Star Trek: Discovery (2017–…): Season 3, Episode 10 - Terra Firma pt 2 - full transcript
Previously on
STAR TREK: Discovery...
There's a signal coming
from the center of the nebula.
There's a ship lost in there.
This is Dr. Issa.
We are stranded.
The Khi'eth is
still broadcasting
- this distress signal.
- On a loop, sir.
I want to know what is
happening inside that ship.
- I think I can help you.
- Help?
We have a way of doing things.
So do you want me
to read the field manual?
When we first arrived,
I, too, was eager to assist.
Ultimately, we had to wait for
our moment to prove ourselves.
I trust you will find your
moment, as well, Mr. Booker.
Temporal travel
can make you pretty sick.
Every molecule fights
to either go back in time,
or jump a cosmic divide.
Every time we queried
the sphere data for treatment,
no matter how we entered it,
it gave us the same result.
Apparently, the cure can be
found on Dannus 5.
- Well, look at that.
- What the hell is this?!
- I'm Carl.
- What happens if she goes through the door?
- She'll be on the other side.
- Give me a straight answer.
This is the chance your computer
was pointing us to,
and I'm taking it.
Terra Firma!
Let me make myself clear.
Lorca's coup will fail,
Michael will return to the fold,
and the path of what has been
set in motion will change
because I will change it.
From now on, you will be
my eyes and ears.
Our future is unwritten.
Let's make it count, shall we?
Take her to the agonizer.
I should be dead.
Kill me.
Give me the honor I deserve!
You deserve many things.
Then kill me for your own sake,
because every moment
you hesitate is a moment
that everyone can see
how weak you've become.
You're about to find out
how weak I've become.
Why do you think
Lorca has been able
to gather so many forces
against you?
Why do you think he got to me?
You're rescuing Kelpiens?
Fretting over artists?
Half of your insipid
death opera was a lie.
Propaganda
to make you look strong.
I know the truth.
You're retiring to the Charon.
You think I'm retiring?
Why else would you build
a palace in the sky
while the rest of us are
still fighting on the ground?
Are you really this blind,
Michael?
Or don't you want there
to be an empire
left to rule after I'm gone?
If we don't give our subjects
something to live for,
they will always be
in rebellion.
How many revolts have we had
to quash this year alone?
Twice as many as last year.
Even Genghis Khan learned
that his grip on power could not
hold if he didn't let the people
he conquered
worship their own gods.
You promised us new worlds
to conquer.
You promised us spoils,
never-ending growth.
There are no spoils from peace.
You have
a lot to learn, Michael.
You're the one who's blind!
Even now,
the Romulans, the Andorians,
the Tellarites, the Klingons...
They're forming an alliance
to destroy us.
It's called "the Coalition."
And the Denobulans
and the Rigelians,
and the Coridanites will follow.
You should attack now!
We can't defeat the whole galaxy
if they unite against us.
Well, they would think twice
about alliances
if we flew down
and roasted them on spits.
The rules of engagement
are changing.
Oh. No! Mother, no!
I will kill all of you!
I will kill... all of you!
This is the orison
of every parent, Michael,
as I hoped
you would learn some day.
"Why can't they just believe
what I say?"
"Why do they only learn
from pain?"
Come.
Emperor, if I may,
why is Michael Burnham still
using up oxygen on my ship?
You could kill her
with the press of a button.
She's a traitor.
She's doesn't deserve mercy.
She isn't getting any.
What shows more strength?
A mother who simply
kills her daughter,
or a mother who locks her
daughter in an agonizer booth
in order to change the course
of the future?
We still need to find
and deal with her accomplices.
Detmer, I'm sure,
knew of her plans.
No better message
to send to her co-conspirators
than a broken Michael Burnham
who has been re-forged
into a loyal subject,
- thanks to you.
- Me?
You are the most feared
interrogator in the quadrant.
I must be given free reign.
Of course.
Do your worst. Or best.
But I expect her to live.
And if you don't break her,
I will demand to know why.
Michael will come around.
Even the darkest night
will end,
and the sun will rise.
Come back to me, daughter.
Your mother is
too soft-hearted.
I told her you wouldn't have
an appetite.
That's okay.
I'll have Dr. Culber
force-feed you later.
Whatever you do,
you won't break me!
Swear your allegiance
to Emperor Georgiou,
and name your co-conspirators.
Rot in hell, bitch.
We'll try again tomorrow.
You don't mind sleeping
in there, do you?
I wish there were
another language you could understand,
but here,
where strength is power...
...and terror is love,
there is no other way
to reach you.
I've seen
who you can be, Michael.
I've seen who I can be.
I've seen what this world
can be,
and it is luminous.
We can have that.
We can be more.
But first, we must
remake ourselves.
We must leave behind
all of that which destroys us.
Captain.
Detmer.
What?
I asked to see you.
They're... listening.
I know.
Why?
You have to give in.
- No.
- You can't endure much more of this.
Nobody could.
Lorca.
No one has heard from Lorca.
I don't think he's coming.
You are the best of us.
There's no sense dying in here.
Come out.
It's time to end this.
I believe
you can do this, Michael.
I believe you can change.
As I have.
Do you remember
when you were a child?
You hardly spoke during the day,
but at night,
you'd scream,
fighting in your sleep
to escape.
I would hold you down
as you struggled.
One night,
I let you go,
and you ended up sleepwalking
to a field of fireflies.
