Star Trek: Discovery: What Happened to Burnham in Her Year ‘Away’
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Star Trek: Discovery Season 3, Episode 3, "People of Earth," now streaming on CBS All Access.
At the beginning of the third season of Star Trek: Discovery, Michael Burnham arrived in the year 3188, after traveling forward in time in order to defeat the A.I. system known as Control. But while Michael's ship was supposedly right behind her, the Discovery and its crew were nowhere to be found. Eventually, the ship finally arrived in the future, and it wasn't long until Michael found the crew.
The big surprise, however, was that while mere seconds had passed for the ship's crew, Michael had waited for them for a full year. Now, in the series' latest episode, Discovery wastes no time in showing what exactly Burnham has been up to in her time separated from her friends.
Click the button below to start this article in quick view. Start nowIn "People of Earth," Burnham explains the status of the future to her entire crew. She tells them all about The Burn -- the event which saw every dilithium-powered ship explode at the same time all across the universe -- and how that lead to the fall of the Federation.
As she informs them, the Federation isn't dead, exactly. There are still believers out there, and there is hope that it can be rebuilt and that its ideals can be established once again. Therefore, like her new friend Cleveland Booker, Michael started working as a courier. As she traveled the stars to deliver all manner of packages, Michael had the perfect means to find out more information about the mysterious Burn, and the remnants of the Federation. Michael doesn't have all the answers, and she is far from bringing Starfleet back, but that's what she's been slowly working towards. On top of that, Michael has also had some important emotional changes.
When Burnham found herself without the rest of her crew in the year 3188, she had no idea when the ship would ever show up. However, she never lost hope, recording messages for the Discovery to find, if and when they would ever arrive. But despite that, in that year, Michael began to believe she would never be reunited with her friends again, so she started to let them go.
Over time, she started becoming a new person, a courier and outlaw who sees value in freedom. No longer bound by the Federation's rules, Michael has grown hardened -- but she hasn't lost her heart. In the past year, she's also become very close to Booker. Thanks to their banter in "People of Earth," it's clear that the duo has been through many, many adventures together. They now have a deep rapport, and they trust each other completely.
Now that she's reunited with the Discovery, Burnham has some help in her mission, and although her friends recognize that she has changed, she may prove instrumental in guiding them in this uncertain and unforgiving future.
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