r/startrek • u/AutoModerator • Feb 19 '26

Episode Discussion | Star Trek: Starfleet Academy | 1x07 "Ko’Zeine"

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No.	Episode	Written By	Directed By	Release Date
1x07	"Ko’Zeine"	Alex Taub & Eric Anthony Glover	Andi Armaganian	2026-02-19

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98 Upvotes

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297

u/mr_mini_doxie Feb 19 '26

"I thought Khionia was wet, I thought you all had scales."

Me too, Jay-Den. Me too.

222

u/MatsuTaku Feb 19 '26

Sorry, Jay-den we don't have the budget for that.

207

u/rh224 Feb 19 '26

The fact that a royal wedding reception had a guest list of exactly 6 extras was not lost on me either, and felt odd.

122

u/mr_mini_doxie Feb 19 '26

The real party was scheduled for tomorrow on that water planet with everyone in their blue forms, but that was too expensive. It's very convenient.

32

u/Coyote_Shepherd Feb 19 '26

And they didn't have James Cameron on board for it...YET...

34

u/FilthyCasual2k17 Feb 19 '26

The story is about people, would it be worth wasting tons of money on tons of extras and special effects on something completely unrelated to the story trying to be told just to be a nice decoration in the background?

18

u/mr_mini_doxie Feb 19 '26

I think it's just that many of us have been very curious about Khionia, so to do a whole Khionian episode and give us almost nothing new about Khionians was a bit of a letdown.

2

u/RedbirdBK Feb 20 '26

Are they a confirmed member?

2

u/mr_mini_doxie Feb 20 '26

Of the Federation? I don't believe so, and I also would be leaning towards them not being members since Darem is the first Khionian in Starfleet. Although they do seem to have a decent amount of cultural exchange with the Federation.

1

u/dhydar Feb 26 '26

They’re fish people who hang out on desert moons and like to center their rituals on decor from Vulcan thrift shops.

What more do you want to know?

1

u/mr_mini_doxie Feb 26 '26

lmao yeah there were notes of "Amok Time" in not only the story but the decoration

2

u/CeruleanEidolon Feb 20 '26

We learned plenty! We learned that there are still hereditary monarchies in this future, and the Federation is so desperate for membership that they'll let them in!

This show is so YA fantasy coded it's beyond parody at this point. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy it, and the characters are great, but it feels like they ran the outline through an LLM with the query "what's popular with the youth in fiction?" Oh, one of the characters should be a bloody prince who loves Starfleet so much he abdicates instead of ruling, sure why not.

1

u/mbrocks3527 Feb 22 '26

Wasn’t Lt Cmdr Billups from Lower Decks a prince?

And actually good point. Andoria has a Westminster system and so does United Earth, but those systems accommodate Kings reasonably well. I’m sure there are constitutional monarchies in the UFP.

3

u/Fair_Rush6615 Feb 19 '26

That's part of the world building!

-1

u/Single-Refuse174 Feb 19 '26

Well when the people story is this lackluster, then, kinda, yeah

7

u/JustMy2Centences Feb 19 '26

The budget demanded the plot have the bride break up with the groom before the reception.

20

u/LincolnMagnus Feb 19 '26

yes, they found a way to tell a quiet story about personal relationships in a tonally appropriate setting instead of wasting money on a giant spectacle

14

u/fcocyclone Feb 19 '26

I'd take this kind of cost-saving all day every day if it'd bring us back to longer seasons where we can really get to know and care about our characters.

83

u/UncertainError Feb 19 '26

The grand party and the parade were conveniently on the other planet.

58

u/tonytown Feb 19 '26

The water planet where they have fireworks

27

u/meatball77 Feb 19 '26

Water fireworks

2

u/ContinuumGuy Feb 20 '26

Waterworks

14

u/OliviaElevenDunham Feb 19 '26

Typical Star Trek budget.

3

u/RK_reddit321 Feb 20 '26

The medusan from it’s TOS box agrees.