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The Legacy Of Armus, Star Trek's Cheapest, Scariest, Most Controversial Villain

In the first-season "Star Trek: The Next Generation" episode "Skin of Evil" (April 28, 1988), the shuttlecraft carrying Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) crashes on a seemingly uninhabited alien world called Vagra II. The Enterprise goes to rescue her, but finds that Troi's crashed shuttle is being guarded by a mysterious living puddle of black tar. The tar shapeshifts into a vaguely human form and calls itself Armus (Mart McChesney, voice by Ron Gans), the only inhabitant of this world. Armus is seethingly cruel and takes pleasure in the death and suffering of the people it encounters. It refuses to let Troi go, wanting to torment the Enterprise crew members who have beamed down to gather her. 

In one of the most notorious moments in "Star Trek" history, Lieutenant Tasha Yar (Denise Crosby) attempts to walk around Armus, and it zaps her with a mysterious psychic blast. Yar is thrown several feet through the air, severely injured. She is beamed back on board and almost immediately pronounced dead. Yar's quick and incidental death is one of the series' more abrupt and shocking scenes. 

Yar was given a touching funeral scene at the end of the episode, but many Trekkies, even to this day, feel that Yar's death was jarring and lacked respect. She was merely murdered by a monster-of-the-week. A monster, incidentally, that wouldn't return to the series until the "Star Trek: Lower Decks" episode "The Spy Humongous" (September 16, 2021).

Armus, many also feel, looked absurd. The creature looks more or less like a garbage bag covered in maple syrup. As it so happens, as explained in the 1993 book "Star Trek: The Next Generation: Make-Up FX Journal," the "tar" used to visually realize Armus was made of Metamucil mixed with black printer's ink.

What is Armus made of?

The origin of Armus is mythical in a Jack Kirby sort of way. The "tar" is the physical manifestation of all the negative emotions and psychic impulses of a long-forgotten species of unnamed "Titans" who used advanced technology to literally rid themselves of hate. The Titans then left their world and abandoned their sticky, tar-like hatred. Over the years — centuries? millennia? — Armus evolved from that hate into an intelligent being. Armus is, like Changelings, a living liquid and has no internal organs or skeleton. It can move around and alter its density at will, and also clearly possesses advanced, terrifying psychic powers. Its powers also involved a far-reaching psychic field, which was why the Enterprise couldn't beam Troi to safety.

Armus isn't harmed by phasers, and, at one point, sucks Commander Riker ( Jonathan Frakes ) into its body. While inside, Riker is seemingly reduced to a liquid state wherein he is savagely tortured. Armus then reconstitutes Riker and spits him back onto the desert floor of Vagra II. At a convention attended by this author, Frakes admitted that he actually had to climb into a pool of ink-black Metamucil, an unpleasant experience to say the least. This story, however, was contradicted by the "FX Journal" which stated that Frakes' stuntman was used for the submersion scene. 

As a being of pure anger, Armus didn't behave entirely logically. It had been alone on Vagra II for God knows how long, waiting for torture victims to stumble into its path. When victims did appear, however, Armus did everything in its power to frighten them and scare them off. It longed for company, but only required that company in order to alienate them. In short, Armus was your average Twitter user. 

The existential loneliness of Armus

At the end of "Skin of Evil," Captain Picard ( Patrick Stewart ) was able to mock and distract Armus long enough to beam Troi (and the shuttle pilot) back onboard the Enterprise and flee. Picard knew at that point that Armus, more than anything, required people nearby in order to sate its fathomless bloodlust. Troi realized this as well, stating out loud to Armus that it was, more than anything, unutterably lonely.

The latex costumes for Armus had to be used multiple times over the course of a four-day shoot, and the Metamucil mixture broke down the rubbers in their materials. Actor McChesney was lowered into the pool of glop multiple times during filming (sans oxygen tanks), and his suits developed huge rips. He eventually had to do scenes with his back exposed. The headpiece, curiously, remained intact.

McChesney passed away in 1999 of complications related to AIDS. He was an AIDS activist for years prior. Gans, meanwhile, was a longtime voice acting veteran, having appeared in multiple B-movies since the 1950s and played Eeyore in "The House on Pooh Corner." He passed away in 2010 at the age of 78. 

Perhaps with a bigger budget and more time to film, Armus would have emerged as a greater, more ancient threat. The idea of a being consisting of an entire species' negative emotions could have felt enormous and antediluvian. Like an ancient, bitter god lashing out against his long-dead creators, Armus resented existence. The character possesses an existential element that "Star Trek" didn't have the time to delve into properly; imagine a Sartre-like treatise on existential nausea! On a 1988 TV budget, however, Armus was slight, even silly. 

Indeed, on "Lower Decks," the characters deigned to mock the character to his face. 

A big bag of crap

At the end of "The Spy Humongous," the four main characters — a team of less-than-professional ensigns — lucked into possession of a widget called a submanifold casting stone that allowed them to communicate with any being in the galaxy instantaneously. Because the ensigns knew about Armus and his plight, they decided to contact it and mock it. "Lower Decks" is set several decades after the events of "Skin of Evil," and it seems that Armus has remained alone on Vagra II that entire time. Ensign Mariner (Tawney Newsome) yelled out to Armus and said he looked like a big bag of crap. Armus yelled back in rage, unable to see its bullies. "I am a skin of evil!" it yelled. Armus then tripped on a rock. Not even within "Trek" canon is Armus particularly respected.

In other "Lower Decks" episodes, Armus was dismissed flippantly. A drunken character once yelled out "Tasha, no! The garbage bag is behind you!" Ouch.

According to a 1998 issue of Star Trek: Communicator Magazine , Armus was named after Burton Armus, a writer on "Next Generation." Enterprising Trekkies will likely be able to find early concept art of Armus and find that the character was meant to be far larger and more impressive.  One design , by Rick Sternbach, had Armus looking like a bat-winged creature straight out of "Prometheus," while another , by Andrew Probert, saw it as an enormous screaming face of anguish. 

It's not official canon, but in Dean Wesley Smith's 2004 short story collection "Strange New Worlds VII," Armus eventually escaped Vagra II using pieces of the crashed shuttle ... in the year 26,862. It traveled to the planet of the Guardian of Forever (!) and was killed by an army of hortas (!!). R.I.P. Armus.

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Armus imitating a humanoid .

Armus was a male non-humanoid lifeform , a malevolent and amorphous skin of evil [1] created from the cast-off negative emotions of a race of Titans previously native to Vagra II . ( TNG episode : " Skin of Evil ")

• 1 Biography
• 2 Alternate timelines
• 3.1.1 Appearances
• 3.1.2 References
• 4 External links

Biography [ ]

Armus in 2364 .

Armus was created as a by-product of a procedure in which the planet 's original inhabitants brought out from within themselves all evil and negative attributes that had bound them to destructiveness. The unwanted substance spread and coalesced into a dank, vile, liquid-like second skin. The race rejected this "skin of evil" and abandoned it on the barren planet Vagra II in the Zed Lapis sector .

In the year 2364 , the Federation made first contact with a skin of evil when the Starfleet starship USS Enterprise attempted to recover Shuttlecraft 13 , which Armus had forced to crash on his world. Armus held the shuttle 's crew hostage, and killed the Enterprise security chief , Lieutenant Tasha Yar . Captain Jean-Luc Picard outwitted Armus to rescue the shuttle crew and his away team . A torpedo destroyed Shuttlecraft 13, and the planet was quarantined, leaving Armus in isolation. ( TNG episode : " Skin of Evil ")

Armus salvaged what little he could of Shuttlecraft 13. ( ST - Strange New Worlds VII short story : " Guardians ")

Commander William T. Riker , who had been a member of the away team, relived the memory after falling ill on a mission to Surata IV . ( TNG episode : " Shades of Gray ")

In 2367 , Lieutenant Commander Data informed Ishara Yar of her sister's fate during a visit to Turkana IV . ( TNG episode : " Legacy ")

In 2379 , Q conjured several copies of Armus to combat the crews of Captains Picard, Kirk , Janeway , and Sisko during his God War. ( ST - The Q Conflict comic : " Issue 6 ")

In 2380 , an angry Ensign Beckett Mariner threatened to feed Brad Boimler to an Armus for accepting a promotion to Riker's ship, the USS Titan . ( LD episode : " No Small Parts ")

While performing anomaly consolidation duty on the USS Cerritos in 2381 , Ensign Beckett Mariner found and kept a submanifold casting stone from among Lieutenant Shaxs ' samples. She, D'Vana Tendi , Sam Rutherford , and Brad Boimler later used it to prank call Armus on Vagra II. ( LD episode : " The Spy Humongous ")

Thousands of years later, an automated explorer with a rudimentary mechanical consciousness crashed on Vagra II. Building from its wreckage and Shuttlecraft 13, Armus constructed his own vessel and escaped his homeworld .

In the year 22,862, Armus's ship reached the Rock of Ages , the site of the Guardian of Forever and a Horta colony . Armus fought and killed Hortas who defended the Guardian. Several Horta sacrificed themselves to isolate Armus on a plinth and tunneling towards the planet's core. Armus fell to his death . ( ST - Strange New Worlds VII short story : " Guardians ")

Alternate timelines [ ]

In the Yesterday's Enterprise timeline , Tasha Yar was not killed by Armus, and remained security chief of the Enterprise -D until 2366 . She learned from the psychic bartender Guinan that she had died "a meaningless death" in the prime universe . ( TNG episode : " Yesterday's Enterprise ")

In an alternate timeline thrown into disarray by the temporal anomaly crisis , versions of Armus arrived in local space and joined the Federation as acting Starfleet personnel. These versions of Armus were villainous, desperate, brutal, capable of telekinesis and skilled survivalists. Armus was particularly adept in the field of command , security and science . During away missions, Armus carried Yar's phaser and a modified polaron emitter . ( ST video game : Timelines 2018 mission: "The Gauntlet")

Appendices [ ]

Appearances and references [ ], appearances [ ].

• TNG episode : " Skin of Evil "
• ST video game : Timelines

References [ ]

• ↑ ST short story : " Guardians "

External links [ ]

• Armus article at Memory Alpha , the wiki for canon Star Trek .
• Armus article at the Star Trek Timelines Wiki .
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• 2 The Chase
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http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS1E22SkinOfEvil

Recap / Star Trek: The Next Generation S 1 E 22 "Skin of Evil"

Edit locked.

Original air date: April 25, 1988

This episode contains the following tropes:

