Star Trek Calls Out How Starfleet’s Wars Betray Its True Purpose

WARNING: Contains SPOILERS for Star Trek: Lower Decks, season 4, episode 9, "The Inner Fight."
Summary

• Lieutenant Mariner believes that Starfleet's involvement in wars goes against its true purpose of exploring and puzzling together the mysteries of life.
• Despite the need for conflict sometimes, nobody joins Starfleet to become a soldier - they join to see the galaxy and learn about different species and cultures.
• Star Trek has transitioned to exploring more military-oriented storytelling due to the success of DS9's Dominion War arc, which posed the question of how the Federation handles powerful galactic forces with conflicting viewpoints.

Star Trek: Lower Decks' Lieutenant junior grade Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) has some strong opinions about the wars fought by Starfleet, and how they betray the institution's true purpose. Lower Decks season 4, episode 9, "The Inner Fight" reveals more about Mariner's backstory, including her friendship with Star Trek: The Next Generation's Ensign Sito Jaxa (Shannon Fill), and her service during the Dominion War. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's Dominion War is in Lower Decks' recent history, and Mariner's anger reveals that there's a wider feeling that Starfleet betrayed their original mission by engaging in such a bloody conflict.
Star Trek legend Majel Barrett believed that the Dominion War was a departure from Gene Roddenberry's original vision. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine writer Ronald D. Moore agreed with Barrett, but reaffirmed his belief that it was the right story to tell. While Star Trek: Lower Decks calls out the fact that Starfleet engages in warfare, DS9 made it clear that - unfortunately - conflict is sometimes unavoidable. Deep down Mariner understands this, but it doesn't change the fact that nobody signs up to Starfleet to become a soldier.


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