“ | Spock: I will not read this or any other statement. Sela: If you do not, you will die. All of you will die. Spock: Since it is logical to conclude that you will kill us in any event, I choose not to cooperate. Sela: I hate Vulcans. I hate the logic. I hate the arrogance. |
„ |
~ Sela to Spock. |
Sela is a villainous Romulan/human hybrid, the Commander in the Romulan Star Empire, and a major antagonist in Star Trek: The Next Generation, serving as the overarching antagonist in the Romulan Storyline of Season 4 and the main antagonist in the Romulan Storyline of Season 5.
She was portrayed by Denise Crosby.
Biography[]
Events leading up to her birth[]
In the year 2344, while in the middle of a battle with four Romulan Warbirds, the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-C traveled through a temporal rift to the year 2366. This had the effect of creating an alternate timeline, wherein the Federation was at war with the Klingon Empire, and Tasha Yar had not died at Vagra II.
Emerging from the rift, the Enterprise-C encountered its successor, the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D. Through Guinan, the Enterprise-D crew learned that, in order for the timeline to be restored, the Enterprise-C must return through the rift, even though doing so would almost certainly mean their deaths. Learning from Guinan that, in the other timeline, she had died a meaningless death, Tasha requested and was granted a transfer to the Enterprise-C, which returned through the rift and resumed the battle with the Romulans.
Early life[]
While the Enterprise-C was destroyed, several crewmembers survived and were taken prisoner by the Romulans, Tasha among them. After being interrogated, all of the survivors were to be executed, but a Romulan general became enamored of Tasha, and offered to spare the lives of the prisoners if she became his consort, a condition to which Tasha agreed. One year later, she gave birth to a daughter, Sela. When Sela was four years old, Tasha took her and attempted to escape, but sensing that her mother was attempting to take her away from her home and her father, Sela cried out, and Tasha was discovered and subsequently executed.
Military career[]
Over the next 15 years, Sela rose through the ranks of the Romulan military, achieving the rank of commander. In that capacity, she was a major player in plots to disrupt the alliance between the Federation and the Klingon Empire. One of which involved kidnapping Starfleet officer Geordi La Forge, and brainwashing him to carry out missions for her. Working with the Klingon collaborator Kell she tried to kill the Kriosan governor Vagh. Not known for being pro-Federation, if he was killed by a Starfleet officer it would lead to breakdown in relations between the Klingons and the Federation, and possibly war between the two powers.
Later that year Sela was also involved in lending support to the Duras sisters in their attempt to gain control of the Klingon Empire, ferrying them materials and supplies in cloaked Romulan vessels. Sela was foiled, however, when Captain Jean-Luc Picard instituted a tachyon detection grid at the Klingon-Romulan border, making it impossible for any cloaked ship to cross the border undetected. When she attempted to run the blockade, Commander Data was able to outsmart her and expose the Romulans as the power behind the Duras sisters.
Sela was encountered again in 2368, when she masterminded a plot to invade Vulcan, exploiting Ambassador Spock's underground reunification movement on Romulus. Using three stolen Vulcan ships carrying a Romulan invasion force, she attempted to use Spock to convince the Federation that a peace envoy was en route to Vulcan. Spock refused, however, and, working together with Captain Picard and Lieutenant Commander Data, he was able to foil Sela's plan and warn the Federation.
After the failure of the planned invasion of Vulcan, Sela found herself falling out of favor with the Empire. She was reassigned to command an old B-type warbird. She next encountered the Enterprise crew while on a mission to recruit a race known as the Elohsians' to join the Empire. Sela was able to convince the Elohsians to join the Empire over the Federation. She was able to return home with her status restored.
Novel Continuity[]
Following Shinzon's assassination of the Senate, Sela became an agent of Tal'Aura. During the Borg invasion of 2381 Sela was the Empire's representative during talks with the Federation.
After the invasion, Sela continued to work as the chairman of the Tal'Shiar under Praetor Kamemor. Upon learning that Sela had been responsible for the destruction of Deep Space Nine, Kamemor had her arrested. Sela tried to argue that everything she had done was to ensure supremacy of the Romulan Empire, but Kamemor had said that all her attempts to benefit the Romulan Empire had damaged the Empire more than if nothing had been done at all.
Facing extradition to the Federation to face trial, Sela committed suicide in her prison cell in 2384.
Star Trek Online[]
in Star Trek Online, Sela takes a decidedly negative role, being one of the most prominent antagonists in the entire game. In the game, her thirst for vengeance and power causing incalculable loss of death and the shattering of the galaxy, yet in a twist of fate, the Iconian War would unite the galaxy again.
Sela is also notable for being the longest-running villain in the game and unlike her equally vile henchman, Hakeev, she survives relatively unpunished for her countless war crimes and is considerably hated by players as a result (which may in part be Cryptics intention as Sela's wrath and delusion are central to most of the game's overall story arc).