Warning: SPOILER for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 Finale - "Hegemony"

Summary

  • Lt. Montgomery Scott, or Scotty, makes a surprise appearance in the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2 finale, showcasing his expertise in engineering and escaping a Gorn attack.
  • Scotty's introduction paves the way for him to potentially become a recurring character in the series, with longer-term plans in store for his character development.
  • While Scotty is destined to become the Chief Engineer of the USS Enterprise in the future, it is unlikely that he will replace Pelia in this role just yet, as he is still a junior officer in Strange New Worlds. The possibility of a changing of the guard in Engineering remains open for future seasons.

Lt. Montgomery Scott (Martin Quinn) is introduced in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2's finale, but does this already open the door to Scotty's destiny in Star Trek: The Original Series? Scotty makes a surprise appearance on Parnassus Beta when he sets a trap for the Gorn that Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) and his USS Enterprise landing party walk into. Scotty reveals he is the lone survivor of the USS Stardiver, and he escaped a Gorn attack when he deduced key aspects of the Gorn's behavior as well as built a Gorn transponder, so his shuttle could hide in plain sight.

Scotty is one of Star Trek's greatest icons. As the Chief Engineer of the USS Enterprise under the command of Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner), Scotty earned a reputation as a "miracle worker" for his uncanny knack to get the starship out of countless life-or-death situations. Scotty served on the Enterprise and Enterprise-A for over 30 years, and his love for the Constitution Class starship is arguably the only one that exceeds Captain Kirk's. But in Strange New Worlds' 2260 timeframe, Scotty is a young junior-grade Lieutenant who sets foot on the Starship Enterprise for the first time.

Scotty Can Strange New Worlds’ Enterprise In Season 3

Strange New Worlds Scotty Martin Quinn

Scotty's introduction in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds makes it possible for him to become a recurring character. The dire situation on Parnassus Beta required an Engineer to play a vital role in unraveling the Gorn's plot, and Strange New Worlds' creative team decided to bring in Scotty instead of creating a new character. Casting Scottish actor Martin Quinn as Scotty and bringing him to Toronto is also a signal that there are longer-term plans for Mr. Scott than a mere cameo or guest spot. Scotty has the potential to be a regular and familiar face on Captain Pike's Enterprise going forward.

Scotty is already set up to become the savior of the Enterprise and perform his first magic trick as a "miracle worker." Scotty knows how to build a Gorn transponder, and his former Starfleet Academy instructor, Commander Pelia (Carol Kane), who is the Chief Engineer of the Enterprise, will help him. A functioning Gorn transponder will allow the Enterprise to hide from the Gorn's sensors. With it, Captain Pike can disobey Starfleet's orders to retreat and mount a rescue operation to save Lt. La'an Noonien Singh (Christina Chong), Dr. Joseph M'Benga (Babs Olusanmokun), Lt. Erica Ortegas (Melissa Navia), Lt. Sam Kirk (Dan Jeannotte), and the Parnassus Beta survivors kidnapped by the Gorn. Scotty may also know how to use coronal mass ejections, i.e. sun spots, to control the Gorn's behavior.

Why Scotty Probably Won’t Replace Pelia As Chief Engineer (Yet)

Pelia and Scotty

If Scotty s the Starship Enterprise as an Engineer, it's only a matter of time until he replaces Pelia as Chief Engineer. Scotty is already the senior master of the Enterprise's engines when Star Trek: The Original Series begins, and it will likely be up to Strange New Worlds to establish when Mr. Scott gets the promotion to the role that defines his Starfleet career. However, Scotty is only a junior officer in Strange New Worlds, and he has a way to go until he has the seniority to replace Pelia. The extremely long-lived Lanthanite just ed the Enterprise crew herself, and Pelia probably has no plans to go anywhere or surrender the Chief Engineer position to her gifted former student with terrible grades just yet.

Interestingly, it's unclear how long Carol Kane is signed to be part of Strange New Worlds' cast, just as it's undetermined whether Martin Quinn will become more than a guest star as Scotty. Anything can happen in Strange New Worlds season 3, and a changing of the guard in Engineering is one possibility. Every Star Trek fan knows Scotty's destiny is to become Chief Engineer of the Enterprise, but TOS is still years away from Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, so it might not happen in season 3.

All episodes of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2 are streaming on Paramount+.