59 Years Later, Star Trek Officially Retcons One of Its Most Iconic Original Series Episodes

Warning: contains spoilers for Star Trek: Deviations: Threads of Destiny!

59 years later, Star Trek retcons one of The Original Series’ most iconic episodes. The Star Trek franchise has had its share of epic episodes that are seared in fans' memories throughout its 60-year history. Now, one of the very best Original Series episodes gets a retcon that still honors the spirit of the original.

Airing in Star Trek’s first season, “City on the Edge of Forever” is rightfully regarded as a classic. Based on a story by acclaimed science fiction writer Harlan Ellison, the episode sends Kirk and Spock back in time to prevent a drugged up Doctor McCoy from changing history by preventing the death of a seemingly random social worker.

What should have been a fairly straightforward mission soon ran into complications, namely Kirk falling in love with the social worker, named Edith Keeler. In the episode’s unforgettable climax, Kirk must watch her die in order to preserve the proper flow of history, and ensure he and the crew have a world to go home to.

"City on the Edge of Forever" Just Got an Awesome Update

Star Trek: Deviations: Threads of Destiny Is Also a Tribute to Nichelle Nichols

Now, in Star Trek: Deviations: Threads of Destiny, this classic episode is updated. The plot is roughly the same: the Enterprise, while investigating ripples in time, is drawn to a mysterious planet. They find a desolate and empty world, and a time portal. But that is where the similarities end.

Writer Stephanie Williams and artist Gregory Maldonado, instead of focusing the action on Kirk, Spock and McCoy, they center Uhura as the main character. In the original episode, Kirk and company traveled back to Depression-era America, but in Threads of Destiny, Uhura is sent back to the Civil Rights era, where she meets Doctor Martin Luther King Jr.

Williams and Maldonado’s story is a tribute to original Uhura actress Nichelle Nichols’ Civil Rights work, which saw her famously meet Doctor King early in the filming of The Original Series. Nichols was thinking of leaving the show, but Doctor King convinced her to stay. In this issue, Uhura comes face to face with Doctor King.

Threads of Destiny Charts a New Course for the Guardian of Forever

Star Trek Has Retconned the Guardian of Forever Once Before

There are other differences between Threads of Destiny and “City on the Edge of Forever.” In “City…” Kirk and his crew travel back through a donut-shaped portal called the Guardian of Forever. In Threads, the portals are glass mirrors, overseen by a nebbish-looking man who calls himself “the Keeper of Time.”

This is actually not Star Trek’s first time changing the nature of the Guardian of Forever. In Star Trek: Discovery’s third season, Michael Burnham met the Guardian, who appeared to her as an older human man. The Keeper of Time, seen in Threads of Destiny, is a shout-out to this retcon.

Threads of Destiny Was a Key Story for Both Uhura and the Guardian of Forever

Uhura's Meeting With Doctor Martin Luther King Reenergzied Her

One constant throughout both “City on the Edge of Forever” and Threads of Destiny is their emotional impact. As noted earlier, Kirk watched a woman he loved die. Edith Keeler would have led a peace movement delaying the United States’ entry into the Second World War, giving the Nazis time to build atomic bombs and conquer the world.

Kirk was in a dire situation, one that challenged his belief in a “no-win” scenario, but Uhura finds herself on a different, but no less emotional, path. By Uhura’s time, Earth has moved beyond racism, and when she encounters it shortly after arriving in the 1960s, it is a jarring experience for her.

Yet whereas Kirk was left emotionally devastated by the experience, Uhura seems to come back from her journey even more resolute in her desire to build a better world. Uhura, like Kirk, saw the ugliness of life on Earth in the 20th century, but Uhura got to see the good aspects, like Doctor King, as well.

Threads of Destiny Is a Successful Star Trek Retcon

Threads of Destiny's Creative Team Honors "City on the Edge of Forever"

Star Trek: Deviations: Threads of Destiny shows how to do a retcon properly. Threads of Destiny honors “City on the Edge of Forever” by not copying it, but instead building off of it. “City on the Edge…” was done right the first time, and Williams and Maldonado have crafted the perfect tribute to this iconic Original Series episode.

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