Daystrom Institute
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@startrek.websiteIn LD 4x06 Parth Ferengi’s Heart Place, Ransom mentions that there are no married officers on board. However, way back in LD 1x02 Envoys, when trying command in the simulation, Rutherford accidentally kills all the ship’s children via destruction of the pre-K and Kindergarten decks. I am thus wondering, are there actually any children on the Cerritos? I do have several theories (some of which could co-exist together), none of which I am certain of:
For No:
For Yes:
Update (8/23/2024): I was rewatching Lower Decks 2x10 First Contact and the mentions of Captain Freeman probably thinking the Captain Freeman Day decorations were for children implies that at least during season 2, there were children on the ship. I feel that the Archimedes incidents could be impetus for the ship being declared too uncomfortable for a family. I'll see in my rewatch if I come across any other implied children on the Cerritos in later seasons.
During LD 3x10, as much as I enjoy the comaraderie (and Boimler voice-cracking through the ship names), I was little confused as to how the entire class could have made it to the Cerritos so fast. Wouldn't they be relatively evenly spread across the safer part of Federation space, with some in the middle of missions?
After some thought, my theory is that the class decommissioning was more immediate than I first thought; Starfleet had ordered every ship of the class to a central location for crew reassignment not too far from Douglass station, so they were already gathered nearby (having travelled from whatever corners of Federation space the class may have operated in) and been waiting a few days or so when Mariner informed them of the situation.
I've often wondered how with the advanced medical science of the Federation how they can, for instance, revive practically dead people, but not create a communication device for Pike (or any of a number of people in the background of Lower Decks) more advanced than a blinking light.
One theory I had recently is that somehow, Pike (and people with similar conditions) received most of the brain damage in Broca's Area, leaving them able to understand speach through Wernicke's Area but unable to produce speech. The chair thus might be a replacement for Broca's Area, but primitive in comparison to the original, biological one. (And further, perhaps the Talosians are able to simulate a human Broca's Area when Pike is left in the illusion on Talos.)
Could any of the main characters of Prodigy have been affected by the Borg assimilation in Picard S3?
Season 1 of Prodigy takes place in 2383. This means the main characters would be about 18 years older at the time of Season 3 of Picard.
When the Borg assimilate the younger members of Starfleet, using "recievers" added to their genetic code through the transporter system, it's said to only affect individuals prior to a certain point in their brain development - around 25 for humans.
The characters' ages in 2383 are:
No age is listed on Memory Alpha for Zero, but they're also Medusan, have already broken free from the Borg once, and I don't know if Medusans even have genetic material that the transporter could detect. (Also, Murf's age is explicitly said to be unknown.)
In 2401, Rok would be about 26 (not including the time spent in the slowdown in "Time Amok"). For her to be affected by the Borg assimilation, I think we'd have to make a few assumptions:
Number 1 seems likely. Number 3 seems plausible - Rok wore an appropriately-sized environmental suit in (I believe) "Crossroads", although that was likely created by a replicator - perhaps the vehicle replicator, if the ordinary ones weren't large enough.
To me, number 2 seems the most unlikely; Prodigy a show aimed (in part) at teenagers, and - in the absence of any reference to these species differences in the show - it seems logical to me to assume these characters are intended to be at similar state in development as humans of the same age. And the estimate for Rok's age seems to put her just over the age where she would be affected. Part of me wonders if the writers for "Võx" were thinking about this.
Anything I missed (at least prior to Prodigy season 2)? Or any other characters we've seen who might be young enough to be assimilated in 2401?
I was rewatching LD 4x07 “A Few Badgeys More” when Badgey’s ramble about seeing past, present, and future as he ascended gave me a question: if Badgey has become a non-linear, omnipotent being, what is the impact on the timeline? My thought is that delta insignia seen in Starfleet and past human organizations may actually be part of a bootstrap paradox; the delta insignia inspires Badgey, and then eventually, Badgey, after becoming non-linear and being part of all time and space, causes the the delta insignia that inspired his form in the first place.
The title was first used in the context of the Progenitors in TNG: “The Chase” when Picard remarked, “[The puzzle] is 4 billion years old. A computer program from a highly advanced civilisation, and it's hidden in the very fabric of life itself.“ In DIS: “Red Directive” the phrase was used in conjunction with saying the Progenitor technology was “used to design life itself.”
