History Recap / StarTrekDiscoveryS1E01TheVulcanHello

* ActingUnnatural: Burnham nerve-pinches Georgiou and then tries to get the crew to fire on the Klingons while she's out. However, her rushed explanations and evasive answers make them doubt Georgiou actually endorsed this course of action, which is quickly confirmed when the captain stumbles out of the ready room with a phaser.

* ArtisticLicensePhysics: Regardless of how bright the Beacon is, no one but those present should be able to see it since it's just light. Yet Sarek claims that a new star has appeared in the sky, suggesting he can see it from Vulcan. They even say that the nearest Federation colony is 6 light years away--i.e. it would take ''6 years'' for regular light to reach it. It's ''possible'' that it isn't just normal "light," given that the vessel was ''designed'' to function as a beacon across interstellar distances. Given the advanced technology involved, there may be a subspace component to the light, or the spacefaring civilizations have the technology to monitor the stars in real time, as suggested by the mention of an "[[TechnoBabble electromagnetic subspace waveform]]" (whatever that means).

---> '''Burnham:''' I'm Commander Burnham of the United Federation of --\\

* BlindedByTheLight: The Klingon Beacon is so powerful it completely whites out the ''Shenzhou's'' viewscreens, and the crew still have to shade their eyes because the ship can't completely compensate for the sheer intensity of the light.

** In a nod to Kirk's ConflictingLoyalties about being a soldier or a diplomat, Michael tells Georgiou that wanting peace is the diplomat side of her talking, and what does the soldier side say.
* {{Cliffhanger}}: Episode ends with dozens of Klingon ships warping into sight.

* DeathGlare: When Georgiou comes out of her ready room after being neck-pinched, the glare she shoots at Burnham is even deadlier than her phaser.

* GoingInCircles: Burnham thinks that she and Georgiou are doing this when they encounter their own footprints and figures that they're lost. Turns out that it's not actually a circle -- it's a Starfleet symbol that Georgiou made to signal the ''Shenzhou''.

* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: In their EVA suits, Rejac the Klingon tries to impale Burnham with his sword. Without any weapons, she desperately counters by firing off her rocket pack at point blank range to tackle him--ramming into him so forcefully that it impales him on his own sword, while she gets knocked out with a concussion.
* {{Irony}}: Georgiou remarks to Burnham that it's about time she received her own command. As soon as the Klingons show up it becomes apparent that Burnham is ''not'' ready for command, as her judgement is severely impaired whenever they are involved.

* MachoMasochism: Voq proves his devotion by holding his hand over a flame, letting it burn without flinching. This is possibly a shout-out to the Roman soldier Gaius Mucius Scaevola, who according to legend did the same thing.[[note]]He was sent into the Etruscan army camp to assassinate their king, but mistakenly killed the wrong target and was caught. Brought before their king, he announced that he was unafraid to die, and knew he had no hope of making it out of the camp alive even if he had succeeded: the Romans were so brave that the destruction of the body meant nothing to them in pursuit of the greater glory--and there were 300 more volunteers waiting to follow him if his assassination attempt failed. To prove his point, he then thrust his right hand into an open brazier until it withered away, but showed no indication of pain. This freaked out the Etruscans so much that they let him go, and immediately sent ambassadors to Rome to seek peace. Ever since, Gaius Mucius was known as "Scaevola"--"''left-handed''".[[/note]]

* MetaFiction: Unknown if they directly intended it, but think about it: the story outline is that no one has seen "the Klingons" in many years, the Klingons are worried the universe has forgotten them and they have forgotten their own honored traditions, so T'Kuvma wants to set off a big beacon to call them all together for a return to glory and get the universe's attention again--but even T'Kuvma's own followers fear that the rest of the Klingons won't answer their call. Now replace the phrase "setting off the Light of Kahless beacon" with "a big new ''Star Trek'' live-action TV series premiere after a 12 year absence," and "Klingons" with "Star Trek fans". Everyone working on the TV show fearing that even if they put out a great new show, they're so forgotten that no one will come to watch it--but then they do! And the premiere got very solid ratings numbers! ''Qapla!''

* MundaneSolution: The crew seems somewhat at a loss on how to get a look at the anomaly they've detected since interference is messing with the ship's sensors. Cut to the Captain's ready room and Georgiou, Burnham, and Saru peering at it out a window with a small telescope and Mark One Eyeballs.

* MythologyGag: Georgiou mentions how Burnham has served with her for seven years -- which happens to be the length of [[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration three]] [[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine previous]] [[Series/StarTrekVoyager incarnations]] of ''Franchise/StarTrek''.

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: {{Implied}} [[PlayedForLaughs for laughs]] -- agreement between Burnham and Saru is apparently so rare that when it does happen, Georgiou makes a point of noting it in the ship's log.

* OutOfCharacterAlert: Saru is rightly suspicious when Burnham emerges from the captain's ready room claiming Georgiou suddenly changed her mind about attacking and making excuses as to why Georgiou isn't issuing these orders personally. Burnham ActingUnnatural really doesn't help her case, and Georgiou showing up with a phaser in hand seals the deal.
* ProperlyParanoid: At first, everyone lightly mocks Saru for his instincts, as a member of a prey species, to always suspect danger or malicious intent when faced with an unknown situation: their downed relay satellite could have just been taken out by an asteroid impact, but he insists it must be hostile intent. Pretty quickly, however, even Burnham realizes it's probably too much of a coincidence, and someone probably attacked the satellite to lure out a Federation starship to investigate. Difference is, Saru feels this means they should retreat and gather reinforcements, while Burnham feels this means they should immediately advance to investigate the exact nature of the threat.
* RedRightHand: Voq is an albino, which makes other Klingons see him as a freak and mistake of nature, not belonging to any Great House. T'Kuvma says he's come to see this as a "mirror" and sees himself in Voq: he's unattached to the decadent feuds of the Great Houses, and has a driving need to prove that he is a true Klingon (striking a chord with T'Kuvma because he feels the Great Houses have forgotten the traditions of honor and glory that Kahless set down for them). It goes double when he holds his hand over a flame in an act of MachoMasochism, charring the skin on one hand.

