Previously on Star Trek: Discovery:
All hail Her Most Imperial Majesty.
Mother of the Fatherland.
All hail the Emperor Philippa Georgiou Augustus laponius Centarius.
All hail the emperor!
You're a fugitive wanted for my murder. You attempted a coup against the emperor.
Listen to me. I need you. You need you.
Your Georgiou is dead.
- She's a ghost. - Captain Burnham.
- You brought us a gift? - Captain Gabriel Lorca.
That Stamets exploited the network for his own gain. He corrupted it.
There's no difference between his network and our network. It's just one.
That's why the damage is spreading. Everything will be exterminated.
There's a clearing in the forest.
That's how they go.
I sent coordinates to the emperor's ship.
I'd feel better if Captain Lorca were the one requesting a rendezvous.
- So would I. - Acknowledged.
We'll see you soon.
You're sensitive to light. Lorca is sensitive to light, too.
The Lorca I knew was my right hand. I trusted him with you.
My so-called captain's not from my universe. He's from yours.
One year.
Two hundred and twelve days of torture.
Of agony, my friends.
My followers.
But I have returned to give meaning to your suffering.
Today is our day we reclaim our Empire.
Long live the Empire.
Captain?
Welcome back, Commander Landry.
- They told us you were dead. - And you believed them?
Not for a second, sir.
- Let's get you geared up. - Sir.
Charon has ten battalions of Imperial guards on station.
I don't know how you got here, or how you got us all out alive,
but we should withdraw, regroup. You have supporters on several worlds.
The emperor's ship is where we need to be.
I have been to another universe and back.
You think I'd come without a plan?
- Clear. - Clear.
Stamets is gone.
Coward probably left at the first sign of trouble.
All his research is still here.
I've known more than one Stamets, and they both have one thing in common.
They love their work too much...
to leave any of it behind.
- Hello, Paul. - Gabriel.
- I really hoped you were dead. - You can't always get what you want.
Hi, doc.
Ironically, I have to thank you for helping me finish what I started.
After you sold me out and ruined our coup attempt,
I was on Priors World recruiting allies when the emperor caught up with the Buran.
As I beamed back to join the fight, her torpedoes hit.
Luckily, so did an ion storm, which caused a transporter malfunction.
And...
- Know where I ended up? - I'm still stuck on the "not dead" part.
A parallel universe.
The ion storm must've swapped your transporter signatures.
To me, it was physics, acting as the hand of destiny. My destiny.
The bioweapon you're developing, show it to me.
Happily, sir.
Sensors have detected mass casualties on Decks 1 through 17.
He's come back from the grave to stage a revolution
and that's the best he's got?
If he keeps doing that, he'll reveal his location.
Then he's mine.
Emperor, I've seen firsthand how he operates.
He can get inside your head. Manipulate you.
- You think I don't know that? - He is baiting you.
He wants you to come to him. Let me contact my ship again.
They have no idea they're flying into battle.
Please, Philippa.
I'm not Philippa to you.
But you are right about one thing. He preyed on my sentiment.
My weakness for your face. It will not happen again.
Take her to the brig.
Your choices have determined your fate.
- They'll find her. - Take your men.
Bring Lorca to me alive. I will kill him myself this time.
Captain's log, stardate 1834.2. Acting Captain Saru recording.
We are en route to the Terran Flagship,
having been summoned by Specialist Burnham.
Discovery's spore drive is operational again,
thanks to the full recovery of our navigator, Lieutenant Stamets.
Yet, despite his best efforts,
the lieutenant was unable to save Discovery's mycelium crop.
His fear is that his Terran counterpart has already contaminated the network.
And if so, the results could be catastrophic.
What do you wish to show me?
Less than 30 minutes before we reach the Terran vessel.
Airiam flagged it. An energy signature off the central orb.
It's mycelial.
This is what my counterpart has been using his mycelium for.
- It powers their ship. - As it does ours.
Not exactly. We ride along the network with the spores.
That orb is pulling power directly out of the network.
But I thought the network could regenerate itself.
Typically, it does, but this process is poisoning it.
It's spreading infection back up into the system.
Without a fresh spore supply, it'll get worse.
The Terrans must be aware of this flaw. It's not sustainable.
I don't think sustainability is their main objective.
It provides them with more energy than I thought possible.
