Star Trek homeSkip to main content

Klingons, Andorians, Vulcans and Tellarites, Oh My!

Klingons, Andorians, Vulcans and Tellarites, Oh My!


Vulcans, Andorians, Tellarites and Klingons, oh my! What a sight it was, all these disparate aliens teaming up – joined by Michael Burnham, nearly derailed by Ash Tyler – to take on the Terran Empire in “The Wolf Inside,” this past weekend’s episode of Star Trek: Discovery. The hour was loaded with “Firsts” for Discovery and throwbacks/tributes to Trek’s Mirror past. StarTrek.com breaks it down:

A Different Kind of Rebel Alliance

The misdeeds of Humans in the Mirror Universe have made reluctant allies of such longtime Trek favorites as the Klingons, Tellarites, Andorians and Vulcans. It’s the answer to Burnham’s question, “How have you come to compromise and embrace each other?” Think about that for a moment. A powerful, trenchant, timely notion. But the fight is just getting started, for, as Mirror Voq noted, “The Humans seek Klingon extinction,” and as, Burnham replied, “The Terrans will not stop until all of his enemies are destroyed.”

Like Son, Like Father

We’d seen Vulcans before on Discovery, and even spent time down on their planet earlier this season. But, for the first time ever on any Trek series, we met Mirror Sarek, whose appearance – complete with severe goatee – echoed that of Leonard Nimoy’s darker Spock in the TOS episode, “Mirror, Mirror.” The Mirror Voq introduced Mirror Sarek as a figure who “sees all” and whose “wisdom pierces minds.” He then mind-melded with Burnham and, though the payoff will likely come later, it’s clear that Sarek loves and respects her and is proud of her accomplishments. Do we actually like Mirror Spock?

Looking a Little Blue

Sure, we saw plenty of Andorians on Star Trek: Enterprise, and a few here and there in TOS, TAS, The Motion Picture, The Voyage Home and TNG, but, on Discovery, we got a tease in “Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad,” courtesy of a disguised Harry Mudd, and a taste in “Despite Yourself.” Finally, in “The Wolfe Inside,” we met Shukar, played by Riley Gilchrist, who served under Voq and handed over to Burnham the much-need data crystal. As of the episode’s final moments, Shukar’s fate remains unresolved.

Vote for Voq

Voq, the mysterious pale Klingon, is dead, but long live Mirror Voq, who serves as leader of the rebels. He seems honorable and of the mind that anyone – even Burnham – who is an enemy of the Terran Empire is an ally in the rebels’ fight. On a related note, did YOU guess that Ash Tyler was Voq? It seems that L’Rell really did a number on Tyler, physically and emotionally, and that Voq was “reduced” to a mere human. Interesting word choice, reduced, right?

Tell Us about Tellarites

Viewers glimpsed their first DiscoveryTellarite in “The Wolf Inside,” but they’re really an old favorite. Fred Phillips created the very first one virtually overnight for the TOS episode “Journey to Babel,” and we’ve seen them since in “Whom Gods Destroy,” as well as TAS, The Voyage Home, The Undiscovered Country, Enterprise and, via archive footage, in one episode each of TNG and Voyager. There’s still plenty more to learn – we hope -- about the Tellarite who’s part of Voq’s inner circle on Discovery.  So, stay tuned.

Star Trek: Discovery airs Sunday nights on CBS All Access in the U.S. and Space Channel in Canada. The series airs on Mondays on Netflix in the rest of the world.