History Recap / StarTrekDiscoveryS3E09TerraFirmaPartOne

* KickTheSonOfABitch: Once Mirror Michael's plans are exposed and she's sent to the Agonizer, Killy knocks her unconscious by kicking her in the face.

Advised by the Sphere data, ''Discovery'' journeys to a mysterious planet in hopes of finding a cure for Georgiou's deteriorating condition. Said cure turns out to be a PortalDoor to the MirrorUniverse, making its first return since the series' first season. Meanwhile, back in the Prime Timeline, Stamets and Adira make a stunning breakthrough with the newly acquired data on the Burn.
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!!Tropes in this episode:

Advised by the Sphere data, ''Discovery'' journeys to a mysterious planet in hopes of finding a cure for Georgiou's deteriorating condition. Said cure turns out to be a PortalDoor to the MirrorUniverse, making its first return since the series' first season. Meanwhile, back in the Prime Timeline, Stamets and Adira make a stunning breakthrough with the newly acquired data on The Burn.

* BlatantLies: Adira claims to be happy Gray is gone, but Stamets sees right through it.

* CanonWelding: While Creator/JJAbrams's "Kelvinverse" has acknowledged its debt to the Prime Timeline, this is the first time the Prime Timeline has been directly affected by -- or, for that matter, acknowledged -- the Kelvinverse. (It's also the first entry in the franchise, from any continuity, to feature the Prime, Kelvin and Mirror Universes all at once.)

* CruelMercy: Once she sees Mirror Michael is unrepentant of her actions against her, Philippa spares her after holding back a decapitating swing of her sword, deciding death was too good for her. She has her sent to an Agonizer.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: Georgiou, ''a [[EvilCounterpart Terran]]'', is actually disturbed by Mirror Michael's actions, being left speechless when her daughter tells her she mutilated Kepler 174-d's artists. Shortly after, when Michael tries to kill Mirror Saru, Philippa screams a BigNo and stops her from doing so, retaking her ownership of him. This serves to demonstrate how living in the Prime universe has affected her.

* FateWorseThanDeath: Georgiou claims she's giving Mirror Burnham this after refusing to execute her, though it's just as likely she can't bring herself to do it and needs an out.

** Georgiou swings at Burnham with a sword, claiming it will be a death blow, but stops short when Burnham refuses to dodge. When Mirror Burnham readies herself to be executed for treason, Georgiou draws her blade to do the deed, only to stop short once again, though this time she leaves a decent cut before stopping.

* FreezeFrameBonus: The other headlines in Carl's newspaper reference [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS1E4TheLastOutpost a supernova threatening the Tkon Empire]] and the [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS6E4Relics disappearance of the U.S.S.]] ''[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS6E4Relics Jenolan]]''.

* IHaveMyWays: Book tells Saru that he has sources for information -- namely, couriers whose names he can't reveal.

* [[DaddysLittleVillain Mommy's Little Villain]]: Mirror Burnham is just as twisted, sadistic and evil as the Emperor was before she jumped universes. One of the things she casually mentions is blinding and mutilating a group of artists Georgiou told her about to increase the value of their work since they can't make any more.

'''Burnham:''' Why, because you "plucked me out of a trash heap"? I was master of that trash heap. And now I'm nothing. I'm a tool. I'm just this reflection of you who can never stand on my own. But Lorca ... he loves me for me. And he honors me ... for me.\\

* NoodleIncident: {{Implied}}, as Vance telling Saru that he shouldn't necessarily sacrifice a crewmember to serve TheNeedsOfTheMany suggests that there's a personal story behind this advice.

-->'''Vance:''' I never listened to advice when I was green, but take it from an old salt who's made a lot of bad calls in his day. A crew member is drowning. If we let her, then your crew will never look at you, or the Federation the same way again. And you will never look at yourself the same way either.

* PetTheDog: Georgiou graciously acknowledges Saru as captain and Tilly as a decent choice for [[NumberTwo Number One]] before departing. She also protects Mirror Saru from Mirror Michael's rage, shows knowledge of the Vahar'ai and earns his unconditional love. She also spares Michael once her coup plans with Lorca are exposed.

* RagnarokProofing: The Kelpien ship has been sitting in an unstable nebula for a century and a half, yet still has the power and intact infrastructure to transmit a looping distress call the entire time. Adira is amazed it's still going after so long.

* SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong: When Georgiou ends up in her past, she decides to try to bring her Burnham back into the fold, averting her fate in the original timeline. To that end, she stabs Mirror Stamets in the middle of the attempted coup, stopping it in its tracks, before confronting Burnham and having her sent to the Agonizer instead of killing her. In the original mirror universe timeline, Burnham was executed while Stamets had been spared after he betrayed the conspiracy.

