Star Trek: Discovery Brings Back Picard Season 3’s Portal Weapon With A Twist

Summary A handheld portal weapon featured in Star Trek: Discovery season 5 premiere is a portable version of a Vadic's Star Trek: Picard season 3 technology.

Moll and L'ak use the portal weapon against Captain Burnham, setting the stage for an action-packed galactic treasure hunt.

Uncertainty surrounds the fate of Section 31 in Star Trek: Discovery's 32nd century.

Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Discovery Season 5, Episode 1 - "Red Directive"A new version of the portal weapon from Star Trek: Picard season 3 made an appearance in Star Trek: Discovery season 5. In Picard season 3, a portal weapon was used by Vadic (Amanda Plummer) and her renegade Changelings in their attack on the United Federation of Planets. The Changelings stole the experimental technology from Starfleet's Daystrom Station and used it to destroy a Starfleet Recruitment Center as a precursor to a much larger attack. Vadic's powerful warship, the Shrike, was also equipped with a portal weapon that Vadic used in a battle against the USS Titan-A.

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With Star Trek: Discovery's 32nd-century setting, technology has improved significantly since the 25th century of Star Trek: Picard. Although the Federation of the far future was nearly destroyed by the Burn, they managed to hold onto and continue to develop much of their technology. Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and her crew, for example, regularly use advanced personal transporters, phasers, and programmable matter. Discovery season 5, episode 1, "Red Directive" reveals that even the non-affiliated couriers of the 32nd century have access to advanced technology, including a handheld portal weapon.

Related Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Returning Cast & New Character Guide As Burnham seeks the universe's greatest treasure in Star Trek: Discovery season 5, she'll need help from a host of new and returning characters.

Star Trek: Discovery Makes Picard’s Portal Weapon Portable & Handheld

Moll & La'k use a handheld portal weapon against Captain Burnham.

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Star Trek: Discovery's season 5 premiere sends the USS Discovery on a galactic treasure hunt in a race against two couriers, Moll (Eve Harlow) and L'ak (Elias Toufexis). After Moll and L'ak raid an 800-year-old Romulan ship, they find a traditional puzzle box containing a book that could lead to the creators of humanoid life, introduced in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, "The Chase." Captain Burnham and her team arrive just after Moll and L'ak have taken the artifact, but not before they have made their escape. The two groups exchange phaser fire, but Moll and L'ak possess more advanced weapons.

In Star Trek: Picard season 3, Vadic used her portal weapon to send the Titan back into a dangerous nebula and to send the Titan's photon torpedoes back at them, causing massive damage.

When Captain Burnham tells the two couriers to hand over the puzzle box, L'ak pulls out a small disc and tosses it at Michael. As Moll and L'ak make their escape, the disc explodes, creating a portal and a massive hold in the deck of the Romulan ship. Burnham is sucked out into space, but her programmable matter suit deploys just in time. Moll and L'ak's portal weapon works a bit differently than Vadic's and, thankfully, only delays Michael, but it remains to be seen what other unique tech the two couriers may possess. See Moll and La'k's portal weapon in the clip below:

Does Section 31 Still Exist In Star Trek: Discovery’s 32nd Century?

Could Section 31 have survived the Burn and the near-collapse of the Federation?

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The portal weapon used by Vadic in Star Trek: Picard season 3 was housed at Daystrom Station, a Starfleet black site where Section 31's most dangerous technology was kept off-the-books. The weapon Moll and L'ak possess do resemble those of Section 31. Although Star Trek: Discovery explored the Section 31 of the 23rd century in its first two seasons, the show has not acknowledged whether Section 31 exists in the 32nd century. Emperor Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) joined Section 31 in Discovery season 2, but her upcoming film, Star Trek: Section 31, will take place in the early 24th century, also known as Star Trek's "lost era."

One of the most mysterious characters in Star Trek: Discovery, Dr. Kovich's (David Cronenberg) exact role remains unclear, leaving the possibility open that he could be involved with Section 31 or its 32nd-century equivalent.

Considering the Burn destroyed numerous Starfleet ships and decimated the Federation in 3069, it seems unlikely that Section 31 would be a priority as the Federation rebuilds. None of the higher-ups introduced so far in Discovery have made any mention of Section 31, even with the multiple galaxy-threatening events the Federation has faced. The black market appears to the thriving in the 32nd century, however, so a covert Starfleet Intelligence organization would likely prove useful. Star Trek: Discovery season 5 could still reveal something about Section 31, but perhaps the black ops organization has become a thing of Star Trek's past.

New episodes of Star Trek: Discovery stream Thursdays on Paramount+.