Star Trek: Discovery Teases Saru’s Season 4 Return

Saru may have left the USS Discovery, but he’s not gone for good. Saru talked Su’Kal, the Kelpien that accidentally cause the Burn, into leaving his home inside a holographic simulation, thus preventing a second disaster. Saru then stepped away from the captain’s chair in Star Trek: Discovery‘s third season finale to bring Su’Kal back to Kaminar and recommended Michael Burnham to take his place. However, his final Starfleet log, for the time being, revealed via the Star Trek Logs Instagram account, shows that — as eager as he is to reconnect with his home planet — he’s already thinking about when the time comes for him to return to duty.

“My final Starfleet log, for now,” the log begins. “I have relinquished command of Discovery so that I may accompany Su’Kal to Kaminar. A difficult decision, to be sure, but I have no doubt it is the right one. Adjusting to life outside the nebula will not be easy for him, especially as the repercussions of the Burn become clear. I will help him acclimate into Kaminar society, ensure he feels safe and cared for, however long that takes, and I know I leave Discovery in excellent hands. Michael is more than a capable officer, she is a dear friend. I have no doubt she will exceed all expectations as Captain. I cannot deny that I am quite eager to rediscover my home world… and I am also comforted knowing that when I am ready to return to the stars, Discovery will be there. Until then…”

Ahead of the season finale’s debut, ComicBook.com spoke to Star Trek: Discovery showrunner Michelle Paradise. She promised that fans haven’t seen the last of Doug Jones as Saru.

“Doug Jones is not going anywhere,” Paradise said. “Saru will be back, a hundred percent in season four. So rest easy, sleep well. We’re not letting Doug go anywhere. We’re holding onto him.”

Saru became Discovery‘s Captain early in the show’s third season. Around that time, Jones told ComicBook.com about how Saru’s unique background prepared him to lead Discovery’s crew into the 32nd century.

“Without knowing it, Saru’s past prepared him for this day,” Jones said. “Absolutely. He’s left everything behind once before. If you’ve watched the Short Treks and seen my backstory in ‘Brightest Star,’ you’ll see that he had a choice to make when he made first contact with outer space. And Lieutenant Georgiou, at the time, swooped down in a shuttle to take me away. She told me, ‘Your people are a pre-warp society. If you leave now, you cannot come back and share what you know with them. So here’s your decision.’ So he knew what it was like to leave everything behind once before. Getting to come back to Kaminar in season two was a little perk and a little happy time for him, especially knowing now when he could liberate them with the new information that Vahar’ai is not our death, it’s our adolescence, and we have a lot longer to live.

“But he’s leaving the second time now. The second time he jumps away from friends and family and what’s familiar. He’s doing it with a pat on his back, to know like, ‘Hey, we pulled this off. I got Kaminar liberated, I got my people liberated, I got the Ba’ul and the Kelpiens to live in harmony together.’ And the last thing you see of another Kelpien in the season two finale is my sister now piloting a fighter ship. So it’s like, ‘Okay, I think they’re evolving. They’re doing great. I can leave now, knowing that they’re all in good hands.’”

Star Trek: Discovery is streaming on CBS All Access. The show’s fourth season is in production in Toronto.