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Warning: SPOILERS For Star Trek: Khan Star Trek answers the last important question about what happened to Khan Noonien Singh in the years after Star Trek: The Original Series: Is Star Trek: Khan canon? Written by Kirsten Beyer and David Mack and directed by Fred Greenhalgh from a story by Nicholas Meyer, Star Trek: Khan is a 9-episode dramatic narrative podcast detailing the truth about what happened to Khan (Naveen Andrews), Marla McGivers (Wrenn Schmidt), and Khan's augment followers on Ceti Alpha V. Before Star Trek: Khan, all that was known about Khan's exile on Ceti Alpha V was what was seen and said in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Six months after Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and the Starship Enterprise sent Khan (Ricardo Montalban) and his people to Ceti Alpha V, the neighboring Ceti Alpha VI exploded, turning Khan's new paradise into a wasteland. Star Trek: Khan introduced characters like Khan's rival Ivan (Maury Sterling) and a new race of alien psychics called the Elboreans. By the end of Star Trek: Khan, perhaps the biggest bombshell was that Khan and Marla McGivers had a daughter, Kali Noonien Singh, who was revealed to be Star Trek: Khan's protagonist, Dr. Rosalind Lear (Sonya Cassidy). While Star Trek: Khan was a top-tier production with tremendous voice acting, it wasn't clear whether the podcast and its events were actual Star Trek canon. However, TrekMovie got the answer from Star Trek: Khan's producers. Star Trek: Khan Is Officially Part Of Canon Appearing as guests on TrekMovie's All Access Star Trek podcast, Kirsten Beyer, David Mack, and Fred Greenhalgh addressed whether Star Trek: Khan is canon. Beyer, who also serves as executive producer on Star Trek on Paramount+'s series, says that Star Trek: Khan is, indeed, regarded as part of the official canon. Read Kirsten's quote below: Kirsten Beyer: "Okay, here’s what I can tell you because I have had a few conversations. There is nobody who comes along and waves a scepter and dubs a thing ‘canon.’ What I can tell you is that for the people currently working on Star Trek, [Star Trek: Khan] will be treated as canon, meaning it will not be overwritten, contradicted. And it will be – when possible – incorporated into future storytelling.” In broad strokes, what's generally considered official Star Trek canon is dictated by whether it appears or is referenced in a Star Trek TV series or movie. By and large, Star Trek novels, comic books, video games, and other media constitute a 'B-canon' and are more often than not ignored by Star Trek TV shows and movies. However, it was unclear where Star Trek: Khan fell in terms of being canon. While it's currently unclear whether Star Trek: Khan was successful enough to merit more Star Trek dramatic narrative podcasts being produced, Star Trek: Khan being regarded as canon and in the mix to be "incorporated into future storytelling" in movies and TV bodes well for any future Star Trek podcasts to also be considered official canon. How Star Trek: Khan Changed & Added To Canon Star Trek: Khan was careful to incorporate, build towards, and not contradict what Khan revealed about Ceti Alpha V and VI in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. This includes depicting how Marla McGivers married Khan and was killed by the Ceti eels. However, Star Trek: Khan incorporated new elements like an augment civil war between Khan and Ivan, and revealed that the cause of Ceti Alpha VI's destruction was the Elboreans, whose damaged starship's experimental engine hastened the explosion of Ceti Alpha VI's unstable core. Most significant is that not only did Khan and Marla have a daughter, but the five-year-old Kali Noonien Singh was able to escape Ceti Alpha V and grew up in the United Federation of Planets with a new identity, Rosalind Lear. Kali Noonien Singh/Rosalind Lear surviving Ceti Alpha V makes her Khan's immediate descendant, and kin to Khan's other known descendant: Lieutenant La'an Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong) in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. In an alternate 21st century timeline, La'an met Khan (Desmond Sivan) as a boy in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2, episode 3, "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow." Star Trek: Khan's framing sequences with Dr. Lear are set in 2293, while La'an was born in 2228. This means La'an would be about 65 in 2293 while Kali/Rosalind Lear is about 25. Assuming La'an is still alive in 2293, there is now the fleeting possibility that she and Kali could meet since Star Trek: Khan is considered official canon. How Future Star Trek Could Reference Star Trek: Khan Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is set before Star Trek: The Original Series, and it's highly unlikely that the events of Star Trek: Khan will be referenced in the prequel's final 16 episodes in seasons 4 and 5. However, given time travel and whatnot, it's also not impossible that La'an Noonien-Singh could learn about Kali Noonien Singh in the future. Star Trek: Starfleet Academy takes place in the 32nd century, 900 years after Star Trek: Khan. With all of Star Trek's history and canon in play, the events on Ceti Alpha V in Star Trek: Khan could be history taught to Starfleet Academy's cadets. Starfleet Academy is the most likely existing Star Trek series that could legitimize Star Trek: Khan's status as canon. Depending on what era future Star Trek projects are set, Star Trek: Khan could have its canonical status affirmed. Future Star Trek storytelling will be whatever new Star Trek movies and TV series Paramount Skydance's new management greenlights. Depending on what era future Star Trek projects are set, Star Trek: Khan could have its canonical status affirmed.
