Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Star Trek: Discovery Season 3, as well as for Star Trek: Picard and other iterations of the franchise.
The two halves of Terra Firma gave us quite a lot to work with, but with only three episodes left before Season 3 is over, Discovery has a lot of work left to do to resolve major ongoing storylines. I’m ever so slightly concerned that we’re going to end up with a rushed conclusion, repeating the mistake Star Trek: Picard Season 1 made earlier in the year. Hopefully that won’t be the case and there will be enough time for every extant story thread to either reach a conclusion or set up the events of Season 4 – whenever that may come!
By the end of Terra Firma, Part II we’d seen two confirmations and three debunkings, so let’s look at those first.
Confirmed theory #1: Carl is the Guardian of Forever.
I got goosebumps when Carl announced who he really was – complete with the Guardian’s voiceover from The Original Series. Though the revelation may have been less interesting to new fans who aren’t familiar with The Original Series, I adored this moment and sat with a big dumb grin on my face for much of the rest of Terra Firma, Part II.
Though we could kind of argue that the inclusion of Sarek, Pike, and Una/Number One accomplished something similar in Season 2, the mystery of Carl’s powers and identity that we all had to sit with for a week is part of what made the ultimate reveal so exciting. I’ll always love when Discovery ties itself into past iterations of Star Trek, and this was perhaps my favourite connection of the season so far.
Confirmed theory #2: Georgiou will travel back in time.
Where did Georgiou go for the three months she spent seemingly in the Mirror Universe? Well, Carl seemed to suggest he sent her to some kind of parallel universe, but perhaps not the Mirror Universe she came from.
Regardless, Georgiou has now definitely gone back in time – perhaps to the 23rd Century, or perhaps to another time period as we’ll discuss in a moment. We don’t know where or when she’ll emerge, and given how final her exit from Discovery felt, I doubt very much we’ll learn anything about her destination until the Section 31 series is ready to go.
My earlier theory had been that Georgiou may have travelled back in time along with the USS Discovery, perhaps in a tie-in with the Calypso story that saw the ship abandoned. This now can’t happen, of course, and while I wasn’t correct about how and why Georgiou travelled back in time, I did get the overall point right!
So those theories were confirmed in Terra Firma, Part II. Next we have three debunkings, all related to Georgiou.
Debunked theory #1: Georgiou will accidentally change the future.
Although I wasn’t convinced that Georgiou had truly travelled back in time, one issue that time travel stories can encounter is a paradox. When Georgiou began making changes to the 23rd Century Mirror Universe, I wondered if we might’ve seen some ramifications for the future, perhaps something she and Burnham would then have to fix by restoring the true timeline.
When it seemed as though the Mirror Universe that Georgiou was seeing was different to how we saw it in Season 1 – with key players like Stamets and Burnham arriving at altogether different fates – it seemed at least a possibility. However, for Guardian of Forever-related reasons, nothing Georgiou did appears to have altered the 32nd Century, and as of the moment she left, everything was exactly where it should be.
Debunked theory #2: Georgiou didn’t travel back in time or to the Mirror Universe.
As discussed above, it wasn’t 100% clear where and when Georgiou spent her time over the last two episodes. But she did, according to Carl, travel back in time and to a different universe – whether or not it’s the Mirror Universe is up for debate.
I postulated this theory because of the major narrative differences between the setting Georgiou occupied and what we know of the history of the Mirror Universe and some familiar characters from Season 1. I doubt the series will revisit any of these points in future, and it seems as though the ultimate explanation for why things are different is because she was in a different universe either created or accessed by the Guardian of Forever. I’m okay with that, as it doesn’t create any major inconsistencies.
Debunked theory #3: Georgiou had been tampered with by the Federation (or Section 31).
Despite being in the 32nd Century for at least a few weeks before Discovery found Federation HQ, Georgiou’s technobabble health problems did not emerge until immediately after her meeting with the mysterious Kovich. This led me to theorise that he could be a Section 31 operative and may be responsible for the sudden decline in her wellbeing.
However, it seems that this was a deliberate false lead, as Kovich not only was not implicated in making Georgiou ill, he actively consulted with Dr Culber and offered his expertise when asked. He knew more than he let on, both to Georgiou and Starfleet, but he was not responsible for harming her.
