Star Trek: Discovery Showrunners Reveal Plot Details

Many of the details surrounding Star Trek: Discovery and its place in Star Trek canon and lore remain hazy as the show's September debut approaches, however, the showrunners have revealed some new details about the show's plot.

According to Aaron Harberts and Gretchen J. Berg, the show hinges on a major decision that must be made by series lead Michael Burnham, played by The Walking Dead alum Sonequa Martin-Green.

"Burnham [has] spent a lot of time on Vulcan, but she's human," Harberts tells Entertainment Weekly. "Sarek [Spock's father, played by James Frain] plays an important role in her life, which has been completely planned until she makes a very difficult choice that sends her life on a very different path. When we meet her, she's the First Officer on the Starship Shenzhou [captained by Philippa Georgiou, played by Michelle Yeoh]. And Burnham's choice that we're alluding to is the most difficult choice you can make — it affects her, affects Starfleet, affects the Federation, it affects the entire universe. That choice leads her to a different ship, the Discovery [helmed by Captain Lorca, played by Jason Isaacs] and there we begin what Gretchen and I call our 'second pilot.'"

Star Trek is a franchise familiar with second pilots. Star Trek: The Original Series famously had two pilots, with the first, "The Cage," going unaired and replaced with the second, "Where No Man Has Gone Before," which featured several major changes.

Star Trek: Discovery is making some significant changes of its own to the traditional Star Trek formula. The first and foremost again hinges on Burnham, who is the first Star Trek series lead who is not a captain (or otherwise person in charge, such as Sisko in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine).

"The joy is in the journey," Berg explains of the decision. "The advantage to her not being in charge of the bridge right now is we get to tell stories from a very different point of view. It's a fresh feeling because we're not on the bridge all the time. We get access to more parts of the ship."

Star Trek: Discovery follows the adventures of Starfleet on their missions to discover new worlds and new lifeforms, and one Starfleet officer who must learn that to truly understand all things alien, you must first understand yourself. The series will feature a new ship, new characters, and new missions while embracing the same ideology and hope for the future that inspired a generation of dreamers and doers.

Star Trek: Discovery's cast also includes Jason Isaacs as the starship Discovery's Captain Lorca, Rainn Wilson as Star Trek: The Original Series character Harry Mudd, James Frain as Sarek, Spock's father, and Michelle Yeoh as Captain Georgiou, the captain of another Starfleet ship, the Shenzhou, which will be important to the plot of Star Trek: Discovery. Doug Jones and Anthony Rapp both play science officers. Mary Wiseman will play a final year Starfleet Academy cadet.

Star Trek: Discovery premieres Sept. 24, 2017.

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