Daniels (Crewman)

The temporal agent known only as Daniels was an operative from the 31st century and a major player in the Temporal Cold War. Daniels had frequent interactions with the crew of Enterprise NX-01 in the 2150s and often assisted them in preventing temporal incursions by various factions in the Cold War.

By 3189, Daniels had assumed the alias of Doctor Kovich. (DIS: "Die Trying", "Life, Itself")

Kovich's exact position in Federation hierarchy was unclear, but he had access to extremely clandestine information and was able to issue a Red Directive. His authority superseded that of even Starfleet's commander in chief, Fleet Admiral Charles Vance. However, Kovich privately showed a degree of frustration with the secrecy with which he was forced to operate, allowing Sylvia Tilly to hack the information so that Kovich could share it with Vance and Burnham. (DIS: "Red Directive")

He later revealed that "Kovich" was actually a code name, and he was really the temporal agent Daniels from the Enterprise NX-01 "and other places." Kovich also noted that he had lived many years and many lives, with his collection of historical objects implying connections to the crews of the USS Enterprise-D, Deep Space 9, and USS Voyager. (DIS: "Life, Itself")

Quick Answers

Who is the actor behind the character of Dr. Kovich in Star Trek: Discovery?

David Cronenberg plays the role of Dr. Kovich in Star Trek: Discovery. The character, a Federation agent, is suggested to hold the rank of commodore, as indicated by his tricom badge. The name "Kovich" was confirmed in the episode titled "All Is Possible".

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What was Dr. Kovich's role and position within the Federation hierarchy?

Dr. Kovich held the position of a Federation official and agent. His tricom badge indicated a rank of commodore, although he did not wear a Starfleet uniform and displayed authority over higher-ranking officers. His specialty lay in artificial sentience, leading to his involvement in the assessment of Zora, the sentient computer of the USS Discovery.

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What was Dr. Kovich's professional background and specialty?

Dr. Kovich was a Human Federation official from the 32nd century. Despite not wearing a Starfleet uniform, his tricom badge indicated a rank of commodore. His professional interests lay in Terran history and methodology, a fascination he held since childhood.

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What was the significance of Dr. Kovich's fascination with Terran history and methodology?

Dr. Kovich's interest in Terran history and methodology was rooted in his curiosity about species that acted for the sake of action. This interest started in his youth and persisted into adulthood. In 3189, he discussed his fascination with the Terran Empire's fall centuries ago with Philippa Georgiou. His professional background in cognitive science, specializing in artificial sentience and intelligence, provided further context to his interest in the Terran Empire, noted for its distinct motivations and behaviors.

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Early life

According to Daniels, he told Commander Charles Tucker III that he was from "Illinois", that was different from the Illinois that Tucker knew. (ENT: "Cold Front")

Kovich had been fascinated by Terran history and methodology since he was a boy. (DIS: "Die Trying")

His professional expertise included a background in cognitive science with a specialty in artificial sentience and intelligence. (DIS: "...But to Connect")

Encounters with Enterprise

Assignment to Enterprise and apparent death

Daniels first came into contact with the Enterprise crew in 2151, when he infiltrated the ship posing as a crewman, and shared quarters E-14 with an Enterprise crewman. Working undercover as a steward, Daniels had been assigned to Enterprise to capture Silik, the leader of the Cabal, who they knew would be boarding the ship at some point. Silik did indeed board Enterprise several months into their mission, posing as a Borothan pilgrim, at which point Daniels revealed himself and the true nature of his mission to Captain Archer. While Daniels and Archer worked together to capture him, Silik confronted Daniels and shot him with a particle weapon, apparently killing him. (ENT: "Cold Front")

Destruction of Paraagan II

Despite this, Daniels reappeared the next year, taking Archer back in time ten months, in order to have a conversation with him in secret from the other factions in the Cold War. When Archer expressed surprise at Daniels' survival, believing that Silik had killed him, Daniels only responded, "He did... in a manner of speaking." Daniels instructed Archer in the construction of two extremely advanced quantum beacons, which the Enterprise crew used to detect a cloaked Suliban stealth cruiser, and prove that the Cabal had attempted to frame Enterprise for the destruction of the Paraagan II mining colony. Afterwards, when Silik threatened to destroy Enterprise unless Archer handed himself over, Daniels transported Archer forward in time to the 31st century, in an attempt to protect him. Daniels' actions had disastrous consequences, however, in that removing Archer from the timeline changed history in such a way as to destroy Daniels' civilization. With no way to return Archer to his own time and restore the timeline, Daniels and Archer were forced to improvise, using Archer's communicator and hand scanner to construct a makeshift temporal communicator, which Archer used to communicate with his crew in the 22nd century. Archer's crew managed to retrieve a piece of technology that Daniels had left in his quarters on Enterprise, and trick Silik into interfacing it with the technology that he used to communicate with the Cabal's benefactor in the 28th century. This temporarily turned Silik's technology into a means by which Archer could return to his own time, defeating Silik and correcting the damage to the timeline. (ENT: "Shockwave", "Shockwave, Part II")