You stood there
until you became calm
and I could carry you
to your bed.
I walked with you every night
to that field after that.
And when you woke up
the next day,
you never remembered.
I was sad when you outgrew
the night terrors.
Now that I think about it,
maybe you never did.
If you trust me,
I will bring
all the fireflies to you,
daughter.
Yes, Michael.
You asked to see me.
Mother...
Leave us.
I am sorry.
Get off the floor.
Look at me.
It's about more than
a show of strength.
We have an empire to rule.
All I ever wanted was
to rule it with you.
I pledge my loyalty
to you, Emperor.
And I vow to name my
co-conspirators and expose them.
I'm glad to hear that.
But you don't just need
to make amends with me.
You need to make amends
with all our subjects.
How are they ever to trust you?
I will execute the traitors
with my own hands.
No foe will remain.
Detmer can assist you.
Thank you, Mother.
Go.
And be quick about it.
You... you...
You can trust me again.
Don't come back
until you've proven yourself.
Landry.
Bryce.
And all the rest.
- That's all of them?
- Yes, Emperor.
Michael.
Captain...
Now it's done.
I heard the kitchen
no longer serves Kelpien.
Is that a problem?
Just takes some getting used to.
I was craving ganglia
in my cell.
Kelpien flesh is too high
in cholesterol,
and it's stringy.
Isn't that right?
That is right, Emperor.
I never lost faith
that you would see
the error of your ways.
I came to the light weeks ago.
And yet you remained
in the brig.
Stubborn.
Like mother, like daughter.
I heard you made changes.
You systematically used
backchannels
to sabotage the Coalition.
That wasn't hard.
Those silly democratic things
are always on the brink.
But you heard me.
About threats
you didn't foresee.
I've always been able
to hear the truth,
and I expect you to tell it
to me from now on.
I will.
- Where's Lorca?
- I don't know.
Are you still in love with him?
- He left me for dead.
- That's not a "no."
When we find him,
I'll be able to kill him.
How do we find him?
The alias he uses
on interstellar communication
is "Vicar."
He chose the name
"Vicar" for himself?
It means "substitute."
Lorca was always
an underachiever.
Go find him, daughter.
So long as he lives,
we will always be at war.
Is something amiss, Emperor?
Not at all.
Everything is unfolding
as I'd hoped.
You and Captain Burnham
have come quite a long way
over these last months.
You must be pleased.
I'd only ever wished
to rule with her.
And now I shall.
You will remain with me rather
than return to her service.
I am afraid that will not
be possible, Emperor,
in the end.
I regret that I will not
remain here with you.
Vahar'ai is coming for me.
Who told you that?
I feel it.
It would do me
the greatest honor
if you would be
the one to cull me.
I will do no such thing.
I apologize for overstepping.
I-I never should have...
Vahar'ai...
...is not an end.
Emperor?
When the madness comes,
lock yourself away.
In a few days' time,
you will still be alive,
and you will be changed forever.
But that is merely a fable.
I have witnessed it myself.
H-How how is that possible?
I knew a Kelpien once,
in another time, another place.
His name was Saru.
He survived Vahar'ai,
and it made him stronger.
He was a captain
of a starship.
You must have travelled
far beyond the empire.
You are placing
a great deal of trust in me.
My corpse would
already be eaten to bones
if I could not accurately judge
between loyalty and flattery.
Your regret was genuine
when you thought
you were leaving me here,
as was your pain
when your comrade fell.
He...
He would have I...?
- My sister, my family, they would all still be...
- Survive.
That is how you honor them.
Teach others what you know.
That is how you avenge them.
You are not Terran.
Of course I am.
- The way you speak...
- Enough.
Please, return to where
you are from, Emperor.
Should you fail to do
what is expected of you,
they will kill you.
This is my home.
Now and forever.
And I will make it
what it needs to be.
That is how I will survive.
Do you understand?
I-I believe so, Emperor.
Leave me to my bath.
Got it.
A coded message sent to Vicar.
- Who sent it?
- Someone by the alias "Carnelian."
It's Duggan,
one of Lorca's top lieutenants.
- Where did the message originate?
- Risa.
- Just six hours ago.
- He might still be there.
Captain Killy, set a course
for Risa, warp nine.
Respectfully,
hunting down a mercenary
doesn't seem worthy
of the emperor's time.
I'll go with Burnham
aboard a shuttlecraft.
No. I'll go.
Might be fun.
As you wish.
Commander Nilsson, maximum warp.
Yes, Captain.
We've arrived.
Entering Risa's orbit now,
Captain.
Scan the area
for nearby vessels.
Sensors show a single
class A shuttlecraft.
No other warp-capable vessels
within a hundred light-years.
I want to see it.
It's Duggan. Cheap bastard.
Still hasn't gotten
his shuttle fixed properly.
- Any life signs?
- Just one.
It might still be
a trap, Emperor.
No signs of Lorca,
and Duggan is in
the middle of nowhere.
He knows we're here.
Vessel's powering up.
Disable that ship.
Keep him alive.
Direct hit.
Incoming transmission.
As if he had another choice.
Put him through,
Commander Airiam.
Mr. Duggan, I presume.
I just got my engines rebuilt.
Now you can rebuild them again.
Practice makes perfect,
so I'm told.
Where is Lorca?
- Making new friends.
- Is that so?
While you've been wasting
your time on trade alliances,
trying to stop
some ridiculous coalition,
guess who's rallied the Klingons
and Romulans against you?
