Writing for a science fiction show in the 70s and 80s must have been endlessly entertaining. Nothing would rouse excitement more than finding or developing a new term. When aStar Trekwriter grabbed a word like “phaser” or “warp,” they knew they could apply it to a million ideas. These vague names serve as shorthand labels to zhuzh up their plot devices. Transwarp is a go-to term for traveling beyond the usual light-speed methods.
Traveling faster than light is central to any space-faring universe. InDune,the Spice Mélange thatcontrols the universe is primarily used to guide navigators.Star Warsinvented a more fantastical solution in Hyperdrive technology.Star Trekrightfully venerates Zephram Cochrane, the inventor of its warp drive, as a scientific hero. Transwarp doesn’t invalidate his success but improves it in some ways.
What does transwarp mean inStar Trek?
Transwarp is a broad term referring to any technology that travels beyond the limits of a standard warp drive. It’s beenattached to transporters, communicators, probes, tunnels, and more. In some cases, it’s added to existing devices to improve their performance. The Borg created a conduit through “transwarp space,” a realm of subspace that allows transwarp travel to communicate without delay across tens of thousands of light years. These transwarp conduits enable vessels to skip 15 years of travel time in moments. Borg and Voth ships regularly carry transwarp coils, which allow them to open portals and travel through the transwarp space. The Borg eventually devised a transwarp network, granting them fast transport anywhere in the Milky Way galaxy. These examples treat transwarp as a wormhole-based system, but some stories treat it as a new level of velocity, measured above those of warp speed.The film continuity, an alternate timeline in canon, used transwarp beaming to board a moving enemy ship. Their Scotty summed it up like this:
The notion of transwarp beaming is like trying to hit a bullet with a smaller bullet whilst wearing a blindfold, riding a horse.
Is Transwarp faster than warp speed?
Transwarp technology allows near-instantaneous transmission across distances. Using Cochrane’s warp drive, starships can break the speed of light.Warp factor denotes thespeed of light, but increasing attached numbers demonstrate faster travel. Warp factor 2 is eight times the speed of light or 2,398,339,664 m/s. Warp factor 3 is 27 times the speed of light, and the numbers increase from there. After years of research and experimentation, Starfleet determined warp factor 10 to represent a theoretically infinite speed. Warp factor 10 became known as the transwarp barrier, the border between warp speeds and transwarp speeds. Though inarguably the most concise and understandable, this definition has not always been canon. Transwarp corridors are said to be 50 times faster than the highest available warp factor.Star Trek Voyagerofferedthe transwarp barrier explanation in the 1996 episode “Threshold.” Exceeding warp factor 10 would theoretically require a vessel to occupy every point in space simultaneously, placing the transwarp barrier beyond the bounds of possibility.Voyager’s Flight Control Officer, Tom Paris, was the first human to use the technology, at least in the mainline continuity.
The episode in whichTom Paris breaks thetranswarp barrier is only partially about that momentous accomplishment. He figures out the trick to transwarp speed at the end of the first act. Most of the episode tells the story of the nightmarish side effects he experiences after his achievement. Paris suffers painful symptoms that ruin his body, laying him up in the sick bay for days. The transwarp also alters his perception and personality, causing him to flit incoherently through emotional states. The ship’s doctor deduces that Paris is evolving, undergoing mutations that may hit humanity over the next thousands of years in only a few days. Paris’s new formkidnaps Captain Janeway, steals theCochrane, and pilots them through transwarp to an uninhabited jungle planet. They mate and produce offspring. The crew rescues them, treats their evolution, and returns them to their natural states. They leave the kids on their new home planet. Paris’s accomplishment places him in rarified air among the most accomplished pilots. The instant transwarp teleportation Paris imagined never came, but his name was forever etched in history.
Transwarp travel provides a narrative escalation fromStar Trek’s already faster-than-light travel. If a character wants to exceed speeds humanity will likely never accomplish, they can reach for the transwarp coil. It’s not one ofStar Trek’s more iconic inventions. Therearen’t many episodesunpacking the implications of its design or the long effort to perfect it. Transwarp details only pop up when an enemy needs an edge or a Starfleet engineer needs a project. Transwarp technology could theoretically enable instant transmission across the universe, turning a trip to other solar systems into a five-minute ride. As Tom Paris' experience demonstrates, it’s got some issues to work out.
