Yahoo News 7 Star Trek: Discovery fan theories that could come true
Warning: Contains spoilers for Star Trek: Discovery's first nine episodes.
Star Trek: Discovery beams back on to our screens this Sunday (January 7) with the remaining six episodes of its first season.
The mid-season finale 'Into the Forest I Go' ended with a huge cliffhanger as, after destroying Kol's ship, the Discovery had one final jump to bring them home – only for them to end up in unknown territory that even Saru couldn't pinpoint.
But what else could the final six episodes of Star Trek: Discovery's first season focus on? We've rounded up the best theories so far…
1. Ash Tyler is a Klingon spy
We'll kick off with the big fan theory from the first half of the season that you probably have come across at some point. The theory – which we've explained in detail here – is that Ash Tyler (Shazad Latif) is actually the Klingon named Voq, who we haven't seen since episode four.
Adding fuel to this theory is that episode 11 is called 'The Wolf Inside', meaning that episode could focus on Ash's hidden identity, and one of the new posters featured Voq.
The mid-season finale had flashbacks of Ash being tortured by the Klingons, while Latif responded to the theory by saying Trekkies were "great detectives", so we'd be very surprised if this theory wasn't proved correct during the rest of the first season.
And if it is proved true, does this mean that there's an original Ash Tyler out there somewhere and just what is L'Rell's plan when it comes to Ash/Voq?
2. The Discovery is in the mirror universe
One of the strongest bets for where the Discovery ended up after the events of the mid-season finale is the mirror universe. Given that we don't know everything about what the spore drive can do, it wouldn't be a stretch to assume that the Discovery could have travelled to an alternate dimension.
We already know that Star Trek: Discovery will feature the mirror universe – thanks to Star Trek veteran Jonathan Frakes – and it would be a way for the show to feature more canon characters, while giving them the freedom to play around with the established versions as the mirror universe would contain alternate versions.
Less likely is that the ship has ended up in a different timeline altogether, separate from the Prime timeline, meaning the show – like the rebooted movies – could do whatever they wanted when it came to Star Trek lore.
3. Captain Lorca is from the mirror universe
But maybe we've already met someone from the mirror universe. There's still an air of mystery surrounding Captain Lorca (Jason Isaacs) and especially the fact that he doesn't act like we expect a Starfleet captain to act. One theory is that he's actually Captain Lorca from the mirror universe, having either killed or accidentally replaced the other Lorca.
The mid-season finale added some weight to this theory as there was a brief glimpse of Lorca overriding one of the 133 spore jumps and, later, it was Lorca who initiated the final jump and saying, "Let's go home."
Maybe both moves were in order to get him back to his universe? If you need further evidence, cast your mind back to earlier in the season when Lorca and Admiral Cornwell (Jayne Brook) reminisced in bed when it seemed Lorca struggled to remember earlier memories…
4. Admiral Cornwell is Lethe
This might just be the writers messing with Star Trek fans, but episode six was called 'Lethe' and ended with Admiral Cornwell being taken hostage by the Klingons. Fans put two and two together and assumed that this meant she was actually original Star Trek character Lethe from 'Dagger of the Mind'.
That character had been committed to the Tantalus Penal Colony and after rehabilitation, worked as a therapist at the colony. So fans assumed that being tortured by the Klingons could be what led Cornwell to become Lethe, but we saw Cornwell rescued in the midseason finale and she seemed mentally fine. Of course, it could be delayed PTSD and we could see the effects in the remaining season one episodes.
5. Lorca and Burnham have met before
It's not just Lorca's background that is a little hazy. From the get-go, Lorca has had Michael Burnham's (Sonequa Martin-Green) back, giving her a position on the Discovery despite her criminal background. Not only that, but he went out of his way to try and stop Burnham going on the Klingon ship in the midseason finale as it was "too dangerous".
But why is Burnham so important to Lorca? It's possible that it's because he sees a bit of himself in her as she's had traumatic experiences with the Klingons, but it could also be that he needs something from her. If the mirror universe theory about Lorca proves to be true, there's a chance that he's already 'met' Burnham before and they have a history.
6. The Federation-Klingon War is over
With the destruction of the Klingon ship in the mid-season finale and the presumed death of Kol's craft, it's entirely possible that the Federation-Klingon War has either been won or is close to being won, given that the Klingon's cloaking technology has now been overcome by the Discovery.
Does this mean we won't see anymore of it in the rest of the first season? We've already seen that the Klingons are pretty happy to just appoint a new leader, but with the Discovery in an unknown place, the focus could now shift to that new predicament.
Either way, don't expect to see it in season two as executive producer Alex Kurtzman told us that "each season needs to be about a different thing".
7. And just who are Michael's parents?
This might not even come up, but it's worth noting that aside from the fact they were killed in a Klingon attack, we don't know anything about Michael Burnham's biological parents and that could be because there is nothing to learn.
However, Kurtzman has told us that the show will address the decision to make Burnham the adopted sister of Spock, despite the character never coming up in Star Trek before.
"A lot of people are going to have a real issue with it and now it's incumbent on us to prove why that was the right choice," he explained before the show aired. So perhaps we'll still have more to come about Burnham's background.
Star Trek: Discovery returns to CBS All Access in the US on January 7 and Netflix in the UK on January 8.
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