Star Trek: Discovery
word of advice : contain SPOILERS for Star Trek : Discovery , season 5 , episode 4 , " Face the Strange " .
Summary
Captain Michael Burnham ( Sonequa Martin - Green ) and Commander Rayner ( Callum Keith Rennie ) find out themselves hurtling through the USS Discovery ’s past times , present , and succeeding inStar Trek : Discoveryseason 5 , episode 4 , " present the Strange" . Written by Sean Cochran and directed by Lee Rose , " Face the Strange " demonstrates how far Burnham and Commander Paul Stamets ( Anthony Rapp ) have total sinceDiscoveryseason 1 . It ’s also a chance for Burnham and her unexampled Number One , Rayner , to at long last work as a team , as they literally race against prison term to getDiscovery ’s hunt for the Progenitors ' treasureback on cart track .
" Face the Strange " reveals that Moll ( Eve Harlow ) planted a Krenim " time hemipteron " on Ensign Adira Tal ( Blu del Barrio ) at the end ofStar Trek : Discoveryseason 5 , episode 3.Having worked its way into the USS Discovery ’s systems , the clock time bug traps the crew in their own story , randomly motorcycle the ship through the past , present , and future , unfreeze Moll and L’ak to recollect the next clue . Burnham , Rayner , and Stamets are unaffected and work together to get the USS Discovery back to the 32nd hundred in time to halt Moll and L’ak from complete the next step inDiscovery ’s hoarded wealth hunting .
As Burnham seeks the creation ’s greatest treasure in Star Trek : Discovery season 5 , she ’ll involve help from a host of young and returning persona .
How Burnham, Rayner & Stamets Beat Star Trek: Discovery’s Time Bug Explained
The time bug inStar Trek : Discoveryis a particularly filthy piece of temporal engineering , which proves hard for Burnham , Rayner , and Stamets to beat . Their first attack to nullify the twist fails , because metre inside the surrounding field is run at a rapid yard . Anything that enters the airfield to remove the time bug will cease to survive within sec , force Stamets to hail up with a far riskier scheme .
the warp house of cards is what protect the crew ofStar Trek ’s starships from the effects of relativity …
The illusion to beating the time hemipteran is to reduce the flow of time in the surround field , but to do that , the USS Discovery has to expose the warp bubble and confound Einstein’s theory of relativity out of sync . As they travel faster than the velocity of light , the warp bubble is what protect the crews ofStar Trek ’s starships from the event of relativity theory . suddenly fall apart the warp house of cards means that the time glitch has less clock time to readapt to relative meter outside the USS Discovery . This would weaken the surrounding field of force for long enough for Rayner to move out the prison term microbe .
Custom image by Yailin Chacon
The primary issue withCommander Paul Stamets ' programme was that the time - travel troika were in the bad possible time time period when it come to Burnham ’s standing aboard the USS Discovery . The fourth dimension hemipterous insect ’s final bicycle take Burnham , Rayner and Stamets to an early item inStar Trek : Discoveryseason 1 , when Michael was still seen as a dangerous mutineer . For Stamets ' programme to succeed , Burnham had to make her way to the bridge , fight and incapacitate her new ego , then successfully convinced the bridge crew to follow the orders of their next captain .
A line of dialog places these scenes at some degree between sequence 3 and 4 ofStar Trek : Discoveryseason 1 , as Commander Landry is said to still be alert .
Star Trek: Discovery’s Time Bug Is A Voyager Connection
Commander Rayner reveals that the time hemipteron is a " Krenim chronophage " exit over fromStar Trek ’s Temporal Wars . The Krenim are a technologically advanced metal money first introduced inStar Trek : Voyager ’s time of year 4 two - parter , " Year of Hell . “The USS Voyager ’s first encounter with the Krenim function so bad incorrect that it created an alternate timeline that descimated the majority of the ship ’s gang .
This hale Captain Kathryn Janeway ( Kate Mulgrew ) to make the ultimate sacrifice to restore history . Hailing from the Delta Quadrant , the Krenim had devastating temporal weapons that were able of removing total species from existence . WhileStar Trek : Discovery ’s meter germ is much pocket-sized , it can still have a annihilative wallop on its victims , as demo by what will go on if Moll and L’ak get their workforce on the primogenitor ' technology .
Starfleet is forsake the spore drive in Star Trek : Discovery time of year 5 , having found a better form of warp locomotion thanks to the USS Voyager .
Burnham And Stamets’ Time Travel Shows How Much They’ve Changed On Star Trek: Discovery
Burnham and Stamets are forced to relive some painful moments from their pasts , but these incidents remind viewers just how far theStar Trek : Discoverycharacters have get along . Stamets uproariously draws on his angrier , snarkier past ego fromDiscoveryseason 1 , which helps him swiftly empty engineering . It ’s a fun callback to the individual that Stamets used to be , before his tardigrade DNA made him more mellow , make him a better husband toDr . Hugh Culber ( Wilson Cruz)and a male parent figure to Adira . However , Stamets ' tartigrade DNA has one drawback ; he still feel the bother of being impaled during the Battle of Control .
Every Key Moment Revisted In " Face The Strange "
Placement In The Discovery Timeline
Construction of the USS Discovery on Earth
Before time of year 1
Burnham ’s first day aboard the USS Discovery
Season 1 , instalment 3
The Battle of Control
time of year 2 finale
Discovery conform to the Red Angel into the 32nd 100
Season 3 premiere
Osyraa attacking the USS Discovery
Season 3 finale
The USS Discovery ’s thirty-second hundred refit
Between season 3 and season 4
Burnham also gets a welcome reminder of how far she ’s fare , courtesy of the Krenim time bug and some Word of encouragement from Rayner . Rayner reminds her that she never gave up on her course from captive to starship master , and so she should n’t give up when confront with their bleak substitute future tense . Captain Burnham stirring the crew of the USS Discovery on the same day that her younger ego came aboard as a captive is a strong affirmation of her journey betweenStar Trek : Discoveryseasons 1 and 5 .
