Star Trek looks at the history of the Galactic Barrier

Star Trek: Discovery brought back the Galactic Barrier.

Star Trek: Discovery brought back a deep cut from the original series, the physical barrier that separates the Milkyway Galaxy from the rest of the universe. A force so powerful, it can rip the Enterprise apart and afflict people with ungodly abilities.

Star Trek’s official dotcom has released a neat and short video, looking at the Galactic Barrier’s timeline and all the instances it was used during past shows.

So what is it? Well, aside from the storyline purpose of keeping everything contained to one galaxy, there’s not much else known. It’s presumed to be a naturally forming barrier, but even that isn’t known to be fact.

What we do know is that the barrier has always been a source of contention, especially among scientists. Why? Because it’s not an actual thing. Isaac Asimov took issue with it, claiming that the transition from one galaxy to another would simply include a decrease of visible stars. Not some physical barrier that can turn mortal men into super-villains.

That doesn’t mean that in the world of Star Trek (the universe of Star Trek?), the barrier isn’t real, as it absolutely is. In fact, the original show was built around the concept of the Galactic Barrier.

After all, the second pilot of the series was in fact “Where No Man Has Gone”. So while it was the third episode aired, it was the first shot with William Shatner as the lead.

Rumors of the Galactic Barrier have fueled Star Trek: Discovery’s fourth season

The fourth season of Discovery is centered around trying to solve a crisis where spatial anomalies are wreaking havoc. This had led many to believe that the culprits may reside from behind the Galactic Barrier.

One alien race that could find themselves back in the fray in Star Trek is the Kelvan’s, an alien race from beyond the barrier, that also has no connection with the Kelvin Timeline in Star Trek.

We’ll find out sooner rather than later who’s beyond these spatial anomalies, but until then, we’ll just have to keep watching.