Unveiling the Mysterious Origins Behind Star Trek's Life-Saving Transporter Trick in Strange New Worlds+
Discover the secret behind Dr M'Benga's life-saving transporter technique in Strange New Worlds Unveiling the untold stories of Star Trek characters rescued by the transporter's pattern buffer A must-read for Starfleet enthusiasts
Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2, Episode 8 - "Under The Cloak Of War"
Summary
In Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Dr. M'Benga has been utilizing the transporter's pattern buffer for years as a means to save lives. During the intense Klingon War, he resorted to storing critically wounded soldiers in the pattern buffer when access to medical assistance was limited.
In Star Trek, characters like Scotty and Commander Riker have been saved using the transporter's pattern buffer. However, Dr. M'Benga is the first person in the 23rd century to utilize this method. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds explores Dr. Joseph M'Benga's utilization of transporter tricks to save lives. Episode 8 of season 2, titled "Under the Cloak of War," delves into the lasting trauma caused by the Klingon War featured in Star Trek: Discovery. Both Dr. M'Benga and Nurse Christine Chapel, who experienced the war firsthand on the moon of J'Gal, share a deep bond of friendship.
Strange New Worlds season 1 unveiled a shocking secret involving Dr. M'Benga's use of the medical transporter in the USS Enterprise's Sickbay. It was revealed by Number One (Rebecca Romijn) that M'Benga had been utilizing the transporter's pattern buffer to store his terminally ill daughter, Rukiya (Sage Arrindell). Rukiya suffered from cygnokemia, a condition for which there was no known cure in the United Federation of Planets. However, in a surprising turn of events, Rukiya's life took a new direction and purpose thanks to an entity in the Jonesian Nebula. Nevertheless, in episode 8 of Strange New Worlds season 2, it becomes apparent that Dr. M'Benga had been prolonging lives with transporters long before using this technology on his own daughter.
Strange New Worlds Explains Dr. M’Benga’s Life-Saving Transporter Trick
During the height of the Klingon War, a few years prior to Star Trek: Strange New Worlds commencing, Nurse Christine Chapel encountered the first crisis upon her arrival on J'Gal. This crisis involved the arrival of severely injured Starfleet soldiers attacked by the Klingons. Among them was a trooper named Alvarado, who was on the verge of death. Unfortunately, Starfleet's forward operating base on J'Gal lacked the necessary surgical capabilities to save him. In an unconventional move, Dr. M'Benga decided to temporarily store Alvarado in the pattern buffer memory core of the transporter. This revelation surprised Christine, as she was unaware transporters could be utilized in this manner. However, Joseph reassured her that he had employed this solution in the past. The implication here is that Dr. M'Benga had stored multiple individuals in the pattern buffer when adequate medical assistance was unattainable.
Other Star Trek Characters Saved By The Transporter’s Pattern Buffer
Tragically, as the Klingons intensified their assaults on J'Gal and numerous wounded or dying Starfleet Officers were incoming, Dr. M'Benga made the difficult decision to erase Alvarado's pattern from the transporter's buffer, creating space for new patients. Joseph immediately embraced the timeless principle of Star Trek, "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one," a belief later expressed by Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy). Nonetheless, the gravity of M'Benga's impromptu choice to save more lives should not be overlooked. With the introduction of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Dr. M'Benga has continued to utilize the pattern buffer in this manner for several years.
In Star Trek: The Original Series, Dr. Leonard McCoy (DeForest Kelley) had a deep aversion and intense distrust towards transporters, fearing that his very atoms would be dispersed across the vastness of the galaxy. However, it is worth noting that the pattern buffer memory core, a pivotal component in these transporters, played a vital role in saving the lives of several beloved and emblematic characters throughout the Star Trek universe. An exemplary instance occurred in Star Trek: The Next Generation, when Montgomery Scott (James Doohan) opted to store himself within the pattern buffer for an astonishing span of 80 years, only to be revived in the 24th century by the diligent efforts of the USS Enterprise-D crew. Furthermore, it was due to the intricacies of the transporter's pattern buffer that a duplicate of Commander Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes), bearing the name Thomas Riker, was unexpectedly brought into existence.
In Star Trek: Discovery's fourth season, the transporter's pattern buffer in the 32nd century had enough power to hold the entire crew of the USS Discovery while Captain Michael Burnham led them out of a subspace rift. Dr. M'Benga in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' second season might be the first significant character in the 23rd century to ingeniously utilize the transporter's pattern buffer memory core to store people and preserve lives. This method would become a recurring technique in the Star Trek series for many generations. Catch Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2 on Paramount+ every Thursday.
