10 Most Irredeemable Star Trek Villains

Perhaps the reason Section 31 is so beyond redemption is that they have never really sought it in the first place. More amoral than immoral, there is a certain unfeeling pragmatism to the organisation that just wants to get the dirty, but objectively necessary, job done. Such cold rationale, and dubious use of Cicero (the quote that is the title of the episode Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges), can hardly hold water for long, however; there are rules in war, and especially for peace.

Chronologically speaking, the earliest we see of Section 31 is through Malcolm Reed's involvement in the organisation. However, the shady group's first on-screen appearance was in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, to spend time with Bashir on the holodeck.

Convinced the doctor wasn’t a Dominion spy, Director Sloan tried the recruitment pitch. Sure, it's a super dangerous job, you'll have to lie to everyone you know and love, and check your principles at the door, but you get one of those cool black jackets just for signing up! Section 31 was an open secret once more, and Starfleet Command didn't deny denying it. After the Inquisition, the group appeared in DS9 on a few more occasions. Oh, and there was that attempted genocide thing. I bet that'll never come up again!

In Star Trek: Discovery, almost everyone seems to have heard of Section 31. Far from operating autonomously of no fixed abode, as in Sloan's day, in the 23rd century, Starfleet maintained at least a degree of oversight over Section 31, and the organisation had its own HQ (a space station and, rather aptly, former penal colony). Starfleet admirals submitted reports to Section 31's AI system Control, its operatives sometimes served openly aboard Starfleet vessels, and they weren't shy about showing off their fancy advanced technology either! Oooooh, combadges!

Section 31 maintained its cruel streak all the same, hiring a former Terran emperor and hunting down Spock just so they could scramble his neurons. Control almost wiped out all sentient life in the galaxy, but that was probably nothing compared to what was on those pads in Sloan's slowly exploding mind palace.

Soon, we'll be getting a Long Trek look at all the clandestine goings-on in a movie with Michelle Yeoh.

And then Lieutenant William Boimler joined… *Laughs maniacally*