Burnham activates her holographic tricorder function from her tricom badge, first introduced in DIS: “Scavengers” as the 32nd Century combination tricorder, communicator and personal transporter. She also materializes a 32nd Century phaser pistol, which can be summoned at will thanks to it being composed of programmable matter.
Window-like gateways allowing instantaneous travel to other worlds was a hallmark of another ancient civilization, the Iconians (TNG: “Contagion”), who used them to control a vast empire which was destroyed over 200,000 years prior, although there were still survivors existing into the 32nd Century (DIS: “The Examples”). Their gateways also survived, with one being the focus of conflict in DS9: “To the Death”.
Tahal’s fleet will arrive in 60 minutes. Primarch Tahal is one of the five remaining Primarchs of the Bree Imperium, and in the past conquered Kellerun, Rayner’s planet. Rayner was the only survivor of his family.
Burnham has indeed seen the future - in DIS: “Face the Strange” she and Rayner were jumped 30 years ahead to see a lifeless Discovery and a Federation HQ devastated by the Breen thanks to them using Progenitor tech.
Rayner refers to the avalanche caused by Moll and L’ak on Q’Mau in order to facilitate their escape (DIS: “Red Directive”).
Culber gives Book a shot to counter radiation sickness. In TOS: “The Deadly Years”, the drug of choice to do that was hyronalin, was which also used during the TNG era in several episodes. Culber has had an existential crisis ever since he became host to the memories and personality of Jinaal on Trill (DIS: “Jinaal”).
Moll put L’ak in her personal pattern buffer in DIS: “Lagrange Point” to keep him safe.
Using plasma to take out multiple hostiles was a tactic used by Worf’s brother Kurn, who went to warp near the surface of a star, setting off a flare which destroyed his pursuers (TNG: “Redemption II”). In TNG: “Descent, Part II”, the Enterprise-D under Beverly Crusher’s command fired a particle beam into a star to make it erupt and destroy a Borg ship.
Culber tells Book to adjust the tractor beam to subspace resonance frequency 5.1732, then uses the classic “I’m a doctor, not a…” trope associated most with McCoy from TOS (my personal favorite is from TOS: “The Devil in the Dark”, where he complains about treating the silicon-based Horta with, “I’m a doctor, not a bricklayer!”).
Ferengi rummy is presumably a card game. Rummy is the name given to a group of Earth card games, with the most common variant being Gin Rummy. It is claimed that the name comes from using rum as betting stakes.
The Progenitor that greets Burnham is in an updated version of the original Progenitor makeup from TNG: “The Chase” (played then by Salome Jens, who went on to play the female Founder in DS9).
The Galactic Barrier is an energy field that surrounds the Milky Way, penetrated by the USS Enterprise in TOS: “Where No Man Has Gone Before” and then again in TOS: “By Any Other Name”. The Barrier also featured in DIS Season 4, with Species 10-C living beyond it in extragalactic space. The origins of the Barrier have never been explained on screen, although beta canon has offered some possibilities, one of which was the Progenitors (William Shatner and Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens’ Captain’s Glory).
The Progenitors were not the creators of the technology but think that it was made by their creators. So, basically, it’s Progenitors all the way down. And while they effectively could recreate a live body from a dead one, it would basically be a clone without any of the previous body’s memories or personality.
The Betazoid scientist Dr Marina Derex was one of those that discovered the Progenitor tech 800 years prior. Her clue was in the manuscript of her book, Labyrinths of the Mind (DIS: “Labyrinths”).
This is the first time Discovery has shown the ability to separate its saucer from its secondary hull. Saucer separation was mentioned as being possible in TOS behind the scenes documents but it was not until TNG: “Encounter at Farpoint” that separation (and rejoining) became a fact on screen.
“Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations” is a tenet of Vulcan philosophy, first mentioned in TOS: “Is There in Truth No Beauty?”, also known as IDIC. In-universe, it dates back to at least Surak’s time, c.300 CE (ENT: “The Forge”).
When Kovich tells her that all information regarding the Progenitor tech will be classified, Burnham quips she knows how those things work. When Discovery jumped to the 32nd Century at the end of Season 2 to prevent misuse of the Sphere Data, all knowledge of the spore drive was classified and scrubbed from 23rd century records, and even as far as the 32nd century was concerned the original Discovery was destroyed back then.