So those theories were debunked. Now let’s dive into the main list, beginning with a special bonus theory!
Bonus theory: Four ideas for Georgiou’s destination.
Georgiou’s destination, both in space and time, was left deliberately unanswered in Terra Firma, Part II. Carl told us he was sending her “to a time when the Mirror Universe and the Prime Universe were still aligned.” That’s an interesting statement, and could be interpreted in a lot of ways. We are very unlikely to know for sure where and when Georgiou ends up until she returns to our screens in the upcoming Section 31 series – but naturally, I have a few ideas.
The 21st Century
The reason why this one seems unlikely right now is because a Star Trek show set even earlier in the timeline than Enterprise would be difficult to produce. Enterprise depicted Earth’s first voyage of exploration, and while there were humans in space before Archer’s big mission, they were limited in speed and in the areas they covered. Thus, from the point of view of a Star Trek show, what is there to do?
On the flip side, the 21st Century is arguably the best fit for Carl’s ambiguous explanation of where Georgiou is going. We don’t know anything about the early history of the Mirror Universe, but if it’s true that it and the Prime Universe were once “aligned,” as Carl explained, the earliest known point of divergence between the two timelines is 2063 and first contact between Earth and Vulcan. In the Mirror Universe, after Cochrane’s warp flight he and his followers massacred the Vulcans who arrived on Earth, before humanity conquered their homeworld and founded the Terran Empire.
If this is truly the point of divergence, sending Georgiou to the 21st Century could fit with what Carl said. It could also mean that the Section 31 series depicts the creation of the organisation, and we could learn that Georgiou was its first leader.
The 23rd Century
The most likely destination based simply on what we know of the Section 31 series. It would also return Georgiou to her own time, thus curing her technobabble ailment. A return to the 23rd Century would allow for the return of characters like Ash Tyler, and we could even see a crossover with Strange New Worlds reuniting Georgiou with Captain Pike.
A series set in this era would depict Section 31 going underground, transforming itself into the clandestine outfit we first encountered in Deep Space Nine. However, the Mirror and Prime Universes are certainly not “aligned,” as Carl put it, in the 23rd Century, so could that be a hint that Georgiou is headed elsewhere? If not, how will that be explained?
The dawn of the 25th Century
The Mirror Universe episodes from Deep Space Nine showed a far less “Terran” group of Terrans fighting for their freedom against a Klingon-Cardassian alliance. Perhaps this change in the Terrans continued, leaving the Prime and Mirror Universes in something close to alignment by the late 24th Century.
This would have the benefit of connecting the Section 31 series with Star Trek: Picard – and any future shows or films set in that same era. There could be crossovers with Picard, and we could see major connections between Star Trek’s different ongoing timelines. Is it likely? Well, I’m not so sure. I think you have to squeeze the semantics of Carl’s statement a little too much, plus it connects only to a handful of Deep Space Nine episodes that most audiences wouldn’t be familiar with. But it’s not impossible.
The 27th Century
Kovich told us in Die Trying that there hadn’t been a crossover between the two universes in “five hundred years,” which would mean the last time it was possible would have been in or around the 27th Century. Does that mean the two universes were “aligned” at that point? Well no, but it could be argued that they were.
The drawback to this idea, like with the 21st Century above, is that it would isolate the Section 31 series in yet another time period, splitting up the ongoing Star Trek projects. There’s also no compelling reason to visit the 27th Century – very few of characters from other Star Trek shows could be alive, and nothing major seems to have happened in this era, which takes place after everything else in Star Trek yet before the Temporal Wars and the Burn brought the Federation to the brink.
So those are four ideas for where (and when) Georgiou might be headed. Now let’s get into the main theory list.
Number 1: Saru, Burnham, or somebody else will use the Guardian of Forever to send the USS Discovery back in time.
The Red Angel suit may have been the last remaining piece of technology capable of time-travel – if we’re to believe the Federation’s claims that nobody violates the ban! But now that the Guardian of Forever has been rediscovered, the potential for travel through time is once again on the agenda. Whether Burnham explained exactly what happened to Saru, and if she did, whether he will explain it to Starfleet is not clear, but even if they’re the only ones who know about the Guardian, they may have need of its services.
