Tag: mirror universe

Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Star Trek: Discovery Seasons 1-3, Star Trek: Picard, and for other iterations of the Star Trek franchise.

Terra Firma, Part I was a fascinating episode. Though there was minimal advancement of the main storyline of the season, there were several new and exciting hints about things to come from which we can construct new theories. Though a couple of theories we had going into the episode now seem unlikely, we’re also not at a point where we can really consider any debunked, and with no confirmations either, this week the theory list will grow longer!

Let’s jump straight into the list, then, beginning with new theories and those which saw movement in Terra Firma, Part I.

Number 1: 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 2: The Emerald Chain will attack Federation HQ.

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, and surely the only target for an Emerald Chain attack would be Federation HQ. Why go to the trouble of telling us as the audience about the Emerald Chain’s movements otherwise?

When Saru shot down Book’s attempt to help, this felt all but confirmed. Though it’s possible that it’s a misdirect, I would question why such a thing would be included. 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.

I’m not sure that Terra Firma, Part II will see a huge space battle; with Discovery away at Dannus V we may simply see the aftermath when they return. But the Emerald Chain is clearly on the warpath, and while there are other possible targets, Federation HQ seems the most likely to me at this juncture.

Number 3: The Emerald Chain will attempt to steal the USS Discovery and/or the Spore Drive.

I mentioned this last week as a continuation of a theory I had that Discovery’s Spore Drive is no longer a secret. If the Emerald Chain is moving, Starfleet HQ seems the most likely target – but there is another significant one, and that’s the USS Discovery itself.

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?

Even if none of that happens, with Discovery jumping all over the galaxy – to Earth, Trill, Ni’Var, Federation HQ, Kwejian, Dannus V, and the location of the USS Tikhov – how long until the Emerald Chain notices? Obviously this theory and the one above can’t both be true, but I suspect the Emerald Chain has one of these targets in mind.

Number 4: Admiral Vance is going to be killed.

When Admiral Vance sanctioned Discovery’s mission to Dannus V, there was a strange air of finality to his scene with Saru, Burnham, and the others. Partly he was attempting to save Saru from making a mistake that he feels he himself made in the past, one which may have led to the death of someone under his command.

The Emerald Chain is clearly planning some kind of attack on Starfleet – Vance and Book appear to have all but confirmed this, as we already looked at. While the addition of a single extra ship may not have a huge impact, Discovery has the Spore Drive which could be a decisive advantage in battle – as we saw in Season 1.

Vance clearly knew that sending Discovery away was a risk, and I feel his line to Saru that Starfleet will “handle the Chain” without them will come back to bite him. It was set up that way, using a trope that’s familiar in action stories. One character will say to another, “don’t worry, we can handle this situation without you” only for that character to be killed when it turns out they can’t, in fact, handle it. That’s what this scene with Admiral Vance felt like, and I’m worried that he may not live to see the end of Terra Firma, Part II.

Number 5: Mirror Georgiou will inadvertently change the future.

I don’t believe that Georgiou has literally travelled back in time and back to the Mirror Universe. We’ll look at some other options in a moment, but suffice to say what’s happening to her on the other side of Carl’s mysterious door may not be all that it seems.

However, if I’m wrong about that, Georgiou has already begun to change the timeline. She killed Mirror Stamets – who was still alive when Discovery entered the Mirror Universe – and refused to execute Mirror Burnham, despite the events surrounding her betrayal and execution being confused somewhat compared to the established story from Discovery Season 1. If Georgiou is literally back in her original timeline, these changes could radically alter the future.

For example, if Georgiou was able to maintain her grip on power by defeating Lorca more easily, and didn’t end up aboard the Prime USS Discovery, all sorts of things would be different in the Prime Universe from the end of Season 1 onwards. The Klingon War would have ended very differently – or may not have ended at all. Captain Leland and his mission to track down Spock would have gone differently. The Control AI may have been more easily able to acquire the Sphere data. And many other moments where Georgiou intervened would have panned out completely differently.

