The miniseries is an Interquel which takes place between the events of Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. It depicted the second five-year mission of the U.S.S. Enterprise (NCC-1701) under the command of Admiral James T. Kirk from 2273 to 2278. Each issue is set approximately one year after the previous one.
The series provides examples of:
- As You Know:
- In "Worlds Collide", Spock finds it necessary to remind Saavik of her life story, how they met and everything that has happened to her in the meantime.
- In "Past Imperfect", Admiral Kirk, Spock and Dr. McCoy remind each other of everything that happened to them on Miri's planet in "Miri".
- Bizarre Alien Psychology: In "Silent Cries", the Paridesians possess an almost religious devotion to etiquette and protocol and regard any breach thereof, no matter how minor, as a major insult.
- Call-Back: When Krell threatens to attack the Enterprise in "Renewal", Kirk tells him that a new superweapon called the Omegatron, which has the capability of destroying Krell's ship and the other two battle cruisers under his command, was installed aboard the Enterprise during its refit. This is essentially the same as the corbomite bluff that he used successfully against Balok in "The Corbomite Maneuver" and ten Romulan birds-of-prey in "The Deadly Years". However, Krell does not believe him as he is of the opinion that the Federation is too weak and soft to use such a device, especially since it has never made use of the Romulan cloaking device that the Enterprise stole in "The Enterprise Incident". Nevertheless, the Enterprise manages to penetrate Krell's shields and disable his ship by channeling all of its phaser energy through the warp engines. Will Decker previously explained that the phaser systems had been redesigned in this fashion in Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
- Call-Forward:
- In "Renewal", Admiral Kirk considers retiring to his family farm in Iowa. Star Trek: Generations revealed that Kirk eventually did so but returned to Starfleet prior to the events of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Generations also featured a version of the farm created by the Nexus from Kirk's memories.
- In "Worlds Collide", Saavik intends to follow Spock's example and join Starfleet when she is of age. By the time of her first appearance in The Wrath of Khan, Saavik is a cadet aboard the Enterprise.
- Also in "Worlds Collide", after Kirk notes that he can almost hear Spock's voice in his absence, Dr. McCoy remarks that he can't think of anything worse than having Spock's voice in his head. Star Trek III: The Search for Spock revealed that Spock transferred his katra to McCoy before his Heroic Sacrifice in The Wrath of Khan.
- In "Silent Cries", Sulu assumes command of the Enterprise in the absence of Admiral Kirk and Spock on a mission to Duran 12. Although the Enterprise is attacked by Orion pirates, he nevertheless relishes the experience and looks forward to having another opportunity for command. He would eventually become captain of the U.S.S. Excelsior in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.
- "Odyssey's End" sets the stage for The Wrath of Khan: Chekov is reassigned to the U.S.S. Reliant as its first officer, Admiral Kirk accepts a teaching position at Starfleet Academy, the Enterprise becomes a training vessel with Spock as its captain and Kirk hopes to form a relationship with his son David Marcus. Furthermore, McCoy is worried that Kirk will once again find serving in the admiralty unsatisfying. Although Kirk dismisses his friend's concerns, they would eventually be proven correct.
- Calling the Old Man Out: In "Past Imperfect", Dr. McCoy's daughter Joanna resents him for telling her that it would not be a good idea for her to become involved with Admiral Kirk because he was never there during her childhood due to his Starfleet career. She tells him that he doesn't have the right to stroll into her life and play Daddy after all of this time.
- Continuity Nod:
- In "Renewal", the commander of the Klingon battle cruiser who attempts to capture the Enterprise is Krell, who previously provided the Villagers, one of the factions on Neural, with flintlocks to fight the Hill People in "A Private Little War".
- Also in "Renewal", both Kirk and Krell refer to the Organian Peace Treaty, signed as a result of the Organians' intervention in "Errand of Mercy" and first mentioned in "The Trouble with Tribbles". Krell relishes the idea of abandoning the treaty and engaging the Federation in open warfare but Kirk is concerned that the Organians seem to be no longer willing to enforce it.
