WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Star Trek: Discovery Season 3, Episode 9, "Terra Firma, Part 1," now streaming on CBS All Access.

In 2009, director J.J. Abrams rebooted the Star Trek franchise with a new film. But instead of ignoring everything that had come before, the film branched off from the Prime Universe and created its own alternate reality: the Kelvin Timeline. After the release of 2016's Star Trek Beyond, the franchise then returned to its television roots with Star Trek: Discovery. In its first two seasons, the series, which was set in the Prime timeline, barely made any mention of the films.

However, that all changed as Season 3 has already made a reference to Ambassador Spock's disappearance, as chronicled in 2009's Star Trek film. And now, Discovery goes even further than that with its latest episode by confirming that the Federation actually knows about the Kelvin Timeline.

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At the start of "Terra Firma, Part 1," the Discovery's Dr. Culber is consulting with Kovich, a Federation officer who specializes in other dimensions and alternate timelines. The two are discussing the case of Philippa Georgiou, a Terran from the Mirror Universe who has developed a dangerous condition after being separated from her home reality in both time and space.

As the two talk, Kovich compares the ailment to something that plagued another Starfleet officer named Yor. After bringing up his image, Kovich explains that Yor was a time soldier who originated from an alternate timeline, one created by the displacement in time of a Romulan mining vessel. This is, of course, a reference to the events of 2009's Star Trek.

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Star Trek 2009 Narada

In the film, the Romulan Nero accidentally traveled back in time aboard his mining ship, the Nerada. After his arrival, he altered time by attacking the U.S.S. Kelvin, creating the Kelvin Timeline from the film and its two sequels, Star Trek Into Darkness and Beyond. Yor was a Starfleet officer who traveled from the Kelvin Timeline to the Prime Universe. Therefore, it's likely because of him and him alone that the Federation knows about the alternate timeline created in 2009's Star Trek.

Like Georgiou, Yor suffered from a condition that was the result of his traveling across time and space, but because of the strict interdimensional travel agreement, he couldn't return home. This means that it is possible for characters to travel between these two realities. The introduction of Yor not only confirmed that the Federation is aware of the cinematic parallel timeline, but it also opens the door for more crossovers between the two.

Streaming on CBS All Access, Star Trek: Discovery stars Sonequa Martin-Green as Commander Michael Burnham, Doug Jones as Commander Saru, Anthony Rapp as Lt. Commander Paul Stamets, Mary Wiseman as Ensign Sylvia Tilly, Wilson Cruz as Dr. Hugh Culber, David Ajala as Cleveland "Book" Booker, Blu del Barrio as Adira, Ian Alexander as Gray, Tig Notaro as Chief Engineer Reno and Michelle Yeoh as Philippa Georgiou. New episodes of Season 3 air on Thursdays.

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