The two-part episode allows Star Trek: Discovery allows the show to return to one of its more popular storylines: the mirror universe. It also offers a reference to the original Star Trek with the return of the Guardian of Forever which allows Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) to return to her past in the mirror universe and find where she belongs. The extended sequence, involving the more evolved Georgiou making changes to her previous actions while hoping for a different outcome, takes up the majority of both episodes. The return of the Guardian, with an updated design (and much more personality), not only allows the show to say farewell to Michelle Yeoh in style but also offers the chance to change the past if Michael (Sonequa Martin-Green) discovers the cause of the Burn.
In terms of larger storylines, the show successfully wraps up that of the mirror Philippa Georgiou with her realizing her place is neither her old role as emperor nor any longer with Michael. It also makes a second reference to the Temporal War, this time from Carl (Paul Guilfoyle), perhaps explaining the distrustfulness Admiral Vance (Oded Fehr) greeted Discovery with when the ship first arrived. Vance’s words of wisdom to Saru (Doug Jones), who initially suggests the mission isn’t worth taking, helps both in Saru’s development as a captain and helps to rebuild Vance as more reasonable than he first appeared on the show.
