It was finally officially announced that Section 31 is going to be getting its very own spin-off series. As an organisation, Section 31 has appeared from time to time, cutting into story lines, before vanishing into the shadows. It’s been around since the first days of Starfleet, and has always been operating to eliminate extraordinary threats.
Section 31 has the power to do whatever it wants and doesn’t need to justify its actions to anyone. An secret organisation, lurking in the shadows, its sole purpose is to eliminate extreme threats. And to accomplish this, it’s allowed to ‘bend’ the rules and take extreme measures if it has to. So, this begs the question. If it doesn’t have to play by the rules, can it utilise time travel to accomplish its missions?
First off, it’s important to examine the plausibility of time travel. Does Section 31 have the ability to travel in time? If so, the possibilities are endless. What time period would you like them to travel to and what characters would you like to appear in cameo roles? So, what’s stopping Section 31 from utilizing time travel to fix any outcomes and threats?
Of course, the Temporal Integrity Commission may have their eyes on what Section 31 are up to. They exist to ensure there are no temporal incursions and so would likely step in. When they detected USS Voyager’s Earthly presence in 1966, the commission ensured that voyager was appropriately escorted back to 2373 in the Delta Quadrant – where it belonged.
Another point to consider is that Section 31 exists to protect from major threats. While going back in time and wiping out the Founders or the Dominions may have prevented a lot of casualties, it would also have messed with the timeline and created even greater problems. Who knows what may have happened. Perhaps an even greater war could have ensued from their time travel actions. And, while they’re able to bend the rules to eliminate threats, it wouldn’t be wise to abuse their powers and create a whole host of new problems. This could bring them out of the shadows, raise all sorts of ethical questions, and eventually lead to them losing their powers.
In the new series, you’re going to learn a lot about Section 31 and its capabilities. Whether time travel is on the agenda, you’ll just have to wait and see. Mirror Georgiou, however doesn’t seem like a character to play by the rules, however, further enhancing the unpredictability of Section 31’s actions.
Will we see a time travel episode or not? Well, that one is of course up to the writers. Executive producer, Alex Kurtzman is committed to allowing each episode evolve in its own way, rather than trying to follow the same formula. Does this mean that anything goes? While the featuring of old cast members in cameo roles could be on the agenda, who knows what the future (and past) has in store for us on Section 31. Keep tuned in for updates.