BROADCASTS.com

As the episode opened we find the U.S.S. Gargarin engaged in a fierce battle with several Klingon Birds of Prey using the cloaking technology. The Discovery joins the battle attacking but finds itself less than prepared. An inexperienced Tactical Officer appears wholly incompetent as he is too slow to target and fire on the enemy vessels. Just then, Kol decloaks the Sarcophagus Ship an delivers several fatal phaser shots weakening the ship’s shields. In a last ditch effort to protect the Gargarin Lorca orders the helmsman to put the Discovery between it and two Klingon ships. Discovery is hit by one photon torpedo but the other gets pass it and destroys the other Federation ship. After Discovery leaves the scene, Lorca will not allow the crew to give into sentiment. He tells them, “now is not the time to grieve.” However, Lorca also understands that despite their advantage with the spore drive technology, he still has a raw crew under his command whose inexperience may one day prove their undoing.

Meanwhile, First Officer Saru, Michael Burnham, and Lt. Ash Tyler go on an away mission to the planet Pahvo, in an effort to adapt an extremely tall crystalline tower that broadcast on a unique frequency resonating from the entire planet. They wish to turn the tower into an antenna broadcasting a different frequency to disrupt cloaked Klingon ships. They find the planet inhabited by the Pahvans, a group of sentient noncorporeal beings who appear to live in harmony with the entire planet. Saru initiates first contact with them in an attempt to communicate their mission objectives. However, he becomes entranced by the euphoric, peaceful world of the Pahvans. Saru attempts to convince Burnham and Tyler to forgo their mission and remain on the planet, but Michael is able to incapacitate Saru. The Pahvans initially appear to accommodate Michael’s request to aid the Federation. However, back on the Discovery, Lorca later learns the Pahvans naively have sent messages to the Klingons and Federation to meet there to broker a peace.