Wow... that was close. I had literally resorted to googling "Worf Klingons don't" to figure out how I was going to refer to Tyler this week. Thankfully, to the exact opposite of surprise, Starfleet Lieutenant Ash Tyler was revealed this week to be a surgically altered form of the Klingon Voq infiltrated into the Discovery's crew as a sleeper agent (for which foible, it is worth pointing out, Captain Lorca seems to have accepted no responsibility). I am very glad we are done with that part of the series.
Unfortunately, the part of the series we are not done with is the part where we are in the Mirror Universe. So, how did we get here (where "here" means "the same place we were last week")?
Captain Burnham (remember: she's the captain of the fascist Shenzhou) receives orders from the Imperial flagship. Imperial intelligence has located the "Fire Wolf," their code name for the leader of the multicultural resistance fighting the Terran Empire. The Shenzhou is to travel to that planet and blow up the rebel base (Governor Tarkin will be so proud). Captain Burnham, not being a native of this universe, is not very keen on murdering rebels who appear to embody the ideals of the Federation, so she convinces her crew to let her and Lieutenant is definitely a Klingon Tyler beam down alone, "infiltrate the rebel base and get the intelligence we need to crush the rebellion once and for all." They'll blow up the base after that, she assures her first officer. Burnham's true goals are twofold: buy the rebels enough time to escape, and learn how to negotiate with Klingons. The Fire Wolf is a Klingon. Burnham thinks that if she can learn how the Fire Wolf overcame Klingon culture's apparently innate belief in its own supremacy and rose to the lead an alliance of Vulcans, Andorians, and Tellurites, then maybe she can use that experience to come to an understanding with the Klingons in her own universe and convince them that the Federation does not mean to annihilate them. Because all Klingons in all universes are all the same, obviously, regardless of the context in which they are living. Burnham and Tyler, who, again is totally a Klingon (it just feels so good to say that), make contact with the Fire Wolf, who, for obvious reasons, does not trust them. Fortunately, the Fire Wolf has a prophet "whose wisdom pierces all illusions; nothing can be hidden from him." That prophet is Sarek. His "wisdom" is a Vulcan mind meld. Sure. Why not. Alterna-Sarek mind melds with Burnham, sees that she was raised by... him, and vouches for her intentions. He does not try to explain where she came from or who she claims to be. He just says "she means us no harm," which is true enough. The Fire Wolf agrees to negotiate, and Burnham begins her trans-cosmos exchange of cultural undstanding. Unfortunately, the Fire Wolf is actually alterna-Voq (i.e Tyler's true self). Seeing a version of himself compromising the purity of Klingon culture finally breaks the thin veneer of human programming and Lieutenant Tyler attacks alterna-Voq. Alterna-Voq wins the fight and is about to order both Tyler and Burnham executed when alterna-Sarek reiterates his firm belief that Burnham, at least, means the rebels no harm. Burnham is, at this point, understandably confused. Why did Tyler just violate her orders and attack alterna-Voq? Nobody knows. If only there were some way to meld with his mind to see what made him lash out at his host, seemingly unprovoked. Alas, the prophet's wisdom is an apparently limited resource, and the question of Tyler's motives is left an unanswered question as he and Burnham beam back aboard the Shenzhou having warned the rebels and promised not to torpedo them from orbit until they've had time to evacuate, a plan which, I'm sure, Captain Burnham's crew should have no problem executing (actually, no one says anything about it).
[Something else no one says anything about: alterna-Sarek's son is the first officer of the Fascist Enterprise. What gives?]
Back aboard the Shenzhou, Burnham asks Tyler what happened down on the planet and Tyler finally snaps. "I am Voq, the torchbearer" he proclaims. He attacks Burnham. She survives. Burnham executes Tyler Imperial fashion, by beaming him into empty space, except that Burnham arranges for Discovery to be there and beam him on board before he can suffocate (at a probability of 2^267,709 to 1 against), at which point he is escorted to the brig to await trial for the murder of Doctor Boyfriend.
Meanwhile (yes, there's a meanwhile), Lieutenant Stamets is dying. His brain is trying to exist in all universes at once, I think. It is unclear. Regardless, the only treatment is to expose him to more space mushrooms, a procedure which almost kills him, except, after his heart stops beating, he wakes up in a psychic mushroom forest with the fascist version of himself, who chides him for not being ready to get back to work. I guess we are about to see the two Stametses collaborate on trying to swap our Discovery and Fascist Discovery restoring some semblance of order to the universe. I'm not sure that I care.
