Star Trek: Discovery
WARNING : comprise spoiler for Star Trek : Discovery time of year 5 , instalment 6 , " Whistlespeak . "
Summary
Star Trek : Discoveryseason 5 proves thatStar Trek ’s Prime Directive is essentially useless . InStar Trek : Discoveryseason 5 , episode 6 , " Whistlespeak " , write by Kenneth Lin and Brandon Schultz , and engineer by Chris Byrne , the hunting for the Progenitors ' technology brings Captain Michael Burnham ( Sonequa Martin - Green ) and Lieutenant Sylvia Tilly ( Mary Wiseman ) to the planet Halem’no , where Denobulan scientist Hitoroshi Kreel establish five weather condition stations to serve Halem’no ’s naturally arid climate flourish . Due to lack of regular maintenance by the pre - warp Halem’nites , only one station remain operable , so Burnham and Tilly must retrieve the clue and fix the place without breaking the Prime Directive .
By dictate a policy of non - interference with species that have n’t discovered warp drive , Star Trek ’s Prime Directive stories ask Starfleet captains to select between practice of law and compassion , and compassion almost always gain ground . For illustration , inStar Trek : Strange fresh Worlds’series premiere , Captain Christopher Pike ( Anson Mount ) eschews the Prime Directive exclusively to save the satellite Kiley 279 from a nuclear holocaust by revealing their similarities to Earth ’s own tumultuous past . Captain Jean - Luc Picard ( Patrick Stewart ) prize the Prime Directive , but inStar Trek : The Next Generationseason 2 , episode 15 , " Pen Pals " , a new girl ’s plea for help convinces Picard to save an total satellite .
The Prime Directive is the foundation of Starfleet ’s philosophy , but what just is Star Trek ’s golden rule ?
Star Trek’s Prime Directive Exists To Be Broken
Burnham makes the same call as previous Star Trek captains.
Star Trek : Discoveryseason 5 , episode 6 , " Whistlespeak " , follows the approach pattern of Picard , Pike , and previousPrime DirectiveStar Trekepisodeswhen Starfleet captains listened to their sense of right and wrong , asCaptain Michael Burnham prove that the Prime Directive really does more harm than adept . Kreel meant well by instal the Halem’no weather Stations of the Cross , but the Prime Directive prevented explaining how they worked , so after the stations failed , the Halem’nites doubled down on sacrifice their own mass to appease their gods . Burnham explain the technology that bring rain to Halem’no necessitate care , and put a stop to needless living sacrifices – including Lieutenant Tilly .
There does n’t need to be any conflict between Starfleet ’s rule andStar Trek ’s own humanitarian subject matter
Star Trek ’s Prime Directive only exists to make tale tautness , and almost always winds up broken , becauseStar Trek ’s moral position favors helping others over exacting bond to the rules . The Prime Directive implies that knowledge of advanced engineering will pretend a society ’s natural evolution negatively , but there ’s little evidence that the implication is actually unfeigned . Most pre - warp order in Prime Directive stories really benefit from outside influence , when advanced technology solves relatively simple problems for foreign societies in earlier stages of development . There does n’t demand to be any engagement between Starfleet ’s rule andStar Trek ’s own humanitarian message . The answer is always the same : facilitate hoi polloi .
The Prime Directive Is Outdated in Star Trek’s 32nd Century
Starfleet should abolish the 900-year-old “non-interference” rule.
InStar Trek : Discovery ’s thirty-second century , the Prime Directive does n’t hold up as a guiding rule for Starfleet ’s geographic expedition of space . Although ostensibly invented to protect newcomer alien society , the Prime Directive also served to protect Starfleet itself in a time when Starfleet was still learn about the world they came in impinging with.900 years afterwards , the galaxy is very unlike , with more charted worldly concern and less penury for hand - holding from out-of-date guidelines . Starfleet could trust its drawing card to settle separately , and in each circumstance , whether to interpose , creating more interesting stories that rely on character ' inner values , and not on law vs. morals to determine what ’s right .
Defining societies ' technological capabilities is also more difficult in a galaxy that survived the Burn , which rendered warp - subject ship useless , and see thatpost - warp society reverted to earlier means of natural selection , look a spate like the pre - warp civilizations that the Prime Directive tried to protect . As the Federation tries to reconstruct in the 32nd century , sources for fresh perspectives should n’t be neglect . After all , Star Trek : Discovery ’s Ambassador Saru(Doug Jones ) come from pre - warp Kaminar and examine to be a valuable Starfleet officer . With centuries of wisdom earned after the Prime Directive ’s inception , Star Trek : Discoveryproves that Starfleet could easily do aside with a useless Prime Directive .
Star Trek : Discovery time of year 5 stream Thursdays on Paramount+ .
Your Rating
Your comment has not been saved
Cast