Xindi-Reptilians on 21st Century Earth

In 2153, Daniels returned to Enterprise, which was in the midst of searching for the Xindi weapon in the Delphic Expanse, to inform Archer that they had detected three Xindi-Reptilians on Earth in the year 2004. As Daniels could not secure authorization from his superiors to travel back in time himself, he offered to send Archer back in time to stop the Xindi, who were attempting to synthesize a bio-weapon in secret, with which to destroy Humanity. He supplied Archer and T'Pol with temporal tags to mark anything that did not belong in that time period for retrieval, and a temporal beacon with which to signal Daniels when their mission was complete. After the successful completion of their mission, Daniels returned Archer and T'Pol, along with the Xindi bodies and all of their equipment, to Enterprise, only moments after they had originally been transported back in time. (ENT: "Carpenter Street")

Attempting to stop Archer's suicide mission

The next year, Daniels returned to plead with Captain Archer to not undertake a suicide mission to destroy the Xindi weapon, explaining that Archer's role in history was too important for him to sacrifice himself. To make his point, Daniels transported Archer to the USS Enterprise-J, a Starfleet vessel in service during the 26th century, so Archer could witness the historic Battle of Procyon V, wherein the forces of the Federation defeated the Sphere-Builders. Daniels explained that the Sphere-Builders were attempting to manipulate the Xindi into destroying Earth, so that the Federation would never come into existence, and they could invade the galaxy unopposed. Daniels attempted to convince Archer that the only way to defeat the Sphere-Builders was to form an alliance with the Xindi, but Archer refused, unwilling to risk the destruction of Earth. In the hopes that Archer would change his mind, however, Daniels supplied him with a Xindi initiation medal which belonged to one of the crewmembers on the Enterprise-J, revealing that, in the 26th century, the Xindi were members of the Federation. The medal later proved to be an important component in saving Earth, as Archer used it to convince the Xindi-Primate Degra that Humans and Xindi were destined to form an alliance. (ENT: "Azati Prime")

Alternate World War II

Later that year, as Captain Archer was preparing to lead a team to board the Xindi weapon and destroy it, Daniels transported him to 2161 to witness the Federation Charter being signed. Attempting to convince Archer to send someone else on the mission, Daniels explained that, without Archer, the Federation would never come into being, and that it was too dangerous to risk his life. Archer refused, however, feeling that it was his responsibility to destroy the weapon. Later, with Archer trapped on board the exploding weapon, Daniels transported him and Enterprise back in time to 1944, in an alternate timeline created by multiple temporal incursions by various factions in the Cold War.

In this timeline, the Nazis had launched a successful invasion of the American East Coast and had formed an alliance with the Na'kuhl, a Cold War faction from the 29th century. Daniels appeared in Enterprise's sickbay, dying from a condition which caused various parts of his body to exist in different temporal states. He explained that the Temporal Cold War had ignited into a full-blown conflict and that different temporal agents stationed throughout the timeline had been given orders to change history.

This resulted in temporal anomalies ripping through the timestream, causing Daniels' condition. Before dying as a result of his injuries, he informed the crew that the conflict was initiated when the Na'kuhl launched an attack on the 31st century using a temporal conduit they were constructing with the assistance of the Nazis, and that he had transported Archer and Enterprise to this point in time to stop them. Eventually, Enterprise was successful in destroying the conduit before the Na'kuhl had a chance to use it, an action which had the effect of resetting the timeline and reversing Daniels' death.

Afterward, Daniels returned Archer and Enterprise to their proper place in time, but not before Archer informed him that he was done being a pawn in the Temporal Cold War. Bidding Archer farewell, Daniels told him that, as a result of his actions, the Cold War was coming to an end. (ENT: "Zero Hour", "Storm Front", "Storm Front, Part II")

32nd century

In 3189, under the alias Kovich, he interrogated Philippa Georgiou upon her arrival at Federation Headquarters. He was knowledgeable about Terran history and raised the supposition that the Terran Empire was "based on the maxim 'because we feel like it'". He was also curious about Georgiou, particularly her reasons for travelling to the future, and attempted to learn about her from her own questions and curiosity. He allowed her to destroy his tricom badge in the process, but offered as little response to her questions as possible. He did volunteer the knowledge that the Terran Empire "fell centuries ago", however, and that no crossing between universes had been made "in over 500 years", causing Georgiou visible distress. (DIS: "Die Trying")

