We have come to the end of the two-part episode on this week’s Star Trek Discovery Season three, episode 10, “Terra Firma: Part Two”. The first part brought Philippa Georgiou is back into the spotlight. For most of this season, she has been mostly a side character with no real role in this new future. The conclusion of these two-part episodes gives us closure to Georgiou’s story.
There Is Another Way
Emperor Philippa Georgui (Michelle Yeoh) is dying. Her body can not handle being in a different timeline AND a different universe. In the last episode, we found a “being” on a planet who may have the ability to save Georgui from disintegrating. They were led there by the information in the sphere data. It sent her back to her own universe and back in time to the day she had Michael killed for betraying her.
Here is where we finally get to see the fruit of three seasons worth of character development. Georgui is a very complex character. She has walked in two different worlds. She has seen that there is another way for her to rule and another type of relationship she could have with Michael.
Her attempt to save Michael and fix the problems of her Terran universe goes unrewarded as she ends up killing Michael (Sonequa Martin-Green) again. She spent the entire episode trying to be a real mother to Michael. In her own cruel way, she tries to repair the damage that has been done. Having seen Terran Michael die at her own hands in a different timeline and living with Discovery’s Michael in the mirror universe, she knows exactly what she wants. She wants to rule with Michael at her side.
Philippa Says Goodbye
She was not able to break Michael as she had hoped. And again she kills Michael. They technically kill one another. All Philippa wanted was to rule with Michael at her side and leave her an empire. The way she now wanted to rule this empire was foreign and seen as weak by Michael. In the end, Georgiou’s dream was not meant to be. And the emotional performances of these two actresses were brilliant. Michelle Yeoh proves that she can play any role, kind and motherly or cruel and brutal.
In what viewers are lead to believe is the death of Philippa Georgiou, she is embraced by the Terran version of Saru as she is dying. She tells him to save as many of his kind as he can and go on living. It is a beautiful end. Full of redemption and tragic loss. But it is not the end. She is only being tested by the being who protects the portal between universes. It is revealed that the sphere data aboard the discovery is somehow not in control of these portals. And it has found a place where Phillipa truly belongs. A place where she fits.
A Peaceful End
As Phillipa says goodbye to Michael there is peace between them. Philippa doesn’t seem scared to step into the unknown. She looks fulfilled. As if she knows she did the best she could in both universes. And although the end result was not ideal, it felt as if it happened as it should of. It is on know where she will end up. Hopefully, she will end up in her own spin-off series. Back on the Discovery Michael returns alone and the crew toasts in honor of their friend.
The episode was heartfelt and the closure felt authentic. The being “Carl” that leads her through the portal was very quirky and felt a little out of place with the tone of discovery. But we see plenty of quirky things happen in Star Trek.
So, what did you think of this week’s episode of Discovery?
Star Trek: Discovery airs Thursdays on CBS All Access.
