Strange New Worlds switched ships to show us James T. Kirk’s first time in command of a starship. The episode is called “The Sehlat Who Ate Its Tail,” and it creates a situation where not only does Commander Kirk become a Captain,

We're so used to seeing James T. Kirk be the most confident person in any room, even in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. To see him so shaken and upset after his first taste of acting as captain was truly jarring, but ultimately made for one of the most compelling episodes of Season 3.

Strange New Worlds involves a lot of time travel, so this isn’t actually the first time the show has put some variation of Kirk in the captain’s chair. Wesley’s version of Kirk was introduced in the season 1 finale as the aggressive commander of the USS Farragut,