#mirror airiam

[jordanlafordan]

Mirror Airiam currently has a hold on 98% of my brain.

[best-star-trek-character]

Round One

[lostyesterday]

I was curious about which Star Trek shows had the most human vs non-human characters, so I made this graph. I counted all major characters plus characters who were in at least 10 episodes of each respective show (with a few exceptions for incredibly minor characters who are technically in more than ten episodes but have barely any/no lines). A full list of characters included is below the cut.

TOS:

Part/Non-Human: Spock

Human: Kirk, Mccoy, Scotty, Uhura, Sulu, Chekov, Chapel

TNG:

Part/Non-Human: Data, Troi, Worf, Guinan

Human: Picard, Riker, La Forge, Crusher, Wesley, Yar, Pulaski, O’Brien, Ogawa

DS9:

Part/Non-Human: Kira, Odo, Quark, Jadzia, Rom, Nog, Garak, Dukat, Worf, Weyoun, Martok, Leeta, Ezri, Damar, Female Changeling, Winn

Human: Sisko, Bashir, Jake, O’Brien, Keiko, Kasidy, Ross

VOY:

Part/Non-Human: Torres, Neelix, EMH, Tuvok, Kes, Seven (part Borg counts as not entirely human to me), Seska, Naomi, Icheb

Human: Janeway, Chakotay, Paris, Kim

ENT:

Part/Non-Human: T’Pol, Phlox, Soval, Shran

Human: Archer, Reed, Tucker, Sato, Mayweather, Forrest

DIS:

Part/Non-Human: Saru, Tyler (debatable but I’m counting him as partly non-human), L’Rell, Book, T’Rina, Nhan, Rillak, Linus, Zora, Adira (again, debatable, but they’ve got a symbiont so they’re not entirely human to me), Gray

Human: Burnham, Stamets (complicated case but I counted him as still human), Tilly, Culber, Lorca (mirror universe characters are still human, I think), Georgiou, Detmer, Owosekun, Rhys, Bryce, Cornwell, Airiam (she’s still human), Pike, Jett, Nilsson, Pollard, Vance

PIC:

Part/Non-Human: Picard (for part of the show at least), Elnor, Soji, Narek, Seven, Laris/Talinn (I am just pretending they’re the same character for simplicity), Jack (I guess???)

Human: Musiker, Jurati, Rios, Adam, Riker, Crusher, Shaw, Sidney

LWD:

Part/Non-Human: Tendi, Shaxs, T’Ana, Barnes, Kayshon

Human: Mariner, Boimler, Rutherford, Freeman, Ransom, Billups

PRO:

Part/Non-Human: Dal, Gwyn, Zero, Rok-Tahk, Jankom, Murf, Hologram Janeway, Diviner, Drednok

SNW:

Part/Non-Human: Spock, Una, Hemmer

Human: Pike, La’an, Uhura, Chapel, M’Benga, Ortegas

[knightotoc]

Season 1: 23rd century, mutiny, Federation-Klingon War, T'Kuvma, Ash/Voq, L'Rell, Captain Lorca, giant tardigrade, Sarek, logic extremists, Vulcan Expeditionary Group applications, Admiral Cornwell, time loop Harry Mudd, Pahvo, Mirror Universe, Captain Killy, Culber dies, Emperor Georgiou

Themes: betrayal, trust, good vs evil

Season 2: Captain Pike, Red Angel, seven signals, Spock's nightmares, Jett Reno, Terralysium, Amanda Grayson, L'Rell and Ashvoq's baby, Section 31, Leland, the ghost of May, the Sphere's data, Culber gets better, Kamina, Talos IV, Control, Airiam dies, Klingon monastery, time crystals, Queen Po, jump to the future

Themes: motherhood, secrets, corruption

Season 3: 32nd century, the Burn, Book, trance worm, Aditya Sahil, Zareh, Captain Saru, Tal, Adira, Gray, Trill, Admiral Vance, seed archive, Nhan, Ni'Var, Qowat Milat, T'Rina, Kwejian, the Emerald Chain, Osyraa, Carl, goodbye Georgiou!, Su'Kal and the holograms, Burnham demoted then promoted, dilithium deliveries

Themes: grief, scarcity, transphobia?