- In "Worlds Collide", Dr. McCoy reminds Kirk that the Enterprise saved Miramanee's planet Amerind from being destroyed by an asteroid in "The Paradise Syndrome" and asks him why they can't do the same thing in the current situation.
- When Saavik comments that she is aware that a mind meld is a deeply personal experience in "Worlds Collide", Spock admits that he has never melded with his father Sarek, as was revealed in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Unification, Part 2".
- In "Past Imperfect", Dr. McCoy recalls his previous visits to Starbase 11 in "Court Martial" and "The Menagerie, Part 1".
- In "Silent Cries", Uhura, Sulu, Scotty and Chekov each give their pick for the most frightening mission that they've had aboard the Enterprise. Uhura picks her visit to the Mirror Universe in "Mirror, Mirror", Sula picks being stranded on Alfa 177 at 120 degrees below zero in "The Enemy Within", Scotty picks having to cold start the warp engines before Psi 2000 disintegrated and destroyed the ship in "The Naked Time" and Chekov picks Khan Noonien Singh taking over the Enterprise in "Space Seed". Sulu is surprised by this as he claims that Chekov was not aboard the Enterprise then. However, it turns out that Chekov was assigned to Engineering at the time, which even Scotty doesn't remember. This accounts for the fact that Khan recognizes Chekov in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
- Creator Cameo: The writer Glenn Greenburg and the editor Tim Tuohy are depicted as Starfleet officers on the third page of the fifth and final issue "Odyssey's End".
- Double-Meaning Title:
- "Worlds Collide" refers to both the asteroid heading towards an M-Class planet and Saavik's difficulties in learning to become truly Vulcan because of her half-Romulan heritage.
- "Odyssey's End" refers to both the end of the Enterprise's second five-year mission under Kirk's command and the Abductors ending their mission to undo the work of the Preservers after several million years.
- Friend-or-Idol Decision: In "Worlds Collide", Admiral Kirk tells Dr. McCoy that they can't save the M-Class planet about to be destroyed by a 25 mile long asteroid because doing so would violate the Prime Directive. McCoy points out that they are not talking about the planet's natural development but its complete devastation. Bearing in mind that the asteroid is similar to the one that struck Earth and killed the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, Kirk counters that humanity would have never evolved if an alien race had intervened and saved the dinosaurs. However, McCoy is more concerned with lifeforms living in the present than purely hypothetical future ones. This argument eventually wins Kirk over but it turns out that the creatures are able to save themselves without the Enterprise's help. Kirk finds it to be a humbling experience while McCoy thinks that it is a good thing that humans get a kick in their rear end every now and then.
- Green-Skinned Space Babe: Lampshaded in "Past Imperfect". Dr. McCoy tells Admiral Kirk to stay away from his daughter Joanna as she is not "some half-naked alien bimbo."
- The Greys: In "Odyssey's End", a species of grey aliens who call themselves the Abductors (as their true name is untranslatable) study inhabited planets for signs that they were seeded with non-indigenous lifeforms by their rivals, the Preservers. The Abductors believe that this seeding process robs the relevant planets of their individuality. They are on an ancient mission to remove the seeded lifeforms and return them to their planet of origin. One of the many planets that they visited was Earth, which gave rise to the numerous stories of Alien Abduction in the 20th Century.
- Handicapped Badass: In "Silent Cries", the Orion pirate Raydeen has a mechanical implant in place of his left eye, which he lost in battle.
- Happy Ending Override: In "Past Imperfect", the Enterprise learns that the vaccine that Dr. McCoy created for the virus that was killing the Onlies in "Miri" mutated into a new, more virulent strain. Miri was among the many Onlies to die as a result. Enraged and distraught by her death, Jahn seeks revenge on McCoy and kidnaps his daughter Joanna. He brings her back to his planet so that she will die from the virus and McCoy will learn what it is like to lose someone. However, McCoy is able to develop a new and more effective vaccine that permanently eliminates the virus.
