'Star Trek: Discovery' Season 3 episode title continues 'Next Generation' storyline
In the third season of Star Trek: Discovery, the crew of the Discovery have been thrown further into the 32nd century, the farthest along the Star Trek timeline. The episode titles for the remainder of the season are now out and, upon closer look, there may be something in the past which catches up with the crew, especially for Michael Burnham.
The seventh episode of the third season is titled Unification III and based on previous examples, this episode is set to feature a special story.
Back in the '90s, Star Trek: The Next Generation’s fifth season had a peculiar two-part episode aptly titled Unification I and Unification II. These twin episodes celebrated Star Trek's 25th anniversary and saw Captain Jean-Luc Picard and Data traveling in disguise to Romulus in search of Ambassador Spock.
By that point, Spock had gone AWOL to work with an underground movement to reunify the Vulcan and Romulan peoples, who both once belonged to the same society. Spock believed he might have been making progress, but it turned out to be a ploy by the Romulan military's Commander Sela. Working together, Picard, Spock, Data, and the Enterprise crew were able to foil Sela's attempt to launch a sneak attack on the Federation.
Afterward, Spock chose to remain on Romulus to continue working towards reunifying Vulcans and Romulans, remaining there until Romulus' destruction from a supernova and his subsequent disappearance into the Kelvin Timeline.
And now comes Unification III. Based on what came before it, there’s a good chance that there will be a follow up to that story in the 32nd century. It seems likely that we get to see if Spock’s dream of reunification ever came true after Romulus' destruction.
Fuelling this theory is Star Trek co-producer Alex Kurtzman's confirmation that Burnham will look into Spock's fate.
"Burnham is absolutely going to look to the past and try and understand what happened to Spock. We all know what happened to Spock, but everything that we now take for granted, she has no understanding of. So, she will dive into that, and she will get to see what became of her brother. And that will actually impact the story for her in a significant way," Kurtzman said in response to a question from SFX Magazine.
It’s also interesting to note that Sarek, Spock's father, died from Bendii Syndrome in Unification I. Interestingly, Sarek was also Michael's adoptive father so this may be the right time that Michael learns of his fate as well.
Kirsten Beyer, the author of several Star Trek novels, wrote the Unification III episode and is known for keeping the continuity for Discovery. She will no doubt tie the current story from the significant Next Generation episode arc.
The seventh series in the Star Trek franchise, Star Trek: Discovery, streams weekly on CBS All Access and Netflix.
(Image from IMDB, screenshot from Star Trek: Discovery)