Heading into the premiere of “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds,” one of the most intriguing cast members was Rebecca Romijn as Number One, Captain Pike’s tough-as-nails first officer. Not just because we’d glimpsed her briefly in “Star Trek: Discovery,” but because the character holds a near-legendary status in “Star Trek” history. Previously seen just once (in the “Star Trek: The Original Series” episode “The Menagerie,” which used clips from the unaired original pilot episode), fans have always been fascinated by the character without ever knowing anything about her.
While “Strange New Worlds” does answer quite a bit about the character — finally providing her real name, Una Chin-Riley, and giving us her backstory as a genetically modified Illyrian — her arc also provides us with the season’s major cliffhanger. In the episode “Ghosts of Illyria” it’s said that because of the Federation’s ban on genetic tampering, those like Number One are barred from serving in Starfleet. As such, her Illyrian heritage has been kept a closely guarded secret. When Captain Pike learns her true nature, he vows to never reveal it, because she is the finest first officer in the fleet. Yet, somehow, the information gets out.
In the season finale, after Pike returns from a trip through time, his colleague and lover Captain Batel beams aboard the Enterprise with a security detail and arrests Number One for the crime of being an Illyrian. We’re curious about what will happen now, and who leaked the information to Starfleet. The fact that franchise canon has never mentioned her could suggest that she spends the rest of her days in prison. Either way, it would seem that Number One’s fate will be a major story heading into Season 2.