Season 4: Captain Burnham, President Rillak, the DMA (cough covid cough), Kwejian destroyed, Gray resurrected, J'Vini, cadets stranded on the moon, Ruon Tarka and Oros's parallel universe, Felix and the orb, Gray and Zora play a Trill board game, Species 10-C, Book's betrayal, hydrocarbon emotion math language

Themes: misunderstanding, "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" references

Season 5: Progenitors, Moll and L'ak, solving riddles to make a map, Q'Mau, Fred, Rayner, Lyrek, Adira and Gray break up, Jinaal possesses Culber, time bug, the Breen, atheism on Halem'no, racer Tilly, Ravah, Ruhn, Eternal Gallery and Archive, Hy'Rell, Tahal, wedding and finale

Themes: romances, religion, power

[lightshiningforth]

I watched Season 3 of Star Trek: Discovery, after putting it off for a while bc I didn’t love the first two seasons. My god. Season 3 is when the show finally, finally finds itself.

I had a litany of issues with the first two seasons, which have certainly been hashed out by fans before but which I will divide into two relevant categories for the sake of discussion:

Being a prequel, the show leaned on, altered, and got bogged down with preexisting Star Trek lore. They changed the Klingons’ iconic looks and made them the villains again. They brought in Section 31 in a role that was far too front facing for what that organization is supposed to be. They burdened Michael’s character with the baggage of being part of Spock’s family, and made the family even more dysfunctional and traumatic than it was in TOS to drive the plot forward. Now, there are plenty of things they did well. The integration of the mirror universe was clever. The uniforms, IMO, were a better pre-TOS imagining than those in Enterprise or AOS. Original content, like the Kelpiens, was beautifully done. Overall, however, the show felt stuck. They couldn’t cover new ground without altering pre-established ground, and those alterations were frustrating.

The show didn’t allow us to get to know and care for the crew. This was especially a problem in the first season, when we spent all of a few minutes with the Shenzhou crew before everything went to hell, and then the rest of the season on Discovery was war and trauma. How were the characters before the trauma? What changed, what was lost? We sure don’t know! And who are these characters now? Yes, we know Michael, Saru, Tilly, Stamets, Culber - they get individual moments, or moments with each other. But everyone else? The rest of the bridge crew? What are their names, what are they like, how do they interact with and feel about each other? We don’t know. It’s all a swirl of faces and bad situations. We don’t know these characters, but we’re expected to feel their pain as they’re pushed into the most extreme, traumatic situations possible. I didn’t even understand that Airiam was human until the episode in which she dies. Suddenly, then, we get a handful of sweet, everyday interactions between her and the rest of the crew. And boom! She’s gone.

But Season 3… what a breath of fresh air. Finally, the show is in the future and free to cover new ground. The Burn, a differently configured Federation, the couriers, the Emerald Chain, new planets, new peoples… finally, finally, finally. Yes, there is still the familiar here. We see the Trill, the Vulcans, the Romulans, the Orions, the Andorians. But the show can do new and interesting things with them in the far future, WITHOUT bucking the familiar lore of Star Trek’s past.

And now that Discovery made a journey alone and together, as just their crew? We KNOW them. There are still characters who get more focus, certainly. Michael, Saru, Tilly, Stamets, and Culber, still. But now I would count Owo and Detmer among them - we see more of their personalities, their relationship with each other and with others, and they become crucial support to the character dynamics and plot. Now Bryce, Rhys, and Nilsson are more to me than just faces in the background - they are finally familiar as fixtures on the bridge.

Characters who are more occasional, like Jett Reno, Lt. Linus, or Dr. Pollard, fall into a different category for me - they were always distinct presences, and I did know who they were. Even so, I feel that they get to stand out more now that the main cast feels solidified, as opposed to before, when we had a blur of the Enterprise crew and other rotating characters cycling in and out.

(Don’t think I’ve forgotten Nhan or Emperor Georgiou, who are both impactful, distinct characters. It’s just that Nhan always felt like Enterprise crew to me, even after her transfer to Discovery, and leaves early in Season 3. Georgiou, meanwhile, is both a not-quite-crew character and plentifully developed from her initial appearance. She was never a mystery to me.)

