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Discovery - Where Main Characters May Die

There may not be any plot armour for some of the characters in Discovery, we might like a character, only to see them die.

By Three of Seven Mon 10 Jul, 2017 8:10 PM
Star Trek has often been seen as safe for main characters, with the exception of a handful, which have usually been written out of the show for various reasons, in the case of Yar, it was because Denise Crosby wanted to leave the show. She reportedly said it was because she was "miserable on TNG".

Jadzia Dax was also written out of Deep Space 9, this was due to Terry Farrells contract expiring, with no negotiation for a renewal. She has said she "would have been so happy if they just would have let me be a recurring (character) the final season" and she didn't want her character to be killed, but that is how it went.

Other major Star Trek names have died on screen, but in those cases, they weren't written out of their series because that journey had usually come to an end. Such as Data (Nemesis) and Kirk (Generations), on top of others. There have also been reoccurring characters who have lost their life through the duration of a series, but it has been very rare for a main character to die.

However the co-showrunner, Gretchen J. Berg, made reference to how Game of Thrones had changed television, when speaking with Entertainment Weekly about the show. Saying that "They almost made it difficult to fall in love with people because you didn’t know if they were going to be taken away from you.". This could imply that we could see some big deaths happening in Discovery, but with that, we would have to be introduced to newer main characters. Unlike Game of Thrones, Star Trek often has a smaller cast of important characters appearing on screen, so it could be interesting.

Aaron Harberts, one of the other show runners and executive producers, told EW that "Death isn’t treated gratuitously on this show. It’s not for shock value. But when it happens we want to make sure that people really feel it.", which would make it something rare to see and they really want to make an impact on the viewers.

So, shall we start a sweepstake on who will be the first character to die?

WRITTEN & EDITED BY Three of Seven - rena.hobden@ufplanets.com

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4 Comments
Tue 11 Jul, 2017 7:12 PM
I don't know what to think of this source of inspiration they're going for. We'll have to just wait for the release and see what to make of it. This version of Star Trek will be greatly different from what we know so far - I reckon.
Tue 11 Jul, 2017 8:39 PM
I wonder how much this is driven by the studio/producers in regards to 'controlling' the actor/actresses' future salary negotiations. Is this a subtle threat to actors' future desire for massive salary increases?

How many times do we hear about someone leaving a show over salary disagreements?
Thu 13 Jul, 2017 4:22 AM
I don't quite think I am ready for beloved Trek characters to be ripped away from us so soon, (RIP Jadzia Dax, Daughter of the house of Martok) I am not sure trek is quite about that, yes we saw countless ships destroyed, but it didn't feel as personal. It might shake the dystopian type future that trek does have (Specifically if it does go the Game of Thrones side.)

But who knows, maybe it will show a darker side of the federation, it could be really excellent.
Thu 13 Jul, 2017 6:20 AM
Waaaait, am I misunderstanding something?

'However the co-showrunner, Gretchen J. Berg, made reference to how Game of Thrones had changed television, when speaking with Entertainment Weekly about the show. Saying that "They almost made it difficult to fall in love with people because you didn’t know if they were going to be taken away from you.". This could imply that we could see some big deaths happening in Discovery, but with that, we would have to be introduced to newer main characters. Unlike Game of Thrones, Star Trek often has a smaller cast of important characters appearing on screen, so it could be interesting.'

This "COULD imply that we could see some big deaths happening in Discovery?" First, it's just the author's opinion of a possible implication.

Second, I took that to mean that they AREN'T going to kill off any main characters because it'd be "difficult to fall in love with people because you didn’t know if they were going to be taken away from you." Sounds to me like he's wanting to avoid that.