I have no idea when this show is happening.
Now, I know this is a stupid thing to think about. At the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter Starfleet Academy To know Where? it fits perfectly star trek Timeline. We know it’s the 32nd century; We know the approximate time – it’s around the beginning of the 3190s – and we also know that, really, nothing has happened in the show yet that requires precise on-screen explanation to root it in a very specific time and place. Especially considering that the only Travel show Starfleet Academy It should have a direct connection to the timeline SearchA series that is no longer an ongoing concern.
I think part of it is that I’m a little old, especially when it comes to Starfleet AcademyA fiercely attractive group of kids. Travel I grew up with, that is, deep space nine And sailoropened by establishing themselves in relation to direct moments in the setting they shared at the end of the 24th century, which was hanging out tng– Picard’s assimilation had a personal impact on Ben Sisko and sparked serious conflict between the Maquis and the Cardassian Union. but while Academy From what we’ve seen so far, while we get some hints about the passage of time (for example, Derem’s message to his parents at the top of episode three, “Vitus Reflux,” states that three weeks have passed since classes started), it’s largely vague about what it means.
Then again, it hasn’t stopped a little corner of me Travel The brain must be prevented from constantly focusing on it, no matter how insignificant its importance. So let us try to present all the facts that we know and try to present a working theory.
Star Trek: Discoverytimeline than Starfleet Academy

SearchThe third, fourth, and fifth seasons give us a broader time frame for its events. At the beginning of season three in the year 3188, Michael Burnham successfully travels from the 23rd century to the 32nd century – and shortly thereafter (at least for us), thanks to temporal displacement, the U.S.S. Search And his crew follows in 3189. In that time, they learn of the cataclysmic galaxy-wide effects of an event called the Burn and solve its mysterious origins, laying the groundwork to rebuild the largely broken Federation.
Similarly, the next two seasons are given stardates that place them in the following years: 3190 for season four and 3191 for season five. Which means we can date some important things to setup Starfleet AcademyYour internal timeline: Search Season four begins with the formal reopening of Starfleet Academy, with Michael giving a speech to mark the occasion in the premiere episode, “Kobayashi Maru”, and the season climaxes in “Coming Home” with the revelation that Starfleet and United Earth have begun negotiations to rejoin the Federation.
Starfleet Academytimeline than Star Trek: Discovery

It’s the new show itself that starts throwing up some timeline curveballs. The first episode, “Kids These Days”, takes place sometime after the events of Search Season four, because its entire premise is about the U.S.S. athena Making its way to Earth to begin classes, the first academic year for the institution to take place on the planet since Starfleet was kicked out after the Burn a century ago (those classes, specifically, are described as the fall semester, so whatever year it’s taking place in, it’s later). athena There is also no problem in making the long journey from where it was bringing its last students and the Earth itself, so the solution to the lithium shortage Search The end of season four is improved enough that at least it doesn’t feel out of place. athena Using its warp drive carelessly.
But when the ship is attacked by Nus Braka and Venari Ral, we get our first strange note: the Search but can’t come athenaassistance as it is currently in the midst of extensive renovations. In star trekThe term “refit” is generally used to describe a starship undergoing extensive technical overhaul, either a complete systems update or even having its old self replaced by a new class of ship – transferring the name in the process but noting that refit with an alphabetical letter associated with its NCC registry number (all versions) enterpriseThe sailor-A In ProdigyAnd yes, Search Self).
we only ever see Search undergo two major refits on-screen: a three-week process taken to update their systems and technology from 23rd century to 32nd century standards, which became Search-A In this process, in the season three episode “Scavengers”, which takes place immediately after Search Has emerged outside of time in 3189, and again in the season five finale, “Life Itself”, in an epilogue set decades after the events of the show.
it can’t This is the same refit mentioned in “Kids These Days”, as all of this occurs before the Burn and United Earth’s resolution to rejoin the Federation. With this in mind, even if the Venari Ral attack is delayed, we are told it will take athena It takes about 15 hours to reach Earth, we can safely assume a good portion of that Search This didn’t happen in less than a day after the season three repair!
Our next real insight into the timeline first comes in episode two Starfleet Academy“Beta Test”, where it is established that the Federation is still in the process of deciding where its new official headquarters will be after being deployed on the U.S.S. federation Continuous Search from seasons three to five (it was eventually decided to be set on BetaZ rather than its pre-burn home in Paris on Earth).
Then “Vitus Reflux”, set three weeks after the events of “Kids These Days”, gives us another tidbit: Jet Reno, talking to Derem about his issues with his fellow Cadet Genesis, notes that he “left a starship at the edge of creation” to be in a relationship with the Academy’s Cadet Master and First Officer, Laura Bulk, and take a teaching position at the Academy. Of course, it must be the ship SearchBut given that Reno is a regularly established member of the ship’s crew during seasons four and five and there is no mention of him taking leave, this would mean that Starfleet Academy To take place after the conclusion of SearchIn the fifth season of, presumably, the fall of 3191.
enter tilly

This leads us to another important factor Search And Starfleet Academy Together: Sylvia Tilly. Once the academy is re-established SearchIn the fourth season, Tilly is given the opportunity to teach her first new cadets to depart Search As a full-time member of the crew in the season four episode “All Is Possible”, in which she goes on a training mission with some of those early cadets. Tilly is seen again in the season four finale and then seen regularly throughout season five, where she mentions her work teaching academy cadets.
We know that, at some point, Tilly will appear in Starfleet Academy—That’ll probably be the thing that becomes really clear once the show sets up. but if Starfleet Academy It’s about to be the first class of students since the Burn circa 3191, and Tilly is also training cadets after formally reopening the academy at the beginning of season four a year ago, how do we solve this?
Well, technically. Possibly prior to the construction or reconstruction of the USS athena To become the new voyage home of the San Francisco-based academy, Starfleet was actually teaching its first academy cadets in the field, based on the U.S.S. federation And Starfleet Headquarters, as it was re-established in 3190. A one-time conclusion brought things back into order Search As season five and more members rejoin, or at least begin to, the World Federation, Starfleet may have decided to reopen the academy on Earth, and thus Starfleet Academy Follows the first class of cadets to be trained on the planet since the Burn, not the first Academy students.
Does any of this really matter? Starfleet Academy?
Absolutely not. If anything, the show would be better off not trying to explain too much about things and its other connections star trek Content—after all, it’s serving as a major new onboarding point for new fans Search Had done before this. But sometimes it’s fun to pay attention to things that don’t really matter, as long as it doesn’t bother you too much.
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