Also! Book? I ADORE him. I adore his relationship with Michael (FUCK Ash Tyler, this is the romance she deserves). I adore Grudge (she’s a queen!!) (just stop taking her on deadly missions ok it stresses me out).

Oh, and Adira? A treasure! A delight! Ready to join the Star Trek category of “local teen collectively parented by starship or space station crew.”

Anyway. After two whole seasons didn’t resonate with me, I’m so glad to finally be able to say that I like the show. It feels like Star Trek now.

[katatonicimpression]

S5 Episode 4

Oh I loved this.

"Are you stuck in a time loop right now?"

The time loop episode from season 1 with Harry Mudd and the Space Whale is probably my favourite disco episode ever. It's a delight, and this episode referenced it!

Self contained episodes are something that disco has sadly lacked, but when it does them they usually slap. And personally, i think time travel things work best like this, as quirky little loops, even if the premise has been done on trek before.

"He exists outside of time because he has tardigrade DNA."

I love how they use the opportunity to touch on past canon in a clip show kinda way. It's the final season and I think they earned the opportunity to reminisce. And I was really happy to see Airiam.

"It takes a village."

I am also so into the fact that the theme of the episode is that the disco crew are a bunch of soft dorks who love each other and need time to nerd out together in order to solve problems. It's sweet and, again, I think it's earned.

"I nerve pinched her."

It makes a lot of sense for past!Michael to be the obstacle at the end; Michael's main theme has been battling with the way she internalises things (expectations, mistakes, trauma) and her arcs have always been Michael vs Michael. This is explored with the mirror stuff too. But past!Michael isn't evil, she's just unhappy, and catastrophises failure. And it works, very good, simple and effective writing choice.

Again I just had a great time. Loved it.

[wipbigbang]

WIPBB 2023 - Fic & Art Master List (S - Z)

Below is the master list of all the bragging rights/posts that were posted to Tumblr and Dreamwidth, organized alphabetically by fandom from S to Z. Please go show these people some love for all the hard work they did!

Star Trek

Deep Space 9

Free Advice Is…: Fic | Art (Odo/Quark)

Way Harsh, Ziyal: Fic | Art (Julian Bashir/Elim Garak, Jake Sisko/Tora Ziyal, Jadzia Dax/Kira Nerys)

Discovery

How We Remember: Fic (Art Is On AO3) (Keyla Detmer, Joann Owosekun, Airiam, Sylvia Tilly, Michael Burnham)

Novels (Beyer)/Prodigy/Voyager

The Universe to Mend: Fic | Art (Denzit Kathryn Janeway/Q, Hologram Janeway/Maquis Chakotay)

The Next Generation

Begin to Hope: Fic | Art (Beverly Crusher/Deanna Troi, Implied Data/Geordi La Forge)

Star Wars

Legends

The Book Of Kenobi - Part I: Fic | Art (Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi/Original Female Character(s), Obi-Wan Kenobi & Original Characters)

Original Trilogy

Scoundrel: Fic | Art On Dreamwidth | Art On Tumblr (Luke Skywalker/Han Solo)

Prequel Trilogy

Cabur'ika: Art (N/A)

Entrusted With This: Fic (Art Is On AO3) (Jango Fett/Obi-Wan Kenobi, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker, Jango Fett & Jaster Mereel)

I just want to go home: Fic (Quinlan Vos/Obi-Wan Kenobi)

Rebels

The Last Fear: Fic (Art On AO3) (Jenson Kallstrom/Eagle Eyed Dan, Kallus/Zeb)

The Clone Wars

Ahtehn: Art (Dooku | Darth Tyranus/Quinlan Vos)

GFFA: Fic (Quinlan Vos/Fox, Obi-Wan Kenobi/Cody)

Where do you run when you’re at your limit: Fic (Kit Fisto/Obi-Wan Kenobi, Cody/Mace Windu/Quinlan Vos, Depa Billaba/Luminara Unduli)

Sequel Trilogy

Color Coded: Fic/Art (Kylo Ren/Rey)

Death Comes To Call: Fic/Art (Kylo Ren/Rey)

