Star Trek Just Gave Us the Perfect Ending to a Bittersweet Story

In The Final Frontier, Captain Kirk told his friends that he’d spend his final days alone. But when that fatal moment came 30 years ago in Star Trek Generations, Kirk wasn’t alone; Jean-Luc Picard was right there with Kirk for an onscreen demise that divided the Trekkie community. Kirk’s passing was bittersweet, and to make matters worse, when the Prime Universe’s Spock passed away in Star Trek Beyond, it happened off-screen.

But for fans who have been grieving for both Star Trek legends, there’s now a tear-jerking epic crossover that spans the canon of Generations, Discovery, Beyond, The Search for Spock, The Voyage Home, and even “The Cage,” “Where No Man Has Gone Before,” and an obscure 1999 Trek novel. The Roddenberry Archive has just dropped a 10-minute short film called “Unification,” which bridges several aspects of the timeline in a strange, sweet love letter to Star Trek’s past. Here’s everything you need to know about it.

What is “765874 - Unification”?

Created by VFX studio OTOY (Westworld, American Gods), the new short film “765874 - Unification” was teased two years ago with a CGI trailer called “Regeneration.” Using both real actors and a digital process similar to how Mark Hamill was brought back for The Mandalorian, “Unification” follows Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner, body doubled by Sam Witwer), as he movies into a kind of afterlife, then crosses dimensions to be with Spock (Nimoy, Lawerence Selleck) as he passes away in the Kelvin Universe.

But before Kirk moves from his final moments in Generations and comes to Spock in his final moments during Beyond’s timeframe, there are a few very deep cuts and cameos that explain what’s going on and how Kirk made this multiversal jump.

Kirk is reunited with Saavik and Spock’s son

Essentially, the film depicts Kirk crossing into some afterlife where he meets an elderly Saavik (Robin Curtis) and Spock’s son, a Vulcan named Sorak (Mark Cinnery). This comes from the 1999 novel Vulcan’s Heart, in which Spock and Saavik are married in the 24th century, and references the implication that Spock and Saavik had a child out of wedlock because they were intimate during The Search for Spock. An unused storyline for The Voyage Home would have shown that Saavik stayed on Vulcan to raise Spock’s son, hence why she didn’t return to Earth with the rest of the crew. As Curtis put it in a new behind-the-scenes video, “Such a juicy tidbit had been left unresolved. Is Saavik pregnant?”

Curtis notes that this short film depicts Saavik much further in the future, so the 68-year-old was aged up to look like an elderly Saavik. Presumably, this is around the year 2387, which would have been when Spock went missing in the Prime Universe and landed in the continuity of the Kelvin Timeline. And Saavik is in “Unification” to send Kirk to that universe, too.

Discovery canon allows Kirk to cross timelines

After Kirk meets Saavik, a mysterious alien in a Next Gen-era Starfleet uniform confronts him. This is Yor (played here by Gordon Tarpley), who was introduced in the Discovery Season 3 episode “Terra Firma Part 1.” That episode was the first time mainstream Trek canon acknowledged the Kelvin Universe. Yor, as Dr. Kovich explained, “...traveled forward from 2379 and across from a parallel universe caused by the incursion of a Romulan mining ship.” In other words, Yor is from the future of the Kelvin Universe, not the Prime Universe. So, when he meets Kirk, Yor is transporting Kirk from the Prime Universe to the Kelvin Universe, where Kirk ends up in the final moments of the short.

In Star Trek Beyond, Spock (Zachary Quinto) is told that Old Spock (Nimoy) passed away while the Enterprise was on a mission. This was done to acknowledge the passing of Leonard Nimoy in 2014, but in the context of the Trek canon, Spock’s passing in Beyond was a bit odd. Although born in the Prime Universe, Spock faced his final days in the past of a parallel universe. So in “Unification,” Kirk isn’t just brought across universes, but across time. Considering Kirk passed away on Veridian III in 2371, and Yor is from 2379 — and we see versions of Kirk from 2266 and 2285 — there’s quite a bit of time travel going on here.

The Easter Egg Parade

When Kirk finally sees Spock, we know he’s in the Kelvin Universe because the little rectangular photo carrier onscreen is the same one from Beyond, which contained a portrait of the classic Enterprise crew. Kirk holds Spock’s hand as the sun sets, and these very old friends are reunited one last time.

The film hints at other aspects of a larger story. At the beginning, the quasi-divine Gary Mitchell is seen floating in some kind of ether, implying that his eternal spirit is aware of Kirk’s post-mortal comings and goings.

Meanwhile, the number “765874” also refers to the serial number of the character J.M Colt, an Enterprise crew member from “The Cage.” Colt appears throughout the short in both an Original Series uniform and a Kelvin Universe uniform, implying she’s perhaps crossed timelines, too. Colt is also seen looking at what might have been Kirk’s skeleton, last seen in the Section 31 vault in Picard Season 3.

In the end, fans might be scratching their heads about the canonical status of all of this, and whether we really needed a de-aged Shatner to share a tender moment with a CGI-faux Leonard Nimoy. The latter is up to you, but everything in this short works in the existing canon. By uniting various eras and continuities of Trek, “765874 - Unification” is unique. And as a nod to the anniversary of Generations, fans will hopefully agree that it’s a wonderful end to one of the most enduring partnerships in science fiction. The short ends with Kirk and Spock staring at the sunset, thinking about life, the universe, and everything. Neither will pass alone. What more could you ask for?

You can check out more details on the making of “765874 - Unification” here.