[narrator] Previously on Star Trek: Discovery:
What is happening to you?
I don't think I'm Ash Tyler, Starfleet lieutenant. Not really. Not anymore.
[L'Rell] We modified Voq into a shell that appears human.
We grafted his psyche into Tyler's.
I do not know where your Voq ends and our Tyler begins,
but they are both in jeopardy.
[gasps]
Only my hands can tend to him.
[screaming]
Logic tells me she's not the woman that I betrayed.
She's a ghost.
[grunts]
I have no future now. Find a way home. I will buy you some time.
Get her out of there.
What have you done to me?
[Tilly] If we blow the reactor core,
the resulting explosion will be pure mycelial energy.
We can ride it long enough
for the energy to activate the drive, then you can navigate us home.
We overshot by nine months.
If the map is to be believed, it appears the Klingons have won the war.
Captain.
Emperor.
- On your knees, slave. - This Kelpien is my captain.
Sir, I can explain.
Yesterday we dined on the entrails of his brethren,
and today you seek his favor?
Transport our visitor to guest quarters on Deck 3, and confine her there now.
You said there were no Kelpiens in the other universe. You lied.
I hoped to spare you the pain.
The presence of a Terran defector on this ship is classified.
Its utterance carries a penalty of treason.
- Understand? - Aye, captain.
[woman] Captain, your presence is requested in Sickbay.
With me.
[Burnham] I could offer excuses.
I... was trying to destabilize the Terran Empire.
I... I thought Starfleet could benefit from learning about an alternate universe.
Truth is, I couldn't watch her die again. I wanted to offer her more.
I am sorry.
Saving Georgiou may prove to be a grave error in judgment, but...
No one else could've done what you did aboard that Terran ship.
You are alive and we are home.
Any news from Command?
Federation ships have appeared on sensors, but none answer my hail.
Doesn't feel much like home.
Discovery suffered damage riding the shockwave back into our universe.
We are running on auxiliary power until repairs are complete. Deck 4.
Dr. Pollard has orders to alert me when Lieutenant Tyler regains consciousness.
An emergency surgical procedure proved necessary.
An attempt to excise the Klingon in Tyler's neurological identity.
How? What happened to him was completely outside the realm of sanctioned medicine.
Starfleet did not perform the procedure.
It was the Klingon, L'Rell.
- His torturer. - And handler.
She oversaw Tyler's transformation.
None of us are sure what state we might find him in.
I am hoping that a familiar face could offer him encouragement to heal.
How he reacts to you may offer us insight into who he has become.
Captain, he's awake.
Is that an order, captain?
- I fail to understand. - Is that an order, to see him?
No.
I'm sorry. I can't.
What are your findings?
By all assessments, the patient now presents as Ash Tyler.
Adrenal corticotropic hormonal levels are normal.
Cellular mitochondric counts are within human range.
I find no remaining evidence of Klingon aggression or muscular stamina.
So, is he human or Klingon?
[sighs] Neither? Both?
We can't be sure. Not without understanding the science
behind the reassignment procedure.
- And how do we do that? - I suppose we could start by asking him.
[woman] Ensign Taylor to the Command Deck.
[Saru] Tyler.
Mr. Saru.
Thanks for the save.
And Voq?
I can access his memories, but there's a disconnect,
like I'm watching someone else's life or something.
Do you remember what was done to you?
[sighs]
The Mo'Kai call it a choH'a'.
Species reassignment protocol. Specifically designed to infiltrate
classified Starfleet intelligence.
- Are there others? - Voq was the test case.
They flayed his skin...
cracked his bones open...
sawed his heart into pieces.
You think that'll be the worst of it...
then they shave down the tips of your fingers.
Voq was T'Kuvma's Torchbearer.
He submitted to the torture willingly at L'Rell's behest.
They were the only believers left.
Voq and L'Rell believed taking this ship would bring followers to T'Kuvma's house.
They were in love, you know.
Uh...
Will you cooperate with us, share everything you know?
Of course.
I would do anything to undo what I've done.
Is she alive?
Uh...
Specialist Burnham has returned safely aboard Discovery.
Thank God.
- Can I...? - Focus on your recovery.
- You both survived a harrowing ordeal. - Saru, I tried to kill her.
I murdered...
Dr. Culber.
- I belong in the brig. - Voq is responsible for your crimes.
I see no semblance of him before me.
[powering up]
Your privileges aboard Discovery will be limited...
but I will not take your freedom.
[chattering]
Vessel is approaching. Federation signature.
- Hail them at once. - Aye, captain.
Captain, its shields are up, its phasers are charged and targeting.
[alarm wailing]
- Shields up. - I'm picking up a transporter signature.