The Gray Between Black and White: Fic/Art | Art (Kylo Ren/Rey)

The Mandalorian

Pyroclasts: Fic | Art (Din Djarin, Grogu, IG-11, Peli Motto, Cara Dune, Original Droid Character)

Stargate: Atlantis

Roundabout Way to a Family: Fic | Art (John Sheppard/Laura Cadman)

Stargate Atlantis/Stargate SG-1

Journeys all Start Somewhere: Fic | Art (John Sheppard/Cameron Mitchell, Evan Lorne/John Sheppard/Cameron Mitchell)

Stranger Things

Love’s Such an Old-Fashioned Word: Fic/Art (Jonathan Byers/Steve Harrington/Nancy Wheeler)

Supernatural

After Apple Picking: Fic | Art (Dean Winchester/Sam Winchester, Castiel/Dean Winchester/Sam Winchester, Mentioned Dean Winchester/OCs)

I’ll Find Him Through the Depths of Space: Fic (Still Posting) | Art (Dean Winchester/Castiel)

One Last Curse: Fic (Dean Winchester/Castiel)

Supernatural/Black Mirror

Hang The Author: Fic | Art (Castiel/Dean Winchester, Amy/Frank)

Teen Wolf

A Pauper's Prince (Revised): Fic (Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski)

Better Off Bread: Fic On Dreamwidth | Fic On Tumblr (Art On-Site) (Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski)

Hands Off, He's Mine!: Fic (Art On AO3) (Peter Hale/Stiles Stilinski)

Hunting the Hunters: Fic | Art (Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski)

Intarsia: Fic | Art (Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski)

the family you choose: Fic/Art (Peter Hale/Chris Argent, Background Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski)

Under My Skin: Fic | Art (Stiles Stilinski/Jackson Whittemore, Stiles Stilinski & Lydia Martin, Stiles Stilinski & Derek Hale)

Untitled Swan Stiles: Fic | Art (Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Allison Argent/Isaac Lahey/Scott McCall, Danny Māhealani/Lydia Martin/Jackson Whittemore, Vernon Boyd/Erica Reyes)

Ted Lasso

Load of Whites, Hand-Wrung: Fic (Art On AO3) (Nathan Shelley/Bex, Secondary Ted Lasso/Rebecca Welton)

The Hunger Games

Every Spot Reminds Me of You: Fic (Art On AO3) (Katniss Everdeen/Peeta Mellark)

Feed the Beast: Fic (Katniss Everdeen/Peeta Mellark, Minor Effie Trinket/Haymitch Abernathy)

The Legend of Korra

Legend of Korra - The Winter Soldier: Art (Korra/Asami Sato)

Starvation Paradise: Fic/Art (Iroh II/Asami Sato)

The Wheel of Time (TV)

stars fading (but i linger on): Fic (Art On AO3) (Rand al'Thor/Mat Cauthon)

Word Of Honor

look who i found: Art (Wen Kexing/Zhou Zishu, Han Ying/Zhou Zishu (pre-relationship), Han Ying & Wen Kexing, Han Ying & Siji Ducklings, Han Ying & Zhou Zishu, Han Ying & Zhang Chengling)

to the roots of something greener: Fic | Art (Wen Kexing/Zhou Zishu, Han Ying/Zhou Zishu)

Yuri!!! on Ice

Light At The Edge Of The Galaxy: Art Post 1 | Art Post 2 (Phichit Chulanont & Katsuki Yuuri, Katsuki Yuuri/Victor Nikiforov)

[marlinspirkhall]

[ID] Star Trek alignment chart. X axis reads: Disproved by canon, not disproved by canon, actually canon. Y axis reads: Lightly implied, heavily implied, practically canon.

Tilly and May Ahearn are lightly implied, disproved by canon.

Mirror Michael and Mirror Owosekun are lightly implied, not disproved by canon.

Two extras who are laughing together are lightly implied, actually canon.

Airiam and Tilly are heavily implied, disproved by canon.

Pike and Ash are heavily implied, not disproved by canon.

Stamets and Culber are heavily implied, actually canon

Michael and Mirror Georgiou are practically canon, disproved by canon

Owosekun and Detmer are practically canon, not disproved by canon.

