10 Star Trek Storylines Begging To Be Continued
9. Who Sent The Doomsday Machine?
The Doomsday Machine is, in this writer's opinion, one of the strongest episodes of The Original Series. It is simply Moby Dick in space, and the simplicity gives it so much of its power.
The Planet Killer is fascinating both for its immense destructive capabilities, and the shroud of mystery as to its origin. The episode's close sees it drained of all power, and there the story ends. We sure hope no one decides to send another one!
Therein lies the potential for the story to continue. There have been a few suggestions as to where it came from, and the measures put in place to block it. The game Star Trek: Starfleet Academy suggests that the Galactic Barrier was erected to prevent these things from entering the Milky Way Galaxy. Author Peter David also posited that they were constructed to fight the Borg, created by the Preservers - the race first mentioned in The Paradise Syndrome.
This already shows that there is far more to this story than has yet been told. Arguably, Star Trek Discovery's fourth season touched on something similar with the 10-C, however, we feel that where the 10-C were ignorant of their destructive power, whoever created the Planet Killer was fully aware of what they were doing. A species as powerful, and malevolent, as this - wouldn't that be a frightening story to be told?