History Recap / StarTrekDiscoveryS2E02NewEden

* CentralTheme: Faith is the driving concept behind the different plot elements, whether it's faith in a religion (Mother), faith in science (Jacob, Burnham), or faith in your crewmates (too many to mention). In particular, ''Discovery'' saves the entire planet from an extinction-level event that they can't even warn Captain Pike about. They resolve the crisis just in time for the away team to call them for help when Pike is wounded, something that they would have been unable to do had their faith in their crewmates been misplaced.

--> '''Riker:''' Six hundred million dead... little resistance.

'''Computer:''' Working. Ahern, May Theresa. Born April 30th, 2236. [[WhamLine Deceased, June 9th, 2252]].

* InsistentTerminology: For unexplained reasons, the crew always refer to the AlienNonInterferenceClause as "General Order One," never once using its more widely-known name (and the original trope name), the PrimeDirective. (At least [[https://www.tor.com/2019/02/25/star-trek-discoverys-general-order-one-is-likely-evolving-into-the-prime-directive/ one fan]] has hypothesized that this is because General Order One has yet to ''become'' the Prime Directive at this point in the franchise's timeline.)

* AlienSky: Terralysium is earthlike, except for the planetary rings visible from the surface.

The crew of the ''Discovery'' track a new Red Burst and discover a distress call at its location. (This requires reviving the spore drive, as the location is deep in the Beta Quadrant and 150 years away at top speed.) There, they discover the eponymous NewEden, a hidden, primitive human settlement. Beaming down, Pike, Burnham and Owosekun attempt to find more about the Red Burst, despite being bound by "General Order One," Starfleet's AlienNonInterferenceClause. Meanwhile, ''Discovery'' must save the planet from annihilation after radioactive debris threatens a ColonyDrop.

* AcePilot: Detmer states she's had a pilot's license since age 12.
* AlienAbduction: [[MassTeleportation A church and all the people inside it were taken from Earth in a beam of light in 2053.]] The people believe that God (or, at least, some god) saved them from being killed in World War III. An ancient helmet cam recording shows the Red Angel was present when it happened.
* AlienNonInterferenceClause: Pike rationalizes that because the original people who were transported to the planet arrived there before Earth discovered faster-than-light travel the Prime Directive applies just as it would to any other pre-warp civilization.

* CallARabbitASmeerp: Pike finds it difficult to understand why people so isolated for 200 years speak "Federation Standard". Of course, that's because they were taken from North America and they're speaking ''English''. Particularly funny since in the [[Recap/StarTrekDiscoveryS2E03PointOfLight very next episode]], it's called ''English''.
* CallForward: Another dark piece of foreshadowing to Pike's eventual fate, when he's injured and we see him in sickbay, after the doctor tells him he's lucky to still be alive, Pike's injuries mean he can't even speak.
* CentralTheme: Faith is the driving concept behind the different plot elements, whether it's faith in a religion (Mother), faith in science (Jacob, Burnham), or faith in your crewmates (too many to mention). In particular, ''Discovery'' saves the entire planet from an extinction-level event that they can't even warn Captain Pike about. They resolve the crisis just in time for the away team to call them for help when Pike is wounded, something they would have been unable to do had their faith in their crewmates been misplaced.

** The ancestors of Terralysium's residents were originally taken from Earth during the Third World War, the aftermath of which was shown in ''[[Film/StarTrekFirstContact First Contact]]''. Specifically, they're mentioned as having been taken in 2053, the exact year the war ended.

* ADayInTheLimelight: The audience finds out more about Owosekun and she's the one who comes up with the way of escaping the basement they're locked in, not the uber-competent Burnham or experienced Pike.

** The people of Terralysium ''know'' their ancestors were saved by the Red Angel, who they believe was a divine messenger.
** When they accidentally witness a wounded Pike and his away team [[TeleportationRescue being beamed up]] to ''Discovery'', Mother assumes this is another case of this trope.
* EarthThatWas: The people of Terralysium believe they are the only humans left in the universe, saved by unknown angelic beings during World War Three. But there are a few, like Jacob's family, who believe the Earth and the rest of the human race are still out there.