Adira and Gray are practically canon, actually canon [End ID]

[thisiseditsandstuff]

mirror universe crews ➞ ISS Discovery

[tincanspaceship]

tag yourself

[chillychive]

I forgot to start writing this againnnnn

Episode 15

poor poor tilly.

Yea, she really doesn't know how to not look like an emperor. like, hunch just a little? please? how straight her back is is actually hurting my back.

dayum tilly.

aww yes tilly.

oh gosh, Poor Michael... her parent's death is not her fault ofc but that'd be so easy to blame herself.

ah my god- not them trying to commit genocide

the little bzzt accompanying Airiam standing up made me so happy.

is it weird that I have always preferred when the main couple hugs first in an important scene/reunion? It seems so much more intimate- like "I haven't seen you in so long the only thing I can do right now is hold you." and that's so much more beautiful than a kiss.

AHH AMANDA

his daughter. Sarek called her his daughter!! ahhhhh

ah paul poor paul.

AHHHH HELLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[spockvarietyhour]

Non-Cybernetic Airiam!

[best-star-trek-character]

Official DISCO Bracket!

And here’s the final bracket! Round One will go live tomorrow, 4/21 at 10 am EST!

Full List:

Round One:

Left Side:

Emperor (Mirror!) Philippa Georgiou vs. Dr. Hirai: poll here

Lt. Commander Ronald A Bryce vs. Kyheem: poll here

Me Hani Ika Hali Ka Po vs. Carl (The Guardian of Forever): poll here

Mirror! Sarek vs. Gabrielle Burnham: poll here

Ruon Tarka vs. Ripper The Tardigrade: poll here

Ambassador Sarek vs. Commander Ellen Landry: poll here

Ryn vs. Tareckx: poll here

Lieutenant Spock vs. Lieutenant Nilsson: poll here

Haz Mazaro vs. Commander Nahn: poll here

Voq vs. Captain Gabriel Lorca: poll here

Lt. Commander Joann Owosekun vs. T’Kuvma: poll here

Adira Tal vs. Captain Philippa Georgiou: poll here

Ensign Sylvia Tilly vs. Dr. Kovich: poll here

Admiral Katrina Cornwell vs. J’Vini: poll here

Captain Saru vs. Admiral Charles Vance: poll here

President Laira Rillak vs. Siranna: poll here

Right Side:

General Ndoye vs. Captain Michael Burnham: poll here

Mirror! Owosekun vs. Lt. Commander Airiam: poll here

Captain Leland vs. Commander Ash Tyler: poll here

Dr. Pollard vs. Cleveland “Book” Booker: poll here

President T’Rina vs. Lieutenant Linus: poll here

Zora vs. Oros: poll here

Leto vs. Commander Jett Reno: poll here

Amanda Grayson vs. Grudge: poll here

Lieutenant Aditya Sahil vs. Gray Tal: poll here

Lt. Commander Keyla Detmer vs. Osyraa: poll here

Lt. Commander Gen Rhys vs. Mirror! Detmer: poll here

Su’Kal vs. Captain Christopher Pike: poll here

Harcourt Fenton Mudd vs. “May Ahearn”: poll here

Captain Killy (Mirror! Tilly) vs. Dr. Hugh Culber: poll here

Aurellio vs. L’Rell: poll here

Guardian Xi vs. Commander Paul Stamets: poll here

Round Two:

Left Side:

Mirror! Philippa Georgiou vs. Lt. Cmdr. Ronald A Bryce: poll here

Me Hani Ika Hali Ka Po vs. Gabrielle Burnham: poll here

Ripper the Tardigrade vs. Ambassador Sarek: poll here

Ryn vs. Lt. Spock: poll here

Commander Nahn vs. Captain Gabriel Lorca: poll here

Lt. Cmdr. Joann Owosekun vs. Captain Philippa Georgiou: poll here

Ensign Sylvia Tilly vs. Admiral Katrina Cornwell: poll here

Captain Saru vs. Siranna: poll here

Right Side:

