'Star Trek: Discovery': Saru Just Underwent a Major Change

Cmdr. Saru, the fan-favorite first officer of the USS Discovery, just underwent a major change in tonight's episode of Star Trek: Discovery.

SPOILERS for Star Trek: Discovery Season 2, Episode 4, "An Obol for Charon" follow.

Saru is the first Kelpien in Starfleet. As fans learned in the Star Trek: Short Treks episode "The Brightest Star," Kelpiens are a pre-warp society from the planet Kaminar. They are a prey species for the predator species called Ba'ul.

The Ba'ul treat the Kelpiens like livestock. At a certain point in every Kelpien's life, they undergo a change called Varahai. At that point, they are expected to offer their lives over to the Ba'ul for sustenance. The Kelpiens consider this to be part of a way of life known as "The Great Balance of Kaminar."

In "An Obol for Charon," Saru begins to undergo Varahai aboard Discovery after the ship encounters a mysterious dying sphere. At first, the symptoms present like those of a cold, but Saru continues getting sicker and sicker. Eventually, he manifests a telltale sign of Varahai: an inflamed threat ganglia.

Cmdr. Burnham at first is determined to find a cure for the Varahai, but Saru assures her that it only ends with his death. On Kaminar, it would be death by offering to the Ba'ul or, he has been told, a slower death as he loses his mind from the symptoms. Since offering himself to the Ba'ul is not an option -- he can't return to Kaminar because that would violate General Order One -- he asks Burnham to kill him.

Burnham doesn't like the idea, but eventually agrees to do as Saru asks. He tells her to cut off his threat ganglia, but just touching the ganglia with the Kelpien knife Saru gave her causes it to fall off on its own.

This shocks Saru, especially when his symptoms begin to fade. Even more than that, the fear and survival instinct that define a Kelpien's existence also fade, leaving him feeling more empowered than ever before. He's never heard of a Kelpien surviving Varahai. He'd been told it isn't possible, and the Kelpiens on Kaminar built their entire way of life around the idea. Now that he knows it's a lie, he wonders what this will mean for him and his people.

For now, Saru is on the Discovery and must tend to matters at hand, but he's sure not to forget the sacrifices his people have made for the Ba'ul.

What do you think of this new development for Saru? Let us know in the comments!

New Star Trek: Discovery episodes become available to stream Thursdays at 8:30 p.m. ET on CBS All Access.