History Recap / StarTrekDiscoveryS2E03PointOfLight

* CameraScrew: This episode uses a lot of technocrane camera flyovers and rotation.

* AdultFear: L'Rell and Tyler's child is kidnapped by Kol-Sha.

* AgentScully: Amanda had always rationalized young Spock's knowing where Michael had run off to as him logically deducing it rather than his insistence that a Red Angel had told him where she was.

* BaitAndSwitch: May doesn't believe that Pike is the captain because she's remembering someone blonder, whom Tilly takes to be Lorca. Turns out she's describing Stamets.

** How dare Kol-Sha wear face paint to a high council meeting? Why, it must be removed immediately - and Tyler does just that. Which smears his hands with the listening devices in the facepaint, allowing Kol-Sha to eavesdrop - exactly as he planned.
** L'Rell fakes the deaths of her son and Tyler, claiming Tyler killed the child and tried to kill her, while Kol-Sha died protecting her from Tyler. She states that she's unable to have children any more and now considers all Klingons to be her children, dubbing herself "Mother" of the Empire. All of this is to make the Council believe in Klingon unity, that she's ruthless enough to kill someone she's close to, and that she will have no heir to replace her in the future. All while avoiding the political complications of accusing the House of Kol of dishonor, by instead making Kol-Sha a martyr for her cause.
* BattleCouple: L'Rell and Tyler get in a brawl where they take down a group of Kol-Sha's guards.
* BlatantLies: The Emperor insists she's Captain Georgiou, despite Tyler (and presumably L'Rell) knowing full well that's nonsense.

* BreakHisHeartToSaveHim: Burnham feared that the logic extremists might target Spock if he remained near her, so she said something to him that soured their relationship from then on. We're not told what it is, but it's something so bad Burnham isn't even willing to speak it to Amanda.

* CallBack: During the discovery of May's true nature and how and when Tilly might have been infected, there's a {{Flashback}} to [[Recap/StarTrekDiscoveryS1E13WhatsPastIsPrologue the scene the previous season]] where it showed a glowing spore settling on her shoulder and vanishing.

* CrossReferencedTitles: The title of the episode is a reference to the story of Kahless' departure from Qo'nos, when he indicated a star in the sky, and instructed the people to look for him "on that point of light". That story and the monastery the Klingons would later build on the planet Boreth, which orbited the star that Kahless had pointed to, made their first appearance in the ''Star Trek: The Next Generation'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS6E21RightfulHeir Rightful Heir]]".

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Tyler is shown having trouble washing the paint off his hand which he had smeared from Kol-Sha's face. Kol-Sha later reveals it consists of nanotech that he was using to listen in on Tyler and L'Rell.
* GreenEyedMonster: L'Rell expresses jealously that Tyler trusts Burnham more than her.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Kol-Sha claims he is trying to overthrow L'Rell (and eventually kill her) because she's conspiring with the Federation and he sees her movement toward Klingon unity as a threat to his House's power. His coup attempt results in his death, L'Rell really conspiring with Section 31, and [[TreacheryCoverup using his death]] to further advance her goal of greater unity.

* LoveIsAWeakness: Mirror-Georgiou bluntly states this to L'Rell, noting her rule will always be challenged so long as Tyler is at her side and she has a child to care for. This convinces L'Rell to give both up, letting Mirror-Georgiou help fake their deaths.

* MyEyesAreLeaking: A second-person variant -- when Tilly starts to cry, May asks her why her eyes are dripping. Tilly tells this to Burnham, who quickly realizes that May isn't simply the memory of a human girl if she doesn't know what crying is.

* OhCrap: Burnham does a ''magnificent'' "oh shit" face when Amanda reveals she stole Spock's medical file.

* OutOfCharacterAlert: Tilly notes that the May she knew in school was meek and "kinda goofy", while the one she's seeing aboard ''Discovery'' is increasingly demanding and belligerent.

* PoorlyDisguisedPilot: The whole Klingon subplot, with its focus on Tyler, Mirror-Georgiou, and the workings of Section 31, is clearly meant as laying the groundwork for the currently in-development series about Section 31.

** The Red Angel visited Spock as a child and told him where to find Michael when she'd ran away from home.

** Michael reveals she hurt Spock as a child to keep him away from her for his own protection after she was targeted by extremists. [[TranquilFury Amanda does not take it well]].

** Section 31 is making sure L'Rell maintains control of the Klingon Empire.

* RevealingCoverup: Pike discovers that Spock is wanted for murder for killing three doctors on Starbase 5, which the commander of the Starbase was reluctant to share with him. The fact that neither Pike (his commanding officer) or Spock's family were told or questioned about the supposed crime, and that no one else in Starfleet was warned to be on the lookout for him, tells Burnham and Amanda there's a lot more to his disappearance than they originally suspected.
* RightForTheWrongReasons: Kol-Sha accuses L'Rell of being a Federation puppet and conspiring with them because Tyler warned Burnham that the L'Rell's peace seemed to be in danger of falling apart, when L'Rell truly is totally loyal to the Empire. Neither he nor she know that Section 31 is secretly working to make sure she stays in power.

