Star Trek: Discovery’s Season 5 Premiere Easter Egg Explained: Who Are the [Spoiler]?
Star Trek: Discovery co-showrunner Alex Kurtzman previously told TVLine that the sci-fi drama’s fifth and final season was dependent on a “very significant” Star Trek Easter egg, and we finally know what he meant by that.
The season’s first two episodes, which are now streaming on Paramount+, sent the Discovery crew on one last adventure to find the missing clues spread throughout the galaxy that will lead them to the ancient device used by an ancient species, known as the Progenitors, to create life as we know it.
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So, who are the Progenitors? In the Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 6 episode “The Chase,” Captain Picard (played by Sir Patrick Stewart) assembled Cardassian and Klingon representatives on a remote, uninhabited planet to combine their DNA samples with that of the final piece of a strange puzzle. A scan of the object then unlocked a hidden message from the Progenitors, who revealed that they were responsible for all life in the Alpha Quadrant.
That Easter egg came into play in the premiere, as outlaws Moll (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Eve Harlow) and L’ak (Shadowhunters’ Elias Toufexis) stole a tan zhekran — a traditional Romulan puzzle box; Narek (Harry Treadaway) used one as a thinking aid in Star Trek: Picard Season 1 — from an 800-year-old Romulan science vessel.
The Federation was also heavily invested in finding this mystery box, and Dr. Kovich and Admiral Vance remained tightlipped while briefing Burnham on a secretive mission to retrieve it. Captain Burnham nearly caught Moll and L’ak aboard the science vessel but they escaped to the Dune-like planet Q’mau.
There, the fugitive duo convinced a Synth dealer named Fred to open the box under the guise of selling it along with other timeless treasures, including a self-sealing stem bolt (frequently mentioned throughout Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, though their specific use is unclear) and an old tricorder (a hand-held sensor issued by Starfleet that can be used for scanning, recording and analyzing data).
Naturally, the deal fell apart once Fred opened the box and revealed the diary hidden inside. We later learn that it belonged to Dr. Vellek, a Romulan who was present when Picard & Co. unlocked that message from the Progenitors.
Dr. Vellek found the ancient humanoids’ life-creating device and recorded everything he knew about it in that diary. He then hid the device sometime before disappearing 800 years ago, and the diary contains important clues — such as the drawing of two moons — to find it.
Book and Burnham tracked Moll and L’ak to Q’mau, where they came upon Fred’s lifeless body. As they continued pursuing the outlaws, Culber, Stamets and Saru examined Fred aboard Discovery and realized that he was built from one of Dr. Soong’s designs.
Dr. Noonien Soong (Brent Spiner) created several android prototypes, including Data, Lore and B-4 — all portrayed by Spiner throughout TNG’s seven-season run.
L’ak and Mall again evaded Burnham & Co., but not before starting a catastrophic avalanche that forced the Discovery captain and a frustratingly aggressive Captain Raynor (The Umbrella Academy’s Callum Keith Rennie) to refocus their efforts on saving a nearby settlement.
When the dust settled, Saru, who’d been thinking over an offer to leave Discovery and become a Federation ambassador, accepted the new position to stay close to President T’Rina. That was met with a surprising proposal from T’Rina, who politely suggested they codify their mutual commitment in a more official capacity.
But not everyone was in a celebratory mood. In Episode 2, Federation officials — including President Villak and Admiral Vance — opened an inquiry into Raynor’s actions on Q’mau and the avalanche that caused a messy cleanup. When pressed, Burnham admitted to disagreeing with how Raynor handled things and Raynor called the meeting a waste of time.
While the Federation mulled his future, Discovery embarked on a trip to Lyrek in search of another clue. The uninhabited planet was used by the Promellians as a burial ground before the species went extinct. (In the TNG episode “Booby Trap,” we learned that early Federation starships were influenced by their design.)
In their exploration of the forest-heavy planet, Burnham and Saru accidentally tripped a complex security system which launched droids that immediately opened fire. Saru leaped into action, though, drawing the killer bots away and buying Tilly enough time to disarm them. He and Burnham then reached their target location, where they uncovered a Romulan revlav, aka a message in a poem.
While all of that was happening, Book reached out to Moll and L’ak about buying the diary, which he knew would be a hot commodity in the galaxy. But his conversation with the fugitives revealed something else. Studying Moll’s image later on, Book figured out why Moll seemed so familiar. Her real name was Malinne and she was the daughter of his mentor Cleveland Book IV, making her the closest thing to family he has left.
Back on Lyrek, the looming threat of the security system acting up again forced Burnham and Saru to bail, but they did recover an important piece of the puzzle. Burnham hypothesized that it was part of a map that was broken into five portions. With the first one in their possession, they needed to find the remaining pieces before L’ak and Moll. Their next destination? Trill.
But first, Burnham needed to secure a new Number One. She turned to Raynor, who’d been asked by Vance to retire. In offering him Saru’s old role, she was giving him a second chance — one that had been granted to her back in Season 1.
What did you think of the first two episodes of Star Trek: Discovery’s final season? Grade them below, and share your thoughts about the overarching mystery in the comments.
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