The latest images from the Final Frontier should make any worried Trekkies feel at ease. Both a new clip from Star Trek: Discovery and new crew photos make the show feel its most Star Trek-y yet.
On Wednesday, Sonequa Martin-Green appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and debuted the first complete clip from Star Trek: Discovery. In it, her character Commander Michael Burnham comes face to face with a Klingon warrior called the Torchbearer. This scene looks to be part of a pivotal EVA space suit sequence in which Commander Burnham is on a reconnaissance mission that seems to go wrong.
What’s awesome about this clip is that Burnham’s heads-up display on her space suit makes clear shout-outs to Star Trek lore. The scanner on her computer identifies the insignia for the Klingon Empire and also reveals that the sword-like weapon carried by the Torchbearer. It’s a Bat’leth!
Hardcore Trekkies know that a bat’leth is a big curved blade favored by the Klingons in The Next Generation era. Of course, in the entirity of Trek canon, bat’leth’s have been around for a lot longer than that. Though they were never seen in the original series of the original series movies (because they hadn’t been invented yet) 2013’s Star Trek Into Darkness retroactively established that Klingons in Kirk’s time used bat’leths, too. On the Deep Space Nine episode “The Sword of Kahless,” we also learned that bat’leths go back several thousands of generations.
The bat’leth wielded by the Torchbearer looks pretty ancient, too, lending credence to the fan theory that some of the Klingons on Discovery have been in suspended animation for centuries. Afterall, there is something on the show called a Klingon Sarcophagus Ship.
Also on Wednesday, TrekCore released a slew of new photos from CBS of the Starfleet crew members on Discovery. The most iconic image is probably the one of Captain Lorca (Jason Isaacs) with an unholstered phaser. These phasers couldn’t look any more badass retro and totally correct for Star Trek if they tried.
Images of other characters are similarly iconic, including one of Lt. Stamets (Anthony Rapp) with a flip-up communicator, Captain Geougriu in the transporter room, and more.
With only a few weeks left before the premiere, more trailer and footage for Star Trek: Discovery is likely coming. But, all of these teases about ancient Klingon weapons and the mystery of two Starfleet captains will make a lot more sense on September 24 when the show actually debuts on CBS All-Access.
See also: How the first Discovery Novel Will Link to Original Series Canon
