A big question lingering from Star Trek: Discovery has been answered ahead of Star Trek: Section 31's premiere. The first Star Trek movie made for streaming on Paramount+, Section 31 premieres on Friday, January 24, 2025. Star Trek: Section 31 is headlined by Academy Award-winner Michelle Yeoh, who returns in her iconic role as Emperor Philippa Georgiou from Star Trek: Discovery.
Emperor Georgiou was last seen in Star Trek: Discovery season 3, where she was sent to an unknown time and place by the Guardian of Forever (Paul Guilfoyle). Georgiou, who hails from the Mirror Universe, was dying from the combination of time travel and crossing universes. The Guardian of Forever sent Georgiou to a time when Star Trek's Prime Universe and Mirror Universe were more closely aligned. Star Trek: Section 31 reveals Georgiou landed in the early 24th century "lost era" before Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Section 31 Answers Star Trek: Discovery’s Georgiou Question
Emperor Georgiou Is Hiding In Plain Sight
Star Trek's Instagram account highlighted some of the franchise's 'Rogues and Scoundels,' which a special focus on Star Trek: Section 31's cast of characters. Emperor Georgiou received her own entry, which contains intriguing new information that Philippa "lives under a new alias" and owns a nightclub beyond the United Federation of Planets called The Barram. Read the quote from Emperor Georgiou's entry card below:
Unable to return to the Terran Empire, Emperor Philippa Georgiou lives under a new alias as owner of The Baraam, a nightclub operating outside of Federation space. That is, until Section 31 enlists her to help protect the Federation while also facing the sins of her past.
Emperor Georgiou's Star Trek Rogues and Scoundels reveal answers the question of how Philippa hasn't been detected by Starfleet. After all, Georgiou is a known entity to the Federation, even if Section 31 takes place decades after Star Trek: Discovery. Georgiou using an alias also keeps her true identity guarded since Starfleet believes Philippa died along with the crew of the USS Discovery while defeating Section 31's genocidal A.I., Control, at the end of Star Trek: Discovery season 2.
Is Emperor Georgiou Part Of Starfleet In Section 31?
Georgiou's Starfleet Status Becomes Clearer
In Star Trek: Discovery season 1, Emperor Georgiou posed as her deceased Prime Universe counterpart, Captain Philippa Georgiou, when she jumped from the Mirror Universe. Georgiou then joined Section 31 in Star Trek: Discovery season 2. Technically, Emperor Georgiou was not a member of Starfleet and was just pretending as Captain Georgiou. Section 31 is a separate branch of the Federation, so Georgiou still doesn't join when Section 31 recruits her in the next Star Trek movie.
Thus far, the only known member of Starfleet in Star Trek: Section 31 is future USS Enterprise-C Captain Rachel Garrett (Kacey Rohl), who is assigned to Alok Sahar's (Omari Hardwick) Section 31 team to ensure they don't commit crimes against the Federation. Emperor Georgiou's alias at The Barram is known to Section 31 when Alok's group recruits Philippa for a new covert mission. It's likely that Emperor Georgiou does not align herself with Starfleet regardless of what happens in Star Trek: Section 31.
Source: Star Trek Instagram
Director Olatunde Osunsanmi
Studio(s) CBS
Release Date January 24, 2025
Writers Craig Sweeney
English (US) ·