10 Star Trek Characters More Important Than You Realised

When the fight to stop the Xindi from finishing what they started – destroying the Earth – comes to a head, Captain Archer is left with little recourse but to lead a solo suicide mission. Before he can even get whatever counts as comfortable in the insectoid shuttle, however, Daniels whisks him out of the 22nd and into the 26th century. There, aboard the Enterprise-J (the one with the skinny engineering section, nacelles, and a pancake saucer), he hands Archer a Xindi initiation medal that belongs to a Starfleet crew member serving aboard.

Back in the present of the 22nd century, Archer is captured by the Xindi, but he uses the medal as part of his argument to broker a peace, and a cease-fire, with Degra. This little time-travel souvenir can be quantum dated to prove it comes from the future and is enough to make Degra stop and listen.

The Xindi Starfleet crew member is never shown on screen and, depending on your interpretation of string theory, might now not even exist, but they are unknowingly integral to the survival of the NX-01 crew, of humanity, and the Federation. Had they not joined Starfleet and been on the Enterprise-J at the Battle of Procyon V that defeated the Sphere-Builders, there might not have been such an heirloom to give to Archer, and events could have taken a far different turn.

Time travel really does give you a headache!