After staring each other down for a bit, the heavens erupted in battle as the Klingons and Federation delivered the opening salvo in a war that promises to be a major backdrop to the remainder season 1 of Star Trek: Discovery. Episode 102, “Battle at the Binary Stars,” picked up right where the first episode left off, but also offered us loss, sorrow and a bridge to what’s to come the rest of the way.Episode 2 gives us more of the Klingon instigator T’Kuvma, who fancied himself a channel through which Kahless can reunite the fractured houses of the Klingon empire into one powerful force against the enemy he sees as its biggest threat — the Federation. The Beacon of Kahless was lit in episode 1, and we see that the great houses answered the call, though with a cynical tone towards T’Kuvma and his mission. The rumors are true, Klingons get pissy with each other. Captain Georgiou and first officer Michael Burnham aboard the Klingon warship.Fortunately for all of us, our itchy Klingon wasn’t so easily thrown off the trail to reconciling the Klingon houses by poor attitudes toward his leadership.
He was a Klingon on a mission and through words that resonated with honor, duty and a common enemy, he gets episode 2 rolling nicely with the first phaser burst of what develops into an intense battle with the Federation. I’m a little disappointed that T’Kuvma didn’t make it out of the episode as he proved to be a charismatic Klingon with a clear purpose for his people.If that purpose also presented him with opportunity, glory and the restoration of his house to a place of honor, so much the better.
At least he went out in hand-to-hand combat with Michael Burnham and Captain Georgiou aboard his flagship. But I will miss him as a protagonist.
However, his role was to get this party started and that’s exactly what he did — creating a situation that demanded the Klingons of each house band together toward a unified people. I did think it interesting that T’Kuvma was given some credit for creating the cloaking technology that we know and love. A nice little tidbit there with a comment from his albino Klingon second-in command.So there you have it, a martyr for the Klingons who surely view the Federation as an enemy that is vulnerable. Goodbye T’Kuvma, you were a huge part of the first two episodes and you will be missed.At this point, I see the first two episodes of Star Trek: Discovery as a smaller stairway to the big stage where the rest of the season will unfold.
Episodes 1 and 2 introduced us to our main player (Burnham) and set the stage for what is coming next — war — and Burnham’s role aboard the Starship Discovery moving forward. That, my friends, is really what Star Trek: Discovery is going to be about moving through season 1. Two episodes as the appetizers, then the main sci-fi meal. The Klingons lost a leader, but gained unity as they battled the Federation.Unfortunately, to get there, the body count had to be pretty high as the Federation and Klingon losses were considerable. While I mourn the loss of the Klingon warlord, the additional loss of Captain Georgiou in the failed kidnapping attempt was a bitter blow. As an adoring fan of Michelle Yeoh, I was counting on her for more work this season, but that’s not to be.Luckily, we did get to see a little more backstory between Burnham and Georgiou, which makes what happened all the more painful.Burnham and Georgiou’s relationship started haltingly, but with a measure of respect for each other’s record initially.
We saw that this relationship had grown strong and close before events strained and eventually fractured it. And now it’s over. The Klingons and Federation are officially at war, Burnham has been court-martialed by the Federation, and the next chapter of this new Star Trek adventure is upon us — episode 3 takes us where we’ve always been meant to go. Boarding party aboard the USS Glenn.EPISODE 3At long last, Michael Burnham arrives on the USS Discovery and we meet Captain Lorca.
Her arrival, though via prison barge, isn’t an accident and we spend episode 3, “Context is for Kings,” learning that the Discovery has more than a few tricks and secrets between her bulkheads.Burnham has a lot of her shoulders. A human who was essentially raised Vulcan from a young age, she is the only human to have gone through the Vulcan Science Academy. From there, a first officer in Star Fleet, and now a court-martialed ex-officer destined for life on a prison barge or planet.
Quite the series of events leading up to her landing on the Discovery, but certainly not the end of what can only be described as an interesting journey so far.In truth, I thought episode 3 really allowed the show to kind of hit its stride. It was clear from the beginning that something was afoot on the Discovery. You could also tell the Burnham had her suspicions that all was not as it appeared. The “science” vessel offered tantalizing clues that there was more going on than simple research. Lorca’s own behavior (BTW, enjoyed the appearance of a Tribble and Lorca’s apparent addiction to fortune cookies) was one of studied observation. Just as Georgiou and Burnham surely sized each other up upon their initial encounters, we saw the same thing with Lorca and Burnham. Neither gave much away early on as they probed for answers.