• 13 Is Unlucky : Troi is on Shuttlecraft 13, which crashes under mysterious circumstances.
• An Aesop : Tasha's death serves as a reminder that our heroes won't always be saved by Plot Armour , and they don't always get to die heroically.
• Ain't Too Proud to Beg : Troi resorts to begging to try to get Armus to release Riker and offers herself instead, but she otherwise doesn't give Armus the satisfaction. The rest of the crew refuse to beg, as well, despite being commanded to.
• Armus is trapped alone on a dead world with nowhere to go and nothing to do, never to be reunited with the glorious beings who abandoned him there. Forever. And how he screams when Picard rubs that fact in.
• Riker, when trapped inside Armus — and worse, when he's outside of Armus, covered in black slime, face frozen in mid-scream.
• Antagonist Title : "Skin of Evil" describes Armus.
• Apocalypse How : It's implied (though never stated outright) that the original inhabitants of Vagra II devastated the surface and wiped out nearly all life through their warlike ways, before purifying themselves of their negative aspects. They then left the barren world and left Armus, the embodiment of their cast-off wickedness, as the only thing living on it.
• As You Know : The Chief Engineer (for this episode) announces his name and rank when Picard hails him, even though Picard would be well aware of who his Chief Engineer is. This is because he's the last in a revolving door of temporary Chief Engineer characters spread across season one.
• Bait-and-Switch : The camera zooms in on Geordi studying Armus through his visor while Riker is talking. You'd expect that Geordi would reveal some insight about the creature he'd gained from his special sight, but it's really just setting up Armus knocking Geordi's visor off his face as a cruel game.
• Believing Their Own Lies : Captain Picard says this of Armus when he's been stranded on a planet for so long because its former residents didn't want to have anything to do with him, having shed themselves of him (quite literally).
• Blob Monster : Armus is a pool of black sludge that can take a roughly humanoid form.
• Break the Haughty : Picard returns fire to Armus's Kick the Dog actions with words , which are the only thing that can really harm him.
• Break Them by Talking : Picard's way of defeating Armus; possibly the only way, as he is Made of Indestructium to the point where a direct photon torpedo strike isn't expected to kill him, only to destroy the downed shuttle.
• Card-Carrying Villain : At the end, while Picard tries to reason with Armus that serving evil enslaves one's mind, Armus has to clarify that he is an actual skin of evil . Despite this, Armus had no choice in the matter .
• Chekhov's Gun : The holocube with Tasha's funerary message is given to Data, where it will play an important role in the coming seasons .
• Complete Immortality : Armus. And it is absolute torture for him.
• Condescending Calmness : Picard does this for good reason, to egg Armus on in order for him to lose his concentration and allow the Enterprise to beam up Troi and the injured shuttle pilot.
• Curb-Stomp Battle : Armus strikes down Tasha, and she is dead almost immediately—much to the dissatisfaction of Armus, who wanted to see her suffer.
• Damsel in Distress : Deanna. Trapped in a wrecked shuttle, unable to do anything against Armus. Though her insight does eventually prove significant in helping Picard figure out how to defeat Armus .
• Dark Is Evil : Armus, made out of pure evil, is an entirely black liquid.
• Deconstruction : What if the security personnel Red Shirt wasn't some anonymous character but one of the main cast?
• Don't You Dare Pity Me! : Picard and Deanna both feel some level of pity for Armus when they learn how he came into existence, and just how unimaginably long he's been alone on the dead planet. Armus feels insulted when they offer their compassion, and Troi's pity presses his Berserk Button , causing him to attack Riker. Armus: Pity me?! Save it for yourselves !
• Dropped a Bridge on Her : Tasha Yar tries to ignore Armus and walk around him, only for it to unexpectedly kill her with a single blow. Gene Roddenberry insisted that Yar's death be senseless rather than a Heroic Sacrifice of some sort. Even the new writing staff that took over in Season 3 thought it was such an awful idea that they specifically wrote " Yesterday's Enterprise " to give Yar a better send-off.
• The last time we see an Enterprise chief engineer other than Geordi, in this case Leland T. Lynch. None of the remaining first season episodes mention a chief engineer, and when Season 2 begins, Geordi has been promoted to the post.
• After Tasha is mortally injured, the away team beams up to the transporter room and then carries her to sickbay. In nearly any future episode, they'd have just beamed her directly to sickbay.
• The ship's crew is gambling on the outcome of the martial arts tournament. Canon would later establish that money became obsolete in the 22nd century. (That said, nothing confirms that they're betting with actual money; it could just be for fun, like the iconic poker games later in the series.)
• Emotion Eater : Armus needs it to stave off its own suffering.
• Enemy Without : Armus was created by an alien race who left his world eons ago, possibly to Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence . He is the result of a process they used to dispose of their collective negative emotions, of which he is the physical manifestation.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good : Armus' questions of the Enterprise crew suggest this. It doesn't seem to get why the Enterprise crew would endure self-sacrifice on behalf of stricken comrades, and a lot of his dialog, when not making threats, revolves around this type of questioning.
• Evil Is Petty : Armus isn't too bright or clever, and all it wants is to torment people for its own amusement, but in rather pedestrian ways like "make Data point guns at everyone." Everyone else refuses to give it the emotional hand-wringing he desires, which frustrates it to no end, and after killing Yar, their deaths no longer amuse him, he is lonely, and the next worst thing it does is envelope Riker and then spit him back out alive again when it is bored. Data even spells out that "Death is no longer sufficient to eliminate its boredom." Basically, Armus is revealed as an attention-starved bully.
• Fate Worse than Death : Armus is defeated by tricking it into lowering its guard so its hostages can be rescued, then they blow up the shuttle and drop a warning beacon in orbit so no one will ever get near the planet again. Armus has eternity to himself.
• First-Name Basis : For some reason, both Troi and Picard refer to the injured redshirt on Shuttlecraft 13 simply as "Ben."
• Ghost Extras : Yar apparently had no other friends on the Enterprise except everyone in the main cast. You'd think she might have wanted to say something to some of her subordinate security officers.
• Heroic Spirit : Picard says that the human spirit is indomitable, and that true evil is not Armus himself but the resignation of submitting to him.
• How Dare You Die on Me! : Crusher goes to extraordinary lengths to try reviving Tasha. Even after one of her staff hesitates, she orders the power on the cortical stimulator increased to try again.
• I Am the Noun : Picard quotes to Armus that "all spirits are enslaved that serve things evil" . His reply: "I do not serve things evil; I am evil."
• I Lied : Armus tells Troi that the Enterprise crew won't be coming back. Later... Armus : I lied to you. They came back.
• Inelegant Blubbering : Armus's screams when Picard is delivering his "The Reason You Suck" Speech sound very much like weeping. Watching it melt back into a puddle is similar to seeing someone curling up in grief .
• It Amused Me : Armus's stated excuse for killing Tasha and torturing Riker. Deanna realizes that it did not amuse Armus — because she didn't suffer.
• "It" Is Dehumanizing : Armus takes offense to the crew referring to him as "it" as if to suggest he's not a living being. This doesn't stop him from casting aspersions about Data's own sentience, due to being an android.
• Kick the Dog : Armus seizes every chance he can get to do this to the away team because he hopes it will amuse him.
• Killed Off for Real : Tasha Yar. Denise Crosby left the show because she felt her character didn't have enough to do in the episodes. The producers probably felt that there were too many characters anyway and needed to trim the cast a bit, so they apparently took it pretty well. In fact, they worked with Crosby to make her departing episode special—in terms of Star Trek , the show that was responsible for the Redshirt trope. Also, driven home is the fact that Yar's death is somewhat pointless and understated and not the type of dramatic heroic death usually reserved for main characters. Crosby has also stated that she would have stayed if she'd gotten more character-based scenes like Tasha and Worf discussing her performance in the tournament.
• Laser-Guided Karma : Considering Armus is living a Fate Worse than Death , it gets away with nothing despite ending the episode exactly as it began.
• Made of Evil : Armus claims to be a skin of evil cast off by titans who thought that by ridding themselves of him, they could escape the bonds of destructiveness. He has zero redeeming qualities. He kills because he thinks it will amuse him. He tortures, physically and psychologically for the same reason. He is literally a black tar pit of hate that was cast off long ago. The only thing that might provoke sympathy is that he had no choice in his creation, and his evil nature is torture for him as well, being in a constant state of undirected hatred and rage.
• Magical Defibrillator : Averted. Dr. Crusher cranks up the cortical stimulator as high as she can trying to restart Tasha's brain function. Her body jumps from the shock, but she's still dead.
• Meaningful Funeral : The episode ends with the senior officers on a holodeck, where a message recorded by Tasha in case of her demise is played for them. The holocube that contains the message is later given to Data.
• No-Sell : Phasers have no effect on Armus.
• Ominous Obsidian Ooze : Armus, a living oil slick Made of Evil ; while he can take on a roughly humanoid form, he always retains his tarry complexion.
• Powerful and Helpless : Armus murders Tasha, physically tortures Riker, and emotionally tortures the rest of the Enterprise away team in order to gain amusement, yet it doesn't amuse him for long and he can't get them to obey him or break their spirit despite his vast power. Rubbing his own impotence in his face turns out to be the key to defeating him, as Picard discovers.
• The Power of Hate : Subverted —Armus is a creature literally Made of Evil and this leads the audience to expect that negative emotions would fuel his power. However, being forced to confront and feel his own rage and hate instead of suppressing it makes Armus weaker . Picard fully uses this to his advantage in escaping him. See Talking the Monster to Death below.
• Puny Earthlings : Armus feels this way about the humans, as his power allows him to kill them with ease despite their force of will. Armus: You humans are puny. Weak.
• Sacrificial Lion : Tasha Yar's death makes Armus an especially scary villain for the episode, as none of the other main cast are ever killed off in the series by another villain.
• Sadist : Armus took no real pleasure in Tasha's death because she went too quickly. He wanted her to suffer first and wants everyone else, too, as well.
• Sadistic Choice : Armus tries to force one on Beverly, saying she gets to choose whether Picard, Data, or Geordi die. It doesn't work because she chooses herself, and he would rather she live with the knowledge she chose which of her friends died.
• Scotty Time : Picard telling Lynch to get the dilithium crystals realigned quicker so they can save Deanna and her pilot.
• Senseless Sacrifice : Tasha, in keeping with Gene Roddenberry 's insistence that a security officer would die ingloriously.
• Ship Tease : Worf encouraging Tasha in her upcoming martial arts tournament, and her smile in response.
• Shut Up, Hannibal! : See Talking the Monster to Death .
• Shut Up, Kirk! : Riker: Preserving life—all life—is very important to us. Armus: Why?
• Stupid Evil : Armus. He tortures the Enterprise away team for fun and then expects them to transport him off world, using threats of more violence as his sole bargaining strategy. Not that he has much of a choice on the matter; as an artificial entity of pure evil, it's literally the only thing he can do.
• Take Me Instead : Deanna offers herself to Armus to save everyone else, as she's already his prisoner.
• Talking the Monster to Death : Picard utterly breaks, crushes and obliterates Armus's spirit. Picard: A great poet once said: "All spirits are enslaved that serve things evil." Armus: You do not understand. I do not serve things evil; I AM evil. Picard: (smiling wryly) Oh, no. You're not. Armus: I am a skin of evil left here by a race of Titans who believed if they rid themselves of me, they would free the bonds of destructiveness. Picard: Yes. So here you are. Feeding on your own loneliness. Consumed by your own pain. Believing your own lies. [...] You say you are true evil? Shall I tell you what true evil is? It is to submit to you. It is when we surrender our freedom, our dignity, instead of defying you. Armus: I will kill you, and those in there! Picard: But you will still be here! In this place! Forever! Alone! Immortal! Armus: AAARRRGGHHH!!!!! Picard: That's your real fear. Never to die. Never again to be reunited with those who left you here. Armus: AAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!!! Picard: I'm not taking you anywhere. Armus: [ Overly Long Scream ]
• Teleport Interdiction : Armus maintains an energy field around the shuttle that prevents the Enterprise from rescuing Troi and the pilot. Breaking his concentration on maintaining it is key to resolving the episode.
• Third-Person Person : This episode's entry in the first season's round of finding a Chief Engineer is one Leland T. Lynch, whose gimmick is apparently insisting on using his full name when hailed by the bridge. Picard seems annoyed by this already.
• Tonight, Someone Dies : The original episodic promo for the episode (viewable on the Blu-ray release) promised that one of the crew wouldn't be making it out alive, with Tasha, Troi, and Riker all being shown in life-threatening situations. It's the first of the three that ends up getting killed.
• Tragic Monster : For all the evil Armus commits, he had no choice in being created as the thing he is, and is incapable of being anything else. In the end, he is forever stranded and alone on a barren planet with only his rage, hatred, insanity and loneliness .
• Trauma Button : Calling Armus "it" makes him think of how the Titans cast him off and abandoned him on this world.
• Vader Breath : Every time Armus speaks it draws a phlegmy breath that makes it sound like it's dying of tuberculosis, in keeping with its appearance as a black sludge monster.
• Video Wills : Tasha leaves a tearjerking one on the holodeck for the rest of the crew.
• Villainous Breakdown : Armus undergoes an epic one in the finale, utterly broken by Picard's speech.
• Wham Episode : The sudden death of a main cast member in the midst of its first season was quite a shock at the time.
• What Happened to the Mouse? : Troi notes that her fellow shuttlecraft crewmember Ben is still alive and greatly wounded. In the end, both are transported out, but there's no mention of whether or not Ben ultimately survived or recovered.
• Who Wants to Live Forever? : Armus clearly wants to die and his suffering to end, but is incapable of doing so, instead stuck for all eternity on an empty world with his rage and despair.
• Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds : Armus, rejected and bereft by a species that just abandoned him and left him alone.
• Would You Like to Hear How They Died? : Armus taunts Troi about Yar; Troi replies that she already sensed Tasha's death.
• Star Trek: The Next Generation S1E21 "Symbiosis"
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• September 24, 2017 (United States)
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• Runtime 1 hour
• Dolby Digital

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From Enterprise To Armus, ‘Star Trek: Lower Decks’ Easter Eggs In “The Spy Humongous”

| September 19, 2021 | By: TrekMovie Editors 11 comments so far

We have already recapped and reviewed “The Spy Humongous” and discussed it on the All Access Star Trek podcast ; Now we take a deep dive into all the Easter eggs that caught our eyes. In some cases the references are clear, with others it may just be our Trek interpretations; art is in the eye of the beholder.

Obviously…  SPOILERS ahead .

Want to be a redshirt?

Boimler considers joining a group of ambitious ensigns who seek to rank up in the command division of Starfleet. They call themselves “Redshirts.” This makes sense as in the 24th-century command division uniforms are red, however in the 23rd-century security officers wore red and were famously short-lived, giving rise to the term “ Redshirt .” As a Starfleet fanboy, Boimler does balk at the name, asking, “You call yourselves Redshirts?” To which he was told (without irony), “Cool name, right? Makes us sound invincible.”

One of the members of the “Redshirts” is a Kzinti ensign who gives Boimler some tips on how to look like a Captain, specifically when it comes to his posture. Trying to show how Boimler is all hunched over, he mimics the stooped posture seen on the Kzinti when they were first introduced in the Star Trek: The Animated Series episode “ The Slaver Weapon .”

Back on the D

When trying to channel his inner captain to practice giving an inspiring speech, Boimler envisions himself like Commander Riker on the bridge of the USS Enterprise-D .

Getting an Enterprise

Speaking of the USS Enterprise, Shaxs suggests that if Freeman “keeps doing Picard-level peace brokering” that Starfleet might give her “an Enterprise.” At this point in time, the latest is the Enterprise-E , which has been under the command of Captain Jean-Luc Picard. But Lower Decks may be catching up to some of the events laid out in Star Trek: Picard , including Picard’s promotion to Admiral in 2381 , leaving the command of the ship up for grabs. In the Picard novel tie-ins, Worf is given command of the Enterprise-E.

Captain Janeway?

Pakleds want that Crimson Forcefield

One of the ways the Enterprise crew tricked the Pakleds in “The Samaritan Snare” was having Geordi disable the Pakled torpedoes before they fired on the Enterprise, while having the Enterprise vented a red gas, described to the Pakleds as a powerful “crimson force field.” In “The Spy Humongous,” one of the classified systems Grumdar wanted to see—still believing the Cerritos was the Enterprise-D—was the crimson force field.

Dangerous anomalies

A couple of the “trash day” anomalies that the ensigns were assigned to clean up seemed a bit familiar. There was a flower that fired spikes at Mariner, not unlike the ones that shot spikes at Spock in TOS’ “ The Apple. ”

They later spill a jar of nanobots that start crawling over Mariner, a bit like the nanites unleashed by Wesley Crusher in the TNG episode “ Evolution .”

Pranking Armus

The callback getting the most attention came at the end, when the ensigns used a “sub-manifold casting stone” that could broadcast their voices to other planets to make a crank call. Their victim: Armus , the evil entity who killed Tasha Yar in the TNG episode “ The Skin of Evil .” They tell him he looks “like a big bag of crap,” which enrages him, and results him him saying, “I’m gonna kill you with a flake of my power! I am a skin of evil!”

