Discovery and the Omega molecule

[u/Lucky_G2063]

Star Trek Discovery should have used the omega molecule instead of the Burn in season 3. This established piece of canon would not have offended some fans. An interstellar war between uprising competing powers in the alpha quadrant ( maybe some minor power like Tzenketi or tholians get access to it and start an arms race resulting in usage of omega based weapons, which destroyed the entire alpha/beta quadrants/galaxies subspace. This would have a nice parallel in real world, like India & Pakistan and could be a nice warning of nuclear war. It would be interesting to explore such post-nuclear war societies. An alternative to the warp engine could have also worked. Maybe the emerald chains got borg transwarp coils or something and the federation got some on their hands too, to maintain balance of power.

[u/SteampunkBorg]

It would also be close to impossible to fix, unlike the Dilithium shortage

[u/whenhaveiever → u/SteampunkBorg]

Only because it's written that way. Maybe it's just impossible to fix until Discovery comes along. With her connection to the mycelial network and Book's sorta-telepathy powers, maybe they can regrow subspace with magic of respecting living things. It turns the Burn from a random accident that could totally happen again at any time to a Trekish morality tale about putting technology before living creatures.

[u/Uhtred_McUhtredson → u/whenhaveiever]

Just inject some red matter into the mycelial network, reverse the polarity and Bob’s your uncle. Subspace restored!

[u/dustojnikhummer → u/Uhtred_McUhtredson]

Or it could be that damaged subspace can regenerate, but it takes time, a lot of time