'Star Trek: Discovery': 5 Theories That Would Fit With 'Trek' Canon
As Spock said, there are always possibilities.
Now that Star Trek: Discovery has finally materialized, it’s already proven itself to be the next nail-biting science fiction obsession. Both “The Vulcan Hello” and “Battle at the Binary Stars” ended in ridiculously tense cliffhangers, setting up the rest of the series for the same kind of breakneck action. This is to say nothing of massive plot twists that have already happened, many of which have never happened in a Star Trek series before.
Because Discovery is a prequel to a majority of the rest of Star Trek, there’s still a degree of certitude about what can happen in its future. Individual character arcs might be hard to predict, but big events probably have a certain shape to them. With that in mind, here are five big predictions for things that could totally happen before the end of the first season.
Spoilers are ahead for the first two episodes of Star Trek: Discovery.
5. Way More Flashbacks
The second episode of Discovery took us back seven years into the past to show exactly how and why Michael Burnham went from Vulcan foster child to an awesome Starfleet officer. Do we really think this is the last of these flashbacks with either Sarek or Captain Georgiou?
4. The Klingon War Won’t Be the Whole Show
As integral as the Klingons seem to be to the plot, it seems pretty unlikely that Discovery can sustain an all Klingons all the time approach to storytelling. Yes, Burnham started this war, and, yes, it seems like a lot of people will be upset by that. But because Star Trek is traditionally about so much more than just war, there’s every reason to believe other story elements will take center stage. The impending appearance of con-man Harry Mudd hints toward Discovery taking a look at what the civilian population of the Federation is doing — which is something Trek has only dabbled in before.
3. Old School Klingons Will Hang Out With New School Klingons
One odd tidbit which Discovery almost glazes over is the idea that the Klingon Empire has been sort of hiding for almost a century. Right now this doesn’t exactly jibe with what we know about what happens on Enterprise, meaning there’s a bit of a mystery to unravel. Because the Klingons of Discovery look so different from other Klingons, it seems like these guys have to hang out with their smooth-headed brethren at some point. Twenty-four ships rolled up to this battle, but in the hologram conference, there were only representatives from, like, five of those ships. Meaning, some of the other big houses must be ruled by the Klingons who are genetically deformed to look more like humans. And maybe, just maybe, these guys will be a bigger part of the rest of the season and help explain why these other Klingons are so obsessed with “purity.”
2. Spock or the Enterprise Will Appear
Discovery completely occurs simultaneously with the canonical events of Spock serving on the Enterprise under Captain Pike. Because Spock is connected to Michael Burnham through his father, it would be weird if there wasn’t some reference to Spock. It would be even weirder if the Enterprise itself didn’t actually appear. Even if it was for only a second.
1. Captain Georgiou Isn’t Really Dead
Here’s the big one. The shocker of the second Discovery episode could just be a really long con. Because Burnham was beamed out right after Captain Georgiou was stabbed means that we don’t have any closure. We don’t know what happened to her body, and we’re not 100 percent sure she’s actually deceased. Sure, it seems a little bit wild that Discovery would cheapen a big plot point by bringing Captain Georgiou back from the dead, but stranger things have happened on Star Trek before. Remember when Kirk faked his death in “Amok Time?” How about when Spock died? Yeah, there’s a pretty solid track record here for Star Trek killing someone, only to bring them back.
Plus, there’s always the Mirror Universe.
Star Trek: Discovery airs on Sundays at 8:30 p.m. Eastern on CBS All Access.
If you liked this article, check out this video on why Klingons look different in Star Trek: Discovery.
