Where Does Star Trek: Scouts Take Place In Franchise Canon?

The weirdest "Star Trek" series, "Star Trek: Scouts," debuted on YouTube on September 8, 2025, and it has caused no stir whatsoever. It may be safe to posit that most Trekkies don't watch it, and many might not even know about it. "Star Trek: Scouts" is a new animated series for toddlers, and doesn't seem to have any palpable connection to "Star Trek" other than some Starfleet iconography and the inclusion of a few "Star Trek" species and aliens. Confusingly, "Star Trek: Scouts" is not available on Paramount+, or even on the "Star Trek" YouTube channel. It's presented as a footnote on the YouTube channel for "Blaze and the Monster Machines." 

"Scouts" is set in a small, planet-bound research station of some kind, which is manned by a trio of young children named Roo (Dominique Skye Turner), J.R. (Hudson Brooks), and Sprocket (Monique Thomas). Roo is the science officer, J.R. is the ostensible commander, and Sprocket, a Vulcan outfitted with a cybernetic arm, is the engineer. Each episode is only about three-and-a-half minutes, and the story is the same each time: an asteroid is headed straight for the station, and the three kids have to transport an object into its path to save themselves. The asteroids are all made out of whimsical materials, however, like soap, meat, or boogers. The objects they transport match in some way. Water for the soap, spaghetti for the meatball, tissues for the booger. 

As a Trekkie, it's my job to overthink things, and I watch "Star Trek: Scouts" full of questions. Who are these children? Are they being supervised by Starfleet officers? They wear Starfleet uniforms, but surely they aren't Academy graduates, right? Not at their age. And, most importantly, where does "Scouts" take place in the "Star Trek" timeline? Let's explore.

It's worth noting that "Star Trek: Scouts" has featured zero references to extant "Star Trek" lore. There has been no mention of Captain Kirk, the starship Enterprise, Deep Space Nine, or even Chakotay. All the explicit "Star Trek" references are subdued. Sprocket is a Vulcan, but he doesn't speak or behave in a notably unemotional, Vulcan fashion. Each one of the characters has a pet, all of which are voiced by Dave Droxler, who also plays the show's announcer. Roo's pet is a Klingon Targ named Bubbles, and Targs were first mentioned on "Star Trek: The Next Generation." JR owns a pet named Zips, and it is an Alfa-117 canine, a dog-like creature seen in the original series episode "The Enemy Within." Sprocket's turtle-creature, Star, is new to "Scouts." Like Sprocket, Star had mechanical limbs.

The fact that a human girl like Roo would own a Klingon animal as a pet indicates that "Scouts" at the very least takes place after the events of "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country," when the Federation and the Klingons ended their Cold War and began peace negotiations. 

The uniforms back this up. The uniforms are actually the strongest indicator as to when "Star Trek: Scouts" takes place. Notably, J.R. is in a red jumpsuit, and he is in a position of command, while Sprocket's yellow uniform denotes his job as an engineer. This color scheme wasn't adopted until the days of "Star Trek: The Next Generation," so we can rest assured that "Scouts" takes place in the mid-to-late 24th century. The glowing stripes on the uniforms and the soft edges on the character's Starfleet insignias leads me to believe that they are wearing specialized, non-officer uniforms, specially made for kids.

Like in all the "Star Trek" shows, "Scouts" features transporters, although they function differently than previously seen. Rather than merely beam objects into orbit, the three "Scouts" kids point a deflector dish directly at their target, and fire a phaser-like beam through the atmosphere. The transported object then manifests in front of the oncoming asteroid. Perhaps this is a "safety" version of a transporter, which prevents locks onto living beings. It would be a horrible tragedy if the Scouts accidentally transported one of their own into space. 

There are some advanced pieces of tech, however, that seem to go beyond what Trekkies already know. Roo has a high-speed hoverboard, which is far beyond anything seen on "Next Generation." In episode 5, J.R. jumps into the air, and a miniature vessel transports around him. The vessel, which can only seat one, is equipped with warp engines and a phaser bank. Transporting entire ships isn't ever done on "Star Trek," no matter how small they might be. It's also rare that a transporter can be used to transport a hollow object around a stationary target. This is very advanced, implying that "Scouts" might take place in the 25th century, after the events of "Star Trek: Picard." 

And where are they? There's some evidence for that, too. The planet they're on is a low-gravity moon (they are able to shut off their artificial gravity), and the asteroids are said to be coming from Klingon space. This indicates that they are near the border of the Beta Quadrant, well inside Federation territory. Not much to discover there. 20 episodes of "Scouts" are planned, so more information is presumably forthcoming. 

When it comes, we'll gladly over-analyze this show for toddlers.