When considering the story of Calypso, particularly how the USS Discovery came to be abandoned in a nebula, the big question is “why.” Why would Saru, Vance, or Burnham feel a need to take the ship back in time and hide it? There is no obvious reason right now, and with only three episodes to go if a major new problem were to emerge it could end up feeling rushed or like a deus ex machina.
Regardless, it’s at least possible that Discovery will travel back in time. And right now, one of the only ways that could happen would be to make use of the Guardian of Forever.
Number 2: The Emerald Chain will attempt to steal the USS Discovery and/or the Spore Drive.
Admiral Vance was incredibly worried about Book’s use of an Emerald Chain signal booster on board Discovery, fearing that the untested technology could cause problems. It seems this macguffin could be a “backdoor” into Discovery’s systems, or perhaps some kind of tracking device that could allow the Emerald Chain to find the ship – and its Spore Drive. Spoiler warning for anyone who missed the promo for episode 11, but it seems that at least one Emerald Chain ship will show up.
Additionally, in The Sanctuary Ryn confided in Tilly that the reason Osyraa – the Emerald Chain’s leader – is so keen to recover him is because he knows their biggest secret: the Emerald Chain is running out of dilithium. This will undoubtedly make the faction more aggressive as it looks to shore up its position, but now that they’ve seen Discovery able to jump to Kwejian, perhaps Osyraa and her people will begin to suspect that the ship has a powerful new method of propulsion.
Admiral Vance told Starfleet’s senior officers about the Spore Drive in Scavengers, and I picked up at least a hint that not everyone was happy about this disruption to the established hierarchy of Starfleet. Could someone within Starfleet – such as Lieutenant Willa – have passed along to the Emerald Chain details of the USS Discovery?
Number 3: The Emerald Chain will attack Federation HQ.
Obviously this theory and the one above can’t both be true! But if the Emerald Chain is moving, Federation HQ seems a logical target. The Emerald Chain is planning “military exercises,” according to Starfleet. Both Starfleet and Book’s courier friends believe this is code for some kind of larger-scale military engagement.
Clearly the Emerald Chain story thread needs to be wrapped up somehow – by defeating them militarily or coming to a negotiated settlement – so perhaps this is the moment they make their move.
Right now it seems as though the Emerald Chain will go after Discovery, but it’s possible that’s a deliberate misdirect, or that they’re able to wield a large enough force to attack both targets at once.
Number 4: Admiral Vance is going to be killed.
If the Emerald Chain does make a significant move against Starfleet, I wonder if this could see Admiral Vance killed off. Though he returned (in holo-form) in Terra Firma, Part II, his line to Saru in Part I that he and Starfleet would “handle the Chain” in Discovery’s absence feels like something that could come back to haunt him. There was an air of finality to that scene.
We also know that Discovery looks set not to return to the fleet this week, pursuing its investigation of the Burn to the Verubin Nebula. If the Emerald Chain attacks in Discovery’s absence, Admiral Vance may not survive the fight. This could set up an interesting story – let’s look at that now!
Number 4A: Saru will become an admiral, and Burnham will assume command of Discovery.
As Georgiou prepared to step into the Guardian of Forever’s portal, she told Burnham that Saru is “not the only one suited for the captain’s chair.” Though this is the opinion of one character within the story, it was also very deliberately shown to us as the audience. Perhaps it’s simply to mirror what Prime Georgiou said to Burnham in Season 1 about setting her up for her own command, but there could be more to it than that.
If Admiral Vance and/or other senior Starfleet commanders were killed, as I speculated could happen, perhaps Saru would be offered the opportunity to become an Admiral. His different approach to command that we’ve seen this season could benefit Starfleet, and even if Vance survives, he may ask Saru to join him at the head of Starfleet. Saru, as someone from a different era and as a Kelpien, brings a unique perspective that Starfleet Command would certainly benefit from if they move to begin rebuilding the Federation.
Saru’s promotion would leave yet another vacancy in the captain’s chair of Discovery. Tilly had been appointed acting first officer a few episodes ago, but there’s no way she could assume command of the ship on a permanent basis. Given that this is Star Trek: Discovery, and Burnham has such a prominent role in the series, she is the only candidate.
In my opinion, after Burnham’s awful character regression midway through the season, Discovery will have to work incredibly hard over these final three episodes to make such an appointment feel plausible. However, it can be done, and we’ve seen Burnham do a lot better over the last couple of weeks. Burnham assuming command always felt like a destination the series was trying to reach – could this be the moment it gets there?