Dr. Hugh Culber consulted Kovich in trying to find a cure for the ailment that had inflicted Georgiou due to her being both displaced temporally and dimensionally. He then showed Culber a holographic depiction of Yor, a time soldier and the only other individual known to have crossed both time and dimensions. Kovich told Culber that there was no way to cure Georgiou, but Culber proved him wrong after consulting the USS Discovery's computer which had merged with the Sphere data, leading them to a supposed answer on Dannus V. (DIS: "Terra Firma, Part 1")

During Osyraa's commandeering of Discovery, Kovich expressed his reservations to Charles Vance about possibly destroying Discovery to keep it out of Emerald Chain hands, as he saw Discovery's spore drive as the way to reunite the Federation. (DIS: "That Hope Is You, Part 2")

In 3190, Kovich began working with the newly-reopened Starfleet Academy as a consultant, and saw that despite being the best their worlds had to offer, the cadets had no experience working as a team, especially with people outside of their own species. Seeking a solution, he contacted Dr. Culber, asking for a Discovery crew member to lead a group of cadets in a team-building exercise, believing that the crew had something special to offer because they came from an era before the Burn. Culber recommended Lieutenant Sylvia Tilly, who had been looking for a challenge outside of her "comfort zone". Following the success of the exercise, Kovich offered Tilly a teaching position at the Academy, and she accepted. (DIS: "All Is Possible")

Culber later reached out to Kovich, recalling Kovich's brutal honesty with Georgiou, to discuss his struggle handling the DMA threat. Kovich reminded Culber to take his own advice, that he was only Human, and he should allow himself time to rest. (DIS: "The Examples")

Because of his expertise in artificial sentience, Admiral Vance asked him to assist Discovery when Zora would not share coordinates related to species behind the DMA. Upon evaluation, Kovich determined Zora was a new lifeform, and supported her joining Starfleet. (DIS: "...But to Connect")

Kovich later participated in a task force to identify how to communicate with Species 10-C. Though he couldn't participate in the mission beyond the galactic barrier to handle other urgent matters he remained mysterious about, he recommended Dr. Hirai. (DIS: "The Galactic Barrier")

Kovich later assigned Discovery to a top secret Red Directive mission, refusing to share the details even with Admiral Vance and holding meetings in his Infinity Room. Kovich's secrecy frustrated Vance to the point that he allowed Tilly to hack into the Federation database for more information. Burnham later found Kovich trying to locate the planet with the twin moons mentioned in Dr. Vellek's distress call, revealing that she already knew where it was and demanding answers from Kovich. Kovich admitted that he knew about Tilly's hacking, but he was relieved as it allowed Kovich to reveal the truth to Burnham. Kovich explained that Vellek was present when Captain Jean-Luc Picard had discovered the message from the Progenitors, the race that seeded humanoid life in the galaxy, and Vellek had found the technology that the Progenitors had used to do it. The Progenitors and their actions had been a secret for over 800 years, but Kovich asked Burnham to find where Vellek had hidden the technology that the Progenitors had used to create humanoid life. (DIS: "Red Directive")

After Discovery found three of the five map pieces, Kovich brought Burnham back to the Infinity Room and revealed that he had the USS Locherer searching for Moll and L'ak. In the meantime, Kovich had discovered the names of the scientists who had hidden the Progenitors' technology despite the scientists erasing themselves from every database that they could find, identifying them as Jinaal Bix, Carmen Cho, Marina Derex, Hitoroshi Kreel, and Vellek along with the fact that they were a Trill, Terran, Betazoid, Denobulan, and Romulan respectively. Kovich gave Burnham the list which he had written on a genuine 21st century legal pad, although the scientist was evasive on how he'd gotten his hands on something over a thousand years old. The information uncovered by Kovich helped Discovery to solve their clue and locate the fourth map piece. (DIS: "Whistlespeak")

After the mission, Burnham met with Kovich who told her that the Red Directive had officially been closed, all records classified, and no one would ever know about the Progenitors' technology. Kovich also intended to offer Moll a job once her prison sentence was over. Kovich noted that over his many years and many lives, he had met few who had impressed and aggravated him as much Burnham. Kovich had Burnham keep her infinity pin just in case and Burnham noticed Kovich's collection of historical objects which included a bottle of Chateau Picard, Geordi La Forge's original VISOR, Benjamin Sisko's baseball, and Kathryn Janeway's microscope. Burnham realized that "Kovich" was actually a code name and asked for his real name. After stating that his real identity was a bit of Red Directive itself, Kovich formally introduced himself as "Agent Daniels, USS Enterprise and other places."

