Lt. Commander Una Chin-Riley (Rebecca Romijn) was arrested at the end of La'an Noonien Singh (Christina Chong) freed Una and the scientists of the USS Archer, but they evaded punishments for their violations of the Prime Directive.
Una was arrested on Kiley 279 because of an unforeseeable mistake made by Starfleet. Una was sent aboard the USS Archer to make First with Kiley 279 after a warp signature was detected. But Kiley 279 actually built a warp bomb for one faction to use in their civil war. Number One accidentally revealed the existence of aliens to Kiley 279's pre-warp civilization, which breaks General Order 1, but it was actually Starfleet's unexpected error. However, Pike's rescue created further complications because he chose to reveal the USS Enterprise to Kiley 279 and the Captain directly interfere in their planetary conflict. But Pike's gamble worked, and Kiley 279 ceased hostilities to work together toward a common future exploring space, thanks to Pike's inspiration.
Star Trek: Discovery Caused Una's Prime Directive Violation
Captain Pike did save Number One in Strange New Worlds' premiere, but he could have potentially caused a bigger catastrophe on Kiley 279. Fortunately, Pike's solution worked, which is one reason why the Captain and the Enterprise crew weren't brought up on charges for their gross violation of General Order 1, which was officially renamed the Prime Directive. Captain Pike, Una, Spock, and the others were kept out of jail because Star Trek: Discovery season 2's finale, which ironically also caused the Kiley 279 debacle in the first place.
Star Trek: Discovery season 2 ended with a massive space battle between the USS Enterprise, the USS Discovery, and their allies against a robot fleet operated by Control, Section 31's rogue threat assessment program that tried to wipe organic life from the galaxy. But the truth about Commander Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and the USS Discovery time traveling to the 32nd century was redacted from Starfleet records. Kiley 279 developed their warp bomb from observing Starfleet technology during Discovery's battle with Control, but since that conflict never officially took place, the Federation couldn't acknowledge how Kiley 279 gained warp technology, and this loophole saved Pike and the Enterprise.
Lying On Official Records Is The Worse Starfleet Crime
Number One, Pike, and the Enterprise inadvertently, and then purposefully, broke General Order 1 on Kiley 279, but Una was ultimately arrested for a worse Starfleet crime: lying on official records. Una did not disclose and kept secret the fact that she is Illyrian, which is a race that practices eugenics. Genetic engineering is banned in the United Federation of Planets, but Una wanted to Starfleet, so she lied. Strange New Worlds episode 3, "Ghosts of Illyria," revealed the truth about Number One, and Captain Pike ed Una's lie and secret out of loyalty. But somehow, her secret got out and Una was placed in irons.
Starfleet has zero tolerance for lying on official records because it represents a gross violation of the code of honor Starfleet Officers are sworn to uphold. In Number One can return to the Starship Enterprise in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 will premiere in 2023 on Paramount+.