A pirated Discovery pretends to be under attack to trick Starfleet into letting them in – meanwhile the Sphere Code is waaaatching them … The pirate the crew met in the second episode is also apparently on the ship, with Osyraa’s crew, albeit without all his fingers. Book flies through the courier network which looks exactly like the Time Vortex. Vance decides to let Discovery in, but to put them into a secure location and have armed teams ready – which seems like a good idea, and I’m glad he is savvy enough to recognised Discovery might be compromised.
Burnham and Book crash their ship into Discovery in order to get in (no clue as to why there wasn’t any intervention by either Discovery or Osyraa’s ship). Ooooh Frakes episode! Nice.
Osyraa has the same question about why the ship got in and asks Zareh to capture them. Osyraa talks to her scientist, Aurellio, about working out how the spore drive works – it seems she is painting herself as a liberator to give access to the Federation’s tech to everyone.
Book gives Burnham a device that allows her to hide her life signs from the sensors while he distracts the regulators. Vance apparently only just works out that Osyraa is on Discovery (then why was he sus earlier?) and commands all ships to go weapons hot. Burnham takes down one of the regulators, and gets stabbed in the leg for her trouble (where is her phaser????) and she discovers that she can’t transport (couldn’t her badge tell her that?).
Osyraa hails Vance and says she wants to talk, allowing all but the bridge crew of Discovery to leave. Burnham uses a phaser(?) to cauterise her wound, which then disappears into an arm device – is this how the tech works? That’s fair, but then couldn’t it materialise an actual medical tool? Unless the phaser has a medical setting … hmmm …
Osyraa beams over to FHQ and meets with Vance. Meanwhile the bridge crew do the old ‘in-fighting’ trick to get the jump on their armed guard and knock them out (but not restrain them in anyway coz as we know, knocking someone out is a permanent incapacitating solution which never needs following up).
Osyraa mocks Vance for Tilly’s command before explaining she wants to negotiate peace and unite the Chain with the Federation. She offers to help replicate the spore drive, using the Federation’s standing to help both of their people – proposing a new Federation between their people.
Zareh is able to track Burnham using the regulator badge she stole (which seems something obvious you would’ve thought of – and I don’t understand why she can’t use her own badge but). Staments refuses to cooperate with Aurellio’s questioning while Burnham continues to struggle through the Jeffrey tubes. She blows out the regulator tracking her by causing an airlock to open – as she is pushed out into space the regulator takes with her both of Burnham’s boots, leading her to now have to walk around the ship with bloody feet.
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| This episode is now a Christmas movie |
Vance reveals that their food is replicated and their replicators use their … faeces. Nice.
Osyraa wants Vance to support capitalism as part of their joining – this episode just got idealistically interesting. Vance points out that their trade perpetuates slavery, Osyraa counters that she has submitted an amendment to outlaw slavery within the Chain. Vance asks that the Chain to stop its control over the 50 pre-warp planets it currently occupies, which Osyraa says would impact on people’s income. They both then receive word about the dead regulator, so Osyraa brings up the proposed armistice between their people.
Staments points out the ethics of Osyraa’s methods, but Aurellio explains Osyraa saved his life and helped him pursue science. Staments counters with the fact that Osyraa has held planets hostage, forced them to drive a species to extinction, used famine as a threat, with the science Aurellio has developed – something he has either not been fully aware of or has ignored.
Burnham rescues Staments and insists she needs to get him off the ship in order to stop them using the Spore Drive, but Staments is insistent on jumping back to get Culbert, refusing to lose him again. Burnham reveals Adira is with them. Burnham is forced to nerve pinch him to stop him from jumping.
Vance agrees the armistice is impressive – but can only work on one proviso: the leader of the Chain isn’t Osyraa, with her reputation – or anyone who is a proxy of her. She suggests Aurellio, but the hologram observing points out for the first time that Osyraa is lying, when she says Aurellio would not be her proxy. Vance continues – for the deal to work, Osyraa would need to be tried for her crimes by the new Chain leader. Osyraa argues about ignoring the past, but Vance explains that you cannot ignore the past, only make it right. He insists she gives herself up for her deal, but she storms out, ending the negotiations.
Osyraa returns to Discovery, commands Zareh to find the escaped hostages and then tells Aurellio to leave to spare him seeing the brutality she is about to commit. Ryn stands up to Osyraa, so she threatens him. Book tries to save his life by telling her about the dilithium in the Nebula, but she kills Ryn anyway (which I mean we all saw coming so Book should have).
Staments calls out Burnham for abandoning Culbert, Saru and Adira as she ejects him from the ship, shortly before being captured by Zareh. The Bridge Crew break into the armoury and arm themselves – as several DOTS appear, controlled by the Sphere Data appear and offer their services to take back the ship.
TO BE CONTINUED
But the Die Hard clone part was fun! It would’ve been even funnier if they timed it to happen last week with Christmas but oh well.
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