In the final act of the episode, another ship appears next to the Shenzhou and torpedoes the rebel base before the appointed time, presumably killing all of the rebels. It is the Emperor's ship. More specifically, it is Emperor Michelle Yeoh's ship (so surprised... no, wait; I meant the opposite of that). She is not happy that Captain Burnham delayed carrying out her orders and she wants to see Captains Burnham and Lorca (if I didn't mention it, our Lorca is masquerading as Burnham's prisoner, since fascist Lorca apparently committed treason some months ago) immediately. Fade to black.
This needs to end. The longer we spend in the Mirror Universe, the more we have to accept the idea that a society where assassination is the principal means of social mobility could last for more than a few months. It was a cute idea in "Mirror, Mirror" and "Crossover." At this point, it is starting to strain my suspension of disbelief. I am not entirely clear why, as soon as Burnham and Tyler beamed down, Burnham's first officer didn't torpedo the rebel base on her own, claim (truthfully) that Burnham was killed in action, and take all the credit for killing the Fire Wolf in the name of the Emperor. That seems like a totally reasonable thing to do in Fascist Starfleet, and yet, somehow, this civilization conquered the galaxy and remained in power until our Captain Kirk taught them about democracy.
Furthermore, I am starting to feel that the existence of the Mirror Universe as it is being fleshed out by post-Captain Kirk Star Trek undermines the core ethos that Star Trek was meant to represent. Naively or not, Star Trek is based on the idea that plurality and tolerance and multiculturalism are not only morally superior but materially superior. Everywhere that Voyager goes, it (not just the Federation, but Voyager itself) is the most technologically advanced civilization in the Delta Quadrant that is not the Borg. Back home, the Federation is a utopic Great Power. They have the most vibrant economy and one of the three strongest militaries in the galaxy. Everyone wants to be the Federation. The idea of Star Trek is that the Federation is strong because the Federation is made of diverse cultures working together and that idea is greater than any one culture standing alone, making an exclusive claim to superiority over all others. It is the thing white America tells itself that it is so that it can sleep better at night. In the Mirror Universe (before fascist Spock's rebellion), the humans are the only evident Great Power. All the other species we see have been relegated to a rag-tag Maquis-style rebellion. There is no Klingon Empire. We haven't met any Romulans. Vulcans are all either rebels (alterna-Sarek) or collaborators (fascist Spock). Now the lesson of Star Trek is not "multiculturalism always wins," but "humans always win." Earth is the City on a Hill carrying the rest of the Federation along on its back. We would be doing just fine without any of those other species, thank you very much. That is a much weaker vision of Star Trek than the one I thought I was growing up with. Then again, I suppose I could replace the words "Star Trek" with "America" in that last sentence, and it would be just as appropriate.
Unfortunately, the part of the series we are not done with is the part where we are in the Mirror Universe. So, how did we get here (where "here" means "the same place we were last week")?
Captain Burnham (remember: she's the captain of the fascist Shenzhou) receives orders from the Imperial flagship. Imperial intelligence has located the "Fire Wolf," their code name for the leader of the multicultural resistance fighting the Terran Empire. The Shenzhou is to travel to that planet and blow up the rebel base (Governor Tarkin will be so proud). Captain Burnham, not being a native of this universe, is not very keen on murdering rebels who appear to embody the ideals of the Federation, so she convinces her crew to let her and Lieutenant is definitely a Klingon Tyler beam down alone, "infiltrate the rebel base and get the intelligence we need to crush the rebellion once and for all." They'll blow up the base after that, she assures her first officer. Burnham's true goals are twofold: buy the rebels enough time to escape, and learn how to negotiate with Klingons. The Fire Wolf is a Klingon. Burnham thinks that if she can learn how the Fire Wolf overcame Klingon culture's apparently innate belief in its own supremacy and rose to the lead an alliance of Vulcans, Andorians, and Tellurites, then maybe she can use that experience to come to an understanding with the Klingons in her own universe and convince them that the Federation does not mean to annihilate them. Because all Klingons in all universes are all the same, obviously, regardless of the context in which they are living. Burnham and Tyler, who, again is totally a Klingon (it just feels so good to say that), make contact with the Fire Wolf, who, for obvious reasons, does not trust them. Fortunately, the Fire Wolf has a prophet "whose wisdom pierces all illusions; nothing can be hidden from him." That prophet is Sarek. His "wisdom" is a Vulcan mind meld. Sure. Why not. Alterna-Sarek mind melds with Burnham, sees that she was raised by... him, and vouches for her intentions. He does not try to explain where she came from or who she claims to be. He just says "she means us no harm," which is true enough. The Fire Wolf agrees to negotiate, and Burnham begins her trans-cosmos exchange of cultural undstanding. Unfortunately, the Fire Wolf is actually alterna-Voq (i.e Tyler's true self). Seeing a version of himself compromising the purity of Klingon culture finally breaks the thin veneer of human programming and Lieutenant Tyler attacks alterna-Voq. Alterna-Voq wins the fight and is about to order both Tyler and Burnham executed when alterna-Sarek reiterates his firm belief that Burnham, at least, means the rebels no harm. Burnham is, at this point, understandably confused. Why did Tyler just violate her orders and attack alterna-Voq? Nobody knows. If only there were some way to meld with his mind to see what made him lash out at his host, seemingly unprovoked. Alas, the prophet's wisdom is an apparently limited resource, and the question of Tyler's motives is left an unanswered question as he and Burnham beam back aboard the Shenzhou having warned the rebels and promised not to torpedo them from orbit until they've had time to evacuate, a plan which, I'm sure, Captain Burnham's crew should have no problem executing (actually, no one says anything about it).