** Pike orders Burnham to break into Spock's encrypted medical file when he learns Spock has been accused of murder and isn't likely to get a fair shake unless they find him first.
* ScrewYourUltimatum: L'Rell refuses to give up control of the Empire in exchange for her son, knowing Kol-Sha is just going to kill her, Tyler, and the child as soon as he has what he wants.

* SpottingTheThread: Burnham immediately realizes that May can't be a ghost or a hallucination because May doesn't recognize tears: if she really was May's ghost a teenage human girl would certainly know what crying is, and if she was just a figment of Tilly's mind, Tilly ''also'' knows what crying is.

'''Tyler:''' Day Soch wo' yo' tuch may'Duj yIlegh. wa' tuq joqwI' cha'be'. 'a wo'maj tay' Degh bolegh. (Behold the D7, the future battle cruiser of the Imperial Fleet. It bears the banner of no single house, but the insignia of our united empire.)\\

* ThatManIsDead: Tyler tells L'Rell that, even though he can remember fragments of his past life as Voq, the man he was isn't coming back.
* ThatsAnOrder: When Pike finds out Spock is being hunted, he doesn't agree with Burnham and Amanda's request to hack into Spock's medical file; he explicitly ''orders'' Burnham to do so. The implication is that he does so to provide Burnham with a JustFollowingOrders defense if her actions are ever found out.
* TranquilFury: Amanda barely shows any emotion when Burnham reveals she hurt Spock as a child, but it's clear she's absolutely livid.

** Averted. L'Rell talks to Tyler in English in private, but Tyler explicitly states she's speaking to him in English instead of Klingon.

* TreacheryCoverup: L'Rell claims Kol-Sha died heroically protecting her from Tyler after Tyler killed their son, an example of the leader of one House protecting another, in order to further promote Klingon unity.
* UterineReplicator: L'Rell tells Tyler their child was gestated ''ex utero'' because she couldn't be pregnant while their mission to infiltrate ''Discovery'' was ongoing. However, the process left the child small, so it still looks like a newborn rather than months old.

** Tyler and L'Rell walk into the room where their son is kept -- and find Ujili dead and the child missing.
** Just as Kol-Sha is about to kill Tyler and L'Rell, a hooded figure suddenly enters, kills Kol-Sha's {{mooks}}, and immobilizes Kol-Sha himself so that L'Rell can kill him. The figure pulls back the hood -- and it's Emperor Georgiou.
* WhereDoesHeGetAllThoseWonderfulToys: Section 31 is shown to have access to a ''lot'' of technology regular Starfleet personnel don't, as Tyler notes. This includes a [[InvisibilityCloak cloaking device]], which at this time (2257) no other Federation ship has been shown to use.

* RealityEnsues: Most times, having a hallucinatory buddy who talks with you is, at worst, a source of irritation or confusion. This episode shows what a psychological toll such a problem is likely to cause.

* WhamShot: Tylere and L'Rell walk into the room where their son is kept -- and find Ujili dead and the child missing.

* ItIsDehumanizing: Kol-Sha throws shade at Tyler (and indirectly at L'Rell) during the council meeting.
-->'''Kol-Sha:''' ''(to L'Rell)'' If you want whatever this is as your plaything, it belongs in your bed, not here.

-->'''L'Rell:''' puq vIboghmoHpu'. vav ghaH voq'e'. voq vIquvmoHmeH Sech qengwI'wI'vaD Human vIgheSmoH. pongDaj vIja'qa'laHtaHbe'... (I had a child. Voq was the father. I made the human my torchbearer to honor Voq. I can no longer say his name...) ...such was the dishonor he brought.

'''Kol-Sha:''' Will you make this Human our new fleet captain, too, chancellor? Perhaps we should speak in his standard tongue.

* CameraScrew: Website/SFDebris [[https://sfdebris.com/videos/startrek/c118.php complained about]] how much this episode abuses technocrane camera flyovers and rotation.

* BaitAndSwitch: May doesn't believe that Pike is the captain because she's remembering someone blonder, who Tilly takes to be Lorca. Turns out she's describing Stamets.

* SplitScreenPhoneCall: During Tyler's call to Burnham, after they show her speaking to a hologram of him on ''Discovery'' and him speaking to a hologram of her on Qo'noS, they use a split screen for parts of the conversation.

* SplitScreen: During Tyler's call to Burnham, after they show her speaking to a hologram of him on ''Discovery'' and him speaking to a hologram of her on Qo'noS, they use a split screen for parts of the conversation.