Captain Michael Burnham vs.  Lt. Cmdr. Airiam: poll here

Cmdr. Ash Tyler vs. Cleveland “Book” Booker: poll here

President T’Rina vs. Zora: poll here

Cmdr. Jett Reno vs. Grudge: poll here

Gray Tal vs. Lt. Cmdr. Keyla Detmer: poll here

Lt. Cmdr. Gen Rhys vs. Captain Christopher Pike: poll here

Harcourt Fenton Mudd vs. Dr. Hugh Culber: poll here

L’Rell vs. Cmdr. Paul Stamets: poll here

Round Three:

Left Side:

Mirror! Philippa Georgiou vs. Me Hani Ika Hali Po: poll here

Ripper the Tardigrade vs. Lt. Spock: poll here

Commander Nahn vs. Lt. Cmdr. Joann Owosekun: poll here

Ensign Sylvia Tilly vs. Captain Saru: poll here

Right Side:

Captain Michael Burnham vs. Cleveland “Book” Booker: poll here

President T’Rina vs. Cmdr. Jett Reno: poll here

Lt. Cmdr. Keyla Detmer vs. Captain Christopher Pike: poll here

Dr. Hugh Culber vs. Cmdr. Paul Stamets: poll here

Quarter-Finals:

Left Side:

Mirror! Philippa Georgiou vs. Lt. Spock: poll here

Lt. Cmdr. Joann Owosekun vs. Ensign Sylvia Tilly: poll here

Right Side:

Captain Michael Burnham vs. Cmdr. Jett Reno: poll here

Lt. Cmdr. Keyla Detmer vs. Dr. Hugh Culber: poll here

Semi-Finals:

Mirror! Philippa Georgiou vs. Ensign Sylvia Tilly: poll here

Captain Michael Burnham vs. Dr. Hugh Culber: poll here

Finals:

Ensign Sylvia Tilly vs. Captain Michael Burnham: poll here

[lostyesterday]

Here’s a Star Trek femslash opinions chart I spent three hours making for some reason:

And here’s a blank version if anyone wants it:

Full list of ships under the cut.

TOS: Uhura/Chapel, Uhura/Rand, Uhura/T’Pring

TNG: Deanna/Beverly, Deanna/Tasha, Beverly/Ogawa, Deanna/Ro, Guinan/Ro, Deanna/K’Ehleyr, Beverly/Guinan, Guinan/Deanna

DS9: Kira/Jadzia, Kira/Ezri, Kira/Keiko, Jadzia/Lenara, Jadzia/Leeta, Kira/Winn, Mirror Kira/Mirror Ezri, Mirror Ezri/Mirror Leeta, Kira/Mirror Kira, Jadzia/Kasidy, Kira/Kasidy, Keiko/Jadzia, Kira/Leeta

Voyager: Janeway/Seven, B’Elanna/Seven, Janeway/B’Elanna, Janeway/Kes, Seven/Borg Queen, Janeway/Borg Queen, B’Elanna/Kes, B’Elanna/Seska

Enterprise: T’Pol/Hoshi

Discovery: Burnham/Mirror Georgiou, Burnham/Prime Georgiou, Burnham/Tilly, Detmer/Owosekun, Burnham/Rillak, Cornwell/L’Rell, Cornwell/Georgiou, Detmer/Burnham, Burnham/Owosekun, Tilly/Airiam, Georgiou/Jett, Jett/Pollard, Burnham/T’Rina, Tilly/Georgiou, Georgiou/Nhan, Burnham/Nhan

Picard: Seven/Raffi, Agnes/Borg Queen

Lower Decks: Mariner/Jennifer, Mariner/Tendi, Tendi/T’Lyn, Mariner/T’Lyn

SNW: Una/La’an, Chapel/Ortegas, Uhura/Ortegas, Una/Ortegas, Uhura/La’an, Chapel/La’an, Chapel/T’Pring, Una/Pelia

[defconprime]

Cover for Discovery comic Succession issue 3. Cover art by Angel Hernandez, 2018.