Several weeks later, at Saru's wedding, Burnham and Booker accepted a new Red Directive mission from Kovich. (DIS: "Life, Itself")

Appendices

Appearances

Background information

In the script of "Cold Front", Daniels was initially described thus; "He's early 30's, curious but deferential."

In the final draft script of "Shockwave", a note regarding Daniels stated, "He appears as he did in 'Cold Front'." The black costume that was worn by Daniels made its debut in "Shockwave" and was referred to, in the script, as "a futuristic uniform".

Daniels appeared in an early version of the script for "Future Tense". When Michael Sussman pitched the story to Brannon Braga, Sussman planned for Daniels to materialize on the bridge of Enterprise at the end of the narrative, planning to retrieve an Earth vessel. The pod featured into the final version of the installment, containing an unidentified deceased body. In response to Archer asking whose corpse was inside the vehicle, Daniels would have revealed that the dead body was his own. He then would have disappeared, leaving Archer with no more answers. Sussman wasn't sure why this story point was ultimately excluded from the plot, but reckoned that the decision was made "at a high level" to keep the episode more mysterious. As a result, Daniels was written out of the tale, and at the point when he would have appeared, the pod instead simply disappears, which Sussman believed was just as effective. He recalled that his initial notions about the identity of the dead body was either Daniels or a similar time traveler. [1]

In the final draft script of "E²", Daniels was referred to when Captain Archer, having found that Enterprise had accidentally traveled back in time, rhetorically asked T'Pol, with grim humor, "Where's Crewman Daniels when you need him."

In the final draft script of "Storm Front", Daniels was initially described thus; "His mangled face is a horrifying sight... as if patches of ancient, decaying flesh have been grafted onto his skin. Clumps of his hair are missing from his scalp... his right eye is pale, almost solid white."

In a potential story pitched by Mike Sussman, Daniels would have come aboard Enterprise and brought Chef, played by William Shatner, into the future, making sure history took the correct course by having him pose as Shatner's original character during a significant event. [2]^(X)

For Discovery, Kovich was portrayed by David Cronenberg. Kovich's name was revealed in promotional materials for Star Trek: Discovery, but was not confirmed in dialogue until DIS: "All Is Possible".

Though Kovich doesn't wear a Starfleet uniform, his tricom badge suggests a rank of commodore, according to concept art outlining the 32nd century rank system. (TRR: "Scavengers")

StarTrek.com published an article describing Kovich as a "Federation agent". [3]

Trivia

While Crewman Daniels appeared to be allied with the United Federation of Planets, Daniels has explicitly stated, in "Cold Front", that he is not a Starfleet officer.

Daniels "dies" twice on screen. The first is in "Cold Front", where he is killed by Silik. The second time is in "Storm Front", where he dies as his body undergoes severe temporal flux.

Along with Shran, Ambassador Soval and Porthos, Daniels is one of only four characters, outside of the main ones, to appear in all four seasons of Star Trek: Enterprise.

↑ In "Cold Front" Archer asks Daniels, "Are you Human?" and he replies, "More or less," with no further elaboration, such as specifying inter-species ancestors (e.g. Spock or Deanna Troi) or an evolutionary change in Humans.

Apocrypha

Daniels makes brief appearances in the Star Trek: Department of Temporal Investigations novels Watching the Clock and The Collectors. In the latter, his real name is given as Timot Danlen.

Daniels also appears in Star Trek Online, voiced by Matt Winston. In the Agents of Yesterday expansion, he masquerades as "Ensign Hunter", assigned to the crew of a 23rd century starship commanded by the player character, in order to prevent the Temporal Liberation Front – an alliance of Na'kuhl, Vorgons, Krenim, the Sphere-Builders, and later the Terran Empire, all opposed to the Temporal Accord – from altering history in that time period. After the player is "killed" at the Battle of Caleb IV, Daniels recruits the player as a temporal agent, and brings them forward to the year 2409 (the year the Star Trek Online story begins) to combat the Na'kuhl in the game's "present". Daniels begins suffering progressive scarring from temporal flux linked to "the Envoy", the leader of the TLF. He is killed by the Envoy - revealed to be the Krenim scientist Noye - at New Khitomer. After Noye and his forces are defeated at Procyon V, Daniels' death is reversed, just as it had been at the end of "Storm Front, Part II", and bids farewell to the player. Daniels later joins with Sela and the player character to discover the true fate of Natasha Yar after she went back with the USS Enterprise-C. Daniels returns in the Age of Discovery expansion to greet temporally-displaced Starfleet characters "killed in action" during the fall of Starbase 1.

External links

• Timot Danlen at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• Daniels at the Star Trek Online Wiki