- Humanity Is Young: In "Odyssey's End", the Abductors, a race who have existed for millions of years, describe humanity as a "young, upstart species."
- Immediate Sequel: The beginning of "Renewal" recreates the final scene of Star Trek: The Motion Picture and carries on immediately from there. The Klingon High Council has sent three battle cruisers, including the Ravager and the Deathcry, to Earth in order to obtain a full report on the intruder cloud generated by V'Ger which destroyed the Amar and two other ships. Furthermore, Admiral Nogura has recalled Kirk to Earth so that he can resume his position as Chief of Starfleet Operations now that the V'Ger Crisis has been resolved.
- Last of His Kind: In "Silent Cries", the lifeform known as the Crier is the last surviving member of its species on Duran 12.
- Make an Example of Them: In "Renewal", Krell kills his helmsman, Kross, after he reminds him that they were ordered to travel to Earth and meet with the Federation Council. This serves as a stark reminder to the rest of the crew not to offer any unsolicited opinions about how to run the ship. Nevertheless, Kross' replacement points out that they are still expected on Earth after Krell fails to capture the Enterprise and orders him to return to Klingon space. As he did with Kross, Krell kills the second helmsman. He then instructs the remaining members of the bridge crew to find him a helmsman who can keep his mouth shut.
- Mind over Matter: In "Worlds Collide", the creatures living on a newly discovered M-Class planet gather together and use their collective mental energy to divert the asteroid that was about to strike their planet and wipe them all out. Admiral Kirk guesses that they were able to detect the approach of the asteroid due to a herd mentality.
- Mind Probe: In "Odyssey's End", the Abductors subject Admiral Kirk to a mind probe during which he sees visions of three important people in his life whom he lost: Edith Keeler, Gary Mitchell and his brother Sam.
- Named by the Adaptation: In "Worlds Collide", the Rhaandarite ensign seen in Star Trek: The Motion Picture is given the name Omal.
- Organic Technology: In "Odyssey's End", Spock determines that the Abductors' mothership is partially organic.
- Space Pirates: In "Silent Cries", the pirate Raydeen, the commander of the Orion Black Star Squadron, attacks the Enterprise in the vicinity of Duran 12 as it intercepted a message from a Federation science team on the planet referring to a lifeform, the Crier, which allows for instantaneous communication throughout the galaxy. The Orions think that possession of the Crier will be a major boon to their pirate operations.
- Starfish Aliens: In "Silent Cries", the Crier is a seemingly non-sentient lifeform which resembles a glowing blue blob with tendrils. It is capable of absorbing electromagnetic impulses such as subspace transmissions and transmitting them at almost the speed of thought. The Crier resides in a crystalline cavern which seems to be a part of it. It reacts furiously to the Orion pirate Raydeen breaking off a piece of the crystal, killing him and his henchmen. The Crier then transforms itself into pure energy and leaves Duran 12 for parts unknown at an incredible speed. Sulu determines that it was sentient all along and that it did not like what it saw of supposed civilization.
- Super Breeding Program: In "Worlds Collide", it is revealed that Saavik and the other half-Vulcan, half-Romulan children that Spock found in the ruins of an abandoned Romulan colony almost a year earlier were part of a secret Romulan project to breed hybrids using captured Vulcans. The Romulans hoped to improve their race through selective breeding by exploiting the subtle genetic differences that had developed between Romulans and Vulcans since the two races diverged 2,000 years earlier.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: In "Past Imperfect", Jahn kills the Starfleet officer who brought him to Starbase 11 in a shuttle after she determines that the Enterprise arrived several hours earlier. He no longer needs her as he has figured out how to work several controls and can use the autopilot for the rest.