The device Burnham holds gives her access to the Infinity Room, a highly secure conference space, first seen in DIS: “Red Directive”.
Kovich cryptically says he’s “lived many years and many lives”. Given the scope of the Star Trek universe, this could very well be more than metaphorical. On the shelf behind him we see a bottle of Château Picard, Geordi LaForge’s VISOR and Benjamin Sisko’s baseball.
Agent Daniels first appeared in ENT: “Cold Front” as Crewman Daniels of the NX-01 Enterprise (which technically didn’t have a USS prefix until its refit). He was revealed to be a Time Agent, a temporal operative from the 31st Century fighting in the Temporal Cold War. He last appeared in ENT: “Storm Front, Part II”, informing Archer that due to his actions, the Temporal War was coming to an end.
Talaxians, of course, are Neelix’s race (VOY), last referenced in a reading list that included A Comprehensive Guide to Talaxian Hair Styles. The Eternal Archive also gave Book a cutting from the World Root, a tree system that extended across his now-destroyed planet Kwejian (DIS: “Labyrinths”). He planted it on Sanctuary Four, a planet used as a wildlife sanctuary for trance worms, one of which, nicknamed Molly was delivered there by Book in DIS: “That Hope is You, Part 1”.
The box on the table across from Admiral Burnham’s bed is the one made of Tulí wood, that contained the World Root cuttings, given to Book by the Eternal Archive. The color of the vegetation outside the window identifies the planet as Sanctuary Four.
Crepuscula was the very first planet we saw in the series, back in the first scene of DIS: “The Vulcan Hello”. Burnham and Philippa Georgiou performed a covert mission to restore the Crepusulans’ water supply, as the species was subject to General Order 1.
The age of Burnham’s son (and his Captain’s rank) implies that at least thirty-odd years have passed since Saru’s wedding.
Technically speaking, one “aye” means “I understand,” in response to information while “aye aye” means “I understand and will comply,” in response to an order.
Burnham’s shuttle bears the designation “UFP 47”, with 47 being a number which appears frequently in Star Trek, an in-joke started by TNG writer Joe Menosky, who was part of the 47 Society at California’s Pomona College. In the lake we see trance worms swimming. The warp streaks as the shuttle travels are consistent with what we saw of the pathway drive.
Burnham and Book’s son is named Leto, after Book’s nephew who died when Kwejian was destroyed (DIS: “Kobayashi Maru”).
The ending finally brings continuity in line with ST: “Calypso”, where Craft came across a deserted Discovery, empty save for Zora, adrift for a thousand years in deep space. For the longest time we were wondering how it would work since the starship was shown without its “A” suffix, which she obtained when refitted in the 32nd Century to hide her origins in the 23rd Century. The removal of the “A” by DOTs as Burnham’s shuttle flies in, the reattchment of the ship's nacelles and Burnham's use of the term “Red Directive” implies that this is due to Kovich/Daniels’ instructions, and the restoration of the original ship is to bring it in line with history due to timey-wimey reasons.
The title refers to points of gravitational equilibrium in space between two gravitationally massive objects, named Lagrange points after Italian scientist Joseph-Louis Lagrange (1736-1813). Five Lagrange points can be defined for two bodies. Lagrange points are well known in science fiction as locations where orbital colonies like O’Neill cylinders can be anchored with minimal need for thrusters to keep them from drifting.
Tahal was the Breen Primarch that made Kellerun into a forward base in the past, as stated by Rayner in DIS: “Erigah”.
Rillak is informed that Moll’s dreadnought has exited a transwarp tunnel. Transwarp conduits were first seen being used by the Borg to achieve speeds at least twenty times more than a Galaxy-class ship’s maximum warp (TNG: “Descent”). After the Borg were decimated in VOY: “Endgame”, the conduits remained and were utilized by others (PIC: “Broken Pieces”). In the 32nd Century, Osyraa used a transwarp tunnel to chase down Discovery (DIS: “Su’Kal”.). The use of transwarp networks might explain how the Breen dealt with the deactivation of dilithium during the Burn.
Discovery has a cloaking device, fitted when it was installed with 32nd Century technology (DIS: “That Hope is You, Part 2”). As per last week’s annotations, the 24th Century prohibition against the Federation using cloaking technology due to the Treaty of Algeron no longer appears to apply.
