Summary
The data from the three black boxes is not sufficient to triangulate the origin of the Burn in three-dimensional space. But it looks to Michael Burnham like SB-19, a research project that Admiral Vance so far assumed to have caused the disaster, cannot be responsible. Vance sends the Discovery on a mission to Ni'Var, formerly known as Vulcan. The Vulcans had reunited with the Romulans, as a result of Spock's diplomatic initiative. When dilithium became scarce, Ni'Var built SB-19 to investigate new forms of space travel. They decided it was too dangerous, but the Federation urged them to carry on regardless. The planet eventually left the Federation.
In orbit of Ni'Var, President T'Rina refuses to share the data about SB-19. Burnham invokes the T'Kal-in-ket, a traditional scientific discourse based on pure logic, to discuss her new theory about the Burn, which would require Ni'Var to release the data once her theory is taken into consideration. The Vulcan leader arrives on the Discovery with a quorum consisting of N'Raj, a Romulan elder, V'Kir, a Vulcan purist and Shira, a representative of the Romulo-Vulcans. The shalankkai or sha-set, Michael Burnham's advocate, turns out to be no one else but her mother, who has joined the Qovat Milat after arriving in the 32rd century.
During the T'Kal-in-ket, particularly V'Kir is opposed to Michael's theory, although she attempts to reason with as much logic as possible. The meeting is quickly adjourned because of the obvious lack of progress. Gabrielle Burnham notices that her daughter is not honest about her motives. When the T'Kal-in-ket resumes, she calls out Michael's lack of openness, ostensibly acting against her. The discourse gains momentum up to a point when N'Raj is ready to share the SB-19 data, against V'Kir's vehement objections. In order not to endanger the peace on Ni'Var, Michael decides to retract her request. Back in her quarters, her mother reveals that her plan was to win over T'Rina, rather than the three members of the quorum. She hands Michael the requested data. In the meantime, Saru has offered Tilly the position as his first officer, which she accepts after consulting with her higher-ranking crewmates.
Errors and Explanations
Ex Astris Scientia
- Tabloid journalists use unwieldy units such as "millionths of a microsecond". Everyone who knows science would say "picoseconds". The journalists are used to phrasing their articles using terms that are instantly recognisable to the public, as the majority of people reading the article have probably never heard of the term picosecond – I certainly hadn’t until now!
- And what is "seven one millionth of a microsecond" anyway? 71 picoseconds, 7.1 picoseconds, or rather 7 picoseconds? This is very indefinite. Based on the phrasing, it would make most sense for it to be the third option.
- The way Admiral Vance talks about it, it is an open secret that SB-19 is believed to have caused the Burn. So why is it that no one has told Michael Burnham about that theory, especially since it has been known as her pet peeve for quite a while? She stumbles across SB-19 in a database more by accident, so there is no secrecy about it. Vance wanted Burnham to approach the situation with an open mind, without pre-conceptions.
- Likewise, why is it a total surprise to Saru and Burnham that the Vulcans and Romulans are related, that they reunited and that they left the Federation? It must have been several weeks since they rejoined Starfleet and had access to all official data (such as the recording of Spock on Romulus, which isn't classified any longer). Sure, there may have been more urgent tasks at hand, but checking out a few basic facts about which planets are members and what happened to former members and enemies would have been of importance, not to mention a very personal matter for Burnham. This could be a test on Vance’s part.
- Going to Ni'Var without an acting first officer is a bad idea. Saru probably wanted to see how the crew responded during the diplomatic mission before making his selection.
- Although the Vulcans have been apprised of the mission, it is another bad idea that the Discovery, on a diplomatic mission, jumps directly into the orbit of a non-member planet, circumventing all of its sensors and defenses. It may have been deemed necessary, in order to ensure the Vulcans were unable to prevent Discovery’s arrival.
- Just like back in the days of Star Trek: Voyager, the writers of Discovery don't seem to understand the difference between power generation and propulsion. Dilithium is used in the warp core, and as such a part of the power generation. The propulsion takes place in the nacelles, and the plasma flowing through it is nothing more than some form of electric current that powers the warp coils. It is impossible to build a transwarp or slipstream drive by just making some adjustments to the warp core. Vice versa, exploring new kinds of propulsion such as the Vulcans did with SB-19 would be of no help, unless they also find a new power source that doesn't require dilithium. That being said, we already know of alternative power sources on starships, such as the quantum singularity. It almost definitely doesn't need dilithium because it doesn't operate on antimatter and its existence sort of refutes the whole premise of season 3. Hinting at this Romulan technology and at possible reasons why it can't be used would have made a lot more sense in the story of "Unification III". They may have decided using artifically generated quantum singlarities was too much of a risk.
Notes
- ↑ Uncredited - Arista Arhin as Young Michael Burnham (archive footage), Avaah Blackwell as Osnullus science officer, Nicole Dickinson, Anthony Lake and Taylor Martin as Trial spectators, J. Adam Huggins as a Discovery engineer, Liam Hughes as Young Spock (archive footage), Leonard Nimoy as Old Spock (archive footage), Ethan Peck as Spock (archive footage) and Leeu as Grudge
| Discovery Season 3 |
| That Hope is You I Far from Home I People of Earth I Forget Me Not I Die Trying I Scavengers I Unification III I The Sanctuary I Terra Firma Part 1 I Terra Firma Part 2 I Su'Kal I There Is A Tide... I That Hope is You Part 2 |