Star Trek: 11 Greatest Unfinished Story Ideas

1. The Guardian Of Forever (TOS: The City On The Edge Of Forever) Superlatives abound when discussing The City on the Edge of Forever, yet an agonizingly small amount is known about the Guardian itself. Here's what little is known: the Guardian is a time portal that was created by an ancient civilization billions of years ago. It is a sentient device that has its "own beginning and own end," a tantalizing, if vague pronouncement. And it has for ages longed to be asked a question. If an advanced race could build something as powerful as the Guardian, then what else were they capable of accomplishing? Perhaps after crafting this nearly omnipotent device, the Guardian's architects felt threatened by it. Could the Guardian have in turn felt threatened itself and, out of a sense of self-preservation, found a way to trick them into traveling into the past, wiping themselves out from all of history in the process? Spock discovers that the Guardian is the center of the temporal disturbances the Enterprise had been monitoring in that region of space. Could it be possible that the Guardian was in actuality malfunctioning, "leaking" these temporal waves, as it were? Imagine a TNG episode showing how the Guardian has been studied for years since its discovery with no progress being gained toward understanding it. Suddenly it reawakens and demands to speak with "those from the starship Enterprise." Would that not have made for an exciting hour of television? Perhaps an episode of DS9 in which it is learned that the Dominion is seeking to locate the Guardian and Sisko and company must race to stop them. Then again, perhaps in this particular example, knowing less is what makes the mystery so engaging. It is this air of the unknown that makes the Guardian legendary and provides a constant source of debate and discussion amongst fans. It is likely that nothing could every adequately explain just what or who the Guardian is or why it was built in the first place. Chances are fans will never know, but it sure is fun to guess. Are there any other Star Trek stories that need to be further developed? Share your own picks below in the comments thread.