Star Trek: Section 31 promises to show us the final frontier as we’ve never seen it before. Light years from the boldly going popularised by James T Kirk, Jean-Luc Picard and Kathryn Janeway, this Paramount+ movie reveals the darker side of Starfleet.

Focusing on Section 31, a shadowy intelligence organisation that’s been operating in the dark corners of the Federation for decades, this is a futuristic spy movie set in outer space. At its centre is Everything Everywhere All At Once Oscar-winner Michelle Yeoh, who reprises her Star Trek: Discovery role as sadistic dictator turned fan-favourite superspy Philippa Georgiou.

Below we open up the Starfleet databanks to explain how this new mission fits into the franchise mythology, who’s joining Georgiou on her top-secret adventure, and answer the most important question of all: what is Star Trek’s Section 31?

What is Star Trek: Section 31?

Star Trek: Section 31, the latest release from the final frontier, is a movie that streams exclusively on Paramount+ from Friday 24 January. The 14th Trek film (and the first made specifically for TV) focuses on Philippa Georgiou, the character played by Everything Everywhere All At Once Oscar-winner Michelle Yeoh in the first three seasons of Star Trek: Discovery.

What’s the meaning of the Star Trek: Section 31 title?

Don’t worry, you haven’t missed Sections 1-30. In Star Trek, Section 31 is Starfleet’s undercover intelligence outfit, and they have a reputation for playing fast and loose with standard United Federation of Planets rules and ethics.

They’ve been part of Star Trek mythology since the ’90s, when they helped Starfleet battle the Dominion in Deep Space Nine, set in the same time period as Jean-Luc Picard’s The Next Generation adventures. Prequel series Enterprise and Discovery subsequently revealed they’ve been operating in Starfleet for centuries, while Section 31 also feature in the parallel “Kelvin” universe of JJ Abrams’ movies.

Who is Philippa Georgiou and where have we seen her before?

Star Trek: Section 31’s lead character, Philippa Georgiou, has plenty of history in the franchise, going back to Star Trek: Discovery’s very first episode in 2017. That incarnation was captain of the USS Shenzhou, but died at the hands of the Klingons in the show’s second episode.

But, proving that death doesn’t have to be the end in sci-fi, we soon learned that Georgiou had a doppelganger in the so-called Mirror Universe. This is the long-standing dystopian parallel timeline where the alternate Mr Spock wore a goatee to remind viewers he was evil in the Original Series.

This Mirror Georgiou just happened to be the Emperor of the totalitarian Terran Empire, going by the official title of “Her most Imperial Majesty, Mother of the Fatherland, Overlord of Vulcan, Dominus of Qo’noS, Regina Andor”. On most occasions, however, “Emperor” is fine.

With her power base crumbling, Georgiou transferred over to the Prime universe, aka themain Star Trek timeline. Perhaps unsurprisingly, she was quickly recruited by Section 31, who saw potential in her unique set of skills. She subsequently became a member of the USS Discovery crew, though she maintained a healthy disdain for the Starfleet way.

What’s Georgiou’s mission in Star Trek: Section 31?

Originally proposed as a TV series, Section 31 picks up Georgiou’s story of Philippa Georgiou after she travelled back from the 32nd century in Discovery’s third season (more on that below). She’s running a nightclub outside of Federation jurisdiction when operatives from the titular Section 31 recruit her for a top-secret mission with the future of the Federation at stake. Yeoh has described the story as “like Mission: Impossible meets Guardians of the Galaxy in space."

Miku Martineau plays the young Georgiou in Star Trek: Section 31, so it seems likely we’ll also find out about the Emperor’s formative years in the Terran Empire and how she rose to the throne.

Where does Section 31 fit into the Star Trek chronology?

This is where things get a little bit complicated.

Star Trek: Discovery is set several years before the Enterprise’s famous five-year mission in the original Star Trek TV show. Georgiou was on board Discovery when – in the name of saving the Federation from an out-of-control AI – they travelled forward to the 32nd century. But, being trapped in the wrong era and the wrong universe threatened to tear Georgiou apart, so cosmic portal the Guardian of Forever sent her back to a time when the Prime and Mirror universes were still in sync.

The Georgiou we encounter in Star Trek: Section 31 is the one who’s travelled back from the distant future – though few in the movie will know anything about that, seeing as Discovery’s trip through time was more classified than classified.

It’s been confirmed that the movie is the first screen Trek set in the so-called “lost era” between the movie adventures of Kirk and Spock (late 23rd century) and The Next Generation over 70 years later. That places it somewhere in the early 24th century.

Are there any other familiar characters in Star Trek: Section 31?

That depends how you define familiar. While no A-list Trek characters are confirmed for the new film, Lieutenant Rachel Garrett – future captain of the USS Enterprise-C in classic The Next Generation episode “Yesterday’s Enterprise” – is a member of Georgiou’s team. Here she’s played by Kacey Rohl and will act as Starfleet’s voice of reason in a group that doesn’t like to play by the rules.

Some familiar Trek species are also represented. Fuzz (Sven Ruygrok) appears to be either a Vulcan or a Romulan – though, going on the laughter in the trailer, he has a more evolved sense of humour than his compatriots. Melle (Humberly González), meanwhile, is a Deltan, hailing from the same planet as Lt Ilia in Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Deltans have an inherent sexual magnetism, and have to take a vow of celibacy before joining Starfleet. Melle, however, has made no such promises, and uses her gifts to her advantage.

Quasi (Sam Richardson) is a shapeshifting Chameloid, much like Martia in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. In that movie Kirk assumed the species were a myth, so they’ve presumably gone mainstream in the interim.

The trailer also provides a glimpse of a half-black, half-white alien, who looks a lot like the residents of Ariannus in Original Series episode “Let That Be Your Last Battlefield”.

Is there anyone else on the Section 31 team?

The covert gang is rounded out by group leader Alok Sahar (Omari Hardwick) and Zeph (Robert Kazinsky). The latter spends his time in a sophisticated mechanical suit that gives him enhanced strength.

What’s next for Star Trek?

The third season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – the show about the pre-Kirk voyages of the starship Enterprise – is expected later this year. A new Starfleet Academy TV show, set in the same 32nd century time period as Discovery, is also in production.

As for Star Trek: Section 31… If the movie’s a hit, don’t be surprised if it turns out to be the first of many missions for Philippa Georgiou and her new teammates.

Star Trek: Section 31 streams on Paramount+ from Friday 24 January. The streamer is also home to Philippa Georgiou’s previous Star Trek: Discovery adventures.