During ‘Terra Firma, Part 1’ Georgiou finds herself in her own parallel universe, where she is still the Emperor, with this being the only chance for her to find a cure for her disease. Having the knowledge of Burnham’s and Lorca’s betrayal already, she gets Burnham arrested and into the agonizer, after a failed attempt to assassinate Georgiou.
Michael gets thrown into a cell, where she continues to tell Georgiou that she is weak. In her rant, Michael says that the Romulans, the Andorians, the Tellarites and the Klingons are forming an alliance to destroy them, called the Coalition. Burnham wants to attack first, but she gets thrown into the agonizer, because Georgiou thinks this Michael will only learn from pain.
Co-conspirators
Killy (this universe’s Tilly) enters the Emperor’s chambers to ask why Michael is not dead, yet. Georgiou wants to change the course of this universe’s future, and wants Killy to turn Michael into a loyal subject for her, in order to send a message to her co-conspirators, which Killy believes involves Detmer. In a monologue, Georgiou says that terror is love, but she wants Michael back. Georgiou has clearly changed throughout her time in the other universe, and she wants this universe to become better than they are now.
After trying to break Michael, Detmer comes to the cell to ask Michael to give in, because they cannot endure more and have not heard anything from Lorca. While Michael sleeps, Georgiou also visits her in the cell. She tells a sleeping Michael that she had night terrors as a kid and once sleepwalked into a field of fireflies. Georgiou then sets down a glass sphere full of fireflies, which shows that Georgiou actually loves Michael as her own daughter. Michael awakes and starts to eat for the first time since she got into the cell, although we do not know how much time has passed until then.
Burnham finally swears allegiance to the Emperor and apologises. This is not enough for Georgiou and she demands that Michael makes amends with everyone on the ship. Michael suggests to kill the other traitors herself to prove her loyalty, and is allowed to get assistance from Detmer. She kills Landry, Bryce and a lot more. After showing this to her mother, she also kills Detmer in front of her.
Burnham and Georgiou eat together in Georgiou’s chambers. Michael admits to not know the whereabouts of Lorca but wants to find him, because he left her to die. Georgiou tasks Burnham with the finding of Lorca.
Saru brushes the Emperor’s hair when he tells her that Vahar’ai is coming for him, so he might not remain in her services for too long, and wants Georgiou to be the one to kill him. But, as we know, Vahar’ai is not what he believes it is. Georgiou tells him that he will only be insane for a few days, and will be normal again afterwards. She tells him that the other universe’s Saru survived the Vahar’ai and even was a captain of a Starfleet ship. This Saru tells Georgiou to return to where she is from, because he suspects that she is not Terran. He tells her that so she can survive. But she counters that this is her home and she will change her home to what she wants and needs it to be, in order to survive.
The Showdown
One of Lorca’s top lieutenants, Duggan, sent a coded message to Lorca’s alias. They immediately travel to Risa, the location where the message is from. Duggan knows that they are here. They quickly disable his ship but keep him alive. Duggan sends a transmission where he tells Georgiou that Lorca has made new friends, mainly Romulans and Klingons. He wants them to fight against the Emperor together. They bring Duggan aboard and into a cell.
Michael kills Duggan and aims her weapon at Georgiou, while other traitors kill some of the Emperor’s guard which Georgiou foresaw. Killy and others were in hiding, and have now opened fire. Even the Kelpiens fight for the Emperor. Georgiou fights against Burnham. Georgiou kills Michael with a sword, but Michael also stabs the Emperor in her neck.
Back Again
Georgiou wakes up in Burnham’s arms. She demands to know who Carl is, and if all what she has been through these last months was real. According to the device on her arm, there is bio data for three months, so apparently it was real. But, Georgiou is not cured. Now Michael demands to know who Carl is, and he introduces himself as the Guardian of Forever. Another portal is opened.
Back on the Discovery, Stamets and Adira try to find more information about the distress signal sent by Kelpiens 125 years ago. Book enters and knows why they could not hack into the ship. He received a tool from the Emerald Chain that might help.
Michael asks the Guardian of Forever what he actually is and does. He says that he is in hiding, because as a space-time portal, people have tried to use him in wars to kill everyone else. Only the sphere data could track down his location. Carl tells Georgiou that she was not sent back to be cured but weighed and tested. To see if the time in this universe has changed her or not. Philippa tried but failed to save her daughter. But Carl says that she actually tried for peace and saved at least the Kelpiens. He opened this portal to help Georgiou this time, and wants her to walk through it. He wants to send her back to the time where the mirror universe and the prime universe were still aligned, thus curing her. Carl leaves.
Georgiou and Michael have to say goodbye. Georgiou tells Michael that she is thankful for her time here, and that they have changed her for the better. Georgiou steps through the portal and it closes.
The Admiral is not happy about the discovery’s approach to get the data with the Chain’s technology and warns them to be cautious because of their spore drive. He fears that Osyraa might get to it. He also warns Book to follow Starfleet protocol if he wants to stay at the Discovery. The Admiral gives Adira and Stamets the permission to use the tech under supervision. They end the conversation when Burnham beams back into the ship by herself.
Book quickly looks for Michael to comfort her. As she beamed into the ship herself, everyone that knew about the mission thinks that Georgiou is dead. Saru asks if Georgiou is deceased, but Michael just answers that she will never return. Dr. Culber makes a toast and Tilly follows, admiring that nothing intimated her, that she was always honest and a badass.
Overall Thoughts
In my opinion, this was by far the best episode in this season. I will definitely miss Philippa Georgiou as a character, as Michelle Yeoh played this badass (to quote Tilly) so well. This episode was full of twists, which could not be foreseen, especially with the Guardian of Forever. I am excited to see if the Discovery will need his help once more in the future, as only he can bring them back to their own timeline, or even help prevent the Burn.
