10 Events That Changed Star Trek Forever

The Federation and the Romulan Star Empire were hardly BFFs before it was discovered that the Romulan sun was working on its last hurrah. Things had become moderately more cordial, however, after Shinzon's ultimately failed coup d'état in 2379 as even the Romulans drew the line at genocide. Preliminary peace talks were due to begin with the Romulans after the Praetor's defeat.

The Romulans also helped out during the Dominion War, although only after some underhanded coaxing (to put it mildly). If they'd ever found out about Sisko and Garak's murderous scheming, a star wouldn't have been the only thing about to explode. "It's a faaaaake!"

As we found out from Admiral Jellico in the Star Trek: Prodigy episode Masquerade, peace talks with the Romulans were ongoing and showing promise in 2384, although the Neutral Zone was still firmly in place, preventing the Dauntless from following the Protostar.

Una McCormack's prequel novel to Star Trek: Picard season one, Star Trek: Picard: The Last Best Hope, reveals that the Federation became aware of the "holy bleeping bleep" fact that the Romulan sun was nearing its end as early as 2381, and a vast relocation effort was launched almost immediately as a result. That plan was summarily ended with the synth attack on the Utopia Planitia Shipyards that wiped out the evacuation fleet in 2385.

In a move akin to using a laser scalpel to slice your toast, the synth attack was in fact (as everyone found out years later) orchestrated by a group of Romulans themselves – the ultra-secretive and ultra-dogmatic Zhat Vash, led by undercover operative Commodore/General Oh who had infiltrated Starfleet security – as 'The Admonition' had convinced them all synths were evil. Their actions would ultimately cost millions upon millions of their compatriots' lives as the Federation abandoned the planned evacuation of Romulus. The Federation also banned synthetic lifeforms after the attack, leading inexorably to the death of Thaddeus Troi-Riker. The ban remained until 2399.

In one last-ditch attempt, in 2387, Ambassador Spock tried to use red matter (whatever that is!) to prevent the Romulan star from going supernova but failed to do so in time. When Spock's Jellyfish was then attacked by the vengeful Nero, both were sent back to the past, creating an entirely new timeline in which Vulcan paid the price for what was essentially Oh's doing.

With Romulus destroyed, the Star Empire became the Romulan Free State, although most surviving Romulans were scattered across the galaxy. The Neutral Zone was assigned to the history books, and groups such as the Fenris Rangers (including member Seven of Nine) now sought to protect the area they felt the Federation had washed its hands of.