Star Trek: Discovery Reveals Saru's New Number One

Earlier in the third season of Star Trek: Discovery, Saru became Discovery's new captain and chose Michael Burnham as his first officer. In last week's episode of Star Trek: Discovery, Burnham's insubordination in taking off on a rogue mission forced Captain Saru to demote her from that position. In this week's episode, Saru makes his choice for his new Number One. While his choice of new "acting" First Officer is a deserving one, his choice is nonetheless a surprising one. Despite that, the crew proved that the new Number One has their full support in their new position. SPOILERS for Star Trek: Discovery Season 3, Episode 7, "Unification III," follow.

In "Unification III," Saru offers Ensign Sylvia Tilly the position of new acting First Officer aboard the USS Discovery. This is an unexpected move since Tilly is only an ensign and didn't even finish the command training program after leaving Starfleet Academy. Saru points out that Tilly's trip through time gives her as much experience as anyone who did complete the command training program and assures her that she's more than qualified for the job. Still, he gives her time to consider the offer.

Tilly brings that information to Lieutenant Commander Paul Stamets whom she works alongside in engineering. Stamets is a little taken aback by the idea of Tilly outranking him, even if it is only in position rather than rank, but their conversation is cut short before they can discuss it further.

Stamets spreads the news among the bridge crew and some other Discovery officers. Later, they all surprise her in engineering by telling her that she should say "yes" to Saru's offer. Even Burnham shows up to give Tilly her support. With their backing, Tilly accepts her new role as First Officer aboard the Discovery.

In 2018, following Tilly's promotion to ensign, ComicBook.com spoke to actress Mary Wiseman about what the future could hold for TIlly. "I don't think [the promotion] changed her too much," she said. "I think she still feels pretty wide-eyed and bushy-tailed. There's a difference in that she's very thoughtfully considering everything that she does because she really wants to succeed at this. This has been a dream of hers, getting into this program, forever. This is a big step in her journey, hoping to be captain someday. She really takes it seriously, as she takes everything very seriously. And she really wants to do well because this is her chance to really live her dream."

What do you think of Tilly taking over as Discovery's new First Officer? Let us know how you feel about it in the comments section. New Star Trek: Discovery episodes stream on Thursdays on CBS All Access.