Section 31

[StarMan]

The latest season trailer has Burnham saying to Georgiou "So you've joined Section 31?", followed by Pike saying "Covert ops, threat assessment".

Fast forward 100 years --

Sloan: "We keep a low profile".

...

When you look back at their intro in DS9's Inquisition, they only told Bashir of who they were to manipulate or potentially recruit him. They had their tentacles in enough institutions that they let him free with what he knew because they knew they couldn't be touched.

Point is, they don't casually reveal themselves. Sisko had never even heard of them and Starfleet's response was akin to the US's response to Area 51.

"Covert Ops" sounds like something that is known. You know they exist but you don't have a clue what they're up to. Section 31 in DS9 came across as well above that level. You're not meant to know about them unless they want you to know. I do like the idea that the most utopian of Empires / Federations also has the most deeply entrenched shadow ops organisation. But their openness in Discovery with SF insignia comm badges (but BLAAACK) and discussion on board Discovery runs against their MO in DS9. Not calling continuity blah blah but it would be interesting if the writers could address this and weave together something that lets us see what drove them so underground so as to be completely forgotten by the 24th Century.

It's the fact they existed in The 24th Century and so against the grain of the likes of Picard (not Sisko... this was post-In The Pale Moonlight) that made them - for me - so intriguing. If they're just going to be a hardcore black ops group it takes away from what made them interesting.

Obviously if you didn't watch DS9 ignore. But for any DS9 fans who like 31 and are watching Discovery - what would you like to see?

 

[F. King Daniel]

Discovery's showrunner is Alex Kurtzman, co-writer and co-producer of Star Trek Into Darkness, which imagined Section 31 as a legitimate branch of Starfleet with secret underground bases, enclosed drydock facilities and massive superships.

MARCUS: London was not an archive. it was a top-secret branch of Starfleet designated Section 31. They were developing defence technology and training our officers to gather intelligence on the Klingons and any other potential enemy who means to do us harm.

 

[Lord Garth]

It's the fact they existed in The 24th Century and so against the grain of the likes of Picard (not Sisko... this was post-In The Pale Moonlight) that made them - for me - so intriguing. If they're just going to be a hardcore black ops group it takes away from what made them interesting.

You and me both.

Obviously if you didn't watch DS9 ignore. But for any DS9 fans who like 31 and are watching Discovery - what would you like to see?

I don't know yet. Other than I'd love it if they were worried how the Klingons would react to a direct assault on Quo'noS. Then Georgiou would say something like, "You have to do something if hostilities ever flare up again." Section 31 would reiterate to Georgiou that such overt tactics aren't their style. They prefer covert. Then Georgiou asks, "What if we made it look like an accident?" And that's where Praxis comes in. Remember when Spock said, "Over-mining and insufficient safety precautions"? Come on. That's not how a moon explodes...

That's about it. I'm looking forward to whatever they really come up with.

Okay, not "that's about it". For some reason I'm picturing Mission: Impossible, James Bond, Secret Agent Man, and The Avengers. I want to see underground Cold War secret conflict. And an anime I'm a fan of called 009-1 (not to be confused with Cyborg 009, both created by Shotaro Ishinomori) which takes place in an alternate future where the Cold War never ended.

They don't have to be super-dark. Just super-mysterious. And they're secure enough that if someone finds out, like Bashir eventually did, they won't lose any sleep over it. Which is exactly what Sloan said. Even if someone says something about Section 31, no one will believe them. That's what I want.

 

[Jayson1]

Well Sloan I think is the one who said or maybe it was Sisko. It was said they were part of the orginal Starfleet or Federation(forget which) charter. Eventually they go underground or they aren't really a secret but a black ops type of group that isn't offically sanctioned but is part of the Federation.

Jason

 

[Takeru]

How they were portrayed in DS9 didn't make a lot of sense so I'm more than fine with them ditching the "so secret not even high ranking officers like Sisko have heard of them" angle. Section 31 as an organization should be known throughout the entire federation even if the vast majority doesn't know what they do exactly.

 

[Cyrus]

How secret were they during ENT? It's been a while since I saw those episodes, I just remember Reed working for them. If they were a secret during ENT & DS9 but not Discovery then it's a problem. Maybe they plan to show them going underground during Discovery.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Sisko wan't that important until the wormhole opened.

3rd officer on a little ship that was close enough to Earth, the Borg steam rolled it.

2 years of grievance leave to raise Jake and think about Jennifer.

Then abandomed to the boondocks to rot.

 

[dinzy]

How secret were they during ENT? It's been a while since I saw those episodes, I just remember Reed working for them. If they were a secret during ENT & DS9 but not Discovery then it's a problem. Maybe they plan to show them going underground during Discovery.

I am not sure either. It is important to distinguish whether nobody knew of Section 31 or nobody suspected Malcolm was working for them. Keeping people in the dark when they are not cleared to the mission is par for the course in military orgs. Heck it's par for the course in many corporations.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Archer wasn't career starfleet "in the beginning, for the first 20 years"

He was stuck in the warp 5 program from Birth to Enterprises' Launch without really wearing any other hats in the fleet.