Number 5: Dr Issa is a descendant of Saru’s sister Siranna.
The revelation that a Kelpien ship was responsible for at least part of the Federation distress signal in the Verubin Nebula was interesting, and had a great effect on Captain Saru. It was the first he’d seen of his people since arriving in the 32nd Century. When Dr Issa – the Kelpien scientist who sent the distress signal – first appeared, I genuinely thought we were seeing Siranna, Saru’s sister who was introduced in the Short Treks episode The Brightest Star and who reappeared in Season 2 of Discovery last year.
The reason for this is that Siranna and Dr Issa are both portrayed by the same actress (Hannah Spear) and thus look very similar. It remains a (remote) possibility that the two characters could be one and the same – either through time-travel shenanigans or perhaps because post-vahar’ai Kelpiens are especially long-lived, but what I think is more likely is that a familial connection will be revealed – Dr Issa will be a distant relation to Saru through his sister.
The reason for this is primarily production-side: why bring back the same actress to portray a Kelpien, and have the characters look practically identical, if there isn’t meant to be a connection? From a story point of view it could give Saru a dilemma – saving the Kelpien ship versus aiding Starfleet, for example – or it could give him a deeper emotional connection to the stranded ship than he would otherwise have.
Number 6: A time-travelling (or parallel universe) USS Discovery is at the centre of the nebula – and may be responsible for the Burn.
Should these next three theories about the Verubin Nebula that I posited a couple of weeks ago be considered debunked? After all, we have the revelation of the Kelpien ship being in the nebula to contend with now, and that could be the beginning of the end for the Burn mystery.
I’m not convinced, though, at least not yet, that there isn’t more going on in the Verubin Nebula. We don’t know anything about the nebula or what’s inside it, and the existence of a Kelpien ship doesn’t rule out the possible existence of the USS Discovery or any other vessel. We know, in fact, that a Starfleet ship was en route to the Verubin Nebula to assist Dr Issa, so there may be at least one more ship in there, and we don’t know the nature of the “dilithium nursery” the Kelpiens were investigating or what became of it.
In the Short Treks episode Calypso, the USS Discovery was found abandoned in an unnamed nebula by Craft. Craft was a soldier in a war against the V’draysh; an alternate name for the Federation in the 32nd Century. Zora, an AI present aboard the USS Discovery, told Craft the ship had been abandoned for almost a thousand years, and not only have we seen the potential creation of Zora earlier this season (from a merger of Discovery’s computer and the Sphere data) but in addition, Season 3 takes place 930 years in the future from Discovery’s original 23rd Century setting. If Discovery had been abandoned at that time, things begin to fall into place.
There are two possibilities for how it could be the USS Discovery – which, of course, has not been abandoned – in that nebula: the ship will be sent back in time, or it has crossed over from an alternate timeline or parallel universe.
Number 7: A familiar starship is at the centre of the nebula – and may be responsible for the Burn.
If not the USS Discovery, then who could it be at the centre of the Verubin Nebula? How about one of the hero ships from a past iteration of Star Trek? We could encounter the USS Defiant, the Enterprise-E, Riker’s USS Titan, or Star Trek: Picard’s La Sirena among many others. If such a vessel were caught in a temporal anomaly, that would explain their presence in the 32nd Century – and if time travel is involved, from their point of view the Burn may have only just happened, instead of happening 120 years ago.
It’s more likely, though, that any ship Saru and the crew find in the nebula would be deserted so long after the Burn – either abandoned by its crew or having become their tomb. If it is a familiar ship, we could thus see the ultimate end of a significant character (or multiple characters) from a past iteration of Star Trek.
The one exception to this could be La Sirena. This would be totally out of left-field for the Star Trek franchise, and keeping a lid on a secret this big would be difficult. But it would finally accomplish something I’ve been arguing for for a while: simplifying the Star Trek franchise. If La Sirena were discovered, along with Picard and his crew, Picard Season 2 could join Discovery in the 32nd Century. I don’t consider this likely, but it would be a fascinating way for the Star Trek franchise to go!
Number 8: The Red Angel suit is at the centre of the nebula – and may be responsible for the Burn.