[Something else no one says anything about: alterna-Sarek's son is the first officer of the Fascist Enterprise. What gives?]
Back aboard the Shenzhou, Burnham asks Tyler what happened down on the planet and Tyler finally snaps. "I am Voq, the torchbearer" he proclaims. He attacks Burnham. She survives. Burnham executes Tyler Imperial fashion, by beaming him into empty space, except that Burnham arranges for Discovery to be there and beam him on board before he can suffocate (at a probability of 2^267,709 to 1 against), at which point he is escorted to the brig to await trial for the murder of Doctor Boyfriend.
Meanwhile (yes, there's a meanwhile), Lieutenant Stamets is dying. His brain is trying to exist in all universes at once, I think. It is unclear. Regardless, the only treatment is to expose him to more space mushrooms, a procedure which almost kills him, except, after his heart stops beating, he wakes up in a psychic mushroom forest with the fascist version of himself, who chides him for not being ready to get back to work. I guess we are about to see the two Stametses collaborate on trying to swap our Discovery and Fascist Discovery restoring some semblance of order to the universe. I'm not sure that I care.
In the final act of the episode, another ship appears next to the Shenzhou and torpedoes the rebel base before the appointed time, presumably killing all of the rebels. It is the Emperor's ship. More specifically, it is Emperor Michelle Yeoh's ship (so surprised... no, wait; I meant the opposite of that). She is not happy that Captain Burnham delayed carrying out her orders and she wants to see Captains Burnham and Lorca (if I didn't mention it, our Lorca is masquerading as Burnham's prisoner, since fascist Lorca apparently committed treason some months ago) immediately. Fade to black.
This needs to end. The longer we spend in the Mirror Universe, the more we have to accept the idea that a society where assassination is the principal means of social mobility could last for more than a few months. It was a cute idea in "Mirror, Mirror" and "Crossover." At this point, it is starting to strain my suspension of disbelief. I am not entirely clear why, as soon as Burnham and Tyler beamed down, Burnham's first officer didn't torpedo the rebel base on her own, claim (truthfully) that Burnham was killed in action, and take all the credit for killing the Fire Wolf in the name of the Emperor. That seems like a totally reasonable thing to do in Fascist Starfleet, and yet, somehow, this civilization conquered the galaxy and remained in power until our Captain Kirk taught them about democracy.
Furthermore, I am starting to feel that the existence of the Mirror Universe as it is being fleshed out by post-Captain Kirk Star Trek undermines the core ethos that Star Trek was meant to represent. Naively or not, Star Trek is based on the idea that plurality and tolerance and multiculturalism are not only morally superior but materially superior. Everywhere that Voyager goes, it (not just the Federation, but Voyager itself) is the most technologically advanced civilization in the Delta Quadrant that is not the Borg. Back home, the Federation is a utopic Great Power. They have the most vibrant economy and one of the three strongest militaries in the galaxy. Everyone wants to be the Federation. The idea of Star Trek is that the Federation is strong because the Federation is made of diverse cultures working together and that idea is greater than any one culture standing alone, making an exclusive claim to superiority over all others. It is the thing white America tells itself that it is so that it can sleep better at night. In the Mirror Universe (before fascist Spock's rebellion), the humans are the only evident Great Power. All the other species we see have been relegated to a rag-tag Maquis-style rebellion. There is no Klingon Empire. We haven't met any Romulans. Vulcans are all either rebels (alterna-Sarek) or collaborators (fascist Spock). Now the lesson of Star Trek is not "multiculturalism always wins," but "humans always win." Earth is the City on a Hill carrying the rest of the Federation along on its back. We would be doing just fine without any of those other species, thank you very much. That is a much weaker vision of Star Trek than the one I thought I was growing up with. Then again, I suppose I could replace the words "Star Trek" with "America" in that last sentence, and it would be just as appropriate.
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