‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Recap – ‘The Sanctuary’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 308 of ‘Star Trek: Discovery’.

Over the course of the past few weeks, we’ve talked at length about the United Federation of Planets and Starfleet and what they stand for and there’s good reason for that. Simply because the third season of Star Trek: Discovery has forced the crew of the NCC-1031-A and the Starfleet of the 32nd Century to ponder upon the nature and the purpose of those two organizations, since they have in fact… lost their way and understandably so. For 3189 is a messy time to be alive thanks to The Burn and the chaos that’s come out of that has forced Starfleet and the Federation to go into protection and triage mode and stay there. Regardless of Captain Saru and Commander Michael Burnham’s teaching and pleadings for Admiral Vance to find a way to restore the ideals of these thousand-year-old organizations. 
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But while it has been nice to see and hear a pair of Starfleet officers from the golden era of this organization, speak to the wonder and majesty of a day when Starfleet is revered again, Vance’s constant and weary fight to keep some semblance of order in the galaxy really does leave the viewer wondering; what will it take for Starfleet and the Federation to stand tall and be trusted by the citizens of the galaxy once again? Because getting back out into the void and rebuilding that level of trust is no easy task, not after a century of hiding in the shadows and doing the minimum. Well as it turns out, the next episode in this series took the time to explore the answer to that question and that made ‘The Sanctuary’ quite the engrossing and beautiful tale when all is said and done. Since it finally allowed for us to understand that simple acts of good, will go a long way in making the Federation and Starfleet legends in the galaxy once more.

A feat that this story accomplished, by having the crew of the Discovery answer an internal distress call. For Book revealed to Burnham that his brother on his homeworld of Kewjian, called for help and that he needed to leave the ship and help out back home and well, that was something that Michael wasn’t good with him doing on his own. And with a blessing from the Admiral, and orders to observe and report, the U.S.S. Discovery returned home with Book, only to learn that this distress call was nothing more than a giant trap. For the mysterious Osyraa wanted both Book and Ryn to return to the Emerald Chain and what better way to make that happen than by drawing Book home under false pretenses, so that he and Ryn could be summarily captured at the same time. 

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But while that definitely made for a wonderful introduction to Osyraa and helped us to learn exactly how cunning and ruthless she is as the leader of the Emerald Chain, what matters more… is that the crew of the Discovery went the extra mile to keep Ryn and Book and his homeworld, safe from trouble. Even going so far as to bend the rules to teach Osyraa a lesson in humility, with phasers of course, and well, they were eventually successful in their mission and they were even able to help Kewjian deal with some environmental problems that threatened the population’s food source and that… did something special. For it truly taught Book that the Federation and Starfleet are more than military might, they’re about helping people and doing the right thing and they work to make life better throughout the galaxy. And that inspired him to join the cause and that decision spoke to the fact, that the only way for these two organizations to return to glory… is by playing the hero more often.
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However, while that delightfully uplifting plot thread could have carried this episode for the entire hour, there were more juicy tidbits to be found in this particular tale. After all, Doctor Culber did take the time to try and discover what is going on with Emperor Georgiou and well, her prognosis doesn’t look promising, since a body scan motivated some private talks, and that’s never good. Plus, this episode also took the time to continue this season’s exploration into what caused The Burn and believe it or not… the source of the event was finally uncovered. For there is a mysterious signal coming from a place known as the Verubin Nebula, one of Federation origin and sadly… that’s all we were able to receive information wise regarding the matter since there is still some data to crunch. But we also would be remiss to not discuss the more tender moments between Lieutenant Stamets and Adira as well, since it was fascinating to learn that their Trill voices have gone silent and that Paul is all in on helping them to adjust to life on a starship and most important of all; kudos to the show for offering up a poignant lesson on the use of pronouns.

But while we wait to see where all of those plot threads go, we can definitely take a moment and celebrate one delightful episode for certain. Because this one was downright inspiring, since it really did put the Federation back into the fray and it was just lovely to see a Starfleet vessel stand up for the proverbial little guy once again and remind the unjust of the galaxy that their special brand of cruelty will not be tolerated, and it would seem that Starfleet is about to have more opportunities to defend the innocent in the days to come. For Osyraa wants vengeance for what happened in this tale, and that should force Starfleet to step in and lend a hand to those in need and there is a big upside to that. Because the time has come for Starfleet to get off the bench and into the game and doing so and defending vulnerable worlds should hopefully inspire hope in the galaxy at last and remind all of its citizens, that a united front, one under the banner of the Federation; is the right way forward. Until next time.

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