How all of this will be resolved is anyone’s guess right now. Time travel stories are difficult because of the presence of paradoxes, alternate realities, and so forth. They can become complicated and convoluted very easily, so I hope the writers have a solid exit plan for Georgiou!

Number 6: Mirror Georgiou will travel back in time… but she hasn’t yet.

For weeks I’ve maintained that Georgiou will travel back in time. But as mentioned, I’m not convinced that what we saw in Terra Firma, Part I actually represents full-blown time travel. If Georgiou hasn’t travelled back in time, though, she may yet do so.

Whatever’s happening to Georgiou may trigger something inside her – a desire to return home. Having experienced a different outcome to certain events, she may wish to return to the Mirror Universe to set things “right” from her perspective.

Alternatively, she may need to travel back in time for some other reason. This could line up with Calypso, the Short Treks episode which saw an abandoned USS Discovery hidden away in a nebula. Georgiou could take the ship back in time – perhaps to hide it from the Emerald Chain, to alert Starfleet to the impending Burn, or for some other reason – then leave it in the nebula for the crew to pick up 930 years later.

Georgiou may even remain in the past – and as we know, the upcoming Section 31 series is supposedly taking place in the 23rd Century.

Number 7: Mirror Georgiou did not travel back in time or to the Mirror Universe.

Whatever’s happening to Georgiou on Dannus V is supposed to cure her of her technobabble ailment. Her condition was caused by travelling from one parallel universe to another and also travelling forwards in time, causing her cells to break down somehow. The mechanics of what’s happening to her and why are a little vague, but there’s enough to work with to say that simply travelling briefly to her own time and universe doesn’t seem like a cure.

Instead, Georgiou may be in a pocket universe (as seen in Star Trek episodes like Remember Me), or the events we’re seeing unfold may be taking place inside her head. It could be a simulation, a holodeck programme, or it could be connected to the mysterious Carl – he could be giving her a vision, like those Captain Sisko received from the Prophets.

We’ll come to Carl in a moment, but to stick with Georgiou’s storyline, one circle that needs to be squared is why the events she’s seeing don’t line up with Season 1 of Discovery. To me, that’s the biggest indication that Georgiou has not travelled back in time and across to the Mirror Universe. As I wrote in my review of Terra Firma, Part I, even though Discovery has taken a somewhat loose approach to the broader Star Trek canon, it has always remained internally consistent. Georgiou’s supposed execution of Mirror Burnham days or weeks before the events of Season 1 would undo that, as would the killing of Mirror Stamets. I sincerely hope that we’re not going to be told that Georgiou is seeing things exactly as they happened, because that would open up a plot hole in the overall story of Discovery.

Number 8: Mirror Georgiou has been tampered with by Starfleet and/or Section 31.

Despite what Kovich had to say this week regarding Georgiou’s condition, I’m not 100% convinced that he and his organisation didn’t have something to do with it. Even if they didn’t inflict this ailment upon her, perhaps he and Section 31 accelerated its progress or deliberately worsened it.

Kovich claims to have known that Georgiou would suffer this fate, yet chose to say nothing. That shows us he’s the kind of person who is quite happy to be dishonest – in this case, a lie of omission – and is thus less than fully trustworthy.

His uniform, mannerisms, and the way in which he stands apart from other Starfleet characters suggest he could be affiliated with Section 31, but at present that is unconfirmed. However, if he is with Section 31, that could explain the lack of morals required to either cause or worsen Georgiou’s condition.

The timing of Georgiou’s condition is suspect. She was fine after arriving in the future right up until she met Kovich. In fact the first indication we had that something could be awry was right after she returned to Discovery following her meeting with him, so in that sense there’s still a possible connection.

This could even be some kind of planned mission on Kovich’s part – causing Georgiou to suffer in order to track down Carl and the mysterious door on Dannus V.

Number 9: Carl is a “Guardian of Forever” type of character.

Who is Carl? And what’s going on with his mysterious door? Those are two of the biggest questions Terra Firma, Part I brought up. When I first saw Carl and the doorway, one thing I really appreciated was the oddness of the situation. Carl and his door felt like something that Kirk, Spock, and McCoy could have encountered in The Original Series, and feels like a mid-century sci-fi concept when compared with things like the Emerald Chain and the Burn, both of which seem like simple enough puzzles to find a technological solution to.

