Written by Thomas Spychalski.
Star Trek has made a resurgence over the last few years thanks to excellent entries into the Star Trek television universe, such as Star Trek Discovery and Star Trek Picard, as well as upcoming projects like Star Trek Lower Decks and Star Trek Strange New Worlds. The latter project features Captain Pike and Spock aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise years before Captain Kirk took the captain’s chair.
However, this does not mean the series that started this new era, Star Trek Discovery, has been left out on the cold surface of Rua Pente. In fact, Discovery will indeed be back for a third full series of adventures featuring Michael Burnham, Saru, the mirror universe Philippa Georgiou, and the much loved Sylvia Tilly.
Here’s a brief summary of what to expect in this upcoming third instalment, currently thought to be dropping late 2020…
Think about the future
When we last saw the crew of the U.S.S. Discovery, they followed Michael Burnham an apparent 930 years into the future, but unlike the way Star Trek‘s semi-utopian world looks to us here in the early 21st century, this future galaxy is in trouble, especially the United Federation of Planets. And going from promotional pictures released for Series Three earlier this summer, there appear to be only six planets remaining in the entire Federation.
Additionally, Starfleet may have been disbanded altogether, as Cleveland Booker – a new character seen in the only released trailer for Discovery Series Three so far – refers to Michael Burnham’s Starfleet emblem on her shirt as something that would belong to a “ghost.”
It also seems that Burnham’s adventures may initially remain separate from the rest of the Discovery’s crew, as she states in the trailer that she has been unable to contact them for an entire year. The speculation was confirmed by none other than Jonathan ‘Commander William Riker’ Frakes himself, who will be returning to the director’s chair for the third series of Discovery.
The future may also be the permanent residence for the U.S.S. Discovery and her crew, as showrunner Alex Kurtzman stated at Comic-Con that he was not sure if Discovery would return to the 23rd century after this series’ plotline is concluded. This makes sense from a production standpoint, as they would no longer have to be concerned about bumping into or changing any established Star Trek canon.
Andorians, Lurians, and Trills, oh my!
Star Trek, like most science fiction, is known for its wide variety of alien species, and Star Trek Discovery seems to be giving plenty of nods to many of the alien races we have seen in the past.
In the aforementioned trailer, we see Andorians, who seem to be in a collective group of some sort, and one that takes literal aim at Burnham and Booker alongside other races like the Cardassians. These have not truly been seen in action since Star Trek Deep Space Nine. And in even more DS9 goodness, we even see a Lurian in one of these groups – a reference to the character of Morn from DS9, who was a Lurian – showing that the nostalgia factor is in full effect for longtime Star Trek fans when Discovery returns.
Trills also make a re-appearance in Discovery Series Three, and they mark another Star Trek: Deep Space Nine reference, as the series’ popular Jadzia / Ezri Dax character was a Trill.
As natives of the planet Trill, this species is easily identifiable in the trailer by the spots running down their necks, and the most remarkable feature of the species is the custom where certain Trills are chosen to have a ‘symbiont’ alien inserted into their bodies. This gives them the collected memories and experience that the symbiont has gained from its previous Trill hosts.
It would appear that this species – and the symbiont process – may be major plot points in Discovery Series Three, as Michael Burnham is seen in the trailer immersing herself in what appears to be a symbiont pool, which is where the vermiform species lives prior to being joined with a host.
Although any plot points regarding the Trills are pure speculation, it is known that symbionts cannot be joined to a human host for very long without causing the human harm. But perhaps Michael Burnham’s Vulcan training has allowed her to communicate with the symbionts the way some Trills are able to, on a limited basis without being joined. We will just have to wait and see, but it is exciting to see so many past favourites on the horizon for Discovery’s third season.
Captain, my Captain…
Wilson Cruz, who plays Dr. Hugh Culber in Discovery, recently let a potential spoiler fly as part of a virtual question and answer session. He was talking about what roles his character might play in future Discovery series during the GalaxyCon convention, saying that Sonquea Martin-Green – who plays Micheal Burnham – and “all the captains” should keep a close eye on the captain’s chair, suggesting that Burnham may, in fact, find herself in command of the U.S.S. Discovery during the third series.
At the end of Series Two, Saru was the captain of the ship, and this could lead to some interesting drama as Saru and Burnham have found themselves at cross purposes at times since the very first episode of Discovery. Additionally, we do see Burnham wearing a Starfleet Command uniform in the trailer, so we know she most likely rejoins her crew at some point.
Speaking of captains, it is highly unlikely that we will see Anson Mount as Captain Christopher Pike or Ethan Peck as Spock in this series as they were left behind in the 23rd century at the conclusion of Star Trek Discovery Series Two.
The crew
Ash Tyler is another familiar face Discovery fans can probably expect not to see, as he also was left in the past, but he will probably return once the planned Section 31 spin-off gets underway.
However, Michael Burnam (Sonquea Martin-Green), Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp), Saru (Doug Jones), Joan Owosekun (Oyin Oladejo), Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh), Hugh Culber (Wilson Cruz), Keyla Detmer (Emily Coutts), and Sylvia Tilly (Mary Wiseman) will all be returning for the third series, as they boldly explore the farthest point of the future ever fully explored in the Star Trek universe on film.
One final note should be that we probably will not see Star Trek Discovery Series Three until autumn at the earliest, if for no other reason than the trailer for Star Trek Lower Decks dropped as I was writing this piece. That series will stream on C.B.S. All Access from the 5th August and run for ten weeks, so it is unlikely that they will premiere the third series of Star Trek Discovery before Lower Decks concludes.
What would you like to see in the third season of Star Trek Discovery? Let us know in the comments below!
Star Trek Discovery: Starfleet Academy scarf – order now from the Lovarzi shop!
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