The Klingons and Romulans
despise one another.
Not as much as they despise you.
Lorca promised your head
on a spike.
Can't wait to see it.
That will be difficult
after I remove your eyes
and his heart
with my bare hands.
Where is he?
You don't expect me
to answer that, do you?
He's powering his transporters.
You think we'd be that stupid
to let you get
down to the surface?
Take out what's left
of his ship.
I want him on board.
- Open fire.
- Aye, Captain.
You're going down, Emperor.
Sooner than you think.
Transport
Duggan directly to the brig.
Have Culber meet us there.
He won't give up Lorca easily.
- Stay alert.
- Of course, Emperor.
Bring the Honor Guard as well.
We don't want
to take any chances.
If you're having
second thoughts...
No, I'm not, Mother.
I promise you, I'm ready.
I'm here in the flesh.
What do you have to say now?
The infamous Philippa Georgiou.
Huh.
In person,
you're not so terrifying.
Well, I'll be damned.
The snake wriggled
out of her cage.
Can't trust this one, Emperor.
Of course you can.
When I want you to.
All of it was a lie, then?
I knew you were on to me at
the christening of the Charon.
And I really thought
you would kill me.
But then...
Never ceases to amaze me...
...the depths to which
we can descend
when we must.
They're gonna
sing songs about me.
How I saved the empire.
You can still make
a different choice, Michael.
Please.
"Please"?
What happened to you?
I have changed.
I have seen another way to live,
another way to rule.
There is no other way.
There's an iron fist
and there's death.
You never should have
trusted me.
I never did.
Not like I wanted to.
It's just you and me now,
Mother.
It doesn't have to be this way.
You're still holding back?
This is not you.
This is who I have always been.
And you, of all people,
should know that. You made me.
I'm sorry.
Michael...
Emperor Georgiou. Emperor?
Saru.
Save your strength.
Doctors are coming.
You passed?
You passed through?
I passed through Vahar'ai.
You passed through.
She's passed through.
Philippa?
See, that's
what you do with doors,
you pass through.
Philippa?
You've really got
to get yourself up to speed
with modern technology.
Hey. Hey, you all right?
What did you do to me?
What day is this?
Oh, good question. Mm.
The winds are a-shiftin',
it seems.
Who are you?
I'm Carl.
We're old friends, remember?
- What are you?!
- Okay, okay.
He sent me back to Terra.
I was there for months.
Okay, you're disoriented,
that's all.
You've been right here.
Was any of it real?
Tell me.
The answer to that
is on your wrist, Emperor.
There are three months' worth
of bio-data points in here.
That's impossible.
You were unconscious
for less than a minute.
If she really went back,
then who's been here with us
for this past minute?
We have so many selves.
There's a version of you that's
breathing your last breath
in a mirror universe.
But that version doesn't fit
so well anymore, does it?
No.
I thought you said going
through the door would help her.
You can't just live in doorways.
Who are you?
- Really?
- Really?
I am the Guardian of Forever.
The Kelpiens
crashed in the middle of
a radioactive nebula
125 years ago.
Maybe the reason we can't
hack into their system
is because there is no system
left to hack.
Well, something is still
sending out
that distress call on repeat.
We need more power.
I'm rerouting an additional
ten percent
from non-essential systems.
Stop stealing my power supply.
I haven't seen you
since the dawn of time.
Where the hell have you been?
Realizing my lifelong dream
of taking us
from plasma to fully polaric
warp conduits.
And I was yay-close until
you two geniuses
sucked the power out of
my backup cells.
Well, this is important.
Saru has given us
eminent allocation clearances.
- For what?
- We're using long-range sensors
to hack into, uh,
a crashed ship.
You're-you're not allowed
to have food in here.
This isn't food, it's candy.
- It's practically an accessory.
- I've got it.
I figured out why you couldn't
hack into the ship.
- Um, what are you...
- I read the field manual.
Your static is happening
at the space-subspace barriers.
That's why you're using all your
juice trying to punch through.
- None of this is in the field manual.
- It got interesting,
so I moved on
to the technical manual
to see what happened next.
What I found out is that
you guys don't know that you
can amplify your signals
within subspace.
You're not allowed food in here.
- But you... you can do that?
- Mm-hmm.
Couriers travel to pockets
of the galaxy
where subspace relays are
few and far between.
We use range extenders
to amplify weak signals.
So this is
an Emerald Chain tool?
One of the benefits
of doing business with them.
Uh, Captain said
make myself useful.
I made myself useful.
It worked.
Our sensors are holding
a link to the ship.
We're gathering data now.
Well, I mean, if I'd had
Emerald Chain technology...
You could just say thank you.
Biologically impossible.
If he tried,
his DNA would unravel
like a hormonal teenager.
I need to update Saru.
What's a Guardian of Forever?
- Why haven't we heard of you?
- I'm in hiding.
I'm a spacetime portal,
you might say.
Back in the day it used to be,
"Sure, come on through.
Just don't screw up history
or you'll have to fix it."
And then the Temporal Wars
happened, and...
everyone was killing
everyone else,
and trying to use me
to do it.
It wasn't pretty.
But here I am.
Officially elsewhere.
Nowhere near my original
coordinates.
Only an intelligence
with over 100,000 years of history
and access to current
Federation databases
- could possibly extrapolate your location.
- I like that.
The sphere data.
