Many of the great Captains inStar Trekhave crossed through space and time, whether intentional or accidental, and met each other.Feature films, series premieres, and important franchise anniversaries are peppered with connections between differentStar Trekcaptains,with time travel sometimes coming into play for captains from different parts of theStar Trektimeline.Star Trekcaptains in the same era, like the 24th-century setting ofStar Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,andStar Trek: Voyager,can meet fairly easily, but it’s still exciting to see captains from different shows interact.
WithStar Trek’s longevity,we’re not counting every singleStar Trekcharacter to hold the rank of captain. It’s a given thatStar Trekcharacters who have become captains after being series regulars, likeCaptain William Riker(Jonathan Frakes), have met their own commanding officers.Star Trekcaptains who didn’t lead a show also don’t make the cut. Instead, we’re looking at the heavy hitters:Star Trekcaptains who were the primary commanding officers of their shows, whether that was for a single season or an entire series. With that said, let’s take a chronological look at these legendary meetings.
Captain James T. Kirk Met Captain Christopher Pike
Star Trek: The Original Series & Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
Viewed in production order, Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and Fleet Captain Christopher Pike (Sean Kenney) are first seen on-screen together inStar Trek: The Original Seriesseason 1, episodes 15 & 16, “The Menagerie”, after Pike’s disfiguring accident.Kirk explains that he’d met Pike years earlier, when Pike was named Fleet Captain. Chronologically,Star Trek: Strange New Worldsseason 2, episode 6, “Lost in Translation”, shows the first in-person meeting between a younger Lieutenant James Kirk (Paul Wesley) and Captain Pike (Anson Mount), when Pike is temporarily assigned command of Kirk’s USS Farragut and Bavali Station’s refinery.
In J.J. Abrams' Kelvin TimelineStar Trekmovies, Captain Christopher Pike (Bruce Greenwood) is a strong mentor and father figure to James Kirk (Chris Pine). That stronger bond means Pike shoulders more responsibility for Kirk’s Starfleet career.
Star Trek: Strange New Worldschallenges the implication fromStar Trek: The Original Seriesthat Kirk doesn’t know Pike very well by giving the two Enterprise captains more shared history while maintaining Kirk’s original statement as a technical truth. BecauseStrange New Worldstreats canon as malleable instead of written in stone,the prequel set on Pike’s Enterprise has the freedom to tell better contemporaryStar Trekstories — and feature a lot more ofPaul Wesley’s James Kirk.
Captain Pike Met Captain Burnham & Captain Saru
Star Trek: Discovery Season 2
Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) takes his turn in the center seat as theUSS Discovery’s captaininStar Trek: Discoveryseason 2, whenfuture USS Discovery captains Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and Saru (Doug Jones) serve under Pike with the rank of commander. After Pike’s departure to leadStar Trek: Strange New Worlds, Commander Saru becomes de facto captain of the USS Discovery, a position that Saru holds throughStar Trek: Discoveryseason 3. Captain Michael Burnham assumes command of the USS Discovery after Captain Saru inStar Trek: Discovery’s final two seasons.
The captains ofStar Trek: Discoverypresent a unique case, since Burnham and Saru have obviously also met each other, having served for years together. When both hold the rank of Captain simultaneously, Saru defers to grant Captain Burham command of the USS Discovery forDiscoveryseason 4.
Pike’s impact on both Burnham and Saru is significant becauseCaptain Pike’s leadership style is such a strong departure from Discovery’s previous captain, Gabriel Lorca (Jason Isaacs).Star Trek: Discovery’s Captain Lorcaweighs down the USS Discovery’s crew with selfish distrust, whereas Pike lifts their spirits with trust and encouragement. After Pike, Saru and Burnham are able to build stronger rapports with their own crews, andStar Trek: Discoveryis all the better for it.
Captain Jean-Luc Picard Met Captain Benjamin Sisko
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 1, Episode 1, “Emissary”
Just like DeForest Kelley’s Dr. Leonard McCoy appears in the premiere ofStar Trek: The Next Generation,Patrick Stewart’s Captain Jean-Luc Picard appears inStar Trek: Deep Space Nine’s premiere episode, “Emissary”, to pass the torch toDS9as the nextStar Trekspinoff. Picard meets with Commander Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) to discuss the latter’s assignment aboard the USS Enterprise, and while Sisko remains professional, it’s only barely.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’s “Emissary” is also the only time Commander Sisko set foot aboard the USS Enterprise-D.
A major plot point of “Emissary” is that Benjamin Sisko is stuck, spiritually and emotionally, at theBattle of Wolf 359, amid the wreckage of the USS Saratoga as he searches for his wife, Jennifer (Felecia M. Bell). That becomes relevant during Sisko and Picard’sStar Trek: Deep Space Ninemeeting, becauseSisko can’t shake the idea that Picard is Locutus of Borg, his wife’s murderer and the architect of Sisko’s trauma.