Captain Lorca and Michael Burnham discuss her joining the crew.The hyper roommate, the natural hostility and curiosity of the crew (her rep preceded her), her strange assignment to the research area, the testy and snarky superior in the same area (Stamets has quite the attitude), and her breaking into the experimental wing for a little look-see were all well done and established her as someone who, despite her situation, remained alert, curious and dialed-in to the world around her. Michaell Burnham is an interesting character and I think Sonequa Martin-Green has done a marvelous job thus far in creating a character that’s layered and complex. We (and she) are where we needed to be to get this thing really rolling. Now let’s see what comes next.Test Bay Alpha proved to be a fun place, didn’t it? While war is raging, it was nice to see the show also draw on its roots through the Mycellium Spores. Captain Lorca is clearly a man who sees past the war and into the future.
The spores will create a new way of propulsion for Federation ships that, yes, will help them defeat the Klingons, but also open up possibilities to discover strange new worlds and civilizations. I thought it was a nice roundabout way to referencing TOS without it being cliche.
It’s implied, rather than overtly said. “We’re not creating a new way to kill.
We are creating a new way to fly. An organic propulsion system. Imagine the possibilities,” Lorca tells Burnham. Doug Jones as Saru aboard the Discovery.But there are still questions to answer. What was that thing that was on the USS Glenn, and later beamed to a lab aboard the Discovery?
Does traveling via Mycellium Spores have a cost? And why would Lorca want it brought aboard the ship, and seem to be fairly comfortable being close to it? While part of the mystery of why Burnham has been targeted to join the Discovery crew was revealed, it’s fairly clear that there are still mysteries surrounding the ship and Lorca himself.“Universal laws are for lackeys, context is for kings,” Lorca tells Burnham. What exactly does that mean moving forward? Despite our limited exposure to Captain Lorca thus far, it’s clear he sees a different picture of the universe taking shape.
I’m delighted that Jason Isaacs has taken on this character because he imbues him with this wonderful mysteriousness that leaves you believing the sincerity of what he says, while wondering if he’s said all that could be said, or implied.t would also appear that his head of security may have a little “thing” for him after letting him know she was would help him “with anything, anytime.” Perhaps Lorca has a little of the Captain Kirk pheromone working aboard the Discovery?Still, a delightful character that already seems very interesting. I’ll be curious to see how Isaacs, the writers and showrunners flesh him out.
Hopefully, that will start when episode 4 drops.Follow me on Twitter: and.Like us on or SubscribeShare this article using our Social Share buttons above.
During of Star Trek: Discovery most characters indicate that the Battle at the Binary Stars itself and the subsequentdeath toll in the war with the Klingons was the fault of Michael Burnham.Later in the episode the character herself indicated that it was her fault that the battle occurred.But in the episode featuring the battle, it looked more as if the battle would have ensued regardless of that character’s actions. So I'm a bit confused as to why they say it was this characters fault.It could be argued that the war itself was indeed her fault, as she killed T'Kuvma instead of capturing him as planned, after the Klingon killed Captain Georgiou.But as for the battle itself I was thoroughly confused. From the perspective of the humans involved, it appears to be Burnham's fault.
They don't know, can't know that the Klingons would have attacked anyway and were hoping to start a war. In fact, her mutinous actions might have actually averted the war if the Klingon ship had been destroyed.From the human's perspective she impaired the captain's ability to resolve the situation and ultimately got her killed.
She killed two Klingons (one accidentally), one of which was T'Kuvma who became a martyr.This is compounded by Burnham's unwillingness to defend her actions and determination to accept her punishment. She seems to believe that she is at fault.
All of these things are true, which is why I upvoted; but ultimately, I think the real mismatch comes down to the first two episodes being after-thoughts. I believe that Ep 3 was where the story was originally supposed to start, and we would have learned the rest only through reference and flashback. Someone decided we needed to SEE it and we got E1&2. Evidence includes the fact that the series originally had a 13 ep order, than got two more episodes; and that the writing quality on E1&2 feels rushed!–Oct 4 '17 at 23:42.
