The initial two episodes of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3 introduce a character named Trelane, played by Rhys Darby. The series occurs approximately 10 years before the original series events. The first two episodes of Strange New Worlds were released on Paramount+ on July 17, 2025, and they show the aftermath of the events following the Gron encounter. In Strange New Worlds season 3 episode 2, entitled Wedding Blue Bells, we see Trelane, the bartender, as played by the late William Campbell in the original series, season 1, episode 17, The Squire of Gothos. Rhys Darby, however, takes a new and fun spin on Trelane as a messy and lovable Q-type, who enjoys playing tricks. What role does Rhys Darby’s Trelane play in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3? View this post on Instagram Instagram PostIn Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3, Rhys Darby plays Trelane, a reality-bender introduced in the original series episode "The Squire of Gothos." Rhys Darby's Trelane shows up in the second episode, first as a Vulcan bartender in disguise and secondly as an extravagant wedding planner.He intrudes on Spock's love life by presenting him with an enigmatic cocktail, which puts the crew into a fabricated reality in which Spock and Nurse Chapel are getting ready for their wedding. While this develops, it becomes evident that Trelane is creating the fantasy for entertainment purposes, bending individuals and events to his whim.The surprise is then cemented when he is identified as a member of the Q Continuum when his father, played by John de Lancie (who originally voiced the Q), seems to chastise him and reclaim order. This episode confirms an old fan theory that Trelane is an immature or early Q.For context, a Q is a member of the Q Continuum, an ancient, godlike species of beings with unlimited power over time, space, matter, and reality itself. Qs can warp the laws of physics, teleport galaxies, change timelines, and create or destroy life with a thought.In an interview with Den of Geek published on July 17, 2025, showrunner Akiva Goldsman confirmed the identity of the bartender portrayed in episode 2. "Is that Trelane? Yes, it is. We couldn’t have our characters hear his name for continuity reasons. But that’s him," he explained. What role does Trelane play in the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds original series?Trelane from the original Star Trek series (Image via YouTube/CBS)Trelane is an egotistical, childlike extraterrestrial with almost omnipotent abilities. The character first appeared in Star Trek: The Original Series season 1, episode 17, "The Squire of Gothos" (first broadcast January 12, 1967). He lives on a renegade world named Gothos, which he built, and kidnaps the crew of the USS Enterprise for the sheer entertainmentHe controls matter and energy, creating illusions, teleporting away crew members, changing environments, and even bringing inanimate food and liquids to life, coloring them to copy reality but with no substance. He plays games with Kirk and Spock, declaring a Napoleonic-era duel and sentencing Kirk to death, but Captain Kirk shrewdly breaks the power source behind his tricks, and they escape.At the end, his parents arrive and admonish him for his cruelty, exposing him as an immature creature. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3 further confirms Rhys Darby's Trelane to be a young Q, canonically connecting The Original Series to Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3.Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3 is available to stream on Paramount+.