This raises a more philosophical argument as to what signifies the fall of a body like the Federation.

The Federation is a union of other bodies who through the spirit of cooperation decide to work together. If the majority of the bodies that make it up decide to pull out, does that constitute the fall of the Federation?

If one body leaves, of course it has not fallen; and if they all leave, it no longer exists at all. How many planets still need to be in a union for the Federation to successfully exist?

The fact that Vulcan/Ni’Var and Earth both pulled out and are two of the Charter members is certainly notable (though it doesn’t prove the fall of the Federation).

If it felt like the Federation had been weakened but was slowly rebuilding, I would agree with your idea that the blow to the Federation was meant to show its resilience; but the fact the Federation was not picking up steam at all (and felt much more in decline), to me indicates that the writers intended for us to interpret this as the Federation in its death throws until the Discovery showed up.

Perhaps this speaks to my own mindset as opposed to how the writers intended it, but it’s certainly how it came across to me.

As an aside, it could be interesting to explore what a Federation not primarily influenced by human/Vulcan influence could look like, as well as explore the idea of what constitutes the Federation (for example, could you have a Federation with no planetary members made entirely of individuals who have left their planet in the name of galactic brotherhood?). I am not sure the Federation is still in a place where such concepts could be explored, but it could certainly be interesting…

I’m definitely excited to see Lower Decks hopefully going out on a high note, but I’m definitely sad to see it ending.

As someone who only recently got into Star Trek specifically because of Lower Decks, I am curious what show Paramount is hoping will act as a gateway show, so to speak, for new viewers.

I don’t know if people still use live wallpapers, but I like the way mine turned out.

https://i.imgur.com/yXmjLUc.gifv

I suspect it will be a cameo as well (in the form of a flashback); but since Disney is scrambling on their current MCU lineup, I would say that they could be desperate enough to try anything.

First, I feel like it’s important to note that this is largely unconfirmed speculation that he is coming back because he was at the set. Having said that, I hope he is not coming back.

I know that in comics, only Uncle Ben is truly dead, but I always thought the MCU was a little better about having real stakes. This is why even though AoS is canon (I think), Coulson never reappears in the movies after Avengers.

It’s possible that RDJ could come back in a flashback, which would be OK in my opinion. If he came back in the present, I feel it would cheapen his death in Endgame. I think it would also indicate a death spiral for the MCU (not that that is necessarily a bad thing).

Marvel would basically be admitting they don’t think the MCU can survive without the “old guard.” With this mindset, when the old cast leaves again I think the franchise will flounder even harder than it did after Endgame. I can’t see it long-term surviving reprioritizing the original cast again.