This review of Star Trek: Defiant #25 asks, is there time to redeem a pair of likable scoundrels in the face of impending universal destruction?
Star Trek: Defiant #25
Writer: Christopher Cantwell
Art and Main Cover: Angel Unzueta
Variant Covers: Lauren Knight, Takashi Okazaki
Page Count: 32 pages
Release Date: March 26, 2025
This review contains spoilers
Star Trek: Defiant #25 features the surprising return of former U.S.S. Defiant crewmember Nymira Vondect, last seen making a suicide run against a parasitic alien horde (in Star Trek: Defiant #16). It turns out that Nymira’s noble sacrifice was given a reprieve in the guise of 22nd century scientist (and con man) Berlinghoff Rasmussen, who rescued Nymira just before the bomb detonated.
Rasmussen, a one-off TNG villain, last appeared in Star Trek: Defiant #10 as part of a Federation prison transfer. “Game recognizes game” as Nymira and Rasmussen are quite familiar with the other’s reputation. Rasmussen offers Nymira a partnership to fleece unwitting colonists across the galaxy, but the pair’s notoriety travels faster than their stolen Federation Light Fighter once they arrive on planet Berb 3.
Fleeing in their ship, the duo realize that Berb 3 has suddenly (and impossibly) disappeared. Rasmussen notes that the anomaly has a machine-like structure organized by a positronic matrix (it’s Lore). Even though Rasmussen only pretended to be from the future, he is actually quite intelligent, and is able to reprogram their warp drive to travel through the altered space, as Nymira franticly contacts the U.S.S. Defiant for help.
Meanwhile, orbiting the planet T-Rogoran, Miles O’Brien and Ro Laren are debriefed by the rest of the Defiant crew as Nymira and Rasmussen suddenly arrive to warn them of the impending threat.
Star Trek: Defiant #25 ends as the Defiant crew realizes that the threat is coming from renegade android Lore and moments later both ships are apparently consumed by the anomaly.
Analysis
Star Trek: Defiant #25 is by far the most bizarre issue of the series, (and probably the grossest Trek story ever). We get to spend some quality time with a pair of lesser known, but interesting characters, all the while wondering if there will be enough time to redeem these rogues before the entire universe winks out of existence.
Nymira and Rasmussen’s squabble on their stolen spacecraft had all the hallmarks of an R-rated episode of Star Trek Lower Decks, (with some unexpected bathroom humor). Their hilarious and gross medical scam (not to mention a planet called Berb 3) are so ridiculous that you might mistake it for the brainchild of acclaimed comics writer Mark Russell (not an insult), who excels at depicting the tragically absurd.
Nymira and Rasmussen are longtime con artists and survivors (mostly by being con artists), so their desperate gambit to warn the U.S.S. Defiant is more out of self-preservation than altruism. Still, we spend some time inside their heads, gaining insight into the duo’s motivations, regret and self-loathing. We also get to see how their survival instincts function in the face of impending universal extinction.
Nymira had been prepared for a heroic death, but after being rescued by Rasmussen, she immediately fell back into confidence schemes. Meanwhile, Rasmussen laments that he lost his way after World War III ended his career as a professor in the 22nd century, after which he began his time-travelling mischief in the 24th century, (it’s a long story).
It’s puzzling how the Defiant crew’s mission to dismantle the orbital minefield amid their three-way standoff with the Cardassians and Section 31 is resolved so quickly, with little fanfare, (mostly explained away in exposition), which is essentially the only misstep in this otherwise excellent series.
Setting up Miles O’Brien’s redemption arc for the better part of a year (by sending him across the galaxy to destroy the self-replicating minefield he originally created for the Cardassian War), and to have it resolved by the literal destruction of the universe is the epitome of “Deus ex Machina”.
It’s likely that writer Christopher Cantwell’s story had to be wrapped up faster than planned to make way for the upcoming Lore War, as the final two issues of Star Trek: Defiant are part of that crossover event. Still, Cantwell’s plotting, pacing and dialogue are stellar, as always.
The Star Trek: Defiant series finale will be shared with its sister title in the Star Trek: Omega one-shot. Hopefully that will provide B’elana Torres, Julian Bashir, Ro Laren and Miles O’Brien with a satisfying denouement, similar to Worf and Alexander Rozhenko’s redemption arc with the Klingon Quv rite story in previous issues.
This entire series is about loss, failure, regret and acts of redemption, including for Ambassador Spock, (you do remember that he was part of this series, right?)
This entire run of IDW Star Trek and Star Trek: Defiant comics wraps up their storylines prior to the events of the Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) movie, which allows Spock to be sent back in time to the alternate Kelvin timeline after the destruction of the planet Romulus, as established in the Star Trek (2009) movie.
Also, this entire IDW run offers two decades of breathing room for the likely final (in canon) TNG reunion in the Star Trek: Picard Season 3 Paramount+ streaming series.
Picard: Season 3 has huge changes in store for key IDW Star Trek comics characters Worf, Beverly Crusher, Ro Laren, Data and Lore, as well as new directions for fan-favorites Jean-Luc Picard, Will Riker, Deanna Troi, Geordi LaForge, Seven-of-Nine and Tuvok, (not to mention introducing Jack Crusher Jr).
Artist Angel Unzueta (Star Trek/Green Lantern) delivers photo-realistic art that effectively captures character likenesses. His work is mostly relegated to talking heads in Star Trek: Defiant #25, but he still adds clever panel layouts, facial expressions and body language that adds to the story’s sense of urgency.
Final Thoughts
Star Trek: Defiant #25 delivers another riveting and hilarious chapter of this amazing series that finds courage and ingenuity in the most unlikely of heroes. Brace yourselves, the Lore War is here.