For all the good
it's done me...
I'm still dying. Why?
You weren't sent back
to be cured.
You were sent back
to be weighed.
Weighed?
Tested to see if
she'd make different choices.
To see if this time, here,
had changed her at all.
Why didn't you just tell me?
What, give you the answer
before the test?
You're a tricky case, Philippa.
You don't belong here, now,
but to send you somewhere else
might cause
just as many problems.
So you had to be weighed
to figure out your course.
Oh, let me guess.
I was found to be lacking.
Now, why would you say that?
I killed my daughter.
- Again.
- But in fairness,
your hands were tied.
- The end was the same.
- But you tried.
I failed her... the Empire.
Yeah.
But, you know,
this time through...
you tried for peace.
You saved a Kelpien.
And you didn't have to do that.
And he'll save others.
A lot of them.
So you will help her?
It's ready when you are.
No. I won't return to Terra.
Oh, come on, no one
said anything about
sending you back there.
I'm gonna send you back
to a time
when the mirror universe
and the prime universe
were still aligned.
That's so you won't fall apart.
Atomically speaking.
Consider yourself lucky.
You're getting a second shot.
I mean, that's pretty unique.
But it won't be easy.
The paper says the forecast
will be bumpy and painful.
Lots of rainstorms, heartaches.
But that's life.
Or so I'm told.
Can Michael come with me?
Afraid not.
This Michael Burnham is
right where she needs to be.
When you're ready...
just walk on through.
Philippa, listen.
No.
You listen.
I said you sentenced me
to death
when you brought me
to this universe.
In truth, the greater part of me
was already dead.
You gave me new life.
And the rest of your crew
isn't so bad either.
I've seen that some endings
are inevitable.
Mine. Captain Burnham's.
And perhaps your Philippa was
destined for her end as well.
You are my Philippa.
Michael...
I mean, what I feel for you...
...belongs to you.
No one else.
I wish I'd learned
all this before now.
I had a chance, once, long ago.
He was called San.
I wish I told you about him.
Tell the people
you're about to meet now.
I will never find
another like you.
I don't think I will, either.
But we owe it
to ourselves to try.
Go.
Before it's too late.
This era is different.
More Terran
than where you came from.
Saru has navigated
Discovery admirably,
but he's not the only one
who's suited
for the captain's chair.
You have always been far greater
than you could imagine, Michael.
So have you, Philippa.
We have established a
link with the Kelpien ship, Admira.
- Data is starting to come in.
- I'm glad to hear that,
but using Chain technology on
a Starfleet ship is a stretch,
even by the lax standards you
and Commander Burnham adhere to.
Well, to be fair, Admiral,
Commander Burnham is settling.
Proving to be all the more
effective as a result.
And without
Mr. Booker's assistance,
we would have been unable
to access the Khi'eth's systems.
Did it occur to either of you
that using this tech
could compromise
Discovery's systems?
It's safe.
I made sure of that
before I installed it
on my own ship two years ago.
Mr. Booker's tool
provided a needed solution
for our objective.
An objective
you approved, Admiral.
Osyraa's desperate
for dilithium.
Discovery has a spore drive.
That's not a good combination.
You're going to have to be
exceptionally careful
at all times.
If you would like
to remain on Discovery,
you will need to follow
Starfleet protocol.
With all due respect,
Osyraa has no protocols.
Having someone like me around
who's not part of Starfleet
could be a good thing.
Commander Burnham
is beaming back to Discovery.
Alone?
- We can continue this conversation later.
- Excuse me.
His actions didn't bother you?
He was trying to help.
Like you were trying to help
by delaying your reports
on the Khi'eth
until you had more data?
I did not wish to present you
with pure conjecture.
Here's what I see.
I have a Kelpien research vessel
that crashed before the Burn
and a captain who hasn't seen
another Kelpien face
since he got here.
I wouldn't blame you
if you were a little distracted.
I just need you to say so.
I assure you, Admiral,
that is not the case.
All right.
Commander Stamets and Adira
have permission
to use Mr. Booker's tech,
under supervision.
But the second you know
what's inside the Khi'eth,
I want a report.
Of course.
Will there be anything else?
Yes. My condolences, Saru.
I know you will
all feel her absence.
Michael. Hey.
I'm so sorry.
Gone?
As in deceased?
She will not return.
Never.
Then she is deceased.
To Philippa Georgiou,
the most stubborn patient
I've ever had.
Considering what some of you
have put me through,
that's saying a lot.
I wish I could've done more.
You tried. And she knew that.
- Even if she bit your head off every chance she got.
- Mm.
To Philippa Georgiou.
Uh, she was tough.
She was a force
to be reckoned with, and, um,
she pretty much redefined
the word "badass."
Oh, and can I just add
that she had the best walk.
With that coat and those boots?
And nothing intimidated her,
not in any universe.
She had no tact, and, God,
I loved that about her.
She was always honest.
Punishingly so.
Her barbs, however piercing,
were utterly glorious.
She was a pain in the ass.
And she, uh,
she meant more to me
than I could ever put in words.
Georgiou was the wall
I crashed into over
and over and over again.
She was a tormentor
but a truth-teller.
She was a mirror
I never knew I-I needed.
Like a mother, almost.
Like a sister, almost.
I loved her... and hated her,
sometimes both at the same time.
More than anything,
she was my friend.
She was the most unexpected
of gifts,
and I will miss
the hell out of her.