Burnham’s Red Angel suit was last seen on Hima when she sent it back in time. She ordered the suit to self-destruct, but as we never saw the destruction on screen, what became of the suit after it sent the final Red Burst is unknown. Was it captured, intercepted, or damaged? Could someone have stolen it with a view to weaponising it? It’s at least a possibility.
The Red Angel suit was known to be incredibly powerful, and in an age where time travel has been outlawed, it may be one of the only ways to travel through time that still exists – making it a lucrative target for all sorts of factions.
If Discovery wants to present the Burn as an accident or disaster rather than a deliberate act, having the Red Angel suit malfunction could be one way of doing that. Rather than requiring a villain, the story of the season could instead see the crew unravelling a scientific puzzle, one which points to Discovery and her crew as the origin of the Burn, but in such a way that they themselves are blameless.
So it’s clear that all three of these Verubin Nebula theories can’t be true. And now that we’ve seen the Kelpien ship, it’s possible that none are true and there won’t be anything else to find if and when Discovery heads to the nebula. I’m not convinced of that yet; the Verubin Nebula and the Burn have been presented as complex puzzles, and I’m sure there will be more twists, turns, and revelations before we uncover the truth about what’s really going on.
Number 8A: The name “Burn” is derived from the name Burnham.
Connected to the theory above, if indeed the Red Angel suit is the source of the Burn, perhaps the name of the event is derived from the name of the wearer of the Red Angel suit – either Michael or Gabrielle Burnham.
The music within the signal emanating from the Verubin Nebula has – somehow – subconsciously embedded itself in people all across the galaxy. We didn’t hear everything Dr Issa had to say – her message was tantalisingly cut short as a result of decades of radiation and decay. If, somehow, Dr Issa was trying to contact Burnham, or was trying to report on her discovery of the Red Angel suit within the nebula, perhaps that could be how the names are related.
I speculated way back when I looked at possible Burn origins before the season premiered that it was, at the very least, an odd coincidence that in a show all about Michael Burnham there’s a disastrous event called “the Burn.” Could these two seemingly unconnected things actually be related?
I stand by what I said a few weeks ago: if it is somehow Burnham’s fault, calling the event “the Burn” sounds way better than calling it “the Ham!”
Number 9: Discovery Season 3 is taking place in an alternate timeline or parallel universe.
I’m tempted to retire this theory, especially after the Guardian of Forever referred to Burnham and Discovery as being in the “prime universe” this week. But even if this is the Prime timeline – the one which goes from Enterprise to Picard – it’s still possible that, with the involvement of time travel, this particular version of it has unfolded differently from the way it was supposed to.
If the Burn was caused – intentionally or accidentally – by time travel, surely from the point of view of the Federation, they would want to undo it to restore the “true” timeline. If that’s the case, most of the events of Discovery Season 3 could be wiped from existence – in the same way that the timelines in Yesterday’s Enterprise and Year of Hell were in past iterations of Star Trek.
Whether this would be a good way to go is up for debate. As a one-off story like those mentioned above, an alternate timeline can be fun to explore. But having seen Saru and the crew put in a huge amount of effort over the season so far to build bridges and begin to reunite the fractured Federation, undoing all of that and saying it never happened – or that no one besides Discovery’s crew will remember it – risks making these stories feel hollow and devoid of meaning.
I’m pretty much convinced that Discovery is in the Prime universe. Whether the alternate timeline stuff will pan out is still a possibility, though.
Number 10: The Burn was a superweapon – perhaps one the Federation or Section 31 built.
The discovery of a Kelpien science vessel at the centre of the Verubin Nebula is interesting, but it seems unlikely that such a craft would be carrying a superweapon – if one even existed! However, as discussed, Dr Issa’s craft may not be the only one within the nebula.
The Burn could be a superweapon – one developed by Starfleet or Section 31, perhaps designed to counter a galactic-scale threat like the Borg or the super-synths from Star Trek: Picard.
Both Admiral Vance and Kovich have stated that they don’t know what caused the Burn, and they don’t consider any of the many theories more or less likely than others. Kovich could be lying, but Admiral Vance certainly seemed genuine. However, given how long ago the Burn was, it’s possible the knowledge of what caused it has been lost or deliberately concealed, either by Starfleet, Section 31, or whichever faction was responsible.