We're being boarded.
- Identify yourselves. - Hands where I can see them.
- [woman] Get back. - [man] Don't move.
- I demand an explanation. - We ask the questions.
Clear for transport.
- Admiral. - Where's Captain Lorca?
- Sarek, please. - Stand down, specialist. Now.
Computer, initiate command-level override.
Authorization, Admiral Katrina Cornwell, pi beta six.
[systems powering down]
[computer] Override confirmed.
Start with him.
[Saru] What are you doing?
What the times require.
My mind to your mind.
My thoughts to your thoughts.
Mr. Saru is who he appears to be.
The Discovery has been through... an inconceivable ordeal.
Then where is her commanding officer?
Captain Lorca... is dead.
[Cornwell] Bastard.
The Lorca I came up with was measured, he was reasoned.
I couldn't have imagined...
That Lorca was an imposter from an alternate universe
was not the most obvious conclusion.
We were all deceived.
Discovery was destroyed by Klingons nine months ago.
I saw the debris with my own eyes.
That wreckage belonged to the Terran Discovery.
The ships switched places when we jumped universes.
From what you say about the Terran Empire, no Starfleet officer
could survive that universe alone.
So, my Gabriel is dead.
Lorca sidelined the most vital asset in our fleet.
Now, with your return,
we've disseminated your hard-earned cloak-breaking algorithm
to the front lines,
which will neutralize the Klingons' ability
to render their ships invisible.
But our fear is it's too late.
The war here has waged on for nine brutal months without it.
Stardate 4789.6, Klingon vessels launch hypothermic charges at Kelfour VI,
burning off their atmosphere and killing 11,000 civilians instantly.
Stardate 4851.5, a cloaked raider tails the U.S.S. Saratoga
into Spacedock at Starbase 22,
then ignites its antimatter supply in a suicide mission.
Days later, similar assaults are carried out on Bases 19 and 12,
resulting in the loss of one-third of our fleet.
Research outposts at the border colonies of Nivalla, Septra, and Iridin
have also been destroyed.
The only children spared are now orphans.
There's no pattern to the attacks, no logical progression to their targets.
There's not even consistency of method.
In the absence of a clear leader, the Klingon houses are divided again.
At the start of this war, we fought one enemy.
Now we fight 24.
They quarrel among themselves, hence the indiscriminate nature
of their aggression, but their collective aim seems clear:
To compete for dominance
by seeing which house can destroy the most Federation assets.
We are fodder for their futile savagery.
Our deaths, their spoils.
Nearly 20 percent of former Federation space has been occupied.
Discovery will jump to Starbase I immediately.
All evidence of your recent journey will be classified and destroyed.
We cannot risk the knowledge of this alternate universe
- leaving the confines of Discovery. - I don't understand.
There would be too many possibilities.
[Sarek] Indeed.
Our people have suffered terrible losses.
What would you do if you thought that your dead wife, your lost child,
your murdered parents might be alive on the other side
and that a technology exists for you to see them again?
This knowledge must be buried.
Command will want this locked down.
Of course, admiral.
Starbase I is our only remaining sanctuary.
Can you jump us there?
Well, it's, uh, 100 AU's from Earth
and over a light-year from our current position.
We used up our supply of spores to get us home,
and I can't jump without them.
The journey at warp will be perilous. Klingons swarm the quadrant.
I'm afraid we have no choice.
Saru, take the ship to warp as soon as possible.
Admiral...
there's one more thing you need to know.
Emperor, the Federation has questions. I need you to answer them.
What kind of guest would I be if I refused such a simple request?
I'm told that, in your universe, your word is law.
- Here, we do things differently. - I can see that.
The resemblance is remarkable.
What do you know of your counterpart, Captain Philippa Georgiou?
I know that she is dead, and I am not.
But I will leave you to determine which of us has proved stronger.
[Cornwell] Specialist Burnham has assured us
that your arrival in this universe is without motive.
But your presence here remains complicated.
The solution, however, is not.
Send me home.
The emperor narrowly escaped a violent revolution.
- She deserves political asylum. - I don't need your protection.
We have charted a course for Starbase I. You will be held there humanely
until Command determines a proper course of action.
So, I am your prisoner.
[Cornwell] Look, Your Highness, or whatever you're called,
I'll tell it to you straight.
I'm not even sure we know how to send you home,
and even if we did, we have a war to fight.
I'm sorry. Like I said, you're our guest. Make yourself at home.
The resemblance is remarkable.
See that she's comfortable.
[door opens]
[door closes]
[woman over PA] Attention all cadets.
Duty roster is updated to reflect new rotations,
effective immediately.
