‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Timeline: When Does It Take Place with the USS Enterprise?

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Now that Season 1 of Star Trek: Discovery has finished, fans are likely going to want to revisit the show’s timeline, thanks to a plot twist at the very end of the finale. So here’s a look again at the timeline of the Discovery, and where it falls in connection to Kirk’s USS Enterprise. This post will have spoilers for the finale of season 1 of Star Trek: Discovery

[See top theories about the Star Trek: Picard trailer released on July 20, 2019 here.]

Discovery takes place after the events of Enterprise featuring Captain Archer, but shortly before the events of Star Trek: The Original Series, when Capt. Kirk commanded the Starship Enterprise. At the very end of Season 1 of Discovery, we see the ship encountering the Enterprise, with Capt. Pike commanding. He commanded immediately before Capt. Kirk took over. So yes, we are seeing that same beloved Enterprise ship that Kirk will one day command.

The timeline for Discovery is merely about 10 years before the Original Series. So yes, Kirk is very much alive and active in Star Fleet at this point. And yes, Michael Burnham’s adopted brother Spock is also in the Federation, serving on the Enterprise at Capt. Pike’s side.

Discovery takes place about 95 years after the events of Enterprise, with Capt. Archer. The finale of Enterprise (which some fans prefer to forget) featured the founding of the Federation. Captain Jonathan Archer commanded the first deep space mission in Starfleet, using Warp 5 technology.

The only character we could possibly see from Enterprise is T’Pol, due to the long lifespan of Vulcans. But we could potentially run into a lot of characters from the Original Series, since Discovery is only about 10 years in advance.

In the canon, Pike was born in Mojave on Earth, joined Starfleet, and sometime before 2254 he became captain of the Enterprise. He took command at the age of 38 after Robert April, who had commanded the Enterprise for nine years. He’s appeared in numerous episodes in the Original series. The very first was “The Cage” two-parter from the original series, set in 2254. His next episode is “The Menagerie” from the Original Series, where he’s severely injured. Read more about Pike in Heavy’s story here.