Warning: SPOILERS For Star Trek: Lower Decks' Season 5 Finale - “The New Next Generation”
Star Trek: Lower Decks’series finale creates a multiverse problem inStar Trekcanon.Lower Deckscame to a close with its fifth season, which sent the USS Cerritos on a mission to investigate quantum fissures to infiniteStar Trektimelines. InStar Trek: Lower Decks’series ender, Starfleet Command informed the Cerritos that they were the only ship close enough to stabilize the massive wormhole before it destroyed the universe.Captain Carol Freeman (Dawnn Lewis)and her crew then beautifully came together to save the day, resulting in the creation of a stable and permanently open portal to various quantum realities.
Star Trek: Lower Decksseason 5, episode 9, “Fissure Quest,” introduced the starship Anaximander and its crew ofStar Trek legacy characterscommanded by Captain William Boimler (Jack Quaid). Consisting of T’Pol (Jolene Blalock), Curzon Dax (Fred Tatasciore), Garak (Andrew Robinson), Dr. Julian Bashir (Alexander Siddig), and numerous Harry Kims (Garrett Wang), this crew illustrated how much fun multiverse stories could be.The new permanent rift established during the finale ofStar Trek:Lower Decksshould have massive repercussionsfor Starfleet and the United Federation of Planets. This would seem to contradict with establishedStar Trekcanon, considering no other show has mentioned such a portal.
Star Trek: Lower Decks’ Multiverse Gateway Doesn’t Match Star Trek Canon
Wouldn’t Someone Have Mentioned Such An Important Discovery?
Star Trek: Lower Decksdelivered an incredibly fun, action-packed finale that nevertheless raises several questions for the greaterStar Trekfranchise.Star Trek: ProdigyandStar Trek: Picardboth take place afterStar Trek: Lower Decks,butneither series makes any mention of a portal to infinite dimensions.Star Trek: Prodigyeven dealt directly with the multiverse and brought backWesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton) as an interdimensional Traveler, but he did not reference a portal. The Federation’s enemies, like the Romulans and the Borg, would likely go to great lengths to access a door to the multiverse, adding another wrinkle to canon.
Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 5 Finale & Series Ending Explained
Star Trek: Lower Decks' finale brings big changes to the USS Cerritos and the Star Trek multiverse. Here’s what it all means for the Cerritos' crew.
Of course, the real-world reason the multiverse portal has not been mentioned is becauseStar Trek: Lower Decksseason 5 had not been written yet whenStar Trek: PicardandStar Trek: Prodigypremiered. Still, this new development does raisequestions about howStar Trekcanon will address such a significant change.Star Trek: Strange New Worldstakes place long before the events ofLower Decksand the upcomingStar Trek: Starfleet Academytakes place long after, so it’s unlikely either of those shows will address it.
Star Trek Has No Follow-Up For Lower Decks’ Multiverse Gateway Story
Lower Decks Introduces An Incredibly Cool Concept With Great Storytelling Potential
AlthoughStar Trek: Lower Decks’finale has numerous storylines that could continue,Star Trekcurrently has no plans forLower Decksseason 6or a follow-up. A permanent portal to the multiverse seems like something the franchise would address, but it remains to be seen how, or even if,Star Trekwill revisit this storyline.Star Trek: ProdigyandLower Decksseason 5 have already shown how much funStar Trekcan have with the multiverse, and the potential for future stories is limitless.Introducing a gateway to the multiverse provides such an incredible setup for futureStar Trekstories, andit would be a shame to waste it.
Several of the cast members ofStar Trek: Lower Deckshave expressed a desire for their characters' stories to continue in some way, and the USS Cerritos remains very much in active service, so anything is possible.
Between the lower deckers on the Cerritos and Captain Freeman overseeing the missions to the multiverse,Star Trek: Lower Deckscertainly left the door open for multiple storylines to continue.Star Trekhas several other projects currently airing or in the works, meaning it will likely be a while before any kind of follow-up toLower Deckshappens, if it ever does. Either way,Star Trek: Lower Decksgave the crew of the Cerritos a heartfelt and fitting send-off that also acted as a love letter to the entire franchise.
