Kovich's True Identity Revealed In Series Finale Of Star Trek: Discovery
It wasn't always the plan for David Cronenberg's mysterious character.
*Warning! Major spoiler alert for Star Trek: Discovery's Life, Itself!*
Since the Discovery jumped to the 32nd century, there have been a few mysteries in need of solving — the origin of the Burn, the species responsible for the DMAs, how Grudge manages to be so damn cute — but no one was more enigmatic than a certain Doctor in charge of a debrief, when we first met him in Die Trying. Former emperor Georgiou might have made quite the impression on his holos, but Kovich barely batted an eye when staring down the Terran. There was something curious about Kovich, and it wasn't just the glasses, although we did like them too! Once we'd fully taken in the fact that world-renowned director David Cronenberg was playing the role, the speculation over Kovich's identity began — everything from head of Section 31 to Voyager's Doctor in new guise, to 'Future Guy,' through Preserver, Progenitor, and Supervisor. Very few of us were expecting the actual answer, however.
If a little late for tempus fugit, then time is still a-tickin', so let's cut the chronitons and get to it! The brilliant series finale to Star Trek: Discovery, Life, Itself, had a fair few explosive revelations to offer us, and one so powerful it fractured space-time more completely than a Krenim chronophage in the brains of all those watching.
"My real name is a bit of a Red Directive in and of itself,"
Kovich tells Captain Burnham in his office. Kovich hesitates, but then, shaking Burnham's hand, he adds,
"Agent Daniels, USS Enterprise, and other places. Nice to meet you".
We should have known the moment he revealed his penchant for augmented reality spaces.
It's not a paradox, but neither was Kovich predestined to be Daniels. In an interview with CinemaBlend's Mick Joest, Discovery showrunner Michelle Paradise revealed that the Kovich-Daniels link wasn't planned from the start, but rather, "something that evolved". As Paradise goes on to explain in the CinemaBlend piece, the idea for Kovich as the galaxy's most famous Temporal Agent (unless Lieutenant Ducane also counts) was, in fact, pitched by writers Carlos Cisco and Eric J. Robbins in either season four or five, with "little easter eggs along the way [in five]".
From his first appearance in the Star Trek: Enterprise episode Cold Front to his last in Storm Front, Part II, Daniels was always a mystery. Now that he is (also) Doctor Kovich, the mystery only deepens. Just exactly what did he mean by "USS Enterprise," for example? The J? One of the other letters in the alphabet? What exactly is Kovich/Daniels up to now in 3191? How old is he? And what is the form and function of that Infinity Room? We wouldn't say no to a spin-off about the Temporal Wars either! This is time travel, after all. Fire up those time portals again, Daniels/Kovich! The end, we all hope, is just the beginning!