** Burnham argues that if the red burst was indeed meant to bring them to help the people of New Eden, it likely means reuniting them with the rest of humanity. She's unaware that the real reason the ''Discovery'' is there is taking place in orbit and is to stop a planetary disaster.
** Jacob believes the red light he saw in the sky prior to their arrival was from the landing party's ship. As they're maintaining their cover, they can't correct him.
** When Pike is seriously injured, the away team take him into the church to [[MetaphoricallyTrue pray for deliverance]], locking the locals out. Jacob forces his way in just in time for him and Mother to witness the away team being beamed up to the ''Discovery''. Since the transporter beam is red-tinted, Mother takes this as proof that the Red Angels rescued Pike and his friends.
* TheExitIsThatWay: Having devised a solution to the crisis at Terralysium, Tilly rushes out of Sickbay to the Bridge...and a few seconds later, she runs past Sickbay in the opposite direction, having gone the wrong way.

* InterfaithSmoothie: While the people who were saved from Earth agree they were saved by DivineIntervention, because there were people of a number of different beliefs who were taking shelter in the church they realized they didn't know ''what'' deity or faith might have saved them. As a result they created a religious text that [[CrossoverCosmology brought in aspects of, among others, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Christianity, Buddhism, and even Wicca]].

** Burnham shows Spock's sketch and voice log to Pike, and later reveals [[Recap/StarTrekDiscoveryS2E01Brother she saw the Red Angel on the asteroid]].

* ItMakesSenseInContext: InUniverse -- Pike expresses confusion about Stamets integrating the DNA of a tardigrade with his own.

* JumpingOnAGrenade: Pike does this with the phaser he tackles out of the hands of a colonist. When it discharges, he's sent flying.
* LampshadeHanging: Captain Pike is a bit put off when he first hears about the spore drive and how it works, but since it will get them to where they need to go immediately, rather than the 150 years it would take with normal warp engines, he decides to just roll with it.

* LockingMacGyverInTheStoreCupboard: Or locking three people you strongly suspect to be from a more advanced society in a basement full of old technology.
* LoopholeAbuse: Stamets points out the ring the radioactive debris is coming from isn't visible from the surface of the planet. He then mentions that means the people won't see it coming, but the subtext is that people on the planet won't see ''Discovery'' trying to do something about it.

** Spock ''is'' on approved leave from the ''Enterprise''. Pike simply didn't mention that a week after he left the ship he checked himself into a psychiatric facility on Starbase 5 and requested that his family not be informed. Pike only tells Burnham because her discovery of Spock's personal log means Spock is connected to their mission and the privacy granted to him by Starfleet regulations is therefore superseded.

* NotSoAboveItAll: Tilly gets Detmer to become enthusiastic about her plan when she points out Detmer will get to pull donuts. In a ''starship''. Detmer even refers to it when executing it as the "Donut Maneuver".

* {{Omniglot}}: Saru reveals he learned to speak ''ninety'' Federation languages.

* PostVictoryCollapse: Once the ''Discovery'' saves the planet from devastation, a still-weakened Tilly says she's going to go pass out in her bed.

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: [[WhatTheHellHero After Saru reads the riot act to Tilly about her actions]], he explains he understands why Tilly was trying to carry out her work by herself and offers her some advice based on his own experience of having put too much pressure on himself.
* SceneryPorn: The opening shot of ''Discovery'' sailing out of a cloudy red nebula. Also the orbital shots of Terralysium, with its multiple rings are quite stunning.

* SpottingTheThread: Jacob confronts the landing party and says they aren't from Terralysium because the skin on their hands isn't roughened and weathered from the hard manual labor the colonists perform on a daily basis.
* StealthHiBye: Tilly enters the bridge turbolift, and when she turns around "May" is standing right in front of the door just before it closes.
* StockSoundEffect: The static sound from the transmitter come from the original series.

* TokenReligiousTeammate: Of the landing party, Burnham is driven by logic and seeks rational explanations and Owosekun comes from a family of non-believers. Pike shows the most sympathy for the religious beliefs of the people of New Eden and willingness to believe there might be something greater at work. He's also the first one to call the building the signal is coming from what it obviously is, a church, and he understands the purpose of the stained-glass windows. (This could be because he's simply the first or only character to understand what it was; Roddenberry's vision of the future was that humans had OutgrownSuchSillySuperstitions.)

* WhamShot: Pike recovers a soldier's helmet cam recording from the day the people in the church were saved and it shows the Red Angel was some kind of physical presence, not simply a mental projection or hallucination.

