Article contributed by Jasmina Demirovska
During Georgiou’s memorial service, Grey is finally revealing himself to Adira again. He apologises for leaving them, but explains that he did not know how to feel as it is not natural that only Adira can see and talk to him. He was simply upset.
In this moment Stamets gets the signal that they have found a life sign in the ship that has crashed and sent a distress signal just before the Burn. Everyone is shocked, as it has been 200 years since the crash, but Saru tells them that Dr. Issa has been pregnant, so it must be the child who survived. The Discovery immediately jumps to the Verubin Nebula to look for the ship, but the radiation storm is too strong for the Discovery to navigate through it. Book offers to go with his ship, as his is smaller and can morph. But even he has difficulties getting through it unharmed. He transmits the coordinates and finds a spot for the Discovery to jump to safely, and gets back to it. Culber has to tend to Book, though.
Meanwhile, Tilly finds out that the Khi’eth crashed into dilithium, because the planet is made out of it. Michael concludes that this planet has to be the source of the Burn.
Worry
Saru, Michael and Tilly talk to the Admiral and reveal what they have found. Even though the radiation is very high, inside the crashed ship the radiation should be low enough for the Discovery to save Dr. Issa’s child. Saru intends to accompany Michael during this mission, and leaves Tilly the command. Before ending the call, The Admiral tells Saru that the Chain is doing military exercises at Kaminar, Saru’s home planet. They think that it is a trap to lure the Discovery because Osyraa wants their spore drive, so the Admiral does not want to involve the Discovery.
Before leaving, Michael worries that Saru might not be fit enough to go on the mission with them because he might need to make a hard call when it comes to the Kelpien. Book encourages Michael to be there for Saru if he might need her. Meanwhile, Stamets argues with Culber, because he does not want Culber to join the mission, as he does not trust the Kelpien. According to him, the odds to survive that long are vanishingly small, so he suspects that there might be something wrong. But Culber wants to go because he sees it as his purpose to help a survivor that has been alone for too long.
The Planet
As they land on the planet, Saru, Burnham and Culber have transformed into another species and lost all of their communication devices, weapons and uniform. Michael has become Trill, Culber is now Bajoran, and Saru has become a human. They conclude that they must have landed inside the ship because the radiation would have killed them already if they were outside. Culber recommends to bring back the ship as scheduled within four hours, in order for them to survive. They hear a voice and follow it only to discover that a program has started. Saru tells the computer’s hologram what they are up to, and the computer tells them that they are in the wrong program. Burnham says that this might be the reason they have changed, because the computer thinks they are part of a program. They want to follow the holo’s lead to find the life sign.
By investigating further, they find the Kelpien and a closed door. The door starts to rattle as Saru explains the Kelpien why they are here. The Kelpien gets scared and runs away from the door, thinking that there is a monster inside. Culber thinks that the Kelpien is the only life sign here, so the monster has to be a holo. He cautions Saru and Burnham to be careful, as he might be mentally fragile. Burnham agrees and thinks that the Kelpien might not even know anything else but the program, so they have to deal with him as they would with a child. Burnham wants to stay and guard the door, while Saru and Culber look for the Kelpien.
Back on the Discovery, Stamets orders the team to get the shields back up so they can jump into the nebula again to get them. They can hear Burnham, but cannot respond to her. Tilly wants Stamets to take full power and get the shields back up, when they discover that a Federation ship is approaching them. Tilly hails them but they are not responding, only sending back the correct codes.
Holo’s and Su’Kal
Saru and Culber find a holo that shows the day Kaminar joined the Federation. The holo wants to help find the child.
Burnham goes into the room and finds the monster. She drops the stone she has been holding and introduces herself to it. It charges and follows Burnham. Burnham falls off the stairs but something drags her into the sky.
Tilly concludes that the ship that has masked itself as a Federation ship is actually Osyraa. Tilly orders to cloak the ship, making them invisible, but in this state they cannot jump if something should happen.
Burnham awakes to see the Kelpien. The Kelpien asks if she is a program and she says that she is one teaching the dynamics of social interaction. He thinks that the Outside might be dead because he did not hear of it for a long time now. Michael acts as if she initiates the program and the Kelpien sits with her.
Saru and Culber find an elder. They also find a drawing with a family of Kelpiens. The drawing is called ‘Su’Kal’ and they figure that this must be the name of the child. They ask the elder where Su’Kal might be. He reveals that Dr. Issa created the holos to raise and protect Su’Kal. There is a forest where he goes to when he is afraid.
Burnham tries to find out about Su’Kal’s past before the holos but he panics and goes away again. The mission crew finds radiation injures on their hands, so the time is running. The elder tells Saru that Su’Kal has to face his deepest fears or else he will not leave this place.
Losing Control
Osyraa hails the Discovery, but has not fired yet because she probably needs the ship whole. Osyraa tries to make Tilly uncomfortable and lose her confidence. Osyraa wants the ship, the crew and the spore drive.
While Su’Kal builds a totem to protect himself from the monster, Burnham, Saru and Culber watch him. Su’Kal’s scream destabilises the dilithium within the Discovery and decloaks both ships, meaning that he almost caused another Burn. Book leaves to get the others with his own ship, while Tilly wants to jump away from Osyraa.
In order to calm Su’Kal, Saru starts soothing him by singing a lullaby. The disruption stops which makes Osyraa hail the Discovery again. Tilly goes so far as to tell Osyraa that she will self-destruct the ship before she lets her get it. Two people have beamed themselves into the capsule where Stamets wanted to jump away and hold him. More enemies enter the ship elsewhere.
Book tells Michael that he is on his way. They suspect that something might have triggered Su’Kal as a child to cause the Burn. Saru wants Michael to stay on this planet to help Su’Kal not cause another Burn, but Michael says it has to be Saru. Because of the lullaby they have a connection. Dr. Culber wants to stay too. He does not want Su’Kal or Saru to be alone. They will die if Burnham does not come back more than a day later.
Book discovers Adira in his ship. They have beamed themselves there with medication against the radiation and take a pill. They beam themselves on the planet.
Someone puts a device on Stamets’ head which causes him to lose control over his own body and mind. Osyraa beams herself into the control room and takes the crew’s badges and control over the Discovery. She jumps away to Federation headquarters. When Book and Michael arrive at the Discovery, they are too late.
Overall Thoughts
Wow, what a twist! Finally, the cause of the Burn has been revealed. It was a bit unexpected for me that the cause was a distressed child. What made this episode interesting though, was not the reveal of the Burn in my opinion. Osyraa coming after the Discovery after seemingly leading the Admiral to the conclusion that she is at Kaminar and taking control over the ship when Tilly is captain made it exciting. I am really looking forward to see how they will beat Osyraa and take back the ship. Also, I hope that Saru, Adira and Culber survive on the planet and come back in the next episode.
