By
John Orquiola
Published Feb 17, 2026, 10:05 PM EST
John Orquiola is a New & Classic TV Editor, Senior Writer, and Interviewer with a special focus on Star Trek. John has over 5,000 published articles at SR, and he has interviewed the biggest names in Star Trek on the red carpet and VIP events, among other beloved shows, movies, and franchises.
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Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Season 1, Episode 6 - "Come, Let's Away"Star Trek: Starfleet Academy episode 6 has an unexpected callback to Captain James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) in J.J. Abrams' Star Trek (2009) reboot. Written by Kenneth Lin & Kiley Rossetter, and directed by Larry Teng, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy episode 6 sees Nus Braka (Paul Giamatti) return to exact a terrible vengeance on Captain Nahla Ake (Holly Hunter) and Starfleet Academy.
Nus Braka was revealed to be in cahoots with the Furies, who took a group of Starfleet cadets hostage aboard the derelict USS Miyazaki in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy episode 6. The Furies, who are cannibalistic alien/human hybrids, operated from a cloaked starship which needed to neutralized by the USS Athena in order to transport Starfleet Academy's cadets home.
Working from the USS Athena's bridge, Genesis Lythe (Bella Shepard) and Darem Reymi (George Hawkins) came up with a plan to track the Furies' hidden vessel (which was "mostly Genesis' idea"). Commander Lura Thok praised Genesis' vision, literally. As a Dar-Sha, Thok said, "You use your eyes with the precision of a hengra."
Starfleet Academy’s Secret Captain Kirk Star Trek 2009 Connection Explained
Jörg Hillebrand, who was a renowned researcher on Star Trek: Picard season 3, drew the connection between the hengra, Genesis Lythe in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, and James T. Kirk in Star Trek (2009). As Hillebrand shared on his social media, the hengra is a callback to the monster that chased Kirk on Delta Vega:
Post by @jorghillebrand View on Threads
The hengrauggi was a massive predator that stalked Kirk across Delta Vega's frozen wasteland after Jim was exiled from the USS Enterprise for mutiny by Commander Spock (Zachary Quinto) . The hengrauggi is a multi-eyed creature that nearly devoured Kirk, until Ambassador Spock (Leonard Nimoy), who was also stranded on Delta Vega by Nero (Eric Bana), chased the hengra away.
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy executive producer and co-showrunner Alex Kurtzman co-wrote Star Trek (2009) with Roberto Orci, and they invented the hengrauggi with director J.J. Abrams, perhaps inspired by the monster in the Abrams' produced Cloverfield.
Comparing Genesis' eyes to a hengra hints that the creatures live in Star Trek's Prime Universe's version of Delta Vega as they do in J.J. Abrams' alternate Kelvin timeline.
Starfleet Academy Has 3 Intiguing New Star Trek Aliens To Explore
Genesis' eyes having "the precision of a hengra" is the first real bit of information Star Trek: Starfleet Academy has revealed about Lythe's race, the Dar-Sha. Aside from curved ridges in place of eyebrows, Genesis appears to be similar to a human, albeit cadet Lythe is uncommonly educated, driven, and on track to becoming the Starfleet Captain she dreams of being.
Genesis Lythe's father is a Starfleet Admiral, and Genesis was raised on starbases and starships, never stepping foot on a planet until Earth.
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy main cast consists of two more new aliens, the fish-like Khionians, which is Darem Reymi's race, and the holographic Kasqians, which created Series Acclimation Mil aka SAM (Kerrice Brooks). As the Emissary of her people, SAM has been the best explored new alien in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy thus far.
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Dive into the world of movies and TV shows with Screen Rant, your source for news, reviews, and exclusive content. Subscribe By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.Genesis saw Darem's true, blue form in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy's series premiere, as Reymi revealed Khionians can survive in the vacuum of space for 8 minutes. Otherwise, not much more has been explored of the Dar-Sha or the Khionians, but there is ample time in the remainder of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy season 1, and in season 2, which is nearing the end of production.
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Star Trek: Starfleet Academy
10 stars 9 stars 8 stars 7 stars 6 stars 5 stars 4 stars 3 stars 2 stars 1 star Like Follow Followed TV-14 Action & Adventure Drama Sci-Fi Release Date January 15, 2026 Network Paramount+ Showrunner Alex Kurtzman, Noga Landau Directors Douglas Aarniokoski Writers Alex Taub, Tawny Newsome, Kirsten Beyer, Jane Maggs, Kiley RossetterCast
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Holly Hunter
Nahla Ake
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Sandro Rosta
Caleb Mir
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