To Philippa.
To Philippa.
Captioning sponsored by
CBS
STAR TREK: Discovery...
There's a signal coming
from the center of the nebula.
There's a ship lost in there.
This is Dr. Issa.
We are stranded.
The Khi'eth is
still broadcasting
- this distress signal.
- On a loop, sir.
I want to know what is
happening inside that ship.
- I think I can help you.
- Help?
We have a way of doing things.
So do you want me
to read the field manual?
When we first arrived,
I, too, was eager to assist.
Ultimately, we had to wait for
our moment to prove ourselves.
I trust you will find your
moment, as well, Mr. Booker.
Temporal travel
can make you pretty sick.
Every molecule fights
to either go back in time,
or jump a cosmic divide.
Every time we queried
the sphere data for treatment,
no matter how we entered it,
it gave us the same result.
Apparently, the cure can be
found on Dannus 5.
- Well, look at that.
- What the hell is this?!
- I'm Carl.
- What happens if she goes through the door?
- She'll be on the other side.
- Give me a straight answer.
This is the chance your computer
was pointing us to,
and I'm taking it.
Terra Firma!
Let me make myself clear.
Lorca's coup will fail,
Michael will return to the fold,
and the path of what has been
set in motion will change
because I will change it.
From now on, you will be
my eyes and ears.
Our future is unwritten.
Let's make it count, shall we?
Take her to the agonizer.
I should be dead.
Kill me.
Give me the honor I deserve!
You deserve many things.
Then kill me for your own sake,
because every moment
you hesitate is a moment
that everyone can see
how weak you've become.
You're about to find out
how weak I've become.
Why do you think
Lorca has been able
to gather so many forces
against you?
Why do you think he got to me?
You're rescuing Kelpiens?
Fretting over artists?
Half of your insipid
death opera was a lie.
Propaganda
to make you look strong.
I know the truth.
You're retiring to the Charon.
You think I'm retiring?
Why else would you build
a palace in the sky
while the rest of us are
still fighting on the ground?
Are you really this blind,
Michael?
Or don't you want there
to be an empire
left to rule after I'm gone?
If we don't give our subjects
something to live for,
they will always be
in rebellion.
How many revolts have we had
to quash this year alone?
Twice as many as last year.
Even Genghis Khan learned
that his grip on power could not
hold if he didn't let the people
he conquered
worship their own gods.
You promised us new worlds
to conquer.
You promised us spoils,
never-ending growth.
There are no spoils from peace.
You have
a lot to learn, Michael.
You're the one who's blind!
Even now,
the Romulans, the Andorians,
the Tellarites, the Klingons...
They're forming an alliance
to destroy us.
It's called "the Coalition."
And the Denobulans
and the Rigelians,
and the Coridanites will follow.
You should attack now!
We can't defeat the whole galaxy
if they unite against us.
Well, they would think twice
about alliances
if we flew down
and roasted them on spits.
The rules of engagement
are changing.
Oh. No! Mother, no!
I will kill all of you!
I will kill... all of you!
This is the orison
of every parent, Michael,
as I hoped
you would learn some day.
"Why can't they just believe
what I say?"
"Why do they only learn
from pain?"
Come.
Emperor, if I may,
why is Michael Burnham still
using up oxygen on my ship?
You could kill her
with the press of a button.
She's a traitor.
She's doesn't deserve mercy.
She isn't getting any.
What shows more strength?
A mother who simply
kills her daughter,
or a mother who locks her
daughter in an agonizer booth
in order to change the course
of the future?
We still need to find
and deal with her accomplices.
Detmer, I'm sure,
knew of her plans.
No better message
to send to her co-conspirators
than a broken Michael Burnham
who has been re-forged
into a loyal subject,
- thanks to you.
- Me?
You are the most feared
interrogator in the quadrant.
I must be given free reign.
Of course.
Do your worst. Or best.
But I expect her to live.
And if you don't break her,
I will demand to know why.
Michael will come around.
Even the darkest night
will end,
and the sun will rise.
Come back to me, daughter.
Your mother is
too soft-hearted.
I told her you wouldn't have
an appetite.
That's okay.
I'll have Dr. Culber
force-feed you later.
Whatever you do,
you won't break me!
Swear your allegiance
to Emperor Georgiou,
and name your co-conspirators.
Rot in hell, bitch.
We'll try again tomorrow.
You don't mind sleeping
in there, do you?
I wish there were
another language you could understand,
but here,
where strength is power...
...and terror is love,
there is no other way
to reach you.
I've seen
who you can be, Michael.
I've seen who I can be.
I've seen what this world
can be,
and it is luminous.
We can have that.
We can be more.
But first, we must
remake ourselves.
We must leave behind
all of that which destroys us.
Captain.
Detmer.
What?
I asked to see you.
They're... listening.
I know.
Why?
You have to give in.
- No.
- You can't endure much more of this.
Nobody could.
Lorca.
No one has heard from Lorca.
I don't think he's coming.
You are the best of us.
There's no sense dying in here.
Come out.
It's time to end this.
I believe
you can do this, Michael.
I believe you can change.
As I have.
Do you remember
when you were a child?
You hardly spoke during the day,
but at night,
you'd scream,
fighting in your sleep
to escape.
I would hold you down
as you struggled.
One night,
I let you go,
and you ended up sleepwalking
to a field of fireflies.
You stood there
until you became calm
and I could carry you
to your bed.
