Star Trek: 10 Characters That Should Teach In Starfleet Academy

As the joined Trill said to the Lanthanite aboard the brand-new Enterprise: "Which letter are we on again?" Such is the life of the lengthily living. It's hard to keep track of the yearly minutiae when you've been around for centuries. Having said that, the gloriously no-nonsense, practically immortal Pelia seemed to have little difficulty keeping up with the times. You don't hold on to that many 'artefacts' if you've not got a long-term plan!

As a Lanthanite, a new species introduced in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Pelia has indeed lived a great number of years. How many is yet to be specified. In Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, Pelia claimed to have been a contemporary of Pythagoras when he 'made maths up'. That would mean being on Earth between c. 570 and c. 495 BC. In the same episode, Pelia also stated that she had "lived through every natural disaster and economic calamity in human history." In other words, I think it's safe to assume that she would still be around in the 32nd century.

Aside from her inbuilt longevity and innate awesomeness, Pelia is perfect for the job because she already has previous teaching experience at the Academy. As far as we know, she was an instructor of engineering, with a focus on warp core breaches, as well as starship maintenance from at least the early 23rd century until, thanks in good part to Spock's hijacking of the Enterprise, she switched things up a bit in 2259.

Amongst Pelia's students were some of Starfleet's future brightest, including then cadets Una Chin-Riley and Montgomery Scott. If any 32nd century prodigy is expecting good grades just because they're brilliant, however, they should think again. Pelia typically gave out some of the worst marks to her best students.