As personnel at Fed HQ scramble amidst the brewing crisis, Saru (Doug Jones) beams in with flowers for T’Rina (Tara Rosling). She takes him aside and quickly updates him on what’s happened before a briefing with President Rillak (Chelah Horsdal) She reveals that the Breen Imperium is in chaos now that Primarch Ruhn is dead. They also discuss the incoming Primarch Tahal and her legendary ruthlessness.
Chelah Horsdal as President Rillak and Doug Jones as Saru
Saru informs Capt. Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) on what’s happening. Cmdr. Rayner (Callum Keith Rennie) updates her on repairs and she informs him that the Breen are on their way. Together they head to engineering to check on progress there. Stamets (Anthony Rapp), Tal (Blu del Barrio), and Booker (David Ajala) are working to repair the spore drive.
Follwing the coordinates, Discovery jumps into the accretion disk of a primordial binary black hole. Lt. Tilly (Mary Wiseman) deduces a way to use one black hole’s gravity well to supplement their propulsion, and they pull themselves out of harm’s way. The Progenitors’ map places the location of the device in the Larange point between the two dying stars, making the technology – and the Progenitors – older than the galaxy itself. After scanning the device, the crew learns that it’s nearly 800 years old, and constructed of duranium alloy, preventing their sensors from seeing inside.
As Discovery starts to collect the structure, a Breen Dreadnaught intercepts and tows the device on their ship. Determined, Burnham sets the crew to the task of getting it back. As they analyze the available data, they determine that now that the Breen have the device, Moll (Eve Harlow) also has the key. Burnham shares that, while in the mindscape, she was told about the extra obstacle within the puzzle. A cryptic phrase, “Build the shape of the one between the many” would act like a secret password that Moll didn’t know, thereby giving Discovery the leverage they need to hatch a dangerous plan to retrieve the artifacts. First, Burnham appoints Book as the shuttle pilot to navigate the treacherous space between shielding and inside the vessel. Then by splitting up into two teams, they aim for two locations on the Dreadnaught to divide and conquer: one team in the shuttle bay to serve as a distraction and the other on the bridge to execute Tal’s plan to utilize the transport lock on the device, all while disguised as Breen soldiers. Burnham puts Rayner in charge, who then appoints Tilly as his first officer.
Dorian Gray as Lt. Arisar and Eve Harlow as Moll
Meanwhile, Moll orders a soldier to open the device. The Breen soldier gets sucked inside and effectively slows down their process. They determine that the device is actually an inter-dimensional portal, and Moll decides to put L’ak’s body into a transporter pattern buffer to preserve him while they try to figure out the Progenitors’ tech.
Breen soldiers surround the Progenitors’ tech
Back on Discovery, Stamets and Culber (Wilson Cruz) see Adira off to the shuttle bay and worry like the good space dads they are.
After a terrifyingly close call on their shuttle, the away team manages to get on board the Breen vessel. They carefully dodge Breen crew members as they convene on their respective targets, culminating in a tense moment between Burnham and Booker.
Rillak tries and fails to get in touch with Primarch Tahal back at Federation HQ. Together with T’Rina and Saru, they decide to send a shuttle equipped with the new pathway drive to try and talk Tahal down from escalating things even further. Saru volunteers on behalf of Discovery, much to the discomfort of T’Rina.
On the Dreadnaught, Burnham and Book avoid detection long enough for the captain to grow sentimental. When Book asks if she’s worried about the mission, Burnham takes him aside and confesses what she learned about herself in the mindscape, including the fact that the program chose his likeness as her guide throughout the process. They apologize to each other for letting their relationship dissolve just as a shift change occurs, and they quickly fall in line to avoid detection. After they reconcile, the plan kicks into high gear, and the two of them bust their way into the shuttle bay after outsmarting the guards. Meanwhile, Cmdr. Rhys and Ens. Tal move quickly to disable shields while keeping an eye on Moll’s movements on the bridge.
Rayner checks and double-checks systems back on Discovery, making sure everyone’s ready for Capt. Burnham’s signal to proceed. Noticing his apprehension, Tilly pulls Rayner aside and encourages him to sit in the captain’s chair. He declines both the invitation to sit and the encouragement, but is sure to gruffly let her know that he appreciates her effort to include him.
When reports of fallen soldiers reach the Breen bridge, Moll moves to investigate, pressing Burnham to finish calibrating the transporter lock. Rayner attempts to buy the away team some time by hailing Moll, alerting her to Primarch Tahal closing in on their location. He offers Federation protection in exchange for the Progenitors’ technology, but she quickly refuses. While she manages to finish calibrations, Capt. Burnham is unable to complete the mission before being caught by the Breen.
Callum Keith Rennie as Rayner and Christina Dixon as Lt CMDR Asha
Rayner and the crew of DISCO scramble to find an out for the away team when Burnham gives them coded directions over her live comm link. No stranger to being flung into the vacuum of space, Burnham discreetly orders Ens. Tal to lower the shuttle bay’s containment fields so that DISCO may beam the away team – and the artifact – from space.
In the chaos, Moll figures out Discovery’s plan, and leaps through the portal in the Progenitors’ structure with Burnham hot on her heels.