After 59 Years, Star Trek Has Finally Created the Perfect Khan Replacement

Even Star Trek needs a little rivalry every now and again. A hero is nothing without their villain, and the best foes are twisted mirror images of the heroes themselves. Every Sherlock Holmes needs their Moriarty, every Thor needs their Loki, every Obi-Wan Kenobi needs their Darth Vader. Star Trek is a little different, of course; by the time of The Next Generation, Picard’s truest nemesis was actually the Borg, an entire race. But still, there are so many occasions where we see epic feuds and rivalries.

The dynamic between James T. Kirk and Khan Noonien Singh is the stuff of legend. Each represents a different vision of humanity’s future, and the competition between those visions escalated to an unforgettable extent. It’s best represented by the famous howl of rage, as Kirk yelled out his nemesis’ name in fury. We haven’t really had anything quite like that again in Star Trek… at least, until now.

Nus Braka Just Became Star Trek’s New Khan Figure

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy is essentially the franchise’s 60th anniversary series, a celebration of everything that has gone before that nevertheless points the way to the franchise’s future. It’s set in the 32nd century, a lawless time after a galactic catastrophe called “the Burn” led to the collapse of galactic civilization, with a resurgent Federation attempting to reestablish itself. Two key players are Chancellor Nahla Ake (played by Holly Hunter) and Paul Giamatti’s Nus Braka. Starfleet Academy episode 6 finally established them as the Holmes and Moriarty of this new show.

Each represents a different philosophy. Nahla Ake is a half-Lanthanite, meaning she has a very different relationship with time and actually lived through the Federation’s golden age, long before the Burn. She lost his son during the Burn, and has since dedicated her life to training the next generation. But Nahla’s motives are personal as well as philosophical, because she’s also hoping to earn the forgiveness of Sandro Rosta’s Caleb Mir, who she failed when he was just a child. In truth, Nahla seeks to embed her Federation philosophy as a form of redemption.

Nus Braka is Starfleet Academy‘s main villain. Half-Klingon and half-Tellarite, he grew up in the shadow of the Burn and resents the Federation’s desire to impose order on the galaxy once again. Self-interested and self-absorbed, he has grown to hate everything the Federation stands for, and he has a very personal vendetta against Nahla Ake as the Federation representative who once sent him to prison. Like Nahla, he has ties all the way back in Caleb’s past – but he wants to use those ties to drive a barrier between the Chancellor and Caleb, to turn her would-be ward into someone like Braka himself.

At heart, then, Starfleet Academy has become a conflict between two different visions of the future. Nus Braka wants Caleb to embrace the view that the strong dominate the weak, that self-interest is the only way forward, and that compassion and empathy are weaknesses. In contrast, Chancellor Ake wants Caleb to see compassion as a strength, mutuality and unity in difference as hope, and relationship as the fuel for greatness. Like all the best Star Trek stories, it’s a very timely tale.

The Vendetta Between Nus Braka & Chancellor Ake Will Play Out Over the Season

The dynamic between Ake and Braka is the emotional heart of Starfleet Academy. At first, Braka seemed a little underwhelming as a villain – but that’s because he was putting on a front, pretending to be less than he really is. The truth was unmasked in the fantastic episode 6, where Braka manipulated both Ake and Starfleet itself, forging an alliance with monstrous aliens called the Furies. By the time of the episode’s ending, Braka had acquired unknown weapons from a secret Federation research base, and he was preparing his next strike against Ake.

Starfleet Academy episode 6 featured several epic scenes in which Ake and Braka faced off against one another, with Hunter and Giamatti putting in top-tier performances that injected true drama into those moments. The episode was a battle for dominance between the two rivals, each trying to outmaneuver the other, and it was a conflict that Braka won. Only Ake’s self-restraint stopped her imitating Kirk in howling Braka’s name. But, as Kirk proved all those years ago, one victory isn’t enough – and Ake is sure to fight back, her Sherlock Holmes taking on this Moriarty once again.

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