Primordial black holes are black holes that are believed to have formed very soon after the Big Bang. In Season 4, it was hypothesized that the Dark Matter Anomaly might have been a primordial wormhole, but this turned out to be incorrect (DIS: “Anomaly”).
From the viewscreen, the Progenitor technology is anchored at Lagrange Point 1, or L1, between the two bodies where their gravitational forces and centrifugal force balance out. The problem, however, is that L1, L2 and L3 are not great positions because they are still dynamically unstable, meaning objects there will still fall out of orbit without regular course and attitude corrections (every three weeks or so). Also, L4 and L5 are stable but only if the mass ratio between the two masses exceeds 24.96, which means the second black hole has to be much smaller than the first one for that to work. Not that real-world physics ever got in the way of the Rule of Cool in Star Trek, but still, if you're going to call an episode "Lagrange Point"…
Duranium alloys are commonly used in starship and starbase hulls across the galaxy. According to the Deep Space Nine Technical Manual, duranium occurs naturally in planetary crusts.
The EDF refers to the Earth Defence Force, which was the primary military arm of Earth prior to them rejoining the Federation (DIS: “People of Earth”). Despite being host to a Trill symbiont, Adira is human and was a member of the EDF at the time they took on the symbiont.
An unshielded exhaust port is, of course, the critical vulnerability of the first Death Star from Star Wars. As stated in DIS: “Labyrinths”, Breen code is in base-20, or duodeca.
Kira and Dukat also took advantage of Breen full-body suits, using them as a disguise in DS9: “Indiscretion” when they infiltrated a Breen labor camp.
The use of a transporter pattern buffer to preserve bodies was first seen in TNG: “Relics”, and subsequently used in DS9: “Our Man Bashir” and VOY: “Counterpoint”. We’ve also seen it used for medical reasons in SNW Season 1 (M’Benga’s daughter and during the Klingon War in SNW: “Under the Cloak of War”) and in DIS: “Stormy Weather”. As a security precaution, enemies can also be held in mid-transport as seen in TOS: “Day of the Dove”.
Primarch Ruhn also called the Federation “spineless, insignificant achworms” in DIS: “Erigah”.
The Pathway drive is a prototype stardrive of which little has been revealed. The prototype was installed on the Voyager-J for testing (DIS: “Kobayashi Maru”) the previous year. This is the first time that it’s been stated that the Mitchell also has one, perhaps indicating that it is out of the testing phase.
We are reminded again that Burnham’s primary training is in xenoanthropology (DIS: “The Vulcan Hello”).
“A grum of osikod” is a quotation from the Kellerun Ballad of Krul (DIS: “Mirrors”). From context it seems to mean the equivalent of “a pinch of salt”. But referencing Kellerun gives Rayner the cue to pay attention when Burnham says “flying out there all alone, out in space… I always knew my crew would come for me.”
“Failure is not an option,” is a saying famously associated with NASA Flight Director Gene Kranz during the Apollo 13 rescue mission, although he never actually said it. It was coined for the 1995 movie and became the tagline for it.
The title refers to Labyrinths of the Mind, a book written by Dr Marina Derex, a Betazoid and one of the group that hid the Progenitor technology 800 years prior. A labyrinth is also a term for a maze, the original designed by the inventor Daedelus of Greek myth to house the Minotaur.
As mentioned in DIS: “Erigah”, L’ak was the Scion, a direct descendant of the Breen emperor, and held the genetic code of the Yod-Thot, “they who rule”, without whom his uncle, Primarch Ruhn, could not claim the throne. In DIS: “Jinaal”, Stamets discovered the the Progenitor techonlogy could potentially bring someone back to life.
Discovery jumps to just outside the Badlands, first appearing in DS9: “The Maquis” as an area of violent plasma storms in proximity to Bajor and Cardassia.
The shape of Hy’Rell’s head bumps resemble those of Xindi-Primates, first appearing in ENT: “The Xindi”, one of six intelligent Xindi species that were native to Xindus. The other possibility, taking into account her long white hair and blue eyes, is that she’s an Efrosian (ST VI).
Cerenkov radiation is created when particles exceed the speed of light in a given medium, creating a shockwave with a characteristic blue glow. In real life, it is most often seen around nuclear reactors submerged in water (the speed of light in water is 75% of that in vacuum, allowing emissions from the reactor to exceed that).