Stamets.
I'm sorry.
Words... Words are not enough, and I know that...
but I am.
You killed a good man.
A man that I loved.
Do you remember that?
- I do now. - And...
does it gut you?
Does it sicken you?
Good.
Maybe you're still human after all.
[chattering]
[chattering stops]
[bell dings]
Excuse me.
You don't have to do this. I'm okay.
How could that possibly be true?
Just eat, and talk if you want to.
I'm here.
Welcome back.
[speaking indistinctly]
Admiral. Starbase I within range.
Well done, all.
[Bryce] U.S.S. Discovery to Starbase I, permission to initiate docking procedures.
- She'll be a sight for sore eyes. - Admiral, I'm unable to establish contact.
Reset our channels.
I'll override the comms restrictions manually.
- Detmer, drop us out of warp. - Aye, admiral.
- Bring Starbase I on-screen. - Aye, admiral.
No.
[Owosekun] Enhancing image.
[Burnham] That's a Klingon crest.
- House D'Ghor. - They've seized a Federation starbase?
- Scan for life signs, now. - [Owosekun] Complying.
- Sensing 274 Klingon life signs aboard. - Federation life.
Negative, admiral. There's nothing.
There were 80,000 souls on that base.
A large contingent of our leadership and at least three starships.
The Klingons are practically in Earth's backyard.
Captain, we're being scanned.
[computer beeping]
- Maximum warp. Get us out of here. - Yes, sir.
[computer] Long-range sensors to maximum.
[man] Maintain constant scans of Klingon contacts.
Admiral, Discovery awaits your orders.
Maintain current course and speed.
We will make contact with Command.
What's left of them.
[door opens, then closes]
You live.
You finally made it aboard the U.S.S. Discovery,
though I suspect you found the accommodations lacking.
Even from a cage, Kahless hears my call.
I do not subscribe to your ideals...
and yet I feel as though you and I understand each other.
T'Kuvma taught that all humans are without courage.
About this, he was wrong.
I wanna be truthful with you.
Your side is winning.
When we met, you had nothing but contempt
for the crumbling leadership of the Klingon Empire.
T'Kuvma sought to strengthen and unify the Great Houses.
If he has succeeded in only this, it is cause for celebration.
Your Great Houses are carving up Federation assets among their factions.
A captured starbase bears the insignia of House D'Ghor,
not of the Klingon Empire.
Is that the kind of unity your messiah proclaimed?
They think nothing of collateral damage caused by their brutal attacks.
They target civilians, hospitals, food convoys.
They slaughter innocents and inspire terror across the quadrant.
This is war, not a child's game with rules.
We fight to preserve Klingon identity.
No one is looking to destroy your culture.
Our laws are founded in equality, freedom.
T'Kuvma taught us that the Federation cannot help itself.
It seeks universal homogenization and assimilation.
T'Kuvma was an ignorant fool.
And your people are moving closer and closer to my home planet.
What are you looking for?
More territory? Conditional surrender? Your people won't even make demands. Why?
How does this war end?
It doesn't.
Klingons have tasted your blood.
Conquer us...
or we will never relent.
Thank you.
There's been a change of plans.
Another Klingon attack.
- You have to stay onboard a little longer. - It makes no difference.
One cell in this universe is as good as another.
- You heard your admiral. - We mean you no harm.
- The admiral... - Tell me about the Vulcan.
- There is a connection between you. - Why would you say that?
The way you look at him is not unlike how you look at me.
He's essentially my father. He raised me.
- So, you were orphaned here as well. - Another echo of fate between our worlds.
Your rule extends through every system in your galaxy.
You've conquered places Starfleet hasn't dared to explore.
I see now that the time for peace has passed.
I need you to tell me, how did you defeat the Klingon Empire?
I started this war, and I need to finish it.
Why did you bring me here?
Truly.
I wanted to show you a place of morality, of hope.
Let me tell you, daughter who is not my daughter,
in truth, you wished to save me because you couldn't save her.
This regret that you have for what you did,
it weakens you.
I feel it every day of my life.
The Klingons are like cancer cells, constantly dividing.
To root them out, you must destroy the tumor at its source.
How much do you know about Qo'noS?
I don't have to tell you it's the middle of the night.
I have a proposal.
I left Discovery only to learn that a Klingon attack is imminent.
They are gathering forces to launch a strike on this whole system.
The Klingons are taking the fight to us. We need to take it to them. To Qo'noS.
- Attack the Klingon homeworld? - [Cornwell] Not a simple attack.
A simultaneous strike on their planetary defense batteries,
immediately followed by the coordinated destruction
of all military targets planet-wide.
