Star Trek: Section 31 — The Godsend

As part of the Fritzes Best Interfaces award for 2026, I am reviewing the interfaces in Star Trek: Section 31. This post is about the quadrant-destroying weapon of mass destruction called the Godsend. Note this blog generally eschews analysis of weapons, but this one is more MacGuffin than blueprint, and it has the worst interface in the film. The Godsend is a weapon that Georgiou had created when she was Emperor. It is meant to function as a scorched-earth deterrent to her enemies. “It triggers a chain reaction, like a virus passing between planets. Everything in its path incinerates. An entire quadrant would be lost.” To her credit, she says she ordered it destroyed, but it was secretly stored by San and later brought to Prime. It is a metal object, roughly a sphere, and slightly smaller than a human head. Around its “equator” it has a smooth belt punctuated by 10 mistily-glowing circles. The hemispheres outside this belt are faceted. There are lots of flat nurnies and greebles on…