Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4 - La'an's Watch (And Her Relationship With Kirk) Explained

Spoilers ahead for "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" Season 4, Episode 8, "Orders of Magnitude."

"Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" Season 4, Episode 8, "Orders of Magnitude," once more features Lieutenant Commander Jim Kirk (Paul Wesley) hanging around on the Enterprise. Kirk seems to spend as much time with the Enterprise crew as he does on his actual posting, the USS Farragut. You'd almost think he's planning to move in! All kidding aside, "Orders of Magnitude" puts the future Enterprise captain through his toughest challenge yet.

Admiral Simon Reeger (Joe Morton) commandeers the Enterprise for a mission to destroy a stealth ship sneaking into Federation territory. Reeger is so obsessed that, when the Enterprise tracks the cloaked ship to its hiding place on an inhabited planet but can't detect where on the planet it is, the Admiral calls for Starfleet General Order 24 (to destroy an entire world). To save lives, Kirk has to subvert the chain of command — including hitting Security Officer La'an Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong) with a phaser stun. That's merely the latest chapter in Kirk and La'an's eventful history.

Early on in "Orders of Magnitude," Spock (Ethan Peck) comments that La'an is wearing a vintage watch — a man's watch. La'an is evasive, but this watch originally belonged to Jim Kirk, just not the Jim Kirk she knows now. Confused? Look back to "Strange New Worlds" Season 2, Episode 3, "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow" (one of the many "Star Trek" episodes with titles taken from William Shakespeare).

There, La'an is sent to a timeline where the Federation never formed, the Enterprise exists, and Kirk is her captain, but it's a ship serving the United Earth Fleet, not Starfleet. Moreover, the Alpha Quadrant powers, from humanity to the Vulcans, are under siege by the Romulan Star Empire.

The whole shifted timeline in "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow" turns out to be the work of Romulan agents. They prevent World War III from starting so as to, in turn, prevent humanity from ascending out of that dark age. So, when Kirk and La'an are sent back in time to 21st century Toronto, they decode the mystery and thwart the Romulans, all while falling for each other. Kirk picked up the antique watch at a store owned by Pelia (Carol Kane), the near-immortal Lanthanite who had lived among humans for centuries. But why does La'an have it instead of Kirk?

The alternate Kirk ultimately died at the hands of the Romulan Sera (Adelaide Kane), leaving La'an heartbroken. The man she loved technically existed, and there's another one with his name, face, and personality — but not his memory of her — still alive when she returns to the proper timeline.

Back in Season 2 "Subspace Rhapsody," La'an told Jim what had happened, but unfortunately, he was already with someone else, Carol Marcus, with a son on the way. That seemed to be the end of it, and in Season 3, La'an hooked up with Spock instead. But La'an broke up with him earlier this season, and "Orders of Magnitude" suggests her feelings for Kirk haven't faded. Yet, unlike how "Strange New Worlds" has been building up Kirk and Spock's legendary friendship, we know from "Star Trek" canon that Kirk and La'an can't go anywhere long term. If "Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow" tugged your heartstrings, prepare for another round of it, because this story probably doesn't have a happy ending.

"Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" is streaming on Paramount+.