‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Bonus Scene Confirms Section 31 For Season 2

A secret bonus scene from the Star Trek: Discovery Season One finale was revealed today at WonderCon. The scene confirms a major fan theory stemming from earlier in the season and the presence of an important organization in the show’s second season.

The bonus scene was originally filmed for the Star Trek: Discovery Season One finale episode “Will You Take My Hand?” Ultimately it was removed from the episode and kept aside for reveal at the WonderCon panel.

The bonus scene catches up with former Terran Emperor Phillipa Georgiou sometime after the aborted mission to blow up Qo’noS. Georgiou is now running a bar in the Orion compound on Qo’noS, where she is approached by a new character named Leland, played by Alan Van Sprang. Leland presents himself as a Trill, but Georgiou easily sees through the disguise. She assumes Leland, who is actually a human, is a Starfleet agent sent by the Federation. Instead, Leland offers Georgiou a chance to use her skills to the fullest and help shape her new universe. He hands her case containing a black badge and welcomes her to Section 31.

Check out the scene above.

The black Starfleet badges first appeared in the third episode of Star Trek: Discovery, “Context Is For Kings.” Fans immediately began speculating about what the badges, which had never been seen before, could mean. That the USS Discovery’s serial number, NCC-1031, led to speculation that Section 31 was operating aboard the ship.

The theory seemed to die down a bit after it was revealed that Discovery’s sister ship, the USS Glenn, had the registry number NCC-1030. The numbers seemed off given that the Enterprise’s number is NCC-1701, but they did seem sequential rather than purposely meant to hint at any shady connections. That Captain Gabriel Lorca, whose leadership style was at best unorthodox for a Starfleet captain and encouraged similar speculation, ended up being from the mirror universe rather than an agent of Section 31 himself seemed to put the theory to bed.

But the black Starfleet badges were never explained. Some assumed it had something to do with Discovery’s top secret “black alert” protocol for operating the experimental spore drive, but fans now know that it is indeed the insignia of Section 31.

Section 31 is a secretive organization that operates with Federation interests in mind, but without any oversight from the Federation or Starfleet. The organization takes its name from the section of the Starfleet charter that allows for extraordinary measures during times of extreme threats. The organization was introduced in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and then further explored in Star Trek: Enterprise. The Kelvin timeline version of the group was a major factor in the movie Star Trek Into Darkness.

Star Trek: Discovery begins filming its second season in Toronto in April.