The Tholian web was a weapon technology used by the Tholians. (TOS episode: "The Tholian Web"; ENT episodes: "In a Mirror, Darkly, Part I", "In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II"; TOS novel: The Fearful Summons)
History and specifics[]
In 2268, when the USS Defiant was marooned in an interphasic rift in a territorial annex of the Tholian Assembly, Loskene's fleet wrapped the USS Enterprise in a Tholian web. Before the ship could be towed back to Tholian space, the Enterprise was able to escape. (TOS episode: "The Tholian Web")
In 2270, the Enterprise was caught in another web alongside Ayal's ship. At James T. Kirk's command, Ayal's ship was detonated, its vast supplies of water freezing and the ice shattering the web. (TOS - Year Five - The Wine-Dark Deep comics: "Issue 7", "Issue 8")
At the end of Kirk's five-year mission, Aegis provided the Assembly with the technology needed to erect Tholian towers, placing them at key places within the territory of the United Federation of Planets. When activated, the towers erected large-scale Tholian webs, using time travel to quickly stretch them across interstellar distances. After Bright Eyes convinced the Tholian High Council to end the conflict, the webs were dissipated. (TOS - Year Five - Experienced in Loss comics: "Issue 22", "Issue 23", "Issue 24")
Roughly twenty years later, the Tholians established a massive web around Mirabi 5, intending to tow the planet away, before Hikaru Sulu called their bluff. (ST - Captain's Log comic: "Captain's Log: Sulu")
Starfleet phaser weaponry became capable of stopping the formation of the web by the late 24th century, only to have this advantage nullified by Tholian improvements to the web technology. From approximately at least 2321 to early 2371, the Tholians had not actively used the web technology. (TNG comic: "A Handful of Dust")
In 2370, Jake Sisko took a test in which he had to identify a Tholian web. (DS9 novel: Arcade)
Parallel universes[]
In the mirror universe, the Tholians wrapped the ISS Enterprise in a web, destroying it. After a boarding party from the ship had managed to claim the universally displaced USS Defiant, the Tholians attempted to erect another web only for the Defiant's weapons to shatter it. (ENT episodes: "In a Mirror, Darkly, Part I", "In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II")
In the Kelvin timeline, first contact between the United Federation of Planets and the Assembly occurred when the USS Enterprise had fallen into a Tholian trap, being wrapped in a web. As the ship was being towed to Tholian space, James T. Kirk and Keenser managed to reconfigure its nacelles to deliver a plasma burst that shattered the web. (TOS - The Tholian Webs comic: "Part 2")
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Appendices[]
External link[]
- Tholian web article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.