Discovery was given the ability to cloak when it was refitted (DIS: “That Hope is You, Part 2”). During the 24th Century, the Treaty of Algeron forbade the Federation from using or developing cloaking devices (TNG: "The Pegasus"), with a notable exception being the Defiant during the Dominion War (DS9: “The Search”). Apparently that prohibition no longer applies in the 32nd Century. Cerenkovn, Book’s world, was destroyed in DIS: “Kobayashi Maru”, making him one of the last of his species.
The scenes in the Eternal Archive were filmed at the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library in Toronto, Canada.
An oubliette is a specific type of dungeon, of which the only access is a trap door installed in the ceiling of the dungeon, and usually extremely narrow, such that the prisoner was unable to sit down.
The Tuli tree was native to Kwejian and had a distinctive smell to its sap. The decor of Book’s ship was made to simulate Tuli wood (DIS: “Stormy Weather”). Inside the box are cuttings from the World Root, a tree root system that reached all the way around the planet (DIS: “Kobayashi Maru”) and was sacred to the Kwejian.
Culber identifies the device affecting Burnham as a nucleonic emitter. Nucleonic particles appear in a number of places in Star Trek lore, but most appropriately in TNG: “The Inner Light”, where a nucleonic beam from a Kataan probe was responsible for sending Picard into a mindscape where he lived out a simulated lifetime in a similar manner to what Burnham is experiencing. In that episode, an attempt to disrupt the beam nearly killed Picard, which is the risk Culber is alluding to.
The old school card index drawers Burnham looks at makes me nostalgic for the days when I was a student librarian (yes, I’m old). The mindscape Archives’ category number for history is 002818/5 - in our Dewey Decimal System, history (and geography) is 900.
Book says “Those who learn history aren’t doomed to repeat it.” The usual phrasing of that adage is “Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” The philosopher George Satayana is credited with the original “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
Burnham refers to the itronok, a predatory species they encounted on Trill while searching for the clue there (DIS: “Jinaal”).
Trémaux’s algorithm is a maze-solving method devised by Charles Pierre Trémaux, which involves drawing lines on the floor marking a path. A version of it - called a depth first search - is used to search tree or graph data structures.
Derex’s reading list references Talaxians, Neelix’s species from VOY and Hupyrians, the species of the Ferengi Grand Nagus’ servants (DS9: “The Nagus”, et al.). Euclid was a Greek mathematician who devised an axiomatic system for geometry.
Rhys intends to use the plasma storms for cover, which is exactly what made the Badlands effective as a hiding place for the Bajoran Resistance and the Maquis back in their day.
Matching weapons to shield frequencies to get past them is a tried and true method, demonstrated most dramatically when the Enterprise-D was destroyed in ST: Generations. Duodeca is a base-20 system.
Hysperia is a planet where the inhabitants have a culture based on a medieval fantasy motif (LD: “Where Pleasant Fountains Lie”). In the 24th Century, Chief Engineer Billups of the USS Cerritos was a native of Hysperia and the ostensible Crown Prince, although he abdicated that position.
Commander Jemison shares a last name with former astronaut Mae Jemison, the first African-American woman in space, who appeared in TNG: “Second Chances” as LT jg Palmer.
A tergun is a sacred Breen oath. Ruhn’s remark that the Federation to save the few would risk the many is reminiscent of Kirk’s inversion in ST III of Spock’s adage about the needs of the many and the few from ST II: “The needs of the one outweighed the needs of the many.”
“Never turn your back on a Breen” is a Romulan saying (DS9: “By Inferno’s Light”), cited by Rayner in DIS: “Erigah”.
As stated in DIS: “Mirrors”, an erigah is a Breen blood bounty.
The ship holding Moll and L’ak’s shuttle in a tractor beam is the USS Locherer (NCC-325062), a Merian-class starship first seen in DIS: “Jinaal” and named after the late J.P. Locherer, who was a cinematographer on the show.
Burnham identifies subspace frequency Epsilon 19 as a courier channel and that “special offer” is a courier distress code. With her is Commander Nhan, a Barzan who journeyed with Discovery from the 23rd Century but subsequently transferred to Federation Security in the 32nd. She was last seen in DIS: “Rubicon”.
Nhan refers to what happened between her and Book at their last encounter, when she argued for destroying his ship to prevent him using the isolytic weapon she mentioned. So there’s a bit of awkward history there.