• When disparaging the Pakled spy, Ransom says, “We’re not exactly dealing with the Tal Shiar here,” a reference to the notorious Romulan secret police.
• The redshirts, interested in Boimler’s time on the Titan, asked him “How often did Riker clean his trombone?” referring to how Riker played the trombone on TNG. The trombone was seen in his ready room in episode Lower Decks episode 202 .

VIDEO: Mike takes revenge on Armus, Crosby approves

On Sunday, Paramount+ released a video with Noël Wells (Tendi) and showrunner Mike McMahan talking about Armus.

Actress Denise Crosby appreciated the effort, tweeting “Hey Lower Decks, loving the Armus digs! Long live Tasha Yar!”

@StarTrekOnPPlus Hey #LowerDecks , loving the Armus digs! Long live #TashaYar ! — Denise Crosby (@TheDeniseCrosby) September 17, 2021

What did you see?

Spot any new Trek references we missed on Lower Decks ? Have a favorite? Sound off in the comments below.

New episodes of  Star  Trek: Lower Decks  premiere on Thursdays on  Paramount+  in the U.S. and on  CTV Sci-Fi Channel  in Canada, where it’s also available to stream on  Crave . It is available on Amazon Prime Video internationally on Fridays. It will debut in Latin America on Paramount+ in September.

Keep up with all the news and reviews from the new  Star Trek Universe on TV at TrekMovie.com .

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is there a Pokemon reference when Mariner gets electrocuted?

I love Lower Decks but the only gripe I have with the show is that the next line of dialogue has to reference a Trek easter egg, like RELENTLESSLY so much so it feels shoehorned in just because they can namecheck some obscure trek episode/character. Other than that, it’s great!

Odd choice of words for Denise when her character died in Season 1 (and then ‘again’ in a Romulan prison camp in the past).

The term “Easter Egg” is getting used way out of context in a lot of this. An easter egg is something to be found by a sharp-eyed viewer.

A lot of what we are getting is more like in-jokes. Why not call them that?

Heck, the Armus scene is pretty much a full-on cameo appearance.

Very good point. An egg thrown into your face is pretty much the opposite of an easter egg.

Armus was great… now let’s annoy Nagilum :-)

Loved the Armus cameo at the end! Made the episode for me. This show does a great job hitting all the nostalgia points for hardcore Trek fans.

Maybe two nods to Harry Potter with Rutherford being blown up and figures materialising from book!

My son and I assumed the whole “duty officers collecting anomalies” thing was a pretty clear reference to that mechanic in Star Trek Online, especially since they literally made the Lower Decks characters into duty officers who do that in the game.

Oh, and long-range communication stones were a thing on SGU – though much weirder than on Lower Decks :)

The dig at Wesley and his nanobots…”he can calculate warp variance but he can’t remember to tighten the lid on a jar”… the exact reason Wesley’s bots got loose to begin with 🤣

All In (episode)

• View history
• 1.2 Act One
• 1.3 Act Two
• 1.4 Act Three
• 1.5 Act Four
• 2 Memorable quotes
• 3.2 Continuity
• 3.3 Reception
• 4.1 Starring
• 4.2 Guest starring
• 4.3 Co-starring
• 4.4 Uncredited co-stars
• 4.5 References
• 4.6 External links

Summary [ ]

Fleet Admiral Vance calls for any available ship to pursue Booker's ship , and demands to know how Tarka was able to get his hands on the spore drive prototype, as it required dual authorization to do so. A lieutenant reports that two authorizations were granted, by Tarka... and by Vance himself. As the admiral lets that sink in, President Rillak approaches, not looking particularly happy.

Rillak asks both Vance and Captain Burnham if they had seen such a move coming; both answer that they did not, to which the President then asks how they hadn't seen it coming. Vance had personally backed Tarka and given him free rein, while Burnham's relationship with Booker was not only professional, but personal. While she knew Booker had been struggling since the loss of Kwejian , Burnham insists she had no idea Booker would act in such a way. Rillak then reminds them of the importance of the spore drive in their efforts to move away from dilithium , as well as the erosion of trust when word gets out that it had been stolen; the first contact mission that Burnham had championed just hours earlier would be in jeopardy. Burnham tries to explain Booker's view that he's trying to prevent another disaster like Kwejian, to which Rillak counters they were now trying to stop something worse. Thinking she can help Booker see that, Burnham volunteers to aid in the search, as she knows Tarka needs to find isolynium on the black market in order to build an isolytic weapon , and the USS Discovery 's primary repairs are complete. Rillak, however, sees Burnham as too close to the problem, and refuses, before turning to Vance. The admiral confirms that Starfleet Intelligence has found four known vendors of isolynium, and is deploying ships to those locations with orders to apprehend Booker and Tarka on sight. In the meantime, Burnham is ordered to take Discovery to gather data on Unknown Species 10-C .

Meanwhile, Booker's ship flies through the husk of a dead planet, evading Starfleet scanner range. Tarka asks Booker how it felt using the spore drive, as he was the first real "beta tester". Booker is terse, saying that it works and will help stop the DMA, which is all that mattered to him. When asked how long he needed to build the weapon, Tarka assures him it will be finished in 24 hours. Just then, Booker's comm channels chime; Burnham is attempting to contact him again. Booker also sees their entries on the Federation's watch list. Tarka tells Booker that he was aware of what Booker was giving up for this effort. Booker believes it will be worth it, regardless of what sentence he must serve later; Tarka, however, is confident that if their plan works, they'll be heroes, and Rillak will be under political pressure to pardon them for their crime. Tarka begins to explain that he will be able to proceed once Booker secures him some isolynium, which surprises Booker; he had thought the scientist had that part planned out, but Tarka's plan had been dependent on Federation support, something he no longer had. The scientist sarcastically remarks on how couriers could supposedly find anything, while Booker points out the difficulty of finding a rare and dangerous element while also being hunted by Starfleet . However, Booker does know of a seller who would be unknown to Starfleet, though it would cost them. Tarka applauds his initiative, and assures him cost will not be an issue.

In her ready room aboard Discovery , Burnham is visited by Admiral Vance, who explains about his first encounter with Tarka during a lecture ten years earlier , talking about new propulsion systems and his ability to create them. Vance found that he believed Tarka could do it, and he still did. But now, he was left wondering why Tarka would act in such a way. Burnham suggests perhaps it was in response to losing the council vote, but Vance, while acknowledging Tarka was egotistical, is not sure that was the reason. He is now worried that he would have to send his family away again, after just bringing them back, because someone he brought in started a war the Federation could not possibly win, and Burnham assures him she will do anything in her power to help him resolve the situation. The admiral goes on to say that both he and Burnham know Booker will not use known vendors to obtain isolynium. Burnham, recognizing what Vance is implying, reminds him that both he and the President were clear about their orders. Vance acknowledges that he had to present a united front with the President and would not publicly contradict her. At the same time, he would take a page from Rillak's book and "encourage" Burnham, who he considers one of the most creative and adept officers in his service, to do what she could to stop Booker and Tarka, within the parameters of her assigned mission. " You find a way, Captain Burnham, " he concludes. " That's also an order. "

Act One [ ]

In the spore drive lab, Burnham meets with Saru and Stamets , informing them the President wants them to meet Species 10-C sooner rather than later. Both first offer their support to the captain, with Stamets adding his hopes for Booker's safety. Stamets goes on to explain that the data from beyond the galactic barrier was limited, but points out that the orbit of extragalactic stars near the coordinates Zora provided indicate a significant gravitational presence, but in order to find out more, they required a visual confirmation. Stamets then turns the floor over to Zora, who has found information in the Sphere data of a warp-capable civilization known as the Stilph , just inside the barrier, thirty light years from the coordinates. They were close enough and advanced enough to possibly have mapped the area in their standard stellar surveys. Saru asks if the Stilph have ever encountered the Federation, and Zora informs him they have not; however, they have had encounters with the Orions in the past. Rather than go through the Orions, Burnham believes she can make contact with a broker she knows on Porathia . In the meantime, she instructs Stamets to continue going through the data; Zora volunteers to do so herself, as it might be considered "more tedious than is worthy" of their time; Stamets, momentarily wrong-footed, agrees.

Walking through the corridors, Burnham tells Saru that she intends to take Owosekun with her to check the surveys, and to have Discovery keep her distance as the Federation was not exactly welcome in Porathia. Saru asks Burnham about the broker being a connection to his courier days with Booker, and if Rillak and Vance knew she was going after him. Burnham admits that Vance unofficially ordered her to "kill two birds with one stone", and believes that Booker will also go to Porathia to obtain the isolynium. She asks if Saru thinks she is too close; Saru is confident she is the only person who could convince Booker to correct his path, but admits he does not envy her position if he refuses, and tells her to stay safe above all.

Booker arrives at Porathia and brings Tarka to " Haz Mazaro 's Karma Barge ", explaining that if Mazaro didn't have isolynium, he knew who did. He also mentions that they did not part on the best of terms, and hopes Mazaro has forgotten that, because "it doesn't look like a good day to be here". As he speaks, one of the guards orders a Ferengi to empty their pockets. As Tarka sarcastically comments about wondering "where Emerald Chain dimwits went to die", Booker warns him that Mazaro was "fun, until he's not", and to let Booker do the talking; Tarka promises to be his "shadow". Booker approaches one of the guards and asks to speak to Haz, identifying himself as "Glow-Worm". Haz then suddenly appears, leading them into the back, where he reveals his latest sale of Devore scanners (which Tarka, scientist to the end, sarcastically says couldn't pick a Betazoid out of a Nieser cage ). Mazaro wonders first about Booker's "shadow", then about Burnham and their relationship, which Booker assures him remained "none of [his] business". Booker asks for isolynium, and pulls out several bars of latinum ; Tarka adds that it had to be pure, not cut with sammonium like the usual. Mazaro takes their latinum, but refuses to agree to a deal, as there was still an old score to settle. Booker explains that he tried to convince Ertel to stop running trance worms as it was dangerous; Mazaro counters that it had not been dangerous until Booker stole Ertel's shipment, costing Mazaro his best customer. As he signals his guards to throw them out, Booker offers to help him deal with card counters and other cheats in his casino. Mazaro confirms he had no idea how many were out there, as his detection tech was unable to find him. Booker proposes a bargain: If he helps figure it out, Mazaro can keep the latinum, and provide them the isolynium. Mazaro agrees.

Aboard their shuttle, Burnham explains to Owosekun that the casino is a "dead zone" by design, so all their weapons and other tech will have to be checked at the door, and there may be other surprises she was not aware of, before asking if there were any questions. Owosekun just has one: Burnham was capable of verifying stellar charts herself, so why bring her along? Burnham tells her that Saru had explained what happened in the subspace rift, how Owosekun had not stood down even after Saru ordered her to. Owosekun acknowledges she had been out of bounds and apologized to Saru for that, but Burnham assures her that she also knew how it felt to want to do something, anything , and how it felt when she couldn't. Just then, the shuttle drops out of warp, and what appears to be a massive sea creature approaches them. It is revealed to be a hologram , and the "Karma Barge" appears before them.

Still in uniform (minus commbadges and weapons), the two Starfleet officers enter, Owosekun remarking on the "friendly" atmosphere. Burnham is then greeted by Mazaro, who nicknamed her "Right Hook" (a tale for another time, she explains to Owosekun), and mentions how he felt like he was in a time warp that day. He asks if Burnham was there as a Starfleet captain or as a friend. " Both, " is Burnham's reply as she pulls out two bars of latinum, explaining she was there for extragalactic stellar surveys from the Stilph, who had had run-ins with the Orions. Mazaro thinks he might know an Orion or two with the data, but wonders why she would need information about stars. Burnham then asks about isolynium, and shows the rest of her latinum; Mazaro remarks on how the prices go up with multiple bidders, and there was already one in play... but perhaps she knew that already. Burnham asks if the other bidder was there, and Mazaro confirms that he was "sniffing out vermin" for him. While he went to find Burnham's star charts, he invites her and Owosekun to take a seat at the card tables. After Mazaro leaves, Owosekun notes that Booker must be the other bidder; Burnham confirms she had a hunch, but couldn't be sure, and offers to let Owosekun return to the shuttle. Owosekun reassures her captain that she is there all the way, and that Burnham couldn't have seen what was coming.

Meanwhile, Tarka and Booker are looking around the room, with Tarka giving a negative assessment about Mazaro's judgment when it came to technology. Booker notes a number of card counters, pickpockets, and other cheats, including one using rhythmic blinking while staring at the deck. Tarka leaves his side to investigate; as Booker moves to follow him, he is stopped by Burnham, who takes him aside to talk. Both tell the other they should not be there, and Burnham tries to convince him that whatever Tarka pulled him into was not worth it, and would earn some grace with the Federation if he took the isolynium off the market and kept it out of Tarka's hands. Booker tells her that Tarka did not "pull" him into anything, that they had made the plan together; breaking half a dozen Federation laws, in his view, was worth it if it stopped the DMA from killing more people. Burnham warns him that if he buys the isolynium, he will cross a line he could not come back from; Booker reminds her that when they first met, he had just hijacked someone's ship carrying a cargo of endangered species, and asks if she was truly surprised at his ability to cross lines. He tells her to leave, but she tells him she can't; when he asks what she will do then, she replies that she will stop him.

