Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 4 Finale – "Old Friends, New Planets"
Summary
- "Star Trek: Lower Decks" season 4 finale sets up the major Orion crime syndicate, the Emerald Chain, indicating that it was formed through a merger between two Orion criminal enterprises facilitated by D'Erika Tendi.
- The timing of the merger suggests that the foundations of the Emerald Chain could have been laid down as far back as 2381, which aligns with the events of "Lower Decks" season 4.
- It is possible that Osyraa, the leader of the Emerald Chain in "Star Trek: Discovery," is descended from Tendi's house, potentially even from D'Vana herself, making their connection a fascinating Easter egg for the franchise.
Star Trek: Lower Decks just set up Star Trek: Discovery's major Orion crime syndicate with one line. Lower Decks season 4 ended with an explosive finale that brought back some familiar faces from the Star Trek universe, revealing that the season's big bad was Nick Locarno (Robert Duncan McNeill), the disgraced former pilot from Star Trek: The Next Generation season 5, episode 19, "The First Duty." After Locarno captured Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) to help him with his villainous Nova Fleet, Captain Carol Freeman (Dawnn Lewis) and the crew of the USS Cerritos sought a way to save Mariner by going to D'Vana Tendi's (Noël Wells) sister for help.
D'Erika Tendi (Ariel Winter) was first introduced in Lower Decks season 4, episode 4, "Something Borrowed, Something Green" where it was revealed that she had become head of the Tendi family criminal empire in her sister's absence. When the Cerritos crew asked for D'Erika's help in rescuing Mariner, she proved reluctant, forcing the crew to participate in the Orion system of barter by combat and then supplying them with an inoperable ship. During their initial plea for help, however, one of D'Erika's lines inadvertently laid the groundwork for a major storyline that took place in Star Trek: Discovery's 32nd century.
