Next year, the long-awaited Star Trek: Section 31 movie starring Michelle Yeoh finally hits Paramount+. Originally conceived of as a series, Paramount later reimagined it as a movie for the streaming service instead. But many casual Star Trek fans may not know just what the titular Section 31 even is. After all, arguably the two most popular Star Trek series, the original and The Next Generation, didn’t use it. Luckily, Paramount has released a short video explainer on Section 31, and its long history in Star Trek lore, going back to its first appearance on Deep Space Nine. You can watch the video right here:
The video pretty much covers all the basics of Section 31. It explains how the name originates from Article 14, Section 31 of the Starfleet Charter, allowing for “extraordinary measures to be taken in times of extreme threat.” This was first explained in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, set in the late 24th century. In that era, many viewed the notion of a pristine Federation needing a secretive black ops division as a relic of the past. Most officers in Starfleet thought of Section 31 as a myth. In Deep Space Nine, they did incredibly unethical things to win the war against Starfleet’s enemy, the Dominion.
Later series like the prequel show Enterprise showed that Section 31 existed even before the Federation charter, when Starfleet was a United Earth organization only. Star Trek: Discovery, taking place roughly a century later, further expanded on Section 31’s role in Trek history. That’s when Michelle Yeoh’s character, Empress Phillipa Georgiou, joined up. Section 31 even exists in the alternative Kelvin-timeline universe of the J.J. Abrams films. It played an important role in Abrams’ second entry, Star Trek Into Darkness. Maybe the new film will explain how Section 31 went from open secret to galactic myth a century later.