A single offensive so destructive
it will force the enemy to retreat from Federation space and head for home.
Our remaining fleet is being called back to defend Earth.
Discovery should join them.
[Sarek] Each path of logic leads to the same conclusion:
Starfleet tactics have failed us.
We must adapt if we're to have any hope of survival.
Qo'noS is uncharted territory.
We have no idea where their defense batteries are,
much less weapon-production systems or shipyards.
[Andorian] The planet's dense upper atmosphere prevents
long-range topographical and energy analysis.
No Starfleet officer has set foot there in this century.
[woman] Your strategy is a good one, but it's not feasible without a map.
By the time Discovery got close enough to begin surveying,
they'd blow her out of the sky.
She's not gonna be in the sky.
Let's go over it again. Qo'noS is composed of a subterranean series
of now-dormant volcanoes. It is a planet of caves.
Some of them, according to Specialist Burnham's intel,
are big enough to house a Crossfield-class starship.
Rather than surveil targets from orbit,
we can map the terrain from the inside out.
Thereby minimizing our risk of detection.
Jumping a massive starship inside a cave of impenetrable rock
does seem... challenging.
[Stamets] Travel aboard the mycelial network is in itself
a sort of advanced detection system of geophysical imaging.
I can easily identify the voids in energy
that would represent a chasm versus a solid mass.
And once we're in position within the cave system,
we'll release our surveillance drone to collect tactical information.
[Cornwell] Good.
I've assured Starfleet we can do this.
And by "we," I mean you.
It's a good plan, specialist.
- Well done. - Thank you.
One question, how do we get the spores necessary to make the jump?
We'll have to grow them.
My understanding is that your crop took years to cultivate.
Set a course for the Veda System and...
get ready for a show.
Prototaxites stellaviatori.
My original sample
and the last remaining mycelium of this strain.
We are headed to an uninhabited class-four moon in the Veda System.
And if this works... I might even let you name it.
You're gonna terraform a moon?
Your research on the success of an organic mycelial harvest was indeterminable...
Straal quashed it. He wanted to keep the crop captive.
But if ever there was a time to go wild...
Your child is lost.
Do not confuse my ward with yours.
My daughter was a singular example of brilliance
until one foolish choice doomed her world.
Sound familiar?
If I understand correctly, my ward saw through the man
who brought down not just your child, but your empire.
Perhaps best not to make comparisons.
Why have you requested my presence?
You were summoned, Vulcan, for one reason.
I want to help you end this war.
The information you provided Michael has already proved valuable.
I told her as much as she could handle.
Our daughters are not so unlike after all.
In my world, Qo'noS is little more than a blackened mass of dust.
The Klingons fight for scraps and fear certain death.
But it took a great deal more than a mapping drone in a cave to get there.
You assured Michael that your plan would prove effective.
And it will, momentarily.
But they will regroup.
Their longing to destroy the symbol that is Earth runs far too deep.
What if I could show you how to bring them to their knees once and for all?
The Federation does not subscribe to what I imagine are Terran methods of combat.
You face annihilation.
Is it not logical to do anything you can to save the lives of your kind?
Give me what I want...
and I can assure victory for the Federation.
- What are your terms? - Freedom.
I must return to Vulcan.
There are evolving details to the plan that must be considered.
- What evolving details? - I sense you are uneasy.
During my mind-meld with Saru, I learned of your attachment
to the Klingon spy and what he did to you. Such events are clearly troubling.
I'm fine, Sarek.
I remain unconvinced.
There is irony here. The man you fell in love with was Klingon.
He...
I don't know what he was.
There is also grace.
For what greater source of peace exists
than our ability to love our enemy?
I've made foolish choices.
Emotional choices.
Well, you are human.
As is your mother.
There is no telling what any one of us may do where the heart is concerned.
We are at war.
Logic dictates that each farewell may be our last.
Do not regret loving someone, Michael.
The admiral requested a status report.
This is the last of the mycelial transport vessels.
We'll be able to launch by the time we reach Veda.
I just said goodbye to my father and it felt different.
Final.
It won't be... right?
Did you ever think, when you signed up for Starfleet,
that you'd be forced to see war and death?
Death found me when I was a child, so, yeah, I knew what I was getting into.
I don't think I did. Not really.
Does that make me naive?
It makes you optimistic.
When we were in the Terran universe, I was reminded how much
a person is shaped by their environment.
The only way we can stop ourselves from becoming them
is to understand the darkness within us and fight it.
Tyler needs you.
- I'm told he's doing well. - Not possible when you've lost
- the person you care about most. - He killed a Starfleet officer.
And he... He tried to kill me.