Enough to run their city-sized ship
and power weapons that can destroy a planet.
- As they did on Harlak. - How can a people be so short-sighted?
The Terrans are egotistical enough to believe
that they can replenish this resource before it collapses.
The other Stamets must've been looking for a solution
when he got trapped in the network with me.
If we don't stop them soon, the contamination will be irreversible.
The network will continue to deteriorate everywhere.
Here in this universe, back in ours, across the entire multiverse.
And when it does?
Life as we know it will cease to exist.
Take this shipwide.
Hello, Philippa.
I've watched for years, you let alien races spill over the borders,
flourish in our backyard, and have the gall to incite rebellion.
Terrans need a leader who will preserve our way of life. Our race.
Try as you might, it's clearly not you.
Even Michael knew that.
It was her great shame.
Well, it's indecorous of me to share pillow talk.
To the rest, many of you know me, some served with me.
To all, I make this offer: Renounce Georgiou.
The Empire is dying in her hands, but you don't have to.
Not today.
Michael Burnham is not to be touched.
She is integral to our future plans.
A future where we together will make the Empire glorious again.
Got him. He's in the main labs.
Lorca does not control this ship. I do.
We take the fight to him.
All hail the emperor!
Don't shoot.
- Where are your troops? - We were ambushed.
How did you survive?
Lorca spared me.
- He said he wanted you to know... - Know what?
That he was here.
Hello, Philippa.
Did you miss me?
Light her up.
- Mr. Stamets. - Containment field at 30 percent.
Twenty-five percent.
Five, four, three, two, it's down.
- Flash grenade. - Cover!
Emergency transport.
You didn't warn me she could do that.
- Please, tell me we can kill him now. - That depends
if he can disable an emergency-transport system.
I can. I can do that.
Good.
Set up a perimeter around the throne room. Tighten the noose.
Burnham to Discovery. Do you copy? Come in, Discovery.
Burnham to Discovery. Do you copy? Come in.
Discovery, do you copy?
Come in.
Please, come in.
Discovery here. We are receiving you.
- It's good to see you, Saru. - You, as well, my friend.
It appears your situation has become dire. Is the captain with you?
He's one of them. He's Terran.
He used us and the Discovery to jump here to his own universe.
- It was his plan all along. - That's impossible.
We would have sensed something. I would have.
That's why we didn't end up at Starbase 46.
Lorca altered the coordinates of my last jump.
How?
He got the data he needed from those jumps I did around the Klingon ship.
All that was left was to access navigation control,
and he can do that from his chair.
Lorca's staging a coup against the emperor.
You have to abort coming to the palace ship.
- Get as far away as you can. - I won't consider leaving you behind.
Saru, he has no need for our crew. He will kill all of you.
He might take Discovery to our universe and bring the whole Terran fleet with him.
Not if the Terrans have wiped out all life already.
They have created a super-mycelial reactor on the Charon,
and it's destroying the network. When it goes, it takes all life with it.
In all universes.
How do we stop it?
Lieutenant Stamets believes a direct hit from our photon torpedoes
on their energy orb would create a detonation large enough
to sever the reactor's connection and allow the network to heal itself.
We're running simulations to account for energy dispersal.
But?
There's a containment field protecting the orb.
- Our weapons can't penetrate it. - Leave the containment field to me.
Stay at warp, so you can't be boarded.
I'll find a way to signal you when I'm in place.
Be ready to blow up the reactor when I do.
Burnham out.
- You believe in destiny now, Mr. Stamets? - That's, uh, rhetorical, right?
Your lack of vision disappoints me.
I used to suffer from that, too.
But nothing that's happened to me was an accident.
Not ending up in another world.
Not finding a ship that would help me return here.
None of it.
I'm living proof that fate is real.
Speaking of which, we've reached the tipping point
where your usefulness to me is outweighed by the risk of keeping you alive.
I mean, I'm never gonna trust you. Honestly.
The living core of the mycelial network.
It's poetic justice, don't you think? Scientist destroyed by his own creation?
Just kidding.
I hate poetry.
I'm getting word of an unauthorized ship-to-ship transmission.
That'll be my Burnham.
Hello, Michael.
Judging from your communications hack, you're somewhere on the third deck.
Where precisely, I can't tell, but no matter.
I'm not gonna hunt you down. I'll wait for you to come to me.
- What makes you think I'd do that? - Because you belong here.
- With you? - In the real world.
I know that's hard for you to see right now,
- because you're blinded by your emotions. - The only thing I was blinded by was you.
I know you understand that I had to lie to you, Michael.
To get home.
Just like you know that the Federation is a social experiment doomed to failure.
Childish idealism.
Every species, every choice, every opinion is not equal.
No matter how much they want it to be.
The strong and the capable will always rise.
Like you and me.
And every living being is safer and happier knowing their place.
That's why we have a duty to lead.
Like what you did that day at the Binaries.
Stay with me.
Stay here and help me bring peace to this world through strength and order.
The right way.
There was no one else like the other you.
What she and I set out to achieve was gonna be remarkable.
Then I met you.
And the truth is, your gifts... far surpass hers.
I see you, Michael Burnham.
I see your power.
And I'm offering you a future.
I have since the day I brought you onto the Discovery.
Take it.
She rerouted the feed and disabled the carrier address.
She could be anywhere.
She'll come.
How did you find me?
My bracelet makes my life signs undetectable.
This is your sanctuary.
Considering the situation, it made sense you'd come here.
I should have known.
Lorca seduced you, too.
Why would you say that?
He broadcast it for everyone to hear.
Why else would he protect you?
Lorca believes destiny brought me to him.
But he doesn't get to tell me what my future is.
I'm responsible for forging my own path. We all are.
- My Philippa taught me that. - This...
belonged to my Michael.
Now Lorca has taken everything from me.
You lost a daughter.
An empire.
I lost a captain...
and a life.
Both versions of me betrayed both versions of you.
I won't let that happen again. And I won't let you die again.
So, that's what happened to me on your side.
I'm gonna stop Lorca.
I see why he is so enamored with you.
You almost make me believe you can do it.
I will do it.
For what he's done to me. For what he's done
to all the innocent people who have stood in his way.
And for the loss of life to come, if no one stops him here.
Today.
What is your plan?
Disable the orb's containment field.
Those controls are in the throne room.
How will you get to them?
By giving Lorca exactly what he wants.
We have a problem.
We knew the orb harnessed exotic energy by blocking the flow of the network,
but we didn't know that all those mycelial spores packed in together
created hypergravitational and magnetic fields, too.
Even a blast from photon torpedoes won't be enough to free it.
We'll have to create a chain reaction. Overload it with potential energy.
What do we have that harnesses that kind of power?
Our harvested spores.
They hold enough energy to power us across galaxies.
We should modify our warheads by loading them up.
How much of our spore supply would we need to use?
All of it. We won't be able to jump back home.
We need to get in close for a clear shot.
The orb is in the heart of that superstructure.
I don't think we could outmaneuver a blast like that if we're that close.
I just ran the simulations.
Our shields aren't strong enough
to protect us from the energy wave that will be released.
The shock wave will incinerate us.
I don't think we can make it out alive.
It is well-known...
that my species has the ability to sense the coming of death.
I do not sense it today.
I may not have all the answers.
However, I do know that I am surrounded by a team I trust.
The finest a captain could ever hope to command.
Lorca abused our idealism.
And make no mistake, Discovery is no longer Lorca's.
She is ours.
And today will be her maiden voyage.
We have a duty to perform. And we will not accept a no-win scenario.
You have your orders. On your way.
Aye, captain.
We've executed her lords and senior officers, sir.
The rest of the crew are swearing allegiance to you.
Good.
I was thinking about everyone who's ever said
that victory felt empty when it was attained.
What a bunch of idiots they were.
She's here.
Michael.
What's this about?
I won't let another crew die on my watch, Gabriel.
I've been here long enough to know
that if you want your claim to the throne to be legitimate...
you have to execute the emperor.
And you're prepared to condemn Philippa here to death?
What you said on the shuttle yesterday... was right.
She's not my Philippa.
That's very Terran of you.
You and I both know that I have her now.
- What are you really bargaining with? - I think you know.
In exchange for my crew... I offer you me.
Let them leave safely, and I'm yours.
Like you said,
my future is here.
But know this, I'm offering you my mind, nothing more.
Till you've completely settled in...
I'm sure you understand.
Well, it looks like you are destined to be betrayed
by Burnhams in every universe.
No.
I'm destined to kill you.
Oh.
That would certainly be an impressive trick.
Welcome home, Michael.
Captain was right.
- What about? - "Do not accept a no-win scenario."
There may be a way out of this after all. I've reanalyzed the simulations.
Now, if we blow the reactor core,
the resulting explosion will be pure mycelial energy, right?
Right.
Right, but not just an explosion.
According to this, the mother of mycelial shock waves.
If we can stay right on the leading edge,
we can ride it long enough for the energy to activate the drive,
- and then you can navigate us home. - But, um...
The ship's shields still aren't strong enough to protect us.
Unless we modify the spore drive to run concurrently with the warp drive.
The resulting warp bubble may provide a secondary layer of protection.
A shield from the blast.
If I reverse-engineer the coordinates that Lorca used to get us here,
I should be able to pinpoint the right pathway to take.
And that will get us to the same point in our timeline, or at least close to it.
There'll be infinite pathways opening up. That's gonna be really...
"Hard" is the word you're looking for.
But I don't accept no-win scenarios.
Thank you for your inspiration, cadet.
Now, please, inform the captain of your findings.
Looks like we may be going home after all.
Message from the Charon.
We're advised it's safe to drop out of warp.
The message has Burnham's security code on it.
- Lieutenant Detmer, drop us out of warp. - Yes, captain.
Captain, we're being hailed.
It's Lorca, sir.
On-screen.
Mr. Saru.
It's good to see you.
I'm glad I got a chance to say goodbye to you and the rest of the crew.
I want you to know that my admiration for you was and is sincere.
When I look at you, I see
a formidable unit of soldiers that I sculpted.
If I thought for a second that any of you were capable
of relinquishing this cult-like devotion to the Federation,
I'd enlist your skills today.
We are not interested in your sentiments. Where is Specialist Burnham?
She's fine.
You don't die today because she chose to stay by my side.
I'd like to hear that from her. You're not reliable.
I'm where I need to be, Saru.
This is my place.
That is all I needed to see.
Fire!
- Keep your eye on that containment field. - Aye, captain.
Give Rhys a clear shot.
- Yes, sir. - Let's go, people.
Wait.
Stop.
- Don't make me have to kill you. - You won't.
We would've helped you get home if you had asked.
That's who Starfleet is.
That's who I am.
- That's why I won't kill you now. - But I will.
We...
We could have...
It was a good plan.
Burnham did it. The containment field is down.
- Beam her back. Now. - I can't get a lock. I'm working on it.
Work faster.
You fought well.
For a moment...
I thought I had her back with me.
Lorca's troops.
I will buy you some time.
I am a defeated emperor. They've seen my neck.
I have no future now.
But I will die on my feet, as fitting my station.
Go, Michael Burnham.
Find a way home.
Live.
Burnham to Discovery.
- I've got her. - Get her out.
She's onboard.
- Black alert. - Aye, captain.
Black alert. Black alert.
Lock weapons onto that ship.
The Terran ship is targeting us.
- Now or never, Detmer. - Aye, captain.
What the hell are they doing?
Is the containment field up?
- Locked on, captain. - Fire.
Aye, sir.
- Warp speed. Now. - Yes, sir.
Ambient mycelial energy is interacting with the drive.
- Cadet Tilly? - Levels looks good.
- Engage the spore drive. Now. - Aye, captain.
It's working. The network is regenerating.
Heat shields at maximum.
The pathways are bifurcating too quickly.
I don't know where to go.
The network is a gift. It's the thread that weaves life through space.
I can't even find my way out.
Follow the music, Paul.
Open your eyes.
Wait. It's the clearing in the forest.
Thanks, Hugh.
Tilly...
Reboot the system and find out where we are.
And when.
What have you done to me?
Captain, celestial patterns and subatomic analysis confirm
we are in our Alpha Quadrant.
Ah.
But we overshot by nine months.
Mr. Bryce, send a transmission to Starfleet.
- Inform them we have returned. - Aye, captain.
Mr. Rhys, update our tactical map.
- I need to see the status of the war. - Aye, sir.
Captain, there's no response from the Federation to our signal.
Not even an automated one.
What does that mean?
War map on-screen, captain.
If the map is to be believed,
it appears...
the Klingons have won the war.