The stakes in Star Trek are higher than ever as the seasoned Discovery crew tries to pull off its hardest mission yet: a Red Directive. Captain Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) is making the rounds at a Starfleet work event, when Admiral Vance (Oded Fehr) hands her a transportation device. Suddenly, they’re both whisked away to the Infinity Room, where the peculiar Dr. Kovich conducts classified business. When he gives Burnham her newest assignment, he doesn’t tell her much, other than that it’s time-sensitive. She asks for more details, but to no avail. As far as he’s concerned, she doesn’t have any more right to additional information than Admiral Vance or the president herself.
It’s a bitter pill for Burnham to swallow, since she’s no stranger to top-secret operations. Her stint as the Red Angel, for example, depended on her ability to work fast and keep her mouth shut. She’s unsurprisingly uncomfortable with being kept out of the loop. It’s not until the covert nature of the job at hand risks both lives and the mission itself that Burnham learns more. What she hears shocks her to her core and sets her on an unforgettable path to enlightenment.
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The Mysterious Red Directive
Discovery loves jumping feet first into whatever adventures Star Trek throws its way. Starting as early as season 5, episode 1, “Red Directive,” they’re doing what they do best: chasing the clock and trying to beat the impossible odds. The only difference? They initially don’t even know what they’re looking for or why it’s important. So, Burnham puts her BFF Tilly (Mary Wiseman) on the case to hack into the Starfleet database and get the answers that Kovich refuses to give her.
Tilly finds a hologram of Romulan scientist Vellek (Michael Copeman) warning the receiver of a dangerous discovery. He also mentions cryptic clues and a journal filled with everything he knows that would spell big trouble should it fall into the wrong hands. When Burnham confronts Kovich to find out more, he finally reveals that Vellek found a machine that creates life. Star Trek explores a similar theme in The Wrath of Khan, but nothing quite like this. It’s once again up to the USS Discovery crew to save the day.
Galen’s DNA Program
The information at the heart of the USS Discovery’s Red Directive wasn’t always so clandestine. In fact, Star Trek: The Next Generation first came into contact with it in season 6, episode 20, “The Chase.” Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) reunites with Galen (Norman Lloyd), his former professor, who tries to convince him to leave on a secret mission. When Picard refuses, Galen takes off, only for his shuttlecraft to be attacked by a Yridian vessel. The Enterprise-D crew later finds that Galen was using a DNA program to find the Progenitors, an ancient civilization of beings responsible for creating life throughout the galaxy.
It wasn’t the first time that The Next Generation featured cool technology. However, the existential nature of this program prompted more philosophical discussions than action-forward mayhem. Years later, Kovich gets word that a machine that can also create life has been unearthed. He realizes that the results would be catastrophic if it fell into the wrong hands. So, he puts the ever-reliable USS Discovery on recovery duty because he knows they’re up to the task.
The Creation of Life
Long before Carol Marcus (Bibi Besch) created Genesis in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, the Progenitors seeded life throughout the galaxy. At least, that’s what they claim in a message played on a tricorder projection by Dr. Crusher (Gates McFadden). Vellek’s message on Discovery shared everything he and Picard learned that day as Romulans, Klingons, and Cardassians argued around them. He also reveals Moll (Eve Harlow) and L’ak (Elias Toufexis) as the ones to beat in this daring race against time.
The sensitivity of this knowledge makes its protection vital to everyone’s safety. But the fact that this game-changing process could be repeated — and by the wrong people, at that — turns its protection into a Red Directive. Getting ahold of this machine is of the utmost importance. The USS Discovery has basically been achieving Red Directive-style missions since they first started using mushrooms to zip around the galaxy. Will their luck remain, or will it finally run out?
Rayner’s Red Directive Experience
Luckily, their team's newest player, Commander Rayner (Callum Keith Rennie), has been on seven Red Directives (and the leader in four of them). He’s familiar with how they, like Starfleet’s Section 31 or the Cardassian Obsidian Order, thrive on secrecy. He knows that the superior officer decides who needs to know what and when they need to know it, because they see the bigger picture more clearly than anyone else.
The Red Directive in the final season of Star Trek: Discovery, however, has thrown him for a loop the closer the crew gets to the final stages. Dr. Kovich tried to keep Burnham and her team at arm’s length, and for good reason. Even the best officers can turn into tattletales for the right price. But Burnham was also right to demand that he give her at least some information so that her team could work more effectively. After all, this same Star Trek team communicated with Species 10-C when no one else could. Dr. Kovich chose them for a reason.
A long time ago, Picard and his team of Starfleet officers discovered the story of galactic creation. Years later, that same tale lives in the heart of the biggest conflict faced by the USS Discovery crew. The current Red Directive requires the great minds of Burnham, Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp), Adira (Blu del Barrio), and many more to put their best foot forward. The tasks so far have been far from easy. But the USS Discovery crew has acquired all the missing clues regarding the Red Directive as of season 5, episode 8, “Labyrinths.”
What this means as Star Trek: Discovery nears its series finale, no one knows just yet. It's too bad that they’ve accomplished this feat right as they enter a new conflict with the militaristic Breen. Thanks to a desperate Moll, these alien soldiers now have the same goals as the USS Discovery. The mystery and intrigue of the Red Directive has the talented crewmembers on their toes for their final mission. Luckily, time hasn’t run out just yet in this Star Trek series, and they still have a chance to come on top.
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