-->'''Mirror Burnham:''' Did I call ... for WINE?! ''(hits the glass out of Saru's hand)'' DID THE EMPEROR?!

* WarriorHeaven: It's implied that Terrans believe in one as Georgiou keeps talking about wanting to die in battle and mentions that anyone she kills will be her servant in the afterlife.

* YouWouldntShootMe: Burnham allows Georgiou to take a swing at her with a sword, knowing Georgiou won't follow through even though she's threatening to.

* NotSoDifferent: Georgiou argues that Mirror Burnham and her Prime self both desire to bend others to their will, Mirror Burnham was just honest about it. As Georgiou is being difficult about getting treatment, Burnham just brushes it off.

* MentalTimeTravel: When Georgiou passes through Carl's door, she winds up in the body of her past self on the day that Lorca attempted his coup. However, she still possesses the wrist monitor that she was wearing in the present, so whatever Carl did isn't a straight example.

* RealityWarper: Whatever Carl is, he's able to appear out of nowhere, send Georgiou's mind back in time and across universes while also sending a physical object back with her, and is nearly undetectable by sensors.

''''Computer:''' There is a solution.\\

* FreezeFrameBonus: The other headlines in Carl's newspaper reference [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS1E4TheLastOutpost a supernova threatening the Tkon Empire]] and the [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS6E4Relics disappearance] of the U.S.S.]] ''[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS6E4Relics Jenolan]]''.

** Carl is heavily implied to be one of the higher beings that's appeared in ''Star Trek'' before. Further, the newspaper announcing Georgiou's death is evidently from ''The Star Dispatch'', the same newspaper that announced the death of [[Recap/StarTrekS1E28TheCityOnTheEdgeOfForever Edith Keeler.]]

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Georgiou swings at Burnham with a sword, claiming it will be a death blow, but stops short when Burnham refuses to dodge. When Mirror Burnham readies herself to be executed for treason, Georgiou draws her blade to do the deed, only to stop short once again, though this time she leaves a decent cut before stopping.
* FreezeFrameBonus: The other headlines in Carl's newspaper reference [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS1E4TheLastOutpost a supernova threatening the Tkon Empire]] and the [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS6E4Relics disappearance of the U.S.S.]] ''[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS6E4Relics Jenolan]]''.

* OutOfGenreExperience: Carl is straight out of one of the goofier ''Original Series'' or ''Next Generation'' episodes, and sticks out like a dozen sore thumbs in the more serious and grounded world of ''Discovery''.

** Carl is heavily implied to be a Q. Further, the newspaper announcing Georgiou's death is evidently from ''The Star Dispatch'', the same newspaper that announced the death of [[Recap/StarTrekS1E28TheCityOnTheEdgeOfForever Edith Keeler.]]

** The hologram of Yor, a time traveler from the 24th century Kelvin Universe, is wearing a Kelvinverse variant of the jumpsuit uniform from the early seasons of ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration''.

* GuyLiner: Mirror Culber

'''Burnham:''' Why, because you "plucked me out of a trash heap"? I was master of that trash heap. And now I'm nothing. I'm a tool. I'm just this reflection of you who can never stand on my own. But Lorca...he loves me for me. And he honors me...for me.\\

* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: When Mirror Rhys challenges Mirror Owo for her position, she kicks his ass and delivers a serious pounding to his face that only ends when Mirror Burnham yells at them to stop.

-->'''Mirror Burnham:''' Did I call...for WINE?! ''(hits the glass out of Saru's hand)'' DID THE EMPEROR?!

-->'''Mirror Burnham:''' Did...I ask...for WINE?! ''(hits the glass out of Saru's hand)'' DID THE EMPEROR?!

* ThinkNothingOfIit:

* EvenEvilHasStandards: Georgiou, ''a [[EvilCounterpart Terran]]'' is actually disturbed by Mirror Michael's actions, being left speechless when her daughter tells her she mutilated Kepler 174-d's artists. Shortly after, when Michael tries to kill Mirror Saru, Philippa screams a BigNo and stops her from doing so, retaking her ownership of him.

* MachoMasochism: At the party, a group of officers, including Stamets and Culber. are shown trying to outlast each other while holding active Agonizers.

* SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong: When Georgiou ends up in her past, she decides to try to bring her Burnham back into the fold, averting her fate in the original timeline. To that end, she stabs Mirror Stamets in the middle of the attempted coup, stopping it in its tracks, before confronting Burnham and having her sent to the Agonizer instead of killing her.

* WilliamTelling: At the party, Mirror Bryce throws a dagger at a female crewmember's head to knock a piece of fruit off of it. Curiously, she's a willing participant.

* MachoMasochism: At the party, a group of officers are shown trying to outlast each other while holding active Agonizers.