Captain Jean-Luc Picard Met Captain James T. Kirk
Star Trek Generations' Nexus Meeting
Star Trek: Generationsfamously features the long-awaited meeting of Captain James T. Kirk and Captain Jean-Luc Picard, in a crossover movie that serves as a swan song for theStar Trek: The Original Seriescast and the first silver screen outing for theStar Trek: The Next Generationcast.The century of time that separates Kirk and Picard is negated inStar Trek Generationsby both men being pulled into the Nexus, a time-agnostic anomaly akin to paradise. Outside the Nexus, Picard and Kirk team up to defeat Dr. Tolian Soran (Malcolm McDowell), in a fight that also claims Kirk’s life.
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The impact of Kirk and Picard’s meeting is best summed up with the advice that Kirk gives Picard while in the Nexus: “Don’t let them promote you. Don’t let them transfer you.Don’t let them do anything that takes you off the bridge of that ship, because while you’re there, you can make a difference.” Picard keeps Kirk’s words in mind throughout theStar Trek: The Next Generationmovies, andStar Trek: Picardshows that neither a promotion nor a lack of his own command will stop Admiral Jean-Luc Picard from doing everything he can to keep making a difference.
Captain Benjamin Sisko Met Captain James T. Kirk
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 5, Episode 6, “Trials and Tribble-ations”
Star Trek: Deep Space Nineseason 5, episode 6, “Trials and Tribble-ations” sees Captain Benjamin Sisko and several otherDS9crew members pulled back in time to the events ofStar Trek: The Original Seriesseason 2, episode 13, “The Trouble With Tribbles”. While stuck in the 23rd century, Sisko knows full well that the Temporal Prime Directive is in effect, and encourages his officers to abide by the Directive as well. TheDS9crew do their best, butSisko can’t help taking the opportunity to interact with Captain James T. Kirkfor the briefest of moments.
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It’s a small interaction that doesn’t do much, if anything, to change the timeline, so Captain Sisko is able to avoid a full dressing-down from the Department of Temporal Investigations.It’s unlikely that Kirk actually remembers Sisko in return, even though Sisko and Lieutenant Commander Jadzia Dax (Terry Farrell) were instrumental infoiling the Klingon plot to end Kirk’s life.
Admiral Kathryn Janeway Met Captain Jean-Luc Picard
Janeway Gives Picard A Mission In Star Trek: Nemesis
Fresh off a promotion to Admiral following theUSS Voyager’s return to the Alpha Quadrant, Admiral Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) appears inStar Trek: Nemesiswith an assignment for Captain Jean-Luc Picard.Admiral Janeway sends Captain Picard and the USS Enterprise-E on a diplomatic mission to Romulusthat eventually puts Picard in contact with his own clone, Shinzon (Tom Hardy).
Star Trek: Nemesisremains the only on-screen meeting between Picard and Janeway.
Janeway’s appearance inStar Trek: Nemesisis essentially a cameo since anyone could have been on the other side of the message from Starfleet Command, but the brief scene helps to reiterate thatStar Trekis a shared universe that, at this point, advances in real time.Picard and Janeway knowing each other and working together makes sense, given their personal shared history with the Borg, so it’s surprising thatStar Trek: Nemesisremains the only on-screen meeting between Picard and Janeway.
Why No Other Star Trek Captain Met Enterprise’s Captain Jonathan Archer
Star Trek: Enterprise’s Captain Archer Hasn’t Met Future Star Trek Captains
BecauseStar Trek: Enterpriseis a prequel series set 100 years beforeStar Trek: The Original Series,Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) remains an outlier on the list ofStar Trekcaptains who have met their counterpartsfrom anotherStar Trekseries. TheTNG-era shows were produced beforeStar Trek: Enterprise,so they can’t mention Archer as a character who hadn’t been invented yet. NewerStar Trekshows make up for that with references to the NX-01 captain, such asStar Trek: Discovery’s Archer Spacedock, constructed to retrofit Starfleet for exploration in the 32nd century.
The closest Captain Archer comes to meeting a futureStar Trekcaptain isStar Trek: Enterpriseseason 3, episode 18, “Azati Prime”, when Crewman Daniels (Matt Winston) takes Archer to the USS Enterprise-J in the 26th century.
Notably,Captain Christopher Pike inStar Trek: Strange New Worldscites Captain Archer as a personal hero. InStar Trek: Strange New Worldsseason 2, episode 7, “Those Old Scientists”, the crew of Pike’s Enterprise eagerly discuss what meeting their 22nd century counterparts from Archer’s Enterprise might be like, in order to imagine howStar Trek: Lower Decks' Ensigns Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) and Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid) feel. It’s a fitting full-circle moment that points out howStar Trekheroes are inspired by those who came before, and if they’re lucky, may even have a chance to meet them.
