The premise of Star Trek: Discovery might begin a path that ends with the Klingon-Federation peace treaty in The Undiscovered Country.
Recent comments from Bryan Fuller — former showrunner of Discovery — suggest the essential plot of the new Trek series will specifically be about diplomacy. Speaking to The Radio Times, Fuller was asked to describe what the new show was all about and he offered three words: “Understand Each Other.”
While these words could be taken as a basic description of the sunny philosophy of Star Trek in general, a closer analysis might mean something else. This comment from Fuller combined with previous reports about the show could all read as a different revelation. In other words: The people — or governments — who have to “understand” each other might none other than the Klingon Empire and the United Federation of Planets. Or to put it another way: Why else would the show have hired Nicholas Meyer, the writer-director of 1991’s Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country?
Back in February, Nicholas Meyer said that Bryan Fuller considered Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country to be a “touchstone” for the new show. And that film is, of course, all about the Federation learning to understand the Klingons and vice versa.
So, because Discovery is set ten years before the original Star Trek — and the Federation is involved in a cold war with the Klingons at that point in time — the very nature of the mission of the starship Discovery might not to be seeking out any new life, but instead, trying to figure out a way to build a new civilization — or two — that won’t going to erupt into a full scale war.
