Every time there’s a new Star Trek show, there’s a starship for fans to obsess over (and inevitably compare to the first, most iconic Enterprises). So-called NuTrek has seen new chapters defined by the Discovery, the Protostar, and the Cerritos, and each has grown in fan adulation. Now, a new ship has joined the Starfleet ranks, completely redefining what a starship can be and helping shepherd in a new era for Starfleet in a more philosophical way.
The form-changing USS Athena is the Starfleet Academy ship, captained by Holly Hunter’s unconventional Captain Nahla Ake, and pulling double duties both as a key Starfleet ship and also the Academy itself. The ship comes apart to form the Academy in San Francisco, but also operates as a normal ship (an Academy-class one, at that), allowing for training on real missions. And crucially, rather than being named after something reflecting exploration (like the Discovery), the Athena is named after the Greek goddess of wisdom and warfare (and crafts, less importantly). What better way to underline the fact that Starfleet Academy finally challenges Gene Roddenberry’s insistence about the military nature of Starfleet?
Roddenberry Insisted Starfleet Was Not The Military (But The Athena Breaks That Rule)
Somewhat infamously, Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry was adamant that Starfleet was not the military, even balking at The Wrath of Khan‘s classification of the organization as the navy. He maintained that the organization was chiefly concerned with scientific exploration, diplomacy, and progress. As Picard said: in Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 2 episode “Peak Performance,” after it is suggested to him that learning military strategy would be beneficial: “Starfleet is not a military organization, its purpose is exploration.”
There is nuance here, of course, but to accept that Starfleet is not military requires ignorance of too many contradictory points: the military ranks, the ship names associated with other military vessels, the weaponry, or the fact that Captain Kirk literally calls himself a soldier in TOS Season 1… But yes, on a technicality, you could argue that the combat training all Starfleet graduates must go through, and the heavy war equipment fitted to even scientific ships, is all defensive. In case of emergency, rather than in preparation for war, as it were. It’s a debate that has raged for years, and Starfleet Academy’s introduction of the War College does seem to acknowledge some separation.
But then, the Athena borrowing her name from the Greek goddess is also symbolic: it’s also an acknowledgement that both wisdom and war are part of Starfleet’s fundamental nature. Whether Roddenberry’s desire was to create a utopian ideal where defense was sometimes necessary, but war was something that the Federation had mostly evolved beyond (philosophically, at least) is almost irrelevant. War happened, and Starfleet engaged.
And really, it’s perfect for this age of Star Trek. The Athena is the flagship of a literally rebuilt Starfleet, and it’s appropriate that the vessel accepts the duality of its function, even as it breaks Roddenberry’s rule that Starfleet should never be called the military. This is a new age, borne out of darkness and turmoil, and this is a new Starfleet. Being strategic in military action is and always has been important to Starfleet, and now more than ever, this is the right way to subtly show that.
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