I walked with you every night
to that field after that.
And when you woke up
the next day,
you never remembered.
I was sad when you outgrew
the night terrors.
Now that I think about it,
maybe you never did.
If you trust me,
I will bring
all the fireflies to you,
daughter.
Yes, Michael.
You asked to see me.
Mother...
Leave us.
I am sorry.
Get off the floor.
Look at me.
It's about more than
a show of strength.
We have an empire to rule.
All I ever wanted was
to rule it with you.
I pledge my loyalty
to you, Emperor.
And I vow to name my
co-conspirators and expose them.
I'm glad to hear that.
But you don't just need
to make amends with me.
You need to make amends
with all our subjects.
How are they ever to trust you?
I will execute the traitors
with my own hands.
No foe will remain.
Detmer can assist you.
Thank you, Mother.
Go.
And be quick about it.
You... you...
You can trust me again.
Don't come back
until you've proven yourself.
Landry.
Bryce.
And all the rest.
- That's all of them?
- Yes, Emperor.
Michael.
Captain...
Now it's done.
I heard the kitchen
no longer serves Kelpien.
Is that a problem?
Just takes some getting used to.
I was craving ganglia
in my cell.
Kelpien flesh is too high
in cholesterol,
and it's stringy.
Isn't that right?
That is right, Emperor.
I never lost faith
that you would see
the error of your ways.
I came to the light weeks ago.
And yet you remained
in the brig.
Stubborn.
Like mother, like daughter.
I heard you made changes.
You systematically used
backchannels
to sabotage the Coalition.
That wasn't hard.
Those silly democratic things
are always on the brink.
But you heard me.
About threats
you didn't foresee.
I've always been able
to hear the truth,
and I expect you to tell it
to me from now on.
I will.
- Where's Lorca?
- I don't know.
Are you still in love with him?
- He left me for dead.
- That's not a "no."
When we find him,
I'll be able to kill him.
How do we find him?
The alias he uses
on interstellar communication
is "Vicar."
He chose the name
"Vicar" for himself?
It means "substitute."
Lorca was always
an underachiever.
Go find him, daughter.
So long as he lives,
we will always be at war.
Is something amiss, Emperor?
Not at all.
Everything is unfolding
as I'd hoped.
You and Captain Burnham
have come quite a long way
over these last months.
You must be pleased.
I'd only ever wished
to rule with her.
And now I shall.
You will remain with me rather
than return to her service.
I am afraid that will not
be possible, Emperor,
in the end.
I regret that I will not
remain here with you.
Vahar'ai is coming for me.
Who told you that?
I feel it.
It would do me
the greatest honor
if you would be
the one to cull me.
I will do no such thing.
I apologize for overstepping.
I-I never should have...
Vahar'ai...
...is not an end.
Emperor?
When the madness comes,
lock yourself away.
In a few days' time,
you will still be alive,
and you will be changed forever.
But that is merely a fable.
I have witnessed it myself.
H-How how is that possible?
I knew a Kelpien once,
in another time, another place.
His name was Saru.
He survived Vahar'ai,
and it made him stronger.
He was a captain
of a starship.
You must have travelled
far beyond the empire.
You are placing
a great deal of trust in me.
My corpse would
already be eaten to bones
if I could not accurately judge
between loyalty and flattery.
Your regret was genuine
when you thought
you were leaving me here,
as was your pain
when your comrade fell.
He...
He would have I...?
- My sister, my family, they would all still be...
- Survive.
That is how you honor them.
Teach others what you know.
That is how you avenge them.
You are not Terran.
Of course I am.
- The way you speak...
- Enough.
Please, return to where
you are from, Emperor.
Should you fail to do
what is expected of you,
they will kill you.
This is my home.
Now and forever.
And I will make it
what it needs to be.
That is how I will survive.
Do you understand?
I-I believe so, Emperor.
Leave me to my bath.
Got it.
A coded message sent to Vicar.
- Who sent it?
- Someone by the alias "Carnelian."
It's Duggan,
one of Lorca's top lieutenants.
- Where did the message originate?
- Risa.
- Just six hours ago.
- He might still be there.
Captain Killy, set a course
for Risa, warp nine.
Respectfully,
hunting down a mercenary
doesn't seem worthy
of the emperor's time.
I'll go with Burnham
aboard a shuttlecraft.
No. I'll go.
Might be fun.
As you wish.
Commander Nilsson, maximum warp.
Yes, Captain.
We've arrived.
Entering Risa's orbit now,
Captain.
Scan the area
for nearby vessels.
Sensors show a single
class A shuttlecraft.
No other warp-capable vessels
within a hundred light-years.
I want to see it.
It's Duggan. Cheap bastard.
Still hasn't gotten
his shuttle fixed properly.
- Any life signs?
- Just one.
It might still be
a trap, Emperor.
No signs of Lorca,
and Duggan is in
the middle of nowhere.
He knows we're here.
Vessel's powering up.
Disable that ship.
Keep him alive.
Direct hit.
Incoming transmission.
As if he had another choice.
Put him through,
Commander Airiam.
Mr. Duggan, I presume.
I just got my engines rebuilt.
Now you can rebuild them again.
Practice makes perfect,
so I'm told.
Where is Lorca?
- Making new friends.
- Is that so?
While you've been wasting
your time on trade alliances,
trying to stop
some ridiculous coalition,
guess who's rallied the Klingons
and Romulans against you?
