Summary[]
The Discovery, now under the command of "Captain" Georgiou, is en route to Qo'noS, to chart the planet for a large-scale attack. Burnham is more than skeptical about the motives of her superiors but she obeys their orders. Georgiou interrogates L'Rell the Terran way. The Klingon woman, however, does not reveal anything about a possible access point to the caves on Qo'noS that would allow a drone to map the whole planet. Tyler tells Georgiou and Burnham of Molor's old temple underneath an Orion embassy and trade outpost on Qo'noS. Dressed as human traders, the three and Tilly beam down and split up to find the entrance to that temple. While Georgiou seeks pleasure in a brothel, Tyler and Burnham try to find out something from the Klingons.
Burnham is appalled how much Tyler remembers and lives out his Klingon side. But he eventually manages to identify followers of Molor that may know the temple. Tilly consumes a drug that renders her unconscious. When she wakes up and checks whether the drone is still in the case she is carrying, she discovers that it is actually a hydro bomb. Georgiou takes the bomb, heads for the cave and launches it. Once she activated the detonator, the resulting volcanic activity would obliterate the planet's whole surface. Back on the Discovery, Burnham contacts Admiral Cornwell to protest, also in the name of her crew. She beams down again and convinces Georgiou not to ignite the bomb.
Tyler appears with L'Rell, and the detonator is encoded to her bioprints. Tyler decides to join L'Rell. With the power to destroy Qo'noS in her hands, L'Rell gets the Klingon warlords to unite again and cease their attacks on the Federation. On Earth, Burnham is pardoned by the Federation President and reinstated to her rank as commander. The ship is going to pick up a new captain at Vulcan, when another Starfleet ship sends a distress call - the USS Enterprise NCC-1701.
Errors and Explanations[]
TV Tropes[]
Headscratchers[]
- Burnham's plan to stop the war in this episode is ridiculous, since it means essentially putting everything in L'Rell's hands, even though they can't be certain L'Rell will agree with them, or that she won't change her mind later on. Even if Burnham is somehow convinced L'Rell will do what she suggests, how did she convince Admiral Cornwell, Saru, and the rest of the Discovery crew to agree to such a risky plan? Instead of giving the detonator to L'Rell, why doesn't Starfleet just keep it to themselves and threaten to blow up Qo'nos unless the Klingon Empire agrees to an armistice? This kind of threat of a mutually assured destruction would lead to the cold war between Klingons and Federation that we see going on in TOS. Who says Starfleet can't simply produce another detonator? It's their bomb. That might be the (unspoken) backup plan; they give L'Rell something that she can use to enforce her will on the Klingons and bring peace, but if that doesn't work, well, they can always just set off the bomb anyway. And even if Starfleet is honestly willing to take the risk (and can't produce another detonator), it would be rational for L'Rell not to take that risk because she'd have to assume they'd have the capability to do so, at least until the Klingons can extract the bomb themselves.
Additionally, Cornwell is the one who had the most contact with L'Rell during her "interrogation". L'Rell isn't interested so much in war as in unification and the current war shows no signs of actually uniting the Klingons. Saru would probably be the most difficult to convince, but he's also a deeply moral individual who very likely hates Emperor Georgiou, meaning anything that is contrary to her plan gets an automatic plus in his book. And as Michael points out to L'Rell, by placing that bomb at its target, the Federation already has beaten the Klingons - the honorable thing is probably to suck it up and move forward. - The guy trying to rob Tilly says, "you were asleep; I'm Orion" like his entire species are thieves. That seems improbable, since any kind of civilization would be impossible if every single Orion was a thief. Also, a Star Fleet cadet in the reboot was Orion, which seems unlikely if she couldn't hold to Federation ethics. The line was probably intended as a joke, with the Orion being aware of his species' stereotype. That said, it's definitely not impossible to imagine an alien civilization that has no concept of property and operates on different ethical systems (e.g. "if no one's guarding it, I can take it"). From a human perspective, they could be considered thieves, but it might be just Blue and Orange Morality going on. And the Starfleet cadet would be expected to follow the rules like anyone else, no matter how alien the rules might seem to her.
Ex Astris Scientia[]
- Jamie H Why did the Klingons not detect Discovery or the bomb inside Qo'noS? One of the Orions said the Volcano is actually active, so surely the Klingons would have senors there to monitor it? Not necessarily - Klingons are not as scietifically minded as other races.
- Kilian T Many of the Orions seem "less green" than we are used to. I wonder what the reason for this is. Perhaps a limited strain of albinoisim?
- I was also surprised to hear about an Orion Embassy. They are described as pirates. I never heard of pirates having an embassy somewhere (but the idea is a funny one). They could have set up cover businesses.
| Discovery Season 1 |
| The Vulcan Hello I Battle at the Binary Stars I Context is for Kings I The Butcher's Knife Cares Not for the Lamb's Cry I Choose Your Pain I Lethe I Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad I Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum I Into the Forest I Go I Mid-season break I Despite Yourself I The Wolf Inside I Vaulting Ambition I What's Past is Prologue I The War Without, The War Within I Will You Take My Hand? |