On Trill, Captain Burnham, Book, and Culber must pass a dangerous test to prove themselves worthy of the next clue. Adira reconnects with Gray, and Saru’s first day as ambassador is complicated by his engagement to T’Rina.
Tropes:
- Ascended Meme: "Have your tribble spayed or neutered." Turns out that pet tribbles like Lt. Christopher's are neutered.
- Better as Friends: Gray and Adira come to admit that they've grown too far apart in the last few months, and mutually break up, though they promise to continue to be there for one another.
- Call-Back:
- The Trill zhian'tara ritual returns, or rather the part of it where a late Trill host's personality is put in another sentient body for a short time, as Hugh serves as a temporary vessel for Jinaal's memories.
- During Rayner's twenty words, Reno mentions that the last time she did something like this, she got chips.
- Consummate Professional: Deconstructed. Commander Rayner is so focused on tracking down Moll and L'ak, he only gives barely enough time to bond with the crew— an act which he barely tolerates only because he's under orders. While he does demonstrate that he understands them as individuals, Tilly point-blank tells him that his unwillingness to bond with them is only going to hurt him in the long run; on Discovery, that bond is what solidifies their strength as a crew.
- Continuity Nod:
- The Dominion War is cited and revealed to be a crucial part of Vellek and Jinaal's backstory.
- Lieutenant Reese mentions that he's a big fan of 23rd Century Constitution classes.
- After Kalzara, Bix tells the gang that they can ask Jinaal directly via the Trill ritual 'Zhian'tara', which was shown in the Discovery episode "Choose to Live".
- Curse Cut Short: Tilly uses her twenty allotted words to tell Rayner how he's behaving, but hits the limit at "being a giant—".
- Diving Save: Book pushes Burnham out of the way of an Itronok attack and catches a dart in the leg.
- Dramatically Missing the Point: After being told off by Tilly, Rayner tries to demonstrate to her that he is willing to get to know the crew by showing what he gleaned from his brief interviews. Tilly, however, points out that analyzing them is not the same as connecting with them.
- Foreshadowing: Jinaal mentions that he and his fellow scientists hid the Progenitors' technology because of the outbreak of the Dominion War. The next clue turns out to be in Tzenkethi space— which was subject to a Dominion plot to plunge Starfleet into another war.
- Gracefully Demoted: Downplayed. Commander Rayner is bumped down from Captain to be allowed to serve in his new position as Discovery's XO, and while he does his best to adjust, he's clearly not happy about losing that fourth pip on his collar. Tilly calls him to the carpet for taking his frustrations out on his new crew.
- Invisibility: The Itronoks can naturally refract light around themselves to become transparent.
- Just Think of the Potential!: Stamets excitedly gushed to Rayner and Tilly about the potential uses for Progenitor technology — until Rayner shuts him down and dismisses him.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Discussed. Hugh talks to Burnham about how his abuela (grandma) had a lot of religious iconography around the house, reminding her that not everything can be explained by science. Even then, he admits he's not so sure, given that he just was possessed by the spirit of a long-dead Trill.
- Now You Tell Me: Burnham and Book are annoyed with Jinaal for not mentioning the Itronoks or their nest until they're well into the path.
- Obstructive Bureaucrat: Parodied. Hugh and Burnham have a quick laugh about having to wait to search for the next clue because they need diplomatic permission to enter Tzenkethi space.
- On Three: Twice during the battle with the Itronoks, Burnham tells Book that they'll be doing something on the count of "three". The first time, Book asks her if they move on "three" or of it's "one, two, three, go"; the second time, Burnham is going to pull a dart out of Book's leg on "three" and skips right to "three".
- Permission to Speak Freely: Tilly asks Rayner for permission to speak freely, and then starts doing so until he points out that he never actually granted it. She later decides that since he didn't give her permission, she'll just take it and gives him "The Reason You Suck" Speech.Tilly: Since you won't give me permission to speak freely, I'm just going to take it. Captain Burnham, she sees something in you but for the life of me I have no idea what it is. So how about this, how about I'm next? Here are my twenty words: (counting on her fingers) You're. On. A. New. Ship. Fresh. Off. A. Demotion. Trying. To. Hide. How. Hard. That. Is. By. Being. A. Giant-- That's 20 words, so... Excuse me, sir. I have work to do.
- Pragmatic Villainy: Moll slips some sort of tracking device or listener on Adira, which will allow her to keep a closer eye on Discovery's progress instead of having to pick a fight with Starfleet.
- Properly Paranoid: Under normal circumstances, Vellek, Jinaal, and the rest of their team discovering the Progenitors' technology would have been a monumental scientific and archaeological achievement. Unfortunately for them, their discovery came smack dab in the middle of the Dominion War. As such, the scientists were rightly concerned about either the Dominion or the Federation Alliance exploiting the technology and weaponizing it (and given that the Federation black ops organization Section 31 infected the Founders of the Dominion with a virus, they certainly would have used it in any way they could). They instead chose to conceal their discovery and erase all evidence until after peace had returned to the galaxy.
- Red Herring: Invoked by Jinaal, who made an obvious carving on a rock in the middle of an Itronok nest to deter unworthy seekers. The actual puzzle piece is hidden behind a nondescript rock elsewhere. He doesn't quite get the etymology of the term, since herrings aren't red.
- Secret Test of Character: Jinaal (in Hugh's body) leads Burnham and Book on the path to the next clue— and right into a pair of aggressive Itronoks. Burnham and Book are planning to fight them— until Burnham sees that they're protecting their eggs. The two then stand down, with Book empathically convincing the Itronoks to do likewise, thus convincing Jinaal that they're peaceful and worthy of the clue, which he had hidden in a different location.
- Shout-Out: According
to Wilson Cruz, his performance as Jinaal-in-Culber was inspired by Jack Palance circa City Slickers. - Tracking Device: Moll infiltrates the symbiont ceremony at the end of the episode and covertly slips a cloaked tracker onto Adira's sleeve, allowing her to keep track of Discovery since they have the clues.
- Unperson: Both Vellek and Jinaal erased their research and identities to protect the discovery of the Progenitors' technology.
- Wham Shot: At the end of the episode, one of the Guardians who walks away from the others... is Moll, having infiltrated them.
- Xanatos Gambit: While it's not outright stated, this was arguably Vellek and Jinaal's way to protect the Progenitor technology during the Dominion War. If the Dominion won the conflict, then the scientists had hopefully sufficiently covered their tracks and the Founders would never find it. If the Federation Alliance won the war, then they could trust that peace would eventually return to the galaxy and it would finally be safe to unveil their discovery.