The Klingons and Romulans
despise one another.
Not as much as they despise you.
Lorca promised your head
on a spike.
Can't wait to see it.
That will be difficult
after I remove your eyes
and his heart
with my bare hands.
Where is he?
You don't expect me
to answer that, do you?
He's powering his transporters.
You think we'd be that stupid
to let you get
down to the surface?
Take out what's left
of his ship.
I want him on board.
- Open fire.
- Aye, Captain.
You're going down, Emperor.
Sooner than you think.
Transport
Duggan directly to the brig.
Have Culber meet us there.
He won't give up Lorca easily.
- Stay alert.
- Of course, Emperor.
Bring the Honor Guard as well.
We don't want
to take any chances.
If you're having
second thoughts...
No, I'm not, Mother.
I promise you, I'm ready.
I'm here in the flesh.
What do you have to say now?
The infamous Philippa Georgiou.
Huh.
In person,
you're not so terrifying.
Well, I'll be damned.
The snake wriggled
out of her cage.
Can't trust this one, Emperor.
Of course you can.
When I want you to.
All of it was a lie, then?
I knew you were on to me at
the christening of the Charon.
And I really thought
you would kill me.
But then...
Never ceases to amaze me...
...the depths to which
we can descend
when we must.
They're gonna
sing songs about me.
How I saved the empire.
You can still make
a different choice, Michael.
Please.
"Please"?
What happened to you?
I have changed.
I have seen another way to live,
another way to rule.
There is no other way.
There's an iron fist
and there's death.
You never should have
trusted me.
I never did.
Not like I wanted to.
It's just you and me now,
Mother.
It doesn't have to be this way.
You're still holding back?
This is not you.
This is who I have always been.
And you, of all people,
should know that. You made me.
I'm sorry.
Michael...
Emperor Georgiou. Emperor?
Saru.
Save your strength.
Doctors are coming.
You passed?
You passed through?
I passed through Vahar'ai.
You passed through.
She's passed through.
Philippa?
See, that's
what you do with doors,
you pass through.
Philippa?
You've really got
to get yourself up to speed
with modern technology.
Hey. Hey, you all right?
What did you do to me?
What day is this?
Oh, good question. Mm.
The winds are a-shiftin',
it seems.
Who are you?
I'm Carl.
We're old friends, remember?
- What are you?!
- Okay, okay.
He sent me back to Terra.
I was there for months.
Okay, you're disoriented,
that's all.
You've been right here.
Was any of it real?
Tell me.
The answer to that
is on your wrist, Emperor.
There are three months' worth
of bio-data points in here.
That's impossible.
You were unconscious
for less than a minute.
If she really went back,
then who's been here with us
for this past minute?
We have so many selves.
There's a version of you that's
breathing your last breath
in a mirror universe.
But that version doesn't fit
so well anymore, does it?
No.
I thought you said going
through the door would help her.
You can't just live in doorways.
Who are you?
- Really?
- Really?
I am the Guardian of Forever.
The Kelpiens
crashed in the middle of
a radioactive nebula
125 years ago.
Maybe the reason we can't
hack into their system
is because there is no system
left to hack.
Well, something is still
sending out
that distress call on repeat.
We need more power.
I'm rerouting an additional
ten percent
from non-essential systems.
Stop stealing my power supply.
I haven't seen you
since the dawn of time.
Where the hell have you been?
Realizing my lifelong dream
of taking us
from plasma to fully polaric
warp conduits.
And I was yay-close until
you two geniuses
sucked the power out of
my backup cells.
Well, this is important.
Saru has given us
eminent allocation clearances.
- For what?
- We're using long-range sensors
to hack into, uh,
a crashed ship.
You're-you're not allowed
to have food in here.
This isn't food, it's candy.
- It's practically an accessory.
- I've got it.
I figured out why you couldn't
hack into the ship.
- Um, what are you...
- I read the field manual.
Your static is happening
at the space-subspace barriers.
That's why you're using all your
juice trying to punch through.
- None of this is in the field manual.
- It got interesting,
so I moved on
to the technical manual
to see what happened next.
What I found out is that
you guys don't know that you
can amplify your signals
within subspace.
You're not allowed food in here.
- But you... you can do that?
- Mm-hmm.
Couriers travel to pockets
of the galaxy
where subspace relays are
few and far between.
We use range extenders
to amplify weak signals.
So this is
an Emerald Chain tool?
One of the benefits
of doing business with them.
Uh, Captain said
make myself useful.
I made myself useful.
It worked.
Our sensors are holding
a link to the ship.
We're gathering data now.
Well, I mean, if I'd had
Emerald Chain technology...
You could just say thank you.
Biologically impossible.
If he tried,
his DNA would unravel
like a hormonal teenager.
I need to update Saru.
What's a Guardian of Forever?
- Why haven't we heard of you?
- I'm in hiding.
I'm a spacetime portal,
you might say.
Back in the day it used to be,
"Sure, come on through.
Just don't screw up history
or you'll have to fix it."
And then the Temporal Wars
happened, and...
everyone was killing
everyone else,
and trying to use me
to do it.
It wasn't pretty.
But here I am.
Officially elsewhere.
Nowhere near my original
coordinates.
Only an intelligence
with over 100,000 years of history
and access to current
Federation databases
- could possibly extrapolate your location.
- I like that.
The sphere data.
For all the good
it's done me...
I'm still dying. Why?
