- Saru returns to help the U.S.S. Discovery uncover the mystery of an unusually destructive new force; as Burnham leads the crew, she must also find a way to help Book cope with an unimaginable loss.
- Book becomes numb from grief following the loss of his planet and family and is haunted by hallucinations of Leto. He goes over every detail in the video recorded from his ship, trying to find out what happened.
Science officer Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp) explains to Rillak and Starfleet Command that the destruction of Kwejian was caused by an unprecedented gravitational anomaly that requires further investigation. The anomaly was 5 light years across in size. Stamets says that the current hypothesis is that it is a roving binary black hole. The 2 black holes are merging creating gravitational waves in the process. Stamets that current prediction of the path suggests that the anomaly will be entering the Riscot system soon. Vance (Oded Fehr) orders the Discovery on a mission to study the anomaly and help with rescue efforts at the Riscot system.
President T'Rina (Tara Rosling) offers help of the Ni'Var science institute to study the anomaly. Burnham has christened the computer of the Discovery as Zora (Annabelle Wallis).
Former Discovery captain Saru returns to serve as Burnham's first officer, and they jump to a safe distance outside of the anomaly. Initial data disproves some of their theories. They cannot see 2 black holes as they expected. The anomaly looks like a black hole, but the readings it is throwing are not expected from a black hole. There is no way to get more accurate readings without getting closer to the anomaly, which would put the Discovery at risk. Book volunteers to fly his ship into the anomaly to learn more. His ship can change its shape to compensate for the torque.
Burnham is convinced to let Book carry out the mission, and he is ultimately successful. For extra safety, Burnham tethered Book's ship to the Discovery and sent in Stamets with him as a Holo.
During this time, the anomaly inexplicably changes direction and causes damage to the Discovery, leaving them unsure where it will go next and what impact this will have on other planets. Book and Stamets convince Burnham to release the tether, so they can continue collecting the data. If they pull out now, it will take a week to fix the ships and approach again, and in the meantime the anomaly could destroy an untold number of worlds. Book and Stamets complete the scan, but Book loses the engines on his ship. Tilly suggests that Book can ride one of the gravitational waves from the anomaly to escape it, as the waves move outward from the anomaly. Book misses the first wave but catches the next wave out of the anomaly.
Book later begins to open up to Burnham about his grief. He says he should have sensed the danger when he saw the birds escape towards the sky at Kweijan.
Meanwhile, Dr. Hugh Culber (Wilson Cruz) and ensign Adira Tal help transfer the consciousness of Adira's deceased boyfriend Gray (Ian Alexander) into a synthetic body, using an uncommon technology that was previously successful for Jean-Luc Picard. Gray is excited to start his life afresh in a body that will grow old like normal. Gray has had his consciousness transfer into a new host once, and that is a good sign that the incorporation into the synthetic body with work.
Tilly is stressed and seeks professional help from Culber. Adira confesses to Culber that she is also stressed about the death of Nalas. Tilly tells Saru that there is no scientific reason that explains how the anomaly changed its direction after the Discovery arrived. Tilly says that the path of the anomaly cannot be predicted. It can go anywhere, anytime and without warning.
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