It could also have been a revenge attack; some kind of galactic-scale mutually-assured destruction. If the Federation, Section 31, or some other organisation launched an attack against someone, the Burn may be that faction’s retaliation. That would explain the lack of an invader: they were already dead.
We’re edging closer to learning the true nature of the Burn. A superweapon remains on the table as one possibility – but the question it raises is this: were Starfleet and the Federation the target of the Burn, or its perpetrator?
Number 11: There will be a resolution to the story of Calypso (the Short Treks episode).
We got further confirmation last week that Zora – the AI encountered in Calypso – has been created. Kovich referred to it as “an AI,” and though unnamed right now, Zora herself became involved in the story. It was her intervention that sent Discovery to Dannus V in search of help for Georgiou – having pieced together the Guardian of Forever’s location from a combination of the Sphere data and 32nd Century Federation computer systems.
One thing that’s definitely interesting right now is that the USS Discovery as it appeared in Calypso no longer exists. The ship was retrofitted in Scavengers, and in addition to features like programmable matter interfaces and detachable nacelles, now sports the designation NCC 1031-A.
My theory is that, if indeed Discovery somehow travels backwards in time this season, the crew will very deliberately un-retrofit the ship first, removing any 32nd Century features to avoid polluting the timeline in case of accidental discovery. Discovery was in a nebula in Calypso – could that be the Verubin Nebula?
Calypso has been an outlier in Discovery’s story since it was broadcast in between Seasons 1 and 2. Having seen some elements from that episode cross over, all that remains is for the mystery at its core – Discovery being abandoned in a nebula – to be resolved. No small task, perhaps, but if this entire storyline from Calypso to Control to the time-wormhole to the Burn has been planned out properly, there’s no reason why we won’t see everything tied up by the end of the season.
Number 12: Tilly is going to go rogue.
One line which stuck with me from Unification III was when Tilly asked Saru if he chose her to be his first officer because he believed her to be “compliant.” He ducked the question, but it was at least hinted that he does indeed see her as someone who will do as she’s told. Having experienced the Burnham problem, perhaps that’s a knee-jerk reaction from Saru, and one which, if true, would make me question his judgement. But the line carried with it a potentially serious implication – Tilly may choose, at a certain moment, not to comply.
She may do so to assist Burnham in some way, and if Tilly were to disobey orders – as she stated she would in Scavengers when talking with Saru – I would assume it would be for this reason. But there may be something else that causes her to go rogue, following in Burnham’s footsteps. I can’t say exactly what it could be if not Burnham, but we’ve had two lines that can certainly be interpreted to say that Tilly may be less “compliant” than Saru hopes.
Over the few episodes since she accepted the role, we have seen Tilly begin to grow into it. This is undoubtedly a change to her character, but not necessarily a bad one. I still think, however, that there is scope for her to do something significant when faced with a difficult situation, even if that means going against orders.
Number 13: The Spore Drive will become Starfleet’s new method of faster-than-light propulsion.
SB-19, whether it caused the Burn or not, was an imperfect way to travel when compared to the Spore Drive. At present, only Discovery is capable of using the mycelial network, but that could change. What the implications of that would be on races like the JahSepp, who are native to the mycelial network, is not clear, but assuming it would be safe to use the network to travel, Spore Drives may yet be installed on all of Starfleet’s ships.
At the moment Discovery relies on Stamets as navigator; without him, accessing the mycelial network is not possible. But if, as was hinted at in Forget Me Not, it’s possible to create a non-human navigator, a major obstacle to other vessels using the Spore Drive melts away.
This theory would allow the resolution to the Burn to keep the current timeline intact – there would be no need to go back in time and undo anything, nor would there be a deus ex machina of a sudden discovery of a huge cache of dilithium. Instead, Starfleet could get back on its feet using the Spore Drive – finally finding a proper use for Discovery’s most controversial piece of technology!
Number 14: A character from a past iteration of Star Trek – such as the Doctor from Star Trek: Voyager – will make an appearance.
Technically this theory was proven in Terra Firma, as the Guardian of Forever returned from The Original Series! But the Guardian of Forever/Carl’s identity had its own entry on the theory list, so we can’t really call this one confirmed. Besides, there are still three episodes left for another character to appear!