** Correspondingly, Saru advocates withdrawing from the system to avoid the possibility of a trap. Had the Starfleet ships and crews done so, there would have been no one present to prove T'Kuvma's point and nobody who he could start a battle with to get the High Council and the assembled Houses on his side. That said, nothing would have stopped T'Kuvma and his followers from making attacks elsewhere to goad the Federation into open war.

* ShamingTheMob: The faith of T'Kuvma's followers wavers to the point that they aren't sure if any of the Great Houses will respond to their call to unite if they light the beacon of Kahless. After Rejac is killed, T'Kuvma calls for another to replace him as their "Torchbearer," to honor their House--none will, and even Rejac's own brother expresses his doubts. Then "Voq, son of none" steps forward, a shamed albino derided as a freak of nature by his fellow Klingons, who declares that while he is not a member of an honored Great House, he will prove his honor through his faith and deeds by taking Rejac's place. T'Kuvma accepts, moved that this shamed outsider has displayed more courage and devotion than the high-ranking members of Great Houses who [[RefusalOfTheCall refused the call]].

* StealthInSpace: T'Kuvma's ship has a [[InvisibilityCloak cloaking device]], canonically the first time Starfleet has encountered such technology on Klingon vessels.

* TitleDrop: Burnham calls firing on the Klingon ships as a show of strength "a Vulcan hello," as the Vulcans did this once they realized the Klingons would do the same to them if allowed.

* UnspokenPlanGuarantee: A minor one. When the storm on the alien planet arrives ahead of schedule and makes beam-out impossible, Georgiou leads Burnham on a walk with no apparent destination, asking that she trust it's the right path. When they end up circling back on their own footsteps, the ''Shenzhou'' flies below the storm and retrieves them. Zoom out to reveal Georgiou traced a massive Starfleet insignia in the sand.

%%* TheMutiny: Burnham tries this but fails.

* ContinuityNod: Ever wonder why the Klingons [[AttackHello fired a photon torpedo at V'ger to introduce themselves]] in ''Film/StarTrekTheMotionPicture''?

** In a nod to Kirk's ConflictingLoyalties about being a soldier or a diplomat, Michael tells Georgiou that wanting peace is the diplomat side of her talking, and what the soldier side say.

* SceneryPorn: The binary system. Burnham even describes it as such in her [[CaptainsLog personal log]].

* GenghisGambit: T'Kuvma's plan follows this to a T: he wants to start a war with the Federation to unite the two dozen squabbling Klingon Great Houses against a common enemy, and return them to the unity and honor of their ancestors.

* TheMutiny: Burnham tries this but fails.

* EpicHail: The Klingon beacon -- a light source that can be instantly seen across half a quadrant -- certainly counts.

* IAmXSonOfY: {{Subverted}} with "Voq, Son of None." However, his desire to prove himself causes T'Kuvma to essentially adopt him as his torchbearer and chosen successor.

--> '''Georgiou:''' Mr. Connor, agreement between my senior officers. Note the date and time.\\

* BurialInSpace: We witness a Klingon version of this ritual.

* StealthInSpace: T'Kuvma's ship has a cloaking device, canonically the first time Starfleet has encountered such technology on Klingon vessels.

* EntertaininglyWrong: Burnham believes that striking first will save the ''Shenzhou'' by either rendering the Klingons unable to fight or getting them to back down and talk. She's completely unaware that T'Kuvma wants full-blown war whether he fires the first shot or not, and that he has at least one other cloaked vessel present which, based on what later happens to the ''Europa'', would likely have taken out the ''Shenzhou'' regardless of what happened to T'Kuvma's ship.

* InvisibilityCloak: T'Kuvma's ship has a cloaking device, canonically the first time Starfleet has encountered such technology on Klingon vessels.

* AttackHello: The "Vulcan hello" of the title.
-->'''Burnham:''' Whenever the Vulcans crossed paths with Klingons, the Vulcans fired first. They said "hello" in a language the Klingons understood. Violence brought respect. Respect brought peace. Captain, we have to give the Klingons [[TitleDrop a Vulcan "hello"]].

'''Burnham:''' Is this amount of sarcasm really necessary?\\

* ArcWords: "Remain Klingon!" First spoken here by T'Kuvma; repeated by other Klingons throughout the season.

* MsFanservice: Only halfway through the first episode, we get to see Creator/SonequaMartinGreen in her undies. That's even faster than [[Series/StarTrekEnterprise Jolene Blaylock]!

'''Connor:''' ''(smirking)'' Aye, Captain.\\

* ShamingTheMob: The faith of T'Kuvma's followers wavers to the point that they aren't sure if any of the Great Houses will respond to their call to unite if they light the beacon of Kahless. After Rejac is killed, T'Kuvma calls for another to replace him as their "Torchbearer," to honor their House--none will, and even Rejac's own brother expresses his doubts. Then "Voq, son of no one" steps forward, a shamed albino derided as a freak of nature by his fellow Klingons, who declares that while he is not a member of an honored Great House, he will prove his honor through his faith and deeds by taking Rejac's place. T'Kuvma accepts, moved that this shamed outsider has displayed more courage and devotion than the high-ranking members of Great Houses who [[RefusalOfTheCall refused the call]].