9 Ups & 1 Down From Star Trek: Discovery 5.8 — Labyrinths

Library card at the ready, people! To find the final clue this week, we're off to the Eternal Gallery and Archive. I hope they have a good lending policy, as it's pretty hard to return any items to the Badlands. There is only one book Captain Burnham is after — Labyrinths of the Mind by Doctor Marina Derex. Deanna Troi would approve!

For the rest of the crew of the Discovery, no time to request a copy of Breen Nursery Rhymes for Maquis Rebels, the actual Breen are on their way! Whilst the crew dodge the dreadnought in the plasma storms and behind shelves on the Archive, Burnham delves into her own psyche as a test of her Progenitors' tech worthiness.

Labyrinths, on the heel of Erigah, is another strong episode, continuing the mix of action, deftly written dialogue, stunning visuals, character development, and laugh-out-loud humour — that last one especially in the form of episode highlight, and winner of librarian of the year several times running, Hy'Rell. Having lost the love of her life last week, Moll also emerges with a much bigger part to play in Labyrinths as "wife of the Scion," even more determined to get L'ak back. If not the jelly Breen, this episode is pure concentrate of Star Trek once more!

And no, we don't have a dungeon here at TrekCulture either, so stop asking! For your information, it's really more of an oubliette!

SILENCE! The library is open! And there's nothing basic about head of Eternal Gallery and Archive, Hy'Rell. Apart from reading, one thing is fundamental: if you don't follow instructions then, "the Archive is not responsible for any damage, dismemberment or death that may result". In Labyrinths, Hy'Rell is serving high fashion, high principles, and hilarious one-liners ("I'll do you the courtesy to suggest that you rephrase your request"). And is that… Mama Ruhn?

The kind of cheerful serene composure that emanates from head of the flying library Hy'Rell is typically off-putting unless it is absolutely sincere and/or delivered through the gritted teeth that mask a storm beneath the oasis. Hy'Rell isn't hiding anything in her outward niceties and caring nature. She is just the inverse of the Badlands — calm on the surface, badass to the core. Hy'Rell's interactions with Booker were genuinely heart-warming: "How fun to have a book visit me in the library for a change." Then, in her dealings with Primarch Ruhn, her "May you gain knowledge elsewhere!" might just be the best thing anyone's ever said!

The exact identity of Hy'Rell's species has equally been the subject of debate since the sneak peek scene for Labyrinths. The shapely fore-head (and lengthy locks of white hair) of the head of the Archive would tend to suggest that she is an Efrosian, a species that first appeared in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home and then again in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (in the form of the Federation President). That's the conclusion we've settled on at TrekCulture in any case, as did the wonderful Jörg Hillebrand on Twitter. Other suggestions included the as yet unknown species of character Arctus Baran from the Star Trek: The Next Generation two-parter Gambit, and my personal favourite, that of over-thinking-man Kurros from Star Trek: Voyager's Think Tank.