Star Trek Officially Changes Canon With a Surprising Twist That Rewrites Franchise History

Star Trek's canon comics have just made a surprising revelation, adding in a new weakness to one of the franchise's most powerful antagonists. The latest issue of IDW's The Last Starship gives new hope for resistance against the Borg.

Star Trek: The Last Starship #8 was released on June 17, and its story focused on Borg Queen Agnes Jurati leaving the crew of the U.S.S. Omega behind as she attempts to assimilate its power. The issue also teased none other than Captain Kirk, who followed her aboard in an attempt to find out why she and the Borg had brought him back to life. Surprisingly, the biggest reveal in the issue came as Zed, the crew's Ferengi physician, proved resistant to the Borg's assimilation.

Star Trek Updates Lore to Give the Borg a Shocking New Weakness

"Observation: Everyone else is being assimilated, but I'm not," Zed realizes in the issue's interior art. "Hypothesis: my blood is so pickled by my psychonautical lifestyle that mind-bogglingly powerful semisentient nanobots don't know what to do with me. Thesis: these things hate what's in my blood."

It seems that what some might have viewed as a weakness for Zed has actually become his saving grace; his use of psychoactive drugs helped him defeat the Borg. Zed ultimately whips up a drug on the fly, administering it directly to Captain Sato (whom he humorously calls 'Captain Sober'), and likely turning the tide for the crew.

Star Trek: The Last Starship's new revelation marks a strikingly rare weakness for the Borg collective, with assimilation into their ranks usually an all but assured task. Still, the Borg Queen remains one of Star Trek's most powerful antagonists, and the Borg aren't going anywhere in the coming months as the story continues to develop.

Next month, when the ninth issue releases on July 15, Captain Sato will return to the bridge thanks to the help of Zed, but he will find Kirk and the Borg are already in command. IDW's solicit for the issue teases Zed's continued work in helping resist the Borg, promising the Ferengi will make "an impossible call to save Vi from assimilation, uncovering a terrifying truth about the psychic singularity at Deep Space Hope."

The Last Starship May Introduce Even More Weaknesses for The Borg

In August, the Borg will face even more resistance. The solicit for The Last Starship #10 promises a showdown between Captain Kirk and Admiral Sato, and when the Borg-augmented U.S.S. Omega liberates Tellar, Starfleet's U.S.S. Challenger arrives armed with anti-Borg tech to put a stop to the madness.

Unfortunately for fans of Kirk, his appearance in the comics is going to be relatively short-lived. IDW's September solicits dubbed The Last Starship #11 the penultimate issue, hinting that the story will likely be all wrapped up by the end of October. Whether Sato, Kirk, Agnes, Zed and Valqis will be able to save the Federation from the Emerald Chain remains to be seen, but the Galaxy promises to never be the same again.

Star Trek: The Last Starship #8 is now available from IDW Publishing.