When the titular starship for Star Trek Discovery was first revealed back in 2016, tons of fans speculated that the clandestine organization “Section 31” would be involved with the show’s plot. And now, that theory has finally been proven true. On Saturday, at WonderCon, the Discovery showrunners revealed a “bonus scene” which brings back Mirror Georgiou and sets-up spy action for season 2.
Season 2 of Discovery will feature a new reoccurring character named Leland (Alan Van Sprang), who works for Section 31. In the “bonus scene,” he shows up on Kronos and recruits the Mirror Georgiou to work for Section 31. Originally introduced in the Deep Space Nine episode “Inquisition,” Section 31 is a super-secret organization which basically is composed of spies and saboteurs, working behind-the-scenes to manipulate the stability of the galaxy. They kind of work for the Federation, but they don’t have the same good-guy rules. After Section 31 was introduced on Deep Space Nine, the existence of the organization was retconned into the prequel series Enterprise and the film Star Trek Into Darkness.
LEFT: The mysterious all-black Starfleet badges in 'Discovery.' RIGHT: Kirk and Spock learn Admiral Forest works for Section 31 in 'Into Darkness'. TOP RIGHT: Section 31 dudes wearing all-back in 'Deep Space Nine.'
In fact, Leland recruiting Mirror Georgiou is pretty similar to Admiral Forest recruiting Khan for Section 31 in Star Trek Into Darkness. Which begs the question: will the existence of Section 31 in the second season of Discovery posit the organization as antagonists to Starfleet? In Deep Space Nine and Enterprise, Section 31 comes across as an extreme version of the good guys, though, theoretically on the same side. But in Into Darkness, they are slightly more evil. In all cases, Section 31 is amoral.
The deleted scene also finally revealed what was up with those all-black Starfleet badges originally seen in the Discovery episode “Context is For Kings.” Because several security officers were wearing these badges on the USS Discovery, this totally establishes that some Section 31 people were on the ship at that time. But, were the regular crew even aware of that fact? Will the second season feature a cold war between Section 31 operatives and the regular Starfleet crew?
At the WonderCon panel, showrunner Aaron Harberts reiterated what he told Inverse back in February, saying: “This is our opportunity to really show how Discovery fits into this Prime Timeline. We are firmly committed to that.”
The scene between Leland and Georgiou also contained a classic shout-out to the original series pilot episode “The Cage.” When Leland enters the Orion bar on Kronos, he says “Nice place you got here.” This is exactly what one creepy dude said to Captain Pike in “The Cage.” — Star Trek: Discovery season 2 does not have a release date at this time.
