Summary
- Worf and his crew in Star Trek: Defiant #8 become bounty hunters and their first target has ties to the Enterprise’s first adversaries, the Talosians.
- The Talosians, who possess powerful mental abilities, were the first villains faced by the Enterprise crew and have been absent from screens for over a hundred years.
- The motives of Berlinghoff Rasmussen’s search for the Talosians remain mysterious, and Worf and his crew must keep their mission secret and not upset the super-powerful Talosians.
Warning: contains spoilers for Star Trek: Defiant #8!
Star Trek is bringing back its first ever villains. Across its 57-year history, Star Trek has showcased a number of fearful adversaries, ranging from the war-like Klingons to the cold and unrelenting Borg. In Star Trek: Defiant #8, Worf and his crew are pressed into becoming bounty hunters, and readers learn that one of their first targets has ties to the starship Enterprise’s first adversaries.
Star Trek: Defiant #8 is written by Christopher Cantwell and drawn by Mike Feehan. Thanks to their actions during the Day of Blood event, Worf and his crew have been discharged and disavowed from Starfleet, and pressed into service as “off the books” bounty hunters. They are given a list of targets, one of whom is the time-traveling criminal Berlinghoff Rasmussen. A text piece, made to resemble a Starfleet briefing, lists Rasmussen’s crimes, and states that he was last seen heading to the Talos star system for unknown reasons. Worf and company must apprehend Rasmussen, all the while not straying into the mysterious Talos system.
The Talosians Were There At the Beginning
Long-time Star Trek fans will remember the Talosians as the first ever villains faced by the crew of the Enterprise. Humanoid, the Talosians possessed large brains capable of creating convincing mental illusions. Captain Pike encountered the Talosians, who added him to their collection. Pike was able to defeat the Talosians, and after convincing them what they were doing was wrong, they let him go. The encounter rattled Starfleet so bad they quarantined the system, and put severe penalties for anyone who ventured there. Eventually, a severely injured Pike would return to Talos to live out his life in peace.
Not Much is Known About the Talosians, Making Them the Perfect Enemy
Now, over a hundred years since first contact with the Talosians, they are returning to the Star Trek universe. Outside a brief appearance on Star Trek: Discovery, the Talosians have been absent from screens. The Talosians are immensely powerful, capable of attacking starships from orbit, using nothing but mental power. Their desire to create a society they can lord over gives them unique motivations among other Star Trek villains, many of whom are simply motivated by territorial expansion. After all these years, the Talosians are still shrouded in mystery, making for some exciting story possibilities.
Why Berlinghoff Rasmussen is seeking the Talosians remains a mystery, and will be revealed in future issues of Star Trek: Defiant. Worf and company must not only bring Rasmussen back to prison, but also keep their mission off the books. Worf and the crew of the Defiant must walk a fine line in dealing with this situation. They must not only keep the mission secret, but also not potentially upset the super-powerful Talosians. Worf and his crew are now bounty hunters, and one of their first targets is on a collision course with Star Trek’s first ever villains.
Star Trek: Defiant #8 is on sale now from IDW Publishing!
