Section 31 is Bringing Back These TOS Aliens

Section 31 is Bringing Back These TOS Aliens



Summary

  • Trailer reveals
    Section 31
    movie features
    TOS
    aliens, including a species last seen in a polarizing
    TOS
    episode.
  • The
    TOS
    episode portrayed themes of racism amid character Lokai’s fight for freedom against oppression by Bele’s people.
  • TOS
    aliens featured in the
    Section 31
    movie include Bele’s species, a Deltan, and a Chameloid.



An official trailer for the Star Trek: Section 31 movie dropped this week, and there was a lot going on in the two-minute video. There was so much packed into the short trailer, that it was easy to miss all the little details. But there was one detail early in the trailer that fans of Star Trek: The Original Series definitely didn’t miss.

About eight seconds into the trailer, after panning around a swanky, lounge-style nightclub, the camera settles on the very distinctive face of an alien. One side of their face is black, and the other side is white. This particular species of alien hasn’t been seen in Star Trek since the third season of TOS, in the polarizing episode “Let That Be Your Last Battlefield.”

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Lokai and Bele, The Cheron Civil War

A Cheronian in Star Trek;s "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield".


In that episode, the crew of the Enterprise discovers a stolen Federation shuttlecraft, and beams aboard the alien thief, whose face is black on the left side and white on the right side. When he awakes in sickbay, he says his name is Lokai, and thanks the crew for saving him. However, he refuses to tell Captain James T. Kirk why he stole the shuttlecraft.

As the crew sets a course for Starbase 4, where the stolen shuttle originated, Ensign Chekov says the sensors are detecting an invisible ship headed straight for the Enterprise. When the pilot of that ship beams aboard, the crew notices that he also has a black and white face. But his face is white on the left side and black on the right side.

This alien says his name is Commissioner Bele, and he’s the “Chief Officer Of The Commission on Political Traitors” on Cheron. He explains that he was following Enterprise because he was tasked with catching Lokai, who led a political revolution on Cheron. When they arrive in sickbay, Lokai challenges Bele’s narrative. He explains that his people are kept as slaves by Bele’s people, and that his revolution was a fight for his people’s freedom. Lokai requests asylum, claiming he’s fleeing persecution.


Captain Kirk, sensing the volatile political situation, says that he and his crew won’t get involved in their affairs. They will take both the aliens to Starbase 4, and the Starfleet officials there can deal with the whole situation. However, soon after his crew sets a course for Starbase 4, they lose control of the ship’s computer. Bele appears on the bridge and reveals he’s using mind-control to commandeer the ship, and he’s completing his mission to take Lokai back to Cheron to face the consequences of his actions.

After attempting to regain control of the Enterprise in every way they can think of, Kirk and Spock decide that they have to force Bele to give them back the controls. So, they initiate a self-destruct sequence. Bele gives up control of the ship, and the crew sets a course for Starbase 4 again, insisting that the Starfleet Command will help them resolve their dispute.


While the Enterprise heads back, Bele and Lokai explain their version of the situation to the crew members, trying to convince them to take a side in their conflict. Many of the crew members are baffled by the deep hatred that exists between Bele’s people and Lokai’s people. They’re essentially the same, except that the colors on their faces are on different sides. The crew can’t understand why this minor difference has led Bele’s people to subjugate Lokai’s people.

Once they reach communications range with Starbase 4, Captain Kirk gets in touch with Starfleet Command and explains the situation. Since they have no treaties with Bele’s people or Lokai’s people, Starfleet Command concludes they have to have a hearing on Starbase 4 before Bele can take Lokai back to Cheron

Bele is enraged by this answer. After centuries of pursuing Lokai, he refuses to take the chance that Lokai will be granted asylum. So, Bele regains control of the ship by force and sets a course for Cheron.


When they finally arrive, the ship’s sensors reveal that there are no life signs on the planet, and all the cities have been completely destroyed. Apparently, a civil war between Bele’s people and Lokai’s people destroyed the entire planet and left everyone dead. Instead of sharing their grief for the loss of their entire species, Bele and Lokai fight.

Kirk begs them not to let their hatred destroy them like it did their planet. But they can’t. They fight their way through the ship, beam down to the surface, and continue their doomed battle.

TOS Takes on Racism

Gene Roddenberry, Star Trek’s creator, was a liberal Humanist, and one of the reasons he created Star Trek was to address the social issues of the day without being censored. Because the show was sci-fi, he could get away with themes that wouldn’t be allowed in a typical drama.

“Let That Be Your Last Battlefield” was an obvious, some say ridiculously obvious, allegory about racism in the Civil Rights era. According to StarTrek.com, the response to the episode, at the time, and since, has been wildly mixed. It’s one of those Star Trek episodes people have strong, polarized opinions about. Trekkies either love the episode, calling it a progressive and ahead of its time story about the destructive nature of racism, or they absolutely hate the episode, saying that the overbearing message was a clumsy attempt at examining racism and other systems of oppression.


The user reviews on IMDB confirm that, to this day, the episode is just as polarizing.

Other TOS Aliens in “Star Trek: Section 31”

Quasi and Melle Star Trek Section 31
Paramount+

The black and white alien in the Star Trek: Section 31 trailer appears to be one of Bele’s people based on their coloration. Since both Bele and Lokai’s people were apparently wiped out in their planet-wide war, this alien’s existence could mean one of two things.

One scenario is that Bele won the battle with Lokai and went on to father a child, continuing his species. Though he must have fathered that child with an alien of another race, unless the second possible scenario occurred. Some of Bele’s people escaped the planet before their species was wiped out. Since they were the oppressor class and more privileged, it makes sense that some of them could access methods of escape. Hopefully, the movie won’t just gloss over this alien’s presence, and instead provide an answer to how its species survived.


Bele’s descendant isn’t the only TOS alien featured in Star Trek: Section 31. The main cast will also include a Deltan, like Lieutenant Ilia in Star Trek: The Motion Picture, and a Chameloid, like Martia on Rura Penthe in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. Though they both look human in their character shots, there’s much more to Melle, the Deltan, and Quasi, the Chameloid, than meets the eye.

There aren’t any other TOS aliens in the trailer, it’s possible more will show up throughout the movie. To find out how all the TOS species fit into Star Trek: Section 31s story, fans will have to stream the movie on Paramount+ on January 24th.

Star Trek_ The Original Series
Star Trek: The Original Series

Release Date
September 8, 1966

Seasons
3

Creator
Gene Roddenberry

Number of Episodes
79

Network
NBC

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