 

[Rahul]

Discovery's showrunner is Alex Kurtzman, co-writer and co-producer of Star Trek Into Darkness, which imagined Section 31 as a legitimate branch of Starfleet with secret underground bases, enclosed drydock facilities and massive superships.

MARCUS: London was not an archive. it was a top-secret branch of Starfleet designated Section 31. They were developing defence technology and training our officers to gather intelligence on the Klingons and any other potential enemy who means to do us harm.

That's pretty much it. The writers wanted to do ethically questionably undercover spy-stuff in Star Trek. What spy agency has a name? Section 31. That's what they are gonna' use.

It was inevitable. Had TNG (or DS9) introduced a proper Federation spy agency with a name and faces (as in, actual actors acting as spies) and not just "Starfleet Intelligence" (which was only ever a source for exposition, never a plot thread), they would have used that. Since that never existed - and S31 actually was the first and only human spy agency introduced to Trek - it's now going to be "THE" spy agency onwards. Even if the original concept was 100% detrimental to this idea.

 

[Terok Nor]

Some secret. Everyone knows about it. Did the writers not watch DS9?

 

[Vger23]

I like the idea of Section 31 as a covert ops group WAY more than the crappy "we exist but nobody knows about us" secret society envisioned in DS9. It was one of the only elements of DS9 I thought was lame.

Glad ID and DSC are retconning the whole idea.

 

[Rahul]

As usual: It would have been better to invent a new organisation than to ret-con an already existing one.

A Starfleet black-ops is not that unworldly an idea, especially not in the more hands-on TOS timeframe. Why on Earth they chose S31 one for that, though? Name recognition. Which is kinda' stupid, if you're banking on name recognition, if you're then out to do something that has nothing to do with the thing you want to be recognized. Like with the DISCO-Klingons, it's simply a bit baffling. (Though way less so, and despite the bitter taste of Section 31 becoming the de-facto Federation spy agency - as I wrote earlier, it was basically inevitable).

 

[Tuskin38]

It sounds like the super secret dark evil stuff they do is what's secret.

On the surface everyone just assumes they're a normal intelligence agency. it's a front for what they really do.

 

[Gonzo]

Discovery's showrunner is Alex Kurtzman, co-writer and co-producer of Star Trek Into Darkness, which imagined Section 31 as a legitimate branch of Starfleet with secret underground bases, enclosed drydock facilities and massive superships.

MARCUS: London was not an archive. it was a top-secret branch of Starfleet designated Section 31. They were developing defence technology and training our officers to gather intelligence on the Klingons and any other potential enemy who means to do us harm.

I have always been fine with the Section 31 inclusion in DS9, it was well done and reasonable that Section 31 would be more likely to show itself in times of war.

I do think they should have done the Section 31 stuff with Lorca being a member in season one of Discovery and then covered the Mirror Universe later though, season one felt like a kitbash of a season put put totogether from bits and pieces, which is exactly what it is after the show runner left and the direction changed.

 

[Gepard]

Which is kinda' stupid, if you're banking on name recognition, if you're then out to do something that has nothing to do with the thing you want to be recognized.

Welcome to modern resequelboot culture, where they want to be able to hit file–>import on people's familiarity with old concepts, but not do any of the work dealing with the ramifications of same.

 

[Jayson1]

We also got to remember centuries would have passed since "DS9" so it's seems easy to assume that their existence has been forgotten for the most part. Like UESPA. it could have been seen as a forgotten part of Starfleet history that was no longer seen as relevant to the modern times.


Jason

 

[guyute03]

I do agree Discovery's approach to them seems different, but am going to hold onto hope they integrate this into the larger story. Hoping that Section 31 f***s up so badly that they are forced to go completely underground and then stay that way until DS9, and that we the audience see this, on-screen.

 

[diankra]

Well, the books suggest the Section 31 has a sacrificial cell structure: every few generations, S31 is exposed and shut down - probably not openly though, just within the relevant parts of Starfleet, and with some aware that actually it's only one branch, allowing the rest to rebuild.
Take that as a background assumption, and each series can do a different take on 31 without inherent contradictions for us uber-fans.

 

[Jayson1]

I like the idea of Section 31 as a covert ops group WAY more than the crappy "we exist but nobody knows about us" secret society envisioned in DS9. It was one of the only elements of DS9 I thought was lame.

Glad ID and DSC are retconning the whole idea.

I'm pretty sure the top secret nobody knows them part was written in apart to get around the Roddenberry vision stuff that Berman was still trying to force onto Trek. No way would Roddenberry's Trek have such a group so they came up with away to do it without I am sure breaking the vision. That was one of the dumbest things I can think of the writers had to deal with. Putting all these restrictions on for no reason and then finding away to break those rules. It's like locking yourself in prison and then instantly trying to find away to break out.


Jason