Star Trek: Mirror Universe Interpreted: What Happened Following Deep Space Nine
The second Star Trek Prodigy season returned us to the dark and twisted Mirror Universe, where the familiar Star Trek faces are twisted into merciless despot rulers. But following Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's events, what became of this other reality? Allow us to explore the chronology of this eerie mirror of our dear Star Trek universe.
The Mirror Universe following Deep Space Nine
The Mirror Universe had reached a critical junctur in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. A strong alliance of Klingons and Cardassians had driven the merciless Emperor's territory, the Terran Empire, toward catastrophe almost certain. But a tiny band of rebels headed by the Mirror Universe variant of Worf, the Klingon warrior, emerged from the Empire and finally reclaimed authority. This triumph seemed to point toward the Mirror Universe moving toward a more compassionate future.
But as Star Trek: Prodigy exposed, things weren't quite as sunny as they seemed. Prodigy co-executive producer Aaron J. Waltke illuminated the situation of the Mirror Universe roughly ten years following Deep Space Nine's events. Having tasted success, he says the Terran Empire turned back to its ancient, cruel methods.
"I knew exactly where we left off with the Mirror Universe: first, they were on their heels under attack from the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance. But then, the last we saw of them in Deep Space Nine, they had effectively kind of turned back that advance, and it seemed like they would at last be able to reconstruct their empire. Thus, it seems improbable in my mind that they would all simply be nice guys now. Particularly because Mirror Spock finally, as said in DS9, is making significant changes to their society, which allowed their society to fall and become susceptible to the other outside forces. We therefore reasoned that at least some fraction would most likely be like, "We have to go back to the old ways". And that's how we obtain the traditional sleeveless shirts and the knives they have fastened to their small holsters," Waltke said.
The coming back of the Terran Armada
Seeming to embrace the infamous "old ways," the Terran Empire clung to its brutal customs. This resulted in the creation of the Terran Armada, a powerful military force under the terrifying Admiral Janeway, Mirror Universe counterpart of Voyager's beloved Captain Kathryn Janeway. Clad in the trademark sleeveless uniform of the Terran Empire and wielding a wicked-looking knife, this reflected Janeway, a far cry from her Prime Universe counterpart, so attesting to the terrible nature of the Mirror Universe.
"And I love it; I know a lot of people think the Mirror Universe is overdone when you talk about it. And why is it just in for like eight minutes of the episode? Who didn't want to see that? Come along. And so we reasoned that at least some of the Mirror Universe might say, "Let's return to our old ways and form the new Terran Armada." And that's where we get to Mirror Janeway, which was somewhat inspired in some elements by the Mirror Janeway we see in Star Trek Online but we added our own touches too," said Waltke.
Divergent Path in the Mirror Universe
Equipped with the horrific Agonizer weapon, the Terran Armada once more asserts Empire rule over the galaxy. Still a dark mirror of the Prime Universe, the Mirror Universe reminds us of what might have been had things gone different.
Fascinatingly, Star Trek: Discovery showed that finally the Mirror Universe and the Prime Universe separate, resulting in quite different paths of destiny. The Mirror Universe, despite sporadic flashes of hope, stays a world of darkness and cruelty while the Prime Universe keeps changing. Although the Terran Empire will eventually face its own particular difficulties and fate, leaving its story as an ominous, intriguing parallel to the Star Trek universe we know and love, it will still be reasserting its power.
