'Star Trek: Discovery' Recap - 'Vaulting Ambition'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM...YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK...

Sometimes in television, a particular storyline or story arc that the series is currently going through, simply wears out its welcome, despite the best efforts of the Writer’s Room to keep such matters as interesting as possible. It could be due to the fact that said story arc just isn’t strong enough, or because it drags on too long, but I think we can all recall a particular moment when it comes to our favorite shows when this has happened and to be honest, I’ve been supremely worried about such an issue coming to fruition on Star Trek: Discovery when it comes to the Mirror Universe storyline.
 
Because in reality, there’s only so much one can explore about a place where all of humanity has transformed into the elements we lament about our species and where they do horrible things day in and day out and considering the fact that we are still trapped in this place with the crew of the Discovery, it seems like it’s only a matter of time before it loses its luster. However, leave it to this series to find a way to quell our concerns and surprise us all in stunning fashion by making this awful place fascinating once again, because last night’s episode, ‘Vaulting Ambition’, managed to deliver quite the game changing twist when it comes to the Mirror Universe.
 
But before we get too deep into that, let’s talk about the other wonders this story managed to accomplish, in that the plot lines involving Stamets and Tyler/Voq were moved along in impressive fashion. After all, L’Rell is finally cooperating with Saru and did something to relieve the stress that Tyler’s mind was going through and oddly enough, the story heavily implied that perhaps Voq and Tyler have finally become one since L’Rell wept for her love/hero once he spoke nothing but English. As for Stamets, well he finally escaped the vastness of the Mycelial Network, but not before making peace with the fact that Hugh is dead, and he discovered that the Network itself is in danger now thanks to Mirror Universe Stamets and his work within this limitless place. 

---

​However, while all of that was fascinating, and quite frankly could have carried this episode on its own, Burnham coming face to face with Emperor Georgiou ended up being the most powerful storyline of the night. Because we came to learn that the Emperor has a soft spot for Burnham, since alternate Michael was raised in the Mirror Universe as her daughter, and that she is not without mercy, since eventually Michael Prime had to reveal her true identity to stave off execution and in doing so, the Emperor was willing to entertain Burnham’s offer of teamwork to get the U.S.S. Discovery back where it belongs. But Georgiou expressed nothing but disdain for Lorca, and with good reason, because in the closing moments of the episode, we learned that Gabriel Lorca is not the honorable maverick we believed him to be, instead it turns out…he’s nothing more than a disgraced officer of the Terran Empire, out for revenge.
 
Yes, that’s right, Lorca is from the Mirror Universe, and well, this is one hell of an incredible twist. Because it raises all of kinds of wild questions, like for example, what exactly happened to the Gabriel Lorca that hails from the Federation’s universe? Is he dead? Held captive? We simply don’t know, and to top it all off, this revelation suddenly puts his actions this season into perspective. His recklessness and carelessness in the war effort wasn’t out of some act of redemption after all, it was all designed to push the crew of Discovery to get him back to his universe so he could finally enact his coup against the Emperor and clearly, he played the part well, and he conned Burnham and the audience nicely and now…it looks like our intrepid crew is about to be sucked into a nasty power struggle/civil war.
 
This stunning plot twist also implies that Lorca knows of a way to travel between universes, but none of that may matter, because I get the impression that Michael is going to side with the Emperor to keep the crew safe once Lorca’s revolution begins, and that will undoubtedly lead to Lorca keeping the knowledge of how he can traverse between universes a secret. But when all is said and done, I loved this plot twist. It just gave the Mirror Universe incredible relevance in Star Trek canon and it makes every single moment of the last three episodes worthwhile and fascinating and now the stakes are higher than ever. Either way, it’s going to take a monumental effort for the crew to get back home, and I’m dying to know how on earth Burnham and her shipmates are going to escape this incredible mess. Until next time. 

---