Star Trek: Discovery’s Doctor Vellek is a 24th-century Romulan connected to a surprising revelation from a Star Trek: The Next Generation episode.
Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Discovery Season 5, Episode 1 – “Red Directive”
Summary
- Dr. Vellek’s discovery of Progenitors’ technology kicks off a galactic treasure hunt in Star Trek: Discovery season 5.
- The Romulan scientist kept the location secure with a paper diary hidden in a puzzle box on his 24th-century ship.
- The Progenitors’ technology holds the power to create and destroy, potentially changing the galaxy forever.
In Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 1, “Red Directive”, the USS Discovery’s mission takes Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) to an 800-year-old Romulan starship containing the belongings and the remains of a long-dead Romulan scientist named Doctor Vellek (Michael Copeman). Vellek has been entombed in his ship since the 24th century, when Star Trek: The Next Generation takes place. Dr. Vellek’s notes contain key information on the galaxy’s greatest treasure: a mysterious, ancient, and very powerful artifact that the United Federation of Planets’ mysterious Dr. Kovich (David Cronenberg) prioritizes recovering before it falls into the hands of the villainous Moll (Eve Harlow) and L’ak (Elias Toufexis).
In Star Trek: The Next Generation season 6, episode 20, “The Chase”, Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) follows in the footsteps of his recently-deceased archeology mentor, Professor Galen (Norman Lloyd), by picking up a trail that Galen had long been pursuing. Picard forms a tenuous alliance with Klingons and Cardassians pursuing the same mysterious goal, discovering clues that lead to the uninhabited planet Vilmor II. Upon arrival, however, Picard, Lt. Commander Worf (Michael Dorn), and Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden), along with Klingon and Cardassian representatives, beam down to find a crew of Romulans that have beaten them there. Star Trek: Discovery season 5’s premiere reveals more about one of those Romulans, Dr. Vellek.
Who Was Doctor Vellek In Star Trek: TNG’s “The Chase”?
Star Trek: Discovery reveals the Romulan Doctor Vellek’s TNG connection.
Doctor Vellek is a Romulan scientist with the crew that has already arrived at Vilmor II in Star Trek: The Next Generation’s “The Chase”, establishing how Discovery season 5 connects to TNG. Instead of joining in the collaborative effort with the Federation as the Klingons and Cardassians did, the Romulans simply monitored communications as the USS Enterprise traveled from site to site, unveiling clues at each destination that led to the next. Everyone present is equally privy to the information revealed by a hologram of an Ancient Humanoid (Salome Jens) that their race seeded life throughout the galaxy, so all humanoid species share a common ancestor, which Star Trek: Discovery has dubbed the Progenitors.
Dr. Kovich already knows what’s been “classified for centuries” when telling Captain Burnham about Vellek’s own discovery of the Progenitors’ technology.
The Klingons and Cardassians drop the spirit of cooperation that led them to this point, balking at the idea that they’re related in any way. But the Romulans, who essentially copied the Federation’s homework to arrive at Vilmor II, contact Captain Picard with hope of an alliance between the Romulans and the Federation. This implies Vellek had been in contact with the Federation while leading the search for the Progenitors’ technology in the 24th century, because in Discovery‘s 32nd century, Dr. Kovich already knows what’s been “classified for centuries” when telling Captain Burnham about Vellek’s own discovery of the Progenitors’ technology.
Why The Progenitors Technology Is Star Trek: Discovery’s Greatest Treasure
“A few thousand years ago, we’d have called them gods.”
The Progenitors’ technology is Star Trek: Discovery‘s greatest treasure because it holds the answers to scientific and philosophical questions about the nature of life as we know it, and also has the power to create life essentially from scratch. The site of Progenitor technology could explain the ancient humanoids’ motives beyond what was revealed in Star Trek: The Next Generation, fundamentally altering societies at their very core. With that kind of information and the power of creation, the user of Progenitor technology could become the most powerful force in the galaxy, especially if the power to create also holds within it the power to destroy.
The Romulan in Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 1, “Red Directive”, Dr. Vellek, understood the importance of keeping information about the Progenitors and their technology as secure as possible. Vellek attempted to keep the location of Progenitor technology out of the wrong hands by keeping a paper diary, which can’t be hacked, and hiding that book within a Romulan puzzle box, itself within a cloaked vault aboard his 24th-century Romulan ship. Even then, Dr. Vellek’s diary isn’t the treasure itself, but a clue that kicks off Star Trek: Discovery‘s galactic treasure hunt, destined to change the galaxy irrevocably.