Those crimes are reprehensible, but Tyler's not the person who did that.
At least he's not anymore. He is something other, someone new.
What we do now, the way that we treat him, that is who he will become.
I know you still care about him.
I do.
That does not mean I should.
Michael, he's been stripped of his badge, he'll never fly for Starfleet again.
He'll be lucky if he doesn't end up in a lab or a cell.
What kind of future can he have?
Say what you have to say.
Even if it's goodbye.
[computer beeping]
Lieutenant Stamets, your stop.
- Locked and loaded. - Detmer, put her into geostationary orbit.
Locking in, approximately 800 kilometers above the moon's surface.
Copy that. Initiating mycelial ejection protocol.
Engaging agri-transport boosters.
Status, lieutenant.
[Stamets] Sensors from the terraforming field show
root structures forming in Zones 922 and 5041.
- Ready the EM darts. - [computer] Darts calibrated.
Fire.
[door opens]
Come on, kiddos. Come on.
[computer] Spore generation at four percent.
Eight percent.
Twelve percent.
Fifteen percent.
Nineteen percent.
Twenty-two percent.
Twenty-seven percent.
I'd congratulate you, lieutenant... but I'm afraid the work has just begun.
[computer] Forty-seven percent.
Fifty-two percent.
[door opens]
- I don't know where to start. - I do.
I'm sorry.
I know there's no way I can prove this to you, but Voq, he's gone.
I believe you.
Was there ever really an Ash Tyler?
Did he love me?
'Cause I loved him.
You lied to me.
You said that if it got to be too much,
that if you couldn't handle it,
you would come to me.
And it did...
and you didn't.
And that wasn't Voq, that was you, Tyler.
Who the hell is Tyler?
You think I know anymore? You think I have any idea who I am now?
This isn't about a lie.
- You're looking for an excuse to end it. - Excuse?
My crewmates have been kind. Why are you, the person who knows me best,
- so quick to turn your back? - Stop.
I want you to admit that you can't do this because things got complicated.
Your parents were killed by Klingons, and you fell in love with one.
[exhales sharply]
Maybe you're right.
I know in my head that you couldn't be responsible for Voq's actions.
But I felt your hands... around my neck.
And I looked into your eyes, and I saw how much you wanted to kill me.
The man that I loved wanted me dead.
And no matter how hard I try...
when I look at you now, I see Voq's eyes.
I see him.
The crew may have put it behind them, but I can't.
I shouldn't be here.
I should be an activated Klingon spy, behind bars or dead.
Michael, the reason it didn't take,
the reason L'Rell couldn't get through to me... that was you.
Did Ash Tyler love you?
Hell yes, he did.
I can't find my way back without you.
[inhales, then exhales deeply]
We created something beautiful today...
in a desolate wasteland...
that had never seen life.
After the Battle of the Binary Stars...
I was so lost.
I had to sit with myself.
I had to work through it.
I had to crawl my way back.
I'm still not there, but...
I'm trying.
That kind of work...
reclaiming life...
it's punishing...
and it's relentless...
and it's solitary.
No, I...
Ash.
It's not easy...
letting you go.
[sniffles]
[Cornwell] The mycelial bloom was successful.
A spore harvest is underway.
Then the jump to Qo'noS will be possible?
Yes. Imminently.
The Federation Council has been briefed on our new intelligence from the Terran.
Despite the extraordinary risk,
all are agreed that we have no choice but to proceed.
Our very existence hangs in the balance.
Then it's time.
Open a shipwide channel.
We have all mourned the enormous loss of life due to this war.
The acts of violence committed against us
are the acts of a foe without reason, without honor.
They will not stop coming after us
in the hopes of destroying everything we hold dear.
These are desperate times, and they call on us to do more
than merely protect our people, defend our borders.
I stand before you with a mission.
At 2100 hours, the U.S.S. Discovery will jump for the Klingon homeworld
in order to map its surface, and isolate vulnerabilities and military targets.
This... brave team...
will be the first to visit this inhospitable planet
since Captain Archer and the crew of the Enterprise NX-01 nearly 100 years ago.
Allow me to introduce you to the person who will chart your course to Qo'noS.
Captain Philippa Georgiou.
Thank you.
Though long presumed dead, Captain Georgiou was recently rescued
in a highly classified raid of a Klingon prison vessel.
She was transported aboard Discovery with my personal retinue.
The mission to Qo'noS is a perilous expedition.
And Starfleet is confident that Captain Georgiou
is uniquely qualified to get you there and to do what needs to be done.
[Georgiou] Specialist Burnham,
I trust that this will be an auspicious reunion, despite our history.
Now, take your station.
Yes... captain.