghost story” only whispered by those who know.