SPOILER ALERT: This post contains spoilers from Star Trek: Discovery episode “Will You Take My Hand.” Proceed with caution.
During the season finale of Star Trek: Discovery, a very familiar face made a cameo appearance. Clint Howard, brother of Ron Howard (Solo: A Star Wars Story), and classic character actor, made a guest appearance on Kronos. It was a small part, but one that long-time Star Trek fans will recognize and be excited about.
The crew of the Discovery also completed their mission to Kronos which decided the final fate of the Klingon – Federation war. Let’s jump into the episode “Will You Take My Hand.”
Journey to Kronos
Under the leadership of the Terran Philippa Georgiou, the Discovery made it’s way to the Klingon home world of Kronos. Burnham, Tyler, Georgiou and Tilly went undercover in an Orion holdout on the planet to find a way into underground tunnels. While these tunnels were supposed to be the remnants of dormant volcanoes, they were actually inaccessible because the volcanoes were active.
Tilly discovered this truth when she inhaled a volcanic hallucinogen from none other than guest actor Clint Howard. When Tilly shared this information with Burnham and Ash, they discovered Georgiou’s true plan: to detonate a bomb underneath the planet surface to disable it completely. This order came directly from Starfleet — not Georgiou — so Burnham and the crew of the Discovery staged a mutiny in favor of a better, less violent plan.
Clint Howard Returns
Clint Howard’s cameo was a very nice touch. He has made appearances in three other series of Star Trek, making Discovery his fourth. His first Star Trek appearance was on November 10, 1966, during the Star Trek: TOS episode “The Corbomite Maneuver.” Howard played a character named Balok, a First Federation commander from the Milky Way galaxy.
Howard also had a cameo in an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space 9. The episode was called “Past Tense, Part II,” and aired on January 9, 1995 — nearly 30 years after Howard’s first Trek appearance. Howard played Grady, a homeless man living in an war-torn part of San Francisco. Howard returned to Trek again, on March 27, 2002 in the Star Trek: Enterprise episode “Acquisition.” In this episode, Howard played a Ferengi named Mok. His appearance in this episode was a complete surprise and totally awesome.
L’Rell — The Great Unifier
Instead of the Federation detonating the bomb to destroy the Klingon Empire, L’Rell used it to hold Kronos hostage. Under her leadership — and bold threat — she was able to unite the 24 Klingon houses. Her leadership was supported by Ash Tyler, who made the decision to leave Starfleet and stay with L’Rell on Kronos.
Burnham Restored
The episode concluded with a full peace treaty being brokered between the Klingons and the Federation. Because of her role in the peace treaty, Burnham was given a full pardon. Her rank as commanding science officer was restored. The Discovery then set a course to Vulcan to pick up a new captain. On their way to Vulcan they received a distress call from a very familiar ship: the USS Enterprise, specifically from Captain Pike.
Captain Pike was the first captain of the Enterprise in the original pilot episode of Star Trek: The Original Series. The surprise introduction of the Enterprise is a clear tease of what’s to come in Discovery Season 2. That wrapped up the finale — we will be breaking down Season 1 in greater detail over the next few weeks.
All episodes of Star Trek: Discovery are now streaming on CBS All Access in the US and Netflix in other territories.