Act Two [ ]

Burnham returns to where Mazaro and Owosekun are in discussion, and Mazaro informs her that he has the surveys, but it will take time. Burnham asks how much latinum he wants to take the isolynium out of play; Mazaro replies it will be three times as much as she has. Burnham agrees, only needing access to a comm channel. But Mazaro refuses, saying that if he allows that, Starfleet will come swooping in, especially when they know Booker is there; he has been monitoring Federation channels, and knows Booker and Tarka are wanted men. Burnham is adamant that Mazaro cannot sell Booker the isolynium, but Mazaro says he can... unless Burnham buys it first. As he leaves, Burnham realizes they have to earn a lot more latinum, and fast. Owosekun glances at the fighting ring, and tells Burnham she has an idea, one she concedes is "a little crazy".

Back aboard Discovery , Stamets enters the quarters he shares with Dr. Culber , finding the doctor furiously (and personally) cleaning every surface in the room, and shouting at a DOT-23 attempting to do the work, telling it to return to its dock. Stamets can see Culber is stressed, and asks if it was about Booker. Culber believes he didn't do enough to help Booker, and that Dr. Kovich had warned him about wearing himself out and failing people. Stamets tries to reassure him that what Booker did was not his fault, but Culber is adamant: He was responsible for the psychological and emotional wellbeing of everyone on the ship, Booker included. Stamets points out that this was an unreasonable expectation to bear. Culber couldn't solve his patients' problems; he had to help them find their own answers. Stamets also has his own anxieties: Dealing with the DMA, wondering how Gray was settling on Trill , the situation with Booker, and how he mishandled the situation with Zora. While they were not the same, Stamets believes both their problems stem from uncertainty, which he admits is terrifying... so, they should be terrified together. Stamets reminds him how Kovich wanted him to take time for himself, and mentions that the holodeck was just updated with the Venabalia bloom from Salata Major , so he suggests they take a stroll through a field full of flowers. Culber admits he would like that, and leaves with Stamets, while the DOT-23 goes back to work.

At the Karma Barge, Owosekun prepares to take on Ato Kurr in the fighting ring, and initially does not do well against the much larger fighter, but remains determined. Meanwhile, Booker tells Tarka that Burnham has found them (much to the doctor's surprise), and will likely try to buy the isolynium from under them. Meanwhile, Tarka identifies the alien Booker saw earlier and grudgingly admits Booker was right about the blinking. As they watch him leave, however, Booker suddenly sees him change into a human-looking form, and realizes the "network" of cheaters is a ring of one: a Changeling . Tarka tells him to keep his eyes open, while he figures out a way to neutralize him. Back in the fighting ring, Owosekun is somewhat worse for wear, and Burnham encourages her to cut her losses, not wanting her to get killed. Owosekun, however, insists on continuing, despite Kurr's larger size. Burnham finally decides to go all in on one last match, betting all of her latinum on Owosekun. In the ring, Kurr taunts Owosekun, telling her that someone should teach her how to quit; Owosekun retorts that someone should teach him and his friend at ringside some manners. As the bell rings, Owosekun opens with a low blow to Kurr's crotch, briefly holds his neck up against the ropes, and finally flings him down to the mat, winning the match. Seeing this, Booker insists that Tarka hurry, but Tarka replies that " you can't rush genius ".

As Burnham and Owosekun collect their winnings, Kurr and his manager attempt to take a cut, claiming they were hustled. Owosekun tosses the manager aside, and Kurr produces a knife. Booker rushes to assist, allowing Burnham to knock him out with a right hook (which Owosekun sees explains her nickname). Booker then spots the Changeling , and remarks he could use an assist as well. As Burnham and Booker attempt to corner the Changeling, it turns into a tribble and rolls away, before taking another humanoid form – and then becomes trapped in a force field courtesy of Tarka. As Mazaro teleports in demanding to know what was going on, Burnham tells him she has the latinum he wanted, and Booker adds that he found the cheater. " Looks like we got a draw, " Mazaro concludes.

Act Three [ ]

As Burnham and Booker argue, Mazaro cuts them off, revealing two buyers to take the isolynium off their hands, and offers to settle the matter in traditional courier fashion: A game of Leonian poker . Booker protests, saying that they had a deal. " My raft, my rules, " Mazaro counters. After a moment, Burnham agrees, and immediately so does Booker. Mazaro lays out the rules: He keeps their latinum, the winner gets the isolynium, the rest get nothing, and anyone who acts "like an Armus " will be dropped into the Porathian Ocean with "weighted shoes", and asks if there were any questions. Burnham does have one: Given the stakes, could they verify the purity of the product first? Mazaro agrees, taking the two new contenders in the back first. Burnham and Booker both recognize them as Mat'trub and Zakari , holdouts from the Emerald Chain, hoping to replace the late Osyraa . Burnham knows that she and Booker do not agree on much at the moment, but can agree they cannot get the isolynium. Booker replies that he does not intend to lose it to them... or to Burnham, for that matter. Burnham concedes he is better at Leonian poker than she is, but reminds him of their time on the Schaefer Colony , and how the odds could be modified if they worked together. Mazaro calls for the next inspection, and Burnham is able to see immediately that it was pure isolynium. Mazaro tells her he is not sure what is going on between her and Booker, but hopes their relationship still works out.

As the game progresses, Burnham becomes rather talkative, mentioning that Booker has a tell, rubbing his ear on a good hand; she also mentions playing a game on the Schaefer colony, how someone bet it all on a new wardrobe only to leave with "the Emperor's new clothes", as she puts it... not that anyone was complaining, she adds. All the while, Booker and Burnham communicate in silent code, and manage to eliminate Mat'trub first. Watching on the sidelines, Owosekun warns Tarka how Booker and Burnham made a good team. Tarka asks her what she thinks of what he and Booker are doing, assuming that she would "toe the company line". Owosekun understands why they thought this would be the way to go, but believes that someone taking that kind of risk and hoping it would not blow back on them would require "a hell of a big ego". She asks why he, the "Federation's genius darling", would throw away his career; Tarka replies he didn't care about what the Federation thought of him. Owosekun presses him, asking if this was about someone who died, if it was a kind of revenge... or (unbeknownst to her, correctly) guessing he was keeping a promise to someone who was gone. Abruptly, Tarka says she was "boring" him and tells her to stand somewhere else. Owosekun tells him she knows what it is to lose someone. Tarka finally tells her there were varying degrees of loss, and if she could feel the weight of his, if only for a fleeting moment, she would "reconsider how much choice one has with regards to what comes out of it".

Just then, a loud thump from the table returns their attention to the game: Zakari has been eliminated, leaving it now just between Booker and Burnham. As Mazaro deals the flop, Burnham warns that if Booker won the isolynium, he would incinerate every bridge he had ever built. Booker asks if that meant the one between them as well; Burnham confirms he would leave her no choice, because Starfleet would come after him with everything they had, and she would be one of the tools they used. She pleads with him to end it, and Booker seemingly agrees... as he pushes his chips all in. Burnham does likewise, and turns her cards over, showing a straight. Booker, however, has a flush, winning the game and the isolynium. Booker apologizes to Burnham, and leaves.

Act Four [ ]

Back on his ship, Booker stares at a projection of the DMA. Tarka acknowledges that sacrifice was always heavy, and though doing it for the right reasons should help, it never did. He believes that Burnham and the others will understand in time, and Booker thinks it's possible, but what would be worse is if the sacrifice was for nothing, so they should carry on what they planned to do: end the DMA, once and for all.

Back at Federation Headquarters , a somewhat annoyed Rillak expresses her understanding that Burnham was gathering data for first contact, nothing else. Burnham confirms she was there to obtain a rare set of stellar surveys which would shed some light on what lay ahead at the coordinates provided, which were presently being analyzed. She also admits she had a hope of running into Booker as well. Rillak expresses admiration for Burnham's ability to navigate a loophole, and wonders if she had help in doing so (this with a glare at Vance), but was concerned that she had not found a way to make that loophole count, and bring Booker and Tarka in. Vance defends her decision, saying that she was operating outside of Federation territory and had no authority, but Rillak points out that Burnham literally bet everything and lost. Burnham offers a correction, however: Knowing she would lose to Booker's superior skill at Leonian poker, she planted a tracker on the isolynium, similar to that used to track dilithium shipments... a tracker that could be detected multiple sectors away. She brings up a projection, showing the exact location of Booker's ship. Vance notices the ship is not moving, and Burnham knows this is because Tarka is assembling the weapon. Vance realizes they will only have one chance to catch them unawares, and prepares to begin mission planning when Saru chimes in, saying that Stamets has discovered something that cannot wait.

Stamets shows a projection of what was found at the coordinates, showing that the technological capabilities of Species 10-C are beyond their wildest assumptions. Rillak wonders how he can determine this, as it just looks like a "blob" to her. Saru explains that natural astrophysical bodies project black body radiation , but this object does not, meaning it was artificial. Stamets adds that the object in question is 228 million kilometers in radius, which Vance recognizes as being large enough to contain a host star and two or three orbiting bodies. Burnham asks if any signals are coming from the object, and Stamets reports there were none that they could register. He speculates that it was a hyperfield of some kind acting as a Faraday cage , blocking any chance to see inside. Burnham knows this would require an astronomical amount of power, and asks Zora to examine the areas of space left behind after the DMA changed location. She explains that the remaining gases and elements should all fall within known parameters, but what if something specific was missing, like boronite ? Saru explains to Rillak that boronite occurs naturally in infinitesimal amounts, but in sufficient quantities could be synthesized to make something far more powerful. The President asks if there would be enough energy for the hyperfield as a result. " And then some, " Burnham confirms. Zora confirms that there were no traces of boronite at any of the locations visited by the DMA. Burnham realizes the DMA is not a weapon, but a mining dredge, collecting boronite from planets. Vance sees the problem: If the DMA was just used for mining, what would Species 10-C's actual weapons be like? And if their power source were disrupted, Rillak adds, they would almost certainly see that as a hostile act. She makes it clear that Booker and Tarka must be stopped, whatever the cost. " I know, " Burnham acknowledges sadly, realizing the stakes were now much higher.

Memorable quotes [ ]

" A swamp cat could've learned the Hortan Hustle since I last saw you. "

" You got yourself a deal. But you jab a brussel fly, and I'll scoot some greenbread. Clear? "

" I heard we had Starfleet guests, so I just had to scurry like a spider cow to welcome you. "

" I have missed you like a Cardassian misses cake! "

" Ah! And yet she remembers the way to his heart. It's true what the Elasians say: 'Give a man a tor-bak, and you are warm in the desert.' "

"Um... Hugh? The ship cleans for us." " Yeah, well ... sometimes it needs a little zhuzh. No! How many times do I have to say it? RETURN TO DOCK! "

" What in the katterpod and Calaman sherry is going on here? "

" Delightful. Usual rules apply. Your latinum buys you in. I keep all of that, of course. The winner gets the isolynium. The rest get nothing. Drop out? Still nothing. Act like an Armus ? Swim the Porathian Ocean with weighted boots. Any questions? "

" Now for the fifth stretch. Last bet on the hand. And as the saying goes, to the Souvlo goes the spud. "

Background information [ ]

• The title was noted in the Star Trek: Discovery Season 4 Loglines on 7 February 2022 . [1]
• "All In" is a betting term for putting all available funds on a bet, fitting with the episode's casino setting.

Continuity [ ]

• This episode marks the first appearance of a Changeling since DS9 : " What You Leave Behind ". However, a holographic representation of a Changeling ( Odo ) was seen in PRO : " Kobayashi ". The Changeling takes on several different appearances, including a tribble , a Xindi-Insectoid , and the humanoid form most commonly assumed by Odo and the Female Changeling .
• USS Discovery previously visited the Porathia system (or rather, its mirror universe counterpart) in DIS : " Despite Yourself ".
• Beckett Mariner previously made reference to "an Armus" in threatening to feed Brad Boimler to one. ( LD : " No Small Parts ")
• The face cards used in the Leonian poker game depict various alien species , including an Arcadian and a member of Natalia's species as queens and a Cardassian as a king.

Reception [ ]

• TRR : " All In " discusses the making of, and events in, this episode.

Links and references [ ]

Starring [ ].