Carl, in contrast, feels kind of like the Guardian of Forever from the iconic episode The City on the Edge of Forever. His door is unexplained yet clearly very powerful – much in the same way as the Guardian of Forever’s portal was in The Original Series. Whatever Carl is, he represents an entity capable of wielding extreme power – or at least, power beyond what the 32nd Century Federation is able to detect.

Perhaps Carl is a Q; we have recently seen the Q referenced in Star Trek: Lower Decks, so the franchise isn’t trying to ignore the Q Continuum. In a way, I would be happy if Carl and the door weren’t over-explained. Leaving behind some elements of mystery that future stories could perhaps pick up would be one way to go.

Number 10: 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 last week 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 – it could have even crossed over from the prime timeline if Season 3 is itself taking place in an alternate reality!

Number 11: 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 12: 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 12A: 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 13: Discovery Season 3 is taking place in an alternate timeline or parallel universe.

Two key pieces of evidence which had seemed to point to this theory have since fallen away: the absence of Dr Gabrielle Burnham and the lack of explanation for the mysterious music. However, it could still pan out… somehow.

Burnham mentioned during her debrief that unexplained “gravitational waves” in the time-wormhole pushed her and Discovery off-course, which is why they didn’t arrive at the planet Terralysium. The acknowledgement of problems within the time-wormhole may indicate that they crossed over into a different universe or reality.

The second half of this theory is that the Burn happened due to the interference of a time traveller or time travelling faction. From Starfleet’s point of view, the timeline in which the Burn occurred is not the “true” timeline, and thus part of the resolution to the Burn may be travelling through time to undo it.

How does the existence of Carl and his mysterious door play into the narrative? Could he be indicative of being in a different reality?

Number 14: 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 15:There will be a resolution to the story of Calypso (the Short Treks episode).

We got further confirmation this 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 – perhaps because the Sphere had travelled there or knew about Carl.

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 16: 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 couple of 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 17: 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 18: A character from a past iteration of Star Trek – such as the Doctor from Star Trek: Voyager – will make an appearance.

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, 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 19: 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?

Number 20: 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 21: The Dax symbiont is still alive.

This one is looking less likely, 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 may mean it won’t happen this season. But I’m sticking to my guns on this one: Dax is alive!

Number 22: 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!

Number 23: Kovich is an agent of Section 31.

Kovich was a character I wasn’t expecting to see return. Though I’d speculated since his first appearance in Die Trying that he could be a Section 31 operative, his status as a character who seemed unlikely to reappear meant I hadn’t spun out the theory fully. However, now we know that Kovich is back – and may even be returning for Season 4 according to David Cronenberg, the famed director who plays the character.

So the question is this: 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. Depending on what happens with her after she crossed through Carl’s doorway on Dannus V, she may want to talk to Kovich again. We may learn that he and Section 31 either triggered or worsened her condition, as discussed above.

Number 24: 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. There are twenty-four theories in play as we head into Terra Firma, Part II later this week. The first half of this two-parter brought some genuinely interesting moments for Georgiou in particular, and there are many different ways the story could unfold from here.

There is clearly some kind of connection between the Federation and the Burn, but in what way and how the Kelpiens connect to that is still not known. Also up in the air is the storyline from Calypso; will we see Discovery abandoned in a nebula by the end of the season? And if so, who will abandon it and for what purpose? There are a lot of mysteries still to unpick as Discovery enters the final four episodes of Season 3.

One final note: no fan theory, no matter how plausible it may seem, is worth getting upset or disappointed over. I put these lists together for fun, and as an excuse to spend more time in the Star Trek galaxy, and that’s all. If something goes completely the opposite way I was expecting, far from being annoyed or upset I revel in that. That doesn’t mean writers should make arbitrary and silly decisions, but it means I like being surprised! If we could all remember to take fan theories with a healthy pinch of salt, there’d be less conflict in fan communities.

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.