Burnham has discovered the location of the artifact containing the Progenitor technology, but the Breen seize it before Discovery can. While Saru prepares to depart in a shuttle to conduct diplomatic overtures, Burnham leads The Heist to steal it back.
Tropes:
- Bavarian Fire Drill: When the away team has to beam into a corridor with a Breen patrol, Burnham quickly spins a lie about a misplaced transport and browbeats the pair into getting back to their route. Rhys uses the same method to get the Breen equivalent of an ensign to leave their station, and Burnham poses as a science officer to sabotage the quarantine field generator protecting the artifact.
- Binary Suns: Binary black holes in this case, which lie at the center of the system where the map leads. The artifact is at the Lagrange point between them.
- Borrowed Biometric Bypass: When faced with a security check at the shuttlebay that their replicated Breen uniforms can't pass, Burnham and Book fake an argument blaming the other for not getting the proper clearance, then attack the guards and use one of them to open the door.
- Compressed Hair: Burnham's braids disappear once she activates the Collapsible Helmet of the Breen uniform.
- Dressing as the Enemy: The away team dresses in replicated Breen uniforms to move about the dreadnought undetected.
- Enemy Civil War: News of Ruhn's death spreads quickly among the Breen, and rival Primarch Tahal is gathering her fleet with the expectation of claiming Ruhn's dreadnought and army. Moll's claim over the dreadnought crew is very tenuous and she knows this is not a good position to be in, wanting to quickly secure the Progenitor technology so she can revive L'ak. At Starfleet Command, they are discussing how to stall Tahal without provoking her, leading Saru to volunteer for a potentially suicidal diplomatic mission in a shuttle to intercept her ship, which they hope won't be seen as a provocation compared to a fully-armed starship.
- Exact Time to Failure: Subverted. It's estimated that the shuttle can withstand the heat of the exhaust port for 60 seconds, which Burnham dutifully counts down as Book maneuvers the shuttle into position. When there's a hitch in the plan, however, things are rushed along by their remaining time suddenly getting cut in half, leading Book to complain about the estimate being wrong.
- Gone Horribly Right: Played for laughs. While Burnham sabotages the field generator, Book has to distract a nearby guard. Knowing nothing of Breen culture, he decides to flirt with the guard, asking if they can go to the upcoming feast together. To his increasing horror, not only is the guard receptive, but oil baths and implicit orgies are part of the festivities, taking the conversation in a very uncomfortable direction. Burnham ribs him for the mess he's talked himself into, which is thankfully interrupted by an intruder alert.
- The Heist: To steal the artifact back from the Breen, Discovery sends a team to the Breen ship. Rhys and Adira go to the bridge to take down the dreadnought's shields, while Burnham and Book head to the shuttlebay to attach a beacon to the artifact so Discovery can beam it up.
- Let's Get Dangerous!: Rayner's unwillingness to actually sit the captain's chair is acknowledged and discussed by the bridge crew. As the episode ends, with both Burnham and Moll inside the artifact's dimension, Primarch Tahal en route and the situation spiraling out of control, he finally takes the seat.
- Number Two: Tilly once again gets positioned as acting first officer under Rayner.
- Oh, Crap!: When Moll is informed that Discovery is on a collision course, she realizes Burnham's plan and flees into the artifact before they have a chance to steal it back.
- Pocket Dimension: The artifact contains an extra-dimensional portal which sucks in anyone who approaches. Sensors can't penetrate to the other side, and those who enter seemingly can't come back, at least not without solving the final test on the other side. Several Breen are sucked in during testing, despite efforts to anchor them to the floor. Moll goes herself when she realizes Discovery is about to reclaim the artifact, and Burnham chases her in for fear that Moll might be clever enough to solve the puzzle even without the hint.
- Public Secret Message: When she and Book are caught by Moll, Burnham uses a Kelleran phrase over the open comm to get Rayner's attention, then recounts her first encounter with Moll so he'll realize her plan.
- Race Against the Clock: A new time crunch is introduced in the form of Primarch Tahal, who has learned of Ruhn's death and intends to absorb his forces into her own to strengthen her claim to the throne. As she would also find out about the Progenitor technology, it becomes of paramount importance to delay her long enough for Discovery to secure it.
- Ragnarök Proofing: The artifact was left in a Lagrange point between the gravity wells of binary black holes, made of a duranium alloy (a common metal used across the franchise in Techno Babble) that renders it pretty much invisible to sensors unless you already know it's there. The age of the black holes make them one of the oldest phenomenon in the galaxy, so the spot was chosen specifically knowing it would be there for a long time. How much of the artifact is from the Progenitors vs the original scientists who left the clues is not clear, though the outer shell at least was created by the latter, as Tilly determines it to be roughly 800 years old.
- Ramming Always Works: Rayner leads Discovery to punch through the containment shield of the dreadnought's massive hangar bay, though Stamets has to precisely calculate the approach angle and Deflector Shields modulation so the ship will survive the impact without compromising structural integrity. The only portion that's rammed is said forcefield: the hangar is so big that Discovery fits inside it with room to turn around.
- Shout-Out: The interior of the Breen helmets have Iron Man-esque holographic HUDs.
- Technobabble: Amusingly inverted as the team attempts to board the dreadnought by hiding a shuttle in its exhaust plume, which is very, very hot and will soon vaporize the shuttle.Tal: Our-our-our transportation radius is being limited…
Burnham: Science later, problem now!
Tal: There are two Breen life signs right where we have to beam in.
Rhys: Why can’t we beam someplace else?
Tal: Science later, problem now: We just can’t. - Thrown Out the Airlock: Burnham tells Discovery to breach the dreadnought's cargo bay force field so they and the artifact will be blown into space, where Discovery will be able to tractor it in. Things are complicated when the artifact rough exit from the bay causes the outer shell to be compromised, releasing the portal after it's traveled a short distance into space and making securing it that much more difficult.
- Two-Keyed Lock: Burnham reveals that, while the artifact is unlocked by the key stolen by the Breen, there's a second riddle inside that only she has the clue to, a security precaution in case the physical clues were stolen.
- Unspoken Plan Guarantee: Burnham briefs her officers on the plan to infiltrate the Breen dreadnought. Complications arise pretty quickly, forcing them to improvise. Those changes are also discussed, and they go sideways as well.
- Visible Invisibility: Discovery under cloak is depicted as translucent, largely the result of radiation from the accretion disk of the nearby black hole, but also so that the audience can, you know, see her during the action.