• Sonequa Martin-Green as Michael Burnham
• Doug Jones as Saru
• Anthony Rapp as Paul Stamets
• Wilson Cruz as Hugh Culber
• David Ajala as Cleveland Booker

Guest starring [ ]

• Oded Fehr as Fleet Admiral Charles Vance
• Shawn Doyle as Dr. Ruon Tarka
• Chelah Horsdal as President Laira Rillak
• Daniel Kash as Haz Mazaro
• Annabelle Wallis as Zora (voice)

Co-starring [ ]

• Oyin Oladejo as Lt. Cmdr. Joann Owosekun
• Michael Chan as FHQ Ops Officer
• Daniel DeSanto as Kurr's Manager
• Jason Gosbee as Mat'trub
• Emmanuel John as FHQ Security Officer
• Claudia Jurt as Zakari
• Jeff Kassel as Referee
• Nabel Khatib as Beefy Guy
• Warren Scherer as Kurr
• Oksana Sirju as Cashier

Uncredited co-stars [ ]

• JaNae Armogan as Changeling
• Jennifer Chaiet as Hornish card player
• Jayne Dineo as Discovery sciences crewmember
• Andrea Gallo as Discovery sciences crewmember
• J. Adam Huggins as Discovery engineer
• George Nickolas K. as Alien card player
• Lizz Porter as Card dealer
• Changeling in Human form
• Changeling in reptilian humanoid form
• Changeling in Xindi-Insectoid form

References [ ]

3180 ; anxiety ; Arcadian ; Armus ; authority ; banta tree ; barge ; behavior ; bet ; beta tester ; Betazoid ; black body radiation ; black market ; " Book "; Booker's ship ; boot ; boronite ; brass jester ; broker ; brussel fly ; cake ; Calaman sherry ; captain ; card counter ; Cardassian ; cargo ; cashier ; casino ; Changeling ; cheat ; civilization ; cognition pirate ; commander ; comms channel ; conspiracy ; Constitution -class ; coordinates ; council ; courier ; crystal ; day ; dependency ; desert ; Devore ; Devore scanner ; dilithium ; dimwit ; disco ; Discovery , USS ; DMA ; DOT-23 ; dredge ; DSC-03 ; ear ; ego ; Eisenberg -class ; Elasian ; Emerald Chain ; energy ; Ertel ; eye ; Faraday cage ; Federation (aka UFP ); Federation Headquarters ; Federation territory ; Federation Watch List ; Felton Prime ; Ferengi ; fight ring ; first contact ; flowers ; friend ; Friendship -class ; galactic barrier ; gamble ; genius ; " Glow-Worm "; greenbread ; hand ; Haz Mazaro's species ; hijack ; holodeck ; hologram ; honesty ; Hornish ; Hortan hustle ; hour ; hug ; hyperfield ; intimidation ; Intrepid -class ; isolynium ; isolytic weapon ; Karma Barge ; katterpod ; kernel ; kilometer ; Klingons ; Kovich ; Kwejian (planet); Kwejian (species); latinum ; Leonian poker ; lecture ; light year ; loophole ; love ; ma'am ; Mars -class ; medical bay ; Merian -class ; mining ; mission ; mister ; " Mr. Personality "; month ; Natalia's species ; Nieser cage ; occupation ; odds ; " Oh Wow "; orbit ; Orion ; order ; Osyraa ; pardon ; patient ; pickpocket ; pocket ; Porathia ; Porathian Ocean ; promise ; propulsion system ; prototype ; pyrite ; radio spectrum ; radius : raft ; referee ; revenge ; " Right Hook "; Risa ; Risian ; room ; Salata Major ; sammonium ; sandwich ; scan deflector ; scanner range ; Schaefer Colony ; scientist ; " score to settle "; sea serpent-like creature ; sector ; sentence ; shadow ; sleep ; slip ; Souvlo ; spider cow ; spore drive ; spud ; star ; Starfleet ; Starfleet uniform ; stellar survey ; Stilph ; subspace rift ; suspect ; swamp cat ; table ; Tal, Gray ; technology ; tell ; tetryonic dosimeter ; time warp ; tor-bak ; trance worm ; translator ; Traitt, Cosmo ; tribble ; Trill ; UFP-02 -type ; Unknown Species 10-C ; venabalia ; vendor ; vermin ; wanted poster ; weapon ; Xindi-Insectoid

External links [ ]

• " All In " at the Internet Movie Database
• " Discovering "All In" " at MissionLogPodcast.com , a Roddenberry Star Trek podcast
• 3 ISS Enterprise (NCC-1701)

'Star Trek: Discovery' Season 5's Captain Rayner Ran His Ship Like a Pirate

Callum Keith Rennie also discusses coming into 'Discovery's final season, getting into prosthetics, and how much he has in common with Rayner.

The Big Picture

• Callum Keith Rennie's Captain Rayner brings conflict and depth to Star Trek: Discovery 's final season.
• Rennie discusses his experience on Star Trek: Discovery , praising the supportive cast and crew, despite the initial challenges of joining an established series for its last season.
• In Season 5, Episode 4 "Face the Strange," Burnham and Rayner must work together within a time bubble to save the universe.

As Captain Michael Burnham ( Sonequa Martin-Green ) embarks on one last adventure with her crew, Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 is bringing a few new characters along for the ride. Chief among those newcomers is the blunt, war-worn Captain Rayner. Played by Battlestar Galactica alum Callum Keith Rennie , Rayner is Burnham's new second in command on the Discovery , taking over after Saru ( Doug Jones ) took a different position at Starfleet.

Having lived through The Burn, Rayner doesn't have time for niceties and butts heads with Burnham almost immediately — so naturally, she takes it upon herself to give him a second chance when Starfleet is ready to cut him loose. Last week's episode saw him, rightfully, put in his place a bit as Tilly ( Mary Wiseman ) attempted to help him connect with the crew, much to his chagrin. In Season 5 Episode 4, "Face the Strange," Rayner and Burnham are thrown into a time bubble, forcing them to work together if they ever want to get back to the correct timeline and prevent the universe from being destroyed.

Ahead of the episode, I sat down with Rennie to dig into Rayner's backstory, what we can expect from him in the rest of the season, and what it will take for Rayner to truly connect with the crew of Discovery . During our conversation, we also discussed Rennie's history with sci-fi, what it was like joining Discovery for the show's final season, and what he's taking away from the whole experience.

Star Trek: Discovery

*Availability in US

Not available

Taking place almost a decade before Captain Kirk's Enterprise, the USS Discovery charts a course to uncover new worlds and life forms.

Rennie is no stranger to science fiction, having had roles in such series as The Umbrella Academy , Jessica Jones, and Battlestar Galactica. As Battlestar Galactica was the series that turned me into a sci-fi fan, and perhaps Rennie's most recognizable role, I had to ask him about being a part of such massive and beloved franchises within the genre. "It's amazing," he said. For Rennie, even though Battlestar was also a reboot of a classic series , the show's success was a lot less predictable than the mainstay that is Star Trek . He explained, "Like, say Battlestar , when I started on that I had no idea where that one was gonna go. Discovery was already very established , but I actually didn't let any of that into my [head], because I went, “That's not gonna help.” So, I didn’t. Now, I'm feeling the world of it. Now, I'm sensing what the world of Discovery is and how many people love it, and how it fits. "

Discovery also isn't his first experience with Star Trek , "I watched the original. That was my thing, and that was it," Rennie told me. While he may have missed some of the series' in between, saying, "There's big chunks of time where I just didn't watch a lot of TV, so I missed all of the other stuff," he'll always make time for The Original Series when he comes across it, "even if the old Star Trek comes on, I'll still watch it because that was my Star Trek . Jim Kirk, and all of that. "

While we've gotten a pretty good sense of who Rayner is in these first four episodes, most of his backstory remains a mystery. Rennie revealed that "some backstory comes up in a few episodes." Part of his gruff exterior will be explained as we'll "get a sense of why he's maybe got a chip on his shoulder and has some unprocessed resentments about a bunch of things that maybe have played out in his work in a negative way."

Rennie Calls 'Star Trek: Discovery's Latest Episode "Amazing"

"Face the Strange," is such a classic Star Trek episode, employing the ever-entertaining sci-fi trope of sticking our main characters in a time loop, both to put an obstacle in their path as well as to bring them face to face with some of their own demons. For Rennie, the episode really put the science in science fiction. "It was like, 'Whoa! What's happening? I don't get it.' There's just so much science stuff and talk, so much jumping about to places and history and stuff." But he had high praise for his fellow castmates as well as the crew behind the camera." Lee [Rose] being the director, you're in great hands. Being in scenes with Sonequa, you know that you're gonna be in it , and it was great. I watched it again last night, and there’s just an amazing amount of stuff in there. It was just an amazing episode. "

In this episode, Burnham and Rayner are tossed back in time to the first season of Discovery , bringing them both face to face with the version of Burnham who's fresh off her own demotion in Starfleet . Throughout the episode, it becomes quite clear that Burnham and Rayner have a lot more in common than either of them might have realized. When asked if this experience might put them more on equal footing, Rennie confirmed that "he's learned an understanding of the crew." He went on to point out that we haven't seen the relationship that Rayner had with his own crew.

He explained: "We're not on the Antares talking about his crew, which I think is an important part that we missed, where you go, 'How did I see my people on my particular ship? And how well did I know them?' No one's asking me how well I knew everybody because I did, but if I've only been there a brief time, you're only gonna have facts." He admits that it is important for Rayner to connect past the surface level. "Through that particular episode, you learn and go, 'Yes, it is good to know what people are up to and where they're from,' because in that particular instance, it saved us. So, I learned a thing, and I give a, 'Yes. Got it. Thank you.'"

Rayner Will Have to Shorten the Distance Between Himself and the Discovery Crew

While it doesn't sound like we'll be getting any flashbacks to Rayner's time on the Antares Rennie believes that he'd spent a similar amount of time with that crew as Michael has with hers. "We didn't get to inhabit that, I get to make it up in my own mind," he said. "But for me, it was more like a pirate ship that I had. " While Rayner comes off as the more stubborn, stick-to-the-mission Captain between him and Burnham, Rennie doesn't think he was quite so strict on his own ship. He said:

"That's the way I perceived it. It wasn't some rigid, completely stoic, boss fest, but a little bit of a wild card ship. We're gonna go into things that nobody else wants to go into, or knows how to deal with, but we would. "

While the walls around Rayner are still pretty high, Rennie explained that we will see him "shorten the distance" he's put between himself and the crew of the Discovery. "There's a great bit, there's an episode where Burnham leaves me again to take control of the ship. There's an interaction with everybody in a certain way because they don't like me yet. [Laughs] And I need some help a little bit, but I've created a distance, and I have to shorten that distance between everybody." He went on to say there are plenty of "fun dynamics" to look forward to and Rayner's insistence on keeping everyone at arm's length will likely come back to bite him.

Star Trek has quite a long list of original alien species created for the franchise, and Rayner just happens to be a Kellerun, a race that hasn't been seen since Deep Space Nine . In classic Trek fashion, Kelleruns appear mostly human with the most visible difference being the shape of the ears. As he follows in the footsteps of the likes of Leonard Nimoy and any actor who has ever played a Vulcan or a Romulan, I asked Rennie about getting into prosthetics for the role. "Those guys are great. Rocky [Faulkner] was great, Nicola [Bendrey] was great." While it was certainly an extra step the process was brief enough that it didn't bother him to come to set a bit earlier than usual. "That was probably an hour, and I really didn't think about that enough to go, 'Oh, that's right. I have to get up earlier.' But I think we got it down to an hour and a bit for just the ears because there’s a lot of stuff on them."

Despite the agonizing wait of sitting in front of a mirror for an hour, Rennie noted that Faulkner and Bendrey made the make-up experience as fun as it could possibly have been. He said: "I don't love just sitting there looking at myself for an hour, but there's music and great company and coffee, and it became a really sweet part of the day, and then another sweet part of the day where I download. " It wasn't his first time getting into prosthetics, but his previous experience had been brief. After playing Rayner across an entire season, Rennie admitted by the end, removing the glue actually started to feel like you'd expect pulling costume glue off your ears to feel. "There was a point near the end where the glue-on, glue-off became quite painful for a while."

The Support of the Cast and the Fans Are Highlights of Rennie's 'Star Trek' Experience

While this is Rennie's first season on the show, it's the final bow for Star Trek: Discovery . When asked what he'd be taking away from this experience, he had nothing but high praise for the cast and crew. As a newcomer on a well-established show, jumping into the fifth season had a bit of a learning curve. "I found that coming into the show was difficult for me because it was unlike a show that I'd been on before. It was already very well established." He went on to say:

"I pat myself on the back because I made it through, and there was this wonderful group energy that helped me do that. The good naturedness of the show was something that I maybe haven't worked on. There was a wholehearted goodness about it, which was quite nice, which overlapped into how people treated each other and mutual respect. Also, I kind of blocked out all Star Treks in my mind, so I'm there not thinking of Star Trek history. I'm just doing scene-to-scene and working on this stuff, and then it finishes, and then I forget that there's an incredible vast following of the show that somehow you are now part of it like that. All of that, this is all relatively new to me."

As a new addition to an already established group, I pointed out that it seemed as though Rennie's experience mirrored that of his characters, and he agreed. "I'm excited for people to see the season. And then, coming into it playing, “I don't want to be liked. It doesn't matter if I'm liked. I'm there to do my job, like Rayner, and I'm doing it. And then there's the after-effect of an incredible fan base that seems to be very supportive ."

You can watch our full conversation in the player above, and catch the latest episode of Star Trek: Discovery now on Paramount+.

'Star Trek: Discovery' Season 5 Review: One Hell of a Final Ride

Watch on Paramount+

Screen Rant

Star trek: discovery’s 4 number ones explained.

Star Trek: Discovery has had four different Number Ones over the course of its five seasons, including Captain Michael Burnham.

• Star Trek: Discovery features a rotating cast of Captains and Number Ones, showcasing dynamic leadership changes throughout the series.
• Characters like Saru, Burnham, Tilly, and new addition Rayner bring diverse personalities and skills to the USS Discovery crew.
• The evolution of these key roles, from First Officer to Captain, demonstrates the growth and adaptability of each character over the seasons.

Just as Star Trek: Discovery has featured several different Captains of the USS Discovery throughout its five-season run, the show has also introduced four different Number Ones. Since its beginning, Discovery has been less of an ensemble show than previous Star Trek series, and the crew of the USS Discovery has been constantly shifting. Discovery tells the story of Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green), who has gone from being an accomplished First Officer to a notorious criminal to the Captain of Discovery. Burnham has filled the position of Number One more than once, and two of her best friends have also taken on that role.

Ambassador Saru (Doug Jones) and Lt. Sylvia Tilly (Mary Wiseman) have both served as First Officers of the USS Discovery, although their careers have since taken them in different directions. In Star Trek: Discovery season 4, the show found a dynamic that worked well, with Burnham as Captain and Saru as her First Officer. But Discovery can never go too long without shaking things up, and Callum Keith Rennie's Commander Rayner did just that when he joined the cast of Star Trek: Discovery season 5 . As Captain Burnham's newest Number One, Rayner has proven to be a great addition to Discovery's crew, despite (and also because of) his gruff, no-nonsense command style.

Every Star Trek Discovery Captain In All 5 Seasons

4 commander/captain saru, under the command of captain gabriel lorca & captain michael burnham.

