Burnham Has Now Lived Star Trek: Discovery’s Time Travel Both Ways

WARNING: Contains SPOILERS for Star Trek: Discovery Season 5, Episode 4, “Face the Strange.”

Thanks to Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 4, “Face the Strange’s” time travel, Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) has now experienced the USS Discovery’s journey to the 32nd century from two perspectives. At the end of Star Trek: Discovery season 2, Burnham donned the Red Angel time suit and led the USS Discovery to the 32nd century. This prevented the genocidal A.I. called Control from gaining access to the massive amount of data that had been gathered by an ancient sphere and using it to eradicate all sentient life in the galaxy.

In Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 4, “Face the Strange,” written by Sean Cochran and directed by Lee Rose, Captain Burnham and Commander Rayner (Callum Keith Rennie), find themselves jumping through various time periods in Discovery’s past, present, and future. One of these jumps places them on the Discovery as it follows Michael’s Red Angel through the wormhole to the future. This was Rayner’s first time experiencing the USS Discovery’s one-way trip to the 32nd century, but it marked the second time and second perspective for Burnham, who got see herself as the Red Angel lead her starship to the distant future.

Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Gave Burnham Both Time Travel Experiences To The 32nd Century

Burnham was the Red Angel and also saw things from Discovery’s bridge.

In Star Trek: Discovery season 2’s two-part finale, Michael used the Red Angel suit to travel through time and set the red burst signals that Discovery had been tracking throughout the season. After this, she placed a sixth signal so that the ship could follow her 930 years into the future. Burnham experienced this time travel journey alone, while Commander Saru (Doug Jones) led the USS Discovery and its remaining crew members into the wormhole to the 32nd century. Michael arrived in the future one year before Discovery, and she began searching for the remnants of Starfleet and the United Federation of Planets.

Star Trek: Discovery season 5’s “Face The Strange” revisits several moments of Discovery’s past, including its journey to the 32nd century. This time, Michael stands on the bridge, watching herself as the Red Angel leading Discovery into the future. When Burnham and Rayner arrive at this particular moment in time, Discovery’s crew members are unconscious due to tidal forces in the wormhole. Burnham and Rayner then have to work together, with help from Commander Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp), to determine the cause of the time jumps and stop the Krenim “time bug” responsible for them.

What Happened After Burnham and Discovery Arrived In The Future

Burnham arrived through the wormhole about a year before Discovery.

In Star Trek:Discovery season 3, episode 1, “That Hope Is You, Part 1,” Commander Michael Burnham arrives in 3188, flying out of the wormhole and colliding with the ship of Cleveland Booker (David Ajala). Burnham and Book’s ship both crash-land on the planet Hima. After sending the Red Angel suit to send the final signal and then self-destruct, Michael sets off to find the ship that crashed into her. Booker initially attacks Michael, but the two eventually form an uneasy alliance, as Michael tries to determine the whereabouts of the USS Discovery.

Burnham and Booker become romantic and work together as couriers for a year before the USS Discovery finally emerges from the wormhole. When Discovery crash lands on an icy planet, the crew set about trying to repair the ship. Saru and Ensign Sylvia Tilly (Mary Wiseman) go to a nearby settlement to get the necessary materials to repair Discovery, but by the time they make it back, the ship has become encased in ice. Then Michael arrives and uses Book’s ship to save Discovery, before tearfully reuniting with her friends. Star Trek: Discovery season 5 will bring the series to a close, and “Face the Strange” serves as a nice reflection on how far these characters have come.

New episodes of Star Trek: Discovery stream Thursdays on Paramount+.