10 best Star Trek plot twists

A review of Star Trek's most intriguing plot twists
Star Trek Explorer - Captain Kirk
Star Trek Explorer - Captain Kirk | Titan Comics

In Star Trek canon, fans are aware that creators often give us a shocking or unexpected plot twist to intensify the storyline and dramatically increase the pending danger. Given the vareity of Star Trek movies and series to date - here are the top 10 most intriguing and surprising plot twists.

#10 – Janeway's Hologram in Star Trek: Prodigy

The delightful plot twist in which the teen crew of the USS Prodigy activated a hologram of Captain Janeway from the USS Voyager was a welcomed surprise and unexpected continuity in this animated series. Janeway’s presence in the series gave it a gravitas that was based in canon and the need for the crew to have a leader that understands the mechanics of their Protostar-Class starship.

#9 – Captain Pike’s injuries/Spock’s Insurrection in “The Menagerie” episodes Part 1 & 2 of TOS

The plot twist in this episode revealed the shocking injuries that left Enterprise’s first captain (Captain Pike) paralyzed, speechless, and disfigured - as the result of a mysterious accident. In compassion to help Captain Pike’s injuries, Spock overlooked his rational and logical Vulcan training and ignored Starfleet rules and protocol by faking orders from Captain Kirk and reprogrammed Enterprise’s computer to travel to the Talos star system.

#8 – USS Discovery's secret mission in Star Trek: Discovery

In the first season of Star Trek: Discovery the shocking plot twist that Discovery was secretly involved in a high-risk mission for Starfleet during the war with the Klingons, sets up the cloak-and-dagger tone and moral ambiguous themes of the show. In this new timeline it alters how we view Starfleet, and the exploration of the show's depiction of themes of betrayal, friendship, war, and secrecy.

#7 – Shinzon’s identity in Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)

The plot twist that revealed the Romulan villain (Shinzon) was actually a clone of Captain Picard created emotional ambiguity between Shinzon and Captain Picard. It also further revealed the potential dark inclinations that lay within Captain Picard as well. As Shinzon and Picard share DNA, it forces Picard to be introspective of his mortality and propensity for moral corruption.

#6 – Section 31 revealed in “Inquisition” episode of DS9

This plot twist revealed for the first time that Starfleet has a covert black ops organization, called Section 31. This divergent Starfleet organization engages in clandestine missions outside of Federation rules and regulations. Luther Sloan (a Section 31 operative) attempted to recruit Dr. Bashir to test him to affirm if he was willing to blur the lines of Starfleet regulation in favor of espionage and assassination to gain desired outcomes.

#5 - Voyager’s near destruction in “Year of Hell” Part 1 & 2 of VOG

This plot twist captured the near complete destruction and devastation of the USS Voyager by the hands of the Krenim with their time altering weapon the Chroniton Torpedo. This temporal weapon was capable of erasing objects and the ships from existence from a given timeline - including erasing Voyager’s warp core, rendering them motionless in space. The crew endured a year-long of suffering the impacts and devastation at the hands of the Krenim - which forged a bond among the surviving USS Voyager members of the crew that will likely never fade.

#4 – Captain Picard’s Borg assimilation in “The Best of Both Words” episodes Part 1 & 2 of TNG

The plot twist in these TNG episodes occurred when Captain Picard was captured by the Borg and assimilated and transformed into a Borg messenger - Locutus. The crew of the Enterprise was left with a tactical dilemma of how to save the crew from surrendering to the Borg without harming Captain Picard (Locutus). Additionally, this Locutus assimilation had future implications for Captain Picard years later in the series Star Trek: Picard.

#3 – Kirk’s death in Star Trek Generations (1994)

The plot twist of Captain Kirk’s death amidst a fan favorite Kirk/Picard team up while they attempted to stop Dr. Soran from using the Nexus Ribbon, was devastating. The energy of the Nexus Ribbon will cause the destruction of a star that would destroy countless lives in nearby planet systems and is the backdrop to the revelation that Kirk's death marks the end of TOS crew. This plot twist signifies the end of era of arguably Starfleet's greatest captain!

#2 – Captain Sisko’s compromise in “In the Pale Moonlight” of DS9

Captain Sisko’s decision to manipulate events to orchestrate the assassination of a Romulan senator to cause the Romulans to enter a war against The Dominion is quite shocking to say the least. Sisko’s moral decline and lack of Starfleet integrity for a tactical advantage demonstrates the delicate balance captains walk in determining how much of their pledge to the Federation they will compromise in the face of war and self-preservation.

#1 – Spock’s Sacrifice in “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” (1982)

In a dramatic and emotional plot twist, Spock sacrifices himself by risking his life to save the crew of the USS Enterprise by accessing the radiation exposed engineering section to restore the warp drive in attempt to give the crew a chance to escape a deadly Nebula. In a memorable exchange between Spock and Captain Kirk, Spock famously utters” The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few…or the one.”

Spock's death in "Wrath of Khan" is by far the most unexpected plot twist in the Star Trek lore. The scene with Kirk, yelling at Spock to obey his order to get out danger was heart wrenching and what made it even more emotional was Spock's attempt to comfort his friend (who was not dying) that his decision to sacrifice himself was actually logical.