10 Star Trek Twists You Never Saw Coming

The Romulans have been used as a surprise reveal in various episodes across several of the Star Trek series. The first, and undoubtedly still the best, is, somewhat naturally, their introduction in The Original Series episode Balance of Terror. When the Enterprise viewscreen flickers into focus, and the Romulan commander turns around into full view, we see that he looks eerily like a Vulcan. The bridge is stunned into silence, and the camera closes in on the face of the equally baffled Spock.

No one in Starfleet or the Federation had seen a Romulan before this point, and Spock hypothesises that they are indeed related to the Vulcans. Used quite sparingly in the rest of TOS, the Romulans notably returned in the 'we’re back' twist of The Next Generation episode The Neutral Zone. A frequent foe from that point on, the audience is treated to many an unexpected Romulan plot twist. Spock appears to defect to Romulus, but is actually working on reunification, Troi wakes up as a Romulan, and who could forget the reveal of Sela!

There are also a few unforeseen shock moments with the Romulans in Star Trek: Enterprise. At the very end of the season four Syrrannite arc, it is revealed to the audience that 'Vulcan' officer Talok, who has been working with the duplicitous head of the Vulcan High Command, is in fact a Romulan. He states that, despite the pair’s failure, reunification is "only a matter of time". Not long after, we find out that the Romulans are behind the attacks of the holographically-enhanced drone ship.