WARNING: Spoilers ahead.
There are so many Star Trek series in production right now, it’s hard to keep track. Add to that several more series floating around in the ether. One of those new ideas was a show about the mysterious Section 31, which was supposed to be headlined by Michelle Yeoh. But the character in question is stuck in the 32nd century. Does that mean that Section 31 has lasted that long? Or would Georgiou somehow be sent back in time?
Well, it looks like we get part of an answer, sort of.
In Part 1 of Terra Firma, we meet Carl. Carl is an enigmatic type. He offers Georgiou help. Well, he offers her a door, which could help with her condition. Upon walking through the detached doorway, she finds herself in what appears to be The Mirror Universe. You see, Carl is weighing her, seeing what she’s made of. Based on her decisions, Carl will either offer or deny her that help.
When she finally passes, we find out who Carl really is and what he’s up to. You see, Carl is the personification of The Guardian of Forever. Georgiou’s problem is that she’s both out of time and away from her home universe. Like the saying goes, she doesn’t have to go home, but she can’t stay here. Carl doesn’t send her back to The Mirror Universe, but can send her back to a time when her absence won’t be an issue.
It’s not clear what this means, exactly. Section 31 existed from the dawn of The Federation. She could end up meeting Jonathan Archer or Kathryn Janeway. (Or, she could end up back in her own time, which is most probable.)
There also appears to be a bit of retcon with The Guardian. When we first saw The Guardian, it was stated that the history of a planet could only be displayed in the fashion shown. Someone couldn’t pick an exact time or place.
Granted, neither of Georgiou’s journeys necessarily violates that edict. It’s not clear if what we saw her go through really happened. It could have been a pocket universe or alternate timeline. At the end of the episode, Carl is able to send Georgiou to a specific time place of his own choosing. It could be The Guardian can do whatever it wants, but has no way to take a specific request. Given the vastness of all of time and space, it might be some limitation on taking requests.
There’s also the issue of the Temporal Cold War. Carl says that he had to go into hiding after what the various factions put him through. Something might have happened to The Guardian that altered its nature. (That could be an interesting little miniseries right there.) I guess we’ll just have to wait to see exactly what Carl did.
There’s a part of this episode (and the previous one) that feels like a detour. Without Georgiou’s problem, the side trip would have been totally unnecessary. We never would have met Carl/The Guardian. I suppose it’s necessary to set up the Section 31 show and all. I mean, I’m not complaining. City on the Edge of Forever was a great episode and all. I’m just wondering how else this will fit into the big picture.
The last stretch of the episode sees the crew getting back on track. There’s this mysterious distress call. The crew knows where it’s coming from, but decides to decode it before actually going there. I suppose that’s a sensible precaution. Had it not been for The Burn, it would have been fairly easy to send a bunch of ships there.
As it is, Discovery is the only ship that could make the journey in a reasonable amount of time. If Starfleet is going to send a bunch of ships there, one would want to know what’s necessary. (Do they need science vessels or warships, for instance?)
There are three more episodes left this season. It looks like the next one will have Discovery going to the source of The Burn. I’m hoping for a happy resolution, but nothing ever seems to be easy on this show. At least it’s interesting.
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