Khan and his people mourn the losses of Richter and Sylvana in the previous episode and prepare for war with the eels. In 2293, Lear asks some questions Starfleet does not have answers to.

It’s inevitable that a show like this would naturally gravitate towards one plot over the other, especially when Khan’s story is so iconic. But this episode sees the script subtly, but definitively, split into two and return us to the ‘present’ to ask a couple of very serious questions. Why was the instability of Ceti Alpha VI not detected by the Enterprise? And more worryingly, why did the Reliant, testing a galaxy altering weapon, not realise that the system they were in was missing a planet?

In one scene, the show not only refocuses on its other plot but raises questions fans have speculated about for decades. That all but promises answers and also gives the present day plot some welcome shape. Tim Russ is typically excellent as Tuvok but Sonya Cassidy’s Doctor Rosalind Lear is the standout out here. Determined, principled and perhaps very biased, she’s much more interesting here than she’s been allowed to be so far and that bodes well for the rest of the season.

In the ‘past’, things take a turn for the better, for everyone. Khan and Marla admit their feelings for one another and the war with the eels brings a fascinating ideological clash to the fore. Marla is Starfleet, the Prime Directive burned into her soul, and that leads to a reticence that pays off brilliantly here. Khan meanwhile is living inside his heroic myth, revelling in the simplicity of having someone to fight. Something to conquer. One is completely open but wants to be better, the other is arguably her best self and closed off. Their attraction is as understandable as it is instant.

It’s also used as connective tissue for the story as Marla figures out the life cycle of the eel and turns the tide. Except we know she doesn’t. We know that the eel killed twenty of Khan’s people so the victory feels extremely premature. It adds a definitive poignancy to the series too especially as we know Marla is almost certainly one of those people. That poignancy is doubled by the, admittedly predictable, reveal that she’s pregnant. But that in turn folds back to her training, and the moment she breaks it. The hum of a Starfleet phaser is such a distinctive sound that it cuts through the excellent sound design here as cleanly as it apparently kills the Queen. Marla is finally leaving Starfleet behind, and it’s too late, and it won’t be enough.

The episode ends with Khan and Marla’s marriage and an entirely unexpected, and lovely, riff on the Star Trek theme. There’s a nice callback to Kirk too with an exchange that opens with ‘What have I done?’ that echoes Star Trek III. It’s a lovely note, hopeful and kind and made lovelier by how little time we know they all have left.

Verdict: There’s a lot going on here and this episode is a tiny bit unwieldy as a result. But move past that and you’ve got a show running flat out and heading towards an inevitable disaster from a very different perspective. Answers are on the way. I can’t wait. 8/10

Alasdair Stuart