Star Trek: Discovery viewers left ‘crying’ over Easter eggs honouring former actors

Star Trek: Discovery viewers were left emotional by a moving tribute to two former Star Trek actors.

The series previously honoured both Anton Yelchin and Aron Eisenberg in 2020, but honoured them once again in the season four finale, which was released on Thursday (17 March).

Yelchin, who died in 2016 when he was just 27, played Ensign Pavel Chekov in three Star Trek films: Star Trek, Star Trek Into Darkness and Star Trek Beyond. In 2021, it was revealed the series had named a starship, the USS Yelchin, after him.

As Star Trek fan David Enriquez pointed out on Twitter, this starship was referenced once again over an intercom near the beginning of the new episode, which has left fans feeling emotional.

Eisenebrg, who played Nog in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, died in 2019, aged 50. His death led to many fans banding together to petition for a Captain Nog statue to be placed on the grounds of the fictional Starfleet Academy.

However, while this didn’t happen, Alex Kurtzman did manage to introduce a starship named after Eisenberg’s character into the show during its third season. This starship also made a return in the latest episode via a brief mention.

“USS Nog & USS Yelchin. I’m not crying! You’re crying!” one fan wrote, with another adding: “Never gonna be over the ship in Discovery named the USS Yelchin. What a sweet little nod to Anton.”

Star Trek: Discovery is available to stream in the UK on the Pluto TV Sci-Fi and Pluto TV Sci-Fi Series, which is available within the Pluto TV app.