Star Trek Beyond: 12 questions answered

This article first appeared on Den of Geek UK. It is FULL of nothing but spoilers.

Like all blockbuster movies, some of Star Trek Beyond sometimes leaves you with questions. Occasionally they have answers that are implied, or stated so quickly you might miss them, and occasionally they just don’t give you much to go on and you have to make up your own mind. As ever, we’ve tried to anticipate what questions you might have after seeing the movie and then answer them. Spoilers for Star Trek Beyond, quite naturally, follow.

Why did Edison change his name to Krall?

Well, using a fake name got Khan pretty far in the last film, so…

In this case, though: maybe he was trying to further disguise or distance himself from his humanity and the Federation. Maybe he just needed something that everyone could say. Judging on previous form, they’ll presumably do a tie-in comic that explains this so if you genuinely want to know, keep an eye on the racks.

Where did Old Spock get a photo of the original TOS crew?

Well, when he was flying the jellyfish in the first movie, there was plenty of room in his robes for him to be carrying who knows what under there. It’s not inconceivable that he carries that photo around with him at all times, the big softie.

Why did Krall/Edison’s face keep changing?

It looks like the alien machines he used to prolong his life (which he found on Altamid after the Franklin crashed there) gave him the appearance of whichever alien/aliens he absorbed life-force from. By the end of the film he’s absorbed a bunch of human life energy, which is why he looked more like himself.

Who was Kalara really, then?

Kalara (the alien woman who asked the Enterprise for help to lure them into a trap) was presumably someone who was working with Krall/Edison as part of a general movement against the expansion of the Federation. It’s possible Krall/Edison did lure her ship to Altamid and kill her crew like she said, but maybe she was convinced to join him. Either way, this is another one of those questions you’ll probably discover the answer to when they do the prequel comic that I’m sure will be out within the year.

How did the Franklin get to Altamid, if it’s only on the fringes of the Federation a century later?

Well, given that it really was only a Warp 4 vessel, the “unstable wormhole” theory mentioned in the film seems correct. If you’re not familiar with the Trek-science, that means a wormhole (a direct link between two distant points in space) where one or both ends appear and disappear randomly, meaning once you go through you can’t get back the same way, because the exit you came through has already disappeared.

Why did the Enterprise need to separate its saucer section if it was already cut to bits?

The saucer section was still trying to draw power from the warp core, which was housed in the (severed) stardrive section. Since no saucer separation had been initiated, the impulse engines in the saucer couldn’t be engaged, which is why Kirk (and eventually Uhuru) had to manually jettison what was left of the stardrive section.

Where did Krall’s swarm of drones come from?

In his final log, Edison mentions finding “mining drones” of some kind. Over the next hundred years he presumably used the knowledge of his allies/prisoners and the resources on Altamid to turn them into a larger weapon – assuming he didn’t just steal it outright, that is.

How come the USS Franklin was still operational after 100 years crashed on Altamid?

Well, Jaylah seems to have patched it up for the most part with a view to getting it space-bourne again. But that’s why she needed Scotty – to help her through the last few steps so that she could actually get the ship working.

Why did the Beastie Boys make the swarm ships blow up again?

It interrupted their communications, causing them to crash into one another and explode.

How come no-one else was able to help stop Krall on the Yorktown?

I think we can chalk this up to a combination of several things. First, Krall sent the rescue vessels to completely the wrong place by intercepting Sulu and Uhura’s transmission and changing the co-ordinates. Second, the drones probably did quite a fair bit of damage to any ships in the area at the time anyway. And finally we imagine there was some pretty serious evacuation going on behind the scenes of that last action segment, so maybe that was keeping them occupied.

Why did they get Jaylah a place at Starfleet Academy?

It just seemed like a natural end (at least for now) to her narrative arc in the movie.

What’s so tough about crossing a nebula such that Kirk is pleased they now know a route through it?

Well this one appeared to be full of very dangerous asteroids, and, well… the thing is… space is… it’s… I mean… Best we just go with this one…!