The Temporal Cold War

The Temporal Cold War was a hidden conflict fought across time by factions from the distant future, each trying to reshape history to its own advantage. Its participants used agents in the past rather than open warfare, which is why the crew of Enterprise NX-01 only ever glimpsed part of it.

From Archer's first mission in 2151, the Suliban Cabal, led by Silik, received genetic enhancements and orders from a mysterious figure in the future. Daniels, a crewman later revealed as an agent from the 31st century, tried to keep events on course. The war touched the Xindi attack on Earth, which future beings known as the Sphere Builders had helped provoke, and culminated in a two-part story in which Enterprise was trapped in an altered 1944 where aliens backed a Nazi invasion of the United States. Once that incursion was defeated, Daniels indicated that the war had ended.

Much of the conflict remains unexplained on screen; the identity of the future figure guiding the Cabal was never revealed. Star Trek: Discovery later refers to devastating Temporal Wars in the following centuries, which ended with the Temporal Accords banning time travel.