Warning! Warning! Spoilers for Star Trek #22 ahead!

IDW's expansive, ambitious Star Trek ongoing series has offered readers a glimpse of what it describes as the "eventual reality" of Earth. While the exact nature of the vision granted to Benjamin Sisko remains ambiguous, this visit to far-flung future Earth plays into the comic's meditation on time and fate – something that has become increasingly urgent, as the all-star cast of the book face "the end of the universe."

Star Trek #22 – written by Collin Kelly & Jackson Lanzing, with art by Megan Levens – title's previous "God War" plotline, which established the series as an ambitious new era for Trek.

A pivotal part of the issue is the dialogue between Benjamin Sisko and his "mother", one of the Bajoran Prophets, in which she endeavors to "show [him] the last days of [the] universe in a language [he] can understand."

Star Trek Offers A Mysterious Glimpse At The Final Frontier Of Life On Earth

Star Trek #22 – Written By Collin Kelly & Jackson Lanzing; Art By Megan Levens; Color By Lee Loughridge; Lettering By Clayton Cowles

"This is not the future of your Earth," the Prophet says, somewhat paradoxically, "this is simply its eventual reality." The point the Prophet is trying to make is that linear time is a misconception, when in fact there is only the constant present.

IDW's Star Trek has asserted original Deep Space Nine appearances, the Prophets were established as non-linear, non-corporeal entities, but the comics have now elaborated on the true nature and extent of their existence in a fascinating way. That said, the mysteries of the Prophets have been far from entirely untangled, and Benjamin Sisko's vision of the future in Star Trek #22 is an apt example of that.

That is, exactly what Sisko is being shown is left somewhat open to interpretation. "This is not the future of your Earth," the Prophet says, somewhat paradoxically, "this is simply its eventual reality." The point the Prophet is trying to make is that linear time is a misconception, when in fact there is only the constant present. Yet she does this by showing him an unrecognizable, seemingly futuristic Earth, leaving the Emissary as perplexed as many readers understandably might be. In other words, both what is being shown and what is being told are ripe for further elaboration.

The Fate Of The Star Trek Universe Hinges On Benjamin Sisko's Vision Of The "Future"

Star Trek "Pleroma" Part 4 (Of 7)

Since its 1960s origin, Star Trek has always been an ambitious look at the future of Earth, and humanity; Star Trek #22 embodies that in a single page, with the scene between Benjamin Sisko and a Bajoran Prophet.

What exactly the grid covering Earth in Star Trek #22 is – and what Earth's "eventual reality" entails – are left unclear, especially as readers grapple with the message the Prophet is delivering to Sisko, and its implications for the future of Star Trek. In the same scene, the Prophet ominously tells Sisko that he already chose "the end of the universe," over its salvation, and that "what is coming next is the consequences." With Star Trek #22 being part four of the seven-part "Pleroma" arc, this moment is quite literally the hinge on which Trek's next era turns.

Since its 1960s origin, Star Trek has always been an ambitious look at the future of Earth, and humanity; Star Trek #22 embodies that in a single page, with the happening in the comics right now.

Star Trek #22 is available now from IDW Publishing.