Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2, Episode 2 – "Ad Astra Per Aspera"Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2, episode 2 takes its name from the Latin phrase "Ad Astra per Aspera", and it's a phrase that means a lot to Commander Una Chin-Riley (Rebecca Romijn). The episode places Una on trial for concealing her Illyrian heritage from Starfleet, in fear of the Federation's ban on genetic enhancements. The lack of cultural nuance in the Federation's ban is at the heart of a legal battle for both Una's freedom and her Starfleet career. Accusations even begin flying in the direction of Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) as Vice Admiral Pasalk (Graeme Somerville) wants to bring down the whole command structure of the USS Enterprise.
"Ad Astra per Aspera" is a classic Star Trek courtroom episode that places Una's struggle in the context of historic laws that persecuted people on the grounds of their gender, religious beliefs, or sexual orientation. Una's lawyer and childhood best friend, Neera (Yetide Badaki) is also an Illyrian and has dedicated her life to fighting for her people's civil rights. It's appropriate then that Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2, episode 2 takes its name from "Ad Astra per Aspera", the Latin phrase that is also uttered during the classic civil rights courtroom drama To Kill a Mockingbird. The phrase also happens to be a source of inspiration for Una and for Starfleet itself.
