What is Section 31? The 'Star Trek' spy organization explained
The following message only contains certain sections from the article below which also contains a much more in depth history of S31:
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What is Section 31? The 'Star Trek' spy organization explained
The United Federation of Planets may hold itself up as a futuristic utopia but it also has a dark underbelly. Covert intelligence organization Section 31 carries out the missions Starfleet pretends don't happen, bending the rules in the name of keeping everyone else safe.
Since making its first appearance in "Deep Space Nine", Section 31 has broken cover in numerous "Star Trek" TV shows and movies. Now, Starfleet's guilty secret is getting its very own movie, as Michelle Yeoh's Philippa Georgiou is brought back into service with an all-new team of specialist operatives.
we raid the Federation's most classified files to give you a full debrief on Section 31's murky past.
Section 31 is a top-secret branch of Starfleet Intelligence, operating way outside usual Federation rules and regulations. Its operatives exist in the shadows, doing unsavory work behind the scenes so that James T Kirk, Jean-Luc Picard, Kathryn Janeway, and other Starfleet captains can carry out their day jobs without getting their hands too dirty.
Starfleet Command is aware of its existence but has historically given Section 31 the freedom to do whatever it thinks necessary to achieve its objectives. This lack of day-to-day oversight allows Starfleet to preserve the illusion of plausible deniability.
The agency was originally founded to protect the interests of planet Earth, before expanding its remit to cover the entire Federation.
The name comes from Article 14, Section 31 of the Starfleet Charter. As Harris told Captain Archer in "Enterprise" episode "Divergence", "There are a few lines [in the Charter] that make allowances for bending the rules during times of extraordinary threat." Section 31 exists to stretch that "extraordinary threat" loophole as far as it can.
... having been taken over by a megalomaniac AI known as Control. Originally designed for threat assessment, it got severe delusions of grandeur, took control of the Section 31 fleet, and murdered a number of key figures in the agency β with the notable exception of its puppet, Leland
Philippa Georgiou, former leader of the Terran Empire in the Mirror Universe, ultimately took Control offline before blasting off for the 32nd century with the rest of the Discovery crew.
Section 31's recruitment policy tends to embrace moral shades of grey. In fact, past experience as a brutal dictator seems to be an important qualification, as both Khan Noonien Singh and Philippa Georgiou have made it past Section 31's vetting procedures.
during "Deep Space Nine"'s Dominion War. Its agents even sunk as low as engineering a morphogenic virus to kill off the shapeshifting Founders.
The new Paramount+ movie sees Philippa Georgiou pulled back into the Section 31 fold after traveling back from the 32nd century
Sometime during the "lost era" between the original cast movies and "The Next Generation", Georgiou will join an all-new team on a mission to save the Federation from a major new threat.
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