STAR TREK: DISCOVERY
SEASON 2, EPISODE 6
SEASON 2, EPISODE 6
The Sound of Thunder
Series: Star Trek: Discovery - (2017 - 2024)Season: 2
Episode #: 6
Original Airdate: February 21st, 2019
Writer(s): Bo Yeon Kim & Erika Lippoldt
Director(s): Douglas Aarniokoski
Guest Stars
Javier Botet as a Ba'ul
Hannah Cheesman as Lt. Cmdr. Airiam
Emily Coutts as Lt. Keyla Detmer
Patrick Kwok-Choon as Lt. Gen Rhys
Oyin Oladejo as Lt. Joann Owosekun
Ronnie Rowe Jr. as Lt. R.A. Bryce
Hannah Spear as Siranna
Julianne Grossman as Discovery Computer
Mark Pellington as Ba'ul (Voiceover)
Raven Dauda as Dr. Tracy Pollard
David Benjamin Tomlinson as Linus
Michael Ayres as Transporter Officer
David Benjamin Tomlinson as Kelpien Villager #1
Stardate: 1035.86
Synopsis
Feeling a sense of divine intervention after the loss of his threat ganglia, Saru ponders his new life without fear, and how this awakening might affect his people as a whole. Meanwhile, as Pike, Burnham and Tyler discuss the red signals and the possibility of the Red Angel being a time traveler, they are alerted by the bridge about the appearance of a new signal; one emanating from Saru’s home planet of Kaminar.
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Kaminar is a planet inhabited by two species, the warp-capable and dominant Ba’ul, and the docile and comparatively primitive Kelpiens. Recalling the events that lead Saru to join Starfleet years earlier, it becomes clear that the Ba’ul are not interested in knowing the Federation, and that no Kelpien has ever seen the Ba’ul and lived to talk about it. After a tense interchange between Pike and Saru, it is agreed that Burnham and Saru will beam down to the planet in order to speak with a Kelpien priest who maintains the balance between the two species.
Meanwhile in sick bay, after undergoing a battery of tests since his return, Dr. Pollard informs Culber that his body is entirely new after it was reconstituted from his own DNA, yet his knowledge and experiences remain fully intact. While cleared to return to his normal life, he still feels disjointed as he struggles to come to terms with his miraculous transformation and return. Asking about his senses feeling different, he is told that it is due to his nerves being ‘new’ and that some differences are to be expected. Culber, however, doesn’t seem fully convinced.
On the planet Kaminar, Saru and Burnham discuss the overseer nature of the Ba’ul pillar outside of his old village. They seek out the village priest, who turns out to be Saru’s sister Siranna. Despite being initially overwhelmed by the fact that her brother is alive and, more incredibly, living among aliens for the past eighteen years after being introduced to Burham, Siranna invites the pair to her hut for a cup of tea so they can talk further. Saru then learns of his father Aradar’s fate. He was culled by the Ba’ul shortly after Saru left Kaminar all those years ago.
Michael tells Siranna about the Red Angel and the red signals they’ve been tracking; a signal Siranna refers to as a "fiery sign". Siranna becomes outraged as she realizes that Saru had returned to Kaminar in search of the Red Angel, and not to reunite with her. She further accuses him of not being brave enough to face the Balance as the rest of her fellow Kelpiens have done for generations. Just then, her threat ganglia extend, and the ground begins to shake. Siranna believes the Ba'ul must have seen them, and demands that they leave; when Saru tries to explain himself, she tells him to go back to the stars, that there was no place for him on Kaminar anymore. The Ba'ul pylons begin activating, which Saru recognizes as a precursor for the Ba'ul harvest. Burnham contacts the Discovery to beam them back.
On board Discovery the Ba’ul initiate an audio-only hail. When Pike responds, the Ba’ul tell him that Discovery has taken a Kelpien, Saru, that belongs to them. Pike begins to explain their mission, citing the red signal and the Red Angel however the Ba’ul are not interested and demand that the Kelpien be returned. Against Pike’s orders, and growing outraged, Saru addresses the Ba’ul directly, telling them that he has survived the vaharai, and he knows now that his people are being suppressed to prevent their evolution. The Ba’ul launch ten massive sentry ships that quickly surround Discovery.
Captain Pike tells the Ba’ul that he will take any action necessary to protect Saru. However when it’s clear that the Ba’ul mean to do harm to all Kelpiens, Saru asks to be turned over to them. Pike refuses and dismisses Saru from the bridge. Saru makes his way to the transporter room where he sets the system to beam him down. Suspecting he might take this action, Burnham tries to intervenes, but ultimately lets him have his way and return to Kaminar. The Ba’ul take Saru and he disappears from Discovery’s sensors, their ships power down weapons and turn away from Discovery and back to the planet.
