this post was submitted on 11 Sep 2025
47 points (98.0% liked)
Star Trek Social Club
12832 readers
153 users here now
r/startrek: The Next Generation
Star Trek news and discussion. No slash fic...
Maybe a little slash fic.
New to Star Trek and wondering where to start?
Rules
1 Be constructive
All posts/comments must be thoughtful and balanced.
2 Be welcoming
It is important that everyone from newbies to OG Trekkers feel welcome, no matter their gender, sexual orientation, religion or race.
3 Be truthful
All posts/comments must be factually accurate and verifiable. We are not a place for gossip, rumors, or manipulative or misleading content.
4 Be nice
If a polite way cannot be found to phrase what it is you want to say, don't say anything at all. Insulting or disparaging remarks about any human being are expressly not allowed.
5 Spoilers
Utilize the spoiler system for any and all spoilers relating to the most recently-aired episode. There is no formal spoiler protection for episodes/films after they have been available for approximately one week.
6 Keep on-topic
All submissions must be directly about the Star Trek franchise (the shows, movies, books, etc.). Off-topic discussions are welcome at c/Quarks.
7 Meta
Questions and concerns about moderator actions should be brought forward via DM.
Upcoming Episodes
| Date | Episode | Title |
|---|---|---|
| 08-21 | SNW 3x07 | "What Is Starfleet?" |
| 08-28 | SNW 3x08 | "Four-and-a-Half Vulcans" |
| 09-04 | SNW 3x09 | "Terrarium" |
| 09-11 | SNW 3x10 | "New Life and New Civilizations" |
| TBA | SFA 1x01 | TBA |
In Production
Strange New Worlds (TBA)
Starfleet Academy (2026)
In Development
Untitled comedy series
Wondering where to stream a series? Check here.
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
I thought that the way they came to understanding what was going on was a little rushed and a bit too speculative, not being based on actual evidence and it was just convenient that they happened to be right that Batel was the Beholder. That entire bit of exposition sounded like it was out of Doctor Who rather than Star Trek: rapid fire vaguely plausible assertions that you just gloss over to get along with the plot and treating concepts like evil not as abstract but actual entities. There was none of the tension of putting things together from actual clues.
Are we meant to believe then that there is a degree of time travel or simultaneity going on? Because aside from the glib “effect before cause” thing which is the equivalent of “shut up, just run with it”, how precisely does Batel become the Beholder? How does three sets of DNA in her - Gorn, Human and Illyrian - translate to having all the abilities of all races that have faced evil?
It would have made more sense to have her go back in time after defeating Gamble (which is what I was expecting) or to say that the prison existed in non-linear time or something. As it is, it’s left pretty much up in the air and we are asked to accept it.
Are we also meant to believe that she was the one who left the messages for M’Benga and La’An, and why leave them in Swahili and Chinese respectively? Why not just put them in English? And how did Batel learn those langauges?
There were good bits, and heartfelt bits, but mostly it was kind of meh for me as finales go.
I wanted to sleep on this one too see if there would be anything I would appreciate after some reflection, but...no, not really.
I think this is a big part of what didn't work for me. They really wanted to get to the fireworks factory, and sidestepped most of the interesting potential in order to get there.
The extended fantasy/hallucination was the strongest part of the episode, but...it seemed to be entirely about Pike. Did Batel even experience it? The episode seemed completely uninterested in what she might be going through as she prepared to sacrifice herself.
And the conflict itself suffers from the "pah wraith problem" - I'm fine with the idea of a conflict between primordial good and evil...but it's hard to make it interesting. All you can really do is focus on how it affects the people involved, and they were only semi-successful at that.
From what I get it, the fantasy/hallucination wss made by Batel for herself and Pike, because she knew they would never see again andshe (somehow, I guess that's part of the Beholder superpower?) constructed a fake world so they could, in some way, live their life together. That's why Pike didn't suffer the accident, and that's why Bayel thanks him on her deathbed and tells him to open the door. She got her life together with him, it was time to get back to reality and become the Guardian.
That's also why the falling star happears in the planet, she told him she would follow everywhere in his heart, and a falling star happears ("here I am" she says in the fantasy life).
Yeah, I think you're right - that's the only anwer that makes any kind of sense. I was just thrown by the fact that Real Batel showed absolutely no awareness of, or interest in, what had happened when Pike snapped out of it. At least, that's what I remember - I haven't gone back to double-check.
The entire episode, while enjoyable, was prettt rushed, if it was split in a two-parts season finale they would probably fit in more explaination scenes, like at least an aknowledgement from Batel and some more explaining/exploration of what she was.