Before Season 3 premiered I made the case for Voyager’s Doctor – or rather, a backup copy of him seen in the Season 4 episode Living Witness – being a prime candidate for inclusion. Aside from him, other characters I suggested included Soji (or a synth who looks like her), Lore, Captain Sisko, and Enterprise’s Crewman Daniels – the latter of whom was a 30th/31st Century temporal agent. Any of these could reasonably be alive in the 32nd Century, and characters who have long lifespans or are known to have spent time in the far future are perhaps more likely to appear.
If a starship from a past iteration of Star Trek is somehow within the Verubin Nebula, perhaps that could be how a crossover character is introduced. With time travel, temporal anomalies, and technobabble at their disposal, the writers could find an excuse to bring back practically anybody!
Having seen a tie-in with Picard via the appearance of the Qowat Milat, and the aforementioned Guardian of Forever return from The Original Series, it gives me hope that Discovery will find more ways to tie itself to the wider Star Trek franchise. A character crossover is a spectacular way of doing that, and as The Next Generation showed with episodes like Relics, the passage of centuries is no barrier to such a crossover in a sci-fi world. Until the credits roll on the season finale, I’ll keep advocating this theory!
Number 15: The ships at Federation HQ represent the majority of Starfleet’s remaining vessels. And they’re all 120+ years old.
How many ships were present as Discovery arrived at Federation HQ? Ten? Twelve? It wasn’t much more than that, that’s for sure. In a post-Burn environment, one where the Federation has shrunk considerably and where dilithium is in short supply, it’s possible that these ships are all that remain of the once-mighty Starfleet.
In That Hope Is You, Mr Sahil noted two Federation ships in flight, so perhaps we can say from his comment that there are at least two more! But I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that we’ve seen the bulk of Starfleet. Certainly the Federation seems incapable of either building any more ships nor fielding a large armada right now, which is perhaps one of the reasons why they need to keep their base cloaked.
Because of the catastrophic nature of the Burn, it also seems highly likely that shipbuilding facilities would have been damaged, destroyed, or would be inaccessible. That may mean that the Federation’s fleet entirely consists of ageing vessels, each one over 120 years old and probably not designed for being in service this long. In addition, without fuel what would be the point of expending a lot of resources building a new ship?
If the Emerald Chain really is on the warpath, the Federation may find itself outnumbered if these ships really do comprise the entire fleet.
Number 16: Burnham’s Red Angel suit has been stolen.
As mentioned above, the Red Angel suit – and possibly Burnham or her mother – could be responsible for the Burn, and could be waiting for Discovery at the centre of the Verubin Nebula through parallel universe or time travel shenanigans!
This has been a theory I’ve been pushing since Burnham sent her Red Angel suit back into the wormhole in That Hope Is You right at the beginning of the season. I was struck by a line in Die Trying: Admiral Vance described the Red Angel suit as being “inaccessible.”
Burnham goes on to say she set the suit to self-destruct, but all this did for me is reinforce the fact that we didn’t see the suit’s destruction with our own eyes. The finale of Season 2 confirmed that Pike and Spock received the final red burst in the 23rd Century, but beyond that we simply do not know what became of the suit.
Number 17: The Dax symbiont is still alive.
This one is looking increasingly unlikely, because the two locations where Dax could have appeared have both seemingly come and gone without them: most notably the Trill homeworld in Forget Me Not, but also Federation HQ in Die Trying. However, there are hints at a lifespan for Trill symbionts that may be exceptionally long, in which case Dax could very well still be alive in the 32nd Century.
Obviously we won’t see Ezri Dax (barring some bizarre time travel/stasis storyline) but the symbiont itself could have lived this long. When Adira “met” the Tal symbiont’s former hosts in Forget Me Not, one was wearing a Star Trek: Picard-era uniform, hinting that Tal may have lived 700+ years. There are production-side explanations for this Easter egg, and as stated the fact that two of the best opportunities so far to meet Dax have come and gone most likely means it won’t happen this season. But I’m sticking to my guns on this one: Dax is alive!
Number 18: The ban on time travel is being flouted – possibly by secretive elements within the Federation.
Admiral Vance clearly believes that the ban on time travel is intact and being followed. Kovich indicated that he does too – but I’m not sure how far I trust him. Is he an agent of Section 31?
