When Does "Star Trek: Discovery" Season One (2017) Take Place?
"Star Trek: Discovery" season one is a science fiction television series showrun by Gretchen J. Berg with Aaron Harberts and Bryan Fuller that premiered September 24th, 2017. So when is "Discovery" season 1 set?
It takes place on the fictional Star Trek timeline in the years:
We know this because First Officer Michael Burnham declares a date almost immediately in season 1 episode 1 "The Vulcan Hello" with her "First officer's log. Stardate 1207.3. On Earth, it's May 11th, 2256. A Sunday." So it's May of 2256 AD at the beginning of the season.
2256 AD - 2257 AD
We know this because First Officer Michael Burnham declares a date almost immediately in season 1 episode 1 "The Vulcan Hello" with her "First officer's log. Stardate 1207.3. On Earth, it's May 11th, 2256. A Sunday." So it's May of 2256 AD at the beginning of the season.
The very first shot of season 1 episode 3 "Context is for Kings" includes a "6 Months Later" title card superimposed over the footage so it is probably November of 2256 AD at this point.
5.2256 + 6. = 11.2256.
Later, during season 1 episode 15 "Will You Take My Hand?" (2018) Burnham says, "A year ago, I stood alone. I believed that our survival was more important than our principles.", referring to the events of the first two episodes of the season. So it is most likely May of 2257 AD at the conclusion of the season.
5.2256 + 1 = 5.2257.
Although the famous "stardate XXXX.X" captain's records that open most episodes and some films were mistaken for years on the Gregorian calendar, there is no one-to-one relationship between them. As identified in the biography "Gene Roddenberry: The Myth and the Man Behind Star Trek": "They marked off sections on a pictorial depiction of the known universe and extrapolated how much earth time would elapse when traveling between given points, taking into account that the Enterprise's warp engines would be violating Einstein's theory that nothing could exceed the speed of light. They concluded that the 'time continuum' would therefore vary from place to place, and that earth time may actually be lost in travel. 'So the stardate on Earth would be one thing, but the stardate on Alpha Centauri would be different,' Peeples says." so they are relative to long distance travel and not an absolute calendar. HOWEVER, actual years on the Gregorian calendar began to be used later.
Additionally, season 1 episode 1 "The Vulcan Hello" includes a short flashback to Burnham's childhood at a point after the animated short "Star Trek: Short Treks: The Girl Who Made the Stars" (2019), sometime between 2229 AD and 2236 AD, but before the start of the flashback in the next episode, in 2249 AD. It is otherwise unplaceable.
Then, season 1 episode 2 "Battle at the Binary Stars" includes a flashback. This scene is labeled "7 Years Earlier" by a title card superimposed over the footage. Since the first two episodes take place squarely in May of 2256 AD, this flashback almost certainly occurs in 2249 AD.
2256 - 7 = 2249.
The same episode has a flashback to roughly the same time as the flashback in the previous episode, sometime between 2229 AD and 2249 AD. It is otherwise unplaceable.
The same episode also has a flashback to the childhood of the Klingon T'Kuvma. This flashback is also unplaceable.
This StarTrekLitVerse.com page makes an exhaustive attempt to track how much time passes in seasons 1 and 2 of the show.
It is the second chronological TV show in the Star Trek universe and can be watched at its timeline point.
