Originally played by William Campbell in just a single episode of Star Trek: The Original Series called “The Squire of Gothos,” Rhys Darby's version of the character has now snagged his second of two appearances in Strange New Worlds. Thanks to season 3's "Wedding Bell Blues," we already knew going into "Like Chronitons Through the Hourglass" that Trelane is a member of Q race, and therefore largely resides in the Q Continuum. This wasn't the case when "The Squire of Gothos" aired, but several fan theories eventually arose when The Next Generation introduced the Q.
Trelane's specific brand of god-like tomfoolery caused many Trekkies to believe that he was a secret Q. One of the biggest arguments against these theories is that most members of the Q Continuum go almost exclusively by the name "Q." There are some exceptions, but only when there are multiple Q present in an episode, and it starts getting too confusing. Even then, the other Qs often go by “Q2,” “Quinn,” or something equally derivative.
Regardless of his unconventional name, Trelane has been retroactively made into a Q. So, why is he called Trelane? I think Strange New Worlds just answered that question.
FULL SPOILERS ahead for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4 episode 7, "Like Chronitons Through the Hourglass."
I think Strange New Worlds just revealed that the Q need to earn the right to be called “Q”
There is still a great deal unknown about the Q Continuum and the race of demigods who reside there. Although there have been Star Trek episodes that teach us about the Q, they're a people often framed as far too complex to be fully understood by mere mortals. Whenever they are seen doing something deemed too "human," it's generally implied to be a dumbed-down interpretation of what they're really getting up to. For instance, the Q Civil War in Star Trek: Voyager is represented as looking like the American Civil War, because that's how the humans present could process what was going on.
With that in mind, the idea that Trelane is using the Enterprise as a staging ground in Strange New Worlds for some sort of cosmic dissertation on human emotion makes way more sense. It's probably more complicated than that, but it's close enough to the truth that we can grasp Trelane's goals. Furthermore, the scenes showing Trelane and the Q proctor (Diane L. Johnstone) watching the experiment play out on a bank of TV screens are almost definitely a streamlined representation of what they're actually doing in the Q Continuum at that point.
But why would Trelane need to undertake anything of an academic nature? The Q don't do stuff like that, right? Well, I guess they do. And more, it could account for why Darby's Trelane has never been addressed or credited as “Q” like the other members of the Continuum. Maybe every Q had to go through this rite of passage, where they find something that interests them in the galaxy in an attempt to wow their superiors. If and when they pass (which Trelane does, with the Q equivalent of a B+), that could be when they stop going by whatever name they once had and earn the name of “Q.”
Given that Trelane is often portrayed as young and unruly, the fact that he still hasn't "earned" his “Q” title by the time of "Like Chronitons Through the Hourglass" feels very logical. Plus, seeing him achieve this milestone gives him a more tangible journey and sense of progression. The implication in "The Squire of Gothos" is that Trelane is reliant on advanced technology to fool Captain Kirk (William Shatner) and his crew with his complex illusions. This can be easily explained as just a human interpretation of how Trelane pulled it off, rather than drawing focus to his underdeveloped Q abilities in the wake of the test we see in "Like Chronitons Through the Hourglass."
I have an alternative theory for why Trelane isn't called “Q”
Maybe "Q" isn't a name at all. Maybe it's an honorific like "Doctor" or "Captain." If so, then Trelane's dissertation, for which we see him receive a passing grade in "Like Chronitons Through the Hourglass," may not fully replace his name. Rather than going from being called Trelane to being called “Q”, it's equally possible that his full title is now “Q Trelane.” A little like how Pike becomes Captain Pike when his Starfleet rank is also considered. Starfleet officers refer to each other by their ranks all the time — why should the Q be any different?
Assuming this is correct, it also suggests that members of the Q Continuum, in general, don't deem humans worthy of knowing their actual names.
Maybe John de Lancie's Q has a name other than “Q,” and we just don't know it. Like “Dave Q,” but definitely not that. It could be that we only know Trelane's name because he's quite clearly more rebellious than others of his species, and so breaks the rule I think might exist about a Q sharing their real name with humans and other mortals. Additionally, Trelane interacted with humans before undertaking this supposed exam that we see in Strange New Worlds. I'd be surprised if that didn't break all sorts of rules, but it would explain why Trelane still isn't referred to as a “Q,” even by his proctor, in Strange New Worlds season 4's soap opera tribute.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is streaming now on Paramount+
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