During the two-part premiere of Star Trek: Discovery, Saru was serving as the Chief Science Officer on the USS Shenzhou, under the command of Captain Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh). After Commander Burnham committed mutiny and Captain Georgiou was killed, Saru was promoted Commander and became First Officer on the USS Discovery, under the command of Captain Gabriel Lorca (Jason Isaacs) . Although Saru had not yet gained the confidence he would in later seasons of Star Trek: Discovery , he proved to be a capable and compassionate First Officer.

Saru took over command of the USS Discovery after Lorca was revealed to be from the Mirror Universe, and he shared "joint custody" of the ship with Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) for most of Star Trek: Discovery season 2.

Saru commanded the USS Discovery for its journey to the 32nd century, and he was promoted to Captain. Saru later took time away from Starfleet to become a member of the village council on his homeworld of Kaminar. After the Dark Matter Anomaly destroyed Kwejian, Saru returned to Discovery as Captain Burnham's First Officer, retaining the rank of Captain but choosing to go by the designation Mr. Saru. As the first Kelpien in Starfleet, Saru had already made history , but in Star Trek: Discovery season 5, Saru accepted a position as a Federation Ambassador, adding another achievement to his impressive resume.

3 Commander Michael Burnham

Under the command of captain philippa georgiou & captain saru.

When Star Trek: Discovery began, Commander Burnham was serving as the First Officer on the USS Shenzhou, under the command of Captain Georgiou. After her subsequent mutiny, Burnham served six months in prison before transferring to the USS Discovery, where Captain Lorca assigned her as a Specialist in the science division. After Michael helped end the Federation/Klingon War, she was fully reinstated as a Commander and became Chief Science Officer on Discovery. At the end of Star Trek: Discovery season 2, Burnham wore the Red Angel suit to lead the USS Discovery into the 32nd century.

Michael Burnham was a fine First Officer (aside from the whole mutiny thing), but she truly excels at being a Starfleet Captain.

Captain Burnham arrived in the future a year before Discovery, but she later reconnected with her former crew and reluctantly accepted the role of Captain Saru's Number One. Michael served as First Officer throughout Star Trek: Discovery season 3, until she helped take the ship back from Osyraa (Janet Kidder), the leader of the Emerald Chain. Saru then suggested that Burnham take over as Captain , and Admiral Charles Vance (Oded Fehr) assigned Michael as Captain of the USS Discovery. Michael Burnham was a fine First Officer (aside from the whole mutiny thing), but she truly excels at being a Starfleet Captain.

With its time travel plot that saw Captain Burnham run into her past self, Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 4, "Face the Strange," illustrates just how far Michael has come since Discovery season 1.

2 Lt. Sylvia Tilly

Under the command of captain saru & captain michael burnham.

Sylvia Tilly began her Star Trek: Discovery career as a cadet aboard the USS Discovery under the command of Captain Lorca. After the end of the Klingons' War with the Federation , Tilly was promoted to Ensign and was placed on the command track. She continued on this trajectory until Discovery traveled into the future. When Captain Saru demoted Burnham for insubordination, he asked Tilly to be his First Officer. Although she was initially reluctant to take the job, fearing others on the ship were better qualified, Tilly's fellow crew members assured her she was the right choice as Number One.

After Commander Burnham helped take the USS Discovery back from Osyraa and became Captain, Tilly remained First Officer and was promoted to Lt. junior grade. Tilly then began to question whether she wanted to remain on the command track, and spoke with Dr. Hugh Culber (Wilson Cruz) about ways she could step out of her comfort zone. Culber recommended Tilly for a mission that involved leading a group of young Starfleet cadets. Although the mission quickly turned dangerous, Tilly successfully coached the cadets through it, and she later accepted a teaching position at the recently reopened Starfleet Academy.

Star Trek: Discovery Proves Starfleet Academy Show Doesn’t Make Sense Without Tilly

1 commander rayner, under the command of captain michael burnham.

Callum Keith Rennie's Commander Rayner joined the cast of Star Trek: Discovery for its fifth and final season, and the gruff former Captain has proven to be a breath of fresh air. In Discovery's season 5 premiere, Rayner held the rank of Captain and commanded the USS Antares, but was asked to accept early retirement after making a questionable call during a Red Directive mission. Captain Burnham, however, asked Rayner to be her new First Officer after Saru accepted a position as a Federation Ambassador.

Commander Rayner has proven invaluable to Discovery's mission and remains a highlight of Star Trek: Discovery season 5.

As a Kellerun, Commander Rayner's personality contrasts sharply with the more optimistic crew of the USS Discovery, and his command style is very different from Burnham's. Rayner has struggled to relate to Discovery's crew members and adapt to Michael's command style , but his advice and knowledge have helped save the day on multiple occasions. As Discovery races against couriers Moll (Eve Harlow) and L'ak (Elias Toufexis) to find the Progenitors' treasure, Commander Rayner has proven invaluable to the mission and remains a highlight of Star Trek: Discovery season 5.

New episodes of Star Trek: Discovery stream Thursdays on Paramount+.

Star Trek: Discovery

Kirks Starship Enterprise Returns In Star Trek: Discovery - With A Big Twist

Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Discovery Season 5, Episode 5 - "Mirrors"

• The Mirror Universe's ISS Enterprise, last seen in Star Trek: The Original Series' "Mirror, Mirror," makes a shocking return in Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 5.
• Star Trek: Discovery filmed scenes on the USS Enterprise set of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
• The ISS Enterprise now exists in the 32nd century, offering a new glimpse into the alternate reality of the Mirror Universe.

Captain James T. Kirk's (William Shatner) Starship Enterprise makes a shocking return in Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 5, but with a jaw-dropping twist - it's the ISS Enterprise from Star Trek: The Original Series ' "Mirror, Mirror"! Written by Johanna Lee & Carlos Cisco and directed by Jen McGowan, Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 5, "Mirrors," sees Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and Cleveland Booker (David Ajala) enter interdimensional space to pursue Moll (Eve Harlow) and L'ak (Elias Toufexis) and the next clue to the Progenitors' ancient treasure. What Burnham and Book never expected to find was the Mirror Universe's derelict ISS Enterprise.

Star Trek: Discovery picked up the mantle of the Mirror Universe from Star Trek: The Original Series , Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , and Star Trek; Enterprise. Discovery 's season 1's game-changing Mirror Universe arc introduced Emperor Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh), who would enter Star Trek 's Prime Universe and is now headlining Paramount+'s upcoming Star Trek: Section 31 movie. Star Trek: Discovery deepened the saga of the Mirror Universe, but the alternate reality's final appearance was in Star Trek: Discovery season 3. Thanks to Star Trek 's Temporal Wars , it's now impossible for the Prime and Mirror Universes to cross over in Star Trek: Discovery 's 32nd century.

Individuals who both time travel and cross from Star Trek' s Prime and Mirror Universes suffer a lethal medical condition, such as what happened to Emperor Georgiou.

Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Returning Cast & New Character Guide

Star trek: discovery brings back kirks mirror universe starship enterprise, the iss enterprise last appeared in star trek: the original series' "mirror, mirror".

The Mirror Universe's ISS Enterprise in Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 5 is the same Constitution Class starship from Star Trek: The Original Series season 2, episode 4, "Mirror, Mirror," which was the ISS Enterprise's only prior canonical appearance. The ISS Enterprise was trapped in interdimensional space and abandoned by its crew, who were refugees and freedom fighters attempting to flee the Mirror Universe for Star Trek 's Prime Universe in the 24th century. As Captain Burnham later learned, the refugees made it to the Prime Universe, and one scientist even became a Starfleet Admiral.

In Star Trek: Enterprise season 4's "In A Mirror, Darkly", the 22nd-century Terran Empire gained control of the Constitution Class USS Defiant, which crossed over and time traveled from the 23rd-century Prime Universe.

In Star Trek: The Original Series ' "Mirror, Mirror", the ISS Enterprise was commanded by Captain James T. Kirk who assassinated its prior Captain, Christopher Pike (Jeffrey Hunter). "Mirror, Mirror" saw the Prime Universe's Kirk, Lt. Uhura (Nichelle Nichols), Dr. Leonard McCoy (DeForest Kelley), and Scotty (James Doohan) switch places with their Mirror counterparts due to a transporter accident during an ion storm. Before switching back, Prime Kirk planted a seed with the goateed Mirror Spock (Leonard Nimoy) to take control of the Terran Empire and institute reforms to prevent the inevitable destruction of the Empire.

Mirror Spock's reforms were successful but ultimately weakened the Terran Empire, which was conquered by the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance, as seen in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

Star Trek: Discovery Filmed Season 5s Enterprise On Strange New Worlds Set

Star trek: strange new worlds was on hiatus after season 2..

Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 5, "Mirrors", was filmed on the USS Enterprise set of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds . When Discovery season 5 was in production in late 2022, Strange New Worlds was on hiatus after completing season 2 filming in June . ( Strange New Worlds wouldn't begin season 3 production until December 2023.) Sonequa Martin-Green, David Ajala, Eve Harlow, and Elias Toufexis shot on Strange New Worlds ' sets, which are located in Toronto where Star Trek: Discovery also filmed.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3 is in production, and the series has been renewed for season 4.

Star Trek: Discovery redressed Strange New Worlds ' USS Enterprise set to become the ISS Enterprise. Scenes were filmed on the Enterprise's bridge, hallways, and medical bay. Interestingly, by using Strange New Worlds ' Enterprise set, which depicts the USS Enterprise before Captain Kirk assumes command, Star Trek: Discovery season 5 establishes that the ISS Enterprise, which crossed into the Prime Universe decades after Star Trek: The Original Series , is the same ship as in "Mirror, Mirror" despite the very different interiors.

Star Trek: Enterprise recreated the sets of Star Trek: The Original Series ' USS Enterprise for the interiors of the USS Defiant.

What Happens To Mirror Universes Enterprise In Star Trek: Discovery?

The 32nd century just got another 23rd-century starship.

Captain Burnham and Cleveland Booker piloted the ISS Enterprise out of interdimensional space and into Star Trek 's Prime Universe with the help of the USS Discovery. Afterward, Burnham assigned Lt. Commanders Kayla Detmer (Emily Coutts) and Joann Owosekun (Oyin Oladejo) to fly the ISS Enterprise to Federation headquarters, so that the Mirror Universe's starship could be put into "storage". However, there are now fascinating ramifications to the ISS Enterprise existing in Star Trek: Discovery 's 32nd century .

Amazingly, the ISS Enterprise is also now the second 23rd-century starship in 3191 along with the USS Discovery itself.

Although the ISS Enterprise is obsolete by 32nd-century standards, it's still a bonanza of Mirror Universe technology that the United Federation of Planets has now acquired . This would certainly be of interest to Dr. Kovich (David Cronenberg). The 23rd-century ISS Enterprise is a window not just to 900 years ago, but also to the alternate reality, especially since the Mirror Universe is now sealed off permanently from the Federation. Amazingly, the ISS Enterprise is also now the second 23rd-century starship in 3191 along with the USS Discovery itself. Perhaps the ISS Enterprise will reappear and play a role in the second half of Star Trek: Discovery season 5.

New episodes of Star Trek: Discovery season 5 stream Thursdays on Paramount+

Cast Blu del Barrio, Oded Fehr, Anthony Rapp, Sonequa Martin-Green, Doug Jones, Wilson Cruz, Eve Harlow, Mary Wiseman, Callum Keith Rennie

Streaming Service(s) Paramount+

Franchise(s) Star Trek

Writers Alex Kurtzman

Directors Jonathan Frakes, Olatunde Osunsanmi

Showrunner Alex Kurtzman

Where To Watch Paramount+

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Long-lost first model of the USS Enterprise from ‘Star Trek’ boldly goes home after twisting voyage

The first model of the USS Enterprise is displayed at Heritage Auctions in Los Angeles, April 13, 2024. The model — used in the original “Star Trek” television series — has been returned to Eugene “Rod” Roddenberry, the son of “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry, decades after it went missing in the 1970s. (Josh David Jordan/Heritage Auctions via AP)

Joe Maddalena, executive vice president of Heritage Auctions, left, and Eugene “Rod” Roddenberry, the son of “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry, shake hands over the recently recovered first model of the USS Enterprise at the Heritage Auctions in Los Angeles, April 13, 2024. The model — used in the original “Star Trek” television series — has been returned to Eugene, decades after it went missing in the 1970s. (Josh David Jordan/Heritage Auctions via AP)

Joe Maddalena, executive vice president of Heritage Auctions, left, and Eugene “Rod” Roddenberry, the son of “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry, view the recently recovered first model of the USS Enterprise at Heritage Auctions in Los Angeles, April 13, 2024. The model — used in the original “Star Trek” television series — has been returned to Eugene, decades after it went missing in the 1970s. (Josh David Jordan/Heritage Auctions via AP)

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DALLAS (AP) — The first model of the USS Enterprise — used in the opening credits of the original “Star Trek” television series — has boldly gone back home, returning to creator Gene Roddenberry’s son decades after it went missing.

The model’s disappearance sometime in the 1970s had become the subject of lore, so it caused a stir when it popped up on eBay last fall. The sellers quickly took it down, and then contacted Dallas-based Heritage Auctions to authenticate it. Last weekend, the auction house facilitated the model’s return.

Eugene “Rod” Roddenberry, CEO of Roddenberry Entertainment, said he’s thrilled to have the model that had graced the desk of his father, who died in 1991 at age 70.

“This is not going home to adorn my shelves,” Roddenberry said. “This is going to get restored and we’re working on ways to get it out so the public can see it and my hope is that it will land in a museum somewhere.”

AP AUDIO: Long-lost first model of the USS Enterprise from ‘Star Trek’ boldly goes home after twisting voyage.

AP correspondent Margie Szaroleta reports on the return of the original model of the USS Enterprise from the TV show “Star Trek.”

