Star Trek Has Finally Fixed A Divisive Canon Retcon

In 1967, two different stuntmen — Bobby Clark and Gary Combs, outfitted in a lizard costume created by Wah Chang — rolled around with William Shatner at the Vasquez Rocks. In this moment, the iconic Star Trek enemy, the Gorn, was born, and promptly burned into the brains of countless science fiction fans. Since “Arena” aired, the menacing alien lizard species has gone through two major revisions. Twenty years ago, in the prequel series Enterprise, a Gorn appeared in the episode “In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II,” and it didn’t look like its 1967 counterpart. More recently, on Strange New Worlds in 2022, the Gorn got another dramatic makeover.

But which Gorn is the real one? After two decades of shifting Gorn visages, a dynamic new episode of Strange New Worlds has offered a sneaky explanation: maybe the Gorn that Kirk fought didn’t really look that way. Spoilers ahead for Strange New Worlds Season 3, Episode 9, “Terrarium.”

The “return” of the Metrons

In a parallel to “Arena,” the ending of Strange New Worlds’ “Terrarium” reveals that an advanced alien species known as the Metrons (Dariush Zadeh) was testing Ortegas (Melissa Navia) to see if she could show compassion toward the Gorn. This happens in “Arena,” too, in which Captain Kirk wounds but famously refuses to slay the Gorn captain.

Chronologically, “Terrarium” takes place in 2261, whereas “Arena” takes place in 2267. (Yes, SNW is that close to TOS now!) So while this is the second time a Metron has appeared in Star Trek canon, it's retroactively the first time the species has shown up. And during this exchange, the Metron offers us a quick explanation of why the Gorn look entirely different in The Original Series, and why various characters may have lost their memory about what the Gorn were all about to begin with.

Strange New Worlds retconned the Gorn with one line

In “Arena,” Captain Kirk’s log entry stated, “I face the creature the Metrons called a Gorn.” This oddly phrased statement has allowed for a lot of canon loopholes, in that it’s unclear if Kirk thinks this is a legit Gorn, or if the Metrons are messing with his mind. In “Terrarium,” the new Metron gives the definitive answer, as this advanced species has the ability to change everything we thought we knew about, well, everything.

At the end of the episode, the Metron says to Ortegas:

“There is hope for your two species. We need more data to determine if the human and the Gorn will ever find peace. Perhaps someday, we may need to reset your perception of the Gorn as well.”

Because the Metrons have powers far beyond most alien species, they seem to be able to change the mental perception that Starfleet has of the Gorn as a whole. In “Terrarium,” the Metrons erase Ortegas' memory of meeting them, but let her keep the memory of teaming up with the Gorn for survival.

So by the time the Gorn reappear in The Original Series, the “perception” of the Gorn, at least on the part of Captain Kirk, has changed. But which Gorn is “real”? Is the perception we have of the Gorn in SNW incorrect? Or is the TOS Gorn, now an illusory, ersatz Gorn?

Either way, SNW has given the entire canon a get-out-of-jail-free card. If something in TOS doesn’t quite match up with SNW, there’s a chance that the Metrons are messing with our minds.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds streams on Paramount+.