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John Orquiola is a New & Classic TV Editor, Senior Writer, and Interviewer with a special focus on Star Trek. John has over 4,000 published articles at SR, and he has interviewed the biggest names in Star Trek on the red carpet and VIP events, among other beloved shows, movies, and franchises.
Warning: SPOILERS For Star Trek: Starfleet Academy's Series Premiere - "Kids These Days"Star Trek: Starfleet Academy's series premiere reveals the whereabouts of the USS Discovery. Directed by Alex Kurtzman and written by series creator Gaia Violo, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy's inaugural crisis sees Captain Nahla Ake's (Holly Hunter) starship, the USS Athena, attacked by Nus Braka (Paul Giamatti).
The newly named Chancellor of Starfleet Academy, Captain Ake leads her starship full of cadets to San Francisco on Earth when Nus Braka and the Venari Ral trap the USS Athena in programmable matter. A holographic avatar of Braka then beams onto the Athena's bridge to confront Ake, his old enemy.
Starfleet Academy's cadets earn their stripes by working together to free the USS Athena and foil Nus Braka's plot to steal the ship's warp drive. The kids rose to the occasion and saved themselves because Starfleet — including Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and the USS Discovery-A — couldn't come to the rescue.
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Reveals Captain Burnham & USS Discovery’s Whereabouts
After Captain Ake literally blows Nus Braka's hologram off her bridge, she asks her bridge crew for a status update on the distress signal they sent to Starfleet. Nahla quickly learns why she wouldn't be meeting Captain Michael Burnham in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy's premiere when she's told:
“Discovery’s undergoing a retrofit, and the rest of the fleet won’t arrive in time.”
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy is a direct spinoff of Star Trek: Discovery, picking up Star Trek's late 32nd century timeframe and an undisclosed amount of time after Disco ended. "Discovery's undergoing a retrofit," is a simple hand-wave explanation for why Captain Burnham doesn't ride to the rescue.
As Star Trek: Discovery seasons 3 to 5 established, Captain Burnham's USS Discovery became the United Federation of Planets' primary crisis responder. Each time a crisis threatened the galaxy, from the Dark Matter Anomaly to the Breen seeking the Progenitors' ancient technology, Burnham and Discovery saved the Federation.
The USS Discovery is also equipped with a spore displacement hub drive, which would have allowed Captain Burnham to instantly appear to save Captain Ake and Starfleet Academy's cadets. A "retrofit" is a logical reason why Discovery couldn't Black Alert itself to the USS Athena's rescue.
Of course, Starfleet Academy couldn't be rescued by Star Trek: Discovery's titular starship in their own series premiere. Star Trek: Starfleet Academy needed a quick explanation of the USS Discovery's whereabouts, since Captain Burnham is still active during Captain Ake's new series.
What Happens To Star Trek: Discovery After Captain Burnham’s Show Ends
Star Trek: Discovery's series finale ended with Captain Burnham and the USS Discovery's crew attending the wedding of Ambassador Saru (Doug Jones) and Ni'Var President T'Rina (Tara Rosling). Burnham and Cleveland Booker (David Ajala) are soon summoned back to Discovery, which jumps away to a new mission.
It's likely that Star Trek: Starfleet Academy begins after the events of what would have been Star Trek: Discovery season 6 in 3191 or 3192. Whatever adventures Disco had seemingly resulted in Captain Burnham's starship needing a retrofit.
Commander Jett Reno (Tig Notaro) also teaches at Starfleet Academy as of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy episode 2, "Beta Test," so she may have left the USS Discovery during its retrofit.
Star Trek: Discovery's series finale epilogue sees an older Admiral Michael Burnham send the USS Discovery on its final mission, which plays out centuries later in the Star Trek: Short Trek episode, "Calypso." Admiral Burnham's coda takes place 30 years after the events of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy.
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