Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Hints at the Origins of the Illyrians

By Jamie Lovett

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' first season ended on a cliffhanger. A previous episode revealed that Cmdr. Una Chin-Riley, a.k.a. "Number One," is an Illyrian, a species known for its genetic augmentations. Una has hidden her origin from Starfleet because of the United Federation of Planets' laws against genetic augmentation, which have prevented Illyrian colonies from gaining Federation membership. Even Illyrian medical technology is illegal. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' season finale saw Starfleet arrest the Enterprise's first officer after learning the truth about her augmentations. Una's future remains uncertain, but a new comic from IDW Publishing offers hints about what's to come. SPOILERS follow for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds -- The Illyrian Enigma #1 by Kirsten Beyer, Mike Johnson, Megan Levens, Charlie Kirchoff, and Neil Uyetake.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds -- The Illyrian Enigma occurs during the gap between Strange New Worlds' first and second seasons, beginning shortly after Una's arrest. Adm. April advises Capt. Pike to keep himself and his ship focused on their latest mission, but Pike figures there's no harm in doing a little research into the Illyrians. Details about them are scarce, but his crew discovers some interesting information.

Who are the Illyrians in Star Trek?

The Illyrians first appear in Star Trek canon in an episode of Star Trek: Enterprise titled "Damage." The episode saw Jonathan Archer's Enterprise NX-01, badly damaged after a battle with the Xindi, receiving aid from a disabled Illyrian ship and aiding that ship in kind. However, the Illyrians were unwilling to trade the Enterprise their warp coil as it would mean their journey home would take three years. Archer felt the Enterprise needed the warp coil to protect Earth from the Xindi, which trumped all other considerations. He boarded the Illyrian vessel with a group of MACOs and took the warp coil by force. The Illyrian Enigma #1 references the incident when Spock warns Pike that the Illyrians may not be happy to see another vessel bearing the name "Enterprise" in their space.

The Illyrians live in a region called the Delphic Expanse. Their original settlement was located in the Vaultera Nebula, though which world they originally hail from remains a mystery. Uhura reports that the Illyrian's attempts at colonization are a diaspora. Their modifications are attempts to survive in conditions otherwise inhospitable to most living beings.

Augments in the Star Trek universe

Why does this matter? The Federation's laws against genetically augmented beings, often referred to as "Augments," largely stem from the Eugenics War, a conflict on Earth that occurred in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. The war saw genetically-engineered superhumans, Khan Noonien Singh among the most notorious of them, dividing the globe into territories and waging war on each other. An estimated 30 million people died, and Earth nearly fell back into the Dark Ages before the tyrants' defeat.

Because of this, most humans are prejudiced against Augments, believing them all to be power-hungry would-be supermen like Khan. This prejudice extends even to their families. We see it in how people have treated La'an Noonien-Singh during her life because shares a name with and is a distant descendant of Khan. However, that's not what's happening with the Illyrians. If Uhura's report is accurate, the Illyrians augmented themselves to survive, not to conquer.

What does the Illyrians' origin mean for Number One's future on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds?

We can only speculate at this point, but given Rebecca Romijn's popularity as Number One and how vital the character is to the Enterprise crew, it seems unlikely she'll remain gone from Strange New Worlds for long. However, we know that her situation isn't going to change the Federation's laws against augments. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's storyline in which Dr. Bashir reveals he is secretly augmented confirms augmentation is still illegal as of the late 24th century. A similar story playing out with Dal R'El in Star Trek: Prodigy shows that those laws will not have changed in the post-Star Trek: Nemesis era either.

However, what both of those cases do show is that Starfleet does make exceptions. Starfleet allowed Bashir to continue serving on Deep Space 9, and Vice Adm. Janeway got Starfleet to accept Dal as a warrant officer under her tutelage. It seems likely that Starfleet will carve out a similar exception for Una. That will probably be due to her exceptional service in Starfleet to date, but perhaps also encouraged by learning more about the Illyrians' reasons for augmenting themselves.

When is the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 release date?

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 has wrapped filming and will debut on Paramount+ in 2023. Strange New Worlds' first season is already streaming on Paramount+ and comes to Blu-ray and DVD in March.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds -- The Illyrian Enigma #1 is on sale now. Its second issue of the series goes on sale on January 25th.

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