Imagine the mountain of MacGuffins that aStar Trekcrew would have if they tried to collect all of them at once. The writers have created so many different rocks, leaves, minerals, and mystery substances that cause endless unique effects. When a character in that universe wants to teleport or bring someone back from the dead, all they have to do is work tirelessly and brave impossible danger to find whatever kind of grass does the job. Time crystals are rocks with the unique ability to manipulate the temporal fabric if only anyone can harness them.
Sometimes,Star Trekwritersintroduce an idea withoutreally intending to delve deep into the implications. Back in the day, they could rely on encyclopedias and novels to flesh out anything they left half-explained. This concept hasn’t caught up with the franchise’s modern incarnations. This leaves someStar Trekproper nouns floundering without a perfect backlog of information. Some concepts will require a few logical leaps.
Where do time crystals come from?
Time crystals are a natural resource that only seem to occur on a planet called Boreth. Boreth is a slightly vague name that seems to refer to a planet and its nearby moon. There may be other locations that can grow time crystals, but the show hasn’t specified any of them. Boreth is the most sacredlocation in the Klingon Empire. An ancient legend sent the Klingons to Boreth as soon as they gained the ability to leave their atmosphere. The legendary first king, Kahless the Unforgettable, swore he would return from the stars one day. The Followers of Kahless created a massive monastery on Boreth. That hidden monastery protected the first king’s disciples from outside intervention. It also protected the time crystals from prying eyes. To better carry out that task, a sect of Kahless’s devotees became Timekeepers, dedicating their lives to guarding the time crystals. MostKlingons didn’t believe thattime crystals existed. They believed that they were a symbolic concept with no real-world equivalent. The monastery and its residents experience almost no contact with the outside universe. This keeps the time crystals completely inaccessible to almost everyone.
What do time crystals do?
Since the Timekeepers have the time crystals under wraps, most people have struggled to access them.No Federation-aligned specieshas figured out a way to utilize the time crystals properly. A few characters have suffered or wielded the time crystals in different ways. Some suggest that a theoretical fourth-dimensional race could effectively use time crystals. The Klingon Empire once found a way to wield time crystals, but the consequences were vague. They eventually abandoned the concept because even the Klingons felt that the ability to control the flow of time was too overpowered. The Red Angel time travel suit required a modified time crystal to run. The crystals require some form of energy to charge.Gabirelle Burnham intended tocharge the one intended for the Red Angel suit in a supernova. When charged, the crystals can launch people through time or age them prematurely. A device like the Red Angel suit can control its effects to some extent, but doing so is very difficult. To quote Michael Burnham,
It appears this person is attempting to change the outcome of our current timeline.
Harry Mudd also had a unique device that used time crystals. He wore one small crystal around his wrist and carried a much larger one in his spaceship. Mudd used his incredible power to rob at least one bank. His larger plan involvedstealing theUSSDiscoveryand selling it to the Klingons. This scheme didn’t work out, and his device fell apart after he used it to undo the damage he’d done to the ship. Time crystals give Michael Burnham and Jett Reno glimpses into possible futures, which they use to alter their trajectory. Their ship also allowed them to set off the red bursts through time, alerting others to a dangerous future. Burnham then piloted theDiscoverythrough a wormhole into the 32nd century. Finally,Wesley Crusher usedtime crystals and the “Orb of Time” to create a device that would allow him to map a series of events that his team could change to avoid a terrible future. This device also opened the portal that sent them through time to solve their problems.
Time crystals are a unique natural resource that the franchise is still barely touching on. The mythic elements of the Klingon Empire’s bizarre faith in their first king yield to a fascinating power that anyone could wield. If theKlingons stopped guardingtime crystals, there’s no way of knowing who or what would gain control of the flow of time. Time travel comes up a lot inStar Trek: Discovery, but the concept remains so massive that the franchise could continue to explore it. Maybe the time crystals will play a bigger role in futureStar Trekprojects.