[captainpikeachu]

ok so here’s my weekly disco new ep teaser analysis!

this week actually had far less screencaps than all the others, hmmm, i guess they are keeping this one close to the chest!

well, the episode title is “Red Angel” and it looks like we will finally get some answers!

so this teaser starts with Michael’s voiceover as we see the following scenes: “there are so many reasons to join Starfleet...”

so this looks like Discovery with a Section 31 ship, possibly Leland and Georgiou’s ship? perhaps Admiral Cornwell has been able to get Starfleet to stand down against Discovery and get Leland’s ship to help?

this is the send off funeral for Airiam, similar to what I used to remember from ENT, and it looks like the pallbearers are Bryce and Lt. Nilsson (played by season 1 Airiam actress Sara Mitich) in the back, and Rhys and Owosekun in the front --- so it seems my assumption may be correct, they recast Airiam in between seasons because they wanted to keep Sara Mitich so they brought in Hannah Cheeseman to do a role that they knew they’d be killing off in this plot and gave Sara a new role that they will probably use to replace Airiam on the bridge as the spore drive person

I don’t know if all the people gathered there are the ship’s entire crew though (it looks kind of too small in number to the full crew complement?) or maybe some are still on shift so this section of the shift can do the funeral?

and off they send Airiam’s coffin into space, fair winds and following seas Commander...

Michael’s voiceover picks up again: “...we get to reach for the stars...”

Michael clearly needs a hug, poor thing still shouldering that guilt and pain

I can’t tell if this is Stamets or just some random crew members moving about, but it seems like they are setting up some equipment, i can’t tell what location this is in, but it looks like the wreck of the USS Hiawatha, but it is possible that this is a completely different location as well

here we see Tilly setting up some chair that we see later in the teaser, the wall on the back reads OSS ROOM, but I can’t quite read what’s underneath it

Michael continues the voiceover: “...we get to reach for the best in ourselves...”

so this looks like Michael and Spock are walking towards the chair that Tilly was seen working on, while behind them on the other side of the windows are Stamets and others

Discovery and Section 31 ship both dealing with one of the Red Bursts finally showing up, well, Pike is finally getting his damned red things!

Stamets covering his eyes, something is happening on the other side of the windows

Culber is out on this mission and he looks equally concerned

Stamets and Culber look to be with Mirror Georgiou? And I think that’s Nhan with the phaser she’s reaching for? Notably, they are all in space suits, including Spock, but Michael is not seen with it - I don’t know if this confirms she is the Red Angel, but perhaps? I’m still not entirely sure given this show’s habit of throwing out red herrings and even outright lie.

Michael’s voiceover again: “...we get to reach for each other...”

YAY HUGS AND KISSES!!!!!! I’m not sure where Tyler will be in the episode, but I doubt he will stay in his room, I surmise he will be back on the bridge watching all this go down as we don’t see him in a space suit with the others. And I also assume that Tyler will get cleared obviously, and Michael will probably tell him about Airiam since he probably does not know, and they will seek comfort in each other. Can’t wait!!!!

Pike: “On your mark, Commander.”

The Captain is ready for all the damned red things!

so Michael and Spock heading towards that chair and we see Spock strapping Michael in.

Michael: “Ready.”

now the episode synopsis goes like this:

Burnham is stunned when she learns her ties to Section 31 run deeper than she ever fathomed. Armed with the identity of the Red Angel, the U.S.S. Discovery goes to work on its most critical mission to date.

my guess is that Michael learns about Section 31 or Leland’s involvement in her parents’ death? or perhaps that her parents were working for something for Section 31 that she never knew about? it could be them working on Project Daedalus?

it is my assumption that Project Daedalus is the exosuit that the Red Angel uses to travel, so maybe Michael’s parents were involved in the design for that and they were killed by Section 31 and Leland because of that?

the synopsis seems to confirm that we get the identity of the Red Angel this episode, and it is after learning this identity that they go on this mission, so i can only surmise that by the time the crew got Michael ready in that chair, whatever it is, that they already know who is the Red Angel? or maybe this is a mission to draw in the Red Angel so that Spock could figure out who it is?

it’s very possible the Red Angel is Michael, but I’ve also got about 7 other possibilities as well just because the show could always pull a fast one on us and do something completely unexpected - and there’s nothing to say that there may not be a legion of Red Angels running around either...

whatever it is, this looks like a all hands on deck mission!!