Star Trek's New Warp Drive Makes All Others Look Pathetic (In Any Era)

Summary Say goodbye to traditional warp drives - the new Kardashev Drive in Star Trek #20 puts them all to shame.

The Kardashev Drive surpasses all other warp drives, making speed irrelevant in reaching the Pleroma.

IDW introduces a groundbreaking model of warp drive that breaks the galactic Barrier in Star Trek #20.

Warning: contains spoilers for Star Trek #20!

There are different varieties of warp drive in the Star Trek universe, stretched across many eras–and now a new one has been introduced that makes them all look pathetic. In Star Trek #20, Sisko and the crew of the Theseus must travel to the Pleroma, the newly revealed realm of the gods. To get there, the crew cobbles together a new and awe-inspiring model of warp drive.

Star Trek #20 is written by Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly and drawn by Megan Levens. T’Lir, the last of the Organians, has asked Sisko to take the Theseus to the Pleroma. Existence itself is being threatened, and the Pleroma holds the key. However, getting there will not be easy, but T’Lir, working with Mister Scott and the engineers at Utopia Planitia Yards, fashions a warp drive that can do it.

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Capable of breaking the galactic barrier and getting to the Pleroma, the crew christened it the “Kardashev Drive.”

Warp Drive Is Essential Technology in the Star Trek Universe

Newer, and Even Better, Models of Warp Drive Have Been Invented

In Star Trek lore, warp drive is used to traverse the enormous distances between stars. Although the specifics vary, the warp drive unit creates a bubble of space around a spacecraft, allowing it to travel at speeds greater than light without any nasty, relativistic effects such as time dilation. A species’ discovery of warp drive is usually a signal that they have achieved a certain level of development, and usually triggers a first contact scenario. This was the case for humans. After Zefram Cochrane flew Earth’s first warp ship, humanity met the Vulcans.

There are actual, real-world theories of warp drive, most notably the "Alcubierre Drive," named for Mexican physicist Miguel Alcubierre.

As fast and impressive as warp drive is, there are limitations. No ship can go faster than Warp 10 without serious consequences, as seen in the infamous Star Trek: Voyager episode “Threshold.” However, workarounds have been introduced, such as transwarp conduits and slipstream. Both Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Prodigy had their own models of warp drive: the mycelial drive on Discovery and the Protostar Drive on Prodigy. IDW’s Star Trek comics showed the birth of the Protostar drive, and now they are introducing a model of warp drive unlike any seen before.

The Kardashev Drive Surpasses Every Other Model of Warp Drive

The Kardashev Drive Makes Speed Irrelevent.

The Kardashev Drive debuting in Star Trek #20 puts the Protostar Drive and transwarp conduits to shame. While all of those models of warp drive are highly effective, the Kardashev Drive was able to pierce the previously-thought unpassable Galactic Barrier and reach the Pleroma. The closest analogy to the Kardashev Drive is Discovery’s Spore Drive, but even then it was not capable of traversing the Barrier. The concept of speed is irrelevant to the Kardashev Drive, and it makes every other model of warp drive in the Star Trek franchise look pathetic.

Star Trek #20 is on sale now from IDW Publishing!