Summary[]
Klingon leader T'Kuvma announces that he is going to reunite the different houses of his people, against a common enemy, the Federation. Captain Philippa Georgiou and Commander Michael Burnham of the USS Shenzhou are on a mission to help the non-humanoid Crepusculans, whose planet suffers from a drought. Almost unnoticed by the natives, the Starfleet officers open a well for them. A gathering storm prevents a transporter lock, so Georgiou orders Burnham to follow her on what seems to be a circle through the desert but is actually a big Starfleet emblem as a signal for the Shenzhou to beam them up. The Shenzhou proceeds to a damaged subspace relay at the edge of Federation space, near a binary star with intense radiation. The damage may have been caused on purpose by an object hidden inside a scattering field. Burnham takes an environmental suit to investigate the alien artifact. She is welcomed by what turns out to be a Klingon warrior that attacks her with a bat'leth. Burnham fires her thrusters and rams the bat'leth into the body of the Klingon.
The dead warrior, the so-called Torchbearer, is recovered by his comrades, led by T'Kuvma. On the Shenzhou, Burnham wakes up in a medical pod but interrupts the procedure to heal her radiation burns, in order to warn Captain Georgiou of the arrival of the Klingons. Although there is no evidence, Georgiou trusts Burnham's words and calls for reinforcements. Meanwhile on the alien ship, an albino Klingon named Voq volunteers to become the new Torchbearer and to "light the beacon". T'Kuvma, who was once an outcast himself, accepts. On the Shenzhou, Burnham calls her foster father Sarek to seek his advice how to deal with the Klingons. Sarek adopted her after her parents had been killed in a Klingon raid on the research outpost Doctari Alpha. She comes back to the bridge with a quite unusual proposal: to fire first, in order to earn the respect of the enemy. Georgiou declines. In the captain's ready room, Burnham disables Georgiou with a Vulcan neck pinch and orders the bridge crew to prepare the attack. As Georgiou returns with a phaser, many Klingon vessels drop out of warp...
Errors and Explanations[]
Internet Movie Database[]
Character error[]
- The Klingons load the corpse into a coffin to be anchored to the exterior hull of the ship. Per Star Trek: The Next Generation: Heart of Glory and Star Trek: Voyager: Emanations, Klingons do nothing to their dead, believing the corpses to be nothing but empty shells despite a belief in an afterlife. This could be part of their plan to destroy the Federation.
Continuity[]
- The tagline of Star Trek Discovery states "Ten years before Kirk, Spock and the Enterprise.." in the established continuity of Star Trek the Enterprise was already in service with Mr Spock as science officer at the time Discovery is set. Robert April was the first Captain of the Enterprise NCC-1701 which Launched in 2245 , If it is set in 2255 then the Enterprise is already in Service with Robert April or Christopher Pike in command. The tagline refers to the partnership of Kirk and Spock.
- Holographic communication was first installed on the USS Defiant during the series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, which takes place over 100 years after ST:Discovery. However it is commonly used in this episode. SeniramUK 16:27, December 21, 2018 (UTC) This could be due to DSC being set in a more advanced version of the Prime Universe than TOS
- Burnham's radiation exposure injuries are treated with an extended session of antiproton exposure. Per Star Trek: The Deadly Years the standard medical treatment for radiation exposure had been regular injections of an antiradiation medication called hyronalin for years. This could be an experimental supplement or replacement for Hyronalin therepy.
Factual errors[]
- When the Beacon lights up it takes seconds for Michael to contact Sarek and Sarek mentions "the new star". Earlier we found out the closest Federation star base was 1.8 light years away and the closest ship was more than twice that. Even if Sarek was on that base, it would have taken 1 year, 9 months and 18 days for the light to reach his eyes. Sarek could be looking at the star using some kind of subspace viewing device.
- When Burnham makes the call to her Vulcan friend, he states that a new star has been formed (in reference to the light the Klingon ship generates). Only a few minutes had passed and the speed of light is not fast enough to get the planet Vulcan or anywhere remotely close to where he is. For Burnham's friend to notice that light, he would have to be really close to her. (Within 89,937,000 km). That is less than the distance between our Earth and the Sun. Again, the star could be visible via the use of a subspace viewing device.
Miscellaneous[]
- Magnetic boots lit green when disengaged. This could be a standard visual indication to show the boots are disengaged.
EAS[]
- The storm was still 1h 17min away according to Michael Burnham, but wouldn't it have engulfed most of the Starfleet emblem made of footsteps in a dust cloud, by the time Georgiou and Burnham arrive at their starting point again? Wouldn't the wind that was already strong while they were walking have blown it away altogether? Depends on the depth of the footsteps!
- Real-time communication with Starfleet is possible from the edge of Federation space? Maybe with one relay destroyed the Shenzhou is close enough to other relays.
Wiki Users[]
Plot Holes[]
- A full Human - all be it one raised on Vulcan - being able to use a Vulcan Nerve Pinch, especially as the practice is - supposedly - unknown to Starfleet in this time period. It could be an incapacitation technique which merely resembles the Vulcan Nerve Pinch.
| Discovery Season 1 |
| The Vulcan Hello I Battle at the Binary Stars I Context is for Kings I The Butcher's Knife Cares Not for the Lamb's Cry I Choose Your Pain I Lethe I Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad I Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum I Into the Forest I Go I Mid-season break I Despite Yourself I The Wolf Inside I Vaulting Ambition I What's Past is Prologue I The War Without, The War Within I Will You Take My Hand? |