* WholePlotReference: This [[Recap/StarTrekS3E3TheParadiseSyndrome isn't the]] [[Recap/StarTrekVoyagerS2E1The37s first]] [[Recap/StarTrekEnterpriseS03E09NorthStar time]] a Star Trek crew has stumbled upon a planet of pre-First Contact humans who were taken from Earth by SufficientlyAdvancedAliens.

* AlienAbduction: A church and all the people inside it were taken from Earth in a beam of light in 2053. An ancient helmet cam recording shows the Red Angel was present when it happened.

'''Pike''': If you're telling me that this ship can skip across the universe on a highway made of mushrooms, I kind of have to go on faith.

* ItMakesSenseInContext: Pike expresses confusion about Stamets integrating the DNA of a tardigrade with his own. Saru and Burnham explain he had to be there to understand.

-->'''Pike''': If you're telling me that this ship can skip across the universe on a highway made of mushrooms, I kind of have to go on faith.

* CentralTheme: Faith is the driving concept behind the different plot elements, whether it's faith in a religion (Mother), faith in science (Jacob, Burnham), or faith in your crewmates (too many to mention). In particular, ''Discovery'' saves the entire planet from an extinction-level event that they can't even warn Captain Pike about. They resolve the crisis just in time for the Away team to call them for help when Pike is wounded, something they would have been unable to do had their faith in their crewmates been misplaced.

** When Pike is seriously injured, the away team take him into the church to [[MetaphoricallyTrue pray for deliverance]], locking the locals out. Jacob forces his way in just in time for him and Mother to witness the Away team being beamed up to the ''Discovery''. Since the transporter beam is red-tinted, Mother takes this as proof that the Red Angels rescued Pike and his friends.

* InternalReveal: Burnham shows Spock's sketch and voice log to Pike, and later reveals [[Recap/StarTrekDiscoveryS2E01Brother she saw the Red Angel on the asteroid]].

* OhCrap: This is Owosekun's reaction when she sees one of the colonists fumbling around with his phaser. Doubly so for Pike when the colonist inadvertently triggers a discharge.

* TwoLinesNoWaiting: While the away team tries to learn about the human settlement and how they got there, ''Discovery'' and her crew discover an imminent disaster that they cannot warn the away team about due to radiation interfering with their communications. Both plotlines reach their climaxes and wrap up at the same time, with ''Discovery'' reestablishing contact with the Away team just in time to beam a seriously wounded Pike aboard.

** When they accidentally witness a wounded Pike and his away team being beamed up to ''Discovery'', Mother assumes this is another case of this trope.

* CallARabbitASmeerp: Pike finds it difficult to understand why people so isolated for 200 years speak "Federation Standard". Of course, that's because they were taken from North America and they're speaking ''English''.
** Particularly funny since in the [[Recap/StarTrekDiscoveryS2E03PointOfLight very next episode]], it's called ''English''.

* ContinuityNod: The ancestors of Terralysium's residents were originally taken from Earth during the Third World War, the aftermath of which was shown in ''[[Film/StarTrekFirstContact First Contact]]''. Specifically, they're mentioned as having been taken in 2053, the exact year the war ended.
--> '''Riker:''' Six hundred million dead ... little resistance.

* EarthThatWas: The people of Terralysium believe they are the only humans left in the universe, saved by unknown angelic beings as World War Three kicked off. But there are a few, like Jacob's family, who believe the Earth and the rest of the human race are still out there.

* ClarkesThirdLaw: Specifically brought up and even name-dropped by Pike. He then goes on to quote [[https://michaelshermer.com/2002/01/shermers-last-law/ Shermer's Last Law]], which seems very apropos for the ''Star Trek'' universe: "Any sufficiently-advanced extraterrestrial is indistinguishable from God."

* TokenReligiousTeammate: Of the landing party, Burnham is driven by logic and seeks rational explanations and Owosekun comes from a family of non-believers. Pike shows the most sympathy for the religious beliefs of the people of New Eden and willingness to believe there might be something greater at work. He's also the first one to call the building the signal is coming from what it obviously is, a church. (This could be because he's simply the first or only character to understand what it was; Roddenberry's vision of the future was that humans had OutgrownSuchSillySuperstitions.)

* FailedDramaticExit: Having devised a solution to the crisis at Terralysium, Tilly rushes out of Sickbay to the Bridge...and a few seconds later, she runs past Sickbay in the opposite direction, having gone the wrong way.