Section 31’s Villain Makes No Sense

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Warning: MAJOR SPOILERS For Star Trek: Section 31Star Trek: Section 31 introduces a new villain named San (James Hiroyuki Liao), but something about him doesn’t add up. Directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi and written by Craig Sweeny, Star Trek: Section 31 marks Academy Award winner Michelle Yeoh’s return as Emperor Philippa Georgiou. Section 31 primarily takes place on Stardate 1292.4 – during Star Trek‘s 24th century “lost era” – but the movie contains flashbacks to young Georgiou’s (Miku Martineau) origin in the Mirror Universe’s Terran Empire.

In Star Trek: Discovery season 3, San was first mentioned by Emperor Georgiou as someone she loved in her past. Star Trek: Section 31 reveals San was Philippa’s teenage love who subsequently became her slave as Emperor. In Star Trek: Section 31‘s flashbacks, the adult San poisons himself and dies before Georgiou meets the USS Discovery in Star Trek: Discovery season 1. However, San is revealed as the secret villain of Star Trek: Section 31 who wants to lead the Terran Empire to conquer the United Federation of Planets.

San’s Age In Star Trek: Section 31 Makes No Sense

There’s About 70 Years Between San’s “Death” And Return

Somehow, San appears to be the same age as when he died in Star Trek: Section 31, but this doesn’t make sense. San and Georgiou are the same age and were teenagers in the early 23rd century. San faked his death sometime before 2257 when Star Trek: Discovery season 1 happens. But Star Trek: Section 31 takes place in 2324 (Stardate 1292.4 = April 17, 2324), and over 60 years have passed since San “died.” How isn’t San 60 years older than Emperor Georgiou?

Fuzz (Sven Ruygrok) says San built up an immunity to his own poison in Star Trek: Section 31, but that doesn’t explain why San didn’t age.

Emperor Georgiou’s time travel explains why hardly aged and is just a few years older than she was in Star Trek: Discovery. Georgiou jumped to the 32nd century with the USS Discovery before the Guardian of Forever (Paul Guilfoyle) sent her to the early 24th century in Star Trek: Discovery season 3. Further, Section 31 in the movie also doesn’t acknowledge that Georgiou, who was last seen in 2258, should be decades older than she appears, since Starfleet doesn’t know Georgiou went to the 32nd century with the USS Discovery and then came back.

Emperor Georgiou (MIchelle Yeoh), Melle (Humberly Gonzalez) and Quasi (Sam Richardson) in Star Trek Section 31

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The simplest solution to San’s chronological issue is that he, too, time traveled somehow, but Star Trek: Section 31 doesn’t make it clear or suggest it. Instead, Star Trek: Section 31 seems to forget that there is a 60+ year gap between Star Trek: Discovery‘s original 23rd-century setting and its 24th-century place in Star Trek‘s timeline. The state of the Terran Empire in the early 24th century is also muddled given the established canon of the Mirror Universe’s history.

What Was San’s Plan In Star Trek: Section 31?

Did San Want To Become Terran Emperor?

San’s plan in Star Trek: Section 31 also needs clarifying. San was the mysterious masked buyer who planned to acquire the Godsend from weapons dealer Dada Noe (Joe Pingue). Noe is also from the Mirror Universe and smuggled the Godsend into the Prime Universe. Once San had the Godsend, he intended to meet the Terran Empire at the Passageway, a portal between universes that was formed by twin ion storms. San intended to declare himself Emperor and use the Godsend on the Federation, which the Terran Empire would then conquer.

Michelle Yeoh as Georgiou and Kacey Rohl as Rachel Garrett in Section 31

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San’s accomplice was Fuzz, who was a mole inside Alok Sahar’s (Omari Hardwick) Section 31 Alpha Team. Fuzz’s job was to throw Section 31 off San’s scent and force the operatives to turn on each other. Fuzz, who was a microscopic Nanokin inside a Vulcan robot, joined with San so that the Nanokins could destroy the Federation and rule alongside the Terran Empire. Ultimately, Emperor Georgiou defeated San, who declared with his dying breath that he still loved Philippa after all this time. Georgiou also never questions why San didn’t age in Star Trek: Section 31.