Summary

• The Kelvin timeline provided a fresh start for Star Trek, free from the burden of existing continuity.
• Valas, the first Romulan to serve in Starfleet, tragically defected to the Romulans after a meeting with the Tal Shiar.
• The Prime timeline was slower in accepting Romulans into Starfleet, with Elnor ing in the 25th century.

Star Trek’s Kelvin timeline accomplished a major Starfleet first, nearly a century before the Prime universe. The Kelvin timeline, created in 2009’s Star Trek, provided a generation of fans with a grand jumping on point, unencumbered by years of continuity. Yet, as seen in the IDW comic Star Trek: Boldly Go, the Kelvin timeline began pushing the envelope and trying new concepts and ideas, one of which was the first Romulan to serve in Starfleet.

Introduced in Star Trek: Boldly Go #1, the Romulan Lieutenant Commander Valas was the First Officer aboard the USS Endeavor. Valas’ parents had been Romulan dissidents who defected to the Federation and ultimately settled on Earth. Their daughter grew up to Starfleet. Captain Kirk temporarily took command of the Endeavor, and Valas served capably as First Officer. However, during the course of a mission, she was captured by the Tal Shiar, who sent an operative to recruit Valas. When fans next see her, she has ed the Romulans, although Kirk suspects there may be more than meets the eye.

The Kelvin Timeline Gave Star Trek A Fresh Start

The Kelvin timeline, which began with JJ Abrams’s big-budget reimagining in 2009 and concluded with 2016’s Star Trek: Beyond, helped change the face of the franchise. Thanks to time travel, a new Star Trek timeline was created, one that was not bogged down by almost 50 years of stories. The movies were all box office successes, and helped keep interest in Star Trek alive during the franchise’s “wilderness years.” In 2016, IDW launched Star Trek: Boldly Go, which told new stories involving the Kelvin timeline and characters. The book broke new ground, introducing the Borg a century earlier, as well as the first Romulan to serve in Starfleet.

Starfleet's First Romulan Was Not to Be

Valas’ story is a tragic one. Her parents fled the Romulan Empire seeking a better life, one represented by the Federation and its ideals of equality and justice. They raised Valas to believe in these same principles, and this led her to Starfleet. Yet, after one meeting with the Tal Shiar, Valas seemed to defect to that which her parents sought to escape. It is a tragic and heart-breaking turn of events as it seems that Valas has become everything her parents hated. Boldly Go was canceled before Valas’ story could reach its conclusion, leaving her a traitor to Starfleet and the Federation.

Star Trek's Prime Timeline Was Behind the Curve

Elnor Was a Follower of the "Way of Absolute Candor"

In the Prime timeline, it would be the early 25th century before a Romulan ed Starfleet. Elnor, who appeared in the first two seasons of Star Trek: Picard, was last seen as a cadet at Starfleet Academy. There was also speculation that Saavik, from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, was half-Romulan, but this never made it to the screen, and thus not canon. As seen in the fourth season Next Generation episode “The Drumhead,” a Romulan background can negatively impact a Starfleet service record. However, in the Kelvin timeline there was no such issue, and they had a Romulan in Starfleet nearly a century earlier.