Even if the ban had been obediently followed thus far, the arrival of Discovery – and more importantly, the Red Angel suit – could have changed that if someone were able to get their hands on it. We know from what Zareh said in Far From Home that Discovery’s arrival in the future did not go unnoticed, and that anyone with a decent sensor array would have been able to detect time travel. Could someone – possibly even someone within the Federation – have tracked down the Red Angel suit or entered the time-wormhole before it closed?
It’s impossible to un-invent a powerful, useful, weaponisable technology, no matter how hard you try. Considering how crappy the 32nd Century seems to be, are we convinced that nobody at all is using time travel to try to give themselves an advantage? Not the Dominion? Not the Borg? Not Section 31? Seems unlikely to me, though for production-side reasons of wanting to keep the timeline intact and to avoid overcomplicating the plot we might be told this is true!
The reappearance of the Guardian of Forever – although it remains a secret only Burnham knows for now – could mean that future time travel stories are on the agenda, even if this theory isn’t correct.
Number 19: Kovich is an agent of Section 31.
Who is Kovich? He doesn’t wear a normal Starfleet uniform, and doesn’t appear to hold a Starfleet rank. Yet he wears a Starfleet combadge and is clearly a high-ranking intelligence officer as he undertook Georgiou’s debriefing and has access to classified files that pertain to time travel and parallel universes.
It is at least possible – if not outright likely – that this mysterious character works for Section 31. Since we now know he hasn’t just disappeared and may well be coming back, perhaps we’ll learn more about him. We know he has an interest in the Mirror Universe and Terran society, expressing almost an admiration for Georgiou and her way of doing things.
Though his two appearances so far have both been connected to Georgiou, David Cronenberg has stated that Kovich may return in Season 4, and it’s possible we’ll see more of him before the end of this season too. It’s a shame we won’t get to see him and Georgiou have another conversation, because the way they talked around each other was truly fascinating. But there are many other ways Kovich could contribute to the story – or any future story. If, as speculated above, the Burn is somehow connected to Section 31, perhaps he could play a role in the way that mystery is resolved.
Number 20: We haven’t seen the last of Zareh.
Despite being quite content to kill all of Zareh’s goons, Saru balked at the idea of killing the man himself in Far From Home. Instead, he and Georgiou let him go, sending him out into the wilds of the Colony – despite being told by the locals that that’s a death sentence. However, we didn’t see Zareh die. And in stories like these, characters like Zareh tend to pop back up looking for revenge. His association with the Emerald Chain could bring him back into the story if they plan to make a move against Starfleet and/or the USS Discovery.
So that’s it. We’ve reduced the number of theories from last week ever so slightly! As we head into the final three episodes that was bound to happen, and with the Georgiou storyline now resolved, Discovery has three episodes remaining to either resolve the mystery of the Burn or set up a cliffhanger on that subject! Just because the first two seasons saw relatively self-contained stories that doesn’t necessarily mean the same will be true this time too, and if the Burn is as complex as has been suggested, perhaps three episodes – which also have to deal with the Emerald Chain – won’t be enough time to fully explore it. A season-ending cliffhanger is thus a real possibility!
Ever since we learned about the Verubin Nebula I’ve been itching for Saru and Discovery to get there. It looks like we’re finally about to see that happen, and I cannot wait! If you’re in the United States you’ll be able to see episode 11 in a matter of hours; those of us in the rest of the world have to wait a little longer!
Please remember that these theories are just a bit of fun. Some may seem plausible – or even highly likely – but that doesn’t mean that this is the way the story will unfold. I’m just a guy with a website, I’m not claiming to have any “insider information,” nor am I saying that the theories postulated above will come true. No fan theory is worth getting so invested in that the actual story becomes disappointing or upsetting. Personally, as much as I love feeling like I predicted something that later appeared on screen, I also truly love being surprised by Star Trek and other franchises. That doesn’t mean writers should make silly or arbitrary decisions purely for shock value, but it does mean that when a theory of mine falls flat on its face, far from getting upset I revel in that. If we could all remember to take fan theories with a healthy pinch of salt, maybe there’d be a little less toxicity in certain areas of the fandom.
Star Trek: Discovery is available to stream on CBS All Access in the United States, and on Netflix in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. The Star Trek franchise – including Discovery and all other properties mentioned above – is the copyright of ViacomCBS. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.
Trekking with Dennis 