Heritage’s executive vice president, Joe Maddalena, said the auction house was contacted by people who said they’d discovered it a storage unit, and when it was brought into their Beverly Hills office, he and a colleague “instantly knew that it was the real thing.”

They reached out to Roddenberry, who said he appreciates that everyone involved agreed returning the model was the right thing to do. He wouldn’t go into details on the agreement reached but said “I felt it important to reward that and show appreciation for that.”

Maddalena said the model vanished in the 1970s after Gene Roddenberry loaned it to makers of “Star Trek: The Motion Picture,” which was released in 1979.

“No one knew what happened to it,” Rod Roddenberry said.

The 3-foot (0.91-meter) model of the USS Enterprise was used in the show’s original pilot episode as well as the opening credits of the resulting TV series, and was the prototype for the 11-foot (3-meter) version featured in the series’ episodes. The larger model is on display at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum.

The original “Star Trek” television series, which aired in the late 1960s, kicked off an ever-expanding multiverse of cultural phenomena, with TV and movie spinoffs and conventions where a fanbase of zealous and devoted Trekkies can’t get enough of memorabilia.

This USS Enterprise model would easily sell for more than $1 million at auction, but really “it’s priceless,” Maddalena said.

“It could sell for any amount and I wouldn’t be surprised because of what it is,” he said. “It is truly a cultural icon.”

Roddenberry, who was just a young boy when the model went missing, said he has spotty memories of it, “almost a deja vu.” He said it wasn’t something he’d thought much about until people began contacting him after it appeared on eBay.

“I don’t think I really, fully comprehended at first that this was the first Enterprise ever created,” he said.

He said he has no idea if there was something nefarious behind the disappearance all those decades ago or if it was just mistakenly lost, but it would be interesting to find out more about what happened.

“This piece is incredibly important and it has its own story and this would be a great piece of the story,” Roddenberry said.

Thankfully, he said, the discovery has cleared up one rumor: That it was destroyed because as a young boy, he’d thrown it into a pool.

“Finally I’m vindicated after all these years,” he said with a laugh.

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Published Apr 26, 2024

RECAP | Star Trek: Discovery 505 - 'Mirrors'

No matter how bad things get, the one thing you always have is a choice.

SPOILER WARNING: This article contains story details and plot points for Star Trek: Discovery.

StarTrek.com

Previously, in " Face the Strange ," Moll and L'ak unleash a time bug aboard the U.S.S. Discovery, designed to paralyze them and keep them stuck as they're randomly cycled through time. Once they're ahead of Discovery and on to the next clue, they can escape the bounty on their heads and finally be free.

In one time loop, Zora informs Burnham and Rayner one of the outcomes they feared had come to pass — the Breen gained control of the Progenitors' tech and destroyed everything, leading the Kellerun to believe the Breen must be the ex-courier's highest bidder. Thankfully for the crew, they're back in the mix and only lost six hours. Plus, they discovered a warp signature matching Moll and L'ak.

In Episode 5 of Star Trek: Discovery , " Mirrors ," Captain Burnham and Book journey into extra-dimensional space in search of the next clue to the location of the Progenitors' power. Meanwhile, Rayner navigates his first mission in command of the U.S.S. Discovery , and Culber opens up to Tilly.

• Cleveland "Book" Booker
• Michael Burnham
• Paul Stamets
• Sylvia Tilly
• William Christopher
• Dr. Hugh Culber
• Moll (Malinne Ravel)
• Breen Primarch

• U.S.S. Discovery -A
• Discovery shuttle
• I.S.S. Enterprise
• Breen warship

In his quarters aboard the U.S.S. Discovery -A, Cleveland "Book" Booker contemplates advice given to him by his mentor and namesake, "No matter how bad things get, the one thing you always have is a choice." Book gazes at a holo of Moll — real name Malinne Ravel, the daughter of his predecessor — certain that she is capable of turning things around just as he had. Aware that Cleveland Booker IV saved his life, Book believes he owes it to him to do the same for his daughter.

With Discovery at Moll and La'k’s last known coordinates, Book makes his way to the Bridge, where Captain Michael Burnham gives the stage to Commander Paul Stamets and Lieutenant Sylvia Tilly. Though it appeared as if the couriers' ship left a warp trail which disappeared into empty space, adjusting the viewscreen to compensate for the Lorentzian coefficient in high-energy spectra reveals the presence of a fluctuating wormhole. Stamets states that it leads to a pocket of interdimensional space and is collapsing and expanding due to matter-antimatter chain reactions, likely caused by the Burn.

Captain Burnham surmises that the next clue resides within the wormhole, and Tilly notes that Moll and L'ak are probably in there, as well. Lieutenant Gallo, Commander Rayner, and Lieutenant Christopher brief the captain — sensors can’t penetrate the aperture, the opening isn’t large enough to fit Discovery’s saucer, and there’s no guarantee that they’ll be able to maintain comms contact. Burnham nods, ordering Lieutenant Linus to prepare a shuttle with boosted comms and fortified shields before requesting that Lt. Commander Gen Rhys place a security team on standby.

"Mirrors"

The captain's declaration that she will accompany Book on the away team draws Rayner's interest, and the two senior officers convene in the Ready Room. The Kellerun first officer expresses his view that he should be the one risking his life to lead the mission. She assures Rayner that she needs him on the ship and refuses to bring additional security with her, citing that the implied threat of armed guards would undermine Book's personal connection to Moll. Recalling the devastating future they had witnessed during the time bug ordeal, Rayner observes that it was only one possible outcome.

Captain Burnham senses there is more to Rayner’s unease and quotes the Ballad of Krul , " Serve it without a grum of osikod ." Though impressed by his captain's reference to Kellerun culture, Rayner still holds back. Burnham theorizes that his concern is related to taking the conn while she's away, and he begrudgingly admits it has been some time since he took the chair from another captain. The first officer makes eye contact, confessing that he doesn’t want his tenuous rapport with the crew to jeopardize the mission. Burnham reassures Rayner that she believes in him, leaving the demoted captain to swallow his protest.

Book joins Burnham to embark on their journey and pilots their shuttle away from Discovery . Relaxation floods the former courier's expression as he notes the craft is "purring like Grudge when she’s killed something." Hoping to emphasize his connection to Moll's father in the event they locate her, Book playfully shifts the conversation to the captain's temporal escapades when the time bug overtook the ship. Burnham makes a "my lips are sealed" gesture, only willing to disclose that she encountered some surprises.

The shuttle approaches the aperture, and Book plans to charge the impulse capacitance cells and release them into the drive coils to give the vessel a boost. Book offers a saying from his own culture, Never return from a hunt without enough bait for the Carrion Reaver . Burnham laughs off the "catchy" phrase, and the shuttle launches toward the wormhole's pulsating light. Turbulence causes the ship to tremble, and a bright flash overwhelms the two occupants.

Commander Rayner observes from the Bridge and is initially greeted by static. Burnham's voice cuts through the interference, informing the first officer that they made it through. Rayner’s relief is short-lived, as Discovery loses the shuttle's comm signal. He orders Stamets to the Science Lab in a bid to boost comms and conveys confidence as he takes the ship to Yellow Alert.

Meanwhile, in the wormhole, exotic matter has rendered the shuttle's sensors and holopadds inoperative. Book and Burnham narrowly dodge debris — "debris is not a good sign" — and spot the smoldering wreckage of Moll and L'ak's ship, or at least half of it. The nebulous environment clouds their vision, and Book wonders if the couriers survived. Burnham stands as she spots another vessel through the murkiness, its I.S.S. markings indicating it originated in the Mirror Universe. Shock envelops the captain's face as she reads its full designation — I.S.S. Enterprise* — and postulates that how the vessel arrived in interdimensional space must be "one heck of a story."

Book sees the Constitution -class starship's battered hull as evidence that it became trapped during a battle, and Burnham declares that it must have been ages ago — crossing from the Mirror Universe has been impossible for centuries. A shipwreck in a hidden wormhole sounds like a secure place to hide the next clue, though the captain is only acquainted with her brother Spock's U.S.S. Enterprise . They glimpse the other half of Moll and L'ak's broken vessel and assume that, if the couriers are alive, they must be on the Terran ship.

Back on Discovery , Tilly tracks an EPS conduit to a panel in Sickbay — after having followed it across three decks, including through the quarters of a new ensign who keeps a Cardassian vole as a pet. Sensing that Dr. Hugh Culber feels troubled, Tilly lets him know that she's always available to talk — at least until Stamets chimes in over the comm system to check on the status of her work. Culber maintains that he is fine and promises to find Tilly later, though his demeanor leaves her unconvinced.

In the Science Lab, Stamets notices that Ensign Adira Tal is undergoing some uncertainty of their own while working on their graviton pulse idea. The ensign rechecks their calculations for a third time, prompting the astromycologist to tell them that the time bug was not their fault. Rayner strolls in with confidence and requests an update on attempts to boost the comm signal. Stamets begins to explain, but the commander interrupts and states that he does not need to know how the cake is boiled. Adira is taken aback by the Kellerun culinary insight — Rayner assures them not to knock it until they try it — but Stamets presses forward with a proposal to hold the interdimensional aperture open. Unfortunately, there's a 43.7% chance that a graviton pulse would cause the aperture to close with the captain and Book still inside. Visibly frustrated, the first officer urges them to get the comm signal back.

Phasers drawn, Captain Burnham and Book enter the I.S.S. Enterprise 's bridge, which is adorned with Terran insignia and dimly illuminated by flickering lights and control panels. Intent on using the ship's sensors to track quantum signatures from the Prime Universe in order to locate Moll, L'ak, and the clue, Burnham pauses when she realizes that Book is standing at the science station — her brother's station, at least on the U.S.S. Enterprise . Though she had never met Spock's Mirror counterpart, she assumes he was just as ruthless as the Terrans.

Using a hack Book had previously applied on an Andorian transport ship, the captain successfully accesses the Enterprise 's sensors, and — after the former courier elicits words of praise from her — they detect that the intermix chamber has been ejected from the warp drive, all shuttles and escape pods are gone, the captain's log was erased, and the crew had apparently abandoned ship. Evacuation is a last resort in Terran culture, but the starship's damage was not terminal. The situation leaves them puzzled, but they turn their attention to the three Prime quantum signatures located in Sickbay — Moll, L'ak, and the clue.

En route to their quarry, Burnham and Book spy bedding, blankets, clothes, and other objects one wouldn't expect to find on a warship strewn about in the transporter room. Book gets a glimpse of the I.S.S. Enterprise 's dedication plaque, which itself bears an unorthodox phrase for Terrans, " Light of hope shines through even the darkest of nights. " The inscription describes the starship’s story, and Book relays that the new Terran High Chancellor had been killed while trying to make reforms. The crew mutinied, escaped, and attempted to shuttle refugees from the Mirror Universe into the Prime Universe, and a Kelpien slave-turned-rebel leader helped them. As she listens to the tale, Burnham picks up a locket and places a piece of her uniform inside of it. The mention of the Kelpien — likely Mirror Saru — catches her attention, and she supposes the crew fled when the ship got stuck within the aperture.

The pair continue on and move through the Terran ship's sparking corridors, only to be confronted by a batch of Moll and L'ak holo-doubles whose phasers are pointed toward Sickbay's entrance. Unable to determine which Moll and L'ak figures are real or target the room's holo emitter from their location, Book and Burnham rush their opponents and dodge a storm of phaser fire. They take out several holographic doubles before striking Sickbay's emitter, and the two couriers' true forms are revealed. Everyone heads for cover, but Burnham's diplomatic appeals don’t sway Moll or L'ak.

Book steps out from his concealed position. The captain follows with her phaser up, but Book tries to relate to Moll via their shared connection with her father. Moll grimaces with pain and anger as she states that Cleveland Booker IV was garbage, and L'ak holds up their bargaining chip — a device containing the next clue. Moll pitches a compromise; if she and L'ak are given a ride out of interdimensional space, they’ll let Starfleet replicate the clue. Burnham counters, bluntly replying that the couriers don’t have the clue. Referring to the decoy stanzas on Lyrek, the captain displays the locket she had procured and notes it has a Prime quantum signature.

The standoff remains steadfast, and Book draws Moll's ire when he guesses the couriers would not risk each other's lives over latinum. The exchange intensifies, and Moll contests that not even the Federation could lift an Erigah . Burnham recognizes the term, stunned to learn that the mysterious L'ak is actually Breen. An Erigah is a Breen blood bounty, and Moll and L'ak clearly hope to exchange whatever is at the end of the clue trail for their freedom. Book questions Moll about what they did to receive such a sentence, and the courier reflects…

…back to one of her regular visits to a busy Breen space station some years ago, where two helmeted Breen investigated one of her deliveries. Moll is unafraid when a third Breen approaches, introducing herself by quipping that she enjoys latinum and long walks on the beach. The Breen responds through his helmet's metallic speech processor, but rather than using the Breen sounds deemed unintelligible by most species, he speaks to Moll in her own language and accuses her of cutting her dilithium shipments with impurities. The human denies the accusation levied by "Green Eye," and the two square off in hand-to-hand combat.

Moll's lighthearted conversation persists even as they fight, and she points out that the Breen's belt insignia indicates he is royalty. Rumors have swirled that the Primarch's nephew — an independent thinker named L'ak — has been demoted to shuttlebay duty. Moll suggests that she can help L'ak get payback and admits she does cut the dilithium, leading the Breen to place her in handcuffs. Moll never relents, pitching that having a partner on the inside would make her operation go smoother. She senses L'ak is intrigued and faces him — she knows what it's like to be on the outside and alone — before slipping out of the cuffs. L'ak ponders why Moll would make a deal with someone she didn't know anything about, and Moll resolves to change that unfamiliarity.

