Star Trek: Discovery 3.10 Review: Ups And Downs From Terra Firma, Part 2

Once Georgiou is back on Dannus V with Burnham and Carl, she is disoriented. While Burnham assures her that she has only just stepped through the door that Carl created for her, Georgiou tells them that she has been gone for three months. Her recording device also registers three months worth of bio-data, and she almost immediately begins to shut down again. Panicked, Burnham asks Carl who he really is.

In a visually stunning reveal, Carl reveals himself to be the Guardian of Forever, the being originally encountered by Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock and Dr. McCoy in The City on the Edge of Forever. While some eagle-eyed fans managed to guess the reveal last week (Star Dispatch!), it is nevertheless a breathtaking moment in the episode.

The actual design of the Guardian is both updated for a more modern look, and still honours the design from the original series (a design, incidentally, that Matt Jefferies reportedly hated!). The Guardian goes on to explain why he is now located here on this planet. He was used as a tool during the Temporal Wars, learning as he went that time should not be as loose as he had once treated it.

It is an excellent updating of an old idea, with a properly incredibly visual reveal.