Airiam, Tilly and Burnham gather in the science lab to search for Saru, and to further understand the relationship between the Ba’ul and the Kelpiens. They decide to utilize the thousands of years of data contained in the Sphere that they encountered earlier, hoping that some stored information may help in their task. After reviewing the Sphere’s data on Kaminar, they are able to isolate the bio signs on the planet, discovering that long ago there were far more evolved Kelpiens present on the planet, while the Ba’ul were at the point of extinction. The tables then turned as the Ba’ul’s wiped out the evolved, predatorial Kelpiens and then took control of the planet, initiating the Balance to insure no Kelpien would ever again evolve.
Meanwhile in an unknown location, Saru wakes up next to a black oily pool as his sister beams into the same location. Flying drones approach the two, scanning them both and then attacking Saru. He is thrown against a wall where he is secured by both wrists and the neck. The black pool begins to bubble and a creature rises from it; its eyes glowing red in a menacing stare. Saru watches as the Ba’ul rises from the pool. As he struggles against his restraints, spikes begin protruding from where his ganglia had once been, which then shoot out at the Ba'ul, who is protected by a force field.
The Ba'ul remarks that Saru was the first Kelpien to pass vaharai in more than two thousand years, but his "primal, feral responses" remained the same as centuries ago, and that the Federation did not know what it had welcomed into their ranks. The Great Balance, the Ba'ul claim, is the only way to keep the Kelpiens from destroying everything in their path; Saru rejects the Great Balance as a lie meant to defend the Ba'ul from the Kelpiens, and to absolve themselves of murder. The Ba'ul make clear they will not allow the past to be repeated, and as Saru and Siranna are the only two Kelpiens to know the truth, they will be analyzed... and then neutralized. The Ba'ul then retreats into its pool as the drones move in, including one with a bladed drill to bore into Saru's skull; another pins Siranna to the wall, locking her in restraints. With a newfound strength fueled by rage, Saru breaks free of his own restraints and smashes the drones to pieces, before freeing Siranna. The two resolve to end the Balance between the two species and free their people.
On the bridge, Discovery receives a hail from the Ba’ul which actually turns out to be Saru, who ingeniously built a communicator from the wreckage of the drones he disposed of. Burnham confirms Saru’s suspicions about his peoples history as predators. Saru suggests that they can show both the Kelpiens and Ba’ul what they can become together and comes up with a plan to trigger all of his people’s vaharai. As the process is triggered Saru warns his sister about the pain she is about to experience, and promises her a new beginning for the Kelpiens. He activates the vaharai signal, sending it to all the pillars on the planet.
As the Kelpiens undergo their vaharai, a large structure emerges from the ocean; it’s the Ba’ul stronghold where Saru and Siranna are being held. Unable to get a transporter lock on the two Kelpiens, Discovery targets the structure in an attempt to disable its shielding. It is then that the stronghold begins to send a signal to all the pillars of Kaminar; setting them to overload and destroy all Kelpiens.
Pike hails the Ba’ul and threatens war if they attack the Kelpiens. The Discovery targets as many of the pillars as they are able to, but with over 4,000 pillars spread throughout the planet, it’s not likely that the Discovery will be able to destroy them all before the Ba’ul enact their genocidal plans. As the Ba'ul stronghold begins sending energy pulses through to the pylons, a burst of energy flies into it from the signal in orbit. Within the stronghold, Saru sees the Red Angel with his own eyes. A moment later, a powerful electromagnetic pulse disables the stronghold's weapons and shields, and deactivates the pylons all across Kaminar. Saru and Siranna stare for a moment at the Red Angel before it disappears in a burst of flame; in the distance, the Ba'ul pylon in Saru's village explodes.
Returning to the village the following morning, Saru and Siranna find the villagers confused, some still holding their ganglia. One asks Siranna how they had survived vaharai,, to which Siranna replies the truth had survived, and it was time to restore a true balance - one without fear.
On Discovery Pike approaches Tyler and gives him Saru’s report. They discuss the look of the Red Angel as a humanoid in a mechanized suit far beyond their current level of technology. Ash reiterates that they believe it is a time traveling being. Pike tells him that the Angel intervened to save the Kelpiens from genocide, suggesting it’s not a bad entity.
Saru shows his sister the garden in his quarters and invites her to stay aboard Discovery with him. Declining, she tells him that she needs to be with their people to help them through the transition with the Ba’ul. As she prepares to beam back to her home, she tells Saru that he is always welcome. Saru promises her that he will return one day.
As they exit the transporter room, Burnham tell Saru that, thanks to everything that has happened recently, she knows now that she has to return home, to Vulcan.
TrailerEpisode Posters
Posters courtesy of Laz Marquez and J.J. Lendl
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