Back in the present, Moll refuses to disclose what she and L'ak did to receive their bounty. Captain Burnham cautions them to not let love lead them down the wrong road, but Moll and L'ak opt to open fire once again. An errant phaser blast strikes a control panel, raising a containment field that traps Burnham and L'ak in Sickbay while preventing Book and Moll from re-entering the room. Book intends to resolve the dilemma with the Bridge's security controls and requests Moll's assistance. She agrees to the temporary truce, but threatens to dust Book if he makes one wrong move. They depart, but L'ak and Burnham stay put and keep their weapons drawn.

In another memory from their time on the Breen space station, L'ak receives payment from Moll and declares that her dilithium is clean. She quietly asks if he’d like to inspect her ship again to make sure she didn’t smuggle any tribbles on board, but L'ak's needs to shine his boots in anticipation of his uncle's upcoming inspection. The Breen clarifies that this isn't a euphemism, as the Primarch really likes their boots to be shiny. Moll thinks his uncle sounds like an asshole and brings up the promise that "Green Eye" had made during her last visit. L'ak delays, but Moll is adamant that he show her what he looks like. Though she has seen his face, she wishes to view his other face. L'ak seems self-conscious, and Moll maintains that both faces are a part of him. L'ak concedes, holding his breath and retracting his helmet to reveal his translucent green features. Moll greets him with warmth…

...however, aboard the Enterprise , Moll's demeanor is icy. She walks defiantly through the ship's corridors and rejects Book's appeals about her father. Aware that Cleveland Booker IV left Moll and her mother, Book shares that his mentor made the difficult choice to stay away from them in order to keep them safe. Moll emits a strained laugh, believing that Book must have his own "daddy issues" to have believed her father's story. Even though her father had promised to get his family off of Callor V and take them to a safe-haven colony in the Gamma Quadrant, he eventually just stopped coming home. Her mother was forced to get a job in the rubindium mines, ultimately falling victim to the harsh conditions when Moll was 14. Left alone, Moll tearfully emphasizes that L'ak is now the only person who matters to her.

Down in Sickbay, L'ak and Burnham retain their suspicious stares. Seated, yet still aiming their phasers at each other, they discuss the "power beyond all comprehension" that the Romulan scientist's diary and the subsequent clues would guide them toward. The captain warns L'ak what could happen if they Breen acquired that technology, and her observation that the Federation is all about second chances seems to resonate with him. Though Burnham promises she'd advocate for Moll and L'ak to serve their time together, L'ak is emphatic — he'd rather die than be separated from Moll.

On the Enterprise 's Bridge, the security system's firewall prevents Moll and Book from accessing the containment field. Moll pounds the console in frustration, but Book takes the opportunity to compare Moll and L'ak’s bond with the one he had shared with Burnham. With the exception of Grudge, who bites him when he doesn't feed her, Michael was the first friend Book made after Cleveland Booker IV died. He apologizes for what Moll endured because of her father and explains his troubled relationship with his own father, though Moll's thoughts continue to drift to L'ak…

…and to their time on the Breen space station. Concealed by a force field among the cargo containers, Moll and L'ak kiss. The human pauses, hesitant to mention that she received a new contract in Emerald Chain territory. L'ak calls Osyraa a butcher, but Moll responds that the Breen Imperium's faction wars don't make this region much safer. Her pursuit of higher paydays is a byproduct of her desire to discover the peace and freedom of the Gamma Quadrant paradise that her father had described. L'ak confesses that he only stays in Breen space because he has nowhere else to go, prompting Moll to propose he leave with her. The sound of footsteps interrupts the tender moment, and the Breen Primarch marches in with two Breen soldiers by his side. He disables the privacy field, his visored face locking eyes with the human.

With the memory of that confrontation fresh in her mind, Moll comes to attention on the Enterprise 's Bridge and knocks open a panel underneath the con. She creates a power surge to burn through the security system and short out the containment field, but her actions cause violent explosions to rock the ship. The Sickbay force field drops, though Burnham’s attempt to block L'ak's exit results in another round of fisticuffs that shatters glass and takes its toll. Book reports that impulse engines are overloaded and nav systems are fried — they have no control over the ship. Discovery 's shuttle becomes dislodged, tumbling away from the Terran ship and leaving the Enterprise eight minutes from impacting the aperture.

Book tries to develop a plan, but Moll aims her phaser at him. Nevertheless, Book is still determined to not let anything happen to Burnham or Moll. As a Kwejian, he lost his planet — everything that he cared about is gone. Though Cleveland was a "shit dad" to Moll, he was a great mentor to Book. In a heartbreaking tone, Book informs Moll that she is the only family he has left. He carefully picks up his phaser but chooses to hand it to her. She reacts with suspicion and directs both weapons toward him. Moll wrestles with indecision but opts not to kill him, a choice which elicits a sigh of relief from Book.

Burnham and L'ak's physical confrontation rages in Sickbay, but the Breen's reliance on a bladed weapon proves to be a tactical error. The Starfleet officer subdues him and retrieves the clue — the locket was a decoy. However, L'ak was inadvertently stabbed with his own blade during the attack. Moll runs in at this unfortunate moment, filled with concern for her partner and rejecting Burnham's plea to get L'ak to Discovery for treatment. Now a mere five minutes from colliding with the aperture, Book and Burnham speed off to the Bridge, leaving Moll to assist L'ak in Sickbay…

…and remember the moment when the Breen Primarch caught them together. As a guard holds L'ak, a second Breen strikes Moll. The Primarch prevents his nephew from intervening, then airs his grievance — L'ak carries the genetic code of the Yod-Thot, they who rule . While the Primarch campaigns for the throne of the Imperium, L'ak has been consorting with "lesser beings." His uncle describes L'ak's use of his more humanoid face as an insult to his heritage. The Primarch retracts his own helmet, gesturing to his translucent visage and proclaiming, " This is Breen." L'ak argues that their ability to change is a sign that both faces are a part of them, but his uncle claims they have evolved past a need for that form — holding it makes L'ak unfocused, inflexible, and weak.

The Primarch reseals his helmet and hands L'ak a weapon. His nephew must kill Moll to gain redemption. Resigned to her death, Moll tells "Green Eye" that their relationship was fun while it lasted, but L'ak elects to shoot the Breen guards instead of her. His uncle allows L'ak to place the phaser at his chest. Swayed by the fact that the Primarch raised him, L'ak only wounds his uncle. Alarms blare through the cargo area, and L'ak urges Moll to flee so that he will know she's safe. The blood bounty that L'ak just earned does not dissuade Moll from wanting him to join her. Holding onto his face, she says they can be happy together. L'ak voices his love for Moll…

…which snaps her back to the present, where L'ak reiterates his love for Moll in the Enterprise 's chaotic Sickbay. However, she is unwilling to give up and vows to get them out of this predicament. Meanwhile, Burnham and Book burst onto the Bridge and intend to activate a tractor beam. Book brightens the Terran light panels — "can’t save the day if we can’t see" — and winks at the captain as he takes the helm.

On Discovery 's Bridge, Commander Rayner asks Christopher for an update on comms. Naya interjects, reporting that something is happening at the aperture. A tractor beam can be seen emanating from within the wormhole, and it is oscillating with a repeating pattern: 3-4-1-4. Rayner grins in understanding and calls Stamets, Adira, and Tilly to the Bridge. The first officer doesn’t just need them to hold the aperture open, he also wants them to make it bigger — large enough for a starship. Discovery isn't going in, but their captain is coming out.

Stamets and the senior staff are perplexed by Rayner's announcement, and the Kellerun's reference to the Ballad of Krul doesn't give them any additional insight. Returning to the task at hand, Tilly affirms that such a procedure would require more energy than the entire ship can safely produce. Rayner pushes them for ideas, promising a cask of Kellerun citrus mash for whoever lands this solution. The Bridge is abuzz with chatter — inverting the deflector array would take too long, discharging the spore reserve would leave them unable to make an emergency jump, and pulling power from gravitational systems would cause everyone to float around… but replacing the photon torpedo payloads with antimatter would add fuel to the reactions already present in the aperture! Adira confirms that hitting it precisely with a sequential hexagonal pattern should keep it open for approximately sixty seconds. Rayner questions why it must be hexagonal, but Stamets points to him in a mischievous manner and notes, "It doesn’t matter. It’ll work." Satisfied, the commander awards the citrus mash to the entire Bridge crew and trusts that they'll make their only chance to succeed count.

As Captain Burnham sits in the I.S.S. Enterprise 's center seat, the ship's computer pronounces that only 60 seconds remain until impact with the aperture. Driven by the perilous countdown, she confesses to Book that he was one of the surprises she encountered while ensnared in the time bug's grip. She reflects on how nice it felt and how happy they seemed. Book offers an appreciative nod, but the pull of the aperture shakes the Enterprise .

On Discovery , Rayner orders a volley of torpedoes to be launched at the wormhole, and their detonations cause the opening to expand and generate even more light. The Enterprise 's tractor beam rattles the ship as it makes contact with Discovery . Book awaits Burnham's order to act and asks if he should "hit it." Captain Christopher Pike's signature phrase draws a quizzical and bemused look from Burnham, who replies, "Feels weird. Let’s just fly." The Terran ship's saucer section begins to emerge from the aperture, and its secondary hull clears it just before it collapses and releases a radiant surge of energy.

A relief-filled Captain Burnham communicates her thanks to Rayner over the comm channel, but she and Book then notify Discovery about a Terran warp pod being fired by the Enterprise . Scans detect two lifesigns and sickbay equipment aboard — Moll and L'ak. The pod launches and jumps to warp before it can be captured, though Rayner hopes to follow their warp signature and put out an alert throughout the fleet.

As the I.S.S. Enterprise and U.S.S. Discovery station themselves opposite one another in deep space, Rayner accompanies Burnham on a stroll through Discovery 's halls and compliments her on her "3-4-1-4" signal. The captain's message had referred to Section 4, Verse 7 of the Ballad of Krul , in which Krul calls to his war brothers for rescue with a repeating drumbeat of three taps, followed by four, one, and four. Although impressed, Rayner has doubts about how the mission played out. Burnham encourages him to take the win and relays that she is ordering Commanders Owosekun and Detmer to head a team and fly the Enterprise back to Federation HQ storage.

Discovery 's crew takes some much-needed downtime in Red's, where Culber follows through on his promise to confide in Tilly. The doctor leans beside her at the bar, and Tilly remarks that the day has left her feeling as if she has been through a gormagander's digestive tract. Highlighting the unique experiences he's had — dying, being resurrected, and staying present in his own body while Jinaal Bix inhabited it during the zhian'tara — Culber can only classify these events as "weird." Coupled with their current quest to find the technology that created life, Culber has found these questions to be both impossible to grasp and exhilarating. Since Stamets hates the unknown, Culber isn't sure how to talk to his partner about these emotions. Tilly advises him that the intellectual and the spiritual are not that far apart in the sense that they each bring understanding and can take you to new places. Initially taken aback by Tilly's use of the word spiritual, the doctor lets his friend's words sink in.

Captain Burnham welcomes Book into her Ready Room as she finishes reading a file on the Progenitors. There's no news about Moll and L'ak's whereabouts, but every ship in the sector is on high alert. She extracts a vial of liquid from the device containing the clue and shares that Stamets is preparing to do a full chemical analysis on it. Burnham secures the third object alongside the other two clues, which Book observes always seem to be presented hand-in-hand with a lesson. The ordeal with the itronok on Trill demonstrated that they valued lifeforms different from their own and the necropolis planet evoked the importance of cultural context, so why did a scientist leave the third clue on a Terran warship? 

The query draws a smile from Burnham, who discloses that the scientist had been a Terran named Dr. Cho — the junior science officer aboard the I.S.S. Enterprise . The captain had Zora search for the names from the vessel's manifest, and most of them had turned up in various Federation databases. The crew did make it to the Prime Universe and started new lives, and Cho herself became a branch admiral in Starfleet. The Terrans had hope, found freedom, and overcame the odds. Burnham supposes that those qualities were the reasons Cho returned to the aperture and concealed the clue on the Enterprise . Perhaps the lesson is that they can shape their future in the same way the Terran refugees had.

Book catches sight of the Enterprise getting underway outside of the Ready Room's viewport, prompting the captain to turn and gaze at the vessel. She brings up the time bug secret she had shared with Book when death appeared imminent, but he grins and acknowledges that they had been happy. Stamets' voice rings out over the comm system to let the captain know he is ready for the vial. Burnham grabs the container and makes her way to the door, but Book wonders what happens when they finally put these clues together. Captain Burnham concedes that she doesn't know, but she can't wait to find out.

* " Mirror, Mirror " — The I.S.S. Enterprise was last seen in this Original Series classic when a transporter malfunction sends the U.S.S. Enterprise crew into a mirror universe.

• Written by Johanna Lee & Carlos Cisco
• Directed by Jen McGowan

"Mirrors" features a dedication:

In loving memory of our friend, Allan "Red" Marceta

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Jay Stobie (he/him) is a freelance writer, author, and consultant who has contributed articles to StarTrek.com, Star Trek Explorer, and Star Trek Magazine, as well as to Star Wars Insider and StarWars.com. Learn more about Jay by visiting JayStobie.com or finding him on Twitter, Instagram, and other social media platforms at @StobiesGalaxy.

Star Trek: Discovery Seasons 1-4 are streaming exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S., the UK, Canada, Switzerland, South Korea, Latin America, Germany, France, Italy, Australia and Austria. Seasons 2 and 3 also are available on the Pluto TV “Star Trek” channel in Switzerland, Germany and Austria. The series streams on Super Drama in Japan, TVNZ in New Zealand, and SkyShowtime in Spain, Portugal, Poland, The Nordics, The Netherlands, and Central and Eastern Europe and also airs on Cosmote TV in Greece. The series is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.