Since The Next Generation‘s era, romantic relationships between Starfleet colleagues have been a common occurrence in Star Trek, and while some have fairy-tale endings, others are destined for disaster. The latest couple to join Star Trek‘s tunnel of love is Lura Thok and Jett Reno, the second-in-command of Starfleet Academy and the former Discovery engineer, now working as an instructor/coach/stand-up comedian.
Starfleet Academy confirms Reno left her post aboard the Discovery to move closer to Thok, and while it isn’t an obvious pairing, the dynamic is a touching one nonetheless. Reno’s dry humor and unbothered persona mesh nicely with Thok’s intensity and warped sense of fun. But while Reno and Thok is certainly an interesting development, the romance carries a deeper meaning that harks back to Star Trek: Discovery and the franchise’s pre-Kirk years.
Reno’s Late Wife Was Killed By The Klingons
After her introduction in Star Trek: Discovery‘s second season, the series filled out some of the backstory behind Tig Notaro’s character. In “Through the Valley of Shadows,” Reno explained that she had been married previously, only for her wife to die during the war between the Federation and the Klingons that occurred at the outset of Star Trek: Discovery. Reno still wore her wedding ring long after the event.
While Star Trek hasn’t given a blow-by-blow breakdown of Jett Reno’s romantic history since then, it appears that Lura Thok is her first serious relationship since the Federation-Klingon war – serious enough for Reno to upend her entire life. Of course, the key detail here is that Thok is a Klingon/Jem’Hadar hybrid.
Reno isn’t a character who would hold a prejudiced attitude toward Klingons because her wife perished by their hand, and in any case, Starfleet Academy is set almost a millennium after those events, by which point the Klingons have been allies of the Federation for centuries.
Nevertheless, there’s a certain poetry in how Jett Reno lost a wife to the Klingons then rediscovered love with a Klingon. It’s a notion that likely would have crossed Reno’s mind when the relationship with Lura Thok started, especially as someone from an era where considering Klingons as enemies was the norm.
The connection to Reno’s past makes Star Trek‘s new romance even more poignant, speaking to the franchise’s spirit of acceptance, cooperation, and fairness. Reno was able to leave behind any potential ill-feeling from losing a loved one to war with another species and still find beauty within that very species. “Threno” is more than just a romance, it’s hope for the future in Star Trek‘s universe.
- Release Date
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January 15, 2026
- Network
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Paramount+
- Showrunner
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Alex Kurtzman, Noga Landau
