History Recap / StarTrekDiscoveryS2E04AnObolForCharon

** The sphere's reason for intercepting ''Discovery'' was a desperate attempt to communicate with someone and share what it has seen and experienced over 100,000 years before it dies, so that it’s knowledge is not lost forever.

* CallForward: Pike orders the holographic communication emitters removed from ''Enterprise'' when they cause conflicts with the primary systems and says that from now on they'll use old-fashioned screens, thus explaining why such a system was not present on ''Enterprise'' in the future. He thinks they look like ghosts, anyway. Apparently, it catches on with the rest of Starfleet.
* CentralTheme: Death, and how one deals with the possibility of it. Characters variously work to avert it, consider killing others to prevent the death of loved ones, or accept it as inevitable. And of course, the Orb's dying act is to save ''Discovery's'' crew so they can preserve its memory.

* ContinuityNod: The knife Saru gives to Burnham to cut off his ganglia is the same knife Saru's sister Siranna gave to him [[Recap/StarTrekDiscoveryShortTreksE03TheBrightestStar before he left home]].

* TheDeterminator: Saru is convinced he's going to die, he's in an incredible amount of pain (described as so much a human would be totally incapacitated), he can barely stand, and yet he refuses to stop working to save ''Discovery'' and her crew.

* DuctTapeForEverything: Reno claim she can "fix things with duct tape." Including Stamets' analogies, apparently.

* EurekaMoment: When Stamets tells Burnham he and Reno are trying to communicate with May, Burnham realizes the planetoid is trying to communicate with ''Discovery''.

* FireBreathingDiner: Number One orders a cheeseburger, a side of fries and a bottle of habanero sauce.

* LikeBrotherAndSister: Burnham and Saru admit that they are so close, and have been through so much together, that they are essentially family -- each replacing the sibling the other considers "lost" (Spock and Siranna, respectively).

* MyGodYouAreSerious: A variant. Reno picks up a nearby drill when she suggests putting a cortical implant in Tilly so they can communicate, but when Stamets agrees she says that ''she was joking'' and they really ought to go get a laser scalpel to do it properly. (Unfortunately, they can't.)

** Pike mentions to Number One that he doubts anyone will love ''Enterprise'' like his current Chief Engineer. [[Characters/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries Oh, laddie, if ye only knew...]]

** And a spherical anomaly trapping the ship hearkens back to how Q enveloped the stardrive section of the ''Enterprise''-D in TNG's "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS1E1EncounterAtFarpoint Encounter at Farpoint]]", not to mention the ship the ''Enterprise'' encounters in "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E10TheCorbomiteManeuver The Corbomite Maneuver]]".

* PlatonicDeclarationOfLove: Burnham gives one to Saru when they think he's dying.

** The sphere's reason for intercepting ''Discovery'' was a desperate attempt to communicate with someone and share what it has seen and experienced over 100,000 years before it dies so that knowledge is not lost forever.

* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: Potentially, anyway. Saru willingly stayed away from his homeworld out of respect for Georgiou and because General Order One forbids interference with pre-warp societies. But now that he knows his people are living a lie, he's no longer convinced he made the right choice.

* SnarkToSnarkCombat: Cmdr. Reno vs. Dr. Stamets in a SlobsVersusSnobs type - Reno dismissively calls him a "farmer" while Stamets snidely calls her a "grease monkey".

--> '''Reno:''' Weird dream...I was playing drums for Music/{{Prince}}, and there were doves and a beret.\\

-->'''Pike:\\\ Well, it has my ship, and I don't know what in the hell it wants. Communicate with it or disable it. And quickly, please.\\

* CurseOfBabel: The sphere scrambles the Universal Translator, which causes every crew member to speak in different human or alien languages and renders all computer screens in different writing. Pike even greets Saru by saying "Welcome to the Tower of Babel" in Hebrew when Saru enters the bridge. Luckily, Saru is an {{Omniglot}} and can help solve the issue.

-->'''Burnham:''' ''(in Spanish)'' The universal translator's been invaded by a virus. It's translating everything into a different language.\\
'''Saru:''' ''(in Spanish)'' I have eyes and ears, Burnham.

* FanOfThePast: Tilly's favorite song is [[Music/DavidBowie "Space Oddity"]] and Stamets knows it well enough to sing with her.

-->'''Reno:''' Chief engineer sent me to firewall off the critical propulsion systems. I didn't realize a greenhouse could be critical or propulsive, but what do I know? I'm just a gearhead, not a farmer.\\

* MercyKill: Saru asks Burnham to cut off his ganglia and end his life before his illness drives him to madness. She hesitates just long enough for the ganglia to shrivel up and fall off on their own, revealing that what he thought to be a illness is actually a natural biological process.

-->'''Reno:''' Chief engineer sent me to firewall off the critical propulsion systems. I didn't realize a greenhouse coild be critical or propulsive, but what do I know? I'm just a gearhead, not a farmer.\\

--> '''Saru:''' I am dying. I am not dead.

* [[CaptainObvious Commander Obvious]]: Burnham explains to Daru what he can figure out himself.

--> '''Pike:''' Do you wanna order some lighter fluid to go with that?\\

--> '''Pike:''' Di you wanna order some lighter fluid to go with that?\\

--> '''Pike:''' Would you like some lighter fluid to go with that?\\
'''Number One:''' That comes with the shake.

* CurseOfBabel: The sphere scrambles the Universal Translator, which causes every crew member to speak in different human or alien languages and renders all computer screens in different writing. Pike even greets Saru by saying "Welcome to the Tower of Babel" when Saru enters the bridge. Luckily, Saru is an {{Omniglot}} and can help solve the issue.

--> '''Reno:''' Weird dream...I was playing drums for Music/{{Prince}}, and there were white doves and a beret.\\

* FireBreathingDiner: Number One orders a cheeseburger, a side of fries and a bottle of habanero sauce. Pike asks if she would also like some lighter fluid.

* CentralTheme: Death, and how one deals with the possibility of it. Characters variously work to avert it, consider killing others to prevent the death of loved ones, or accept it as inevitable. And of course, the Orb's dying act is to save *Discovery's* crew so they can preserve its memory.

* ChekhovsSkill: Saru being a {{Polyglot}}, established two episodes prior, comes in handy when the universal translator goes haywire and no one can understand each other.

* CurseOfBabel: The sphere scrambles the Universal Translator, which causes every crew member to speak in different human or alien languages and renders all computer screens in different writing. Luckily, Saru is a {{Polyglot}} and can help solve the issue.