There's five reasons intertwined to explain the perception that she's responsible.She has a personal reason to hate Klingons.She killed a Klingon first. Without the Federation side knowing what theKlingons thought about it, she could be blamed for instigating the initial standoff to begin with, as the video proof that she acted in self-defense was explicitly stated to have not been recovered.She mutinied. That's the problem Starfleet officially has with her, but it's the thing that makes her well-known.She killed the Klingon leader on the scene, in the process getting Georgiou killed, and creating the unifying martyr Burnham herself had worried about.The Federation and Starfleet were unaware that nothing would have prevented T'Kuvma from instigating a battle.Officially, her charges revolved around the mutiny, not the initial killing or Georgiou's death, but that gets wrapped into the perception she's responsible for the whole thing. Federation civilians would blame her for starting the whole mess. Starfleet personnel, with more context, blame her for being their first mutineer.
Her former crewmates blame her for the captain's death. And everyone blames her for killing T'Kuvma.So you've got someone known to have a reason to hate Klingons, who was the first to kill a Klingon, who advocated attacking the Klingons without provocation, who attempted mutiny in order to carry out that attack, who was with her captain when the latter was killed attempting a plan Burnham came up with, and who killed the leader whose death the Klingons rallied around, and they don't know that the Klingons would have attacked even if Burnham hadn't done all those things.
Of course people would consider her responsible. And since Burnham doesn't know the last fact either, that she had been in a no-win situation where there would be no good outcome, she'd hold herself responsible as well.
I think 5 is not quite supported by the text of the show. The characters have already concluded that the communications buoy was likely sabotaged. The Feds were lured there. It might not have been crazy to think that firing first would deter the Klingon, or satisfy their honor or whatever, but once the beacon goes off, it's clear that it was always the plan from the beginning for there to have been a big fight. In retrospect, the Federation retreating might have been the only thing that might have diffused the situation. The other Klingons might have all lost interest and gone home.–Oct 5 '17 at 21:27. T'Kuvma wanted a war.
If it hadn't taken place there, it would have happened somewhere else where he could force Starfleet to make a stand. It was explicitly mentioned that Starfleet didn't retreat in the first place because there were Federation planets nearby, and all he would have had to do was show up there to force the issue. And they don't know about the legend behind the beacon. For all they knew, it was a weird distress signal. As for the buoy, again, they don't have proof the Klingons did it. Remember, this is talking about why people think she's responsible, not objective truth.–Oct 6 '17 at 2:36.
This point also bothering me to no end during the watching, so I tried to found reason for it.The main reasons i came to was: ScapegoatThe federation needed a scapegoat. Someone they can be blame for the war.The fact that everyone seems to have heard of the 'mutineer' by her name (and knowing the fact it's a woman named Micheal, which was confirmed as exceptional in 1.03) goes in this direction.This means that Burnham story was wide spread.It can't be accounted for rumor only, especially when considering military have a default secrecy obligation.The fact she plead guilty did not help her situation, but even if she plaid innocent or try to explain her view, it would had little effect. She would not have been able to explain herself to the public. Only the official version would have been broadcast. Survivors write the historyThe only person who ultimately understand Burnham and could have defended her was the Captain. And the Captain is dead.
The only person that could tell how the captain dies is the one who could have killed her. The only persons that could tell the extent of the mutiny was the ones who let it happens, with a lot of compliance.I can admit Burnham surrender herself.
But most likely you can thank the rest of the crew for the 'official' summary of the events. From the point of view of the Federation the following happened by her own debriefing:. She went and landed in an artifact just on the edge of Federation space, encountered and killed a Klingon. She mutinied preventing her capitan to continue with diplomacy to defuse the situation.
She loaded and aimed weapons at the Klingon vessel, an action that can be detected by most vessels on Star Trek canon. Shortly after that the Klingon attacked. She boarded the Klingon vessel and killed the main commander out of rage for the death of her capitan, even though she knew that would make a martir.From the point of view of the federation is very difficult not to correlate that into “your actions initiated a war”. In fact, without knowing the Klingons intended to attack no matter what (something only known by the viewers) it’s the logical conclusion.