Kirk Takes Command in Strange New Worlds — His Risky Rescue Ends in Tragedy
In Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3, episode 6, titled “The Sehlat Who Ate Its Tail”, Paul Wesley’s James T. Kirk briefly takes command of the USS Farragut and then leads a joint effort with younger versions of the original-series crew to rescue the Enterprise. The episode advances Kirk’s development toward the figure fans know from the 1966 Star Trek, and it also shows him dealing with the moral cost of a hard decision.
- Who is involved: Paul Wesley as Kirk, Anson Mount’s Christopher Pike, Ethan Peck’s Spock and other young original-series characters.
- What happens: Farragut is damaged, Kirk assumes command, a scavenger ship captures the Enterprise, and a rescue plan follows.
- Key outcomes: Kirk leads a risky plan that stops the scavenger ship but discovers it is crewed by humans, forcing him to confront the consequences.
Episode recap
The episode opens with Kirk’s log and his impatience with the Farragut’s Vulcan captain, V’Rel (Zoe Doyle). Kirk asks to lead an away team. However, the planet they study explodes and the blast nearly destroys the Farragut. V’Rel is knocked out, so Kirk temporarily assumes command. Then, the Enterprise responds by sending Spock, Uhura, Nurse Christine Chapel, Montgomery Scott and La’An Noonien-Singh to assist.
After La’An beams back with tactical data, the Enterprise is captured by a massive scavenger ship that strips vessels for parts. The Farragut is crippled and effectively on its own. Kirk proposes a daring plan to push the damaged Farragut to outpace the scavenger ship. When he orders Scott to push the engines, they fail and Kirk faces a crisis of command. Scott expresses his doubts directly: “That is a bold, and if you don’t mind me saying, highly unorthodox choice,” Scott says with sarcasm.
Spock talks Kirk through the moment, and the two work with the Enterprise crew to devise a strategy that uses the scavenger ship’s behavior against it. The plan succeeds in disabling the scavenger ship, but then comes the twist: the scavenger ship is crewed entirely by humans, the remnant of a pre‑warp mission. Kirk learns that his action killed 7,000 people. He tells Pike, “I didn’t think of them as people at all, until it was too late.”
Captain lessons and immediate fallout
The episode shows Kirk confronting the limits of boldness. Pike debriefs him and offers a guiding note: “The next time you’re in that chair, you’ll remember that we’re often not that different from our enemy.” In short, the episode positions Kirk’s aggressive instincts alongside lessons in empathy and responsibility.
Context and what’s next
Showrunners Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers have said Strange New Worlds will move viewers toward the events of the original 1966 Star Trek. Thus, this episode functions as a step on that path. Moreover, Strange New Worlds still has a fourth season and an abbreviated fifth season planned to introduce more original‑series characters and to put Kirk in command of the Enterprise.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is available to stream on Paramount Plus. Further episodes are released weekly on Thursday.
Note: This article contains major spoilers for Strange New Worlds season 3, episode 6.