You weren't sent back
to be cured.
You were sent back
to be weighed.
Weighed?
Tested to see if
she'd make different choices.
To see if this time, here,
had changed her at all.
Why didn't you just tell me?
What, give you the answer
before the test?
You're a tricky case, Philippa.
You don't belong here, now,
but to send you somewhere else
might cause
just as many problems.
So you had to be weighed
to figure out your course.
Oh, let me guess.
I was found to be lacking.
Now, why would you say that?
I killed my daughter.
- Again.
- But in fairness,
your hands were tied.
- The end was the same.
- But you tried.
I failed her... the Empire.
Yeah.
But, you know,
this time through...
you tried for peace.
You saved a Kelpien.
And you didn't have to do that.
And he'll save others.
A lot of them.
So you will help her?
It's ready when you are.
No. I won't return to Terra.
Oh, come on, no one
said anything about
sending you back there.
I'm gonna send you back
to a time
when the mirror universe
and the prime universe
were still aligned.
That's so you won't fall apart.
Atomically speaking.
Consider yourself lucky.
You're getting a second shot.
I mean, that's pretty unique.
But it won't be easy.
The paper says the forecast
will be bumpy and painful.
Lots of rainstorms, heartaches.
But that's life.
Or so I'm told.
Can Michael come with me?
Afraid not.
This Michael Burnham is
right where she needs to be.
When you're ready...
just walk on through.
Philippa, listen.
No.
You listen.
I said you sentenced me
to death
when you brought me
to this universe.
In truth, the greater part of me
was already dead.
You gave me new life.
And the rest of your crew
isn't so bad either.
I've seen that some endings
are inevitable.
Mine. Captain Burnham's.
And perhaps your Philippa was
destined for her end as well.
You are my Philippa.
Michael...
I mean, what I feel for you...
...belongs to you.
No one else.
I wish I'd learned
all this before now.
I had a chance, once, long ago.
He was called San.
I wish I told you about him.
Tell the people
you're about to meet now.
I will never find
another like you.
I don't think I will, either.
But we owe it
to ourselves to try.
Go.
Before it's too late.
This era is different.
More Terran
than where you came from.
Saru has navigated
Discovery admirably,
but he's not the only one
who's suited
for the captain's chair.
You have always been far greater
than you could imagine, Michael.
So have you, Philippa.
We have established a
link with the Kelpien ship, Admira.
- Data is starting to come in.
- I'm glad to hear that,
but using Chain technology on
a Starfleet ship is a stretch,
even by the lax standards you
and Commander Burnham adhere to.
Well, to be fair, Admiral,
Commander Burnham is settling.
Proving to be all the more
effective as a result.
And without
Mr. Booker's assistance,
we would have been unable
to access the Khi'eth's systems.
Did it occur to either of you
that using this tech
could compromise
Discovery's systems?
It's safe.
I made sure of that
before I installed it
on my own ship two years ago.
Mr. Booker's tool
provided a needed solution
for our objective.
An objective
you approved, Admiral.
Osyraa's desperate
for dilithium.
Discovery has a spore drive.
That's not a good combination.
You're going to have to be
exceptionally careful
at all times.
If you would like
to remain on Discovery,
you will need to follow
Starfleet protocol.
With all due respect,
Osyraa has no protocols.
Having someone like me around
who's not part of Starfleet
could be a good thing.
Commander Burnham
is beaming back to Discovery.
Alone?
- We can continue this conversation later.
- Excuse me.
His actions didn't bother you?
He was trying to help.
Like you were trying to help
by delaying your reports
on the Khi'eth
until you had more data?
I did not wish to present you
with pure conjecture.
Here's what I see.
I have a Kelpien research vessel
that crashed before the Burn
and a captain who hasn't seen
another Kelpien face
since he got here.
I wouldn't blame you
if you were a little distracted.
I just need you to say so.
I assure you, Admiral,
that is not the case.
All right.
Commander Stamets and Adira
have permission
to use Mr. Booker's tech,
under supervision.
But the second you know
what's inside the Khi'eth,
I want a report.
Of course.
Will there be anything else?
Yes. My condolences, Saru.
I know you will
all feel her absence.
Michael. Hey.
I'm so sorry.
Gone?
As in deceased?
She will not return.
Never.
Then she is deceased.
To Philippa Georgiou,
the most stubborn patient
I've ever had.
Considering what some of you
have put me through,
that's saying a lot.
I wish I could've done more.
You tried. And she knew that.
- Even if she bit your head off every chance she got.
- Mm.
To Philippa Georgiou.
Uh, she was tough.
She was a force
to be reckoned with, and, um,
she pretty much redefined
the word "badass."
Oh, and can I just add
that she had the best walk.
With that coat and those boots?
And nothing intimidated her,
not in any universe.
She had no tact, and, God,
I loved that about her.
She was always honest.
Punishingly so.
Her barbs, however piercing,
were utterly glorious.
She was a pain in the ass.
And she, uh,
she meant more to me
than I could ever put in words.
Georgiou was the wall
I crashed into over
and over and over again.
She was a tormentor
but a truth-teller.
She was a mirror
I never knew I-I needed.
Like a mother, almost.
Like a sister, almost.
I loved her... and hated her,
sometimes both at the same time.
More than anything,
she was my friend.
She was the most unexpected
of gifts,
and I will miss
the hell out of her.
To Philippa.
To Philippa.
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