In this review of Star Trek: Defiant #26, the Lore War is upon us, but wait…you’re not supposed to know this is happening.
Star Trek: Defiant #25
Writer: Christopher Cantwell
Artist: Davide Tinto
Main Cover: Malachi Ward
Variant Covers: J.K. Woodard, JJ Lendl
Page Count: 32 pages
Release Date: April 16, 2025
This review contains spoilers
Star Trek: Defiant #26 begins with one of the most important historical events and locations in Starfleet history: 2061 Bozeman, Montana, and the first contact encounter of legendary Earth scientist Zefram Cochrane and…the all powerful android-god Lore (it’s true, there’s even a commemorative statue).
Centuries later, Benjamin Sisko and Emissary Kahless II arrive in Bozeman, intent on completing the long-delayed first flight of Zefram Cochrane’s Phoenix spacecraft. However, they are ambushed by Sisko’s friend and coworker Beverly Crusher who believes that Sisko has been kidnapped by Kahless. Sisko talks Crusher down, but she insists on joining their mission even if she has no idea what is happening.
Meanwhile the heavily modified L.S.S. Enterprise-D and L.S.S Defiant, under command of High Admiral Worf and his son Alexander Rozhenko, engage the Maquis-led Vulcan-Borg Collective in battle. Both Worf and Alexander talk a good game of war, but Maquis Commander Spock corrects the pair on the true nature of this new hybrid Collective, and how the Klingons have sorely underestimated it.
It turns out that while Lore attempted to eradicate the Vulcan race by assimilating them into the Borg, Spock had already absorbed the combined Katras of all Vulcans, creating a living, unified (and logical?) resistance movement out of the formerly zombie-like Borg drones. As the two fleets strafe each other across the “Briar Patch”, the Maquis-Vulcan-Borg cubes overpower the L.S.S. fleet, and Worf orders a tactical retreat.
Cut to an outraged Lore, who once again, (4,184 times actually, according to Data) fails to quell the Vulcan resistance. Lore orders the Hobus Star in the Beta Quadrant to go supernova, which obliterates most of the Starfleet and Maquis vessels in the Briar Patch, (but Spock and Hugh escaped, as did Worf and Alexander).
Satisfied with the catastrophic results, Lore gloats to his brother, but Data warns of a momentary distraction from his monitoring duties, in which he might have missed something important.
Star Trek: Defiant #26 ends with Lore ordering Worf to hunt down the Phoenix and capture Benjamin Sisko, while Maquis covert operative Lily Sato infiltrates the top-secret holding facility called “The Menagerie” on the planet Bajor.
Analysis
Star Trek: Defiant #26 continues the dark descent into this alternate reality, as both sides notch small wins in the Lore War. As the story unfolds, it is fascinating to discover how much is left to chance with Lore’s machinations. Lore’s dominance over reality is not absolute, instead requiring on a cohort of mysterious “quadrant minds” as well as his brother Data’s calculations to carry out Lore’s vengeful whims.
With every new iteration Lore creates, new variables come into play, resulting in unexpected outcomes as a ripple effect of unintended consequences wash over the universe each time Lore attempts to play god. Conversely, Lore appears very needy and insecure, and while he torments Data, (forcing his brother to continually reset reality and further manipulating Data’s friends), Lore still seeks his brother’s approval.
Benjamin Sisko and Kahless II make for an interesting and mismatched pair on this intergalactic road trip that suddenly hits the mother of all road blocks (see the final page of Star Trek: Defiant #26 for details). Sisko’s clever gambit of tapping into Data’s positronic feed with images of the android’s (former) cat Spot is a clever call-back, and an effective distraction. Kahless comes across as a more cordial and penitent righteous warrior rather than the blood hungry, god-hunting zealot from “Day of Blood”.
Borg-Spock is also a fun (and integral) addition to the Lore War storyline, because even in the darkest of timelines, Spock never seems to stray far from his default setting of likable, clever and logical. Whether through Borg assimilation, or the Mirror Universe, Spock is still one of the coolest and smartest characters in any galaxy.
Star Trek: Defiant #26 is also the second time that the 2061 Bozeman encounter (originally shown in the 1996 Star Trek: First Contact movie) has been used as a pivot point into a chaotic future. The first came about in the opening minutes of the Star Trek: Enterprise Season 4 episode “A Mirror Darkly”).
In Star Trek: Defiant #26, a sullen and troubled Zefram Cochrane is greeted by Lore, (rather than the Vulcans), altering canonical events and branching out into a similar but distinct version of the “darkest timeline”.
Writer Christopher Cantwell (Iron Man) hits all the right notes with his script, maintaining his remarkable ability to capture the voices of long established Trek characters such as Worf, Data, Lore, Ben Sisko and Beverly Crusher, while also allowing original character Lily Sato (another Star Trek: Enterprise connection) to stand toe-to-toe with those legends as an interesting and relevant individual in her own right.
Artist Davide Tinto continues his excellent work from Star Trek: Lore War #1, including solid likenesses of Zefram Cochrane, Worf, Spock (check out his abs) and many other Trek favorites. Lore’s megalomaniacal breakdown is effectively captured in a small eight-panel sequence as the camera view continually tightens its focus from Lore’s enraged face to just the mad god’s dilated pupil.
Final Thoughts
Star Trek: Defiant #26 continues the epic world-building of this dark universe, while offering some nice twists, clever easter eggs and intriguing character arcs. Looking forward to part three in Star Trek #31 next week.
