Theory why spore drive isn‘t used later on in Star Trek Universe

I may not be the first one to think of this, but maybe Tilly‘s ghost „friend“ is the beginning of the storyline that burries thespire drive. This spore being seems to be desperate to get into contact with Stamets who she thinks is the captain because he was the one navigating the spore network. So maybe they are disturbing the network and endangering the beings living there and the spore life forms are trying to tell them. That may be the beginning of the story why the spore drive is burried for good.

 

I was surprised to say the least that the spore network seems to contain the souls of the dead, like Hugh Culber. Although Tilly's friend in season two is making me think perhaps it was just a spore lifeform assuming his form and he really is utterly dead?

If the spore network is home to countless living (or undead!) beings, they may well eventually shut us off from it.

 

My guess is that there is a unknown price for using it, one that is too high to pay.

Basically star fleet is screwing around with something they don't understand and it will come back to bite them.

 

Different universe that has no impact on TOS or the other spinoffs.

 

And the end result will be either destroying or somehow sealing off the Mycellium network so it can't be used anymore.

 

They're still gonna end it, for the same reason all Bruce Wayne's become Batman. It has to broadly line up with some kind of TOS.

 

There was an episode of Stargate Atlantis that looked at something damn near identical... Rodney developed a new energy system, but it turned out that it was stealing the energy from other universes and depleting them until they vaporized into oblivion... so they had to stop after a duplicate/mirror-universe Rodney (was was quite a nice and charming guy!) plopped over through the "portal" and was all like "hey guys, could you stop killing my universe and all the other ones too? Yeah, that'd be super cool, thanks!".

 

To me this has already been answered, and it doesn't require the obligatory "alternate universe" fan theories.

In order to safely jump any significant distances or with any significant frequency / accuracy, you require a Tardigrade. Either a Tardigrade itself must navigate the network, or a human (like Stamets) infused with Tardigrade DNA. There is no other way to make it work.

So....

1. The Tardigrade may have been sentient...so that's a no-go for the future. Can't just capture one and enslave it to make a drive system work.
2. The Tardigrade found it's way onto the Glenn because of the way they were storing their mushrooms. It was a fluke. We're not likely to ever see a Tardigrade again, and even if we do, it's obviously extremely dangerous if provoked and not properly contained.
3. And even if we did see one again, genetic manipulation is illegal, so unless they want to be slave navigators, which I doubt, you can't do what Stamets did and make other navigators.
4. But ultimately we know we DON'T see one again, because there's never any mention of the drive later in the continuity of Star Trek.

Bottom line: Tardigrades are a key component. And due to the fact that they ain't never coming back...the drive is dead unless one person in the entire universe (Stamets) is agreeing to use it on a ship that is properly outfitted to employ it.

Problem solved. No need for inane fan theories or foolish in-universe arcs.

 

It would also need to be a reason that prevents other species from recreating the tech.

 

I don't really think it's that necessary. Without Discovery's research data, the chances of, let's say, the Romulans or the Cardassians randomly stumbling upon the same network and developing the equivalent technology are negligible, especially if they need to get their hands on a specimen of the exact same Tardigrade species. Even Discovery wouldn't have found one if not for the Glenn's specific P. stellaviatori cultivation method. I don't think the research data itself would be stored in any random starship's databanks, and it might even consist of as little as a triple-encrypted hard copy in a top secret Starfleet archive and possibly another one in the hands of Section 31. The chances of a Tal Shiar or Obsidian Order operative to stumble upon that very copy without knowing what they are looking for are, again, negligible in my opinion. This might even make for a good story though, the only requirement is that the enemy agent is stopped before bringing it home.

The bottom line is, there are so many steps in the development of the spore drive relying on random chance it's quite improbable anyone would be able to replicate it without prior data.

 

If they can't access a Tardigrade, they can't use the tech. And the appearance of the Tardigrade on the USS Glen was pretty much a total fluke. For all we know, the Tardigrade isn't even from our dimension, let alone galaxy.

 

ehh that hypothesis is in danger of being disproven already. Tilly was working on that dark matter navigational interface.

 

And now to enter theorycrafting territory, it was established that without a navigator, the computer's processing power only allowed for precise jumps of a few hundred kilometers. This may be stretching it, but a technology such as this might have applications for a spy/state security agency, for example as a transporter that doesn't leave a traceable signature behind... I know canon-welding is not an especially highly regarded art form, but it just came to me: was it ever established how Luther Sloan was able to transport onto and off DS9 completely undetected?

 

That doesn't mean it will work.

 

Weren't Discovery and the Glenn using their spore drives even before the discovery of the Tardigrade? At least they were running tests and making short jumps using it. I don't think Starfleet would assume there would be no other efficient way of using the network without a Tardigrade and just discontinue the use of the spore drive while the network is still operational.

 

To refer to my previous post:

Again, this required Discovery to enter an asteroid field with a high concentration of dark matter while at the same time it was also carrying a shipment of spores to react with it. It can be replicated without Discovery's data, sure. But it doesn't mean it's bound to happen, especially if you don't know what to look for.

 

Correct.

IIRC, the Glenn's crew died because the ship tried to make too long a jump.

As for the final end of the spore drive: I'm sticking with my theory that however DSC wraps it up, Ripper will be involved.

 

It'll probably work now because you jinxed it.

 

True, but I think you'd have to assume that this dark matter solution would work seamlessly.

In a weird way, Discovery is a little stuck. One of the unique elements of the show is the existence of the DASH Drive. Yet, at the same time, it's abundantly clear that something needs to happen to make the drive virtually non-existent before the run of the show ends.