The Last Starship Explains How Captain Kirk Came Back From the Dead

The Star Trek universe will never be the same, now that a tragedy has claimed the lives of billions across the galaxy. But with help from its least likely new ally, Star Trek: The Last Starship has successfully brought the franchise’s greatest captain back from the dead.

Star Trek Resurrects Captain Kirk To Save The Federation

An Unthinkable Disaster Needs Starfleet’s Most Famous Captain To Rebuild

While the return of Captain James T. Kirk should be cause for celebration, the events which have called for such an extreme ‘resurrection’ are completely the opposite. Fans already knew about the devastating warp catastrophe dubbed “The Burn,” but the true scale of the disaster is made clear in Star Trek: The Last Starship #1.

The first issue of the new Star Trek series from IDW reveals that the warp-triggered destruction has left only a dozen Starfleet captains alive, controlling a minor fleet of now short-range ships. With the United Federation of Planets expected to dissolve in months, its salvation comes from the last place anyone expects: the returned Borg Cooperative.

Set in the year 3069, the former villains have been believed to be defeated for more than half a millennium, and the new Borg representative Agnes (portrayed by Alison Pill when last seen in Star Trek: Picard) comes seeking peace. And willing to help construct a transwarp vessel, the titular ‘Last Starship,’ to save the Federation. For a price, of course.

But the debut issue saves its best twist for last: the Borg’s unspoken requirement is access to the top secret Daystrom Station. Acquiring a blood sample from Starfleet’s oldest legend, Agnes uses Borg technology to restore the hero the Federation will truly need: Captain James Kirk.

Is The Borg-Created Captain Kirk A Clone, A Copy, or The Original?

The Reconstructed James T. Kirk May Be A Completely New Form of Life

While the Borg seem trustworthy in their efforts thus far, there is still some scientific mystery surrounding the actual scene of Kirk’s ‘rebirth.’ While carrying out the actual reconstruction of the late captain, Agnes alludes to Starfleet’s own clandestine (and hopeless) plan to resurrect Kirk themselves:

“Of course, a clone wouldn’t be much better. A simulacrum, at best. A mockery. No greater disrespect to someone with your history of heroism. But give me and mine 500 years and a mastery of space and time enough to build recursive intelligence engines… and we can work wonders.”

The rebuilt human body is, as Agnes says, “something new.” A body remade from a recorded blueprint, and a mind filled with the last recorded memories of James T. Kirk. But having achieved this remade Kirk through Borg science, the result is something that would apparently be an insult to call a “clone.”

Whatever the Borg are up to, access to Daystrom Station to enact this new creation was explicitly part of their plan all along. And while old grudges die hard, it does appear that the Borg Cooperative has shrugged off their villainous past. Leaving the future wide open for what role, or what purpose, James Kirk will now have thrust upon him.

It is a historic moment in the franchise, but just the latest delivered by the star creative team of Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly, Adrián Bonilla, and Heather Moore. And considering the questions now piling up as the Federation falls apart, The Last Starship is instantly a must-read story for fans of the Borg, Kirk, or Trek history.

Star Trek: The Last Starship #1 is available now from IDW Publishing.

Created by

Gene Roddenberry

First Episode Air Date

September 8, 1966

Cast

William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, George Takei, Nichelle Nichols, Deforest Kelley, James Doohan, Walter Koenig, Jonathan Frakes, Patrick Stewart, Michael Dorn, Marina Sirtis, Gates McFadden, Brent Spiner, LeVar Burton, Wil Wheaton, Avery Brooks, Nana Visitor, Rene Auberjonois, Alexander Siddig, Cirroc Lofton, Armin Shimerman, Colm Meaney, Terry Farrell, Kate Mulgrew, Robert Beltran, Roxann Dawson, Jeri Ryan, Robert Duncan McNeill, Robert Picardo, Ethan Phillips, Garrett Wang, Jolene Blalock, Connor Trinneer, Dominic Keating, Scott Bakula, Linda Park, John Billingsley, Anthony Montgomery, Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Simon Pegg, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, John Cho, Chris Hemsworth, Benedict Cumberbatch, Anton Yelchin, Idris Elba, Sonequa Martin-Green, Mary Wiseman, Doug Jones, Anthony Rapp, Wilson Cruz, Oyin Oladejo, Emily Coutts, Jess Bush, Christina Chong, Anson Mount, Ethan Peck, Rebecca Romijn, Michelle Yeoh

TV Show(s)

Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: The Animated Series, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Enterprise, Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Short Treks, Star Trek: Picard, Star Trek Lower Decks, Star Trek: Prodigy, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy