Star Trek: Discovery 1.12.
Jan. 22nd, 2018 11:36 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakZOMG!
First of all, the one thing I’m not happy with which I bet 99% of fandom is happy with, if it is what it appears to be, to wit: dead Voq, living Tyler. I mean, I can see the karmic retribution of L’Rell, whose idea this whole thing was, being able to save only one of them and having to save not Voq, whom she loves, but Tyler, who so far was simply a mask based on a dead prisoner to her. However, in terms of narrative interest, Voq having to deal with Tyler’s memories and spillover emotions and stuck in a human body, no possiblity of ever becoming physically Klingon again, would be a much more interesting character to me than Tyler free of Voq’s personality, memories etc. That just feels like a meagre pay off to this entire storyline. And yet L’Rell having her Voq flashbacks and voicing the Klingon death cry pretty much feels like at least she thinks she’s sending Voq to the afterlife. I suppose I can still hope for Tyler actually retaining Voq’s memories, emotions etc. even if he’s Tyler again and having to deal with those? (My small basis of hope for this is that he says „my brothers ,my sisters“ in English after L’Rell thinks she’s sent Voq to his death.)
Now, on to everything else. You know, between Voq & Co. eating Georgiou Prime’s body and MirrorGeorgiu serving Kelpien at dinner, I think it’s save to say producing Hannibal has left lingering effects on Bryan Fuller. Even if he’s no longer on the show. (Discovery, that is.) Good lord. Otoh, it’s a drastic way of signalling that great as MirrorGeorgiu looks in her Mirroverse uniform and as much as she’s into Michael Burnham (any Michael Burnham), she really is evil to the core. (As to whether or not she’s actually „honorable“ in the sense that she’ll keep her word, only the fact that it would be an absolute non-surprise for her not to makes me wonder whether she will. The MirrorGeorgiu & Michael scenes filled in some backstory (and how!), among other things how Mirroverse Burnham was raised (not by Sarek and Amanda but by Georgiu, as some people had suspected), that at least the Emperor and presumably other elite staff (including Lorca) knew about the existence of the Primeverse but all this otherwise is still classified and a big secret in the Mirrorverse, and, of course, the big one, re: Lorca.
At this point there was no other explanation left, and to give credit where due: the show even managed to a) make the truth about the thing with Lorca’s eyes a key reveal point and b) came up with a Watsonian explanation for the moody lighting on the Mirroverse ships to do so. I salute you, PTB. Also, I’m back to my original episode 3 or so guess that we’ll end the season with either Saru or Michael in command of the Discovery, though I don’t think we’ll end it with Lorca dead. Or, for that matter, with Lorca Prime being found and restored. Why not the later? Because we don’t know Lorca Prime. We have no reason to care about Lorca Prime (either positively or negatively). Introducing him at this late hour would be – well, okay, there’s the Harry Potter precedent of introducing the real Mad-Eye Moody at the very end of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and keeping him around until the last volume as a bit player, but you know, I was never invested in the real Mad-Eye Moody over at HP, either.
So, what I’m hoping for is for Lorca Prime to be dead, and for this Lorca to be the only Lorca around. Emphasis on „around“, because I don’t want him to be killed off at the end of the season. Maybe, as I speculated (though for other reasons) early in the show’s season, as Michael’s future arch nemesis whom she can’t entirely hate and who knows her a bit too well. (Especially since she doesn’t have to be conflicted about Tyler anymore, if he’s Tyler now.) Current guess as to what we’ll happen with Lorca: he’ll almost succeed, maybe even to the point of becoming Emperor for all of one minute, but then will be foiled and defeated by Michael in alliance with MirrorGeorgiou (whether or not MirrorGeorgiu stabs her in the back thereafter is optional), but in the end a third party will end up becoming the next Mirrorverse Emperor (possibly MirrorStamets). After almost having succeeded (or succeeded for a very brief time), the next worst thing that could happen to Lorca is not to remain in the Mirrorverse (agony booths? He’s up for them) but to end up in the Primeverse again, sans everything, exposed and this time without the possibility of returning. This gives him both a grudge against our heroine and possibly the key element to be a good arch nemesis, to wit, respect precisely because she managed to uncover and defeat him. The season finale would then end with Lorca as a prisoner in the Primeverse (mirroring the pilot ending with Michael as a prisoner for having gone up against Georgiou), and the next season would have him escape and find a way to be a villain in the Primeverse thereafter.
On to Paul Stamets. The entire time he was with his Mirror counterpart, I mentally yelled „don’t trust him“, so it was a relief when they separated and Hugh Culber later confirmed that opinion. My money is currently on MirrorStamets being one of Lorca’s allies (which is why Lorca knew he had to get Prime Stamets on board Discovery, I think it was mentioned in 1.03 that this was personal recruitment/drafting), but with an eye to the throne for himself as a personal endgame. (Either Stamets being underestimated by Lorca would fit.) Our Stamets having the chance to talk to Hugh and be with him but also to leave in order to save everyone may have been predictable in terms of how encounters with dead loved ones go, but it was very movingly executed. And with Hugh saying „no one is really gone“, I’m still not giving up hope for some type of resurrection by the end of the season, though I have no idea how, since Stamets seems to have emerged from his coma without megalomania and superpowers. Oh, and the mycellium being poisoned due to MirrorStamets‘ actions brings up a new possible explanation as to why in future Trek using the Spore Drive is not an option anymore. Though then again, I doubt this will be permanent, because otherwise what would be Stamets‘ job on board Discovery once we’re back in the Primeverse? He’s a mushroom expert, so mushrooms presumably will continue to play a role for a while yet.
Trivia: leave it to the Discovery writers to say „your ships can be canon, fandom, if you’re into (emotional) incest!“ MirrorGeorgiou raised Michael as her daughter but, as she informs her, MirrorBurnham also saw Lorca as her father figure until he seduced her. Oh, and it just occurred to me: with the new info that Lorca and MirrorBurnham were in cahoots and in the attempted coup together, do we even have a guarantee that the other official info our heroes got from the rebel database, that MirrorBurnham is dead, is correct? About the only reason I can see is that Lorca would not have needed PrimeMicheal if he still had MirrorBurnham in order to gain access to the palace and the Emperor.
In conclusion: bring on next week!
First of all, the one thing I’m not happy with which I bet 99% of fandom is happy with, if it is what it appears to be, to wit: dead Voq, living Tyler. I mean, I can see the karmic retribution of L’Rell, whose idea this whole thing was, being able to save only one of them and having to save not Voq, whom she loves, but Tyler, who so far was simply a mask based on a dead prisoner to her. However, in terms of narrative interest, Voq having to deal with Tyler’s memories and spillover emotions and stuck in a human body, no possiblity of ever becoming physically Klingon again, would be a much more interesting character to me than Tyler free of Voq’s personality, memories etc. That just feels like a meagre pay off to this entire storyline. And yet L’Rell having her Voq flashbacks and voicing the Klingon death cry pretty much feels like at least she thinks she’s sending Voq to the afterlife. I suppose I can still hope for Tyler actually retaining Voq’s memories, emotions etc. even if he’s Tyler again and having to deal with those? (My small basis of hope for this is that he says „my brothers ,my sisters“ in English after L’Rell thinks she’s sent Voq to his death.)
Now, on to everything else. You know, between Voq & Co. eating Georgiou Prime’s body and MirrorGeorgiu serving Kelpien at dinner, I think it’s save to say producing Hannibal has left lingering effects on Bryan Fuller. Even if he’s no longer on the show. (Discovery, that is.) Good lord. Otoh, it’s a drastic way of signalling that great as MirrorGeorgiu looks in her Mirroverse uniform and as much as she’s into Michael Burnham (any Michael Burnham), she really is evil to the core. (As to whether or not she’s actually „honorable“ in the sense that she’ll keep her word, only the fact that it would be an absolute non-surprise for her not to makes me wonder whether she will. The MirrorGeorgiu & Michael scenes filled in some backstory (and how!), among other things how Mirroverse Burnham was raised (not by Sarek and Amanda but by Georgiu, as some people had suspected), that at least the Emperor and presumably other elite staff (including Lorca) knew about the existence of the Primeverse but all this otherwise is still classified and a big secret in the Mirrorverse, and, of course, the big one, re: Lorca.
At this point there was no other explanation left, and to give credit where due: the show even managed to a) make the truth about the thing with Lorca’s eyes a key reveal point and b) came up with a Watsonian explanation for the moody lighting on the Mirroverse ships to do so. I salute you, PTB. Also, I’m back to my original episode 3 or so guess that we’ll end the season with either Saru or Michael in command of the Discovery, though I don’t think we’ll end it with Lorca dead. Or, for that matter, with Lorca Prime being found and restored. Why not the later? Because we don’t know Lorca Prime. We have no reason to care about Lorca Prime (either positively or negatively). Introducing him at this late hour would be – well, okay, there’s the Harry Potter precedent of introducing the real Mad-Eye Moody at the very end of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and keeping him around until the last volume as a bit player, but you know, I was never invested in the real Mad-Eye Moody over at HP, either.
So, what I’m hoping for is for Lorca Prime to be dead, and for this Lorca to be the only Lorca around. Emphasis on „around“, because I don’t want him to be killed off at the end of the season. Maybe, as I speculated (though for other reasons) early in the show’s season, as Michael’s future arch nemesis whom she can’t entirely hate and who knows her a bit too well. (Especially since she doesn’t have to be conflicted about Tyler anymore, if he’s Tyler now.) Current guess as to what we’ll happen with Lorca: he’ll almost succeed, maybe even to the point of becoming Emperor for all of one minute, but then will be foiled and defeated by Michael in alliance with MirrorGeorgiou (whether or not MirrorGeorgiu stabs her in the back thereafter is optional), but in the end a third party will end up becoming the next Mirrorverse Emperor (possibly MirrorStamets). After almost having succeeded (or succeeded for a very brief time), the next worst thing that could happen to Lorca is not to remain in the Mirrorverse (agony booths? He’s up for them) but to end up in the Primeverse again, sans everything, exposed and this time without the possibility of returning. This gives him both a grudge against our heroine and possibly the key element to be a good arch nemesis, to wit, respect precisely because she managed to uncover and defeat him. The season finale would then end with Lorca as a prisoner in the Primeverse (mirroring the pilot ending with Michael as a prisoner for having gone up against Georgiou), and the next season would have him escape and find a way to be a villain in the Primeverse thereafter.
On to Paul Stamets. The entire time he was with his Mirror counterpart, I mentally yelled „don’t trust him“, so it was a relief when they separated and Hugh Culber later confirmed that opinion. My money is currently on MirrorStamets being one of Lorca’s allies (which is why Lorca knew he had to get Prime Stamets on board Discovery, I think it was mentioned in 1.03 that this was personal recruitment/drafting), but with an eye to the throne for himself as a personal endgame. (Either Stamets being underestimated by Lorca would fit.) Our Stamets having the chance to talk to Hugh and be with him but also to leave in order to save everyone may have been predictable in terms of how encounters with dead loved ones go, but it was very movingly executed. And with Hugh saying „no one is really gone“, I’m still not giving up hope for some type of resurrection by the end of the season, though I have no idea how, since Stamets seems to have emerged from his coma without megalomania and superpowers. Oh, and the mycellium being poisoned due to MirrorStamets‘ actions brings up a new possible explanation as to why in future Trek using the Spore Drive is not an option anymore. Though then again, I doubt this will be permanent, because otherwise what would be Stamets‘ job on board Discovery once we’re back in the Primeverse? He’s a mushroom expert, so mushrooms presumably will continue to play a role for a while yet.
Trivia: leave it to the Discovery writers to say „your ships can be canon, fandom, if you’re into (emotional) incest!“ MirrorGeorgiou raised Michael as her daughter but, as she informs her, MirrorBurnham also saw Lorca as her father figure until he seduced her. Oh, and it just occurred to me: with the new info that Lorca and MirrorBurnham were in cahoots and in the attempted coup together, do we even have a guarantee that the other official info our heroes got from the rebel database, that MirrorBurnham is dead, is correct? About the only reason I can see is that Lorca would not have needed PrimeMicheal if he still had MirrorBurnham in order to gain access to the palace and the Emperor.
In conclusion: bring on next week!
no subject
Date: 2018-01-27 05:55 pm (UTC)- Eating Kelpien: It's very likely they ate Saru, isn't it? If I saw correctly, Evil!Empress made Michael choose one of the lined up Kelpiens (not saying for what), Michael pointed at Saru - and then they have Kelpien for dinner. This really gives me the creeps... (shudders)
- So far I'm very impressed by the show writers' instincts. They give the viewers plenty of clues for certain developments (mirror clues, Voq/Ash clues, Lorca clues) so it pays off to view the show with an eye to details and gives you a great sense of satisfaction whenever you can yell at the screen: Yay, I knew it! :-)
They also don't drag out the secrets, but give you emotionally satisfying reveals.
Tyler/Voq meeting Voq or Lorca revealing his true self the same time Michael puts all the clues together. (Love the dim lightning clue! Love it!)
3 episodes ago, I was sure I would hate for our Lorca being Mirror!Lorca, but it really makes sense and the reveal did not feel wrong to me, but perfect.
That's why I'm fairly confident they won't settle us with pure human Ash Tyler: Story-telling wise it would be such a waste. I believe L'Rell believes she lost him, but that may not be true at all.
- Was totally amazed how much the Stamets/Hugh scene touched me. Actually more than the Ash/Michael sad reveal.
- Am totally looking forward to more, hope we will not yet leave the mirrorverse. Believe we might spent 2 more episodes there.
I think Mirror!Michael might still make an appearance. Also there are some characters which we might still meet in the mirror verse, e.g. Hugh. Would be interesting to see Stamets meet Mirror!Hugh. Right now, am pretty sure Lorca is dead. Destinywise it would make sense to still meet main Lorca and Mirror!Michael as a team.
- Wonder what the Mirror!Crew of the Discovery is doing in our universe. If I understand it correctly Mirror!Tilly should have crossed over in the other direction, right?
no subject
Date: 2018-01-28 05:05 am (UTC)Nope. MirrorSaru is on the MirrorShenzou. We see clearly when Michael arrives on the Charon (that's the Emperor's palace) whom she has with her on her shuttle - Lorca, plus presumably whoever piloted the shuttle - and that's it. Unless she had MirrorSaru hidden somewhere on the shuttle (and why on earth should she bring him along?), he's still on the Shenzou.
That said, I do not look forward to Michael eventually debriefing about all that happened on the Charon, which would include the Kelpien meal...
I've come around to MirrorLorca as well before the reveal confirmed it. MirrorMichael: agreed, the story of her death could be as wrong as the one of MirroLorca's demise. But if she's still alive, there must be a reason why Lorca couldn't infiltrate the palace with her help, why he needed Michael Prime to do so.
Wonder what the Mirror!Crew of the Discovery is doing in our universe. If I understand it correctly Mirror!Tilly should have crossed over in the other direction, right?
Yes. Various commenters have expressed fondness for a "your life has been set on fire... by your other self!" type of angsty storyline for Lorca Prime (if he's still alive and shows up), but it has occured to me we might get thath anyway for our entire crew, because MirrorTilly's Discovery undoubtedly has done nothing good for their reputation. It wouldn't surprise me if our gang are all wanted war criminals by the time they return...
no subject
Date: 2018-01-28 09:17 am (UTC)Ah, that happens when you watch films on a tiny mobile phone display. :-)
But if watched on the big screen, the kids will pop in... so better small display than nothing. Kids were still interested, so we watched some bits of episode 1 and they found it all very cool. :-)
MirrorMichael: Unless they want to have options for her at a later date, it would be a story-telling waste not to have some more info about her. It's entirely possible that she and MirrorLorca had a falling out, but if she's as smart as PrimeMichael she will have found a way to survive.
The clues to MirrorMichael's childhood are fascinating: So MirrorPhilippa claims she was always lying to her. What does this mean? That MirrorMichael is super-evil or that she was protecting parts of herself from MirrorPhilippa's control?
Oh, I'm eager to see what MirrorDiscovery crew has been up to!
I guess I'll have to rewatch the other episodes. Am struggling to remember: Do we know anything about MirrorHugh? Was his counterpart on MirrorDiscovery or not? Could it be that Stamets meets MirrorHugh back in PrimeUniverse?
(What do we know about Hugh Culber: Will he be gone altogether from the show now? Or have we hope for more Stamets/Hugh?)