It didn’t start with five shows at once, but by the end of 2022, Star Trek television had grown to include five different series airing at the same time. The journey began with Star Trek: Discovery, which takes place ten years before Captain James T. Kirk began his command of the Enterprise, serving as a prequel to the original series.
The recent finale of Discovery marked the close of its fourth season, one where the show balanced a vast cosmic puzzle with deeper character development. This season saw the crew still trying to adapt to life nearly 1,000 years beyond their original time.
Five shows later and Star Trek boldly expands its universe (Photo: Star Trek Discovery Season 4/CBS Television Studios in association with Secret Hideout, Roddenberry Entertainment, and Living Dead Guy Productions)In this future, the United Federation of Planets has been broken up, and warp travel has become unstable and risky. During Season 3, Michael Burnham (played by Sonequa Martin-Green) and the Discovery team had to understand and survive in this restructured galaxy.
Once they linked up with what remained of Starfleet, Discovery quickly became central to reviving the fallen Federation. Centuries before their arrival, most of the galaxy’s dilithium had turned unstable and exploded, ending faster-than-light travel.
Thanks to its unique mycelial spore drive, the ship played a key role in tracing the cause of this event, known as the Burn, and took the lead in reconnecting distant civilizations.
The Dark Matter Anomaly
Right after helping Burnham bring a previously doubtful species back into the Federation, Cleveland “Book” Booker (David Ajala) travels to Kwejian, his home planet, for his nephew’s rite of passage. He manages to leave just in time, narrowly escaping the planet’s sudden annihilation.
Commander Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp), the ship’s science expert, identifies that Kwejian was destroyed by a strange gravitational force that had never been seen before. Captain Saru (Doug Jones) rejoins the ship to support Burnham as her first officer while the crew investigates the cause.
Following a terrifying incident where the newly dubbed Dark Matter Anomaly — or DMA — abruptly changes direction, Discovery works hard to keep the fragile Federation intact. The anomaly soon disappears and then reappears nearly 1,000 light-years away.
Based on this behavior, Federation leaders believe that only a species with highly advanced technology could be behind it. After analyzing the subspace rift the DMA left behind, the team discovers that it emits a toxic emptiness that drifts through space.
Book, who is deeply empathic, finds it hard to manage his pain and anger. When Ruon Tarka (Shawn Doyle), a rebellious Risan scientist, joins the mission to understand the DMA, Book finds someone who shares his sense of urgency.
Tarka builds a model of the DMA’s energy core, aiming to destroy it. At the same time, the ship’s computer system, Zora, which evolved from ancient data gathered from a powerful alien being, determines where the DMA originated. Fearing for the crew’s safety, Zora withholds this information about the mysterious Species 10-C.
Eventually, the crew realises that the DMA functions like a massive harvesting machine. Its purpose is to collect boronite, a rare element, likely to fuel a mechanism that shields the 10-C from any form of scanning or external contact.
Crossing the Rubicon
While Stamets and the rest of the team attempt to convince Zora to cooperate, Burnham and Book join an emergency summit involving members of the Federation and other allied factions.
They argue about whether to attack the DMA immediately or try to make contact with Species 10-C to avoid provoking a more dangerous response. Burnham and Book take opposite stands on the matter. However, the key to either action lies in the coordinates Zora is refusing to disclose.
A similar conversation happens aboard Discovery, where Dr. Kovich (David Cronenberg), a mysterious figure, brings up Starfleet laws that forbid a conscious artificial intelligence from operating a ship.
But the crew argues that Zora is a new form of life — the result of the sphere’s data evolving through constant interaction with the crew. As a being with awareness, Zora is given the right to decide her role, provided she joins Starfleet. She agrees and shares the location of Species 10-C, which lies outside the galactic barrier.
Burnham persuades the council to go for peaceful contact instead of an aggressive approach. This causes a rift between her and Book, who is also her romantic partner. Book teams up with Tarka, and together they take off in his ship to destroy the DMA’s power core using a device Tarka developed.
The rest of the season focuses on the chase: Burnham and her team try to stop Book and Tarka while figuring out how to find and reach the 10-C.
Beyond the Barrier
The book spends more time with Tarka, learning that his motivations, while noble, are rooted in unresolved sorrow. Tarka had been imprisoned by the Emerald Chain, the oppressive organization that Discovery dismantled in Season 3.
While locked up, he fell in love with Oras, another gifted scientist who created a portal to another dimension. Tarka aims to harness the DMA’s power source and use it to reunite with Oras. The book begins to question Tarka’s honesty, but remains with him.
They outsmart Zora’s tracking system and attach themselves to Discovery’s hull as the ship passes the galactic barrier. Burnham leads the ship into previously uncharted space.
Along with them are Federation representatives, including President Laira Rillak (Chelah Horsdal), who has Bajoran, Cardassian, and human ancestry; T’Rina (Tara Rosling), the leader of N’Var (formerly Vulcan); and General Ndoye of United Earth (Phumzile Sitole), who had voted for attacking the DMA.
Book and Tarka remain hidden aboard Discovery and manage to convince Ndoye to support them when they choose to strike. During this time, Commander Jett Reno (Tig Notaro) stumbles upon Tarka, who then takes her prisoner.
The crew locates a dead world near a massive hyperfield that blocks all scans. They believe this dead planet could be the original home of Species 10-C. With the DMA now heading toward N’Var and Earth, Burnham and the team rush to learn how to communicate with the alien species.
They discover that the 10-C communicates through compounds of hydrocarbons that express emotion. A communication method using mathematical concepts is devised to begin dialogue.
“But to Connect…”
Reno, still held by Tarka, finds out through his notes that removing the DMA’s power source would cause another deadly void. Book finally realizes the danger Tarka poses and confronts him, but ends up imprisoned alongside Reno.
Warp travel collapses, but hope survives through Discovery (Photo: Star Trek Discovery Season 4/CBS Television Studios in association with Secret Hideout, Roddenberry Entertainment, and Living Dead Guy Productions)Tarka proceeds with his plan, attacking the DMA’s power system just as Burnham and the delegation make progress with Species 10-C. The 10-C, who had no idea intelligent beings lived in the area affected by the DMA, show sorrow and regret when they understand the damage caused, but the attack disrupts everything.
Although communication is lost at first, the crew manages to reestablish contact with the 10-C. The aliens, who are interconnected mentally and lack the concept of individual thought, don’t understand that Tarka acted independently.
General Ndoye, trying to correct her earlier support for Book’s mission, crashes a shuttle into his ship. She survives and is transported back with Reno, but Book is believed to be lost in the explosion. The 10-C, having scanned what happened, reconstructs Book’s transporter pattern and returns him safely to Discovery.
Using his emotional sensitivity, Book can share his pain with the 10-C group mind. He convinces them to shut down the DMA permanently and reconnect with the rest of the galaxy. They agree, and the crew heads back home.
When they return, they are welcomed by the President of United Earth (played by Stacey Abrams in a brief appearance), who announces that Earth will rejoin the Federation. As punishment for his actions, Book decides to help those affected by the DMA and separates from Burnham.
Just like Season 3, the fourth season of Discovery ends with a complete and satisfying conclusion. The show has now moved away from using cliffhangers at the end of its seasons, without losing audience interest between installments.
It remains to be seen how this format will hold up as the show enters its fifth season, given how serialized television has become.
