‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Just Made the Jump Fans Have Been Waiting for With a Major ‘Enterprise’ Connection

Star Trek: Discovery finally made the jump fans have been waiting for in “Despite Yourself.”

SPOILERS for Star Trek: Discovery Season 1, Episode 10, “Despite Yourself” follows.

Fans have been waiting for Star Trek: Discovery to visit the mirror universe. The expectation has been there ever since Jonathan Frakes let the fact that it would slip out early. Though Frakes lied about this episode not being the one. He directed tonight’s “Despite Yourself” and the USS Discovery has now crossed universes.

The trip appears to have happened in classic Star Trek fashion. The mirror universe first appeared in the episode “Mirror, Mirror.” Kirk and several of his crew members ended up in the mirror universe. Likewise, those crew members’ mirror counterparts went to the prime timeline.

Discovery’s crew figures out a similar set of circumstances. The Discovery swapped places with the mirror universe Discovery. The crew salvages a data core from a Klingon rebel ship and gains information on this universe. They learn about the Terran Empire and transform themselves and their ship to fit right in.

The USS Discovery becomes the ISS Discovery. Cadet Tilly becomes Captain Tilly. The Discovery crew outfits themselves to look like officers of the Terran Empire.

Purists are sure to dislike that these uniforms do not match those from “Mirror, Mirror.” There are no sleeveless shirts and sashes for the men. No bare stomachs and short skirts for the women. Instead, the Terran Empire uniforms look militant and totalitarian with a retro science fiction flair.

The episode also ties itself to a storyline from Star Trek: Enterprise. The two-parter “In a Mirror, Darkly” took place entirely in the mirror universe. In the story, the USS Defiant from the prime timeline appears in the mirror universe. Hitoshi Sato takes control of the Defiant and uses it to declare herself Empress.

The story ended there, but Star Trek: Discovery is picking it up. The Discovery crew is searching for information on the USS Defiant in hopes it can clue them in on how to get home. There have also been several mentions of the Terran Emperor. It seems like Star Trek fans may finally find out what happened after Sato’s unexpected coup.

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