A sa-te kru cat is a Vulcan species, a large predator similar to the le-matya. It was mentioned in the novel Vulcan’s Forge, but this is its first on-screen mention.
Given the Breen first appeared in DS9, there are plenty of back references to the series.
Culber says that there’s some evidence Breen are capable of “somatic cell” regeneration in extreme cold. This tracks with reports that the Breen homeworld had a freezing climate (DS9: “Til Death Do Us Part”) and that they wore refrigeration suits (DS9: “The Changing Face of Evil”). I’m not sure why Culber needs to distinguish “somatic cell”, since that is really any other cell in the body aside from sperm and egg cells, but I guess it sounds medically cool.
Breen Dreadnoughts (Rezeth Destroyers) are ships from Star Trek Online. As we see later, the 32nd Century version is much bigger.
The Breen used to be a Confederacy in the 24th Century (DS9: “Strange Bedfellows”) but somewhere along the way it’s become an Imperium. There are six primarchs vying for the throne in the wake of the emperor’s death.
Rayner talks about the last time the Breen entered Federation space. With Vance saying that Starfleet was caught flat-footed, this is probably referring to the Breen sneak attack on Earth during the Dominion War which heavily damaged Starfleet Headquarters and San Francisco (“The Changing Face of Evil”). Tilly’s later remark about the Breen “destroying an entire city” may also refer to this.
Using thoron emitters and duranium shadows to fool enemy sensors is a reference to DS9: “Emissary”, when the station used such a tactic to block sensors and make themselves appear better armed than they were. In DS9: “The Way of the Warrior”, the Changeling Martok believed the station was pulling the same trick, but that time he proved to be wrong. The Romulan saying “Never turn your back on a Breen” is from DS9: “By Inferno’s Light”.
The yellow alert symbols are the same design as the “Alert: Condition Red” indicators dating back to ST II, albeit in yellow. The USS Mitchell (NCC-325027), another Merian-class starship, is named after the late Kenneth Mitchell, who played Kol, Kol-sha and Aurellio in DIS. She was last mentioned in DIS: “Coming Home”.
L’ak is Primarch Ruhn’s nephew and carries within him the genetic code of the Yod-Thot, “they who rule”. He is also a direct descendant of the emperor and Ruhn cannot claim the throne without him.
One of Reno’s former jobs was as a bartender - the closed captioning says “Ashalon IV”, but it might be a misspelling of “ Aschelan IV”. Aschelan V was a planet which housed a Cardassian fuel depot (DS9: “Dreadnought”). She refers to a cocktail named “Seven of Limes”, which is an obvious pun on Seven of Nine, although Reno may not know the name’s provenance given that she left for the future about a century before Annika Hansen was assimilated.
A “Code One Alpha” is probably related to or the same as the 23rd-24th Century “Code One Alpha Zero” which is an emergency condition ordered when there is an attack (ST 2009) or a distress call (TNG: “Relics”).
Kellerun was, for a time, used as a Breen forward base by Primarch Tahal. Since Rayner was there, it must have been relatively recent, although to be fair we don’t know how long Kellerun live.
Reno remarks that the hunt “sounds like something out of a holodeck adventure for the littles.” She may be referring to The Littles, a series of children’s adventure novels featuring a family of tiny humanoids with mice-like faces and tails that were written between 1967 and 2003 by John Peterson. There was also an animated series that ran for 3 seasons between 1983 and 1985. Or I’m overthinking and she’s just talking about kids in general.
Rayner says Tahal named her ship the Tau Ceti after a lethal viper with a slow acting venom. Tau Ceti, is of course, the name of a star 12 light years away from Earth and has been mentioned many times in Star Trek.
Bopak III was an uninhabited planet (at least in 2372) in the Gamma Quadrant and the location for the events of DS9: “Hippocratic Oath”.
Tricordrazine is a stimulant apparently derived from cordrazine (TOS: “The City on the Edge of Forever”) and appeared in several TNG episodes, including TNG: “Ethics” and “Shades of Grey”.
The Badlands is an area of space in proximity to Cardassia and Bajor (and DS9), known for its violent plasma storms (DS9: “The Maquis”). Both the Bajoran Resistance and the Maquis used it as a staging area to hide from enemy patrols during their respective conflicts. In 2371, while pursuing a Maquis ship there, the USS Voyager was hurled across the galaxy to the Delta Quadrant by an alien force (VOY: “Caretaker”).
