Star Trek: Discovery Season 5’s Mirror Universe Enterprise Asks A Question Picard Left Behind

WARNING: This article contains SPOILERS for Star Trek: Discovery, season 5, episode 5, "Mirrors".

Summary ISS Enterprise from Mirror Universe crosses over to prime timeline in Star Trek: Discovery season 5, sparking questions about the Starfleet Museum.

Federation Headquarters Storage becomes the new home for ISS Enterprise in Discovery's 32nd century, raising speculation about the Starfleet Museum's fate.

ISS Enterprise would be 4th version of Enterprise stored at Starfleet Museum, showcasing a darker timeline's impact on the Star Trek universe.

The return of the Mirror Universe's ISS Enterprise in Star Trek: Discovery season 5 asks a question about a key location from Star Trek: Picard season 3. In Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 5, "Mirrors", written by Johanna Lee & Carlos Cisco, and directed by Jen McGowan, sees the ISS Enterprise cross over from the Mirror Universe to the prime Star Trek timeline. Stranded in interdimensional space with criminal duo Moll (Eve Harlow) and L'ak (Elias Toufexis), Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and Cleveland Booker (David Ajala) escape aboard the ISS Enterprise.

Now active in Star Trek: Discovery's 32nd century, the ISS Enterprise is an incredible relic from 900 years ago in a completely different reality. At the end of Discovery season 5, episode 5, Lt. Commander Keyla Detmer (Emily Coutts) and Lt. Commander Joann Owosekun (Oyin Oladejo) are ordered by Burnham to pilot the ISS Enterprise back to Federation Headquarters Storage. It's interesting that Burnham mentions Federation HQ's storage facility, rather than Star Trek: Picard's Athan Prime Fleet Museum, which raises the question whether it still exists in the 32nd century.

Related 10 Most Famous Star Trek Ships In Picard’s Starfleet Museum The Starfleet Museum in Star Trek: Picard season 3 serves as the final resting place for many of the Federation's most famous ships.

Does Star Trek: Picard’s Starfleet Museum Still Exist In Discovery’s 32nd Century?

There has been no mention of Star Trek: Picard's Starfleet museum in Star Trek: Discovery so far, and there are probably a number of reasons for this. On a practical real-world level, Picard season 3 finished filming in March 2022, two months before production on Discovery season 5 began. This crossover means that it's unlikely that Picard's Starfleet museum would have inspired the writers of Discovery season 5, which is why Burnham mentions the storage facility at Federation Headquarters. However, there's also a darker, in-universe possibility for the lack of a Starfleet museum in Discovery's 32nd century.

Now refitted as a 32nd century starship, the USS Discovery was a literal museum piece when the 23rd century vessel arrived 900 years in the future.

Star Trek: Discovery season 3 revealed that the Burn caused every active warp core to explode and created widespread scarcity of dilithium. It's unclear if the starships in the Fleet Museum had active warp cores or not, but the restored USS Enterprise-D was capable of warp travel in Star Trek: Picard's finale. It's possible, therefore, that the Starfleet museum's entire collection exploded along with the countless other starships destroyed in the Burn. If the starships survived, Picard's Fleet Museum would have been a goldmine for parties like the Emerald Chain, who could have raided the museum and broken down these beloved ships for parts.

Mirror Universe’s ISS Enterprise Would Be The Starfleet Museum’s 4th Enterprise

Close

In an ideal universe, Federation Headquarters Storage is where starships go before being put on display at the still-functioning Athan Prime Fleet Museum. If that's the case, then the Terran Empire's flagship would be the fourth version of the starship Enterprise to be stored at Star Trek: Picard's Starfleet museum. Despite that appearing like lazy museum curation, the ISS Enterprise and the successors of its prime timeline counterpart each have their own fascinating stories to tell.

Versions of the Enterprise in the Fleet Museum Show/Movie Enterprise NX-01 (Refit) Star Trek: Enterprise USS Enterprise NCC 1701-A Star Trek V: The Final Frontier Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country USS Enterprise NCC 1701-D (Reconstructed) Star Trek: The Next Generation

The ISS Enterprise would be a fascinating exhibit in a Starfleet museum, providing a window into a darker timeline where humanity's worst impulses were actively rewarded. Following the Burn, Star Trek: Discovery's 32nd century almost completely gave over to brutality and slavery, until Burnham and the crew of the USS Discovery paved the way for a more hopeful future. Therefore, the ISS Enterprise, and its prime timeline successors, still have much to teach humanity centuries after they were in active service.

Star Trek: Discovery streams Thursdays on Paramount+.