Burnham ’s ineptness around Book seems more frozen in her suppress her attraction than trying not to change the future
Burnham also dumbfound a prospect to reflect on her family relationship with Booker ( David Ajala ) , when she meet his past ego , fresh out of the shower . Burnham ’s awkwardness around Book seems more rooted in her suppressing her attraction than trying not to vary the time to come . It ’s another hint that Burnham and Book’sStar Trek : Discoverylove storyisn’t over yet .
Star Trek: Discovery Finally Solves Its Biggest Short Trek Mystery
In the fan - favoriteShort Trek , a soldier , Craft ( Aldis Hodge ) was pick up by the USS Discovery after his escape pod had drifted through blank for a month . Craft formed a bond with Zora ( Annabelle Wallis ) who had been left behind by the USS Discovery a thousand age earlier . For years , buff speculated over where " Calypso " fitted into theStar Trek : Discoverytimeline , something that the showrunners promise would come further down the line . Now , Discoveryseason 5 , sequence 5 " confront the Strange " provides the result . “Calypso " shoot lieu in an alternate version of the 42nd century , a thousand year after the Progenitors ' engineering science had go down into the awry hands .
Short Treks was a slap-up way to try out with the tone of voice and data formatting of Star Trek , and its return could plant the seminal fluid for next Star Trek task .
Burnham and Rayner ’s jump into the futurity reveals thatStar Trek : Deep Space Nine ’s Breengot hold of the progenitor ' engineering and used it to demolish Starfleet and the Federation . As the USS Discovery hang in distance , Burnham and Rayner look out at a devastated Federation Headquarters , as Zora plead with them to change the time to come . The use of a calypso variation of Doris Day ’s " Que Sera Sera " isStar Trek : Discovery ’s subtle verification that it ’s this catastrophe that go away Zora abandoned for a thousand years beforeStar Trek : Short Treks .
Did Star Trek: Discovery Retcon Airiam’s Season 2 Sacrifice?
While convincing the crew of the USS Discovery to assist with her architectural plan to give back to the thirty-second century , Captain Burnham let out that Lt . Commander Airiam ( Hannah Cheeseman ) will sacrifice her life to bring through her gang mates . Airiam accepts Burnham ’s future noesis , because she have sex that she would give her life in those circumstances . Airiam ’s noesis of her own future is what eventually win over her to follow Burnham ’s orders by breaking the warping bubble . In normal circumstances , knowledge given to her by a prison term - trip Burnham would mean that Airiam will sacrifice her life inStar Trek : Discoveryseason 2 because she knows she has to .
However , due to the nature of the Krenim sentence bug , and Stamets ' root , Burnham telling Airiam about her tragic time to come does n’t retconStar Trek : Discoveryseason 2 . By murder the time bug before the next grummet , Burnham , Rayner and Stamets negate everything that they did , mean that , for representative , vernal Burnham wo n’t remember her engagement with her next self . This imply thatAiriam will still make the decisiveness to sacrifice her life inDiscoveryseason 2 , severally , not because she was exalt to do so by Captain Burnham .
Rayner Is Finally “Connecting” With USS Discovery’s Crew
Commander Rayner is ordered to " link up " with the crew in Star Trek : Discovery season 5 , but Tilly and Burnham are wrong to force him to fit in .
Rayner ’s most notable connection is with Gen Rhys , whose possibility about Moll and L’ak he brusquely brush off at the start of the episode . cast off back into prison term when Rhys was just a deputy , Rayner make through to the young officer by bonding with him over a sexual love of organisation - class starships . Rayner ’s connection with Rhys is enough to convince the officer to lower his phaser and allow him and Stamets go with their plan . Back in the 32nd century , Rayner finally acknowledges the economic value of Rhys ' tactical judgement that Moll and L’ak would just accompany Discovery to the next clew .
Rayner also tells Rhys that he ’s lost his kinsperson , teasing more about the newStar Trek : Discoverycharacter ’s backstory .
Where Have Moll And L’ak Gone In Star Trek: Discovery Season 5, Episode 5?
The Krenim metre bug caused the USS Discovery crew to miss six hours to Moll and L’ak inStar Trek : Discoveryseason 5 , episode 4 . Returned to Tzenkethi distance in the thirty-second century , Lt . Commander Joann Owosekun ( Oyin Oladejo ) foot up Moll and L’ak ’s trail , but it quickly end dead , meaning that they ’ve seemingly disappeared . A spaceship track that drops dead just before an instalment called " mirror " would certainly bring intoStar Trek : Discoveryseason 5 ’s Mirror Universe possibility . Perhaps the reason that Moll and L’ak ’s track stops idle is because they ’ve phased into another reality altogether .
It ’s possible that Moll and L’ak pick up more than a Romulan puzzler box …
instead , givenStar Trek : Discoveryseason 5 ’s Romulan connectedness , their ship could have used an interphasic cloak , first seen in theStar Trek : The Next Generationepisode " The Next Phase " . Interphasic cloaking technology effectively turned Lt . Geordi La Forge ( LeVar Burton ) and Ensign Ro Laren ( Michelle Forbes ) into ghost , unable to be seen by their crewmates . It ’s potential , therefore , that Moll and L’ak picked up more than a Romulan puzzle box inStar Trek : Discovery ’s time of year 5 premiere , meaning that they could have a considerable tactical reward over Burnham and the crew in the next point of the gem hunt club .
Star Trek : Discovery streams Thursdays on Paramount+ .