The USS Discovery has a new commanding officer, but don’t call her “captain.” Admiral Katrina Cornwell is taking command in the penultimate episode of Star Trek: Discovery. New official photos reveal this change of Starfleet boss, not to mention Sarek giving Mirror Universe Emperor Georgiou a hardcore side-eye.
Mild Spoilers for Episodes 1-13 for Star Tre: Discovery ahead.
On Thursday, CBS released new photos from the 14th episode of Star Trek: Discovery, “The War Without, the War Within.” Following the explosive events of “What’s Past is Prologue,” the starship Discovery has jumped back into the Prime Universe after hanging out in the Mirror Universe for quite awhile. But, as the last few moments of episode 13 revealed, nine months have passed for the Federation in the Prime Universe, and the Klingons are close to winning the war.
The new photos tease the arrival of Admiral Cornwell and Ambassador Sarek to Discovery. But, what are they up to? Are they pissed the ship has been gone so long? Will Cornwell miss Lorca? And how will Sarek deal with the Mirror Universe version of Philippa Georgiou?
Based on the photos, everyone will be super-freaked out by the former Emperor of the Terran Empire. Just take a look at Sarek’s expression in this photo.
Sarek is like "whaaat?"
It also appears that the crew is going to get a huge debriefing on what has happened while they’ve been away. Admiral Cornwell seems pretty annoyed.
A reunion for the crew of the Discovery?
Cornwell is like: where the hell have you guys been? And don't say "a parallel universe," that's a lame excuse.
It also looks like Saru will still be in command of the Discovery at one point in the episode. It’s not clear if Cornwell in the center seat is a permanent situation or just temporary because she’s the ranking officer aboard. (Kind of like when Kirk took command of the Enterprise from Spock in The Wrath of Khan.) It also remains to be seen if Cornwell will end-up having a connection with an obscure original series character who some fans think might actually be a future version of herself with a different name.
Saru in command. He's been a pretty great 'Star Trek' captain, actually.
There’s a lot on the line for Discovery in the next two episodes. Numerous plotlines need to be resolved, most of which connect to whether or not the Federation can beat the Klingons. But, there’s metafictional pressure here, too. Can Discovery, a prequel to the original series make its over-arching Klingon War storyline match-up with the old canon? The show has boldly gone this far, how the crew will get Trek synched-up with the peace-loving Federation of old will be foremost on many Trekkie minds.
There are only two episodes left in Star Trek: Discovery’s first season. They will air over the next two Sundays at 8:30 pm eastern time on CBS All-Access. The season finale will air on February 11, 2018, and is titled “Will You Take My Hand?”
