Here’s our complete breakdown of Scotty’s cameo appearance in the Strange New Worlds season 2 finale. Spoilers ahead for the Star Trek Strange New Worlds season 2 episode 10.
Since it began in 2022, Star Trek Strange New Worlds simply hasn’t been able to resist bringing in Star Trek characters from the TOS-era adventures aboard Kirk’s Enterprise. We have Uhura and Chapel in the main cast, while Paul Wesley’s Kirk comes aboard the Star Trek starship for regular guest appearances.
Now, we have Scotty too. Played by Scottish theater actor Martin Quinn, the Scotty we see in the Strange New Worlds season 2 finale is younger than we’re used to, helping to flesh out the backstory of the character. Plenty of unanswered questions lie ahead for the future of Montgomery Scott in Strange New Worlds, and we’re here to answer them, and to provide a refresher on the character’s history and backstory from across the Star Trek timeline.
Scotty in Star Trek Strange New Worlds explained
Played by Martin Quinn, Montgomery “Scotty” Scott is introduced in the Strange New Worlds season 2 finale during the Gorn attack on Karnasus Beta. Scotty was stranded on the planet after his ship, a solar research vessel named the Stardiver, was destroyed by the Gorn. Using his technical ingenuity, Scotty was able to escape in a shuttle to the planet.
Scotty was recovered from Karnasus Beta by a landing party led by Captain Pike which was on a mission to rescue survivors of the USS Cayuga. He helped Pike’s team to return to the Enterprise using technology he had developed to hide from the Gorn sensors.
At this point in the timeline, Scotty is still a Lieutenant junior grade. With the finale ending on a cliffhanger, it’s unclear whether Scotty will now join the crew of the USS Enterprise in the engineering department under the stewardship of Pelia, or if he will depart to return at a later point closer to the start of Kirk’s five-year mission.
Scotty’s Star Trek history and backstory explained
With his role in Captain Kirk’s five-year mission of exploration, and later adventures, Scotty becomes one of the most legendary engineers in Starfleet history.
Scotty serves as the chief engineer aboard the USS Enterprise and USS Enterprise-A under the command of Kirk and, for a brief period of time, Captain Spock. During the five-year mission, Scotty held the rank of Lieutenant Commander, and was third in command of the starship behind Kirk and first officer Spock.
As seen in the events of the first Star Trek movie, Scotty is promoted to the rank of Commander after the five-year mission, and leads the refit of the USS Enterprise which forms the basis for the design of the Enterprise-A. He is then further promoted to the rank of Captain, playing a pivotal role especially in the recovery of the whales from 1980s San Francisco.
After the events of The Undiscovered Country, Scotty retired from Starfleet. He had intended to spend his retirement on the Norpin Colony, however while traveling he crashed on the surface of a Dyson Sphere. Without the supplies to survive, Scotty stored himself in stasis in the ship’s transporter buffer waiting to be recovered.
He was found by the Enterprise-D, led by Captain Picard, and would then be instrumental in helping Geordi La Forge to engineer a solution to the Enterprise-D escaping from the Dyson Sphere (despite their disagreements led by a difference in style). After the escape, Picard gave Scotty a shuttle to do with as he wished.
With Scotty’s debut in Strange New Worlds, it’s likely that audiences will now get a more detailed understanding of his backstory and his early Starfleet career.
For more, read our full Strange New Worlds season 2 review and our interview with Anson Mount and Rebecca Romjin. You can also check out our recommendation on how to watch the Star Trek movies in order, and see our picks for the best Star Trek starships and best Star Trek captains.
To stay up to date with the rest of Trek, see what’s going on with the Star Trek Discovery season 5 release date, Lower Decks season 4 release date, and Star Trek 4 release date. You can also find out what’s new on Paramount Plus this month, and see our selection of the best TV series of all time.